| Bayushi Sunetra | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 1170 |
| Siblings: | Yasuki Hachi |
| Children: | Un-named daughter |
| Titles: | Scorpion Clan Champion, Underhand of the Emperor |
| People | |
Sunetra was born in disfavored branch of the Daidoji, but was fostered to the Scorpion Clan when they returned from the Burning Sands as a show of good faith. Sunetra excelled in her training, and when it came time for her gempukku she decided to remain with the Scorpion, becoming Bayushi Sunetra. [1]
Family[]
Parents[]
Young Sunetra
When her Daidoji parents perished in the War of Spirits Sunetra chose to remain among the Scorpion, hiding all evidence of her Crane heritage and becoming a Scorpion forevermore. [2] [3]
Brother[]
Sunetra's brother, Daidoji Hachi, remained with the Crane. Sunetra was aware he was her brother [1], but he did not know she was still alive. Hachi would go on to be revealed as the closest living heir to the Yasuki Daimyoship, and later won the Emerald Championship. Hachi would die in 1168 without knowing his sister was still alive. [4]
Demeanor and Appearance[]
Sunetra was clever, inquisitive, manipulative, witty, beautiful, and deadly, the perfect spy. The Scorpion lords often call upon her when all else has failed. She had overcome many of her clan's enemies with her sword, but had defeated many more with her poise, grace, and ice-blue eyes. [5]
Naseru[]
Meeting between Sunetra and Hantei Naseru
Sunetra joined the Red Crane Dojo, and grew up as an example of Scorpion beauty. Though it bored her, Sunetra trained with the sword. Her time at court caught the attention of Hantei Naseru. Her respect for the Anvil grew to a level bordering on adoration. [6] He offered her a position in his service, acting as a messenger, an enforcer, and a spy. [7] During the struggle of the Four Winds, the Scorpion felt it best that they have an agent near to each of the winds to help and show favor. That way regardless of which Wind took the throne, the Scorpion would already have a spy close to the Emperor/Empress. Sunetra found herself assigned to the Anvil, Hantei Naseru. The two were well matched and she quickly fell into a trusted position with the Wind. [8]
Emerald Champion[]
In 1158, during the Test of the Emerald Champion, [9] Sunetra arranged matters so that Bayushi Kwanchai would make it to the semifinals and injure Shiba Aikune, his opponent. Aikune was disqualified when a Phoenix shugenja magically healed his injury. Fearing that a strong Emerald Champion could complicate the struggle for the Imperial Throne, Naseru had wanted to insure that the tournament winner would appear weak and ineffective. The result was that Yasuki Hachi, Sunetra's brother, became Emerald Champion. [3]
The Onisu Unleashed[]
In 1159 after the dead of Daigotsu's bodyguard, Goju Kyoden, all Onisu were unleashed over Rokugan. In Ryoko Owari Toshi Bayushi Shixiang and Bayushi Kwanchai deliberately disobeyed the order of their commander, Bayushi Katai, and defeated Muchitsujo and Fushin. Katai was displeased with their actions, but Bayushi Sunetra stopped her from punishing them with a sharp reprimand and a threat. [10]
City of Night[]
Asako Misao had been lingered too long in the Seikitsu Pass while in a mapping mission ordered by Naseru. Sunetra had to find out what has happened to the Phoenix. [11] She accompanied Naseru, Seppun Isei and Shinjo Shono. Yotsu Irie also secretly followed Naseru. During their journey the group was attacked by Tsuno. Upon reaching the City of Night they met Moto Vordu, a shugenja who guarded the city at the behest of Moto Chagatai. The city housed a powerful Kitsu nemuranai: a sphere made of crystal. Vordu had become insane and he believed that Naseru would be able to open the sphere, with the power to destroy the world. Naseru was forced to open the sphere by a tsuno named Kishenku, who was an ally of Vordu's. Naseru decided to destroy the device although he first used it to kill all Tsuno in the city. Irie, who had followed Naseru to kill him, was impressed by Naseru's will and became his yojimbo after Isei perished. [12]
The New Champion[]
Bayushi Sunetra, Scorpion Clan Champion
Sunetra became the Scorpion Clan Champion in 1159 in a ruse to bring about the destruction of the Shadowed Tower. The Champion at the time, Bayushi Yojiro, realized that he could not fight the Tower from his position. Involving only Shosuro Yudoka, Sunetra and Yogo Koji in the plot, he passed the leadership of the clan to Sunetra. Using Koji's magic they created an illusion around Sunetra, making everyone believe that she was in fact Yojiro. The Master of the Shadowed Tower, Bayushi Atsuki, who knew Yojiro since the War of Spirits did not realize the trick after held a meeting with her. [13] This freed Yojiro and Yudoka to actively pursue the Tower, with immediate results. [1]
Yudoka is Slandered[]
Soshi Aki was sent to Kyuden Bayushi in 1159 by Shosuro Furuyari to report on unrest in western Scorpion lands and Ryoko Owari Toshi in particular, that Shosuro Yudoka could not managed properly. Aki met with the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Yojiro, who was in fact Sunetra in disguise. Sunetra cleverly avoided the request to have Emerald Magistrates sent to Ryoko Owari, and with the aid of the Dragon representative Mirumoto Rosanjin effectively countered Furuyari's ploy. [1]
Baku's Return[]
Bayushi Baku, the spirit guardian of the Bayushi family, had disappeared for a time after this until he returned once more late when he sensed the conflict within the Scorpion Clan. He attacked Sunetra disguised in Yojiro in Kyuden Bayushi in the Chamber of Swords, sensing something wrong with the Scorpion Champion, only to reveal that Yojiro was no longer the Champion. Sunetra asked for Baku's assistance in destroying the Tower, but Baku was not sure what to do. [1]
Ryoko Owari attacked by the Shogun[]
In 1159 Kaneka was convinced that his brother Hantei Naseru would never stop attacking him decided to march against Ryoko Owari, a Scorpion city and the center of power of the Anvil. [14] Sunetra did not let the Shogun to take the city and commanded his army to defend it. [15]
Kaneka stayed his Blade[]
In 1160, while Kaneka was besieging Ryoko Owari, Naseru dismished Sunetra, after he commanded that if Kaneka killed him, the Shogun's army would leave the city unharmed. Kaneka met his brother and stayed his blade, and began to parley. Kaneka and Naseru agreed to work together, and the Anvil swore that if he would gain the throne he guaranteed Kaneka the same as Shogun of all Rokugan. [16]
Downfall of the Tower[]
In 1160 Sunetra orchestrated simultaneous raids against all the Shadowed Tower Strongholds with the information provided by her spies Bayushi Tai and Yogo Tjeki. She personally assaulted the hideout in Pokau, with her lieutenants Shosuro Yudoka and Yogo Koji. There was the leader of the Tower, Bayushi Atsuki, and his own minion, Bayushi Kamnan, cut Atsuki in half after Sunetra ordered so. What was not known by Sunetra was that the true Atsuki and Kamnan were safe in the Burning Sands. Atsuki had used an Ashalan amulet to cast a gaijin spell of illusion, creating a duplicate from distance. Kaukatsu's son, Bayushi Ogura was trapped by Bayushi Kwanchai and went to an eternity of pain in the Traitor's Grove. [17]
Emergance[]
Following the destruction of the Tower in 1160 there was no longer any need for the ruse, and Sunetra emerged as the true Champion of the Scorpion Clan. [17]
Peony[]
As the public face of an entire dan, Sunetra felt out of her depth, missing the freedom to personally hunt the clan's enemies as she once did. [18] The several assassinates that Sunetra performed in the period 1155-1161 were investigated by the Kitsuki. When they found a similar style on those murders they assigned the name Peony for convenience's sake of their investigation, but they could not expose Sunetra's identity. [19]
Death of Yojiro[]
In 1164 Sunetra knew Yojiro had been slain in his retirement as a monk, and swore revenge against the assassin, whoever he was. She did not know the assassin was Shosuro Aroru, and the death was feigned to allow Yojiro, in the guise of Masatoyo, to aid Shosuro Yudoka and Aroru to root out any remaining Shadowed Tower cells. [20]
Yudoka Slandered[]
Bayushi Kamnan talked about Yudoka as a traitor, but Sunetra did not believe him and requested deeds, not words. [21]
War of the Rich Frog[]
Between 1165 and 1166 the Scorpion took an important role in the War of the Rich Frog, looking for their own interests. Sunetra had offered military support to Moto Chagatai, while Bayushi Tsimaru attempted to show the Rikugunshokan of the Unicorn armies in the war, Moto Kumari as a fool, diminishing his chances to command the combined forces. [22] Bayushi Kaukatsu undermined Lion control helping Kaeru Meiji, son of the Kaeru Daimyo, [23] to kill his own father, Kaeru Tomaru. [24] Ikoma Yasuko intercepted the Lion reports that passed through Kyuden Ikoma, betraying her new clan, giving the knowledge the Scorpion needed to steer the conflict as they wanted. Bayushi Paneki attempted to halt the Dragon efforts to end the conflict. [25] Kaukatsu manipulated Matsu Nimuro to escalate the conflict near a total war between both clans, with the personal involvement of their champions. [26] And the most important, Sunetra used a dark secret of a Great Clan Champion, to achieve the long desired return of Ryoko Owari to Scorpion control. The Scorpion had manipulated the Clans into this war out of a secret desire to ultimately control both Kaeru Toshi and Ryoko Owari, dominating the hidden smuggling networks of the Empire. Moto Chagatai retained his romantic relation in the shadows, but did not permit that the Scorpion controled the City of Rich Frog, letting the city in Lion hands during the peace treaty. [27] In this way he fulfilled his bargain with Sunetra, the return of Ryoko Owari in exchange of Scorpion's aid. [28]
The Underhand[]
Sunetra facing Assassins
This year Sunetra managed to kill several assassins sent to her at Kyuden Bayushi. [2] They had been dispatched by Bayushi Atsuki, the Gozoku conspirator who was growing bolder. Sunetra disappeared, hurrying to Toshi Ranbo to warn Naseru, Toturi III, of what had happened. He realized that the Gozoku had to be fight out of public, and commanded Sunetra to step down fron her championship to become his personal spy and assassin, as the Underhand. [29] [30]
Bayushi Paneki, Scorpion Champion[]
Sunetra disappeared in the night, with no reason or warning, only a sealed note addressed with Paneki's name. He found that he was the new Scorpion Champion, and the Chamber of Swords answered to him. Paneki wielded Churetsu, the Celestial Sword of the Scorpion, as a way to openly inform the new charge. [31]
The Gozoku[]
Her first assignment upon formally taking the position of Underhand was to locate and exterminate the Gozoku's leadership, particularly Bayushi Kamnan and Bayushi Atsuki. With the help of her newfound allies in the Mantis and Yoritomo Naizen, Kamnan was lured to the Mantis states at Ryoko Owari, killed and replaced by Bayushi Baku. [31]
Pondering with Paneki[]
After Sunetra reported to the recenlty married Naseru, Paneki intercepted her, and pondered why she had chosen him as new Champion. [31]
"Why did you choose me, Sunetra?" Paneki asked, "I am no leader." "You will learn to be one," she said. "You are intelligent, ruthless, beautiful, and patient. You are all that the Scorpion need. You will make them deadlier than they ever have been."
- Paneki and Sunetra
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Ashalan allies of Atsuki[]
Sunetra reported Naseru that Bayushi Atsuki, the former leader of the Shadowed Tower, was alive and behind the Gozoku conspiracy. She did not know why Atsuki used maho during his Tower time, but Sunetra guessed he needed the magic for some purpose. Atsuki was hidden in one of a handful of Ashalan-built towers deep within the Plains Above Evil. Naseru ordered Sunetra to visit the Shinomen Forest to ask the Naga about their enemies, the Ashalan. [32] She came to see her Ashalan ally, Hojyn, who gave Sunetra something to find Atsuki in case he used Ashalan magic to foul her. [33] Sunetra decide to arrive to the ruined Naga city of Iyotisha, the City of Astronomy. She was surprised to see there the Shogun's camp. While observing from the shadows Sunetra was detected by Shinjo Shono, the Junghar commander and defender of the Shinomen Forest. [34] Shono warned Sunetra to trespass the Naga wards, and offered himself to ask the Naga what the Underhand wanted to know. [35]
Bayushi Atsuki's Death[]
A Naga Jakla guided the Shogun's legions to the Ashalan hideout, and Sunetra followed them in the distance. In the peak of the battle Kaneka himself killed Atsuki, and shortly after the battle ended. Atsuki had faked again his death, and Sunetra tracked down him when he fled. The Underhand had used a sac of contact venom to make Atsuki's horse to collapse, and another sac had poisoned the Gozoku leader, weaking him to be easily suffused. Sunetra ensured Atsuki's misery by binding him to a tree stump and killing him using a dagger taken from Traitor's Grove. Before Atsuki died, he told Sunetra that he did not send the assassins who attacked her when she still was the Scorpion Clan Champion. Another unseen enemy was under the track of Sunetra. [33]
Spying the Shogun[]
In 1167 Sunetra was lurking a secret meeting held in the Crab lands by Kaneka with Kaiu Kazu. The Kaiu admitted to be a Gozoku member, but without knowledge that Atsuki was the leader in the shadows. Kazu was killed by the Shogun when he spoke ill of Toturi III while trying to barter with Kaneka for protection from the remaining Gozoku loyalists after the fall of the Gozoku. [36]
Favor to the Crane[]
In 1170, Sunetra gave information about Daigotsu Rekai to Daidoji Fumisato, Doji Domotai's special magistrate, in the hopes that the Crane Clan would eliminate Rekai and the threat she poses to the Empire. [37]
Death[]
Death of Sunetra
Under orders from Shosuro Jimen, [38] Sunetra tracked down and killed Kakita Mai, the wife of Kakita Daimyo Kakita Noritoshi. With the aid of Kitsuki Mayako Noritoshi lured Sunetra into a trap and killed her. [19]
Family[]
Sunetra had a daughter who was married to a Kitsuki and took her husband's family name. [39]
External Links[]
- Bayushi Sunetra (Gold)
- Bayushi Sunetra Exp (Diamond)
- Bayushi Sunetra Exp2 (Enemy of my Enemy)
See also[]
| Preceded by: Bayushi Yojiro |
Scorpion Clan Champion 1159 - 1166 |
Succeeded by: Bayushi Paneki |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Unfinished Business, Part II, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rulebook Story (Web of Lies), by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 20
- ↑ The Battle at the Tomb, Part 4, by Shawn Carman and Nancy Sauer
- ↑ Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 19
- ↑ Way of the Ninja, p. 30
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 64
- ↑ The Four Winds, p. 64
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 31
- ↑ Nightmares, Part II, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ No Failure (Dark Allies flavor)
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 50
- ↑ Smoke and Mirrors, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 55
- ↑ Patience (Dark Allies flavor)
- ↑ Fight For Tomorrow, Part VII
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Towers, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 99
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Consequences, by Nancy Sauer
- ↑ Blood Dawn, Part VIII: Shadows of Yesterday, by Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf
- ↑ Ninja Thief (Diamond flavor)
- ↑ Clan Letter to the Scorpion (Hidden City timeline)
- ↑ The War of the Rich Frog, Part One, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The War of the Rich Frog, Part Two, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The War of the Rich Frog, Part Three, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ The War of the Rich Frog, Part Five, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ The War of the Rich Frog, Epilogue
- ↑ Luring Tactics (Diamond flavor)
- ↑ The Battle at the Tomb, Part 1, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 118
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 The Underhand, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Fires of Toshi Ranbo, Part One, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Fires of Toshi Ranbo, Part Four, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Fires of Toshi Ranbo, Part Two, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Fires of Toshi Ranbo, Part Three, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Dawn of the Lotus, The Scorpion Clan, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Acts of Virtue, by Nancy Sauer
- ↑ Small Gains, by Nancy Sauer
- ↑ The War of Dark Fire, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
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