Isawa Sachi
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
Isawa Sachi was born into the Hare Clan, became ronin with the clan's disbanding in 1123, and joined the Phoenix Clan during the offer of fealty given by Naka Kuro and Phoenix Clan Champion Shiba Tsukune following the Clan's losses during the Clan War. He is a powerful Earth shugenja, though his grandfather was one of the finest Water shugenja to come from the Usagi family. In his time with the Phoenix, Sachi quickly became one of the elder sensei of the Isawa Academy, and he was chosen to become the Master of Earth upon the death of Isawa Taeruko. Sachi is a member of the 12th century Gozoku conspiracy.
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[edit] Life of Isawa Sachi
[edit] The Yobanjin Invasions
In 1145, Sachi was instrumental in the destruction of an invading army of Yobanjin. The Acolyte of Earth found a smoldering village with many frightened peasants and one half-dead samurai -- his dear friend and husband of Isawa Taeruko, Isawa Hikaru. Hikaru had been speared to the ground and would not survive, but before his death, he told Sachi of the Yobanjin's troops and their movements. Sachi attempted to heal the man, but Hikaru would not allow him to use his magic when the crops, and therefore the lives of the Phoenix Clan were at stake.
Just before his death, Hikaru told Sachi that he knew the shugenja loved Taeruko. Hikaru had known all along, but was not angered. He commended Sachi for putting his Clan first, and admitted that the shugenja had always been his closest friend, despite Sachi's feelings for his wife. When Hikaru died, Sachi was angered past anything he had previously experienced.
Sachi found the Yobanjin army that evening. None escaped. The Acolyte of Earth crushed an entire mountain, pulling it down atop the barbarian invaders. Afterward, Sachi returned to Kyuden Isawa to bring the news of her husband's death to Taeruko.
[edit] The War of Spirits
During the War of Spirits, Sachi once again had to be the bearer of unbearable news to Taeruko. Her daughter, Isawa Yaruko had been killed by the order of Hantei XVI as an example to the Phoenix Clan, who would not acknowledge his claim to the Throne. Sachi infiltrated the lands of the Hantei, took the body of Yaruko, and returned to the lands of the Phoenix to deliver the child's body to her mother.
On the way, Sachi was stopped by twenty of the Steel Chrysanthemum's men. They attempted to arrest Sachi and bring him to trial for refusing to acknowledge the Hantei's rule. Sachi killed them all, burying them so deep within the earth that no blood was left to mark their deaths.
[edit] The Hidden City
Three months prior to his appointment as Master of Earth and shortly after the movement of Gisei Toshi by Shiba Aikune, Sachi found both Aikune and the Hidden City. Aikune was suprised to see the shugenja because he had silenced the kami in the area so they would not reveal the location of the city to anyone. Unfortunately for Aikune, their silence is what drew Sachi to the City. The old shugenja knew the mountains intimately, and the sudden silence of such a large area was immediately apparent to him.
[edit] Sachi and Taeruko
Sachi loved Taeruko during all of his life as a member of the Phoenix. Taeruko was aware of his feelings for her, but both knew that she was betrothed to another and that his love would forever remain unrequited.
After the untimely deaths of her husband and daughter, Taeruko still considered Sachi a close friend and still accepted him as a confidant, despite his repeated appearance as the herald of death. Unfortunately, the grief in her life had made Taeruko as hard as the stone she had mastered. She refused to change, in her hatred toward Isawa Nakamuro and Shiba Aikune who let her daughter die, or in her rejection of Sachi who wanted nothing more than to marry her. Taeruko had no reason other than the unchanging Earth which she embodied, but she would not change.
After Taeruko's death, Sachi reshaped a mountain with a portrait of Taeruko and her family. During a conversation they had many years before, Taeruko was saddened by the knowledge that the kami of the Earth were not concerned over the loss of her cousin, Isawa Tadaka and by the fact that they would likely forget him. She was discouraged by the thought that the mountains would not remember as great a shugenja as Tadaka, despite their closeness during his life. After he told it Taeruko's story, the mountain found it moving and created the portrait of Taeruko, Hikaru, and Yaruko. In that way, the mountain would never forget her.
[edit] Sachi's Death
Sachi died devastating the Dark Wave Fleet during the conclusion of the War of Fire and Thunder.
[edit] Major References
| Preceded by: Isawa Taeruko | Master of Earth 1165 - 1167 | Succeeded by: Isawa Emori |
