Isawa Tadaka
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
| Please note: This article is about the Phoenix Clan Thunder. For other uses of the term, please see Tadaka (disambiguation). |
| Isawa Tadaka | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 1128 |
| Parents: | Isawa Ujina, Isawa Ieku |
| Siblings: | Isawa Kaede, Isawa Tomo |
| Spouse: | None |
| Children | None |
| Titles: | Master of Earth, Phoenix Thunder |
| People | |
Isawa Tadaka was an enigmatic and sinister person, scarred by dark magics and with a burning desire for revenge against the forces of the Shadowlands, especially Oni no Akuma, the stealer of his ancestor's name. Tadaka was the Phoenix Clan Thunder, and died on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128.
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[edit] Childhood
[edit] Isawa Tomo
Tadaka was close to his brother, Isawa Tomo. As children often do, Tadaka and Tomo once decided to run away from home and to the Shadowlands. Because of Tomo's influence, they did so by way of the Seikihi River. The two managed to slip away from their sister, Isawa Kaede, and successfully avoided discovery for nearly two months.
Their adventures came to an abrupt end in the lands of the Scorpion Clan when they were captured by a group of bandits. The rogues intended to sell Tadaka and Tomo as slaves to a foreign merchant caravan. They were rescued only by the timely intervention of a young Yogo Shidachi, who helped the boys escape. Shidachi then took the pair with him into the civilized lands of his family. The Yogo contacted their father, Master of Void Isawa Ujina, to return the wayward children. Ujina, who had been beside himself with worry for the two months of their absence, was very relieved to have his sons back.
Tadaka quickly moved past their experience, but for Tomo, their misadventure was a turning point in his life. (Phoenix pp. 76-77)
[edit] Isawa Kaede
Tadaka always shared a special bond with his older sister, Isawa Kaede. Kaede was always considered a prodigy as they grew up; she had obvious skill, and she was managing to master the extraordinarily difficult intricacies of the Void. Despite Kaede's well earned celebrity, Tadaka loved her just as much as any of his clansmen, and possibly more. Though Kaede was older, the two were close enough in age that they shared many interests and studies and they had many common friends. The two remained close until Tadaka chose to spend a year studying in the lands of the Crab Clan, and even then, couriers would regularly carry letters between the two.
[edit] Isawa Akuma
Tadaka was a descendant of the reviled shugenja Isawa Akuma. Tadaka took it as a personal insult that there existed a beast within the Shadowlands that, centuries earlier, had stolen his ancestor's name in order to secure its own existence. Tadaka had devoted his life to finding and destroying Oni no Akuma.
While studying with the Kuni family, the spirit of Akuma appeared to the young Tadaka. The apparition was bound and silent, but Tadaka understood that the poor soul was begging for his help to restore his name. This is the point at which Tadaka's obsession with Oni no Akuma began. His letters to his sister became less and less frequent, and it came as a surprise to no one when he asked to extend his stay with the Crab.
For years, nearly the entire period between his gempukku and his death, he spent every available moment -- and many he should not have spared -- to studying the Shadowlands, discovering the rituals of its denizens, observing the creatures there, and attempting to find the oni that stole his ancestor's name. He had risked everything -- his body, his life, his mind, and his soul -- in his quest.
[edit] Master of Earth
After having spent far more time with the Kuni than originally planned, Tadaka was called truant and tracked down by no less than the Master of Earth, Isawa Rujo. Rujo found the wayward shugenja, challenged his research, and even questioned the validity of his quest. Tadaka was furious and challenged the Master to a duel. The stakes he set were high: the loser would renounce his fealty to the Phoenix Clan and become forever ronin, and the winner would be Master of Earth. Rujo agreed.
Tadaka handily defeated the Master. Rujo was cast from the Phoenix, per their agreement, and Tadaka became Master of Earth in his place. The Council of Five was somewhat shaken by the outcome, but in the end, they were not disappointed. They saw Rujo as arrogant for entering a duel that he lost, and were not upset at his departure because of that. Tadaka saw his new position as an opportunity to more fully search for Oni no Akuma, which led him to be absent from the rulership of the clan quite frequently, allowing the Council to continue greatly in the manner to which they had already become accustomed.
[edit] Corruption
Tadaka's time in the Crab lands and his drive to understand the Akuma no Oni led him down a dark path of research, one that ultimately led to his own Taint. As the Council of Five continued their attempts to understand the Shadowlands and the dark influences spreading across the Empire, Isawa Tsuke, Isawa Tadaka, Isawa Uona, and Isawa Tomo opened several Black Scrolls, causing cataclysmic changes in both the Phoenix territories and their own physiology. Tadaka, drawing on his Earth magic and perhaps on his own powerful soul of Thunder, resisted the worst of the corruption, but the seed was planted. Continuing to research the forces of Jigoku, Tadaka gave his name to an Oni, creating a creature physically weak but with immense magical power and knowledge of the Shadowlands, the Tadaka no Oni. The creature gave the Council fundamental knowledge of Jigoku, but further corrupted the Phoenix Thunder and his brethren. [citation needed]
[edit] The Second Day of Thunder
Tadaka died during the legendary battle with Fu Leng in the Emperor's Throne Room. His initial assaulting magics against the kami were rebounded by the might of the Dark God, striking at the corruption inside the fallen Master of Earth instead. Tadaka collapsed for the majority of the fight, watching as Otaku Kamoko and Hida Yakamo were quickly dispatched. When Fu Leng attacked Bayushi Kachiko, the distraction she caused allowed Tadaka to gather enough strength to magically levitate the Emerald Throne and attack the kami with it, a blow that allowed Toturi and Doji Hoturi to finish the Dark Kami once and for all. Tadaka succumbed to his wounds, dying before he could be reunited with Shiba Tsukune.
| Preceded by: Isawa Rujo | Master of Earth 1119 - 1128 | Succeeded by: Isawa Taeruko |
[edit] Major References
- Way of the Phoenix Pages 75-76.
[edit] External Links
- From L5RSearch.com: Isawa Tadaka, Isawa Tadaka Exp, Isawa Tadaka Exp2, Shiryo no Tadaka
