Toturi I

From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings

Toturi I
Born:	(c. 1099)
Died:	1133
Died after return:	1158
Parents:	Akodo Daio, Matsu Sodohime
Children	Kaneka, Toturi Tsudao, Toturi Sezaru, Toturi Naseru
Titles:	Emperor of Rokugan, Lion Clan Champion, Lion Clan Thunder
People

Akodo Toturi was the Lion Clan Champion before the Scorpion Coup. In response to his actions following the assassination of Hantei XXXVIII he was cast out by Hantei XXXIX. He became the ronin Toturi the Black. When the emperor was consumed by Fu Leng, Toturi and the other Clan Thunders battled him. With the Hantei family thought extinct, Toturi was crowned Emperor Toturi I.

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Childhood 3 Toturi and Arasou 4 Akodo Daimyo 5 Scorpion Coup 6 Toturi's Army 6.1 Naga Allies 6.2 Beiden Pass 7 Second Day of Thunder 8 Light of Heaven 9 The Disappearance of Toturi I 9.1 The Lying Darkness 10 The Madness of Toturi 10.1 The Gift of the Emperor 10.2 The Lucid Moment and First Death 11 War of Spirits 12 Kaneka 13 Second Death and Legacy 14 External Links 15 References

[edit] Appearance

Toturi was a pale man, with his long mane of hair dyed gold. He stood nearly six feet tall, and rarely wore his armour, instead preferring the robes and kimono of monks. His attitude and courtly words caused the Lion to uncomfortably mutter, but his intelligence gained a reputation, both on the battlefield and in the courts. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Childhood

As the first son of an Akodo and a Matsu, Toturi's life was one of balances. Before, samurai from the Akodo and Matsu families were not allowed to marry, not only because of the competition between the two houses, but also to prevent the strife a child would create. When his father married his mother, they agreed that any male children would be raised as Akodo, so when Toturi was born , the Matsu, expecting a girl, turned on him and branded him weak.^{[citation needed]}

At the age of 5 Toturi was taken to the dojo's to be trained in kenjutsu, but his training proved to be disastrous, for Toturi was meek, and full of thought. Despite the many sessions of instruction, Toturi seemed to have no interest in martial pursuits, and Akodo Daio began to agree with his wife Matsu Sodohime, and sent Toturi to a monastery within the Phoenix lands, where he lived for more than ten years.^{[citation needed]}

There, he dedicated himself to the study of tactics, strategy and the Tao.^{[citation needed]}

His mentor was an Acolyte of Water in the Brotherhood by the name of Master Suana.^[1]

Occasionally, Akodo Kage would visit the monastery and teach Toturi the basics of kenjutsu and bushido.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Toturi and Arasou

Toturi's brother, Akodo Arasou was born three years after Toturi, and quickly became his parents favorite, displaying an aptitude and liking for violence that Toturi lacked. After his first major victory against the Unicorn Clan, Arasou was proclaimed heir to the Akodo. Toturi and Arasou met only rarely, usually when Toturi was home for festivals and other formal occassions. ^{[citation needed]}

When Toturi was twenty, Arasou was engaged to Matsu Tsuko, the daughter of the Matsu daimyo. For a year Tsuko and Arasou put off their wedding, with Arasou promising his bride Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho, but Arasou was killed trying to take the city from the Crane Clan. Toturi's uncle, the Lion Clan Champion was wounded, and died later, causing Toturi to be recalled.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Akodo Daimyo

Although Toturi was not ready to be a daimyo or a war leader, he threw himself into his tasks applying the wisdom he gained from Master Suana, and although Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho was never retaken, the Lion thrived.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Scorpion Coup

Fearing Toturi's leadership, Bayushi Shoju sought to eliminate him shortly before the Scorpion Coup. Shoju's wife, Bayushi Kachiko, used the geisha Hatsuko to gain Toturi's trust.^[2] But when Hatsuko was ordered to poison Toturi, she used an insufficient amount of the poison given to her by Kachiko, which merely paralyzed the Lion Clan Champion. Toturi recovered, and led the united clans against the Scorpion Clan.^[3] The united clans prooved too much for the Scorpion Clan to withstand, and Shoju retreated to the Throne Room where he waited for Toturi to confront him.^[4] Shoju was the better swordsman, but in a moment of clarity he cleaved the bloodsword Ambition into the throne. Toturi capitalized on the moment, killing the usurper.^{[citation needed]}

With the Emperor dead, and his heir believed to be dead, Toturi saw no other alternative than to claim the throne himself so the clans would not begin fighting for it. Unknown to almost all, the heir had been saved by Isawa Kaede, and returned at the head of a Phoenix Clan army. The heir was crowned Hantei XXXIX, and the new Emperor promptly dissolved the Scorpion Clan and took Bayushi Kachiko as his wife. Toturi spoke up against this action, and the Emperor punished him by dissolving the Akodo family and making Toturi a ronin for his failure to prevent the coup.^[3]

Now Toturi the Black, Toturi began roaming Rokugan gathering followers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Toturi's Army

While Wandering Rokugan, Toturi amassed an army of Ronin, Ashigaru and Shugenja. In addition to those that followed Toturi directly, he allied himself with the Dragon Clan and Unicorn Clan when the threat of the Crab Clan became clear.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Naga Allies

Sometime shorlty before the Battle of Beiden Pass in 1127, Toturi sent Mirumoto Daini to the recently awakening Naga, to ask them for assistance in defeating the Crab Clan army that was allied with the Shadowlands. The Naga agreed to aid Toturi, if Toturi promised he would not seek to take the Emerald Throne for himself.^[5]

[edit] Beiden Pass

Toturi led the allied army of ronin, Dragon, Unicorn and Naga at the Battle of Beiden Pass. Here they successfully held the pass against the vastly superior numbers of the Crab and Shadowlands forces.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Second Day of Thunder

Toturi was the Lion Clan Thunder on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128. He reunited the Lion Clan Armies that had begun to fight amongst themselves over whether to support Fu Leng who had consumed the Emperor, or Rokugan. Toturi, together with Doji Hoturi struck down Fu Leng in the Imperial Throne Room. He was declared Emperor to prevent the clans from struggling to gain the throne.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Light of Heaven

After the death of Hantei XXXIX he was proclaimed the new emperor, Toturi I. Ruling from a newly crafted jade throne, he oversaw a brief period of relative peace and cooperation between the clans as they worked towards the common goal of rebuilding Rokugan.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The Disappearance of Toturi I

In 1130 the Emperor's chambers were found ruined, his bed bloody. A thorough search of Otosan Uchi turned up clues implicating the Scorpion, and Bayushi Kachiko was brought to the Imperial City to answer for her clan. Countless courtiers and nobles were assembled to bring testimony against the Scorpion. The Emerald Champion Kakita Toshimoko calls in the aid of the Kitsuki, acknowledging the Kitsuki method of evidence for the first time in history. The Kitsuki find nothing implicating the Scorpion, but nothing implicating anyone else either. As the Scorpion are unable to answer for the testimonies brought against them the acting Regent Takuan orders them to be exiled to the Burning Sands and all Scorpion children under 12 to be fostered to the Crane.^[6]

[edit] The Lying Darkness

In 1132 Toturi was found shackled and beaten in the ruins of Morikage Toshi by Unicorn scouts. The forest and castle was filled with apparitions of ghosts and shadows the Naga called The Foul. The truth was revealed that Toturi had been held by the Lying Darkness which was trying to allow the Empire to fall into chaos. The Unicorn, led by Otaku Kamoko brought the weak and sickened Emperor back to Otosan Uchi, igniting a small flame of hope in a dark Empire.^[7]

[edit] The Madness of Toturi

After his torture by the Lying Darkness Toturi was never the same, and began a cleansing of Otosan Uchi in 1132 of everyone he deemed to be a Kolat (a word nearly unheard of). On even the loosest evidence people would be executed. Among the dead was Isawa Osugi. Takuan, horrified by his lords actions, commited seppuku.^[7]

[edit] The Gift of the Emperor

In 1132 Toturi held a contest to win a boon from the Jade Throne. All clans were invited to attend, each sending one candidate. The winner of the contest, a ronin candidate entered by the Dragon Clan, turned out to be Bayushi Aramoro who requested his clan be allowed to retake their lands. The Scorpion were then restored to their place in the Empire.^[7]

[edit] The Lucid Moment and First Death

In 1133 Toturi broke free of the hold the Lying Darkness had over him. In this moment of clarity, he realized that if the Darkness took the soul of an Emperor, the Empire would be lost. In a hasty ceremony, he married his fiancee Isawa Kaede, committing seppuku shortly after. In doing so he denied the Lying Darkness his soul. With no named heir at the time, this left Kaede as the Empress, and as she was the Oracle of Void, the Lying Darkness could not touch her.^[8]

A time of regency followed. War began again with the Lying Darkness. Toturi came back from the dead at the Battle of Oblivion's Gate, together with many other spirits, including the Steel Chrysanthemum. Once the Lying Darkness was defeated, Toturi took his place back on the throne, and Kaede bore him three heirs; Toturi Tsudao, Toturi Sezaru and Toturi Naseru.^{[citation needed]}

There was peace again for a time, until the returned spirit Hantei XVI decided to claim the throne for himself which began the War of Spirits.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] War of Spirits

The War of Spirits raged for over a decade, a bloody civil war that affected everyone in Rokugan. The War ended in 1150, following the defeat of Hantei XVI's spirit army at Beiden Pass. As a part of the peace treaty, Toturi's son Naseru would take the Hantei name and study under the Steel Chrysanthemum.^[9] Five years later, in 1155, Naseru returned from one such trip to study missing his right eye. Naseru would not explain what had happened, but only revealed that the Steel Chrysanthemum was now dead.^[10] The event was covered up sufficiently, so that no blame fell to Naseru.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Kaneka

Sometime after the War of Spirits, the Lion Clan announced that one of their samurai, Akodo Kaneka, was in fact the bastard son of Toturi. Kaneka had been born to the geisha Hatsuko, but saved by the Dragon of Water and held in stasis for almost a decade.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Second Death and Legacy

In 1158, as Toturi was travelling to Ryoko Owari Toshi to meet with Kaneka, the caravan transporting the Emperor came under attack from the Onisu Fushin. It was rumored Toturi went there to acknowledge Kaneka, but there was no proof. Having not declared who his intended heir was, the succession for the thrown into a state of Chaos. Toturi's wife, the Oracle of Void Toturi Kaede held the throne as regent until the succession could be clarified, causing a great upset in the celestial balance. For two years the Four Winds struggled to gain the throne.^[11]

[edit] External Links

• Akodo Toturi Inexp
• Akodo Toturi
• Toturi
• Toruri Exp
• Toturi Exp2
• Toturi Exp3
• Toturi the First Exp3
• Toturi the First Exp4

Preceded by: Akodo Arasou	Akodo Daimyo 1120 - 1123	Succeeded by: Family disbanded
Preceded by: Akodo Arasou	Lion Clan Champion 1120 - 1123	Succeeded by: Matsu Tsuko
Preceded by: Hantei XXXIX	Emperor of Rokugan 1129 - 1158	Succeeded by: Toturi Kaede

References