Isawa Mitsuko

Please note: This article is about the Master of Air]. For other uses of the term, please see Mitsuko (disambiguation).
Isawa Mitsuko was an air shugenja, magistrate, and Inquisitor of the Phoenix Clan who became the Master of Air.
== Early Years ==
Mitsuko was born into a wealthy and influential family. Even as a child, Mitsuko was especially insightful and asked her parents to arrange a marriage with a childhood friend, a young boy of whom she was particularly fond, and whose family had little influence within the Isawa. Her parents agreed, and an arrangement was forged that would benefit the boy's family greatly while costing Mitsuko's family relatively little. It was the first of many charitable acts that the young girl would convince her parents to perform throughout her childhood, gaining great honor for them in the process. Letters II, by Shawn Carman
Her betrothed was killed only three months after the two of them underwent their gempukku ceremony. The subsequent investigation discovered that he had been murdered by a maho-tsukai that mistakenly believed his relatively poor status would mean he would not be missed. Mitsuko requested permission to join the magistrate who was tasked with bringing the murderer to justice, but was denied. She immediately applied to study with the Inquisitors of her mother's family, and was denied again. She applied again and again each season until her zeal finally impressed Asako Toshi enough that she was accepted. 
== Asako Inquisitors ==
She was a student of Asako Juro and Isawa Nakamuro. A New Empire, Part 1, by Shawn Carman In 1168 Mitsuko exposed a cultist cell which was destroyed by Shiba Erena detachment. First Among the Guard (Imperial Herald v3 #2) In 1170 the new Asako Daimyo Asako Bushiken gave a considerable degree of autonomy to Mitsuko, who had been working a decade as an Inquisitor and had raised as one of their ranking members. 
== Elemental Master ==
Mitsuko succeeded Nakamuro as Master of Air following his death in 1170. She was chosen for the position by the Master of Fire Isawa Ochiai, Nakamuro's sister. She was surprised to discover her name had been among those chosen by Tamori Nakamuro to replace him, but she accepted the appointment all the same, primarily because it would permit her greater leeway in selecting the enemies she would face. 
=== Dark Oracles ===
When news of the War of Dark Fire began to spread the Empire, the Shiba Army marshalled to the north. Few of them remained to aid in the quest for the Dark Oracles, and Mitsuko requested troops to the Lion Clan, without realizing that request had to be sanctioned by the Council of Five. 
== War of Dark Fire ==
In 1171 the Army of Fire, minions of the Dark Oracle of Fire Chosai, stormed the Castle of the Faithful Bride in a rapid attack and moved ahead toward Kyuden Isawa. The army split into multiple forces, the largest of which headed to the palace; a smaller force set out through the Isawa Mori, bound for the Dragon Heart Plain, to unleash something dark and terrible from the emptiness there. A third group rampaged across the northernmost regions and put to the torch three farming villages. The Masters aided the palace garrison to fight off the Yobanjin invaders, and the Master of Water Asako Bairei was entrusted to guard the palace library, or destroy it if the library was in danger to be seized by the barbarians. The Master of Void Shiba Ningen departed north to protect as many villages as he could. Mitsuko sent word to Asako Serizawa, who was in a mission nearby. The Master of Earth Isawa Emori remained in the palace with Mitsuko and Ochiai. War of Dark Fire, Part V, by Shawn Carman
=== Kyuden Isawa stormed ===
Ochiai ordered the Council to leave, and Bairei departed to tend Ningen, who was barely alive in the Northern Phoenix lands. Ochiai's intention was to sacrifice herself to gain time for the rest. Mitsuko and Emori, who had been wounded when they were defending the palace, disobeyed Ochiai, and asked to vote what to do. Ochiai pondered to use her yojimbo Masakazu's brute force on them, but finally accepted their point. She commanded Emori to drive the raiders out while Mitsuko, who was too weak, fell unconscious. Masakazu took her and abandoned the palace. Before she fell, noticed Emori was forced to collapse Kyuden Isawa upon the invaders as it had eventually sucumbed to the overwhelming numbers of the Army of Fire, in the Fall of Kyuden Isawa. The War of Dark Fire, Part 6, by Shawn Carman and Nancy Sauer
=== End of the War ===
The Battle of Dragon Heart Plain ended the War. The War of Dark Fire, Part 16, by Shawn Carman Shortly after were reported plagued villages in the Northern Phoenix provinces. Oceans, by Lucas Twyman Mitsuko agreed with Shiba Yoma to send a small force of shugenja to the Kaiu Wall to assist the Crab in their battle against a relentless oni attack. The Path of the Destroyer, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
== Destroyer War ==
Mitsuko commanded the Inquisitors during the Destroyer War, The Kotei 2010 MegaGame as Chief Inquisitor. Imperial Herald Letters v3 #11a (Age of Conquest)
=== Empress' proclamation ===
Mitsuko arrived to Kyuden Asako and talked with Asako Bushiken about the Empress Iweko I's proclamation, who had announced at winter court that she was suspending the edict demanding the immediate execution of Daigotsu, and demanded that he be brought before her. Mitsuko was concerned the corrupted influence the Dark Lord could exert over any Rokugani not prepared to be near him. Bushiken commanded his principle advisor Asako Katashi to gather the best Inquisitors, Asako Serizawa and Agasha Asai, to aid Mitsuko to find Daigotsu before any other could reach him. Reactions, by Shawn Carman
=== Plague ===
Mitsuko brought a force of magistrates under her command to the Scorpion's western border in an attempt to stymie the spread of the plague, which was rampant there. State of the Empire, Week 2
=== Closing portals to other realms ===
In 1172 a joint force of Mitsuko's forces and Scorpion led by Bayushi Muhito discovered and eliminated what appeared to have been a spirit portal to the Realm of Slaughter. The State of the Empire 5 The portal apparently had come in the wake of Kali-Ma's efforts to disrupt the very balance and fabric of reality. Imperial Histories 2, p. 251 Later a force of Inquisitors, Ikoma Wardens, Lady Doji's Eyes, and Shinjo Scout marshalled to prevent the opening of a portal to Gaki-do advised by Mitsuko. When they reached the place the portal was already opened and a nearby village attacked. Moto Kang closed the portal driving peasants into it, the way to make its closure possible. The State of the Empire 7 Another portal to Gaki-do appeared and the Inquisitors were aided by the tainted Dark Wind and a large oni. Eventually the portal was closed when a Fuchitsujo joined the rokugani and demon. Mitsuko had a heated discussion with the Spider leader, Moto Yuudai. The Daigotsu's followers were permitted to withdraw. The State of the Empire 9 Moshi Sayoko worked with Mitsuko to close a portal to Sakkaku. The Orochi which appeared from it were destroyed, but a few that escaped into the sea. The State of the Empire 10
=== God Beast ===
Two grief news overwhelmed Mitsuko. Ningen had died, and shortly after appeared in the Scorpion lands the God Beast of Kali-Ma, a gigantic creature from which the scholar Bairei had no records available. The Ningen's last message was given to Isawa Kimi, his succesor as Master of Void, and their only hope might lay in her hands. Unleashed, Part 2, by Rusty Priske In a taxing ritual Mitsuko and five acolytes transported Kimi, Shiba Yoshimi with other Shiba guards, and Agasha Gifu near Ryoko Owari Toshi, where a combined Rokugani army was facing the God-Beast. Wrath of the God-Beast, Part 1, by Shawn Carman She saw how Kimi and his acolytes made a ritual in which they communed with the void to aid the rokugani forces to kill the God-Beast]. Wrath of the God-Beast, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
=== Visiting the Tamori ===
Mitsuko and Serizawa arrived to see the Tamori Daimyo Tamori Shimura. Mitsuko despised the man since the time she discussed with him what to do with Agasha Kyoso after she reappeared in the mortal realm. Mitsuko believed Kyoso would drew a future threat and her death would be the best option. They again discussed about the matter but Shimura did not change his opinion, and Kyoso remained alive and imprisoned. Scenes from the Empire 13, by Rusty Priske and Shawn Carman
=== Kali-Ma ===
In 1172 the new Master of Void Isawa Kimi took a dangerous path searching in the Void for Kali-Ma. She eventually discovered the Destroyer was seeking something, and Kimi knew it must be found by the Empire first. The Council believed Kali-Ma was seeking the Black Scroll Essence of Destruction, under research of Isawa Yutako. Yutako unexpectedly entered the meeting and exposed the scroll she had was not the one she was told. It was an old one, and already opened. The Elemental Masters guessed the one in Yutako's hands was one planted by the Scorpion Clan to deceive the theft of the Essence of Destruction. This Black Scroll should be the artifact retrieved by the Scorpion from the Tomb of the Seven Thunders. Searching, by Rusty Priske
=== Hunting the Daughter ===
The Kuni Daimyo Kuni Kiyoshi requested the secretive Phoenix Ritual of Forgetting to use it in the Crab quest of hunting the Ebon Daughter. Hunting the Ebon Daughter, Part 1, by Shawn Carman Mitsuko and Bairei modified it to make it work against the foul gaijin magic drew from Kali-Ma the Destroyer. The knowledge of Moshi Kekiesu on the Ivory Kingdoms magic was instrumental for the success of the task. The Daughter was captured, her powers temporarily negated from her source of power, kami or gaijin magic. Iuchi Yue, the former Iuchi Daimyo who had become the abomination known as the Ebon Daughter, was judged in the Imperial Court by the Empress Iweko I and executed by the Crab Clan. Hunting the Ebon Daughter, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
=== Joining the Imperial Forces ===
With the Dark Oracle of Fire absent from the conflict in the north, the Yobanjin forces were routed and the northern front largely absent of open warfare. The Phoenix, eager for peace but aware that it could not come without the defeat of the enemy, entered their forces in the battle to earnest, with the order of the Asako Inquisitors lending their full might to the southern conflict under the direction of Isawa Mitsuko. Before the Dawn: Storyline Update, by Shawn Carman (Imperial Herald v3.7)
=== Agasha Kyoso's death ===
In 1173 Isawa Mitsuko had been traveling to Shiro Tamori regularly, each time attempting to convince the Tamori daimyo that Agasha Kyoso represented an ongoing threat. In one of the visits Kyoso somehow began to transform in the demon she once was, and killed Shimar's assistant, Tamori Kuroko. Serizawa managed to deal a deadly blow against Kyoso with the aid of Mitsuko and Shimura. Love & Madness, by Rusty Priske & Shawn Carman
=== End of the Destroyer War ===
Daigotsu, Shahai, Susumu, Fu Leng, and Kali-Ma had died. The drawback was that Daigotsu had returned in a phantom form, as the Master of Jigoku. The Empress proclaimed the end of the Destroyer War with the victory of the Empire. The Phoenix had to purify the lands touched by the Destroyers. The Spider Clan had been conferred the status of Great Clan. Those free of taint could remain in the Empire, and the tainted were put under guard of the Dragon Clan, to extend the Empire in the Ivory Kingdoms as the Iweko's Conquerors alongside with the Mantis Clan. Goddesses, Part 4, by Shawn Carman The Phoenix Clan Champion Shiba Tsukimi talked the Empress' Imperial edict with the Masters. Mitsuko despised the edict but they agreed to follow it. The apparition of the Dark Fortunes would be investigated. Aftermath, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
== Age of the Conquest ==
=== Unrest in the Colonies ===
In 1198 after the appointment of Otomo Suikihime as the new Imperial Governor of the Colonies, the Council were reported of disturbing news from the Second City. An increased detachment of Inquisitors wew sent to represent the clan's interests there, led by Asako Kaitoko. Emperor Edition Starter Fiction: Phoenix Clan
=== P'an Ku's Madness ===
In 1199 the Heart of Fudo, a nemuranai which contained a portion of the mad dragon P'an Ku, was presented to the Imperial Court. Asahina Nanae reported that one of her magistrates, Tamori Yayu, would study it, to understand how to stop its influence, or communicate with it. The Imperial Advisor Moru was outraged by the Jade Champion's proposal, and blamed her for the newly revealed dealings of the Asahina with the Fudoist. Mitsuko revealed her presence, and alongside Nanae performed a ritual to diminish the effects of the Heart upon those in attendance. Moru's outburst was a side effect of the Heart. Mitsuko advised to take the Heart immediately to the Second City, as the way to deal with P'an Ku's madness. She was granted an audience with Empress herself. Gates of Chaos, Part 3, by Seth Mason
=== Banishing the Mad Dragon ===
Mitsuko and the eldest Empress' son, Iweko Seiken, moved to the Second City and announced in the Ivory Court that P'an Ku would be summoned in the Imperial District, to be banished from the mortal realm. Chukage and Kimi would stay with the Spider forces in order to judge what was happening there from afar. Face the Madness, Part 1, by Shawn Carman & Seth Mason Once the district was evacuated, Seiken broke the Heart of Fudo to summon P'an Ku, and the mad dragon was forced to appear in the mortal realm. The Ivory Champion, Shinjo Tselu, who had been alongside Seiken and Mitsuko, attacked the dragon's avatar, Face the Madness, Part 2, by Shawn Carman & Seth Mason but he was wounded and easily defeated. Somehow Seiken managed to parley through the creature's madness, and P'an Ku willingly banished. Face the Madness, Part 3, by Shawn Carman & Seth Mason
== Stepping Down ==
Mitsuko decided to leave behind her ties with the Phoenix, taking the robes of the Brotherhood of Shinsei. The Way of the World (Aftermath Picture) Her trusted assistant Isawa Tsumaro The Shape of a Soul, by Seth Mason took the mantle of Master of Air after Mitsuko in 1199. Isawa Tsumaro (Aftermath Boxtext)
== See also ==
* Isawa Mitsuko/Meta
== External Links ==
* Isawa Mitsuko (The Harbinger)
* Isawa Mitsuko Exp (Second City)
Category:Phoenix Clan Leaders
Category:Magistrates
Category:Members of the Brotherhood of Shinsei