Tsubaru

Hida Demopen was a bushi of the Crab Clan. At the end of his active life he became a retired monk, Tsubaru.
== Destroyer War ==
=== Crab Commander ===
After the Fall of Shiro Kuni and the death of Hida Otoya in 1172, Demopen became the commander of the Crab survivors. The remnants of the Kuni fortress defenders retreated to Crane lands to take a break in the Destroyer War. Daidoji Yaichiro promised the Crane would join the Crab to fight the Destroyers. They marched again to confront a Plague Zombie mob who was threatening the Crane supply route. No Rest, by Brian Yoon
=== Scorpion lands ===
The majority of the Crab provinces were under control of the invaders. A group of Destroyers broke away the main army and entered Scorpion territory. Bayushi Kosaku prepared a trap to destroy the foe, aided by Crab and Crane forces led by Demopen and Doji Shikana. Dragon's Teeths were built underneath the surface of the flooded rice paddies, and the land was laced with oil to be burned with the enemy inside. Crab and Scorpion men would sacrifice to goad the gaijin demons into the trap. Scenes from the Empire 9, by Brian Yoon and Rusty Priske
=== Offered command ===
The combined Crab-Scorpion camp was attacked at dawn by the Destroyers. Demopen roused immediately and began shouting orders to mount a defense. Kosaku had not become ready so quickly and the Scorpion forces lay in disarray for much of the fight. Kosaku had not been fully trained as a commander, and it was only necessity that placed him as leader of his military forces. Following the tactics suggested by Demopen, Kosaku's forces gained ground to the Destroyers the following month. He offered the command to the Demopen, who he saw as more fitted to the post. This day the Crab commander decided to join his warriors in the next fight, in the first line of battle. Scenes from the Empire 17, by Rusty Priske, Brian Yoon, & Shawn Carman
== End of the War ==
In 1173 the Destroyer War had ended with the victory of the Empire. Crab and Scorpion had to rebuild their lands, and to defend the Empire against the Second Festering Pit, created after the death of the goddess Kali-Ma. The Spider Clan had been conferred the status of Great Clan. As a part of the agreement with Daigotsu, the taint would be withhold over the humans and the Rokugani would be spared the taint forever. Goddesses, Part 4, by Shawn Carman
=== Releasing the Hiruma Castle ===
His fellow Crabs in the Hiruma Castle were isolated from the Empire, and they did not know all these matters. Demopen in the Month of the Tiger this year rushed toward the castle, to contact them. He traveled forward with the scouts, instead to stay with the command group. In the journey he was attacked by an oni who wounded his legs, but Demopen managed to kill it. He was found by a young Hiruma Ichiro and a healer, Kuni Shikehime, who tended and moved him to the Hiruma Castle. The Crab inside were close to starvation, but Demopen's news allowed them to return to the Empire without be concrened about damnation through the taint the Shadowlands terrain used to confer to those who crossed them. Demopen was considered a hero, but he would keep the limp with him for the rest of his days. The Life of the Warrior, by Brian Yoon
== Stations ==
=== Lion lands ===
A recovered Demopen was sent to join Matsu Fumiyo in the Lion lands. Their combined forces scoured the Lion lands and destroyed every last remnant of the undead creatures, but no tracks of Paneki's Disgrace were found. 
=== Scorpion Wall ===
In 1175 he and his forces returned to Scorpion lands and met the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Miyako. Demopen was appointed the commander of the defenders of the workers led by Kaiu Iemasa who were building the Scorpion Wall. The wall surrounded the Second Festering Pit, guarding the Empire against the demons of Jigoku which appeared there. 
=== Married ===
In 1176 Yasuki Tenzo was the matchmaker of his wedding with Bayushi Naruhi, who took the Hida name. Naruhi's family was distantly related to the royal Bayushi bloodline. At that time his parents and sisters were already dead. 
=== Wall breached ===
In 1190 The War of the Twins, pp. 2-13 by Shawn Carman and Yoon Ha Lee a Haruno no Oni managed to breach the section of the Scorpion Wall guarded by Demopen. The Demon was destroyed by a rain of arrows and a mortal blow dealt by Demopen himself, but killed several Phoenix and an Inquisitor. He did understand how the Haruno made it past the defenses, traps, and the moving sentries without any alarms triggering, because the oni was not a very devious demon. The inquisitor, Asako Moeru, had been murdered by an assassin. The Scorpion staged the outbreak to cover the murder, and the Scorpion killed Moeru's entourage outright before the Oni breached the wall. 
=== Stepping Down ===
Demopen told his officer Hida Fujita he would retire, so the blemish the Crab might gather for the negligent deaths of visitors would disappear. He was replaced by the Hiruma boy who saved him in 1173, currently a seasoned Hiruma Scout. Ichiro had taken the name of Hiruma Tensin after his gempukku. 
== Monk ==
Demopen retired as a monk of Fukurokujin Seido in the Dragon lands, and took the name of Tsubaru. His former wife also followed and she was known as Rin, and they lived together as fellow members of the Brotherhood of Shinsei. Demopen changed the blade for the brush. 
=== Fudo ===
Rin in 1192 found several Writings of Fudo while cleaning the shrine. 
== External Links ==
* Hida Demopen (The Plague War)
Hida Demopen
Category:Members of the Brotherhood of Shinsei