Seppun Daiori

Seppun Daiori was the daimyo of the Seppun family. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 84
== Appearance ==
Daiori was a tall, stern man with hawklike features and a long courtier's braid. He was born in 1087. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 107
== Imperial Loyalist ==
Daiori was a companion to the Emperor Hantei XXXVIII in their youth, and served in the Seppun Miharu. In 1112 he fought against the Crab during their attack on an Otomo herald, and bore a scar upon his left hand from the incident which never healed properly. The Soshi Daimyo Soshi Bantaro prescribed opium drugs to alleviate the pain. 
== Imperial Guard ==
For his bravery this year Daiori was awarded with the charge of Captain of the Imperial Guard, and served with such noble guardsmen as Akodo Kage and Shiba Katsuda. 
=== Kage's pawn ===
In 1115 while leading a legion of Imperial Guardsmen traveling with his older brother, the Seppun daimyo, they were attacked by bandits. Akodo Kage, head of the guards, led the counterattack but failed to save the Seppun daimyo. That evening, Daiori found out Kage intended to place Daiori as daimyo of his family, and control him as a friend and counselor. Daiori threatened to reveal Kage's plan, but Kage produced witnesses who could testify that Daiori was at his brother's side at the time of his death, and the wound which killed him came from a closely placed knife. Daiori kept silence on Kage's betrayal and became his pawn, following all his dictates. 
== Seppun Daimyo ==
Daiori was appointed as Seppun Daimyo after his second brother died defending from an oni the Imperial Heir, Hantei Sotorii. Under his rule the Seppun had allowed the Crane to keep Toshi Ranbo from the Lion, kept the Unicorn from assaulting Kyuden Ikoma, and maintained peace between the Crab and the Iuchi over usurped Falcon Clan villages. 
=== Family ===
His wife gave birth a boy, Seppun Hotaitaka, Seppun Hotaitaka (Siege of Sleeping Mountain flavor) in 1119, after sixteen years of childlessness. Daiori knew he was not the father, but loved the child dearly. Since the death of the child's mother in 1122, Daiori had raised the boy alone. Shortly after Kage sent a letter with a subtly threat to his son's life, and most probably that his wife had been assassinated. Since that time Daiori kept his only child close. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, pp. 107-108
=== Winter Court - 1123 ===
Daiori attended winter court at Kyuden Seppun on 1123. Bayushi Kachiko wished to foster her son, Bayushi Dairu, to the Seppun. To gain a foothold with them, she sought what was behind Daiori' strange obsession with his son, and for this reason the Scorpion was so interested in the connection Seppun daimyo's apparent connection to the Lion Clan. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, pp. 86-87
== Scorpion Coup ==
=== Death ===
Daiori led the Seppun family during the Scorpion Coup and gave his life to protect the Crane embassy from enemy forces. Legacy of Disaster, p. 8
=== Alternative Tale ===
Other accounts said that Daiori survived the Scorpion Coup, and in 1125 he was stiil the Seppun Daimyo, though his life had been threatened four times over the last three years. Daiori rarely left the Imperial Palace and his paranoia became the subject of much whispering about the court. Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita, p. 84
== Gaki ==
As Daiori fought the Scorpion away from the embassy, Daiori felt overwhelming anger and horror at the events around him. His rage-filled heart had reached out at the moment of his death and touched the daisho in his hands. Daiori's Daisho was damned with a powerful curse, and Daiori became a gaki, a hungry spirit, within the blades. Legacy of Disaster, p. 14
== See also ==
* Seppun Daiori/Meta
Category:Imperial Leaders
Category:Gaki-do