Bayushi Sozui

Warning : This article may contain spoilers from several first edition modules! 
At first glance, Bayushi Sozui was an impressive and refined Scorpion Clan courtier. In fact, she was a skilled assassin, trained in the ways of the Shosuro Shinobi. Game Master's Pack and Screen: The Silence Within Sound, p. 17 She was also a servant of the Lying Darkness. Otosan Uchi Box set: Book 2, p. 71
== Birth and Childhood ==
Bayushi Sozui was born into the Kakita family of the Crane Clan. In 1100, when she was a child, she was supposed to be exchanged for one year with a Matsu child as an act of goodwill. Both the escorts were slaughtered by agents of the Scorpion Clan and the children were stolen in an effort to sow animosity between the Crane and Lion Clans. Silence Within Sounds, p. 44 The Lion child was named Matsu Shimesu. Legacy of the Forge: Book 2, p. XX
Sozui was raised as a Scorpion. Conditionned and shadow-branded by the Shosuro family in order to make her forgot her name and her origin, she became very effective as an infiltrator agent, but the process helped the Lying Darkness to claim her as one of its own. 
== Sodan Senzo Knowledge ==
In 1118 Sozui enlisted Kitsu Goden, a Kitsu Sodan Senzo who could make the ancestors of both the Lion and the Crane Cans become unhappy with the current state of affairs in the Empire. Goden began guiding certain key spirits astray, and several became yorei, souls bound to the physical world. The most prominet one of them was the spirit of Akodo Arasou, who was killed by the Crane in 1120 attempt to take Toshi Ranbo. Goden and Sozui kept their success a secret. Legacy of the Forge, p. 9
== Kenson Gakka ==
This year she had devised a plan to get back the city of Kenson Gakka from the hands of the Lion Clan. Her goal was to increase the tensions between the Crane and Lion Clans. (It's not clear if this was a side effect desired by the Scorpion Clan or if she was at the time already acting for the Shadow). She infiltrated the castle as a Dragonfly courtier and assassinated Akodo Ikare, general of the place, replacing him with a Shosuro Actor. After the kidnapping of Ikare's son, the false Ikare ordered the slaughter of the Yaruki Jukko monastery, who was receiving Crane monks at the time. The only survivor was Tankenka the shinpu of the monastery. Ultimately, the Scorpion Clan's plan to take back Kenson Gakka failed, when the Lion defended it in the Battle of the Humble Turtle, but the slaughter of the monks did increase the tension between the Crane and Lion clans. Imperial Histories, p. 129
== Legacy of the Forge ==
Sozui studied the Kitsu Archives in the Castle of the Swift Sword. There she learned of the Legacy of the Forge, faceless warrior spirits from Toshigoku who had been sealed off by the sodan senzo a long time ago. Scrolls from Kitsu Jikai theorized the spirits could be controlled with the sacrifice of kami spirits, but only when a bridge between Toshigoku and Ningen-do was made, through an epic battle. Legacy of the Forge, p. 10
=== Unknown Danger ===
She did not know that Shimesu had seen her, and retrieved the last part of the accounts. They told of a great danger, as long as the toshi remained in the Living World, every death by their hand would increase their number. Unless the ritual to lead them home was performed quickly, the Legacy unleashed upon the Empire would rapidly grow out of any kami's control, destroying everything it touched. Legacy of the Forge, p. 11
=== Unleashing the Legacy ===
In 1123, The Atlas of Rokugan, p. 283 along with the traitor Kitsu Goden, Sozui manipulated the tensions between the Lion and Crane at Toshi Ranbo. Matsu Agame, a Lion diplomat entrenched in peace talks with the Crane had a secret relationship with Doji Meiko, the daughter of a visiting Crane general. Sozui brought the affair to light and Agame requested seppuku, which would happen in front of the armies of both clans. Sozui concealed herself in the Crane ranks and killed Agami's son, Matsu Izedan, with an arrow, who was acting as his father's second. Agame was unable to complete the cut himself, and bleed to death sobbing Meiko's name. Open fighting between the clans erupted as a result. Using the Legacy of the Forge to possess samurai from both Clans forcing them into the Battle of the Forgotten Tide. Legacy of the Forge, p. 24 Eventually, she was exposed and defeated by a small band of samurai. Legend of the Five Rings: Third Edition, p. 19 Sozui fled using her abilities as a shadowspawn, but not before she killed Tankenka, the shikken who had been sent as peacemaker, and former shinpu of Yaruki Jukko. Legacy of the Forge, pp. 26-27
=== Last Piece of the Ritual ===
Sozui and Goden followed the tracks of the last part of the ritual, that had been hidden in one of the many hirajiro in the Plains of Battle. The outpost was guarded by a demon, Giama no Oni, and the Lying Darkness stole the oni's name, through the Shadow Brand Sozui had. Giama went mad, but was able to force the couple back. Legacy of the Forge, p. 43
=== Shiro no Yojin ===
Goden and Sozui decided to unleash the Legacy at another point where the tensions between Crane and Lion was high, Shiro no Yojin. They infiltrated the castle as Lion reinforcements. Legacy of the Forge, p. 50 During the Battle for Shiro no Yojin they were exposed by the same group of samurai who were tracking them down, but she and Goden used their Shadow powers to avoid pursuit. Legacy of the Forge, p. 58 The samurai managed to perform a ritual that released the Legacy from Ningen-do, and the spirits took Goden's life. However, Sozui survived the day. Legacy of the Forge, p. 62
== Preparing the Scorpion Coup ==
Sozui was in Otosan Uchi prior to the Scorpion Coup, where she acted to increase the instability and chaos in the city in order to facilitate the coup. She tried to bring forth and form an army for the Lying Darkness. She tried to recruit from a Yaruki Jukko monastery, created in Otosan Uchi after the Kenson Gakka massacre. In the persona of Ikoma Shoniko she had begun a romance with Tokiuji, a manipulable sosha, and planted in his mind the seeds of dissension among the masses. Otosan Uchi:Book 2, p. 73 In the persona of Hiruma Maroke she planted herself as assistant to Kuni Fujiko, the Crab ambassador in the Court. Since Maroke's first appearance in the Imperial Court, tension had spiraled out of control, and violent debates frequently happened. One of the worst topics was the potential for another peasant uprising in the Karada district. Otosan Uchi:Book 2, p. 74
== See also ==
* Bayushi Sozui/Meta
Category:Characters with Pictures
Category:Scorpion Clan Members
Category:Nothing Personalities