Seppun Tashime

Seppun Tashime was a bushi, paragon, and Seppun Magistrate of the Imperial Families. He was the hatamoto of Seppun Katsura. Death at Koten, p. 81
== Magistrate ==
=== Student ===
Tashime was a student of Seppun Katsura in the Sapphire Blade Dojo. He became a personal friend of his sensei. He quickly demonstrated his worthy and rose through the ranks of the Seppun Magistrates. Vacant Throne, p. 124
=== Secret past ===
Barely past his gempukku and unmarried he had a daughter. To honor his duties, he decided to forsake his role as a father, and his daughter never knew of him. Endgame, by Shawn Carman
=== Yasuki lands ===
In 1170 in the Month of the Dragon the Otomo Daimyo Otomo Hoketuhime was found murdered in her chambers in the Imperial Palace. Tashime was the first option for conducting the investigation, but he was already in Yasuki lands, so another took the murder. Words & Deeds, Part III, by Shawn Carman
== Kazunori's manipulation ==
=== Yasuki Court ===
Tashime was overseeing a court between the Crab and Crane clans at the Yasuki Estates in the summer of 1170. Death at Koten, pp. 21-25
When Yasuki Tijaki challenged Doji Kishio, Tashime also oversaw the resulting duel, in which Kakita Aichiko killed Hida Hachimoto. Death at Koten, pg. 27-32 Following that, Tashime observed the preparations for Tijaki's seppuku. Death at Koten, pg. 33-36
Shortly after the duel, the seppuku of Mirumoto Kaichi was brought to Tashime's attention. Death at Koten, pg. 37 Tashime spoke with the Dragon ambassador, Kitsuki Umibe, who informed him that Kaichi was Hachimoto's brother. Death at Koten, pp. 38-42
=== Shiro Kitsuki ===
Tashime researched the genealogy of Kaichi and Hachimoto in the Miya libraries, then travelled to Shiro Kitsuki to speak with Kitsuki Iweko. He informed her that the brothers were distant descendants of Agasha Kyoso, and asked whether that link might have allowed Kyoso no Oni to exert control over them (as Tashime believed that Kaichi, under Kyoso's control, may have been responsible for the murder of Hida Kisada). Iweko suggested that Tashime consult the Phoenix Clan. Death at Koten, pp. 43-50
=== Toshi Ranbo ===
Tashime travelled to Toshi Ranbo to speak with Asako Bairei about his theory. Bairei said the Phoenix would try to formulate a plan for dealing with Kyoso no Oni, and suggested that Tashime consult a Kitsu sodan-senzo in the mean time. Death at Koten, pp. 54-71
Tashime met Tamori Shaiko, who claimed to have been sent by Iweko, outside the library. She elected to accompany him on his journey to the Lion lands. Death at Koten, p. 71-76 Shaiko flirted with Tashime during the journey. Love & Duty, by Shawn Carman
=== Kyuden Ikoma ===
Tashime and Shaiko rode for the command group of Akodo Tsudoken, which was stationed near Kyuden Ikoma. They were stopped by Matsu Youko, who demanded to see their travel papers. Death at Koten, pp. 79-83
Tashime spoke with General Tsudoken, whose hatamoto, Ikoma Ryudo, escorted him to where Kitsu Ineko was staying. Death at Koten, pg. 88-93 Ineko tried to question the spirits, but could not find the ones Tashime sought. Death at Koten, pg. 94-98 Tashime, Ineko, and Shaiko were then ambushed by Spider monks of the Order of Venom, who were allied with the Unicorn Clan and sought to shame the Lion by killing an imperial family member in their camp. With the aid of Lion soldiers, the monks were slain. Death at Koten, pp. 99-102
=== Love ===
Shaiko was recovering the wound she took during the fight while returning to Toshi Ranbo. She used the traveling time to be closer with Tashime, and they became lovers. 
=== Travel to Crab Lands ===
Two weeks later, Bairei's plan was ready. Tashime and Shaiko met up with Asako Fosu and Isawa Mariko and sailed for the Crab lands on a Mantis ship captained by Yoritomo Iwata. Death at Koten, pp. 106-112
Three days later, the ship arrived in the Crab lands. Kuni Daigo, having been contacted by Bairei, had sent Hiruma Akio to met with Tashime's group and guide them through the Shadowlands. Death at Koten, pp. 114-117
=== The Shadowlands ===
Akio lead the group to a location where three dead Naru no Oni were reported, reasoning that only an Oni Lord would be powerful enough to kill them. Tashime noticed that they were being followed but continued with his mission. Death at Koten, pp. 120-126
Kyoso no Oni appeared when the party approached her lair. Moshi Enju, Tamori Shaiko, and a Crab scout were killed in the ensuing battle. Death at Koten, pg. 127-131 Asako Fosu and Isawa Mariko sacrificed thenselves to bind Kyoso no Oni in a Black Scroll. Death at Koten, pg. 132-136 The human Agasha Kyoso reappeared then and was taken into custody. Death at Koten, pp. 137-138
Tashime had felt the hand of some unknown party and his every instinct insisted that he had being manipulated. Someone who cloaked himself in such secrecy could not resist the urge to see the fruits of his labor, so within the men who had followed his party was the mastermind. Vacant Throne, p. 125 Tashime then ambushed these men, killing three of them and capturing Yogo Kazunori, who Tashime believed had been manipulating events. Death at Koten, pp. 139-145
Although he did not realize it, Kazunori had performed a vital service to the Empire, for Kyoso was also a fragment of Kali-Ma's divine essence. This scroll thus prevented her from exerting her full divine power, and would become the focus of ongoing quests by both her followers and Fu Leng. Imperial Histories 2, p. 249
== Spider yojimbos at court ==
In 1171 during the siege of Shiro Shiba the Shiba Yojimbos were gathered to defend their ancestral home, and replaced by sohei of the Order of the Spider. They were appointed to their charges in the winter court at Kyuden Bayushi. The Emerald Champion Shosuro Jimen passed him information about their true nature, members of the Spider Clan. The War of Dark Fire, Part 13, by Shawn Carman
== Presiding duels ==
Tashime presided the duel won by Moshi Mineko over the ronin Minoko. Gencon 2009 Tournament Fictions: The Duel, by Rusty Priske
== Daigotsu Shaiko ==
Tashime came to a temple as part of an investigation about the village nearby which had stopped its tax collection. The villagers had been taught the fighting arts, and they looked upon outsiders with disdain. The magistrate believed the monks there could be the source of the change. Tashime talked inside the temple with Hongo, who refused to give explanations. Before the sohei could be caught for questioning, Tashime was struck by a maho spell and fell unconscious. He recognized the voice of the caster, the late Shaiko, Scenes from the Empire 3, by Brian Yoon and Shawn Carman his former lover. Tashime had not turned away from her remains in the shadowlands, and she had raised as an undead. 
=== Seeking information ===
Tashime wandered between monasteries researching their historical records, seeking information regarding the Order of Venom. In 1172 he was in one of the monasteries where he defeated a sohei who had attacked him when Tashime spoke ill of the Order. He was informed by the monk that Shaiko was now called as the Grey Woman, and she had became a favored student of Michio. Scenes from the Empire 5, by Rusty Priske, Nancy Sauer, & Shawn Carman
=== Besting Shaiko ===
Tashime pursued the activities of the Grey Woman, and disguised he infiltrated in a ronin group hired by her sohei followers. Shaiko was participating in the extortion of the seasonal tithe of Favored Star Village when Tashime uncovered his facade. He and his men killed the ronin and sohei, but Shaiko managed to escape. Scenes from the Empire 10, by Brian Yoon & Shawn Carman
=== Quelsaurth ===
Rumours that the Grey Woman had been seen in a monastery in the Shinomen Mori reached Tashime. He alongside Kuni Iyedo, his second in command, arrived there and met the Naga Quelsaurth, one of the Shogun's Advisors, who had been living with the Lost. The naga had spread the rumors to summon Tashime and pass an information he had gathered from the Spider, that Jigoku had a new avatar in the physical world, Kali-Ma. Scenes from the Empire 13, by Rusty Priske and Shawn Carman
=== Reporting ===
Tashime reported what the naga said to his Lord, to Shosuro Jimen, to whom rejected a station as Emerald Magistrate, and to the Empress Iweko I and her Voice, Togashi Satsu. Tashime considered the Order of the Spider a danger to the Empire, and suggested they should be destroyed. The Empress allowed him to follow his quest for the Grey Woman and the Spider sohei. 
=== Shaiko's death ===
In 1173 Iyedo impersonated Tashime to uncover the Grey Woman, and during a visit to a temple she appeared and wounded the Kuni. Tashime confronted her and managed to deadly wound her, but he was severly injured. During his fight Iyedo had been killed by an unknown monk, who denied Shaiko the aid she requested and let her to die. The monk spared Tashime's life, to see him another time, and left. 
== Retirement ==
After cleansing his shame, he retired from active duty and returned to Kyuden Seppun, where he lived out his days warning younger generations of the price of blindly following duty without concern for the rest of the world. Unexpected Allies 2, p. 77 The exact fate of Tashime was unknown but he was dead before the end of the 12th century. 2012 Winter Court Season: The Saga of Heroes
== See also ==
* Seppun Tashime/Meta
== External Links ==
* Seppun Tashime (Death at Koten)
* Seppun Tashime Exp (The Harbinger)
Category:Imperial Families Members
Category:Magistrates