Isawa Taeruko

Isawa Taeruko, cousin of Isawa Tadaka, and Isawa Tomo, Secrets of the Phoenix, p. 52 was appointed Master of Earth by Naka Kuro almost immediately after the Second Day of Thunder.
== Demeanor ==
Most of the time Taeruko was a wise and moderating force, calm, serene, and unopposable. She was also quite stubborn and never forgot a grudge, when she exposed her fearsome temper. Secrets of the Phoenix, p. 53
== Clan War==
In 1126 after Matsu Gohei recovered Toshi Ranbo from the Crane, he ordered to march toward Nikesake, a small Phoenix city near the Lion border under the command of Shiba Katsuda. Shiba Tsukune sent a young Taeruko alongside twenty four more shugenja to reinforce the defenders. The Phoenix held at bay the attackers, sending a message to Gohei: If Lion would bring war to the Phoenix, they must be prepared to face the consequences. Player's Guide: 2nd Ed, pp. 40-41
== Master of Earth ==
In 1128 Taeruko was appointed by the Grand Master of the Elements Naka Kuro. Masters of Earth, by Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf Taeruko at that time was idealistic and kept her fiery temper closely guarded, taking decisions guided by compassion. Hidden Emperor, p. 46
=== Agasha Defection ===
The Agasha told Taeruko about Hitomi's madness, and the Phoenix promised shelter under his banner if they wished. In 1131 the Agasha left the Dragon Clan. Hidden Emperor, p. 14
== War against Shadow ==
=== Hidden Heart of Iuchiban ===
In 1132 Taeruko helped Naka Kuro in defeating the bloodspeaker Asako Kaushen and retrieving the heart of Iuchiban, which ultimately would prove to be his downfall. Legions, Part IV, by Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf
=== Mantis Invasion of the Phoenix Lands ===
The same year Yoritomo invaded the Phoenix lands and Taeruko gathered Phoenix forces in Gisei Toshi led by Shiba Tetsu. In the Imperial Court, the Imperial Advisor Kakita Yoshi had listened the Mantis Claim from Yoritomo Hogosha, and the Phoenix were isolated. Clan Letter to the Phoenix #10 (Imperial Herald v3 #2)
=== The Shadows ===
Shortly after the Scorpion Clan was returned to Rokugan the Phoenix Clan Champion, Shiba Tsukune, suffered an assassination attempt. Taeruko killed the intruder an as the corpse's face was fading, they realized he was a Goju Ninja, and believed the Scorpion were connected with the event. Within Your Soul (Honor Bound flavor)
=== Death of Onnotangu and Amaterasu ===
Taeruko felt as though Amaterasu had abandoned them and that Rokugan had been forsaken by the Tao, allowing the Shadow to grow darker across the Empire. She believed it was the time to set aside destiny and choose the future. The Sun in Shadow (Ambition's Debt flavor)
== Shiba Tsukune ==
Ryoshun had given to Shiba Tsukune the bloodsword Ambition. She became compelled by it to raise her voice against the Elemental Masters, in the end cleaving their meeting table in half demanding a sixth place at the table. The masters calmed her down and the wakizashi was taken from her and placed in Gisei Toshi. The Broken Blade (Eternal Halls of Shiba, story-back - Soul of the Empire) Final Words (Fire and Shadow flavor)
== Race to Volturnum ==
Taeruko fought in the War Against Shadow Secrets of the Phoenix, p. 52 and was part of the Phoenix army that marched toward Volturnum in 1133. An army of oni led by Akuma no Oni blocked their way and Unicorn, Lion and Phoenix forces fought together. Taeruko shattered the earth, casting down the oni and allowing the Empire armies passage over corpses crushed by solid rock. The Race to Volturnum: Phoenix
=== The Incomplete Council ===
During the fighting the incomplete Council of Five planned to magically transport entire legions of armies directly to Volturnum, without having to first fight through the ranks of Goju and oni that stood in their way. The spell had been lost to Isawa Tsuke's destruction, but Hochiu had wrested the lost knowledge from the mad spirit's mind at Morikage's battle with his father. The ritual required five Masters, but the council had no one to stand for Water. They decided to attempt the ritual anyway, but it did not work as planned. It was saved only by the intervention of the returned spirit of Isawa Tomo, who completed the ritual as he added the necessary Water to the balance. The Race to Volturnum, by Ree Soesbee
=== The Fight ===
Through the course of the ritual in the Shi-Khan Wastes, Shiba Tsukune, Shiba Raigen and eight other bushi guarded the Masters. The raging battle quickly overtook them once the Masters began the ritual, the demons of the Shadowlands and the Shadow sensing the magic. The ten bushi were quickly joined by three cavalry from the Lion Clan armies, led by Matsu Mori. While the shugenja created their ritual, the bushi fended off waves of mujina, Oni no Ugulu spawn, and Goju Shadowmancers. 
=== Destruction and Salvation ===
Tsukune and her fellows were badly injured or dead as the Goju exploded into ash. She managed to call to the Soul of Shiba forming a protective shield around the remaining samurai on the field, saving them from death. The shield came just in time for the ritual to spin out of control and then be saved by Tomo. The Masters stepped through the portal that formed into Volturnum. 
== Oblivion's Gate ==
=== Battle of Oblivion's Gate ===
The gates of the city were broken, and the Empire armies rushed into the city. But the Council of Five kept the inner city gates closed, avoiding the shadows from within it to join the battle in the streets. A legion of oni and beasts of the Taint slaughtered the armies outside the city; if the armies within the inner city were released, there would be no hope for the samurai of the Empire. Voices: The Final Days of Oblivion's Gate, by Ree Soesbee
=== Returned Spirits ===
Agasha Gennai saw a glow shining within the inner city, an army of Returned Spirits. Volturnum inner city was filled with Fu Leng's diseased power, and the Taint was as strong as the Shadows. Gennai ordered Taeruko to raise a path from the city down to those on the field and kept it clear of oni. At the same time Isawa Hochiu suppressed the Shadows within the gate. Shiba Ningen opened the gate of inner Volturnum and the ancestors from Yomi and Toshigoku began to emerge from it, led by the Emperor Toturi I himself. Ningen closed again the gates to remain the Goju could not enter the outer city. The armies charged past the city gate, launching themselves from the hopeless battle in the city down toward the great plain where Shadow and Shadowlands alike fought to destroy the armies of the Empire. 
=== Adorai's Death ===
Taeruko kept the gates closed. If the gate would fall the Shadow would trap the Empire armies below. The Dragon of Air appeared to allow Hochiu to reach city's heart, with Shiba Seiko as yojimbo. Ningen opened one more time the inner gates and the Dragon of Air transported them thorugh the corrupted inner city, allowing itself to become corrupted so that the Hochiu and his yojimbo could reach the Master of Darkness, Goju Adorai. Seiko used his training as Shosuro Actress to deceive Adorai, allowing Hochiu to reach the sorcerer for a mortal blow. It led in the destruction of the Lying Darkness and the end of the War Against Shadow.
== Married ==
Shortly after the Battle of Oblivion's Gate she married Isawa Hikaru. She had a single child, who born the same day as Toturi Tsudao in 1136, Isawa Yaruko. Her husband was slained by Yobanjin raiders in 1145 and Taeruko never remarried. 
=== Death of her Daughter ===
During the War of Spirits, the armies of Hantei XVI took the children of the Phoenix Clan to force the Phoenix Clan Champion Shiba Tsukune to side with the Hantei. In order to convince the Phoenix, the Hantei ordered to kill one of the children, who ended to be Isawa Yaruko, daughter of Taeruko and wife-to-be of Tsukune's son, Shiba Aikune. The Dark Oracle of Fire, Part I, by Shawn Carman Clay Soldiers (Spirit Wars flavor)
This episode made Taeruko bear a grudge against Aikune during her whole life, as well as with Isawa Nakamuro, friend of Aikune who tried to save Yaruko too, for he was secretly in love with her. However, in her own soul Taeruko recognized the fact that she could never forgive Aikune and Nakamuro not because they failed to protect her daughter, but because as a Master of Earth one of her duties was to be an example of unyielding character and permanence for her people. 
== Tamori hatred ==
Taeruko hunted Tamori personally for years, but he eluded her and disappeared at the end of the of the War of Spirits. Taeruko was enraged with the deeds of the Dark Oracle of Fire, Agasha Tamori, against the Phoenix. She blamed on Tamori's daughter, Tamori Shaitung, as well. Nemesis (Gold flavor) After the two exchanged heated words at a Winter Court, the dislike turned into mutual hatred. Art of the Duel, p. 53
== War of Fire and Snow ==
Ide Tadaji believed that, while Taeruko's hatred for Tamori Shaitung had not started the Dragon-Phoenix War, it certainly helped fuel it. Flee the Darkness (Gold flavor)
=== Aikune's return ===
In 1159 Aikune returned to the Phoenix Clan with Isawa's Last Wish, which had taken the shape of a fiery katana. Four Winds, p. 38 Taeruko considered Aikune a foolish boy who had not the wisdowm to harness properly the Wish. Using the Wish (The Fall of Otosan Uchi flavor)
=== Shaitung Faced the Masters ===
This year Shaitung duelled the Elemental Masters, defeating them in an all-or-nothing attack. The six shugenja were swallowed up by the earth where, under the crust of the earth, they encountered Shaitung's father, Tamori. Now the Dark Oracle of Fire, it was revealed that he had caused the volcanic eruptions that instigated the Dragon-Phoenix War. Way of the Samurai, p. 96
=== Imprisoned ===
Taeruko and Isawa Hochiu attacked the Dark Oracle, and Shaitung supported them, but Tamori unleashed a wave of lava to crush the Masters. Isawa Riake sacrificed herself to make a protective ice shield that saved Shiba Ningen, Isawa Hochiu and an unconscious Taeruko, while Shaitung and Isawa Nakamuro escaped the tunnels intact. The remaining three masters were sealed in a stone prison by the Oracle, where Ningen merged their spirits with the Void, placing them into a deep slumber. They would exist in stasis until they were awakened. Imprisoned Eventually Hochiu and Taeruko were able to cut their way to the surface Clan Letter to the Phoenix #18 (Imperial Herald v2 #3) in the month of the Rooster. Imperial Histories 2, p. 204
=== Oracles ===
Taeruko researched the Oracles of Light and Dark seeking their weakness, with the aid of an expert on them, Nakamuro. Taeruko made peace with the Master of Air and admitted that Shaitung might be an ally against Tamori. 
=== The Broken Council ===
The Elemental Council was broken, with one Master a Dragon hostage and the Master of Water vacant, while Shiba Aikune used the Wish to lay a strong claim for Phoenix rulership. The Masters held a meeting to elect the new Master of Water when Aikune magically entered the forbidden room, and claimed to their equal, as his mother had done before him. Visions of Flame (Season of the Phoenix)
== A Black Scroll Recovered ==
In 1159 Kitsune Ryosei recovered the tenth Black Scroll from the City of the Lost, after she hunted her father, Kitsune Gohei. She then journeyed to Gisei Toshi and gave the scroll to Isawa Maasaki. Taeruko was informed immediately. Clan Letter to the Phoenix #20 (Imperial Herald v2 #5) Visions of Flame (Season of the Phoenix)
== New Master of Water ==
To seal a treaty between the Phoenix and Crane Clans, Doji Akiko became Master of Water in 1159 Broken Wishes, by Rich Wulf nominated by Taeruko. Arrow of Purity (Fall of Otosan Uchi flavor)
=== Aikune's Retreat ===
In 1160 while the Council, included its new member Akiko but without Isawa Hochiu who died facing the Dark Oracle of Fire, where dealing a trade treaty with Yasuki Naosuke, Aikune rushed again in the chamber. He told the Elemental Masters his decision to use the power of the Wish against Fu Leng and left. The next thing Taeruko knew of Aikune was that an explosion devastated the Temple of the Last Wish, and Aikune with the Wish were disappeared. Aikune was alive, but shamed. He had commanded the Wish to magically march to Tengoku, being rebufed by the Wish who became uncontrolled, and caused the explosion. The Wish was afraid of the Kami who killed his father Isawa. Aikune had came with the Wish into exile. 
== Aged Taeruko ==
Taeruko drew upon the spirits of earth to maintain youthful vigor even into her old age. The Last Rememberer, Part Two, by Rich Wulf
== Rain of Blood ==
In 1165 Taeruko and the rest of the council were warned of the Rain of Blood and decided to only advise the Emperor and the Crane Clan. The Phoenix Shugenja coordinated a ritual that protected the Phoenix lands of the Rain. Blood Dawn, Part VII: Soul of the Phoenix, by Rich Wulf
=== Hidden City ===
The four Isawa Masters were summoned in the Grove of the Five Masters. What they would discuss was not for Ningen's ears. Shiba Ningen was the only Elemental Master who was not Isawa, and there was only one secret the other Masters kept from him, Gisei Toshi, the Hidden City. Agasha Hamanari, the Phoenix prophet, had had another vision regarding blood, hammer, and the hidden city. The Masters understood that Yajinden, the bloodspeaker smither, had contacted with Ambition, the Bloodsword he had crafted centuries ago, which was kept at Gisei Toshi. There were many powerful nemuranai in the city, and even two Black Scrolls. Nakamuro was outvoted, he lobbied for asking aid and sharing the knowledge of the city, while the rest voted to maintain the secrecy and defend the city in the Siege of Gisei Toshi, or destroy the city if it was not possible. Fires of the Hidden City, part 1, by Rich Wulf
== Taeruko's Sacrifice ==
Taeruko died in the Grove of the Five Masters at Kyuden Isawa, sacrificing herself to complete a ritual made by the rest of the Maters and Naka Tokei. The spell stopped the immense oni Kusatte Iru, unleashed by Iuchiban as distraction while the Bloodspeaker carried out his true plans at Gisei Toshi. Fires of the Hidden City, Part 5, by Rich Wulf
== See also ==
* Isawa Taeruko/Meta
== External Links ==
* Isawa Taeruko (Dark Journey Home)
Category:Phoenix Clan Leaders