Ieteru Kumagaya

Ieturu depicted during the rise of the Second Empire of Plagatea.

**Ieturu Kumagaya** is a member of Lord Yamato of Sakurai Tempo's inner circle, as a senior Samurai within the province.

## Lore

### In Sakurai Tempo

Kumagaya began his career as a mere unwilling levy, called to serve what was then the provincial guard as part of the larger army within the Empire of Plagatéa. He rose through the ranks of service through his prowess in the field of swordsmanship, and eventually became a Samurai. His skill at which would eventually lead to his induction by the Lord of Sakurai Tempo, Tempo Yamato, into his inner circle of senior Samurai.

Kumagaya's first turn to a life of cruelty under Lord Tempo's banner was a mission regarding the debt a small fishing village owed to his liege, upon their failure to meet the deadline he was instructed to burn their fishing boats to the ground. Kuma reluctantly would comply, knowing it was either their children starving or him losing his head for not following through with the commands of his lord and master. From then on it would slowly become easier, arson, robbery, extortion, battery and murder, all to not lose favor with the man that took him in from the gutter and gave him the power to be something more than mere fodder. The years have gone by and his heart may have toughened but the guilt of all those sins together still haunt him but rather than facing them he distracts himself with debaucherous behaviour.

One day, while Kumagaya was patrolling the lands of Lord Tempo as instructed, he sighted a suspicious hooded figure in the distance, slightly obscured by the mist, trespassing. His instincts overriding him, he broke off in a fast pursuit. The odd figure did not initially notice him, such were the quality of his skills, but when he eventually heard the noises of a skilled samurai in pursuit he stole off toward the woods near Gunggum. Kumagaya kept up his skilful pursuit, his surroundings almost a blur and the wind blew around him, until suddenly it stopped. Heat blasted his face, the world on fire, as he realised he was no longer in the overworld.

Deciding to keep up the pursuit, he tracked the figure through tunnels, the red walls lit dimly by torchlight. He moved quickly through them, round corners and then out in to an opening. And that was where Kumagaya stopped, despite being a man not prone to being surprised. Somehow, against all possible odds and knowledge, water was present there. There was a lake, in the fiery realm of the Nether. He knew he must bring this information to the attention of Lord Yamato, and he did so diligently, guiding him to the lake. Upon finding the lake again, Lord Yamato himself personally instructed Kumagaya to watch over this impossible lake, making him the Guardian of it.

He has also frequently been utilised by Lord Tempo as a versatile agent, ordered to "relinquish" those on the continent outside of Plagatèa of their valuables, travelling far and wide from Aurora Novum to Solitudinem to the Shattered Sea and beyond. He has cornered many a wealthy man or woman, bringing the spoils of his victory to his honourable Lord for the prosperity of their province. He operates as part of the secretive trade of the city of Sakurai Tempo, known as one of the major trade hubs on the continent, beneath which lies an extremely profitable and invisible trade in valuable stolen goods that brings in great wealth to the city and the province. It is an unspoken truth of the place, where loyalty is one of the only valuable currencies.

### The Collapse of the Second Empire of Plagatèa

Despite daily life for the 3 core provinces taken under Simulami, Sakura, Seivija and Sakura, being largely the same, the privileges of many of the nobles were considerably reduced. Ietueru felt this too, with the pleasantries of being an enforcer for one of the most powerful Lords of the nation and in all Plagos much reduced with the collapse and the resulting loss of power and influence for Lord Tempo Yamato. His duty remained however, and he did not concern himself with the stupidity of Plagosi power politics, which he viewed with severe disdain.