Shiba Tamotsu

Background
Tamotsu comes from a vassal family to the Shiba known as the Hokyoshi. They are a small family from the outskirts of the Phoenix lands and those of the empire as well. He led a normal childhood growing up in the mountains of the Phoenix with nothing of notable importance having occured until the age of 12. In the year 427 his parents were killed while returning from a trade venture to Lion lands.

Having shown great tracking and martial skill he was taken in and trained by the Shiba. He was selected to participate in the Topaz Championship in the year 430.

Personality
Tamotsu was quite shaken by the death of his parents which caused a slight introversion in his character. While once playful, energetic and rambunctious, he has become more quiet and reserved after moving from his mountain home to the large cities of the Phoenix lands. Around others he is quick to embrace his newfound stoic nature, especially in the face of unknown individuals. Given time he will relax around those he has come to know.

He has always been a curious individual, often losing himself in his devotion to knowledge and information. If not reading, he can usually be found immersed in a game of some kind, most notably Shogi (a long-time favorite).

Journey to Tsuma
Tamotsu has been chosen to represent the Phoenix in the Topaz Championship in the year 430. As per his training as a yojimbo he has been assigned to guard Moshi Setsuko, a young shugenja also participating in the Topaz Championship. After traveling to the Moshi islands to meet Setsuko, they travelled together to Tsuma, the site of the Topaz Championship. Just outside of the city they are joined by six other hopeful young samurai competing in the Championship.

Shortly after departing the teahouse the newly formed group bump into a strange heimin on the road. The man's strange actions caused Tamotsu unrest and he chose not to bother with the peasant, instead putting himself between the man and Setsuko. It was shortly revealed that the encounter was a test of sorts as the peasant offered a choice of gifts to the two members of the group who had shown the most kindness towards him.

Site of the Championship
As they arrived in Tsuma the group split off to attend to their own devices. Tamotsu felt obliged to follow Setsuko and saw no reason not to accompany her to the message board located in the square as it might contain important postings about the tournament. Upon their arrival they noticed three bulletins posted. The first message bore instructions for all Lion samurai participating in the tournament, the second, a warning to wear something sturdy to the first event, and the third proclaimed that the Emporer himself would be attending the Championship and would be arriving later that day. Upon seeing the third posting Setsuko grabbed Tamotsu by the sleeve and made way to the Temple of the Seven Fortunes along with Mirumoto Tanaka in order to perform her duties as a shugenja before the Emporer arrived.

After witnessing the glory of the Son of Heaven firsthand, they learned that a festival was about to begin in the city in honor of the participants. Tamotsu was scolded by Setsuko for wanting to retire for the night and instructed to have a good time before going to bed at a reasonable hour. Having done so, he retires for the night after an hour about Tsuma.

The First Day of Topaz
The next morning Tamotsu joined the gathering of participants for the first event. It was to be a footrace through the woods to the goal on the nearby beach. The objective would be to claim one of only five flags from the goal line. He performed adequately but not well enough to secure a flag at the finish. He noticed that Setsuko had retrieved a flag and made his way over to her to offer congratulations on her performance. Before he could finish his praise the next event was announced to be a heraldry contest and would be starting in 15 minutes. Setsuko and Tamotsu studied their notes feverishly before the test and were interupted midway by a Sparrow clan samurai. She introduced herself as Suzume (I'll fix this later...) and, after an invitation by Setsuko, joined them in their studies.

The Heraldry contest came and went with nothing but failure for Tamotsu. He couldn't help but notice that he could easily have identified most of the other items presented to competitors save for the one presented for his turn. After the Heraldry competition Tamotsu was led to another hall for a demonstration by the students of the White Crane Dojo. This demonstration was interupted by Doji Bosai and his implication of Daidoji Kimi in a childish prank that ruined one of Bosai's best kimonos. Bosai was pointed to the correct prankster and Kimi was sparred the shame of her brother actions.

Shortly thereafter the Law contest saw another point added towards Tamotsu's gempukku after he successfully answered 5 of 7 questions on Rokugani Law correctly. Following the Law contest all of the participating samurai were led to another great hall for the final event of the day, the Sumai Competition. Tamotsu lost his match to Momonjii and finished the day with 2 points toward his gempukku.

Night of the Moonlight Stroll
The first day of competition ended with a grand banquet at the House of the Red Sting. Setsuko orders Tamotsu to have a good time at the banquet and after a short period of doing so he is invited for a walk down by the lake by Suzume. After checking with Setsuko, he is quickly pulled outside by the Suzume. During their walk the Sparrow talks of love and asks about Tamotsu's relationship with his charge. After assuring her that he has no romantic feelings towards Setsuko the two are interupted by the sound of a nearby fight. Upon arriving at the source of the sounds, they find the body of the son of the Badger clan daimyo. After a quick investigation they find evidence of a ninja attack. Yogo Hino comes across the two mid investigation and demands an explination.

Guards arrive and escort the three young samurai to an audience with Doji Bosai and the Emerald magistrates. With no evidence to implicate Hino and no precedent to explain how any of the three students could have killed four samurai, the three are dismissed as suspects in the murders. Believing Hino to have been the murderer the Sparrow blurts out the beginning of an accusation before being stopped by Tamotsu. However, it is too late and Hino requests a duel to be held in the morning to regain her honor.

Knowing that she will not survive the duel, Tamotsu spends the night training the Sparrow in the ways of Iaijutsu to bolster her chances of success as well as comfort her. As they finish with the training the Sparrow advances on Tamotsu but he refuses her. She believes that he has lied about his feelings for Setsuko and he assures her that he was nothing but truthful earlier by the lake. He apologizes for not being able to comfort her enough and quickly leaves her quarters.

Tamotsu searches out and confronts Hino about her actions earlier that night. She reveals nothing but mentions that she knows that he has been touched by one of the spirit realms as she has by Gaki-do. With his newfound knowledge Tamotsu leaves her for the night to get some sleep before the next tay of events.

The Second Day of Topaz
Tamotsu watched along with the other students as Lady Sun rose into view on the horizon. The second day of the Topaz Championship began with the death of the Sparrow at dawn.

Tamotsu entered the weapons contest with the sword and defeated his Setsuko in a most ironic match-up of shugenja versus her yojimbo. The next event was one of theology, which tamotsu passed effortlessly after answering 6 of 7 questions correctly. In another fated pairing, he faced Hino in the Go competition and lost a close game. He only wished his many games of Shogi could have prepared him for the wildly different game of Go. The fourth competition of the day was and archery contest. Tamotsu hit the first two targets squarely before failing to hit the final target.

At this point the competitors were served lunch and given time to rest before the championship would resume. Tamotsu looked forward to the upcoming competitions as he noted that with 4 points he only needed one more to pass his gempukku and move on to the iaijutsu tournament.

The fifth test of the day was one of rhetoric in which he was asked about the goal of law and the use of retribution versus restitution. He argued that the goal changes based on the offense in question and that neither retribution nor restitution could be used universally. His answer to this question gained him a passing score and his fifth gempukku point. After failing the calligraphy test the participating students moved on to the etiquette test. With a solid grasp of Rokugani etiquette under his belt, Tamotsu easily passed.

As night began to fall over the tournament grounds the participants were lead out to the edge of the forest bordering the testing grounds. Doji Nagiko announces the final test to be a hunt for Tsu fish eggs. They are warned of the ferocity of the Tsu fish and then the hunt begins. Setsuko and Tamotsu ae joined by Schuchong in their search for the eggs. Setsuko is able to hasten their search by comuning with the air kami. The kami point the group in the correct direction and after a short search they find what they believe to be Tsu fish eggs. On their way back to the judges Tamotsu notices a bewildered Momonjii searching the trees for eggs. Tamotsu points him in the right direction and then continues on his way out of the forest. As they reach the judges they see that a small campfire has been made and that the eggs they have found will be served up as dinner for the night. With a genuine Tsu fish egg in hand, Tamotsu earns his seventh point towards his gempukku.

Celebrations and a Crying Lion
As the second day of the Topaz championship winds to a close the judges announce a celebration for all those who have successfully passed their gempukku. Tamotsu and Setsuko both pass their gempukku along with the other 6 young samurai that they met the day before on the road to Tsuma. After the celebration Tamotsu and a group of his companions stumble upon Matsu Nami in an alleyway. She tells them that she had been invited to dinner with Doji Sekidera and upon leaving had forgotten her grandfather's daisho. Tamotsu regrets that he can do nothing for the young Matsu and after hearing that Setsuko has a way to recover her daisho, heads off to bed for the night.

The Iaijutsu Tournament
On the morning of the third day Tamotsu is up early in preparation for the day's tournament. His first match is once again against his charge Setsuko. As they begin their duel he is impressed with Setsuko's prowess with the sword. He narrowly defeats her and moves on to the next round. His next opponent is Daidoji Kimi. She quickly defeats him and eliminates him from the tournament and crushes his chances of winning the Topaz Championship. Tamotsu watches with glee as Yogo Hino is forcefully and shamefully ejected from the tournament after attacking Schuchong during their match. As the tournament comes to a close Bayushi Sidachi and Setsuko duel for the championship in a tiebreaker situation. The Bayushi comes out victorious and is declared the Topaz Champion.

Tamotsu (formerly Takeshi) passes his gempukku and takes the name of his family's founder, Tamotsu, and becomes the personal yojimbo of Setsuko.

3 Years Later...
Tamotsu and Setsuko spend the next three years traveling between the Phoenix and Centipede lands as Setsuko has become the official Centipede diplomat to the Phoenix.