Note: I happened to read this again recently and since it is both canon (I consider it the definitive tale of the founding of the Tsuruchi) and really cool I thought I would post it here for anyone who hadn't read it. The following was first printed in Shadis Magazine (vol vi, number xi, pp. 39-44). I edited it to cut out the RPG related material sadly that means I also cut out some good parts (like the tale of the duel between a Tsuruchi Archer and a foolish Lion or a exchange between Kakita Toshimoko and Tsuruchi). If you want the whole thing you can find it on the old Yoritomo Mailing-list here: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/yoritomo/message/3139
Tsuruchi
Written by John Wick
"It is as if you do not aim," I told Tsuruchi. He smiled, "The arrow knows the way."
"History is what comes before. All things after are fate."-Yogo Oshio
This is not a handsome story, nor is it an honorable one. But it is a true story, and if you listen well, you will learn the lessons of those who helped make it.
It takes place fifteen years ago in the lands just south of the Scorpion border, at the great castle of Ashinagabachi, a castle that once held the family of noble Bayushi Uchinore, a cousin of the scorpion daimyo and a lover of beautiful things. One of those things was the lovely Akodo Tameko, daughter of Akodo Ranabe.
Their love was one to rival the gossip that surrounded it, and their nights of heated passion produced a son – at least, that’s what Tameko told her lover and her father. Uchinore cared little for the proof of the boy’s blood, and accepted him as his son, even though he was scheduled to marry another later that year. The boy grew quick and strong, but much to the Scorpions’ dismay, he was not sent to Bayushi castle to be trained in the arts of his ancestors. Uchinore and Tameko tutored the boy themselves, despite their family’s objections. He showed great talent for bugei especially in the art of kyujutsu. He mother nicknamed him "Tsuruchi," which means "Little Wasp."
The Scorpion grew quite concerned about the heir apparent of their southern gateway, but Uchinore disregarded their disquiet. Likewise, Crane courtiers whispered about the "shame of the Akodo" who had taken residence in the arms of a Scorpion, daring even to bear him a bastard. Quieter whispers were passed between the Scorpion and Lion, whispers of betrayal and murder.
On New Year’s Day, a Scorpion assassin entered the halls of Uchinore’s home disguised as a servant. As the day progressed, the assassin inched his way toward the boy. Uchinore spotted the impostor just as a small glass bottle of poison slipped from the assassin’s fingers. That fumble gave the daimyo time to move, pull the assassin away from his son, and find an envenomed blade in his own throat. Tameko found a companion blade in her side as she turned to see her smiling maid twist the knife, then run into the castle. The assassins escaped as Tsuruchi stood stunned, his parent’s spirits fleeing their dying bodies. Within an hour, the south wall scouts spotted a Lion army moving through Crane territory. Still a year away from his gempukku ceremony, Tsuruchi organized the castle’s army into defensive positions. Their commanders, however, had different orders. They turned on the boy, commanding their sergeants to kill the bastard. Tsuruchi saw doubt in the soldier’s eyes and knew exactly what was about to happen.
"The Lions are at our doors!" he shouted. "Do you think they will spare any of us? Do you think they care which Scorpion is the master of the castle? We are nothing to them. We have been betrayed, my friends! Stand with me now, and I promise you that we will turn back the Lions and gain revenge on those who have turned against us!"
His words were not enough. Swords were drawn and a long and bloody skirmish began. After it was done, Tsuruchi was alive, but only a third of his father’s army was left standing. Half of them were so sorely wounded that they would not be able to fight the advancing Lion army. The young warrior went to the wall to see whose banner led the army and found it was the army of his mother’s brother. Tsuruchi cursed the fortunes and prepared for defeat. When his uncle arrived, Tsuruchi went out with five guards to meet him. His uncle saw the wounds on the Scorpions and nodded with understanding.
"Your cousins have done as they promised," he said. "But I am no Scorpion. I am here to offer you a way out."
"I am listening," Tsuruchi answered.
"You have two choices. You can surrender or fight. If you surrender, I will spare the lives of all honorable men who surrender with you. If you choose to fight, I will kill every man, woman, and child in the place."
Tsuruchi nodded. "Very well. Give me until sunset to consider…"
"I give you one hour," his uncle said. Then, he rode back to his army.
Tsuruchi watched as the Lions prepared for battle. Their ranks reached so far back, it seemed as if they stretched to the horizon. He rode back to the castle and considered his position.
His shugenja had already communicated their position to Bayushi castle, but they were offered no solace. "Our armies are too far away," they responded. "You stand alone." Tsuruchi knew better. He knew a Scorpion army lay hidden somewhere,waiting for the Lion to engage, then attack while they recovered from their siege. His Clan had already written his death into their history books.
As he thought of his uncle’s offer, two voices pounded in his head. The first was his mother, urging him to fight, no matter what the price. The second was his father, telling him to be practical. He could not win. The Lions were too many. They had crossed bad land to reach the southern border, thereby knowing that the south was the most difficult to defend. "They must have the castle plans," he thought. "My kin do not miss a detail."
"They are counting on me being a Lion to spite them. But I shall show them different."
An hour after he made the offer, Tsuruchi’s uncle saw his nephew ride forth, waving a banner of surrender. The Lion armies cheered a sad hurrah, eager to see Scorpion blood spill. Tsuruchi’s uncle shifted in his saddle. This was not in the plan. Sitting beside him, a man dressed in Lion armor leaned close and whispered to him. The Lion recoiled from the whisper as if the man had spit into his ear.
"No," he said. "I will not."
The man dressed in Lion armor smiled. I am certain your lady, Matsu Kajitoko why you chose to ignore her orders." And with those words, he passed a scroll bearing the Matsu family seal into the Lion’s hands.
Tsuruchi’s uncle opened the scroll and read the words, then, crumpled the letter and threw it to the earth with tears in his eyes.
As Tsuruchi approached with his guards, he saw his uncle throw something to the ground and shut his eyes tight. Then, he saw him draw his katana high into the air. The last sound he heard was his uncle giving the command to charge.
Tsuruchi did not know why the fortunes saw fit to spare him on that day, as well as seventy of his father’s soldiers. They watched the Lions occupy the castle and hang those who were not lucky enough to escape on the castle walls.
In the shadow of those woods, Tsuruchi drew his bloodstained sword from its sheath and laid it on a rock. The samurai blade broke under the strength of his foot.
"I will never again carry the samurai’s weapon," he said to the men who surrounded him. "For I am samurai no longer."
Years pass by quickly if you don’t keep your eye on them. Before he knew it, Tsuruchi’s uncle had been master of castle for two of them. One night, as he lay sleeping in his bed, he felt a painful pressure on his arms and the drip of cold water on his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw his nephew, crouching over him, a foot on each arm, a bow in his hands, and an arrow resting on his throat.
"If you surrender," Tsuruchi said, "do you think I’ll spare you?"
He stammered, a bit. Before he could finish his words, Tsuruchi stood and fired the arrow shot through his throat. It took him a fair time to die, and Tsuruchi watched every second. Moments later, the garrison house caught fire. The doors and windows were barred, so none of the bushi could escape. It took them quite a while longer to die than their master. Tsuruchi didn’t bother to watch them die.
By morning, the Lions who did not surrender were dead. Those who did were freed with Tsuruchi’s warning. "Let the Lion know," he told them,"that this land is now mine. It is not Lion land and it is not Scorpion land. It is my land, and may the Fortunes take pity on any man, Lion or Scorpion, who thinks I have any mercy in my heart for those who conspire to take it from me…."
Despite his bold words, Tsuruchi knew he had a problem. A Scorpion army could march on him from Bayushi castle within days. The Lion could likewise move against him. With an army of only forty-seven, Tsuruchi needed an ally.
Tsuruchi visited upon the Emerald Champion and then upon the Daimyo of the Crane Clan. The young man told them his story; told them his conviction. Doji Utori, the Crane daimyo, was disappointed in Tsuruchi’s renouncement of bushido, but his friend Doji Tsukihi, the Emerald Champion, saw conviction in the boy’s eyes.
"Let him speak," asked Tsukihi.
Utori considered it, and at once said "speak,samurai." When Utori referred to the young man as "samurai," Tsuruchi shook his head.
"I am samurai no longer."
Utori’s gaze tightened. "Then, what are you?"
"A man,"
Doji Utori, sitting next to the Emerald Champion,suddenly burst out in laughter. "This boy has not lost his way," Utori told Tsukihi. "He knows his way."
Tsukihi looked at his cousin carefully, then addressed Tsuruchi. "The Doji house will support your claim to your father’s castle, despite what our brothers may choose to do."
Charmed by the boy’s resolve, Tsukihi declared Tsuruchi a magistrate of the Emerald Champion. "Any and all… men… who choose to follow you will also be under my protection." Finally, he declared Ashinagabachi a permanent garrison for magistrates, and under his protection. They were allowed to wear any mon of their choosing, as long as they also wore the mon of the Emerald Champion. Tsuruchi returned to his castle with the seal of the Emperor on his chest.
He told the forty-nine men who followed him of his pact with Tsukihi and they cheered. Tsuruchi’s yojimbo and life-long friend Mukami then revealed that the men were already wearing their new mon: the Wasp.
The Wasp Clan Bounty Hunters
"No one can pull the draw-string, but you."
For the next thirteen years, Tsuruchi’s men became famous for two reasons. The first was their relentless tenacity and incredible ability to hunt down any fugitive from the Emperor’s law. The second was their main motivation to chase after and capture Rokugan’s most notorious outlaws: money. Wasp magistrates – like their daimyo – are a strange paradox. On one hand, they have made it very plain that their services are for sale to the highest bidder. However, Wasps also have an unflinching loyalty to those who hire them. But their first and primary fealty is always to Tsuruchi and the Emerald Champion – in that order. Wasps have no shame in accepting bounty for the criminals they capture. After all, most of the Empire sees them as scum. They know better. Their minds aren’t clouded by the foolish impracticalities of bushido. The Wasp learned a great deal about money from the Crane, and they’ve put it to good use. Money does indeed make Rokugan go ‘round, but it also repairs walls, builds fortifications and helps hire ronin to protect Ashinagabachi from Scorpion sabotage and Lion sieges. Besides the Crane, Tsuruchi’s men have gained another ally. Once news had spread to the northern lands of their activities, the Kitsuki Dragons have found the Wasps to be useful partners. The two are rather befitting. While one is chiefly concerned with profit and the other the search for the truth, neither place much credence in the gaining of honor or glory. Both also have a rather antagonistic view of Rokugani justice. While Kitsuki are usually called upon to sniff out a criminal, Wasps are employed to hunt him down. They are brilliant trackers, reportedly able to sniff out a rotten soul at a thousand ken-an. They also make cunning escorts, but most serve as perimeter guards rather than personal yojimbo. Found all across Rokugan, performing various duties for pay, duties that others cannot or will not do, the Wasp are a ubiquitous force. However, when their lord Tsuruchi needs them, they return to Ashinagabachi as swift as a Unicorn’s steed.
The Way of the Wasp
"The sword is the symbol of a samurai. It is the ultimate expression of his philosophy. It requires a man to stand before his enemy on equal ground. It sets them on evil terms, face-to-face. All of this, the samurai can have. While he’s looking for even ground to test his skill against me honorably, I’ll be finding higher ground to shoot his left eye out of his head." - attributed to Tsuruchi, daimyo of the Wasp
"Don’t ever make a Wasp go back on his word. You’ll never get a chance to regret it." - Shinjo Hanari
Tsuruchi learned much from his mother and father. His mother taught him integrity, temperance, and courage, his father taught him practicality. His Lion blood demands that he never compromise his principles while his Scorpion blood demands that he never allow principles to compromise practicality. Tsuruchi would never go back on his word, but he takes care who he makes promises to. "A promise made to a villain is no promise at all," he once said, implying that he was more than willing to sacrifice his ethics to protect his flock. More than anything else in Tsuruchi’s mind, the katana is the symbol of bushido’s ineptitude and impotence. He doesn’t disallow his followers the use of the weapon, but he does discourage it. "It’s a trick," he told one Dragon. "They put it in your hand and say you shame your ancestors if you put it down." Then, he grabbed his own bow from his shoulder and said, "This bow killed the man who betrayed my father. Tell me he weeps when I don’t use a katana." A half-drunk Kakita Toshimoko once chided him for refusing to pick up a sword. "It is the perfect weapon," he said, sake cup in one hand with the other on his pommel. Tsuruchi smiled and took five steps back, nocking an arrow in his bow as he went. Then, he leveled the arrow at the iajutsu master’s head. "How perfect is it now?" he said. When a Lion was heard to call Tsuruchi a coward while a Wasp attended the winter court of Isawa Uona, the Wasp promptly challenged the man to a duel. "We’ll stand ten paces apart. You use your katana,"the Wasp said, "and I’ll use my bow." "You’re a coward, just like your master!" the Lion replied. "And what kind of man are you?" the Wasp replied. "Obviously, you are afraid you’ll get an arrow in your heart before you can reach me. And here I heard death held no threat to a Lion, no matter what the odds. The man who told me that must have been in error." The man stammered for a moment then accepted the duel as the Wasp explained it. When the Wasp shot three arrows into the Lion – one in each hand and a third in the foot, rooting him to the spot – he returned to the court muttering "That’s where honor gets you… nailed to the ground." Wasps are honorable men, but the are not above using Low Skills to meet their ends. To them bushido is not the path to honor. Honor is honor, and the two should not be confused. Woe to the man who forced the Wasp to get his hands dirty. Shosuro Ujino defined them perfectly by saying they were "eminently practical men of honor."
Becoming a Wasp
"A man need not wield a sword to be a man, only honor his word and mean what he says." - Sunabe, Monk Teacher
Proving your worth to Tsuruchi is not as easy as it would seem. Ronin or men of any station who wish to join the Wasp Clan with find their path as challenging as climbing Togashi Mountain. Currently, there are only 47 bounty hunters allowed to wear the mon of the Wasp. Each year, Tsuruchi holds a great archery festival on the Day of the Wasp, and archers from across Rokugan come to gain Tsuruchi’s favor. In that time, only ten men have proven to have the skills Tsuruchi is looking for. Mirumoto Sukune and Shinjo Hanari also attend every year, and they are the only non-Wasp bushi who are allowed to shoot with Tsuruchi. The three are more than just friendly rivals, they have become very close over the years. Tsuruchi honored the Unicorn and Dragon once by saying "If I had to trust any two men, it would be them." After the tournament, Tsuruchi chooses ten archers to attend his school. The school is grueling, merciless work, and the dropout rate is very high. On average, only three men stand at the end of the training. When they are finished these men are strong enough to wear the Wasp mon and honor its heritage.