Scorpion Clan

Behind their ever-present masks, the members of the Scorpion clan fill a distasteful but necessary role within the empire. They are the keepers of secrets, walkers in shadows, assassins and spies. They care little for honor, but hold up loyalty as the pre-eminent virtue of the clan: loyalty to the clan and loyalty to the empire-loyalty that makes a Scorpion willing to suffer death or dishonor, to pay any cost. Scorpions are usually seen as villains, often even as traitors-but from the Scorpion point of view, their worst deeds have all stemmed from their unswerving sense of loyalty.

RECENT HISTORY

As the price for their loyalty, the Scorpions have suffered disgrace and persecution at the hands of the other clans. Bayushi Shoju instigated the Scorpion Clan Coup in an attempt to save the empire from a dreadful prophecy, and in the wake of the unsuccessful coup, the Scorpions were decimated and their lands razed. They were restored by the Emperor Toturi when he took the throne . Later blamed for kidnapping Emperor Toturi, the Scorpions were sent into exile and their children fostered by the Cranes until Toturi once again showed them mercy and reinstated them. In the Spirit Wars, the Scorpions played a decisive role by luring the spirit armies into Beiden Pass, where a group of shugenjas brought the pass itself down on them-though the treachery and deceit they used to set the trap won them no friends among the honorable samurai of the empire.

Now the Scorpions are back, with a vengeance. Three issues dominate the attention of the clan in the wake of Toturi's death. First, Toturi's death at the edge of their lands, in Shinomen Forest, has put the Scorpions on the defensive, and Scorpion teams patrol the edge of the forest in search of the oni that killed the Emperor. Second, with the Cranes engrossed in their war with the Crabs and the throne of the empire vacant, the Scorpions have their eye on the imperial Court. They would love to take the Cranes' place as the ultimate manipulators of imperial politics. Finally, the Scorpion seek vengeance upon a traitor to their clan, Yoritomo (formerly Bayushi) Aramasu, champion of the Mantis.

SCORPION LANDS

The lands of the Scorpion are not rich, though they are also not as barren as the Crab lands to the south. The wide, slow River of Gold flows through the heart of Scorpion lands with its many tributaries, forming numerous wetlands and watering low rice paddies. Poppies are the other major "crop" of Scorpion lands.

The palaces of the Scorpion families are clustered in the north, with both Yogo Shiro and Shiro Soshi nestled among the Spine of the World Mountains. Shiro Shosuro guards access to the northern region, while Kyuden Bayushi dominates the central plain and controls the southern villages.