The Scorpion Clan
From behind their masks and veils, the Scorpion smile grimly at the performance of their duty, for it is their sacrifice to be hated even as they execute it perfectly. What other clan could perform the role of loyal villain? It was the Scorpion Kami’s contention that enemies need not be external to the Empire, and thus, the Scorpion fight fire with fire. They keep all clans united in hatred against them, yet divided so that no one clan can challenge the line to whom they owe undying loyalty: the Hantei.
History
“I will be your villain, Hantei.”– Bayushi, from the play ‘Bayushi’s Promise’
While the history of the Scorpion Clan, like that of the other Great Clans, can be said to begin with the fall of the Kami, it does not truly start until after the great tournament to determine which of them would rule. Hantei, having won the tournament, sought to turn Bayushi’s cunning to the benefit of the nascent Empire. He asked Bayushi to become his Underhand, doing unpleasant but necessary things to ensure the survival of the Empire. Bayushi knew this would make his new clan reviled by the rest of Rokugan, but this also meant if the clans ever united it would be against the Scorpion and not the Emperor. He agreed to Hantei’s demand, even though it meant he and his followers would be forever mistrusted and despised.
Like the other Kami, Bayushi began building his Scorpion Clan by seeking out loyal and reliable followers among the mortals of Rokugan. However, he did not look for the same sort of followers as his siblings. The task set before the Scorpion—to combat the hidden threats to the Empire—did not necessarily require strength of arms or magical might. Instead, Bayushi sought the very qualities his siblings shunned: guile, subtlety, and skills at deception, observation, and stealth. The Scorpion Clan thus from the very beginning assumed a very different shape from the other clans.
Its members were widely dispersed and often hidden or disguised. In fact, early records suggest the original Scorpion Clan may not even have maintained proper holdings; it was an itinerant clan, pervading the rest of the Empire and mostly invisible to it.
Bayushi’s most famous and capable follower was the master trickster Shosuro. Bayushi met a young boy on the road, a boy who subsequently became a female geisha holding a knife in his bedchamber.
Bayushi was greatly impressed by Shosuro’s cleverness and guile and convinced her to join his new clan. Shosuro soon became his closest confidant and ultimately had almost as great an impact on the Scorpion Clan as Bayushi himself.
Not all of Bayushi’s early followers were chosen for their guile, however. During the First War against the forces of Fu Leng, a powerful Phoenix shugenja named Yogo was cursed by the Dark Kami to betray whomever he loved the most. Unable to live with such a burden, Yogo fled the Phoenix and thought to kill himself. However, Bayushi persuaded him there was another path: he could join the Scorpion Clan.
When Yogo protested his curse would doom him, Bayushi replied, “But Yogo, you do not love me.” Yogo agreed, joining the Scorpion Clan and eventually founding the Yogo family.
“I will be your villain, Hantei.”
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations