Bayushi Chūyō

A dangerously alluring socialite whose associations can sometimes be traced back to the Bayushi Family of the Scorpion Clan. The deception runs even deeper than that, however. In truth, Bayushi Chūyō is a false identity for Seppun Maehua, who fosters the blood of Kitsune, trickster fox spirits, in her veins. It is this cursed lineage which led her to exile from the Seppun Family and her twin sister, Seppun Raehua, at a young age.   Playful and softhearted when she's able, Maehua is also a skilled character assassin trained in the Bayushi Manipulator School. Her keen hearing and magical tricks ensure that she's capable of knowing exactly what and when to say to bring about a target's social downfall. This profession, and the lack of accountability it brings to those who employ her, has made her popular among Scorpion courtiers for her adult life. Magistrates and moguls expect her to orchestrate the downfall of whoever is politically inconvenient and within her reach at any given time. Chūyō, in contrast, merely wants to find a place of belonging and acceptance in this cruel world. The Scorpion Clan offers only the veneer of this family support, with cruelty and pragmatism festering below, but such ties are not so easily cut.   Now, however, Chūyō seems to have fallen in with some bad company. Specifically, a Naga impersonator known only as Sheshen has somehow seen through her disguise, and her theirs. This mutual knowledge could allow either easy blackmail in an intolerant society like that of Rokugan. So, they find themselves tied together by an inconvenient truce for the current time.   Always immaculate in her disguise as well as her attire, Chūyō dons ceremonial clothing for all her appearances in court. Naturally, she has a set of common and traveling garb as well, but these see much less use on the whole. Her only concessions to self-defense are a short wakizashi of the kind favored by noble samurai and a folding fan cleverly hiding a steel blade in its edge. The latter of these, by some cruel trick of fate, is an almost perfect mirror of the one wielded by Maehua's twin sister, Raehua. Of course, no courtier would be seen in session without her caligraphy kit, although Chūyō's is unique in that it holds an omamori, a small book dedicated to the Fortune Fukurojin and the last gift given to her by the Bayushi entertainer who took her in after exile.