Traitor's Bane

The origin of this nemuranai dates back to the reign of Hantei the XVI. During this period was an
instance of betrayal at such a grand scale the Scorpion had never seen before. As not only the betrayal
of Shosuro Tsia and those Scorpion who chose to follow her into the Steel Magistrates devastated the
Scorpion but all those she bribed or coerced to avoid torture and death. Though the Steel Magistrates
were pulled from all Clans and even the Imperial families the covert war that occurred seriously
hampered the Scorpion network.
The original wielder of Traitor's Bane was a Shosuro actor by the name of Shosuro Toshiro who's
acting troupe fell to the Steel Magistrates in the autumn of 596 as they were returning to the Painted
City. He was the lone survivor as everyone else had been killed or captured. Officially they where
brought upon charges of speaking against the emperor through their plays which was false and any who
were captured were tortured and executed later. He avoided captured by jumping into the River of
Gold after a pursuit. He was shot, wounded and left for dead to drift down the river.
Toshiro woken up nearly two weeks later later in the house of a ronin weapon smith called Tetsu
who's daughter Masaki had found him floating in the river and nursed him back to health. Toshiro
spent the winter there recuperating his wounds in the small farming village where the Tetsu's house
resided. One day, Toshiro entered Tetsu's smithy admiring his work. Toshiro asked if Tetsu could
make him something. Tetsu initially refused, as most of his weapon quality ore was already spoken for
as well as he had many weapons to work on for the months ahead. Toshiro asked how much ore would
he have left that wasn't accounted for, which Tetsu said Nothing larger than a knife. which Toshiro
replied, A knife is all I need.
Toshiro told Tetsu the purpose of the weapon, about the Steel Magistrates and the fate of his acting
troupe. How with just a knife he would teach the traitors the punishment for breaking Scorpion
Loyalty. He also told Tetsu that though he couldn't pay him at this time when he rejoined the Scorpion
in the spring he would do everything possible to make sure he was compensated as well take Masaki as
his wife for saving his life.
Tetsu was moved by Toshiro's story as well as the prospect of a good life for his daughter.
However he needed time to ponder as the Steel Magistrates were officials of the Emperor. What
Tashiro described in Tetsu's mind was an ambush and not magistrates wanting to bring in people for
questioning or house arrest. The fact Toshiro had survived the river and was found by his daughter had
to be fate as was his fate to craft him a weapon He finally agreed to Toshiro's request and spent the rest
of the winter working on the knife. When New Years came Tetsu presented Toshiro with an aiguchi of
excellent quality and named it Uragirimono no Nayami no Tane or Traitor's Bane. Toshiro journeyed
back to the Painted City and made due with his promises, Toshiro and Masaki where married and
shortly after he joined the rest of the convert Scorpion for the ongoing war with the Steel Magistrates.
Years passed and even when the Steel Magistrates disbanded and the majority executed, Toshiro
and the rest of the Scorpion agents spent an additional two years to kill any former magistrate that were
in hiding. Toshiro with the help of Traitor's Bane achieved the most traitor kills and captures than any
other Scorpion agent of his time. With justice satisfied he returned to the stage forming a new acting
troupe. He stored Traitor's Bane in a small lock box as it's task was complete though he never knew
when he would need again. Decades past and he passed away peacefully. When his eldest son was
going through his personal effects he came across the lock box that hadn't been touched in decades
when he opened it the box was empty.

Traitor's Bane will seek out a loyal Scorpion often favoring one that survived a near fatal betrayal
similar to Toshiro's and feels he or she would best benefit from it's assistance. Once it has found a
suitable wielder it will stay with them until death or if they commit an act it feels would betray the
Scorpion. Traitor's Bane appearance is fairly plain with it's only mark is the kanji for Chugo engraved
into the tsuba, the hilt is wrapped in black and white silk, a black saya and an extremely sharp blade.
Mechanically Traitor's Bane is a 2k1 awakened nemuranai. Simply having it on wielder's person
grants the advantage Heart of Vengeance: Scorpion Traitors. Also when the wielder make a successful
feint maneuver the added damage from the feint cannot be lower than their insight rank. If the target is
a Scorpion Traitor they instead add their insight rank in wounds to their damage total for a successful
feint maneuver.
Only the current wielder can draw the blade from the saya so gifting it to someone is impossible
and any attempt to steal or take Traitor's Bane will eventually make it's way back to the current wielder.
This represents the blades own loyalty to the wielder while they are still alive.
If the wielder of Traitor's Bane ever willingly commits an act to betray the Scorpion Clan it will
abandon the wielder and seek out loyal Scorpion and notify them of the transgression. The former
wielder also gains the disadvantage Sworn Enemy with Nemesis: Wielder of the Traitor's Bane for no
points. Also becoming tainted, performing maho or becoming corrupted by the Lying Darkness or
Shadow Dragon are also considered acts of betrayal as such things can lead the wielder to betray the
Scorpion as well as one cannot truly serve two masters.