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History Of The Shogunate
The Years Of Stone: Foundation Of The Shogunate
Proper records from the Years of Stone are hard to come by, but the following dates are generally agreed-upon by the Shogunate's lorekeepers.
- 15 Years Before Shogunate: During the Calibration Feast held by the Solar Exalted, the Terrestrial Exalted rose up against their cruel overlords. In the first night, the bulk of the Solar Exalted were killed, along with many of their Lunar minions, and the great war against the Solars began. The Terrestrials begin their spread of righteousness, spreading out to destroy the remaining mighty Anathema, along with those minions of theirs that remained loyal. For the next decade and a half, the Terrestrials were forced to work together against these enemies without giving more than the minimum amount of thought to what would come next. In total, when records were taken, twenty-four Solars were not slain with the rest, and most of these soon surfaced at the head of whatever strongholds they had retreated to rain devastation on the world that had rejected them.
- Year Of The Mospid, Bronze Era Of The First Era Of The Dragon-Blooded Shogunate (Year 1): With most of the remaining Solars dead, the generals of the Terrestrial Exalted met to determine the direction that Creation would take. After three weeks of deliberation, the Shogunate was born. Shogun Takezo, an eldery Exalt of the Fire Aspect, was chosen to be the first of the Shoguns, and the other generals were appointed daimyos of the newly-designed provinces of the Shogunate.
- Year Of The Cat, Bronze Era Of The First Epoch Of The Dragon-Blooded Shogunate (Year 9): After a brutal final war that stretched across the island of Okeanos, the last of the Solar Anathema menacing Creation was destroyed. Although the Wyld Hunt continued to ride against newly birthed Solars, and the occasional Lunar who was birthed within the bounds of Creation, the attention of the Dragon-Blooded turned to administration, reconstruction, and fighting back creatures who had taken advantage of the Exalted's distractions to gain footholds in Creation.
The Years Of Righteous Jade: The Takezo Dynasty
The Takezo Dynasty lasted for two hundred and thirty-eight years, and covered the rule of three Shoguns. Nuriada Takezo, the first Shogun, took the throne at the age of two-hundred and thirty-one, and ruled for a hundred and ten years. It was under his rule that the Five Glorious Militaries and the Five Efficient Ministries were developed, and he worked ceaselessly to help the Dragon-Blooded step up into the roles formerly held by their Anathema ex-masters. Unfortunately, the time was also marked by terrible storms, natural disasters, and poor integration with the gods. The Terrestrials attempted to force compliance, but the gods had spent centuries under the dominion of the Solars, and having been so recently freed, they refused another yoke, even one so critical. However, Nuriada's reign was also marked by warfare and conquest; many daimyos did not accept his rule, and warred against one another as well as against him when he came to enforce his ascension. It was over ninety years before the last of the rebellious daimyos were brought in line, and the twilight years of Takezo's rule were more or less peaceful ones.
Nuriada Takezo was replaced by Takezo Shion, a Water Aspect of just under two hundred years of age. Shion ruled for ninety-six years, during which time she helped encourage communication and interaction between ministries, presided over the re-integration of the relic races into the fabric of the Shogunate, and focused on expansion into the edges of the world. It was the only time of expansion during the Shogunate to date, and is thus well-remembered. Finally, after her death from natural causes, Shion was replaced by Takezo Shumasi, the final Shogun of the line. Shumasi was a more idolent and easy-going lord than his predecessors, and the thirty-two years of his rule were marked by the ever-growing power of the daimyos, which he did not see fit to check, and by his constantly shifting marriages; Shumasi had six wives over the course of his rule, who bore him twelve children - ten of whom Exalted. Shumasi was slain, ironically, by his sixth wife, who stabbed him in his sleep for forcing her to marry him against her will.
The Years Of Weeping Blood: The Shattered Dynasties
Upon Shumasi's death, three of his children asserted that their claim on the throne was the superior one, and the daimyos could not agree on which had the stronger claim. Their disagreement turned to fighting, and by the year's end, the world was at war.
What followed became known as the Years of Weeping Blood. Over of the next hundred and sixty-one years, no fewer than eleven shoguns took the throne, each ruling for an average of seven years before being overthrown, killed, or forced into abdication. The longest spate of peace lasted for twelve years, but ended with the assasination of the reigning Shogun by poison. Indeed, for over half of the period, there were no shoguns at all. Daimyos warred against one another, vying to gain power at the expense of one another, and were courted by would-be Shoguns who offered them ever-greater power in order to gain the power they wished for. Finally, Devaren Jukari, who could trace her lineage back to the original Takezos, managed to gather enough daimyos to take control of the Blessed Isle, and from there expanded her control to the rest of the Shogunate. In truth, most of the daimyos had seen generations of war, and were happy for a chance at peace.
The Years Of Fragile Glass: The Jukari Dynasty
Jukari instituted a number of reforms designed to balance the power of the daimyos, and thus prevent any from thinking they had enough of an advantage to declare war once again. In particular, she limited the armies that each daimyo could raise, although she allowed the fractured Ministries to remain fractured. Her own rule lasted for seventy-nine years, during which time she made almost as many enemies as friends, surviving six major assasination attempts, including two attempts at coups. Jukari was only two hundred and forty years old when she died, and foul play was suspected, but nothing was proved.
Jukari was replaced by Jukari Taron, a man well aware of his predecessor's fall and the suspicions that surrounded it. At just over a hundred and fifty years of age, Shogun Taron has ruled for six years to date, and has already overcome one abortive coup attempt, and furiously socializes and politicizes his daimyos, unwilling to take actions that might lead to an unfortunate loss of his career - and life. Under Taron's rule, the Shogunate's eyes have turned inwards. Taron has three children, but none are old enough to reasonably replace him if he falls, and it will be some years before the Shogunate can breathe easily again and be sure that the Years of Weeping Blood will not return...
