Tetsuyama Genji
via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Although Yamatai is ruled by the Emperor — members of a dynasty that is believed to have reigned in an unbroken line for more than two thousand years — actual military and administrative power is executed by the shogun, a position originating as the commander-in-chief of the armies led to subdue the so-called barbarians living outside the sphere of influence of the Imperial court.
A collapse of the powers of the shogun in recent centuries plunged Yamatai into a long period of civil war, from which it has only recently emerged thanks to the campaigns of Tetsuyama Genji, who has unified the regional lords of Yamatai under his power to establish himself as the reigning shogun.
Although Tetsuyama was born the second son of a fairly minor regional lord and was infamous for a youth of excess and erratic behaviour, he was thrust into a position of leadership when his elder brother took monastic vows and renounced the clan’s leadership.
It has been speculated that his elder brother’s example moved the younger Tetsuyama to rethink his life and give up his previous life of excess, or else that his behaviour was a ploy to lure his rivals into complacency. Whatever the true is, when the neighbouring clans moved on the Tetsuyama, hoping to take advantage of its untested, irresponsible leader, they instead found themselves facing a shrewd military who quickly adopted innovative tactics that caught his enemies off guard.
Most notably, Tetsuyama embraced the foreign weapons and tactics that had begun entering Yamatai with the arrival of the first Realmgardian merchants several decades earlier. In particular, Tetsuyama widely adopted firearms and cannons among his armies. Under his leadership, it is now believed that Yamatai possesses the most firearms of any nation on Terrace.
Through a combination of shrewd political maneuvering and sheer military force, Tetsuyama was able to quickly carve out the largest domain of any of the regional lords of Yamatai. Due to his proximity to the capital of Yamatai, rumours were circulated by his rivals that he intended to overthrow the Imperial court, leading to a coalition of other lords being formed against him.
Once again demonstration his shrewdness, he was able through a combination of incentives and threats to convince a substantial number of the coalition’s members to either defect to his side or else remain neutral. Still facing a sizeable enemy army, Tetsuyama moved to engage for the final battle, which was fought on a foggy autumn day in central Yamatai.
Winning a hard-fought but decisive victory, Tetsuyama overcome the last of the opposition to his unification of Yamatai, leading to the Emperor proclaiming him Yamatai’s first shogun in nearly two hundred years.
As shogun, Tetsuyama continues to foster ties with foreign merchants and make use of foreign technology, though access to Yamatai by foreigners is highly regulated and the laws governing foreigners in Yamatai are strictly enforced.
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