Ide Kimata

		Name: Ide Kimata Clan: Unicorn School: Ide Emissary Rank: 3 Insight (Rings x 10 + Skills): 183
		Primary Weapon None Roll to Keep & Hit Roll skill, Keep Agility N/A Roll & Keep Damage Roll Strength + Damage Rating, Keep Damage Rating N/A TN to be Hit Reflexes x 5, plus Armor 20 Initiative Roll & Keep Awareness 4K4 Glory: 5 Boxes: 2 Honor: 3 Boxes: 4	Skills: Commerce - 1 Conversation - 3 Courtier - 5 Diplomacy - 5 Etiquette - 4 Go - 2 Horsemanship - 2 Kenjutsu - 1 Law - 3 Manipulation - 2 Sincerity - 3 Tea Ceremony - 2
Stamina: 2	Earth: 2
Willpower: 3
Strength: 3	Water: 3
Perception: 3
Agility: 3	Fire: 3
Intelligence: 4
Reflexes: 4	Air: 4
Awareness: 4
	Void: 3
Wounds (Earth x2)
[4]	+0
[4]	+3
[4]	+6
[4]	+10
[4]	+15
[4]	+20
[4]	Down
[4]	Out
[4]	Dead
Equipment Tanto Wakizashi Kimono Traveling pack Steed 3 koku (All items are of Fine Quality, unless noted) Techniques The Heart Speaks (Add Honor to the social rolls, including initial reactions Also, make an Awareness+Etiquette roll against a TN of 20 to avoid making a faux pas, even unaware of the existence of a taboo.) The Heart Listens (Make a simple Intelligence roll to remember anything that was said and done during a meeting. Also, gather important clues about a person with a simple Perception+Investigation roll.) When the Veil Moves (Make a simple skill check using her Awareness against a TN equal to the sum of the Void+Sincerity of the opponent (whoever initiates an undesired activity) x5. If this roll succeeds, the emissary can take one action before.) Shadowlands Taint: Boxes:			Advantages Ancestor: Ide (4) Great Destiny (-) Luck (6) Disadvantages Can't Lie (3) Obligation: Ikoma Makoto (4) Small (2) Soft Hearted (2)

Notes

Ide Kimata was born into a minor house of the family. He was a quiet, introverted child who mostly kept to himself. However, Kimata always appreciated the irony that his family was mostly a group of cultured diplomats in the midst of a clan of, by Rokugan’s standards, uncultured barbarians. Kimata always did have a strange sense of humor and a strong sense of irony.

His training in the Ide School only heightened these instincts. He spent many years studying under the Ide masters, learning not only how to understand and anticipate others, but also how to use others’ own perceptions against them. Kimata came to believe that diplomacy was the ultimate expression of irony. He realized that using his own weaknesses to allow him to gain advantage over his opponents was the ultimate in ironic reversal, and that his life as a diplomat for his “barbarian” clan would be his magnum opus.

Shortly after his gempukku, Kimata learned there was more to life than a finely developed sense of humor. As a junior diplomat assigned to Mamoru Kyotei Toshi in Phoenix lands, Kimata was tasked only with maintaining friendly relations with the Phoenix and recording any potentially useful information he came across. Unfortunately for Kimata, his finely developed sense of humor ran amok with him one evening, resulting in two attempts on his life by Ikoma diplomats, threats of retribution from his Shiba hosts, and a minor border skirmish in Toshi sano Kanemochi Kaeru. Shortly thereafter, Kimata was recalled by the Unicorn.

Returning home in shame, Kimata spent several weeks as a minor functionary in Shiro Ide, researching and recording information for more senior diplomats. Kimata knew he was being watched by his superiors until they could decide what should be done with him.

This stint in the libraries of the Ide ended one night when Kimata was visited by the spirit of Ide. The ancient samurai-diplomat chided Kimata for behaving as a foolish, self-centered child, but also told him that there were ways to redeem his honor. For his errors in Shiba lands, Ide cursed Kimata, forcing him to never speak an untrue word. But for his potential, Ide promised Kimata his protection. The spirit told Kimata to return to learning and to correct his ways, then left.

The next morning Kimata asked and was given permission to reenter the Ide School, as an observer. He was sure that his mistakes had come from his misunderstanding the teachings of his sensei, and to correct that mistake, he spent the next year observing the sensei’s lessons again and reevaluating his methods of applying them. After his year of self-imposed probation, Kimata once again returned to the courts, this time properly following his lessons.

Now, Kimata has spent almost ten years as a successful diplomat for the Unicorn. He still delights in the irony of his life, much more so since he became an honest politician, but he no longer seeks to cultivate it. Despite his decade of faithful service and his growing reputation as an honest man, he still finds himself trying to atone for his actions in Kyotei Toshi. It is still this desire that drives Kimata in his service to his clan, and to the spirit of Ide, who he knows watches him still.

Over the last decade, Kimata's family has allowed his involvement in the politics of their clan to grow considerably. At first, he was assigned to the Unicorn presence at the installment of Yoritomo as daimyo fo the Mantis -- a silent part in a spartan ceremony on a far-off island. Later, he was assigned to assist a diplomat in Toshi Ranbo, and managed to help maintain civility during the Lion attack that resulted in the death of Champion Akodo Arasou. During the Coup, he was once again stationed in Phoenix lands, and ended up being the sole Unicorn presence at the gempukku of Hantei XXXIX. After the Coup, Kimata carried word of the Crab's march on the Crane from the Unicorn lands and was instrumental in getting the Unicorn to lend aid to Toturi at Beiden Pass.

Kimata has served as a diplomat or aide in the courts of the Mantis, Crane, Lion, Phoenix, and Dragon. His years of service have finally caught the attention of Ide Tadaji, the Unicorn's master courtier. The old courtier was impressed with Kimata's level-headed knack for bringing reason to difficult situations. Tadaji has invited Kimata to join him in Otosan Uchi and continue his training there. Kimata is greatly looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge. Because it doesn't matter where you played before; the Imperial City is a game all its own.