Clan Adachi

Clan Adachi is a samurai clan of the island of Tsushima, subject to Clan Shimura. It's the clan of Masako Adachi, who is the family's sole survivor following the Battle of Komoda Beach and the Adachi massacre.

History[]

The first lords of the clan were known as "The Great Builders" of Tsushima, having constructed the Golden Temple in Ariake and all the lighthouses across the island. Time after, Lord Harunobu Adachi would help improve the fortifications in Castle Shimura, and most likely, Castle Kaneda. They also used to have a rivalry with Clan Kikuchi.

Lord Harunobu Adachi, being the descendant of Yoshinobu Adachi, was also considered the "best swordsman" in Tsushima. Adachi would lead a samurai guard to the home of a family that was attacked by bandits. When they arrived, the bandits had already been dispatched by the youngest child in the family, a woman named Masako. Since that day, Lord Adachi became infatuated with Masako. Masako's sister, Hana, would also see Adachi as a way to accomplish her ambitions of being part of a samurai noble family. However, the latter only had eyes for Masako, and so ignored any moves Hana would make towards him; this would be the seed that planted Hana's jealousy and hatred towards Masako and Clan Adachi in general. Harunobu and Masako would later marry, and the latter would become the Lady of Clan Adachi.

Sometime later, Lord Adachi and Masako would have two sons, Shigesato and Yasunari, with the former being the eldest sibling. When the three were children, the Adachi brothers and Jin Sakai used to spend time together while being watched by Masako and Chiyoko Sakai. A little over a decade later, Clan Adachi would support Clan Shimura and Clan Sakai during the Yarikawa Rebellion, using their knowledge of destroying structures to help put an end to the war.

Years later, Clan Adachi would join Clan Sakai - alongside some of Clan Shimura's soldiers - in pacifying the raiders and pirates of Iki Island, being under the command of Lord Kazumasa Sakai. Lord Adachi would sometimes spend time with Kazumasa's son, Jin, even having some archery bets with him, with Adachi winning most of the time. When Kazumasa was killed in Senjo Gorge and the invasion of Iki was lost, Lord Adachi took care of taking Jin, the rest of the warriors, and Kazumasa's body back to Tsushima. Lord Adachi and Masako would later console Jin during his father's funeral, even offering their help when he needed it.

Throughout the years before the Mongol invasion, Clan Adachi unintentionally made enemies with various servants to their clan:

Sadao: Former headman of Kuta Farmstead who used to supply the clan with food. At some point, Sadao intentionally withheld rice for himself to turn a profit, causing protests by the local peasants. He would hire bandits, in secret, to massacre the protestors. When Masako found out, she had him removed as headman.
Omura: A former weapon supplier who one day decided to cheat Clan Adachi out of their supplies, and blamed Yasunari Adachi for not paying him enough; he was cut off from doing more dealings with the clan. Omura and his family would end up in the streets and he would become a heavy alcoholic. He would later die and be buried outside of Umugi Cove. His eldest son would later blame the clan for everything that happened to them, while his youngest would be reasonable and understand that their father caused it himself.
Kajiwara: A "humble" fisherman who used to serve as a retainer to the clan, he was known for being skilled and dependable. He was also cruel, vicious, and quick to anger, but his behavior was excused for his skill until Masako caught him beating his wife and daughter. She dismissed him immediately, and would later offer refuge to his wife and daughter, but they returned to him within a day.
Mai: A former servant of the clan, she once was a close and dear friend of Masako. Masako and she fell in love and began a romantic affair with Masako gifting her a hair comb with white pearls. However, she was also a thief and was caught stealing by Lord Adachi. He wanted her flogged, but Masako instead convinced him to only dismiss her. Mai sees this as Masako abandoning her and resents her for it.

Eventually, Shigesato and Yasunari would marry two women and have several children with them. Their wives would later learn to fight using a naginata. Masako used to compose music with her grandchildren for the changing of the seasons.

During the Battle of Komoda Beach, Lord Adachi and his two sons supported Lord Shimura during the beginning of the Mongol invasion of Tsushima. Before the battle started, Lord Shimura sent Lord Adachi to the beach so that he would duel their leader. Upon arriving he demanded the Mongols to send their best warrior; there he would meet the general known as Khotun Khan. Adachi would introduce himself to the Khan and prepare himself for a duel, only for the latter to simply light him on fire and decapitate him.

When Lord Shimura gave the war cry, Shigesato and Yasunari - alongside the warriors of Clan Adachi - would ride down the beach to avenge their father. However, their efforts would be in vain and the Mongols would execute all of the clan's samurai, with Shigesato and Yasunari's corpses later being hanged like animals. While this was happening, Masako and the women and children of Clan Adachi were staying in the Adachi Estate, where they were being visited by Hana, who came to Masako's home to await news about their husbands, with Hana bringing gifts for the children. Sometime later, the estate would be attacked by bandits.

During the attack, Masako and her daughters-in-law fought the bandits while Hana took the children to safety. In reality, Hana murdered them, including the newborn baby girl Natsu. She then used the corpse of a peasant killed by the Mongols to fake her death. Masako survived the attack, but her daughters-in-law were killed. Upon going to find her grandchildren, she found all their dead bodies, including the presumed body of her sister. She spent days burying them at the Adachi cemetery. She would later have a damaged armor set owned by Shigesato repaired by the armorer in the Golden Temple.

When Jin came to recruit the clan to save Lord Shimura in Castle Kaneda, Masako would reveal the fate of the clan. She had Jin join her at the Adachi cemetery where they would pay their respects to the clan's fallen members. Afterward, they would travel to the Golden Temple, where Masako would give Jin her son's armor and reveal to a monk named Sogen Clan Adachi's fate. Right after, Masako would reveal that Sogen arrived from Kamiagata at the beginning of autumn, around the same time the samurai became aware of the imminent invasion by the Mongol Empire. She confides that the monk was most likely a spy and part of the plot to massacre the clan.

Upon following Sogen to an inn and killing all of the men protecting him, Masako and Jin try to get answers out of him but Sogen doesn't reveal anything. This causes Masako to give in to her anger and kill him. Jin later finds the payment made to Sogen and the bandits, alongside a list of names: Sogen, Sadao, Mai, Kajiwara, and Omura, with an unknown clan symbol. Masako recalls finding a letter with the same symbol on one of the bandits. Jin gives her his support and Masako in return gives her support in rescuing Lord Shimura.

As they hunt for the killers, Jin and Masako gradually deduce their roles in the attack and bring them to justice, with the aid of a local monk named Junshin:

Sogen and Sadao scouted the estate to plan out the attack. They would later be killed by Masako, alongside Sadao's brother and wife, Hachi and Hina, respectively.
Omura's sons supplied the weapons for the attack. They would later be killed by Hana's men when they demanded more money from her.
Kajiwara recruited the assassins for the attack. He killed his wife and daughter to save himself from the Mongols, while he ran away. He would later be killed by Masako.
Mai took care of looting the Clan's estate after the attack. But, upon finding out that Masako survived, she hid all the loot from Hana, who in turn hired Ronin to have Mai give them to her. Masako and Jin later followed and killed the Ronin. Mai made peace with Masako and took her to Clan Adachi's belongings before returning home.

At some point during the invasion, Jin returned to Komoda Beach where he saw Masako fighting a group of Mongols. After dispatching them, Masako explains that she came to find her sons' bodies, having already found her husband's. When the duo finally find them, Masako breaks down upon seeing their charred and hanged corpses. Jin recommends getting them down for proper burial. Upon seeing that the road to Ariake isn't safe, making it impossible for her sons to be buried with the rest of their family, Masako tells Jin that they can bury them at the lighthouse nearby since they played there as children. After killing the Mongols occupying it, they bury her sons and Jin gives Masako privacy to spend some time with her sons.

After killing all the conspirators, Masako found out that Junshin had recently come into contact with her family's killer. Seeing her monk ally as the only lead left, she became determined to hunt him down, quickly losing her moral compass. When she couldn't find him, she tried to threaten other monks to get information out of them, but they didn't talk out of fear. Jin would later try to make her reason and wait to find Junshin and ask him.

Upon saving him from the Mongols, Masako tried to kill Junshin with her bow and arrow, but he escaped thanks to Jin. Masako would then duel her last remaining friend in a fit of rage, but Jin ultimately defeated and forgave her. Masako then joined Jin in killing a horde of Mongol reinforcements. Afterward, Masako had an emotional breakdown. Jin calmed her and tried to reason with her to locate the monk, but not before warning her to never try to kill him again, to which Masako promised. After finding Junshin, he reveals that Lady Hana was the conspirator, describing her golden sash and her smell much to Masako's shock. After taking in the situation, Masako tells Jin to meet her in Kamiagata.

She later participates in the attack on Castle Shimura, and later consoles the young samurai from Clan Oga who are caught in the bridge's explosion; she is shown supporting Jin's tactics of poisoning the Mongols. When Jin escapes captivity he tells Kenji to gather Masako, Sensei Ishikawa, and the warrior monk Norio, at his home in Omi Village so they can prepare to open the alternate road to Kamiagata through Fort Kaminodake. Some days after, Yuna joins them in Omi Village and they - along with Jin, some hunters, and warriors of Yarikawa - open the path in Fort Kaminodake.

After that, Masako prays for her ancestors to forgive her for what she's about to do and reveals to Jin where Hana is hiding: Fort Kikuchi. While they ride to the fort, Masako explains to Jin how she arranged a marriage between Hana and a man named Ikeda, a widower and retainer of Clan Kikuchi who acted with kindness and respect, to help Hana move past her feelings towards Harunobu. Upon arriving, they encounter several samurai/ronin working for Hana who engage her and Jin in combat. After killing the main force, they find a peasant who tells them where Hana is and goes to warn her about them.

When they see Hana, she confirms that she used a peasant's body to fake her death and also expresses no regret in killing Masako's daughters-in-law and grandchildren before sending her remaining warriors. Jin takes care of them while Masako goes after her sister. Once they are dead, he runs to the main keep and sees Masako has cornered Hana. She blames Masako for having her move to Kamiagata with Ikeda, who in reality was a drunk and abusive husband, and for stealing the life she "deserved." Upon requesting Masako to kill her, she instead gives her tanto to Hana to commit seppuku. Before dying Hana would tell her that now she has nothing.

Hours later during Hana's pyre, Masako would tell Jin how she never grieved her family, and how she tried to think of treasured memories only to be replaced by Hana's resentment. Jin would try to console her by saying that now she has avenged them, she can find peace. Masako would reply saying her recent path doesn't lead to peace and that she would need to leave Tsushima, but not before telling Jin that she would be there when he needed her. Masako later participated in the assault on Port Izumi. In a final battle, Jin killed Khotun Khan, ultimately avenging the deaths of Lord Adachi and his two sons.