-♌-
Theodore will probably also want to look over this sheet and give it his separate approval, because it necessarily defines some detail on Ainori's backstory.
Name: Fujiwara Tsubaki
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Appearance: Short and stout for a grown woman at barely 5'3", with a naturally slight and lean build due to having a low-class dietary intake. She's the one in a hundred thousand natives who naturally was born with a distinctly different hair color that wasn't the result of youkai influence, and her hair color, style, and general facial structure all generally resemble this
◊ with a rougher bend given that she's poor. Her clothes are well kept and she tends towards a rather cheeky and unfeminine combination of male-colored kimono and sandals.
Personality: Much like her friend Ainori, Tsubaki is clever and observant. But where Ainori's applique of her intellect is that becoming of an heiress, Tsubaki's more comes to resemble that of a prankster or troll. She's the sort who is naturally polarizing, some think she's too crude and free-of-thought for such a low station in society and is a disgrace and others love her free spirit and sharp tongue. Tsubaki isn't the sort to care a bit for what others think of her and cheerfully ignores criticism to the point where her stubbornness in being thick-skinned can become detrimental, as she will often slight legitimate criticism and advice and fail to realize that the words of loved ones can be harsh for a positive reason. She suffers from a subtle pride, even though she is by all accounts always willing to hear others out she typically tunes out the things she doesn't want to hear.
She's definitely boyish (detractors would say brutish) by the standards of the time, with a liberal mouth for foul language and a carefree laziness in what she does. She gets things done when it counts, but otherwise she prefers beating around the bush and taking plenty of breaks and such. Her life's philosophy stands in stark contrast to her friend's ambition. Despite how troublesome her whimsical nature can prove to be, it often has it's strong points in certain situations. Here Tsubaki contrives to resemble the trickster mentor archetype, while her easy-going ways often seem detrimental they do have a rhyme and reason, and Tsubaki is the sort who is always insisting others slow down and let life come to them once in a while. She's smarter than is often apparent, after all she can match Ainori pound for pound in raw intellect. In her own way she is rather reliable, while she often makes those who need her to do something tear their hair out in worry, it will be done with quality. Eventually.
She's friendly to anyone who doesn't hold her at an arms distance for her appearance, standing in society, or personality. A sharp wit makes her an engaging conversationalist, if one doesn't mind the constant punctuations of crude jokes and cusses. And she's quite good at reading and understanding others while maintaining a respectful distance from personal affairs, making her a good source of recourse when one is feeling down. In her own mental realm the ease with which she lives life makes her incredibly stable and difficult to put down in her own right, when things are falling apart Tsubaki is often the coolest head prevailing, at times to her detriment as she sometimes doesn't give things the gravity they deserve.
Skills and Abilities: The Fujiwara are among the ranks of the town's fishermen, but they're not especially noteworthy as such (hence being poor). Tsubaki is an adequate angler, but what she catches typically isn't going to impress. However her lot in life makes her quite good at housekeeping, and she's especially a good cook. It's surprising what she can do with the low quality ingredients and small portions available to her family, making dishes that can rival noble meals with her homely and down-to-earth artistry. She obviously rarely has the chance to show off this skill, though.
Tsubaki surprises others with her skill at brawling, having often been caught in altercations in the towns seedier bars that her father frequented (reiterated, no money). That a small girl like her can throw a jaw-cracking punch-and-elbow combo with the best of them is unthinkable, hence Tsubaki nearly always has the element of surprise on her side. She's a brutal and pragmatic opponent, operating with no form and almost entirely on fighter's instinct.
Spiritually Tsubaki has a unique take on the supernatural world, she cannot actually see it's denizens in any capacity but she can hear them. Very well. The sound of youkai chattering in the distance is omnipresent background noise for her, if she tunes out the mundane world she can hear them distinctly for up to miles around. The hearing drifts into and out of a sea of voices and individual voices at random, Tsubaki cannot choose what she hears through her own mechanism.
Possessions of Note: None whatsoever. Everything she has is poor quality and of no sentimental value.
Bio: Tsubaki was born to an undeniably low lot in life, with the two preceding generations of her family being undeniably great people, but rather mediocre at their jobs. This, coupled with her unusual hair color, often meant she was passively frozen out and excluded by even the children of the village of similar social standing. She was isolated for the first few years of her life, an anxious and brooding child. The lowest point for the family came when Tsubaki hit her sixth birthday; Tsubaki's mother died of pneumonia, her father became quiet and retreated into the depths of depression, the money dried up, the house seemed poised to fall apart and bury the young girl with it.
However the death of Tsubaki's mother seemed to trigger some sort of grand spiritual exchange, as if Tsubaki's ancestors were coming to the rescue at the behest of the newest addition to their ranks. One dreary day as Tusbaki was helping her infirm grandparents try to keep the family afloat she heard the beginnings of a great roar in her ears. As it scared her and she tried to shy away from the sound it quieted. She quickly learned to control the sounds, and learned that it was the whispers, the chirping and chattering of spirits she had only to that point believed in as children's fairy tales. The voices were her companions where she had previously had none to turn to, the epithets, fireside stories, and humorous wisdom of the spirits of the surrounding forest invigorated her own spirit. She felt she had a guardian angel now, and the young girl was able to rally herself, be there for her father and extended family while they recovered and picked up the pieces left after the death of her mother. Even when back on track the omnipresent voices of the spirits became Tsubaki's comfort. She became wise beyond her years drinking in the words of the youkai, quickly adopted the same prankster outlook on life that a lot of them espoused. What was once a coping mechanism was soon her entire way of life.
This wild change in personality caused some to only shun her even stronger, but some were attracted to the freedom emanating from her spirit and aura, and she found herself now happily if at times tenuously integrated into the social fabric of the village. When a newcomer came to the village a year later they would make fast friends, Tsubaki being the initiator, off their mutual intellects and tuning to the spiritual world. The future heiress to the Mitsumune clan; while the two in completely different social realms they grew together through their formative years. Tsubaki was there for many an embarrassing slip up (and more than once was the one responsible for embarrassing her); knows her friends ambitions, crushes, dreams. Up to now as Ainori takes over the family Tsubaki is still there, still a close friend, still somewhat embarrassing to be around. Tsubaki's home life is standard, she has become the woman of her household and typically doesn't have much free time as all washing, cleaning, and cooking is on her while her father brings in the money, on top of having to care for her now invalid grandmother (the grandfather passed away peacefully two years prior). What free time Tsubaki does have is spent either with her other friends or with Ainori herself.
edited 24th Aug '14 12:20:45 AM by Bassetete
♌
BWAH-HA-HA!
- Name: Fukuro (Personal)
- Age: 50
- Gender: Male
- Appearance: A visibly aging, yet otherwise completely average and non-descript faux-japanese male. Perhaps a bit lean and well-built for a man his age, but still, so staggeringly normal it almost works to make him stand out. That is, if you have the astounding will power to pick him out from a crowd for any longer than a few seconds. It could be crowd of nobles, or of commoners. Of officers of the law and soldiers, or petty beggars and thieves. Of humble shoe-makers, or a mass of charging brigands come to burn a village down. Of men, or of women. It's almost uncanny, now that you think about it. If he ever puts in the effort to make his presence and/or station known to the world, he'll be clad in a set of lavender colored robes, and a black conical hat that bears the mitsuhime seal and obscures the upper half of his face from all but children and little people. Of those kinds of people, most would report an unfailingly neutral glance, as if his stare were nothing but a small steel mask. Even when he smiled as warmly as grandfather, grey eyes that stared off into the void. In his more obvious wear, he's sometimes accompanied by a blackish-brown owl that always perches on his left wrist, which is protected by a falconers glove. Sometimes, the bird is weighted down with what appears to be a scroll wrapped around one of it's legs.
- Personality:Now that's complicated. If we're talking about his own nature, he's affable, if relatively temperate and slow to speak or act. He appreciates quiet, peaceful moments in-between people, where idle chatter and boisterousness take a backseat to mutual understanding. Sharing a pot of tea in a sunlit forest clearing would be his idea of a good time, rather than getting rip-roaringly drunk in public, or cutting down his enemies in a battlefield of politics or war. Whom he'd share that tranquil moment with doesn't always matter, as he's fairly egalitarian for his position amongst the nobility. His line of work has exposed him to the best and worst of nobles and peasantry, of men and women, of the powerful and of the weak. But ultimately, again with his line of work, rare that people witness the true Fukuro. Someone who hadn't earned his utmost confidence, and was given the chance to accompany the man to multiple settings, would describe his personality as utterly chameleonic. How he acts meshes seamlessly with how everyone else is acting, even when his wants are clearly the opposite of the people he's speaking to. It would seem to the bystander as if multiple men were inhabiting the same skin.
- Skills/Abilities: Though, by his own admission, he's decidedly past his physical prime, Fukuro put's his decades of experience as an assassin and a thief to good use in his position of spymaster of the Mitsumine clan.
- Stealth: Spymaster Fukuro is well versed in the art of the silent step, being to keep a jogging pace (or even jump) without making so much as sound. His capacity for sleight-of-hand and and hiding within plain sight is nothing to sneeze at either; whether it be adding a fatal dose venom to an adversary's tea or producing a set of weighted dice in the place of the originals, it might take supernaturally keen sight to spot him.
- Acting/Disguise: When a stealthy approach is made impractical or impossible, Fukuro can hastily adapt a wide variety of different personas as a means of infiltration or surveillance. He could easily play the part of the crippled beggar, consistenly simulating any number of injuries, dialects, hunched-over postures, or general grime through application of method acting and cosmetic arrangements. Or he could be a recently hired assistant for a chef. Or a bandit. Or even a rather convincing female courtesan. Given the time to collect information on a specific person/target, he could, for a time, play their part in any given event. This all has given him a secondary talent of reading people's expressions and body language to determine their true moods/intent.
- Herbology: Fukuro has an advanced knowledge of different herbal remedies and poisons, being able to detect different components by sight, smell, or taste. He's quite capable of producing delivering these agents, whether for health or for harm, with more than enough means of plausible deniability. There are times where the person delivering a poisoned item to one of his targets may not even be aware of his involvement in the conflict, or even his very presence in the area.
- Combat: His days as a slayer of dozens of armed men are well behind Fukuro. He's just not as physically capable of entering a sustained battle with a more youthful, powerful set of opponents as he was. He has people under his employ for that, nowadays. Should he mess up so badly that he's forced into a fight, he'll jump into the fray with with an arsenal of concealed daggers, darts, wires, and small bombs. If he's more heavily involved in field work, which is sometimes necessary, his weapon of choice is a kusari-gama, which he still wields with great skill. As far as hand-to-hand is concerned, he prefers to redirect his opponent's force an make them overextend before perforating them with one of his hidden weapons. There is no honor in his way of fighting, but he's just to damed old to care.
- Falconry: What it says on the tin, really, though he prefers the use of messenger birds rather than hunting down small animals in an impressive way. He has a special bond with his own owl, Kantoku, who can relay to him simple information in an array of different birdcalls, like how many dangerous people might be in a certain area, or if he's being followed.
- Memory: The spymaster has honed his ability to retain information to the peak of human ability, being able to recite multiple conversations within one room by heart, or plagarize the contents of a small library down to the letter.
- Resources/Possesions of Note: Access to a portion of the Clan's funds, a sort of budget for his network of government backed spies, scouts, assassins, and general subverters. A silver locket with two stylized portraits within; on that appears to be his, and another belonging to be a middle aged, yet noticeably youthful looking woman. A small crossbow, smaller than his palm and tied to his wrist by a leather band.
- Backstory: Fukuro was born a bastard child to one of the minor vassal houses of the Mitsumine clan. His father, Mori Hiro, was at first willing to at least to take responsibility for the child until he became a young man, but Fukuro did more than enough to wear on his father's charity as the years went by. He was a tempestuous, arrogant youth, always seeking to prove his 'true' superiority over his noble-born brothers, either through petty plots or outright violent displays. These 'contests' would often take place in the most public setting possible, almost as if he wanted to embarrass his house. This didn't improve Hiro's wife's disposition towards him in the slightest, with the shameful circumstances of his birth already putting the two at odds. Again and again, she subtly needled her husband, or sometimes outright pleaded, that the boy be throne out into the streets to fend for himself, or be otherwise deposed of. Every year, as the boy's antagonism grew and the other sons were preparing for their duties as noblemen, his wife's suggestions became all the more tempting. Fukuro crossed the line at the age of fifteen, were in a fit of rage, he'd beat the eldest of the Mori children into a coma. After being given a similar, if ever-so-slightly less severe treatment by the house guards, he was finally cast out into the world, utterly penniless and bloodied. He swore revenge on the house, his mother in-particular, through chipped teeth and bloodied gums. And for a time, revenge as simple as surviving. He was by no means wise at this point in his life, but he was brutal enough and in possession of enough low cunning to pass as a common thug and sneak-thief. In a few years, he became skilled enough in those arts that he felt them beneath his obvious worth. Tapping out every contact he could around the surrounding villages, he assembled enough resources and manpower to become the head of a group of brigands. The talons, he called them; they were far from the biggest name in the game of banditry, but they were undoubtedly powerful. Powerful enough to call themselves the kings of this small area and that, powerful enough to facilitate the trade of some few illicit items, and just powerful enough to find out when and where the nobility moved from time to time.
- But in the grand scheme of things, Fukuro didn't know what true power was. He didn't even get a taste until he tried to pull of what would be his big score. And at the time, that meant almost the entire Mori household, seemingly guarded by less than a dozen soldiers, travelling through a heavily forested route to the capital where people were well known for disappearing. At the time, that was it for him. The lyrics to his magnum opus lying out, just ready to be orchestrated with fatal prejudice. The climax of his life and evidence to the gods themselves that he wasn't the bastard to be kicked around. He brought ever cutthroat and scoundrel he had under his employ; none of the other jobs mattered, not now. And in broad daylight, they attacked the caravan, almost two-hundred men strong. In the ensuing battle, only he would come to survive out of the company he'd brought with him. To this day, all Fukuro remembered was the forest springing to life around him in a maelstrom of blades and daggers. From the mountains above, from the forest beside them, and even the dirt behind them, nothing but slaughter. It was as if the earth herself had read his killing intent. That was all the young brigand new, that, and the man in purple robes who rode alongside the carriage rider. The man that, in the next few days, he would call teacher. The former spymaster of Mistune. In the seconds before the massacre of his men would commence, he'd caught the spymaster's eye. It was a souless stare, not hostile or smugly satisfied at it's find. A look that stripped him bare and raw as the day he'd been born into the word. It was there and then, in the first time in the boy's life, that he knew the utter futility of the game he'd played. But even that sobering moment before an inevitable loss did little to quell his strife. Wounded and in the shadow of death, Fukuro followed the caravan still, up until the dead of night, where they set camp. Stifling what he thought to be his last breaths as a moral being, he snuck past the guards, in the direction he'd seen the spymaster go. By the time he was dead, he'd own the eyes that humiliated him so. To be short? Again, he failed, quietly subdued by the elderly official after attacking a straw decoy he'd set in a tent. The old spymaster was impressed with Fukuro's resolve, seeing too much potential in him to throw him to the guard's tender mercies. Making it clear that this was a one-time offer , the alternative being a lengthy, torturous death, the spymaster offered to mentor Fukuro, to shape him into something truly powerful. The kind of cold revenge that came only once in a lifetime, as it were. Fukuro accepted his offer.
edited 22nd Aug '14 8:03:30 AM by goodisgood
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.
Sanity not included
...That Tanuki is freaking me out.
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
- Name: Yasu(first name) Minami(surname)
- Gender: female
- Age: 22
- Species: human
- Appearance: Standing at 6'1 tall. Her tanned body is athletic but she has flat chest and small butt. Her long black hair was cut into a himecut due to the fact that it is easy to cut and maintained and can be easily modified. She wears any sorts of clothing, depends on the occasion.
- Personality: She's generally a very chilled, friendly person who loves the outdoors and family centred, mostly anything she does was for her own personal entertainment and/or for her family, and a bit selfish outside of family and official matters. Very disciplined during her training though, for she knew that there are things to learn to allow her to unlock her full potential.
- Skills and Abilities: She's still learning the art of ninjutsu, though there are a few disciplines she's notable in. From lowest to highest proficiency:
- Throwing Weapons/Kusarigama: She prefers ranged combat rather than melee, so this two are her comfort zones.
- Disguise and Impersonation: Due to her ambiguous voice, she has a much easier time pretending to be a male and female.
- geography (Yeah, ninjutsu included the study of geography): This is more of her liking of hiking and camping in the beautiful landscape of the Mitsumine and her eagerness to learn it.
- stealth/getaway: She likes it because of the adrenaline rush from both hiding and running away from the enemy
- Possessions of Note: A kusarigama and several shurikens, as well as possessing several outfits for her disguise.
- Backstory:
- Yasu was born in a ninja family, working for The Blood Lotus clan closely for generations. Yasu started learning the art of ninjutsu at an age of 12 by her retired parents, as per traditions. Her parents were very strict with Yasu during training, always nitpicking at every move. Outside of training, however, they are a really nice, caring parents, even if they have some rough times. Her father frequently took her out on hiking/camping expeditions and her mother taught her how to be a good wife, like cooking. Even though Yasu prefers the outdoorsmanship of her father than the feminine activities, she appreciated both of them equally and, as a result, have a strong sense of family duties, though not necessarily for her province or even her clan. She have not done any real ninja mission yet but she's eager to do it after her ninja training is over, though her availability are ultimately to be determined by the heir.
edited 24th Aug '14 9:16:19 PM by sgtpendulum
http://www.last.fm/user/sgtpendulum Yo, check out what I'm listening, it'll be heat, brah :^)
@Bassetete: Tsubaki sounds like a nice foil to Ainori. If you don't mind, I'd like her to be a handmaiden. That's probably the best way she can stay in the loop, and Ainori would love to have a friend by her side.
That being said, she's not above getting rid of Tsubaki if she speaks out of turn. Ainori would willingly sever a finger if it meant saving the hand, even if that finger was a favored one.
-♌-
That's something that should probably happen in the RP, Ainori asking Tsubaki to become one of her servants. It actually represents a fairly major shift for Tusbaki (moving away from where she's lived all her life and the family she's been loyal to to follow Ainori on her travels) that I'd like to RP out.
And that's fine. If Tsubaki ever ends up crossing a line and getting dismissed that's the end of her, I'll roll up a youkai or something.
edited 22nd Aug '14 7:20:14 AM by Bassetete
♌
Hurr
In case anyone didn't know, Ainori hasn't publicized her expansionist views just yet. I don't quite know where Daltar wants to start us off (with the heir arriving at the city, at the inauguration, etc.) but I wanted to say that just because I've been very open about these plans doesn't mean Ainori is. Of course, it won't take long for others to find out about her goal, especially if they're part of the court.
Most (if not all) of you probably guessed this already, but I just wanted to get it out there so we can avoid problems in the RP.
Green food
One question to help me make my character.
When was the last war the Mizumine took part in and how did it generally go?
"And then the dead man of the dead did dead things to all the dead people."-Two Best Friends Play Dark Souls
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I'd like to know too; it might affect my General character as well.
edited 22nd Aug '14 2:17:33 PM by kkhohoho
From what I've learned from Daltar, the last war that involved the Mitsumine's was abouttwenty years ago. It was sparked when the Tiger Clan, at the height of their power, attacked the Boar Clan, who called on the Wolf Clan to help them out. Takeshi and Ainori's father both fought in the war, and I assume the older vets (like KK's General) would have fought in it as well. The war ended with a decisive victory for the Boars and Wolves, and a "tense but stable peace" has been maintained to this day.
Hey Taco: what was your reasoning for Horuhito to have these notarized scrolls?
I figured that'd be fairly reasonable proof of the shitstorm he participated in, something that he'd have access to that shows that, first of all, he used to have power over that land... and that he gave it up.
This post was thumped by the Stick of Post Thumping
The Blinder
I might either do a psychopatic ruin or a washed up Ninja.
Good to be back
Oh boy a ton of post and someone quite irresponsibly gave me Words of Radiance as a gift a day or two ago, capturing my attention.
Sorry for the radio silence so far. I'd be grateful if everyone signups followed the format of Ainori's.
We will begin on Takeshi's village, the day he gives the reigns to Ainori, a day some little time after winter is declared over where diplomatic meetings are resumed after everyone had time to resume communication and send new emissaries and diplomats to all lands.
I have seen most of the applications over, but I will get to looking at them and accepting or denying them in detail tomorrow. I have to mention, however, that Ainori while legitimate clan heir will not be wielding all that much power outright. Takeshi and her have been out of court for 12 years, with other men left to rule the clan. There is some expectations over what will happen now that Ainori is of age, however, people have mostly gotten used to a new regime. I'd also like for players to think, in that context, how they can know and come to support Ainori. Childhood friends? Come to meet and greet the daughter of the old leader? Work for Takeshi in his mansion? There must be a connection somewhere. Furthermore, we are starting kind of small here, so please leave room for growth for your characters.
The Blinder
- Name: Date Goto
- Age: 27
- Gender: Male
- Race: Human
- Appearance: Goto is a scrawny, disheveled man, he has long greasy hair and wears a ripped up, well worn Haori with his family Crest upon it, his forearms and hands are wrapped in bandages and he has a necklace of prayer beads, He wears a pair of Geta and sandals, with his Wazakachi and Katana tied to his belt.
- Personality: Goto is a fairly down to earth, if not sarcastic Ronin. He is polite, though he always says it in such a way that give off the opposite impression. He deeply enjoys playing Go, Sake and Haikus and tales of the Youkai....Unfortunately, any positive mention of Mitsumine Clan, can drive him into an almost blind rage, usually challenging whoever did so to a duel, since he believes the Clan to be the reason for his father's death. However, he has slowly began to realize that maybe his father wasn't the perfect samurai that he's always assumed he is, so bloodshed can be avoided with him.
- Skills and Abilities:
- Fighting: Goto is a skilled swordsman, with over twenty years of training, and ten years of actual experience.
- Go: Goto, while he doesn't nessecarily use it in combat, is a skilled strategist and deeply enjoys a game of Go, being quite good at it.
- Poetry: Goto is deeply knowledgable about literature, writing some himself, he also knows many tales of Yokai, despite considering himself to old for it.
- Possessions and Assets: His father's old Katana and Wazakachi, some money, a book of haikus,
- Bio: Son of the Samurai Date Kyo, Goto grew up learning that honor was everything, however, his father had become a drunkard, and an emotionally and physically abusive husband and father, as such Goto grew up slightly unhinged, which took a head when the the father was killed in a duel with a vassal of the Mitsumine clan, however, to Goto's mind, this meant that whoever would strike down such a great samurai like his father. so, taking his father's wazakachi and Katana, he set off to kill the Mitisumine clan,though his intentions may have changed somewhere in there...
Well, Ghiren's a general. By default, he supports whoever happens to be leading the clan at the time, regardless of whether or not he knows them well. However, as I discussed with Nman, he did come to her to get his illegitimate daughter (which he told the heir is his niece,) that 'secret bodyguard' job. He supports the heir for now, but her future actions will determine if he feels he can truly support her, or if he should act against her.
edited 23rd Aug '14 5:42:38 AM by kkhohoho
Guess Who?
- Name: Raiden Taro
- Age: 26
- Species: Human
- Appearance: 6 foot on the dot, it is rather difficult to tell what of his bulk is muscle, and what is just fat, his physical shape being a mish-mash of both, ending up in him being a large, but not fat per se, man. His face is rather round and his features boyish, despite his most common smiles consisting of smirks or having his greed fulfilled. His black hair is split into three distinct sections, the middle section also sporting a top knot.
- Personality: Taro is, rather plainly, quite a disgusting individual. Having completely succumbed to his greed and desire of power and women, and frequently getting away with it due to his status. Holding highly traditionolist views, Taro treats the poor and women like dirt, beleiving them to be lesser than him and sub-human in every way. Naturally, the fact that the new heir would be a female and from a faraway village where she has mingled highly with commoners has been met with opposition from him.
- Skills/Abilities:
- Jujutsu: The martial art Taro is most proficient in, and with which he gains most of his martial prowess. Chosen as it allowed Rikiya to beat more athletic and well-built opponents , without having to sacrifice on his luxuries due to its nature.
- Jittejustu: As head of law enforcement, Taro is by neccesity skilled with the jutte, thanks to its status as the de facto weapon of law enforcement.
- The Sight: Due to his family's curse, Taro is able to easily see Yourai, and his natural sight is also greatly enhanced too, Taro being able to see clearly at night and having much better eyesight than most humans.
- Possessions of Note: While his daisho is merely ceremonial for Taro, and only kept in good care for tradition and have seen very little actual combat, Taro's jitte
◊ and tetsubo◊ are very different matters. Extremely well-maintained, and given more love than Taro's wife, the two weapons are made of an extremely high quality, so as to make them nigh-unbreakable and one of the best weapons of their nature.
- Long ago in the Raiden family's history, during the first Raiden's rule of Minoru, the agricultural city, a particularly brave and mavelont Yourai approached the first Raiden home unobstructed, due to the fact that all of the priests had been dismissed. Being fairly powerful, the Yourai laid a curse on the first Raiden before being repelled by a loyal priest that had defyed the first Raiden's orders, and remained, out of sight. At first, there seemed to be no adverse affects, and it appeared to all that the Yourai had been repelled before anything could be done. That was, until the first Raiden had six children who were all absolutely despicable. Now deeply afraid, the Raiden tried everything in his power to cure the children of their curse, but nothing could be done.
- When the first Raiden's heir came into power and also had children, his children were eactly the same as the heir's brothers. It soon dawned on the Raiden family, after the third cycle, that this had been the Yourai's curse. Many times the Raiden family tried to avoid it, but nothing could be done. Eventually coming to terms with their curse, the Raiden family learned to deal with it, and gave each son, for they were always sons, a role. The first son, a control freak, was made ruler of Minoru. The second son, Taro, was made chief of police. The third son, an annoying Rules Lawyer, was made supreme judge. The fourth son, a trickster, was given to the Yourai in exchange for not being troubled by them and their aid in the case of an attack. The fifth son, a patholigical traitor, was given to the Emperor and kept under close guard while also training as one of the Emepror's ninjas. The sixth son, prideful in his moral goodness and with a holier-than-thou attitude, was made head of the local shrine.
- And so the city of Minoru was brought under the new brutal regime, and forced to work like slaves for their masters to raise enough food. Revolts were met by cruel crackdowns, attempts at liberation by other daimyo's easily thwarted until the Minoruns gave up hope entirely, kept their head down, and did their work. They were given a brief repreive by the generous rule of Daichi and his reigning in of the Daimyo of Minoru, until he died and Takeshi withdrew from his role as clan leader, leading the people to be more oppressed than ever.
- Taro himself was brought up vying for attention among 5 brothers, where his personality is drawn from, as were all of the other second sons' before him. Taken to a Samurai school as soon as he became 14, Taro studied there until he was 20, when he returned to fulfill his role as understudy to his uncle, which was never fulfilled. Instead, Taro got friendly with all of the bars, brothels and potential mistresses in town, until he assumed full control of the police force at the age of 25, his uncle dead.
- As customary for the Raidens, Taro was sent as ambassador to the Capital, as all of the brothers save for the the first did on a continuous, yearly cycle. Due to Ainori assuming her position as heir, Taro was instead sent to the village where Takeshi resided, his role now changing to be an advisor for the heir, rather than the regents in the capital.
Personally, I'd go with either 'that', or 'I'. 'That' is the least ridiculous&moe of the bunch, looks like an actual darn shrine-maiden, and seems like a nice, calm, likeable young lady. 'I' is a bit more ridiculous with those eyes and that skirt, but that smile and that sword make her seem like a Bad Ass. Just my two cents.
edited 23rd Aug '14 7:35:27 AM by kkhohoho
Yeah, in regards of what seems to the the tone of the setting 'that' seems to be the best
@KK: You probably know this already, but be careful about how you approach opposing Ainori. Many of the nobles (especially Takeshi) have her support, so if you're not careful old Ghiren might find himself as the leader of the Cannon Fodder platoon.
@Taco: That goes double for Hurhito. I don't fully understand the reasoning behind his revolutionary past—especially why he'd want to brag about it to a fledgling leader—but the moment Ainori learns about it he's going to be taking a long walk off a short pier. His suggestions to "listen to the people" will fall on deaf ears; not because Ainori doesn't sincerely care about her charge, but because she'll see any pitches he makes as a form of bullying. To her, these notarized scrolls say "I overthrew a government and gave it to someone else. Don't listen to me, and I'll do the same to you." You can see why Ainori would want someone like that dead or banished, right?
I'm not worried about people opposing Ainori's views (that's the magic of having different opinions! 
), what I'm worried about is these oppositions festering into revolt. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing—I've only seen the profiles, not the characters in action—but if Ainori hears word about a plan to overthrow her (and if she still has the support of most of the clan), the characters responsible will die.
Don't worry; Ghiren might not see eye-to-eye with Ainori, but he ain't stupid. He'll wait and see before taking any definite action; perhaps ask a few seemingly innocent questions about the finer details of Ainori's plans. But if the body count rises too high, or if Ghiren even thinks that it will rise too high, you can expect him to take some sort of action. Just what sort of action he would take, I'm not sure; I'll wait until we actually get to that point.
edited 23rd Aug '14 7:50:23 AM by kkhohoho
edited 24th Aug '14 2:44:19 PM by Saturn