Without Heaven [OOC + Signups]

[Hologram Summer]

(click to go to the IC thread)


-= PREMISE =-​

The Tokugawa shogunate was established in 1603 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu wanted to establish a long lasting peace in Japan after years of bloody civil wars. Thus, he began a sword hunt to deny potential rebels and criminals of their weapons. Those who could not lay down their weapon were stripped of their Japanese citizenship and banished to a secluded island off the coast of Edo. As time passed, the island attracted criminals and other outcasts who wanted to escape the rules of the shogunate. The island's reputation for being a lawless paradise for crime and murder eventually gave birth to its common name, Ritenkyo (the capital abandoned by heaven).

But there are those who exploited the islanders' common hate for the shogunate. The Three Blades of Dominion, a group of powerful swordsmen and women, rose to power in the island and began subjugating the outlaws of Ritenkyo. Their ultimate goal is still unknown but it is no doubt detrimental for the Tokugawa shogunate.

-= MAIN STORYLINE =-

[Book 1: The Battle of Osaka Bay]
It's been five years since the Three Blades of Dominion were formed and the shogunate begins to realize the threat they pose to the mainland. However with the country still in shambles after the last civil war, the government's attention and resources were focused elsewhere. Small raid parties composed of sub par warriors were sent to the island to capture these war mongering individuals but none of them succeeded or returned to the mainland. It was mostly just a show to make the masses believe that the shogun was doing something about the demons of Ritenkyo.

Things changed when the son of a particularly influential daimyo was slain during one of these raids. The daimyo started stirring up the citizens of Edo to demand more drastic actions from the government in dealing with the Three Blades.

Rumors of an upcoming war spread amongst the citizens of Ritenkyo. Some fishermen claim to have seen battleships bearing the shogun's banner sailing towards the island. Others gossip about the body of Three Blades loyalists turning up dead in the morning, assassinated by government spies. The island is in complete unrest as war looms over the horizon.

[Book 2: n/a]
WIP

[Book 3: n/a]
WIP

[Book 4: n/a]
WIP

-=Rules & Expectations=-
​

1. Minimal historical accuracy. If you're the type of player who nitpicks historical accuracy, I'm afraid this won't be your cup of tea. There will be some references here and there but nothing that will require you to jump to Wikipedia.Think Samurai Shodown, Rurouni Kenshin or Soul Calibur and you'll get some idea of the atmosphere that I'm aiming for in this RP.

2. Anime physics and logic. I'm a sucker for unique and interesting character designs so let's throw realism out the window for a second. However, please don't get carried away and throw an Ichigo expy into the mix. Again, consider the examples I gave on number one to get some idea on how things will play out.

3. Character death is enabled but only with the player's consent.

4. Violence and gore. (MLP this ain't)

5. No one liners or even two/three liners at that. Please try to compose at least 2 paragraphs per post.

6. Romance and Intimacy is welcomed but let's leave the pillow talk in the Libertine forums, kay?

7. Strictly human characters only. ​

-= CHARACTER ROSTER =- ​

[The Three Blades of Dominion]

Reverend Hojo
-The Ascetic of the White Sun-
(Played by @Hologram Summer)

Tagamichi Kirose
-The Black Shadow-
(Played by @Solar✹Blitzfang43)

Muramasa
-The Demon Swordsmith-
(Played by @Buio)​

[Islanders]

Morumoto Aito
-The Laughing Spearman-
(Played by @Vonghese)

Tamagi Shiro
-Lazy Samurai-
(Played by @SecretsLiesMurder)

Aimatsu
-Peony Maiden-
(Played by @Michelle the Editor)

Tachibana Shigane
-The Rising Dawn-
(Played by @Solar✹Blitzfang43)

Shinomiya Fujiko
-Japanese Wisteria-
(Played by @DANAsaur)

Yigin
-Gin / Chunk-
(Played by @WarriorHeart)​

Makoto
-The Romancing Sword-
(Played by @Cambrodge Hazard)

Sasuke
-Whirlwind-
(Played by @Buio)

Haruki Shinobu
-Seventh Grandmaster Shinobu-
(Played by @ShiroKiyoshi)

Minami Amaterasu
-Mistress of the Higanbana Gardens-
(Played by @Rambunctious)


(more spots will be opened depending on the storyline)

-=NPC List=-​

Made by @Vonghese

Shirahama Kenki

Japanese pirate. Quite the debonair gentleman, has family in Aito's village. Aito may or may not be banging his niece. Kenki confides himself to the wakazashi, as that's more practical in the close confines of ship-to-ship combat, but wields one in each hand like a Holy Storm. He puts at the pirate port every month or so, lets his men get all their crazy out, then comes home to spend a few days with his brother's family.


Iwanami Kōjien

The Most Holy man on the island, according to all but himself. Kōjien is the leader of the island's Shinto priests. He's a very kindly and humble old man, who always goes barefoot and works his ass off to support whatever community he's passing through. Aito is a great admirer of him. He's a gentle soul who wouldn't hurt a fly. Very old, but highly skilled in the healing arts.


Nezumi Kozō

The most outrageous and flamboyant thief you could ask for, who frequently trades stolen goods to the fisherfolk of Aito's village in return for food and other supplies. He is a member of one of the criminal gangs on the island. He does not lead them, but frequently represents them as a spokesman.

*^The Princess
One of Aito's rumoured concubines, a daimyo's lord of refined beauty. In spite of being in service to him she is a dedicated student of his school and thus a frightful Naginata wielder in her own right.

*^The Pauper
One of Aito's rumoured concubines, A pearl found in the sea foam, she was raised a simple fisherman's daughter in spite of her great beauty. While she is in service to Aito, she is a dedicated student of his school and thus a frightful Naginata wielder in her own right.


Made by @Buio

*Narumi
A young Goze (blind female musician) who travels with Sasuke and Jingen. She is a soft spoken but hope-filled young woman who plays the shamisen with some considerable skill for her age. While she is more accustomed to playing slower tunes by training, she has started learning more fast paced melodies to better accommodate Sasuke's addition to their performances.

*Jingen
A bald man in his late twenties with a rugged stature and grim expression. He is actually not as grumpy as people think, he just has a severe case of resting jerk face. He is a decent percussionist who carries with him a small drum to play in the performances put on by his two partners, and can atually play a variety of similar instruments when given the chance, but he sees himself first and foremost as Narumi's bodyguard and caretaker and thus prefers to travel light. He is often the acting voice of reason.


Made by @Michelle the Editor

Nobu
A samurai in the service of the Three Blades, survivor of one of the recent assassinations. A frequent customer of the street of flowers who has learned to keep his lips pursed around the women there.

-=PROFILE SHEET=-
​

(insert character picture here)
 
Name:
Alias/Titles:
Age:
Gender:
Profession:
 
 
Likes:
Dislikes:
Bio:
 
Weapon(s):
Fighting Style: (NOTE: Feel free to create your own fighting style / swordplay)

 

[Hologram Summer]

-=LOCATIONS=-

​

Jigokumon

A small village located near the Imperial harbor of Ritenkyo. Jigokumon means gates to hell, a derogary term used by the shogunate soldiers to describe this place. It's the only place in the island where the rules of the shogunate still apply. Only a few choose to call this place home as it is frequently raided by bandits and plays host to many clashes between shogunate soldiers and minions of the Three Blades of Dominion.

Tsubaki-maru

A flourishing community in the middle of the island. Nestled on a lush valley, this village is the agriculture center of Ritenkyo. To many, Tsubaki-maru is considered as a neutral ground for the islanders.

Guiyun Temple

The Mana cult's headquarters. Before Reverend Hojo came to the island, Guiyun temple was a Buddhist retreat created by early settlers on Ritenkyo. Upon hearing the existence of this place, the reverend's fanatic cultists swarmed its halls and slew the monks that inhabited it.

Apart from being a house of worship, Guiyun temple also serves as a stronghold for the Mana cult. Its complicated network of collapsed pagodas and rope bridges prevent any large scale assault on the temple and the mountain range protects it against bombardment from the sea.

Kurishina

A fishing village in the bay east of the volcano on the southern coast. Tidy and well-kept. There are farms inland, in the volcanic soil. A lot of obsidian rock in the area. The fishermen are poor, but they've been there a long time, and their houses are sturdy and well maintained. The harbor isn't big enough to support more than a couple of proper-sized ships, but all manner of small fishing vessels are docked there. Prominent buildings include a small shinto temple, the old dojo where Aito works out, a community theater, a market place, several warehouses, and a stable. Fresh fish are delivered inland to the farmers, the rest are salted and put away in the warehouse.

U~oriāzuritorīto

Kirose's lair. The land around his small dojo is surrounded on all sides by plenty of plant life making it quite hard to be found. While most would have expected the strongest of the Blades of Dominion to have quite the extravagant abode, Kirose prefers to keeps it simple, opting for a small home disconnected from the outside world. He always comes here when he needs to train in private or enjoy a few moments of peace away from the other Blades. Like any other dojo, challengers may seek a duel against Kirose here. He's more likely to accept their challenge here since it shows great determination to search out this place for a simple duel.

That being said he won't take on any students because he sees that as a waste of his time since no one outside of his group has shown enough skill to even stand toe to toe with him in battle. Its location can be found in the farthest corner south-east of Jigokumon.

Akuma no kuchi

'The Devil's mouth'. This dormant volcano looms over the southern coast of Ritenkyo, it's south and west cliffs rising directly from the sea and climbing up in a near vertical inline up to the highest point on the island; a giant, gaping, maw-like crater that last rained fire and brimstone hell upon the southern portion of the island some seventy years ago. Recently, some say they have heard the old mountain stir in its sleep, and some south-eastern communities are wondering if perhaps it may be better to relocate before they become part of what makes the volcanic soil so fertile. In staunch defiance of this stands the Mad smith's workshop where he and 176 variously obtained disciples work tirelessly to create the most beautiful tools of death Ritenkyo has seen (that were not crafted out of the corpses of sinners anyway). There is a road constructed from this location that allows relatively quick travel to Kurogane-ko, from which Muramasa gets steady shipments of materials to work with thanks to his many contracts and outlets in the city. Unfortunately what is relatively fast in relation to otherwise traversing the harsh and winding terrain of the mountain base region, becomes tragically slow when related to cascading rivers of red hot death one might want to escape from.

Kurogane-ko

Known as the 'hidden gem of the south seas', this thriving pirate port is what became of a small fishing village located hidden in an inlet on the south coast of Ritenkyo which just so happened to hug the western base of Akuma no Kuchi. It was discovered seventy years ago that the south and western portions of the volcano's bowl were significantly more elevated than the north and east, so in spite of their proximity to the mountain the village suffered nearly no damage as the lava flow was directed away from them. They were hidden a way in a perfect blind spot for the mountain's fury. And since no one else would be crazy enough to come try and establish themselves that close to the mountain until a few decades had passed and people had forgotten their fear and respect for its might again, the village was left to thrive and expand knowing full well it was in a golden location. It's unclear if the already shady inhabitants of the village simply decided to make a pirate port of it some time down the line, or if the suitable location was simply spotted by a roving band of pirates when it started developing and was taken over, but either way by the time the rest of the island became aware of Kurogane-ko's existence again, it had become a favored harbor for the regional wokou and poachers.

When Muramasa became the second blade he immediately spotted the potential in the location and opened his initial, smaller workshop there. Selling his wares to the pirates (in between furnishing the needs of the Mana cult in return for their sponsorship), Muramasa used his shockingly keen business sense to establish strong business relations with key individuals who would be of great use to him later. The quality of his work (even as he was still busy instilling in his first group of disciples the madness they would need to create works of true beauty) was enough for him to attract a good-enough customer base that after two years of near constant economical scheming, arranging, and hustling, Muramasa had gathered the capital to construct his true workshop at the mountain base. Leaving the previous workshop to serve as a secondary outlet, Muramasa funneled a significant portion of his ongoing profits from his weapons trade into funding the businesses of certain partners in the harbor he had established good relations with. Like this the Three blades' finances have directly been responsible for the recent stimulation of the port's economy and attraction of international clientele, and everyone knows it. While the Three Blades have no official base in the port, everyone knows they own it in practice now thanks to Muramasa.

 

[TravisBM]

Reserving one of those three blades thank you.

 

[Hologram Summer]

Name: Hojo Haruhito (commonly addressed as Reverend Hojo)
Alias/Titles: The Ascetic of the White Sun
Age: Unknown but possibly in his late 30s. He's definitely older than he appears.
Gender: Male
Profession: Cult Leader / Blade of Dominion

Likes: meditating, sunny weather, higanbana, "helping" people, despair
Dislikes: winter, anyone with the surname Toyotomi, fire
Bio:
Reverend Hojo is one of the Three Blades of Dominion that govern Ritenkyo and the leader of the local Mana religion. He is the weakest among the trio in terms of martial skills but makes up for it with his cunning wit and charisma. The bulk of his responsibility involves keeping the people of Ritenkyo in line with the Three Blades' interests and to take care of any and all rebels who oppose their will. He uses the Mana religion to brainwash the masses into obeying the Three Blades while his cultists act as enforcers that hunt and capture possible traitors to their cause.

Records about this enigmatic priest is scarce but it is known that he has some connection to the Toyotomi clan. Rumor has it that he was the son of Nene and Hideyoshi Toyotomi (despite popular knowledge that Nene could not bear Hideyoshi any children). He was born an albino which was at the time considered unlucky. Immediately after his birth, misfortune befell the Toyotomi clan and Hideyoshi ordered for Haruhito's death. Nene couldn't bear to kill her own child so she hid him in a buddhist monastery which was later destroyed by a fire. Reverend has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of this tale.

Weapon(s): He carries a Tibetan prayer wheel with a pointed tip and a bell attached to it. It's primary use is for triggering the effects of his hypnosis but it can also be used as a mace or a stabbing weapon in a pinch.
Fighting Style:
Reverend Hojo never fights directly and is usually under the protection of his cultist guards. However, he is extremely talented in the art of hypnosis and orations. When forced to direct combat, he uses an Indian method of hypnosis commonly used by Sadhus, Fakirs, Yogis. This method employs threatening stare and suggestive techniques like loud command "sleep" etc. to bring out the subjects imagination generated from within the mind. He uses a more complicated form of hypnosis when creating sleeper agents and guards to plant "triggers" in their mind that forces them to perform a certain command when the trigger is used. His most sinister one is a suicide command that activates by ringing the bell of his prayer wheel four times.

 

[TravisBM]

Name: Kirose Tagamichi
Alias/Titles: The Black Shadow
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Profession: Blade of Dominion


Likes: Training, The night, Taking naps, and his blade, Kometetsu.
Dislikes: Underhanded people, Being pestered, Pompous people, and the Shogunate
Bio:
Kirose is a memeber of the revered Blades of Dominion and is arguably the strongest of the three due to his abilites with a blade and the blade itself. He comes from a proud line of samurai who had served the shogunate for generations as their loyal retainers which he did until the dawning of the Edo period. When asked to hand over his blade Kirose refused outright for he considered that the same act as giving up his very own identity which was something his warrior code would just not allow to happen. For his years of service to the emperor he was allowed the chance to be banished to the island Ritenkyo instead of being exectued on the spot.

After a while of being placed upon that island a new form of hate began to grow in the heart of Kirose not for the Shogunate totally, but rather the new direction it had taken after this era of "peace" began. He only joined up with the other two blades in order to fulfill of goal of reverting the Shogunate back to the old way..the true warrior's way.

Weapon(s): A grand katana named Kometetsu that is strong enough to cut through stone like paper.
Fighting Style:
Kirose is a master of the quick draw style that allows him to draw his blade at such a high speed the normal human eye can hardly keep up with it. This is quite deadly when paired with his blade that can make quick work of stone and his incredible speed that looks as though he is teleporting from one space to the next.

 

[Hologram Summer]

Kirose is approved and accepted!

 

[TravisBM]

So we've got a evil cultist and a vengeful samurai/ronin so far.

 

[Buio]

gonna start working on a potential final three blades.

 

[Buio]

Spoiler

minus the rapier-like weapon in the pic

Name: Muramasa
Alias/Titles: The mad/demon swordsmith
Age: appears somewhere in his late twenties but speaks as if he is older.
Gender: Claims to be male, no one's checked but people have commented on that face of his(?)
Profession:Blade of Dominion/ Workshop Chief.

Likes: Interesting people, Interesting things, beautiful death, beautiful weapons, chaos
Dislikes: boring people, stagnation
Bio: Little is known about this man named Muramasa. Cryptic and unsettling, this sword smith appeared on the island some years after the reverend established his cult and began a murdering spree soon after getting to Ritenkyo. Though killing sprees were not exactly a rare occurrence on the island, his was notable in that he would exclusively target swordsmen and women of known skill. Their bodies would only show up weeks after they had disappeared, mutilated and drained of blood.

For a long time no one knew exactly what it was that was happening, one night however one of Muramasa's targets was skillful enough to hold him off until attention was drawn to their confrontation. There were witnesses to the end of the duel, how the white haired slayer artlessly and without grace cut down the trained swordsman in a quick, imperceptible motion. News of Muramasa's existence spread through the island after he fled the scene, but no one knew what his purpose was, or why he stole back into town a few nights later to recover the body he had left behind; all without anyone noticing until the following morning.

However now there were bounties on his head and some began hunting for him. When they found him, they discovered a cave hid out in the mountains of the island. It was equipped with a traditional furnace, butchery table, workbench, and the various trimmings of a twisted smithy. The self-proclaimed demon smith had been hunting skilled killers and harvesting them for parts. He would use a chemical process to draw the carbon out of their flesh and bones and mix this into the iron sands he would smelt into the raw steel required for his blades. Once that steel was worked and forged into a blade, he would quench it in vats of the collected blood of his victims, releasing a foul odour of hell and sickness that clung to the walls of the cave. The stones he used to sharpen the blades afterwards were made out of the pulverized and baked solid teeth of his victims, and finally he would use the kept-aside bones of the swordsman's sword arm to make the handle and scabbard. He would later explain to the reverend that this process imbued the blade with a dark power by binding the victim's soul to it as a demon. The blade would then become one of vengeance and suffering that would compel its wielder to never sheathe it once drawn if it had not tasted blood, even if that had to be its wielder's own.

While the mad smith's claims to demon magic were questionable, the quality of his blades were not and it was clear that he was consistently making better and better quality blades as he went on judging by the other fine blades hung on his cave wall.

When he was discovered, he had just put the finishing touches on his latest 'demon' blade and thanked the bounty hunters for finding him. They proved to be very useful targets to test his newest creation on.

After giving his new sword its first meal he went into town and made his way towards the head quarters of the Mana religion. He unceremoniously cut down anyone who got in his way but did not alter his course, keeping steady for the high Temple. Rumours started spreading that the mad smith must have decided to make the most powerful man in the land, Hojo Haruhito, into his next victim. Warriors faithful to the path stood in Muramasa's way to protect their leader, but they too were cut down.

Making his way to the temple, the smith was fully prepared to slash his way through the entire complex to meet the man he sought. He was surprised however to find Haruhito waiting for him outside of the gates, a political show of strength by not hiding behind his servants for protection no doubt (and even more certain he had a trick up his sleeve If he could not negotiate Muramasa out of killing him). However none of it would be needed, for when the white haired smith approached the reverend he knelt before him and held out his latest blade. It was still as perfect as the day it was forged even after weeks of travel and slaughter, and he held it as a gift. Muramasa offered it to Haruhito and confessed that he now felt his skills were of sufficient quality that he could offer himself up for the position of Ritenkyo's chief blacksmith. All with the cult's sponsorship and his supply of their material needs in return of course.

This was how Muramasa became the second blade of dominion, Chief of the new workshop that served as the greatest smithing factory on the island, and up until Kirose Tagamichi arrived on Ritenkyo; a swordsman thought to be insurmountable in spite of using no technique or stance in his fighting. He still remains the second strongest of the three by a small margin, and is arguably more feared than Kirose. Whereas Kirose and his followers would cut you down for causing trouble for the dominion, Muramasa was likely to just have you captured and tortured for the fun of it if he thought it could inspire his 'art'. That being said Muramasa rarely forges 'demon' blades like he originally did anymore. It would cost too many bodies to be affordable for the entire workshop to operate in such fashions, so he only uses his trademark forging style when he finds an interesting and powerful swordsman he wants to turn into a special blade. He has openly stated several times that he wishes to one day cut down Kirose himself as he believes that the noble ronin would "make a masterpiece to compare Juuchi Yosamu's beauty". Despite this there is rarely any open hostility on his part towards either of the other two blades.

Weapon(s):
Juuchi Yosamu - 10,000 cold nights

The Blade Muramasa calls 'his most beautiful masterpiece yet'. A sword he came to the island with, it was the second demon blade he ever created, imbued with the remains of the master who taught him the smithing arts. In all subsequent works Muramasa has failed to replicate Juuchi Yosamu's simple perfection and attests its beauty to the raw quality of the ingredients his master's corpse provided. It is rare that he deems someone worthy enough of serving as a meal for the blade, but rumours say that when he draws the cursed blade all sounds become quet and the only thing to be heard is a faint, mournful weeping on the edge of one's hearing. Some say it is the echoes of the victims loved one mourning them in the future. Others say that rumours tend to run too wild around Ritenkyo.

-----------

Nikuya no kama - Butcher's Sickle

The very first demon blade Muramasa ever created and his go-to weapon when he does not have a more recent one in his possession. As such it is the weapon he has had the most practice with and the one that has tasted most blood. Its blade is in fact the only besides Juuchi Yosamu's that has tasted Muramasa's master's blood, which Muramasa guarantees definitely makes it more lethal. Whether this is true or whether he is just as crazy as everyone assumes, either way it's a proven fact that many an unfortunate swordsman of the island has met a painful end on the edge of that blade.


Fighting Style: Muramasa, in spite of his impressive duelling record, maintains that he is a swordsmith not a swordsman. As such he has never studied any school of swordplay to aid him in combat. In his words he 'simply listens to the blade's cry for blood, and let it guide [his] hand towards the blade's satisfaction'. While he does not seem to realize it (or, if he does realize it he is pretending to be unawares), Muramasa is actually practising a form of mental martial art called Mushin: the mindless mind. Muramasa is entirely devoid of fear for his own life, anger, or hatred during battle. His mind is entirely focused on killing simply for killing's sake, reacting to everything that comes to him naturally with only that purpose occupying his being. His movements waste no energy or motion and he has no hesitation. Combined with a strong physique and stamina from tirelessly working the forges, a naturally intimidating and off-putting disposition, and dozens of battles of experience under his belt, Muramasa's formless form is too unpredictable and lethal for any average swordsman to read in time to avoid getting cut down. The only swordsman so far to have possessed a technique pure enough to flow with Muramasa's mad mushin and exit the fray without getting injured has been the third blade of dominion.

 

[Buio]

of course I'm up for editing where it may be needed

 

[Hologram Summer]

Muramasa is approved and accepted! I love the fact that the three blades come in different flavors of crazy.

 

[Buio]

hahaha, the world isn't fun without crazy. Now we just need some protagonists to come and oppose us.

 

[Hologram Summer]

Yep, this is shaping up to be a fun cast. I'm excited to see how the other characters will turn out.

 

[SecretsLiesMurder]

Name: Shiro Tamagi
Alias/Titles: Lazy Samurai
Age: Twenty Six
Gender: Female
Profession: Leader of the rough organization, "The Shin".


Likes: Tea, Flowers, Sweets, Rain, Felines
Dislikes: Loud Noises, Annoyance, Canines, and Doing work
Bio: Shiro was born into a family of criminals. Her parents were hard at work, and always had someone there to take care of her, never taking care if her themselves. She sort of always resented them for that, never wanting to follow in their foot steps. Her father taught her how to wield a katana, and her mother taught her how to use men, manipulating then to get what she wants. Though, with that attention, she didn't want that to become her life.

When she turned Sixteen, she set out on a journey to go find herself, anywhere it may actually be. She went from village to village on the island, and took home in a small village off the shore of the ocean. She lived there for a while. She bought a house, and a small shop. She made it a bar. She met lots of people that came into the bar, and realized some of the men and women didn't have lives. She started the gang known as "The Shin", and began working it. The Shin was a group of criminals that liked to collect bounty, and do others dirty work. The money they earned went to the Bar.

A few years after opening the bar, a young man came to her place. He addressed himself as Yigin, and she gladly accepted him into her home.

Despite Shiro's lazy personality, and lack of wanting to actually work, when it comes to her job, she is really passionate, and will never fail to her the job done.

Weapon(s): Tanto, Katana
Fighting Style: Being skilled in Martial Arts, taught to her by a native tribe she met in the village of Nagasoko, she uses a hand to hand combat style. She tends to use the Physical side of Bujutsu. Her strength in Jujutsu is that of a normal, punching and kicking, but to a more extreme as in a way of knocking someone cold. She uses a Tanto to swiftly injure an enemy to ready for her use of her Kakushi Buki. As the battle furthers on, and her Bujutsu and Jujutsu doesn't take the enemy out, she'll take out her arts of swordsmen ship. She was trained well by her father on how to properly display the arts of wielding a Katana. She isn't fully trained in Kenjutsu, so she only uses one sword. Her Battojutsu on the other hand is something she can work with. Using her single sword, she is able to move as fast as a normal samurai that has had years of training. On the long range side, to throw an enemy off course, she tends to use the art of Sojutsu. Using a spear to avert the attention of her enemy off course thinking another enemy is ready to strike.

Shiro tends to study the actions of her enemy, and uses that against them. If she finds a pattern, she try throwing her enemy off that pattern.

Before fighting, Shiro will attempt at talking her enemy out of the fight, and figure out why they wish to battle in the first place. If they still insist on the battle, then she will attempt at putting them to shame.​

 

[Michelle the Editor]

Going to take a little more time to draw myself an OC pic because all the ones I can find are either half-undressed or wielding swords (or both), but I'm making a prostitute/spy for this game as soon as I can.

 

[Vonghese]

Name: Morumoto Aito

Alias/Titles: The Laughing Spearman

Age: 31

Gender: Male

Profession: Samurai, local teacher of the arts of the Naginata

Likes: Sake. Women.

Dislikes: The naginata being decried as a 'woman's weapon'.

Appearance: Small in stature, but corded with hard muscle. He has an elaborate and heartbreakingly perfect full-body tattoo that ends at his neck, wrists, and ankles. His features are unremarkable, and he wears a neatly trimmed beard. He has abandoned the traditional topknot, and his hair hangs to his shoulder blades when not pulled back from his face. It usually is, to fully expose his beard, as he hates being mistaken for a woman.

His arms and legs have been hardened by years of conditioning, and he walks barefoot over grass and gravel alike, usually in simple clothes. Frequently he strips to the waist and joins the fishermen of his village in their tasks. His default gait is slow and dignified. He hurries himself for no man, but he delights in the children of the village and occasionally joins their games.

Bio: Aito was born prematurely, resulting in a smaller stature than most men. As a child he may have been given up on early, but in fighting with his older brothers he proved to be a vicious, ferocious fighter. He always knew he would wield a naginata, and carried a training staff of appropriate size always about with him. His family called him the 'Little Shogun' for the solemnity of his demeanor, and he viewed any slight to his diminutive size as grounds for battle. His elder brothers learned quickly that their superior size and strength were negated by the naginata's reach and leverage, much to their dismay, and they soon respected him as a warrior as capable as any. His brothers left home when he was twelve to study swordplay in another household, but Aito remained at home, for the finest Naginata fighter in that land was none other than his mother.

The first time Aito laughed in earnest was when he was sixteen. He had gone to visit his brothers, and had taken his first proper naginata with him. Upon arrival at the school, he was waiting in the courtyard for his brothers to be available when several other students started mocking the diminutive man who carried a weapon so much greater than himself. Aito had at first ignored them, feeling it beneath him to engage on their level, but when one sought to snatch at his weapon, Aito lashed out. In a couple of blurring seconds, he'd gone from kneeling quietly to a shrieking typhoon of shaft and sheath, and his brothers came out to find him standing victorious, leaning on his weapon and laughing. His opponents lay with broken bokken or broken limbs. Thereafter, he was known as the Laughing Spear, for his odd tendency to laugh in battle.

He became a wandering samurai, bound to the same daimyo as his father, but frequently sent about the countryside on errands. It was while he was gone on one such errand that the shogun received a guest, someone with strange tastes in entertainment, who had heard of the legendary spear. Rather than insult his guest by refusing him a demonstration, the daimyo sent for Aito's mother. At his command, she dueled two samurai to the death in demonstration, but lost the third match, and her head along with it.

It is said that the samurai who killed her did so by cleaving clearly through the shaft of her spear, and on into her flesh.

It is also said that that same night, that samurai died in horrible agony, shrieking that he was burning, though no mark was to be found on his flesh.

It is known, however, that Aito returned, took charge of his mother's funeral, and reshafted the naginata.

It is also known that there is an inscription on the blade of the naginata, He who breaks me burns.

Further, it is known that no samurai will willingly cross blades with the Laughing Spearman in friendly duel unless he uses a training weapon.

He came by exile for his legend. In the aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara, he stood alone in battered armor over the fallen bodies of his two brothers, meting out death to any who was foolish enough to come within reach of his blade. Tokugawa Ieyasu saw this, and rather than see such an artist of the spear killed, he offered to spare Aito's life. In exchange, Aito was to open a school, and train warriors for the benefit of the new regime. Aito proudly refused, swearing that he would rather die unsung on the battlefield than aid the Tokugawa dynasty. Ieyasu is reported to have laughed along with the defiant warrior before ordering him overwhelmed and bound. He was taken to the island and left with his spear and his life, and informed that here he could live out the rest of his days, knowing that it was Ieyasu himself who had demanded the duel that had cost his mother her life. As a living legend, Aito was shown respect from the other disgraced criminals and samurai, and now he lives in a small village of fisherfolk on the island, his name and naginata keeping them safe from pillaging by desperate outlaws. He forces fair trade to occur instead, and keeps his little corner of the island clear of the chaos that inevitably ensues when you dump criminals and war prisoners into a confined space.

It is known that he has taken a few students.

It is also known that two of his students are rare beauties, one a daimyo's daughter, the other a fisherman's daughter.

It is rumored that he has taken them both as concubines.

It is certainly known that neither of them need him to protect them, as several criminals learned to their dismay as the two girls destroyed them while armed with training staffs.

And finally, it is rumored that spreading rumors is bad for your teeth.

Weapon(s): A naginata, the shaft nicked and scarred in many battles. Unadorned except for the kanji engraved on the blade.

Fighting Style: He is considered the finest spearman to survive the Battle of Sekigahara, and he has certainly earned that consideration. He has studied all aspects of his art intensively since he was a child, and is as lethal in the melee as he is in the duel, as deadly in armor as out of armor.

 

[Buio]

@SecretsLiesMurder Isn't it a bit odd for a kitsune to be scared of fire? especially since you included kitsune-bi in her arsenal. It should be pretty much impossible for her to get burned, so where does the dislike/fear come from?

also, from the sounds of what's in the opening post everyone on the island is a criminal. Why would a village of hardened criminals want, need, or accept a fox demon as their protector? The idea of them suddenly adoring her for saving one random little boy, again, seems to go against the type of mentality you;d expect of a village of fugitives and/or exiles.

also, where did she learn to use a katana? and where did she learn to master her fox fire? And if she is over 4 centuries old, why do we only have a single short paragraph explaining her history after she's been created?


I am not the GM of this particular RP but I have GMed several before, so i can say that in my opinion the character isn't bad, but really would need some more fleshing out, at leas one or two paragraphs more to account for her multiple centuries of experiences.

 

[SecretsLiesMurder]

@Buio : Yeah, sorry. I totally had a mind clapse there XD I'll fix it all up. I was baby sitting and writing a short plot out for my character, and pressed send. I'll fix it all right again. Please, give me time, and send me a comment when I need to fix a character. Thank you.

 

[SecretsLiesMurder]

Better now?

 

[Vonghese]

Ooof. Ok, went a little bio-happy on that one, but it's done now. Hope you folks like it.