Legend of the Young Daimyo and Yoru No Kitsune
(Told in Abridged Fashion)

During a silent night, a couple is walking on the sidewalk next to the street where the carriages pass. The couple has just returned from an evening with the wealthy daimyo of Tsuyuu, Masatori Urobuchi, congratulating the husband, Akira Kikuchi (his newly wedded brother-In-law) on becoming the daimyo of Fukada. Now, both the old daimyo and the newly appointed young daimyo are neighbors and are meant to often have relations while appealing to each other's laws.

A special a relationship unfolds and the Urobuchi of Tsuyuu readies a large smile upon each of his brother-in-law's visits. Urobuch can tell that the young daimyo, Kikuchi, is naive but is ready to teach him as if he were his sensei. Kikuchi recieves his gesture with great admiration and together the two become close and their blood soon became one.

Though the young daimyo appeared to have been genuine, the older daiymo could sense that he was coniving. For a while the Urobuchi watched the Kikuchi, his ways of operating were alerting. For where Urobuchi valued the old traditions of hard work, the younger Kikuchi enslaved those of poor stature in society to do his bidding.

As time passed the older daimyo grew frustrasted and soon he administered an secret envoy to go to the mountains where the assassins of the Shiroi Hasu (White Lotus) took shelter. Upon the request of Urobuchi, the envoy gave them the mission of assassinating his brother-in-law, now wedded to his sister, Fuwari. With a hefty a price, the Urobuchi's request was received.

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平和のための戦い
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The night is cool and the man comforts the woman's arms with his jacket, both of whom are Fuwari, sister of Urobuchi, and Kikuchi the younger daimyo. The leaves rustling lands on the couples ears but they pay no attention. The woman, Fuwari embraces the arms of Kikuchi and hugs her body close to his as they continue down the sidewalk.

The moon is full. Except for a few passerbys, the street is strangely bare. The shadows of the night have a threatening demeanor as the woman begins to tremble.

But the young daimyo, being as smiley and care free as always, comforts his wife with a gentle kiss. The woman's love for the man is evident and she returns in her lips an embrace of passion, and yet something is still evidently bothering her. For the woman also shared Urobuchi's (her older brother) concern. For Kikuchi's smile is alluring as it is menacing.

The couple pauses for a moment as a crow caws in the distance. Now in the blue ray of the moon, the young daimyo asks for her hand. Having already wedded him, the woman pauses in question.

The young daimyo, Kikuchi, then asks her for her soul. The woman begins to worry but ofcourse the Kikuchi's smile reassures her. There she promised forever to be with him and the young daimyo thanked her. Still, the menace in his smile was far too evil to be hidden.

For in that moment, Yoru No Kitsune, now a rogue ninja, was at the throat of his target.

The blood ran down the veiled bed at which the older daimyo slept. Said to be trained by the ancestors of the cat deities, his footsteps were silent and never heard. Clever as a fox, Kikuchi heard of Urobuchi's attempt to assassinate him and offered Yoru no Kitsune a greater sum in which he used to murder him.

Outplayed, outsmarted, the older daimyo was had by the man he sought to kill. Even in the afterlife he regrets not acting sooner. Not merely so to save the land and it's people but to snatch away his beloved sister from the claws of the young, conniving Kikuchi



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Now Kikuchi reigns over both Tsuyuu and Fukada. Though the Lotus assassins are usually paid to his bidding (and a very bloody bidding it is) their loyalty lies in upholding the sacred rules of shinobi. After Yoru no Kitunse went against the will of his own clan he was exiled, never again to set foot in the domain of the Lotus clan.

Yoru no Kitsune (meaning Night Fox) became angry having been cast out by his own people and made a promise to the head of the Lotus clan that one day he'd have his revenge. As one of the most skilled of the Lotus', his strength was was well known but in all realization, it wasn't enough to bring fear to his former clan, as well as their leader.

Kikuchi heard of this issue and asked Yoru no Kitsune to become his right hand. Yoru no Kitsune, still loyal to the shinobi life, said that he'd spill any blood that the daimyo needed to be spilled but never did he swear absolute loyalty. Now, as Kikuchi spreads his power even further with the help of the Night Fox, the peaceful and fair world has crashed in to a melting pot of corruption and despair.

The Lotus' watch as the events unfold. Some wish to act while the majority watches patiently. The life of the shinobi is to act according to what's been asked, and with a paid due the request is carried out. However, the power Kikuchi is becoming ever more uncontrollable and with it, the reputation of the Lotus clan and their unwillingness to act has come at an unfathomable cost.

Three Colored Lotus Ranking System

Ranks: In this fiction, ranks are designated by types of flowers. Pardon me for being girly but in all seriousness it gives a more somber yet subtle disposition to the life of an assassin. The meanings I give to the flowers are inspired by actual meanings but some are just of my own imagination.
On each shinobi's uniform on their chest right above the heart is a tiny three-leafed lotus. There are three ranks, each with a different color differentiating the level of shinobi.

Shinobi Rank, Purple Lotus - The most skilled of the shinobi. The purple lotus symbolizes despair and sacrifice - the complete realization of the shinobi's soul as a weapon and the folding of one's ties and possesions. The ones who's feelings and emotions are severed. These are the ones meant to guard high level people, mainly royalty.

Shinobi Rank, Blue Lotus - The second highest rank symbolizing emptiness and strength. Where one begins to take the form of a husk. Demons in their mind will attempt to break them and it's then the shinobi's duty to vanquish them. Where doubt and fear are conquered and inner strength takes the throne.

Shinobi Rank, White Lotus - The first rank given to skilled shinobi who've yet to completely forfeit their soul to the life of an assassin. The white lotus symbolizes aging and loyalty. These beginner assassin, though skilled at the art of killing, have yet to prove their dedication through hardships that will test their very soul.


For the actual story, players will have the rank of Blue Lotus, meaning that they're experienced but are constantly met with some degree of doubt and fear. There will be Purple Lotus and as well as White Lotus but will most likely be NPCs or played by me or a GM (given I can find a few).





The Lotus Clan: For years the Lotus clan have helped to preserve the order in Tsuyuu formerly ran by the gracious Masatori Urobuchi before he was assassinated by his brother-in-law Akira Kikuchi. These shinobi breed the very ideals of faith and loyalty to their clan members in order to establish an enclosed brotherhood. Deadly even at the earliest ranks, the Lotus Clan have time after time proven their skill and earning them the title of Tsuyuu's protectors.

However, due to recent events after the assassination of Urobuchi, the Lotus Clan were repeatedly harassed by the envoys of Kikuchi telling them to either swear loyalty to him or never set foot in either Tsuyuu or Fukada. Kikuchi was clever enough to scheme his way in to combining the lands of Tsuyuu and Fukada in an attempt, now successful, to spread his power even further. The Lotus Clan now live on the outskirts of these lands, their reputation diminished and their hopes demoralized.

The Otomo Clan: Taking the name of it's founder the Otomo clan has become widely known for guarding highly respected royalty. From kings, queens, and lords, the Otomo Clan have made most of their fortune on protecting the aristocrats of power. The leader, Suguri Otomo now passed, has passed down his teachings of unwavering faith to the clan as well as supreme loyalty to the land of Fukada, the country now ran by the conning Akira Kikuchi.

Because of the circumstances of have Kikuchi, a corrupt feudal lord as their main source of income, the shinobi of Otomo have since forgotten the teachings of the honorable Suguri Otomo and now operate under the foundation of lies and dishonor. The clan leader, Fuma Otomo (long descendant of Suguri Otomo), carries a mind warped by the deception of the conniving feudal lord. Due to this The Otomo clan have become just as corrupt as Akira Kikuchi.





Now and then your character will most likely meet with shinobi of another clan. For the moment I will allow only the Otomo clan to be the existing clan aside the Lotus Clan. These confrontations will test your skill as shinobi and ultimately grant you further options in increasing the strength of your character. These abilities are meant to be of your own creation and as GM I've made it sort of like a reward system in which the more kills you get, the more rewards appear.

For example: Hayashi Yamamoto wishes to have the ability of shapeshifting. I would deem that as somewhere between a beginner to mid-level power. Than I would tell the person that they would need to kill two shinobi in order to do that. Killing will happen though I ask people to not rush their character in achieving these powers. The process of becoming a shinobi in this setting is slow and meant to be intimate between the character and it's writer.

Also, if I think the power is too much or a far cry from the setting of the story than I'll ask you to think of something else



Roles

The first roles will most likely be played by me. These are the ones that will most likely be the background pillars of the story, whereas the shinobi will have more of the spotlight . Unless someone feels that they might be interested in playing them feel free to message me.

Akira Kikuchi, feudal lord of Tsuyuu and Fukada (Played by GM)
Fuwari Urobuchi, sister of assassinated feudal lord Masatori Urobuchi and wife of Akira Kikuchi (Played by GM)
Danzo Yamada, leader of The Lotus Clan (Played by GM)

The Lotus Clan

Shinobi #1 (Reserved by Alazuli)
Shinobi #2 (Reserved by Hingyu)
Shinobi #3 (Reserved by Brolaf)
Shinobi #4 (Open)
Shinobi #5 (Open)

The Otomo Clan

Shinobi #1 (Open)
Shinobi #2 (Open)
Shinobi #3 (Open)
Shinobi #4 (Open)
Shinobi #5 (Open)

Character Skeleton

A simple guideline for making your characters. Feel free to add any detail that I'm missing.

Name:

Age (16-25):

Shinobi Rank:

Place of Birth: (Choices are Tsuyuu and Fukada. These however do have towns in them which I'll allow you to make but please go into some detail about the place of where your character came from)

Sex:

Sexual Orientation:

Skills:

Personal History:

Weapons: ( To add more depth I'll allow you to create your own weapons but please don't make anything too large or too overpowered.)

Pic of physical description (or both):[/font]