Muramasa - the black blade war OOC

[orangebox]

Hrmm, considering that this is an RP revolving around swordsmiths and generally, swords - would it be possible for my character to be using a bow?

[Animal]

A bow that shoots swords? Awesome.

[Buio DiAngelo]

hmm, well, yeah, sure, I'll allow a bow we can just hand-wave it away as the bow enchanting the arrows that it fires as each is notched or something, depending on the abilities you're intending to give it anyways lol.

and syn, good to knwo you;re interested in that side character. pm me and i'll give you the details

[orangebox]

No, not exactly XD (Not like Archer Shiro)

I'm aware of how this story is related to the ten swordsmith disciples of Masamune, and I'll be playing one character who was a famed swordsmith.

But since there's other non-bladed weaponries, would it be possible for me to use a bow?

--

Edit:

Coolies!

I'll post the sheet soon-ish

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I'm just being a tad lazy but, which of the disciple is the last available one?

[orangebox]

Name: Kodama Kaburagi
Nickname/alias: Ourou (Wolf King, from the fact that she mostly acts like a Vagabond wolf, preferring to do things alone)
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Nationality: Japanese
Appearance: Kodama, no matter how you see it, seems like an average 15 year old middle-school girl. However, there would be one particularly distinctive feature about her where no one would fail to notice; she lacks a limb. Her right arm to be precise. Kodama was born a right-hander. Unfortunately, due to a mishap with an accident which claimed the life of her father and her right arm, she has learned to be proficient with her left arm as well. She has fair skin - typical of any girls her age while she sports a short silky black hair, standing out even more from her pale complexion. Her physique lacked hints of feminine charms, as she somehow lacked meat at the 'right' areas; specifically her bosoms which should have bloomed. She believed they would eventually, and that she was merely a late bloomer. As such, she generally resembled a teenage boy - albeit a really short one; as she only reached a height of 152cm. She would always wear spectacles, not that her perfect eyesight needed it; rather she preferred to create a 'studious' persona so she would not be disturbed by her annoying classmates.



Weapon*: Senjukannon (Thousand Armed Goddess of Mercy)

At a glance, the Senjukannon resembles very much a traditional japanese yumi made by bow-makers in modern-day japan; as the design and bow-making techniques is still the same as it would back into the 16th century. However, the true age of the Senjukannon far precedes the age of 'modern' yumi designs; as it is originally from the Kamakura Period. The bow is designed and made at the time when these bow-making techniques has not cross even the most faithful of those dabbling in the arts of kyudo. The only distinctive feature of this almost 'featureless bow' is the ominous black of the bamboo which it is made out of.

The history of the bow started with the creator, tasked with making a yumi fit for a shogunate in his hunting trips, for he was one of the famed disciples of Masamune. He was allowed into the shogunate's own bamboo thicket to acquire the best bamboo available in the land. As he stumbled upon a dark-coloured, almost ebony bamboo aged into perfection; with equal sections and the length of the bamboo arched skyward without a single bend of imperfection - he had then used the bamboo to make the bow which he hailed as his greatest creation.

The bow of ebony bamboo shone in brilliance under the lacquer, as he checked the bow for faultiness in length and the arc of the bow. The shogunate was fortunate to have a blessed bow made by one of the disciples of Masamune, as he greedily tried to test the bow's capabilities. It was light, yet extremely strong. Seemingly soft to the touch, as it was laminated by lacquer - yet as the slight chill turned into warmth, the shogunate seemed extremely pleased. As he notched an arrow onto the hemp bowstring and gave a pull with all his might, he was disappointed to find that the bow had not budged.

He was mystified.

Eventually, the Shogunate grew embarrassed; and claimed that the bow made of ebony bamboo was cursed. And that the disciple of Masamune himself, was plotting to curse the shogunate with his accursed creation. The bowmaker simply shook his head, as he then spoke, "This bow, is called the Senjukannon."

"It would be fitting for a Shogun who had never killed in his life - to continue doing so, for the act of killing is not the true path to the enlightenment of bushido."

Power: Senjukai - Draw of the Thousand Armed
Through understanding the flow of energy which worked within the bow, the wielder is able to eventually create up to a thousand phantom arms, which aided in the drawing of the bowstring from the unrealistically rigid and solid bow. The wielder however, must possess the blood of the creator running within their veins. The arrows released from the bow are immensely destructive in both power and range, however conventional arrows of wood would definitely shatter into pieces on impact. Regardless of the bow's amazing strength, the arrows shot from the bow surprisingly has no effects on living beings - as it simply phases through them. Perhaps, it is indeed the bow of the Goddess of Mercy.

Faction: Traitor

Personality: Kodama is mostly an introvert. She's silent, and mostly keeps her thoughts to herself. She will however, be vocal once in a while; especially when it concerns something she feels strongly for, perhaps food in general. She dislikes people mostly, as she finds the need to communicate troublesome. As such, she chooses to adopt on the lifestyle whereby the general populace of Japan views in disdain; the life on an otaku. Communicating with people through the guise of a persona and a virtual wall is after all much easier, as one may simply disregard the little etiquettes in simple human communications in real life.

History: Kodama was born into a relatively pleasant family. It was nothing of fancy; being born into a household of a salaryman and a housewife. However, her life was set out to be much different than the other children her age. By the age of 5, her father had met with a car accident along with her in the back. She remembered parts of it vividly, whereby her father was talking to her, asking her about her day in the kindergarten. However, her father seemed to have made a sudden turn which eventually caused the car to have driven over the barriers and into the trees. The accident took the life of her father along with her right arm, as it was crushed to the point that it needed to be amputated on the spot in order to remove her from the wreckage. She was too young to remember most of the specifics, but she was wary enough not to probe too much from her mother regarding that incident.

Years went by, as the once happy family was left with sadness and grief. When she turned to the age of 10, she was eventually made aware of her fate; as the next bearer of the Senjukannon. Everything her mother spoke of seemed as if a fairy tale from a far away land, as if she was merely joking. However, because what seemed to be a joke turned out to be real; as the actual bow was laid in front of her eyes, she knew for a fact that her life at that point, has changed.

As much as she had hated the fact that she was the sole bearer of the Senjukannon, she had to bear with the harsh training which came along with it ever since she was a mere child of 10 years old. Made worse by the fact that she had to perfect her archery form without her primary limb - as it was in many sense awkward, to try to feel for something which has not been in her disposal for years. Her mother, the previous bearer of the Senjukannon had tried her best to guide her child in the ways of her family. However, it wasn't an easy task, with the sole heir losing her limb at such an early age. Regardless, it wasn't impossible - as the Senjukannon possesses powers which would aid her child. Therefore, it was essential that Kodama would firstly need to able to tap into the supernatural capabilities within the ancestral bow as the first step into the mastery, rather than firstly, mastering kyudo.

Eventually, she was able to manipulate the bow's innate powers upon harsh training coupled with a strict understanding of her role as the next in line to receive the bow. As such, the Senjukannon had given Kodama what she had lost; her right arm and maybe more. Through understanding the flow of energy that worked within the bow, the user would be able to eventually create up to a thousand phantom arms, which aided in the drawing of the bowstring from the unrealistically rigid and solid bow. However, her phantom arms would merely disappear whenever she was not wielding the Senjukannon. At that moment, the Senjukannon was akin a literal Goddess of Mercy; allowing her to be able to feel her lost limb. She was deeply grateful for it.

But fortune will not grace her, as her mother eventually met her demise when Kodama was at the age of 13. She knew not the specifics, but from what she was told by the police and from reading the news, her mother was gunned down by bank robbers. It was merely unfortunate that she was passing by the scene of the crime. As her only guardian had died, she was eventually passed on to a distant relative's household. It mattered less, as it will never be the same. Growing tired of the loss of her loved ones, she eventually drifted into her own world. She became more and more of an introvert, to the point of being extremely unsocial-able as she locked herself up in her room, engrossed in the internet.

Everything changed however, when she was approached by Tsurugi Habakiri who introduced herself as one of the descendent of the ten disciples. Moved by her ideals of the current state of the world, she has then decided to join Tsurugi in her goals to change Japan from the rotten state it is now, into a much more 'better' place.

[Buio DiAngelo]

I like the creativity, of teh character, definite pluss. but a few things of note.

firstly, you asked which disciple was left, but so far I've been the only one to draw my character based on one of the actual 10 disciples, everyone else just made heir own for the most part, and that;s just those who bothered to even mention the original wielders of their weapons lol.

secondly, 10 heavenly weapons were created by, as you know it, Masamune's 10 disciples. Masamune had reached the level of sainthood, becoming like something akin to a demi-god or buddha through the perfection of his art, creating swords meant to give and preserve life, not take it. His 10 disciples would be 10 mortal weapon smiths of great skill that he would have take under his wing one by one and taught them how to reach the absolute epitome of their craft, granting them immortality in the process, Muramasa should have been his 11th disciple but he fell to wickedness. I explain all this to you because, for your character's ancestor to have made such a powerful, divine bow, he would have needed to already become a disciple of Masamune and attained immortality, and through knowledge of the spiritual arts, created the most perfect bow that had ever existed, imbuing it with those magical powers. One of the 10 weapons could not have been created by 'accident' by a still-mortal disciple who had no real idea what he was doing and, by what i can tell from the weapon history, had not met Masamune yet.

Now, as for the weapon itself. Making a thousand arms to pull back the string wouldn't really be practical when you consider that they would need to grab onto a grater length of the string, decreasing how far it could be pulled back, and screwing up the transfer of energy to the arrow itself since the triangle made when drawing back an arrow would be turned into a trapeze. A better alternative could be something like the bow itself makes its energy course through the dominant arm of the user, giving it a glowing, phantom-like appearance, and gives them the skill of all the bow's previous users (that way you can keep the thousand-hands motif but make it more metaphorical) and you can make it that she learned how to manipulate that ability into simply making and actual arm out of the bow's energy that has recorded the skill of all her ancestors who previously mastered the bow.

also, I'm not completely sure because of how you worded it, but are we to understand that the bow also created its own, phantom arrows and can not shoot regular projectiles?

lastly, you said that the arrows could not harm living being, that they passed right through them. If that is the case, how are you planning on fighting the other family heads then (who are all very much alive)?

also, and this is something of a minor thing but i just very much dislike seeing it in writing, stick to one tense. You keep switching between past and present tense sporadically while writing, it's just bad form, and I'm not generally a grammar nazi, but it makes for an awkward read when I'm reviewing your character sheet you understand.

[NoxxHollow]

Woooo we have our tenth person~! When do we start? =^-^=

[Buio DiAngelo]

lol, when i can accept his character

[NoxxHollow]

I do have a question about that; How are we starting like are all the traitors going to be advancing in there own group as well as the loyalist or will everyone be spread out and the 'leaders' of each group be going around and finding the others

[Buio DiAngelo]

we're all gonna be starting at each group's home base so that everyone can discuss as to how they will proceed and decide their plan of attack (or perhaps defense in the loyalists' cases), then each group can progress as it sees fit.