Appearance:
Name: Lord Gushiken Rentarou alias Lord "Guren"

Species: Human

Sex: Male

Faction: House Gushiken

Occupation: Lord Samurai

Abilities: Although not a spirit user or an exorcist himself, Rentarou has accumulated a moderate wealth of supernatural rites and knowledge to deal with youkai, fundamentally charms and enchantments. His own blade is blessed and can exorcise demons. He is spiritually aware and he is able to see ghosts.

History: To speak of Guren, one has to speak about the fall and rise of house Gushiken. Landlocked between powerful warring nonhuman leaders and powerful lords, house Gushiken was a small, unassuming land ruled by a rather low-key family of samurai whose main highlight was the quality of some of their bamboo crafts. When Rentarou was born, he was born a genius among mediocre people. Yet, despite the disparity between his own talent and those who surrounded him, he never felt alone and bitter. His family was understanding of the whims and demands of the young lord-to-be and for the most part, tried to steer him in the righteous path while tolerating his somewhat peculiar thirst for knowledge and ambitious aims.

Rentarou ascended to lordship not long after becoming a full-fledged samurai, following his lord father demise in a rather inane scuffle with one of his warring neighbours. His mother soon followed, becoming suddenly ill and bedridden not long after a plague. Or perhaps the grief or losing her loved one. Rentarou was thus left with a small land, and a 12 year old priestess sister to protect. The situation looked grim, but the new lord Gushiken managed to grasp the ebbs and flows of power rather quick and stabilised what seemed a dying household. While somewhat strained and grim, the hatred that would later drive his actions had not nested inside him.

It would take the bizarre abduction of his sister and posterior gruesome death by a maddened mother kitsune, in order to save her ailing kid, to awaken the beast that was later known as lord "Guren". He was merciless, and executed both mother and child. He was not swift, nor merciful, and he made a public example by displaying their flayed corpses. Disturbingly, he would craft a sword bathed in the blood of his own sister. The notice spread like wildfire, and several of his nonhuman neighbours showed hostility towards the madman.

But he plotted. And waited. When swords did not do the job, he would use arrows. When those did not work, he would use fire. He never stopped to consider the fairness of his actions merely beyond the faintest adherence of bushido, and his bloody tenacity broke enemy armies, lines and sieges. Both a Great Tengu's followers and an entire Oni clan fell victims to his viciousness, and he did not stop there. He took over their domains and added them to his own, from which he has ruled them ever since with a severe iron fist, specially with those who are not human, who were condemned to live as second class citizens, always under the threat of flailing, execution or slavery.

Yet, for all his bloody exploits, Guren's managing talent did not go unnoticed. Having conquered ten times the land he once was granted, he used the unified rule to promote resource gathering, commerce and urbanism, raising the living standards significantly in his territories. Only for humans, that is. Countless nonhumans have been relegated to sacrificial pawns in the shadows of his rule.

With the death of the Emperor, Rentarou sees a further chance to expand his ambitious project, as he is still in his mid forties, but at the same time, he is aware that the same instability might embolden more enemies to try and bring the ambitious House Gushiken to an end. It is a time to thread lightly, move swiftly and find kindred spirits.

Appearance:


Name: Asahi

Species: Human

Sex: Male

Faction: Himself

Occupation: Bandit Leader

Abilities: Greater than-human strength, said due to be due to the fact he has slain oni. He swings his kanabou with the same swiftness and precision a samurai would swing their sword, but with the power to kill an ox with a single blow.

History: A man of humble origins. Blessed with great strength since birth, he was born to simple farmers and had planned to live a simple life. In his home town he had a few accomplishments under his belt thanks to his strength, such as the time he hauled a fifty pound gold ore from the bottom of a river or the time he tossed a brown bear to the ground, but his life took a drastic turn when he was fifteen years old. His hometown was attacked by a samurai lord; they didn't even give them a chance to run. Homes were on fire and people were getting killed left and right. Asahi tried to save his family as best as he could but by the times the fires died down and the samurai left, none from his family was left alive. Somehow, though gravely injured, he survived the chaos.

Among the survivors were other young, angry men. Asahi was the biggest and strongest of them. He wanted revenge. From the ruined remains of their village Asahi cobbled together weapons and armor, leading the survivors of his village to attack the samurai and their allies. At first they tried to keep it to just the military; they raided traveling patrols for their weapons and armor, occasionally striking their caravans to disrupt supply shipments. But soon as more desperate and spiteful men heard about his army, Asahi needed more food and supplies for his own men. So he started attacking other villages and farms as well, at least ones allied to his enemies.

For the last ten years Asahi has led a formidable army of bandits. Though it's not unusual for the samurai lords to send their warriors to cull his forces, they never succeeded in killing him. And as long as he lived he would always be able to raise a new army and raise havoc across the lands. He cared not for taking lands at this point, or even revenge; the samurais who destroyed his home were long dead. Now Asahi was simply a wanted man to all of Japan. If he was to lay down his arms, it would only be right before a katana cleaves his head off his body.

Name: Miho Satomi

Species: Human

Sex: Female

Faction: House Satomi (But mostly a loner)

Occupation: Flame Witch

Abilities: Miho possesses great skill with the element of fire. Her flames can take the form of many things, from large fireballs, intense beams, or weapons. Her imagination and what fire can do are her only limitations.

Personality: She can generally appear distant or cold, but deep down is very caring and loyal to those that manage to earn her trust. She has a soft spot for cats.

History: Miho was an obedient child growing up in a...less than stellar household, abusive in many ways. She learned of her gift with fire at a young age and, in a particularly brutal beating from her father, she burned him to death by accident and was exiled from her house, fearing her newfound abilities.

She traveled the country on her lonesome, honing her flames. Her only concerns were survival and increasing her power.