There was a time in Japan known as The Age of the Warrior. Also known as Feudal Japan, it was time of war and glory between clans. It lasted close to 200 years, with power over Japan shifting constantly. But what the history books do not know, is that there was a different war for a short time that created our organization. It started in 1512 and lasted for 15 years. It threw the entire nation into chaos and threatened all of Asia, perhaps other continents. The rest of the world does not know because they cannot handle the truth. Its too late to tell them. The sheer power of the demons would cripple their minds and send them into panic.
But we know.
A wise man once said, if you cannot learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it. So listen and learn, young one.
As you might have guessed by now, this roleplay is about a secret war between demons and humans that started in Feudal Japan, where our story will take place. You can expect supernatural samurai combat and possibly large battle tactics, with room for character development and progression. Each player can choose between a Demon Lord of Kage (The realm in which demons live) or a noble of one of the many Japanese clans. This is slightly anime inspired, so don't worry about having incredibly realistic characters. Make them believable of course, but as it is known that there were some renowned woman warriors of Japan, this is also anime, so feel free to make a badass female samurai if you so desire.
This will be a sandbox-style roleplay, with players choosing when and where to engage each other, on any scale. Whether that be a single combatant against an army, a small group against a single combatant, or an army against an army. I will act as a narrator, setting up battle scenes and roleplay scenes at the request of players, I will judge the outcome of battles based on many factors such as force strength, troop skill, troop type, etc. Occasionally I will set up plot points to turn the tide of the war either way. There will also be time skips, as this is a 15 year war.
There are multiple levels of demon that players must be aware of. While human characters will have no knowledge of this, as this is the first invasion of earth by demonkind, it would help to know these things.
- Common Demons: The most widespread and numerous of the demons, these range anywhere from hounds to denizens to foot soldiers. The strongest of common demons can keep up with low level samurai.
- Noble Demons: The Nobles and Lords of Kage, these purebred demons are immensely powerful and even the weakest and most feeble of them can strike down a waves of foot soldiers with ease. There are many houses of Kage, each with its own history and traditions. They can become Emperor of Kage
- Arch-Demons: The only classification of demon one can't be born into, these are the strongest and most powerful demons in all of Kage, usually of noble birth but there are very few exceptions to this. They are incredibly experienced and talented in the arts of war and have significant influence in both Kage and Earth, these demons are truly a force to be feared. Many Arch-Demons have been Emperor.
Many common demons and noble look very similar to humans, with outlandish features such as pointed ears, fangs, tails, different hues of skin and hair color. Typically, demons both common and noble on average live to 180 years. But power combined with smart planning and action, a demon can easily live to 600 years. These are typically Arch-Demons.
Magic or Majikku, exists both in Kage and on Earth. The difference is that demons can manipulate raw magic while humans must use charms or enchantments. These charms and enchantments can be used on weapons such as swords, spears, knives. They can be put on paper and used mid-battle with an activation spell. They can be tattooed and activated simply with the users mind. There are many options for Human use. Demons don't have to make this adjustment and can use magic with their bare hands.
Majikku comes in many different forms. Destructive, Restorative, Elusive, and Mystical are just some words used to describe majikku. Its hard to get a grasp of for humans, but its the only sure fire way to kill demon nobles as average human weapons are nowhere near strong enough.
As with many things, its up to the player how they wish to manipulate majikku.
The realm of Kage is bizarre and strange compared to Earth. It has combined elements from all of earth's environments and seemingly blends them together without effort. To some it might seem like a hellscape, but catch it at the right moment and it is very beautiful indeed. There are many cities and towns under the rule of the Empire of Kage and all of it is ruled by dozens of different demon houses. What are the houses, you ask? Well that's up to the player. You will create the demon houses that invade Earth, flesh out their history, their strengths and weaknesses, their members. You will create the demon nobility.
Appearance: Name: Age: Gender: Position: (Japanese/Demon) House/Clan: (Demon Houses are player created, Japanese clans can be found in the helpful link) Army/Party Size: (If any, please include unit types and if you're using specialized characters, add details about them as well.) Weapons: (If any) Personality: (Can feature their fighting style as well.) Biography:
Name: (The last name is always the name of that lord's house.) Ruler: Notable Lords: Insignia: History: House Specializations: (What is your house good at combat wise? What does it train its fighters to do?)
If you have any questions or requests, please feel free to ask me!
I should have specified, any higher ranking member of a house or clan. So if you want to make a samurai not in charge of anything but still fighting, that's okay. I'll be making edits to the CS's.
Here we go. I also have plans for a third character (more magicy), but at this stage will wait for things to get rolling before I do so.
Appearance:
Name: Kiyowara Toshiie
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Position: Daimyo
House/Clan: Kiyowara
Army/Party Size: Clan Kiyowara is a moderate sized (but wealthy) clan, with a great many retainers under their employ. Their total armies when their entire prefecture is mobilized number around 15,000 men, however this is rarely done and the majority remain in defensive garrisoned positions. The dedicated forces that are always ready to march and fight consist of: 5,000 ashigaru, 1,500 samurai and 1000 mounted samurai. Their forces are primarily melee based, however ranged units are also used (as to neglect them would be tactically insane, something even the honour-bound Kiyowara cannot ignore). They however have absolutely no arquebusiers or other gunpowder based weaponry.
Weapons: Toshiie himself carries a single uchigatana (a single long blade), which was forged by the clan’s master smith under the supervision of Toshiie’s father before his death. It carries great sentimental value to the young Daimyo.
Personality: Kiyowara Toshiie is an idealist young man, who has found the stresses and burdens of being Daimyo quite daunting and stressful though he is committed to maintaining his family’s name and the wellbeing of his people above all else.
He is intelligent and reserved, keeping what he thinks close to his chest he favours a very ‘diplomatic’ approach when dealing with people and issues. That being said he is not afraid to fight or to use the martial might of his clan’s army and retainers when it is called for. Personally he has never been a skilled swordsman or duellist despite much instruction and training from a young age, and aware of his failings he generally avoids such situations lest he be outclassed by a more skilled opponent. What he lacks in natural skill he more than makes up for in determination and focus, though with a great deal of demands as Daimyo he finds it difficult to keep to a strict training regime and as such his hard earned skills are slowly slipping meaning he is far from the deadliest warrior in Japan.
Not that Toshiie gets much personal time to spend, he does enjoy literature and music, finding great delight in such things. He is also keenly interested in the ‘scientific’ arts and the mysteries surrounding Majikku (both things that the stoic Yoshikage has urged him to stay away from). He has come to be admired and loved by most within his clan, though of course there are always exceptions.
Biography: Born the only son of his family’s Daimyo has meant that Kiyowara Toshiie has lead a somewhat sheltered life filled with much learning and training. He was taught discipline and dedication from a very young age, as well as sharing in the martial upbringing that his father has prioritised despite the young boys dislike of battle.
Such an upbringing has lead him to become a very well rounded adult, if not somewhat naive and inexperienced at times to the ‘true way’ of the world. That being said upon his father’s death two years ago he has been thrust into a role which left very little in the way of naivety or forgiveness for such errors and so has grown in this respect enormously. As his experience grows so does his confidence and his desire to improve the conditions of those who fall within his family’s dominion.
Appearance: Yoshikage is a man who has lived through the prime of his life and survived, his once jet black hair now grey with numerous white streaks, his skin beginning to wrinkle at the corners of his eyes and mouth. His face is generally covered by a slight scowl, his dark eyes boring into whatever or whoever he looks at. He is a serious man with a serious appearance, easily able to intimidate and strike fear into his enemies with little more than a sinister and unwavering gaze.
He wears his lamellar armour at most times, always prepared and ready to protect his lord at short notice.
Name: Asakura Yoshikage
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Position: Retainer/General
House/Clan: Kiyowara
Army/Party Size: N/A – see Kiyowara Toshiie
Weapons: Yoshikcage wears a dark set of lamellar armour, passed to him by his father upon his coming of age.
His weapons are daishō, one large tachi, his main blade (again passed to him by his father) and a ko-wakizashi (smaller sword), gifted to him by his lord’s father Kiyowara Ranmaru. upon his promotion to the Daimyo’s honour guard.
Personality: Yoshikcage is an extremely skilled swordsman, having trained in their use for the majority of his life. He is an experienced veteran of many battles and has thus far been undefeated in direct honourable combat.
He has some skill with a yari or naginata (pole weapons), however he dislikes these weapons and will only use one if facing against an enemy cavalry charge, and even then he will look for the first opportunity to discard such weapons in favour of his blades.
He has no skills with the yumi (longbow), feeling that to deal death from a distance is most dishonourable. He spits on those who use Tanegashima (matchlock rifles), feeling that those who do so are even more dishonourable and lack any personal skills, though with recent developments he wouldn’t be opposed to those who use these to fight the evil sweeping the lands.
Yoshikcage values his honour more than he values his life, something that is evident in his every decision and action. He serves his master and family to the letter, though seeks to guide Kiyowara Toshiie to make decisions he knows that both himself and his departed father would approve of.
Biography: Yoshikcage was born to a samurai retainer of the Kiyowara family, his father a skilled and renowned samurai in his own rights. His youth consisted of constant and harsh training, his father drilling the discipline and honour needed for bushido into him at every opportunity. It was not until Yoshikcage grew to be a young man that he began to appreciate this constant training, somewhat resenting his father before this and wishing he could be left to his own devices more.
Upon coming of age Yoshikcage became one of the many samurai that were a part of the young Kiyowara Ranmaru’s forces, quickly distinguishing himself as a loyal and most proficient warrior.
As the years passed and he grew closer to Ranmaru, the two formed a strong lord-retainer bond and Yoshikcage eventually became a member of Ranmaru‘s personal guard after saving his life in battle.
Yoshikcage quickly grew to despise the enemies of his daimyo, due to the vast rise of what he considered dishonourable behaviour and combat techniques seeing honourable one on one combat as the only way for true samurai to fight on behalf of their lords. This behaviour whilst admirable lead to a few issues where he would object to participate in battles where these were in employ, however he would always do his duty and follow the orders of his lord.
Upon the death of Kiyowara Ranmaru he pledged his allegiance to his only son Toshiie, also following the request of Ranmaru that he do everything within his power to ensure the young man would remain honourable and true to the Kiyowara name in the dark times ahead.
Standing in at a mere 4'6" (137cm), Odahara doesn't cut the most intimidating figure at first glance. However, underneath his traditional Kage style clothing and armor is an athletic figure of one used to hardship and the rigors of combat. His rough black hair is pulled into a short ponytail, typically covered by a broad jingasa. Odahara has long, pointed ears, piercing gray eyes, and his face is typically curled into a slight scowl.
Name: Odahara Souta Age: 110 Gender: Male Position: Noble-Demon House/Clan: Beast-Yokai House Army/Party Size: Odahara moves with a pack of some 50 other beast-kin Yokai. The vast majority of them are hand-picked common demons, though Odahara has some 5 Noble-Demons in his pack as well. The common demons are a variety of different beast-kin, a majority of them are wolf-kin, though hawk, fox, and even a few bear-kin are present in their ranks as well. The beast-kin are outfitted with a variety of weapons and armor fitting their beast type. Wolf-kin are predominately armed with swords, spears, and medium armor, while bear-kin are afforded larger weapons and heavier armor. Fox-kin and hawk-kin are often armed as scouts and archers/hunters. The Noble-Demons in Odahara's pack are among his most trusted companions, and serve as his confidants, advisers, and officers. They consist of the following:
Shinobu Kaede: A rabbit-kin Yokai. While not incredibly intimidating at first glance, Kaede is a potent manipulator of majikku. She primarily works with wind and storm majikku, however, she also serves as Odahara's primary link to Kage, the world of demons. Rin Kaori: A cat-kin Yokai. Serving as Kaede's protege, Rin is a small fox-kin noble demon with impressive, but not amazing control of majikku. The youngest of the noble-demons in Odahara's pack, Rin is headstrong and stubborn, and primarily uses fire majikku. Rin serves as Odahara's secondary link to Kage. Jun Kenshin: A large bear-kin Yokai. A large hulk of a man- relatively speaking of course, Jun is doubtlessly the sturdiest fighter in Odahara's pack. Ferocious in a fight, and capable of taking a beating, Jun is Odahara's bodyguard. Goro: A fox-kin Yokai. A lanky, lithe beast-kin, Goro is mysterious and pragmatic, and is Odahara's spy and scout. Goro utilizes shadow majikku to enhance his stealth abilities and makes him a potent spy and assassin. Akihiro Hideki: A wolf-kin Yokai. A tactical and capable fighter, Akihiro serves as Odahara's second in command, and commands the rest of the pack when Odahara is otherwise occupied.
Weapons: Kage Masamune - While Gorō Nyūdō Masamune is commonly recognized as the greatest swordsmith in Japan, few Japanese are aware of the fact that Masamune earned his swordsmithing prowess from an Arch-Demon from Kage. In return for his knowledge, Masamune forged the Kage Masamune for the Arch-Demon. After centuries of fighting, the Kage Masamune eventually ended up in the hands of Soshu Odahara, who eventually passed the weapon down to Souta Odahara. Personality: Direct and to the point, this sharp witted demon avoids beating around the bush and doesn't mince words. Level headed and quite confident, Odahara likes to maintain awareness over every situation he's in and is quick on the ball and able to make snap judgements and react to a constantly changing situation. Capable of operating at peak efficiency, even during times of great stress, Odahara has a very analytic attitude and can be very perceptive and intuitive in regards to people. With a chillingly cold and calm demeanor, Odahara often comes off as intimidating and aloof.
In combat, Odahara is a capable fighter both when armed with traditional weapons, or when in his beast-form. Odahara is an experienced fighter, with just under a century of combat under his belt. As such, he is quite potent with his sword, which he enhances with his magical prowess, most often in the form of erratically moving serpents of wind magic tearing into his foes from range. As a beast-kin Yokai, Odahara is capable of transforming into a wolf when needed. In his wolf form, Odahara takes the form of a large gray wolf, with white markings on its face. His wolf form is considerably faster and stronger than the wolves of Japan, and swipes of his claws can easily sunder through the armor and soft flesh of men.
Biography: A Noble-Demon of the Beast-Yokai House, Souta Odahara is the second son of the mighty Odahara family. As an heir of the family, Souta's childhood was rigid and harsh, forced from a young age to live up to the mighty expectations of families of other noble demons within the Beast-Yokai house. From martial skills, and diplomacy, to the honing of his beast form, Souta was expected, even with little experience, to be able to outperform other younglings in the clan.
Fortunately, both sons appeared to possess incredible talent, Souta possessing incredible martial prowess, and even notable control of majikku, while his brother was a capable diplomat, and an absolute terror in his beast form. Souta likewise, was no slouch when it came to his abilities in his beast-form. The two sons, shared a healthy rivalry, and while neither are particularly open with one another, they are both loyal to their family and its values.
When the demons of Kage began war with humankind in Japan, the Odahara family were slow to answer the call. The Odahara clan had long been at odds with the current ruling house, and were reluctant to commit their forces to a war they perceived as having little value to them. Aside from some few choice hunting grounds, the lands of Japan had no resources valuable to the Odahara clan. However, as more and more demon clans joined the war effort, Soshu Odahara feared that his noble clan would be viewed as cowardly or dishonorable for being one of the few to stay out of the conflict. So with some reluctance, the Odahara clan committed their forces to the conflict.
Taking the lead of the Beast-Yokai clan's armies for his aging father was the oldest heir of the Odahara family. Souta on the other hand opted to take control of an elite, hand-picked raiding group to cause damage to the humans' shaky logistics. Taking a small core of vassals loyal to him, Souta took his hunting pack and entered the realm of the humans, waging a guerrilla war against the mortals, whilst they were distracted by the invading demon armies.
Souta has since come to appreciate the lands of Japan. Its people, while frail and flimsy, are for the most part, surprisingly courageous and honorable. Likewise, its lands, while obscure and predominantly favoring tones of brown and green, is beautiful in its own right.
Name: The Beast-Yokai Odahara Clan Ruler: Soshu Odahara Notable Lords: Hideki - The Hideki family has long been loyal vassals of the Odahara family. Well respected by both the Odahara family, as well as the rest of the noble families in the clan, the Hideki and Odahara families commonly share friendly rivalries with each other. The children of the Hideki family are commonly regarded as some of the finest officers and soldiers of the Beast-Yokai armies. Kenshin - The Kenshin family are one of the few families of noble-demons that are not, in fact noble. The Kenshin family, while not officially possessing the same political clout as one of the other noble families, it is well respected by almost all members of the Beast-Yokai clan. The sons of the Kenshin family almost exclusively serve as bodyguards to the Odahara family, and are unshakably loyal to their charges and are rewarded for their service handsomely. Kaori - The smallest noble family in the Beast-Yokai clan, the mysterious Kaori family are potent mystics and mages, and is the only family in the Beast-Yokai clan to have a matriarchal structure. In the Kaori family, its daughters are potent mages and mystics, and are well respected by all members of the Beast-Yokai clan. History: A relatively influential clan in the realm of Kage, the Beast-Yokai clan extends across all of Kage's beast-kin- that is, humanoids capable of transforming into powerful beasts. Originally starting off as a various, separate tribes of beast-kin, these individual tribes while each ferocious in their own right were of no real threat to major demon clans, and were regarded as little more than bandits and wild animals.
Eventually, the ancestors of the Odahara family, a tribe of wolf-kin, began to unite the wolf-kin tribes, followed by the tribes of other beast-kin afterwards. While uniting the different tribes was a daunting task, filled with its fair share of mishaps- including the overthrowing of the wolf-kin leaders by another tribe, which was then overthrown by the wolf tribe again, the various beast-kin tribes were eventually combined into a single, large clan.
Now a unified group, the Beast-Yokai clan were now very threatening to the other noble houses of Kage, as they could no longer be considered just a mere nuisance. Many clans attempted to destroy the Beast-Yokai, who fought back with a beast like ferocity. After a century of warfare, the Beast-Yokai clan finally forced the other major demon clans to accept their authority, even if many were reluctant to accept them as a major clan.
The Beast-Yokai are now a well known clan in Kage- respected for their ferocity. While not the largest of most powerful clan, The Beast-Yokai have been accepted by the other major demon clans as one of the major players in its politics.
House Specializations: Beast-Yokai are formidable warriors. While its warriors are all trained in conventional weapons, from bows, to swords, spears, and magic, its warriors are most notable for being able to transform into large, powerful beasts of which their names are taken after. Physically, Beast-Kin are generally shorter and stockier than other humanoids, generally around 4' to 5'3" for fully developed beast-kin though larger beasts (such as bears), tend to be taller and stockier than other beast-kin. The most common of the Beast-Yokai are the wolf, fox, and cat-kin, though the bear, hawk, and other animals are also present. These beasts are generally considerably larger than their Japanese counterparts, and are as a result much faster and stronger. Due to their diversity, and general flightiness, as well as high food requirements- especially while in beast-form, it is difficult to field large numbers of Beast-Kin for long periods of time.
