DAWNSTAR — Roleplayer Guild

In a world of warring shogunates, raving bands of bandits, and lone rōnin, there stands one beacon of peace among the chaos. A small village nestled in the mountains of Shi Han whose only claim to fame is a festival held every year in the Spring time. With the blooming sakura trees and maple trees which, should the sun hit them in the right spot, seem to exude a green light who's beauty seems to rival that of the sakura trees. Yet, the village of Hang Yi is more than just a tourist destination for above the village lies a small, Buddhist temple. Inside the temple sits a single sakura tree, larger and older than all the rest. Unlike its brethren, it always bears leaves of pink coloration throughout the year. But, only once every fifty years does the tree, Ying Qua, bear a peach which is believed to give the person who consumes it enlightenment.

Yet, a Buddhist monk came from the temple only a few weeks from the festival and asked to see the towns elder. Though the meeting was private, rumors spread that a young cleaning girl had over heard their conversation. As the rumors grew, so did the exaggerations of what it was about. If one asked one person, they would tell you that it was about a vision that one of the monks received from Buddha himself about a band of bandits while another might tell you that the monk was simply asking for some consorts to be sent up to the temple for their use.

Despite this, the rumors faded away as people flooded into Hang Yi for the Festival of Flowers. As more people arrived, more and more outrageous displays of mirth making were performed in the street. By now, most people have forgotten that the monk had even come to the village. Yet, nobody could forget the many warriors who seemed to be coming into the village. Unlike the other warriors, these ones came with weapons normally wielded on a battle field. Some saw it as an omen, an omen which would soon come to be realized. The night before the festival, the very same night that the trees were suppose to reach full bloom, a series of sakura trees caught on fire and were unable to be saved. Nobody quite knows what caused the fire, but rumors have started that demons of some sort caused this. The rumors were quick to be quelled by the Elder of Hang Yi, yet, the very same day, the Elder asked for you and several others to be brought to his estate. And the mirth making of the Festival will continue without you, of course.
In the world of Guang Jhou, there exists six Shogunates. For nearly two centuries, these Shogunates have been at war with each other. The wars are often caused by disputes of trade and land, though there is the occasional war which is propagated to draw attention  from unsavory subjects. Yet, each Shogunate flourishes despite their constant warring. Below is a brief description of each of the Eight Shogunates of Guang Jhou.

The Tijang Shogunate rests in the mountains of the north and much of the plains and valleys below the mountains. Though smaller than nearly every other Shogunate, the Tijang Shogunate is  among the three most powerful in the entire of Guang Jhou. The people of Tijang specialize in martial arts and the use of swords in combat. Tijang is not at war per se but raids the other Shogunates by assaulting villages on the shorne of the Emerald Sea. The Tijang Shogunate has the largest standing Navy with a hundred transports, all of which are capable of carrying two hundred men each, and fifty Galleys. There exist seven daiymos in the Tijang Shogunate.


The Nagisara Shogunate is the largest of the shogunates and the second most powerful of them all. The Shogunate is pressed right against the Tijang Shogunate and runs down the shore of the Emerald Sea for nearly five hundred miles. The people of Nagisara are the most peacful of all the Shogunates and the most industrious. A small minority of the army of Nagisara uses black powder muskets for fighting while the majority is trained in the use of spears and short swords. The wars caused by Nagisara are few and far between. There are eleven daiymos in the Nagisara Shogunate.


The Izami Shogunate is the second largest of the Shogunates but the most powerful of all the Shogunates. The Shogunate sits in the far west and occupys much of the land in the west and some desert in the south. The people of Izami are extremely violent and rely on weapons ranging from a simple dagger to even complex hand weapons such as the tae kuk bear. Though militaristic in nature, the Shogunate has been at peace with all the other shogunates for nearly a decade. Izami has thirteen daiymos through out its lands.


The Qing Shogunate is the smallest of the Shogunates with a width of a mere hundred miles and length of four hundred miles. The Shogunate is nestled ins a small, low land valley between both Izami and Nagisara. Qing is not inherently strong and relies on the use of infiltration and strategy to take down its foes. If a fort was taken silently or a trade route disrupted, it was more than likley a mercenary force from Qing. As such, the forces of Qing rely more on silent weapons such as tantos and wakizashis. The Shogunate consists of five daiymos.


The Jiang Shogunate is by far the most advanced of the shogunates in Guang Jhou. The people of Jiang and famous inventors and innovators along with numerous alchemist. Though their military is under developed and more of a militia than an army, the army of Jiang is quite well equipped with fire bombs akin to that of greek fire and bombs which often produce puffs of noxious chemicals when broken. Jiang has even managed to begin focused research into the use of steam as a source of power. The current equipment of Jiang is generally black powder muskets and even a large amount of trained samurai. There are eight daiymos in the Shogunate.


The Tongai Shogunate sits just below Qing, Nagisara, and Izami. Tongai is currently at peace with Jiang due to a marriage between the families. It is not rare to see Tongai send aide to Jiang and, in return, Jiang sends bits and pieces of technology and weaponry to Tongai. Tongai is a shogunate known for its acceptance of any and all ethnic groups. As such, these ethnic groups happen to bring with them their own expertise in the use of weapons normally foreign to Tongai which includes, but is not limited to, wushu fans to meteor hammers. Tongai has the largest amount of daiymos at total amount of fifteen.


The Daiymos
As some of you may have noted, I did not provide any specific names for the daiymos nor the current state of said Daiymos. Why you ask? Well, this is because fo the fact that I am leaving it open for characters to be members of said Daiymos in some fashion. Whether this is a family member of the daiymo or a former samurai is up to you. In the case that anybody does decide to come from a Daiymo, the below sheet is to be used along with the character sheet.

Daiymo Name: (The Familial name)
Shogunate of Residence:(Which shogunate does it reside in)
Status:(What is the current state of the Daiymo)
Family Tree:(Brief description of current living family members)
History:(The history of the Daiymo)
Character Relation to Daiymo:(What is your character's relation)

Daimyo Name:
Shimazu

Shogunate of Residence:
The Izami Shogunate

Status:Well-loved by many, particularly the commoners who live under the Daimyo's protection.
Known for surprisingly defensive and tactical warfare, as well as pacifism.
Disliked by many noble families who seek to depose the current Daimyo for said pacifism and ruining the profitability of their private armies.
Under the threat of rebellion – an unusual number of assassination attempts in recent years.

Family Tree:
The Family Head
Shimazu Naoki – A charismatic man of good humour and excessive kindness. Devoted to his role as daimyo despite his utter lack of military experience of skill, as he is a sheltered younger son. It was agreed that his older brothers, who had no talent nor desire for the position, would abdicate to form his council. His survival to his current age of 26 was never expected.
The Heir and the Spare
Shimazu Akira – The male twin of Hana's children, aged seven. A loud, boistrous child more like his father's side of the family than his mother. Already training swordsmanship and calligraphy.
Shimazu Aya – Hana's daughter, also seven years old. A meek child of a weak immune system and frail body. Quiet, conscientious, and fairly astute, she was unable to make the trip to see the festival. Unlikely to survive the winter.
Mistresses, Concubines and Illegitimate Children
As a result of high infant mortality rate and the ill-health of his spare heir, Naoki was forced to continue on in the traditional way of his family and produce illegitimate children – shoshi – to adopt into the household for the off-chance that both of his wife's children died. To Mari, his favoured mistress, he has three children aged 5, 3, and 1... all sons.
The Council of Brothers
Shimazu Hidan, Shimazu Hitoshi and Shimazu Junichi – They are all of Naoki's tight-knit older brothers who survived to adulthood and willingly rejected the title of Daimyo so that the youngest could take it... though, it was decided beforehand that he would subject himself to their wishes when it came to military and political maneuvering.

History:
The formation of the Shimazu family is a bitter, rags-to-riches legend passed down through the years, often the answer to a child's question of, "Why do we live in the desert?" How much of it is fact and how much is fiction, however, is unknown even to the daimyo – it might simply be an allegory for the consequences of favouritism and greed.

Due to the expansion of a long-dead shogun's empire in Izami, many outlying, lightly-populated regions were suffering from a lack of protection and were rising up against anyone who had even the slightest monetary advantage over anyone else. The answer, of course, was to strategically instate two of his spare sons as daimyos in this area. Unfortunately, he had only two of illegitimate birth left: the oldest child of his first mistress and the youngest child of his last mistress.

And, between them, he had to decide who to give the northern province to – a temperate climate where the worst of the problems faced were light rebellions – and who to give the desertified, barren reaches of the south-western part of his kingdom. It did not take much deciding, in all honesty, but it was only helped along by the whispers and pleading of the oldest son. 

The youngest, Shimazu Kenji, was given the tiny desert city of Birakanai to rule over, and was expected to fail. He did not. The people found him sympathetic to their plight – no food, little watter, bandits and murderers and corruption – and they in turn pledged their loyalty to him easier than they would have his older brother, whose presence merely incited more rebellions in the region. Birakanai grew, over the course of a generation, into a bustling trading hub for silks and finery (as well as a smuggling post, but all trade is good trade).

Still, Kenji was not alive to see it. He had been assassinated only five years after taking his post, leaving it to his infant son, who became an even more deified ruler than his father ever was with extensive military campaigns against neighbouring shogunates. So it goes. Members of the Shimazu bloodline are known for finicky health and short lifespans, as the illness that plagues the current heir's daughter is by no means unique to her.

Character Relation to Daimyo:
The wife of Shimazu Naoki and mother of the two main heirs. Furthermore, a former onna-bugeisha bodyguard for the family.


Daiymo Name: Kagennotsuki 
Shogunate of Residence: Tongai
Status: Well-renowned for both mystical ways and public affairs. 
Family Tree: Current family members include:
The Head - Reigen Kagennotsuki:
The Father of his two children, son Tsoreka, he is a kind-hearted man that took it upon himself to treat all of the people under his domain as family themselves. To treat them as children to himself -- he is a daimyo that only holds light in the eyes of those who speak for him. As a result of this, however, he is not one to partake in meetings of war or stratagem in times of crisis due to his desire to maintain the peace. 

The Next In Line - Tsoreka: The oldest child and only son of Reigen. His life has devoted to the study of balance -- martial arts, swordsmanship, the title of daimyo for him to take, and the care of his younger sister when needed for the mark placed upon her birth. Between his father and himself, he is actually sent as an emissary to meetings of war and rebellion potentials in place of his father, for he has potential and capacity visually surpassing his own creator's. 

The God-Touched - Aika: The youngest and only daughter of Reigen, Aika functions as a direct link to the needs of the people due to her desire to keep unfairness from spreading where she can. By nature of her eye, she grew up to resent such poor treatment and follow a combination of her brother and her father's way. 

Others? - Illegitimates/Others: Surprisingly, there are none to speak for. A close-knit family such as this still mourns occasionally over the death of the daimyo's wife. The only important political figures that would remain other than the main family would be the retainers they choose. 

History: The origin of the Kagennotsuki family's reach of power comes from the teachings that the current Daimyo follows himself. Where others fought for scraps from the previous lord to take up the mantle, Sakemoto Kagennotsuki was but the beginning of a mere soldier. A samurai without a home and one without a family, yet he treated each man as his equal no matter his position or birth. 

A way of life. A way of honor. And for that, be was known as the "Wandering Caretaker". 

He who took of a man even if the man ambushed him. He held no grudge, he held no animosity to fellow being, and it caused...distress, for those that found a dislike for a man so generous. 

And thus. A duel issued. A duel to the death -- to rid the violent Tongai of it's only saving light. And accept it, Sakemoto did. 

The ruling warlord of the time -- Daigatsu Saratobi -- faced him in a single match, Dragonfly-styled swordsmanship chosen by his preference in hopes of felling the man quickly. However...

It was a duel that held no logic. 

He fought Sakemoto, but the latter did not unsheathe his sword. Every powerful strike, the man simply placed energy into avoiding until Daigatsu had eventually run down his energy. One misplaced step, one show of poor swordsmanship, and he was rendered without a weapon. Instead, his own soul pointed at his throne as Sakemoto held the warlord's katana at his throat. But rather than a killing blow, it found the dirt below them instead to be its resting place. 

And words that could never be loved down. 
"To kill another man so senselessly is to live without any sense of honoring the soul at their side and the passion in their eyes. You do not deserve the title of 'Warlord'."

Such a burning passion for equality, to honor, is what made that man rise in place of the one he had spared -- yet, Daigatsu was not left without anything. He was instead appointed as the first of his retainers -- given a title of honor to earn as Sakemoto shifted to usher in his own sense of justice: a Daimyo that taught his people of kindness, of fairness, and of proper action. 

Character Relation to Daiymo: The daughter of the Daimyo. Should he and her brother pass away, she is to take over as the ruling Head.


Monsters/Bandits of Renown:
This section will be discussed later.

Legacies:
This section will be filled with myths created by the player. Myths do not need to come in any format but must be fitting to the Asian theme of the roleplay. These can range from stories about demons to myths of how the world came into existence.

[center][img]Insert Image url here[/img][/center]
[center][color=][b][u]Name Here[/u][/b][/color][/center]



[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Eye Color:[/b] Optional
[b]Hair Color:[/b] Optional
[b]Physical Description:[/b] Optional



[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[b]History:[/b] Optional
[b]Place of Birth:[/b]



[b]Weapon of Choice:[/b]
[b]Personal Affects:[/b]
[b]Other:[/b]

Rules for Character Creation:

1.No Mary Sues
2.Biography should be kept to two paragraphs at the most. It will act as a summary of your character"s life.
3. The History section is to be longer than two paragraphs and should go in depth about the character"s life.
4. Though history is optional, it will be nice to know more about how your character became who they are now.
5. Both the Biography and History should not be answered with "To be told in the story".
6. You will be limited to have only two weapons of choice.
7. Place of Birth can be left empty until the OOC is posted. 
8. Your characters should be no older than 40 and no younger than 16.
9. Weapons can be anything from a Ji to your bare fists.
10. It is indeed possible for martial arts characters to use Qi when fighting. These characters must be older than 18 for them to have achieved proper training.

In a world of warring shogunates, raving bands of bandits, and lone rōnin, there stands one beacon of peace among the chaos. A small village nestled in the mountains of Shi Han whose only claim to fame is a festival held every year in the Spring time. With the blooming sakura trees and maple trees which, should the sun hit them in the right spot, seem to exude a green light who's beauty seems to rival that of the sakura trees. Yet, the village of Hang Yi is more than just a tourist destination for above the village lies a small, Buddhist temple. Inside the temple sits a single sakura tree, larger and older than all the rest. Unlike its brethren, it always bears leaves of pink coloration throughout the year. But, only once every fifty years does the tree, Ying Qua, bear a peach which is believed to give the person who consumes it enlightenment.

Yet, a Buddhist monk came from the temple only a few weeks from the festival and asked to see the towns elder. Though the meeting was private, rumors spread that a young cleaning girl had over heard their conversation. As the rumors grew, so did the exaggerations of what it was about. If one asked one person, they would tell you that it was about a vision that one of the monks received from Buddha himself about a band of bandits while another might tell you that the monk was simply asking for some consorts to be sent up to the temple for their use.

Despite this, the rumors faded away as people flooded into Hang Yi for the Festival of Flowers. As more people arrived, more and more outrageous displays of mirth making were performed in the street. By now, most people have forgotten that the monk had even come to the village. Yet, nobody could forget the many warriors who seemed to be coming into the village. Unlike the other warriors, these ones came with weapons normally wielded on a battle field. Some saw it as an omen, an omen which would soon come to be realized. The night before the festival, the very same night that the trees were suppose to reach full bloom, a series of sakura trees caught on fire and were unable to be saved. Nobody quite knows what caused the fire, but rumors have started that demons of some sort caused this. The rumors were quick to be quelled by the Elder of Hang Yi, yet, the very same day, the Elder asked for you and several others to be brought to his estate. And the mirth making of the Festival will continue without you, of course.

Welcome, one and all, to In Full Bloom. If you have stay long enough to get here then you are more than likely interested or at the very least have tentative interest in this. Let me quickly explain things for those of you who are here. In Full Bloom is set in a world which is quite picturesque if you simple glance over it. But the world is full of strife from the fighting Shoguns and bandits who patrol the roads in the chaos. Meanwhile, the one respite which the people of In Full Bloom, the Festival of Flowers in Hang Yi village, has seemingly been sabotaged. But, this might be only the beginning in an event which has been building up for the past twenty years of fighting. Your characters will be warriors from across the lands who have come to the village of Hang Yi, either for the Festival or for the money offered by a benefactor who's interest are still unknown. Anyway, I will go into more detail with an OOC if we get enough interest.

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