Little Bill

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LITTLE BILL'S SEED AND FEED

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In the beginning, there was Terra. Certainly, its inhabitants may have called it something else; perhaps their word for "Blue" after the sky, or perhaps their word for "home", or simply "place". All the same, just as it is now, there was Terra. According to its wisest scholars and historians, Terra has seen three ages, each divided by Terra's slumbering for a hundred-hundred years. Though our oldest history is lost to time, modern advancements made in the field of archaeology tell us much about Terra's past cycles -- Denizens of the first age were each extraordinary builders and architects, constructing great stone homes and fortresses, while their descendants of the second age were skilled scientists who engineered the ancestors of today's races. The races of the Third Age.

Ours has been an age of peace. There are Kings, but not so many that they have yet fought over lands. There are warriors, but no armies yet to join. There are demons, but none so foolhardy to wake them. Terra, for all its forgotten ruins and ancient mystics, is a relatively new world. The radiation of yesteryear has long since settled to the dark corners of the world, and life has flourished in its absence. Pockets of civilization exist, but they are few, far-between, and rightly fearful of the world outside their high walls. Terra is a land where ancient horrors dwell in the glowing seas, where fearsome giants pillage small villages with impunity, and where the weak are picked off by harpies if they cannot protect themselves with a sufficient fort, sword, or spell.

The Four Great Races

Humans

Despite being the rarest peoples, humans are actually believed to have been the first race on Terra. Humans are extremely sensitive to radiation and are the weakest, shortest-lived, and least magically-inclined of Terra's four great races, but they are the most intelligent and the most dextrous. Humans possess opposable, multi-jointed digits on either end of their arms, capable of using delicate machinery, playing a variety of instruments, and manually cleaning the insides of their ears and noses. Using these digits, humans have invented a variety of tools and devices to assist them in these and other labors.

◈ Rot-touched humans are a subspecies of human, who are not born mutants, but have had their genes mutated through direct exposure to very high amounts of radiation very quickly. They are ageless, require no water, and despite a popular myth that states otherwise, can be killed through conventional means. They resemble living corpses and are slowly deteriorated by direct sunlight, leading many to seek shelter underground.

◈ Halfbeasts are the unholy spawn of humans and beastfolk. They usually resemble humans with scant animal features, such as tails, ears, or wings. Some see them and find them attractive, others see them and picture their sinful parents copulating. Whatever the case may be, they are rarer than humans and are frequently performers in circuses and exotic clubs. The only colony of halfbeasts are the mermaids, who are pretty absent in the affairs of non-mermaids.

Beastfolk

The beastfolk are the most diverse, and perhaps most loosely organized of the four great races. Whether or not the beastfolk are the oldest race in Terra is largely a one-sided debate between the beastfolk, who submit the notion that the beastfolk are Terra's oldest race, and the rest of the world, who favor the tangible, much older records of humanity in the debate. In spite of this, the beastfolk are generally a proud, bull-headed people, depending on their exact species. To be fair, the most bull-headed of them are the bullmen.

◈ Plantfolk, while not "beasts", exist all the same. They have a lot of in-fighting and rivalries only they are able to remember and differentiate, such as a bitter, long-standing racial hatred between leekfolk and radishfolk. Because of their integral bond with nature, many live in harsh, isolated regions.

◈ The fishfolk, also colloquially called The Awful Fishfolk, are the most widely-hated subspecies on Terra. There is no one reason, but a slew of factors that go into this -- They reek, no matter the breed of fish, speak in a language only they can speak, and they steal things. They steal like it is going out of fashion, right in front of you if they have to. They also cannibalize their dead almost immediately.

Greens

The Greens -- Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Hobgoblins, Goblins, Ghouls, and all manner of nefarious hoopajoops -- are a universally tusked, pointy-eared, viridescent peoples. Some are small and quick, such as those in the goblin families, whereas others, such as the ogres and orcs, are large and muscled. Because their appearances are so widely varying, many members of other races, such as mutant humans and particularly stout lizardfolk, are often mistaken for Greens and discriminated as such. The Greens evolved from humans who have adapted to high levels of radiation.

◈ Sky goblins, despite their name, are not goblins and cannot fly. Their short tails make them imps, and while they cannot fly in the true sense, they can jump the same distances, proportionately, as a flea. Their wide, padded feet help them glide as they fall downward and kick at prey with their powerful legs. They eat mostly birds, young harpies, and other sky goblins.

◈ While commonly believed to be members of the extinct Dwarf race, tappers are the most common subspecies of troll. They can be distinguished from dwarves and trolls alike by their dark green skin and gray beards. Many signal to one another when they sense cave-ins by tapping their single, long index finger on the cave walls, which gives them their name.

Elves

Where the beastfolk were made brash and dim-witted by the radiation, and the greens made hideous and deformed, the Elves were given what they call "Elfspeak" -- The ability to communicate ideas to other living beings psychically. Because of the use of telepathy and psychic empathy is so widespread in their cultures, they generally almost never speak. <Elves sound like this> While powerful wizards and other elves can shut off their minds to Elfspeech, humans, beastfolk, and greens cannot.
<As you can imagine, this does not help their popularity>

◈ Forest elves are the elves most attuned to Elfspeech, and are said to have invented it. They lack mouths, instead communicating entirely with their minds, photosynthesizing in order to give themselves nutrients when necessary. Some say they can use Elfspeech to communicate with trees, though they aren't keen about discussing the matter with non forest elves.

◈ High elves, as their name would suggest, are the tallest of the elves. They are known for their impressive fortresses and a lesser known facet of Elfspeech known as Elflistening, where they are made privy to the thoughts and emotions of others. Most use this for political scheming and other underhanded means.

World History

There is very little empirical data recorded about Terra's history, so historical knowledge varies very strongly from place to place. Some universities have tomes that chronicle each age in detail, some villages think the planet is about a hundred years old. Most people don't know very much about ancient history, and they don't really care. There are pterodactyls trying to eat them, and giant mushrooms they can use to bounce across chasms. The fun parts of the world -- the parts we're writing in -- don't know about world history, and neither should your character.

The First Age

The First Age, or, The Yester-yesteryears, are the most ancient and mysterious of Terra's ages. It is the time when the most ancient creatures laid their eggs miles beneath the planet, when the mightiest of the talking trees were little more than high-pitched acorns, and when the ancient structures around Terra were first raised. Denizens of the first age currently living -- the most decrepit and ancient of the Rot-Touched, Treefolk, and similar very long-lived beings -- all have twinkling, murky memories of this time, if any. Life for the First Agers was a utopia aided largely by machines and architecturally ingenious structures that protected them from a world that lacked radiation, magic, or nonhumans. The few remaining records of First Agers depict an unintimidating, fleshy people with a proclivity for unfashionable hats.

The Second Age

The Second Age, or The Yesteryears, was the shortest period of Terra's history, occurring after the First Fire. The second age is responsible for the first generation of Rot-Touched, the creation of the Greens, Elves, and Dwarves, as well as the Machinefolk. The oldest dynasties were also founded during this time, such as the Great Pack, the Elven Dream-Council, and the Celestial Republic. The Second Age was ended by the Final Fire, an event as equally mysterious as its predecessor.

The Third Age

The Third Age is Terra's current age. It was marked by the extinction of the Dwarves, as well as the emergence of Beastfolk. Machines, while not extinct, have become extraordinarily rare, while magic has become more and more common. The world is loosely divided into territories, though it has not been so fully explored as to have an accurate map.

Magical Glossary

As you have seen, there are a lot of terms being thrown around here -- Rot, Radiation, First Fire, Magic, etc. The prevalence of magic has been the biggest question, so I'm here to answer it straight: This setting employs magic through radiation. Think of the two as equally volatile and uncommon to see being used in day-to-day settings. If someone pulled out a magical orb from their backpack, you would respond as if they pulled a glowing hunk of uranium -- You'd be distrustful, and probably run in the opposite direction. Magic used by the players is of a low level. Magic used by some NPCs might show the higher scale of magic, but the golden rule here is always that magic is really misinterpreted science. That being said, if your magic cannot be explained with a pseudo-scientific explanation, it is too powerful. This strikes the creation of matter off of the list, as well as things like teleportation or flight. Think Tolkien magic.

Magic - An unnatural force found throughout the world that allows practitioners to break or bend natural laws. It has a strong correlation to radiation and nuclear waste, leading many foolhardy hopefuls to willingly expose themselves to it. Nearly all develop illnesses, but some develop incredible gifts, keeping fascination and fear of magic a widespread phenomenon.

The First Fire - A worldwide fire that ended the First Age.

The Final Fire - A worldwide fire that ended the Second Age.

Demons - Dormant creatures, thought to either be descendants of Rot-Touched or Dwarves, with strong affinities for magic and unspeakable evil. Fortunately, none are currently awake.

Elfspeech - A telepathic communication elves can use between each other, or at non-elves. Non-elves receive Elfspeech if it is the elf's intention, but they cannot speak with it.

Rot - Those exposed to the First and Final fires received a type of radiation that is no longer found, known as Rot. Those who are "Rot-Touched" cease aging, but appear corpselike and cannot be exposed to sunlight.

Character Application

Charactername, The Race/Subrace

Profile

Tell me your character's name, gender, species, approximate age relative to their lifespan, and basic appearance without writing these details in a listed format.

Biography

Tell me your character's personality, history, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and skills without writing these details in a listed format.

Relationships

Relationship type - Loosest possible requirements for another PC to be this role. Example as follows.

Rival - A beastfolk who crossed paths with Firstname many years ago, who stole the coveted Plotdevice Crystal Firstname has been looking for.

LITTLE BILL'S SEED AND FEED

Decided to steal something from Poohead

Decided to try something

Who eats the most fish?

LITTLE BILL'S SEED AND FEED

•SHINTAI•

<sub>Both the victor
and the vanquished are
but drops of dew,
but bolts of lightning,
thus should we view the world.
- The death poem of Ôuchi Yoshitaka</sub>

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The Plot

The Plot

The Grand Empire has ruled Tsukishima for thousands of years, maintaining the Bakuhatsu dynasty for generations immemorial. Their current ruler, Emperor Kaoru Bakuhatsu, has brought the empire to new heights by being the first Tsukihito to accept the trade agreements of a foreigner, focusing newfound imperial funds on developing technology such as the steam drill, gatling gun, and hot air balloon. Though the empire has grown richer, more technologically advanced, and is furthering science to heights previously unknown, this is believed by the pious to have extended man's domain and power further than it had been intended to be by the gods, which has caused a recent supernatural insurrection. Entire villages are found slaughtered overnight, shadowy beings are said to kill travellers, spastic children are born with red eyes and skin like cracked riverbeds, and men tending to their paddies suddenly drop their tools, speak in tongues, and murder their families in minutes. Roadside temples are being found desecrated more and more, and from Mount Kaji, a deep rumbling grows. More and more, villagers have turned to their once-forgotten temples and shrines, affixing holy symbols to their doors and keeping their doors tightly shut at night.

Though this uprising of demons has been denied by local shoguns and government officials, the Grand Imperial Military has been stationed in many villages for seemingly no reason but "guarding foreign cargo shipments", though many suspect Emperor Kaoru has begun to take notice of the supernatural occurrences. Although areas occupied by the Grand Imperial Military are kept safe from demons and spirits, the soldiers and samurai employed by the government are essentially immune to the Empire's laws, and are known for their wanton cruelty to the serfs they protect. This lack of transparency on the empire's part and anger towards the occupying army has caused a rift in Tsukishima's society, with more and more citizens fed up with the empire and turning to bandit groups and travelling ronin to protect them. However, as the bandit groups usually require extortion payments and are oftentimes as cruel as the occupying soldiers, between the demons and what protects the villagers from them, life has never been harsher to the common man. It is a time that calls for heroes.

The World

The World

Our story takes place in Tsukishima, a crescent-shaped continent about half the size of Europe, ruled by The Grand Empire, which is as authoritarian and fascist as their name sounds. As is the case with many anime settings, the country is ambiguously Japanese without actually being set in Japan -- Characters and locations have Japanese names, spirituality is divided by strongly Buddhist and Shinto seeming religions, and concepts like honor and filial piety have a place in everyday life. The setting will be split between rural and urban villages, with smaller villages having hand-pumped water and traditional Japanese architecture (Rice paper walls, tatami mats, squat toilets) while more urban villages have steam, plumbing, and western-style beds. As you move closer to the country's western coast, villages become cities, sandals become slippers, and the swords of town guards are replaced by jitte and clubs. Our stories start as far from the west as possible.

Though one of the themes of the RP is the world's rapid industrialization, keep in mind that there aren't any crazy cyberpunk neon cities. At most, the level of the tech in our world is the same as that of the Naruto universe; In the most urban areas, Electricity, factories, gunpowder, and steam-powered machinery are not commonplace, but they are becoming increasingly so. Gatling guns and cannons exist, though only the highest order of the Grand Imperial Army, the Imperial Guard, have access to them. In terms of realism, try to consider our world low fantasy -- Onis, Kappas, Yokai, and all other mythical creatures are still mythical, and dragons are only ever seen in papery forms at parades. Only recently -- to the tune of a year, more or less -- have supernatural occurrences started happening, and that's limited to demons and other vengeful spirits like that. Magic is performed by the highest-ranking priests and monks, and is usually limited to healing wounds, ki strikes, and that cool levitating meditation trick. Otherwise, if you want to kill somebody, you're going to use a sword and not a magic missile.

Our world will be about as dark as the average 90's anime, and will borrow from a few (Most notably, Ninja Scroll). Graphic, if unrealistic violence will be the norm, whereas other dark themes will mostly take the side stage, or be balanced out to make the world less of a complete crapsack. If we meet a homeless alcoholic, he'll crack jokes. If an NPC is tryna rape somebody, it's because another character is about to be introduced as a trustworthy, honorable character by killing them. If the group encounters a drug-addicted prostitute, she will turn out to be a man in drag with a deep voice. I want to tell a compelling story with compelling villains, but I'm not tonedeaf to my own edginess.

Additionally, though the RP will have realistic occurrences and consequences, I'll admit that if you survive the solo stage and end up in the main group, your character will don plot armor from then on. Feel free to be a bit more brave or outspoken in your actions, as I guarantee you won't die -- If you pass the first month or two of this RP without dropping out. That seems like a good segue to the next section.

The Rules

The Rules

1. Every time I've run this RP, I've had to deal with butthurt people in my PMs when I reject their samurai, or the anguish of well-written characters arriving too late to be accepted. Given that I am only accepting one writer -- at the most, two -- and already have more applicants than I am willing to accept, I fully encourage those of you who do not get accepted for one reason or another to take this idea and run with it. You have my full permission to rip the entire OOC and post it elsewhere to run a game of demon-fighting samurai with your pals. I intended this initially to be a 1x1, which then became a 1x1x1. If you get rejected, it's more likely me than you, given the characters are already on a discord you have no way of seeing. Anyway. No hard feelings.

2. Every character should be different -- They should look different, act different, approach the same problem in different ways, and have different fighting styles. They should have different themes, different backstories, and different goals. If you see a character who's big and red, make a guy who's short and blue. The only thing that shouldn't be different is their weaponry -- Everyone is a martial artist using a melee weapon. No archers or riflemen, sorry. Makes balanced combat difficult when one character can competently kill dudes from fifty feet. I'd prefer a bunch of very different styles of swordsmanship to a party where everyone uses an arbitrarily different exotic weapon, but I'm certainly open to non-sword users within reason. Think Samurai Champloo or Afro Samurai before Inuyasha.

3. This RP is about character development as much as it is plot development, so bring your A-Game. I've got an overarching plot in mind to bring all the villain NPCs you introduce during your solo tenure, so bring good villains. Bring a good backstory to build on personal change with while you're at it, too. As characters develop and there are more demons and samurai to fight, players who have been here since the beginning will scale up in power -- I don't want to do kamahamehas and power tier transformations as much as I want to see named attacks, wire-fu, and punches that leave little craters in the wall. Hopefully, we won't need a reference point for the level of fantasy used because it'll be enforced by all the posts.

4. Don't intentionally be a contrarian dick. Aside from any "Respect da GM" rule, if you have a problem with something I've written or something someone else has written, just try to bring it up in a respectful manner. There are too many roleplays ruined by petty disagreements, insistence on being right, and general toe-stepping that could be avoided by thinking "Would I say this to someone's face?" I reserve the right as GM to outright reject players or ideas, but I'm not gonna do that unless suggesting a dozen alternatives if I think a suggestion isn't right, because I am not an intentionally contrarian dick. So follow that rule as best as I do, I guess.

5. Last but not least, have fun! I didn't want a rule list with four rules, are you kidding me? No for real, the last rule is to PM me your sheet instead of posting it on the thread. If you're accepted, I'll PM you. I already have myself and two writers, so I will be accepting one to two more. Probably one.

The Setting

The Setting

Most countries date their founding on the arrival of foreign invaders -- Not Tsukishima. For thousands upon thousands of years, the Tsukihito have met every invading force with the same swords that they pass down through generations. The island nation has had their ruling family, the Bakuhatsu family, for as long as they have recorded their history through paintings and the written word -- which they had developed sooner than other cultures -- and most likely longer than even that. In the same vein, Tsukishima has only ever had two religions, which have both simply been called The Sacred Path and The Holy Path for as long as anyone remembers. The Sacred Path is originally from Seung Yua, and follows the teachings of The Enlightened One, whereas The Holy Path is a polytheistic animist religion native to Tsukishima, centered around gods known as The Kami in lieu of one enlightened mortal.

Tsukishima is effectively owned by the oldest male of Clan Bakuhatsu, more frequently called "The Emperor" than by his birth name, which becomes nearly obsolete after his coronation. Below the emperor are the four shogun, each controlling a quarter of the continent as kings, whose word is second only to the emperor's. The shogunate clans and their branches are known as "high samurai", distinguished from peasantry, merchants, lords, and daimyō by being permitted by the emperor to own and ride horses, as well as each of their male members being permitted to become samurai. Below the shogun are the 64 daimyō. It is said of the daimyō that few rule ports, some rule mines, most rule rice paddies, and all rule the small folk. The richest and most well-connected to the shogunate are typically in the east or west, whereas the less impressive daimyō live in the south -- known as the rice paddy kingdom -- and the frozen north, which was only annexed by the empire three hundred years ago. Daimyō are permitted to raise their eldest sons to be samurai and essentially act as mayors, lords, and petty kings of the continent. Below the daimyō are the landed samurai -- retired samurai who have purchased lands and have started a branch house of their clan -- and the samurai, Tsukishima's most ancient and honored caste. Below the samurai are the merchants, artisans, and peasantry, and below them, the burakumin; butchers, gravediggers, and tanners, who are considered untouchable.

Tsukishima has two neighboring countries -- Goristan and Seung Yua. Goristan is the larger of the two, spanning further than Tsukishima's fleet has sailed and taking up all of the west, as far north and south as the west seems to go. Goristan has a generally cold relationship with Tsukishima -- they have no trade or immigration with Tsukishima, having a mountainous coast, though there are very rare immigrants who are mostly fleeing persecution for various crimes. They are called Goristani, and have a more Eurasian look than Tsukihito, with round eyes and hair ranging from black to dark brown that grows on their face as thick as on their head. The Goristani have tried to invade Tsukishima three times, being repelled by Tsukishima's combined forces the first two times and washed away by typhoons the third. They possess steam power, rudimentary electricity, and gunpowder, though very little is known about these three wonders in Tsukishima until very recently. The Goristani fight with slightly-European looking Jiangs and muskets, and are thought to be loud, rude, and greedy. They cultivate cows for beef, milk, and cheese, leading to the word for Goristani in Tsukihito translating literally to "cow mouth people". It is the setting's equivalent to China and Eurasia.

Seung Yua is a small island nation near Tsukishima's southeastern archipelago, known as the Tokukokko Islands. It is largely comprised of its own ethnic group, the Seungyo, though its western coast has a thriving population of immigrants from Tsukishima and the Tokukokko islands. It is a poor country, and its people are generally seen as dirty, smelly, unintelligent, and clearly inferior to Tsukishima. Though it carries a great number of negative stereotypes, it is also seen as mystical, exotic, and spiritual, due to it being the birthplace of The Sacred Path and its predecessor, the Divine Path -- Buddhism and Hinduism, respectively -- It is believed that the founder of The Sacred Path was born in Seung Yua and came by way of raft as an infant. The Seungyo fight with curved swords, chakram, and a multitude of bizarre and foreign weapons. It is the setting's equivalent to India, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The Themes

The Themes

Modern Industry vs Traditional Naturalism

The largest theme in Hagakure is lifted from a lot of anime, because it has been a prevalent theme in Japanese society for the past century. It is implied that belief in the Sacred Path and Holy Path had been on a decline throughout previous years, and outright stated that demons had not shown up until Tsukishima abandoned tradition in favor of industry. Additionally, demons are repelled by items granted reverence in the Sacred Path -- heirlooms, weapons, and structures that have lasted one hundred generations and have been given a soul by the kami. The Grand Empire has an array of steampunk villains aided by technology, which are to be foiled by our cast of heroes who all have humble origins in traditional fighting styles.

Honorable Idealism vs Brutal Reality

Hagakure is about swordsmen, and swordsmanship in feudal Japan was about discipline and honor. Swords are being replaced by guns -- a tool that lacks a tradition, a need for training, or any semblance of honor. Much in the same way that tradition is being brushed aside for industry's sake, the world should have many examples of unpleasant realities trumping ideals. Travelling samurai are very rarely warriors in shining armor, the army is not as loyal, organized, and transparent as they say, and the very ruling government of the country has taken steps to inadvertently make their traditions, social classes, and way of life obsolete.