196 replies to this topic

[Insane Soul]

I listened to that song roughly 7 years ago. One of my favorites, I really like the lyrics and the piano touch.

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

Insane Soul, if you don't plan to make a character. Please get out of my OOC.

And done. Now with 21.8% more discrimination, 42.4% more ostracizing, 93.1% less fathers, and 76.6% more suffering (Hecarim tells me that's the magic right there).

 

Spoiler

 

Theme: Shinedown- I'm Alive

 

Name: Kohinata Hibiki

 

Gender: Male

 

Age:  19

 

Race: Halfbreed (CHALLENGE ACCEPTED)

 

Personality:  There was a time when Kohinata Hibiki was a passionate young man just shy of the prime of his life, enthusiastic about his future prospects, and hopeful for the future. That time, however, has long since passed. Now, he's little more than a hollowed out shell of the person he used to be. His hope has run out, his enthusiasm replaced by despair, and his passion turned to a quietly seething anger at the world. For him, the only reason to keep living is that death is worse. However, if he could secure a better life for himself, he thinks, then maybe, just maybe, he might be able to recover and return to his prior disposition. It's worth a shot, anyway...

 

Faction: If you asked? Sakura Rebellion. How true that is remains to be seen...

 

Skills: Hibiki is a Martial Arts virtuoso by necessity (see below). He can also tap into massive reservoirs of brute strength from his half-Oni side, but only in times of absolute desperation.

 

History:

In the town of Tokio Funka and the surrounding area, the presence of the Oni and all of the societal changes brought by their appearance is common knowledge. In the neighboring town of Johsai, however, the news was not so recognized. Oh, the word traveled fast, make no mistake, but with Oni only existing in stories and folklore it was far too easy to write such things off as falsehoods, to label the newsbringers as attention seekers who had taken statements such as "That businessman is so good he must be an Oni" far too literally. As such, any pleas for help fell on deaf ears in Johsai, where the people simply lived out their happy lives. Kohinata Hibiki was one of these people, working in the fields to help support his family and training himself in martial arts at night. It was hard, being the man of the house at such a young age, but his father had abandoned his family shortly before he'd been born, and neither Hibiki nor his mother knew who he was. Three years ago, however, all of that changed.

 

At that time, Johsai had been experiencing an inordinate number of disappearances. Women, children, even grown men on occasion would simply vanish in the night, never to be seen again. Investigations turned up absolutely nothing, and nobody knew what became of them. Only those who became fresh victims ever had the misfortune of finding the answer. And Hibiki was one such unfortunate man. It happened when he was out behind his house, practicing his kicks. Out of nowhere, half a dozen dark shapes surrounded him, and try as he might to fight them off they overpowered him effortlessly. Hibiki was knocked unconscious in the process, and when he woke up he had been tied up and tossed in the back of a cart that was rolling along the highway in the night along with several other townsfolk. It was not until sunrise that they knew where they were going- Tokio Funka, the town that they soon discovered had told the truth when it claimed to be overrun by demons. And they were all about to find out just how cruel a fist the Oni ruled with.

 

They were put up for auction, every last one of them. Most were bought for work in the mines and fields, but some were bought with something special in mind. When it was Hibiki's turn on the block, he resisted. Using nothing but his self-taught skills and a strength he'd never known he had, he managed to get free from one of the guards and made a run for it, only to be taken down a second later. Far from being displeased, however, one of the Oni at the auction was impressed and purchased him then and there. After he'd been "properly introduced" to his new life, the man who owned him told Hibiki why he'd been bought; he was going to be that Oni's next fighter in what was called "Dorei Shiai"- the Slave Games. A cruel, twisted form of entertainment not unlike the gladiatorial games practiced by the Romans, Oni who were interested would pick slaves of theirs that they believed were strong fighters to enter in fighting competitions with other slaves. The winner was rewarded with extra food and a warm bed for the night; the loser was either sent to the fields and forced to work until they collapsed, assuming of course that they weren't killed in the process.

 

As unwilling as he was to use his martial arts in such a manner, it didn't take long for Hibiki's drive to survive took over and led him to fight for his life night after night in the ring. In little time at all, he became the opponent to beat in the Games, taking down men twice his size and age with strength and endurance that seemed at times to rival those of an Oni. Naturally, such things drew suspicion from the Overseers and investors of the Dorei Shiai. How could this boy, self taught and scrawny as he was, be performing such feats? The answer came one night when, after another battle for his life, Hibiki was greeted, not with cheers and the escort to the warm bed, but one of the Greater Oni holding a woman by the collar of her torn and shredded kimono; his mother. Without any hesitation, the Oni demanded she "Tell the arena the truth." Almost crying from pains still healing, his mother used the last of her breath to shout that she had laid with an Oni, and that Hibiki was the result. The arena had gone silent as the weight of what they had just heard hit them; this boy they had been watching was a Bachihan, or "cursed half." The jeers and angry shouting soon followed. Some were demanding disqualification, others wanted him left in the mines to perish. But soon, one chant overtook them all; "Execution! Execution! Execution! Execution! EXECUTION!"

 

Just as Hibiki prepared to fight for his life on last time, however, the Oni who held his mother raised his hand once more. The gesture seemed to cast a spell over the audience, as one by one they all fell silent. Then he spoke to them all. "Friends," he began, "Let us not behave like savages. There is a code that we must follow. And that code states..." with an aching slowness he began to draw a blade from his belt, "BLAME NOT THE CHILD FOR THE PARENT'S SINS!" And with a single, dreadfully clean swipe he decapitated the only family Hibiki had ever known, no more than 5 meters in front of him.

 

The young man could never remember what happened after that. As soon as his mother's blood splattered against his face, everything else became a blur. He heard the crowd roaring as he was dragged back to his slave housing, but whether it was more jeering or shouts of approval he could not say. After that, Hibiki's life did something he thought impossible; it took a stark turn for the worse. Now that his status as a halfbreed was known, it seemed nobody was on his side. Humans treated him like a traitor or a carrier for some horrible disease. Even his fellow slaves and fighters, who he'd known for almost three years, wouldn't go near him or look him in the eye. It was as though, in their eyes, he stood accused of some treason and would drag them down with him. He could not talk to them, could not eat with them, could not even be near them without being bathed in hostility and silent condemnation. And the Oni, who had never been on his side to begin with, treated him worse still. To them, he was nothing short of an abomination, a travesty bound in flesh that nearly all of them would have killed with their own hands but for the words of the Oni that had slain his mother. It didn't take them long to find a solution, however; all that was required, they realized, was that he lose in the Dorei Shiai. And so, he was invited to compete once more, and knowing nothing else he accepted.

 

But these were not ordinary matches. As compensation for his status, the organizers of the games arranged for his fights to "have the scales balanced properly." Hibiki was forced to fight under handicaps of various natures, all designed to ensure his downfall in the ring. They pitted him against two, sometimes even three opponents. They sent him in barehanded against enemies wielding swords and naginatas. They hung great iron chains on his ankles and bound him to the wall. For one match, he was blindfolded and set against a notorious murderer who was given a knife. And yet, in spite of all of it, he still managed to win. It was no longer about surviving, or earning a reward- the former wasn't guaranteed, and the latter was outright denied to him. It was about spiting everybody who now treated him like an outcast, about showing all of them, human and Oni alike, that they could hate and despise him all they wanted because he didn't care. All he cared about what that he would not surrender and go quietly into the night.

 

But Hibiki was not the only one who didn't care what had to be done. That much was made clear to him on his final night in the arena. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that there was no physical handicap. No blindfold, no chains, no pre-fight bruising, nothing of the sort. Moreover, when he entered the ring, it was only him and the referee present, with no opponent in sight- just a small box with a spirit tag draped over it. The referee announced that they had finally found a challenger worthy to fight "The undefeated Bachi-han" on equal footing. Then, they removed the tag from the wooden box. Barely a second later the top flew open and out from the box leaped a voracious wolf spirit, driven mad by hunger, that immediately began to circle Hibiki. A small star flew out of somewhere in the audience, cutting the boy's cheek just barely. No serious damage was done, but the scent of his blood was in the air. And that was all it took to set the wolf spirit onto him.

 

Quite predictably, he lost. Badly. As hard as he fought back, there was no way a simple man with no knowledge of the arcane arts could defeat a spirit. He certainly would have been killed, had something in the audience not drawn the wolf spirit's attention and coaxed it into breaking out of the ring and trying to devour the viewers. Once the spirit had been subdued and resealed, the command was given to throw the match's loser into the slave fields and leave him to die from his wounds. But out in the fields, help came from an unexpected source; a Tengu who identified with the Greater Oni appeared that night and treated his wounds. This Tengu informed Hibiki that despite being a halfbreed, the Oni blood that he possessed was the real deal. Furthermore, the Tengu knew the secret to awakening that heritage completely. Even as a halfbreed, he could pass for a full fledged Oni and, with his already formidable strength aided by demonic power, he would surely find a welcome place in the ruling caste. And all he had to do was infiltrate a certain rebellious organization and sell them out at the apex of their plans...

@Slice- Just fix the format issues near the end. Otherwise, you are golden. welcome to "The List".

[Officer Judy Hopps]

Spoiler

Theme: Requiem - From Conqueror of Shambala (It is REALLY hard to hypertext link atm,sorry! )

Name: Hanabi or "The Slavemaster's Prize"

Age: 141

Gender: Female

Race: Minor Oni

Personality: I would like to say that I possess many traits, as various as they are throughout both mortal and immortal races alike. However, I suppose the three greatest traits I hold are three that I am unrivaled often in. I am wise, and as such I am able to peer through the deceit that runs rampant through this land. Also, I am cunning; fickle as a candle's flame, I oft use the deceit of others as gain. I hold loyalty to only one side, though they don't know of it yet. Lastly however, is the trait that shall forever be my undoing: my arrogance. Some might think it humble of a Kitsune to admit weakness, however I see it as a curse that I can never escape. After all, what delight is there in having your food without eating it first?

We must all have flaws of one sort or another.

Faction:I choose the Sakura as the side which I wish to serve.

Skills: I partake in the demonic Foxfire and Illusion arts that is unique to my kind. Though my strength pales in comparison to my mother, I intend to achieve her strength as fast as I possibly can. Yet just for now, I have little more than relatively minor illusions and moderate fires by which to partake at my side.

History: Much to the surprise of many, I am not as young as I appear to be. I have seen many sunrises that blessed this land with their color and beauty. You see, I was born just under a century and a half ago, and was destined to be the new matron of the element of fire. I started as a small little kit, and my mother sought to nurture my growth. The earliest stories of man invoke seven great and terrible blazes that ravaged the countryside, and those flames were once hers, those blazes were what fed my sustenance, as humans were quick to abandon their food stores...and we did not hesitate to take advantage of such.

Thanks to her persistence, I grew rapidly and began trickster blazes of my own from time to time without the slightest remorse. Oddly, I found myself to be devoutly protective of nature; and sometimes offending houses and barns could disappear overnight in a blaze of anger and rage for what they had done to the forests in their vicinity.

In time however, our rage eventually turned to that of benevolence as the humans began to understand the message we savagely conveyed. If they treated nature with cruelty and disrespect, we would do the same to them. Understanding this, they built around the forests, taking only what they needed and even building a shrine that my mother and I could call home. Together, side by side, we existed in a sort of beautiful harmony.

However, such harmony was never meant to last. Other Oni, cooperating with the emperor and serving in his army and learned of this benevolence. Deciding that we ought to be punished for our escapades and seeing it as a weakness, they came up with a sickening plot, an insidious ploy to seal my mother's spiritual strength away and seize the lands which did not belong to them.

Their plan was to use me and my youthful naiveté as a tool.

It began with taking advantage of my innocence as I returned home from curiously visiting the human market one day, I was stopped by a hooded salesman. Try as I might to have heeded my mother's warning of the dangers of being accosted by strangers, the alluring and beautiful gold, silver, and gems that chimed and dangled off his cart caught my eye. Here, as the wretched salesman bore a deviously crooked grin, I bought a of beautiful necklace with what little money I had.

With a devious turn for the worse, a trickster had been tricked.

Returning home to my mother beneath the great tree, I gifted unto her the piece of gold that is likely still about her neck even now in this moment. She wore it proudly, a glistening golden piece that was truly beautiful as the gems seemed to glint and flicker like the very fire she loved to wield. What did I truly fail to realize was that the fire you see within those gems now was truly hers indeed.

For the very moment she put it on, the bastards who took my home also took us both. Bringing a demon's blade down upon her with fatal intentions, my mother managed to buy us time, and with it she bartered with her life and mine in the balance. She had intended to summon a maelstrom of fire for them to cook within when she found to our horror that nothing happened. Then, and only then as the Oni held a blade to my neck did I realize that the only gift I had ever given was what sealed her strength and our fate away.

What was more cruel is that I too was bound by a collar that only the one who created it would be able to break...to further limit my minuscule abilities. Adding salt to an already painful wound.

Rather than kill us, he took us prisoner. A trophy of his conquest over a mother and her child. If only he could ever grasp my utter hatred for him, he would understand that the moment I can find the one who crafted this necklace and force him to remove it from my mother and myself...There would be hell to pay.

His cruelty however, didn't end there. Knowing even of my hatred for him, he decided that I would make for a gift, to be a wife for a lowly scum of a Oni slaver who had enslaved so many humans for the leisure of his fellow kind. Forced to be his bride, my other was forced to watch on as I was unwillingly led down the aisle and into the hands of this man that I perceived to be a slimy piece of scum.

And my impression wasn't far off.

This Oni, this filthy piece of trash had gained his "prestigious" seat by making fortunes off of the suffering of those who didn't deserve it. With lecherous trembling hands, he swept me into his home and shuttered his new treasure in with him inside his little fortress. There, I would come to know the meaning of true suffering, to be locked up within a cage alongside a malicious tormentor.

Yet within all his maddening lechery, I found a route to salvation: the very slaves he sold.

One fateful night as he received a huge shipment of slaves so massive that he practically went for broke to buy them in order to sell the girls to the Oni at a massive over price the next day, I took advantage of his foolishly placed investment. In the middle of the night, I stole away from him and swept through the halls in the cloak of an illusion. Guided by the sounds of sobs and misery, I found their cage and lit the guard who held their key on fire with what little power I still held.

As he choked on smoke and flames, I set them free. In the chaos that ensued, certainly some would be recaptured but I would be one of those to escape. So now I am on the run at best...In the hope that I can buy some more time, and finally give my mother and I's frantic bones a good rest beneath the stars at long last.

By George I think I've got it! Edited her age to be more fitting with the time line as well as her nickname. And I believe even with the 39 year addition to her age, she'd only be on her second tail.

[SliceAndDice]

Format issu...

 

GOD DAMMIT, NOT AGAIN

Okay, that SHOULD have fixed it. Bloody stray coding, how do you even get in there like that...

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

Spoiler

Theme: Requiem - From Conqueror of Shambala (It is REALLY hard to hypertext link atm,sorry! )

Name: Hanabi or "The Slavemaster's Prize"

Age: 141

Gender: Female

Race: Minor Oni

Personality: I would like to say that I possess many traits, as various as they are throughout both mortal and immortal races alike. However, I suppose the three greatest traits I hold are three that I am unrivaled often in. I am wise, and as such I am able to peer through the deceit that runs rampant through this land. Also, I am cunning; fickle as a candle's flame, I oft use the deceit of others as gain. I hold loyalty to only one side, though they don't know of it yet. Lastly however, is the trait that shall forever be my undoing: my arrogance. Some might think it humble of a Kitsune to admit weakness, however I see it as a curse that I can never escape. After all, what delight is there in having your food without eating it first?

We must all have flaws of one sort or another.

Faction:I choose the Sakura as the side which I wish to serve.

Skills: I partake in the demonic Foxfire and Illusion arts that is unique to my kind. Though my strength pales in comparison to my mother, I intend to achieve her strength as fast as I possibly can. Yet just for now, I have little more than relatively minor illusions and moderate fires by which to partake at my side.

History: Much to the surprise of many, I am not as young as I appear to be. I have seen many sunrises that blessed this land with their color and beauty. You see, I was born just under a century and a half ago, and was destined to be the new matron of the element of fire. I started as a small little kit, and my mother sought to nurture my growth. The earliest stories of man invoke seven great and terrible blazes that ravaged the countryside, and those flames were once hers, those blazes were what fed my sustenance, as humans were quick to abandon their food stores...and we did not hesitate to take advantage of such.

Thanks to her persistence, I grew rapidly and began trickster blazes of my own from time to time without the slightest remorse. Oddly, I found myself to be devoutly protective of nature; and sometimes offending houses and barns could disappear overnight in a blaze of anger and rage for what they had done to the forests in their vicinity.

In time however, our rage eventually turned to that of benevolence as the humans began to understand the message we savagely conveyed. If they treated nature with cruelty and disrespect, we would do the same to them. Understanding this, they built around the forests, taking only what they needed and even building a shrine that my mother and I could call home. Together, side by side, we existed in a sort of beautiful harmony.

However, such harmony was never meant to last. Other Oni, cooperating with the emperor and serving in his army and learned of this benevolence. Deciding that we ought to be punished for our escapades and seeing it as a weakness, they came up with a sickening plot, an insidious ploy to seal my mother's spiritual strength away and seize the lands which did not belong to them.

Their plan was to use me and my youthful naiveté as a tool.

It began with taking advantage of my innocence as I returned home from curiously visiting the human market one day, I was stopped by a hooded salesman. Try as I might to have heeded my mother's warning of the dangers of being accosted by strangers, the alluring and beautiful gold, silver, and gems that chimed and dangled off his cart caught my eye. Here, as the wretched salesman bore a deviously crooked grin, I bought a of beautiful necklace with what little money I had.

With a devious turn for the worse, a trickster had been tricked.

Returning home to my mother beneath the great tree, I gifted unto her the piece of gold that is likely still about her neck even now in this moment. She wore it proudly, a glistening golden piece that was truly beautiful as the gems seemed to glint and flicker like the very fire she loved to wield. What did I truly fail to realize was that the fire you see within those gems now was truly hers indeed.

For the very moment she put it on, the bastards who took my home also took us both. Bringing a demon's blade down upon her with fatal intentions, my mother managed to buy us time, and with it she bartered with her life and mine in the balance. She had intended to summon a maelstrom of fire for them to cook within when she found to our horror that nothing happened. Then, and only then as the Oni held a blade to my neck did I realize that the only gift I had ever given was what sealed her strength and our fate away.

What was more cruel is that I too was bound by a collar that only the one who created it would be able to break...to further limit my minuscule abilities. Adding salt to an already painful wound.

Rather than kill us, he took us prisoner. A trophy of his conquest over a mother and her child. If only he could ever grasp my utter hatred for him, he would understand that the moment I can find the one who crafted this necklace and force him to remove it from my mother and myself...There would be hell to pay.

His cruelty however, didn't end there. Knowing even of my hatred for him, he decided that I would make for a gift, to be a wife for a lowly scum of a Oni slaver who had enslaved so many humans for the leisure of his fellow kind. Forced to be his bride, my other was forced to watch on as I was unwillingly led down the aisle and into the hands of this man that I perceived to be a slimy piece of scum.

And my impression wasn't far off.

This Oni, this filthy piece of trash had gained his "prestigious" seat by making fortunes off of the suffering of those who didn't deserve it. With lecherous trembling hands, he swept me into his home and shuttered his new treasure in with him inside his little fortress. There, I would come to know the meaning of true suffering, to be locked up within a cage alongside a malicious tormentor.

Yet within all his maddening lechery, I found a route to salvation: the very slaves he sold.

One fateful night as he received a huge shipment of slaves so massive that he practically went for broke to buy them in order to sell the girls to the Oni at a massive over price the next day, I took advantage of his foolishly placed investment. In the middle of the night, I stole away from him and swept through the halls in the cloak of an illusion. Guided by the sounds of sobs and misery, I found their cage and lit the guard who held their key on fire with what little power I still held.

As he choked on smoke and flames, I set them free. In the chaos that ensued, certainly some would be recaptured but I would be one of those to escape. So now I am on the run at best...In the hope that I can buy some more time, and finally give my mother and I's frantic bones a good rest beneath the stars at long last.

By George I think I've got it! Edited her age to be more fitting with the time line as well as her nickname. And I believe even with the 39 year addition to her age, she'd only be on her second tail.

 

@Missy- I suppose you now qualify then! Welcome to my List. Just one tiny thing. Why centering? It's been bothering me for a bit.

 

Format issu...

 

GOD DAMMIT, NOT AGAIN

Okay, that SHOULD have fixed it. Bloody stray coding, how do you even get in there like that...

@Slice- Looks fine now

 

---------------------------

 

@EVERYONE- So. the time has come. It is now 12:18 AM where I live. I shall sleep, and deliberate on the characters currently submitted. Some of you will be let down. Others will rejoice. But I thank everyone, on their hard work for their characters. There is still time, for last minute CS's however. So if you are working on something, work fast. I have 11 Accepted CS's in my List and only 7 spots to fill.

 

Furthermore, I thank everyone so far, for their interest in my first ever RP.

Edited by Sangre de la Rosa, 17 July 2014 - 11:21 PM.

[Liar]

Sorry for the late CS, Sangre. I got a bit busy earlier.

 

Spoiler

 

Relentless Optimism!

 

Name: Hajime Rei

Gender: Male

Age: Sixteen

Race: Human

 

Personality: It’s kind of hard to describe myself since most people would just acknowledge the good points, but father and my brothers always say that introspection is the road to strength. People say I’m energetic and too curious for my own good, and I have to agree. I enjoy mingling with people and seeing new sights. Father wants me cooped in the castle, but I know there’s more to life than just sitting around with a bunch of old farts and coming up with schemes to make more money.

 

Personally, I want to say that I have a keen devotion to justice. I help the downtrodden whenever I can. It’s something I learned from father. Since we come from a samurai family, we’re traditional in that view that the strong must help the weak. I’m steadfastly loyal to my friends, family, and the common people that my forefathers were tasked to protect. I try to become strong so that I may be able to do what needs to be done.

 

I can be a little naïve, as father and my brothers would often say, because I lack a lot of experience. I must confess I can be in some respects, but I’m not totally blind. I detest the Greater Oni and many others in the Hierarchy. They hurt people because they’re too weak to stand up against them. As much as I want to do something about it, there isn’t anything I can do alone. Father tries his best to treat those of the caste beneath him with respect, but sometimes I fear that many people believe my family are just as bad as the other folks in the Hierarchy. They don’t know that we’re only in the top to ensure that the few people under us are treated with the rights they deserve.

 

A lot of people think I’m just the “Fool of the Hajime,” but I’m far cleverer than many of those folks realise. My two older brothers think I can’t do anything, but maybe father knows that I’m far more intelligent than I let on. It’s the only way to keep my head low while I try to come up with a way to make sure evil can be vanquished from my beloved Tokio Funka.

 

Faction: The Hierarchy

 

Skills: Well, not to toot my own horn, but I’m a pretty accomplished swordsman and martial artist. I’m pretty sure I can take on most humans without a scratch, but even I don’t know how I would actually fare against the Oni. Luckily, if I ever have to fight one (which I hope I don’t soon), then I think I’m pretty nimble and agile enough to run away. I’m pretty fast. My tutors tell me I have good reflexes. Other than that, I guess I know a few things about politics and running businesses. I am the son of a samurai, and father makes doubly sure his sons know how to take his position once he passes.

 

History: To truly understand who I am, you would have to understand who my family are. I’m a member of the Hajime, a clan of warriors (samurai) that has remained alive since the formation of this country and devotedly loyal to its emperors. Truthfully, we’re not all that special. The few things we can say about us are our natural longevity and our tendency to remain alive through the most brutal wars of this country’s history. We’re kind of hard to kill.

 

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked; let’s speed things up to the recent history of my clan. When the Oni invaded nearly four decades ago, my grandfather, Hajime Katsushiro, wanted to oppose them. Although I have never met him, Hajime Katsushiro was famously known for his virtue and honour. There were some that looked up to him as an icon of resistance against the Oni. When he was alive, he intended to gather an army to drive away the Oni. However, the Oni had shown their strength already, and many believed it was a suicidal endeavour to oppose them any further.

 

Unfortunately, despite his charisma, my grandfather failed to gather the support from the various influential families and people of the time (several of them would later become part of the Hierarchy). My father, Hajime Mitsunari, was only sixteen when the Oni came, but he was a smart man and knew what would happen to my grandfather and the clan if they kept opposing the Oni. Their rivals would turn them all in to be executed and made an example of. The Hajime owned vast tracts of land for farming and for a variety of artisans to use. The deaths of the Hajime would mean splitting up this property between the Oni and the humans that pledged their support to them.

 

To protect the clan, my father murdered my grandfather. He then personally delivered his head to the Oni, and dedicated himself to their cause. The Oni spared the Hajime. It is thanks to the actions of my father that we remain as part of the Hierarchy. However, my father never forgave himself, the Oni, and the other members of the Hierarchy for forcing him to kill his father.

 

Decades roll by and then I was born. My name is Hajime Rei, the third and youngest son of my father. I’m not well-liked by my father’s retainers because I act in a way unbefitting for a member of our class. My oldest brother is the clan heir and he was named after our grandfather, Katsushiro. He’s ten years older than me, and a lot of our old servants say that he acts precisely like our father did when he was younger. He’s a genius, but I think he just has a stick up his ass. My other brother is Yahiko and he’s only six older than I am. He’s virtually the opposite of Katsushiro. He likes to drink, court women, and has a lot of other vices. Unfortunately, I don’t have a mother. She died of illness when I was very young, and I hardly have any memories of her.

 

For a long time, I was content to just drift by. As the third son of a samurai family, I’m basically the spare’s spare. I had no ambitions whatsoever, and maybe it was this line of thinking that made Yahiko who he is. Out of the three of us, father said I was the most proficient in the martial arts than my two older brothers. I was smart, but not on the same level as Katsushiro or Yahiko. Despite his vices, Yahiko was skilled in business. Father allowed him to watch over several businesses the clan owned. Katsushiro, of course, was learning how to take over as the next clan leader. What was I supposed to do? There really wasn’t anything for me to do. Despite the Oni’s influence over us, the nation was pretty much at peace. What good was I if there were no wars to be fought? I wasn’t as competent in politics and business as my brothers were.

 

With no responsibilities or duties, I wandered. I explored Tokio Funka because I had nothing to do, and earned my reputation as a fool by associating with children that many in my class were thought to be beneath me. Despite my family’s place in the Hierarchy, I was just as much as a vagabond as the many other drifters that came to the town. However, my outlook changed a year ago when I found my brother drunk in an alley.

 

“Rei,” he slurred my name, a drunken smile on his face as he tried (and failed) to lift his head up to look at me. “Is that you? Pick up your beloved big brother and take him home?”

 

At the time, I frowned at the way he smelled of cheap sake. His clothes were a mess, as if hastily put together. I would guess that he was probably having an affair with a married woman, but was caught in bed with the husband and was forced to leave quickly. It didn’t excuse him being drunk when the sun was still high though. Regardless, I was a devoted brother, and I helped him up.

 

“You’re so lucky, Rei,” Yahiko suddenly said as I was helping him walk back home.

 

I didn’t say anything, but I did look at him. There was still a drunken smile on his face, but it didn’t match the dull look in his eyes. I loved my brother, but even I didn’t enjoy the dumb things he did. We were the Hajime Clan! We’re not like those other oppressors in the Hierarchy! Father cares for our workers. We were not the pompous, arrogant good-for-nothings that the common people hate!

 

When we arrived at the compound that was the Hajime residence, Katsushiro was waiting at the gates with two servants. He was frowning deeply, but I never really saw him smile that often to begin with. Katsushiro was rather taciturn. When we came closer, the two servants took Yahiko from me.

 

“Where did you find him?” Katsushiro asked, his eyes watching Yahiko being dragged away by the servants.

 

I crossed my arms, shaking my head disapprovingly. “I found him in an alleyway near one of the teahouses close to the slums.”

 

My brother clicked his tongue. “Fool. He could have been robbed or killed…” He paused, and swivelled his head to me. “Pray tell, what were you doing near there?”

 

I rolled my eyes. “And how did you know to wait for us out here?” I wasn’t ignorant; I knew Katsushiro had some informants in town. Fortunately, Katsushiro didn’t press for an answer. As we walked inside, I decided to voice my grievances about Yahiko to my responsible brother. “Katsu-nii, why does father allow Yahiko-nii to gallivant around town like he does? It gives us a bad reputation.”

 

“While I do not approve of it…” He sighed. “It allows Yahiko to cope with the things he needs to do.”

 

I scowled. “That’s dumb, Katsu-nii. He’s making the Hajime look like bastards! Father should just disown him with the way he—”

 

Unfortunately, whatever I wanted to say stopped in my throat as Katsushiro slapped me with the back of his hand. My brother glared down at me with a viciousness I’ve never seen him have before. “Do not talk about matters you know nothing about. You speak of justice and ideals, but you know little about the reality this clan faces. It is thanks to the works of father, Yahiko, and I that you are able to live freely and comfortably as you do now.”

 

When that first happened, I was angry. I hated my brothers for making me feel so ignorant. I resented my father for not allowing me the opportunity to take up our clan’s responsibilities. However, since that time a year ago, I started to pay more attention to what father and my brothers did. I noticed how tired my father and brothers were whenever they had to deal with another member of the Hierarchy or the Oni. I watched as Yahiko put up a front of reckless happiness to hide whatever pain he was going through.

 

This system we have now is broken. I had once thought being in the Hierarchy was enough to help those unable to help themselves, but I realised that they (even the most despicable ones) were oppressed by the Oni. They just simply lived in a gilded cage. Recently, there have been rumours of a rebellion being plotted. I don’t know what I can do, but I know that I simply can’t stand back and just watch. My family worked hard to make sure I live with choice, but now I know that the choice I have to make is to take up arms and remove the shackles that have been placed on my clan and the people we have sworn to protect.

Edited by Liar, 18 July 2014 - 09:05 AM.

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

@Liar- A few problems with your CS. One, I don't see how being part of a warrior clan, merits high position into The Hierarchy. Two, your characters grandfather wouldn't have been assassinated. Think about it, with them coming into power, they'd publicly execute him as a message to everyone. thirdly, supposing your families position in power, it is likely to assume they'd be stripped of their rights, and bumped down to a lower status of people for fighting against the powers that be. So, adjust accordingly, and you may make it in before the slots are filled....Speaking of which....

 

 

@EVERYONE- I am now officially accepting characters.

 

Big font catch your attention? Good. It was supposed to. Yes, the time has come NOW. Once I accept a character, they are Locked Into The RP. Ominous? Perhaps a little. This means should you drop out, or stop posting, This DOESN'T mean your character is gone. Ohohohoho oh no. You have gained entry into my world, and now have a special place in it. Should the before mentioned things happen to you, Your Character will still be in the RP, under MY control. However, if you have to leave the RP thanks to whatever reason and are unable to post. Talk With Me, And We Will Make Arrangements! Back to the topic on hand. That's right, even without you, your character will continue to play a part in the RP. Unless they die. On the matter of Character Death, should you die within the RolePlay; you are gone. Nothing will save you. But this opens the door for someone else to take your spot. So I implore those whom are accepted, tread carefully, for I am very Unforgiving. These may seem like strange stipulations to many of you, and some may not exactly agree. So this is the point, that I will allow anyone to back out should they wish and allow others to have a better chance.

 

You may wonder "Sangre, this seems a bit odd for RPing, why are you doing it this way?" and you might be right in your assumptions. I have been around the block a few times when it comes to roleplays, and I for one, and sick and tired of good ideas dying because of lack of interest from BOTH GM's and Players. I am doing things this way as both an experiment, and a way for people to get used to my style of GMing. I give you my own promise, should people continue to participate, I'll always update. Even then, I'll finish up the story On My Own if need be. My ambitions will not falter or stop because of anything. I'd rather though, for it to not have to come to that. So I ask of you to help me build this world together, and any future ones I design. -Sangre de la Rosa

 

Now with that out of the way, lets begin accepting. Should I accept you, post your character in the Info Cache I am creating. Not before, but AFTER I accept you HERE In The OOC

 

When I reply your name, character name, and I LINK YOUR CS, YOU MAY POST IN CACHE!

Edited by Sangre de la Rosa, 18 July 2014 - 06:33 AM.

[XLegs]

Just dropping in to say that I'm really enjoying how you've been handling this RP so far, Sangre. I'll certainly be reading it whenever it starts. Good luck with it.

[El Phantom]

 

Spoiler

 

 

Theme: Child of the Wind

 

Name: Shou [ 翔 ]

 

Gender: Male

 

Race: The Oni

 

Personality: 

He appears to be quite nice, he enjoys a good drink, fine food, and so on, but to many it feels rather bland. It feels like he's being nice just because that's how one should act in society, and it is somewhat unsettling. His true nature is a lot more violent and less subdued, a lust for power is definitely present, but above all else, a petty need to wipe out anyone who wronged him in the past. Though he is not without some good qualities that make him more of a person, he respects others with power, so long as they respect him back, he has grown a bit attached to the Sakura Rebels, sometimes going out of his way to save them, unless it really puts his life at risk, at the very least he knows his limitations. He is more pragmatic than emotionally driven unlike the other rebels, so there are times where he can give better insight to plans and raids. Sometimes they don't like the way he does things, but above all he gets things done, regardless of how dirty. They want someone dead? He's not above poison and curses, and even violent traps. He has a great fixation on his 'targets' also, but he has learned to think creatively, thus he does not tunnel on the thought and rage onto their position, with his weaker powers, he would be killed instantly. To say the least, he is an Oni of trickery in combat, and that was in fact the roots of Oni, before they and humanity began to coexist.

 

Faction: Emperor's Army

 

Skills:

• Kamaitachi (Lesser) - The Kamaitachi have mastery over wind to aid their movements, as well as the unique ability to slash with said wind. Many other Oni can also use wind, but none are able to wield the precision that Kamaitachi are able, compressing them and using them with enough force to slice their foes. Shou is one of the weakest among his fellows, his wind control is top notch, but the amount of wind he can muster is much, much smaller than those his age, though through many trials he has created his own style, the "Gentle Breeze". 
• 微風 [Soyokaze] - The "Gentle Breeze", when described by onlookers, it's seen as a pleasant breeze that slides right by almost unnoticed, and as it calms they suffer several slash wounds. He can manually create the soft cutting wind as a Kamaitachi, or manipulate whatever small breeze he whips up from his movements. Perceptive warriors can spot the wind blades among the soft breeze, allowing them to better avoid it. They are recognized as slight distortions in the air.
• Twin Chain Sickles Mastery - Kamaitachi sometimes wield weapons, sometimes they don't, but their personal preference is the sickle or scythe, and their variations. Shou uses the twin chain sickles. The chains ravel and unravel under his sleeves or over his arm, and can fold to conceal and carry more easily.
• Physical Training - Unlike other Kamaitachi who can speed themselves up with their wind, Shou is unable to do so as well as they can, leading him to only being able to do small glides and strong-jumps and even small double jumps. His dust devils are really small and weak as well, meaning he cannot ride them like his fellow kamaitachi, however he is still able to make their wind currents razor sharp and slice enemies all around him.

 

History: 

Since birth, Shou was considered the weak one, and first impressions don't rub off easily. He still is by the ones who used to bully him. It was naturally that he knew he would be conscripted into the Emperor's army, he was weak, and every one of his Oni colleagues laughed at him, remarking that he would be nothing more than fodder, because that was all he would've been good for. Though unlike his colleagues, he held a potential for hatred and sin much more powerful than any lesser Oni. Everyone's treatment of him triggered this in him as early as he was able to think. His grudge towards them was already great. As he went through his life, his dedication to his grudges and vengeance against those who wronged him, he began to become creative, something many Oni seem to lack. He knew he was weak, he hated that idea, he wished to stand above the rest, and with that motivation in mind he invented the Gentle Breeze. He kept this hidden from the other soldiers he was forced to serve with. He honed it in secret, waiting for his time... He looked to the Sakura Rebellion to give him the chance he wanted, and after some initiative, he made contact with them, and began feeding them information. As things began to come together, he patiently waited for his chance to break away from the army, and kill the ones who wronged him in the past. It was taking some time, but he knew to take down a big establishment like this, time was a valueable asset, so he continued to cooperate. No one suspected the little weakling they grew up with at all, whenever he went off to do something, they didn't care, and that was going to be their end.

 

 

 

 

Safe to put in Info yet?

[Johnny Paradise]

Not before, but AFTER I accept you HERE.

 

I'm not sure how she could be more clear here, really.

[Wandering Rogue]

Nobody has been accepted yet and thus nobody can post in the cache yet.  Sangre has been pretty clear on that front.  All she has done so far is try to get everyone's characters to a point where they were not in conflict with the setting or lore of the rp.  Now she is going to sit down and look at them and pick from them 7 sheets to form up the cast of the rp.  

 

So no.  It is not safe to put in the cache.

[El Phantom]

I know.

 

That's why I brought up quote for the official acceptance.

[SliceAndDice]

If you understood all of that, why on earth would you quote your CS and ask if it was accepted? That's like being back in elementary school, playing Heads Up Seven Up with the teacher saying she'll pick the first seven people after everyone goes back to their seats and sits down, and then there's that one kid saying "Teacher, teacher, can I be up first? Can I? Can I?"

 

Don't be that guy, L. Nobody ever liked that guy.

Edited by Shakespeare with a Sword, 18 July 2014 - 06:20 AM.

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

@L- Refer to my post again L, and read carefully. Its not safe to post it into the Cache yet. I will let you know. Refer to my the rest of This post if anything is still unclear on when to post your character into the cache.

 

-------------------------

 

Character Slot 1 FILLED- j0kercards(Unbelievably Majestic) With His Character, Zakari!

 

Spoiler

"If you're not having fun then what's the point?"

Name: Zakari
Gender: Male
Age: Around five-hundred and seventy or so, as near as I can guess. My kitsune form has five-tails. So my guess should be pretty close.
Race: Lesser Oni - Kitsune
Personality: I've been called a lot of things in my life. Mischievous. Capricious. Dangerous. Monstrous. Friendly. The list goes on and on. And I can't really disagree with any of them. They've all had an element of truth. But how I'd describe myself is much simpler. 'Old.' I've seen a lot. And I've seen it more than once. I've lived and loved and lost and found and done it all again and again. And more than anything I'm bored of the repetition. Which is why I like change. When things get shaken up, things get fun. It's why I like new and unique things. Especially when it comes to people. I like the oddball and the underdog more often than not. And most of all I just want things to be entertaining. It's the reason I helped the Oni take everything. And it's the same reason I will help the humans take it all back.
Faction: Sakura Rebellion
Skills: The usual tricks of the Kitsune trade. Shape-shifting, fox form, human form, anywhere in between, I have a few different human forms I can take. Samurai style sword fighting that I learned amongst the humans. My natural aptitude for fighting, and my youkai body, help out tremendously when it comes to fighting.
History: You ever hear the folk tale about a fox who lives a hundred years and gains the power to change to human form? Turns out it's true. And it's really quite a surprising thing for an elderly fox to go through. Though calling it 'elderly' is making light of an extraordinarily long fox life. Of course, as a fox, you don't think about that sort of thing. You just know that people keep going away, but you do not. It's very strange to think that I once acknowledged that fact, yet had no idea why it happened. Something as simple as 'I am old.' was beyond my grasp. Until I reached 100 years of age. It was like a rebirth in a sense. And I guess, in a sense, it really was. For I became more than a crafty old fox that day. When I finally learned to change back into a fox form I took the risk of going through with it, knowing that I may lose my new found mind. But I also knew that if I lost it, I wouldn't know. So maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Thankfully I managed to keep my mind.

For a start I was still practically a fox. I was smarter, yes. But still a fox. A tense bundle of hunger, survival instincts and skittish responses to noise. It would mystify me why I ran from a rustling bush, when in my mind I knew it was just the wind. Eventually my mind managed to take control. Sense and sensibility won out over instinct. But I never lost my connection to nature, and more importantly, to my family. It used to be that all I cared about was protecting my forest. To keep my friends, family and home safe. But no matter what I tried their lives would end, and I would keep going. As is the curse of living longer than others. Saving lives to watch them end. It was a bittersweet existence.

And then humans started turning up. Humans, with their long lives, vast stomachs and dangerous disregard for the life of my forest and its inhabitants.

Protecting the forest became harder, a lot harder, when the humans turned up. Their hunters would claim family and friends as trophies. I didn't begrudge them for that, it was the natural order. As an animal once ruled entirely by instinct I understood that. But it was still painful. I killed a lot of huntsmen back then. And I do mean a lot.

Slowly the chopping down of trees came to a crawl, and they would grow more food for themselves. I know now that they had settled there. The little place next door to my forest became Tokio Funka. The initial surge of activity was them building houses and farms. And as time passed I became more and more interested in them. Watching them grow old took a lot longer than it did with my family. Over the years I even got to know some of them, in my human form of course. To be honest I preferred them and their wits to the general confusion of my forest friends. I had a hell of a lot of fun messing with the humans. Getting to know the humans. Learning from the humans. Watching them grow old and fall in love. Watching them have children. Things that would take a fox three years, they spread it out over fifty years and squeezed every drop of joy out of it. It was really quite incredible to see.

And then, suddenly, I was approached about the Oni invasion. They wanted help. And I wanted to be entertained. So I agreed to help. Now, hearing that, some may wonder why. Why would I agree to help in such a thing? After I just got done telling you how much I enjoyed my time with humans. Well, that answer is simple. I am selfish. I liked the humans, but I like myself more. And this promised to be very interesting. And at my age it's unbelievable how strong the pull of 'interesting' can get. So of course I joined them. And, if I do say so myself, I helped out a fair bit in the planning stages. I had experience with humans after all, and more than a little experience with Tokio Funka. But when the time came and Oni arrived. The humans... Well... Let's just say I thought they were going to be more formidable than they turned out to be. You hear stories don't you. Stories of Demon Slayers. Strong humans able to defeat Oni at the drop of a hat. I went along with the invasion plans thinking it'd be fun. Thinking it'd be a challenge. But I was sorely disappointed.

We were too efficient for it to be fun. Of course, the rest of the Oni wanted that. They get their fun from the domination of the humans. But that holds no interest for me. You see, I didn't realize it until we actually invaded. But, the humans, those delightfully free and long living humans. Innocent and ignorant in all things supernatural. Watching them live. Having fun with them. Pulling pranks and generally messing with them, that, was the fun part. Without me noticing, the old Tokio Funka had become my new forest, literally in some places as the wood they had used was from my trees. My new home was amongst them. And they were an endless source of entertainment. I realized too late obviously, the invasion was already complete. But once again my forest needs to be protected. Even if that means going against the Oni and their cohorts.

 

@Joker- Congrats on being the first character in the RP! Go on, and post it into the Info Cache!

 

 

-------------------------

@Xlegs- Thank you! It's nice to see someone enjoying it.

Edited by Sangre de la Rosa, 18 July 2014 - 06:28 AM.

[El Phantom]

I brought it up for official acceptance, because she said AFTER that post.

 

EDIT: I also asked out of irony.

Edited by Captain L Katsura, 18 July 2014 - 06:28 AM.

[SliceAndDice]

Irony and sarcasm don't translate well over the internets mate. Gotta be careful with that.

[El Phantom]

Yeah. Irony may not be quite the right word either, but that's what came up when I tried to describe it...

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

Character Slot 2 FILLED- Johnny Paradise(Useless) With His Character, Hyoudou Gaku!

Spoiler

 

Theme: The Space Between Two Worlds

 

Name: Hyoudou Gaku

 

Gender: Male

 

Age:  28

 

Race: Human

 

Personality: Gaku is a long-suffering and subservient man who struggles to be optimistic. He is hard working and efficient, though often impractical as he is something of a dreamer. He hates serving the Hierarchy, but does it with a smile. He hates lying, but does it without the slightest hint of untruth in his words. His face is placid and imperturbable, though he himself is anything but. He likes children and animals and happiness, and because of that, he hates pretty much everything about the world as it is. If the world wasn't so dark and squalid, he would likely be a charming, carefree guy that spent most of his time in brothels and bars, but to his own lament he has little stomach for indulging in that sort of thing given the circumstances he's in.

 

Faction: Sakura Rebellion

 

Skills: Gaku used to be a teacher, and is therefore quite skilled at arithmetic, reading, writing, and et cetera. He currently works as a ferryman and has developed skill at managing that business, such as being a knowledgeable financier, a wonderful conversationalist, and a skilled boatman. 

 

History: As a child, Gaku was optimistic. He believed that his life was terrible and that the lives of everyone he knew were equally horrible and destitute, but he believed that things would all get better. He knew not how and he didn't believe he'd be a part of that change (such a thing was far too grand for someone like him), but he believed it would come. Though unhappy, he pretended he wasn't. Many who knew him saw him as a beacon of hope among the squalor, some even going so far as to get caught up in his enthusiasm, believing in their heart of hearts as well that their lives would change for the better.

 

They didn't.

 

As he grew up, Gaku's conviction slowly dissipated, but only he knew that. He refused to show it to the people whose beliefs he once shared. He began to settle into the deadening realization that he would die in squalor with nothing of merit to show for himself, yet still he told people to hope for the future. There was once a time in his life where he believed that his station was even fortuitous--not wealthy, yet not in much danger of being enslaved. He even had an education, future prospects! But even that was just some illusion of future prosperity, as his meaningless, plebeian education would never allow him to breach the barrier that blocked off commoners like him from the Hierarchy.

 

He settled quite naturally (natural, at least, according to others) into a career teaching children like him the sort of things he learned. His students could read and write at a rudimentary level and understood basic arithmetic. And that was likely all they would ever do. Still, whenever he wasn't stuck in a haze of disillusionment and unhappiness, he enjoyed himself here. He liked his students and their earnestness would sometimes rekindle that flame of passion that had burnt out in him so long ago, if only for a few moments.

 

His career was, however, short-lived, as were his students. The small amount of happiness he derived from his position was snuffed out as some of his students either died or found themselves confined to slavery. It wasn't an odd thing, to hear about a child dying on the streets, or to see some destitute youth sold off into slavery, but at least to Gaku, it was jarring and terrifying for it to have happened to his own students.

 

From then on, he took whatever work he could get to survive, secluding himself from his old life, not even caring anymore if people were disappointed in his listless pessimism. He eventually settled into a position as a ferryman, carrying people and cargo and whatever else needing ferrying across rivers and lakes. 

 

Eventually all of his pessimism and hatred and anguish turned into a desire for vindication. When he heard of the Sakura Rebellion, he thought back to his time as a child--the time when he thought his life would change. Then, he didn't believe he would be the medium through which change was brought, but now he had no desire to be anything but exactly that.    

 

@Usey- Welcome to the RP! As number two, feel free to post your character into the Info Cache!

Edited by Sangre de la Rosa, 18 July 2014 - 07:15 AM.

[Johnny Paradise]

bitchin'

[Asor al ed Ergnas]

Character Slot 3 FILLED- Diabolical Rhapsody With His Character, Yukihime Ise!

 

Spoiler

 

"A Warm smile rising up from smoldering embers of pain."

Theme: Rain

 

Name: Yukihime Ise

 

Gender: Woman

 

Age: 23

 

Race: Human

 

Personality: Ise is a warm and cheerful person who likes to make everyone comfortable. Due to her earlier experiences, she did have extreme self-conscious with her body which has been calmed by the fling of lovers she had. Especially after Sasaki-san who taught her basic self-defense and spent quality time knowing her, it seems her repressed bright spark was back. She is also a voracious reader and is usually good company to ruffians and philosophers alike.

 

Faction: Sakura Rebellion

 

Skills: Geisha Arts - Singing, Playing Shamisen, Massage. Know basic self defense.

 

Items: A Tanto, a bladed fan with collapsible blades, Shamisen.

 

History: Born into a family of farmers as their seventh child, Ise didn't have a luxury of a normal life. When the cold winter hit in her seventh year and left the family barely surviving and her twin brother under the icy snow, the Kawaguchis decided that they needed to change things desperately. With a stone burdening their soul they sold off Ise and her elder sister to an Okiya through a friend and thus began her life as a geisha. She started young and as bizarre as it may seem, the one who became her new "okaa-san" was much better mother than her real one. She took care of the two girls patiently, a few years into the craft Ise had distinguished herself as quiet a talent with the Shamisen and her soothing sound that sounded like a lullaby was sought by many men. Starting as a O-shaku, she quickly graduated to being a highly sought after Maiko.

 

At this time her beauty too was touching new bounds and her sister who was four years her senior was nearing her Mizuage. Though not as talented as Ise, she certainly had the looks. A few years passed and her sister moved on to greener pastures, all the while being luckily shielded to the state of the world outside. The same could also be said for Ise, though the inflow of youkai visitors increased, everything had remained relatively civil as opposed to the world outside.

 

This was all until her time came, ironically on her Mizuage. Even though "Okaa-san" had vocally opposed to the notion the man who ran the Okiya had already committed to the mysterious patron, who turned out to be an Oni. It was Ise's initiation into hell, as she was not only ravaged by a being too powerful for any mortal, she was also reminded of her feebleness. It was a stroke of luck that she barely survived, mainly because of the hero of the story. Yoshida Sasaki, a Irezumi artist who was also among the many men and women behind the rising rebellion. It was by sheer luck that the Oni was one of the targets of the more militant outfit of the rebellion to send out a message and had her fate not been smiling, Ise surely would have been like the fifty other maiko's who were ravaged till death by her crazed patron, a fact that she later discovered.

 

It was Sasaki's patience and confidence in her that along with time healed some of the mental scars she had of the experience. Though her few physical scars ensured that she won't be able to be an Oiran ever. the fact that she had survived an Oni meant that she was as tough as nails. Thus, after a break of two years she resumed her apprenticeship under Okaa-san and turned full geisha at around 21 years of age. With heartfelt gratitude and tears, she left the Okiya that had been her home for twelve years and once again sought out Yoshida Sasaki.

 

Full convinced with his ideology and hoping to contribute in her newfound family, she wishes to use her talents to be  useful in more covert and violet efforts of the Rebellion. Afterall, success won't befall them unless they depose of some essential cogs in the machinery that is the hierarchy.

 

Thus in shroud of geishas she wishes to become an assassin. Though low on fighting abilities, you would be surprised how unprepared a man is when he thinks he is dominating a woman.

 

Defining feature: A whole back tattoo of a White Akuma on her back. Parts of it are still unfinished, it can be said that it is Sasaki-san's most ambitious and long-drawn work. They work on it whenever they do get a chance to enjoy some peace.

 

@Diab- Dun dun duh da! Welcome to the RP Diab! You worked hard, and deserve your spot. Feel Free to post it into the cache!

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Character Slot 4 FILLED- Shakespeare with a Sword(Slice&Dice) With His Character, Kohinata Hibiki!

 

 

Spoiler

 
Theme: Shinedown- I'm Alive
 
Name: Kohinata Hibiki
 
Gender: Male
 
Age:  19
 
Race: Halfbreed (CHALLENGE ACCEPTED)
 
Personality:  There was a time when Kohinata Hibiki was a passionate young man just shy of the prime of his life, enthusiastic about his future prospects, and hopeful for the future. That time, however, has long since passed. Now, he's little more than a hollowed out shell of the person he used to be. His hope has run out, his enthusiasm replaced by despair, and his passion turned to a quietly seething anger at the world. For him, the only reason to keep living is that death is worse. However, if he could secure a better life for himself, he thinks, then maybe, just maybe, he might be able to recover and return to his prior disposition. It's worth a shot, anyway...
 
Faction: If you asked? Sakura Rebellion. How true that is remains to be seen...
 
Skills: Hibiki is a Martial Arts virtuoso by necessity (see below). He can also tap into massive reservoirs of brute strength from his half-Oni side, but only in times of absolute desperation.
 
History:
In the town of Tokio Funka and the surrounding area, the presence of the Oni and all of the societal changes brought by their appearance is common knowledge. In the neighboring town of Johsai, however, the news was not so recognized. Oh, the word traveled fast, make no mistake, but with Oni only existing in stories and folklore it was far too easy to write such things off as falsehoods, to label the newsbringers as attention seekers who had taken statements such as "That businessman is so good he must be an Oni" far too literally. As such, any pleas for help fell on deaf ears in Johsai, where the people simply lived out their happy lives. Kohinata Hibiki was one of these people, working in the fields to help support his family and training himself in martial arts at night. It was hard, being the man of the house at such a young age, but his father had abandoned his family shortly before he'd been born, and neither Hibiki nor his mother knew who he was. Three years ago, however, all of that changed.
 
At that time, Johsai had been experiencing an inordinate number of disappearances. Women, children, even grown men on occasion would simply vanish in the night, never to be seen again. Investigations turned up absolutely nothing, and nobody knew what became of them. Only those who became fresh victims ever had the misfortune of finding the answer. And Hibiki was one such unfortunate man. It happened when he was out behind his house, practicing his kicks. Out of nowhere, half a dozen dark shapes surrounded him, and try as he might to fight them off they overpowered him effortlessly. Hibiki was knocked unconscious in the process, and when he woke up he had been tied up and tossed in the back of a cart that was rolling along the highway in the night along with several other townsfolk. It was not until sunrise that they knew where they were going- Tokio Funka, the town that they soon discovered had told the truth when it claimed to be overrun by demons. And they were all about to find out just how cruel a fist the Oni ruled with.
 
They were put up for auction, every last one of them. Most were bought for work in the mines and fields, but some were bought with something special in mind. When it was Hibiki's turn on the block, he resisted. Using nothing but his self-taught skills and a strength he'd never known he had, he managed to get free from one of the guards and made a run for it, only to be taken down a second later. Far from being displeased, however, one of the Oni at the auction was impressed and purchased him then and there. After he'd been "properly introduced" to his new life, the man who owned him told Hibiki why he'd been bought; he was going to be that Oni's next fighter in what was called "Dorei Shiai"- the Slave Games. A cruel, twisted form of entertainment not unlike the gladiatorial games practiced by the Romans, Oni who were interested would pick slaves of theirs that they believed were strong fighters to enter in fighting competitions with other slaves. The winner was rewarded with extra food and a warm bed for the night; the loser was either sent to the fields and forced to work until they collapsed, assuming of course that they weren't killed in the process.
 
As unwilling as he was to use his martial arts in such a manner, it didn't take long for Hibiki's drive to survive took over and led him to fight for his life night after night in the ring. In little time at all, he became the opponent to beat in the Games, taking down men twice his size and age with strength and endurance that seemed at times to rival those of an Oni. Naturally, such things drew suspicion from the Overseers and investors of the Dorei Shiai. How could this boy, self taught and scrawny as he was, be performing such feats? The answer came one night when, after another battle for his life, Hibiki was greeted, not with cheers and the escort to the warm bed, but one of the Greater Oni holding a woman by the collar of her torn and shredded kimono; his mother. Without any hesitation, the Oni demanded she "Tell the arena the truth." Almost crying from pains still healing, his mother used the last of her breath to shout that she had laid with an Oni, and that Hibiki was the result. The arena had gone silent as the weight of what they had just heard hit them; this boy they had been watching was a Bachihan, or "cursed half." The jeers and angry shouting soon followed. Some were demanding disqualification, others wanted him left in the mines to perish. But soon, one chant overtook them all; "Execution! Execution! Execution! Execution! EXECUTION!"
 
Just as Hibiki prepared to fight for his life on last time, however, the Oni who held his mother raised his hand once more. The gesture seemed to cast a spell over the audience, as one by one they all fell silent. Then he spoke to them all. "Friends," he began, "Let us not behave like savages. There is a code that we must follow. And that code states..." with an aching slowness he began to draw a blade from his belt, "BLAME NOT THE CHILD FOR THE PARENT'S SINS!" And with a single, dreadfully clean swipe he decapitated the only family Hibiki had ever known, no more than 5 meters in front of him.
 
The young man could never remember what happened after that. As soon as his mother's blood splattered against his face, everything else became a blur. He heard the crowd roaring as he was dragged back to his slave housing, but whether it was more jeering or shouts of approval he could not say. After that, Hibiki's life did something he thought impossible; it took a stark turn for the worse. Now that his status as a halfbreed was known, it seemed nobody was on his side. Humans treated him like a traitor or a carrier for some horrible disease. Even his fellow slaves and fighters, who he'd known for almost three years, wouldn't go near him or look him in the eye. It was as though, in their eyes, he stood accused of some treason and would drag them down with him. He could not talk to them, could not eat with them, could not even be near them without being bathed in hostility and silent condemnation. And the Oni, who had never been on his side to begin with, treated him worse still. To them, he was nothing short of an abomination, a travesty bound in flesh that nearly all of them would have killed with their own hands but for the words of the Oni that had slain his mother. It didn't take them long to find a solution, however; all that was required, they realized, was that he lose in the Dorei Shiai. And so, he was invited to compete once more, and knowing nothing else he accepted.
 
But these were not ordinary matches. As compensation for his status, the organizers of the games arranged for his fights to "have the scales balanced properly." Hibiki was forced to fight under handicaps of various natures, all designed to ensure his downfall in the ring. They pitted him against two, sometimes even three opponents. They sent him in barehanded against enemies wielding swords and naginatas. They hung great iron chains on his ankles and bound him to the wall. For one match, he was blindfolded and set against a notorious murderer who was given a knife. And yet, in spite of all of it, he still managed to win. It was no longer about surviving, or earning a reward- the former wasn't guaranteed, and the latter was outright denied to him. It was about spiting everybody who now treated him like an outcast, about showing all of them, human and Oni alike, that they could hate and despise him all they wanted because he didn't care. All he cared about what that he would not surrender and go quietly into the night.
 
But Hibiki was not the only one who didn't care what had to be done. That much was made clear to him on his final night in the arena. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that there was no physical handicap. No blindfold, no chains, no pre-fight bruising, nothing of the sort. Moreover, when he entered the ring, it was only him and the referee present, with no opponent in sight- just a small box with a spirit tag draped over it. The referee announced that they had finally found a challenger worthy to fight "The undefeated Bachi-han" on equal footing. Then, they removed the tag from the wooden box. Barely a second later the top flew open and out from the box leaped a voracious wolf spirit, driven mad by hunger, that immediately began to circle Hibiki. A small star flew out of somewhere in the audience, cutting the boy's cheek just barely. No serious damage was done, but the scent of his blood was in the air. And that was all it took to set the wolf spirit onto him.
 
Quite predictably, he lost. Badly. As hard as he fought back, there was no way a simple man with no knowledge of the arcane arts could defeat a spirit. He certainly would have been killed, had something in the audience not drawn the wolf spirit's attention and coaxed it into breaking out of the ring and trying to devour the viewers. Once the spirit had been subdued and resealed, the command was given to throw the match's loser into the slave fields and leave him to die from his wounds. But out in the fields, help came from an unexpected source; a Tengu who identified with the Greater Oni appeared that night and treated his wounds. This Tengu informed Hibiki that despite being a halfbreed, the Oni blood that he possessed was the real deal. Furthermore, the Tengu knew the secret to awakening that heritage completely. Even as a halfbreed, he could pass for a full fledged Oni and, with his already formidable strength aided by demonic power, he would surely find a welcome place in the ruling caste. And all he had to do was infiltrate a certain rebellious organization and sell them out at the apex of their plans...

 

@Slice- Welcome to the ranks Slice! Go ahead and post into the cache!

Edited by Sangre de la Rosa, 18 July 2014 - 08:15 AM.