[X] Nothing (Kakita Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] Jubei and the normal woman but not the gaijin.
[X] Yes
[X] Kenro
[X] Nothing (Kakita Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] Jubei and the normal woman but not the gaijin.
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
[X] Nothing (Kakita Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
[X] Nothing (Kakita Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught. But that's always been the way, your wants leading you into trouble. As punishment for your sins you were banished from the Crane and stripped of your name. But even now you aren't sure if it wasn't worth it. The familiar ardour grows within you.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
I am not a fan of the fear one and the story that could grow out of it. And I weel the "Cut down your friend thanks to politics " Is a bit closer to the generic story for crane ronin instead of someone that felt victim to the temptation of the daiymos wife/husband. The first makes us more brooding while the later means we are a bit more of a sucker for a cute face and not as good at it as we think we are.
Now if we where haunted by our friend or so ....
Now for the other choices,
Kakita is slightly better as I assume that we are on a lower level of honour and has a bit more courtier stuff but I might be talked into the iron side of them @Mina
We greet all of them as they seem to be monks, which means even the Ivory woman now has a semi spirtual outsider position beyond what her birth would give her.
And Megumi because I like us being a woman.
I picked it because the idea of a kinda not that courtly Daidoji yojimbo getting frisky with her daimyo's husband/wife was amusing and something a bit different. It also works with the Kakita in a more Casanova-ish way I think.
[X] Nothing (Kakita Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Kenro
I picked it because the idea of a kinda not that courtly Daidoji yojimbo getting frisky with her daimyo's husband/wife was amusing and something a bit different. It also works with the Kakita in a more Casanova-ish way I think.
[X]A small blue crane tattooed there (Daidoji Bushi Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
[X] A small black crane tattooed there (Daidoji Scout Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
[X]A small black crane tattooed there (Daidoji Scout Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
Yes, it's Mina's plan except a Scout. Because I like the Scouts more than the Iron Warriors, I can see her now, this dashing big game hunter sort of ex-Crane talking about how she loves to blaze trails through unexplored territory...by which she means [censored by a disapproving prude Imperial Scribe].
"Tonight I hunt Matsu the deadliest game of all"
"My lord you can't do that"
"Which one of us has the daisho?"
"You do my lord but...."
"Can't hear you hunting Matsu"
You drive a hard bargain but your double entendre has has won me over.
[X]A small black crane tattooed there (Daidoji Scout Origin)
[X] You didn't mean to sleep with the daimyo's spouse, okay you did, but you didn't mean to get caught.
[X] All of them
[X] Yes
[X] Megumi
Alright it looks like your name is Megumi, you were trained as a Kakita Bushi, and you got kicked out of your clan for woohooing the wrong man. You not only accept Iweko VII's decree that the Ivinda, Yobanjin and Ujik-hai have souls, but respect it too. You also know that medical treatment is good.
Vote Locked, will update in about 6 hours got some stuff.
Also if you have questions please ask away.
Alright it looks like your name is Megumi, you were trained as a Kakita Bushi, and you got kicked out of your clan for woohooing the wrong man. You not only accept Iweko VII's decree that the Ivinda, Yobanjin and Ujik-hai have souls, but respect it too. You also know that medical treatment is good.
Vote Locked, will update in about 6 hours got some stuff.
Also if you have questions please ask away.
Did we fall for the quivering lips and red mask of a former Scorpion ? A fellow Crane , or even something more exotic like, a lower ranked member of the imperial familys?
Tonight is the night. The culmination of months of anticipation. My hands tremble with barely suppressed excitement as they smooth soft silks over freshly washed skin. The light catches a glimmer of gold at my ears as I lean forward to dab vermillion on my lips.
My name is Kakita Sakura and tonight, for the first time since I was assigned to this court, I am taking a lover.
I study my image critically in the mirror as I debate hairstyles, piling on top of my head and letting it down several times. In the end I decide to leave it unbound - he's written poetry about the loveliness of my hair so hopefully he will like it.
The last few months have been like a dream. At first, it was secret, hidden glances in court. Then it was chance encounters and private letters. The fact that he would choose a young girl like me for a lover rather than a more experienced woman was
exciting. The fact that it was a secret, forbidden romance at court made it even more exciting.
A discreet mist of jasmine perfume and I'm ready. I take one last look at myself in the mirror. I have never looked so beautiful before. He will be pleased.
*********
He's unbelievably handsome, this man who is to be my lover. For all that he was born to the Hida, he's everything I could dream of in a man. My eyes take him in greedily as we approach each other finally alone behind closed doors together for the first time. Adrenaline spikes and a shiver runs down my spine as we look at one another and I see my desire mirrored in his eyes.
My body burns for his touch. When we finally embrace, I feel sure that I've burst into flame. His kisses take my breath away. Soft sighs turn to muffled, ecstatic cries.
I'm still laying in his arms, languid with love, when the door is flung open. Harsh voices are talking and rough hands grab me and push me out into the hall. My clothes are flung at me and I try to cover myself as best as I can as I'm shoved into the presence of Kakita-dono.
My name is Kakita Sakura and I've just been caught in bed with the Daimyo's husband.
Chou looks at you expectantly, her brown eyes are kind and you sense no malice.
It doesn't take long for you to decide that yes, yes, you should accept medical attention after waking up from an apparently brutal fight.
"Hai, I'd appreciate that Sister Chou" you say, your voice still dry.
The nun approaches you and carefully runs her hands along your chi pathways, listening, feeling the flow of your body. As she listens she frowns in thought. You feel a slight push of something from her fingertips...chi you realize. One of the mystical kiho of the Brotherhood. The Sword Emperor was right, that these gaijin...are people too. You don't feel uncomfortable about that thought as you might if you were a Lion or a Phoenix. Still, it was nice to see proof, no one without a soul could use a kiho right?
Stepping back she bows.
"Ah, I saved your body, but your cultivation, I'm sorrowful to say, is not what it was."
"Huh?"
Chou looks at the other two monks.
"All people are balanced by the five elements within them: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Void. As the Tao says, it is in growing into these elements and understanding the dance that you become enlightened. Throughout our lives we grow and cultivate our ability to new heights. However, whatever they did to you...it sapped your cultivation. You're weaker than you were, for lack of a better term."
Oh, you don't know what to make of that precisely. On the one hand you're an angry Megumi...
wait Megumi?
Megumi, that's your name.
How the fuck did you think it was K or H something. Those aren't even the same kanji let alone the same sound.
That's just embarrassing.
Focus Megumi, you tell yourself. How do you feel about this? Angry, about losing your hard earned skill, but on the other hand you're alive to get it back and you really didn't have to be.
"Thank you Sister Chou"
"Did the Kiho help with your memory at all?" She asks trying to find some good in the situation.
You nod.
"Hai my name is Megumi."
Jubei and Ayako raise an eyebrow.
"Funny, we were just thinking we should work on a shrine to Megumi-no-kami the fortune of Heroic Guidance." Ayako says in a lilting tone.
"Oh?" You say.
"Hai, we are already honouring the Fortune of Heroes, so why not his advisor?" she asks.
You don't really have an answer to that.
Megumi-no-kami was a popular fortune that young samurai prayed to before their gempukku. No one was too sure when samurai-ko started naming themselves after him, but most blame the Dragon.
"I don't know, Sister Ayako." You say after a moment.
"Hai, well, you should be on the mend. Just please for my sake don't get injured again Megumi-sama." Chou says with a bow.
"I don't think I intended to get injured in the first place." You mutter.
"You'd be surprised" Chou says, her tone darkening at some memory.
Jubei nods gruffly.
"Indeed. Still, before you go Sister Chou, we should see how much Megumi-sama remembers of her skill and training."
Chou's eyes go wide, in... not fear exactly, but dismay.
"Brother Jubei please don't tell me you mean the Gauntlet"
Wait, Gauntlet? What?
"I do, Ayako!" Jubei says his voice booming out.
Ayako raises her fist up in salute.
"Hai!'
With that the other female monk runs off to where you thought the sleeping quarters were.
Chou looks downcast as if she's preparing to see a baby kitten get a bucket of water dropped on it.
"....or you could just ask her? I mean..."
Jubei takes one massive hand to give her a comforting pat on the back. Pat, slap same thing right?
"Well that's up to her, but she should go through it anyway to get her strength back up."
You see the dark skinned woman has formidable glare.
"I want to argue with that but I don't know how."
Jubei laughs boisterously.
"So what do you think Megumi-sama? Ready for the gauntlet?" He says smiling.
[] Yes
[] No, you'll just do what Sister Chou suggested and talk.
--------------------------------------
Now it's time for character creation. Whichever you chose will work, but it's more character building than anything else.
Rules for Creation are as follows:
52 XP to spend.
You must have at least one weapon skill besides kenjutsu.
You must take the Ronin Disadvantage for no points.
You must take either the 'Lost Love' or the 'Lechery' disadvantage for no points.
Earth wounds are set at Earth*3 instead of the usual Earth*2.
Please vote for whole sheets rather than parts.
In addition to this vote for one of the following options in terms of character portrait
[] Option 1
[] Option 2
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[] Option 3
You may of course, put in your own picture and have people vote for it. Just number it for me in sequence.
(So the first write in picture would be Option 4 and so on)
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