- Location
- Leeds
Weiss's player: So you're telling me I get mechanical rewards for being a jerk?
DM: That's what I said but I'm beginning to rethink it.
Leingod's Ideas Thread
- Thread starter Leingod
- Start date
DM: That's what I said but I'm beginning to rethink it.
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Well, to be more precise she gets points when acting like a jerk inconveniences her in some way.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Legends of the Wulin's a lot like that. Almost all Chi Conditions, Combat Approaches, Passions, Inspirations, Curses, Influences, etc etc work only if you Roleplay them properly.
It's why they're split into Hyperactivities and Weaknesses.
If you don't roleplay the Hyperactivity, you don't get the benefit. If you don't roleplay the Weakness, you get penalized. The trick is to figure out how to manipulate those Conditions and find a way around them.
Like, there's one example in the rulebook that basically goes "You're suffering from a Major Injury Condition (Severed Leg). So you want to try and Cover Ground to get away and escape, but will have loads of trouble doing so on account of having a Severed Leg. Thus, you take advantage of the fact that you're in a crowded market place, and just grab onto a donkey that's passing by, allowing you to Cover Ground while still keeping to the Injury Condition, and thus, avoiding the Action Penalty for failing to incoroporate the injury."
With this, you can load yourself up with some beneficial conditions, and attempt to impose harmful conditions on your enemy. And the best thing is that this works with social stuff and supernatural stuff too. Like the example of getting an enemy Courtier at an Imperial party the "Drunk" condition to make his life miserable as he's forced to act the drunken fool in front of the Emperor.
Yeah, Disadvantages only get triggered when they make your life harder. For example, Weiss could be perfectly haughty all she liked, even without the Disadvantage. But now, she gets Destiny whenever that behavior makes her life more difficult and inconveniences her - like if she had to go under cover as a normal person.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
And now for Blake. She's going to be a little different from what you'd expect, though... 
Name: Hei Meiren (Blake Belladonna)
Concept: Disillusioned Imperial Agent Turned Feminist
Rank: 4th
Archetype: Warrior
Destiny: 20
Entanglement: 18
Cultivation: 31 (10/12 completion)
Chi: 12 Normal
Joss: Chivalrous 1, Malicious 2
Chi Threshold: 12
Unarmored - 12/24/36
Armored - 17/34/51 (Light)
Skills:
Awareness +5 (Hearing), Finesse +10 (Acrobatics), Hardiness +5, Learning +5, Politics +5, Stealth +10 (Hide Killer Intent), Survival +5
Virtues:
Benevolence 2, Force 1, Honor 3, Loyalty 3, Righteousness 3
Ferocity 1, Individualism 3, Obsession 3, Revenge 3, Ruthlessness 1
External Style: Shadow Catching (Exceeding the Shadow [5], World-Arranging Sweep [2])
Internal Style: Fox Spirit Song (Fox Leaves No Tracks [1], Mirthful Fox Plays With Her Shadow [2], Parting the Grass [2], Laughing Face under Smiling Mask [3], Leading Astray the Innocent [4])
Formless Techniques: None
Combat:
Speed +10, Footwork +15, Strike +10, Damage +10, Block +0, Toughness +5
Weapons:
Gambol Shroud - Flexible/Saber [1]
-- +5 Strike
-- +5 Damage
-- If an attack with a Flexible weapon is described in such a way that it is best Blocked instead of Dodged, the penalty to Dodge is -10 instead of -5.
-- You may Flood one die from the River to extend an attack into an adjacent zone.
-- You may Flood one die from the River to force an immediate Rippling check if the Strike exceeds the defense by 5 or more, instead of 10. You may do this after the defender rolls.
Loresheets:
Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons [1]
- Gain Stealth Specialty: Hide Killer Intent at no cost
Liquid Metal Delegate [5]
- Status 2: You are (were) a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates... [2]
- Treasure: If you are a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you may purchase one Special Weapon combining the characteristics of two weapons at a -2 discount
- Bonus: If you are a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you may purchase the Legalism Loresheet at a -2 Destiny discount
- Liquid Metal Delegate Kung Fu
-- Bonus: As a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you get a one-time 2-Destiny discount when buying one of the following as a secondary External Style: Shadow Catching or Murderous Shadows
-- Technique: Swirling Shadows. You can now also use the Shadow Catching style with flexible weapons. [2]
Resplendent Phoenix Society [5]
- Status 3: You are a member of the Resplendent Phoenix Society [3]
- Bonus: You get a -2 discount for purchasing the Daoist Sexual Techniques Lore
- Resplendent Phoenix Kung Fu
-- Bonus: You get a one-time -2 Destiny discount when purchasing one of the following as a secondary External Style: Flying Red Silk, Graceful Crane, or Eight Legends.
-- Technique: Martial members of the Resplendent Phoenix Society traditionally learn Fox-Spirit Song as their primary Internal Style. You can learn all of its techniques rather than one of each level.
Secret Arts:
The Secret Art of Battle
Disadvantages:
Clashing Loyalties - Whenever your loyalties towards the various factions of the Martial Arts World and the empire come into conflict, gain 1 Destiny.
Conditions:
Hidden Blade Knows Not Beauty (Metal Combat Approach, Minor Action Hyperactivity) The Black Beauty is incapable of honesty in battle. Her steps are illusions, and her weapon a shroud of shadows cast upon glistening steel. So long as Hei Meiren acts stealthily with plenty of feints and subterfuge in her fighting, her actions mysterious and unknowable behind veils of illusion, she benefits from a Minor Action Bonus Hyperactivity.
Notes:
Now for an interesting take on the Legends of the Wulin version of a RWBY character, we have Hei Meiren, or rather "Black Beauty" Blake Belladonna. Hei Meiren has the unfortunate history of being part of the imperial government as a covert operatives asset, ie. a government spook. Part spy, part saboteur, part assassin. And Meiren thought she was doing good as a member of the government, doing her duty and all that. But interactions with the Jianghu she had to deal with... they showed her another path to the justice and equality her heart craved to fight for. And thus Hei Meiren found herself leaving the government service to join with the Resplendent Phoenix Society. Now she's an advocate woman's rights in Shen Zhou and the Wulin in general. Of course, Hei Meiren doesn't realize the higher-ups in the Society are grooming her to eventually become a Phoenix Bride, but for the moment her use as an intelligence agent is too useful to pass up. It's too bad she doesn't know many Secret Arts, but then again, all they need to do is teach her.
Sadly, it's kind of hard to adapt this one more directly to canon RWBY on account of there not being an equivalent to the White Fang in Legends of the Wulin. If there were, Blake would have the Loresheet tying her past to such an organization, and having various secrets as well. Not that she'd also have several Entanglement with Adam Taurus and the members of Team RWBY with a Loresheet detailing her distaste with the practices of the SDC.
Mechanically, Blake is sort of over cost in terms of Entanglement, but mostly because buying multiple faction Loresheets and membership gets expensive. Switching faction's isn't really something someone does prior to the start of a game, because of the investment of Destiny/Entanglement required to even get involved with more than one organization in any significant fashion, and there just isn't enough for that in standard char-gen. Nevertheless, she's an excellent build for survival and simply messing with an enemy through Marvels. Shadow Catching's HIgh Speed and Fox Spirit's Songs illusionary tricks are a mighty combination that lets Blake set of Marvels quickly and let them complete, while protecting herself from most harm that comes her way. It's kind of scary how well her Loresheets synergize with that.
Name: Hei Meiren (Blake Belladonna)
Concept: Disillusioned Imperial Agent Turned Feminist
Rank: 4th
Archetype: Warrior
Destiny: 20
Entanglement: 18
Cultivation: 31 (10/12 completion)
Chi: 12 Normal
Joss: Chivalrous 1, Malicious 2
Chi Threshold: 12
Unarmored - 12/24/36
Armored - 17/34/51 (Light)
Skills:
Awareness +5 (Hearing), Finesse +10 (Acrobatics), Hardiness +5, Learning +5, Politics +5, Stealth +10 (Hide Killer Intent), Survival +5
Virtues:
Benevolence 2, Force 1, Honor 3, Loyalty 3, Righteousness 3
Ferocity 1, Individualism 3, Obsession 3, Revenge 3, Ruthlessness 1
External Style: Shadow Catching (Exceeding the Shadow [5], World-Arranging Sweep [2])
Internal Style: Fox Spirit Song (Fox Leaves No Tracks [1], Mirthful Fox Plays With Her Shadow [2], Parting the Grass [2], Laughing Face under Smiling Mask [3], Leading Astray the Innocent [4])
Formless Techniques: None
Combat:
Speed +10, Footwork +15, Strike +10, Damage +10, Block +0, Toughness +5
Weapons:
Gambol Shroud - Flexible/Saber [1]
-- +5 Strike
-- +5 Damage
-- If an attack with a Flexible weapon is described in such a way that it is best Blocked instead of Dodged, the penalty to Dodge is -10 instead of -5.
-- You may Flood one die from the River to extend an attack into an adjacent zone.
-- You may Flood one die from the River to force an immediate Rippling check if the Strike exceeds the defense by 5 or more, instead of 10. You may do this after the defender rolls.
Loresheets:
Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons [1]
- Gain Stealth Specialty: Hide Killer Intent at no cost
Liquid Metal Delegate [5]
- Status 2: You are (were) a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates... [2]
- Treasure: If you are a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you may purchase one Special Weapon combining the characteristics of two weapons at a -2 discount
- Bonus: If you are a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you may purchase the Legalism Loresheet at a -2 Destiny discount
- Liquid Metal Delegate Kung Fu
-- Bonus: As a member of the Liquid Metal Delegates, you get a one-time 2-Destiny discount when buying one of the following as a secondary External Style: Shadow Catching or Murderous Shadows
-- Technique: Swirling Shadows. You can now also use the Shadow Catching style with flexible weapons. [2]
Resplendent Phoenix Society [5]
- Status 3: You are a member of the Resplendent Phoenix Society [3]
- Bonus: You get a -2 discount for purchasing the Daoist Sexual Techniques Lore
- Resplendent Phoenix Kung Fu
-- Bonus: You get a one-time -2 Destiny discount when purchasing one of the following as a secondary External Style: Flying Red Silk, Graceful Crane, or Eight Legends.
-- Technique: Martial members of the Resplendent Phoenix Society traditionally learn Fox-Spirit Song as their primary Internal Style. You can learn all of its techniques rather than one of each level.
Secret Arts:
The Secret Art of Battle
Disadvantages:
Clashing Loyalties - Whenever your loyalties towards the various factions of the Martial Arts World and the empire come into conflict, gain 1 Destiny.
Conditions:
Hidden Blade Knows Not Beauty (Metal Combat Approach, Minor Action Hyperactivity) The Black Beauty is incapable of honesty in battle. Her steps are illusions, and her weapon a shroud of shadows cast upon glistening steel. So long as Hei Meiren acts stealthily with plenty of feints and subterfuge in her fighting, her actions mysterious and unknowable behind veils of illusion, she benefits from a Minor Action Bonus Hyperactivity.
Notes:
Now for an interesting take on the Legends of the Wulin version of a RWBY character, we have Hei Meiren, or rather "Black Beauty" Blake Belladonna. Hei Meiren has the unfortunate history of being part of the imperial government as a covert operatives asset, ie. a government spook. Part spy, part saboteur, part assassin. And Meiren thought she was doing good as a member of the government, doing her duty and all that. But interactions with the Jianghu she had to deal with... they showed her another path to the justice and equality her heart craved to fight for. And thus Hei Meiren found herself leaving the government service to join with the Resplendent Phoenix Society. Now she's an advocate woman's rights in Shen Zhou and the Wulin in general. Of course, Hei Meiren doesn't realize the higher-ups in the Society are grooming her to eventually become a Phoenix Bride, but for the moment her use as an intelligence agent is too useful to pass up. It's too bad she doesn't know many Secret Arts, but then again, all they need to do is teach her.
Sadly, it's kind of hard to adapt this one more directly to canon RWBY on account of there not being an equivalent to the White Fang in Legends of the Wulin. If there were, Blake would have the Loresheet tying her past to such an organization, and having various secrets as well. Not that she'd also have several Entanglement with Adam Taurus and the members of Team RWBY with a Loresheet detailing her distaste with the practices of the SDC.
Mechanically, Blake is sort of over cost in terms of Entanglement, but mostly because buying multiple faction Loresheets and membership gets expensive. Switching faction's isn't really something someone does prior to the start of a game, because of the investment of Destiny/Entanglement required to even get involved with more than one organization in any significant fashion, and there just isn't enough for that in standard char-gen. Nevertheless, she's an excellent build for survival and simply messing with an enemy through Marvels. Shadow Catching's HIgh Speed and Fox Spirit's Songs illusionary tricks are a mighty combination that lets Blake set of Marvels quickly and let them complete, while protecting herself from most harm that comes her way. It's kind of scary how well her Loresheets synergize with that.
- Location
- Leeds
It amuses me how here internal styles are about foxes not cats.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Legends of the Wulin - Yang Xiao Long
Name: Yang Xiao Long
Concept: Heretical Brawling Buddhist Monk
Rank: 4th
Archetype: Warrior
Destiny: 20
Entanglement: 15
Cultivation: 11 Normal (1/11 completion), 26 (1/5 completion) Metal,
Chi: 11 Normal, 5 Metal (Anyone who dares disturb her hair. Must. SUFFER.)
Joss: Chivalrous 2, Malicious 1
Chi Threshold: 16
Unarmored - 16/32/48
Armored - 21/42/63 (Light)
Skills:
Confidence +10, Hardiness +10, Inspire +5, Might +10, Ride +5, Tactics +5, Wu Wei +5
Virtues:
Benevolence 2, Force 2, Honor 1, Loyalty 2, Righteousness 3
Ferocity 4, Individualism 2, Obsession 3, Revenge 3, Ruthlessness 1
Piety 1
External Style: Blossom Harvest (Heart-Fire Temper Skill [4])
Internal Style: Iron Body (Iron Power [1], Humble Man's Stern Rebuke [2], Mountain Endures Storm [2], The Jade Tiger Techniques [2], Leading Ox Through River [3], Fierce Dragon Breaks Bones [3], Black Tigers Hunting [4])
Formless Techniques: None
Combat:
Speed +10, Footwork +5, Strike +5, Damage +15, Block +5, Toughness +10
Weapons:
Iron Palms Technique, "Ember Celica": Massive/Unarmed
-- +5 Speed
-- +5 Footwork
-- +5 Damage
-- If an attack with a Massive weapon is described in such a way that it is best Dodged instead of Blocked, the penalty to Block is -10 instead of -5.
-- You may Flood one die from the River while you make the attack to ignore the target's armor on any resulting Rippling roll
-- You can Focus on Breath using only a single die from your initiative roll, instead of needing a set.
Loresheets:
Buddhism [1]
Secrets of Destiny: Parent and Child
- Yang's mother, Raven Branwen, plays a role in her story. [1]
- Increase the role
Little Forest Sect [3]
- Status 3: You are a member of the Little Forest Sect. (She experiences this benefit as the daughter of the hero, Taiyang Xiao Long)
- Bonus: If you are a member of the Little Forest Sect, you may purchase the Buddhism Loresheet at a -2 Destiny discount.
- Little Forest Sect Kung Fu
-- Bonus: As a member of the Little Forest Sect, you get a one-time 2-Destiny discount when buying one of the following as a secondary External Style: Blossom Harvest, Eight Legends, or Destiny Cloud Fist.
-- Technique: If you are a member of the Little Forest Sect, you probably have Iron Body as your primary Internal Style. You can learn all of its techniques rather than one of each level.
-- Secret: You have spent many hours on the temple yard practicing your stances, and you have managed to internalize the Iron Palm. Fighting Unarmed now also counts as fighting with a Massive weapon. This allows you to claim the weapon bonuses of both and to combine different types of styles. [2]
-- Technique: Long hours of body-hardening exercises have granted you mastery of the Immortal Soul of Iron technique. [5]
--- If you're in the Blossom Harvest stance and use the Jade Tiger Techniques, the bonus to hardiness and might is +10.
--- If you're in the Blossom Harvest stance and use Leading Ox through River, you ignore up to 25 points of penalties.
Secret Arts:
Combat Conditions
The Secret Art of Battle
Extraordinary Warrior Techniques
Passions and Inspirations
Extraordinary Courtier Techniques
Curses and Influences
Extraordinary Daoist Techniques
Disadvantages:
Impulsive Rage - Gain 1 Destiny whenever your impulsiveness and reckless fury get you into trouble.
Conditions:
Furious Dragon's Worldly Attachment (Minor Wood Passion, Breath Hyperactivity) Yang's tremendous strength and berserk fury speak woe for any foolish to stand against her! The dragon's mighty swings of her fists and kicks always have maximum force, always seeking to shatter any in their path. None may gainsay her strength and fury! Yang gains a Breath Bonus whenever she acts with anger and fury - no punches pulled.
Drunken Warrior Style (Minor Fire Combat Condition) Yang Xiao Long has developed extraordinary drinking techniques by finding the truth at the bottom of the bottle! She might act the drunken fool, but few want to go up against her swings and unpredictable, staggering movements! Yang must have access to wine or other appropriate liquor to be able to enjoy the effects of this Condition. As long as Yang acts properly drunk she gets a +5 Action Bonus, perhaps even a bonus to her Breath! All hail the Drunken Immortal!
Notes:
The Yang Xiao Long of the Legends of the Wulin is an interesting sort. Mostly because the best way to represent the blonde bombshell... is to make her a monk. No, really, I'm not kidding. Yang Xiao Long was the young daughter of the great hero, Taiyang. The story of his adventures after leaving the monasteries to journey the Jianghu are told in legend, as is his tale of woe and strife. His fists were legendary, and he passed on his teachings to his daughter, Yang. In this descent from the great monks of the Little Forest, little Yang took to the training of the Immortal Soul of Iron like a fish to water, hardening her body to a ludicrous level. Having learned from the master before setting off on her journey, Yang throws caution to the wind and indulges her vices with reckless abandon, despite her Buddhist upbringing, pretending to be a monk of the Little Forest, with the kung fu to back it up! She laughs in the face of the propriety of those who expect her to be a prudish bald man, long hair unbound and femininity proudly obvious.
Amituofo, almsgiver! Spare the female monk a drink?
Also, holy shit, I know I didn't have her really focus that much on External Kung Fu, but apparently spending 16 Destiny on Internal techniques for an Elemental Style nets you amazing returns in the short term - case in point, Yang's Chi Threshold is ridiculously high, and coupled with a Breath Bonus Hyperactivity and her primary usage of Unarmed means she respires most of she spends on internal techniques to make up for her weak external. And damn if Iron Body isn't brutally effective on top of Blossom Harvest's straight-forward methods.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
Easily the most OP ability in a TTRPG. Making horrible decisions on impulse is basically the status quo anyway
- Location
- Leeds
I feel like you're learning a lot about character design in this. Most of these posts have you remarking on something you didn't expect.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
It's more that none of my game-group IRL are willing to learn/play Legends of the Wulin, so I haven't actually tried out all these combinations and builds. So yeah, comments from a guy who understands the system, but hasn't played it yet (and really wants to).
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Fantasy - Heavenly Star in the Age of War (Naruto AU)
Historic - Nobunaga's Ambition: Tenka Fubu
I don't have a problem, I swear.
Historic - Nobunaga's Ambition: Tenka Fubu
I don't have a problem, I swear.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
You absolute madman.
- Location
- Leeds
This is not news to anyone.
ROYL II
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Don't get excited (or angry, as the case may be), I don't have plans for rebooting ROYL or taking it back or anything. I've just kind of been thinking on what I would have done differently if I were to go back and do it all over. After all, I've kind of changed as a writer in some ways, a lot of which had to do with writing ROYL itself.
After all, when I started writing ROYL I didn't have the characters nearly as straight in my head as I do now; I mostly just had some general ideas about their characters and backgrounds that I filled in as the quest went on, mostly built around a couple of scenes and interactions I really wanted to do. The whole time I was repeatedly surprised by the very characters I'd created, which was both an odd and thrilling experience. I have a much clearer picture of who the characters are now, so that would definitely influence how I'd write it now, especially in the early parts.
That was actually why I included the "Bright/Dark" choice; I wasn't really sure what kind of tone I wanted for the story and the characters and kind of let the readers decide. And while I loved the results, I've since kind of crystallized what I like about the characters and their stories and what specifically I'd like to write. For most of them, I'd be including elements of both options, though some of them would lean more one way than the other. I think I'd still let the readers pick the genders, though.
For weapons and Semblance I did - as I've said before - mostly just copy off of the RWBY Jumpchain, which was actually the nucleus around which I built the characters originally, but I think it's something they've kind of grown past. I've since had a lot of other ideas about weapons and Semblances I could have given them that would have worked, so I probably would have just included several options for each character rather than giving one option and then having write-ins.
Something I really considered doing but didn't feel I really had the writing chops for was to not have an actual dedicated PC. When I was growing up, one of my favorite storytelling experiences was Wild Arms 3, which began with the main characters all meeting, with no explanation or context, and then gave you a prologue for each of them that explained who they were and how they got to that particular moment in time, and it let you pick the order you did it. I always wanted to do something like that, but when I wrote ROYL I didn't really feel like I could pull it off, especially with how loose my grasp of the characters was at the time. I'm still not 100% sure I could pull it off well, but I'd be more willing to try if I went back and did ROYL nowadays. It would be very interesting if I had the readers vote on which one of the four characters they wanted to take control of during each "chapter" of the story, and see how that influenced how they saw and interacted with what went on.
I really liked presenting things so that the players only had a superficial understanding of the characters at the start, and how I could use that to surprise the readers with both the things the characters thought and didn't think; the ways that even the PCs, who were nominally under control of the reader, had things they were keeping, and in ways that fit their personalities (namely, how Roy and Yun would both omit things, even in their internal "narration," and the readers wouldn't be privy to them until later). You didn't really know their motivations and backstories at first, and I liked doing that. But since ROYL is a thing that actually exists, I wouldn't really be able to do that over again quite as effectively, even with the changes I'd be making to their backstories and personalities. The character prologues wouldn't come even close to revealing everything, of course, and I'd try to keep some feelings of ambiguity about the characters at first, but it wouldn't be quite the same experience.
I think this is how I'd write the OP:
-x--X--x-
The Emerald Forest; a testing ground for the future heroes of Remnant. Descending from the Beacon Cliffs into the wild, untamed forest below, Beacon Academy's newest crop of students have a chance to show their educators the full extent of their skills, their potential, and their character, and to form what has come to be romanticized by some as an almost sacred bond: a Team of Hunters.
To some, the Emerald Forest is thus considered the beginning of some of Remnant's great heroes, for it is where some of the most powerful and enduring bonds are first made that will one day carry them to glory… or tragedy.
But every legend that begins in the Emerald Forest has a prologue, and this one is no different. Four young Hunters in training, brimming with potential, will meet in this forest.
It hardly matters which one you see first. Pick whichever you like; they all end in the same place.
[] Clad in Purple
"You know what they say: there's no one closer than family."
[] Clad in Blue
"You can get used to anything, really. You have to."
[] Clad in White
"What a lovely sunrise."
[] Clad in Gray
"Shut the fuck up, you patronizing shit."
After all, when I started writing ROYL I didn't have the characters nearly as straight in my head as I do now; I mostly just had some general ideas about their characters and backgrounds that I filled in as the quest went on, mostly built around a couple of scenes and interactions I really wanted to do. The whole time I was repeatedly surprised by the very characters I'd created, which was both an odd and thrilling experience. I have a much clearer picture of who the characters are now, so that would definitely influence how I'd write it now, especially in the early parts.
That was actually why I included the "Bright/Dark" choice; I wasn't really sure what kind of tone I wanted for the story and the characters and kind of let the readers decide. And while I loved the results, I've since kind of crystallized what I like about the characters and their stories and what specifically I'd like to write. For most of them, I'd be including elements of both options, though some of them would lean more one way than the other. I think I'd still let the readers pick the genders, though.
For weapons and Semblance I did - as I've said before - mostly just copy off of the RWBY Jumpchain, which was actually the nucleus around which I built the characters originally, but I think it's something they've kind of grown past. I've since had a lot of other ideas about weapons and Semblances I could have given them that would have worked, so I probably would have just included several options for each character rather than giving one option and then having write-ins.
Something I really considered doing but didn't feel I really had the writing chops for was to not have an actual dedicated PC. When I was growing up, one of my favorite storytelling experiences was Wild Arms 3, which began with the main characters all meeting, with no explanation or context, and then gave you a prologue for each of them that explained who they were and how they got to that particular moment in time, and it let you pick the order you did it. I always wanted to do something like that, but when I wrote ROYL I didn't really feel like I could pull it off, especially with how loose my grasp of the characters was at the time. I'm still not 100% sure I could pull it off well, but I'd be more willing to try if I went back and did ROYL nowadays. It would be very interesting if I had the readers vote on which one of the four characters they wanted to take control of during each "chapter" of the story, and see how that influenced how they saw and interacted with what went on.
I really liked presenting things so that the players only had a superficial understanding of the characters at the start, and how I could use that to surprise the readers with both the things the characters thought and didn't think; the ways that even the PCs, who were nominally under control of the reader, had things they were keeping, and in ways that fit their personalities (namely, how Roy and Yun would both omit things, even in their internal "narration," and the readers wouldn't be privy to them until later). You didn't really know their motivations and backstories at first, and I liked doing that. But since ROYL is a thing that actually exists, I wouldn't really be able to do that over again quite as effectively, even with the changes I'd be making to their backstories and personalities. The character prologues wouldn't come even close to revealing everything, of course, and I'd try to keep some feelings of ambiguity about the characters at first, but it wouldn't be quite the same experience.
I think this is how I'd write the OP:
-x--X--x-
The Emerald Forest; a testing ground for the future heroes of Remnant. Descending from the Beacon Cliffs into the wild, untamed forest below, Beacon Academy's newest crop of students have a chance to show their educators the full extent of their skills, their potential, and their character, and to form what has come to be romanticized by some as an almost sacred bond: a Team of Hunters.
To some, the Emerald Forest is thus considered the beginning of some of Remnant's great heroes, for it is where some of the most powerful and enduring bonds are first made that will one day carry them to glory… or tragedy.
But every legend that begins in the Emerald Forest has a prologue, and this one is no different. Four young Hunters in training, brimming with potential, will meet in this forest.
It hardly matters which one you see first. Pick whichever you like; they all end in the same place.
[] Clad in Purple
"You know what they say: there's no one closer than family."
[] Clad in Blue
"You can get used to anything, really. You have to."
[] Clad in White
"What a lovely sunrise."
[] Clad in Gray
"Shut the fuck up, you patronizing shit."
- Location
- Leeds
Lorcan sees the fourth wall.
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Or smells it, considering who we're talking about.
- Location
- Leeds
How rude!
I'll have you know I had a shower last month.
ROYL II - Weapon Ideas
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Purple
Blue
White
Gray
A longsword - which means a longer double-edged sword meant to be wielded with two hands, rather than the one-handed arming (or knightly) sword that fantasy has arbitrarily decided is called a "longsword" - with an empty slot in the hilt for the placement of Dust crystals; when a crystal is placed, it can be activated at will to empower the blade, allowing for powerful elemental attacks (including ranged ones). The blade folds in and retracts to the size of a dagger to be more convenient when not in use (or potentially for combat in cramped quarters).
The blade has odd bands of purple in the steel that seem to form ancient runes, and the hilt is etched with ornate designs of purple vines and stylized golden lilies. The pommel is a small golden sphere, with two purple etchings that seem to suggest the claws of some bird of prey.
Clarent's fighting style is practical and adaptive; "Purple" wields it with great skill, strength and dexterity, and Clarent can be used with one hand or two, and can slash, stab, and even bludgeon and beat opponents equally well in their hands. They often use very theatrical movements that appear to leave them open, but in actuality their ability to use any part of the sword, and at almost any angle, means they are very rarely truly without a wealth of options.
Unknown to most, the hilt of Clarent is actually partly hollow; with a twist of the pommel, a long, thin stiletto blade perfect for stabbing vulnerable foes slides out of the hilt; the blade is as black as a crow's feathers and completely without ornamentation. This weapon is unnamed, and "Purple" considers it merely an extension of Clarent.
The blade has odd bands of purple in the steel that seem to form ancient runes, and the hilt is etched with ornate designs of purple vines and stylized golden lilies. The pommel is a small golden sphere, with two purple etchings that seem to suggest the claws of some bird of prey.
Clarent's fighting style is practical and adaptive; "Purple" wields it with great skill, strength and dexterity, and Clarent can be used with one hand or two, and can slash, stab, and even bludgeon and beat opponents equally well in their hands. They often use very theatrical movements that appear to leave them open, but in actuality their ability to use any part of the sword, and at almost any angle, means they are very rarely truly without a wealth of options.
Unknown to most, the hilt of Clarent is actually partly hollow; with a twist of the pommel, a long, thin stiletto blade perfect for stabbing vulnerable foes slides out of the hilt; the blade is as black as a crow's feathers and completely without ornamentation. This weapon is unnamed, and "Purple" considers it merely an extension of Clarent.
Calesvol is a broadsword - a one-handed, double-edged straight sword with a basket-shaped guard to protect the hand; historically, the military counterpart to the rapier's function as a sword of civilian duels - while Prydwen is a buckler, a small, round shield about 18 inches (45 centimeters) in diameter. The sword is worn at the side when sheathed, while the buckler retracts the outer segments in crescent-shaped spiral segments, leaving only the central shield boss. The sword's pommel slides out so to reveal a container for a Dust magazine, and the central boss of the shield has a slot in which a Dust crystal is placed. The magazine allows for the blade to be empowered with energy, and the crystal activates on impact when the shield is used to bash enemies or objects for various effects.
Calesvol's guard is a grid of golden bars that seem to "pierce" several small, purple, stylized lilies. The hilt itself is plain, with a wedge-shaped pommel so that it can be used to bludgeon enemies if need be. Prydwen is gilded at the edges of each segment to make crisscrossing crescent patterns of gold, and the outward face of the boss shows a simple etching in white of a mother holding a newborn child in her arms, with a serene face.
Unseen by most, the reverse of the shield boss has the same design, but reversed and etched in black rather than white.
Calesvol and Prydwen's style is about seamlessly combining offense and defense; the sword can both slash and stab and can even be used to bludgeon with the pommel while protecting the hand, and the shield allows for more effective blocking and can also be used as a tool to budgeon or even to cut things with the sharpened edges, with the Dust crystal activating either when it blocks an attack or when it's used to attack itself. Their attacks include a lot of circular motion to build up speed and power or simply to better maneuver to defend or attack.
Calesvol's guard is a grid of golden bars that seem to "pierce" several small, purple, stylized lilies. The hilt itself is plain, with a wedge-shaped pommel so that it can be used to bludgeon enemies if need be. Prydwen is gilded at the edges of each segment to make crisscrossing crescent patterns of gold, and the outward face of the boss shows a simple etching in white of a mother holding a newborn child in her arms, with a serene face.
Unseen by most, the reverse of the shield boss has the same design, but reversed and etched in black rather than white.
Calesvol and Prydwen's style is about seamlessly combining offense and defense; the sword can both slash and stab and can even be used to bludgeon with the pommel while protecting the hand, and the shield allows for more effective blocking and can also be used as a tool to budgeon or even to cut things with the sharpened edges, with the Dust crystal activating either when it blocks an attack or when it's used to attack itself. Their attacks include a lot of circular motion to build up speed and power or simply to better maneuver to defend or attack.
A pair of swords based on backswords - one-handed, straight single-edged blades with a knuckle guard to protect the hand - but with a cutting edge on both sides of the blade rather than just one. Each sword has a slot at the bottom of the hilt (there is no pommel) into which a Dust magazine can be inserted, which allows for powerful elemental attacks. Both swords have a protrusion on one side of the hilt; this allows the two to be attached on a hinge, essentially transforming the two blades into a giant pair of scissors at a moment's notice to entrap weapons and foes… or to simply break/shear them. When attached, the two blades can lock together into one sword, which is then sheathed at the waist.
Joyeuse & Précieuse look very similar in shape, and are told apart by the color and designs on the hilts. Joyeuse has a purple hilt with a stylized lily etching on the outside of the guard, and Précieuse has a gold hilt with a stylized crown etching on the outside of the guard.
Unknown to most, with a particular twist of the hilt, one edge of each blade - namely, the one that faces inward when the blades are made into scissors - become deeply serrated like the barbed teeth of a comb, similar to the design of "sword breaker" daggers.
Joyeuse & Précieuse's fighting style is very aggressive, even vicious when "Purple" feels particularly serious or vindictive. "Purple" begins most fights with the swords as one, separating them into two instantly when an opportunity to capitalize on the element of surprise appears. They prefer to parry rather than block, and only if very sorely pressed will they adopt a more defensive posture than using one blade for defense and one for offensive strikes and counterattacks. They use a great deal of acrobatics and feats of dexterity to misdirect and maneuver around opponents, to capitalize on (or create) weak points in the enemy's defense. The scissors are usually used for a coup de grace that often ends the fight or at least puts "Purple" in a very commanding position; against human opponents by disarming or even breaking their weapon, and against Grimm by simply cutting entrapped extremities off entirely.
Joyeuse & Précieuse look very similar in shape, and are told apart by the color and designs on the hilts. Joyeuse has a purple hilt with a stylized lily etching on the outside of the guard, and Précieuse has a gold hilt with a stylized crown etching on the outside of the guard.
Unknown to most, with a particular twist of the hilt, one edge of each blade - namely, the one that faces inward when the blades are made into scissors - become deeply serrated like the barbed teeth of a comb, similar to the design of "sword breaker" daggers.
Joyeuse & Précieuse's fighting style is very aggressive, even vicious when "Purple" feels particularly serious or vindictive. "Purple" begins most fights with the swords as one, separating them into two instantly when an opportunity to capitalize on the element of surprise appears. They prefer to parry rather than block, and only if very sorely pressed will they adopt a more defensive posture than using one blade for defense and one for offensive strikes and counterattacks. They use a great deal of acrobatics and feats of dexterity to misdirect and maneuver around opponents, to capitalize on (or create) weak points in the enemy's defense. The scissors are usually used for a coup de grace that often ends the fight or at least puts "Purple" in a very commanding position; against human opponents by disarming or even breaking their weapon, and against Grimm by simply cutting entrapped extremities off entirely.
Blue
At first glance, it's a boat anchor. At second glance, it's a heavily modified boat anchor; the long central shank has a hand grip for ease of use, while four arms spread outward, with hooked teeth meant to catch, grab, and tear. Erupting from the end of the central shank is a harpoon blade; the ring at the end of the anchor is actually the end of a long chain contained within the anchor which fires the harpoon like a cannon; the mechanism is Dust-based, and the harpoon thus fires with incredible force, enough for the harpoon to rip through and hook into steel. Once fired, the harpoon can be retracted with a powerful winch.
The Ahab Special's fighting style isn't very fast, but it's quite powerful. "Blue" wields the huge, heavy anchor with amazing strength, striking fierce and powerful blows with the anchor held in one or both hands, with the hooked arms being used to focus damage on a single point or to simply grab onto enemies and weapons, which are then slammed against anything in reach to deal more damage. The harpoon is used not just to attack enemies at range, but to latch onto them and pull them into range for devastating melee attacks.
The Ahab Special's fighting style isn't very fast, but it's quite powerful. "Blue" wields the huge, heavy anchor with amazing strength, striking fierce and powerful blows with the anchor held in one or both hands, with the hooked arms being used to focus damage on a single point or to simply grab onto enemies and weapons, which are then slammed against anything in reach to deal more damage. The harpoon is used not just to attack enemies at range, but to latch onto them and pull them into range for devastating melee attacks.
A pair of large, round shields which have what appear to be short boarding pikes welded to the outside face of each shield, the blades pointing outward like an extension of the arms. A Dust mechanism "fires" the pikes, extending the blade out by several feet to strike with the force of an industrial piston and then withdrawing it in the same instant.
The shields both have the same design of roiling, stylized blue and white waves that seem to chase each other in a circle around the shields.
Aias & Teukros's fighting style is a strong defense that becomes a quick, deadly offense, with the shields providing a great deal of protection. Because they are strapped to the forearms, they provide a decent range of motion that allows "Blue" to defend themselves (or others) from several angles, and the boarding pike pistons provide exceptional piercing power that can end fights against lesser opponents very quickly once "Blue" finds an opening. They can also use the shields themselves offensively, leveraging their great strength to batter, beat and even throw enemies.
The shields both have the same design of roiling, stylized blue and white waves that seem to chase each other in a circle around the shields.
Aias & Teukros's fighting style is a strong defense that becomes a quick, deadly offense, with the shields providing a great deal of protection. Because they are strapped to the forearms, they provide a decent range of motion that allows "Blue" to defend themselves (or others) from several angles, and the boarding pike pistons provide exceptional piercing power that can end fights against lesser opponents very quickly once "Blue" finds an opening. They can also use the shields themselves offensively, leveraging their great strength to batter, beat and even throw enemies.
The Wavebreakers are unusual weapons for a Hunter for one singular reason: they are disposable weapons, rather than unique and singular weapons that would take a great deal of labor and resources to replace. The Wavebreakers are tomahawks - single-bladed axes that resemble hatchets with straight handles - with a sharp spike at the opposite end, which can be used both for hand-to-hand combat and as thrown weapons. Each Wavebreaker has a minute amount of Dust - with types distinguished by a colored band on the haft - which activates when the axe is struck to release a payload. Beneath "Blue's" coat are two crisscrossing baldrics - belts worn over the shoulder to hold weapons - which each hold a brace of Wavebreakers.
The Wavebreakers are made simply and without ornamentation; they are purely utilitarian tools and weapons, and are meant to be as replaceable as possible. However, at one end of each axe's haft is carved a small circle with stylized waves crashing inside of it as a sort of signature.
The Wavebreakers' fighting style is the fastest of "Blue's" options; typically, they wield one Wavebreaker in each hand and attack aggressively with them, hacking with the axehead and sometimes using the spike on the reverse end to stab and grab onto objects and enemies. With "Blue's" incredible strength and skill, they can throw a Wavebreaker with alarming force and accuracy to strike enemies at surprisingly long ranges.
The Wavebreakers are made simply and without ornamentation; they are purely utilitarian tools and weapons, and are meant to be as replaceable as possible. However, at one end of each axe's haft is carved a small circle with stylized waves crashing inside of it as a sort of signature.
The Wavebreakers' fighting style is the fastest of "Blue's" options; typically, they wield one Wavebreaker in each hand and attack aggressively with them, hacking with the axehead and sometimes using the spike on the reverse end to stab and grab onto objects and enemies. With "Blue's" incredible strength and skill, they can throw a Wavebreaker with alarming force and accuracy to strike enemies at surprisingly long ranges.
White
A pair of rather unusual weapons; at first glance, one appears to be a jian - a thin, straight, double-edged sword - with an odd design at the tip, which looks more like a thick metal dart or needle than a typical sword tip, and has a small hollow in the middle. In truth, the jian is a variant of a weapon called a nine-section whip; on command, the blade separates into razor-sharp segments connected by hidden steel chains, drastically lengthening the reach and flexibility of the weapon. The other seems to be a simple folding fan, but is in fact secretly made of metal with a razor sharp edge and strong enough to be used to block attacks and projectiles. The fan's six ribs are hollow, and contain thin, metal needles filled with a small payload of Dust.
The chain sword, Punk, is made of an odd white steel with "waves" that seem to resemble clouds, and a white crossguard shaped like a crescent moon; at the end of the hilt is a blood-red tassel. The metal fan, Poetry, is a pure, snowy white until about two-thirds up its length, at which point they become blood red; each section in this red portion contains a deep black circle with a crescent moon inside of it. The end of the fan has a blood-red tassel, just like the sword.
Punk & Poetry's fighting style is both deceptive and vicious. "White" shows great skill with these unusual weapons, using the nine-section sword not only to stab and slash, sometimes around an enemy's guard, but also to entangle and disarm to make enemies vulnerable to the slashing fan. The hollow at the tip of Punk is actually there for the red tassel on Poetry to slot into, combining the two weapons to further extend the range slightly and to deal more damage with a wide, slashing motion, which might be accompanied by a needle firing if "White" so desires. They employ a great deal of acrobatics and misdirection to ensure that they maximize the potential of these weapons to keep enemies on the defensive.
The chain sword, Punk, is made of an odd white steel with "waves" that seem to resemble clouds, and a white crossguard shaped like a crescent moon; at the end of the hilt is a blood-red tassel. The metal fan, Poetry, is a pure, snowy white until about two-thirds up its length, at which point they become blood red; each section in this red portion contains a deep black circle with a crescent moon inside of it. The end of the fan has a blood-red tassel, just like the sword.
Punk & Poetry's fighting style is both deceptive and vicious. "White" shows great skill with these unusual weapons, using the nine-section sword not only to stab and slash, sometimes around an enemy's guard, but also to entangle and disarm to make enemies vulnerable to the slashing fan. The hollow at the tip of Punk is actually there for the red tassel on Poetry to slot into, combining the two weapons to further extend the range slightly and to deal more damage with a wide, slashing motion, which might be accompanied by a needle firing if "White" so desires. They employ a great deal of acrobatics and misdirection to ensure that they maximize the potential of these weapons to keep enemies on the defensive.
A pair of butterfly swords - thick, single-edged swords custom-made for the length of a user's forearms for easy concealment and maneuvering, and with a knuckle-bow, a crossguard that loops around the hand for protection. With most butterfly swords, the other end of the crossguard loops the other way much like a sai, to block or hook enemy weapons. In the Broken Butterflies, however, the larger-than-average crossguard is also a gun; specifically, a hidden pistol that can fire four Dust rounds before needing to be reloaded. When worn openly, the Broken Butterflies are sheathed side by side in the same scabbard, to hide the fact that they are two weapons until they're drawn.
Despite being simple weapons at first glance, in "White's" hands the Broken Butterflies are almost frighteningly versatile. Because of their size and design, the Broken Butterflies are easily concealed in loose sleeves or boots, and in close-quarters combat they can be spun and rotated with amazing speed and technique; "White" can use them in a normal grip and reverse grip with equal skill, and can even use the thickened knuckle-bow like brass knuckles; for this very reason, "White" has implanted retractable spikes into the knuckle-bow for extra puncturing damage. In addition to the brass knuckles (minus the spikes), the Broken Butterflies have another way to be used as a not-expressly-lethal weapon: only half of the blade, from the middle to the tip, is sharpened, both to deliver non-damaging strikes and to block more effectively.
Despite being simple weapons at first glance, in "White's" hands the Broken Butterflies are almost frighteningly versatile. Because of their size and design, the Broken Butterflies are easily concealed in loose sleeves or boots, and in close-quarters combat they can be spun and rotated with amazing speed and technique; "White" can use them in a normal grip and reverse grip with equal skill, and can even use the thickened knuckle-bow like brass knuckles; for this very reason, "White" has implanted retractable spikes into the knuckle-bow for extra puncturing damage. In addition to the brass knuckles (minus the spikes), the Broken Butterflies have another way to be used as a not-expressly-lethal weapon: only half of the blade, from the middle to the tip, is sharpened, both to deliver non-damaging strikes and to block more effectively.
A variant of an unusual and obscure weapon almost exclusively associated with assassins called a flying guillotine, Blood Moon consists of a very long steel chain with a weight at one end; the other end attaches to a mechanism powered by Dust to which are attached two circular saw blades of cloudy white steel; when the mechanism activates (something which makes almost no sound at all), the saw blades spring to life but make until they strike, their almost imperceptible teeth biting deeply into everything from stone to steel. Sometimes rather than wield the chain, a special glove is used which retracts and feeds the chain automatically.
For their own reasons, "White" prefers to use the Blood Moon sparingly against their usual opponents, and so their fighting style with this weapon is most heavily reliant on hand to hand combat. They sometimes detach the chain from both the bladed mechanism and the glove, using it as a simple weighted chain to entangle, block and strike. When they do use Blood Moon as intended, however, they show an almost unnatural talent for it, launching, retracting and directing the spinning blades with terrible precison. "White" has described it as essentially "a demented yo-yo made by psychopaths."
For their own reasons, "White" prefers to use the Blood Moon sparingly against their usual opponents, and so their fighting style with this weapon is most heavily reliant on hand to hand combat. They sometimes detach the chain from both the bladed mechanism and the glove, using it as a simple weighted chain to entangle, block and strike. When they do use Blood Moon as intended, however, they show an almost unnatural talent for it, launching, retracting and directing the spinning blades with terrible precison. "White" has described it as essentially "a demented yo-yo made by psychopaths."
Gray
A relatively straightforward mechashift weapon, Gáe Barrett is a spear whose size can be shifted from about four feet to eight, and which can also transform into a .416 caliber semiautomatic anti-materiel rifle; it also has a detachable detachable shoulder stock and brace port for long-range sniping. When in the spear form, the gun's muzzle is the butt of the spear, and it can be fired in single shots for propulsion and added thrusting power.
Gáe Barrett's fighting style is strong, fast and brutal. "Gray" seldom holds back, opening most fights with a powerful offensive either at closer quarters or from range to end a fight as soon as it begins. Attacks are fast and powerful, with "Gray" leveraging both their weapon and their own superior physique to overpower enemies and overwhelm their defenses.
Gáe Barrett's fighting style is strong, fast and brutal. "Gray" seldom holds back, opening most fights with a powerful offensive either at closer quarters or from range to end a fight as soon as it begins. Attacks are fast and powerful, with "Gray" leveraging both their weapon and their own superior physique to overpower enemies and overwhelm their defenses.
An unusual weapon for its disposable nature, the Aréadbair are actually a collection of metal shafts containing a Dust payload; when activated, one end of the shaft erupts in a construct of pure energy, usually either a spearhead or a blade, with effects dependent on the form of Dust used. The type of Dust contained in a given shaft is marked by a colored band. The Aréadbair are contained in two hip pouches; they're about a foot long when stored and can be extended to about three feet long.
The Aréadbair are mostly disposable weapons; as such, they are often thrown by "Gray" for ranged attacks, usually utilizing Burn Dust javelins that explode on impact, though other elements can be used as well. They can also be used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat, usually as long knives or short spears. "Gray" shows great skill with these disposable weapons, often throwing or dropping one Aréadbair (or even a pair) to immediately grab more and attack with those in the same fluid movement.
The Aréadbair are mostly disposable weapons; as such, they are often thrown by "Gray" for ranged attacks, usually utilizing Burn Dust javelins that explode on impact, though other elements can be used as well. They can also be used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat, usually as long knives or short spears. "Gray" shows great skill with these disposable weapons, often throwing or dropping one Aréadbair (or even a pair) to immediately grab more and attack with those in the same fluid movement.
More of a weapon "system" than a single weapon. The first component, and the most obvious, is a sling - an extremely basic and simple weapon, used to throw rocks with more strength and distance than a simple throw with one's arm can. However, rather than simple stones, the "bullets" the sling fires are Dust grenades. Further, "Gray" wears special Dust-treated cestus - essentialy boxer's wrappings of hard, treated leather - and boots; seemingly made of leather, they are in fact reinforced with metal plates, with the layer between the metal and the leather containing pouches of powdered Dust. Rather than exploding or otherwise dealing direct damage (which would harm "Gray" as well), when the powdered Dust activates it empowers attacks, allowing for things like flaming fists or shocking kicks.
Teilm Taball necessitates a fighting style that's extremely reliant on hand-to-hand combat; "Gray" has a great deal of skill, but as a fighter they tend more toward overwhelming opponents with raw power and speed over deceptive tactics or superior displays of martial arts technique. They are extremely accurate with their sling, and with their impressive strength can launch grenades surprisingly long distances. Extremely reckless, particularly when angry, "Gray" is sometimes known to employ double-edged tactics such as punching their own grenades into an enemy or object to maximize the damage done, despite the damage it does to themselves.
Teilm Taball necessitates a fighting style that's extremely reliant on hand-to-hand combat; "Gray" has a great deal of skill, but as a fighter they tend more toward overwhelming opponents with raw power and speed over deceptive tactics or superior displays of martial arts technique. They are extremely accurate with their sling, and with their impressive strength can launch grenades surprisingly long distances. Extremely reckless, particularly when angry, "Gray" is sometimes known to employ double-edged tactics such as punching their own grenades into an enemy or object to maximize the damage done, despite the damage it does to themselves.
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Also, as for what the "inspiration" for the characters is for ROYL, I've also kind of changed my mind on that. For two of them, at least. "Purple" and "Gray" both had a very clear inspiration from the start, but "Blue" and "White" didn't.
Off the top of my head, I said "Blue" was based on Odysseus. Looking back, though, it's infinitely more appropriate, both to the character and their arc, to say that they're based on Ajax.
Similarly, I said "White's" closest inspiration would be Jing Ke. Honestly, their inspiration is by far the loosest, but I think it would be more appropriate to say that they're sort of an amalgam of five of the famous assassins of the Warring States Period of China.
Incidentally, those five assassins, also known as the Cike ("stabbing guests") are kind of interesting in their own right; interesting enough that Sima Qian saw fit to mention three of them in their own section of his great historical work, the Shiji (often translated as the "Records of the Grand Historian," though that's not quite right for multiple reasons).
First is Zhuan Zhu, who at the recommendation of the famous statesman Wu Zixu was employed by Prince Guang of Wu to assassinate his uncle, the tyrant King Liao, who he felt had robbed him of his birthright (as Guang was the son of King Yumeng and technically the throne should have been his). Paranoid as tyrants often are, King Liao allowed very few people to approach him. Zhuan Zhu spent years becoming a famous chef specializing in a dish he knew was King Liao's favorite (all we know about it is that broiled fish were involved). Eventually, he was hired to be King Liao's chef. One day, while approaching the king with a dish of broiled fish, Zhuan Zhu withdrew a small knife he had hid inside the fish's body to keep the guards from finding it to kill King Liao. He was killed by the guards, but Prince Guang ascended the throne as King Helu of Wu, who became famous and led his state to greatness and prosperity (and also employed as a general the man we know as Sunzi, or Sun Tzu). Folklore has named the knife Zhuan Zhu used Yuchang, or "fish intestines." Zhuan Zhu (and King Liao) died sometime around 515 BC.
Second is Yao Li, who was also recommended by Wu Zixu to assassinate someone King Helu of Wu needed to die, namely Prince Qingji, a kinsman of King Helu who had been a thorn in his side for years before fleeing to the enemy state of Chu, then tried to foment a coup within Wu with support from the State of Yue. To gain Qingji's trust by making Yao Li to seem like a wrongfully convicted man who had been wronged by Helu, on trumped up charges Yao Li's wife and mother were killed and his right hand cut off, and he "fled" to the State of Wei, where Qingji was staying at the time. He quickly gained Qingji's confidence to the point that he was allowed on fishing trips with him, and even was allowed to ride in his boat. While they were out fishing, Qingji used a fishing spear to kill Qingji, then committed suicide to reunite with his wife and mother. This happened somewhere around 475 BC.
The third Cike is Yu Rang, who served as a family-minister to the clans of both Fan Jishe and Zhonghang Yin, who were two of the six ministers who made up the most powerful men in the State of Jin. His original employers didn't really appreciate Yu Rang, so he left to serve another of the six ministers, Zhi Yao, who he got along with much better. This was lucky for him, because the other four minister clans (Zhi, Zhao, Wei and Han) teamed up to wipe out the Fan and Zhonghang clans soon after. But Zhi Yao got greedy and tried to establish himself as the leader of this little coterie and got killed for it; one of the ministers, Zhao Xiangzi, turned Zhi Yao's skull into a drinking cup as a final insult to the man. Yu Rang fled the short-lived civil war that took his employer's life and swore revenge. He changed his name and became a low-ranking servant in the King of Jin's palace. One day, when Xiangzi was visiting and intended to use the bathroom, Yu Rang got wind of this and hid in their to try to kill him. Somehow, Zhao Xiangzi had a bad feeling and had guards search the bathroom, finding Yu Rang with a sword; Xiangzi didn't kill him though, impressed with his virtue (and probably also pretty sure this guy wasn't really a threat).
Yu Rang wasn't dissuaded by failing and being spared. To keep Xiangzi from recognizing him, Yu Rang disfigured his skin by covering it with lacquer to create scars and sores. He became a beggar in the market, and only his wife could recognize him because of his voice; that wasn't good enough for Yu Rang, so to change his voice he swallowed charcoal. A friend of his asked him why he was going to such lengths instead of pretending to be moved by Xiangzi's mercy, joining his household, and using his skills to gain his trust. Yu Rang's reply was that his motive for revenge for Zhi Yao was loyalty for the man who'd treated him well; if he joined Zhao Xiangzi's service, was treated well enough to gain his confidence, then killed him, he'd be a hypocrite.
One day, Zhao Xiangzi was crossing a bridge with some of his men; Yu Rang was hiding under the bridge with a sword. The horses got spooked by his smell, which tipped Xiangzi off and his guards found Yu Rang and apprehended him again. Somehow, Zhao Xiangzi recognized him by his eyes. Though sad that Yu Rang wasn't willing to work for him, Xiangzi felt he had been merciful enough the first time, and ordered his men to kill Yu Rang, though he allowed Yu Rang to stab his robe three times so he wouldn't go to his deceased master empty-handed.
The fourth is, oddly enough, the most well-known, Jing Ke. Around By 227 BC, the State of Qin was the most powerful by far, and had absorbed the states of Han, Zhao and Wei. Jing Ke was from Wei, a noted scholar and swordsman. He fled Wei when it was conquered to the State of Yan, where he entered the service of Prince Dan, who had spent time as a hostage in Qin and knew they would attack him sooner or later. With Jing Ke, he hatched a plot to assassinate King Zheng of Qin to destabilize it. Prince Dan gave Jing Ke the sharpest dagger he could get his hands on and the best poison available to him to coat it in, and also offered Jing Ke an assistant in the form of Qin Wuyang, grandson of the famous Yan general Qin Kai and a young man who had killed his first man at age 13. With these in hand, Jing Ke took a visit to Fan Wuji, a Qin general who had defected because of perceived mistreatment and was burning for revenge against Qin. It was to such an extent, in fact, that when Jing Ke laid out that he planned to use the pretext of being an emissary of Yang's surrender, carrying both the head of the general and a map of Yan, that Fan Wuji killed himself so the plan could be carried out.
King Zheng was, much like King Liao centuries before, very paranoid about letting anyone approach him. But he made an exception for Jing Ke - but not Qin Wuyang, who turned out to be a bit of a chicken when the big moment came and started sweating profusely and acting nervous, putting King Zheng on his guard. Despite this, Jing Ke almost pulled it off, grabbing at King Zheng's sleeve and ready to stab him... except the sleeve tore, causing Jing Ke to lose his balance. Even then, it might have still worked: because of Zheng's paranoia, none of the staff or ministers in the building were armed, and all the guards were outside and would take a while to get to him. Plus, his own sword was ceremonial, so it was too long to draw while fleeing on foot.
Keep in mind, "King Zheng" is the man we know today as Qin Shi Huangdi, the first true Chinese emperor. History as we know it happened because Xia Wuju, the royal physician, threw his medicine bag at Jing Ke, which distracted him long enough to let Zheng pause to draw his sword, which he used to stab the assassin in the thigh, immobilizing him. In desperation, Jing Ke threw the dagger, but missed, and was stabbed eight more times before finally dying. The guards caught Qin Wuyang, who tried to flee the moment things turned pear-shaped, and killed him as well. Obviously, the State of Yan didn't exactly fare well as a result of this, either.
You might wonder why I say it's odd that Jing Ke is the most well-known. "Obviously," you say, "it's because he tried to kill one of the most important guys in Chinese history, and almost pulled it off!" Well, yes, but Jing Ke wasn't alone in that. Let me tell you about Gao Jianli. Gao Jianli was a native of Yan and a friend of Jing Ke's; obviously, neither of those were a good thing to be after Jing Ke's failed assassination, and so Gao Jianli changed his name and starting working as an assistant at a wine shop. A master of the Chinese lute, Jianli often heard the owner's family and guests playing it while he was working, and would critique their technique. Eventually, the owner asked Jianli to put his money where his mouth was and play himself; his playing brought everyone who heard it to tears.
Eventually, stories of Jianli's skills reached the ears of King Zheng of Qin. He invited him to come over to play for him, which he did to great acclaim, but once it was over, a man in the court who was also a native of Yan recognized him and revealed his identity. Unwilling to kill such a great musician, King Zheng had Jianli blinded, but hired him on as a musician.
Gao Jianli worked as King Zheng's private musician, earning a great deal of praise; eventually, King Zheng started relaxing his guard around Jianli, allowing him to approach closer so that he could hear the music better. Secretly, Jianli had reinforced his lute with lead to make it heavy enough to be used to bludgeon a man to death; when King Zheng finally allowed him close enough, he struck. Unfortunately, being, well, blind and this being reality and not an anime or a martial arts flick, Jianli missed and was, of course, executed.
-x--X--x-
Incidentally, the other two assassins in Sima Qian's "Biographies of Assassins" aren't quite assassins as we might think of them.
Cao Mo was actually a general of the State of Lu (which has a special prominence in Chinese culture because it was the birthplace of Confucius), with kind of a mixed record; on the one hand, he became a general in the first place because of his bravery and loyalty. On the other hand, he wasn't very good at actually being a general, and lost three battles to the State of Qi (who to be fair were pretty boss at the time). Eventually, Lu and Qi agreed to a treaty (with rather bad terms for Lu), but when the emissaries met to sign it, Cao Mo suddenly grabbed Duke Huan of Qi (this was before they abandoned pretenses of loyalty to Zhou and started calling themselves kings) and held a knife to his throat, hijacking the negotiations to force Duke Huan to alter the terms to return all the land Lu had lost, and then to sign the altered treaty. Amazingly, this actually worked out swimmingly for Cao Mo and Lu (though it still got conquered by Qi later).
Nie Zheng, on the other hand, was a man who lived in the State of Han (no relation to the Han Dynasty), one of the successor states to the State of Jin. Convicted of murder, he went into hiding as a butcher with his mother and older sister. However, he was good friends with a government official, Yan Zhongzi, who visited Nie Zheng hoping to recruit him to kill Xia Lei, one of Han's highest officials who was notoriously corrupt and treacherous. Zhongzi knew Nie Zheng as a capable and enthusiastic fighter and a loyal friend, and on top of that offered plenty of money. But Nie Zheng, though he wanted to do it, refused; he had a duty to his ailing mother and would very likely die whether he failed or succeeded, leaving her and his sister alone. Years later, however, Nie Zheng's mother died, and with filial piety no longer an obstacle, he immediately took up Yan Zhongzi's offer, which was still standing.
Nie Zheng's approach was as simple as can be: he walked in with knife in hand and killed everyone who tried to get between him and Xia Lei, then the corrupt statesman himself. Once it was done though, he used his own knife to mutilate his face so that it wouldn't be recognized, then killed himself.
Unable to identify him, the authorities hung the mutilated corpse in the square, offering a sum of gold to any who could identify him. When she heard of how the assassination had happened, Nie Zheng's sister, Nie Rong, immediately knew who had done it. She also realized that Nie Zheng had mutilated his face and killed himself to protect her, and that in doing so he had surrendered his aspirations; she knew that, his entire life, he had wanted to be a great hero who did some great deed, and that this motivated him just as much as loyalty to his friend.
So, Nie Rong walked into the square and firmly declared that the body was that of her brother. She told Nie Zheng's story to the assembled crowd in its entirety, then killed herself in front of her brother's body.
Off the top of my head, I said "Blue" was based on Odysseus. Looking back, though, it's infinitely more appropriate, both to the character and their arc, to say that they're based on Ajax.
Similarly, I said "White's" closest inspiration would be Jing Ke. Honestly, their inspiration is by far the loosest, but I think it would be more appropriate to say that they're sort of an amalgam of five of the famous assassins of the Warring States Period of China.
Incidentally, those five assassins, also known as the Cike ("stabbing guests") are kind of interesting in their own right; interesting enough that Sima Qian saw fit to mention three of them in their own section of his great historical work, the Shiji (often translated as the "Records of the Grand Historian," though that's not quite right for multiple reasons).
First is Zhuan Zhu, who at the recommendation of the famous statesman Wu Zixu was employed by Prince Guang of Wu to assassinate his uncle, the tyrant King Liao, who he felt had robbed him of his birthright (as Guang was the son of King Yumeng and technically the throne should have been his). Paranoid as tyrants often are, King Liao allowed very few people to approach him. Zhuan Zhu spent years becoming a famous chef specializing in a dish he knew was King Liao's favorite (all we know about it is that broiled fish were involved). Eventually, he was hired to be King Liao's chef. One day, while approaching the king with a dish of broiled fish, Zhuan Zhu withdrew a small knife he had hid inside the fish's body to keep the guards from finding it to kill King Liao. He was killed by the guards, but Prince Guang ascended the throne as King Helu of Wu, who became famous and led his state to greatness and prosperity (and also employed as a general the man we know as Sunzi, or Sun Tzu). Folklore has named the knife Zhuan Zhu used Yuchang, or "fish intestines." Zhuan Zhu (and King Liao) died sometime around 515 BC.
Second is Yao Li, who was also recommended by Wu Zixu to assassinate someone King Helu of Wu needed to die, namely Prince Qingji, a kinsman of King Helu who had been a thorn in his side for years before fleeing to the enemy state of Chu, then tried to foment a coup within Wu with support from the State of Yue. To gain Qingji's trust by making Yao Li to seem like a wrongfully convicted man who had been wronged by Helu, on trumped up charges Yao Li's wife and mother were killed and his right hand cut off, and he "fled" to the State of Wei, where Qingji was staying at the time. He quickly gained Qingji's confidence to the point that he was allowed on fishing trips with him, and even was allowed to ride in his boat. While they were out fishing, Qingji used a fishing spear to kill Qingji, then committed suicide to reunite with his wife and mother. This happened somewhere around 475 BC.
The third Cike is Yu Rang, who served as a family-minister to the clans of both Fan Jishe and Zhonghang Yin, who were two of the six ministers who made up the most powerful men in the State of Jin. His original employers didn't really appreciate Yu Rang, so he left to serve another of the six ministers, Zhi Yao, who he got along with much better. This was lucky for him, because the other four minister clans (Zhi, Zhao, Wei and Han) teamed up to wipe out the Fan and Zhonghang clans soon after. But Zhi Yao got greedy and tried to establish himself as the leader of this little coterie and got killed for it; one of the ministers, Zhao Xiangzi, turned Zhi Yao's skull into a drinking cup as a final insult to the man. Yu Rang fled the short-lived civil war that took his employer's life and swore revenge. He changed his name and became a low-ranking servant in the King of Jin's palace. One day, when Xiangzi was visiting and intended to use the bathroom, Yu Rang got wind of this and hid in their to try to kill him. Somehow, Zhao Xiangzi had a bad feeling and had guards search the bathroom, finding Yu Rang with a sword; Xiangzi didn't kill him though, impressed with his virtue (and probably also pretty sure this guy wasn't really a threat).
Yu Rang wasn't dissuaded by failing and being spared. To keep Xiangzi from recognizing him, Yu Rang disfigured his skin by covering it with lacquer to create scars and sores. He became a beggar in the market, and only his wife could recognize him because of his voice; that wasn't good enough for Yu Rang, so to change his voice he swallowed charcoal. A friend of his asked him why he was going to such lengths instead of pretending to be moved by Xiangzi's mercy, joining his household, and using his skills to gain his trust. Yu Rang's reply was that his motive for revenge for Zhi Yao was loyalty for the man who'd treated him well; if he joined Zhao Xiangzi's service, was treated well enough to gain his confidence, then killed him, he'd be a hypocrite.
One day, Zhao Xiangzi was crossing a bridge with some of his men; Yu Rang was hiding under the bridge with a sword. The horses got spooked by his smell, which tipped Xiangzi off and his guards found Yu Rang and apprehended him again. Somehow, Zhao Xiangzi recognized him by his eyes. Though sad that Yu Rang wasn't willing to work for him, Xiangzi felt he had been merciful enough the first time, and ordered his men to kill Yu Rang, though he allowed Yu Rang to stab his robe three times so he wouldn't go to his deceased master empty-handed.
The fourth is, oddly enough, the most well-known, Jing Ke. Around By 227 BC, the State of Qin was the most powerful by far, and had absorbed the states of Han, Zhao and Wei. Jing Ke was from Wei, a noted scholar and swordsman. He fled Wei when it was conquered to the State of Yan, where he entered the service of Prince Dan, who had spent time as a hostage in Qin and knew they would attack him sooner or later. With Jing Ke, he hatched a plot to assassinate King Zheng of Qin to destabilize it. Prince Dan gave Jing Ke the sharpest dagger he could get his hands on and the best poison available to him to coat it in, and also offered Jing Ke an assistant in the form of Qin Wuyang, grandson of the famous Yan general Qin Kai and a young man who had killed his first man at age 13. With these in hand, Jing Ke took a visit to Fan Wuji, a Qin general who had defected because of perceived mistreatment and was burning for revenge against Qin. It was to such an extent, in fact, that when Jing Ke laid out that he planned to use the pretext of being an emissary of Yang's surrender, carrying both the head of the general and a map of Yan, that Fan Wuji killed himself so the plan could be carried out.
King Zheng was, much like King Liao centuries before, very paranoid about letting anyone approach him. But he made an exception for Jing Ke - but not Qin Wuyang, who turned out to be a bit of a chicken when the big moment came and started sweating profusely and acting nervous, putting King Zheng on his guard. Despite this, Jing Ke almost pulled it off, grabbing at King Zheng's sleeve and ready to stab him... except the sleeve tore, causing Jing Ke to lose his balance. Even then, it might have still worked: because of Zheng's paranoia, none of the staff or ministers in the building were armed, and all the guards were outside and would take a while to get to him. Plus, his own sword was ceremonial, so it was too long to draw while fleeing on foot.
Keep in mind, "King Zheng" is the man we know today as Qin Shi Huangdi, the first true Chinese emperor. History as we know it happened because Xia Wuju, the royal physician, threw his medicine bag at Jing Ke, which distracted him long enough to let Zheng pause to draw his sword, which he used to stab the assassin in the thigh, immobilizing him. In desperation, Jing Ke threw the dagger, but missed, and was stabbed eight more times before finally dying. The guards caught Qin Wuyang, who tried to flee the moment things turned pear-shaped, and killed him as well. Obviously, the State of Yan didn't exactly fare well as a result of this, either.
You might wonder why I say it's odd that Jing Ke is the most well-known. "Obviously," you say, "it's because he tried to kill one of the most important guys in Chinese history, and almost pulled it off!" Well, yes, but Jing Ke wasn't alone in that. Let me tell you about Gao Jianli. Gao Jianli was a native of Yan and a friend of Jing Ke's; obviously, neither of those were a good thing to be after Jing Ke's failed assassination, and so Gao Jianli changed his name and starting working as an assistant at a wine shop. A master of the Chinese lute, Jianli often heard the owner's family and guests playing it while he was working, and would critique their technique. Eventually, the owner asked Jianli to put his money where his mouth was and play himself; his playing brought everyone who heard it to tears.
Eventually, stories of Jianli's skills reached the ears of King Zheng of Qin. He invited him to come over to play for him, which he did to great acclaim, but once it was over, a man in the court who was also a native of Yan recognized him and revealed his identity. Unwilling to kill such a great musician, King Zheng had Jianli blinded, but hired him on as a musician.
Gao Jianli worked as King Zheng's private musician, earning a great deal of praise; eventually, King Zheng started relaxing his guard around Jianli, allowing him to approach closer so that he could hear the music better. Secretly, Jianli had reinforced his lute with lead to make it heavy enough to be used to bludgeon a man to death; when King Zheng finally allowed him close enough, he struck. Unfortunately, being, well, blind and this being reality and not an anime or a martial arts flick, Jianli missed and was, of course, executed.
-x--X--x-
Incidentally, the other two assassins in Sima Qian's "Biographies of Assassins" aren't quite assassins as we might think of them.
Cao Mo was actually a general of the State of Lu (which has a special prominence in Chinese culture because it was the birthplace of Confucius), with kind of a mixed record; on the one hand, he became a general in the first place because of his bravery and loyalty. On the other hand, he wasn't very good at actually being a general, and lost three battles to the State of Qi (who to be fair were pretty boss at the time). Eventually, Lu and Qi agreed to a treaty (with rather bad terms for Lu), but when the emissaries met to sign it, Cao Mo suddenly grabbed Duke Huan of Qi (this was before they abandoned pretenses of loyalty to Zhou and started calling themselves kings) and held a knife to his throat, hijacking the negotiations to force Duke Huan to alter the terms to return all the land Lu had lost, and then to sign the altered treaty. Amazingly, this actually worked out swimmingly for Cao Mo and Lu (though it still got conquered by Qi later).
Nie Zheng, on the other hand, was a man who lived in the State of Han (no relation to the Han Dynasty), one of the successor states to the State of Jin. Convicted of murder, he went into hiding as a butcher with his mother and older sister. However, he was good friends with a government official, Yan Zhongzi, who visited Nie Zheng hoping to recruit him to kill Xia Lei, one of Han's highest officials who was notoriously corrupt and treacherous. Zhongzi knew Nie Zheng as a capable and enthusiastic fighter and a loyal friend, and on top of that offered plenty of money. But Nie Zheng, though he wanted to do it, refused; he had a duty to his ailing mother and would very likely die whether he failed or succeeded, leaving her and his sister alone. Years later, however, Nie Zheng's mother died, and with filial piety no longer an obstacle, he immediately took up Yan Zhongzi's offer, which was still standing.
Nie Zheng's approach was as simple as can be: he walked in with knife in hand and killed everyone who tried to get between him and Xia Lei, then the corrupt statesman himself. Once it was done though, he used his own knife to mutilate his face so that it wouldn't be recognized, then killed himself.
Unable to identify him, the authorities hung the mutilated corpse in the square, offering a sum of gold to any who could identify him. When she heard of how the assassination had happened, Nie Zheng's sister, Nie Rong, immediately knew who had done it. She also realized that Nie Zheng had mutilated his face and killed himself to protect her, and that in doing so he had surrendered his aspirations; she knew that, his entire life, he had wanted to be a great hero who did some great deed, and that this motivated him just as much as loyalty to his friend.
So, Nie Rong walked into the square and firmly declared that the body was that of her brother. She told Nie Zheng's story to the assembled crowd in its entirety, then killed herself in front of her brother's body.
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Jesus Christ! These people do not do things by halves.
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
I even left some of the hardcore details out. For example, Zhuan Zhu accepted the job to assassinate King Liao only because Prince Guang promised his mother would live like a queen for the rest of her days. But because she believed that he could only succeed and survive the assassination if he had complete focus and didn't worry about anyone he might leave behind if he failed, his mother hung herself.
Assassinations like the famous cike served as inspirations for revolutionary groups and freedom fighters throughout Chinese history; like other heroes of China's Spring & Autumn and Warring States periods, they were held up as role models to aspire to in their utter devotion to accomplishing their tasks. Things like this tend to come up in unexpected ways in history.
For example, assassination ties into the history of the martial arts and the many revolts and rebellions against the Qing Dynasty. Particularly in the case of Wing Chun. You see, in the 1800s the Red Boat Opera Troupe was a traveling opera troupe touring the waterways of China in their namesake red boat; what most didn't know was that they used this as a cover to foment wide-scale rebellion against Qing. They had a problem, though; they needed a method of fighting armed and armored Qing troops. They knew martial arts, of course - it's a fundamental part of Chinese opera, just ask Jackie Chan, since that's where he learned it - but those flashy, acrobatic techniques weren't well-suited to quickly and quietly killing Qing soldiers to facilitate acts of sabotage and assassination.
Enter Wing Chun. Bruce Lee made a big stir in the community of Chinese martial arts by speaking out against a lot of flowery ritualization and ornamentation that he felt "degraded" them into a sport rather than an actual method of combat, and praised foreign styles (such as Muay Thai). He did praise certain styles, though, such as Choy Li Fut and the one he learned from his master Ip Man, Wing Chun, as actually being practical methods of fighting. That's all strongly rooted - at least in Wing Chun's case - in its origins as a tool of guerilla warfare. Everything about Wing Chun's methods and techniques make it clear once you have that context.
For example, Wing Chun practitioners are taught to approach enemies at an angle rather than head-on; were one to try to murder an armored soldier, approaching from an angle makes it less obvious that you're specifically approaching them, and also ensures that once you're in reach to attack they can only react with one arm. Deflecting and redirecting enemy attacks is key in Wing Chun, because that's the only way an unarmored, lightly armed man (or woman, mind you) can adequately protect himself against an armed, armored soldier, and the typical Wing Chun stance is high and narrow, with the elbows held close to the body and arms ready to protect the vitals, and practitioners are usually taught never to sacrifice stability and the ability to move or shift directions quickly just to hit harder.
The most obvious giveaway, though, is how Wing Chun practitioners attack. If you've ever watched the Ip Man movies, you'll notice that a Wing Chun user almost always goes for the face, throat and diaphragm, typically with very fast straight punches. Here's a little tidbit: almost every attack in Wing Chun is intended to be used with a knife or short sword as well as a bare hand. In the days of the Red Boat Opera Troupe, those fast, darting straight attacks would have been quick, clean stabs into unarmored vitals with a concealed knife to kill a Qing soldier as quickly and efficiently as possible so that he couldn't call for reinforcements or draw attention to his death, or even realize he was being attacked.
Wing Chun is famous in the martial arts community for its economy of motion, its directness, and its efficiency. That's very much rooted in the way it was used at its outset as a distinct martial art style as a tool of revolutionaries to enact a guerilla campaign against the still-powerful Qing Dynasty.
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The Wing Chun stuff is fascinating but if this sucide came up in Western traditions the whole thing would be a farcical tragedy. Just wow.
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Wait, sorry, I've got more:
You know, since I never wrote it down anywhere I actually forgot until just now that I'd originally planned on basing each of the Regal siblings on a legendary king from a different "kingdom" of the British Isles. This was before I actually came up with any of them, obviously, because having Arthur and Mordred in that is obviously not something that works. I'm happy with how it turned out, but expanding on that idea to also include their father, we would have:
The father (Coel, named after a mythical king of Hen Ogledd or "the Old North") would instead represent both Anglo-Saxon and Norse England and be named Harold. The name Harold comes from Hereweald, which means "ruler/power of the army;" not really a color name in that, but we'll fix that by stretching this a bit (or a lot). There were 2 (arguably 3) Kings of England named Harold/Harald (as well as 3 Danish ones and 5 Norwegian ones; there is some overlap in these numbers, though); the first was Harold Harefoot, who kinda-sorta stole the English crown while his brother Harthacnut was in Denmark fighting off King Magnus of Norway. The second was, of course, Harold Godwinson, who was elected to succeed Edward the Confessor by the Witenagemot and formally coronated as king, but eventually was killed by William the Conqueror when he invaded on a rather shaky pretext for rule. The arguable "third Harold" is the guy Godwinson had actually just finished fighting off when William showed up; Harald Hardrada ("Harold Hard-Ruler"), King of Norway (and for a time Denmark) who claimed legitimacy as King of England due to some rather complicated reasons. The color derived from this name would be brown, because of Harold "Harefoot;" hares have brown fur in the spring (March Hare, anyone?). Funny enough, "royal brown" is an actual color, so it even fits the royalty theme of the Regals.
The first son (Arthur, named after just freaking guess) would instead represent Wales (or rather, the Celtic Britons/Welsh, since there was never a unified Wales) and be named Owain. The name Owain is commonly understood to be a Welsh form of Eugune, which means "well-born," but some argue it comes from a Welsh word meaning "young." Someone who's young/inexperienced is called "green," so the color motif would be green. There were 3 Celtic Britons/Welsh monarchs who were named Owain and were attributed the title "King of the Britons," a title usually held by whatever Celt or Welsh ruler was strongest at the time. The first was Owain (or Eugein) of Alt Clut (later known as Strathclyde), who's mostly known for defeating and killing a king of Dál Riata, a powerful Gaelic kingdom that is sometimes considered the predecessor of Scotland. The second is Owain Mawr ("Owain the Great"), also called Owain Gwynedd after the kingdom he ruled. This Owain took advantage of The Anarchy, a civil war over English succession, to expand further westward than Gwynedd had ever gone before, and later fought multiple times against the eventual winner of that conflict, King Henry II (also called Henry Curtmantle and Henry Plantagenet), which were indecisive affairs on the field but in terms of keeping his gains Owain was the ultimate winner, for which he is considered perhaps the greatest King of the Britons. The last is Owain Glyndŵr (known as Owain Glendower in the Shakespeare play Henry IV, Part 1), the last native Welshman to hold the title. Since he led the last major war for Welsh independence from English rule (which lasted from 1400 to 1415, incidentally during the Hundred Years War and in fact he's rather intimately tied up in it), he's a Welsh national hero and was later mythologized as the father of Welsh nationalism. He was so popular even in his lifetime that after his rebellion's failure, when he went into hiding, no Welshman could be induced to betray his whereabouts no matter how much money was offered them, and the English crown even tried to pardon him multiple times (though he turned down each one). It's not known for sure exactly when and where he died and was buried, leading to a lot of folklore; my favorite is that he actually spent the rest of his life under the assumed name of Siôn Cent, a rather enigmatic but highly celebrated medieval Welsh poet who was actively writing from about 1400 to 1430 and whose work would make that very interesting from a psychological perspective.
The second son (Alfred, named after an Anglo-Saxon) would instead represent Scotland and be named Malcolm. The name Malcolm comes from "Máel Coluim," which originally denoted a disciple of St. Columbia, who is popularly attributed to the Christianization of Scotland ("Columba" means "dove"). There were 4 Kings of Scotland (or Pictavia, or Alba) with the name Malcolm, and all four were noted as being aggressive, zealous and ambitious, with nicknames like "The Dangerous Red," "The Destroyer," "Canmore (High Chief)" and... "The Maiden." Being fair, it was because he had an interest in Norman ideas of chivalry and knighthood, and was in fact the first Scottish king to be knighted, which didn't sit well with the Scots. Plus he died unmarried & childless. I think for color, instead of using the dove and going with white, I'd use the "Dangerous Red" nickname to go with red as the color motif.
The third son (Edward, the name of several Saxon, Norman and English kings) would instead represent Ireland and be named Neil. The name Neil comes from "Niall," which can mean either "champion" or "cloud," and going with the latter gives a white color motif. There are 4 different High Kings of Ireland with the name Niall, the most famous of course being Niall Noígíallach ("Neil of the Nine Hostages"), who is regarded as the progenitor of the very historically powerful and important Uí Néill dynasties that produced the bulk of Ireland's high kings, including the other three Nialls: Niall Frossach ("Neil of the Showers," because he was said to be so fortunate and prosperous that silver, honey and what were practically showered upon him from his birth), Niall Caille ("Neil of the Callan," because he drowned in the Callan River despite a very successful reign with several victories against both rivals and Viking raiders), and Niall Glúndub (don't know what that one means), who led a valiant but ultimately doomed defense against increased incursions by Norse-Gaels that his son Muirchertach would ultimately also be killed by, though the latter's career of fighting a losing battle became much more popular to the extent that his obituary in the Annals of Ulster called him "the Hector of the Western World." Still, though, for a long time this was the Niall the namesake dynasty identified their origin with and held up as most relevant to them, not "Niall the Serial Kidnapper."
And the fourth, of course, is Roy/Raine. They stand out, not only because they aren't named after any rulers of the British Isles (or anywhere, as near as I can tell), with a name(s) that is just kind of a name generically associated with royalty (Roy is sometimes associated with the French word roi, which means "king," while Raine comes from reine, or "queen"). Further, the "British King" they're inspired by is Mordred (who is fittingly known to us in his current form through the French), a mythical rather than historical ruler, and a singular character rather than several. On several levels, Roy/Raine is thus set apart from the others by their name and inspiration.
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How on earth is it that you can drop this much history and yet the best you can do for your SI is Lucifer Morningstar?
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
1. Ow. Like, really, ow.
2. I wish I had a good answer to that.
3. If I ever rewrite it, I'll probably shift it from Latin to Greek to make it less obvious. "Aster Phosphoros," most likely.
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