Samurshy

Even though Arashi knew he was in the presence of another, he didn't move an inch. He didn't redirect his gaze from the barracks below to the present party, or even acknowledge Natsuki's presence with any sort of action. With sight alone, it would have looked like Arashi was just continuing to smoke his pipe while leaning on the balcony. However, Arashi did answer the question given. "I did. However, saying one knows someone is completely inaccurate. Because one cannot ever truly know someone else. In fact..." Arashi blew smoke rings up towards the sky, "It takes years of temperance, and introspection, for one to even know themselves." Arashi knew all to well how hard it was to know one's inner persona. His amnesia proved a significant obstacle in getting to truly know himself.

The scent of the night's air smelled of fresh vegetation, and it seemed to calm Arashi a bit, though he was still excited for what tomorrow may bring. Arashi was about to call it a night, when he sensed that Natsuki was ascending the stairs of the main barracks, heading towards Arashi's bedroom. Interesting... she probably wants some more information in regards to what we know about her and her family. Arashi thought Perhaps I should tell her everything... Arashi could feel the tension and excitement rising from the prospects of what tomorrow holds, as well as from the inevitable conversation with Natsuki. Arashi went over to his bedside table and retrieved his tobacco pipe. He then packed the pipe with strawberry flavored tobacco, and reached for a lit incense stick on his shelf. He lit the tobacco with the incense stick, and placed the stick back inside the kyuhime statue/incense holder. Arashi walked back to the balcony puffing on his pipe, blowing the hot smoke toward the heavens; whilst awaiting Natsuki.

After the team members left, Arashi walked up the flight of steps of the main barracks to the fourth, and final floor of the building. This floor was reserved for his living quarters and main office. He slid the door to his room open and peeled off his sweaty, peach smoke-covered kimono as well as his undergarments. He then slid into a black, gold embroidered robe with zigzagged gold stitching. Arashi walked over to the sliding doors that separated his room from the terrace. He stepped out on the terrace and breathed in the fresh evening air. It wasn't quite midnight yet, but, it was encroaching upon that period quickly. The full moon hanging proudly in the sky, shedding it's light upon the barracks. From atop his terrace, Arash could see every building withing the barrack, (inwhich there were 12), as well as the training grounds and horse steeples. Arashi noticed that the living quarters building was pretty lively at the moment. The runic lights keeping the living quarters alive as a speck of golden light amongst a sea of black. Arashi also noticed that the hotsprings behind the living quarters was seeing some use. Even though the bath was much too far down for Arashi to see anyone, he could tell the the small dots in the water were people. A bath sounds nice right now... and I would go.. but... would it make my subordinates uncomfortable? What am I thinking... It would make ME uncomfortable. Arashi blushed as he thought of using the hotsprings with others. He normally took all of his bathes up in his own living quarters with heated water from the furnace. He didn't know what it was about himself that made him more embarrassed and ashamed when he was naked in front of others. Ever since Arashi could remember, everyone around him had no problem with nudity. All of Sakoku was pretty open about sexuality, with the exception of Arashi. Maybe it has something to do with my past that I can't remember... Arashi took all this in as he stood out on the terrace. The slight breeze whisping at his long red hair.

Arashi breathed deeply, enhaling the peach-flavor tobacco, taking a moment to think. He eventually broke the silence. "Well, I believe that is all for now. So, for now I will have you adjourn to the living quarters. They are right outside the main barracks building. There is a side for men and a side for women. And that is where you will be staying. Also, there is a hotspring, but it is unisex, so you may bathe there, but know that there may be the opposite sex bathing at the same time." Arashi cracked a smile that may have seemed a bit perverse at first, but then again, he was almost always smiling. "So this meeting is over. As of now. Get some rest, we will be traveling a long distance starting tomorrow. So we can adjourn unless, any of you have anymore questions " Arashi said.

"You know... I was there, during the coup three years ago." Arashi sighed "I was just a captain at the time, serving under the Shogun Kurai. My position was right outside the palace, I was supposed to guard Emperor Hana with my life. Your father was ordered by Kurai, along with three others, to assassinate Hana. I knew your father. We ate many lunches together in the mess hall. I begged him not to go through with it. He didn't listen. It was only me, and my other comrade, Zeke. Against three assassins. Unfortunately, Zeke died. But due to his valiant efforts, and our strength combined, we were able to force them to retreat. In fact, I am sure your father still has scars on his back from me, if he is still out there somewhere. You father was a good man. But his convictions fell in the wrong place. He sided with the wrong side. And it cost him the ultimate shame that a Samurai could ever have upon them. The scars on his back, and the life I spared him." Arashi tried to choke back tears as he reminisced. "The point, I am trying to make; is that even though your father was chose the wrong side... That does not make him an evil man. He was fighting for what he believed to be right. He held tight to his own convictions. And even though they may have been wrong in our eyes. He believes, probably still to this day, that he did the right thing. And when it comes down to it all... there is no good, or evil side... We are all murderers." Arashi said calmly. His eyes cast to the floor. "The tournament will be steel on steel. You do not have to participate, but I will be participating." Arashi said.

"The tournament will be on the boat. The boat we are taking is The Kaguyahime. The biggest ship in all of Narumi. The deck is large enough to host many tournaments at once. So you need not worry about room." Arashi said. Arashi heard the pieces of metal clink together in Natsuki's bag. "Ah yes, the Fujikama. The blade that slew many thousands of oni alongside your father, and many other samurai before him. The blade that your father presented his only daughter with in hopes that she would grow powerful. The blade that was shattered into five separate pieces after the father's betrayal. That is indeed a powerful weapon, or it was..." Arashi inhaled from the pipe deeply. "And it could be again... A blade like that doesn't like to be in pieces. Therefore, is forged together again easily, if one wished to forge it together again..." Arashi said

Arashi felt the swift movements of Natsuki before she even made them. He could tell by the eye movements, and the twitch in her muscles that she was ready to strike a split second before she did. Arashi had to force himself to not react according to muscle memory. If he had, his sword would have already sliced through Natsuki's arm. But he managed to allow the blade to come in contact with his chest. As soon as the blade reached within an inch of his chest, the blade bounced off an invisible wall. It was as if Natsuki's blade came in contact with thick plate armor. Arashi smiled "Well, you certainly know how to follow orders." Arashi said. As loyal follower's go, a warrior who can kill their commander under order of their commander is definitely worth while. "As you can see, the Taniaku items have immense power. Each item varies in ability. Our side has seen three Taniaku first hand. This gauntlet is one of them", He said as he placed the gauntlet back into the chest and locked the chest back up. He took another puff from the pipe as the wispy peach smoke floated in the air. "Our goal- This team's mission is simple, find all of the 22 known Taniaku on the island of Tani. We will have to take a boat, and we leave port tomorrow morning. It will be a three day venture, but the boat is stock full of food and other plush commodities that you should enjoy. In fact, to pass the time, I was thinking of holding a tournament, a fighting tournament. The winner, gets to carry the first Taniaku we find. That means, of course, utilizing it's abilities in combat as well. It also means that it will be your own personal Taniaku for as long as you serve the shogunate. But know this. The Taniaku are Narumi property, desertion with a Taniaku is akin to treason and you will be sentenced to death. The Taniaku are powerful, and some have a problem with sharing that power. If you are not up to the task of collecting Taniaku for your country, if you feel that you would betray this country for the sake of personal power. Know this... I did not become shogun by sucking dick. I became shogun through intensive training, and skill. If I think for even a second that any of you plans to betray this country, I will not hesitate to cut you down on the spot." Arashi smiled in between puffs. "Do I make myself clear?" Arashi asked. He puffed a few smoke rings upwards to the ceiling as he awaited an answer.

Arashi looked at Kaito with bewilderment. "No, Shiho-chan was right. And, Kaito, what you were thinking about is called Taniaku", Arashi wondered how it was that Kaito know about Taniaku but not the island of Tani. He took another puff "What you are all here for is expressly the reason that Kaito was saying. The Taniaki. Until recently, the Shogunate was actually unaware of these items, even the legends. We had never heard of them. But we recently had a recon team scout the island. They found this", Arashi clapped his hands and two females in kimono came in. The were both carrying one end of a lockbox. They placed it next to Arashi and walked out of the room backwards as they bowed. Arashi stood up. He pulled out a black iron key and stuck the key inside the keyhole to the box. Even though the key was what unlocked it, unbeknownst to the others in the room, if anyone other than Arashi, the Emperor or Arashi's assistant were to put the key inside the lock, the box would have exploded with magical force that would claim the life of anyone in the premises of the explosion. Arashi unlocked the box and procured the red leather gauntlet with mirror like scale armor on it. The very one that was recovered by the recon team. Arasi held the item for everyone in the room to see. "It doesn't look very special, to the naked eye. However," Arashi placed the gauntlet on his right hand, "One of you, strike me down with your weapon. I know this is an odd request, coming from the Shogun. But one of you, I don't care who, should slash their blade at my skin. It doesn't matter where, the face the torso, the legs. Strike me down" Arashi said with a smile as he took another puff from his pipe.

Arashi directed Kaito inside of the room and then slid the rice door shut behind him. "I bet that all of you are wondering exactly what you are doing here. You know that you were selected to be a part of a sort of task force, but at this point I am guessing all of you are wondering what exactly does the. 'task', part in task force entail." Arashi was still standing as he spoke. He reached into his blue kimono, the one he always wore when he wasn't planning on doing combat. He procured a kiseru (a long pipe used for smoking tobacco), he then grabbed an incense stick that was on the table and used the cherry of the incense stick to light his tobacco. He took a long drag on his pipe before sitting cross legged at the head of the table. "First, let me ask all of you. I know that Fen-sama knows, but to the rest of you. Are you familiar with Tani?" Arashi said in-between puffs on his pipe. The light smoke filled the air. The tobacco was flavored with peach essence and so the smoke made the whole room smell of peaches.

I updated the tag to, 'searching', as per Azura's request. @@Ampharos, You should post that you have arrived in the war room so we can get this meeting going.

"Well we will eventually talk about how we heard about you, but for now lets just say it has to do with your father. More accurately, your father before he betrayed this country." Arashi said with a smile. "Enough of that for now." Arashi said as he walked over to the door that connected the lobby to the war room. He opened the door and noticed there were two other members waiting. He stepped out of the war room and walked over to Fen and Shiho. "Greetings; I assume you two are Fen and Shiho. I am Arashi Akage, but you can call me Arashi", Arashi said as he bowed to the rather tall Onijin and the female panther Kyujin. "Please, come inside. The war room is right over here. Feel free to sit down on the mats at the table and serve yourself some tea. We are still waiting for one more arrival." Arashi said. He made a gesture with his right arm as if ushering them to the war room door.

Arashi was about to take another sip of his tea, when a female kyujin entered the war room. He noticed that a bushy tail swept from under her haidate, and from what he could asses, she was skunk kyujin. Arashi stood up, to be formal, and bowed. "Nice to meet you Natsuki-chan, I have heard a lot about you. Please have a seat. And feel free to help yourself to the tea. Also, did you happen to spot any other tough looking warriors out in the lobby? I am wondering if the others have arrived yet." Arashi said as he waved a hand toward the table.

Arashi sat patiently in the war room. The chai tea from the porcelain teacup tasted bitter, so he took a spoon of honey from the cup of honey on the tea tray and swirled it around in the brown liquid. He noticed one of his red hairs fell into the tea cup, and he carefully removed it with is index finger and thumb. He then brought the cup to his lips and tipped the cup back, the sweet honey made the tea more drinkable, but he was never really one for tea. He did enjoy sake, but he felt that he needed to be in the right state of mind for when the members of the new Taniaku retrieval unit arrived. No one had arrived yet, but he was sure they would be there soon. The excitement was building in Arashi; soon he would be the leader of a task force, and go on a grand adventure. Sure, life in the barracks was okay. But Arashi had not seen real combat for a couple of months. Back when the base in Zan was attacked by a few Zetsumei assassins. Of course, Arashi trained every day. So he never lost his edge. But he was also never able to put his skills to use. This team is exactly what he needed. His lips spread into a smile as the anticipation of adventure took hold.

This is the type of buildings you would see

Well, yes. Each side is different. Narumi has its own way of doing things and so does Zetsumei. I control Narumi's side, Pumkin controls Zetsumei. So, yes. However he wants to do it, he can do it that way.

Roleplay has been posted here is a link but it is also in the main synopsis of the OOC http://mlpforums.com/topic/89558-bushi-no-tamashi/ ATTENTION ALL ZETSUMEI!!! PLEASE WAIT FOR PUMKIN TO POST BEFORE POSTING. Also, so everyone in Narumi is aware of where you come in, when posting, you will be posting whatever you want before receiving the letter from the Shogunate, but you will also be posting about receiving the letter from the Shogunate and you will be posting about arriving at the main barracks to the war room.

Arashi was standing in his office looking out the window upon the army of Sakokuan soldiers training outside of the barracks. It was midday, in the middle of spring, and the smell of sakura blossoms were overtaking his olfactory senses. Today was truly a great day. Arashi was deep in thought as he watched out the window, when he heard a knock on the rice paper door that separated his office from the hallway. "Come in", Arashi permitted. The door opened and a skinny man in an official kimono entered. Arashi knew this man as his assistant, Ikaku. "Shogun-", Ikaku began Arashi sighed, "Ikaku, what did I tell you about addressing me as Shogun?" "... That you prefer to be called by your first name." Ikaku stated with dread, as if he knew he was supposed to do it but couldn't bring himself to address a man of such esteem with his first name. "Exactly. Now, I assume you have some news for me", Arashi said. "I do, Sho-.. Arashi-dono. The recon unit from Tani has returned. From the pigeon letter, it sounded like they had some very urgent information for you. I have prepared the war room for a meeting, the serving girls are preparing tea as we speak", Ikaku explained, as he took the pigeon letter from his sleeve and placed it upon Arashi's desk. "Excellent! I will be down in a few minutes", Arashi said. He then added, "Ikaku, I won't be needing you for the rest of the day. You look like you could use some personal time off, Go visit the village, have some food, bathe in the hotsprings." "But, sire-" Ikaku started. "Nonsense, I won't take no for an answer", Arashi reached into his pocket and retrieved a small satchel full of gold koban. This kind of coin could put a man up in a luxurious hotel for weeks. He then placed it in Ikaku's hands and waved him off. Ikaku had known Arashi for 2 years now, and he was well aware that Arashi would not take 'no' for an answer. So he bowed his head and exited the room. Arashi grabbed his katana that was resting in the corner of the room. He strapped it to his back, adjusted his loosely fitting kimono, and made for the war room. When Arashi entered, the recon unit was already there. The war room was a large room, with a low table in the center. The room was supported by red wooden support beams. The floor was originally made out of wood, however, every inch of the wooden flooring was covered in tatami mats. The recon unit was already sitting on the floor by the time Arashi entered. But as soon as he entered the unit stood and bowed. Arashi held a hand up as if to stop them, but at this point he knew it was useless. Arashi wasn't much for the system of honor that this country was run by. Too many people bowed before him, but he didn't feel as if he deserved it. He was just a normal human. Sure he could kill someone in an instant, and he rose through the ranks because of his skill. But, he still felt uncomfortable. Arashi never even used the honorifics at the end of a person's name. It just felt so weird to him. And even though, he suffered amnesia four years ago that wiped his memories clean, he still felt as if this was all foreign to him somehow. Arashi made his way to the head of the short rectangular table and took a seat. Arashi made a gesture with his arms, "Please, sit." The unit was made up of three individuals. One female, a tall, thin black-haired woman. Arashi knew this woman as Yuukino. And two males, who were also quite tall and thin. One had brown hair, he was known as Ginjo, and the other was bald, he was known as Inu. They all wore the same outfits, black shokozu. And normally they would be wearing masks as well, but as a sign of respect, they already had them off by the time Arashi had entered the room. "So, you have information for me", Arashi asked? Strangely enough it was the female, Yuukino, who spoke. It was clear that she was the leader of the team. Even though Arashi had created the team, he hadn't delegated a leader. It looked as if the natural order of things delegated a leader for them. "We do, Arashi-dono. During our mission, we made friends with some of the locals in a village known as Jun. Eventually, we made friends with the village chief. The village chief, who was an elderly man, was revered as the strongest within the region. It was quite surprising, even though he was an onijin, he was a short, wrinkled, elderly man. We couldn't figure out why he was so revered, until one night, the village was attacked by Oni. Our unit did their best to fight off as many as we could, but we are not a combat unit. We thought we were all going to die, until the village chief, who always carried a walking stick, stepped out of his home. He raised the walking stick above his head. The stick was struck by lightning, and in an instant the chief had a renewed youth. It was as if we were seeing him 50 years ago when he was in his prime. He was a beast. He slew all of the Oni's in an instant. Afterwards, we spoke with the chief. He was reluctant, but eventually he explained that the staff that he walks around with all the time was an object with a divine affinity. An object blessed by a god or goddess. It had the ability to grant him youth and vigor for a brief moment. He then said that his staff was not the only object that has been blessed by a god or goddess. He said that there were lots of items strewn about the large island of Tani with divine affinity. So, we started a new mission to find at least one of these items to bring back to you. And, we were successful. We call these artifacts of power, Taniaku" Yuukino reached into her outfit and procured a gauntlet. The gauntlet was made out of what seemed like red leather with thin scale armor fixed on it. Yuukino stood, bowed before Arashi and passed the item to him. Arashi held the item in his hands. His years of martial arts training, and becoming in tune with his body gave him instinctual senses. These senses were able to asses an enemy's power before even fight them, but unbeknownst to him, also allowed him to feel the power resonating within an object. The instant the item touched his hands, he could feel a power pulsating within it. "So, what does it do", Arashi asked? "Put it on, and see for yourself" Arashi slipped the gauntlet on. Nothing amazing seemed to have happened. But then, in an instant, he felt it. It was as if he felt he was invincible, impervious to all manor of physical attack. Arashi unsheathed his sword with the arm that wore the gauntlet. He then held his other arm out and swiftly sliced at his arm. Instead of severing it like it should have, the sword bounced off of it, resounding with the metallic wobble. "Amazing... The Emperor must know about this right away." Arashi stated as he peeled off the glove and sheathed his katana. "You guys did a great job. I knew it was a good idea hiring the ninja guild for this one." Arashi said as he dropped a massive satchel of koban on the table, "Tell your master Icho I said hello." After the ninja left, Arashi made for the palace right away for an emergency debriefing. He explained to Emperor Hana about everything he had been debriefed on. "You have been an amazing Shogun, Arashi. in a matter of two years, you have done more than my brother could have done in five. I think, the best course of action in this situation is for you to form a team. I want you to lead and form a tactical unit of five people, including you, of your choosing. After spending time rising through the milatary ranks, I am sure you are aware of exactly the right people to pick for the job. Maybe you have caught wind of people with amazing talents that you would like to employ. Either way, on behalf of me, the Emperor Hana. I authorize you to create a team and recover as many Taniaku from Tani as possible. I am almost positive my brother has already gotten wind of this as well. We must act fast, we cannot allow Zetsumei to possess even one of these artifacts of power. That being said, if you encounter any Zetsumei on your journey you are authorized to execute them on the spot. Do you understand?" "I do, Hana-dono", Arashi replied. "Alright then, Akage(redhair)-sama. What are you doing here then? You have a team to form." Hana laughed. With that Arashi made for the barracks again. He sent out 4 letters addressed to different people but all of which said the same thing. Lots of things had happened in such a short period, and a lot of thoughts were running through Arashi's mind. But the main common thought was, This is going to be really fun. LINK TO THE OOC CAN BE FOUND HERE

Not at all. I am just about to create the first post, so I would hurry.

NEWS UPDATE ON BUSHI NO TAMASHI The RP seems to have enough in its rosters to start. So as Azura stated I will be doing one of my famous 2000 word posts. Basically how this is going to go down, is that Pumkin and I (our characters) receive the information from their recon teams that there are items of massive power on Tani. In the debriefing meetings, we tell our respective Emperors the news. The Emperors then authorize each side to create a task force of the best of the best, hand picked by and lead by the respective Shoguns (Pumkin and I). Where you guys come in, is that me and Pumkin have sent out letters of summons to you (who at the time are just infantry soldiers) each respective side is supposed to report to the war rooms for a debriefing where we tell you that you are to be part of a special task force. I will try my best to spell it out for you guys in the first post, but this reply right here is also for Pumkin so he knows what his first post is supposed to look like. Anyways, the first post will be tomorrow, probably around 1600-1700 mountain time. A link to the RP will be posted here right after the RP is started. That is all the news for tonight. Talk to you all tomorrow morning.

A few things. Azura wasn't exactly correct in the naming process. The way I see it, the onijin are a lot more tribal and a lot less intellectual than other races. That being said, one name should be fine. Kind of like Sten the Kunari from Dragon Age. In reference to "A massive sword of fire that can't be blocked." I personally do not have a problem with it, as long as it consumes a massive amount of soul energy to use, thus is only sustainable for a short period. Just because something isn't blockable doesn't mean it isn't dodgeable. Though, I am assuming that when you say that it is unblockable you are referring to parrying with a sword. There is magic in this RP and a magic barrier should be able to hold up against a soul forged weapon. Azura is right in the fact that you do need to add more description. Tall isn't really a fleshed out aesthetic description. Actually state how tall he is, in feet'inch" format.

Okay, sorry. Here is my character, Arashi Akage. http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/arashi-akage-zeke-redsteele-r5829

I don't know much about SC, but I suppose. Eh, that is what I normally have for my characters. But also, I kind of assumed so, because, well, you did mention he had a fiery temper and you have Natsu as your avatar and signature. It wasn't that much of a wild guess. NEWS ON BUSHI NO TAMASHI We have just about enough people to start, but I have a friend from my Skype group that wishes to join. I am going to wait a day or two for him to complete his character sheet and then create the first post.

Welcome, newfriend. Enjoy the site.

Kind of like that, except not. The way it works is, a warrior has will power, his soul. He injects his soul into a medium. This medium can be any weapon. The weapon isn't special. The warrior can literally pick up any weapon off the battlefield and soul forge it. Your own energy transforms the weapon into a special weapon. So the attributes would be different for every weapon type. Like, say your energy that soul forges a sword makes a sword of flame. Well if you soul forged a bow with the same soul energy, the ability may be different. The soul forge is unique to the person as well as unique to the medium that is used. It's honestly more along the lines of Shaman King.

Character seems solid. Although, to expand on Soul Forging. A Soul Forged weapon isn't something you possess. Soul Forging is an ability used on a weapon that transforms the weapon into a special version of itself. The weapon reverts back to it's original state after the user stops using the technique or runs out of soul energy/will power to keep the technique sustained.