Oriental Adventure, (Ace and Eva)

[starke]

Hello all you WEE'ers,

Yes this is the often banned and unduly distrusted brother of Ace. I have crafted an East Asian-themed campaign of massive proportions. This will take place in a chatroom, such as msn or aim instead of the forum style posting here. If appropriate I can post message logs here for great lulz. (So if you're the kind of person who would spend their life reading thousands upon thousand of lines of chat speak you are welcome to it.)

As I've never ran an online rp myself and for time constraints, I'm limiting this to just Ace and your website overseer Eva. It may be experimental in it's function, but I'd hesitate to say it was...assorted dumbness.

I come from a more dice rolling background, and the framework for this will be based in the devil's game itself, Dungeons and Dragons. So you will have character sheets and stats for your characters, they will just be invisible to you. *srs face* So there's is a very real chance your character can die in this game, which would be quite tragic indeed.

I'm also running an offline incarnation of this adventure with some local bro's of mine. However I expect this version to be much more story driven. So Eva and Ace, if you can create character backgrounds and bio's half as good as you do on the other rp's I'll be thoroughly impressed.

A strong personality and roleplaying abilities mean a lot more to me than dice rolling. This dungeon master doesn't believe in transparency, all the dice rolls will remain hidden to you. This will almost always play to your favor. You come up with something interesting or flavor-riffic I won't let numbers get in your way.

The Hyuga Empire

Is a proud and honor-bound society that has existed for over a thousand years. Samurai warriors make up it's army. Shinto ninja's run atop rooftops assassinating targets. Monks are Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon master martial artists. Spirits and The Tainted are everywhere. Astrology, mythology, supernatural, politics, and the art of war are all weaved in a spiritual tapestry. This new bastard-son Emperor has his work cut out for him keeping it all intact.

Classes

Samurai
Shaman
Shugenji
Sohei
Wu Jen
Monk
Fighter
Ranger
Rogue
Barbarian

This is required reading for all who wish to understand the background of Hyuga, and what roles each class plays. You are free and encouraged to stray and build off of these backgrounds.

www.scribd.com/doc/52453703/Oriental-Class-Flavor?secret_password=w8uynavqhc0h6ltw70o

Races

Human - Make up 99% of the Hyugan Empire.
Spiritfolk - Creatures who are very humanlike in appearance, often taller and slender. While most do not involve themselves in politics, they are often seen as royal astrologists and advisors. They are very attuned to the spirit realm. Spiritfolk are seen as most sensitive to the spiritual aura of those around them, oftentimes being able to sense a would be agressor just by looking in his eyes.


MAP







A brief breakdown of this badboy.

Yamato: Capital city of Hyuga, houses mostly the noble-caste and government officials. While not technically a "forbidden city", the cost of living makes it so for everyone not born lucky.

Jijinto: Largest city of Hyuga, but hardly a crowning jewel. Crime is rampant and there's a live and well underground. If you like hustle and bustle you'll love it here.

Tonogasha: A large city known for it's culture. Exotic dancers, fire breathers, snake tamers, sword eaters-it's all here.

Genfu: The old capital of Hyuga. Back when Hyuga was just a tribe of dirt poor fishermen. The place has seen better days, overfishing has hurt the place a lot. Plenty of old temples, the real old ones dedicated to elements are museum attractions to those so inclined.

Gato: This is in the Dry Basin area. Basically the rice basket for all of Hyuga. Although a history of droughts has hurt them severly. Where a massive concentration of Kondo natives live (think Native Americans only...japanesy). Riots and revolutions are put down every so often.

Kattike: Home of the number one tourist attraction in Hyuga, the Kattike hot springs. If a hot springs episode was to go down, it would go down here.

Shima Barracks: Easternmost military fortification dedicated to preventing a landbased attack into the Capital lands and supporting eastern settlements. Unfortunately a bunch of evil spirits and harsh cold conditions makes the pioneer route a road less travelled.


Roleplaying Caveats

You have to have done something recently that put you in good standing with the Empire. Either something everyone knows about or that only a handful know. Maybe you have recent rumors surrounding your skill, or your code of honor which hides under a questionable exterior. Get creative. Other than that go wild and crazy kids with your backgrounds Devon and Eva.

[TragicAce]

“They don’t pay me enough for this.”

Name: Kazuo Nakazawa
Class: Samurai/Fighter
Race: Human
Age: 25
Appearance:

Equipment: His katana, Daichi’s decorative katana, samurai kimono with cured leather scales

Background:
Kazuo was born on the streets of Genfu, and spent the start of his youth at some temple-turned-orphanage. The group was a juvenile group of thieves, but there was never very much to steal. Four days out of five he went to bed with his stomach growling. Eventually he started taking notice of things-when a fisherman had more salmon then he was letting on, where visiting folks kept their lodgings, when a sword was more for show then for use-those sorts of things. He was starting to do fairly well for himself, and this didn’t make him popular with the older boys at the orphanage.

One fateful day a heavy-set man in a traditional kimono with a pair of swords at his side entered the temple. He issued a challenge to the group, with what was to them the ultimate prize. “I will take on the strongest among you as my pupil!” Chaos ensued. It was an all-out brawl, and things got bloody quickly. The samurai looked at the spectacle for a moment before taking a seat at a nearby table to laugh as he enjoyed some sake. Kazuo had hidden under the table beforehand. When a few seconds passed he jumped from out of the table and challenged the man to a duel with his kitchen knife. The man rose and promptly fell as his sandals were tied together with rope. Kazuo placed his knife to the man’s neck and replied, “I win.”

That man was Daichi Sohda, and Kazuo would train in his school for the next ten years. While he was barbarous man he was married to a stern older woman who acted much like a mother to young Kazuo. She taught him how to read and write, to mind his manners and other things that Daichi’s other, more high-status pupils already knew. Here Kazuo was bullied for his poor birth and forced to do extra manual duties as many students took advantage of him. Daichi was a competent samurai but a sub-standard instructor, and so most of what Kazuo learned was copied from the older students with outside experience.

Years passed and Kazuo became the prized student at the school, inciting hatred in the high-breds. He started to make a habit of taunting them and acting recklessly so as to score easy openings in their ceaseless amount of challenges against him. He even slept with the fiancé of an especially mean-spirited apprentice, which then resulted in his first 'fight to the death'. The duel ended with his opponent having one less arm to worry about. When Daichi heard of this he summoned Kazuo to his quarters, where to the student’s surprise he praised him and offered him some of his best sake. Times were good.

But there weren’t meant to last. The man whose arm he cut off returned to the school with a dozen of his father’s personal guard, and slaughtered everyone. Kazuo was out in the city looking for easy women. When he returned the next morning, the smell of dead bodies welcomed him. Daichi’s head was on a spear in the inner chamber. Kazuo stopped to say a silent prayer. Then he took his master’s ceremonial sword-which was kept hidden-and several large bottles of sake. It was suiting, perhaps, that the sake was locked up tighter then the sword was.

And that was the end of Daichi Sohda.

With Daichi dead, Kazuo was a ronin. In some parts of the world, ronin meant the same thing as ‘sword-bearing bandit’. Not caring to be one of those, he decided to try his luck as a bodyguard. And that’s where he met a certain, magical pain-in-the-neck.

[Eva]

Name: Nanami Sato
Class: Shugenji (fire)
Race: Human
Age: 17
Appearance:
Nanami has long black hair that is somewhat wavy. She doesn't use any accessories on herself these days, although she did when she was younger. Nanami has unblemished and pale skin due to her sheltered upbringing, and is somewhat sensitive to the weather. She's not very tall, standing about two heads shorter than her guardian, and is rather thin. Physically, she is weak with very little endurance.

Equipment: Ancestral staff that is more for show than use, and simple robes for modesty and a little protection.

Background:
Born in Yamato, Nanami was the eldest child of two very wealthy parents. She was always very spoiled with a highly volatile temperament, the type that most parents generally don't take to. From a very early age Nanami was found to possess prodigious magical talent, something that her parents knew could move them up in the world if used correctly. In spite of her ornery nature Nanami actually took to the lessons rather well, using them to vent her many frustrations. She found a particular skill for the use of fire, and since then it became her magical element of choice.

Nanami had many tutors, all of whom stayed for only short periods of time. They were impressed by her talent but did not find her temperament worth dealing with. With this knowledge, Nanami's parents decided the best thing to do was to send her to an academy for magic users, where she could become more social and less tightly wound.

Nanami did not take this news well.

When the day came for Nanami to be taken away to the academy, her parents also acquired a guardian for her, someone who could protect her from the dangers of the outside world that she was so unaccustomed to. The guardian, a vagabond named Kazuo, did not complement Nanami's personality very well. During the entire trip, they quarreled, usually through some minor annoyance that Nanami had deemed Kazuo guilty of. If the road was too bumpy, it was Kazuo's fault. If the beasts of burden were too slow, it was Kazuo's fault. If the sun was too bright, that too was Kazuo's fault. Though the road to Tonogasha was short, it was filled with arguments between the two rivals.

Yet that was not the only problem that the duo encountered. When they stopped in a little unmapped village for supplies, a small but disastrous thing happened. A group of thieves raided the carriage while the duo shopped. They did not get much by the time the duo returned, and their refusal to give what they did have back sparked a confrontation. Against her better judgement, Nanami let her fire spells out, and a great deal of damage was done to the carriage, as well as the thieves. After their defeat, the thieves ran off, leaving the charred-but-stable carriage and some mildly ruined goods.

This was a sign of the misfortune that would fall upon the duo.

They managed to get a ferry to Tonogasha by selling their burnt-and-thus-useless items, and their un-burnt items were few enough that they could be carried the rest of the way. But more misfortune fell upon them, as one of Nanami's rivals, another Shugenji from a wealthy family that had competed against hers for centuries, was also on the ferry. The two traded barbs during the ride, and during these arguments, two duels were fought. The rival, Arata, won once and so did Nanami. But the bruise to her ego, and the subsequent fire damage to the ship, only caused more hardship for the two. After paying up for their damages, and being booted off the ferry as soon as possible, Nanami and her guardian were in deeper trouble than ever.

So they continued onward, and onward, and onward. Nanami only hoped that their destination would come soon, but things rarely are as one hopes.

[starke]

First Session:

www.scribd.com/doc/53085256?secret_password=2ogi93p7j3nr8zovrp49

Recap:

Our heroes have been given a mysterious royal summons to the Lion Temple at midnight. After much squabbling between the two they manage to get to the meeting-having only to kill one innocent guard along the way. Turns out that the summons was issued by none other than the Great Emperor Satsuma himself. The Emperor has had visions of our protagonists, and details 6 nightmaric visions he has had. It is up to them to eliminate these evil spirits to prevent the downfall of Hyuga!

[starke]

Second Session:

www.scribd.com/doc/53479801/Chat-Session-2?secret_password=1xbzkbo4krwva6q7mski

Recap:

After dawdling inside the Lion Temple after the Emperor leaves, our heroes are ambushed by the city guards (filled with vengeance for their fallen comrade). A long and drawn out fight takes place on a staircase as our heros escape out the window and onto the roof. With the grace of an overweight ninja they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Disguised as a geisha Nanami tries to distract the guards at the gate as Kazou sneaks through. The plan flops in tremendous fashion, and our proud heroes end up sprinting through the streets barefoot and bleeding.

In the outskirts they meet up with a woman of Kondo origin named Toshie. She reveals herself as being a childhood friend/sister of the Emperor before he became the Emperor (it's complicated). She knows of the Emperor's prophetic visions and wishes to help out anyway she can. Judging from their track record, our heroes need all the help they can get.