The Empress's Own (historical, culture clash, could use a few more males)

Started by IrishWolf, May 10, 2014, 07:12:15 AM

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IrishWolf


Caela

Player: Caela
Group: Regiment
Name: Eri Takeda
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Rank: Regiment
Highest Rank Held: N/A
Social Standing: Noble
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual

Appearance: When not training with her Father, Eri is, most commonly, dressed in silk kimonos in various shades of blue, black or red and usually decorated with cherry blossoms or cranes. The more formal dress is to appease her Mother. Left to her own devices she would simply remain in the comfort of her Shozoku, or the same simple garb her Father wore when not training. Her Mother would have none of this however. She might have a daughter that was also a Warrior, but when not training she expected Eri to look like a daughter. The thick mane of her raven black hair is, almost without fail, kept drawn back into a tight bun or twist and where her sisters are often artfully done up with powers and shadows, her own face is, always, clear of artifice. Built lithe, she doesn't have the muscle of a male warrior but she makes up for it by having the grace of a willow reed and the speed of mountain cat in her strikes and while she may not appear as strong as a male, her lithe frame is surprisingly strong from constant training as a child. At 5'8 she is tall for a woman and this is just one more reason her family sees it as appropriate for her to be the family protector, her Mother fears of her never making a "respectable" marriage and feels she should have skills she can live on as a fall back.

Weapons: Like her Father she always has a katana at her side and she never leaves her home without her naginata, which is her weapon of choice. Few people ever see them, but she also has forearm sheathes to give easy access to the double edged tanto blades she carries there and she is never without a keiken in the obi wrapped around her kimono as well.

Extra Gear: Along with the blade she always carries, she never leaves her home, for long, without the black mare her Father purchased for her and a bag that carries an extra Shozoku and kimono, two water skins, and a small jade statue of a dragon that her Mother purchased for her to stand in for their family Guardians when she is far from home. She doesn't have it yet, but her Father has promised her an appropriately fitted suit of armor on her 20th birthday as well.

History: The youngest of five daughters, it was with her birth that her Father despaired of ever having a son and so he named Eri, the protector, and raised her as he would have raised a boy. While her sisters were learning to dance, make up their faces, and how to properly run a house, she was out in the yard learning how to ride a horse, shoot a bow and handle a variety of blades from her favorite naginata to the small keiken she kept in her obi. Her Mother wouldn't have it that one of her daughters didn't learn some of the womanly arts however and so she learned how to properly drape a kimono, how to dance, and how to cook as well.

It made for a unique childhood and while she savored the skills her Father taught her, she did regret the very real rift it placed between her and her sisters as well. From a small, but Noble family she would travel with her Father when he would go to the Capital for various functions while her sisters remained, jealously, at home and while her sisters were being married off to "respectable" husbands she was at home continuing her training with little hope of such a match for herself.

Fully grown now she has but one sister left at home who is due to be sent away in marriage the next summer and she works hard to earn the suit of armor her Father has promised her for her 20th birthday. When the call from the Empress reached their home for fighters to build her new Regiment with, to learn new ways of fighting, her Father was loathe to send her, but Eri couldn't think of anything better. With her last sister to be married they no longer needed a protector to guard their virtue and this would give her more skills to use to establish herself in her own future. If all went well it might even bring her to the notice of the Empress herself, perhaps even earn her a position in the Empress personal Guard. Unable to argue with his favored daughter, Eri was given the supplies she would need and he escorted her himself to the Capital and the new life she would lead there.

Juggtacular


Caela

lol...Does he approve because he actually approves...or because she's the only female on the board so far?!  ;D

She can be bristly, and keep in mind she's covered in blades...even when you can't see them! Am thinking even things like decorative hair sticks are likely to be weapons on her.

Juggtacular

Both. Lol.

She's pretty, a good fighter, etc... Nothing better than a woman who knows her way around a battlefield. And if she's as good as she seems in her bio, then once he sees her in action he'll definitely be impressed.

IrishWolf

Excellent, I heartily approve of Eri Takeda.

I will be starting on the IC but hopefully, we'll get a couple more characters before I open the game.

Caela

Hehehe...oh she's good! :D Though his being impressed with probably confuse her lol. Keep in mind I've written her as from a small province and as the protector of her sisters, she more used to the men she comes into contact with fawning over the "proper" females and looking at her as some sort of freak. If he actually expresses admiration for her skills, she's likely to think he's mocking her at first.

Caela

lol...With all those blade he might tumble all right! Just not in the way he's expecting!  >:)

Question Mark

'T'was more than a day, but here it is.



Player: Question Mark

Group: Military Mission

Name: Henry Jean Vesalier

Age: 42

Gender: Male

Rank: Captain

Highest Rank Held: Major

Social Standing: N/A

Sexual Preference: Heterosexual

Appearance: Tall, nearly 190 cm, with a willowy build and long legs that make him a naturally good runner.  Maintains a bushy brown mustache on a handsome, albeit worn, face.  While in uniform, wears a red and blue kepi, a blue single-breasted shell coat with golden buttons and epaulettes, white gloves, and dark blue straight-legged trousers with a golden stripe running down the outside leg.

Weapons: At all times, Henry possesses a standard Le Hir Revolver, loaded.  When in uniform, he will also carry a Pattern 1633 Cuirass, which he bears with great pride.  Finally, he maintains a standard 1630 Bosc rifle, which he keeps in his quarters.

Extra Gear: The usual toiletries.  In addition, Henry possesses an older style pocket watch, the outer casing of which bears a map of the (then) known world, itself ringed by an artistic representation of the Doldrum.  He also carries a handkerchief for his persistent cough and a finely carved wood pipe inlaid with brass, although he does not smoke it.

History: Henry was born into poverty in the year 1613 to his father, Jean, and his mother, Amelie.  A clotheswasher, Amelie died during childbirth.  Jean, a factory worker deep in debt, frequently took out his anger and grief on his young son, indirectly blaming him for his wife's death.  Henry grew up covered in bruises and reeking of the gin his father bought with money he didn't have to spare.  He loved his father despite the harsh treatment, and being an intelligent and surprisingly emphatic child, often worried after his health and fortunes.

By the age of 6, Henry was working 12 hour shifts as a chimney sweep.  Several years later, Jean was jailed in a debtors prison.  As a result, Henry began boarding with his father's sister.  Despite her close relation, she maintained that it was Henry's responsibility to pay down his father's debt, and so he continued working.  Her husband, a Lieutenant in the army named Picard, returned later that year on a brief leave.  A kind man, he persuaded her to release Henry to the army, and to use part of her considerable savings to make Jean's debt solvent, allowing Henry to stop working and attend a private school as a ward of the army.

Despite his late start, Henry proved to be a voracious student, excelling in reading, arithmetic, and oration.  On Picard's advice, and inspired by his grand tales of soldiering abroad, Henry applied and was quickly accepted into the Malix Military Academy.  He again excelled academically, but received poor marks in the areas of leadership and military strategy.  Upon graduation at the age of 21, Henry was assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant to the 12th Logistics Corp and stationed in a city garrison as a supply officer.  Proving adept at maintaining the supply chain, he quickly rose to the rank of Major over the next decade.  Henry set aside a percentage of his wages to paying off his father's debt, but was unable to keep up with the accruing interest.  Growing desperate, Henry entered into the contraband black market.  By changing numbers in supply ledgers, he could reroute weapons, food, and clothing to illicit buyers without arousing suspicion.  With this robust income, he quickly paid down the interest, released Jean, and even bought him a small apartment in the city.  However, he was forced to discontinue sending money after an investigation nearly uncovered his role in the contraband racket.

Two years later, war broke out with Tauacia.  Henry was commissioned as a chief logistics officer for one of the many fronts, and was moved out to a supply camp near the fighting.  A month into the war, a misled Tauacian force assaulted the depot, having incorrectly believed it to be a staging area.  Although the force was quickly rebuffed due to the timely arrival of an Osoren regiment, Henry took a ball to the chest in the chaos and nearly died of pneumonia the following week.

While recovering from his injury, a messenger arrived bearing a formal accusation of Henry for contraband smuggling.  He would later learn that a captured fence working for the contraband ring had given up his name under duress.

Despite the ongoing war, Henry was forced to return and stand trial.  As it turned out, the evidence against him was not especially strong, and Henry was able to narrowly evade a conviction by nullifying the incriminating testimony and citing his distinguished service.  Fearing an incorrect verdict, the military tribunal nonetheless busted him down to a Lieutenant, docked his pay, and assigned him as a "morale officer" to a 9th Infantry fort on the fringe of the fighting, far away from any major supply lines.  The position was intended as an indirect punishment, and Henry spent the remainder of the war pacing the walls of the fort and cleaning equipment, growing resentful and bitter.  His wound, although fully healed, had left him with a persistent cough, and the cool climate only exacerbated the problem.

After the war, Henry repeatedly petitioned for reassignment, and was repeatedly turned down.  Even when he received a rain-soaked letter telling him of Jean's death, the Osoren army refused to grant him leave to return home and bury his father.  The fourth year of his assignment crawled by, and Henry began contemplating desertion.  Before he could steal away across the border, a letter arrived bearing his name.  His sixteenth reassignment request had been granted: he was ordered to immediately report to the nearest port and rendezvous with a mission to the distant Araki Empire.  Included was a parcel bearing the epaulettes of an Osoren Captain and a signed order confirming his promotion.

Initially, Henry used the command as a cover-up for his desertion.  Three nights after leaving the fort, Henry encountered an Osoren military convoy led by a man who recognized him from his highly publicized trial four years earlier.  After a brief inquiry, Henry was forced to reveal that he was destined for the nearest port.  Surprised, the leader of the convoy insisted that he travel with them since, through sheer luck, that was where they were headed.  Unable to decline without revealing his desertion, Henry found himself unwillingly escorted to the port.

IrishWolf


Question Mark

Quote from: IrishWolf on May 15, 2014, 07:21:37 PM
More than a day but worth it, glad to see Captain Vesalier

Forgot to mention it in the post, but the reassignment to the Araki mission also included a promotion to Captain.  I've edited the profile to include this detail.

Question Mark


Juggtacular

Quote from: Caela on May 15, 2014, 03:32:38 PM
Hehehe...oh she's good! :D Though his being impressed with probably confuse her lol. Keep in mind I've written her as from a small province and as the protector of her sisters, she more used to the men she comes into contact with fawning over the "proper" females and looking at her as some sort of freak. If he actually expresses admiration for her skills, she's likely to think he's mocking her at first.

I understand that. But unlike the guys who came to fawn over the proper ladies, he's a samurai warrior at heart, and a noble/politician second. So to see a woman so dedicated to the fight would be a welcome change from primp and proper he's seen all his life. And heh, if she thinks he's teasing, I think that would add a bit of fun off the bat.

Lithium


Player: Lithium

Group: Regiment

Name: Izumi Satō

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Rank: TBD

Social Standing: Noble

Sexual Preference: Bisexual

Appearance: Standing at 5'6", Izumi is of slightly above average height for an Araki woman. She has jet black hair, dark brown eyes and a slender, athletic body. She has one large tattoo depicting a mythical water serpent embellished with koi fish, waves and cherry blossoms that begins on the upper left of her chest before wrapping around to span across her entire back and finally trailing off at the back of her right thigh. Since she enjoys being different and feeds off of attention, Izumi often chooses to dress quite outrageously and provocatively. Very short kimonos with open necklines, sheer clothing, exotic skins or furs, flamboyant makeup, four inch tall platform sandals - there's not much that she'll shy away from. She likes to wear her own distinctive kabuki face paint into battle, making herself even more recognizable.

Weapons: The weapons that Izumi typically carries are a katana, a pair of wakizashi, a tanto, a pair of tessen (bladed fans) and a pair of kanzashi (sharpened hair pins) tucked into her hair. She also owns a yari spear and a yumi bow that see less frequent use, as she'll usually leave them at home or strapped to her horse.

Extra Gear: Dō-maru (leather scale armor), a grey horse, a variety of clothes, makeup and other beauty products.

History: As the ninth out of eleven children, Izumi was of noble birth but hardly received the same level of attention as some of her older siblings. It was a blessing and a curse, in a way, since that meant that she also didn't have any major responsibilities imposed upon her or decisions shoved down her throat like her eldest sister who'd been forced into an arranged marriage at only fourteen.

Becoming enthralled with kabuki theater at a young age, Izumi spent the majority of her time working on her dancing and acting skills when she wasn't studying. It wasn't until a few years later that she suddenly had a sort of epiphany while watching two of her brothers spar with wooden bokken swords, recognizing the same beauty and fluidity in sword fighting that she appreciated so much from kabuki.

Since she was left to her own devices for the most part as long as she did well in school, Izumi branched off down the path of the warrior as well, though she didn't abandon her passion for performing. Eventually, she was able to fuse elements from each of her arts together, developing her own unique and unpredictable movements.

When she was old enough, Izumi left her home to explore the empire and continue to expand her skills. Joining a traveling theater company, she toured all around Araki, learning new fighting techniques from different masters in every town and city as she passed through them. Once she became confident enough, she started competing in duels and public tournaments, instantly becoming addicted to the thrill and glory of battle as well as the high profile that came with victory.

Enjoying her fame ever since, she never really looked back until recently when she returned to visit her home and learned that her father was worryingly ill. Though they'd never been extremely close, Izumi still considered him a good father and a great man, and she felt like she owed him for the blessed life that he'd provided her with. This was just days after the Empress' call for soldiers to join the ranks of her new experimental regiment, so Izumi decided to seize the opportunity with the hope of giving her father something to be proud of before he left this world.

Juggtacular


Salvation

Being Japanese, this catches my interest, and I like bad ass Asian women, so will look at this, and see If I can make a character that fits. I rather like the details and characters that I have seen so far with perusing the thread.


IrishWolf

Lithium, a lovely character and I'm glad to see you joined us.

Salvation, I would be honored to have a character from you.

Salvation

Quote from: IrishWolf on May 16, 2014, 05:43:05 AM
Lithium, a lovely character and I'm glad to see you joined us.

Salvation, I would be honored to have a character from you.

Great, I got it started and will post it in the next day or two. 

Question Mark

Lithium, you used some amazing pictures in that profile.  I especially like the armor one.  Do you happen to recall where you got them from?

Lithium

Quote from: Question Mark on May 17, 2014, 10:34:05 PM
Lithium, you used some amazing pictures in that profile.  I especially like the armor one.  Do you happen to recall where you got them from?

I'm glad you liked them. ^^

The portrait is by Luis Royo from a book called Dead Moon.

The armor picture I got from a gallery on Deviantart, but the artist seems to have erased everything from his account, so unfortunately I can't really help you with that one.

IrishWolf


SweetSerenade

I am actually highly interested in this story. Like you would not believe, I do not usually do non-series, but this is one that catches my fancy. I have a few character ideas, for a woman. Need to think of exactly what I would like to do with her, I know she will be Arakian.. XD

Bakemono Shiki RP(Lovely Siggy Layout is thanks to Amaris)

Juggtacular

Sweet. Three Araki women, Two Araki men(so far) and a slew of soldiers.

IrishWolf


SweetSerenade

hmmm I noticed htat. Well... I would be more interested in playing a more caucasian female - to be honest. But how would I do so, while still staying within the confines of the plot?

Bakemono Shiki RP(Lovely Siggy Layout is thanks to Amaris)