Realistic or Modern United at Last - Lore Tab

[Meehrwillow]

yoikes

The Executioner

artist

Demon of Yamazaka

G

eneral.

name

Watamashi no Akatarō - 原益赤多朗

titles

Laughing Oni of Yamazaka, Disinherited Madman

age

Late Twenties

gender

Female

p

ersonality.

Akatarō is as ambitious as she is hotheaded, traits both resulting from the special circumstances of her upbringing. She seems to understand her life as something to be enjoyed to the fullest, seeing no point in moping or letting any opportunity slip by. Once she sets her eyes upon anything, she will have it, regardless of how ridiculous or impossible her goal may appear to be. In the face of misfortune she shows audacity, in the face of tilted odds callousness and luck, and in the face of denial she shows determination. Though she may come across as utterly unhinged to snobbish nobility, she does hold a soft spot for poetry and art, especially the verbose literature of old-timey authors.

On a similar note, she can easily give the impression of being too friendly and lax with her retainers, having no sense of formality or proper etiquette. Perhaps even overconfident in herself, she offers them a great deal of freedom and trust, even to those with real reasons to hold grudges against her. Indeed, her biggest flaw is easily her clueless carelessness anywhere other than the battlefield.

h

istory.

Akatarō was born as the eldest and only son of the mildly influential Watamashi clan, or so the official record goes. Raised at Kōmune castle with a classical boy's education, 'he' became infatuated at a young age with the stories of mythological heroes and brave ancestors, who swept the battlefield clear of their enemies. However, the more the young heir aged, the more it became apparent that something was amiss. Moved from castle to castle, any and all spotlight was eventually taken away from 'him,' leaving the child surrounded only by a transient circle of the most trusted members of the clan. These members had to ensure that an ugly truth would never spread; the truth that no son had ever existed at all. Instead, the account given to the world was that of madness striking the boy, making 'him' unfit to rule. This narrative was even fed to Akatarō 'himself,' that in reality 'he' was merely insane and imagining the bodily changes which had started occurring.

To cope with this confusing reality and gaslighting, Akatarō briefly became a helpless drunkard, a habit which was subtly encouraged by 'his' wards. In drunken stupours, the youth would erupt into verbal fits, climb castle walls and even assault retainers, but these states wouldn't last forever. In the brief periods of clarity, Akatarō would slowly piece together a vow; to find inner peace and learn the truth of their banishment to lonely mountain-forts. From that moment on, the rightful inheritor of the Watamashi clan threw all sadness to the wind, embracing the madness forced upon 'him' and beginning to dream up grand ambitions.

Finally learning of her unjust disinheritance several years later, this all came to culminate in an incident which would lay the groundwork for a great earthquake; to shake the entire country in time.

r

elationships.

Watamashi no Akanori - 原益赤多至

The relationship between Akatarō and her father is tenuous at best, the former wanting nothing to do with the 'problem' he's personally created and the latter seeing him as nothing more than a future stepping stone. In short, they are like a sleeper and his boogeyman.

Watamashi Sisters

Akatarō has two sisters, both of which she has a rather neutral relationship with. They've had very little time to bond together, and so neither side thinks too fondly of the other.

Nanaka - 七上

A spoiled and demanding cousin, Nanaka is—suprisingly—Akatarō's favourite family member. Having spent a chunk of her later childhood with the younger girl as a playmate, she has grown rather fond of her and her boldness. She will gladly spoil her with anything she might desire, even characteristically going as far as to abandon responsibility in order to grant her wishes.

g

allery.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[yoikes]

Spoiler: Kuroyama Tadashi

Name: Kuroyama Tadashi

Age: 19

Appearance:

Personality: Cold and aloof, it's been drilled into Tadashi since he was little that he is to be a royal servant of the Kibe clan, to be their sword at time of war and shield at time of peace. This made him into a person that is fiercely loyal and devoted to a fault, believing in the "mission" that he has been entrusted in, for he has nothing else. Although obedient, he has also been taught and encouraged by his father to speak up in moments of crisis to offer advice, a crucial mindset for the future strategist and advisor to the Kibe clan. After all, without the ability to think quickly and flexibly in the heat of battle, they will not be able to serve their master properly.
Most people treat him like a political tool, including his father, or with fear and or respect for his position. If there is anyone who brings some sort of normalcy to his life, it was some of his most trusted servants, the now-deceased mother and Kibe Harumi. Despite his initial coldness, he has a hidden gentle and clumsy side to himself, one that is shown and seen by the people close to him.

History: The only child of the Kuroyama clan, Tadashi grew up under the strict parental guidance of his father, the renowned strategist Katsuro. Since the mere age of five, he has been made to swing a bamboo sword from dawn to dusk, made to train and spar with kids older than him. When he's not studying swordsmanship, he is taught in literature, poetry, etiquette, and under his father's direct guidance-- military strategies. Katsuro put high expectations on his son, the heir to their small yet influential clan, watching his growth with certain impatience. When Tadashi turned 15 years old, Katsuro started taking him to the field of battle, to learn to be a "man". The first man Tadashi ever kill was a bandit, skinny with a desperate look in his eyes, he and his little group was stealing rice and attacking travelers for money.

When Tadashi was 18 years old, the talk of marriage intensifies, though he has no say on who he will marry or when. It was all decided by his father, as he saw fit, to strengthen the position of their clan. It is then he realized that, in a way, he is a "political asset" to his father. For that reason, deciding a marriage partner is like deciding the next course of action in battle, and Katsuro is certainly taking his time to decide. While his father is busy with his own schemes, Tadashi spent his time learning even more. He is most interested in talking with sailors and merchants, hearing their tales of faraway kingdoms, of a stick that can pierce armors and strange creatures such as spotted skin and long neck. It gives his boring and dull life a thrill, as Tadashi continues to walk on this path laid down by his father...

Relationships:

• Kuroyama Katsuro: A strategist of respectable renown, he is Kibe Noboru's most trusted retainer, his words and advice are known to be one of the few who could penetrate Noboru's infamous thick-headedness. Ever since the death of his beloved wife, he has become more closed and kept to himself, an act that people see as a sign of heartbreak. Tadashi knew that he is just busy making more schemes and planning his wedding, turning his head around for the glory and prestige of Kuroyama clan.
• Kibe Noboru: A greedy and ruthless man, his domain was one of the biggest and the richest among the other retainers of the Watamashi clan. His arrogance led him to believe that he deserves so much more than he has right now, with petty jealousy over the smallest of things that his "rivals" got better than him. People in court used to secretly whisper of a joke that the real leader of Kibe is Kuroyama Katsuro until the jokesters started mysteriously dying, and it didn't take long for it to stop.
• Kibe Shigeru, Kibe Masashi, Kibe Aika: The oldest three siblings of Kibe clan. They are all arrogant, shallow, and vain, lavishly spending the riches they have to get drunk and freely harassing the peasants or buying extravagant things just to show off.
• Kibe Harumi: The youngest of the Kibe siblings, just a year younger than Tadashi, in a way they basically grew up together. He found her to be sweet and delicate, with a similar interest in literature and poetry, making him fond of her. All this time, he sees her more of a younger sister, but as they are both are well in the age of marriage, a yearning begins to bloom within his heart...

 

[Meehrwillow]

worldend_dominator

artist

Watamashi Clan - 原益氏

M

embers.

Watamashi no Akanori - 原益赤多至

The current head of the clan, he is an aging and withering man. Firmly stuck in the ways of the past, his biggest failure in life was his inability to produce a male offspring. After several miscarriages, zero luck with concubines and the birth of an unfated daughter, his patience for the mercy of the gods had run as arid as a desert. In a desperate bid, he convinced his wife and those present at the child's birth to lie about her gender, granting her the name Akatarō to signify her status as a first-born son. Though he believed Akatarō would be his first and last progeny, two more daughters were born to him in the following years, which in his arrogance he saw as mockery from the divinities of the land.

Outside of these misfortunes, he has led the clan on a conservative path of political alliances and petty opportunism. Sucking up to the Shōgun before his fall, he had managed to hoard a hefty amount of castles and land, though his weakness as a commander began rearing its ugly head the moment conflict arrived at his borders. He is a man of the old traditions, his moods shifting constantly between mellow and ill-tempered. Most of all, his ailing health and age have procedurally turned him more and more unpredictable.

Sohime - 祖姫

Akanori's life-long wife, the two were married at an early age as a symbol of friendship between the Watamashi clan with another. Neither has ever been truly faithful to the other, and their relationship is indeed in name only. Barely spending any time together, the two both have their own sphere of influence, with Sohime always having been recognized as the clan's de-facto envoy to the Imperial Capital.

Ayachi - 史市

The middle Watamashi sister, she was the child most groomed to imperial life. Raised by her mother personally, she became a stereotypical beauty of the Capital, adored by the Shōgun's court and enjoying the many boons of mingling with nobility. As the Shogunate began cracking and falling apart, her position began to startle her, escaping the capital together with a northern daimyō.

She is moody and aloof, her repertoire of talents including classical arts such as poetry, court dances and etiquette. She bemoans the transience of her life as a sad curse, viewing the snowy mountain peaks in dejected melancholy.

Sekihime Gozen - 赤姫 御前

Sekihime is a topic even more taboo than Akatarō to bring up at a Watamashi dinner table. Born illegitimately to an Imperial prostitute, she was briefly taken in by Akanori to live at one of the clan's mountainside castles. There, not only would she briefly meet her estranged older 'brother,' but also fall victim to the bane of unrequited love—on the side of the beloved. Having been scorned by the legitimate members of her family, she had already become a jaded and self-reliant recluse, and when one night her unsollicited suitor decided to pay her a visit at her quarters, the morning revealed only his dead body and a room splattered with blood.

Since then, she has been travelling the island-nation as a rōnin-for-hire, the truth about her ancestry scantily remembered.

NANAKA - 七上

Nanaka is the youngest daughter born to Watamashi no Akachi, a younger brother of Akanori. Easily being the clan's richest member (and rather soft-hearted) he provided Nanaka with anything she desired; from expensive jewelry, to exotic fruits and even an entire onsen-castle for her fifteenth birthday. She is spoiled to the core, highly energetic and crafty, knowing damn well the charms of her cuteness.

During one of her whimsical outbursts, she had simply decided that she wanted to visit Akatarō under house arrest. Unable to be convinced otherwise, the old men of the clan eventually relented and she was allowed to keep 'him' company for a period of three months. Suffice to say, a bizarre friendship sprouted that day.

H

istory.

The Watanashi clan was founded by Monowara no Tomonaga, a famed oni slayer who drove the demons of his homeland past the mountains of Yamazaka. There, with the blessings of the Emperor, he built a line of castles and defenses, which would eventually become the territory of his newborn clan. It is said that he died at Toyosatomimi-ji in a meditative trance after being poisoned by Bonshuu-douji, a malevolent mountain demon. His twin swords embedded themselves in the shrine's altar, and have been the mark of the clan's rightful heir ever since.

Though the clan isn't the most powerful by any margin, it's been enjoying quite a bit of influence during its lifespan. Feuding with the onmyōji and monastery monks over posts by the seat of the Emperor and later Shōgun, its heads have spent their lives bolstering their domain and creating alliances, though they've faced long periods of regression lately. Now faced with a full-blown succession crisis, things don't appear to be looking up for the mountain-keepers.

T

erritory.

The Watamashi clan is predominantly based around Yamazaka province, a mountainous region to the east of the country's center. It owns a series of castles along the province's mountain range, as well as a few holdings between it and the bountiful south-eastern coast.

g

allery.

♡coded by uxie♡