Chapter 1: New People and PlacesTime for the action to start. I'd like to mention to everyone that a stealth attack does not result as a combat roll, (X vs. Y) Stealth attacks are purely (d6=X), and only become combat rolls when the other person is aware they are being attacked.
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Io shadows the farmer and his cattle. He tries his best to look inconspicuous as he walks into the marketplace. The farmer stops to talk with another man. Io pretends to browse some nearby jewelry, but he looks out of the corner of his eye to watch the farmer. The farmer and the man laugh and converse. Then, the man hands the farmer a bag, and the farmer hands him the rope for the two cattle. The farmer and the man bow and part ways. As he leaves the marketplace, Io follows.
Io keeps on following the farmer from a long distance. Every time the farmer looks around, Io blends behind a wall, barrel, or group of people. This game continues, and the farmer eventually exits the city, just like according to Io's plan. The farmer stays on a dirt path, while Io sticks to the spaced-out trees. As the trees get more and more spaced out as time goes on, Io knows he will have to move soon. And the opportunity comes: The farmer stops for a moment to look inside the bag he received earlier.
As the farmer inspects the big, Io sidles up to the side of his tree. He quickly loads an arrow into his bow, inspecting his surroundings quickly to make sure no one is coming. When he is sure of this, he knocks the arrow and aims at the farmer. The back of the neck, where the spine and the brain meet. Io fires...
(1)
Io did not know if it was a misfire, or if the Gods came after him, but the arrow embeds itself into the ground right behind the farmer. The farmer jumps, spilling a few golden Yen coins onto the ground. The farmer turns around and sees the arrow in the ground. He takes out a large knife. Io sinks back into hiding. He hears,
"Who's there?! Come out, I know you're hiding!"
Name: Sarawa Io (Last, First)
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Clan: Ruita (Neutral)
Appearance: A man at 6'0", he is not physically muscled but lean. He is built for speed and dodging.
Biography: Io was born to the family of Sarawa. The Sarawa family never really served Ruita, but in the woods they thrived. Modern day ninjas they always fought for their own needs which could mean taking jobs for any clan, or being bandits. They did whatever was necessary to better themselves. Io grew into this family and accepted the traditions. Io knows no master now and has trained for what he needs.. Io intends to write his own destiny wherever it takes him. He simply wants a purpose.
Attributes:
+: Agility, Stealth, Instinct
-: Strength, Charisma, Luck
Primary Weapon: Bow (Yumi)
Secondary Weapon: Pistol (Bashido)
Inventory: Traditional Kimono, Sandals, 1800 Yen
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Nikolae began to walk into the town, getting away from the bar and it's Französisch. He began looking around for opportunities to make money. He tested his Japanese reading abilities on various signs, finding out that the town was looking for it's usual bare-minimum temp and labor jobs. He found one man on an oxen-pulled wagon, asking for a bodyguard. "Too many Shogunate hiding in the woods, ambushing carts like mine! I'll give good pay to anyone who will protect me!" Moving on, Nikolae also finds a pamphlet on another job:
Lord Vutai looking for mercenaries.
5000 Yen for job. Equipment provided.
Vutai Palace 4km off left road from port on hill, impossible to miss.
Nikolae makes a note of this and heads to the train station. He hears the rumble of a train off in the distance. He saunters up to the ticket window.
"How much is it for a ride?" The woman inside looks at him.
"2000 for the Capital, 4000 for Hyritori, 6000 for Shutomo and 8000 for Tokugawa. Trains come in at dawn, dusk and mid-night." It is currently mid-day.
Name: Nikolae Kriegsmacher
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Clan: Kotowa (Neutral)
Appearance: 5'9", long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and clear blue eyes. His body is muscled and built for agility without forsaking strength. The young man usually wears leather pants, a loose white long-sleeved shirt topped by a black vest with a silver pocket watch attached to it and resilient brown leather boots. Due to his fencing classes, he took the habit of donning a chail mail under his clothing.
Biography: Inheritance? Nikolae had no need for such things, especially because his older brother would receive all of it... Anyway, hailing from the Kriegsmacher family from the Prussian area of Germany, Nikolae was given a large sum of gold and convinced to leave the country or face the consequences of a struggle for the ownership of all the family's possessions. The youngster always wanted some adventure, and the prospect of not having to worry about poison in his food and assassins hiding in his bedroom seduced him, and to Japan he went. He is almost always smiling and his intelligence shifts along different areas, causing him to appear to be rather stupid sometimes.
He had fencing classes and carries a longsword along his rifle, which always has an attached bayonet.
Primary Weapon: Rifle (Dafeinher w/ Bayonet)
Secondary Weapon: Sword (Wrustbalgr)
Attributes:
+: Strength, Endurance, Agility
-: Stealth, Intelligence, Charisma
Inventory: Chain Mail, Brown Leather Pants, Loose White-sleeved Shirt, Black Vest, Silver Pocket-watch, Brown Leather Boots, 80 German Gold Marks (Equal to 2000 Yen)
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Shimizu looks at the number of Imperialist Line Infantry. He estimates about 120 or so of them. He signals for his unit to aim. He hears the soft clatter of 60 rifles being aimed upon the rocks, pointing downwards. Shimizu sees a man with a fancier hat and suit compared to the other men. He puts him directly in his sights.
"Fire."(1)
The rifles go off, and there is a simultaneous burst of noise and light. The Imperialists scream as some are killed instantly, some wounded, and some hit in places that will promise them a swift death. Every rifle had fired, except Shimizu's. He yanks on the trigger, but it doesn't budge. His rifle is jammed. The commander of the Line Infantry starts barking orders, and soon his whole unit is running.
The Sharpshooters back off of the ledge and reload. Zubo says, "That could have gone a lot better. Now they know we're up here, and are probably going to try and flank us by coming up the mountain..."
Name: Shimizu Katsuo (Last name, first name).
Gender: Male.
Age: 23.
Clan: Shutomo (Shogunate).
Appearance: A short, agile man, Katsuo has short dark hair and blue eyes. He stands at 5' 5'', and isn't too muscular.
Biography: Katsuo was born into the Shimizu family as their second-eldest son. He enlisted into the army as soon as he could, and trained as a sharpshooter in his natal Shutomo. He's traveled far and wide, and as a result knows some foreign languages, like Chinese and English. Now that the war between the Shogunate and the Imperialists started, he sided with the progressists, and will do nearly anything to further their goals.
Primary Weapon: Rifle (Charleston Scoped)
Secondary Weapon: Knife (Kirite)
Attributes:
+: Agility, Stealth, Intelligence, Dexterity, Luck
-: Strength, Endurance, Perception, Toughness, Will, Instinct
Inventory: Sharpshooter Uniform, Helmet, Leather Boots, 1500 Yen
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As Horokomoi greets the Englishmen, they stand up. One offers his hand. "Dennis Canterbury sir." He shakes Horokomoi's hand, a common Western greeting. "Actually, we are not here for vacation, but rather for business duties." His Japanese is laden with a thick English accent. "We come from the Harbuckle company of the United Kingdom, and we were hoping to start shipping out mass produced artillery. Our artillery could change all of Japanese warfare. It's like naval bombardment, but you can place it wherever you pleased. However, our company would need a Japanese sponsor to invest in the first batch of Artillery Mortars, someone like a rich lord or noble. He would be a very powerful man if he did so..."
Name: Horokomoi Orogami
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Clan: Tokugawa
Appearance: A man average in stature, Orogami has brown eyes and his hair twisted back in a bun.
Biography: Orogami was born into a long line of Imperialists, but he decided that Japan needed a change. Since then he has lived in the capital as a noble, but he still has some imperial traditions.
Primary Weapon: Sword (Royal Katana)
Secondary Weapon: Pistol (Martelez)
Attributes:
+: Intelligence, Will, Charisma, Luck
-: Endurance, Perception, Toughness, Stealth
Inventory: Royal Kimono, Sandals, 4000 Yen
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The two young men heed Matsuo's words. Should they defend their village, and risk their lives but immortalizes their honer? (+1 Charisma bonus: 6+1=7!) A shine lights up in both of their eyes. One pulls out Kama, two sharp scythes used to cut down crops. The other pulls out his Bo, a long stick. They sprint after Matsuo, back to their village.
Matsuo has already picked up his Yari and is sprinting fast to the village. His sandals smash into the ground, his armor clanging around. He feels he is being followed. He sees that behind him, the two men from before have sprinted along with him, barely behind him, and both armed with weapons. Their eyes are filled with rage and vengeance.
After a while, the three of them make to the village. Matsuo sees it is ruin, he hears screams, the sky is filled with smoke. Bandits smash windows, turn over tables and open bags. One of the young men yell, "Hey bastards, look who we have!" The nearby bandits, draw their weapons and turn around to the villager with an angry look. But their eyes turn to fear as they see Matsuo.
A large, bare-chested bald man walks into view.
"Ah, the great Matsuo. What an honor. I had a feeling you would show up one day." He laughs.
"Well, I certainly hope you've spent your life well, because the breakfast you had today has been your last meal." During this time, Matsuo has been able to observe him. He is not as tall as Matsuo, but he is more muscled. He is unarmed except for a firearm in a holster.
"Go on my men, tear him in half!" His men don't move, frozen in place.
"Come on you pussies! Whoever takes this old Samurai down becomes my second-in-command, and can have any of the village women he wants." As he says this, the bandits start to slowly advance, knives and sticks in their hands. The bandit leader laughs,
"There we go." He backs up a few steps. Matsuo can see that six bandits are bearing down on him, while the two young men next to him brace their weapons.
Name: Matsuo Satoshi
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Clan: Banke
Appearance: A Giant of a man with a muscular body honed through years of training and small conflicts. Despite taking part in a number of duels and minor battles Satoshi remains unscarred. He wears his hair extremely long giving rise to a local myth that he will only shave it when he is defeated in battle
Biography: A legend among his people Satoshi's boisterous and warrior like nature have seen him become a popular figure among the Imperialist small-folk and samurai alike. He has a great love of battle and prefers to fight with traditional methods, though he does not look down on the men who have adapted to more modern ways. Satoshi is not well liked by a number of the higher ranked imperial officals due to his brashness but his fighting ability is well respected, meaning that while he may never have a command of his own he is still a potent weapon when simply pointed towards the enemy.
While Satoshi would prefer Japan to remain true to its traditional ways he does not disrespect the Shogunate and sees them as a worthy opponent who have presented him with the opportunity of a life-time to prove himself.
Primary Weapon: Spear (Yari)
Secondary Weapon: Sword (Doragon)
Attributes:
+: Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Charisma
-: Agility, Perception, Stealth, Intelligence
Inventory: Samurai Kimono, Sandals, 1300 Yen
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Akira laughs at the sheer ignorance of the raiders, unknown to them, and begins to walk off. The raider gang waves him off and heads to their own personal matters.
Akira makes it to the post office. Surely enough, several Wanted posters are displayed on it's wall. The list goes:
Boto Kiawa - Theft. Brown haired, thin. 1200 Yen reward.
Shumi Luime- Livestock Theft. Long black hair, scar on left ankle. 2000 Yen reward.
Gary Carlson - Illegal Weapons Dealing. Blonde, tall, Caucasian. 3000 Yen Reward.
Captain Hotisho Tarwe - Desertion & Prison Escape. Black hair, short, walks with limp. 5000 Yen reward.
Name: Akira Hiroto
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Clan: Shutomo (Neutral)
Appearance: He appears well educated, with a runners body and short hair.
Biography: Hiroto was the son of a minor lord, he looked the part but certainly didn't feel that way. His lessons bored him and people held no more interest than animals to him. However, like animals he enjoyed torturing them as well. Eventually, his dark experiments were discovered and he was locked up. Being the son of a lord however, he got a light sentence. However, while imprisoned he killed his cellmate and was going to be executed when a shogunate raid showed up, and Hiroto offered his services to the leader of the raid. He was taken to the Shutomo, and a new chapter in his saga begun.
Primary Weapon: Rifle
Secondary Weapon: Sword
Attributes:
+: Agility, Intelligence, Charisma
-: Toughness, Stealth, Luck
Author
Topic: Roll to Industrial Japan! (Turn 15: Resurrection!) (Read 16022 times)