Soons Haven
A merchant community found on the coastline of Wind Country, just outside the Diamond Maelstrom at the deepest point of the bay. Calm waters provide safe harbor for a great many merchant ships but their proximity to the maelstrom leaves them prone still to in-climate weather. Soon's haven is Sunagakure's closest neighbor. They have high walls that protect them from the storms as well as roving bandits. Under the authority of the Wind Diamyo is the 7 Merchant Lords who oversee commerce, trade and policies in Soon's Haven. Left to their own devices for the most part, these Merchant Lords have found profits even in the harshest of terrains.
Unbeknownst to most, the Wind Country Daimyō Ishii Shirō has moved his base of operations to Soons Haven from Sora. In the wake of the Diamond Maelstrom an influx of men and women have entered through Soon's heavily barricaded gates. Recently an attack on the people of Soons Haven have placed the people on high alert. Nobody in or out except for the Daimyō's men. This state of fear wrought by the dark foreign Sennin would live in the citizen's hearts for years. They found some security knowing that the Daimyō was here among them, that his forces would protect them as well in the face of trouble. Others felt that the Daimyō's presence would only encourage aggression, the storm was both a blessing and a curse in that the storm limited trade and isolated them on land but at the same time it prevented the beasts of the wild, the native nomads and the bandits that roamed these shifting dunes.
The Daimyō did not come to offer Soons protection, not at all. He sought a closer vantage point for the war that was about to transpire. His army had been raised, Sunagakure was still recovering from a mere handful of aggressors... what would Sunagakure do in the face of a real army.
Saiga did not know where the Daimyō was, but he understood more of the Daimyō's dastardly ambitions than he wished to admit to even himself. If it was not for the love he had for his family, he would have tried to save them... tried to save more. All the same, the ever darkening Saiga continued his perilous quest back through this arid expanse.
[col]
Saiga
Saiga, member of the Cabal. He was a man dedicated first and foremost to his family, a formally trained fighter but never a shinobi he has had a profound sense of honor. He joined the Cabal in his rebellious youth in search of adventure more than wealth. He rescued maidens and uncovered lost and forgotten treasures during the early days of the Cabal, before their mission changed. Many of his cohorts then shared his ideals -- a desire for adventure and opportunity to test their strength against all matter of desert foe. What remained of pure-blooded demons and Ancients were his quarry of choice, he saw the atrocities that the worst of their kind were killing to commit and actively sought the opportunity to test his fist against their claw.
With time came age and a desire to settle down, have the family he had never had. He had climbed to second in command in the Cabal and despite changes in the roster over the years and the gradual deviation from their original mission plan to one that was more fiscally responsible he never fell from the Cabal's graces even when he left to marry a Wind Country woman in Sora. She was a simple fisherman's daughter with what he would call an 'unearthly beauty.' He was smitten and as he should have been, she was a good woman and together they had three children over the next three years. He became a proficient fisherman as well, enough to keep their bellies full, their bodies warm and their heads dry. He desired no more. A simple life is and always has been the best life in his eyes.
Sadly in Wind Country there was no such thing as a happy, simple life not beholden and begotten to anything. It was not the treachery of the wife or the recalcitrant nature of the warrior that led to their discontent but rather the fact that he was capable and happy that he needed to suffer. He was offered a job with the Cabal to hold Sunagakure a place he like every member of the Cabal felt resentment for, however he was not interested in settling perceived debts. He wanted to stay in Sora and catch another fish, lay in bed next to his wife, tell his children stories in front of the fire. No was not an option, the 'request' was a mere pleasantry as Shouki bared into their house one evening after they had all turned into bed. He broke down their wooden door with his knee and before the bleary-eyed martial artist could get out of bed and order his family into hiding Shouki already had his hand wrapped around his wife's throat. He threatened to snap her into two out of boredom alone but gave Saiga an 'out' -- to join them in their mission to infiltrate and overtake Sunagakure. Cowardice or betrayal would result in her, as well as hid children's death.
Regrettably he joined a band of monsters to destroy even greater fiends.|
Daimyō Ishii Shirō
Born into this position of power once held by his father, Daimyō Ishii Shirō is the third of his family's direct line to fill this seat. The position of Daimyō being a station of ultimate power and authority, it is often given to the eldest son of the former Daimyō except in a case where there is no heir apparent and the Daimyō is then determined by the previous Daimyō when his health begins to fail. Daimyō Ishii Shirō's grandfather Ishii Rao took over position of Daimyō fifty five years ago, the Soka family had held onto this position for nearly ten generations prior. He was willed the position much to the surprise and chagrin of his heir apparent, a woman named Soka Ai. Soka Ai was a well-loved darling of Sora, betrothed to Ishii Rao before she backed out the last minute. Some believe that the late Daimyō Soka Gon hoped that passing the mantle of power over to her former fiance would bring her back into his arms. Ai, however believed that her former husband to be falsified the will and was directly responsible for her father's death. There was never any proof of this matter, but considering all things it was a likely truth.
The present Daimyō Ishii Shirō is known to be a stern yet brilliant man. He has two sons, Ishii Shouki - a bastard he reared as a young man with a woman named Fuu who has been documented as a whore in history books and a legitimate son Ishii Susumu, heir apparent. His wife died during childbirth of their daughter Sango. Shouki, their oldest has always demonstrated great fighting skill as well as a reverence for the God that they all share and has spent his youth training his body and honing his skills to be the perfect killer. He is quite mad, but most men with his skill-set share this trait. His younger brother and heir apparent is considered to be the gentlest among them, a scholar more than a warrior he has spent his days locked away in the various libraries of the world learning all he can. He is presently located in Tea Country. The daughter, rather unloved for her part in the death of her mother has had a rather unfortunate life. Locked from public sight for the most part, some believe her to be deformed while others whisper the possibility of abuse. All that is known for certain is that the Daimyō plans to marry her off in the near future to solidify an alliance with possibly Otogakure.
Over the past few decades the Diamyo has been building a personal army capable of strange and terrible things. Little is truly known about the Sovereign just yet but it is said that his eldest son will be acting as the general.[/col]
The thick, white gates of Soons Haven seemed to split the very heavens. Metal bars pierced the sand and a pair of armed guards flanked the entrance. Exhausted and dehydrated with skin that resembled leather more than human flesh, Saiga's palm pounded against the solid steel bars. "Hey... Hey... Hey!" He rasped as he attempted to garner the attention of the sentinels. "HEY!" He repeated. The guards paid no attention to the likely soon to be dead man, they were under strict orders from the Daimyō himself: let nobody in.
Beads of sweat that were already almost dry, his body was so depleted that it could not waste such a precious resource on something as trivial as thermoregulation. The sea was visible from where he stood, the village was located on the coastline and boasted a massive harbor. It was fool's water to drink, but not to wield. Woozy but determined, his hands ran through a series of complex handseals that beckoned the water to follow his command. The exertion was draining as the color escaped his face, his sunken eyes and narrowed cheeks seemed darker. He was tapping into a powerset that was no longer his. His wrist snapped, his carpals popped and a stream of blood escaped from a flared nostril. A tendril of water erupted from the bay and shot across the desert in a torrent. It sailed past the two guards, they were not... they were never his target. The water coiled around a lever by the side of one of the guardians and yanked it forward. The chain taut, the gears spun and the gate started to rise.
The guards were not absolute buffoons. One of them slapped the lever back into place and the chain became slack, the gate crashed back onto the floor but not before Saiga was able to scurry inside. "Nobody enters, Daimyō's orders," one of the guards announced apologetically as he started to pull his blade from his sheath with lightning speed.
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting," Saiga replied. Saiga reached for the armed guard's belt and pulled hard snapping the leather in half. Before the sword could swing down on the former Cabal agent, Saiga had blocked the weapon with the swordsman's own scabbard. Arms still on the giantblade, Saiga kicked the swordsman in the ribs and left him gasping for air after a sickening crack was not only heard but felt.. While the swordsman staggered back the second guard lunged at Saiga. His fists balled, Saiga cracked the belt he had liberated from the swordsman's waist like a whip and it wrapped around the brawler's forearms. Arm lock. He wrapped it around the other arm and tied it tight. I know of no higher fortitude than stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds," he grunted as he knocked the second guard to his knees with a kick to the legs.
Left writhing and gasping in his wake, Saiga did not take the killing blow. Human judges and warriors can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal. A punctured lung, a pair of failures in the face of a single man's invasion. They were dead already, Saiga just did not know it. He was on a sacred quest to find the Daimyō. He did not stop, he did not pause, he did not waver in this quest. The Merchant Lord Edifice, the most likely place to find the elusive Daimyō. The people started to scatter, run and hide in their homes. The streets were promptly deserted. Doors boarded up, curtains drawn, the street within moments transitioned from a place of pandemonium to a place of reticence. Even the sounds of life seemed somehow muted, not a whimper or a cry.
A pair of men in full body armor with their faces covered. Both were armed, with swords. Side by side they ambled down the streets, the fact that something terrible was happening seemed to be the least of their concerns but conceivably also the reason they exposed themselves as such. Nothing was said and it could be assumed that they were the reason that everyone had fled, well either that or the intruder known as a wanted criminal that was now ambling their streets with an unspoken determination."Go no further," one of the samurai warned.
Saiga approached all the same.
"Go no further," the samurai repeated.
Saiga approached all the same. "Nobody will stop my quest," Saiga announced.
Almost inhuman how they moved, faster than the average eye could follow. Their blades cut through the air singing a song the listener would only hear once before they met their untimely fate. Saiga ducked, bobbed and weaved. He looked too weak to stand yet somehow he did. He avoided them...somehow. Agile. Nimble. Fearless. He did not stagger back or cower in fear, he moved closer. His hand connecting with the forearm of one to break their radius and the other to break their knee. Or so he thought. A hollow thud resonated when he made contact. There was nothing inside.
Saiga like in the myth of Icharus;
Icharus full of the folly that comes with pride, flew too high and the sun melted his wings.
The samurai's power was indeed great, but there is no greater power than love.
And so... Their fall was dizzying.
Icharus full of the folly that comes with pride, flew too high and the sun melted his wings.
The samurai's power was indeed great, but there is no greater power than love.
And so... Their fall was dizzying.
The Samurais countered as they bent their bodies unnaturally and with crippling force they both struck he debilitated man in the head. Saiga fell to his knees and plunged into darkness.
[Saiga has been KO'd]
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