The Baji Islands. Once they were united as a single nation with both Emperor and Shogun and were considered a rather strong and fearsome nation ready to face any and all challengers. That era is now little more than a half remembered legend, many thinking it was never real to begin with. For as far back as anyone remembers there had been no massive government controlling the land, instead just countless clans serving as kingdoms and empires of their own as they strive to conquer the entire region. With the islands having their own spins of culture and religion many wouldn't even consider them related if it wasn't for their shared past. The land constantly fought over by men calling themselves everything from Boss to Emperor, bandits terrorize the small villages in between, Oni harass traders, and demons lurk in the night. Most just do their best to live their lives, but more and more and being dragged into the ever growing conflict between clans while hidden threats continue to grow power.
For reasons that vary from birth to punishment, you are under the Shima Clan. A moderate sized clan that had traditionally stayed passive in the wars that ravaged their land, a collection of religious towns and villages that focused more on dealings with the spirit world than the conflicts of man. Over time they found themselves dragged into conflict more and more, the changing nature of war and politics of the region slowly building up as more enemy clans that sought their destruction. Eventually Shima had no choice but to embrace the old ways once more, their summoners and samurai retrained for war over the last few generations to face these new conflicts and more than capable of going on the offensive. Despite their forced conversion to warriors the Shima clan was still known for it's friendliness and welcoming nature towards others, and would always welcome those who left their original clan. This friendliness backfired when a clan-less group of guests managed to steal their sacred relics through both deception and magic. Given to them by a powerful Kami the relics protected them against evil spirits and gave them the strength to help banish demons from the world; without them eventually all their defenses would fail. Unable to part with his best warriors due to weakening barriers, Lord Shima gathered you all as a last resort. None of you are the heroes of the clan, but each for tasked with a mission worthy of one: Gather allies for the crisis ahead and return the relics any way you can.
The War for Baji is an adventure roleplay set in a japan inspired fantasy setting with some sci fi/steampunk elements. It follows a group of people on a journey for their clan that sends them across islands and has them getting both directly and indirectly involved in the massive war going on. While their is a general framework to start how the roleplay goes depends on what the characters themselves do. The friends and enemies you make will help shape the future of not just Shima but the region as a whole. The current balance of power is very unstable and the smallest thing could tip the scales in someone's favor, for better or for worse.
Rules:
No Godmodding
No Metagamming
Be as mean as you want IC but be respectful to each other OOC
Get another player's permission before tying a major part of your backstory to theirs.
Attacking and killing NPCS is fine, even important ones. But we have to actually rp it out, not just instantly killing a Lord in one post.
If you can't post for a few days or more, let me know a head of time if possible.
Character Sheet:
[b]Name:[/B] Both Given and Family. [b]Clan:[/b] For now any of the independent clans. [b]Title:[/b] This is what you are called within the clan, in greeting someone from a different clan one would introduce themselves as "Given Name, title (depending on the title they may put "of" next), Clan" titles are often related to jobs but can also be symbolic. [b]Gender:[/b] [b]Age:[/b] 14-21 for warriors, can be older if not very experienced or if not a warrior.
[b]Race:[/b] Human, Half-Oni, Tengu, or Neko. Not allowing Kitsune or full Oni for now. [b]Height:[/b] [b]Weight:[/b] [b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Notable Skills:[/b]
[b]Magical Abilities:[/b] If any. Any offensive spells should be lesser to start with, and summons should either have short duration or be a lesser creature that grows stronger later. [indent][b]Familiars:[/b] If they have any[/indent]
[b]Ki Techniques/powers:[/b] Like above, any offensive technique should be lesser at the start. Non offensive ones have more flexibility
[b]Weapons:[/b]
[b]Other Gear:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b] A couple sentences or more.
[b]Brief history:[/b] If there are things you want to be a secret from the other players, you can pm them to me and put what they can know here.
1. Join or ally with a clan. Going it alone may seem cool and profitable but it just opens you up to being killed as a man or kidnapped as a woman. These clans may act noble but many are glorified street gangs, not to mention the actual bandits, and the various Yokai looking for stragglers.
2. Nothing is free. Don't expect to make it by on charity and kindness of strangers. If you want help you better be willing to pay for it; through cash, through muscle, through your body, any means that clears debt or gains it in your favor is essential. You don't want to owe strangers, but them owing you will be useful later down the line.
3. Always keep a weapon. Or be good with magic, or be a badass karate expert. But never be defenseless as there is always something looking to take advantage of those unready for the cold wilderness between cities.
4. Show Respect to shrines and ancestors, even if you don't give a crap about your own family history. Ancestor worship is a big deal in Baji, and more than that, actually summoning samurai spirits and ancient war mounts is a very real and popular school of magic. Keeping that in mind is simple way to avoid making needless enemies.
5. Go big or go home. If you have to piss someone off or assault a clan, make sure you make it a grand. Reputation means everything and if you don't want to be killed next time you go to buy bread, make sure people are scared of your wrath. Do as much damage as possible or at least make yourself seem very threatening if unleashed, you need the rumor mill spreading far and wide.
6. Think before you act. Don't be a dumbass thinking he can change the world over night.
-Traveling merchant , From his still being written book "My Time in Baji, and how I became the Lord of Trade"
Clans
(colors don't represent land owned, but the sphere of influence. The three colors are the current most influential/power clans)
The Baji isles are regarded by most as a region more than a nation, due to the fact that they lack any central government what so ever. For far back as any human knows the various clans have laid claim to segments of each island; constantly fighting over them and losing, gaining, and being replaced all the time. Due to the instability of the region there are no real defined borders and any given village could be part a clan on the other side of the isles while an inch outside is owned by a completely different group. The general pattern is a few clans will get rather large and continue to grow and swell for a few generations before either falling to infighting or stretching themselves too thin only to be slowly replaced by upstart clans or their old servant clans. Despite the constant warfare most small and medium sized clans live in peace with their neighbors with most conflict coming from the larger clans or people wanting to expand into other islands. Even in peaceful clans, the clan itself is the most important part of someones identity with it replacing the family name in all but the most influential of families and you are expected to identify your clan of birth before anything else.
Those without clans come in one of two groups. The first are known as Clanless and are normally the result of someone's clan no longer existing or them being exiled, but can be the result of other reasons as well. Clanless almost always move to the nearest village or town that will take them and if not adopted into the clan they are often forced to live on the outskirts away from the actual members. They are often left with less honorable work, and their more isolated locations makes them more likely targets of more bold bandits or beasts. They are often forbidden from taking part in clan festivals and generally treated as second class by most clans until they either leave or do something that causes the clan to truly make them part of it. Since they tend to be mistreated sometimes small groups of clanless will find an abandoned village and live there, occasionally this resulting in a new clan forming over time but often just serving as group of independent homes in the same area.
The other type of humans without clans are Wildmen. These are humans who live outside of "civilized" society altogether instead living in loose nomadic tribes more akin to the local Oni than the structured human clans. Living in the mostly untamed wilds of Baji makes wildmen very tough and a lot more instinct based than other humans, learning to act and adapt very quickly from a young age. They speak a simplified version of the normal Bajin language and generally have disdain for most Clans finding them out of balance with nature, and are more likely to rob caravans than trade with them. They tend to worship ancient animal spirits or powerful spirits that they run across or accidently awaken instead of the gods of Baji. Due to their similar nature Wildmen tribes are much more likely to interact with Oni and as such are where most breeding with Oni takes place, as they are also much more likely to join each other's tribes or at least be conquered by an Oni tribe.
Types of clans/Clan list
Political Powerhouses:
Clans in this category are the groups capable of enacting the most wide spread changes and are the closest thing to ruling parties of the region. They often are the strongest, but that is not always the case as their influence could come from other methods and it is more measured by how many towns swear loyalty to them or favor them as governing bodies. Most outside nations deal with one of these clans as they tend to be the most organized and the largest. People always assume that clans in this category will take over all of Baji, but that has never happened before.
A very old clan that is speculated to be the oldest continuous clan still in Baji. They claim to trace their origin back to ancient gods from Earth and claim their current bloodline is mixed in with the gods of Baji as well. The truth to this claim is unknown with some people in the clan thinking it simple story and some outside clans agreeing or claiming the same for them; the only evidence being they have a much higher innate mana concentration in their body. While their clan has shrunk and grown several times over their long history they are one of the few to have had the same governing body the entire time with no known coups or fractures within the ruling line. As such the people are very loyal and hold their leaders in very high esteem and deeply respect even the more strict rulers. Over the past two generations the clan has experienced rapid growth once more and is currently the largest clan in Baji having a range of influence over several of the larger islands (though not necessarily owning all the land within). They have a very large army composed of mostly traditional military units for the region and have been very good at defending their territory allowing most of the towns under their banner to live mostly peaceful lives outside of issues with bandits.
They are very male dominated clan and while some women hold power it is very hard for a woman to raise to any position of power (outside of religious guidance) and they are mostly kept away from the fighting and expected to focus on either family things or religious duties. If a woman becomes widowed she is expected to move in with her eldest son and be sort of an additional wife to him aiding his actual wife and taking care of cleaning and cooking and such unless she remarries. The religious duties are normally handled by women, with older women being the leaders and informing the rest of the clan on religious matters. While generally kept away from fighting, female summoners are an exception and allowed to enlist in the military without the scrutiny and discrimination female warriors would have due to their beliefs holding that women are more closely connected to the spirit world and can control them better. While arranged marriages are commonplace, any male from a different clan must join Naji after marrying a Naji woman and refusal to or desire to go back to their old one or keep their old name results in the marriage being cancelled and any children remaining with the woman's family.
Their belief system is mostly based on ancestor worship with heavy reverent for various lesser Kami and spirits of the land, as a result they have a lot of summoners within their clan to help summon forth great warrior spirits that choose to linger on the plane. There is no specific rule on what spirit or ancestors must be worshiped so each family and town tends to follow different ones long as they are connected to the clan in some way there is no issue. Worship is a very personal matter and is done at shrines normally alone or with one's family with no real organized worship outside of certain activities at festivals or seeing a priestess or a monk for guidance. Both priestesses and monks are very important to the Naji clan and even the leaders bow in respect to them and seek their advice on important matters, or plead to them to allow them to speak to certain spirits.
Easily identifiable by their black garb and a general distaste for busy settlements. The Kunteki are distant and distrusted members of the wider and more powerful Naji clan but their trade makes dealing with the family a necessity. Most members of the Naji Clan trace their lineage back to ancient deities, determined in their claims that the Naji will someday rise to power and reclaim the glory of their supposed ancestors; the Kunteki are no exception to this trend. They claim to be descended from a mystical crow renowned as a heavenly guide, likewise the Kunteki pride themselves on their innate ability to act as guides. Usually this trade manifests itself in offering navigation services to those wishing to traverse the treacherous terrain of the Baji Isles, though some members of the clan have chosen to interpret "guide" in a slightly looser fashion. Whether the Crow Clan's (a nickname) talent actually comes as part of a mythical lineage or simply just a result of 600 years of practicing their trade, it is clear that if you need to be led anywhere on the isles, to find a rare mushroom or even locate a target, the only choice is to go with Kunteki.
Of course crows do not have the best of reputations for a number of activities. The crow tribe, much like their avian relatives are well-known to be battlefield scavengers: scouring over burnt plains and charred cities for any scraps of value that can be repurposed or resold. For this reason many are distrustful of the Crow Tribe, who are said to have hungry eyes for shiny and often act impulsively on their selfish desires. The Kunteki also regard themselves as rather sharp and as excellent survivors, always able to scrape by in even the most dire of situations. As for appearance, most Kunteki have raven hair and generally pale skin, all wear black garb sometimes adorned with feathers. While some of the more ostentatious clan members like to adorn themselves in shiny jewelry, others are proud to live an egalitarian, close-to-the-earth lifestyle. Even the admirable trait of resourcefulness is sometimes turned against the Kunteki, there are some who say their survivor-instinct goes so far that the Kunteki are willing to eat carrion, though this is just a rumor and one that most Crow tribesmen are willing to kill over.
Because they are so low on the totem pole of Naji nobility, the Kunteki clan pays little attention to title; instead, the members of the clan who best distinguish themselves as sharp traders, cunning salesmen or unflappable guides with the highest respect. The only Kunteki regarded highly simply based on birth are the shaman. Practicing a very old trade of magic the shaman are able to commune with birds but particularly corvids. While most Kunteki are capable of communicating with corvids (they are often kept as friends), Kunteki shaman, however, are able to summon these birds, see though their eyes and channel various powers. Due to a similar connection to birds they have always been very friendly with the Tengu in the area and are one of the few human clans to always be welcome in Tengu villages even if there is no specific reason to come (they normally are wary of humans unless they need to trade)
Originating on the somewhat isolated island of Ikuni the Hojo clan started as a simple trading post that mostly focused on trading weapons to passing vessels and the small clans that lived on the other side of the island. The Leader eventually developed different plans and began to buy up other trading posts and soon whole towns before establishing the new group as a Clan focused on economic success more so than military might. As they began to gain and sell more exotic goods from multiple locations they made more and more money that they focused on using to gain more people to their cause, turning poor villages into wealthy towns and winning the hearts of the people in response. Many others simply jumped on the chance to become much more wealthy then before and not have to worry about their own defenses due to having a wealthier boss with a better military. Eventually though the lord passed away and was replaced by his son who further changed how the clan would behave. Under him it wasn't enough to just be rich you had to look the part too, so they began drastic changes in how towns were constructed and upgraded to mimic the more extravagant styles of far off lands with their own touch to it. In recent years they have begun to spread even more although not in a wave like the other clans; instead they pop up all over, clans defecting to them for a change of government and riches having their territory more in blotches on each island than the large blocks of the others.
Hojo governing style is different from most in that Boss Hojo doesn't really meddle in individual affairs of the towns and villages. He looks at the towns and lays out simple guidelines to make money and to make the town more to his style and putting his banner up and in exchange he will protect them and share some of the profits. Because they care more about making money and remodeling their settlements than who governs each town there are several locations that have been captured by bandits or gang leaders who then were simply officially taken as leaders by Hojo; causing a big crime problem in general as less honorable types find allying under Hojo to be a situation with no downside. It is not uncommon for Hojo cities to have inter faction fighting over what gang or group does what, only stopping long enough to approve or carry out building plans sent by Hojo himself.
As part of Boss Hojo's love of style every settlement under their banner is or is in the process of becoming a large city filled with decorations and bright lights on tall buildings where multiple families live. Even the poor tend to sport homes and clothing that must other clans reserve for the wealthy members of society. The official deity of the Hojo clan is a god of fortune and many of their shrines double as gambling dens with the priests mostly replaced by gangsters. Each city is a major trade center in its own right buying and selling to groups from all over the isles. While some members chose to defend the clan themselves Hojo mostly employs mercenaries and bandit groups to guard their borders and to serve as their army, the constant large paydays resulting in a degree of loyalty to Hojo and local bandits focusing their attention to damage nearby unaffiliated clans. Positions of power and respect within the clan are based mostly around how much money you make so someone of any age, gender, or race can get into positions of power simply by being wealthy and will often develop their own group of followers trying to ride their success.
The Yomi clan are a (mostly) loyal clan of ninja that fall under the protection of the Hojo clan. The clan was historically independent, but in the past 100 years or so of violent conflicts that have afflicted the Baji Isles the clan eventually opted to side with the highest bidder, the upstart powerhouse known as Boss Hojo. Throughout their history the small clan has jealously protected their traditional practice of espionage and secret warcraft. Each of the smaller families within the clan have their own specialties and depending on what a particular job calls for, the Yomi boss will contact the particular family who best suits the customer's needs. While the Yomi's methods have remained largely unchanged for the past few century, they have steadily begun to adapt the technological changes that have come to the isles. These changes have been incremental but greatly boosted the effectiveness of the ninja techniques.
The Yomi are feared for their deadliness but it is not often that their ninja are ever caught or even implicated in the most of the... unsolved deaths in the Baji Isles. The Yomi are particularly effective because of their ability to quickly transit between the islands. The Yomi home island of Tosi (not labelled on most maps) is located amongst a convenient network of currents that combine with a rather unique method of transportation that allows the ninja to access any "job site" with great ease, speeding off to targets in a moment's notice, much to the joy of whomever is hiring the clan. The Yomi's chosen method of aquatic transport is the Kenra a large, powerful, tuna-like fish that can be fitted have been fitted with saddles by the Yomi. The Kenra have been swimming the fast currents of the Baji Isles for longer than the Yomi (or probably any other clan) have been inhabiting them and can swim just as easily upstream as down. Kenra swim only a few feet beneath the surface of the water, a recent development as a result of Yomi training- this allows Kenra riders to traditionally equip themselves with a breathing reed, enabling the rider to stay under water for virtually all of his journey. Of course the other nice thing about essentially having their own isolated fortress is that the Yomi are able to entertain all sorts of clients, even those who have interests that run against that of the Hojo.
Known as the clan of the future by its members, this young clan was formed from the ashes of the defeated original Nakaki clan and several broken and barely hanging on villages. Their leader led a company of Kravat mercenaries to eradicate the largest clan on their island before rebuilding a new clan for themselves and the broken villages. They were quick to rebuild and with the Kravat company making its new base within the clan they had a steady of supply of more advanced weaponry and medicines that further helped the clan not only survive but prosper. The original plan was to set themselves up as a more modern land and build proper railways and roads for vehicles with the factories to manufacture them but all attempts to create the infrastructure were greatly hindered by the lawlessness of the land and constant attacks from other clans. As a result the focus changed and they began to plan to conquer all of Baji and transform the whole region into a proper nation a place where progress isn't punished by selfish groups. A few short years after the clan formed, the nation the Nakaki leader studied in (as well as where her generals came from) was defeated in a war and decimated to the point that recovery was basically impossible. The Nakaki did what they could and took hundreds of survivors into their society which outside of helping people it brought them much needed doctors and scientists as well as people who could help teach the natives how to use some of the more modern technological devices. This also meant that their supplier was destroyed, but mysteriously enough the Nakaki continue to get shipments of guns and other pieces of modern tech with their boss not telling people who they come from.
As a general rule the Nakaki avoid magic and instead focus on more technological pursuits and with the exception of more traditional villages who join them they only use magic when there is no other choice or to learn more about defending against it. They are a very mixed group with the Kravat refugees and former mercenaries mixing into the native population and them both influencing each other. Both languages are spoken freely and you will often see Bajin shrines nearby Kravat temples with no issue; the rest of the buildings being similar in their proximity as well. While the clan leader is determined via birth right the individual towns and cities elect a mayor or chief to handle local law and polices and serve as an intermediate between them and Boss Nakaki. A lot of time is spent within the clan trying to work out proper laws and ways to punish criminals that fits well within both cultures and all the leaders meet several times a year to discuss such things. Men and women are completely equal within the clan and either can achieve any position or job they like if they are qualified and even none human races are fully accepted if they agree to follow Nakaki law instead of whatever their old tribe or village used to do.
They mostly forsake traditional weapons and military tactics, using the sword as a simple side arm (with the exception of certain elite fights) and instead embracing outside advancements and technology. Machine guns, flamethrowers, and explosives are their armies standard weapons. Kravat doctors and engineers offering performance-enhancing drugs and cybernetics to replace what would have been complex rituals to magically augment their men. For villages that swear loyalty to them they are welcomed with open arms and given new medicines, vast quality of life improvements, freedom from rigid castes and the constant threat of barbarians and bandits. For those that stand in their way of a modernized Baji they unleash the horrors of contemporary warfare on them, machines and soldiers with no sense of honor slaughter enemy clans with no remorse and chemical warfare released on unsuspecting populations to prove a point. They plan to force change and will utterly destroy any who oppose them in their quest for a better Baji. That said they aren't fools and are more careful when planning war against other powerful clans choosing to observe them and engage in small skirmishes first before revealing all the tricks up their sleeves.
Oni tend to be known as a race of people too focused on fighting themselves and drinking to really have any sort of organization beyond small tribes with very loose hierarchy. That is not always the case, and there are stories through Bajin history of Oni tribes who effectively took over cities and forged nations of their own. Within present day most would point to the Ka-Tu tribe as the Oni leadership from Kidakko to Rai-anuk. Led by a particularly powerful and dominant chief the Ka-Tu have been able to effectively beat all the nearby Oni tribes into submission and with none being able to best their leader the tribes have mostly fallen in line and fallen into a visible hierarchy. Loot gained from raids is sent to the core tribe before being divided up among the follower tribes, and small chiefs are designated for different areas with any activity outside of hunting having to be cleared through them first. Over two dozen tribes have fallen in line under Ka-Tu most staying loyal out of respect of their strength and likely a more steady booze pipeline. They hold great influence over the Oni tribes not with them and even in regions where they have no real presence. Facts such as those are what caused humans to refer to Chief Ka-Tu as the Oni King and he is often who human leaders plead to in incidents where their settlements have Oni problems or come to in order to negotiate peace and trade.
Due to their size and strength they are very rarely attacked and are often considered a neutral party that is appeased by all sides of human conflict. The relative peacefulness as well as the Oni belief of usefulness determining role and not birthright, leads to many humans deciding to join up with them (mostly wildmen but plenty of normal folks). While this level of organization has generally been seen as a good thing by humans as it makes dealing with Oni much easier and organized many worry that Chief Ka-Tu will soon turn his attention to taking human settlements to form some sort of Oni Empire. While normally only going so far as forcing certain settlements to paying tribute, any who he has openly designated an enemy has been destroyed with very little damage done to the Oni themselves. With an increasing number of humans choosing to live among the tribe many fear that true Oni armies may soon emerge with knowledge of human tactics and military skill and any ambition of a human ruled Baji nation will be crushed.
Independent Clans
These clans are normally smaller and unconnected to the political powerhouses and often either freely trade with all of them or avoid them all together if they are far away. Anyone can create one of these, just send me the details and if it fits I will add them.
An independent Clan that traces its history to the early days of human settlement in Baji; along with Naji it is one of the oldest current clans within the region. The Shima clan has always prided itself on neutrality in terms of Baji conflicts managing to stay unconquered for and trading with all sides and serving it's more important role as a collection of religion focused villages. No matter how unstable the region was Shima was a place to get goods and to speak to monks and priestesses, with many prominent holy men and women hailing from there or studying there. Their place in various local religion was so great that they had been gifted several artifacts by some of these revered spirits; giving them heightened importance while also creating many enemies who felt it was undeserved. They were normally left un-attacked though, and focused most of their fighting force on dealing with local demons and evil spirits through the use of their artifacts. For generations they have been clan that was respected enough to be held as neutral ground for diplomacy between bitter rivals. Many fallen clans would join up with Shima or form connected communities out of respect and the fact that with the favor of the spirits both men and women tended to live better more peaceful lives than elsewhere. As time went on the aggressiveness of the region began to get to them, as their enemies grew in number many Shima Lords began seeking more and more military might. While still having a peaceful reputation, modern Shima boats a military that classic Shima would find almost a betrayal.
A midsized clan on the island Hasiano, the Ina clan are infamous in their region for their aggression. They are a clan of Beast Tamers, having unique arts and powers based around capturing and controlling animals of the region. Their religion rejects most magic that deals with spirits and instead focuses on aspects of the physical world and nature, believing the spirit realm to it's enemy. As such they are rarely seen praying and instead offer sacrifices to great beasts living within a nearby canyon. Most other clans view them more like bandits than anything else, as Ina is known to raid villages for supplies instead of offering to trade or even ask for tribute. In addition to stealing resources they often kidnap women for forced marriages to bolster their own population, a practice not uncommon in other clans but still seen as dishonorable by most. While they classify most clans as simply groups to rob, and women to take they hold a particular hatred for the Shima Clan. Shima has always spoken out against their actions and the previous Lord Shima had killed one of the Ina's sacred animals to protect someone, earning their eternal hatred. It is commonly expected they are building up their beasts and army to eventually wipe their enemy from Hasiano.
A small clan made up of a town and couple of small villages along the coast. Once part of a large military focused clan, they now are the last remaining remnants and put all of their focus on fishing and trading. Outside of a Token defensive force, they have no real military might and count on other clans and warriors to defend them from bandits, often by giving them fish and other goods from the sea in exchange. They are one of the main sources of all manner of sea food for the inner clans of Hasiano, as such many clans consider them an important part of the island especially those with a large number of chefs within them. They pray to spirits of the sea and aside from fishing are very skilled at making boats and navigating waters, people occasionally hiring them to take them to other islands or at least buying their boats. They are pretty far removed from the current political conflicts, and are pretty happy with their simple life even if it means relying on others often.
The small village of Ru has thrived in the Hasiano region of Baji for as far back as any records go. They pride themselves on their traditions which they claim come from a different human tribe than the one that the other clans of the region descended from. They have a strong focus on the path of the warrior and every child is trained to in a variety of martial arts from them and their sister village Kenzo. Both villages while small in population have successfully defended themselves from every larger clan that has tried to take them, their warriors having more advanced Ki arts than most of their neighbors. They have had mostly female leaders something unusual for the region and their insistence on training all women to be warriors has made them looked at strangely by more traditional villages.
They have grow a small amount of their food and mostly hunt or trade with Kenzo for the rest of what the village eats. Most of their artwork and buildings feature weapon motifs that emphasis the beauty of combat instead of just killing your enemy. Most of their festivals involve tournaments with even the elderly members of the two villages taking part and everyone having a blast. Many seek them out for mercenary work but for the most part they are content to only defend or fight for the fun/beauty of it instead of actually engaging in wars. Their current leader is Lady Himiko Ru the latest in a long line of village chiefs who focus on their swordsman style. She is generally welcoming and friendly to clans and outsiders but has little patience for those trying to involve her people in their war or politics.
The village's relationship with Shima specifically is mostly indifference, they are friendly to one another but have very little contact outside of individuals passing through on occasion. Most of Shima hasn't seen Ru or its sister village in person and only knows that they are one of the nearby unaffiliated villages.
Other Factions
Known for her beauty and power Nohime is a very mysterious and influential person within the Baji Isles. While she makes her primary home in the Zhu empire she is very active in Baji and has several manors that she uses as vacation homes of sorts. Originating on a different world all together she has spent the past few hundred years interfering in politics all across the world she currently calls home. People in Baji know very little of her past or her motives, only that she says Baji reminds her of where she grew up. What is known is that she is very long lived, having been active for several hundred years so far and showing no sign of aging. Her family is a faction by itself and she uses her many children to engage in all sorts of activities across several nations. Most common is her dealing with faction leaders or very dedicated individuals who seek great power, them forging deals with her that always make their desire come true as long as they maintain her favor and keep up their end. Kingdoms have been forged thanks to her backing and those same kingdoms have been turned to ash as a result of losing her favor.
Countless people are in her pocket with many leaders owing her back for their rises to power, and many so called heroes rumored to have used her to gain their strength. Her children are feared warriors and assassins, normally enforcing her will on those who betray her or ensuring the winds of change flow in her favored direction. With her ability to seemingly grant wishes and her knowledge of everything going on some people have begun to think of her as a Kami herself and offer worship or tribute. Many other leaders simply think of her as a powerful witch, and possibly the greatest Ki master to ever live. One thing is agreed by all though, if she wanted to the isles would be under her full control and no one could stop it.
Outside of humans several races have sizable populations within the Baji Isles and while less numerous than the human majority each represent an important part of the region.
A very notable species are the Oni. These horned red and blue giants are found on all of the main islands and their adult height ranges from 8 to 12 feet tall (strong/old ones can reach 20') with their young being as large as average humans. They have a large population split up into many separate tribes spread all around the region. All the tribes together have around 60% of the human population on the islands though with their constant fighting it rarely grows and when it does it is very slowly (birth and death rate is very close). Despite their savage reputation and arguably nature they are about as intelligent as any human they just chose to live a quasi nomadic lifestyle, only making metal tools for war and hunting. When they make weapons they are known for being excellent at forging them, making Oni weapons highly sought after equipment among warriors. They are mostly carnivorous people only a small fraction of their diet consisting of local nuts and berries and only in times of repeated bad hunts. They are known for their strength and toughness with the average Oni being more than ten times as strong as a normal man and their skin stopping most types of arrows.
Culturally they are very aggressive and love fighting more than anything else solving every dispute with fighting and even mates solve their issues via wrestling. If they have more then enough food and pelts to go around it isn't uncommon for them to wage war on the nearest other tribe for the tiniest of transgressions as they are all very quick to anger. Despite this aggression they are one of the most forgiving people in the islands, forgiving even the most serious of problems after a simple apology or non fatal wrestling match. Such a thing makes them very dangerous to human settlements but often not deadly to individuals as they are relatively easy to temporarily pacify and you'll likely only get bruised up. over the past several generations they have been becoming more and more obsessed with alcohol with about 80% of the Oni population currently addicted to it, to the point where their second favorite thing after fighting is drinking. They often send members of the tribes to humans to trade animals they kill and materials they find in exchange for more alcohol, demanding tributes of it to pass through their lands, or even in extreme cases holding high value people or entire settlements hostage for large amounts. Despite all their heavy drinking Oni show no negative long term effects of even the strongest of alcohols outside of the addiction to it, with most humans liking it as it makes them easier to trade with.
Scattered among the islands in much smaller numbers than either humans or Oni are the race known as Tengu. The majority of them appear to be humans with large feathery wings, slightly longer noses, and more spread fingers and toes. Other traits include less dense/lighter skeletons (they weigh much much less than a human of their same size) to aid in flight, as well as toenails that resemble small talons. Their wings are very powerful and even young are capable of producing gusts strong enough to lift humans and strong individuals can create small tornadoes. Large groups regularly redirect storm clouds and have been known to cause atmospheric rivers and flood the homes of disliked humans or overly aggressive Oni who keep bothering them.
They live in small villages scattered all around that serve as both a single family and mini society. These villages are each ruled by a chief who is always a female Tengu that has undergone the metamorphosis to become a Tengu mother. Tengu mothers are followed by the other Tengu with extreme loyalty, the others almost always doing what she wants and agreeing with her due to her role. Within any given village the females mostly do the village duties such as religious leader, village planner, negotiations with other groups, and going over plans and options before consulting with their chief on it. The males mostly scout out neighboring areas, defense, look for other villages before reporting back, and hunting. They follow a mostly disorganized religion focusing on various nature spirits with the specific beliefs varying from village to village. They are normally shy towards non Tengu outsiders, but can be negotiated with by unarmed humans or villages that have been peaceful towards them for many years.
When the metamorphosis happens they lose their overall human look and instead become large birds with a human body shape. They become larger, their lips and nose are replaced by a large beak, their body becomes covered in a thick coat of feathers and their feet end in deadly talons. These Mother Tengu are the only females capable of producing baby Tengu, laying batches of eggs after their frequent mating with a male of their choice (can even be a non Tengu male). Normal Tengu women have working sex organs but can't produce baby Tengu, intercourse with them is common but is solely for fun or for romance. The females on a village are normally composed entirely of the chief's daughters and sisters who normally stay their whole lives. The males normally leave once they reach adulthood in order to live with unrelated females. Despite birthing them all the chief doesn't raise children Instead each egg is given to a woman who will be the child's bond sister and focus on raising them.
Every now and then a village will become too large resulting in a second Tengu transforming. The new Tengu mother will gather her closest sisters and try to make a new village. Sometimes it works out fine, sometimes it results in a bloody fight with the other Tengu. It really depends on the personality of the chief in question, as all sorts of events had spun off from that situation.
Tengu of both genders are capable of breeding with both Oni and humans though the result of these unions always create a clone of the non Tengu parent with no Tengu genes actually passing on. Only when breeding with a Tengu mother can a hybrid be born but even then the child has more Tengu in it than the other parent.
To the west of the central Baji Islands there is another medium sized island that isn't found on any normal map, nor will the currents/waves ever take you there on their own. An island only visible and accessible to those with a deep connection to the spirit world or those with certain abilities. This invisible island is what the Kitsune call home. Much like the Xerin of Southern kios they appear as humans with fox ears and tails. Theorized to have similar origins as them, they are beings of spiritual energy instead of chi and mana. They have very youthful smooth skin at all ages unless they are sick and are much heavier than their average sizes would imply, each normally weighing several times (often 5-8 times as heavy) as much as a human of the same size (Spiritual energy is very dense when given a physical form). They typically have large fluffy tails ranging from 1 to nine, the tail numbers and size are based solely on their strength at any given time so through training one can grow more tails and through illness or prolonged laziness one can lose tails. Their tails are much heavier than they look with a healthy one often weighing anywhere from 50-100 lbs by itself, despite being as easy to move as a finger to the Kitsune. While difficult to remove, if one manages to destroy a Kitsune's tail they become weaker in every way and must train their body and mind to regain what they lost.
They are powerful mages and expert hunters, having an innate ability to cloak their bodies from anything unable to see hidden spirits only their faintly glowing tails remaining visible and often serving as a lure for prey. The same tails also serve as indicators for sources of strong magic, always swaying in the direction of the nearest source no matter the actual direction of the wind. While many humans assume them to be immortal in terms of aging, they are in truth just very long lived with a health individual capable of living to be 10,000 if they avoid conflict and illness (the average lifespan is about half that). On their island they live in clans similar to the Bajin humans, with each clan owning a number of towns and villages. Every Kitsune lives in a very long partially underground home they called their dens, each one holding every member of their family up to 5 generations and is ran by the oldest member. A single Kitsune town can have over a hundred members yet only a couple of houses due to how they live. Their entire society is ran by the oldest members, with new leaders only coming when one dies and the second oldest takes their place. Kitsune women outnumber their men 20 to 1, a fact which often leads young kitsune to the other islands to find a human to marry often either bringing the children back to their invisible island or waiting for the man to die first if they truly love him. Another common reason for leaving is their homeland is very resource poor, so they often send traders elsewhere to bring things back as well as to test their magic in more diverse regions leading to them being uncommon but not rare in the other Baji islands.
When humans first entered the islands many had cats with them, and many wild cats wandered to the region the same way humans had. But while humans only began to feel the effects of the land over many generations the cats were immediately changed by the energy of the land and the spiritual energy flowing beneath them. The energy and spirits of mystic beings long gone entered their bodies and the entire population of cats was transformed into beings known as Bakeneko. They grew much larger each cat now being as a large as a man and suddenly they were as smart as well, capable of speech and having full knowledge of a language unknown to the humans they came with. With their knew knowledge they left humans and scattered into the forest of the Isles where they continue to live, having mostly solitary lives or occasional family groups. They are drawn to magic vents and are capable of learning magic much quicker than humans and can often master spells simply by watching them. They have little use for money or human goods and normally stay away from settlements, though every now and then they will team up with human warriors to down threats to their domain or to banish outsiders from their forests.
Those that manage to live long enough and hunt enough magical prey grow a second tail and become much larger; the now house sized cats becoming known as Nekomata and possess powers akin to local gods powerful and are often sought by people as great teachers or hunted as monstrous demons. Others chose to use their powers to make a mostly human form and live amongst people these individuals often breeding with humans and leading to a small but notable number of Bajin humans with cat tails and ears and higher than normal aptitude for magic often known simply as Neko or Nekomimi.
Historical Races
When Humans first arrived they were quickly greeted by short stout humanoids (about 3-3.5' tall) with furry raccoon like tails, whiskers, dark rings on their face, and light fur scattered across parts of their body. The Tanuki were skilled at manipulating mana to creature illusions or to alter the effects of their hand crafted tools to become much more useful than they appeared. Their magic also made them capable of shape shifting into any living thing although they were never able to remove the dark rings from their face no matter what form they took. These curious people initially did like they normally did to the native races and were generally friendly but often played tricks on human settlements or taking advantage of their lack of knowledge of the land. After humans became more widespread and knowledgeable, the Tanuki began to move their villages to be closer to humans and would often serve as a race of merchants making various goods and enchanting existing ones in exchange for protection or human trinkets. For many generations they were mostly friendly to each other but as the human population increased the Tanuki population began to dwindle as the humans and the also growing Oni populations began to compete with them for land and desperate clans began to attack them in hopes of gaining their power. Eventually the Tanuki all but disappeared with the last contact by a large clan having been 200 years ago. Some people however say that the Tanuki didn't die out but instead they all took human form and simply integrated into human society, using make up to cover their facial markings. Every now and then people report seeing one, but no tanuki has been captured since the last official meeting and if any clan has contact with them they have been keeping it a secret.
Other Realms
There are more realms on the planet than just the physical plane. Each of these spans the whole planet or in the case of the Spirit World, all reality. These realms are not specific to Baji, but their existence has had an effect on the cultures of it.
The Spirit World: Also known as "The Other side", The Great beyond, The Spectral plane, and countless other names is a realm that runs parallel to the physical universe. It is a seemingly never ending world filled with its own native life forms and guardians, with a combination physical and gas like nature that would make most visitors assume they simply stumbled across an alien world. It houses the spirits of sentient life forms after they perish and serves as both a permanent home for consciousness as well as a waiting area for souls which are processed by powerful deities that have arrangements with the guardians. Animals and monsters don't end up in the Spirit world but plenty of creatures are exclusively found there, as well as certain mystical beasts capable of entering and leaving as they please. Spirits within the realm are still capable of feeling pain and other sensations but cannot be destroyed any longer only temporarily (specific time depending on the spirit) dispersed causing many who were warriors in life to spend their afterlife fighting one another constantly. The realm itself is deadly to humans and most other physical races (basically any without large amounts of spirit energy themselves) the energy of the plane destroying most people instantly unless they come specifically prepared with the proper tools.
Unlike most other dimensions and planes, portals to the spirit world are only capable of forming within solid matter and even then only below the surface. These gateways are often very large and can cover entire nations and regions, the Baji Isles being one of them. While the human majority is unable to access the gateways beneath their land or even really notice it for that matter, it does have a very notable effect on them in the form of spirits. Due to the portals location the Baji Isles have a very large number of spirits that enter the realm, as well as the humans having a much easier time actually summoning specific ones forth or even speaking with their ancestors. The effect of these leading to ancestor worship being commonplace, and summoning magic being the most common form of sorcery within the isles with armies being consulted by ancient warriors and sorceresses using powerful spirit beasts or samurai ghosts for protection.
Beneath the surface of the world exists a place known as the Dark Realm, a forever separate yet connected world beneath what most people call Kios. Drawing its name from the sky only alternating between dark gray and dark red, this world within a world is the source of all dark energy and black magic within Kios. Like most realms it has its own ecosystem full of unique plants and animals dotting its jagged landscape. Most importantly however are the intelligent life forms that evolved there. As in known with Kios, energy only can build up for so long before it ends up changing form. In the Dark Realm that energy became Kougari
In the ancient days of Kios, the buildup energy began to draw in thoughts from the realm above, the powerful emotions reacting with it and forming the ancient Kougari lords of old. Hungering Kiku-Tunka, Bahu of Shadow, Lunkr of Filth, Painful Cen Hup, and Rageborn Ri-Sun. These ancient demons were masters of their realm, soon spreading out to the other parts of Kios and making their mark known. They were still new to life, obsessed with bringing their bodies and minds newfound pleasure driven by impulse and little more. They spread untold destruction across all planes of Kios, until one by one they were forced back into the dark Realm with Kiku-Tunka and Cen Hup being sealed between realms in a state between life and death. When they returned those things were different, there were other Kougari now, weaker yet more complex ones, it had became a species. With very rarely ones like them forming from individuals drawing in so much magic over time and becoming a unique entity.
The Kougari are a collection of intelligent life forms formed from the dark energy of the world, while they had roots in random formation they are now creatures in every sense of the word reproducing through sex and needing "food" to survive. They lack any form of true society their species too diverse for its own good as they have thousands of variations with vast differences; most preferring to live in packs of their own kind so they can focus on fulfilling their desires. Every now and then individuals crop up who want to forge more but all attempts fail, or only last for either short term of small groups normally resulting in the more social Kougari to move into Raiki cities and live among them.
The countless variations normally saw their genesis in a reflection of a fear or thought from the surface, creating things such as succubi/incubi, rage beasts, love demons, fear feasters, etc. As such many feed on raw emotion, ideas, and concepts instead of actual physical meals although many are capable of doing so. Their natural connection to the energy that forms their realm allows them easier access to the other realms much like their ancestors before them, making their primary hunting ground against the races that live on the surface. Their hunts shaping the various species as great enemies of the majority of intelligent life living above them, the Kougari themselves having no organized view on other creatures and simply hunting them because it was fun and useful to them, with some actually liking them.
They have a rather unusual biology in the sense that the magic within them allows them to breed either any life form no matter how radically different from them. If it can reproduce sexually they can impregnate it or be impregnated by it, the Kougari normally taking said creature back into the dark realm with them making it not an uncommon sight to see non demons or Raiki amongst Kougari packs or settlements but such are normally slaves or toys, and only rarely are they there out of love. Mixed children with the Kougari are always Kougari but possesses traits from whatever the other parent species is, ones that happen a lot becoming their own sub races over time.
Bestiary of Non Youkai
Name: Rontu Physical Description:
Dark red hide, and light red hair, eyes are also red
Size: At adulthood about 6 feet tall from hoof to head. 8 feet from tail to head in length.
Location: Wild populations on each island, with a few clans specializing in breeding them. Diet: Mostly feeds on tall grasses and other vegetation.
In Society: It is the most common form of transportation for 1-2 people, and often used as mount for military actions. They are very strong and are often used to pull carts as well as people. Lifespan: 10-20 years
Behavior: They are docile creatures towards people, rarely showing signs of aggression unless attacked by them. Towards other animals they are the same unless it's a predator in which case they will try to run away. Generally speaking a Rontu will wander around, eating and running in a large circle when left alone by its owner. They'll try to stay in the area for a day, after which if no sign of their owner they'll leave to head home.
Name of Creature: Koze
Physical Description: Gigantic turtle like creatures with hard shells capable of being withdrawn all the way into, with enough room to bring food as well. Their shells have small vents in the top that they can close off with a thin membrane and open up to filter water into their shells. They have two tusks protruding from the sides of their mouths, each about as long as the creatures head but thicker on females. They have no other teeth in their mouths though they do have spiny protrusions in their throat to keep fish and other prey from escaping. They have relatively short but very thick and muscular tails that can be moved back and forth on their own. Each of their four feet has large but blunt claws that are used to digging nests and foraging through other animal dens.
Size: Average 10 feet high from feet to head, around 14 on top of shell. 15 feet long from head to tail and about as thick as a family van. Very old and large ones (normally in the seas) can reach 5 times that size.
Location: Various lakes and seas across Kios, anywhere with a lot of water has the chances of one being nearby. They have been known to wander into settlements and can be found walking across roads and highways in some regions.
How common: Rare but they live so long and have such a large range that despite their low numbers they have been seen a lot all over the world. People in practically have every city have encountered at least one, and in Bajin lands villages have to shoo one off at least once every couple of years.
Diet: Mostly Fish and various aquatic birds, they frequently supplement their diet with plants that grow in or very close to bodies of water, often times leading them to wander into village cropland.
Threat: At maturity their shells become tough enough to withstand powerful bombs, and ignore blows from otherwise powerful entities such as war demons or Oni Berserkers. They are capable of pulling ships hundreds of times their size with their natural strength and are notable for being able to manipulate water via elemental magic. In a direct fight it would be hard for any warrior to take one down. Luckily for people they have childlike intelligence and can easily be calmed down or simply lead away. They often ignore people even when wandering into the middle of combat zones in wars, only really fighting when they are hurt or their nests are invaded.
Lifespan: Several Thousands of years
Behavior: They spend most of their time wandering around the lands traveling from lake to lake or sea to sea. At any given moment large streams of water can be seen flowing around them, as they have a natural affinity with magic and can control water in all of its forms, using it to funnel fish and such into their mouths as well as wet their scales. This ability to manipulate water has led many to theorize that ancient mages learned water magic from studying them, and some villages think of them as holy creatures. They are friendly by default to people, not thinking of them as prey or predators. This natural friendliness means they have no qualms about wandering into villages and city outskirts and just generally being in the way as well as eating crops and stealing fish. They can be highly territorial over their nests and stashes of food in general that they plan to bring back to their nest instead of eating on the spot like normal.
Much like cats the magic of the land changed wolves from what they were into something else entirely, though instead of them transforming into a new intelligent race they were mutated into several different new species. While small populations of normal wolves remain, these following species are more prominent and each a very fearsome beast in the region.
Physical Description: Large muscular wolves with dark think coats of dark purple fur, and large almost transparent fangs. Their eyes have the glow of spiritual energy and seem to change colors based on what the person observing them is feeling.
Size: 3-3.5 feet from foot to shoulder. 6-7 feet in length.
Location: Most common near the mountains of the central islands, but they have been spotted hunting all across the Baji Isles.
How common: Rare most seasons, but are seen more frequently in the winter months though they are still uncommon.
Diet: Flesh of any creature they can catch. They only eat the meat if it was killed within the last half hour, while its essence still clings to the flesh.
Threat: An individual of this type of Okami is capable of easily killing an unarmored human with its powerful jaws alone. While a more athletic human could fight one off, their ability to close gaps with a short distance teleport means they will almost always get the drop on their prey. If one can dodge the teleport lunge, one can easily kill one with any of the common weapons. Their most threatening aspect however is that they travel in packs of up to 20 okami all hidden within the shroud of mist they produce, meaning they can often make short work of groups of all but very experienced warriors. Lifespan: Unknown
Behavior: How they act in the spirit realm is unknown, for they are only seen on the surface when hunting. They appear out of nowhere, magical sensations filling the air as a thick mist begins to move across the land, within it dozens of the wolves sprint and teleport around in chase of whatever their prey is. They are frightened by magic flames and many small villages use it to keep them away, but undefended villages have had heavy losses from packs in the past. They will attack almost any animal, save for those born of even greater magic such as Kaiju. Of the intelligent races they seem to prefer the taste of Tengu, but freely hunt Humans and Neko as well (the part human nekos and man sized Bakeneko. Not Nekomata). They will hunt young Oni but adults can often scare them off, though larger packs will attack to fight Oni as well if they are desperate.
Physical Description: Large white wolf with a mane made of flowing blue flames.
Size: 5-8 feet from foot to shoulder, around 10-12 from head to tail
Location: Around and in Mountains on all of the Baji Islands
How common: Uncommon but large enough population that if you go looking for them, you will likely find one.
Diet: Anything they can catch, though mostly smaller mammals that live around the mountains.
Threat: Being large wolves they are a threat to most people even without their other abilities but their mane is what makes them threats to whole settlements. Their mane is actual fire and capable of burning whatever it touches, with the wolf itself able to shoot fireballs from it. They normally try to stick to their homes near the mountains but when desperate or forced by other creatures they will run through villages (normally Tengu but also isolated human ones) their mane scorching buildings as they pass through in search for food, and the fireballs flying at any one that comes near.
Lifespan: Around 15-25 years
Behavior: These wolves live in very small groups, normally of just one pair and their children with occasionally a related male wolf as well. They mostly stick to the areas around the mountains and focusing on hunting the local animals. They aren't as aggressive as other Okami and tend to avoid people if they can, but if people go too far into their territory they will attack people in order to make them leave. When food is scarce in their normal range they will get more aggressive and be willing to attack settlements in order to steal food, often causing severe damage in the process thanks to their fire abilities. If one is captured or found young they are relatively easy to tame but due to their fire abilities most clans don't bother trying as it often results in buildings and crops being burned down.
The Baji Isles are in turmoil, the large scale peace that many hoped Naji would bring turned out to be little more than a foolish dream. Nakaki encroaches on one of the borders, their skirmishes resulting in massacred villages and hundreds of uninvolved parties left homeless in the aftermath. It won't be long until it leads to large scale warfare, the fear of it already causing smaller clans to flee the area or pledge loyalty to Nakaki. On the other end of the islands Hojo has been popping up all around, villages and towns suddenly putting up his banner. While he brings prosperity, his leadership style means that the fancy streets of his towns are filled with gangs and mercenaries fighting over control and for his favor and often attacking any non Hojo villages around them. Many small clans have experienced issues of their own, with strange occurrences going on and many Lords suddenly vanishing or behaving out of character. Fear of the growing Ka-Tu runs throughout all of the islands, and rumors feel the air of foreign witches causing calamity where ever they go. Baji has always been a violent chaotic place, but signs point to something big happening soon.
The Shima Clan had done their best to stay out of the problems, even with their current military strength. It has close ties with the Naji clan but tensions have been mounted in the past few years due to Shima being unwilling to join their fight against Nakaki, with many local towns wondering if Shima is planning to join the young clan. The worst event in Shima history occurred only a few days ago when a strange group of outsides took advantage of their hospitalities and stole the Clans's sacred relics before using strange magic to distract the warriors and make their escape. As their mystics work on holding up their ancient protections, Lord Shima came up with a plan. The group couldn't have gotten too far and it would be hard for them to leave Hisiano this time of year, someone would have to go after them. The bulk of the military and their greatest warriors were too busy holding off demons and preparing for Ina attacks to go, and thus a rag tag group was chosen.
A recent immigrant to the clan hoping to repay its gratitude, Jiang Baji. A young half-Oni enforcer and fledgling Youkai expert, Yuudai Wakahisa. The friendly Lord Oja helping by sending his trusted vassal, Kenji Takeda. The ever loyal Gin, a half-oni blacksmith always looking to help out. A neko samurai, standing in for his father to help the clan, Tarou Sasaki. And an elder Tengu to help keep them in line with her wisdom, Metou Toribaba. The unusual group was made the official representatives of the Shima Clan and sent out on their journey for the Relics and to gain allies for a bigger plot they fear the thieves were a part of.
Moving ahead of them was the Neko Guard, Tetsuya Ueno who was trying to speak with the leader of Ru when he stumbled across a new development involving the Naji clan.
Clan Reputation/Relations
Shima Clan's current status with other clans:
Naji: They are friends of one another, as they share a long history with the Naji leaders often looking up to Shima as spiritual leaders. Even today Ryuu Naji wants Shima to be the religious leaders of the new nation he wants to create. Their relationship is slightly strained thanks to Shima refusing to go to war for them, but Ryyu Naji still greatly respects them so they are expected to stay friends for at least his lifetime even if some of his followers are less pleased.
Hojo: They have engaged in brief skirmishes aiding other allies of theirs, or as a result of Hojo mercenaries aiding bandits and such, but neither has declared real war on the other or has attacked settlements belonging to them. Shima is on guard and very wary of the nearby Hojo villages but so far they only engage via their ventures with other clans often being at odds with each other. Hojo doesn't find directly fighting Shima profitable and Shima finds fighting a clan with that much outside backing too risky.
Nakaki: They have not encountered one another yet.
Ka-Tu Tribe:They don't interact much, but coexist peacefully. Shima is glad that the Oni King mostly keeps Oni though they want him to take it farther and start the race on a path of peace instead of just more selective violence. Oni King finds them weak but has a degree of respect for them due to the fact that they have historically been accepting of their half-Oni clanmates instead of abusing or abandoning them like many others. The Ka-Tu find no reason to bother Shima settlements but also don't give them any special treatment or consideration.
Ina: They are at war with one another, with Ina holding an extreme hatred towards Shima. Shima finds them a clan composed of savages and has given up all hopes of peace as the Ina Clan has attacked every representative they sent who has tried to negotiate with them.
Sinkara: They are friends and allies. They trade often and their citizens freely marry one another with no stigma or drama from either sides family. Shima has sworn to help defend them, as they have a larger military and they are one of the few clans that Shima will go to war for.
Ru: Shima respects Ru for managing to stay itself for so long, and be untainted by the shadow of the much larger clans all around it. Ru is indifferent towards Shima, they are glad that the clan isn't aggressive but beyond that don't really care.
Group Reputation/Relations
The Player Character group's current status with various factions:
As for right now, only one character per person. That will likely change later on but I don't want the starting group to get too big. That said I'm also fine with you changing characters later if you write one of them out. Especially as later I'd allow people from outside of the starting clan to be made.
Kravat are people originally from a land called Kravatika, and where most European looking characters come from or have parents from.
Kravatika was once a large republic somewhere between Baji and the Zhu Empire. It's people had descended from bronze age Europeans and had quickly flourished in their new home, mixing with the natives and producing a very diverse population. While their land had little natural mana vents they used what they did have to create a very diverse nation that eventually went on to blend low magic with modern technology for a beautiful mixture of architecture and professions that would gradually change as you moved to different areas of the nation. They only had primitive space flight but they often worked with other nations to send their people to explore the stars and keep their science accurate and encourage the development of better technology. The creativity and diversity of its people paid off, and they were in the middle of a golden age where the arts, science, and even magic all begin to flourish and develop in ways never seen before. But such a drastic change took a lot of energy, and soon Kravatika found itself in an energy crisis as virtually all if it's natural resources (the ones they needed at least) were used up. A desperate and misguided attempt to get what they needed, lead to a war and now there is no Kravatika.
Where there had once been vast and beautiful cities there is now nothing but rubble and decay. Where fields once grew crops or parks grow flowers and trees, there was earth that was permanently scorched. Schools, roads, factories, homes, any organization of any size, all of it was gone. The population had dwindled down to a mere single digit percent of what it had once been, most scattered in small groups wandering around trying to carve out whatever life they can. The majority of gangs became bandit groups stealing or demanding tribute from the other survivors, though a few turned their focus to trying to help protect others after suffering such heavy losses. Despite the loss of virtually every factory a few high level businessman managed to maintain large amounts of medicine, and other products such as weapons and began using them as tools to control segments of the population hoping to eventually put themselves into position of kings of the new nation. All the old plants have long died: the only survivors being blood sucking vines, mysterious fruit bearing trees that no one has returned alive from, and huge man eating fungi formed from repeated exposure to Zhu magic. The animals quickly became food for the ravenous monsters that the Zhu let loose on the population, any native beasts strong enough to survive becoming as mutated and twisted as monsters that terrorize the lands. For the past decade the world has ended for Kravatika and its survivors but there still is a small chance of hope; certain groups have been getting larger and claiming to have ways to restore the land, rumors have spread about sightings of flowers starting to bloom once more, and talk of safe regions have emerged. Though it is unknown how much of that is true, or if it means anything at all.
That is some info on their home and history, the ones in Baji reject most magic because they blame it for what happened to their country. Kravat technology in Baji is mostly 19th century but as the Nakaki profile states they receive shipments of more modern weapons and they have small amounts of some of their old equipment and devices. The also have early Radio.
Baji technology varies by clan to clan but most still live more like 16th century style in terms of what they have access too. Traders cane get them bits of random technology. Magic varies too, for most it is a small boosts to quality of life like simple healing and enhanced weapons, while some others have units that can cause natural disasters, devour steel machines, and wipe out cities.
There are other Youkai, but listed are the ones that have either large populations or that are known across every island. Some Youkai I haven't put much thought into, so feel free to pm me if you want to talk about ideas for one.
As for half races there are, including half races from outside of the island, though young half kitsune are very rare to see outside of the Kitsune homeland. And don't often leave their parents for a while.
Half Oni it depends on both their clan and how they look. Ones that look like humans can normally along just fine, though some clans with heavy oni problems still distrust and dislike them. Those that look more like Oni often face much more discrimination and if their parent is poor or not very respected they are often kicked out of their clan. Clans like Shima don't kick them out but many people still are uneasy and only accept them because tradition/Lord Shima says they should.
Oni tend to assume half Oni are weak, but once one proves him/herself then they get the same respect as anyone else. As such Half Oni more often live with Oni tribes.
I'll go more Indepth with this when I do a story so far, after characters are all posted. But the Shima clan is located on hisiano, so out of the big clans your characters would the most contact with Naji and would have encountered Hojo villages in recent years. Only those who travel would have seen Nakaki.
I'll add some more independent clans a little later on, from the region.
That is going to be pretty interesting given their ways
Master of Posing: As a member of his family, being able to strike a pose and look great during all that he does is paramount. They may be separated right now, but posing is still a very important skill to maintain.
Looks nice. So refreshing to see so many Japanese inspired characters who aren't total lone wolf badasses with dark names. One character is great at cooking and wants to share that gift. Another is great at preparing tea and enjoys a simple life. You both did very well so far in my opinion. You gave your characters personality and ambitions over making them the strongest, coolest bad ass.
