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Standing in at a mere 4'6" (137cm), Odahara doesn't cut the most intimidating figure at first glance. However, underneath his traditional Kage style clothing and armor is an athletic figure of one used to hardship and the rigors of combat. His rough black hair is pulled into a short ponytail, typically covered by a broad jingasa. Odahara has long, pointed ears, piercing gray eyes, and his face is typically curled into a slight scowl.
Name: Odahara Souta
Age: 110
Gender: Male
Position: Noble-Demon
House/Clan: Beast-Yokai House
Army/Party Size:
Odahara moves with a pack of some 50 other beast-kin Yokai. The vast majority of them are hand-picked common demons, though Odahara has some 5 Noble-Demons in his pack as well. The common demons are a variety of different beast-kin, a majority of them are wolf-kin, though hawk, fox, and even a few bear-kin are present in their ranks as well. The beast-kin are outfitted with a variety of weapons and armor fitting their beast type. Wolf-kin are predominately armed with swords, spears, and medium armor, while bear-kin are afforded larger weapons and heavier armor. Fox-kin and hawk-kin are often armed as scouts and archers/hunters. The Noble-Demons in Odahara's pack are among his most trusted companions, and serve as his confidants, advisers, and officers. They consist of the following:
Shinobu Kaede: A rabbit-kin Yokai. While not incredibly intimidating at first glance, Kaede is a potent manipulator of majikku. She primarily works with wind and storm majikku, however, she also serves as Odahara's primary link to Kage, the world of demons.
Rin Kaori: A cat-kin Yokai. Serving as Kaede's protege, Rin is a small fox-kin noble demon with impressive, but not amazing control of majikku. The youngest of the noble-demons in Odahara's pack, Rin is headstrong and stubborn, and primarily uses fire majikku. Rin serves as Odahara's secondary link to Kage.
Jun Kenshin: A large bear-kin Yokai. A large hulk of a man- relatively speaking of course, Jun is doubtlessly the sturdiest fighter in Odahara's pack. Ferocious in a fight, and capable of taking a beating, Jun is Odahara's bodyguard.
Goro: A fox-kin Yokai. A lanky, lithe beast-kin, Goro is mysterious and pragmatic, and is Odahara's spy and scout. Goro utilizes shadow majikku to enhance his stealth abilities and makes him a potent spy and assassin.
Akihiro Hideki: A wolf-kin Yokai. A tactical and capable fighter, Akihiro serves as Odahara's second in command, and commands the rest of the pack when Odahara is otherwise occupied.
Rin Kaori: A cat-kin Yokai. Serving as Kaede's protege, Rin is a small fox-kin noble demon with impressive, but not amazing control of majikku. The youngest of the noble-demons in Odahara's pack, Rin is headstrong and stubborn, and primarily uses fire majikku. Rin serves as Odahara's secondary link to Kage.
Jun Kenshin: A large bear-kin Yokai. A large hulk of a man- relatively speaking of course, Jun is doubtlessly the sturdiest fighter in Odahara's pack. Ferocious in a fight, and capable of taking a beating, Jun is Odahara's bodyguard.
Goro: A fox-kin Yokai. A lanky, lithe beast-kin, Goro is mysterious and pragmatic, and is Odahara's spy and scout. Goro utilizes shadow majikku to enhance his stealth abilities and makes him a potent spy and assassin.
Akihiro Hideki: A wolf-kin Yokai. A tactical and capable fighter, Akihiro serves as Odahara's second in command, and commands the rest of the pack when Odahara is otherwise occupied.
Weapons:
Kage Masamune - While Gorō Nyūdō Masamune is commonly recognized as the greatest swordsmith in Japan, few Japanese are aware of the fact that Masamune earned his swordsmithing prowess from an Arch-Demon from Kage. In return for his knowledge, Masamune forged the Kage Masamune for the Arch-Demon. After centuries of fighting, the Kage Masamune eventually ended up in the hands of Soshu Odahara, who eventually passed the weapon down to Souta Odahara.
Personality:
Direct and to the point, this sharp witted demon avoids beating around the bush and doesn't mince words. Level headed and quite confident, Odahara likes to maintain awareness over every situation he's in and is quick on the ball and able to make snap judgements and react to a constantly changing situation. Capable of operating at peak efficiency, even during times of great stress, Odahara has a very analytic attitude and can be very perceptive and intuitive in regards to people. With a chillingly cold and calm demeanor, Odahara often comes off as intimidating and aloof.
In combat, Odahara is a capable fighter both when armed with traditional weapons, or when in his beast-form. Odahara is an experienced fighter, with just under a century of combat under his belt. As such, he is quite potent with his sword, which he enhances with his magical prowess, most often in the form of erratically moving serpents of wind magic tearing into his foes from range. As a beast-kin Yokai, Odahara is capable of transforming into a wolf when needed. In his wolf form, Odahara takes the form of a large gray wolf, with white markings on its face. His wolf form is considerably faster and stronger than the wolves of Japan, and swipes of his claws can easily sunder through the armor and soft flesh of men.
Biography:
A Noble-Demon of the Beast-Yokai House, Souta Odahara is the second son of the mighty Odahara family. As an heir of the family, Souta's childhood was rigid and harsh, forced from a young age to live up to the mighty expectations of families of other noble demons within the Beast-Yokai house. From martial skills, and diplomacy, to the honing of his beast form, Souta was expected, even with little experience, to be able to outperform other younglings in the clan.
Fortunately, both sons appeared to possess incredible talent, Souta possessing incredible martial prowess, and even notable control of majikku, while his brother was a capable diplomat, and an absolute terror in his beast form. Souta likewise, was no slouch when it came to his abilities in his beast-form. The two sons, shared a healthy rivalry, and while neither are particularly open with one another, they are both loyal to their family and its values.
When the demons of Kage began war with humankind in Japan, the Odahara family were slow to answer the call. The Odahara clan had long been at odds with the current ruling house, and were reluctant to commit their forces to a war they perceived as having little value to them. Aside from some few choice hunting grounds, the lands of Japan had no resources valuable to the Odahara clan. However, as more and more demon clans joined the war effort, Soshu Odahara feared that his noble clan would be viewed as cowardly or dishonorable for being one of the few to stay out of the conflict. So with some reluctance, the Odahara clan committed their forces to the conflict.
Taking the lead of the Beast-Yokai clan's armies for his aging father was the oldest heir of the Odahara family. Souta on the other hand opted to take control of an elite, hand-picked raiding group to cause damage to the humans' shaky logistics. Taking a small core of vassals loyal to him, Souta took his hunting pack and entered the realm of the humans, waging a guerrilla war against the mortals, whilst they were distracted by the invading demon armies.
Souta has since come to appreciate the lands of Japan. Its people, while frail and flimsy, are for the most part, surprisingly courageous and honorable. Likewise, its lands, while obscure and predominantly favoring tones of brown and green, is beautiful in its own right.
Name: The Beast-Yokai Odahara Clan
Ruler: Soshu Odahara
Notable Lords:
Hideki - The Hideki family has long been loyal vassals of the Odahara family. Well respected by both the Odahara family, as well as the rest of the noble families in the clan, the Hideki and Odahara families commonly share friendly rivalries with each other. The children of the Hideki family are commonly regarded as some of the finest officers and soldiers of the Beast-Yokai armies.
Kenshin - The Kenshin family are one of the few families of noble-demons that are not, in fact noble. The Kenshin family, while not officially possessing the same political clout as one of the other noble families, it is well respected by almost all members of the Beast-Yokai clan. The sons of the Kenshin family almost exclusively serve as bodyguards to the Odahara family, and are unshakably loyal to their charges and are rewarded for their service handsomely.
Kaori - The smallest noble family in the Beast-Yokai clan, the mysterious Kaori family are potent mystics and mages, and is the only family in the Beast-Yokai clan to have a matriarchal structure. In the Kaori family, its daughters are potent mages and mystics, and are well respected by all members of the Beast-Yokai clan.
History:
A relatively influential clan in the realm of Kage, the Beast-Yokai clan extends across all of Kage's beast-kin- that is, humanoids capable of transforming into powerful beasts. Originally starting off as a various, separate tribes of beast-kin, these individual tribes while each ferocious in their own right were of no real threat to major demon clans, and were regarded as little more than bandits and wild animals.
Eventually, the ancestors of the Odahara family, a tribe of wolf-kin, began to unite the wolf-kin tribes, followed by the tribes of other beast-kin afterwards. While uniting the different tribes was a daunting task, filled with its fair share of mishaps- including the overthrowing of the wolf-kin leaders by another tribe, which was then overthrown by the wolf tribe again, the various beast-kin tribes were eventually combined into a single, large clan.
Now a unified group, the Beast-Yokai clan were now very threatening to the other noble houses of Kage, as they could no longer be considered just a mere nuisance. Many clans attempted to destroy the Beast-Yokai, who fought back with a beast like ferocity. After a century of warfare, the Beast-Yokai clan finally forced the other major demon clans to accept their authority, even if many were reluctant to accept them as a major clan.
The Beast-Yokai are now a well known clan in Kage- respected for their ferocity. While not the largest of most powerful clan, The Beast-Yokai have been accepted by the other major demon clans as one of the major players in its politics.
House Specializations:
Beast-Yokai are formidable warriors. While its warriors are all trained in conventional weapons, from bows, to swords, spears, and magic, its warriors are most notable for being able to transform into large, powerful beasts of which their names are taken after. Physically, Beast-Kin are generally shorter and stockier than other humanoids, generally around 4' to 5'3" for fully developed beast-kin though larger beasts (such as bears), tend to be taller and stockier than other beast-kin. The most common of the Beast-Yokai are the wolf, fox, and cat-kin, though the bear, hawk, and other animals are also present. These beasts are generally considerably larger than their Japanese counterparts, and are as a result much faster and stronger. Due to their diversity, and general flightiness, as well as high food requirements- especially while in beast-form, it is difficult to field large numbers of Beast-Kin for long periods of time.