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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 899164" data-attributes="member: 6971">Takeshi's FuryIn lieu of updating this week, I present the background story for Shoji's <a href="http://www.thehumanproject.org/trinis/index.asp?formMode=weapon_entry&id=5" target="_blank">magical, leveled kama</a>, Takeshi's Fury.In the second century after the Fourth Conjunction, the warlords of Fang Yo ruled the country in relative peace. Occasionally, a greedy warlord would feud with another over land or honor, but most remained content with their own lands and station. Takeshi was not one of the content warlords.The peasants who worked his fertile valley farmland provided him with plenty of money to buy wine and concubines, but he coveted the jade mines that dotted the neighboring Matsuhari clan's mountain estate. Every morning he would watch the sun rise over Matsuhari's lands, and he would fume that those lands were not his. "Why," he would think to himself, "should Matsuhari have those lands and not me? I have seen his concubines, and they do not deserve to wear jade fineries. Those lands should be mine!"Takeshi resolved to take Matsuhari's lands one way or another. He consulted with his most trusted samurai generals, and they developed a simple plan to assault Matsuhari's stronghold: a surprise frontal assault. Since the Takeshi and Matsuhari clans had been at peace for decades, the generals reasoned that Matsuhari would be caught off guard and easily overrun."Brilliant," Takeshi exclaimed, pleased with himself for recruiting such clever generals. "Tomorrow, I will visit the Temple of Thunder and Lightning and ask the spirits for their blessing. Then, our victory will be assured!"The next morning, Takeshi rode off to the Temple of Thunder and Lightning, accompanied by four of his bodyguards. The peasants who farmed his fields bowed and prostrated themselves as he rode past, and Takeshi felt proud that he would soon have even more lands for his people to work. He rode through groves of cherry trees in full bloom, crossed fields of poppies, and followed the mighty White Swallow river, finally arriving at the temple just as the sun began to set over the mountain peaks to the west.The Temple of Thunder and Lightning was built on the summit of a very large cliff. The only method of access was a small, steep staircase that wound its way back and forth up the granite cliff to the large red iron doors of the temple. With the White Swallow river rumbling like thunder in the far distance, Takeshi began climbing the three thousand stairs to the temple.The weather on the first leg of his journey had been pleasant - a typical sunny Fang summer day. As he climbed the stairs, however, the sky began to cloud over, and the air grew cool as a breeze picked up. As he reached the summit, the clouds unleashed their fury and a torrential rain began to fall, which pleased Takeshi, for he was certain that the spirits had noticed his arrival and were announcing their presence.He banged on the iron doors with his iron gauntlet, and the sound of metal on metal resonated within the bowels of the temple, emanating as a deep, sonorous rumble. The doors swung open, and an elderly monk in white robes and a yellow sash greeted him. "Welcome," his voice wavered as he bowed deeply, "the spirits informed us that you would be arriving. Please come in out of the rain."Takeshi strode into the temple, quickly stepping past prostrating acolytes. "Show me to the Shrine of the Spirits," he commanded."Certainly my lord," the elderly monk bowed again, and then began shuffling toward the rear of the temple. He stopped in front of a great golden door, intricately engraved with clouds and lightning bolts. "The Shrine of the Spirits is through these doors," he gestured."Well, then open them!" Takeshi bellowed. A group of young monks stepped forward and pulled on a set of chains that hung from the ceiling. The doors parted just enough for Takeshi to squeeze through.He entered a small, circular, stone chamber with a standing stone at the far end. Two torches on either side of the standing stone provided a dim light that, combined with the smooth circular walls, made the edges of the chamber difficult to perceive. They seemed to stretch away into the distance even though Takeshi knew that they were less than an arm's length away.As he approached the standing stone, he noticed that the sounds of the monks chanting outside faded away, and the air became very still. He kneeled in front of the stone, bowed his head, and began to pray. "Great spirits, give me strength in battle," he implored, "lend me your power so that I may be victorious over my enemies.""Takeshi," a thousand voices swirled around his head, as the spirits answered in chorus. He startled, and looked around in confusion. "Takeshi," the spirits continued, "the power we have to offer is both awesome and terrible. It is potent and can assure you of victory, but it is also dangerous and difficult to control. Only those of a clear mind and a strong will can wield it successfully." Takeshi felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as the air crackled with blue sparks, "Are you worthy to wield this power?""Absolutely," he replied, "there is no one who is more worthy than I."The spirits did not answer this time, but the crackling and sparkling in the air increased, and then a white hot flash filled the room. The light and the heat overwhelmed Takeshi, and he lost consciousness for a moment. When he regained his senses, the room was once again dimly light by torchlight, and the energy in the air had disappeared. On the ground in front of him, however, was an ornately decorated sickle.The handle was carved from ebony, and engraved with patterns of lightning. The blade was forged from a silvery metal that Takeshi did not recognize. When he peered closely at it, he felt like he was looking through a window into the heart of a powerful thunderstorm. He could see flashes of light in the distance, and the entire surface rolled and shifted like a dark and ominous thunderhead.Takeshi greedily hid the sickle in his robes, and pounded on the golden door. After a few seconds, the door swung open and he pushed his way out. The old monk bowed to him again, but Takeshi hurriedly brushed past him and strode to the front of the temple. Young monks rushed to open the doors, and he bounded outside into bright sunlight. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the natural light, and he almost stumbled several times as he ran down the three thousand stairs in excitement. He returned home from the temple in less than half the time it took him to get there.Gathering his samurai together, Takeshi announced that the spirits had blessed their plan. They agreed to move on the Matsuhari stronghold in the middle of the night, and attack before dawn broke.While the samurai spent time sharpening their swords and preparing their horses, Takeshi drank several goblets of wine to calm his nerves. He studied the sickle with great interest, turning it over and over in his hands, feeling its perfectly balanced weight, peering into the storm cloud encased inside its blade. He felt certain that before dawn, Matsuhari's soldiers would fall like stalks of wheat to his new weapon.At the darkest point of night, Takeshi led his noble warriors up the narrow trails that wound through the mountain to the Matsuhari stronghold. The journey was easy at first, but the trails became rocky and difficult to traverse, and Takeshi began to worry that they would take too long to arrive. As they pressed on, the sky began to cloud over, and rain began to turn the steep trails to mud. Takeshi's countenance brightened, though, when he heard the sound of thunder in the distance, and he pushed his samurai even harder.When Takeshi finally reached the summit of the mountain, the rain had thoroughly soaked his men. Lightning flashed through the sky, however, and a deafening thunderclap roused their spirits. He lined up his samurai and prepared to charge the sleeping stronghold, then pulled out his gift from the Spirits of Thunder and Lightning, and sounded a charge.Of the one hundred men that climbed the mountain, only nine survived to climb back down. Arrows from hidden archers sliced through the air and punctured the samurai that charged through the sheets of rain. Men spun around like tops as steel arrowheads pierced their armor. Spurts of blood mixed with the torrents of water, painting the whole scene bright crimson. Takeshi looked around in horror and then ordered a retreat.The eight surviving warriors shielded their leader from the continuing arrow attacks as they began the long trek down the steep mountain. The rain and the blood turned the whole mountainside into a vermilion waterfall, soaking the survivors in the lifeblood of their fellow soldiers as they slid down the slick, muddy trail.When they reached the bottom of the trail, Takeshi knew that his reign as warlord was over. If the Matsuhari followed them, they would easily overrun his stronghold and slay his remaining soldiers. "The spirits have betrayed us," he spat angrily, "they assured us of victory, and led us into an ambush." His remaining soldiers began to patch their wounds as they listened to their master. "We must avenge our brothers, we must teach the spirits that our lives are not to be trifled with," he raged, "we will ride on the Temple of Thunder and Lightning, and we will show them that Takeshi's fury knows no bounds."What was once a hundred proud samurai was now a weak and wounded nine. In the pouring rain, they rode their remaining horses through groves of cherry trees, crossed fields of poppies, and followed the mighty White Swallow river, finally arriving at the temple just as the rain began to slow, and the clouds began to part.Takeshi and his men dashed up the three thousands stairs to the temple. He ordered his men to bash open the doors, and he pulled the sickle from his robes, fully intending to slaughter the monks with their own weapon. From out of the clouds, a bolt of white-hot lightning sliced through the air and struck Takeshi, entering through his helmet and exiting through his boots in less time than it takes a hummingbird to blink.The sound of a thousand galloping horses filled his ears as he felt the flesh burned from his bones. A great rush of air flew from his chest as his breath was stolen away, and he could see the crackling blue spirits arc into his men and seize their hearts with their white hot talons. Takeshi fell to the ground, and the air was still.After a moment, the temple doors creaked open, and the elderly monk in white robes and a yellow sash stepped out. He surveyed the charred corpses and shook his head sadly. Stepping over the still twitching samurai, he approached Takeshi's steaming body. He bent down, picked up the ebony-handled sickle with the storm cloud in its blade, and tucked it into his robes. The air crackled with blue sparks, and a deep rumble rolled through the sky as he stepped back into the temple and the iron doors shut behind him.Session 5, Part 2 coming soon...</blockquote>

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