Backstory take duex. I am only about 3/4 done, but hopefully it is falling more into the realm we are shooting for.
[sblock]I will die by the sword.
It seems almost too simple of a truth to admit, but as Master Hirosha taught, simple truths are always the most difficult to learn. I know that age will not steal the strength from my limbs, but it will make me wiser. Diseases that have the power to destroy worlds will die within me as quickly as they enter, as there is no true lifeblood for them to feed upon in my body. I am the perfect machine, created to live among those who are alive, yet aware from the first moment my eyes open that I will never truly belong among them.
The Praetorians are a proud and cunning race. They see the worlds as their personal chess pieces and even the lowest of their kind plan out their decisions thinking of how it will affect things months, or years, to come. My first master, or father if such a term applies to my kind, was Minister Claudius Brelix, Foreign Affairs liaison to the Dracowasp Clan. When Liege-Lord Kiadoshu requested something more tangible for Minister Brelix’s right to call upon his clan, the price they agreed upon was a plaything for the young Kiadoshu, but I was included being seen as flawed by Brelix and therefore dispensable. The agreement completed Minister Brelix departed allowing Lord Kiadoshu to think he had outmaneuvered a respected “ally”. While my new Lord had requested the gift of my “sister”, he did not know what to do with me, nor did he wish to burden himself with thinking further on my fate. Deciding that I was to be a gift to his uncle, a man who my Lord thought had lived alone long enough, I arrived at the residence of my third and final master, Master Hirosha.
Old and proud of every one of his seventy years, Master Hirosha voiced his displeasure at my intrusion into his life every day for the first year that I belonged to him. When I did the simple tasks he requested, remaining silent as to not further anger him, it seemed to only enrage him more and then came the morning when everything changed between the two of us.
The sun had barely began its ascent when Master Hirosha opened the door and began cursing me for standing there all night and commanded me to enter the house as my presence was ruining the sunrise. Although my first instinct was to enter the house, I forced myself to stand still. His eyes narrowed when he saw that I was not moving, and Master Hirosha’s voice became deathly calm as he ordered me once more to enter the house. My feet almost betrayed me as I stood there before him and spoke my first word to him.
“No.”
I wish I could say that in that moment he smiled, laughed and said he had been waiting for me to show some spine. It would be a lie though if I did, as before I knew what was happening, Master Hirosha had kicked my feet from underneath me and had his sword placed to my throat.
“Rule one. When you are given an order, you do not question it. Samurai do not question, they must be able to react without thoughts getting in their way. Do you understand me?”
I managed to croak out an answer that was close enough to a yes for him, but even as he removed his sword, his eyes held me pinned to the ground by the strength of his will.
“If you fail, I will kill you myself.”
ooOOoo
I began my training under Master Hirosha and although many whispered that he was committing an act of sacrilege by training an outsider, an outsider that was not even truly alive, Lord Kiadoshu did not stop him from training me. He seemed amused at his uncle’s “pet” playing with wooden swords and trying to learn the basic arts of swordplay. Master Hirosha did not share in my Lord’s humor and his surly temperament only seemed to worsen as my training progressed, as nothing I did seemed to be right in his opinion. I was too crude with my swings, my stances remained too open, I was too rothe headed to learn how properly block, and other insults that left me wondering if my lot in my life had truly improved. It frustrated him that I never grew tired as he instructed me, that I did not need to cry off for the passing of fluids, and other things that he could use against me to hone my mind and body into something sharper than a bird that could mimic voices, but never grasp the true ability of speech.
I forced myself to turn the things that Master Hirosha called my weaknesses into strengths. While he slept, I practiced throughout the night, moving through the steps of that day repeatedly until I could perform them with my eyes closed. Soon I began to trust the budding confidence that was growing within me and before I realized it, dull steel blades replaced the wooden practice blade and my training began anew. Blisters formed, cracked and turned into hard calluses on my hands as I spent my days seeking to master the art of drawing the blades and striking without giving my body time to think of the act.
Soon the whispers of my skill began causing a new wave of unrest, as I was adapting to and mastering the lessons in half the time it took the finest pupils and what had originally started off as a racial bias against me had developed into simple envy and frustration. The strength and reflexes that my creators had imprinted within me now matched the deadly edges of the swords I carried. Master Hirosha had finally accepted my presence and as he slept, I meditated outside of his doorway as a trusted sentinel, as well as pupil.
In the end, it was his death marked the end of my training, but we both knew that I had learned from him all he could teach me. His mind was sharp, but his body had begun to betray him as age and an internal illness threatened to consume him, and he would not allow himself to be a weak old man in the eyes of the clan. When he asked me to assist him in preparing the hara-kiri ceremony, I realized he was asking me as an equal and not as his student. With Lord Kiadoshu and myself as witnesses to the act, my Master retained his honor and dignity and died as he had lived, by the sword. It was the only time in my life where I wished that I had the capacity to cry.
ooOOoo
For six weeks, Lord Kiadoshu mourned the loss of Master Hirosha, but soon after the time of mourning had passed, the whispers began to flow once more requesting my Lord take away the honor that Master Hirosha had given me when he had presented me with my blades. Lord Kiadoshu did not want to dishonor the memory of his uncle, but he could not lie to himself and admit that he had never truly considered me a truly walking the path of the samurai, regardless of what his uncle had argued to the contrary. The problem resolved itself when Minister Brelix sent word of his arrival, as well as his request of assistance from the Dracowasp Clan. Lord Kiadoshu had something else to focus the clan on, and if this request led to my unexpected demise, then honor his honor, and that of the clan, would be salvaged on all fronts.
The request was almost too simple and straightforward, and looking back, I am surprised that my Lord did not question his good luck in this manner. We were to bring the strength of the clan against the last resistance on a new planet that the Praetorians were seeking to bring into their empire. The majority of the fighting was over, or so Minister Brelix had said, and Lord Kiadoshu was asked to deliver the final stroke to break the back of the last stragglers of organized resistance. Afterwards the Dracowasp clan would be clear of the favor and negotiations could begin again with the Praetorians should Lord Kiadoshu desire it. Minister Brelix asked my Lord only once as to what had been my fate among the Larakese, and when my Lord had raised his hand and bade me step forward from my post as sentry, it seemed that Minister Brelix had his answer. Two days later, we departed our home to bring death to a sphere I had never heard of and raise our blades to a foe that had committed only one mistake, they were in the way of the Praetorians. If any of those selected acknowledged I was among their numbers, none gave verbal notice, but all glanced my way during the trip with an open look of disgust. While Master Hirosha had been slow to acknowledge there was the potential for me to be more than a soulless vessel, it seemed his opinion died with him.
I killed my first sentient a week after departing from our home. My swords ripped through the flimsy reed armor it wore as easily as if it had come at me bare skinned and while I took no joy in the act of killing, there was a strange thrill to it all the same. The others seemed caught in similar blood frenzy as well, and it took Lord Kiadoshu ordering a cease of attack twice to end it and he was displeased to see that the order of taking some alive for questioning had not been kept. I will admit that I misjudged how strong of a swing to use against the thing that came at me, but at the clear tone of displeasure in his voice, I knew I would not make the same mistake twice.
The planet seemed to be the home to a race of bloated frog faced creatures, but we would learn that while they may have been the owners of this swampy planet, they were not its true masters. Shortly after we began marching towards their city, the first sign that things were amiss occurred. A pack of draconic creatures attacked while the watches were fighting to keep the fatigue away after the march of the day. Each was the size of a grown war-horse with features that seemed closer to those of a wolf than dragon. Unfortunately, the alteration in outer form did not reduce their deadliness in combat. They unleashed great gouts of flame from their mouths as they ran through the camp, but even amidst the chaos, our training allowed us to organize into smaller units to deal with their threat. Although the battle ended quickly once we regrouped, their attack had wounded and slain a score of men. Lord Kiadoshu demanded to know how these beasts could have approached us unnoticed, but none had answers for him. His blood mixed with that of the beast at his feet, he looked towards the distant city we approached and ordered the watches tripled until we left this place.
During the day, we marched hard, but we could feel something tracking our progress. The bulbous headed creatures continued to throw themselves against us with surprise ambushes; and while our losses were light compared to theirs, our numbers were not infinite and we all knew that the true battle had not taken place. The following night another pack of dragon wolves attacked our camp, but this time we prepared for such an event. Two of the creatures managed to advance further than our outer defenses, but we ended their threat as quickly as it occurred. Again, our losses were light, but they continued to mount and Lord Kiadoshu’s eyes blazed with a fury none had seen before.
On the evening of the third day, we were within sprinting distance of the walled city and Lord Kiadoshu and his retainers mounted and rode towards the city under the speaking banner. One minute it seemed that we would formally issue our challenge, and then it seemed as if the gates of hell erupted around my Lord. From the tower three small orange pellets rushed towards them and even as the first warning shout was issued, a trio of explosions sent waves of heat in all directions and the smell of burnt flesh instantly filled the air.
Time slowed around me as men shouted out in surprise and fury and even as my hands pulled my blades free, the master gates began swinging open and the true masters of this place charged towards us. After the battle was over and the time for questions had arrived, I learned they were the Dracotaur, another mixing of the ancient blood of dragons from the times long past. Although slain by treachery, an act that robbed my Lord of his honor in the afterlife, we reacted quickly to their pressing the attack and for once, my blades were not unwelcome in the defensive stances. Even though two of theirs fell for each one of ours, I knew that it was only a matter of time before my death came. I was damaged in several places, the surprise look one gave me after sending a spear through my chest made the discomfort of the object almost worth it, but while I could fight until the moment my body could withstand no further punishment, I was not indestructible.
I was rendered inert shortly after the berserkers entered the fray. One of the brutes, standing nine stones high easily, charged towards me and crushed the left side of my head, a wound that would have killed a normal man on the spot. Sinking my blades into his side, I had the satisfaction of knowing that although he might kill me, the lung that was rapidly filling with blood would send him to his own demise soon enough. When his club smashed into my chest, I felt myself lifted off my feet and I knew only a sudden and all encompassing darkness.
ooOOoo
As quickly as the darkness washed into me, conscious thought flooded my body once more. I tried to open my eye, remembering that the left one had become useless, but it refused my command to open. When I tried to speak, I heard a voice drifting through what seemed a long tunnel.
“He is not repaired yet, do not reactivate at this time.”
Once more all I knew was darkness.
ooOOoo
[/sblock]
[sblock]I will die by the sword.
It seems almost too simple of a truth to admit, but as Master Hirosha taught, simple truths are always the most difficult to learn. I know that age will not steal the strength from my limbs, but it will make me wiser. Diseases that have the power to destroy worlds will die within me as quickly as they enter, as there is no true lifeblood for them to feed upon in my body. I am the perfect machine, created to live among those who are alive, yet aware from the first moment my eyes open that I will never truly belong among them.
The Praetorians are a proud and cunning race. They see the worlds as their personal chess pieces and even the lowest of their kind plan out their decisions thinking of how it will affect things months, or years, to come. My first master, or father if such a term applies to my kind, was Minister Claudius Brelix, Foreign Affairs liaison to the Dracowasp Clan. When Liege-Lord Kiadoshu requested something more tangible for Minister Brelix’s right to call upon his clan, the price they agreed upon was a plaything for the young Kiadoshu, but I was included being seen as flawed by Brelix and therefore dispensable. The agreement completed Minister Brelix departed allowing Lord Kiadoshu to think he had outmaneuvered a respected “ally”. While my new Lord had requested the gift of my “sister”, he did not know what to do with me, nor did he wish to burden himself with thinking further on my fate. Deciding that I was to be a gift to his uncle, a man who my Lord thought had lived alone long enough, I arrived at the residence of my third and final master, Master Hirosha.
Old and proud of every one of his seventy years, Master Hirosha voiced his displeasure at my intrusion into his life every day for the first year that I belonged to him. When I did the simple tasks he requested, remaining silent as to not further anger him, it seemed to only enrage him more and then came the morning when everything changed between the two of us.
The sun had barely began its ascent when Master Hirosha opened the door and began cursing me for standing there all night and commanded me to enter the house as my presence was ruining the sunrise. Although my first instinct was to enter the house, I forced myself to stand still. His eyes narrowed when he saw that I was not moving, and Master Hirosha’s voice became deathly calm as he ordered me once more to enter the house. My feet almost betrayed me as I stood there before him and spoke my first word to him.
“No.”
I wish I could say that in that moment he smiled, laughed and said he had been waiting for me to show some spine. It would be a lie though if I did, as before I knew what was happening, Master Hirosha had kicked my feet from underneath me and had his sword placed to my throat.
“Rule one. When you are given an order, you do not question it. Samurai do not question, they must be able to react without thoughts getting in their way. Do you understand me?”
I managed to croak out an answer that was close enough to a yes for him, but even as he removed his sword, his eyes held me pinned to the ground by the strength of his will.
“If you fail, I will kill you myself.”
ooOOoo
I began my training under Master Hirosha and although many whispered that he was committing an act of sacrilege by training an outsider, an outsider that was not even truly alive, Lord Kiadoshu did not stop him from training me. He seemed amused at his uncle’s “pet” playing with wooden swords and trying to learn the basic arts of swordplay. Master Hirosha did not share in my Lord’s humor and his surly temperament only seemed to worsen as my training progressed, as nothing I did seemed to be right in his opinion. I was too crude with my swings, my stances remained too open, I was too rothe headed to learn how properly block, and other insults that left me wondering if my lot in my life had truly improved. It frustrated him that I never grew tired as he instructed me, that I did not need to cry off for the passing of fluids, and other things that he could use against me to hone my mind and body into something sharper than a bird that could mimic voices, but never grasp the true ability of speech.
I forced myself to turn the things that Master Hirosha called my weaknesses into strengths. While he slept, I practiced throughout the night, moving through the steps of that day repeatedly until I could perform them with my eyes closed. Soon I began to trust the budding confidence that was growing within me and before I realized it, dull steel blades replaced the wooden practice blade and my training began anew. Blisters formed, cracked and turned into hard calluses on my hands as I spent my days seeking to master the art of drawing the blades and striking without giving my body time to think of the act.
Soon the whispers of my skill began causing a new wave of unrest, as I was adapting to and mastering the lessons in half the time it took the finest pupils and what had originally started off as a racial bias against me had developed into simple envy and frustration. The strength and reflexes that my creators had imprinted within me now matched the deadly edges of the swords I carried. Master Hirosha had finally accepted my presence and as he slept, I meditated outside of his doorway as a trusted sentinel, as well as pupil.
In the end, it was his death marked the end of my training, but we both knew that I had learned from him all he could teach me. His mind was sharp, but his body had begun to betray him as age and an internal illness threatened to consume him, and he would not allow himself to be a weak old man in the eyes of the clan. When he asked me to assist him in preparing the hara-kiri ceremony, I realized he was asking me as an equal and not as his student. With Lord Kiadoshu and myself as witnesses to the act, my Master retained his honor and dignity and died as he had lived, by the sword. It was the only time in my life where I wished that I had the capacity to cry.
ooOOoo
For six weeks, Lord Kiadoshu mourned the loss of Master Hirosha, but soon after the time of mourning had passed, the whispers began to flow once more requesting my Lord take away the honor that Master Hirosha had given me when he had presented me with my blades. Lord Kiadoshu did not want to dishonor the memory of his uncle, but he could not lie to himself and admit that he had never truly considered me a truly walking the path of the samurai, regardless of what his uncle had argued to the contrary. The problem resolved itself when Minister Brelix sent word of his arrival, as well as his request of assistance from the Dracowasp Clan. Lord Kiadoshu had something else to focus the clan on, and if this request led to my unexpected demise, then honor his honor, and that of the clan, would be salvaged on all fronts.
The request was almost too simple and straightforward, and looking back, I am surprised that my Lord did not question his good luck in this manner. We were to bring the strength of the clan against the last resistance on a new planet that the Praetorians were seeking to bring into their empire. The majority of the fighting was over, or so Minister Brelix had said, and Lord Kiadoshu was asked to deliver the final stroke to break the back of the last stragglers of organized resistance. Afterwards the Dracowasp clan would be clear of the favor and negotiations could begin again with the Praetorians should Lord Kiadoshu desire it. Minister Brelix asked my Lord only once as to what had been my fate among the Larakese, and when my Lord had raised his hand and bade me step forward from my post as sentry, it seemed that Minister Brelix had his answer. Two days later, we departed our home to bring death to a sphere I had never heard of and raise our blades to a foe that had committed only one mistake, they were in the way of the Praetorians. If any of those selected acknowledged I was among their numbers, none gave verbal notice, but all glanced my way during the trip with an open look of disgust. While Master Hirosha had been slow to acknowledge there was the potential for me to be more than a soulless vessel, it seemed his opinion died with him.
I killed my first sentient a week after departing from our home. My swords ripped through the flimsy reed armor it wore as easily as if it had come at me bare skinned and while I took no joy in the act of killing, there was a strange thrill to it all the same. The others seemed caught in similar blood frenzy as well, and it took Lord Kiadoshu ordering a cease of attack twice to end it and he was displeased to see that the order of taking some alive for questioning had not been kept. I will admit that I misjudged how strong of a swing to use against the thing that came at me, but at the clear tone of displeasure in his voice, I knew I would not make the same mistake twice.
The planet seemed to be the home to a race of bloated frog faced creatures, but we would learn that while they may have been the owners of this swampy planet, they were not its true masters. Shortly after we began marching towards their city, the first sign that things were amiss occurred. A pack of draconic creatures attacked while the watches were fighting to keep the fatigue away after the march of the day. Each was the size of a grown war-horse with features that seemed closer to those of a wolf than dragon. Unfortunately, the alteration in outer form did not reduce their deadliness in combat. They unleashed great gouts of flame from their mouths as they ran through the camp, but even amidst the chaos, our training allowed us to organize into smaller units to deal with their threat. Although the battle ended quickly once we regrouped, their attack had wounded and slain a score of men. Lord Kiadoshu demanded to know how these beasts could have approached us unnoticed, but none had answers for him. His blood mixed with that of the beast at his feet, he looked towards the distant city we approached and ordered the watches tripled until we left this place.
During the day, we marched hard, but we could feel something tracking our progress. The bulbous headed creatures continued to throw themselves against us with surprise ambushes; and while our losses were light compared to theirs, our numbers were not infinite and we all knew that the true battle had not taken place. The following night another pack of dragon wolves attacked our camp, but this time we prepared for such an event. Two of the creatures managed to advance further than our outer defenses, but we ended their threat as quickly as it occurred. Again, our losses were light, but they continued to mount and Lord Kiadoshu’s eyes blazed with a fury none had seen before.
On the evening of the third day, we were within sprinting distance of the walled city and Lord Kiadoshu and his retainers mounted and rode towards the city under the speaking banner. One minute it seemed that we would formally issue our challenge, and then it seemed as if the gates of hell erupted around my Lord. From the tower three small orange pellets rushed towards them and even as the first warning shout was issued, a trio of explosions sent waves of heat in all directions and the smell of burnt flesh instantly filled the air.
Time slowed around me as men shouted out in surprise and fury and even as my hands pulled my blades free, the master gates began swinging open and the true masters of this place charged towards us. After the battle was over and the time for questions had arrived, I learned they were the Dracotaur, another mixing of the ancient blood of dragons from the times long past. Although slain by treachery, an act that robbed my Lord of his honor in the afterlife, we reacted quickly to their pressing the attack and for once, my blades were not unwelcome in the defensive stances. Even though two of theirs fell for each one of ours, I knew that it was only a matter of time before my death came. I was damaged in several places, the surprise look one gave me after sending a spear through my chest made the discomfort of the object almost worth it, but while I could fight until the moment my body could withstand no further punishment, I was not indestructible.
I was rendered inert shortly after the berserkers entered the fray. One of the brutes, standing nine stones high easily, charged towards me and crushed the left side of my head, a wound that would have killed a normal man on the spot. Sinking my blades into his side, I had the satisfaction of knowing that although he might kill me, the lung that was rapidly filling with blood would send him to his own demise soon enough. When his club smashed into my chest, I felt myself lifted off my feet and I knew only a sudden and all encompassing darkness.
ooOOoo
As quickly as the darkness washed into me, conscious thought flooded my body once more. I tried to open my eye, remembering that the left one had become useless, but it refused my command to open. When I tried to speak, I heard a voice drifting through what seemed a long tunnel.
“He is not repaired yet, do not reactivate at this time.”
Once more all I knew was darkness.
ooOOoo
[/sblock]
