"Seek perfection in all things and achieve it in everything you do. Seek the stillness of the mind, for when the mind rules the body obeys. Show no mercy in the field of battle, and expect none for yourself. As caring you are to your friends and family, so fearsome and unforgiving you must be to your enemies…"
| |Synopsis:
The Watanabe Kazoku is a radical Blood Dragon organization, originally founded with the concept of a traditional japanese family in mind, but over time evolved to the point where only its name and a handful of ancient customs stay true to its original form.
The Kazoku still encourages bonds similar to family relations between its members, but blood relation as a condition for high ranking positions was all but abolished. As a result, the modern Kazoku sports a wide range of "outsiders" in its higher circles.
Defined as stalwart defenders and advocates of the traditional Kusari lifestyle, the Kazoku practices these orthodox ways in its day-to-day life, defining and shaping themselves according to the most holy tenants of this philosophy.
Courage, Honor and Loyalty taught to be the three most sacred virtues these men obey, coupled with a demanding training regime for recruits, and a lifetime of combat experience for veterans, present both peerless warriors and brilliant scholars as the end result.
Despite being well established once again, the Kazoku is well aware that it operates in uncertain times and treacherous conditions, where even simple mistakes may tip the scales between success and failure, life and death. As such, the Kazoku is cautious in its endeavours, reluctant to trust, quick to anger and slow to forgive, with its methods and mindset being described as radical even for Blood Dragon standards. | |History: | |Chapter One - Exodus: Sakura Festival of 321 A.S was one of the most important and defining moments of Kusari history, second only to New Tokyo planetfall according to some, and second to none according to the Dragons. In the heat of this joyful event, the heriditary Shogun of the Hideyoshi dynasty was deposed by Samura-backed military forces and surrounded inside his own palace on New Tokyo. When ordered to surrender, the embarassed and dishonored Shogun chose the traditional way out rather than submitting himself to the usurpers, taking his own life and cleansing his percieved shame through ritual suicide, sepukku.
His loyal Royal Guard however, lead by Commander Kozue Okamura, did not relent so easily. Instead, they mustered all their men and fought their way out of the palace, managing to rally all those loyal to the stolen throne of Kusari, and triggered the consequent battles and skirmishes. The battles raged on, but after some time, the focus of the forces was lost, most areas of rebellion extinguished and those still alive forced to fled to the uncharted areas of the Kusari Crow Nebula, in order to live to fight another day.
Amidst the mayhem and confusion, many battles were waged in space on mammoth vessels that served the deposed Shogun as a symbol of Kusari's might and its rage embodied. Many of these venerable Togo battleships were claimed by the loyalist crews, but even more were lost along the way. Those that made it out, quickly followed the main force to the far reaches of the Crow, where they would sleep and one day return to wreak vengeance on the traitors that killed their master. On one of those very first battleships that escaped, traveled Katashi Watanabe, the single man that would rise from his rank as a simple guardsman to become the progenitor of the Watanabe lineage, and the indirect creator of the Kazoku.
Nearly at the borders of what was to become Chogoku, the Togo on which Katashi was stationed collided with a large asteroid, rivaling the size of Kyoto. The vessel was crippled beyond repair, and those that could, left it in smaller craft. Young Katashi departed on a Hachiman vessel, the "Raijin", which would later become the heriditary ship of the Kazoku, passed on from father to son to the present day. After the arrival on Kyoto, most of the Togo were sequestered among the remote clouds of Chugoku, while the rest were moored together, creating a unique base from which the engineering crews descended down in order to carve them a new home on the desolate asteroid. The work was hard and hazardous, but after some time, they managed to make the rocky interiors livable, dismantling the moored Togos and using their components to build their new home that stands to this very day.
| |Chapter Two - Distinction: By 510 A.S, all of the Watanabe name were serving in the main Blood Dragon body, indistinguishable from the rest. However, in what was now nearly 300 hundred years since their ancestors fled from Kusari, the family had become large. The kinship that bonded them helped form what were originally loose bonds, but eventually grew into a strong organization born from the need for extra resources and the desire to be recognized as prominent members of their society, and henceforth the Watanabe Kazoku was first created.
Treasuring their heriditary Hachiman for nearly three centuries, refitted and reinvented numerous times, they utilized this imposing craft as a potent combat vessel and a transport of sorts, making frequent raids in order to gather food and numerous other supplies, half of which went to the Shogunate, and half to the family. This mode of operations proved to be very efficient, and the losess were soon overshadowed by the gains, making the family grow exponentially.
| |Chapter Three - Kitahara: However, the aforementioned growth of the Kazoku threatened to eventually ruin the family due to the thin spread of its resources, where they could only support a limited force and not the sprawling small army they were now boasting. Luckily, the situation was soon remedied by the Chrysanthemums' announcement of Planet Kitahara, which was a hospitable and fertile world, suitable for colonization. This encouraged many Dragons to flock to the planet, being all too happy to trade the claustrophobic and grim environment of Kyoto for solid ground, open skies and fresh air. In 721, the Kazoku followed in their footsteps, and founded their own homestead on the planet, finally ridding themselves of starvation issues.
In light of these developments, the Kazoku flourished for a time, no longer overencumbered with the demands of their civillian and elderly members, that were now content with spending their days on Kitahara, growing food and enjoying the peace of the remote planet. The Kazoku was now endowed with the ability to operate in a more relaxed manner, and explore other possibilities that their position provided. This lead to the emergence of a growing interest in science, a profession in which many a Watanabe excelled. After the discovery of an ancient metal husk, clearly alien in origin the Kawaguchi Complex was established to facilitate its study. It was secluded in the cavernous deeps of Planet Niiza, one of the two planets in the newly discovered Okinawa system, where the Kazoku could freely engage in unrestricted research and development of technologies that could aid the Dragon Order. The complex ran its course for seven decades, but was ultimately shut down for 'reasons unknown'.
Unfortunately, this time of prosperity proved to be short lived and quickly ran its course. In 805 A.S, after the death of Watanabe Masahiro and the succession of his son, Toshiro, the Golden Chrysanthemums announced their decision to introduce Cardamine into Kitahara's ecosystem, hoping to create another Malta, just for themselves. Experiments were quickly set into motion, and Cardamine was introduced, but ultimately failed to provide sufficient yields, succeeding only in destroying the Planet's fragile ecosystem. Outraged and disgusted, most Dragons, including the Kazoku left Kitahara and relocated back to their overcrowded manor on Kyoto. Without a planet to support their now nearly entirely planet-dependent infrastructure, the Kazoku had to bite and claw their way out of this misery, increase raids, limit rations, push research and look for alternate solutions such as minimalistic farming via hydrophonics. Under the leadership of the distant, unforgiving but loyal and devoted Toshiro, the situation seemed to stabilize to an extent, in no small part due to the bits of help received from the Rising Sons of Kusari, after Toshiro pledged himself to their Shogun.
| |Chapter Four - Death and Rebirth: In 818 A.S, the Head of the Kazoku, Toshiro Watanabe initiated a delicate mission that aimed to retrieve what was suspected to be an important alien artifact held by a high ranking official on Kyushu. In an unfortunate chain of events, some vital information was leaked and then fabricated, leading the Kazoku commandos to mine a small fishing village believing to be receiving orders from their master. Through this, they effectively ended their lives and the lives of many villagers. Due to this failure and dishonor, Toshiro resorted to the seppuku ritual of old in order to cleanse his shame and the shame he brought to the family name. He did not foresee that this act would cause many others to engage in suicidal missions and brutal reprisals against those whom they considered guilty for the whole ordeal, only to finally follow Toshiro's example themselves in the end.
After the storm had passed, the Kazoku was demolished from the inside, their ancestral home vacant, their lineage all but destroyed and their ancient clan broken. Luckily, in 820 A.S, the middle child of the main Watanabe bloodline, Hirotada, returned from his service in the Order to assume the mantle of the Kazoku Head, and claim the title of Shogun, taking up the quest to restore honor to his family name.
Shogun Hirotada proved to be an innovative leader, combining the old with the new, forging relations with the many clans that came to prominence after the Rising Sons were repurposed as Kyoto's guard force, and even allowing foreign factions a chance in hopes of prosperous cooperation. He enacted many reforms regarding the Kazoku's mode of operations and recruitment policy, and succeeded in bringing it back to its feet.
| |Modus Operandi:
Staying true to the Dragon philosophy of quality over quantity, the Kazoku prefers to take the well planned and prepared approach. Almost never engaging in full-scale battles save for when its completely necessary, they instead strike in series of several well-coordinated strikes executed with surgical precision in order to bring down priority targets. This mannerism lead to the creation of their renowned commando squads that excell both in space and station/planet-side operations.
The Kazoku relies heavily on carefully placed spy rings and secret government supporters that infiltrate both the common folk and the higher ups of the well-oiled machine that is the Republic of Kusari. These "sleeper agents" stay dormant and feed the Kazoku with intelligence, remaining well hidden until the day when they would be put to good use against some target of importance.
All retainers of the Kazoku are encouraged to understand that fear, compassion and anger are all tools that can be put to good use, tempered, focused and even used against their enemies. Even though the Kazoku prefers to avoid civilian casualties alltogheter, terrorism is still a wide-spread practice against all would-be supporters of their enemies. Bombings of corporate establishments, aggressive propaganda, kidnappings and harassment of trade convoys both foreign and domestic, are all frequent and well rehearsed measures.
Last but not least, the Kazoku also boasts a considerable science department with a significant presence on Sendai. As they are lead to believe, development and acquisition of cutting-edge technologies is paramount to keeping the upper hand on the ever shifting theatre of Kusari and beyond.
| |Goals and Projects
The Kazoku, as an extension of the Dragons is engaged on many fronts, prefering to dynamically change their operations depending on various outside elements. However, aside from these small-time operations the Kazoku is engaged in various long term projects and goals. Some of the ongoing endeavours are:
1. Covert/Overt Warfare against the current Kusari Regime: The first and foremost purpose of the Dragon order as a whole was to displace the imperialistic Kusari government, and as of recently the newly founded Kusari Republic.
The reign of the Samura-backed Kogen dynasty is now finally a thing of the past, but the new substitute regime in the form of the Kusari republic proved to be even less in tune with their view of how Kusari should be. As such, the offers of amnesty and the choice to lay down their arms to rejoin society were refused without second thought, and the battle quickly resumed with the same ferocity as before.
The Dragons engage the government and the corporations on several fronts and by several different methods, including but not limited to propaganda, lobbying government officials, terror tactics and even outright warfare, all in hopes of destabilizing the government to the point where it would collapse and be seized by sympathetic politicians that would then pave the way for the Dragons' utopian version of the Shogunate of old.
2. Destruction of Samura's sphere; Alliance, Hogosha, Corsairs and the Artifact market: The Dragons' and as a consequence the Kazoku's sworn enemies are all those who affiliate themselves with the corporate giant that are the Samura Industries. Though not as strong as before, Samura and its sphere are still a major threat, deeply entrenched into Kusari's society on all levels, relying on their intricately weaved connections with high ranking officials and monopolies on lucrative businesses to remain in power.
The secretive Hogosha crime syndicates of Kusari directly rely on the Artifact trade facilitated by the Corsair Empire, which proved to be one of the more lucrative businesses in Sirius. The Hogosha, having forged amicable between the Farmers Alliance, Corsairs and themselves profit greatly from the entire agreement and are more than willing to allow Corsairs into Kusari, as they also rely on their military might to extent.
Having thorougly studied this entire connection, the Kazoku shifted a part of their operations to the Sigma sector, where they found unlikely allies in the forms of the idealistic Rheinland revolutionaries, the Bundschuh who also seek to sever the overextended claws of the Corsair empire that reach for Kusari and Rheinland at the same time.
If this Artifact trade was severed and the Corsairs driven out of Kusari and the Sigmas, a new, dragon-controlled black market could be established in Kusari, where they would reap all the benefits, making them many "leagues" more powerful and closer to their primary goal.
3. Shogunate Reborn; Expansion, Search for resources and cutting edge technologies R&D: In their opinion, research, seizing opportunities and creating a functioning economy are all crucial to the Blood Dragons' continued survival. For the Shogunate to come back, it should first be reborn in its infantile form, with Kyoto as its capital. As such, the Kazoku contemplates the idea of the Kyoto Bakufu, a political concept that may in time grow to become the Dai Kusari Bakufu, the Greater Shogunate of Kusari, once again.
Even before the Dragons' departure from Kitahara, the Kazoku nurtured a growing interest in scientific research, investing much of its time to various projects, either public on Sendai, or concealed on Niiza, making many breakthroughs over time.
The most notable of all, would be the Seeker Drones, a form of artificial intelligence that came into prominence during the rule of Toshiro Watanabe. The Drones were adapted to control specific ships, either directly or indirectly, which were then sent out to trade, survey and explore throughout the vast reaches of the crow nebula and beyond.
The Drones, devoid of human crews and fully automated slowly survey the nebulae of Kusari and beyond, looking for untapped resources, jump holes and possibly even a hospitable planet that could be claimed and exploited, ridding the Dragons of their food and living space issues once and for all, consequently making their struggle many times easier.
| |Diplomacy:
Tier One; True Allied; Code - Emerald Green: The few factions that managed to acquire such a standing with the Dragons and the Kazoku are given complete support and held in highest regard. Sharing of technology, military alliance, and unquestionable devotion are both given and expected.
List:The Order, Golden Chrysanthemums Tier Two; Friendly; Code - Green: These factions are held in a high regard, treated with respect, but lack in some fields and are therefore not listed as tier one. However, they may advance up in time.
List:Vereinigte Widerstandsarmee, Gas Miners Guild Tier Three; Undecided; Code - White: Many factions exist as a continuous uncertainty, and while the Kazoku has no outstanding issues with them, they prefer to keep interactions and deals on a minimal level.
List:Vagrant Raiders, Commonwealth, Junkers, Everyone Else Tier Four; Unfriendly; Code - Orange: A great ammount of organizations either stepped over the Kazoku's trust or are otherwise simply on the other side of possible diplomacy. Some of these factions are not necessarily hostile, merely treated with suspicion, while others may be found on the opposite side of the battlefield.
List:Independent Pirates, Outcasts, Gallic Companies. Tier Four; War; Code - Blood Red: Complete and all out war. Long standing enemies of the Blood Dragon order that are treated with hostility, nearly at all times.
List:Samura, Kishiro, Hogosha, Farmers Alliance, Corsairs, Kusari Naval Forces, Kusari State Police, Rheinland Military, Gallic Royal Navy, The Wild, Nomads.
| |Hierarchy:
Shogun; The General: The Shogun is a grand master of war, a heriditary leader and a figurehead that reigns over the Kazoku. Serving in the Imperial Court, he is also one of the few Blood Dragon leaders, sharing authority with his equally endowed colleagues. The Shogun must be a politician as much as he is a general, and many diverse duties are only his to carry out.
Current: Hirotada Watanabe Restrictions:None. Daimyo; The Lord: The Daimyo is a military leader and an administrative "Lord", appointed by their Shogun to govern a specific demesne or oversee a project. The Daimyo are few, and they serve as both the most loyal advisors of their master, and peerless tacticians and warriors that lead the Kazoku army.
Current: Izu Riekon (Izu Riekon). Restrictions:Cruiser Class (May ocassionaly command the Flagship) Tairo; The Great Elder: Only officialy beneath the Daimyo in the chain of command, the Tairo is both a renowned scholar and a fearsome warrior. These "Elders" are distinquished by their experience not necessarily their age, although an aged Tairo is a more likely occurrence.
Current: Hajime Hyogo (Mare123King) Restrictions:Cruiser Class. Roju; The Elder: The Roju, despite their name, are actually the elite commandos of the Kazoku. Overseen by the Tairo, they must be a fierce adversary both in space and land alike. As they strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, so must they inspire courage in the eyes of their allies.
Current: None. Restrictions:Gunboat Class. (May ocassionaly command a cruiser.) Hatamoto; The Banner Carrier: The Hatamoto are the mid-tier soldiers and operatives, and also the direct retainers of the Shogun, serving as his regular guard. The Hatamoto go through a rigorous and unforgiving training, during this phase of their service, so that they may be carved into a more fitting weapon and advance.
Current: Kyoko Ishikawa (Yamamoto), Houin Kyouma (Sol), Hideo Saitou (New_World_Order), Hogai Chiba (Mare123King) Restrictions:Gunboat Class. Gokenin; The Warrior: The Gokenin is a veteran of the Kazoku and only slightly below the Hatamoto in the command chain. They are usually the most numerous, found leading a small patrol or raid.
Current: None Restrictions:Fighter Class. (May ocassionaly acquire a Gunboat) Ashigaru; The Footsoldier: The Ashigaru are the common footsoldiers and nimble strike force of the Kazoku. Newly conscripted and perhaps even expendable, they are frequently launched into skirmishes, where they would either perish or return stronger.
Current: Takai Tohashi (Flash) Restrictions: Fighter Class. Exiled Ronin, Penalty Rank: Those who bring shame to the Kazoku are sent out on a hard journey to reclaim their honor and cleanse the crime, or alternatively, given an opportunity to end their life through honorable seppuku.
Current: None Restrictions: A stripped light fighter. Seeker Drone, Alternative Role: Developed on Niiza and published on Sendai, the Seeker Drones are ships remotely controlled by an artificial intelligence, ranging from simple AI to more sophisticated, even sentient beings.
Current: None Restrictions: Only freighters and transports. Scholar/Scientist; Alternative Role: The Kazoku maintains a permanent presence on Sendai and invests a sizeable chunk of its resources into scientific research. Xenobiology, Weapons R&D, Xenoarcheology and Astrosociobiology are only some of the fields available for study.
Current: Akane Akio (LunaticOnTheGrass) Restrictions: Light Fighters and Freighters.
Technology Use and Zone of Influence: This Faction will rely on Blood Dragon technology primarily, and will keep all other technology to a minimum. With that said, other technology may appear ocassionaly, the notable example being the Kusari civilian transports, and allied/logical technology depending on individual character RP or future inRP developments.
The main guideline for the ZoI is basically the set of systems described in the ID. With Chugoku as the Home System, the Kazoku spreads onward through Kusari and the surrounding systems. The only ships that may pass farther than the ZoI frequently, are transports and freighters engaging in trade with select factions, allied or otherwise.
Gameplay Rules and Final Word: All members, naturally, need to follow the server rules. They must always be in character, that means, no OOC spam outside of group channel, and even in there, it is preferable to keep in-character and contribute to immersion.
I also won't tolerate drama, flamewars, crying and assorted annoying behavior. I don't care if that guy or that faction ganked you, annoyed you, ate your cat and whatnot. That said, every member needs to be fair and level-headed within the limitations of the rules and Blood Dragon roleplay.
And finally, thank you for reading this. I tried to keep it brief, but it got out of hand.
500 Million Credits and a complimentary crate of fugu can be found on WK|IGS-Daidarabotchi
Edit: Actually just noticed the penalty rank is gone. I thought this added more depth to RP possibilities and nearly made a Tanto after a recent indiscretion that we laughed until we were sore about. Any chance of bringing it back?
(11-22-2013, 05:31 AM)Izu Riekon Wrote: Edit: Actually just noticed the penalty rank is gone. I thought this added more depth to RP possibilities and nearly made a Tanto after a recent indiscretion that we laughed until we were sore about. Any chance of bringing it back?
Updated. Alternative ranks now restored as per request.
I would like to share you people my opinion, about this. And I will also try to be clear as much as I can.
Idea about Watanabe Kazoku exists for a long time. I was like, the first one, besides Marko, who've seen those first lines of it. What it would separate it from orginary Blood Dragon group is it's unique goals. It's unique hiearchy. Watanabe Kazoku is not all abut crushing current Kusari regime, it goes for the research, developing, finding it's people better place to live. Kazoku keeps true Blood Dragon ideology, but continues evolving, in the right path, as it should.
About it's creator, Marko. Well, It's like you've got there true samurai leader in his mind. He knows well Japanese history, which is realy needed, if you want to role play Kusarian, Blood Dragon. He knows what Kusari realy is. Our first RP steps started there, many years ago, in the one of hardest RP platforms. Kusari has twisted reality, if you understand it well enough. But, in real, Marko is good guy, very smart and inteligent. He will always have new ideas, he will always try to find out way when sh*t's f*cked up. Even if theres almost no even 1% of chances that you'll succeed
I think that, I've said everything I could. That's not of course, everything that you should know. There's more, but I guess that I'm too much stoned, rocked, whatever, to figure out at the moment.
I hope that admins won't go full retard- never go full retard.
*Farts and dissapears.*
<"From Darkness, lead me to Light. From Ignorance, to Truth. From Death, to Immortality.">
Not sure if this is the right place for such feedback, but since I couldn't find a dedicated feedback thread I'll drop this in here.
I was very impressed with the attitude and RP displayed by one of your members earlier in Tohoku. I totally derped and sent PM to the wrong person (him) while busy RPing with someone else, but not only was he understanding and very friendly, he proceeded to come on over and start some good RP and a bit of a pew, which was great fun.
Long story short, he turned a kind-of awkward situation (because I'm an idiot and can't send messages to the right people) into a fulfilling interaction.
So, kudos. First time I've really interacted with you guys on any of my characters, and it's a great start.
![[Image: l3ZL332.png]](http://i.imgur.com/l3ZL332.png)
![[Image: UcVFiya.png?2]](http://i.imgur.com/UcVFiya.png?2)
![[Image: Izu_zpsec343a07.png]](http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a419/nexus0404/Izu_zpsec343a07.png)
![[Image: PvR66o2.png]](https://i.imgur.com/PvR66o2.png)
![[Image: p2SKLap.jpg?1]](http://i.imgur.com/p2SKLap.jpg?1)
![[Image: omicega.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/omicega.gif)