The Northern Kusari Shogunate

The Blood Dragons
Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination
Origin	Kusari
Affiliation	Blood Dragons
Alignment	Unlawful
Profile
Date of founding	815 A.S. A.S.
Founder(s)	Hideyoshi's Guard
Current leader(s)	Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Base of operations	Kyoto Base, Chugoku
Primary role
RRe-establish the Shogunate as the seat of power within Kusari

Synopsis

The Blood Dragons are a revolutionary criminal organisation within Kusari, seeking to overthrow the current government to restore the political system to its former glory. They are the remnants of old Imperial Guard that protected the Shogunate back before the year 321A.S. The Blood Dragons can trace their lineage back to this time and some even back to the old Shogun, Shogun Hideyoshi.

The coup of 321A.S. was backed by the Kusari Corporation, Samura Omotai Zaibatsu (広明重たい財閥 in the Kusari tongue), and caused the exile of the Blood Dragons who retreated to their hidden home deep within the uncharted Chugoku system. Over the next several centuries, the Blood Dragons will continue to rebuild themselves, in hopes of one day returning Kusari to the way it was meant to be.

Early History

Shortly after the coup of 321A.S. the Blood Dragons were forced to flee into exile, now criminals in the nation they helped to create. For many generations, they barely survived as they had to rebuild their lives and organisation, and Kyoto base in the Chugoku system was still being developed into a home for their people.

Blood Dragons are not tolerated anywhere in Kusari for the events that occurred over five centuries ago, and a result they have built a slight dependency on their allies who provide food, water, and other vital supplies. Kyoto has only suffered from a major shortage of supplies once in its existence, but the Dragons are always trying to remain well stocked. As a result of this, they are not keen on giving out supplies unnecessarily.

Due to the dishonour caused by Shogun Hideyoshi at the time of the coup, Blood Dragons have always cared deeply about their honour, more than any other Kusari faction. Shogun Hideyoshi killed himself through the act of Seppuku, in order restore the last shred of honour to his clan, and this has stuck with the Blood Dragons ever since. Carrying a weapon at all times is frequent among the Dragons as failure to do so would be considered dishonourable.

When the Blood Dragons fled in 321A.S. they took with them many Togo class battleships. In their time, the Togo was a formidable battleship, but time has worn their effectiveness down. Due to their resource shortages, most of the ships of this class were left scattered around the Okamura Cloud as derelict wrecks- awaiting a time when these ancient relics could be reactivated to serve the Dragons once more. There was a time, long ago, when these ships were mass produced in the Shogunate shipyards within Tokoku, but that time has passed, the knowledge required to create them has long since been forgotten.

Shortly after the year 648A.S. when the Goldern Chrysanthemum movement gained traction, the Blood Dragons found themselves in the company of some slightly like-minded women who were bent on the total reform of Kusari. Despite numerous ideological differences and goals, the two groups assist each other to help reform Kusari and create a new age within Sirius. When this time comes, however, it is unknown what will happen to this fragile alliance.

Through the ages much information on the plight of the Blood Dragons and their history has been lost and forgotten, with only snippets being passed on through a family, from father to son. This has caused much speculation to be thrown in the direction of the Blood Dragons, and why new clans of them are able to spring up unexpectedly. As time goes on, new stories and legends are forged through the fire of battle, whether they stand the test of time will remain to be seen.

Current Day Dragons

In the last twenty or thirty years the Dragons have undergone some drastic changes and begun some massive projects. In this time alliances have been born and broken, enemies found and destroyed.

In the year 801A.S. Governer Tekagi was assassinated by Lt. Ozu of the Blood Dragons when they, in coordination with the mysterious criminal organisation, The Order, launched a surgical strike against the Tohoku Planetary Arch, Heaven's Gate. This attack is considered the most daring move by the Blood Dragons to date and is potentially one of the most important operations performed by them.

The Order and The Blood Dragons have maintained an uneasy relationship over the course of this time due to The Order's alliance with the Corsairs, that was formed in 796A.S. Despite the breakdown of the alliance relations are never fully restored to those of the time of the assassination, however, the relationship is slowly on the rebuild thanks to the failure of the alliance.

In 825A.S. the then Shogun, Shogun Natsumi Hideyoshi, granted independence to clan Kijima, allowing them free reign over the Rishiri system and independent movement within Kusari. This decision was not widely agreed with and brought about many concerns with it, but many remained silent for fear of punishment.

However, the brother of Shogun Natsumi, Kohaku Hideyoshi, disputed this action with the Shogun, claiming that granting a group of fantics independence would create an instability within the clans, and allow the Kijima clan to upset the balance of power. The result of this set of events was Kohaku Hideyoshi becoming Shogun of the Blood Dragons, and bringing Kijima clan back into the fold.

Political System

The Blood Dragons, since their creation, have divided themselves into micro-factions that governed independently of the main governing body, the Shogunate. These micro-factions are the clans of the Dragons, and to be the clans of Kusari, one day. Each clan is controlled by a Daimyo, who answers directly to the Shogunate, and the Shogunate alone.

Each clan is given a particular sector to control and oversee. While they are not limited to that sector, they can be looked upon with suspicion if they frequent the territory of other clans. Clan rivalries are not infrequent and are prevalent throughout the history of our culture. There have been many documented cases of skirmishes taking place between rival clans that have not ended until the Shogunate was forced to intervene.

Due to the strong sense of honour each Dragon carries, there is a large amount of inter-clan competition which drives us forward to our goals, allowing us to achieve them quicker with better results. There is an element of Blood Dragon culture that is bred into every newborn child in the Dragons that causes to strive to be better than those of other clans and with it carry undying loyalty to our Daimyo and the Shogunate. Not all outsiders or initiates share this trait and that can cause issues among existing clan members.

== Daimyo == 

The Daimyo is the role given to the leader of a clan. The roles and responsibilities of a Daimyo differ from clan to clan, but there are some general characteristics that are required for a Daimyo and some responsibilities they all share.

Like any leader, the ability to lead and command is an essential skill that almost every Daimyo in Blood Dragon history has been forced to show at some point prior to being given the role by the Shogunate. While some people are never, realistically, going to get close to such a prestigious duty, others are born to fulfill the position and lead the Dragons the glory. Generation after generation, there are some that leave their mark on their clan and the Shogunate through their actions and are offered the responsibility that taking the title entails.

As a Daimyo, one must command their followers to help keep the sector they are assigned clear and secure.