<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Keitaro.jpg)</div>Name: Matsu Keitaro<br/>Player: HopeFox<br/>Clan: Lion<br/>Family: Matsu<br/>School: Matsu Berserker<br/><br/>Age: 22<br/>Height: 5' 5"<br/>Weight: 170 lb.<br/>Skin: Tanned from long hours marching and training<br/>Hair: Black, straight, worn long in the feminine Matsu style<br/>Eyes: Dark<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Character sheet</div><div class="spoiler_body">Age: 22<br/><br/>Family bonus: Matsu (+1 Strength)<br/>School: Matsu Bushi 1 (+1 Strength)<br/><br/>Glory: 1.0<br/>Status: 1.0<br/>Honour: 6.5<br/><br/>Fire 2<br/>Agility 3<br/>Intelligence 2<br/><br/>Air 2<br/>Reflexes 2<br/>Awareness 2<br/><br/>Water 3<br/>Strength 4<br/>Perception 3<br/><br/>Earth 2<br/>Stamina 2<br/>Willpower 2<br/><br/>Void 2<br/><br/>Skills<br/><br/>Battle 2<br/>Jiujutsu 1<br/>Kenjutsu (Katana) 3<br/>Kyujutsu 1<br/>Lore: History 1<br/>Athletics 1<br/>War Fan 3<br/>Tea Ceremony 3<br/>Poetry 1<br/>Etiquette 1<br/>Iaijutsu 1<br/><br/>Advantages/Disadvantages:<br/><br/>Paragon (Duty) (6 XP)<br/>Tactician (2 XP)<br/>Inheritance (Matsu tessen) (5 XP)<br/><br/>Lost Love (-3 XP)<br/><br/><br/>Equipment:<br/><br/>Heavy armour<br/>Sturdy clothing<br/>Daisho<br/>Yumi<br/>Matsu tessen (inheritance)<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Travelling pack</div><div class="spoiler_body">Flint and tinder<br/>Ink brush kit<br/>Lantern<br/>Rope (50')<br/>Small hand mirror<br/>Small knife<br/>Tatami mat<br/>Tea set<br/>Trail rations, 1 week<br/>Whetstone<br/></div></div><br/>5 koku<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Experience</div><div class="spoiler_body">Starting XP: 46 (from age 22)<br/>From Disadvantages: 3<br/><br/>XP awards:<br/>8/12/2015: 10<br/><br/>Total XP gained: 59<br/><br/>XP expenditures:<br/><br/>Creation: Agility 3 (12 XP)<br/>Creation: Perception 3 (12 XP)<br/>Creation: Battle 2 (2 XP)<br/>Creation: Kenjutsu 2 (2 XP)<br/>Creation: War Fan 2 (2 XP)<br/>Creation: Tea Ceremony 1 (1 XP)<br/>Creation: Tea Ceremony 2 (2 XP)<br/>Creation: Poetry 1 (1 XP)<br/>Creation: Etiquette 1 (1 XP)<br/>Creation: Iaijutsu 1 (1 XP)<br/>Creation: Paragon (Duty) (6 XP)<br/>Creation: Tactician (2 XP)<br/>Creation: Inheritance (Matsu tessen) (5 XP)<br/>8/12/2015: Tea Ceremony 3 (3 XP)<br/>8/12/2015: Kenjutsu 3 (3 XP)<br/>8/12/2015: War Fan 3 (3 XP)<br/><br/>Total XP expended: 58<br/><br/>XP available: 1<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Background</div><div class="spoiler_body">Matsu Sakurako was born under auspicious omens and raised to be a great warrior. She was the most brilliant student among her peers in the Matsu Bushi School, and after her gempukku she quickly rose to be the leader of a squad of the Lion's Eyes, a Matsu scouting regiment that was commonly seen as a stepping stone towards the elite Lion's Pride. She took a year out of her meteoric rise to marry Matsu Keitaro, a bushi from another branch of the Matsu family, to honour an agreement that had been made when she was very young. They were soon blessed with a daughter, and then she was back in the field, fighting in the War of Spirits for the honour of the Lion Clan and the safety of the Empire. Perhaps she would have become a great general and an important figure in the Lion's military might, if she had not died to ensure her squad's escape from a deadly spirit ambush.<br/><br/>Matsu Keitaro was not born under any particularly significant omens, and was an average student of kenjutsu (by Lion standards). He was a passionate young man, and took his duty to his parents and to his Clan seriously, never backing down from a challenge to prove his loyalty or uphold his family's good name. His family was fairly wealthy as Lion samurai go, and they secured a betrothal for him to Matsu Sakurako, trading gold for prestige. When he was old enough to understand the terms of his betrothal, he became fiercely devoted to his future wife as well, sending her poems and performing daring feats in her name even before he had met her. His gempukku showed him to be an adequate swordsman with a knack for military organisation, and he was considered to have a decent future ahead of him as an officer of modest rank one day.<br/><br/>His marriage to Matsu Sakurako was to be the happiest day of his life, but then surpassed only by the birth of their daughter, Kiriko. Keitaro served in some campaigns while Sakurako was pregnant, and then took on the responsibility of raising her and managing their household while Sakurako fought in the War of Spirits. Every week, letters would arrive telling him of the great victories the Lion armies achieved, and the role that his wife played in them, and he read these letters to their daughter with great pride.<br/><br/>One day, Sakurako's friend Matsu Shiori, a soldier in her squad, arrived at the manor, bearing not a letter, but Sakurako's daisho, and the tale of her noble sacrifice. That was the day Matsu Keitaro's world ended.<br/><br/>Keitaro did his best to continue to serve his clan in spite of his grief. Certainly he needed no prompting to take the field against the spirit armies, and he slew many foes, embracing the Matsu rage and taking his revenge against the creatures that had slain his wife. But once the war was won and there was no more fighting to be done, his life was empty. Honour, glory and talent had granted his wife nothing more than an early death, and no matter what honours were heaped upon her grave, they could not give her one more day of life.<br/><br/>He sank into a deep depression, and his performance as a samurai suffered for it. His kenjutsu became lackluster and joyless, merely a repetition of learned motions. His tactical talent faded, and bushi who had once come to him for advice soon learnt that he had none to give. Finally, his wife's family came to take Kiriko to be raised by her aunts, and he knew in his heart that they were right to do so. He petitioned his liege for permission either to retire to a monastery or to commit seppuku, as he was no longer of any value to the Clan as a bushi.<br/><br/>Instead, his liege sent him as his tithe to the fledgling Owl Clan, believing that a new start under a new family would give him a chance to move on, make new connections to the world, and become an asset to his new clan and the Empire once more.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Twenty Questions</div><div class="spoiler_body">WHAT CLAN DOES YOUR CHARACTER BELONG TO?<br/>Owl (former Lion)<br/><br/>HOW WOULD OTHERS DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER’S APPEARANCE?<br/>He has a soft, almost feminine face, but certainly has the body of a warrior. I guess he's sort of pretty? Dresses very rigidly along clan and family lines, not much ornamentation.<br/><br/>IS YOUR CHARACTER A BUSHI, SHUGENJA, MONK, OR COURTIER?<br/>Bushi, now and forever.<br/><br/>WHAT FAMILY DOES YOUR CHARACTER BELONG TO?<br/>Reijiro now. He may be a Matsu at heart, but that life is behind him.<br/><br/>WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S MAIN MOTIVATION?<br/>Duty: to the Empire, to his new Clan (as soon as he can understand exactly what they are and what they represent), and to his wife's memory.<br/><br/>WHO IS THE PERSON YOUR CHARACTER TRUSTS MOST?<br/>Matsu Koniriko, his former liege in the Lion Clan. She guided him in his military career and in his marriage, and sent him to the Owl Clan when it was what he needed.<br/><br/>WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S GREATEST STRENGTH? GREATEST WEAKNESS?<br/>Keitaro's greatest strength is his passion. He is fiercely devoted to the ideal of bushido and to serving the Empire, and to the people who hold important places in his life. This is also his greatest weakness.<br/><br/>WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER THINK OF BUSHIDO?<br/>Bushido is the reason samurai exist. If a samurai loses sight of bushido, he should fall upon his sword rather than consume a single grain of rice that could be used to feed a pig or an eta.<br/><br/>WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S OPINION OF HER OWN CLAN?<br/>The Lion are the Emperor's glorious right hand. They protect the Empire and mete out Imperial will. In their own time, they capture land that other clans are too weak or incompetent to deserve to keep.<br/><br/>The Owl? Uh... well, the Emperor saw fit to create them, so it was definitely a good idea, and I am their vassal now, so I will serve them faithfully. Wthether this turns out to be a waste of everyone's time is yet to be seen, but I have high hopes.<br/><br/>IS YOUR CHARACTER MARRIED?<br/>*muffled sobbing*<br/><br/>DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE ANY PREJUDICES?<br/>Shugenja and courtiers should probably try harder to be useful in combat, but everyone has their proper place, I guess. It's not their fault.<br/><br/>TO WHOM DOES YOUR CHARACTER OWE THE MOST LOYALTY?<br/>The Emperor. All honour and right descends, ultimately, from the Crysanthemum Throne.<br/><br/>WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER’S FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE THINGS?<br/>Favourite: The opportunity to prove himself in battle and achieve important victories in the Emperor's name. Off-duty, he is fond of poetry.<br/>Least favourite: Taking orders from samurai who have never seen battle.<br/><br/>DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE ANY RECURRING MANNERISMS?<br/>He has an unfortunate habit of daydreaming, and can sometimes be spotted staring at nothing in the middle of training.<br/><br/>WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER’S EMOTIONS?<br/>Keitaro is a very passionate man, and when either joy or anger takes hold of him, will speak - and act - a great deal in defence of what he holds dear.<br/><br/>HOW WOULD YOUR CHARACTER HANDLE A SUBORDINATE’S IMPROPER BEHAVIOR?<br/>Fists are an appropriate disciplinary measure for insubordination off the battlefield. Particularly harsh offenses may be met with the threat of making their dishonour public. Disobedience on the battlefield is punished by death.<br/><br/>HOW WOULD YOUR CHARACTER’S PARENTS DESCRIBE HIM?<br/>He wears his heart on his sleeve, and is so delicate.<br/><br/>WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S HIGHEST AMBITION?<br/><em>I DON'T CARE ANYMORE, ALRIGHT? WHAT'S THE POINT? I'LL FIGHT AND THEN I'LL DIE, AND THAT'S ALL THAT ANY OF US CAN HOPE FOR!</em><br/>I mean, I hope one day to lead an army of my new clan in battle for the glory of the Emperor.<br/><br/>HOW RELIGIOUS IS YOUR CHARACTER?<br/>Religious enough. The Fortunes watch over us and give us strength, and our ancestors guide us with their wisdom. But deep contemplation is for monks, and my ultimate loyalty is to the Emperor.<br/><br/>IF YOU COULD, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR CHARACTER?<br/>It's not the end of the world.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Bonus questions</div><div class="spoiler_body"><em>Which tenets of Bushido are most important to your characters? Which tenets are least important?</em><br/><br/>Duty above all! That is the purpose of a samurai's existence.<br/><br/>Courtesy is only important to my liege, sensei, family, wife, Emperor, and the others to whom I owe loyalty and service. That is not to say that I will go out of my way to be rude to others, but what have they done for me, that I must bide my tongue to preserve their feelings?<br/><br/><em>Does your character know of Shourido? What does your character think of it?</em><br/><br/>As a means of self-improvement, supposing one ignores its origins? It is well enough. Strength and Knowledge and Perfection are useful things. But they are only tools, in the same way that skill with the sword is a tool. What matters is a samurai's behaviour, the choices he makes. Shourido does not tell you what is right, only what is useful. The only true guide to a samurai's behaviour is Bushido.<br/><br/><em>Was your character involved in the War of Spirits?</em><br/><br/>Indeed - the war was already in full fury when Keitaro finished his gempukku, and he went to fight early and often. He spent more time away from the front lines once he was married and caring for a daughter and an estate, though, leaving his wife to be the full-time warrior. After she died, he fought the spirits without pause or mercy.<br/><br/><em>What did your character think of each side on the War of Spirits?</em><br/><br/>One side was the side of the Emperor. The other was not.<br/><br/>Of course, one cannot blame Ochukeo's soldiers for following the commands of their liege. They did their duty (for a traitor to the Empire), as I did mine (for the Son of Heaven).<br/><br/><em>What did your character think of the treaty?</em><br/><br/>It is beyond shameful that anyone who dares to call himself "samurai" would dictate terms to the Emperor, but the might of the traitor's armies forced the Emperor's hand. It is our duty to abide by the Emperor's agreement. The Stag Clan will be shown the respect and courtesy that their new status affords them, and not a single grain more.<br/><br/><em>If given the chance, what would your character change about Rokugan?</em><br/><br/>No Stag Clan. More land in the hands of those who understand their value and how to defend them (i.e. the Lion).<br/></div></div>