TABLETOP TALES PRESENTS
A NARUTO RPG BACKSTORY
zealot [zel-uht]noun
1. A person who shows zeal.
2. An excessively zealous person; fanatic.
3. History. ( initial capital letter ) A member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent from a.d. 69 to 81, advocating the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisting the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to heathenize the Jews.
This week I took part in a rather interesting RPG experience; I created a back-story, in a one x one role-playing experience, with the DM of a new Naruto Fan RPG he developed. The sessions were pretty unique, at least in my experience, as they were both intensive (it took several hours) and quite thorough in developing a character (from his family to his personality weaknesses)-- everything was covered.
The process began with the DM, Dayne, asking me to find a song, with lyrics, and an AMV of that song that he could use to develop the outline of my back-story session. I chose Saliva's Click Click Boom and, if you want to see the AMV, the link for the AMV is at the top of the article. As I go into the background summary below, you should be able to note and compare the points where he used elements from the AMV in my back-story.
Now, if for some reason you know nothing about the popular anime and manga, Naruto is a series about Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja, who is on a quest to earn recognition from the people that see him as a monster and to become the Hokage of his village. That is the very simplest summary of the main plot-line, but it hardly covers what makes Naruto so engrossing. The world is unique; with a rather unique art-style, Masashi Kishimoto managed to create a world where modern technology is available, but warfare stayed on the path of creating advanced warriors. The fights are Kabuki-inspired and are, in my opinion, some of the best choreographed and interesting fights I've seen in any anime. Finally, the characters that inhabit this world, with their unique abilities, are all interesting enough to get a back-story.
And maybe that's why a back-story is so important in a Naruto RPG. Just for all you continuity lovers, I think this setting is pretty removed from anything canon. Also, some parts of this story may seem a little strange or disturbing, but this is a fantasy; everything that happens fits within this universe's rules.
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| Sir Taihouji of the House of the Golden Dragon |
YEAR 0
Taihouji's parents, Mitsuye Kinryu (his father) and Anju Kinryu (his mother), are wealthy nobles from the Village Hidden in the Shine. It is the central hub of the Empire of Light, the second largest nation in this world, and easily one of the more affluent. The Empire of Light is a mountainous region of plateaus, rich in ores and precious metals, and the average wealth of any citizen is higher than any other state. As I played through the back-story, I discovered more and more about their culture.His parents had been waiting expectantly for hisbirth and are pleased when they see him; he takes after his great, great grandfather, Taihouji the Great, also known as "The Golden Dragon" to which their clan was named when the warrior earned noble status. He was the greatest leader their people ever had, leading an unchallenged period of conquest, and expanding the Light's territory farther than it ever had achieved. It has been nearly two centuries since such a man has been born to their clan and the Light has been slowly, but surely losing its grip on its outlying territories and borders. Taihouji's birth heralds a return to glory.
As an infant, he committed his first act of unintentional carnage; he blew up his nursery killing his doctor, nursemaid, and two older sisters, Chise and Shino. Despite the loss of Taijhouji's two siblings, the Kinryu family and the Village of the Shine celebrates this event with a three week long festival.
This reveals his true potential, as he had inherited a family trait or kekkei genkei which is activated by sound; he releases chakra at a target with a single percussive sound, the chakra following the path of the sound, and he blows up that chakra with a second percussive sound. This ability hasn't been seen in a Kinryu since his great, great grandfather's use of it and this heralds Taihouji's rise as the future leader of the village.
As part of this celebration, Taihouji is awarded a future knighthood and command of a league of knights, called the Knight of Shine, but only when he is old enough to take on the responsibilities.
YEAR 1-4
The next four years are rather depressing; whether from some resentment, fear, or just negligence of his parents, young Taihouji spends most of his time, alone, only attended to by servants and tutors. This lack of love/attention leads him to develop a lack of empathy and to be distant from the feelings/concerns of others. He only finds passion in one thing; his religion.Taihouji's religion, the Path of Light, is a philosophical adherence to a path of revealing truths of the Light, uniting all peoples under the Light, and providing for all by the Light. They are harsh zealots who wage conquests in heathen lands and destroy all heretics they can. They persecute evil people that, as we'll see, have gone, in the eyes of the Light, beyond redemption. They are not inherently cruel; they show mercy to children and don't seek war with allies. Instead, their ultimate goal is to "enlighten" the world, whether through persuasion, inclusion, and/or, if need be, destruction of evil.
The Empire is ruled by two seats of power; the nobility and the clergy (which is structured much like the Catholic Church). The nobility have acquired wealth from land holdings and the clergy hold power in the faith/allegiance of the people. The two work as checks against each other, the nobility cannot unilaterally make any national decisions or form militaries, and the clergy cannot acquire wealthy or wage war without noble support. This also makes corruption, on a large scale, quite difficult. They also keep a balance of wealth; nobles required to pay a tithe that is redistributed to the lower echelons of society and to the betterment of public welfare. This has created a theocratic socialist state where everyone is provided with the base needs of food, shelter, and enough money to maintain their livelihoods. This quality of life promotes national pride and loyalty that is practically incomparable to any other peoples in the world.
His family's manor resides at the center of the village and his room gives him a view of the large village courtyard. Every night, the smell of ash and horrible screams lead him to the window, where down below he can watch executions and witch burnings. While most children would cringe in horror, these sights become so familiar to Taihouji that they become his main source of distraction from his empty house, and he becomes fascinated by the idea of it. At the age of four, he sneaks out of the manor to investigate it first hand.
Rather than being punished or coming to some harm, he is greeted warmly by the clergyman below, who explain the reason that people are being burned; they are heretics from Horizon that have committed unforgivable crimes in their lifetimes and it is the Light's will that they are destroyed. He agrees with this logic and, at their beckoning, takes part in the ritual of execution. He blows up his first heretic with his dragon roar and is given a place as part of the Society of Light, an inquisitional group.
Taihouji's reputation in the Village of Shine becomes even more significant and he becomes a beacon of religious righteousness in the Empire. He finds pleasure in his new attention and duties that give him an outlet for his frustrations. These activities feed his religious obsession. His parents are pleased by his actions as they strengthen the family's name, reputation, and expand their influence through new connections throughout the clergy who seek their favor.
YEAR 4-7
At age 4, Taihouji is given a valet and bodyguard from his father, a 10 year old fencer trained to be his bodyguard since before his birth. She is also a noble and of the Vandi family. Her name is Akahana, presumable for her red hair, and though mute, she makes a fine servant for Taihouji. Furthermore, she develops a warm relationship with the young boy and becomes his only and constant companion. Taihouji likes her, but is suspicious. Through his own cleverness, he manages to discover her past; she is his half-sister by his father. He keeps the secret, close to himself, as she is the only person to show him any familial affection. She also begins his training in swordsmanship.Over the next three years, mostly isolated from people besides Akahana, Taihouji becomes obsessed with politics, devouring scroll after scroll on discourse and history. He still takes part in ceremonial duties as a noble and his devotion is widely known. By age 7, he is worshiped by many as the obvious choice for a future position as the Holiness of the Light.
YEAR 7-11
By age 7, Taihouji's parents arranged a political marriage between himself and the daughter of a noble family in the Village of the Silence. He also earns the title of Sir and takes his position as the Grand Commander of the Holy Knights of Shine. He has earned this position through being the foremost son of the House of the Golden Dragon. I have earned this position earlier than other Grand Commander in the history of the village.His father tells him to leave everything to his more experienced subordinates. Understanding his own limitations, he would be fine with this, if it weren't for his disappointment at discovering the knighthood's true mission. He had believed them to be famous warriors, but he soon discovered their fame is a mix of propaganda and historical baggage. In actuality, the Holy Knights of Shine are a ceremonial guard that hires young nobles to rather safe missions like investigating miracles, accompanying missionaries, and protecting nobility/clergy alike. They are not crusaders and usually higher mercenaries to do their dirty work. To his displeasure, the order he has been put in charge of is made up of spoiled men and women. They are weak and no nothing of ambition in the name of the Light.
There is only man left who is cut from the cloth of war; Sir Azan. A legendary warrior, his story has been told time and time again, and his renown stretched across the world. His knighthood, the Band, fell at the Grand Bridge in combat against the Horizon. The only man left standing was Azan against five hundred Horizon heretics. In his grief and fury, he turned his faith to the Light and managed to hold the bridge. Not a single enemy combatant escaped alive. He is one of the most powerful ninja alive and Taihouji sought out his counsel.
He meets the twelve foot tall giant and found a quick ally. Azan and Taihouji found a common displeasure with the current state of the Empire of Light and both came together with a new plan. To create a new order of knights, from every class, made up of only the most faithful and talented warriors. With Azan's experience and Taihouji's wealth & clout, they were sure that this venture would be successful and put the light back on the path to glorious crusade they had not experienced since Taihouji the Great's reign. With this plan in hand, Taihouji taking Azan as his new mentor, the young knight goes to the Order of Light for the permission to begin a new knightly order.
He gets the go ahead from the Society of Light, but Taihouji needs to get his parent's permission to have access to his fortune. His parents have no intentions of allowing this, as they expect him to not take the path of a warrior but to instead become the Holiness, a peaceful position but also the highest and most prestigious, as well. Taihouji hates the idea of spending the rest of his life as his father's trophy son, sitting on some throne, and wasting his talent.
He proceeds to blackmail his father with the information of his illegitimate half-sister and gets access to his fortune. Taihoujis' father agrees to allow him his wishes, but only if he gets married to Utahime and make Utahime's brother, Kouon, his heir. Taihouji agrees and is wed to Utahime in an ornate, even lash, but small ceremony.
The two children, Utahime and Taihouji, agree to develop a friendship and to adhere to their duties to each other. Utahime is the first person to ever question Taihouji's faith and has to explain what the word "zealot" means. Taihouji agrees that this word is accurate to describe his people.
Taihouji spends the next four years, from ages 7 to 11, training under Azan and forming a knighthood that he named the Circle of Light. The Circle recruited and trained five hundred soldiers for a glorious crusade into the Horizon.
On Taihouji's 11th birthday, Azan's gift to his student is to give him the choice of their young, but elite military order's first conquest. Taihouji chooses a crusade against the Apostates, an order of heretics and criminals from Horzion that is equal in size to the Circle. They go on a three month journey to the Northern border to set up an ambush against them, on a plateau. Taihouji tells his men to prepare to "enlighten them".
The battle is fierce as the Circle manages to keep a struggling, but constant upper hand on their foes. First, they push them back down the side of the mountain, bringing the shelf of the plateau down on them, and then attempt to bring down the mountain on the foes as they try to tumble away. The fight moves down to the valley below and the Circle finds themselves in a tight quarter battle against the Apostates. When Taihouji makes himself a target by his attacks, the enemy replies from the cliffs above, sending down a whirlwind of shuriken. Azan manages to take the attack with his arm and shoulder, wounding them, but is still in fighting condition. In fear of continued artillery attacks from above, Taihouji leads his men up the cliffs, and blows up the canyon below, killing all that were not quick enough to escape.
They then face their enemy on the plateau, who begin to chant in unison, "We shall do as we willst!" and he replies, "You will die!" They prepare for the enemy charge and begin their own chant of holy prayer. Suddenly, the enemies chants become unified and they summon a champion, The Black Swordsman. This new foe begins making progress toward the Circle and Azan, sword in hand, meets him in blows. All fall silent as they watch the ground shaking battle. Azan cuts the Swordsman's blade in half over and over again, but it keeps regenerating. The battle ends in a draw; Azan impales his foe through the chest...and the Black Swordsman decapitates Azan.
Taihouji leads a charge on the enemy, blowing up the swordsman body, and stopping to collect their weapons. As they do this, a contingency of 1000 heretics appear on the horizon, having come to the aid of their allies after felling the Tower of Light. Outnumbered and weary from battle, Taihouji leads a temporary retreat to regroup and sends up a flare. After a few moments, the flare is met with response by three black musical notes in the sky. All they can do is run until they meet up with some back up, but they can't run far or fast enough. Taihouji falls to his hands and knees, bleeding from his ears, nose, and eyes.
He tells Akahan to take the two legendary swords and retreat to the Village of the Shine. She refuses and stands before him. Activating a taijutsu, her skin turns bright red, and wielding a legendary sword in each hand, the young woman becomes a whirling dervish of death. Moved by his sister's actions, Taihouji lets out a war-cry, and his men charge forward. All he can do is watch and pray to the Light.
At first the battle is in their favor, but the tide begins to turn against them again. Silence falls across the battlefield and Taihouji sees three puppets, two playing flutes, and one looking down at him. He looks up and begs for them to save his men. The larger puppet nods and they fall back as waves of Village of the Silent ninja pour over the side of mountain to come to the Light's aid. Just as it looks as if the day is saved, a black clad giant rises from the melee and cuts a swath through the troops. He cuts down everyone in his path...which has Akahana at the end of it. With his last breath, Taihouji hurls an explosion at the swordsman and blacks out.
YEAR 12
Taihouji wakes up one year later in the care of his wife's family; he has been in a coma for just over a year, but is otherwise fine. He discovers that his father has disowned him and he has become a persona non grata in the Empire of Light. He takes this in stride as the inevitable result of a failed crusade. He is comforted to discover that he still has many friends.The hundred survivors of the Circle have remained in the Village of Silence, for the whole year, waiting for him to wake up. His half-sister survived, thanks to his explosion slowing down the Swordsman, though she lost an arm. She did keep the legendary blade and in the last year became an elite Jounin and Special Ops Ninja of the Silence. The swordsman escaped, but this is counterbalanced by the Village of Silence's medical teams managing to save Azan's life, and return him to his fit condition. The final bit of comforting news is a letter from his mother, in which she apologizes for everything, from the neglect to his father's actions, and declares that, in almost losing him, she has rediscovered her love for her son.
Taihouji has become a tarnished dragon but, surrounded by his friends, family, and allies, the world has never looked so bright.
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What do you guys think? Pretty intense just for a back-story?
