The Last of the Easterners

[Ezo Karasuga 356]

Note:  This is not meant to paint eastern RP with a single brush stroke.  It is meant to try to make Eastern RP a bit less edgy. 

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"Signal the fleet to turn to close haul!", barked the gruff old-guard captain of the Kaiten, a large steam and sail ship, "We will ride through this storm!"

 

"Affirmative!", replied a sailor who began to wave colored  flags toward the 3 smaller ships sailing behind the Kaiten. The ships bounced into the waves as the crews of each ship struggled to maintain control.

 

The storm had been seemingly going on for days as the small flotilla continued toward its goal of the Isles of Axios.  The ships  belonged three Aeldinian Eastern clans.   who intended to settle in the new world. 

 

The Tsu, exiles from the house Ishikawa,nobility of Oren from eons ago; the Yoshida, a staunch traditionalist clan rooted in their heritage; and the Karasuga, a clan of tinkerers and engineers.  Among the three clans were a cadre of other Eastern Xian advisers and their families.

 

The clans would rarely agree on anything in the past. Even at times going to war with one another.  However, differences were able to be put aside as each clan soon struggled.  Drought, famine and plague had come to their lands.  The farmers could not grow food from the soil, the merchants could not trade their wares, the warriors could not protect the people.

 

At a meeting of the clans to discuss the troubles they were facing, it was decided that the Eastern people would need to leave their isolationist ways and start anew, together.  

 

"We need pledge allegiance with Oren!", demanded the head of the Tsu clan.

 

"They are nothing but barbarians! Oren had my people killed! ", yelled Yoshida clan's leader.

 

"Your people are nothing but thieves and vagrants! ", screamed an Tsu diplomat. "If it wasn't for the Yoshida then the Ishikawa would still be Oren nobility!"

 

 "Quiet! If we try to establish a settlement, with certainty we will be forced to pledge fealty to some government lest we multiply our already small population", remarked the head of the Karasuga clan.  "We need to approach this situation with a cool head."

 

"The Tsu have the gold and manpower, the decision will be ours!  We must set sail toward the Orenian lands and pledge fealty", roared an Tsu general.  "I trust the other clans will make available their ships for this cause."

 

The arguing continued for an hour.

 

Eventually, knowing there was no other option but survival, the other clans agreed with the exile clan, the Tsu.

 

One day with great solace, the Eastern clans departed their homes and set sail toward the isles of Axios. Leaving behind what little peace and happiness they knew.

 

The storm had taken the fleet on the fourth day of the voyage.  The skilled sailors of the clans combined with the sturdy western designed steam ships allowed them to take the repeated punishment from the storm.

 

A Karasuga Naval Officer named Ezo stood on the deck of the Momo Maru, the Karasuga's Ahkeron-class steamship.  In his hand a VonSchlichten Co. Springsteel Stopwatch.  Between each lightning strike he measured the time between the lightning flash and the rumble of thunder before re-winding the stopwatch.  The small stopwatch was a trinket from his grandfather, it was his most cherished possession.

 

He then saw signal flags from the Kaiten, the Tsu flagship. Shortly after, each ship in the line slowly lurched into the waves bouncing gently.

 

"Turn close haul into the storm?  The Tsu captain is a madman!", Ezo thought to himself.  "The Kaiten is packed with gold and will surely sink if it starts taking in any water!"

 

Ezo knew that he and everyone aboard the Momo Maru must follow orders.  They joined the other 2 smaller ships in following the Kaiten into the storm. So the small ship brought up the rear of the line as the four vessels approached a dark gray horizon.

 

Two hours later it was clear the fleet had made a grave error.  The storm intensified into a full fledged maelstrom. The ships were thrown around like toys in a child's bath over and over again.  The seas had full control over each ship as the crews and the occupants were helpless.

 

 

 

The last thing Ezo remembered was the load roar of cracking wood with thunder, sight of the Kaiten violently splitting into two before sinking. The glint of gold reflecting the flashes of lightning as the treasure ship went to the bottom of the sea. 

 

Everything went dark.

 

The sun was warm on Ezo's face as he woke up on a beach not remembering anything about how he got there.  Beside him some survivors from the fleet and bodies  of some who did not.  Scattered around was wreckage from the Momo Maru. Ezo and some others began to attend to the wounded on the beach. He recognized a few faces from the Momo Maru but most of the survivors he had never met.   Best efforts were made to cover or bury the dead before the seagulls became a problem.  They could see they were on an island offshore from a large landmass.

 

"Where are we?", asked a female survivor tending to a wounded man's arm.

 

"Last known position before the storm was south of the Oren coast", remarked a navigator of the Momo Maru.  , "We might be just off shore from Oren."

 

Ezo spent hours helping survivors and looking through the wreckage of the Momo Maru.  There was perhaps only a dozen survivors and dozen bodies found.  Only a fraction of the fleet's total headcount.  He was looking for the ship's captain or any other higher ranking clan personnel, alive.  As more time passed it was becoming clear that Ezo was the only person of any clan ranking among the survivors.  

 

Ezo pulled out his pocket stopwatch.  It was smashed and the glass face shattered.  He sighed and looked closer at the damage.  

 

"VonSchlichten Co Ltd"

 

Shipwrecked, hungry, tired, no clan riches,  and with his favorite gadget broken, Ezo was realizing the truth behind the daunting task at hand.  

 

He said aloud without thinking:   

 

"We might be the last of the Easterners..."

 

"I hope we aren't"

 

 

[herculean_wud 3662]

Wud unsheathes his katana blades, going on a hunt.

[Pav33 101]

Jin Bishou and a few other easterns clap sarcastically as the survivors claim they may be the last of the easterners.

[iris1612 1780]

Amuel XIV snorts in contempt

[SodaiKamikaze 652]

Pei Long Feng muses..

[LadyRebecca 1050]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.