Clan Ishimoto

[farmerclown 3911]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

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CONTENTS

概要 - Overview

歴史 - History

値 - Values

外観 - Appearance

家族 - Family Members

 

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月に遠く

おぼゆる藤の

色香かな

 

“ In the moonlight,

The color and scent of the wisteria

Seems far away.”

 

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概要 

Overview

Clan Ishimoto is one who’s history has been written in the blood and sweat of sacrifice and proving one’s honor to the people. Originally descending from the Ishikawa and Hiroji, the Ishimoto have had to prove themselves by working their way up to becoming a daimyō in their own right in the lands of Oyashima. The samurai clan made their way after a great period of loss to the lands of Almaris to establish a safe place to call home. 

 

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歴史

 History

 

End of the Daikage Era

The rule of usurper Shōgun Ishikawa Yorinobu under the incumbent Emperor Daikage ruled with an immeasurably iron fist. It began with the drafting of ordinance that demanded increased taxes among the many daimyō, soon followed by demands for “honor-bound” retainers to have been offered as tribute to the Shōgun, all actions acting in discordance and denial of ancient laws affording the daimyō certain inalienable rights. Most disparaging among these injustices was the murder of one of the Emperor’s foremost generals, Innoue Sanzu, a respected dignatary and veteran who contributed a decade of service toward the Yamamoto War was executed publically by the Shōgun for denying to surrender his two sons into Yorinobu’s direct service. While the Inoue Clan had declined in prominence in the many years following the Raizo Period of Invasion, they remained historically loyal to the Ishikawa, furthermore accentuating the upset felt by the other daimyō. It was then that it was discovered that the late Shōgun Ishikawa Yorimasa, who had been betrayed by his brother Yorinobu a decade prior, had a surviving son. His seven siblings, two of which having been boys, were all kidnapped and assassinated by the usurper, though this one boy, Akira had been taken a few days prior to the quelling, taken under the protection of the Shōgun’s despondent and often *****-mongering cousin, Ishikawa Haruto. 

 

With his second cousin within his possession, Haruto had a bargaining chip yet unknown to the Shōgun that could unite the daimyō, jointly delegitimizing Yorinobu’s claim to the throne. The cousin of the Shōgun, however, bore neither the reputation of a tactician nor a diplomat. He was often drunk, lacked respect for tradition, and avaded academic responsibilities from the many tutors afforded to him by his familial position. By all means he was shunned by the Ishikawa clan for his failure. Despite this, he was no fool, and remained compassionate to the blight of his infant cousin. The Shōgun did not simply disrespect the ordained laws of the realm, but so too did he enforce his own with Kenpaitai, or secret police, a force of trained samurai distributed across the realm with the authority of magistrates and local officials in their right to detain, execute, and tax the regional daimyō as well as their subjects. It was only by the disunity of the daimyō as a cause of the yokai threat and the still waging Yamatai war that they remained too disjointed to contest the Shōgun directly. Furthermore, Yorinobu’s maintained purging of those who bore claim to his position kept him, for a time, devoid of political adversaries. 

 

As daimyō across Oyashima continued to flee the realm as a result of the Shōgun’s pogroms, gratuitous policies, yokai, and the ever-raging way with the weakened Cathant, the long-withering alliances between clans seemed both unprepared and unwilling to put at risk their already dwindling economic resources and agricultural stores of rice and millet, rationed and taken from by the Shōgun in his persisting war. The youthful drunkard, Haruto, remained unwilling to indulge in the frivolities of war, though fate forced his hand when his mistress, the wife of the Shōgun Yorinobu, was discovered for her affair. She was promptly executed, and on the morning of Tennō Tanjōbi, the Emperor Daikage’s birthday, four assassins were sent to Haruto’s residence. His face was horribly scarred in the attack, but the imperial soldiers guarding his room managed to kill the assassins and facilitate young Haruto’s escape. He was ordered by the sympathetic local daimyō, Inoue Masushiro, to hide amongst Warrior Monks within a temple loyal to him. It was there that he found his brother, still breathing, and determined that the only way in which he would endure was through the manifestation of his perceived destiny, proffered to him by the local monks. His second cousin, the son of the late Shōgun, Akira, had to take the throne. In the following months Haruto united many of the daimyō, capitalizing much upon the diplomatic efficiency of the daimyō who had housed him, Masushiro, in uniting them. Soon an army was formed, filled with many of the skilled samurai who were demanded to be taken as tribute. 

 

This force, however, drew men away from the border in which the war with the Cathant raged at a slowing pace, bringing in more yokai than Cathanese soldiers, the latter of which had almost wholly been assigned to securing their border against the spirits. Haruto’s army met the Shōgun’s forces at Heshan, defeating them after only four hours of battle due to a successful routing technique that sent cavalry attacking from the enemy flank through the cover of valley passageways mapped out by the local lords. The army soon continued its march toward the Hachi palace. With the Shōgun’s forces reduced to itinerant deserves and ages militant leaders who wished to maintain power, a siege began for three weeks. It prolonged after that, however, when it became apparent that the Emperor Daikage had been taken hostage by Ishikawa Yorinobu. Haruto and a small force of samurai attempted to sneak into Arashi Castle through extended tunneling, which was initially successful, however upon entry their location was discerned and a battle ensued. Haruto was killed, but so was the Shōgun and the majority of his men, saving the Emperor from an untimely demise. Haruto was hailed a hero, and the youthful Akira was placed as Shōgun under the regency of daimyō Inoue Masushiro.

 

Haruto’s only son, Ishikawa Katsushiro, then married a woman of a Hiroji, a lesser clan, named Yui. Due to the status of the women, he was forbidden to formally marry under his name, so in rejection of his familial tether Katsushiro formed a new clan alongside his wife, Yui, naming it Ishimoto, meaning “those who live near the rock”, referring to Mount Karituri on Oyashima’s eastern plains, the mountain beside the valley where they construct their realm. With time, they obtained the status of daimyō, through dedicated service to the highly sympathetic Shōgun, a now grown Akira. 

 

The Great Purge

Decades later, the Yamamoto had de facto ended, reduced to continued efforts to resign and resist the growing threat of yokai who had only grown in number since the Great Eclipse, a second one occurring fifteen years after the first, and reportedly doubling the population of dangerous and seen Oni and Yokai. A new Emperor ruled, the son of the last, known to all by the name of Hiroto, he was mentally ill and bound to a chair for most of the day, leaving his governance nearly entirely to the Shōgun. Ishimoto clan had established a firm and respected reputation, the then matriarch Akahana and patriarch Hotaru becoming well respected among the daimyō as a warrior clan worthy of respect and credence. Their soldiers were particularly trained in the slaying of yokai, in large part utilizing the ways of the warrior-monks who had for centuries in Oyashima’s history found the oni in the dead of night, keeping the peace in the countryside. It was this skillset that made the Ishimoto clan a useful general to the Ishikawa Shōgun, an aged and near-death Ishikawa Akira.

 

The event was called the Lightless Reckoning, (計算), when for three days the sun eclipsed for a third and presumably final time, blocking out the sun to allow Oni to roam freely and uninhibited for that time. This afforded them the opportunity for a full on assault they had been preparing for months, immediately surpassing the weakened and undersupplied border force to begin heading toward nearby cities. As the eclipse faltered, the army of yokai only fastened, the first city to fall being Luzhou, three weeks later, Heshan was razed, and the Oni continued their nightly attacks toward Hachi. Warrior monks and holy men dictated that the end was coming, a great cataclysm that manifested as a punishment for the intoleration and disrespect of the Gods and spirits, depraving man of his humanity and honor of its worth. Many believed such, bringing forth a greater exodus than the one which had accompanied the rule of the late Ishikawa Yorinobu. 

 

Hotaru Ishikawa, sending his family away to hide in a hidden temple, primed his forces for a full-scale attack before the army of Yokai could reach the city of Hachi where the palace grounds resided. He was accompanied by another of the Shōgun’s foremost generals, Ishikawa Sanjuro, his nephew. They rode into battle at noon, certain their armies would attack and dusk, and thus setting up three primary forces with cavalrymen ready at either flank. As the yokai attacked, any semblance of order was immediately cast astray. The ground shook, the sky deterring into a great and torrential rain with the trembling ground of dirt swiftly turning to mud. It was a massacre. Within three hours the army was decimated, it's only survivors taking form under the injured Ishikawa Sanjuro, fleeing through a passage between valleys utilized by the very same daimyō who had overthrown the Shōgun four decades prior. Hotaru, however, continued to fight, forcing his loyal bannerman in several violent, unrelenting volleys at the yokai inflicting meaningless casualties in comparison to the waves of death incurred with each attack. Despite this, the daimyō’s harrowing words kept them moving, until an Oni pierced his heart with a Tanto, killing him instantly and his troops soon thereafter.

 

Sanjuro, despite his best efforts, failed to reunite his soldiers in any uniform manner, each breaking off into small deserting detachments, horrified by the bloodbath they had witnessed. Only his most loyal bannerman joined him as he rode for the temple where the Ishimoto resided, aligning the guardsmen retainers who still stood in service for their protection. He amassed some of the few ships still within Ishikawa's domain, doing so against the Shōgun’s wishes, and sailing forth toward the nearby continent of Almaris, hoping it might allow a new place of construction under the clan Ishimoto, under its new patriarch, Ishimoto Yukimura, a young upstart boy who’s father Sanjuro would have wished to die alongside, were it not for the oath he had sworn to him. He took the boy as his word, and deemed it his honor-bound duty to train him to become a daimyō. He sailed to meet with a long since lost relative, Ishikawa Akihiko, in hopes of establishing a new realm for their people, one uninhibited by the follies and transgressions of past failures. 

 

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値 

Values

The Clan Ishimoto has it’s values that are deeply rooted in its history and traditions. Strength, honor, respect, are followed by all members of the clan, as men and women are expected to endow these beliefs. The children are all brought up to respect their elders and follow them for advice and to learn the ways of their traditions. While the elders are expected to pass on the traditions and old ways of the Oyashima, teaching the younger generation on the values and expectations of the bushidō, the martial way. Despite being taught the same values of respect and honor, men and women still have very different roles and mindsets that are expected of them.

Males of the Ishimoto Clan are expected to be able to show physical strength and fortitude, often undergoing the path of a warrior or samurai to defend the clan from outside threats. They have the expectation of being able to provide for the family through military and political means. With all things comes balance as they are taught a great deal about respecting the arts and history as a way of passing on traditions outside of just storytelling.

Women within the Ishimoto Clan have the honor of taking care of the home and maintaining traditions. They are taught from a young age the value of artistry, homemaking, and to upkeep the old ways. Oftentimes, women of the Ishimoto Clan are often seen organizing lavish festivals or maintaining the temples and shrines. For it is their duty to teach others the ways of Taikyō, housekeeping, and upholding the happiness of the household.

 

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外観

Appearance

Within the Ishimoto, appearances are of great importance for they believe that the respect you show to the world must extend towards yourself.  Both males and females  within the Ishimoto believe  that one must take care of themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually to be the best versions of themselves. Ishimotos are overall well-dressed, whether dressed simply or otherwise, and they keep a physique within societal standards. 

Traits of the clan are that of a typical human Oyashima, jet-black and pin-straight hair. They tend to all have darker brown, nearly black-hued eyes. The males tend to have a skin complexion that is more tan due to them often being a part of the military and being outside. The females tend to keep a more fair skinned appearance from tending to the home and the more delicate things in life therefore lack the need to be under the sun often.

 

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家族 

Family Members

 

The head of the clan remains the eldest son of Ishimoto blood, Yukimura ( @Lionhz ), son of Hotaru and Akahana Ishimoto.

Spoiler

CREDITS

Basis Lore | https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/194066-culture-oyashima/ 

Writing | @Quantumatics, Myself, @Lionhz
Skin Examples | @sunflowerist, myself, and @venclair

Images | The internet

 

[_mady07 1104]

R

[Radzig 546]

Ishimoto Takezō, a youth of his name, dons both the complexion of his father's predecessors as well as their stygian hair. 

[Emery 737]

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