Theme Spotlight: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers
Mini Spotlight: Ronin War-Oops, We Mean Yoroiden Samurai Troopers
....It's Sailor Moon with guys, okay!?
History:
Centuries ago, during the Dark Ages when magic was scarce, the demon lord Arago attempted to conquer Feudal-era Japan and would have succeeded, if it weren't for the efforts of the warriors of the age: the sorcerer now known only as The Ancient, the Goodenough Girls X, and the vigiliant soldiers of the Magic Association. His armor, enormous and deeply tainted with evil, was left behind, and the Ancient used his power to split it into nine Mystic Armors. The Armors, now freed of demonic influence, took on the aspects of the elements and the virtues of Buddhism and Confucianism.
All Arago could do in the Netherworld was wait, and slowly use the influence of the demons who still lurked in the mortal world to bring his armors back to him. Over time he regained four of them, and subverted their virtues and elements into corruptive forces. These he granted to humans who swore allegiance to him, and they in turn would be corrupted and controlled by their Armors as his Dark Warlords.
And then he waited, as the Feuding States gave way to a unified Japan, through centuries of social and economic changes, until a modern era where demons were thought to be a myth.
But they weren't, and magic wasn't gone. As magicians began to reawaken all over Tokyo, as the Fairy Worlds reached out to Earth, the barrier between the living world and the lands of the dead also began to weaken. That was Arago's chance.
He sent out his four Dark Warlords to take vengeance upon Tokyo. Their goals were twofold: to conquer and spread fear and chaos, and to reclaim the other five Mystic Armors. For without them, Arago will never be able to regain his original form.
The Dark Warlords and their alliance, known only as The Dynasty, have tied themselves to Dark Fall, and their lord waits in the underworld, quietly scheming to consume his enemies and rule the empire denied to him centuries ago.
The Samurai Troopers and the Mystic Armor
Five young men have been granted the power to call forth and don the Mystic Armors. While these Armors have been artifacts and family treasures for some time, only now have they started to awaken and lend their strength and renewed power to the battle to protect Japan.
The Samurai Troopers are noble Ryo Sanada, sharp-witted Seiji Date, gentle Shin Mouri, upbeat Xiu Lei Huang and brilliant Touma Hashiba. They have only recently acquired the power of the armors, and do not fully understand everything about how they work, but it is only through their hard work, bravery and teamwork that the full power of the armors can be unleashed.
The five armors are all tied to a Virtue and an Element: Wildfire/Righteousness, Courtesy/Light, Faith/Torrent, Justice/Earth and Wisdom/Heavens, respectively. The armors are heavly tied into their Elements, and warriors donning the armors can recharge power by meditating in a dormant state in a space connected with the natural element. This does take some time, and can be difficult.
The armors can be called forth and dismissed at will. When worn, they enhance the wearer's physical strength and speed, along with offering protection. The wearer is granted the ability to wield the armor's weapon, and with practice and force of will can call upon the armor's element for a powerful magic attack. Like Pretty Cures, Samurai Troopers are more oriented towards boosted physical combat. Their powers are almost entirely offensive or defensive; only the armor of Light has the ability to lift weak curses or purify evil magic.
It should be noted that the Mystic Armors are not necessarily good or evil. They are, originally, a part of Arago himself. If worn by a warrior with a weak heart or a wicked mind, the armor can in turn lead the warrior on a path back to the demon realm.
The Dark Warlords:
The Dark Warlords serve Arago in the Netherworld, having long since left the human realm behind. They are four warriors who were tempted with promises of power, and the evil armors they don have long since drained away most of their humanity. During his imprisonment, over hundreds of years, Arago would listen for a warrior strong of body and weak of virtue, and draw the victim into his power. Four vanished into the Netherworld, long since forgotten from history.
The dark armors have been twisted to represent the elements of Cruelty, Darkness, Illusion and Venom. Even Arago was not powerful enough to destroy the Virtues infused in the armors by the Ancient One, but his influence has subverted them, and the Dark Warlords embody negative interpretations of Loyalty, Obedience, Serenity and Filial Piety. Still, those virtues alone may be the only hold the warlords have on their humanity.
Unlike many active members of Dark Fall, the Dark Warlords prefer to fight in person rather than conjuring up a monster. They can call forth demon minions to assist in combat, but will almost always be active in a battle themselves. Unlike many demonic servants, they show little interest in corrupting normal humans. Their approach is evry straightforward.
OOC Notes and Changes:
For the sake of consistency, we're using the Japanese names and terminologies. For whatever reason, the Ronin Warriors TV dub left a lot of plot details intact, but swapped the names around quite a bit. (Anubis, for example, was actually named Shutendoji in YST, and Cale was Anubis. Why did they do this? To confuse us all.) A guide to the name changes can be found here.
That said, there are very few changes between the dub and the original, and what has been changed can be found on the main Wikipedia page for the show. So don't worry if your only familiarity with the show is through the Ronin Warriors dub. No one changed gender, had their death written out, or was made into someone else's cousin. Iiiit's pretty much the same show.
You will note that Arago (that's Talpa in the dub, if you haven't guessed already) is trying to take over Tokyo, as opposed to the show where he pretty much does it in the first episode. This Tokyo is a much more magically active place, and he has far heavier opposition keeping the Dark Warlords from just rolling the city. They are, of course, trying, frequently.
The Samurai Troopers can be apped into whatever faction the players feel best suits them (or none at all) and attend whatever schools would best fit.
....It's Sailor Moon with guys, okay!?
Click to viewHistory:
Centuries ago, during the Dark Ages when magic was scarce, the demon lord Arago attempted to conquer Feudal-era Japan and would have succeeded, if it weren't for the efforts of the warriors of the age: the sorcerer now known only as The Ancient, the Goodenough Girls X, and the vigiliant soldiers of the Magic Association. His armor, enormous and deeply tainted with evil, was left behind, and the Ancient used his power to split it into nine Mystic Armors. The Armors, now freed of demonic influence, took on the aspects of the elements and the virtues of Buddhism and Confucianism.
All Arago could do in the Netherworld was wait, and slowly use the influence of the demons who still lurked in the mortal world to bring his armors back to him. Over time he regained four of them, and subverted their virtues and elements into corruptive forces. These he granted to humans who swore allegiance to him, and they in turn would be corrupted and controlled by their Armors as his Dark Warlords.
And then he waited, as the Feuding States gave way to a unified Japan, through centuries of social and economic changes, until a modern era where demons were thought to be a myth.
But they weren't, and magic wasn't gone. As magicians began to reawaken all over Tokyo, as the Fairy Worlds reached out to Earth, the barrier between the living world and the lands of the dead also began to weaken. That was Arago's chance.
He sent out his four Dark Warlords to take vengeance upon Tokyo. Their goals were twofold: to conquer and spread fear and chaos, and to reclaim the other five Mystic Armors. For without them, Arago will never be able to regain his original form.
The Dark Warlords and their alliance, known only as The Dynasty, have tied themselves to Dark Fall, and their lord waits in the underworld, quietly scheming to consume his enemies and rule the empire denied to him centuries ago.
The Samurai Troopers and the Mystic Armor
Five young men have been granted the power to call forth and don the Mystic Armors. While these Armors have been artifacts and family treasures for some time, only now have they started to awaken and lend their strength and renewed power to the battle to protect Japan.
The Samurai Troopers are noble Ryo Sanada, sharp-witted Seiji Date, gentle Shin Mouri, upbeat Xiu Lei Huang and brilliant Touma Hashiba. They have only recently acquired the power of the armors, and do not fully understand everything about how they work, but it is only through their hard work, bravery and teamwork that the full power of the armors can be unleashed.
The five armors are all tied to a Virtue and an Element: Wildfire/Righteousness, Courtesy/Light, Faith/Torrent, Justice/Earth and Wisdom/Heavens, respectively. The armors are heavly tied into their Elements, and warriors donning the armors can recharge power by meditating in a dormant state in a space connected with the natural element. This does take some time, and can be difficult.
The armors can be called forth and dismissed at will. When worn, they enhance the wearer's physical strength and speed, along with offering protection. The wearer is granted the ability to wield the armor's weapon, and with practice and force of will can call upon the armor's element for a powerful magic attack. Like Pretty Cures, Samurai Troopers are more oriented towards boosted physical combat. Their powers are almost entirely offensive or defensive; only the armor of Light has the ability to lift weak curses or purify evil magic.
It should be noted that the Mystic Armors are not necessarily good or evil. They are, originally, a part of Arago himself. If worn by a warrior with a weak heart or a wicked mind, the armor can in turn lead the warrior on a path back to the demon realm.
The Dark Warlords:
The Dark Warlords serve Arago in the Netherworld, having long since left the human realm behind. They are four warriors who were tempted with promises of power, and the evil armors they don have long since drained away most of their humanity. During his imprisonment, over hundreds of years, Arago would listen for a warrior strong of body and weak of virtue, and draw the victim into his power. Four vanished into the Netherworld, long since forgotten from history.
The dark armors have been twisted to represent the elements of Cruelty, Darkness, Illusion and Venom. Even Arago was not powerful enough to destroy the Virtues infused in the armors by the Ancient One, but his influence has subverted them, and the Dark Warlords embody negative interpretations of Loyalty, Obedience, Serenity and Filial Piety. Still, those virtues alone may be the only hold the warlords have on their humanity.
Unlike many active members of Dark Fall, the Dark Warlords prefer to fight in person rather than conjuring up a monster. They can call forth demon minions to assist in combat, but will almost always be active in a battle themselves. Unlike many demonic servants, they show little interest in corrupting normal humans. Their approach is evry straightforward.
OOC Notes and Changes:
For the sake of consistency, we're using the Japanese names and terminologies. For whatever reason, the Ronin Warriors TV dub left a lot of plot details intact, but swapped the names around quite a bit. (Anubis, for example, was actually named Shutendoji in YST, and Cale was Anubis. Why did they do this? To confuse us all.) A guide to the name changes can be found here.
That said, there are very few changes between the dub and the original, and what has been changed can be found on the main Wikipedia page for the show. So don't worry if your only familiarity with the show is through the Ronin Warriors dub. No one changed gender, had their death written out, or was made into someone else's cousin. Iiiit's pretty much the same show.
You will note that Arago (that's Talpa in the dub, if you haven't guessed already) is trying to take over Tokyo, as opposed to the show where he pretty much does it in the first episode. This Tokyo is a much more magically active place, and he has far heavier opposition keeping the Dark Warlords from just rolling the city. They are, of course, trying, frequently.
The Samurai Troopers can be apped into whatever faction the players feel best suits them (or none at all) and attend whatever schools would best fit.