[ HISTORY ]
Posted here because its so freakin' long and I don't want to make the app look that horrendously long. OTL|||
Not much is known about Date Masamune - eldest son to his father Date Terumune, it was known that one day Masamune (or as he was known back then, Bontenmaru) would be in line to take control of the Date clan. Things never really went all that right though, as smallpox would come and rob him of his eyesight from his right eye, though it is unclear as to how or even why he removed the whole eye in the first place. Regardless of how he lost his eye though, it was a fact that his mother came to shun him due to this, and started to favour his younger brother over him as head of the house.
Despite that however, in the end Masamune did come to gain control of the Date house in one way or another, though how he actually did it was something best left for another time. He was fearless and strong, and in no time at all in was the head of the Oshu region and became one of the most well-known and feared names in the era. From his appearance to demeanour, eventually he would be known throughout all of Hi-no-Moto (as Japan was known back then) as the fearsome dokuganryū (One-eyed Dragon) of Oshu.
Fierce and independent, supported by his people and his loyal retainer Date started on his conquest to control the land (and get some good fights while at it). Coming down from the north, Date and his men started to take over the lands as he passed, earning a bigger and bigger name for himself as he continued his conquest down the country. Eventually however his conquest was put to a temporary halt when he decided to take on Uesugi Kenshin, who on that same day was also up for a battle against Takeda Shingen of Kai. Both Kenshin and Takeda were aware of Date's plans of a surprise assault, and so intervened it by sending out one of Takeda's finest soldiers - one Sanada Genjiro Yukimura. This would be the start of a strange bond between him and Date Masamune, and Masamune regarded it as quite the gain even if he had to stop his march in order to prevent the casualties of a three-way struggle.
Still, he wasn't going to back down from just one setback like that. Following the advice of his retainer, Date went out towards Imagawa with an attempt to conquer those lands before Kai could, using Takeda's earlier tactics used against him onto them back in return in order for him to gain an advantage in the battle. The plan succeeded... or well, would have almost succeeded, if Yukimura hadn't interfered right before Date was about to take the general's head for himself. The two went up into a spar with the general's life (and head) as the prize, but they were deterred when said general got his body doubles and fled in a bid to escape. Date, his retainer and Yukimura gave chase, but none of them ever managed to claim the general's head - it had been taken by none other than the infamous Devil King Oda Nobunaga himself, when his three elite operatives had intervened during their chase. Date had attempted to take on Oda there and then, but stopped himself before he could.
His plans gone down the drain and himself made to stop in his tracks for once due to the presence of the Devil King, Date and his men headed back to Oshu in order to regroup and have himself decide upon what to do next. It was during this time when the Vagabond of house of Maeda, Maeda Keiji came around and offered Date an alliance of the states, in order to crush Nobunaga and the threat that he possessed. Date, of course, rejected the offer, but through Keiji he managed to settle his own thoughts on the matter and with Koujiro's encouragement, acted out with his troops independently and started to charge straight towards Owari, where the Devil King himself would be. Keiji tagged along as well using his vagabond status, to which Date didn't mind so long as the other didn't get in his way.
Of course, things weren't going to be so simple. Takeda and Kenshin, knowing of Date's independent charge, used him as an impromptu vanguard as the two elder warlords made an alliance together in order to try and crush Nobunaga. They had also attempted to ally with Tokugawa as well as Azai to try and box in Oda and crush him properly, but both could not go with it due to their own reasons. This led to the Takeda-Kenshin alliance to go up against Tokugawa at Nagashino, and Date himself was forced to content with Azai as the prompted vanguard. The battle was fierce and hard, but the result was nothing anyone could ever expect - in one swoop, Oda had betrayed the alliance with Azai and Tokugawa which led to the former's utter annihilation and the latter's near defeat. Date himself had been injured (a shot in his abdomen) in the stand-off against Azai, though it really hadn't caught up to him until much later and by then there was no choice but to rest and recover at Takeda's residence in Kai.
While he was stuck there, some of his other younger retainers were caught while they had been helping out with Takeda's men, and the mastermind - Matsunaga Hisahide - demanded the possession of Date's six swords as well as Takeda's family heirloom in return for the hostages. Katakura had intended to settle the issue by leaving the retainers to their doom, but Date had overheard the whole thing and tried to intervene, intending to save them despite his wounded state. Katakura didn't allow it for obvious reasons, and ended up having to use force to knock out and ensure that Date didn't do anything rest - but in return, went out on his own with Date's swords in a bid to rescue the kidnapped. Yukimura (and his fellow ninja companion Sarutobi Sasuke) followed soon after, under orders by Shingen himself. Date saw through it of course, and thanked the man in his own way once he got back up.
It didn't take too long before the hostages were retrieved along with the weapons, but after that an even worse event occurred. Oda's subordinates made their move, and got rid of Tokugawa and launched a sneak attack upon Kenshin back in Echigo. To make things worse, Takeda himself was caught in a trap by Akechi and was almost killed. Date had attempted to take on Akechi again after that trap, but Akechi ultimately fled and the momentary loss of Takeda had stampeded upon Yukimura's spirit and desire to fight. With nobody else now to stand up against Nobunaga, Date ultimately decided to disband his troops and started alone on a one-man charge towards Owari in order to face up against Oda. Yukimura followed soon after, encouraged by Katakura who in turn took up his own initiative to gather an alliance of the remaining troops still available in the states and led them towards Nobunaga for the final battle.
Upon reaching Owari however, it was discovered that Akechi had been double-crossed by Nobunaga himself, and so the two engaged him into a final battle (later accompanied by one of Oda's other subordinate, though Date got rid of him quickly). Katakura soon joined the scene with the army he had gathered, and informed the two about Oda's location at Mount Azuchi. Date let his retainer deal with Akuchi and left with Yukimura towards where the scene of the real decisive final battle was to be held.
The battle there had been hard and almost impossible to win, but with some last-minute help from the Seto Inland islands of Aki and Shikoku (led by Mori Motonai and Chosokabe Motochika respectively) the battle started to turn towards their favour. And finally after much struggling and battling and with the combined efforts of everyone, Yukimura and Date worked together and finally managed to beat Oda Nobunaga for good and restored (relative) peace to the lands.
After that, things went back to as normal as it could be in the Sengoku era, with the lands fought for honourably by the warlords once more. Date himself has went back to his independent conquest of the land, hoping one day that he could meet Yukimura once again - and this time like their first meeting, fight him fully and wholly with a true and proper duel. Before that could happen however, BREW had come by and decided take him to Death City, where Date found himself in a whole new time and place and world and with a whole new war to battle in. While he wasn't that all pleased at first, Date eventually settled down for the most part and helped out with the war efforts. Later though, BREW eventually decided to send him back after about a month of being in Death City for reasons unknown but only to itself, and Date returned to Hi-No-Moto right at the moment before he left as if nothing had ever happened.
A year passed after that strange time, and Date believing that all of his time in Shibusen had been nothing but a dream had put all the memories into the back of his head. There were far more important things at hand to attend now, such as the upcoming battle at Kawanakajima - a vital battle that could possibly once and for all establish himself and his clan as one of the greatest powers in Hi-No-Moto. Following the advice of his retainer, Date attempted to strike down the clashing forces of Echigo and Kai during their deadlock though he was stopped momentarily by a still very much naive Sanada Yukimura. They fought and Yukimura lost, though before Date could deal the final blow all three forces of Oshu, Kai and Echigo found themselves caught in an encirclement by a new force - one known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Well-Intentioned Extremist man who believed in nothing but the force of strength. The situation seemed hopeless at first as all the encirclement was nothing short of perfect, but through the quick thinking of Katakura (with Sasuke's help) the forces managed to escape after pulling a fake out on the Toyotomi army. Date himself fought against Hideyoshi, though to not much success and was forced to withdraw as well (albeit with a hell lot of reluctance) once the fake out was done and after much persuasion from his retainer.
Retreating back to Oshu, both Date and Katakura managed to determine that there was a traitor amongst their own war council, for Oshu's involvement into the battle of Kawanakajima had been strictly confidential until the time of their departure - the fact that Toyotomi's encirclement had included them meant that they knew of their involvement into the battle all along. They decided to start seizing up the men when the next day came, but however things instantly derailed a few hours later when Katakura himself had been captured and taken away after being caught in a cleverly laid trap devised by Takenaka Hanbei, the chief strategist of the Toyotomi army. Date found out about it soon afterwards but before he could react properly, Oshu itself was attacked moments later by the neighbouring lands of Nambu, Tsugaru and Soma - lands that had been usually kept down under the force of Oshu.
Without much time to decide upon anything, Date was forced to shoulder the responsibility of these battles himself for possibly the first time of his life and led his army to battle against the opposing lands. However his lack of experience in strategy later turned out to be his downfall, and after much battling he and his army were drained and worn out from the constant fighting. Hanbei attempted to take down Date right there and then in the battle at Suriagehara, but Date's own persistence (and anger at what Hanbei had done) pushed him back and after much fighting, Date managed to keep his lands still - though to a great cost, as Hideyoshi himself came onto the scene this time and almost finished the severely weakened Date. It was only through the intervention of his men (and even though would ever know this, Hideyoshi's own hesitation) did Date manage to return to Oshu alive and in one piece.
After having recovered from the worst of his injuries and wounds (and after making sure that his lands were indeed secure once again), Date immediately led his troops out towards Osaka where Hideyoshi's forces were in order to take back his retainer. Though as they attempted to make their way there, Date found his way blocked by none other than the forces of Kenshin at the grounds of Hitoribashi. Due to the fact that his men were still mostly recovering and the overwhelming numbers that Kenshin had put against them, Date was only forced to stop there with his men, letting them all recover along with him as he nested his wounds and healed his own heart form the trials and tribulations that he had went through (in the words of Kenshin himself). Once he was wholly recovered and when Kenshin had withdrawn his forces, Date came to thank the war god (or as much as his actions counted as a 'thanks' anyway) and then continued to head off for Osaka once more.
Things were never going to be so easy though, as Hanbei attempted to misdirect Date by sending forces to attack him - forces who went under the guise of Kai's flag. Fortunately Takeda Shingen came to learn of this deceit soon enough and put a stop to it before any large losses occurred. Upon their meeting Shingen offered Date an alliance in order to defend themselves from the impending threat of Hideyoshi, but Date outright rejected it for his own goal of taking back Katakura. With that in mind, he left a message for Shingen to pass onto Yukimura should he ever return from Satsuma and then resumed his march onto Osaka.
Just as he was nearing his destination, he was stopped yet again - this time by the Demon of the West Seas, one Chosokabe Motochika who had been beaten down by Hideyoshi after having an alliance with Mori Motonari of Aki. He attempted to seek his revenge and get back his captured man who were held in Osaka, and wanted to take Date's horses in order to get to Osaka proper. Date of course didn't allow such a thing to happen, which resulted in the two battling each other which in turn came to both of them somehow managing to get a compromise and deciding to work with one another for their own respective goals. Before they could head off towards Osaka though, Date received a call from the past in the form of the once-presumed dead Matsunaga Hisahide who led him on a detour after sending him one of Katakura's personal artefacts. That of course, turned out to be a trap with the intention of delaying Date's march to Osaka 0 and it was a trap that Date got caught in quite easily. However, Matsunaga had his own agenda in mind and so allowed Date and Mototchika to escape rather easily.
So it was like this after much incidents and events and coming so close to Osaka was when Date was finally reunited with Katakura, who had managed to escape his confinement from there with the help of the two ninjas Kasuga and Sasuke. After informing Date about Hideyoshi's intentions and his next move Katakura moved out in order to intercept Hanbei while Date headed to Odawara instead to prevent Toyotomi from making his base there.
Thus it was at the grounds of the Odarawa castle did the final showdown between Date and Hideyoshi occur. It was a fight unlike anything, with Date taking on the giant power that was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The battle was brutal and intense and Date almost lost his life battling him, but eventually the might of the dragon triumphed and he defeated Hideyoshi once and for all. And right when that happened, BREW decided to intervene once more and so Date finds himself dragged back to Death City, lost and confused and just wondering what the hell is up with it once he discovers that he's back to what he had believed was nothing but a dream for the last year.
And so again, Date isn't going to like this. But he's going to have to make do with it while he's stuck here once more.
Not much is known about Date Masamune - eldest son to his father Date Terumune, it was known that one day Masamune (or as he was known back then, Bontenmaru) would be in line to take control of the Date clan. Things never really went all that right though, as smallpox would come and rob him of his eyesight from his right eye, though it is unclear as to how or even why he removed the whole eye in the first place. Regardless of how he lost his eye though, it was a fact that his mother came to shun him due to this, and started to favour his younger brother over him as head of the house.
Despite that however, in the end Masamune did come to gain control of the Date house in one way or another, though how he actually did it was something best left for another time. He was fearless and strong, and in no time at all in was the head of the Oshu region and became one of the most well-known and feared names in the era. From his appearance to demeanour, eventually he would be known throughout all of Hi-no-Moto (as Japan was known back then) as the fearsome dokuganryū (One-eyed Dragon) of Oshu.
Fierce and independent, supported by his people and his loyal retainer Date started on his conquest to control the land (and get some good fights while at it). Coming down from the north, Date and his men started to take over the lands as he passed, earning a bigger and bigger name for himself as he continued his conquest down the country. Eventually however his conquest was put to a temporary halt when he decided to take on Uesugi Kenshin, who on that same day was also up for a battle against Takeda Shingen of Kai. Both Kenshin and Takeda were aware of Date's plans of a surprise assault, and so intervened it by sending out one of Takeda's finest soldiers - one Sanada Genjiro Yukimura. This would be the start of a strange bond between him and Date Masamune, and Masamune regarded it as quite the gain even if he had to stop his march in order to prevent the casualties of a three-way struggle.
Still, he wasn't going to back down from just one setback like that. Following the advice of his retainer, Date went out towards Imagawa with an attempt to conquer those lands before Kai could, using Takeda's earlier tactics used against him onto them back in return in order for him to gain an advantage in the battle. The plan succeeded... or well, would have almost succeeded, if Yukimura hadn't interfered right before Date was about to take the general's head for himself. The two went up into a spar with the general's life (and head) as the prize, but they were deterred when said general got his body doubles and fled in a bid to escape. Date, his retainer and Yukimura gave chase, but none of them ever managed to claim the general's head - it had been taken by none other than the infamous Devil King Oda Nobunaga himself, when his three elite operatives had intervened during their chase. Date had attempted to take on Oda there and then, but stopped himself before he could.
His plans gone down the drain and himself made to stop in his tracks for once due to the presence of the Devil King, Date and his men headed back to Oshu in order to regroup and have himself decide upon what to do next. It was during this time when the Vagabond of house of Maeda, Maeda Keiji came around and offered Date an alliance of the states, in order to crush Nobunaga and the threat that he possessed. Date, of course, rejected the offer, but through Keiji he managed to settle his own thoughts on the matter and with Koujiro's encouragement, acted out with his troops independently and started to charge straight towards Owari, where the Devil King himself would be. Keiji tagged along as well using his vagabond status, to which Date didn't mind so long as the other didn't get in his way.
Of course, things weren't going to be so simple. Takeda and Kenshin, knowing of Date's independent charge, used him as an impromptu vanguard as the two elder warlords made an alliance together in order to try and crush Nobunaga. They had also attempted to ally with Tokugawa as well as Azai to try and box in Oda and crush him properly, but both could not go with it due to their own reasons. This led to the Takeda-Kenshin alliance to go up against Tokugawa at Nagashino, and Date himself was forced to content with Azai as the prompted vanguard. The battle was fierce and hard, but the result was nothing anyone could ever expect - in one swoop, Oda had betrayed the alliance with Azai and Tokugawa which led to the former's utter annihilation and the latter's near defeat. Date himself had been injured (a shot in his abdomen) in the stand-off against Azai, though it really hadn't caught up to him until much later and by then there was no choice but to rest and recover at Takeda's residence in Kai.
While he was stuck there, some of his other younger retainers were caught while they had been helping out with Takeda's men, and the mastermind - Matsunaga Hisahide - demanded the possession of Date's six swords as well as Takeda's family heirloom in return for the hostages. Katakura had intended to settle the issue by leaving the retainers to their doom, but Date had overheard the whole thing and tried to intervene, intending to save them despite his wounded state. Katakura didn't allow it for obvious reasons, and ended up having to use force to knock out and ensure that Date didn't do anything rest - but in return, went out on his own with Date's swords in a bid to rescue the kidnapped. Yukimura (and his fellow ninja companion Sarutobi Sasuke) followed soon after, under orders by Shingen himself. Date saw through it of course, and thanked the man in his own way once he got back up.
It didn't take too long before the hostages were retrieved along with the weapons, but after that an even worse event occurred. Oda's subordinates made their move, and got rid of Tokugawa and launched a sneak attack upon Kenshin back in Echigo. To make things worse, Takeda himself was caught in a trap by Akechi and was almost killed. Date had attempted to take on Akechi again after that trap, but Akechi ultimately fled and the momentary loss of Takeda had stampeded upon Yukimura's spirit and desire to fight. With nobody else now to stand up against Nobunaga, Date ultimately decided to disband his troops and started alone on a one-man charge towards Owari in order to face up against Oda. Yukimura followed soon after, encouraged by Katakura who in turn took up his own initiative to gather an alliance of the remaining troops still available in the states and led them towards Nobunaga for the final battle.
Upon reaching Owari however, it was discovered that Akechi had been double-crossed by Nobunaga himself, and so the two engaged him into a final battle (later accompanied by one of Oda's other subordinate, though Date got rid of him quickly). Katakura soon joined the scene with the army he had gathered, and informed the two about Oda's location at Mount Azuchi. Date let his retainer deal with Akuchi and left with Yukimura towards where the scene of the real decisive final battle was to be held.
The battle there had been hard and almost impossible to win, but with some last-minute help from the Seto Inland islands of Aki and Shikoku (led by Mori Motonai and Chosokabe Motochika respectively) the battle started to turn towards their favour. And finally after much struggling and battling and with the combined efforts of everyone, Yukimura and Date worked together and finally managed to beat Oda Nobunaga for good and restored (relative) peace to the lands.
After that, things went back to as normal as it could be in the Sengoku era, with the lands fought for honourably by the warlords once more. Date himself has went back to his independent conquest of the land, hoping one day that he could meet Yukimura once again - and this time like their first meeting, fight him fully and wholly with a true and proper duel. Before that could happen however, BREW had come by and decided take him to Death City, where Date found himself in a whole new time and place and world and with a whole new war to battle in. While he wasn't that all pleased at first, Date eventually settled down for the most part and helped out with the war efforts. Later though, BREW eventually decided to send him back after about a month of being in Death City for reasons unknown but only to itself, and Date returned to Hi-No-Moto right at the moment before he left as if nothing had ever happened.
A year passed after that strange time, and Date believing that all of his time in Shibusen had been nothing but a dream had put all the memories into the back of his head. There were far more important things at hand to attend now, such as the upcoming battle at Kawanakajima - a vital battle that could possibly once and for all establish himself and his clan as one of the greatest powers in Hi-No-Moto. Following the advice of his retainer, Date attempted to strike down the clashing forces of Echigo and Kai during their deadlock though he was stopped momentarily by a still very much naive Sanada Yukimura. They fought and Yukimura lost, though before Date could deal the final blow all three forces of Oshu, Kai and Echigo found themselves caught in an encirclement by a new force - one known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Well-Intentioned Extremist man who believed in nothing but the force of strength. The situation seemed hopeless at first as all the encirclement was nothing short of perfect, but through the quick thinking of Katakura (with Sasuke's help) the forces managed to escape after pulling a fake out on the Toyotomi army. Date himself fought against Hideyoshi, though to not much success and was forced to withdraw as well (albeit with a hell lot of reluctance) once the fake out was done and after much persuasion from his retainer.
Retreating back to Oshu, both Date and Katakura managed to determine that there was a traitor amongst their own war council, for Oshu's involvement into the battle of Kawanakajima had been strictly confidential until the time of their departure - the fact that Toyotomi's encirclement had included them meant that they knew of their involvement into the battle all along. They decided to start seizing up the men when the next day came, but however things instantly derailed a few hours later when Katakura himself had been captured and taken away after being caught in a cleverly laid trap devised by Takenaka Hanbei, the chief strategist of the Toyotomi army. Date found out about it soon afterwards but before he could react properly, Oshu itself was attacked moments later by the neighbouring lands of Nambu, Tsugaru and Soma - lands that had been usually kept down under the force of Oshu.
Without much time to decide upon anything, Date was forced to shoulder the responsibility of these battles himself for possibly the first time of his life and led his army to battle against the opposing lands. However his lack of experience in strategy later turned out to be his downfall, and after much battling he and his army were drained and worn out from the constant fighting. Hanbei attempted to take down Date right there and then in the battle at Suriagehara, but Date's own persistence (and anger at what Hanbei had done) pushed him back and after much fighting, Date managed to keep his lands still - though to a great cost, as Hideyoshi himself came onto the scene this time and almost finished the severely weakened Date. It was only through the intervention of his men (and even though would ever know this, Hideyoshi's own hesitation) did Date manage to return to Oshu alive and in one piece.
After having recovered from the worst of his injuries and wounds (and after making sure that his lands were indeed secure once again), Date immediately led his troops out towards Osaka where Hideyoshi's forces were in order to take back his retainer. Though as they attempted to make their way there, Date found his way blocked by none other than the forces of Kenshin at the grounds of Hitoribashi. Due to the fact that his men were still mostly recovering and the overwhelming numbers that Kenshin had put against them, Date was only forced to stop there with his men, letting them all recover along with him as he nested his wounds and healed his own heart form the trials and tribulations that he had went through (in the words of Kenshin himself). Once he was wholly recovered and when Kenshin had withdrawn his forces, Date came to thank the war god (or as much as his actions counted as a 'thanks' anyway) and then continued to head off for Osaka once more.
Things were never going to be so easy though, as Hanbei attempted to misdirect Date by sending forces to attack him - forces who went under the guise of Kai's flag. Fortunately Takeda Shingen came to learn of this deceit soon enough and put a stop to it before any large losses occurred. Upon their meeting Shingen offered Date an alliance in order to defend themselves from the impending threat of Hideyoshi, but Date outright rejected it for his own goal of taking back Katakura. With that in mind, he left a message for Shingen to pass onto Yukimura should he ever return from Satsuma and then resumed his march onto Osaka.
Just as he was nearing his destination, he was stopped yet again - this time by the Demon of the West Seas, one Chosokabe Motochika who had been beaten down by Hideyoshi after having an alliance with Mori Motonari of Aki. He attempted to seek his revenge and get back his captured man who were held in Osaka, and wanted to take Date's horses in order to get to Osaka proper. Date of course didn't allow such a thing to happen, which resulted in the two battling each other which in turn came to both of them somehow managing to get a compromise and deciding to work with one another for their own respective goals. Before they could head off towards Osaka though, Date received a call from the past in the form of the once-presumed dead Matsunaga Hisahide who led him on a detour after sending him one of Katakura's personal artefacts. That of course, turned out to be a trap with the intention of delaying Date's march to Osaka 0 and it was a trap that Date got caught in quite easily. However, Matsunaga had his own agenda in mind and so allowed Date and Mototchika to escape rather easily.
So it was like this after much incidents and events and coming so close to Osaka was when Date was finally reunited with Katakura, who had managed to escape his confinement from there with the help of the two ninjas Kasuga and Sasuke. After informing Date about Hideyoshi's intentions and his next move Katakura moved out in order to intercept Hanbei while Date headed to Odawara instead to prevent Toyotomi from making his base there.
Thus it was at the grounds of the Odarawa castle did the final showdown between Date and Hideyoshi occur. It was a fight unlike anything, with Date taking on the giant power that was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The battle was brutal and intense and Date almost lost his life battling him, but eventually the might of the dragon triumphed and he defeated Hideyoshi once and for all. And right when that happened, BREW decided to intervene once more and so Date finds himself dragged back to Death City, lost and confused and just wondering what the hell is up with it once he discovers that he's back to what he had believed was nothing but a dream for the last year.
And so again, Date isn't going to like this. But he's going to have to make do with it while he's stuck here once more.