|
The owner of this page is SkyGuy. According to policy, no other user, with the exception of admins, may edit this page without the owner's permission. |
Seishitsu (性質) is a Zedylrian Steel katana forged and used during the Gappei Jidai (合併時代) of the Ni-Hyakunen Senso (二百年戦争) by Yoshishige, one-time daimyo of the Oda clan, tenno of Fuso and founder of what became the Yamato Empire. After the wars, the sword was hidden away until late-2824TR (4541PCZ), when it came into the possession of Nadeshiko Suguha.
History[]
Almost a hundred years after the onset of the Ni-Hyakunen Senso, Seishitsu was forged by Oda Yoshishige, a young blacksmith of a lesser branch of Oda clan, as well as a scion of the imperial clan, the ruling imperial family. Specifically, he was descended from Byosaki-tenno; personal name: Hari Kurogane, the great-grandfather of Mokuso-tenno; personal name: Akairo Hayashi, the last tenno before the Fuchowa Jidai to hold any actual authority.
Upset by all the battles and bloodshed that had been going on as a result of the Fuchowa Jidai (which erupted in the wake of the collapse of most of the great states of the Fourteen Kingdoms Period, ending the said era), Yoshishige put his recently acquired knowledge in alchemy to use, and put his heart and soul into forging a Zedylrian Steel blade, becoming the first person in centuries to make an original Zedylrian Steel sword. Once the blade was finished, he prayed to the gods for power worthy of such a creation. The divine ones answered his prayers and instructed him on how to use an ancient magic to instill it with great power, giving the blade near-godlike abilities; thankful to the gods for answering his prayers, Yoshishige named the Zedylrian steel katana "Seishitsu."
Armed with Seishitsu, Yoshishige demonstrated its power to the locals, made a grand impassioned speech on everything that was wrong with their country and what needed to be done, and rallied them to form an army. With the katana in hand and his followers behind him, Yoshishige struck down all dissidents and restored unity to the divided clan, becoming the clan daimyo in the process.
With internal order restored, Yoshishige and his followers set out to unite Fuso under one banner for the first time. Yoshishige quickly subjugated the nearest rival clans of his home island through diplomacy and conquest, displaying near genius military tactics and diplomatic charisma. After conquering a third of his home island under his rule, and the first fleet of his navy completed, Yoshishige made a bold decision to cross the sea to invade and conquer Teikyo, the imperial capital, which had been bereft of law and order since the collapse of imperial authority. Aside from the tenno, the only occupants of the capital were a third-generation bandit lord and his followers, whom had terrorized the people of Teikyo and the surrounding areas for decades while keeping the powerless tenno a prisoner in his own palace; but, Yoshishige handled the situation single-handedly with Seishitsu and his army occupied the imperial capital with minimal resistance.
With the imperial capital under control, Yoshishige occupied the imperial palace and made another impassioned speech declaring the founding of the Empire of Yamatai with himself as the first tenno of the new era; Sakugen-tenno; personal name: Saigo Eiyu, the last tenno from the founding imperial clan, voluntarily abdicated to Yoshishige the day before. This made him the first to hold the title with any actual authority in generations, and, as the only known living scion of the imperial clan, no one challenged his legitimacy for the title and rulership of the Nadeshiko dynasty, at least not openly.
Now the recognized ruler of the dynasty, it was at this point he dropped his clan name and continued the tradition of the imperial family having no surname, only a given name accompanied by a royal style name; he declared that he and his descendants would remain a cadet branch of the larger Oda clan and passed the position of clan daimyo to a relative from the still-living parent line.
This event marked the transition of the Fuchowa Jidai of the Ni-Hyakunen Senso into the Gappei Jidai. Over the following years he did the same with the clans of the rest of the main islands and the neighboring smaller islands, expanding imperial rule far beyond its traditional boundaries with the ultimate eventual goal of uniting all of Fuso under imperial rule for the first time in history. To ensure that no one could abuse Seishitsu's powers should it be stolen, Yoshishige used additional magic to tie its power to his direct bloodline, ensuring that only his family could use it.
The second decade of his reign and campaigns saw the invasion of northeastern Fuso, which Shintoki-tenno and his armies had not touched yet, by the Arslan-ruled Gergazartan Khaganate/Lin dynasty in 2032TR (3749PCZ/4170TJH)
With local forces unable to effectively stand up to the Arslan hordes, a council of the local daimyo sent Shintoki-tenno a plea for help. Shintoki-tenno didn't hesitate and redirected his armies to face the Arslan, temporarily abandoning a central Fuso campaign under a truce with the local daimyo.
Shintoki-tenno's forces brought the Arslan Invasion to a standstill for two years, culminating in the Siege of Hansei (繁星の包囲) in 2035TR (4173TJH/3752PCZ), where Shintoki-tenno himself slew Khundet Khagan (ᠬᠦᠨᠳᠦᠳ ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ), the Arslan ruler of the time, in a duel with Seishitsu. The loss of their leader threw the Arslan into disarray, resulting the first real victory for the Yamato and local forces against the Arslan forces. Within a year of the battle the Arslan were completely expelled from Fuso. In gratitude for answering their call for help, all of the regions and people effected by the Arslan Invasion willingly submitted to the Yamato Empire.
Fifty years after ascending the throne and beginning his campaign to unite all of Fuso, Yoshishige died; killed in battle by a stray arrow during the Siege of Umadake, his ambitions unfulfilled. Given the posthumous name: Shintoki-tenno, he was seventy-five years old at the time of his death. Since both of his sons died in the same battle – and he actually predeceased both of them by roughly an hour – Seishitsu and the imperial title passed onto his grandson, Akishige, his eldest son's only son, who was seventeen years old at the time.
With the ultimate goal of uniting Fuso only half-finished, Akishige – posthumous name: Awamori-tenno – wasted no time and effort to finish his grandfather's work in uniting Yamatai. However, Awamori-tenno didn't manage to make much progress before dying of a plague outbreak five years later. At only twenty-two years of age, Awamori-tenno died childless and was the only male out of eight siblings, so Seishitsu and the imperial title then passed to Chikayoshi, Awamori-tenno's young nephew by his eldest sister, upon his death. As Chikayoshi was still a direct descendant of Shintoki-tenno, he was able to use Seishitsu's powers.
As Chikayoshi – posthumous name: Fukurai-tenno – was only ten years old and still minor at the time of Awamori-tenno's death, the empire fell under the regency of his mother and he didn't ascend to full power, or receive Seishitsu, until he turned sixteen. Once enthroned with the full imperial power upon his sixteenth birthday, Fukurai-tenno then spent the next thirty-four years finishing the work of his great-grandfather and uncle before finally claiming ultimate victory, ending the Gappei Jidai. However, several more years of rebellion against imperial rule ensued before peace, and the official end of the Ni-Hyakunen Senso, became a reality. The only state spared conquest was the Kingdom of Mizuho, whom repelled two invasion attempts.
Shortly before his death, rather than pass it on to one of his children or their children, Fukurai-tenno buried Seishitsu at the base of a sakura tree behind Eimin no ji Shrine, the final resting place for the ashes of all of Yamato tenno. He also enchanted the sheath so that only a direct descendant of Shintoki-tenno could unsheathe the katana.
Approximately 700 years later, in late-4541PCZ, Seishitsu came into the possession of one of Shintoki-tenno's latest descendants, Zaika-no-miya Suguha Kojo – First Princess of the Empire of Yamatai & Abjaksan of Marlakcor – and it has been in her possession ever since.
Powers & Abilities[]
Seishitsu's powers revolve around the aspects of the Great Dragons and the five elements, hence it can only be wielded properly in the hands of a soshijin. And since Seishitsu's powers are directly tied to the direct bloodline of Shintoki-tenno, only a direct descendant of his can unlock its full potential.
Being a weapon of Zedylrian Steel, Seishitsu is also indestructible, capable of taking any damage done to it and withstanding the passage of time. So even by the time Suguha came into possession of it, the blade never dulled.
Trivia[]
- "Seishitsu" is one of several Japanese words meaning "nature."