[attr="class","APP3"]Behind the administrative desk was a masked figure in a fox mask. When she announced herself, there was silence for a moment followed by the shinobi slowly removing the mask to reveal themselves to be the kage in the guise of an assistant.
"Hello, Suzuran," Mai said, tilting her head to the left and smiling. "A mission all on your own, hmmm?" she said as she ran her hand discreetly over some brail on her desk. The desk itself had an arch that would conceal her hand from a frontward gaze down. "I usually don't like to send people on B-Ranks alone... even jounin. We are a bit short staffed on chunin at the moment though. This mission might be better suited for one shinobi anyways."
She paused for a moment and took a drink of some tea that had reached room temperature. She then cleared her throat and began speaking more officially.
"There's an illegal fighting ring that has been operating to the west of here," she began. "Normally I wouldn't care, but the word is that human experiments not sanctioned by the village are being used in the pits. We are looking for fugitives with ties to the previous kage that might be involved. So I want you to go and win a tournament and meet the proprietor, then detain and interrogate them to see if you can get a lead on where the experiments are coming from. Think you can handle that?"
[attr="class","APP3"]"You can most certainly recruit additional people," Mai said with a soft voice. "I trust your judgement in handling the situation. Just be careful, I'm sure I've provoked the other kage a bit. So far it seems like they are willing to do what I asked, but who knows if the fear of us teaming up with their enemies will last," she warned.
She took pause for a few moments. Another assistant brought a glass of tea to her, which she took in her hand after a catious reach. Lifting the cup from the little tea plate to her mouth seemed exagerated, but truthfully her abilities had their limits and it was easier to use her sense of touch here than her sense of hearing to bring the glass to her lips. It was still a bit fumbly, and a bit of tea splashed onto her lips and down her chin, causing her to whince a bit.
Without a word one of the aids came to wipe at her mouth. She sat perfectly still like a doll as they attended to this, and then she went back to consuming the tea as if the incident had never happened.
"You seem a bit nervous, Yousei," Mai said. "There isn't much time before things get serious, but it is my responsibility to look after the jounin of the village so that they can take care of everyone else. Is there anything that is troubling you?" she asked.
[attr="class","APP3"]“A new sword hmm? I hope that it serves you well.”
A catlike smile formed on Mai’s lips as she leaned forward on the mat, unblinking with her famed yellow eyes. She blew he hair from her eyes softly before speaking, not that it bothered her, but because it helped to create the illusion that she was a being that relied on her sight. She nodded to her assistant, who stood up and approached her with a scroll that she insisted forward. It was a small list of personnel that she was to pull from the reconnaissance team and divert to the western side of the village to reinforce it.
Mai would give Yousei enough time to look the scroll over. It assigned her command over a team with some big names on it, namely Seiichi of the Hidden Cloud.
“There was an incident between the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud involving Seiichi, but there wasn’t really any evidence either way. We weren’t going to give up such a powerful asset to play politics so close to the operation, nor were the claims of the Mist backed up by anyone from our own village,” she said. “I’m going to split up the group that the mist requested, and I will place you to supervise the group of shinobi listed, with respect of course. We need to keep everyone honest long enough to get through this operation.”
She paused for a moment and pushed a hand forward to offer Yousei a seat, which her aid made by pulling a small cushion from a pile and placing it a few feet in front of the kage.
“Do you think that you can handle that?” she asked. "West of Onomichi is an easy highway for mounted forces to move through, and too difficult to defend conventionally. Disrupting their command would be best."
Last Edit: Oct 25, 2021 2:49:36 GMT by Mai Nobusuma
She was a very secluded kage, making public appearances as much as was necessary, but preferred the isolation of her quarters. Leaning somewhat more heavily on scribes to handle the village’s paperwork, she was much better at delegation than most other kage- to the point that some might consider her lazy. Others saw her leadership as what won the village from her predecessor, despite the fearsomeness of her powers.
She wasn’t in seclusion now though. The command tent was ready and reconnaissance forces were preparing for deployment. She had already a change in the rosters of the shinobi who presented their ideas to her, in part to keep shinobi from different lands honest. She was exerting and some would say even overextending the influence that Otogakure could command over the other nations. Experimenting with the chips that she held. Was each nation so afraid of Otogakure assisting their enemies that they could be bound together to stop the empire? She would find out with Onomichi.
Mai did not pick jounin lightly. She was paranoid of the previous regime. She hand picked motivated shinobi to help round out the ranks in her favor. She would delegate important tasks to them, and they were the only ones she didn’t place under genjutsu when entering her inner sanctum.
The command tent had several desks where people sat scrawling on scrolls. They had managed to rig up electric lighting from a generator that was lent by Amegakure, though they hadn’t gotten the permissions to use their radio technology. As Yousei came to enter she would briefly pass by the kazekage, who had just met with Mai to finalize her plans leading the front line.
Mai was uneasy about the initial plans to pull so many shinobi from the main force into reconnaissance, and the kazekage had agreed and recommended reinforcing the west side of the village based on tactics that she had seen. Mai had sent for Yousei, a trusted leader of shinobi, to assert her will and perhaps stave off the boredom of command for a few moments.
So far the command tent had only Sound Shinobi staffing it, even though areas for representatives from the other villages were available once the hour was upon them. For now they could seemingly speak without worrying about being discrete. She sat in the center of the room on a comfortable mat. A young girl with brown hair sat next to her with a scroll and ink ready to transcribe orders given by the kage.
"Yousei, is there something different about you?" she asked as on the jounin's approach as she detected the heartbeat and vibrations of the jounin's movement. Something as subtle as a new blade could change the rhythm of a person's step slightly. Not even most jounin were privy to the fact that she was blind, and Yousei had not yet been informed.
OOC: This isn't the offical command tent post, which will be up later this week.
Last Edit: Oct 21, 2021 2:35:13 GMT by Mai Nobusuma
[attr="class","APP3"]Mai smiled and looked out towards the crowd with a blank smile on her face. She waited only a few moments before approaching Ryota once more and giving him a light pat on the back. She appeared to be peering around the crowd as many began clapping. The noise of it all brought things more to life for her, but was adjatating to her senses just as much.
She did not show much in the way of emotions. Her purpose as a leader had been served well enough, she told herself. She began to move away from the crowd towards a small farm house nearby which concealed the tunnel that would lead her back into chambers and coridors of the village.
Alongside her were two shinobi wearing white clothing with kitsune masks. Unless stopped she would quietly make her way out of the area to leave Ryota to enjoy revelry, jealousy, and whatever else might come.
[attr="class","APP3"]Seeing the hokage out in plain sight was a rarity. It was well known that she was rife with paranoia about the “old guard” of the village, she preferred the privacy of her inner sanctum and using subordinates to delegate orders. Some duties required the face of the kage. The Sound “Village” was different from most, different tunnels led to different places in the country. Still the places around their entrances were protected well and often featured outdoor amenities for shinobi to use.
She had gathered alongside witnesses at a pavilion that was painted in faded white over weathered wood. She stood among a small crowd with Ryota Sadao next to her.
“Today we gather to recognize chunin Ryota Sadao, for his valor in saving the life of his fellow platoon member in a deadly skirmish. Although Yusuke Uchiha has been hospitalized, he would not be able to return to his family without the bravery of Ryota. Therefore, with my authority as the Hokage, I am bestowing Ryota with the red ribbon of honor, one of the village’s highest merits.”
She pulled from a small black velvet casing a red ribbon with a golden emblem hanging from it. She seemed to be struggling somewhat with pinning it to his clothing, but eventually got it in over his left chest. As an old hazing ritual that held true, she lightly tapped the uncapped pin against his chest (not enough to cause any real pain) and leaned forward to whisper into his ear.
“You did well, thank you,” she said. After she was done she backed away. The Imperial attack could be any day now, so even a little good news was worth spreading to her people, even if it did make her nervous. She was sure that some hard asses would think giving the award to a relativly new chunin would cheapen it, but it was the actions shinobi performed that mattered to her most.
OOC: Mai will depart in a round or two, but if you want to do an after party or whatever feel free to segway this into a full topic.
[attr="class","APP3"]A single-syllable laugh echoed through the chamber.
“One who speaks of inexperience should look in the mirror more often. Think for a moment. This village is built for guerilla warfare, we know it as well as the Mist knows the seas. Of course, we will ambush them on their approach, but our tactics rely on evasion rather than fortification. Harassing logistics and movements are a given, holding cities is not.”
Images would begin to fill the mirrors showing ships at sea. If viewed the seams of the mirrors would disappear and the water at their feet would begin to change to the feeling of wood, the air would fill with salt, and the motion of a rocking ship would fill the room turned oceanic scene. As the details became more vivid the simple but numerous ships of the mist could be seen surrounding a single large ship flying the standard of Kumogakure: better equipped but struggling against the flanks.
“It would be foolish for any daimyo or kage to misunderstand the situation,” Mai’s disembodied voice whispered against the wind.
“The Sound Village was built to evade, survive, and reclaim land as it exhausts enemy resources. The Sound Village is in no great jeopardy. Saving the homes of the people of Onomichi is a matter of the heart, not of necessity. The situation your leaders find themselves in is much different than you think. The Stone verses the Rain, the Mist verses the Cloud. It would take very little to turn the tides one way or another.”
From where Téngfēi stood on the illusory boat, a figure moved ahead of him in a feathery captain’s hat. A crimson haired woman who moved to the bow of the ship as it turned, several other ships accompanying them at their sides. Cannons would begin to fire, and one of the ships from the mist began to sink.
“I hold the cards,” the voice said, now coming from the woman who stood in front of him. “I know it, and so do they. So, they will comply.”
She turned to face Téngfēi for the first time, her yellow eyes staring blankly towards him.
“You at least seem to be clever; you’ll serve well assisting us in the planning tent,” she said. The voice that spoke from her lips seemed different than the ephemeral voice that had filled the air. It was dry and monotone and lacked any inflection. “I know only some of the names you spoke of, but Shoichi seems a fine choice for a leader for an advanced guard. As far as Seiichi Koji goes, I can’t help but to think you have ulterior motives. We will investigate the matter, but I will not jump to conclusions. Go prepare your task force, but be prepared to serve as a coordinator in the command tent… the empire will likely employ a powerful doton user who will be creating reinforcements. Your head to cut, but more valuable captured.”
As she spoke her final words and looked forward at the Mist shinobi, there would be a blink and suddenly he would find himself back in the waiting room, where the person in the mask was standing and staring at them. They would raise a single hand seal and flicker away after that. To what location one would be unable to ascertain. Somewhat abstracting to get this done before the event drops. The requested pairings/role will be influenced on placement of troops when the event begins (but I think Xia would need to sign up- as would any others). She didn't seem convinced enough of Seiichi's wrong doing, it may take something more substantial or more witnesses. I will probably start that team in the middle of the action to reflect them being out before the city is in peril of being taken~ DM me (Sharp) if there was anything else you had in mind.
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2021 14:06:14 GMT by Mai Nobusuma
[attr="class","APP3"]The pool of water on the floor at the shinobi’s feet reflected a pair of unnatural golden eyes, with five distinct rings of black circling the pupil, absent a face. First came the sound of an impatient sigh. Then came again the sound of the voice from a completely different direction of the room, disembodied from anything observable.
“You are already speaking with me, what is it that you come to report and… to request?” the voice asked. There was a strange harmonic to it, as if there were several voices speaking. Including Téngfēi’s own seemingly in octave with several other voices he would recognize from his life. All layered beneath it was a low hum, like a static.
The last syllable hang in the air for several seconds before cutting off sharply and leaving the chamber in an unnatural silence and stillness. The water carried the scent of the mists of Mizu no Kuni.
Last Edit: Sept 24, 2021 0:56:29 GMT by Mai Nobusuma
[attr="class","APP3"]The assistant that waited at the entrance to the kage’s chambers wore white hooded robes and a kitsune mask. They listened but did not speak, staring blankly at Téngfēi through the holes of the mask. There was a sigh, followed by the opening of the door behind them. The figure put a hand forward, gesturing for the chunin to enter the Hokage’s inner sanctum.
Entry into the doorway itself would reveal a staircase that descended further below ground, walls adorned with wooden wave patterns that were well varnished and smelled of a lemony fragrance. Following it to its natural conclusion was a room that was flooded by an inch of water on a marbled surface, lit with vibrant light with unknown origin.
The walls of the chamber were made entirely of mirrors that spanned even on the ceiling of the dome shaped room. The room itself seemed that it did not wait on the chunin to make an approach, within a blink he would find himself standing in the center, surrounded by his reflection at every angle.
Then came a figure with crimson hair, standing back-to-back with him, but only visible in the mirrors. Any attempts to turn to face the woman, and she would not be there, only to be found behind him again in the reflection. The only way to glance at her face was through the reflection of one mirror off the other, but it was indeed the hokage.
“What is it that you want, mist shinobi?” she asked. Her words were short with a bit of impatience behind them, but they were spoken quietly by a soft voice.
[attr="class","APP3"]I cannot offer you salvation. Your trials away from home have honed you into a tool to be used for a different purpose. Though the jailors have been dethroned, they still hide among us, shielded by law. To my shame you must remain in exile to enact justice where I cannot. Continue to seek and destroy them.
Right now, you are a better friend as an enemy.
(Found within kanon's belongings when she was sleeping ~a year ago.)
Intelligence indicates that a battalion of Imperial soldiers are on the march towards Otogakure’s sovereign borders. The city Onomichi is most at risk of being destroyed in the attack. As you know, Onomichi is a place where many civilian refugees settled after the fall of the Leaf. These people are the cousins of the scattered village that we have all absorbed within our own militaries. For years the Sound has served as the bulwark of the Empire’s assaults, distracting them from your borders by proxy.
The time has come to pay recompense. Already we are hiring mercenary forces to bolster our numbers to crush this offensive, but your help is required to reduce casualties to the Hidden Sound. Each of you has approached Otogakure for friendship. Soon we will find out who our friends really are.
Dispatch shinobi to assist us against the Taiyou. Those who fail to set aside their rivalries for this common good will earn my ire, as will cowards who refuse aid. Barracks will be provided within our territory until we have coordinated our forces to conduct operations and you will be compensated with the funds to pay them for their time.
Signed, Mai Nobusuma Nidaime Hokage of Otogakure
OOC: The Hidden Sound Village and its territories are temporarily open for any characters to roleplay in. Open hostilities with rivals or even missing ninja could result in political retaliation from the Hidden Sound for the party responsible.
No leader wants the Sound Village against them, as each has a major rival and they do not want to make another. Getting caught breaking treaty without orders during this operation will result in being declared a missing ninja.
A chamber that is deep underground in the heart of Otogakure's territory. The initial floor is guarded by elite shinobi and several assistants filling out paperwork rest upon desks. Beyond them a stairwell descends down into a large pool that is well lit with torchlight. At the center of the pool is a small artificial island of concrete and lined with comfortable pillows. It is here where Nobusuma-same can be most often found meditating.
Kage Towers These threads are a permanent fixture and pinned for the use of anyone. When you enter a kage tower thread check to see if an interaction is currently going on, and if there isn't then you should post a new interaction. Sometimes a kage may not be available, so please give an assistant a chance to speak with your character before they approach the kage.
The Hidden Sound Village is built within a temperate climate covered in dense forests, rushing rivers, and beautiful mountain ranges. The village itself is spread out across the country, made up of a plethora of hideouts that are interconnected by a complex network of tunnels and hidden entrances. The village is not perfectly interconnected, meaning one must often leave tunnels and search for another tunnel to get around. The shinobi of the Hidden Sound are taught these lands well and have no trouble navigating it, but those seeking to invade territory often find themselves falling into traps.
The military attire of the hidden sound comes with form fitted black headgear and a loose fitted collar. The upper garment is grey with a belt tied around the waist. The upper garment extends beneath the belt down to the knees but hemmed at the sides. On their lower bodies they wear black trousers and open toed geta.
Shinobi Population:Below Average
Country Wealth: Below Average
Leadership Disposition: Guarded
Government: Kage Rules Country
Population Density: Low
Chief Export: Lumber
Chief Import: Technology
Wildlife Threat: High
Criminal Threat: Medium
Allies: None currently
Enemies: Taiyou Empire
Historical Events
Year -73 Otogakure is established in wild lands without a daimyo to protect the labratories of private individuals seeking a haven from the regulations of other countries.
Year -69 to -50 Otogakure's numbers expand as refugees from Konoha make their way into their lands. Otogakure's leadership breaches into Hi No Kuni and liberates some of the northern forests from the Empire.
Year -32 to -2 After Otogakure's first leader passes away, the next leader to rise declares that the Lands of Otogakure are the "Free Land of Fire" and names themself the first Hokage of Otogakure. Under his leadership Otogakure focused on maintaining the status quo and building the defense of the village. They also employed harmful medical experimentation in the village in attempts to unlock latent kekkei genkai and gain better understanding of the human body. There were rumors of shady dealings between the kage and the newly insalled tsuchikage of the Stone village, and whispers of a shadow organization within the village with ties to him persist to this day.
Year -1 to Present Mai Nobusama rose to power and put an end to the life of the first Hokage of Otogakure, taking the mantle for herself. With the loyalty of the villages youth she brought many older shinobi responsible for crimes against the village to justice. After obtaining leadership she has been guarded, knowing that other nations may seek to take advantage of her inexperience. Her goal is to free the Land of Fire of the Empire and claim its bounties for her people.
Note: 0 on the calendar is the first year in the roleplay, spanning from June 2021 to the end of 2021.
In her earliest days she can recall, Mai was exposed to the chill of underground laboratories as a lab rat. Her eyes were forced from their sockets and a new set of artificial eyes replaced them. When it failed to reproduce the powers of the sharingan, the experiment was labeled a failure and the girl was discarded back into the civilian population with her useless eyes. Her only fortune was to be left within a small urban area connected to one of the tunnels of the Hidden Sound. The Hokage (having taken the mantle after the fall of Konoha) took pity on her and took her in, performing surgeries to improve her hearing and training her. Eventually she was able to function well enough to fool the academy, where she began a determined career as a shinobi and met others like her.
Mai would eventually become a respected name within the Hidden Sound, serving as the Jonin Hancho with the strange abilities of her eyes. She lived in a state of duality: loving the man who had saved her from her fate and hating his policies that enabled unethical experimentation at the same time. With growing descent in the ranks, she was forced to make a choice. She ended up siding with her conscious, joining rebellion and rising as a figurehead. Despite her efforts for a bloodless coup, her father-figure left her with no choice and engaged her in a deadly battle. After his death she was left with matters of the state in her hands, including an increasingly aggressive neighbor in the empire to the south. She has made few changes to the laws beyond preventing experimentaion on unwilling participants and children.
Despite passion leading her into the position, Mai has been cautious since taking over. She is overcome with paranoia about her subordinates, being very selective with who she trusts. Shinobi nations on either side of her borders seek her aid in various ventures, but she is hesitant to pull the Sound into any conflict outside of dealing with the empire. She believes that other leaders want to prey on her inexperience, so she is difficult to negotiate with.
Proficiencies
Visual Genjutsu [Grand Master] The ocular genjtsu achieved by Mai rivals that of legends of powerful Uchiha genjutsu users. Although her eyes are fake, if she concentrates she is able to place a person under the influence of a visual influence of a vivid genjutsu that cannot be broken with kai. With lesser illusions she can pester anyone that looks at her eyes, commonly tricking the brain into seeing flickering strobes that cause disorientation. Her visual genjutsu was powerful enough to drive the previous kage into madness. She is capable of using the temple of nirvana technique, which can put large crowds of people to sleep, although those who recognize the feathers have a chance to kai themselves out. She has learned to project illusions through even just the reflection of her eye in a pool of water.
Water Release [Master] Mai is able to produce large quantities of water from her stomach, and she often uses this to flood terrain around her. This not only makes it easier to hear movements, but to get others to fall prey to her ocular genjutsu through reflections in the water. When she uses the release offensively she favors sweeping waves to reduce her margin of error and violent currents to sweep opponents off of their feet or even drown them in the right conditions. She also sometimes employs water clones just to add to the mind games that she can play with her enemies.
Stealth [Journeyman] Even without eyesight, Mai has better skill at sneaking around than the average shinobi. She often moves into a position of hiding while enemies are caught under her genjutsu, preferring to use the trees as cover.
Taijutsu [Apprentice] Mai's previous taijutsu training hasn't held up well with blindness, but she has been learning basic grappling techniques which are much more reliable for her to get a hold of foes and keep them at bay while she tries to make eye contact with them or using a whistle to induce a genjutsu to escape with.
Shurikenjutsu [Apprentice] Mai's skills in shurikenjutsu are somewhat lacking, given her condition. She is still able to get close enough in a lot of cases when she moves to throw a weapon at someone, but her lack of precision makes it somewhat easy to dodge her attacks. She tends to avoid using shurikenjutsu.
Sensory [Apprentice] With her particular condition, Mai has honed her abilities as a sensor to be more than nothing. Not wanting to rely on it as a crutch, she only has a faint ability to sense chakra signatures nearby, although she can distinguish them from person to person rather infallibly.
All Seeing Eye The All Seeing eye are surgically implanted eyes modeled after the spinning movements of the sharingan. At the cost of sight, she is able to create hypnotic spinning patterns with their eyes to project visual genjutsu without the need for hand seals. Mai's already powerful genjutsu is further enhanced by the eyes construction, allowing almost impossible illusions.
Surgically Enhanced Hearing Mai's ears have been improved through a surgical procedure. In perfect silence she is able to detect the sound of heartbeats, enabling her to function better without relying on eyesight. By listening to echoes, she is capable of maneuvering easily as if she weren't blind.
