Archived-Fujita Kazuhiko
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This article is about a character that is deceased or otherwise no longer in play. |
| Lord Fujita Kazuhiko | |
| Clan: | Ventrue (Requiem) •••• |
|---|---|
| Covenant: | Invictus ••• |
| City: | Archived-Canberra •••• |
| Title: | His Excellency |
| Sire: | Purged from historical records |
| Bloodline: | Sotoha |
| Group: | |
| Embraced: | 1702 |
| Player: | Alex R |
| Storyteller: | Archived-Canberra VST |
Kensei-General of the Archived-Sacred Order of the Ancestral Shrine
Shogun of Canberra
Duke of Nara
Scion of the SotohaPersonal Information
Appearance
Dark haired, dark eyed, usually dressed in a kimono and carrying a hand fan to hide his thoughts behind.
Personality
Lord Fujita endeavours to uphold the virtues of bushido as best he can, but often finds himself disappointed by the lack of virtuous behaviour in others. Having played host to European Invictus visiting Japan in the past he has also found personal affirmation in the French concept of noblesse oblige.
He seeks hierarchy because through hierarchy comes order and power - but also believes a good leader gains power by strengthening those who follow. To that end, he attempts to deal fairly and honestly with every kindred he meets regardless of clan or covenant.
As a practitioner of Shinto, he sees little difference between the Lancea Sanctum and the Circle of the Crone and believes worshipping one kami over all others seems unreasonable.
Mortal World
In most respects Kazuhiko has left the mortal world behind. He still has a family of retainers from his time in Japan, but otherwise he views kindred as a sort of spirit court that protects and helps keep the balance for the mortal world.
Information Known by Kindred Society
- He may have earned more titles of tribute than he is credited with; whispers say that his sire and siblings were overly self-entitled and denied their vassals any right to claim their own deeds and glories instead claiming their vassals' achievements as their own, and this behaviour was why Kazuhiko's family suddenly "disappeared" and their names conveniently forgotten - but Kazuhiko himself does not talk about his sire or siblings
- Duke Fujita seems to prefer to recite his lineage via his avus, ignoring his sire entirely - but this could be attributed as much to the way the Sotoha treat their bloodline as its own noble house, adopting the family name Fujita, as it could be to the rumours about his sire
- By way of avusing, the Duke is the grandchilde of Fujita Kunimasa
- Is an old friend of the Archived-Marquis Aurialanus, both having a healthy respect for each other's dueling skills
- Has played host to European members of the First and Second Estates on their travels to Japan
Rumours
- He does not like touching other kindred, possibly because shaking hands is too similar to katate-dori-style openings for an attack
- Lord Fujita may have been part of a strategy in Japan to establish a national Invictus shogunate during the Edo period
- Digging into his early history occasionally brings up references to a nickname, "the Komainu"
- Lord Asano of Akō was forced to commit seppuku the year before the Duke was embraced, making him a contemporary to the 47 ronin
Lords and Vassals
Lords
Current
Vassals
- Ryker Sieghard
- Catherine Knight
- Archived-Benjamin Kirkson
Backstory
Personal Timeline
- 1635: The Tokugawa Shogunate issues the Closed Country Edict, forcing the expulsion of most Westerners from Japan. This officially marks the beginning of a rapid decline for both the Invictus and Lancea Sanctum in Japan (although earlier shogunate actions had severely crippled much of their resources already).
- 1673: Kazuhiko is born in Nara to a samurai family fallen on hard times.
- 1702: Kazuhiko is sired by █████████ for use as an obedient and uncomplaining warrior.
- 17??: Following rampant corruption and dishonourable conduct, █████████ and the majority of his childer "disappear" in a single day and all records of their existences "mysteriously vanish". By contrast Kazuhiko, having proven himself a loyal and long-suffering servant of some value, was quickly picked up as another lord's vassal and began work towards restoring the honour of his tainted lineage.
- Late 1700s: In a series of political maneuvres that would later be called "single-handedly conquering Nara", Kazuhiko successfully uses his reputation as a kindred of honour and an impartial power broker to organise the various city factions in vassal-esque structures beholden to him - becoming the Daimyo/Prince of Nara. With careful nudging these political factions (mostly formed of Crone, Carthians and Unaligned) were encouraged to form into their own organised Houses and for the next hundred years or so this keeps almost all political conflicts in Nara between the Houses rather than angled towards the praxis.
- 1868: End of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Edo period, beginning of the Meiji Imperial restoration. This marks the return of Invictus and Lancea interests to Japan, and soon after, a recognition of titles for those few Invictus who remained in Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate. With the return of the Invictus, Kazuhiko is named the Kōshaku (or Duke) of Nara.
- 1873-1877: Conscription law passed causing samurai rebellions and, with the defeat of the samurai by Imperial forces, the end of the samurai ruling caste.
- Late 1800s: With mass mortal support for the democratisation of Japan, the Carthians grow bold and attempt to claim praxis - Kazuhiko allows them to do so with no counter-claim, instead becoming the Keeper of Elysium. The Carthians soon find, however, that holding praxis is useless to them as Kazuhiko is still treated as the impartial law keeper and ruler by the Houses of Nara.
- 1902: As an elder of trustworthy, loyal and honourable reputation - a relic of a culture now lost - Kazuhiko is avused into the Sotoha bloodline.
- 1907: Amari Doji, a favoured childe of Kazuhiko's, returns to the estate in Nara after travels abroad so he can meet the sun in his family home and die with honour.
- 1912: End of the Meiji era, beginning of the era of the Taishō Emperor and the democratisation of Japan.
- 1914: Start of World War I.
- 1915: Having seen the end of the shogunate, the end of the samurai ruling caste and the start of the first world war, Kazuhiko decides to pass into eclipse in the hopes of waking to a better world.
- 2014: 99 years after going into torpor Kazuhiko wakes to find that Japan has changed entirely beyond recognition - and as an added blow one of his fellow vassals committed hinomi while Kazuhiko slumbered, which has rendered him ronin and scattered many of his former compatriots. At the request of some European friends he decides to move to Australia, in the hopes that service there can ease his sense of loss.
Quotes
Conversations
Quotes About
"No greater impediment than himself."
"Who's the guy in the dress?"
"Aesop said, It is with our passions as it is with fire and water; they are good servants, bad masters. It has been said of ourself that we have long-since conquered all sentiment and bent it to our will; this is not strictly true, in ourself. For our passions are dead, not simply doused, and no longer even smoulder - honourable Fujita-san knows the truth better than we of passion not extinguished but enslaved, for he has made a dragon of his fire, and trained it to leash and saddle."
"You watch this. Seen Fujita with his sword before. Gon' be quick"
"They gon' wake him up right? He's good customer, need him on he feet"
- - Archived-Ganhaarr Warragal, Before and after seeing Fujita duel.
Quotes By
"A man who believes that he does not require allies, who feels self-sufficient enough to be able to dispose of alliances at a whim, is a man who exists outside of order. He is a law unto himself and incompatible with social order. We should always strive to maintain order above all things."
- - An unguided musing
Inspirations
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
"That's a technicality!"
"I am Vulcan sir, we embrace technicality."
"You giving me attitude Spock?"
"I'm expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously sir, to which are you referring?"
- - Admiral Pike and Spock, Star Trek: Into Darkness
"Let one walk alone, committing no sin, with few wishes, like elephants in the forest."
- - Chief Aramaki, Ghost in the Shell 2
"Through intense training the samurai becomes quick and
strong. He is not as other men. He develops a power that
must be used for the good of all. He has compassion. He
helps his fellow men at every opportunity. If an opportunity
does not arise, he goes out of his way to find one."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of compassion), L5R
"Rise up above the masses of people who are afraid to act.
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A samurai
must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky. It is
dangerous. It is living life completely, fully, wonderfully.
Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
Replace fear with respect and caution."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of courage), L5R
"Samurai have no reason to be cruel. They do not need
to prove their strength. A samurai is courteous even to
his enemies. Without this outward show of respect, we
are nothing more than animals. A samurai is not only
respected for his strength in battle, but also by his dealings
with other men. The true inner strength of a samurai
becomes apparent during difficult times."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of courtesy), L5R
"For the samurai, having done some ‘thing’ or said some
‘thing,’ he knows he owns that ‘thing.’ He is responsible
for it and all the consequences that follow. A samurai is
intensely loyal to those in his care. To those he is responsible
for, he remains fiercely true."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of duty), L5R
"Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all
people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from
yourself. To a true samurai, there are no shades of gray
in the question of honesty and justice. There is only right
and wrong."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of honesty), L5R
"A true samurai has only one judge of his honor, and that
is himself. Decisions you make and how those decisions
are carried out are a reflection of who you truly are. You
cannot hide from yourself."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of honour), L5R
"When a samurai has said he will perform an action, it
is as good as done. Nothing will stop him from completing
what he has said he will do. He does not have to ‘give his
word.’ He does not have to ‘promise.’ The action of speaking
alone has set the act of doing in motion. Speaking and
doing are the same action."
- - Akodo's Leadership (on the topic of sincerity), L5R