Akashima=japan?

[Winterhair]

Is the Akashima here equal to a feudal Japan?

[Slayer of the Rot]

Hm. Well, in a way. Akashima represents our only oriental themed land.

I'd suggest browsing/reading this (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2391) before including the region in any sort of history you create.

[AdventWings]

Hmmm.............................................. ..........

Yes.

No.






Ninj4'd by the Slayer!

...Sa?

Well, it's hard to say exactly. When I first modeled Akashima, it was a blend of Aristocratic-era France with a Japanese history. The atmosphere is closer to Meiji-Era Japan with the Feudal Lords (aka Dukes) still in power, as the power struggle isn't all that visible at the moment.

Of course, one of the Dukes is dead, so a new one's on the way. :p

Don't be expecting to see many Samurai around the area, though. There are Enforcers, but more like police than public servants of the Dukes.

[Zook Murnig]

It's an oversimplified description of Akashima, but essentially accurate. There's much more to it, though. They have a strong technological bent, as well, though not as strong as that of Alerar. I'll let Raven explain more when he sees this.

[Winterhair]

Ah I see. So its japanese based, but not entirely conformed to japanese ways. That does help.

Thanks, Slayer and Advent. And Zook. (Preggerz?)

[Slayer of the Rot]

(Preggerz?)

You do not really want to know...it'll make you nauseous, as it does me.

This reminds me I want to do some business in Akashima. Get one of those repeating crossbows they have.

[AdventWings]

Hoy.

You know where to get them, Dan. You know where to get them...

;)

[Winterhair]

I can only imagine that it has something to do with his--*sound of cat getting run over blocks out sound*

Repeating crossbows? Just how technologically advanced are we talking here?

[AdventWings]

It's all in that thread, Winterhair. :)

It took me a while to finalize the information in there, so give me a ring on my AIM name if you have any questions that the Addendum didn't answer.


EDIT: HOMG! FLUFFY!!! What were you doing outside on the highway?! NOOOO~!!! *Breaks down and cries a river for the fallen kitty*

[Winterhair]

Alrighty. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I thought Althanas to be mainly feudal or medieval, but...kekeke...*plans evil plans* I must delve further into this.

[Slayer of the Rot]

Raven (Adventwings) put a lot of work into Akashima, and it shows. I'm hoping one day to take apart one of the Battle Arks with my hands.

[Winterhair]

Sounds fun. Not that I could do much, but that might be enjoyable to do at some time.

Wow...I can tell. Props to Raven, then. *tips imaginary hat* M'yes.

[AdventWings]

Seriously?

It wouldn't be that hard, Dan. Not with your kind of legendary status among the Akashiman of the time, anyways.

Although... they don't know who you are. They just know that you're a bloody beast that no one wants to cross path with.

O_o

EDIT: Thank'ye, Winterhair. :D

[Slayer of the Rot]

Seriously?

It wouldn't be that hard, Dan. Not with your kind of legendary status among the Akashiman of the time, anyways.

Although... they don't know who you are. They just know that you're a bloody beast that no one wants to cross path with.

O_o

Haha. They'd know Dan as "Uruha" there. Well, the few that could say to bring news of him, that is.

But I'm going to wait until level seven (just three thousand away!....I think) before I go rampaging in Akashima. Then I'll have the Saraelian Branch form, and nothing sinks morale like a giant horned stone-winged monster smashing up your Battle Arks...

[Winterhair]

Hate to reference to Devil May Cry, (a good series, although I found the story got kinda repetetive. Action is fun though.) but yes a Devil Trigger would have that kind of effect. And just how famous are you?

*looks at your profile* Nevermind. With as many aliases as that, I dont' even know why I bothered to ask.

M'yes.

[Cyrus the virus]

We should do our quest in Akashima, perhaps.

[Winterhair]

Dan: I imagine your character's battles to be like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu2ZtN4hYB0). I dunno, but your demon reminds me of Alucard for some reason. Which kicks ass.

[Slayer of the Rot]

We should do our quest in Akashima, perhaps.

Yeah, that sounds good. Raven actually gave me an idea for some kind of quest like that a ways back. Sorry I hadn't gotten around to posting that quest too, it's just been busy as shit for me.


Dan: I imagine your character's battles to be like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu2ZtN4hYB0). I dunno, but your demon reminds me of Alucard for some reason. Which kicks ass.

Holy sweet christ. I'd never watched Hellsing, but god damn. Violence has given me a boner, but that's basically it...kind of. Unless it's with an NPC or someone like Luc, my battles unfortunately do not get far.

Anyways, while I enjoy it, enough of me! Back to topic!

People, do some stuff in Akashima! And while we're at it, Alerar and Dheathain. They could use the business.

[Winterhair]

Hmm...do we have any major vampires from Akashima?

And Dan, you really should watch Hellsing: its right up your alley. Drugs, sex, and more gory violence than when the Teletubbies met Bahamut, king of dragons.

[Zook Murnig]

Hmm...do we have any major vampires from Akashima?

You should totally make a hopping vampire. They jump on people's graves the night after their burial to turn them into vampires themselves.

[AdventWings]

Hmm... that's actually a good idea, although I remember a concept of such vampires is not really vampiric. Nor Japanese.

Chinese hopping corpses. And I remembered there are Chinese-influences people living in Yanbo Harbor (courtesy of Bloodrose for establishing there) called the Quan.

Anyways, get on AIM or something! I'll help you work out the kinks and details if you need extra details. :D

[Rayse Valentino]

Adventwings, you should read Teric's and my FQ threads and his Knife's Edge quest. We made a couple reference to Akashima, since it's technically the only ninja place, and I consider it a pretty important place in Althanas, culturally.

edit: Well okay I guess you don't have to read it, we only made a passing reference to "Akashima ninja" and an Akashima name. There's nothing really to incorporate.

edit2: where do you see that name? i am Rayse.

[AdventWings]

Ooh, thanks for the nod, Rayse. I'll look at that and see if I can incorporate some of your stuff into the official description.

EDIT: Corrected! I thought you were still using your old username when you returned! XD Gomen, ne!

[Winterhair]

After my character gets approved, I've heard that Scara Brae is the perfect place for beginners, but...well, I don't know. Akashima looks interesting too, and maybe even he could pick up some sword abilities while he's there.

In any case, any one interested in doing a thread with me in Akashima?

[Breaker]

Do the people in Akashima practice martial arts? If so it'd be a great place for Josh to train.

[Winterhair]

One would think so.

[Reiko]

Do the people in Akashima practice martial arts? If so it'd be a great place for Josh to train.

they do^^ there's sure to be some Sohei, ninja, samurai, ronin to train in the various martial arts.

[Cyrus the virus]

Raven mentioned in his first post not to expect seeing samurai.

I'm confused as to how japan-oriented Akashima is, now.

[Aeraul Smythe]

Raven mentioned in his first post not to expect seeing samurai.

I'm confused as to how japan-oriented Akashima is, now.
[Talking out of ass]Probably varies by the clan/province/whatchamajiggit. There may be multiple warrior-classes or something.[/Talking out of ass]

[AdventWings]

Well, you won't be seeing many Samurai. Don't twist my words around, Cyrus. :p

If you study your Meiji-Era Japan, you will see that the Samurai status was largely abolished and law enforecement were carried out by the government via the Police Force.

As for Akashima, the equivalent of the remaining Samurai are known as Enforcers - while donning the same gears as that of pre-Meiji Japan, they have the duty of police officers who answer directly to the Dukes of each region (being also the Judge and Police Chief).

So, in effect, any Samurai you see are the law enforcers. Yes, there are Samurai. Just not... Samurai samurai. :D

EDIT: Please also refer to the Haitorei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitorei_edict) for referece.

[Cyrus the virus]

How does my saying 'don't expect to see samurai' translate into 'there are absolutely no samurai'?

Perhaps I should go burn the remaining ones so that I may say 'no more samurai!'

[Winterhair]

What about ronin? Since the samurai are busy all being law enforcers, are there any ronin? (I know that Reiko's was originally one, she told me)

[Breaker]

Well if the samurai answer to the government, doesn't that make a ronin a criminal? A criminal that's good at fighting?

[Karuka]

They can be criminals or vigilantes. Or simply wandering bums.

[Doomsday]

there could also be samurai that belong to a martial arts school as well as those that serve the lords^^ corse they're not samurai samurai either but they'd be able to train your character.

[Saxon]

I've got a PG waiting to be approved that has a strange japanese-like syndicate that is located in Akashima if your interested. ;)

[AdventWings]

Which post are correct assumptions?

All of the above.

:D

Yes, there are ronin - they can either be renegade ex-samurai or secret vigilantes group that are not supported by the government. Most of the samurai you see will be law enforcements, but I haven't ruled out Ronin and martial arts school instructors.

I should've made a note saying that for Akashiman samurai to legally carry their blades in public they would need a license - like firearms licenses for concealed/exposed carry.

Tanto and wakizashi in Akashima are comparable to handguns in terms of firearm laws. Wearing a katana and other large swords are comparable to carrying rifles in public.

And I'll take a look at your PG for a bit, Saxon. Just to make sure everything's OK. :D

UPDATE: Mmm... this looks like just the job to keep Yamihara preoccupied. :D

[Winterhair]

So, if say Vincent walked into town carrying his serrated no-dachi around openly, he would most likely be labled as a threat and arrested?

[Breaker]

He'd end up on the Althanas version of Cops, where the samurai beat him down with bokkans then toss him into the back of a carriage. Except rather than watch it on TV, they use smoke signals.

EDIT: If swords can be regarded as long guns, and daggers as handguns, what's their position on "non-lethal" weapons such as nunchaku?

[Winterhair]

Probably like if someone walked around carrying a baseball bat in NYC.

[AdventWings]

Well, the law only applies to Akashimans and ex-samurai. Because of relatively open borders with Corone, they don't see that as much of a threat when their own Enforcers are trained well to take on any threat.

However, as Corone has turned into an Empire, there might be quite a bit of changes... ;)

016573, I prefer the term "Less than Lethal" weapons but Winterhair pretty much assumed correctly. Akashiman laws regarding carried weapons (asides from katana and other derivatives) are rather open to interpretation.

[Doomsday]

am I going to have my score lower just because i never showed such laws in my posts and often had Ki with her blade in her posts. Such laws were never mentioned in the info and I just assumed that Akashima was a lot like the time portrayed in Yojimbo and the Seven Samurai where there was peace but samurai kept their swords.

[AdventWings]

Well, I wouldn't be afraid about that. You can if you want, but you don't have to.

It's meant mainly for NPCs and even then it's not heavily enforced. So I guess I'll remind judges that Akashima is a little different from Japan with regards to weapons law.

:)

[Doomsday]

yeah that makes since. wouldn't want to piss off a person with a katana when all you have is a Jutte^^

[Zook Murnig]

wouldn't want to piss off a person with a katana when all you have is a Jutte^^

Why would you say that? A jitte is specifically designed to trump bladed weapons, when used with proper training.

[Reiko]

Why would you say that? A jitte is specifically designed to trump bladed weapons, when used with proper training.

I know that, it's more of an intimidation factor and that the katana is made to kill while the Jitte/Jutte is made to subdue.

[Winterhair]

And a jitte is what, exactly? I'm afraid I am naive when it comes to that.

[Zook Murnig]

You're familiar with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right? A jitte is also known as a sai, which is what Raphael uses.

[Winterhair]

Ah, yes. Now that makes sense. Thanks.

[Reiko]

You're familiar with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right? A jitte is also known as a sai, which is what Raphael uses.

A Jitte is not a Sai, it was based on the Sai which is a farming tool that improvised to a weapon very well. A Jitte is a metal bar with a prong to catch a weapon. The Jitte was mostly used by government enforcers and was considered a symbol of an enforcer.

This is a Jitte (http://www.japanese-armor.com/images/products/2052-gt.jpg)

[Slayer of the Rot]

A Jitte is not a Sai, it was based on the Sai which is a farming tool that improvised to a weapon very well. A Jitte is a metal bar with a prong to catch a weapon. The Jitte was mostly used by government enforcers and was considered a symbol of an enforcer.

This is a Jitte (http://www.japanese-armor.com/images/products/2052-gt.jpg)

Listen; a jitte looks enough like a sai that I'm just going to call it a sai. No one on the site uses a jitte so it doesn't matter.

You nerds need to stop arguing.

[Godhand]

He'd end up on the Althanas version of Cops, where the samurai beat him down with bokkans then toss him into the back of a carriage. Except rather than watch it on TV, they use smoke signals.

EDIT: If swords can be regarded as long guns, and daggers as handguns, what's their position on "non-lethal" weapons such as nunchaku?

Better yet, what are their postitions on "gun" guns?

[Slayer of the Rot]

Better yet, what are their postitions on "gun" guns?

Round Eye's fire sticks.

[Godhand]

Round Eye's fire sticks.

Pardon me while I take a ride on the lollercoaster.

[Winterhair]

You are pardoned. Pardon me as I burst into flames.

*gets smacked upside the head with copyright hammer*

Shit.

[AdventWings]

Jitte vs Sai... I'd never thought I'd live to see the day.

Actually, maybe I did. :p

Sai = three pointy stabby-stick, Jitte = metal bar with an arm. Nuff said. I still don't see how a Jitte can look so much like a Sai. I mean, a Dirk looks even more alike to a Dagger. And even then, you can differentiate between the two.

Well, I'll just leave it at that. Anyone wanna duel this out, take it to IM.

And while TMNT is quite popular and all, I don't encourage you to refer to them for their inaccurate depictions of martial combat.

:p

*Dodges a Raphael action figure*

As for guns... Under Government sanctions only. About the only firearms to come into Akashima at this time is sent directly to the military - and even then, still in very small numbers of primitive flintlock long-barrels.

[Godhand]

As for guns... Under Government sanctions only. About the only firearms to come into Akashima at this time is sent directly to the military - and even then, still in very small numbers of primitive flintlock long-barrels.

I mean for me. Mine. My guns that I have.

[AdventWings]

Oh, your's is fine. Just don't leave them unattended and you'll be fine, Nya.

Any weapon that doesn't come through Akashima directly is in the responsibility of those who own them.

[Winterhair]

I know its been awhile, but since this thread still exists I thought I might as well post my question here instead of making a whole new damned thread.

M'yes.

Anyways. I'm too lazy to look it up and see, but are there any "official" sword styles in Akashima, or do most people just go along and make shit up?

[Tainted Bushido]

I don't know of any, Raven would be the one to ask for that. I've been using normal Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu.

Though I'm sure you could get away with making your own style with its techniques.

[AdventWings]

W3wt. Caught this just as I was online. :p

Anyways, to answer Winterhair's question:

Generally I would refer to traditional Japanese kata and swordstyles of the pre-Meiji era. This would also include Miyamoto Musashi's Ni Ten Ichi Ryu if you want to use it. However, seeing that there has yet to be a canonical figure directly emulating the Master Swordsman, making it up as you go along is fine.

I haven't canonized any official sword style, so feel free to come up with your own. Who knows, if it's good I may just make it one of the first official ones. ;)

Note: The name of the sword style needs not be strictly in Japanese/Akashiman. However, if you intend on making it sound Akashiman-like, I'd be grateful you don't end up butchering Japanese in the process. ^_^;

[Winterhair]

Don't worry, I won't. I'm actually taking it from a real sword style and slightly modifying it for my own uses: Karinzan-Jutsu, which means "Slashing Flame Circle" in Japanese/Akashiman. I was looking up sword styles for Vincent, and this seemed to fit him the best, so wah-lah.
M'yes.

Thanks, both Advent and Tainted.