Matsu Ume's page

About Matsu Ume

Earth: 2
+- Stamina 2
+- Willpower 2

Water: 2
+- Strength 3
+- Perception 2

Fire: 2
+- Agility 3
+- Intelligence 2

Air: 3
+- Reflexes 3 <12 CP>
+- Awareness 3 <12 CP>

Void: 2 / 2

Honor: 3.2
Status: 1
Glory: 1.2
Wounds:

XP: 4

Skills:

Battle (Mass Combat) 2 <2 CP>
Defense 3 <5 CP>
Kenjutsu 2 <2 CP>
Kyujutsu 1
Lore [History] 1
Storytelling 2 <2 CP>
Etiquette 1
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Athletics 1 <1 CP>
Theology 2 (Ancestor Worship) <5 CP>
Iaijutsu 2 <3 CP>
Jiujutsu 1 <1 CP>
Lore [Bushido] 1 <1 CP>
Meditation 1 <1 CP>

Advantages:
Death Trance <2 CP>

Disadvantages:
Can't Lie <-2 CP>
Obligation (Akodo Family) <-2 CP>
Dark Secret: Betrayed her vow of chastity
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WHAT CLAN DOES YOUR CHARACTER BELONG TO?
Lion Clan, Born and raised in to Matsu line. Her immediate family was not quite as important within the larger affairs of the line and clan as they would have liked, and while they have been samurai of the Lion Clan for three generations, she can not claim any direct line of descent from either Akodo or Matsu

HOW WOULD OTHERS DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER’S APPEARANCE?
On first sight, Ume is rather average-looking, especially when armed and armored. She looks quite the stereotypical Lion Samurai, with only the barest allowances for the female form. Her general figure follows suit, with broader than average shoulders, a slender face with pronounced cheekbones, and a direct gaze. She is not ugly by any measure, but just distinctive enough not to be noticeably bland.

IS YOUR CHARACTER A BUSHI, SHUGENJA, MONK, OR COURTIER?
Ume is a Bushi, yet while many of her family consider personal combat the epitome of bushido, she knows that wars are rarely won in one decisive charge or duel, and thus values courtier skills and strategic thinking almost as highly as weapon skills.

WHAT FAMILY DOES YOUR CHARACTER BELONG TO?
Ume is a member of the Matsu family, and shares many of their traditional stereotypes. However, after her parents died in battle when she was seven years old, she was raised by Akodo Hiro, a close friends of her father. Her younger Sister Reiko, always a sickly child stricken with a wasting disease of the lungs, was taken in by her mother's relations. She has not seen her for several years.

The Akodo took stewardship of her, and had as much effect on her upbringing as her birth parents had, and despite trying to raise her a Matsu (out of respect for his dead friend), he could not really deny his own roots. The end result was a wild warrior-woman with less control over her emotions than generally accepted, and less regard for her own safety. However, her being raised partially by Akodo have colored her worldview signficantly enough that she values strategy and thinking things through equally to letting the fury loose. She considers both sides of her upbringing to be worthwhile viewpoints to consider, and is secretly glad to have been able to see both.

WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S MAIN MOTIVATION?
Ume is trying very hard to get away from her betrothal, to the point of that thought occupying a too-large share of her mental capacity. What started out as a not necessarily pleasant part of her duty as Samurai is rapidly becoming the thing she dreads most. Her having children with a man she considers much weaker than herself... not going to happen. The Topaz championship is one possibility to quickly rise in status and influence, and thus maybe become valuable enough to snub her betrothed's family.

WHO IS THE PERSON YOUR CHARACTER TRUSTS MOST?
While she is not paranoid, there is no person Matsu Ume would trust overmuch. She is a rotten liar anyway, and any time she tries distorting the truth, she sabotages herself to the degree of probably telling much more than she would have, had she talked straight from the get go, so "keeping secrets" is hard on her anyway.

Bayushi Kaede might be an exception. The courtier left a very lasting impression on her - she would probably not consider her going behind her back, or wishing her ill, until confronted with evidence. For anyone else, a solid argument why that was int he persons interest would suffice.

WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER THINK OF BUSHIDO?
"If it was good enough for generation upon generation of my ancestors, it will be good enough for me" sums up her opinion on Bushido well enough. She considers the Way of the Warrior a fact of life, and as much divinely inspired as anything. To question it would mean to question the Kami themselves.

WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S OPINION OF HIS OWN CLAN?
The Lion clan, like any other, is composed of humans, and thus, capable of stumbling. Yet the guiding hand of the ancestors, and the keen mind of the Daimyos and Clan Champion prevent that stumble from ever really becoming a fall. While errors occur, they will be addressed in due time.

IS YOUR CHARACTER MARRIED?
Ume was betrothed to Akodo Hirofumi, the youngest son of her foster mother's aunt. It is an acceptable match, actually quite a good chance for her to get closer to the main Akodo line, and while Ume disliked him personally on their first meeting, she was quite willing to lead a political marriage with him. Sadly, things did not turn out so easy.

Hirofumi fell deeply and completely in love with her, and tried very hard to find the feeling returned. His attempts at wooing her met with increasing scorn and derision from Ume, to the point of her flying into his face with insults to his manhood at one occasion. This put a considerable slowdown on the marriage preparations, but fearing his manhood to be totally demolished, Hirofumi has begun using the considerable obligation she owes his family towards having her acquiesce after all.

DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE ANY PREJUDICES?
Young as she is, Ume has not met many living examples of other clans yet, and thus must rely on the common stereotypes for her opinion on them. Thus, she considers the Unicorn little better than Gaijin, the Crab to be huge and loud, and makes swathing exceptions for each and every one she meets. The one major deviation from these "broad strokes" prejudice is the Scorpion Clan. Just after she was taken in by her foster parents, a Scorpion Clan envoy named Bayushi Kaede visited their holdings, and stayed for several days. During that time, she and the recently-bereft girl talked for hours on end, and these times were more comfort to her than anyone else. She has maintained a soft spot for the Scorpion Clan ever since, no matter how foolish that is generally considered.

TO WHOM DOES YOUR CHARACTER OWE THE MOST LOYALTY?
Since the Emperor is far away, and the Clan Champion does not deign to command children who have not even earned their Daisho yet, her foster parents are the obvious answer here. But more than mere obligation binds her to them - they are the people who have the most direct ability to alter her life, and thus, acceding to their wishes also yields the most tangible rewards.

HOW WOULD YOUR CHARACTER HANDLE A SUBORDINATE’S IMPROPER BEHAVIOR?
Samurai live to serve, and thus, really should know better. Them misbehaving is a worse insult to the celestial order than a peasant's crime, who never had the amount of care invested into him. Funny as it may be, in her eyes, Peasants more or less are spawned from mud. They just spring up, without much care given where and how they come from. Consequently, if they do something wrong, she assumes they simply never were told the proper ways. She'd rather teach them than punish them harshly. Samurai have no such excuse, and can not expect anything less than the maximum extend of punishment possible. Troops a commander can not depend on are a liability.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER’S EMOTIONS?
Ume is quite capable of handling her emotions "off-stage", keeping a cool head in most circumstances it is required, and later crying her heart out in private, or screaming her triumph up to the heavens. It is all the more frightening when that control slips, and her true fury does show. She is quite afraid she might ruin herself if such a slipup occurred at a bad moment. As of yet, her calling Hirofumi an eunuch was the worst incident, but the young man never seemed to mention it to anyone.

HOW RELIGIOUS IS YOUR CHARACTER?
The death of her parents, combined with the general penchant of the Lion Clan for ancestor worship has deeply impressed her. She has the feeling that any step she takes in observed by at least one of her ancestors, any slipup frowned upon and any success quietly enjoyed. She spends a lot of her "free" time in prayer and meditation, and immersing herself in tales of the past.