Itagaki Munetsura

Itagaki Munetsura is a portly, middle-aged man with a thick beard that does little to cover his haggard features. Purple scars from battle mark his body, and Munetsura walks with a slight limp from a vicious wound he suffered during a melee three years ago in an inn. It has limited his mobility somewhat, and makes riding for an extended period of time uncomfortable. Of course, Munetsura wears, if anything, average clothing, though he keeps his daisho in perfect condition.

Itagaki Munetsura has always been a portly man, though due to his fickle income for the past 18 years, he has avoided corpulence because of his meager diet. Once part of the prestigious clan, the Mori, Munetsura was a loyal vassal of the Nakahiro family. A young samurai who had inherited his family's volatile and cruel nature, Munetsura had also distinguished himself in both his ryu and on the battlefield with his prowess with the katana by the young age of twenty-four. Munetsura's brutality was harnessed by his master, hatamoto Nakahiro Ujifusa. With it, Ujifusa taught Itagaki Munetsura how to use his unpredictability and ferocity as an instrument to discipline men through the medium of fear. Munetsura was soon to become a valuable asset to his clan, and with time would earn the notice of the Sugihara, had not tragic events, building on the horizon like a festering tsunami, finally come to destroy the foundations of both his clan and family.

During1523, when the great Mori Motonari was to first start his rise to great fame, Mori Okimoto would die from unclear circumstances. The Nakahiro family, who the Itagaki were vassals to, who were long time supporters of Okimoto, disputed Motonari's claim to the inheritance and accused him of murdering their Lord. Motonari, obtaining succession of the head of the clan, would have Lord Ujifusa put to death, along with the rest of his family. Without a Lord to follow, Munetsura and the rest of his family were cast out from their land in Ouchi.

In the following year, Munestura joined the recent defector from the Mori clan, Katsura Hirozumi, against Mori Motonari in a battle not far from Koriyama. Itagaki would not find the revenge he sought against the side of a family he saw as despicable and traitorous themselves, as the army he fought with suffered defeat. His family had suffered great losses in the battle, and when Munestura found himself disbanded and ronin again, he was alone without any family or master.

Four years later, at the age of 28, Munetsura found himself in the service of another Lord in the Mino region, under the Kodama family. Here, Munestura quickly found peace. His forte with the katana had finally found the recognition he felt it deserved as he was soon teaching basic skills at the local ryu - Munestura went to sleep at night dreaming of one day rising to the rank of Soke. At the ryu his Soke was averse to Munestura's blatant unawareness for his lack of ninjo and self-control. However, at the Lords demands, Munestura was taught some new okuden and given more responsibility in the ryu. Along with this, Munetsura was planning to buy the contract of Masae-san, a low ranked courtesan in the Mino region. Things seemed to be going well for Munetsura, his hard work finally paying off.

It however would end up tragically. Perhaps his karma was bad. Really, it was his own inability to control himself. The night Munetsura came with the money to buy the contract of Masae-san, he found another man with her. In ten seconds, Munetsura found the indolent fool's corpse next to the matching mutilated, lifeless body of his lover. Overcome with guilt, an overwhelming feeling he had never felt before. Munestura readied himself to commit seppuku. Lord Kodama would not allow Itagaki's sulking be the result of him loosing a valuable asset to his clan. Munestura was forced to teach more classes at the ryu. Again, tragedy would strike, cutting Muntesura deeply, this time the wound being severed from his clan. In a fit of frustration with his student's inability to follow instructions and the guilt that still haunted him, Munestura cut down one of his students during training. Now seen as something uncontrollable, he was cast from the clan, a fate that Munetsura was lucky to receive.

It was a fate that Itagaki found most dishonorable though. A fate that Itagaki found would force him wandering the lengths of Japan, fighting for spineless men who tainted the name daimyo, and serving men who were not even of the buke class sometimes just so he could eat a basic meal the next day. Munetsura, without a set Lord to serve and place to settle down to, found that his skills were constantly being tested. In this, he sharpened his skill with the sword and leadership, but it also dulled his sense of honor and face; in a way, Munetsura saw himself as a floating leaf in the autumns wind, waiting to fall so that someone could step on his dried up self and stomp out the life from him.

Now, at the age of 42, Munetsura has seen many battles, as both a bandit, bodyguard, and bushi fighting for some Lord. Once, deep within his heart, the passion to seek revenge for the injustice he felt has been delivered to his family by Mori Monotori burnt. Itagaki Munetsura believed that if not in this life time, than the next, his karma will put him in the place to give the killing blow to the pseudo heads of the Mori clan, and will return the family back to its greatness. However, as the years this dream is only a small flicker that is waiting to put out. When it is, Munetsura believes that will be the time to commit seppuku; for than, he will have dishonored his family and deceased Lord Nakahiro.

Munetsura is not a very religious man. These 18 years as a ronin have hardened him, both visually and mentally. He becomes more brutal as time passes, and slowly feels himself degenerating. To find a Lord to serve honorably, Munetsura believes would help restore his face and finally give him peace. He knows that he might have passed the twilight of his career as a warrior and wishes to use his skills to die in a blaze of glory.

CHA	VAL	COST
STR	13	+6
DEX	17	+21
CON	13	+6
BOD	12	+4
INT	10
EGO	11	+2
PRE	18	+8
COM	10
PD	4	+1
ED	3	+1
SPD	3	+3
REC	6
END	26
STUN	26
Total cost		+52

OCV 6

DCV 6

ECV 4

Run: 5"

Jump: 3"

Swim: 2"

	Powers, skills, etc
4	FAM : Common melee weapons, Common missile weapons
2	KS: Kenjutsu (11-)
3	Perk: Samurai (right to mete out low justice)
3	Riding
8	Combat skill levels: +2 with Kenjutsu, +1 with Yari
22	Multipower - Kenjutsu: 22 point reserve (can use barehanded)
1	(u) Bind weapon (22) + 7 STR for bind/hold only (-1), -1 DCV
1	(u) Defensive Strike (11) +1 OCV, +3 DCV
1	(u) Fast Strike (20) +10 STR (only for strike, -1), +1 OCV
1	(u) Lightning Strike (22) 1d6 HKA, autofire (only up to maximum damage of weapons, -1/4) up to 1+1 d6 HKA with STR, -1 DCV
1	(u) Martial Block (10) +2 OCV, +2 DCV
1	(u) Martial Dodge (10) + 5 DCV
1	(u) Martial Strike (22) +7 STR (only for strike, -1), +1 OCV, +2 DCV
5	Iado (fastdraw) (13-)
1	Languages: Japanese (native, literate)
5	KS: Caligraphy, PS: Teaching (both 11-), KS: Tea Ceremony (8-)
6	Tactics, Weaponsmith (both 11-)
3	Concealment, Stealth (both 12-)
6	Interrogation, Persuasion (both 13-)
-2	-1" running (limp)
73	Total powers cost
125	Total Character cost

Normal Equipment

Katana and Wakazashi (1+1 or 1 d6 HKA)

Yari (1 1/2d6 HKA or 5d6 HA)

Tanto (1/2 d6 HKA)

Standard clothes

Geta

Sharpening stone

Disadvantages +75

15	Psychological limit : Seeks a glorious death (common, strong)
10	Psychological limit : Code of the Bushi (common, moderate)
10	Enraged by insults or reversals of fate (uncommon, 11-/11-)
10	Distinctive Features: Samurai bearing
5	Phys Lim: Limp

 

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