The Day of Thunder

[Haka Tae-soo]

Still some things to solve to get out and maybe help others get out, but as D8 and Q&A are here already, here we go.

Second time with a riverside tribesperson, although a quite different one this time. And first time playing a non-NPC scorpion in PbP I guess... although TS is so far from a traditional scorpion I don't even know if it counts.

Most have probably guessed and/or heard whatever matters about TS, but feel free to shoot questions!

(Will also share sheet, but let's get the remaining rolls and stuff done first!)

[Otomo Akutou]

To what do you give credence?

[Anjing]

Tae-soo is of course, best boy. I really appreciated how much work you put into him and his peoples' culture, gave a clear sense of the diversity present in Rokugan. And he was also a sweet young lad. And the heals came in clutch vs Harbinger, despite Sakkaku's best efforts.

What was the full story with the younger brother? As advertised or a little more mystery behind it? For such a spiritual person what was his take away from the whole Blue Lotus Village apocalypse? And will his spirit talker tradition live on?

[Haka Tae-soo]

To what do you give credence?

You could say to finding the Traveling Band of his family and others from his village like a good and Fortunate Son, but all this show with the Bad Moon Rising you could say he's kinda Feelin' Blue Down on the Corner, wondering if those he cared about might have taken the Graveyard Train and he'll just have to pray at the Graveyard Shadow...

[Jiyo Sora]

FORM QUESTIONS INBOUND!


1. Biggest curveball Tae-Soo threw you?
2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?
3. Favorite moment?
4. Biggest missed opportunity?
5. Any secrets Tae-Soo has that never came up?


Less-formy:

I feel like we didn't do enough with Ha-yeong... but what does that kid make of all of this?

Likewise, if Tae-soo had died in the fight with the Harbinger, what was next for Ha-yeong?

[Haka Tae-soo]

Tae-soo is of course, best boy. I really appreciated how much work you put into him and his peoples' culture, gave a clear sense of the diversity present in Rokugan. And he was also a sweet young lad. And the heals came in clutch vs Harbinger, despite Sakkaku's best efforts.

What was the full story with the younger brother? As advertised or a little more mystery behind it? For such a spiritual person what was his take away from the whole Blue Lotus Village apocalypse? And will his spirit talker tradition live on?

Ajumeoni Anjing! Thanks a lot Those first dice definitely didn't want to collaborate, but things definitely came around in the end. Aunt Anjing ended up giving the bonger a serious beating!
Some diversity beyond usual Rokugan was definitely one reason that led me to going for tribal folks, both in Dawn 3 and now with Tae-soo. I'm glad you feel it worked!

The story was not *that much* more complex than it seemed, I guess. Ha-yeong was one of TS's 4 siblings. In my headspace they born as a girl, but decided they didn't fit as either gender, a number of years before the game (see Tae-soo's Day 5 dream). They had also shown early signs that they were sensitive to the spirits early on, as recognised by his and TS's grandmother. But as she died 5 years before game time, so when H-Y was only 9, TS (then 14) became their mentor.

They were out on a week-long training trip of sorts for H-Y, visiting shrines, fishing and asking the spirits for help at the end of the year, when they heard their village had pretty much "gone mad". Heading back, they found the village burning, pretty much none of the villagers and nobody else from their family, so they've been travelling together, trying to find any of their lost family - and purpose - ever since. TS decides to come here after meeting a monk/possibly shinsei and hearing that 'they could find answers here', so you imagine how happy T-S was about placing the only cherished one and anchor he had in life) in danger by coming here after finding out that Shinsei was raving mad.

Personality-wise, in my head canon both TS and HY were were way happier and easygoing back when, but both of them clammed up, having difficulty trusting and/or opening up to others after the incident.

His take here.... that's one I'd have to think about a bit. I guess seeing Spirit Realm stuff so up close shows him some diversity beyond what I imagine his folks' traditions involved. Or rather, there may have been stories about spirit realms and the like here and there among their traditions that he didn't take that seriously... and now he kinda has to.

Other than that, I suppose he'll want to get the hell away from all of this mess. Maybe keep looking for his family for a while... but then probably settle far from this, in another riverside place.

That and the last question are a bit related to the goals... which I haven't wholly settled on yet. But having at least some of the Mosu and Baekma traditions live on in the future among riverfolks somewhere is something that I'm definitely considering as part of his goal.

Just not sure if that'll be in Rokugan or elsewhere after all this

[Haka Tae-soo]

FORM QUESTIONS INBOUND!


1. Biggest curveball Tae-Soo threw you?
2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?
3. Favorite moment?
4. Biggest missed opportunity?
5. Any secrets Tae-Soo has that never came up?


Less-formy:

I feel like we didn't do enough with Ha-yeong... but what does that kid make of all of this?

Likewise, if Tae-soo had died in the fight with the Harbinger, what was next for Ha-yeong?

1. This time I'm not sure tbh. Some bits regarding TS's culture and background were shaped as things happened, but I don't think he came out that much different from expected. Opened up a bit with some people, which led to me trying to change the approach some with some PCs while keeping more closed and hesitant with others... but that was more or less sort of the expected package, I think? Having the RIVER be the NPC TS was closest to was perhaps a bit of a curveball for RPing, but I guess more or less expected too?
2. This... a few. Not sure it's worth delving too deep into it here and now, but welcome to talk about some over PMs later if you want to!
3. Involving Tae-soo, some of the interactions with the river were kinda fun, and the two riverside scenes with Shang (one of them still ongoing) led to some interesting stuff. I wasn't around that much (I feel like I say that every game for a good while now...), and TS didn't really take part in most of the 'main things', especially those involving the villagers, so I ended up not developing relationships as much as I hoped. I feel he developed rather interesting relationships with "aunties" Anjing and Tai, though! Oh, Sugri's post where he crushes the Harbinger's soul and sends it to the wind was *masterful* too!
Not involving Tae-soo... well, I ended up not reading others' thread a lot, sadly. RL's been hard to tame and all. So I've mostly seen things I've stumbled upon or that figured in the memorable moments. Some of the letters to the villagers on D6 were brilliant, and I *loved* many Ranmaru posts - including the latest ones where he seems to show some development!
That early post from Haka Soju showing some more diversity (DARK diversity) and the clash of cultures between Rokugan and tribal traditions was also very interesting, and I guess influential for playing Tae-soo.
4. As usual, time to develop relationships with other characters. But as you suggest below, also Ha-yeong. I'm always a bit wary about getting dependents as disadvantages, mostly because that means in a way playing more than one character, which is not necessarily easy to do. I think I managed to at least get across *some* of his personality, but without much presence in the game (and a bit because of how TS 'fit' into the game) I feel there's a lot more that could have been developed with the young'un.
5. I don't know if 'secrets' is exactly the word. The main thing that didn't come up is how exactly he and Ha-yeong came to be travelling by themselves and ended up here, the fact that he rest of his family are all missing and his village has been razed to the ground after an outbreak of the Corruption led to many people in it going mad. His eldest brother has also left tribal traditions behind to be a 'proper samurai' within the Clan, which was supposed to be kind of 'family drama we don't talk about much'... but with the whole family going missing and all hell breaking loose here, that didn't even come up.

Ha-yeong... I figure they're very frightened, but also after seeing the village burned down and all family and friends go missing, and travelling around non-stop with his 'seonbae' trying to find a way to 'get things right' while training, I see them as also being like... 'I can't show my fear, I have to be strong, we have to make things right'. There will be some proper trauma there after all's said and done, but I imagine with things being 'set right' they'll actually feel 'thankful' for Tae-soo for bringing them here so they could do "the right thing".

All while Tae-soo will probably blame himself for bringing the young'un here for the rest of his life

If Tae-soo had died... that's a good question, and one I'd been thinking about a bit. Ha-yeong would probably try to do whatever they could to escape, bringing TS's body with him if possible. They'd then probably go down the path of 'I need to learn all I can and become stronger'... which could end up full of drama and Shonen-like, or full of drama and VERY wrong, in all the ways you can imagine 'needing power at all costs to set things right' could go. Either of those could be interesting... although I'm not sure I'd bring him back to another game to see that happen.

[Togashi Satsuki]

Tae-soon-nim, kamsa-hamnida! I loved seeing the diversity you provided with this character concept, both bringing in the Korean-vibe and the way Tae-soo interacted with the spiritual-aspects.

Satsuki would've loved to have more time with Tae-soo and his sister at a time when they're not all in peril! So if he wanted to come up to Dragon-lands, he would be most welcome. Pretty sure we have some water at Great Falls for him to play around with.

What made you decide on Korean influence for Tae-soo?

[Saru Shang]

I think everyone has already asked the questions on my mind. I'm just here to say that I regret we haven't met earlier in the game to have a scene! Haka Tae-soo is a neat character and your mindfulness really fleshes out your writing well.