The Day of Thunder

[Jiyo Sora]

So.

Sora has been in every frickin' frackin' Dawn game to date, like some kind of Rokugani Forrest Gump So I doubt he's all that mysterious to anyone.

It was kind of fun, seeing him shift into more of an Obi-Wan Kenobi role this time around, and holy SHIT was Mister Earth 4 actually built reasonably well for this game... for a change!

But if anyone has questions, lay 'em on me.

Oh yeah... having survived the game?

This is his theme song now.

[Hiruma Naraku]

I liked the old man! What was your opinion to Naraku? And any reactions to him being chosen a Thunder?

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora was a bit annoyed at the Crab wanting their own damn campsite, and Naraku got to see that in action when they first met.

He also quietly enjoyed seeing the guy rediscover his humanity, and while his becoming a Thunder meant Sora's vision at the dinner was of a future that was no longer true.... Sora's used to futures shifting, so he really didn't have much to say about it. Glad the guy made it out, glad he saved Ai.

[Anjing]

Dread it, fear it, argue on a wall with it, Sora always arrives.

Good to see the imperial problem solver in action, and he certainly did have a lot to do! Still, can’t imagine he’ll retire anytime soon?

What’s his take on what happened at the village? And in particular what happened to Shinsei. Will they get hushed up or will the story spread?

[Otomo Akutou]

How do the branches of the willow spread in this new season?

[Wu Zhe]

o7

I salute you, old grognard!

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

[Makime]

Well you got to meet Ayano's mother and they were mostly civil to each other.

Kind of curious why Sora didn't think to ask the other daimyo before throwing out Makime's name!

[Jiyo Sora]

Good to see the imperial problem solver in action, and he certainly did have a lot to do! Still, can’t imagine he’ll retire anytime soon?

Oh god no He has a plan for the Willow Sect that he can't fob off on a successor (because it will require a firm hand and total control, something he, as founder, can pull off), and now that he's finally free to stop worrying about nightmare monsters, the Libraries will also require a lot of his time and effort.

I think he'll still be working by the time of the next game (not least because, as a Kami-follower, he's going to live a LONG damn time).

Fewer road trips without his family, though. Like... none, if he can avoid it going forward.

What’s his take on what happened at the village? And in particular what happened to Shinsei. Will they get hushed up or will the story spread?

Shinsei selected him for the Hisomu rescue because of his devotion to the truth. So he can't honor Shinsei's memory with a whitewash.

So he, at least, will hush up nothing. But he'll also point out that it was Shinsei's initial guidance that let them win. Given that he fought Shinsei's embodied hubris (which we never did track down, as I recall!), he's never had the Little Teacher on a pedestal, and has never thought of him as some incarnation of perfection, so it's not much of a stretch for him.

He sees Shinsei's story as a tragic but ultimately heroic one.

The village... that's more complex. He's a bit bemused by how Chouri caught so much more hate than Enrou, when Enrou was a more willing conspirator in many ways. At the same time, his idea of justice encompasses more than simply letting people or killing them.

And he's very glad the broad majority of the village's population proved him right about them.

[Jiyo Sora]

How do the branches of the willow spread in this new season?

Wait and see, actually, this is a Goal-related question...

1. Biggest curveball Sora threw you?

How little he ended up interacting with a lot of the samurai present! He was always running down villager stuff, buttonholing Zhe, having Kami pop into his dreams, hanging out with our Nezumi, talking to the oni-in-redemption-arc... it honestly felt like apart from Zhe, Ai, Kumori, Yukara, and Naraku, he basically allocated everybody one or two timeslots for the entire game.

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

Sora not being absolute mechanical garbage for it! He was still bad at plenty of the rolls called for, and he failed a few rolls he should have made, but he honestly overperformed, base don my usual expectations. Earth 4 was SOLID in this game.

On a more.... thematic level? How much time he had to spend trying to be sociable with the villagers.

3. Favorite moment?

Absolutely this entire thread, because it really unpacked not just his relationship with Kumori (which was already more or less established), but the fact that... Sora's not just a really good dad in his dreams, he's honestly VERY good at advising and supporting younger people in times of personal crisis.

4. Biggest missed opportunity?

Not getting to quote Ellen Ripley at the Harbinger.

"Get away from her, you bitch."

5. Any secrets Sora has that never came up?

For a not-Kolat Master, he honestly doesn't have many secrets at all It's known to a few people, but he knows not only that Nozomi had Shinsei's children, but he knows who they are. Beyond that... honestly, nothing much springs to mind.

Well you got to meet Ayano's mother and they were mostly civil to each other.

He was a cleansing breath away from trying to kill her on Day 5, actually

Kind of curious why Sora didn't think to ask the other daimyo before throwing out Makime's name!

Because the way he saw it, he was just making a suggestion. Nobody had jurisdiction in the village, and several people outranked him. So he just threw the name out to get the conversation going. If the daimyo had dug in their heels and refused, he would have shrugged and said "fine."

Also because getting a thread with them was a vexed proposition thanks to the 87 iron hooves of Irl-no-Oni. Especially since it would have just been another goddamn meeting thread. Possibly multiples if he had to run them down one by one.

"Hey, what do you think of Makime?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Cool, good use of a timeslot!"

[Isawa Kyosei]

Sorry we didn't get more time, but as you say, irl-no-oni was in full bloom. Granite continued and continues. And will possibly be a little envious of Sora's long life, as Kyosei isn't close enough for that to happen.

[Makime]

Oddly enough she was never quite at the level to want to kill him.

[Jiyo Sora]

Oh yeah... sheet reveal time!

You would think, four games in, the guy would have hit IR 3, but no, because I love burdening my PCs with self-sabotaging expenditures that go nowhere.

Jiyo Sora (family bonus is from Hikaru Tribe, however)
School/Rank: Ronin (Forest Killers technique)/Jiyo Bushi 1
Insight: 159
XP: 0

Status: 4.0
Honor: 2.8
Glory: 4.8


Rings
Earth 4
-Stamina 4
-Willpower 4

Water 3
-Strength 3
-Perception 3

Fire 2
-Agility 4 (School bonus, Tribe bonus)
-Intelligence 2

Air 2
-Reflexes 3
- Awareness 2

Void 2


Skills (* are school skills/emphasis)
*Athletics 3
*Defense 1
*Hunting 1
*Kenjutsu 5
*Kyujutsu 1
*Stealth 1
*Polearms 3
Investigation 2
Battle 1
Lore-Spirit Realms 2
Jiujutsu 1
Courtier 1
Sincerity 1
Meditation (Void Recovery) 3
Etiquette 1
Lore: Theology 1
Lore: Corruption 1


Advantages:
Clear Thinker [Mental] (3 Points)
You possess a sharp mind and keen powers of perception, making it very difficult for others to deceive you. Whenever you make a Contested Roll against someone who is attempting to confuse or manipulate you in any way, you gain a bonus of +1k0 to the total of your roll.

Crab Hands [Physical] (2 Points, for Tribe or Bushi. Either/or)
You possess a natural affinity for weapons of all kinds, and can take up even an unfamiliar blade without difficulty in times of stress. Any time that you would be forced to make an Unskilled Roll when using a Weapon Skill, you are instead considered to have 1 rank in that Weapon Skill.

Inner Gift [Spiritual] (7 Points)
You possess a mysterious gift that even shugenja cannot fully understand. In Sora's case, it takes the form of Foresight- he is difficult to surprise, and gains a bonus of +1k0 to the total of Initiative rolls.

Sage [Mental] (6)
Whenever you would be forced to make an Unskilled Roll when using a Lore Skill, you instead are considered to have 1 rank in that Skill.

Seven Fortunes' Blessing: Fukurokujin (earned last game for no points as such)
The Fortune of Wisdom favors you above all others, and you reap the benefi ts of his patronage. Whenever you make a Skill Roll using that Lore: Spirit Realms, you gain a bonus of +1k1 to the total of that roll.

Strength of the Earth [Physical] (2 Points for Bushi)
In your soul can be found the spirit of the mountains and the strength of stone. You can overcome injuries that would cripple other men. The TN penalties you suffer from Wound Ranks are reduced by 3.

Kharmic Tie- Shiba Kumori (Cost him nine points for rank 3)
Your destiny is not yours alone, but is bonded to that of another in some fundamental way. You may have been close to this other person during a previous life, or perhaps your destiny in this life will yet be entwined in theirs in some essential manner. Select one person when purchasing this Advantage. For each point spent on this Advantage, once per session you gain a bonus of +1k1 to the total of all attack rolls made when fighting for or protecting the person to whom you are bonded. So for Shiba Kumori, Sora gets +3k3

Lucid Dreaming [Spiritual] 5- Earned Via Event
You have learned the ebb and flow of dreams and how to manipulate them. When you are in Yume-do, either physically or dreaming, as a Simple Action you may make a TN 20 Willpower roll to change one thing about the environment or raise or lower a Ring of an existing Dream Object (one discreet object, such as a sword, a flower, a person, etc.) by one. Attempting to alter a sapient being in this manner is a contested Willpower roll.

Disadvantages:
Bad Fortune [Spiritual] (3 Points)
Evil Eye: One of your eyes is discolored. People avoid looking you in the eyes at all costs, and some believe your very presence invites evil spirits.

Disturbing Countenance [Physical] (3 Points)
Something about your appearance causes others to respond to you with concern and caution. You are not necessarily unattractive, merely disturbing in some way. The TN of all your Social Skill Rolls is increased by +5.

Fascination [Mental] (1 Point)
You are completely fascinated by some subject, and will go to great lengths to learn more about it or to experience it in new ways. In Sora's case, he's fascinated with the Spirit Realms

Dark Secret (Blood of Shinsei)
Through your visions, you've discovered that a friend of yours will bear the child of Shinsei, a man who the forces of Jigoku have many reasons to despise. If knowledge of this fact becomes too wide spread his enemies may come after you to reach the child.



Techniques
Rank 1: Strength of the Forest - The Forest Killers are a formidable group who recruit only the toughest and most durable of warriors to join their band. You gain additional Wounds per Wound Rank equal to your Stamina. You may also add your Stamina to the total of all damage rolls resulting from melee attacks.

Rank 2: The Way of the Phoenix
Jiyo bushi move through battle as the Void moves through all the elements. When spending a Void Point to gain +1k1 on a roll, you may choose to spend 2 Void Points (to gain +2k2) on the roll instead. You may Guard as a Free Action; however, if you do so, your target only adds +5 to his Armor TN instead of +10.

I especially like how he's had Clear Thinker since Dawn 1 and has literally never once had it matter.
The Kharmic tie to Kumori was purchased this game, and.... never came up.
His Fascination... honestly, while I could have played it up more (and it's another one he's had his entire existence as a character) has largely been satisfied by how much the Spirit Realms have ended up mattering in Dawn
I bought Sage basically as a joke (on an INT 2 character, it really is pretty bad), but also so I could have him weigh in on topics without having to go, "how would this guy know anything about any of that?"
Crab Hands also never mattered, but it was a flavor beat.
I gave him Polearms 3 allllll the way back in Dawn 1 when he was toting a dagger-axe around, but let's be real, in L5R 4E polearms are trash for the most part, so that's another 5 XP he could have saved.

Notably, the Advantages he's actually used the most (Fukurokujin's Blessing and Lucid Dreamer) cost him no XP whatsoever.

[Jiyo Sora]

Sorry we didn't get more time, but as you say, irl-no-oni was in full bloom. Granite continued and continues. And will possibly be a little envious of Sora's long life, as Kyosei isn't close enough for that to happen.

Sora's going to be weirded out by it. He's already lived longer than most Hikaru warriors did, after all.

[Ryoshun Yukara]

Cats, Dogs, or both?

[Jiyo Sora]

Cats, Dogs, or both?

Yes.

[Nozomi]

Hah, *fist bump of the Hikaru* So, after all this time? Any regrets? You had a hell of a run.

[Jiyo Sora]

Hah, *fist bump of the Hikaru*

Team Hikaru represent!

So, after all this time? Any regrets? You had a hell of a run.

Sora could have gotten into more fights, since while he wasn't fully optimized, he was a TOUGH goddamn bushi. But at the same time, I didn't want to hog combats, since bushi often spend a lot of events spinning their wheels.

Could have played up the Spirit Realm Fascination more, but... on the other hand, he actually did a fair bit with it. Fascination's a weird Disad when you can tie it to a Lore roll you're genuinely good at.

Void 3 would have been a better use of my XP than a lot of what I spent it on... not least because his meditation rolls would have gone better

[Togashi Satsuki]

I did often wonder if Sora had Foresight or Lesser Prophecy, or something else for his Inner Gift since he got all them fancy visions. I guessed Foresight in Dawn 3, and chose it for Satsuki for similar reasons, but... guess not.

Did you ever consider playing anything else than Sora over the games?

[Hisomu Tadaka]

In three games, I think Tadaka was the one who most got to know Sora. Glad I did. Thanks for all the scenes.

[Jiyo Sora]

I did often wonder if Sora had Foresight or Lesser Prophecy, or something else for his Inner Gift since he got all them fancy visions. I guessed Foresight in Dawn 3, and chose it for Satsuki for similar reasons, but... guess not.

Yep, it was Foresight, since I was cirbbing off of Dune when I first made him. For the record, without generous GM help, Foresight is one of the WORST Inner Gifts in the default menu +1k0 to Initiative is nice and all, but for Seven XP? Yeesh.

Did you ever consider playing anything else than Sora over the games?

Only in Dawn 1 GOD he was mechanical garbage in that game. In Dawn 2, it seemed like a chance for him to actually DO stuff (which he did), so I brought him back.

If his eldest daughters had been born sooner, I might have run one of them at Winter Court, but since they were twelve, that was off the table- and seeing Sora, of all people, at the first winter court with his brood of children was too funny an idea to pass up. Plus... having run him twice, it was sort of tempting to see how far he could go.

I was actually fully prepared for him to die dramatically in Dawn 3, you know, getting ganked by Hadananzi or whatever, but it never came up. And then for THIS, game, well... having run him all three times, not sending him off on the last one would have felt wrong. I never wanted to run a Thunder (ESPECIALLY after Sora was one of the group who rescued Hisomu- gotta let other people have their shot to shine!), but given who he was, his absence from these events would have been out of character.

I am DEFINITELY ready to move on, though... he's the only PC I've played in more than three pbp games, and the fact that he didn't have much of an arc in this game kinda sums up why. He was essentially a finished product by the start of Dawn 3.

Hell, look at the temptation dream he got...

"Okay, so, you have almost exactly the life you want, uh.... I'll... let you... keep it if you run away?"

GRIPPING stuff Ready to run someone much younger, less self-assured, and with less clout.