Utaku Katsue
| |
| Utaku Katsue | |
| Utaku Battle Maiden | |
| Steed: Kaze | |
| Clan: | Unicorn Clan |
| Daimyo: | Utaku Xieng Chi |
| Glory: | 10 |
| Honor: | 8.5 |
| Status: | Personal: 1.4 |
| Military: 3.0 | |
| Rank: | • • • |
Utaku Katsue appears to be a cold and calm samurai-ko, keeping her distance from others, barely saying more than necessary to remain polite. On the battlefield she changes, being both a natural born leader and having a talent for tactics. She has been raised in the Utaku lands. Her father, a Yasuki by birth, certainly had some impact on her upbringing, but she took mostly after her mother. Her loose dark hair barely reaches her shoulders and her skin is sun-tanned. In court she wears stylish kimonos, but on the battlefield or outside she wears practical clothing in the style of her ancestors, caring not about how others react to leather and fur.
General Information
- Player: Pieter Sleijpen
- Modules Played: SoB 01-03, 05-07, 09-11, 13-14, 16-17, 20-27, 29-33, 37-38, 42, 46, 53, 55-56
- Battles Joined: Int10a Ivory Invasion
- Courts Attended: Int10b Know the School
- Modules Run: SoB 00, 04, 08 and 15
- Charity Mod: SoB >9000
History
Changed
Most of Katsue's childhood memories were good even though they are little more then flashes and faint echoes of emotions. The marriage between her parents had been warm. Her father had adjusted surprisingly well to his new role as a male Utaku, although she suspected his position as a quartermaster was large part of it. Utaku Eiichi was a Yasuki by birth after all. Her mother, Utaku Anju, was a caring person, a former gunso who became a warden when she settled down. She had an older brother, Utaku Noriyuki, who was training at their father's ancestral dojo, and a little sister, Utaku Makoto, who was dotted on by their parents. It was a good life, made all the more painful by its sharp contrast by what happened when she was eight.
The Clan Wars had stayed away from the area, but a war as big as the Clan Wars touches all. With the bushi fighting on foreign soil, peasants revolted and unscrupulous ronin took advantage of the chaos. Young as she was, Katsue never learned exactly what happened. An old enemy of her mother's united a group of bandits and ronin and somehow managed to capture all three her children. Katsue never learned with what reason or even how, although if simple vengeance he would likely have just killed the three of them. Utaku Noriyuki died early on in a vain attempt to protect his little sisters. Katsue had to watch, unable to do a thing. It was the pressence of her little sister that kept her strong. Makoto-chan was luckily oblivious to the true dangers around her, having found some kind of odd comfort in a little red-brown puppy.
Before the monster could do her or her sister true harm though, the raiders were found by her mother, her aunt, and the battle maidens under their command. In a masterful maneuver, the battle maidens managed to outwit the ronin and cut the rebels down before they could use Katsue and her sister as hostages. While the face of that monster that kidnapped her and her siblings haunts her nightmares still, remember the thunderous sound of the hooves of the battle steeds and the look of suprise on the man's face when his head rolled into Katsue's tent drive those feelings of terror away.
The damage had been done though. Their father blamed her mother, and her mother probably blamed herself as well. Relations turned from bad to worse, and soon her mother joined the Unicorn armies to get away from it all. Katsue was send of to the Utaku dojo, only returning home for her sister until she joined the Utaku dojo as well. Katsue never saw her mother since then except during a few official events. When Anju died a heroes death on the march to Volturnum Katsue felt little emotion. She had tried to earn her mother's love and pride, but she failed while Anju was alive. She still keeps trying, and if it involves rescuing others from bandits, rebels and dangerous ronin all th better. Although in those moments that she spends in self-reflection, she wonders whether it is more a thirst for vengeance then compassion that drives her to fight bandits whenever she can...
Prophecy of the Earth
Recently Utaku Katsue got to ask the Oracle of Earth a question after helping the man. The answer is important to her actions in the forseeable future. She will not be quick to tell about it for fear of others abusing the knowledge. Still, she will tell it to friends and allies, especially if certain topics are discussed: "Much that was once sacred and unshakeable has become unstable, and even the future of the Empire itself has become questionable. What is firm and fixed however is that there are blades raised to the heavens for the Empress. Blood will be spilled, chaos will spread, and even two honorable souls can find themselves in conflict. What you can do to protect Toturi Tsudao, who may one day bear the name of Toturi II, is to stand forward in the name of peace and security. You must be the bulwark against destruction, you and others as well. Stand fast, or be swept under and destroyed."
Recent Exploits
She joined the 8th Imperial Legion as a nikutai, earning her first experience on the battle field in the Ivory Kingdom, having been the second in command for the unit that managed to secure the city gates before the enemy could send in reinforcements. Recent events have had a huge impact on her life, changing her outlook on some her dreams and goals. Transfered to the 3rd Legion and earned a promotion to Gunso.
She is a great admirer of Akodo, studying his famous work Leadership when not working or contemplating the Book of Sun Tao. She feels uneasy about the tension between the Lion and the Unicorn, wishing relations were better so she could study battle tactics at the famous Akodo dojo.
