Samurai

Samurai:

The samurai are professional warriors of the noble caste who are trained in the arts of warfare. They are born into a system of allegiance, loyalty, and honor that influences every stage of their lives. A samurai cut loose from this system is no longer a samurai; he is an ordinary fighter, a ronin with no honor and no standing in society. Samurai and all members of that caste are humans. Samurai follow the code of Bushido at all times and never stray from it's path. The code of Bushido includes honesty, loyalty, courage and duty.

Each samurai has it's own Daisho, which are two swords: a katana (which only samurai can carry) and a wakizashi (like a smaller katana). Eventually, the daisho (which are usually named) gain magical abilities as their spirits are awakened. This happens at certain levels depending on the strength of the ability in question (see the Daisho Approval Thread). The difference between these nemuranai and other nemuranai, including other swords, is the samurai has some power over what his abilities are. Pending staff approval, you can give your sword essentially any power. Remember though: stronger powers mean less versatility and overall number of powers, and sometimes can even be restricted by amount of uses per-day.

The style of a samurai depends on it's clan. Samurai ronin are very rare and being a ronin disables your access to such benefits as a horse, free weapon and armor repairs, food and shelter.

It should be noted that with exception to ronin, any member of this class are automatically in the samurai caste. See the caste section for more information.

Technique: Each level offers the samurai a new technique, usually some sort of special attack, that vary depending on either the personal tastes of the samurai or the clan/family the samurai is in. Most information on this can be found in the technique section.

Expertise: Finally, Samurai have expertise in archery, horseback riding and fighting in lamellar armor. They also have weapon expertise in different weapons depending on their clan.

Clans:

Ki-Rin Clan: Samurai of the Ki-Rin clan are usually magistrates of the capital or guardians of the imperial family. To question their skill is to question their honor and dedication to the empire itself--considered a death-wish by most men.

Bear Clan: Samurai of the Bear Clan are warriors who generally value strength before all else, and like all members of their clan they are extremely prideful and loyal. With heavy weapons and heavy armor, a Bear Samurai is a walking tank, afraid of nothing.

Wolf Clan: The samurai of the wolf clan are a loyal group of warriors, more-so usually than any other class within the clan. The samurai of the Tsuga are a fierce group of warriors that are known for their bloodlust, whereas the samurai of the Kouketsu are known for their subtlety and almost aristocratic air.

Rabbit Clan: The rabbit clan samurai are masters of arts even few Wu-Jen or Shugenja dare to tread. They are known for their leniency of use of nemuranai (magic items) that other clans would tend to look down upon or even outright destroy. There samurai are also experts in the field of demon slaying and in countering the dark-arts.

Fox Clan: The fox samurai are a bit of a odd bunch. As samurai go, they are the less strict of any of the Great Clans, yet they are also some of the hardiest in terms of defense to the nature environment. They many times specialize in wilderness survival techniques (such as knowing which plants and berries can be eaten or how to hunt animals) that would be looked down upon by the rest of the empire. They prefer to fight in numbers using almost guerrilla like tactics. Yet it should be noted that despite their "honorless" approach to combat, they still follow the code of Bushido to a tee.

Crane Clan: The crane clan have some of the greatest duelists in the empire. Always reaching towards perfection in all things, the Crane clan have in every way mastered the most ancient and sacred traditions of the katana. They are masters of Iaido -- the art of slashing quickly as you draw. A crane swordsman is one that is said to never need a second cut.

Dragonfly Clan: Samurai of the Dragonfly clan are usually Yojimbo of spell casters, but must not be taken lightly despite this. Other clans used to look down on these samurai as shadows of their spell-casting brethren, until the time for the Dragonfly to prove themselves in battle occurred at last during a short conflict with some Gaijin. The samurai proved themselves as masters of integrating the magic of their spell casters along with their own sacred swordsman arts. They have many elemental-type techniques and are known to be some of the most versatile warriors in the empire thanks to their ability to adapt to the whims of the kami.

Sparrow Clan: Samurai of this clan tend to be adept fighters who value speed and maneuverability over the defense of heavy armor, opting to use hardened and tanned hides of various animals or simply wear no armor at all. Members of this clan tend to also be brutally honest when evaluating, making them at times, good teachers. In combat, they strike quickly, with deadly proficiency, moving into blind spots of their opponents and are not above striking from behind. Above all, survival and completion of the mission takes priority. Samurai of this class tend to use a daisho set, nagita, doutanuki, or zanbattou (nodachi are apart of this group) and are known to be efficient slayers of horses and men on the battlefield.