Name: Tsune Xinjen Meaning:

Always/Constantly Birthplace: Kunan (Brahmia) Age: 28 Alignment: Neutral Good Title: Firstborn son of Tsuban, heir to the protectorate of Panpo village

Timeline of life of Tsune Xinjen 820ax

Warlord Tsuban Xinjen celebrates the birth of his firstborn, a son named Tsune. Tsune is named after Tsunenei the founder of the Xinjen clan, the family eldest ancestor who is said to take special interest protecting heirs before they achieve manhood. 825ax Tsune wanders away from the local village and becomes lost in the woods. After several days of exposure to the cold and on the brink of death he is found by a family wardog named Kanki, the event forms a special bond between them. 830ax Warlord Tsuban celebrates the birth of his second son, Wen, whose mother dies in childbirth. A part of Tsuban blames Wen for the death of his wife and the boy is largely ignored for his entire childhood. 831ax The wardog Kanki is killed during a minor battle with the forces of the Princess of Kunan. The battle was a mistake, which occurred because warriors of Panpo had mistaken the Princesss forces for bandits due to their unusually vicious sacking of a neighboring village. The village Panpo is taxed heavily for the next 5 years. 834ax Tsune is sent to train for war with the private militia of the Princess of Kunan. He is trained in the art of spear-fighting, the favoured weapon of the Kunan clan because a noble warrior can keep a dirty peasant from coming near them. During his time there he is repeatedly tempted with courtesans and courtly favours in an attempt to bribe him into ignoring their heavy-handed and violent tactics. He rejects all advances. 835ax Tsune kills his first man as part of an initiation into a secret society within the Kunan militia. The man was from a local village, presumably innocent. The ritual is designed to bond brothers in mutual blood; it does nothing but disgust Tsune.. Tsune receives 20

lashes the next day after striking the nobles son who invited him into the brotherhood. A large tattoo is also branded onto his upper back as an initiation rite; he later burns it off. 837ax Over the following year Tsune receives a good deal of experience as a soldier in the Kunan militia. As well as fighting local bandits he participates in a sanctioned battle against a noble family from Rin. Blood and battle becomes a regular thing to Tsune. 838ax Tsune returns home to his family estate in Panpo after 4 years with the Kunan militia. His father immediately gets to work presenting suitable women for Tsune to marry. He rejects them all out of hand. 839ax- Tsune begins regular visits to a peaceful wooded glade each full moon. He begins composing poetry on these occasions. That same year Tsunes life is saved by the wardog Ono, son of Kanki. The wardog alerted the house guards to an assassin stalking toward Tsunes bed chamber. The paymasters behind the assassin are never discovered although Tsune suspects Yifei-Rui, female heir to the Kunan family whom he angered by spurring her families bribes. 841ax The forest spirit Daji happens upon Tsune during one of his full moon trips to the glade. She becomes captivated by his poem and falls in love with him. 843ax After years of listening to his poems the spirit Daji takes human form and presents herself to Tsune. Tsune falls madly in love with her and soon they announce their intention to marry. Tsuban is delighted. Daji covers up her strange behaviour and slightly fey looks by masquerading as a daughter from an obscure noble family from Taka.

That same year Yifei-Rui ascends to the rule of Kunan, her mothers cause of death is never determined. Shortly after her coronation a plague sweeps the land of Kunan, an omen of times to come. 845ax Things become progressively worse for the villagers of Panpo, heavy tax burdens begin to take their toll. Warlord Tsuban worries that his familys prestige will suffer and caves to the cruel Princess on many requests. Tsunes brother Wen is sent to serve in the flourishing Kunan militia. Tsune and Daji live in peace during this time, though the suffering of his people worries Tsune greatly. In secret Tsune begs the ancestor spirits of the Kunan family to bring misfortune to their own Princess, and begs his own ancestors to protect his brother. 846axEarly in the year Daji announces she is pregnant. The celebrations are tame and worsening conditions throughout the province spoil the mood. Tsuban watches in dismay as many fellow noble families diminish in power as the Princess draws more and more resources greedily into her own militia. In an attempt to avoid a similar fate Tsuban agrees to aid the princesss forces in a war against a number of families from Rin that have objected to Yifei-Ruis methods. Too ashamed to march to war himself, Tsuban declares that Tsune will lead the forces of Panpo. Prior to the Battle of Yanling the forces of Panpo village mysteriously fall ill and find their weapons rusted. After lining up for battle the ground beneath their feet turns to mud and the forces of Rin exploit this weakness and are victorious. In a desperate attempt to save his soldiers Tsune himself wades into battle. Tsune is badly wounded in the calf by an enemy falchion.

Tsune marches solemnly back into Panpo village. Daji comes to greet him and is set upon by the wardog Ono. Daji panics and flees in the form of a fox. The people of Panpo, shocked to discover Dajis true nature name her an evil trickster spirit and blame her for the military defeat. Tsune sets off by himself to reunite with his beloved Daji. Guilt racks him about abandoning his suffering village and dishonoured father but he sneaks out in secret. 847axTsune travels North through Rin and over the River Pang into Oma. He is shocked to see how much better the quality of life is for the people of Rin compared to Kunan under Yifei-Ruis rule. He makes regular stops to examine and learn from the warriors of Rins noble families. He sees no sign of Daji but feels instinctively that he needs to head north. In Oma Tsune overhears that Jupeian folklore says that if two lovers hearts are true they will find themselves in Jun-Hui. He heads north with renewed vigor. 848axTsune arrives in Jun-Hui. His time in Jupei has opened is eyes wide to the possibilities of improvement for the people of his land.

The Folk Tale of Tsune the Always Searching and Daji the Hidden

In the Brahmian village of Panpo there are many folk tales about local animal spirits, including owls, ravens, yak, frogs, hares and of course the fox. In the tales of Panpo and many surrounding villages foxes are both intelligent and possessed of magic power, including the ability to take human form. In some tales the foxes are tricksters, particularly fond of toying with young lovers emotions, often cruelly. In other tales foxes have great feelings of compassion for humans and take human form to help those in need. Young women of Panpo who are perceived to be overly promiscuous are often declared possessed by a fox spirit and taken to an Inari shrine for exorcism. Foxes in human form are normally only detectable by dogs and wolves, which are prone to barking at or even attacking the shape shifters. The following story is one such folk-tale of an ill fortuned warlords son named Tsune. Tsune was born Tsune Xinjen, eldest son of the Brahmian warlord Tsuban. Tsunes childhood was largely uneventful; he learnt to ride horses, hunt game, write poetry, do calligraphy and learnt the art of war with the Kunan militia. From an early age Tsuban trained Tsune in preparation for his eventful rule of the family dynasty, all but neglecting Tsunes younger brother Wen in the process. Tsune was particularly fond of the familys war-dogs, and spent a great deal of time forming a bond with them. One thing Tsune never paid any attention to was finding a wife, distracted as he was by studying military history and training for war. That was of course until Daji, fox spirit of the wilds chanced upon him on one fateful night. Late in his 19th year Tsune had reached a point in his life where everybody but his father considered him a mature man. For Tsuban his son could not be ready to lead the army until he had chosen a wife. As a warlords son Tsune could practically take his pick of any of the villages young women, yet he desired none of them. As it turned out, the woman that Tsune would eventually marry was not from any local village, nor was she indeed human. One of Tsunes favourite past-times was to sneak out to a nearby woodland glade every full moon and, meditating upon the moon and the forest compose a poem. Tsune did this each full moon from his 19th year onwards and was planning to have his work published as an anthology upon his death. Daji, a local fox spirit chanced upon

Tsune on one full moon in his 21st year and sat awhile listening to him compose his poem. Daji was immediately infatuated with the young human and was captivated by the words of his poem. So it was that each full moon Daji would come back to the moonlit glade and sitting on the edge of the woodland would silently listen to Tsune form his poems. Each full moon the longing in Dajis heart grew stronger and she knew she had fallen deeply in love with this human. Finally she could take it no more and on one night Daji worked up her courage and taking the form of a human female, stepped out to meet Tsune. Tsune was sitting silently trying to form his poem for this full moon when his eyes caught the beautiful young girl walking gracefully toward him. She seemed to glow in a silver light and wore a gown the colour of freshly fallen snow. Her auburn hair flowed in the wind, and the small blue flecks in her chestnut eyes glinted in the moonlight. In the time it took for Daji to walk across the glade Tsune knew he had completed his final poem. What greater poem could he ever write than the one he had just composed about the divine creation gliding toward him? Without a word between them Tsune swept Daji into his arms and beneath the full moon they embraced tenderly. It came as a pleasant surprise to Tsuban when Tsune declared his intent to marry Daji only days later. Tsune had taken Daji back to his village and quickly presented her before his father for approval. Tsuban remarked that his son had chosen well citing the way Dajis hair shone red in the light as an omen that she would bear strong sons. Though Dajis manner was strange at times and she often seemed bewildered and surprised by many simple things around the village, Tsune only saw in this more reason to love her. The one thing which disappointed Tsune about Daji was her fear of the families dogs, which she avoided at all times. On their wedding day Tsune and Daji were showered with gifts and it is said that pure rain fell from a clear sky, the finest of wedding omens. The one gift which Daji did not like was the hunting hound named Ono, given to Tsune by his father. What horrified Daji more was that Tsune insisted on keeping Ono at their family home, itself a wedding

gift from Tsuban. Inexplicably to Tsune, Ono would bark and growl madly at Daji. Ono would bark so violently at Daji that she even begged Tsune to have the dog killed, but he refused. Tsune and Daji lived in relative peace for next few years, while his province descends into tyranny under the harsh rule of Princess Yifei-Rui. After three years of marriage Tsune announced to the village that Daji was bearing his child, and great celebrations ensued. A few months later, while Daji was still pregnant, Tsuban declared that Tsune was to lead the familys soldiers in a war against one of their rivals. The warriors of village Panpo were uniting with a number of other local villages against one particular rival that had grown too big for his boots and begun charging extraordinary tolls to merchants passing through his land. This was Tsunes first real command and he was eager to put his tactical acumen to good use. Just after the spring thaw Tsune kissed Daji goodbye and set off with the army. The battle, later known as the Battle of Yanling turned out to be a tipping point in Tsunes life. On the eve of battle a mysterious illness swept through the ranks of his soldiers, and only his. On top of this a great deal of the soldiers weapons and armour mysteriously rusted beyond use. When lining up for battle the next morning the ground beneath the warriors of Panpos feet turned to marsh just as their foes crashed down upon them. While the soldiers of the other villages stood firm the warriors of Panpo were hacked to pieces en mass. The weak link in the line was exploited to the full extent by the rival general and enemy soldiers poured through to encircle the allied army. Tsune could only look on in horror as the master plan he had concocted with his fellow generals fell to pieces and their army was routed from the field. The beleaguered survivors of the Battle of Yanling marched solemnly back to their villages in dishonour. When the survivors from Panpo marched silently back into the village, the gathered crowds looked on in shocked silence. A lone figure burst through the crowd and Daji flung her arms around Tsune, tears of sadness streaming down her face. The crowds silence and the couples embrace were cut short by a furious barking. From nowhere Ono

charged through the crowd toward Daji, and barking and snarling set upon her. Ono looked to tear at Dajis throat and Tsune raised his sword to kill the hound when Daji suddenly lost her nerve and shape shifted back into a fox. Tsune stared in utter shock as his beloved Daji fled from the scene in the form of a red fox. Even as Daji ran past the villagers they were already hurling insults at her, accusing her of plotting the disaster at Yanling and betraying Tsune. In the days that followed, word quickly spread all across the land of the cruel deception perpetrated by the scheming Daji. Everybody seemed utterly convinced that Daji was a spiteful trickster, everybody that was except Tsune. On the next full moon Tsune stole quietly out of Panpo and set off down the road in search of his beloved. A passer by on the road is said to have heard him say; You may be a fox, but you are the mother of my child and I love you. I will find you Daji and hold you in my arms as we sleep

The AnChi Society The AnChi society is a secret society within the Kunan clans militia that Tsune is initiated into during his training. Membership to the society is open exclusively to nobles and the society itself shows a heavy prejudice against commoners. The society is said to be ancient, formed during or shortly after the Ancestor War. The purpose of the society is to aid the ancestors of the five families in dominating spiritual realm. While all Brahmians openly worship their ancestors and hope to give them strength in the after-life the AnChi collectively pray to the five families so that they can finish in the spiritual realm, the war they started in heaven. Such blatant anti-Jupeian beliefs would not be tolerated widely. Another purpose of the society is to send servants and courtesans as gifts to the ancestors. AnChi members select suitable subjects and ritually murder them, sending their souls as gifts. The combined guilt of perpetrating these crimes also helps bond the members, bound to silence lest they all be punished.