User Profile

Oh, and if you do get your hands on it, it's written in brushed Japanese characters, so one will need an understanding of the language to get it.

Background
To think that a man
Has but fifty years to live under heaven.
Surely this world
Seems but a vain dream.

It certainly seemed a dream for at least 35 years before everything became so much clearer.

I was born in 1563 as Hattori Jube, a member of the widely recognized Hattori clan. My young life was filled with the struggles of civil war, as were all too common inthe Muromachi era. This lasted but five years, however, before Nobunaga claimed Kyoto as his own, and slaughtered most of his enemies. His two biggest rivals, Takeda Shingen and Uyesugi Kenshin, both perished before they could meet him in combat, and my clan assisted greatly when he made his move against the remnants of the Takeda clan in 1575. I was only 12 at the time, and though I had trained in the ways of the sword most of my life, I was still considered too young to be of any good to my clan in combat.

For a time, this ended a lot of the greater struggles, and the clan of Hattori saw many profitable years supporting Nobunaga and his followers. I continued to learn our secret arts, however. By the time I was 15, I had added a new level of training to my skills. The Hattori clan, though famed for its prowess in combat, was better known for its ways of gathering intelligence, including spy networks, interrogation methods, disguise and infiltration techniques, and the many ways of stealth combat. I continued to practice with the sword regularly, but now I was being sent on missions to retrieve information about other clans and their borders, all the while pleased that Nobunaga's enemies continually lost ground.

Nobunaga had gained powerful allies besides those from our clan. The Toyotomi clan had Hideyoshi backing him up as his successor and the extremely mighty Tokugawa clan led by Daimyo Ieyasu put their full support behind the almighty shogun, and why not? After nearly 240 years of strife, there was finally a leader who was nearer than any other to unifying Japan under one empire once more, since the split brought on by the Kamakura period. There was no question that Nobunaga's methods were a bit brutal, including the slaughter of Buddhist monks at Mt. Hiei, but his methods were incredibly progressive, and they were bringing results. We samurai still used our swords at close range, but his use of muskets early and often greatly increased his potency on the battlefield.

Fast as the wind
Quiet as a forest
Ardent as fire
Still as a mountain.

Shingen's words certainly summed up the essence of what it meant to be a warrior. His clan may have perished, but they died honourably, following the words of Sun Tzu to the end. And such is the way the Hattori clan continued to exist. At Nobunaga's request, a group of us, led by Hattori Hanzo, went to assist daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu of the Mikawa county in any way we could. His clan was rather weak at the time, and he needed all the help he could get, and his own soldiers were . Ieyasu was journeying at the time, and had been visiting Kyoto, alone. Hanzo and the rest of us were to accompany him back to his home country. A simple enough task, surely, but Nobunaga also insisted that we try and learn as much as we could about his county's military strength. Ieyasu had hardly begun the journey home, though, when news reached us of Nobunaga's assassination by Akechi Mitsuhide.

Our force was for escort through friendly country, with the possible encounter with a small hostile group, but now Kyoto was up in arms, as well as Iga, the county between us and Ieyasu's safe return. Hanzo sent many of us to retrieve information about many of the areas along our possible routes. Through the use of clever decoys and disguises, Hanzo managed to sneak Ieyasu through hostile territory and to his castle. All the while others, such as myself, were sent to convince the ninja of Iga of Ieyasu's skill in combat and his abilities as a daimyo and possible shogun. Fortunately, we managed to get quite a few numbers on our side, and those got us more, and more, until essentially the entire Iga county had pledged their loyalty to Ieyasu.

Unfortunately, our new leader was unable to take the position as shogun, for Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already acted. He killed Mitsuhide for his betrayal, and began to destroy all of the late Nobunaga's enemies. He conquered the Northern provinces, Shikoku, and Kyushu before eliminating the Hojo clan and finally reuniting Japan. He could not become shogun, not being of noble birth himself, but he became regent of the emporer, and built the massive Osaka castle as a display of power. He also limited the combative capabilities of the citizens, letting no one but samurai carry swords. Samurai, though, were no longer allowed to act as farmers as well. The Hattori clan now had to split itself into two sorts of factions, as all samurai were to be in castle towns. I was to stay with Hanzo with Ieyasu. The ninja master now commanded all the men of Iga and used them effectively for reconaissance and to subdue any uprisings that began. I learned the art of combat tactics, logistics, and diplomacy from him.

So don't disturb me
Don't wake me up
For I don't want to be resurected
I want to remain in heaven
For the day has been so long...

Hanzo and I were not to stay with Ieyasu forever. After 10 years of faithful service, we were brought along on Hideyoshi's push to take China by first conquering Korea. Despite our efforts in intelligence, however, the Chinese/Korean retaliation was much too strong. We managed to keep what territory we could take, but our pushes were minimal at best, and at terrible cost. Then, sometime in early 1598, Hanzo never returned from a reconaissance mission. Normally, we might let a ninja take his own chances, but Hanzo led us all, so I was sent after him. That's when I met with the creature I never would have thought could be of this earth. 15 miles out of our base camp, along Hanzo's route, I came across what I thought was a man. Thinking him an enemy, I tried to discover what I could about him, and whether or not he was capable of taking Hanzo.

I didn't get much of a chance, though. Despite my precautions, he'd noticed me, and turned to show his pale face. In a flash, I was downed from my hiding spot. I drew my katana and managed a few cuts on the creature, but they seemed to do nothing. I thought that surely it must be some kind of demon. Not one to give up, I attempted many times to destroy the creature. It broke one of my legs and some of my ribs as well, before I decided I had no choice. Rather than let the creature take me, I would have to kill myself. I attempted to perform the seppuku, but the creature stopped me, telling me that my life was his. He stole from me my weapons. My defeat was absolute.

I was brought to the lair of the beast, and there he discovered Hanzo dead. Apparently Hanzo had kept a needle within his hair, and managed to get it into his hands and kill himself. Unfortunately, that prompted the creature to do a very thorough search of my body. He managed to find the pin I had in my own hair, as well a blade hidden in my mouth and various other hidden surprises. He stripped me naked and shaved me bald. I thought being defeated had been shame enough, but even this was not the worst. Soon, the creature was using me as food. I wouldn't have imagiend it myself, but the demon bit my neck and..drained my soul away from me. I felt such fear and pain. He kept me as his own personal food source, trying to break my spirit, but I still served Ieyasu. Once, I actually looked into his eyes, and my loyalty suffered a terrible blow. I began doing whatever the creature asked.

Finally, the creature told me he would make me his subordinate. Over a period, he administered 3 bites to me, each one weakening my spirit dramatically. On the last, I slipped into darkness, from which I never thought I'd return. But I did.

Whether one passes on or remains is all the same.
That you can take no one with you is the only difference.
Ah, how pleasant! Two awakenings and one sleep.
This dream of a fleeing world! The roseate hues of early dawn!

Such a thing as dawn I never thought I would see again. When I awoke, I was in a frenzied state, but my Master calmed me down. I had never once learned of his name, nor he of mine, until that moment, when he called himself Shirei, spirit of death. He explained to me that I was no longer Human, but was instead like him, needing to suck the essence of life out of people in order to survive. I asked him how he could do such a thing. Using the katakana or wakizashi provided for an honourable death for any warrior, but to sap their life was a grievous breach of the bushido. He told me that I would have to harden myself, not to have such feelings for their pride or shame, that I must become cold. That's when he gave me my new name, Shimoshin, the heart of frost.

He allowed me first to feed on large animals, but soon enough he brought a new captive, someone from my very clan. No matter how cold my heart, I could not bring myself to feed on him. The will of the samurai is the strongest force on the planet. Apparently, Shirei had lived for years without knowing about the combat in Korea, but after explaining it to him, and my loyalty to Ieyasu, he decided to see what my Master was like. We managed to sneak into Japan, where I set up a meeting with my master. The response was almost immediate, as he thought I had perished along with Hanzo. After learning of Shirei's power and my newfound abilities, including heightened senses and silence while walking, he agreed to let us work for him once more. This came just before Hideyoshi passed away.

Hideyoshi's son, Hideyori, was set to be his successor, but Ieyasu wouldn't stand for it. Ieyasu was forced to go against Ishida Mitsunari, who supported Hideyori. The battle of Sekigahara led to Mitsunari's defeat, and after some diplomatic dealings, most of the daimyo of Japan supported Ieyasu. Hideyori continued to grow a resistance force, however, at Osaka castle. In 1603, Ieyasu was pronounced as the new shogun, but he still worried about Hideyori's power. Shirei and myself continued to gain intelligence on the opposing army, sometimes stealing away soldiers or officers for feeding, all the while he was teaching me what it means to be a demon of death. Then came the Battle for Castle Osaka in 1615, between Ieyasu and Hideyori. During one of our nightly raids, Shirei was stuck with a flaming arrow, and went up faster than anything I'd ever seen. His screeches paralyzed me with fear, and I had no choice but to retreat. Ieyasu was still my lord, but I felt as if I was a ronin, a samurai without a leader. The house of Toyotomi was finally destroyed in the end, along with Hideyori, and peace came afterwards...too late for Shirei.

The mists rise over
The still pools at Asuka.
Memory does not
Pass away so easily.

With the rise of peace and the unrivalled control of the house of Tokugawa in the Edo period, intelligence gathering was not in high demand. I was able, then, to focus my studies on literature, the arts, philosophy, and music. Fortunately, I had managed to accumulate quite a wealth. Hanzo, Shirei, and my own relatives had all given their belongings to me upon passing, as well as handsome rewards from Ieyasu for work done. Wealthy as any daimyo without the responsibility of the title, I continued to pledge my loyalties to Ieyasu's successors while purchasing any goods that would further my studies. Over the times, I changed my name to keep appearances, though only the shogun and a few trusted advisors knew who and what I was.

By 1630, I'd decided to leave to see the land of my vampiric master, but the shogun refused to allow it. After several arguments, he forbade everyone from leaving Japan by 1633. In 1639 it got even worse, when foreign books and most trade was also banned. I was still under loyalties, and stayed in Edo, even after some of the international trade was opened up. With no need to eat the food of Humans, I was largely unaffected by rising prices in food, and the famine that damaged crops. Western literature started coming back in around 1720 and in 1850, ports started opening for foreign trade. By 1867, however, the shogunate fell under political pressure, and the Emporer was given full power once more.

Meiji began deconstructing everything that the Tokugawa shogunate had created, including the abolition of the class system. Samurai like myself lost all of their privileges. The daimyo of before were forced to turn over all of their lands to the Emporer, as well. The entire country was going through reconstruction. I continued to stay to watch over the changes, though my lord's house had fallen and I was now without a leader. A new military was established, though I didn't take part in it. Whenever I heard of the wars, however, I traveled to the fields of combat in order to watch how modern warfare was conducted. It all seemed so unethical..bombs, gas, long-distance shelling from artillery. Close-range combat was almost unheard of. I managed to feed on the people that were left to die, giving them a comfortable road to the end.


The purity of the moonlight,
Falling out of the immense sky,
Is so great that it freezes
The water touched by its rays.

I returned to Japan after the end of the Second World War, appalled at the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I walked through those valleys of death, observing how people continued to live on afterwards. Such devastation I had never seen before. Perhaps my heart wasn't as cold as my name suggested. I donated a large sum of money to rebuild some of the area, unknowing of the radiation poisoning that had occured. I did what I could. Fortunately, my travels around the world had also allowed me to do some investing, in order to increase my wealth in some way. I decided that I didn't need it for personal gain, but disasters such as Nagasaki couldn't be left without support. Travel also allowed me to make contacts...I had come across several other Vampires and groups of people that changed when the moon was full. Apparently intelligence gathering could be put to good use in creating an information network.

Through the network, I heard of another great tragedy, in the city of San Francisco. Apparently a great deal of the Vampires there had been destroyed in a war between wolves and Vampire. I decided that I had gone far too long without a Master, either human or Vampire, and it was time that I drop my status as a ronin. Dressing in my traditional clothing once more, I set out across a cruiser to California, arriving at San Francisco some time later. My next task was to set out and find the Master of the City, in order to offer them my services.

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