Yoshimo's past in Kara-Tur?

[lac]

So only samurai are allowed to perform the ritual, and the samurai's retainer must either order it, or give permission for it. But could we even expect all children in such a samurai family to have samurai status to begin with? No. First, a 16 year old teenager would not have completed the training in any case. But beyond that, it seems implausible that the opportunity would even exist. I think it is safe to assume that one gains the opportunity to receive training to become a samurai by virtue of belonging to such a family, yes. But according to the description of family structure, I think the assumption is that status is an honor bestowed to favored (eldest) sons. There is probably a spectrum for such families, where at one end is the samurai family that is struggling to make ends meet, and the father is a cruel and harsh man; and at the other end the family doing well enough financially that they provide well for all the children, and the father is a good, caring human being who cherishes all his children. But regardless of the fact that some samurai fathers could have a good heart, the source book clearly suggests that the rule is that the youngest 'extra' children typically have a rough go of it. If the disregard of such children rises to the level that they are commonly being denied food and clothing, adopted out, put out into the streets, etc., it is hard to imagine them having access even to samurai training.

 

Well, in historical Japan, at least in large feifdoms such as Satsuma, Choshu, and Aizu it was the

responsibility of the daimyo to provide Samurai training to all the sons of Samurai. And in Satsuma,

which is the only place, aside from Takamatsu whose history I know very well, this was done by

organising the boys into gangs and raising them collectively away from their families. The younger

boys were routinely brutalised by the older children, as part of the training, and it was all institutionalised -- hazing rituals which went on year after year, for more than 2 centuries, without alteration. One of the purposes of this was to transfer the loyalty of the young Samurai from their families to their cohort group, and to the daimyo they all served. In my reading about the historical

life of Saigo Takamori -- as opposed to what got made into the movie -- it was repeatedly stated

that making sure that the boys were separated from anybody who might cherish them, such as parents, was explictly what this training was all about. Whether this training, and its requsite brutality was true for all of the medieval times in Japan, or was a late-medieval and early modern development, I am not sure.

[Lemernis]

I really appreciate all that you have put forth to consider with this aspect of the prospective storyline, Laura. It's made us think more carefully about the finer details.

[Furyou Miko]

I'm just going to throw this out there, since it seems you've completely missed or ignored it at your discretion, and it might make a few, ehe, minor changes...

 

Yoshimo is a coward. He's a yellow-bellied, gutless worm who only finds his bravery and self-conviction when he can't run away any longer because of Irenicus' Geas ordering him to kill a superior force - though that last part is my own take on his lines about 'No redemption, no second chances'. It sounds to me like he's realised that it's the end of the line, he can't run any further, so he's damned if he's going to give up now. He fights like a cornered mouse.

 

For reference, lines such as "Nothing dangerous, I hope?" and "You're right behind me... right?" are both the kind of phrase that suggest that he's trying to cover his fear with humour and pretend that nothing's wrong.

 

Also, if you side with Linvail, he voices his objections in a very nervous, please-don't-shoot-me kind of way, and backs down very easily when you try to get more information out of him.

 

Also, his voice sounds particularly edgy when you stray off the Neutral path too much (if your reputation goes too high or too low) and he suggests, "I... am not worried. I'm sure these... set backs are only temporary..."

[Icendoan]

A very good point, but Yoshimo's cowardice is something I think we both completely overlooked. We will have to look into it much further and possibly rework a few dialogues.

 

Icen

[Lemernis]

Mmm, not so sure... I think Yoshimo says those lines tongue-in-cheek. It feels to me like he's delivering those lines playfully. You know? Like with a wink. To me, a playful a sense of humor comes across clearly in his lines and voice acting.

[Icendoan]

I'll probably add a few blocks here and there on this, when I get to it. (I have a lot to do )

 

I should be able to pull of edginess properly.

 

Icen