Bestiary

Once a mere mortal, Hachiman proves how far you can ascend through hard work, determination, and being born emperor. Though few Westerners know his name, his influence reaches around the globe. His rigid code of honor, bushido, rules the lives of millions who don’t look much like samurai. Countless business professionals live and die by Hachiman’s ideals. Have nearly two millennia slowed him

down? Not even close. Almost as much of a rules-stickler as Amaterasu, Hachiman still responds to dishonorable actions with lethal passive aggression.

While you might think that his sponsorship of industry would make him a natural ally of the Technocracy, their emissaries keep dishonoring themselves. If the Technocracy ever figures out bushido, the balance of power in Asia might shift dramatically. Mages who don’t represent a larger entity find it easier to talk to him, as they only have to worry about disgracing themselves, not their superiors.

Straight to the point, Hachiman respects information and action. While he respects some courtly etiquette, he’d rather learn something, plan, and execute than waste time with niceties. Hachiman fears nothing and tends to look down on anything that might be remotely viewed as cowardly Note that this doesn’t mean that he charges in blindly; he bases his confidence on centuries of wisdom. If he believes in you, you should, too. That doesn’t mean stop training.

Hachiman’s court takes the form of a field encampment, a tactical arrangement of tents and guards. While open to guests, the kami of battle never sits idle, so getting his at­ tention presents a challenge as great as navigating through his army without pissing one of them off. Fortunately, the rewards of his favor make the struggle to attain it worth it.

Those chosen by Hachiman become muteki (“invincible”), but not in the Western sense of that word; rather than gaining skin impervious to harm, they find their minds accelerated, able to react to threats before those perils become dangerous.