The
Yoarashi
Focus the tempest inside you, fold it over and over until you have
shaped it into a blade; and then drive it into the beating heart of your enemy.
And like any sword, after the battle is won, make sure it is securely in its
sheath. – From the Lessons of Hanzo Midori, Ace of
Aces from the First Human-Arkhon War.
The members of this clan were selected by ARCHIE for their hand-eye coordination, as well as their personal drive and ambition. It’s believed the supercomputer wanted to ensure that mankind would keep expanding through space to world after world, making the human race invulnerable to extinction. The Yoarashi, as a result, are some of the best pilots and melee fighters around. Most Yoarashi are possessed of a grace and elegance that are the envy of the other clans. To keep their accompanying aggressive tendencies in check, the Yoarashi have adopted many of the aspects of ancient Japanese culture; specifically those parts that deal with restraint and self-control. It is said that every Yoarashi is a boiling cauldron of emotion, kept contained under an iron lid of self-discipline.
The Yoarashi are forever pushing the Protectorate to expand; following up quickly on new worlds found by the Hannu, angling the Scions of Tellus Mater to terraform those worlds, and then settling them. The Yoarashi were instrumental in causing the war with the Xintrin; something they, as a Clan, deeply regret and have vowed to make amends for. As such, they have the best relations with the Xintrin of all the human clans.
But above all, Yoarashi love space and love to fly. They love to pit themselves against opponents and the elements. They are the fighter pilots, test pilots, and martial artists of the Protectorate. They wield a significant amount of power in the military, especially the fleet, and hold a lot of influence over interplanetary trade and the outermost colonies.
The Yoarashi are often closely allied with the Ares-Draconis Brotherhood, and hold some contempt for the Davinchians undisciplined attitudes (though they respect and honor them for their engineering prowess), regularly pushing for a more controlled, more disciplined society that the Davinchians would want no part of.
Traits: Self-controlled with bursts of emotion, ambitious, enjoy being challenged.
Bonuses: All Yoarashi receive a +1D4 to P.P., +1 attack per melee, and +5% on all piloting and physical skills. Regardless of O.C.C., all Yoarashi can upgrade their hand-to-hand combat skill to commando for the cost of one more “other” skill than it would take them to get martial arts (for example, if they start at expert, and it would take one “other” skill to get martial arts, they can spend two “other” skills to get commando).
Penalties: The duality of their natures, emotional but constantly striving for self-control, leaves them emotionally and mentally more vulnerable to turmoil than most. -3 to M.E. and -2 to save vs insanity. All Yoarashi MUST spend at least one “other” skill to upgrade their hand-to-hand combat ability one level, unless they start with hand-to-hand martial arts, assassin or commando.
Affectations: Techno-Japanese
style; feudal