HATA NO KAWAKATSU
Class: Rider
Gender: Male
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Appearance: A man seemingly in his late thirties. However, his whole hair has already grayed to the point it matches the color of his narrow eyes. The marks of years of hard work mar the skin under his eyes. He wears the trappings of the men of the Heian court: a white silk joue robe, dark blue ballooning trousers and a black eboushi hat adorning the crown of his head.
Strength D
Endurance C
Agility C
Magic B
Luck C
Noble Phantasm B+
Class Skills:
* Magic Resistance: Grants protection against magical effects.D – Cancel Single-Action spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy.
* Riding: Expertise to ride animals and vehicles.A – All creatures but those of the Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast can be used as mounts. While he has no experience riding such mythical creatures, his aptitude at creating and controlling a magical vehicle was sufficient to grant him admittance into the Rider class.
Personal Skills:
* Enchant: The appendage of improved attributes and functionality to the possessions of others. While Item Construction can create magical items basically from nothing, this Skill takes an object of significant value with ‘aptitude for accepting magic’ and imbues it with supernatural properties.A – Capable of creating a territory equivalent to a “Temple” with an appropriate combination of synergistic enchants.
* Golden Rule: Measures one's fortune to acquire wealth.C – The Servant is guaranteed to turn any amount of startup money into a great surplus, given enough time.
* Syncretism: Knowledge of and ability to rely on multiple Thaumaturgical Systems.B+ – Kawakatsu used a harmonization of Buddhist, Shinto and Keikyo Christianity principles based on the unification of breathing technique, ritual dance and kotodama—the attribution of power to words born from belief—, with specializations in geomancy and anti-spirit magic.
Noble Phantasms:
* 轟龍馳
Wrathful Voyage of the Great Raging God
Type: Anti-Army
Rank: B+
Range: 2-99
Maximum number of targets: 250 people
The magical boat in which Hata no Kawakatsu voyaged towards death and eternity. A large wooden construction the size of a modern cabin cruiser devoid of internal compartments—basically a large wooden open coffin with sails. Every single square inch of its surface is inscribed with mystical sutras that imbue it with its supernatural properties. It is capable of drawing mana from nearby leylines, and it may indeed work as a mobile workshop for a magus. While originally a boat, it has gained the capability for flight, although it cannot lift itself more than three or so meters above ground level. The only metal part of the boat is the bow, ending in a wicked seven-foot long spear tip for powerful ramming attacks.
As the boat travels, it releases a deep grey fog that saps away vitality and brings misfortune to those engulfed in it. People immersed in the rapidly expanding fog must make two separate Endurance rolls. Failure on the first role imposes rank-down to Endurance and Magic, which makes the second roll considerably harder. Failure on the second roll drops the victim’s Luck to rank E, if it was higher, and even success on the roll decreases the Luck parameter by one rank—meaning that a Servant with Luck D will end up with Luck E no matter what. The parameter drops persist as long as Hata no Kawakatsu remains alive. Furthermore, beyond the parameter drops, the fog truly calls for misfortune to befall those affected by it, in the form of seemingly inconspicuous and accidental small disasters at critical moments: food that inexplicably rots, a stone that makes the victim trip in the middle of a battle, power lines that split and fall on the victim when he walks underneath, light sources failing when the victim needs sight the most, and so on.
As an offensive Noble Phantasm, the Kouryuuji can be used for powerful charges with a severe cost of prana for its owner. Engulfed by storm clouds, the boat accelerates to about two hundred knots to ram the enemies with its massive bulk, the terrifying spear attached to the bow and the raging vorpal winds that surround the magical vehicle. Targets must defend threefold against the slashing, piercing and blunt components of the attack. The attack is considered a B-rank Noble Phantasm, but its base damage doubles against targets with Divine Spirit aptitude not of Japanese origin, as well as foreign Divine Spirits and even against Japanese spirits declared heretic—the mystic words inscribed on the boat narrate the tale of how Hata no Kawakatsu killed the false priest Oufube no Oushi and his heretic god, Tokoyo no kami.
“It’s a god, a god!”
So came its fame resounding
But Uzumasa
Has struck down and punished it
That god of the Everworld.
* 式三番
Three Manifestations of Divinity in Human Form
Type: Anti-Army
Rank: B
Range: 1-50
Maximum number of targets: 100 people
Among the sixty-six theatrical works performed by Kawakatsu, three of them were selected by his descendant, Hata no Ujiyasu, who lacked the capability and willpower to perform all 66 in succession. These three pieces are the foundation of all existing noh scripts and stand at the pinnacle of Japanese theatrical tradition. The three performances that make the modern Shiki sanban ceremony are only distantly related to these originals, which are themselves thaumaturgical rituals acting as symbolic representations of the Trikaya, the Three Bodies of the Buddha.
- Chichi no jou – The All-Accepting Light of the Heart: The embodiment of the Nirmanakaya Buddha is the realization of enlightenment in time and space. Upon completing the performance, Kawakatsu and his allies swell with vitality upon having received a glimpse of a Nirvana within the reach of mortals. The possibility of the realization of their deepest wishes becomes fuel for the soul and energy for their exhausted bodies. All wounds are healed, all exhaustion is dispelled, and the unceasing flame of hope protects them from mental interference that would distract them from their righteous purpose. Kawakatsu gains rank-up to Endurance.
- Yonasumi no okina – The Non-Differentiating Radiance of the Heart: The embodiment of the Sambhogakaya Buddha, the body of enjoyment with a limitless form. Kawakatsu’s allies experience the promise of an extra-cosmic realm of pure bliss. The mere glimpse of the possibility of a paradise beyond death imbues them with joy and lightness as Kawakatsu’s performance pleases not only the eyes but their souls as well—a magnificent example of mystical synesthesia. Those who witness the performance and do not consider Kawakatsu an enemy receive a rank-up to Magic and Luck.
- Inatsumi no okina – He, Who Has Become Truth: The embodiment of the Dharmakaya Buddha, the absolute, immortal truth. The performance itself does nothing to those who witness it, as the Truth-body is something too far beyond the glimpse of impermanent beings. What it does, however, is ensure a contingent effect to be activated upon Kawakatsu’s death. Should the Servant be slain, his existence is not immediately taken by the Grail. It remains, unmoving, frozen for seven days and nights in the form of a glowing body of light; a bizarre form of Independent Action that is not really such. The body of light cannot interact with the world around it. It has no attacks, but in the same way it cannot be harmed by any attack, for it exists simultaneously in infinite worlds yet is also an empty existence. It can only communicate by transmitting thoughts to those within ‘sight’. The body of light draws infinite magical energy from infinite worlds unto itself, and those nearby will find their own replenished just by standing in its presence. At the end of the seventh night, the body of light simply snuffs out of existence.
Background
Hata no Miyatsuko no Kawakatsu. A legendary figure from the Asuka Period whose entire existence was governed by an endless thirst for power that was never sated. Even as a Heroic Spirit, he wants nothing else: control, dominance, the position to rule over others and the satisfaction of standing above everybody else. The name ‘Hata’ is synonymous with ambition; it courses through his blood and governs every single one of his thoughts.
The men and women who would become the Hata Clan arrived to Japan from Korea. They descended from the great Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang and Nestorian Persian traders that migrated to China via the Silk Road. Driven by their genetically engraved ambition, they hungered for control over the fledging island nation. The first priority was thus ingratiating themselves with the ruling family. To achieve this, they used a bizarre combination of Magecraft and subterfuge. Mimicking the tale of Moses, they put one of their own, not a baby but a young child, inside a jar which was left to drift in the Hatsuse River. The jar would be found by a high court official jar near the gates of the Miwa Shrine in Nara. This man saw the encounter as a fortuitous event decided by Heaven, and the tale of the baby in the jar quickly reached the ears of Emperor Kimmei. At the same time, the relatives of the boy completed a powerful ritual that enveloped the entirety of the emperor’s residence. That night, every person resting there experienced the same dream. The child in the jar appeared before them and spoke: “I am the reborn spirit of the emperor Shi-huang of the Qin Dynasty in China. My destiny has a connection with Nihon, and I now appear before you.” Soon enough, the child was brought to court and, with him, the foreigners he called family who swore allegiance to the miraculous boy. Under the thorough education of the court, he grew a man of surpassing talent and wisdom, becoming Minister of the court at the age of 15. He was given the family name ‘Qin’, read ‘Hata’ in Japanese.
He proved himself a competent economist and administrator; he is attributed to have brought silk and its trade to Japan as well as participating in the early design and construction of the city that a century later would become Heian-kyou (Kyoto). The feat for which he is most remembered, however, are the sixty-six dramatic pieces he created and performed to pacify unrest and disturbances among the population. Kawakatsu’s performance at the Shishinden Hall was so remarkable, perhaps even magical, that it became the talk of the country for a very long time, to the point that it pacified the entirety of the Japanese territory. For this reason, it was decreed that this form of entertainment should be passed on for the benefit of later generations. It was given the name kagura, ‘god-given entertainment’. A modification of the kanji would later create the name sarugaku, which is itself the ancestor of the major form of Japanese musical theater, Nougaku (or just Noh, for short).
Kawakatsu served Emperors Kinmei, Bidatsu, Youmei, Sushun and Empress Suiko. His ambitions were constantly thwarted by Japanese xenophobia—the royalty of Nihon was extremely secluded and mistrusting, even of foreigners working at the court, by the constant bickering of the noble houses of Soga, Mononobe and later Fujiwara, and by his own clan’s efforts to spread Keikyo Christianity in a country that firmly rejected foreign faiths. But perhaps his greatest obstacle was another ambitious young man born a few years after Kawakatsu’s arrival to the imperial court: Kamitsumiya no Umayado no Toyosatomimi no Mikoto, also known as Prince Shoutoku. While to the eyes of everyone they were close friends and Kawakatsu a loyal advisor to the regent, it was an issue of ‘keeping your enemies even closer’, as they constantly tried to undermine each other in the subtle interplays of court politics and bureaucracy. Shoutoku came out victorious thanks to the efforts of one Fujiwara no Kamatari (614-669) who strongly opposed the official adoption of Buddism by Regent Shoutoku and his allies, the Soga clan. Naturally, Kamatari saw Kawakatsu as an ally of Shoutoku, but unlike the Soga, the regent did not protect his minister from the political attacks of the Fujiwara, which eventually sunk Kawakatsu’s reputation to the point that Shoutoku ‘had no choice’ but to ‘sacrifice him’ and banish him from the court.
Hata no Kawakatsu was not very happy. Although his fall did not bring major harm to the rest of his clan, which would still thrive as traders and playwrights in the court, his personal ambitions have been shattered. Driven almost to dementia by the weight of his disappointment, he crafted a boat with powerful Thaumarturgy and allowed himself to drift, pushed to wherever the wind may take him. Wherever he went, plague and disaster struck, as the magical boat continued its travels long after Kawakatsu starved to death, for his spirit remained imprinted on the boat as a wraith that spread ill-will throughout Japan. Unaware that wraiths degrade and disappear with time, the people of Harima—the wraith’s latest victims—began to worship him as a kami to placate his wrath. Thus, he is also remembered as Taikou Daimyoujin, incarnation of Bishamonten.
Keywords
Kagura—The Kagura Shinto dances, albeit at their core a theatrical performance, contain within their motions and patterns a codified form of ritual Thaumaturgy. While attributed to Hata no Kawakatsu, it borrows elements from the Mikoism practices of divine possession standardized by the legendary Himiko of Yamatai and Chinese martial arts brought to Japan by Buddhist monks. Instead of complex magical circles and ritual sacrifices, the magical procedures are encoded in the dancing motions, the ritual elements and the layout of the ‘theater’ where the dance is performed. Kagura includes rituals for divination, pacification of spirits, purification of both people and objects, and advanced exorcism; its most advanced ‘techniques’ capable of slaying even Divine Spirits.
Originally Posted by G-Man
