Steampunk Samurai (Recent History)

For centuries the Dragon Emperors of Japan have served as little more than figureheads for a series of Shogun military dictatorships. Founded in 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate had rule almost unchallenged for nearly 300 years. Tokugawa replaced the feudal lords with his own relatives and loyal supporters, each of whom was still free to rule their domain with few restrictions. The third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu established the policy of isolation in the 17th century. Japan was cut off from the world, the city of Nagasaki the only open port in the empire.

Overseas, the European and American empires grew, each developing powerful navies and airships that would no doubt soon threaten Japanese sovereignty. It became increasingly impossible for Japan to remain isolated - let alone secure - in a world with airships, submarines, and wireless telegraphy. It was inevitable that Japan begin to interact with the world: the only questions were how and when. The Westerners soon gave answer to both.

There was no doubting the intent of the fleet of sea and air warships that approached Japan during the summer of 1853. Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy led a group of sea and air battleships, threatening by wireless telegraph to take over Tokyo if the shoguns did not open trade. Japan had no navy to speak of, merely some small merchant ships capable only of navigating coastal waters. If the Americans made it to Tokyo harbor, the shoguns would have no choice but to kowtow to American demands.

A group of aged Shinto priests assembled and advised the puppet emperor and the powerful shogun of what the omens and portents foretold: the Westerners would soon conquer Japan unless extreme measures were taken. The rulers gave their consent and the priests left to pursue their solution.

In a matter of days the plan was in place. Following ancient and forbidden rituals, the priests called upon ancient nature spirits to protect Japan. The empowerment of this ritual called for a large sacrifice. Each of the priests, along with their families, their attendants, and their attendants’ families, committed harakiri in sacrifice to one of dozens of ancient spirits.

As a result of this powerful summoning, terrible winds rose up around the islands, driving the American airships away from the island and sending many crashing into the sea below. Sea serpents rose from the depths and attacked the warships, dragging hundreds of American sailors beneath the waves. It is said the seas were red with the blood of imperialist invaders.

It is also said that Japan paid a heavy price for protection. The spirits unleashed that day did not return to the spirit realm, nor had they arrived alone. Numerous uninvited spirits and demons took up residence on the material plane, and there are said to be portals or other areas where they pass between the planes. The savage winds still patrol the air, both protecting the island and making it difficult for many to leave. Only the most powerful airships and the most talented pilots dare brave the crossing to Korea and Manchuria.

Still mostly isolated from the world, Japan has managed to modernize at its own pace. Many curious and skilled Westerners migrated to the country, bringing with them the knowledge and ability to bring Japan into the modern age. The Japanese people have largely embraced modernization, enjoying the comforts and delights of the Steam Age. There are many however who remain firmly entrenched in the old ways, who especially pay homage and devotion to the powerful spirits that now influence Japanese life. The clash of modernization and tradition echoes through government as it does civil life. While the shogun retains actual political power, the emperor’s relationship and authority within the Shinto priesthood has change things considerably. The priests are now among the emperor’s closest advisers and their consultations with spirits of divination give him a powerful edge over the shogunate. Similarly, however, the devotion of many among the shoguns to powerful spirits of war and deception provide them with previously unknown advantages. Imperial government has become a shadowy world of spirit magic and political conspiracy.

Previously in decline, the samurai class has also benefited from the radical changes in Japanese social and political life. The moral and ethical confusion caused by the awakening of the spirits led to a resurrection of the samurai as a class of warriors and public servants who refused to submit to any god, spirit, or other supernatural creature. Many samurai pledge their service to shoguns, and the emperor has a large number of samurai at his disposal.

Among the emperor’s men are a strange group of samurai known as the Tokkōtai, or “suicide squad,” battle-hardened samurai who are pledged in singular and unquestioning service to the emperor himself. Empowered by the development of their internal ki as well as the enhancements of alchemists and other weird scientists, these “super-samurai” travel the empire and its holdings in pursuit of demons and other supernatural creatures, as well as many powerful but mortal enemies of the empire, in order to either slay them or banish them to the spirit realm.