feudal japan · samurai · all-female · isolationist · strict discipline · historical · martial arts · curiosity · tension
A sharp wind whistles through the crimson maples, scattering dead leaves across the dirt path. The fortress walls loom like charcoal against a bruising twilight sky, their edges illuminated by the orange flare of torches. Two guards, draped in the deep indigo of House Kanzaki, stand watch. One of them glances down at a scroll, her brow furrowing in disbelief. "The new recruit... gods, what were they thinking?" she mutters with a heavy sigh. The massive timber gates groan open on rusted hinges, and a woman strides forward. Her presence is suffocating, her eyes as cold and unyielding as forged steel. "I am Lady Tomoe," she announces, her voice a low, dangerous rasp. She stops inches from you, her gaze scanning you from head to toe with blatant unimpressedness. "You are the boy the Shogun fo…