Tsumamoto Yanetomo

Tsumamoto Yanetomo (2291-2372) was a former mercenary and essential founder of Yuushido.



History
From an early age, Tsumamoto's father, the then-Major and later General of the NIJA Giri Yanemoto (2251-2329) guided his son towards a military life, in order to continue a Officer's legacy that had begun with Tsumamoto's great grand father. From the moment he could read, Tsumamoto was made to be well read. From the moment he could hold a sword, he was made to be a great swordsman. From the moment he could think, he was made to think of duty, honor and little else. He had the makings of a fine officer and a gentleman, until his mother's death when he was 15. The mother was his comfort, to whom he went to for the softer side to his father's beloved duty. After her death, he began to rebel, resenting his father's unrelenting tutelage.

Tsumamoto was enrolled in the New Toyama Military Academy at the age of 17. Within the first six months, he had made his plans out, and made the appropriate contacts. He then dropped out, signing on with a band of international mercenaries and embarking on a journey that would last for twenty one years. Putting his marksmanship and warrior mentality to work, he excelled as a member of an elite group that found itself in warzones, hostage rescue situations and gang wars. During this period, he eschewed his father's teachings of Bushido and a greater warrior ethos in favor of money and loyalty to his co-workers alone. He spent little, accumulating considerable wealth during this time, and committed a few acts that he would later consider outright war crimes.

At 38, the crew met it's fate. Against the hard-fighting Neo-Capitalists in the Andes Mountians, the 25 man mercenary crew (named Black River) was cut to ribbons in a spectacular ambush. Only Tsumamoto, armed with only a sidearm and a machete at the end, made it out of that mountainous hell, trekking four days back to base camp on foot (radio lost, he could not call for VTOL extract). Alone, he left that warzone from hell and entered the freelance market. This fleeing and his lack of ability to save his friends would haunt him to his grave.

The Turning Point
For six years he served in the private sector, typically as a body guard. He made some friends, and his reputation preceded him in a few circles. He used this period of alone time to collect his thoughts and began to realize the greater implications of his father's teachings. He turned back to the warrior ethos, studying it with more realization than he'd ever had before. He established a meaning from it, applying it to how he conducted himself with his employers. No longer the headstrong, money oriented mercenary, he'd been born again a new man. He became loyal to the employer, not the paycheck (as so many mercs in his age and before had become), and realized that regardless of the hazards you must remain loyal to he who pays you.

By the end of his six year period, he'd changed realization - you cannot be loyal to a man who acts against the general good of mankind. You must find a cause that is good and champion it, becoming a paragon at best or an example at worst. You must remain a good human being, free of darkness. He drew on the four pillars of character: Reciprocity, Duty, Piety and Compassion. He drew on the tenets of Bushido: Rectitude, Courage, benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor, Loyalty, Wisdom. He recognized that men who followed these, like his father, were a rare breed and were a cut above the normal military man. Here, he breaks from the traditional mercenary and creates a new breed of fighting man, the "Ronin of the Road", as he called it. These men were everything the best ancient Samurai were, but removed from the burden of loyalty to a single, corruptible master. He commented that his 24 friends that died in the Andes mountains were killed by better men that they were.

Spreading the Word
He took up a mercenary crew of his own, starting with six youths that had deserted the NIJA for reasons of conscience (a conflict within Japanese-held Korea was being conducted in a way they all found distasteful). Within them, he kindled his philosophy, forming them into the first Ronin of the Road. They engaged in numerous conflicts over 12 years, their size growing as many as 46 followers before his eventual retirement. They fought oppressors, especially those in the fragmented South American and Asian regions. They were the sword that allowed the shield of compassion to be raised over the poor and unfortunate.

Now 55, he sat down to write his book. Taking his many writings and sayings from the last 18 years, he scribed a tome that would be known as "Yuushido: The Way of the Wanderer". It was a combination of combat memoirs, sayings from the ancients and himself and guide to personal conduct. He stressed the above tenants of Bushido, mastery of the martial arts (which he considered vital to a warrior mindset), compassion for those below your station, and stressed that one should conduct themselves with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety. He said that a good man has a good name, and that he would strive to never compromise it. It cleared those who took up a mercenaries life to finance themselves or to champion a cause, but upheld those who did noble things for the goodness of it alone.

In additional to the martial pursuits of loyalty, causes and violence, he supported cultural values. He'd become an art appreciator in his six year isolation, a poet and had returned to literature. He stressed in his book that the "fine things" in life made one more than a killer - it's not enough just to live, you have to make life worth while.

He finished writing his book at 57, where it was met with moderate reviews. Never a public figure, his name was none the less known by a few, especially those who he'd helped in his later years. The book became required reading for Cultural Studies at West Point in the North American Union, and at a major business academy in the Pan-African Alliance.

Retirement and Death
Soon after publishing his book, Tsumamoto retired, deciding he was no longer desiring a life of violence. He left the 46 under the control of his second in command, who proceeded to continue his brand of fighting philosophy until they met their end in a sinking ship near what used to be Vietnam. He lived to be 80 years old, dying (of heart failure) a cultured man respected in some of the top antique arms and literature circles.