(Listen at 0.75 speed. It just sounds better in my opinion.)
Foreword
One of two builds I have been making and refining since the completion of my last build, the Last Shinobi was a simple concept: make a historically accurate shinobi with a revenge story, because everybody loves a good revenge story. Wielding a katana, tanto, and unbound fury, she is willing to sacrifice all she has left to get revenge on Emperor Titus Mede II. That being said, she disagrees with the Stormcloaks' ideologies and sees the Stormcloaks as a cult and a terrorist organization. While she would love nothing more than to dismantle the Empire, she cannot do so until she has improved her skills and equipment. So, now that you understand a little bit about the Last Shinobi, let's get into her backstory.
Backstory
Yajima Katsumi was there on that day. It was the day that Akatosh, known to them as Tosh Raka, had abandoned her people. Her mother, a citizen of Cyrodiil, would not allow her to go to the continent of Akavir to help her father's people. Her natural talent in alchemical remedies could have helped to treat the wounded. Still, her mother feared what would happen to their family if her Yajima was caught helping Tsaesci soldiers. The Empire and Akavir had conflicted for a while, and the family feared the Tsaesci would not survive. They were correct. After decades, her mother died of old age. After a century, her father was murdered by a Thalmor battalion. After slipping away in the chaos to Whiterun, Yajima was taken in by an old Nord who had similarly lost his wife to the Thalmor thirty years before. As such, he understood her desire for vengeance, though he tried to dissuade the Imperial-Tsaesci hybrid. He knew revenge was a dark path to take, but he also eventually realized he could not stop her.
Yajima eventually made her move, trying to ambush the Emperor and the Penitus Oculatus. She sunk her tanto into the back of one, her katana in the side of another. She was defeated by the remaining soldiers. On her knees before the man she had tried to kill, she was asked a question. "Tell me assassin, do you wish for death or eternal shame and exile?"
"Hm, let me think...." She said before spitting in his face.
"Ugh, take this demon to the executioner's block in Helgen. Make it a painful death." Titus Mede II declared, his voice bellowing so loud she was sure the nearby town of Dragon Bridge had heard. As she was loaded onto a cart. As she was loaded onto a cart, she fell into a deep sleep. Soon she woke up to a blonde man saying, "Hey, you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there!"
'Well, no.' She thought about saying. She had neither crossed the border nor been ambushed, but Yajima felt it was best not to mention that. Soon the group came to Helgen and Alduin attacked, allowing them to slip away in the chaos. She and Ralof managed to escape to Riverwood, where she would borrow the local blacksmith's forge to craft better weapons and some armor. She would need it.
Version: Anniversary
Mods:
- Katana Crafting
- Vokrii - Perk Overhaul
- Lost Races of Aetherius (optional)
- Infinite Charges
- 50% More Perk Points
Race: Tsaesci OR Imperial. Yajima is a hybrid of Tsaesci and Imperial ancestry. Because of this, either will work, but Tsaesci is preferable for roleplay reasons.
Age: 217 (Physically the same as a 19-year-old Imperial)
Morality: Chaotic Good. While focused on vengeance, Yajima is not evil by any means. Her morality is comparable to Inigo Montoya from "The Princess Bride", where they both seek revenge but will not harm innocents.
Class: Warrior/Assassin
Standing Stone(s): Warrior/Thief/Mage, Lord
Major Skills:
One-Handed - The main weapons of Yajima are the katana and the tanto, both of which are one-handed weapons.
- Light Armor - A shinobi is a master of stealth, so heavy armor would only be a hindrance.
- Alchemy - Even before the Thalmor attacked, Yajima was renowned throughout the village as a great alchemist and healer.
- Illusion - In addition to stealth, shinobi were masters of illusion. This is what led to the portrayal of shinobi in movies using items like smoke bombs.
- Sneak - As previously mentioned, shinobi used stealth, so this skill is very important.
Minor Skills:
- Smithing - After escaping from Helgen, Yajima will make and improve her weapons and armor.
- Enchanting - I used enchanting to put Fire Damage on her tanto, but you could probably get away with not using this skill.
Level: 42
Attributes (M/H/S): 1/2/1
Early Game
- Leather Armor
- Katana
- Tanto
Late Game
- Nightingale Armor (For the best results, get this armor after reaching level 32)
- Dragonbane
- Tanto (Legendary) (Enchanted with Fire Damage) (Make up for missing Smithing skill with Fortify Smithing potions)
Habits: Eats after a successful mission, particularly fond of drinking Alto Wine (not excessively, but about as much as Nords drink mead). After eating, Yajima sleeps or waits until sunrise before heading out on her next mission.
Phobias: When Yajima sees a Thalmor agent, a mic of intense fear and blinding rage drives her into a frenzy. During this time I used no magic and used power attacks as often as possible.
Prejudiced Against: Nazeem, the Thalmor, Grelod the Kind, and anyone else who is stuck up, abusive, or indoctrinating people.
Challenges: Due to having little luck with a bow, Yajima does not use one.
Quests:
- Thieves Guild - Yajima joins the Thieves Guild, trying to reform it into a Robin Hood kind of organization.
- Dark Brotherhood - After saving Aventus Aretino's friends, Yajima is allowed to bring down the Empire. She thought that the Dark Brotherhood was a guild of Bounty Hunters rather than murderers, and she finds out at the end of the questline that she was wrong, causing her to go into self-imposed exile for a while, until...
- The Companions - Akatosh shows Yajima visions of the Companions, a guild of honorable warriors, and Yajima sets out to redeem herself after taking innocent lives.
- College of Winterhold - Improve your Illusion magic.
- Main Quest - Kill Alduin, save the world and claim the sword of your ancestors.
- The Forgotten City - Solve a murder mystery.
- Dragonborn - Defeat Miraak, make a deal with talking tentacles, and save Solstheim.
For direct confrontations, Yajima has a pretty straightforward approach: just slash your way to victory, making sure to dodge the opponent's attacks. If you start to get overwhelmed, unless it contradicts the roleplay, use Illusion to get away. You can always come back later (once again unless it contradicts roleplay.
For more covert operations, use Illusion to make yourself invisible (or just use stealth mode) and get close to your opponent before killing them. Since Yajima does not have a ranged option, stealth is extremely important. I recommend using the dagger power attack to quickly kill opponents.
Spells: Invisibility, Calm, Fury, Fear (and upgraded versions of those spells)
Shout(s): Become Ethereal, Marked For Death
Powers: Tsaescence
Passive Abilities: Agent of Mara, Gift of Charity
Special Attacks:
- Iaijutsu (2 Basic slashes + Forward power attack + Tanto power attack)
- Shinobi's Assault (Invisibility + Sneak Attack + [Iaijutsu])
- Agent of Vengeance (Fury + Multiple Sneak Attacks) (Cast Fury to make opponents fight each other, then pick them off among the chaos.)
Thank you for reading. I thoroughly enjoyed playing as Yajima Katsumi. As always, I am open to constructive criticism. This will likely be the last build I publish for a while since I have other things going on. I hope to see all of you again soon. Thanks again for reading.
Replies
Fun fact, actual Shinobi rarely used full on katana, primarily due to their length making them more visible, and their eventual banning to all but the samurai and such instead most often their weapons, such as the kama, were repurposed farm tools. Also they did sorta use smoke bombs. Granted black eggs would just temporary blind the opponent via sensory overload and such.
Also they only used limited armor, and did not dress in the stereotypical black. That color came from theatre hands who'd have to blend in with the darkness to move props. Most surviving attire is more a dark blue or grey color. They'd primarily disguise themselves as monks, commoners /, etc.
They also made use of explosives and even firearms.
I didn't know any of that. Guess I should have researched more before trying to make something historically accurate
Hey it's fine, we only have so many sources, and some of them may be incomplete, often on purpose, or be biased. I'd recommend checking out Gaijin Goomba, he's done vids on em
Ok, thanks a ton!
Have fun
Loving this one, dude. Pleased to see that you keep on releasing good builds and this one really shows its quality. Congrats!
Thank you!