"There can be only one..."

Well, not really sure if this belongs here but it's 4:40 am and since i'm wide awake with no EBO to play I thought i'd post a little background info for any of you who may have an interest in ancient Japanese cultural history. My current char's name on EBO is "Muramasa" and I specifically remember Seelie asking me what the name meant in Japanese. Here's a little info for ya 8-)

Muramasa was a sword smith of the late Muromachi period in Mie prefecture. In Japanese folklore Muramasa's swords were virtually unbreakable and the sharpest of any sword. Anyone who wielded a Muramasa blade, was destined to kill or so it was believed. It was thought that once unsheathed, a Muramasa blade could not be resheathed unless it had drawn the blood of an enemy. If it did not, the wielder was said to fall victim to a less than honorable death shortly after (an assassin’s poison dart, struck by lightning, etc.).

Muramasa blades were characterized by a similitude of motifs on both sides and very popular during Sengoku period because of their extreme sharpness and durability. They became "cursed" swords of the Tokugawa family because both the grandfather and father of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu would have been killed by Muramasa swords.

Ieyasu’s grandfather was beheaded by a Muramasa sword, while his father was wounded by one, later dying as a result of his injuries. As a small boy, Ieyasu himself cut himself on a Muramasa tanto. When Ieyasu came to power, he initiated a sword hunt to find and destroy all Muramasa blades believeing they were cursed.

Interestingly enough, Muramasa is only considered the second greatest swordsmith of Japan, behind Masamune who was his teacher. Whereas Muramasa evolved his art of swordmaking to the point of solely focusing on death and destruction, Masamune's style was one of harmony between blade and man, the ultimate perfection. Masamune's swords are in this sense superior. Anyways, thus ends my 5am spiel on the finer arts of Japanese swords 8-)

p.s. If anyone's interested, I have a wealth of information in this area, just PM me. Consider it something of a hobby if you will. Guys like Narcy know cars, Rogue, Knight, and Sol know computers, Seelie... um, porn, and Manny.. chainsaws and midgets 8-) and well, me-I know swords (and anything Japanese in general). And yes, I do own several (bought while I was in Japan and not those cheapass replicas you can find at any gun and knife show, heh). Nowadays though, trying to bring a sword through an airport (better to have it shipped now) would be considered illegal in the aftermath of 9/11 so I guess in that sense, I got lucky.

p.s.s What (if any) are the histories of any of your char names? I'd be interested to know 8-)

p.s.s.s Dammnit, I have some really nice pics of Muramasa swords ($50k on up) but according to the FAQ, I should be able to attach files from my hard drive through the "browse" button while i'm making a post. Problem is I don't see any browse button, what am I missing?

Lmfao, geez is that all i'm know for? chainsaws and midgets? What about the abilty to misspell? Oh the attach feature was removed when we went somthing like 100000000000000 mb over or site limit.

I do however got a question, what was the advage weight of one of those swords? I myself also love swords and would like to know the differance between most used during that time. Also thier some other questions i'll ask ya over pm, about that stuff.

I knew a little about that, but only because I had researched some of the names Squaresoft likes to use in their games. I've always been interested in things like that; I'm glad you posted it.

I looked one up on the internet one time to price it.... waaaaaay too rich for my blood. If the blade doesnt kill you, the cost will.

Manny - you're also known for goat porn and hydrolic dildos, but they pale in contrast to the midgets.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the goats and hydraulic dildos, heh. Midgets + chainsaws +goats + hydraulic dildos... man, if that ain't a recipe for disaster I don't know what is 8-)

Well, i'm glad some of you expressed a similar interest and so as a result, i've had to go back and read up on some of the more finer points of swordmaking in order to make sure i'm passing along the proper techniques to all of you.

Re: history
The history of the sword in Japan begins in the fifth century A. D. with the straight, one-edged steel swords known as "chokuto." Of Chinese design and manufacture, many chokuto were too thinly forged for serious combat, and were probably used as religious items in Shinto. With the birth of the samurai class some 200-300 years later, the Japanese sword took on unique characteristics appropriate to the samurai's original role as mounted warriors. The blade became slender and long, up to 3 feet (1 m), to better reach targets from horseback. It also became curved for more effective slashing. Carried edge down in a belt-slung scabbard, this sword design, known as the "tachi", predominated from 700 to 1200 A. D. During this period, swords were fairly rare and played a very limited role in battle.

In the late 1200's, the Mongol invasions spurred many new military developments, including a broader and heavier version of the tachi designed for close fighting on foot. This sword, the "no-dachi", took two hands to wield and was slung over the back. As civil warfare continued to plague the country, demand grew for smaller swords that, together with the new techniques of iaijutsu, could help defend against surprise or indoor attacks. The first swords of this design, the "uchigatana", appeared around 1500. They were about two feet (70 cm) long and were worn in the belt, not hanging, with the edge up.

Around 1570, in the heat of the Sengoku civil wars, the final innovation in sword design was made. The uchigatana was replaced by two swords of similar design, the two- to two-and-a-half foot long (70-85 cm) "katana", and the foot-and-a-half (50 cm) "wakizashi". Worn as a set, these were known as the daisho, or "great and small." In answer to your question Manny, most katanas weigh roughly three pounds (give or take a few ounces).

After conquering all of Japan, the shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi enforced a "Sword Hunt" in 1588 which disarmed everyone but the samurai class. Thereafter, wearing the daisho was the mark of samurai privilege until 1876, when as part of the restoration of the Emperor's rule and modernization of Japan, the samurai class was abolished and the wearing of swords forbidden.

Re: forging
To produce their superlative blades, Japanese artisans had to overcome a problem that had baffled all armorers throughout the world since the earliest time of recorded history. Sword makers could make steel very hard so that it would hold a sharp edge. However, making steel very hard also made it very brittle and often in battle a sword would be broken if hit just right against another sword or object. The sword makers knew how to make soft steel that would be less brittle and would not break in battle. However soft steel would not hold a sharp edge and it would quickly dull in battle and would not be able to cut through armor or hack off limbs and heads as a good sword was expected to do, heh.

One way the Japanese sword makers solved the problem was to hammer together layers of steel of varying hardness welding them into a metal "sandwich". This sandwich of metal layers was then reheated, folded back on itself and hammered out thin again. After this had been repeated about a dozen times, the steel consisted of thousands of paper-thin laminations of hard and soft metal. When it was ground to a sharp edge the hard metal stood out and resisted dulling, while the soft steel kept the sword from breaking.

But to produce their best blades (the swords that are sought after by collectors today) the Japanese sword makers used a much more intricate process. For the core, or interior, of the blade, they used a comparatively soft, laminated metal that would resist breaking. The blade's exterior and edge, however, were made of different grades of hard steel welded together in a sandwich that was folded and hammered out as many as 20 times or more, giving it more than a million laminations! This outer "skin" of steel could be made even harder by first heating the sword and then suddenly cooling it. As a final step the master swordsmith would cover the roughly finished blade with a thick layer of adhesive material, mostly clay, leaving only the edge exposed, and heat the blade until the glowing metal reached the right shade of color. The best way to judge this crucially delicate stage was to work in a darkened room. Then with prayer, the sword maker would plunge the heated blade into water. The exposed edge cooled instantly while the rest of the blade, protected by the clay, cooled slowly and remained comparatively soft. The final result was a sword blade of soft non-brittle metal enclosed in a thin layer of hard steel. About one fifth of an inch of its edge was made of metal so hard that it held a razor sharpness during repeated use in battle.


Re: testing
It is not known exactly when, but from about the 15th century, results of testing blades on live and dead bodies are found inscribed on the "tangs" (the base of the blade embedded in the hilt) of certain blades. From the beginning of the 16th century, with the end of the Age of Civil War, and the beginning of peace with the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, official body testers were employed to formally test blades on bodies and record their results. The Yamada family and Yarnano family are particularly famous for testing swords and often inscribed the results of their tests along with their name and date of the test in pure gold.

This odd custom was known as "tameshigiri". A popular inscription often found on famous blades is "mitsudo setsudan", which means "three bodies with one stroke". One particularly well-known sword by 16th-century swordsmith Seki no Kanefusa is inscribed with "nanatsudo setsudan" (seven bodies with one stroke). Bodies of executed criminals were positioned or stacked on a mound made of sand known as a "dodan". The bodies were fixed into place by bamboo poles secured into the ground. The body tester was given a written order, the sword, and permission by the owner. Then the tester made the required cut and recorded the result. Later, famous tests were inlaid with pure gold on the tang of the sword . Many of the tests took place in Edo (Tokyo) in Akasaka in the neighborhood of Chizumi.

Re: sword etiquette
If a samurai's sword is his soul, then the sword must be treated with the utmost devotion and respect. To brush the hilts of another man's swords in passing was to invite an immediate duel, which is why samurai preferred to pass each other on the left. Showing a naked blade was similarly insulting. The samurai's duties regarding his own swords were to keep them always within reach, and to keep them meticulously polished, often with the aid of a highly skilled professional sword polisher.

When visiting another household, though, the katana was usually left at the door, or put down at the right side while sitting, to show there was no intention of drawing it. As there was an art to polishing a sword, so too was inspecting and appraising one. Sword appraisal was minutely regulated by ceremony, and for both spiritual and practical reasons, the blade was never to be touched. Samurai visiting another's house would often be called upon to appreciate their host's swords. More official sword appraisers, or mekiki, constituted a respected guild from medieval times on, and were responsible for issuing certificates of quality.

And thus ends today's lessons in Japanese swords 8-) I should point out that although I am a student of this, much of this I had to go back refresh on because yes, even I on occasion... can make a mistake when it comes to getting proper names and time periods correct 8-) I know it's off topic of EBO, but I hope you found it interesting. On a final note, i'll leave you with a famous traditional saying swordmakers used to employ when considering the design of a new sword:

"Orenai magarani yoku kireru" (shouldn't break, shouldn't bend, and should cut well...)

I seem to remember something about another famous sword name.

Murasame.

Does this ring a bell? I think I got it from a Final Fantasy game or something. Is there any history to this name or is it fictional?

I think that one was fictional for it was a typo


and my specialty is all around, thanks for the great info on swords jedi, it is cool to learn about swords, I wish I could be a samurai, they have such an interesting life style

The Murasame blade is indeed a fictional one by all accounts and is predominantly influenced by pop culture manifesting in anime, manga, and games in general (Square's FF series comes to mind).

boom baby, I was right

**shakes ass**

Allright, returning to Jedi's question and getting the thread back on topic....

What is the inspiration behind your character names?

Shemhazai~~~~

The names of the Watchers (the fallen ones)

1. Semyaza, Shemyaza, Semjaza, Semiaza, Samyaza, Shemhazai

According to the Book of Enoch, exactly 200 Angels fell to Earth to take human wives. It names 20 of these, explaining that each one was a leader in a group of 10. In his book From the Ashes of Angels, Andrew Collins names a few others, and other reference works corroborate some of the names given in these sources, sometimes with alternate spellings. Through these various sources, I have collected information on what some of these named Watchers taught to mankind. Where there was a variation in wording, I have included both wordings.

According to Collins, there is no complete record of the names of all 200 Watchers. Most of the names included in Enoch are not included in other books, apocryphal or otherwise; in fact, very few of the others appear inother mythological texts; these include Azazel and Kokabel (Shemhazai is a central character in Storm Constantine's Grigori triology). Azazel is a curious example; although the Watchers, in the beginning of Enoch, swear to Shemhazai, the clear leader, that they will not change their minds about descending. But later, Azazel takes the brunt of the blame for what happens (to his credit, he taught more forbidden items to humankind than the others). He was thrown into the canyon of Duadel, and pinned with sharp rocks, with his face covered. In the Biblical book Leviticus, he is recreated as a desert creature to whom the ancient Israelites dedicated their scapegoats:


"Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the lord to make atonement for it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel."
In still later times, Azazel is considered a demon, and is occasionally identified as the devil -- or as one of his chieftains.

Kokabel, or Kakabel, also appears in Jewish folklore as a powerful angel who is in charge of the stars and constellations. He is considered by some to be a holy angel; by others, a fallen one. It is said that he commands 365,000 lesser spirits and teaches astrology to his fellow angels.

Sariel is known under many names, but this one translates to "God's command." Some say he is the angel of death; he is named as the one who retrieved the soul of Moses from Mount Sinai. He is also called by some a "prince of the presence" and an angel of healing. His name appears in Gnostic amulets and it is said that when he's invoked he manifests in the form of an ox; according to the Cabala, he is one of the seven angels that rule the earth. He is also associated with the skies and is in charge of the zodiac sign of Aries and instructs others on the course of the Moon. In occult circles he is one of the nine angels of the summer equinox and can protect against the evil eye.


~~~~~~~~Bla bla bla bla bla......point being, Shemhazai was the leader of the angels that fell to earth to mate with mortal women in biblical times. Yes, I know porn....and I also know a lot about comparative religion. I wrote a short story some time ago with Semyaza (Shemhazai) as the lead figure, and every woman that I've allowed to read it has wanted to wet themselves from the things that it stirred in them. I'd post it here, but you see the problem with that, heh.

Rather fitting, I would think. What, me arrogant? Only cuz I'm pretty.

Very cool Seelie 8-) I really like all those underlying Heaven and Hell themes that you mentioned. Reminds me of that "Prophecy" movie (the first one anyways, the others kinda tanked) with Christopher Walken, Eric Stolz, etc. that came out a few years back. I remember it was about a band of fallen Angels who came to despise humanity and grew jealous that the Creator favored them, over his own Soldiers or something like that and set about to bring the end of the world into motion. That being the case, I remember them using a lot of Angelic names like "Uziel" and what not, and going into the history behind them similar to what you mentioned. Heh, funny thing about that movie was the ending where the Archangel Gabriel (former Champion and now leader of the revolt) came so close to executing his master plan, but was struck down and imprisoned by Lucifer himself who said rather than allowing him to complete his quest for domination, "Hell isn't big enough for two Prime Evils" and thusly struck him down. Man, I really should watch that movie again 8-)