Gensoukyou:Mononobe no Futo

Historical Background
The Kofun Period, or the time of Japanese history from the 3rd to 6th Centuries AD, was rife with the spread of Buddhism, due to the influence a very powerful clan known as the Soga Clan. However, there existed another extremely powerful clan known as the Mononobe Clan, a clan that practiced Shintoism. During the Kofun Period, the Mononobe Clan was in a fierce political battle with the Soga Clan, naturally over the spread of Buddhism. The Mononobe Clan claimed that by worshipping Buddhism, and thus worshipping foreign deities, the local deities would become enraged. In addition to this, the Mononobe were greatly displeased by the amount of cultural diffusion that the Soga Clan was introducing from Korea, (one of these again being Buddhism) so cultural preservationism played a role in their anger as well. This political conflict would eventually turn bloody, especially the specific one that occurred after the Emperor Yomei died after quite a short reign. The Battle of Shigisan is what developed from this great unrest. In said battle, the two heads of the respective clans, Mononobe no Moriya and Soga no Umako, fought each other to the death. Moriya was killed in this battle, and the Mononobe Clan was nearly wiped out in its entirety. Not two centuries later, the Soga Clan would be, in turn, exterminated by another clan, though Buddhism continued to reign in Japan for quite a while.

A Girl from Ancient Japan
Mononobe no Futo was born into the Mononobe Clan to parents of rather high socio-economic status. They were avid advocates of Shintoism, the native Japanese spiritual religion. However, ever since she was little, Futo practiced Taoism in secret, though it was not all that different from Shinto in its spiritualism. Futo always enjoyed being one with the natural world, always venturing off from her parents into forests to meditate, only to scurry back inadvertently due to the concerns of her clan. In truth, she had few friends to turn to, because her wealthy family had a knack for keeping her pampered and sheltered, so she wished very much to see the world around her. Through these forests, she also met with an individual named Soga no Tojiko, a girl from the rival Soga Clan. After some time, the two became good friends, all the while being foils to each other’s personalities. Tojiko also greatly disliked Buddhism, which was another reason for their great friendship. Futo’s parents would have been terrified to know that their daughter had befriended a member of another clan, but they never knew that she met with this person when traveling into the forest.

One night, Futo’s wanderlust would change her life (and afterlife) forever. A strange yellow-haired hermit approached Futo, who was busy meditating near the trunk of an old tree. This hermit was Toyosatomimi no Miko, a Buddhist hermit who was not too well-known to the outside. Miko spoke with Futo about spirituality and the opportunities for one to excel further than simply living in the world as a hermit, and listened to her fervently. With her ability to discern the desire of a being through speech, she keyed into Futo’s inner transcendent desires quite well, and struck up a deal with her – she would show her the secrets to immortality if Futo would agree to helping her spread Buddhism throughout Japan. Futo was initially extremely reluctant to agree to this and even visibly taken aback by Miko’s deal, for it would involve the dual travesties of spreading a religion that she did not accept, and also the undermining of her clan. Futo also brought this up with Tojiko, who thought that this was quite a practical idea and kept egging Futo on to agree with Miko. This blatant persuasion from two sources caused her selfish desire for releasing herself from human constraints to overtake her, and Futo agreed.

A few decades later, Futo deserted her clan. Claiming to openly worship Buddhism, (though in reality still clinging to Taoism) she allied herself with the Soga Clan. Not long after this, the Soga and Mononobe Clans warred with each other, resulting in heavy casualties and great destruction of numerous religious monuments. Seeing first-hand how her relatives and forebears were slaughtered, Futo felt great regret for siding with the Soga, but she had already renounced her life in human society, and clung to her selfish desires. Futo, Tojiko, and Miko had already finalized their plans to become shikaisen after the battles had concluded, and made preparations for themselves to do so. Futo would put her soul into a plate, Tojiko would do the same for a jar, and Miko would follow up with a sword.

Unknown to Tojiko, Futo held a grudge against her for her clan’s extermination of the Mononobe Clan, and she wanted to get some sort of revenge on her for this. Sometime before Tojiko would carry out the process of leaving her human body, Futo replaced the jar with an unfired jar. This deteriorated due to decay after Tojiko’s soul entered it, causing her to be unable to become a shikaisen and to instead become a ghost. Futo and Miko, on the other hand, successfully put their souls into containers, effectively “dying” and becoming shikaisen.

For centuries, Miko trained Futo in Taoist magic, developing her control over Feng Shui. During this time, Futo rested alongside Miko in a mausoleum in an area of Japan which would eventually become Gensoukyou. This mausoleum was repeatedly sealed by Buddhists to prevent the resurrection of Miko, and Futo was cut off from the outside world for quite some time. Futo kept to her traditions and dress of Kofun-Era Japan, still embracing Taoism as her religion.

In the 21st Century, a flood of divine spirits entered the mausoleum, causing Futo to think that she was going to be revived. Instead, Miko was to be revived, and both Miko and Futo were defeated by those who entered the mausoleum.

After these events occurred, Futo returned to living with her great friend and comrade, Miko, and they moved to an area known as Senkai, or the Hermit World. Senkai was to be a place where hermits could train in peace, and those who wished to become hermits would be trained there, and Futo continued to worship Taoism in a Taoist temple built by Miko inside of Senkai.

Personality
Futo can be described as a highly complex individual. She respects friendship and the natural world, but has a very blatant selfish streak that can be brought out through enough persuasion. Her own personal gain brought upon by secluding herself from society is what she cares about most in the world, even going as far as abandoning her own clan to gain immortality. Nevertheless, she still feels guilt for her actions, though she represses said guilt quite effectively. Futo displays notably friendly tendencies to those who agree with her hermitlike lifestyle, and is certainly willing to help those who want to embrace being a hermit. She is also quite whimsical, and loves exploring new places and cracking a good practical joke every once in a while. Futo’s weakest point is most likely the fact that it is not difficult to persuade her to do something – one simply needs to mention something about her own personal gain.

In any case, Futo’s friendly, whimsical exterior hides a great hostility to youkai. She will not hesitate to challenge youkai if they show even a bit of aggression, especially towards humans, whom she is highly protective of.

Futo is very hardy, mostly due to her previous seclusion from society. She was able to survive in conditions that were not the kindest to people used to swimming in riches, and took that knowledge with her into the “afterlife”.

Power/Combat
Futo is able to manipulate Feng Shui, which literally means that she is able to find the most convenient way for energy to flow through objects via their positioning. Futo can use this to her advantage in a number of ways - for instance, she could use her control to allow mana to flow exceptionally well through her body, or she could evade mana-based attacks by sensing what sort of convenient path they would take. She's fluent in Taoist magic, and specifically, the Fire, Earth, Wood, and Water elements, sometimes combining these to create rightly-oriented structures, or destructive attacks. Futo can manipulate earthen plates or dishes, (similar to the very plate that she used as a vessel for her soul) defending and attacking with them. She is not that physically strong, but she is certainly agile.

Now in Gensoukyou, Futo is proficient at using danmaku, and uses spells related to the harmony of the elements, as well as referencing the gods and historical figures. Futo’s danmaku takes the form of spiritual arrows.

Archery Proficiency
Not only when using her bow to shoot danmaku in the spell Bow Sign “Star Dragon Bow”, Futo, if necessary, will use heavy iron-tipped arrows imbued with Taoist magic. She utilizes a bow similar to a yumi, launching the arrows with devastating power and accuracy.

Throwing Dishes
Futo can summon up plates hewn from the earth by combining Fire and Earth elements (the clay plates would be unfired otherwise). These plates are extremely difficult to break, with Futo's Earth magic coursing through them. She can send these at enemies, use them in melee combat as bludgeoning tools, or spin them 'round her body to protect her from attacks.

Flying Boat
A small wooden boat can be summoned by Futo to ride/fly upon via Wood magic.

Spells

 * Heaven Sign [Rainy Iwafune]
 * Heaven Sign [Iwafune Ascending to Heaven]
 * Throwing Dishes [Mononobe’s Eighty Sake Cups]
 * Blaze Sign [Blazing Winds of Haibutsu]
 * Blaze Sign Sakuraiji in Flames]
 * Saint Girl [Oomonoimi’s Dinner]
 * Saint Girl [Sun Goddess’s Sacrifice]
 * Wind Sign [Winds of Three-Wheel Plates]
 * Blaze Sign [Taiyi True Fire]
 * Fate [Gate Opening for Catastrophe]
 * [Inferno Reformation]
 * Throwing Dishes [Kawarake Rotary Throw]
 * Bow Sign [Star Dragon Bow]

Major

 * Toyosatomimi no Miko: Futo lived alongside Miko for centuries after they sealed themselves inside of their respective containers, and they have harbored much in the way of respect for each other over the centuries.. Futo sometimes questions Miko’s incentives, but on the whole, she possesses the utmost respect for her.


 * Soga no Tojiko: Another very close friend to Futo, the two often get into petty arguments just like they used to as children. Tojiko is not angry about what Futo did to her, as it is actually highly convenient for her to be a ghost due to her newfound power.

Minor
Seiga Kaku: Futo respects Seiga due to her religious comradeship, though she is not very close to her on a social level.

Trivia
- Blaze Sign "Taiyi True Fire" is a reference to Taiyi Zhenren who created a Nine-dragon-fire-net that could melt down rocks into their molten state.

-Futo recalls the archaic Japonic dialect that she once spoke, but she also is highly fluent in modern Japanese. It is rather obvious that she speaks such an archaic dialect, because often said archaisms make themselves known when she speaks regular Japanese, and she does not mind this. She openly embraces the “old” ways, and detests modern culture to a great degree. For instance, she might say, “Hark, hermit of old, you indeed possess great skill! Perchance canst thou present such skill unto me?’