Tenfold Blades

Neither a formal order nor a political alliance, the @Tenfold Blades are a living legend—a lineage of ten warriors whose mastery of the sword transcends war and loyalty. Each member is a sovereign of their path, answering to no banner but bound by mutual recognition, ritual, and code. They appear when they choose, intervene where balance breaks, and vanish when the tale has ended. Many believe their existence is symbolic; others whisper their duels shape history unseen.

Born across centuries from diverse clans, temples, and roads, the @Tenfold Blades are not chosen—they are revealed. When a warrior achieves an act of perfect discipline, devastating insight, or undeniable truth through the sword, they are acknowledged in silence. There are always ten. When one falls, another rises. Some are scholars, some generals, some ghosts—but all have walked away from power to embody its truest form.

They are not friends, nor allies, nor judges. They are mirrors. Those who seek them often return changed—or not at all.

Known Living Members

@Hagane Kiryuu – The Drifted Blade
At the Battle of Gekisen-no-Hara, Kiryuu disobeyed an order that would have cost thousands of common lives. Declared a traitor, he vanished—many believed him dead. Once a shining general of the Kozan elite, now a myth whispered by waves, he turned his back on the empire after witnessing its rot firsthand. Today, he trains lone warriors, saboteurs, and doomed souls in secret, shaping a generation of blades outside the reach of lords.

@Kogane no Tetsujin – The Gilded Iron
Once an enforcer of palace justice, Tetsujin vanished after a forbidden duel left noble blood spilled in the gardens of Shirohana. He now lives as a humble boatman, ferrying crates by hand across forgotten rivers. Those who know his past dare not speak his name. To the poor and ignored, he is their unseen protector; to those who recognize him, he is a reminder that blood never washes clean.

@Shiramine Tomoe – The Camellia Fang
Known as the fastest blade in the south, Tomoe was a composed and exacting commander of the Kozan elite. She vanished after refusing to massacre surrendered enemies, striking down her own officers instead. Since that day she has walked among camellias, training only those she deems “wounded enough to grow.” Her silence is as sharp as her edge, and her presence blooms like a warning.

@Aoba Kenzō – The Stone-Eyed Ghost
Once heir to a proud clan, Kenzō saw it burned in betrayal. Refusing to kneel to any lord, he walked into Senkatano and became its warden. He duels only those who would disturb its ruins, guarding the memory of the forgotten as though it were his own flesh. He considers himself the last monument of his clan—his body a living gravestone.

@Yatsufusa Ryūzen – The Iron Breath
A weathered Kozan-born Sohei, Ryūzen mastered every martial form of Shugosei-no-Kuni before facing his mentor in ritual death-duel. His victory left him hollow. Since then, he has lived in eternal stillness, training only those who can overcome the test of his shadow post. His calm is iron, his presence unshakable—a mountain that breathes.

@Hakurenmaru Soju – The Pale Storm
Once the feared right hand of a warlord who sought Kōkaiten, Soju earned infamy after cutting through a hundred men in one night. His master fell, his army scattered, and Soju vanished into solitude. Now he is a hermit of silence and breath, known only in prayers and warnings. Some say he seeks forgiveness. Others say he waits for a successor. His name is carried on the wind like frost.

@Raiko Saito – The Thunder’s Grace
A young but unmatched duelist, Raiko moves with the calm of falling petals and strikes with the swiftness of spring’s final breath. Raised in a forgotten monastery by a reclusive master, she emerged during the siege of Minamikusa, defending a village single-handedly. Her legend grows with every whispered story of sudden rescues. She watches the horizon still, certain that a greater war approaches.

@Takahara Jinsuke – The Stone Spear
Once a general under the Shogunate, Jinsuke was famed for halting entire cavalry charges with a single thrust. Ordered to slaughter civilians in retreat, he defied command and walked away from lord and banner. Now a hermit in his mountain hermitage, he trains those who can find him in the discipline of the Stone Spear. Travelers say he still stands guard at night, unmoving as a statue, spear rooted in the earth.

@Ayame no Kōgetsu – The Moonlit Fang
Once a prodigy of the Shogunate’s most prestigious dojo, Ayame abandoned her masters after their corruption was laid bare. Rumored dead in the collapse, she reappeared only in whispers—twin blades flashing through warlords under the moonlight. She resides now in Kōgetsu-in, awaiting challengers who seek balance. Her dances of death are spoken of like poetry—crescent moons carved into history.

@Ugetsutake no Ren – The Eternal Edge
The last sword saint of the old line, Ren is neither warrior nor priest, but the boundary between. Their name appeared only after a single pass of their blade cut through an entire war host. Since then, they have remained at Tsukihana-dera, silent and unyielding, watching the endless field of silver grass. For thirty years they have not faltered. It is said when Ren falls, the age of blades will finally end.