Behind the Story: Sword Masters

[OOC]
I'm quite honoured to have my submission, since titled "Sword Masters", developed into one of the most recent patrols in the Heroes Rising universe. Sincere gratitude to Dan and Justin for adopting the submission, and of course for providing the edits and adjustments to make it fit well (and avoid any possible legal issues).

As some know, I've had the Tri-blade character as my main in-game persona throughout the lifetime of this game and its predecessor. Few would know that I've had this character mulling about in various forms in my head for well over two decades. While he's not the main character in my own 'universe', I've tried to formulate situations where he's served in various roles in online forums from Mortal Kombat to pro wrestling.

One of my biggest loves in video games is the Final Fantasy series, specifically X, 12 and 13. When the opportunity came to insert a submission for a patrol in the H.R. universe, two things came to mind. First, using the popular sword-collecting, bumbling quasi-antagonist Gilgamesh. He's known for jumping between universes, seeking legendary swords to add to his collection. Having him appear among all the swords, sorcery and supers in the Heroes Rising universe seemed a natural fit, while providing some elements of comic relief that the superhero genre tends to sometimes put to a side, with notable exceptions (Deadpool, Spider-man, et al).

The second thing was expanding on the Ka'an Dorado location, which was brought into play during the Lady Echidna saga but not particularly built up compared to New Utopia or North Onnatangu. Its perceived location, within what we could call Mesoamerica, brings to mind old Mayan and Aztec tales that many would have had at least some exposure to during secondary school history class. The main patrol picture of an old temple is a distinguishing aspect of that set of cultures and one that I'm glad was expanded on in the pictures created to accompany the story.

From there, it was relatively straightforward to compose a small story where the hero of the quest would befriend Tri-blade, a wielder of blades, and come face to face with this universe's equivalent of Gilgamesh.  A follower of Final Fantasy may have noticed that the NPC mentioned in the first panel had an amalgam of two classic FF mainstays in their name. A bit of an Easter egg, I like to think. From there, it's a bit of a detective story, which brought up another Easter egg from another unrelated series featuring a swordsman from the early part of the 20th century, culminating in a Clash on the Big Bridge featuring our protagonist against the legendary swordsman. Sorry, he doesn't wield four arms in this version, but i do like what Dan or the representative artist did with his general appearance.

I wanted to make sure the victor of the battle got to claim 'rare loot' and Genji equipment was perfect for this part. The equivalent of a Genji glove seemed most fitting, as was the antagonist's "escape".

Overall, it was great to try to expand on Ka'an Dorado and introduce a new character to the game lore. Perhaps there will be future appearances of either, down the line, as part of the post-Legion series of patrol locations. In the meantime, be sure to also explore the fun new patrol built by Jo/Furious Squirrel, and of course take the time if so inclined, to contribute more RP here or in the FB site as part of the overall game world-building.