Yoko Momoka

## ***Histor***y​​​​​​​

The roots of the Momoka are not especially glorious or noteworthy, ascending to prominence primarily through sheer wealth as they exploited trade routes leading west from the city-state of Goka. The tale told by the clan matriarch, Yuka, claims that it started with her tricking an Oni in a drinking match and winning a precious ruby in the process, although this story is unlikely to be true.

What can be confirmed, is that sometime after Yuka came upon a fortunate sum, she would have put it to excellent use building a fortune on a fairly risky and long trade route spanning between her homeland in Minkai to Goka, where goods could fetch a princely sum from western buyers.

Of course, trade often works both ways, and after the initial round of success Yuka quickly took advantage of the emerging firearms trade, and began to proliferate these weapons to the highest bidder as the first examples began

to show up in the markets of Goka. Though far from an honorable service, the future clan matriarch didn't enter trade to be well liked, and it wasn't long before many nations and warlords of the continent were clamoring for their own, whether to gain advantage or defend themselves from newly well armed and aggressive neighbors, thus securing the fortune as well as a small amount of infamy.

Of course, as always times change, and equipping whole armies was expensive enough without distant foreign shipments. The western arms trade had begun to dry up as a few premature warlords bankrupted themselves on the weapons, unable to earn back the expense from their neighbors. Ever the opportunist, Yuka would have taken it upon herself to set up local manufacturing workshops, undercutting her own prices and establishing a small monopoly before the other emerging entrants to the market could gain strong foothold. It was here that she set the local standards for rifling, calibre, and created the first affordable Tien firearms en masse.

***Bitter Revenge***

It didn't take long with business practices like these to make a few enemies however, with lives and fortunes crushed through Yuka's ruthless enterprise. Although Yuka herself was too problematic to deal with directly, the young heiress of the rising clan became the target instead. With a suitable bribe, a maid would have fed young Yoko a dose of Ricin poison, making her escape from the city swiftly before the slow acting toxin was noticed and the life of the heiress left in critical balance. Though she survived in the end after weeks of fever, it was not without cost as her health would never recover to it's original vibrancy, leaving Yoko a pale and sickly youth who struggled up flights of stairs or to walk more than a few minutes at a time. And so, one young girl's dreams of adventuring like the heroic samurai of old were crushed when it became apparent her recovery would never happen.

***A Ghostly Prodigy***

Heartbroken and depressed, Yoko's family home became a gilded cage, it's sculpted gardens a maddening reminder of what she had lost. Even when sight of her mother's favorite flower garden eventually drove her to a fit of rage, she became exhausted and collapsed partway through the deed, able to do little but cry in futility amid a half-destroyed bed of lilies.

Eventually the servants carried her back to bed, and beyond this point she became a recluse. Barely eating or sleeping, and avoiding all people, her sole escape was into books. First worlds of fiction, but even these proved too bitter a reminder. Then came scouring more informative works. First botany literature, then architecture, math, religious scripture.... Soon enough she had consumed every book available and was regularly pestering the servants to bring more, disappearing among literal mountains of texts. This didn't change her old dreams one bit however, instead rekindling a new passion for life. She may have been barely able to walk, but upon discovering the schematics for advanced mechanical replacement limbs, fantastically complex but equally powerful contraptions, an idea would be born. If the flesh was so weak, she would escape it in order to pursue her heart's desire....

Of course, just reading it in a book would not be quite enough. Many of the schematics Yoko was able to find were theoretical and untested - the few which worked, had severe limits. So in time after countless discarded prototypes, including a few original designs, she would pester her mother to send her abroad for study where she could seek out the missing key to success. Witnessing such a rekindling of determination within her daughter, Yuka was unable to refuse, and after months at sea, the young clan heiress stepped off the boat at the docks of Absalom, aided by her trusty servant.