THE HISTORICAL FRAME

Faces behindthe horizon.

Commanders and political figures from the Imjin War, presented through HAESIN’s approved portrait art. Their historical presence gives the world context; these portraits do not advertise playable character abilities.

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The current playtest is ship-focused. Portraits here are promotional art, not a roster of selectable characters.

Joseon naval commander

Yi Sun-sin

(1545~1598)이순신

“I still have twelve warships at my command. Though our ships are few, your humble servant is not yet dead. The enemy will not dare to look down on us.”

Collected Works of Yi Chungmugong, vol. 11, appendix 3, Record of His Life

After the catastrophe at Chilcheollyang shattered Joseon's navy, even the king was ready to abandon the sea. With just twelve battered ships, Yi Sun-sin prepared to defy the impossible. Slander within his own ranks, relentless distrust, and an enemy fleet that covered the water could not make him yield. Guided by the conviction that those willing to die shall live, he stood against the raging currents of Uldolmok. His crimson blade would cut through a bloodied sea to reclaim its waters, becoming Joseon's final shield and a symbol of its salvation.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

Japanese naval commander

Wakizaka Yasuharu

(1554~1626)와키자카 야스하루

“The man I fear most is Yi Sun-sin. The man I hate most is Yi Sun-sin. He is the man I most wish to kill, and the man with whom I most wish to share tea.”

Attributed to the Wakizaka Records · authenticity disputed

Dreaming of the highest honors in the Japanese navy, Wakizaka once swept across the sea with relentless speed. At Hansan, Yi Sun-sin's crane-wing formation became a vast death trap that shattered his fleet and his pride. Stranded on an island, he survived for thirteen days on seaweed, a humiliation that etched the name Yi Sun-sin into his memory as both terror and an unsettling source of awe. Torn between vengeance and the trauma of defeat, this fierce commander returns to the sea to hunt his nemesis once more.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

Joseon naval commander

Won Gyun

(1540~1597)원균

“I shall lead a chosen naval force toward Busan, block the enemy's approach, and fight a decisive battle to the death to wash away this shame that cries out to heaven.”

Revised Annals of King Seonjo, year 30, month 2, day 1

For all his claims of courage, Won Gyun lived in Yi Sun-sin's immense shadow, consumed by a bitter sense of inferiority. Backed by factional intrigue at court, he finally seized the command of the Three Provinces' navy that he had long coveted. Yet his reckless boasts and disastrous leadership drove Joseon's fleet of 160 ships to ruin in the dark waters of Chilcheollyang. His ambition became a national catastrophe, exposing how readily the hunger for power and division within can bring a country to the brink of destruction.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

Japanese commander

Konishi Yukinaga

(1558~1600)고니시 유키나가

“Katō Kiyomasa will cross the sea with seven thousand men. If your country removes him, my grievance will be settled and your country will be rid of its concern.”

Annals of King Seonjo, year 30, month 1, day 11 · message relayed through Yoshira

A Christian from a merchant family, Konishi pursues cold calculation and negotiation over blind force. Locked in constant conflict with his brutal rival Katō Kiyomasa, he devises a deadly deception through a double agent to turn the course of the war. His carefully planted words lead the Joseon court to condemn its own greatest commander, Yi Sun-sin, and set its navy on the path to ruin. Behind the bloodshed, he wages a ruthless war of information, moving the fortunes of both sides like pieces on a game board.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

Japanese commander

Katō Kiyomasa

(1562~1611)가토 기요마사

“Ha ha ha! So it is. My head is the greatest treasure in all Joseon!”

Dramatized dialogue based on the tale of his negotiations with the monk Samyeong

Known as a demon general, Katō leads the invasion's vanguard, bringing the terror of slaughter to the people of Joseon. A champion of the hardline military faction, he is driven by fanatical loyalty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and bitter hostility toward the more conciliatory Konishi Yukinaga. When the monk Samyeong calls his head Joseon's greatest treasure, he answers the chilling taunt with a wild, hearty laugh. Following the scent of blood ever northward, he confronts his enemies with overwhelming force and an unrelenting instinct for destruction.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

King of Joseon

King Seonjo

(1552~1608)선조

“They say Yi Sun-sin is a great commander, but what can he do now without a single warship? This is truly the work of heaven. What can be done?”

Annals of King Seonjo, year 30, month 7, day 21

An anxious king consumed by suspicion, Seonjo fears losing his people's allegiance more than he fears the invader's blade. Though intelligent, the pressures of war drive him to envy and restrain Yi Sun-sin, the hero his people adore. Seizing on the enemy's deception as a pretext, he sends his loyal commander toward death and brings ruin upon Joseon's navy, only to cast the blame on the will of heaven. His troubled throne reveals the cold cruelty of power, where a ruler's paranoia can prove as devastating as the war beyond his walls.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

Japanese ruler

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

(1537~1598)도요토미 히데요시

“Like dew I fall, like dew I fade away. All that was Naniwa, all the glory of Osaka, is but a dream within a dream.”

Death poem composed near the end of his life in 1598

Born a farmer's son, Hideyoshi united Japan, then unleashed his boundless ambition in a delusion of continental conquest that brought seven years of devastation. Demanding passage through Joseon to attack Ming China, he began a war with supreme arrogance. Yet the rise of Yi Sun-sin became a barrier his ambition could not overcome, and the empire he had spent a lifetime building began to crumble like a castle of sand. At the summit of absolute power, amid the blood of countless lives, he met death lamenting that all his glory was fleeting dew, a dream within a dream.

Historical portrait · not a selectable character in this playtest

03 / YOUR NEXT VOYAGE

The next salvois yours.

Try the build, then tell us what worked, what confused you, or what kept you from playing.

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