Youkai Forest (Interest/Signup)

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In my defense, I saved it for the end of the page.

edited 8th Dec '16 11:18:27 AM by DeceptivelyHonest

@Each: Looks good, welcome.

Still waiting on a few more people who expressed interest but we'll be ready soon.

Name: Tojo Hibiki

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Race: Hanyo (half Tsuchigumo: Yokai father, human mother)

Appearance: His true form◊, Wears a dark, form-fitting robe on his upper body. His human form is similar in appearance to his hanyo form(sans spider parts), and is dressed in brown kimono.

Skills and Equipment:

• Much like regular spiders, Hibiki is very fast and agile, able to quickly make his way up and across forest and buildings alike.

• Can produce venom which he can inject into victims via bite. While non-lethal unlike the venom of a full-blooded Tsuchigumo, it's still capable of significantly weakening the target for a short while.

• Wields a Kusarigama (Sickle & Chain). Also a decent brawler.

• Capable of casting mid-level illusions (primarily to camouflage himself with the environment) and can shapeshift to a degree. Currently capable of shapeshifting into a human form (that looks very similar to his hanyou form), a giant (12-foot) demonic spider or a normal spider.

• Capable of producing tough silk to either weave things, capture prey or swing from. He's also has a knack for weaving, and has set up a small shop repairing clothes and selling cloth.

Personality: To strangers, Hibiki is gruff, painfully straightforward and possesses a blatant disregard for honorifics. To friends and aquaintances, he's still gruff and blunt, but slightly more polite and tactful.

Bio: Born in the outskirts of Okasaki territory, Hibiki's mother died when he was still an infant, Leaving his Yokai father to raise him the best he could. Hibiki learned how to fight, spin webs and shapeshift as he grew up, but was limited by his human blood. To compensate, Hibiki learned how to fight and wield a kusarigama by Sneaking into a nearby training ground and observing in disguise.

When Hibiki was thirteen, his father told him that he had to go and find his own path, as was tradition among Tsuchigumo, and kicked him out if the house. Hibiki wandered the land of Wa for five years, honing his abilities and evading/klling whatever Tenjou forces that try to chase him, before settling down and opening a small shop in Onikumo. He is content with this life, although news of Tenjou planning to wipe out the village has put him on edge.

edited 8th Dec '16 10:54:02 PM by svenorzokarkoff

...Tsuchigumo.

Fixed

WHY DO YOU PERSIST. THIS ONE IS INDEFENSIBLE, NOWHERE NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

Thanks for caring.

oh, dear; how will I ever live with myself?

@Deceptively Honest: Cool it. The pedantry is obnoxious.

@svenorzokarkoff: That looks fine, welcome aboard.

• Name: Kazan

• Gender: Female

• Age: 35

• Race: Oni-Human Hybrid

• Appearance: Modesty is for the meek.◊ Standing at roughly six feet tall, she is very clearly shorter than all true Oni, save for children. Comes with being a half-breed.

• Skills And Equipment:
  • Inhuman Might: Kazan possesses the strength expected of an Oni, even if she is shorter than the average Oni.

  • Iron Liver: Kazan loves alcohol, both good and bad. And due to her heritage, she can enjoy quite a large amount of booze before getting even close to tipsy.

  • Kazan used to have a kanabo. She still does, but this one is nowhere near as good as the one she had before.

  • Kazan isn't good at much, at least not in her own mind, but the one skill she is proud of is wood carving. Not just tools, but decorations and toys too.

• Personality: Brash and Headstrong is the simplest way to describe her, Kazan does not do subtlety well. She sees no point in it and will gladly speak her mind to those around her, with little to no provocation. Despite that, she is aware of how she comes across to other people and is unhappy with her crude nature and seeks to change it.

• Bio: Nearly two decades ago, an entire tribe of Oni was wiped out with Kazan being the only survivor. Seeking revenge, she sought out the monster she had heard of when she was young: The Onryo. She thought that if she either got it on her side or managed to beat it, she could be strong enough to get her revenge. She found him, and he wasn't what she was expecting, but he was still too much for her. Beaten and denied her vengeance, she begged him to teach her. His first lesson was to teach her humility and patience, something she still struggles with today.

Kazan seems good. Accepted.

• Name: Setsuko

• Gender: Female

• Age: 150

• Race: A halfbreed child of Yuki-Onna and Kitsune.

• Appearance: Setsuko stands at about 5’ 2” with a slender body and fair features. Her hair is long and silky, extending down to her hips, color as black as the winter sky. Reaching out from the top of her head are two tall fox ears, and 3 black fox tails sway behind her at all times. Her skin is pale like snow, and her eyes are a piercing blue, and her lips are a cold bluish color. She normally wears a simple white furisode, with snowflake patterns adorning it, but when she wishes to engage in combat, the furisode will away into snow, revealing her to be wearing a sleeveless white shitagi, and slender black hakama. What used to be her furisode will then reform into an ethereal sash, which curls around from behind her body and twirls around her forearms, becoming detached sleeves.

• Skills & Equipment: As a halfbreed, Setsuko’s abilities of both races manifested in unique ways.

o Yuki-Bi: Truly the most unique manifestation of her mixed parentage, Setsuko possesses not only the ability to create and manipulate ice and snow to a certain extent, but also is able to dissolve ice into a cold flame mirroring the Kitsune-Bi of her father’s species. She can freely manipulate this icy flame, and also freely shift it from flame to ice, to flam again.

o Winter Illusions: Setsuko possesses a small amount of illusion magic, with unique attributes to it, yet unique drawbacks as well. Setsuko requires snow to weave into her illusions, and in some cases she can weave the snow into smaller, semi-tangible illusions such as using snow to create her combat sash and casual furisode. Unfortunately, her illusions take place on a much smaller scale compared to that of Kitsune, so big complex trickery is out

o Yukihana: A long winter themed Nagamaki, given to Setsuko by her mother. The blade shines with a silver light as if constantly reflecting the glow of the winter moon, and the guard is stylized in the shape of a snow flake.

• Personality: Setsuko is in one word a hedonist. She recognizes that her life will be long, and so desires to fill that life with worthwhile experiences, be they spending a few days and nights simply sitting in the winter as the snow falls with a fine drink at her side and her pipe in hand, or engaging in combat for the thrill of the challenge, win or lose. She considers these vital experiences to any life. She is generally a calm and friendly character, enjoying the company of others, but once she goes into combat, she seems to get particularly cold blooded despite her snowy aura.

• Bio: In a small village during the winter, a fair featured man and a pale skinned woman met and fell in love. They eventually married and lived long happy years together, until eventually the couple were blessed with a child to be. And once again in the winter, the child was finally born. Only thing was, the child, though alive and well, felt as cold as a stillborn, and possessed the ears and tail of a fox. The couple stared at each other for a few moments, before they both erupted into laughter, having realized they had hidden their true forms from each other for nothing, and in this moment revealed to each other their youkai forms, the father, that of a Fox Spirit, a Kitsune, and the mother a woman of winter, a Yuki-Onna. The family then continued to live well with each other, with their child growing well, and eventually the time came when the daughter was to set out on her own. And so Setsuko set out for a village she had heard whisper of. A village where she could live in her true form, that she may focus on gaining the experiences she so desired from life. For though she gained tails as she aged like the Kitsune, she matured at a faster rate, and the knowledge she gained from each tail still paled in comparison to that of a full kitsune. She knew that once she reached 9 tails, she would not be at the same existence as a kyuubi, but she did not care. She knew that despite this fact, she still had a long life ahead of her, and she hardly planned to let it be a boring one.

Finally done.

• Name: Ryo
• Gender: Male
• Age: He doesn’t really remember how long it's been, but he was somewhere in his early twenties during the attack that costed him his life.
• Race: Tenome (A type of Yokai with no eyes… on his face, at least. There’s one on the palms of each of his hands, however. Also of note is heightened senses — especially a heightened sense of smell — and inhuman quickness. Source.)
• Appearance: Tall, pale and gaunt. While he still looks about the same age he was at the time of his death and rebirth as a Tenome, his black hair somehow turned grey when he came back. His dark blue yukata has grown worn and dirtied from his time on the road, and bandages cover his hands and face. Rather than hiding wounds, though, the bandages are intended to help him blend in among humans.
• Skills & Equipment: Yeah, I'm going to need to break this up, hang on.
  • Skills & Training: Most of Ryo’s skills are from his training as a samurai. He's learned much of various topics such as horseback riding, local geography, customs, and the like; however he's especially skilled in the usage of a sword and bow.
  • Racial traits and Powers: Ryo isn’t much of a magic user, having been taught to use quick wits and cunning to win fights. However, as a Tenome, he does have some rather inhuman tricks up his sleeve. First off is his senses – while there's the obvious “eyes on hands” thing, his other senses are much sharper than a human's. Of particular use is his sense of smell, which is strong enough for him to follow someone without error, and often ends up his dominant sense when he's wrapped up his hands. Also of note is his quick reactions and speed – while he's certainly no Flash, Ryo can certainly move much faster than the average human.
  • Equipment: Frankly, Ryo packed light for his attack on his killer. Aside from the clothes on his back, the only things he has with him are a set of clean bandages, a biwa and plectrum to help evade notice by pretending to be a wandering musician, and a tachi sword.
• Personality: Ryo usually tries to be quiet and reserved. Evidence on try – emotions are oftentimes flaring up underneath the cool surface, not to mention his own insecurities about his skills and competence haunting him. Still, should someone manage to make him their ally, he will lay his life on the line if it would keep them safe.
• Bio:
  • Ryo was born to a reputable samurai in a town to the north of Onimori. He was raised from a young boy to be a samurai himself, and showed great potential in becoming so. A series of events ruined his chances of following in his father’s footsteps, though. First, a disease spread through the town, which ended up bringing Ryo to the brink of death. While he eventually recovered, his sight was unfortunately lost.
  • He didn’t have time to accept what had happened, though, before a worse threat reared its ugly head – Takahashi Hideki, a man with a vendetta against the shogun, conspired with others and set the town aflame, forcing most of the samurai to deal with the chaos. Unbeknowst to shogun and his men, though, the flame was merely a distraction, meant to divide the forces so that he could strike the shogun down with little opposition. While Ryo’s father stayed by the shogun’s side to defend him, it was for naught, as the man struck both down before mortally wounding the only other “witness” there – Ryo.
  • In most stories, that would be the end of it. However, Ryo somehow ended up stirring back to life after the fires burned down. This came as quite a shock to the young samurai-in-training – while he had been told about the Yokai as a child, including the Tenome, he certainly didn't think they existed. But there was no other reason that he'd still be in the mortal realm, not to mention eyes in one's hands are rather hard to rationally explain anyways. He's currently using his second chance in order to take down Takahashi, and headed to the village because here was where many said he traveled to.

Name: Brother Daiki

Gender: Male

Age: 37

Race: Human

Appearance: A clean-shaven man of average height and weight but with the carriage of a soldier and the physique like mountain stone. He favors the saffron robes and straw sandals of a temple priest, though the votive beads around his neck are forged from heavy steel. Like his brethren, he keeps his head shaved.

Skills & Equipment:

Way of the Woodsman - This versatile fighting style focuses on fighting youkai in any number or form, particularly in hand to hand or with great weapons, particularly a character-inscribed paddle blade◊. Practitioners of this art also seem to be capable of channeling their rage as they battle thus giving them heightened endurance and killing talent.

Along with their martial skills, the brotherhood were also renowned monster hunters. Their temple stronghold was reputed to have one of the most comprehensive libraries concerning youkai and their ways. And Daiki had proven himself to be a capable student in those days retaining much of the knowledge.

Acolyte of the Winding Path - The brothers are brought up as priests along with their martial training. From simple blessings to knowledge of various religious rights (focused heavily on exorcism and dispelling of enchantments) and holidays, Brother Daiki has performed them all. He is also literate and armed with a working knowledge of survival skills.

Wishing to live out the rest of his days as a simple priest, Daiki has little need of possessions. But the soldier's pack resting in a box underneath the temple's statue of the Buddha holds a string of coins, a spade, a fire starter, some candles, a battered lantern, a brush and various colored inksticks, a gourd of war paint, a clean set of of clothing composed of a tan gi and dark brown hakama, straw and thread to fix worn-out sandals, and his old hunting armor.

Lastly, Daiki has abandoned his chosen weapon in some gorge a long time ago. But when push comes to shove, the weapon in the grasp of the temple's Bishamonten statue is roughly of the same dimensions.

Personality: In his younger years, Daiki had been an enthusiastic hunter of youkai, with blood running down his face as he smiled a killer's rictus.

But times change. People change. What passes for a caretaker to the Onimori shrines, Daiki is a cheerful and dutiful sort, with a taste for crude jokes and the odd drink, though anyone watching can see him struggle to maintain a hold upon a volcanic temper, a souvenir from his days on the road.

Bio: No big market for monster hunters these days. Once a member of the Brotherhood of the Tall Wood, warrior monks dedicated to the protection of humanity from youkai predations, Brother Daiki has put aside the light plate and war paddle of his earlier days to take up a life in service to the denizens of Onimori as a spiritual adviser.

The days to come may have need of skills he put aside, however. Once a warrior, always a warrior.

edited 10th Dec '16 11:08:57 AM by KR_Vandal

@Solus: Very cute backstory. Accepted.

@Aquatica: Interesting. Accepted.

@KR: No problems here. Accepted.

These will be the last new sheets I'm accepting. The remaining that are still WIP can join when they're finished. We'll start over the weekend.

Let me know if you want something added here

edited 9th Dec '16 12:00:20 PM by opnerf

I just want everyone else to know they shouldn't have to worry about using the macron in my character's surname, since that's the convention that everyone else is using. But I will keep using it if Izshta does. And sorry for not apologizing for being pedantic sooner; I just didn't want to act like an Attention Whore.

Nice sign-ups, btw.

edited 9th Dec '16 8:43:47 AM by DeceptivelyHonest

Shouldnt that be in the discussion page? I feel you and I don't have any business in this thread after our characters got accepted.

Probably.

I'll definitely use it. Or the ou construction if I'm feeling lazy.

And here's my entry, possibly for the waitlist. A few artistic liberties were taken in regards to this jorogumo portrayal to make the character a bit more interesting.

• Name: Rikana
• Gender: Female
• Age: 400+, exact age unclear. Physically looks to be in her early 20s or so.
• Race: Youkai (Jorogumo)
• Appearance: As a jorogumo, Rikana is normally in the guise of a beautiful human woman, with hair that's black on one side and white on the other, emerald green eyes, wraps on her hands and feet with sandals, and a black and white kimono worn in such a manner as to be slightly revealing, as if the wearer didn't care about wearing it the traditional way. That beauty is only skin deep though, for her true appearance is that of a frightful humanoid monster with spider-like features, with 4 spider legs on her back and a spider's abdomen growing at the end of a tail, 3 pairs of spider-like eyes, a mouth that can open extra wide to better eat her human prey, assorted mouths and eyes over her partially black-scaled and white-skinned body, sharp nails from her fingers and toes, and a larger pair of extra arms from her shoulders. Basically almost exactly as the picture shows, except with no wings.
• Skills & Equipment: As a jorogumo, Rikana possesses the ability to naturally spin webs as she pleases, even being able to shoot it from her hands while in human guise. She is also skilled in the usage of fire-based magic channeled through usage of the words "ka" and "hi", being able to breathe fire and also being immune to fire herself while using the magic. While she isn't formally trained in weaponry, she does have a wakizashi sword hidden in her kimono just in case. Her primary skills are in playing her shamisen (which she is never seen without), and weaving various fabric-based items. She's also learning about making and using various poisons.
• Personality: Rikana is a trickster first and foremost. Appearing to be an unassuming shamisen player and weaver of clothes and tapestry, in reality, she adores tricking people and messing with their heads for her own amusement. Most of what she does is to either satisfy her own boredom, or to lure some unsuspecting and beautiful young man or woman into becoming her next meal. However, she only eats humans out of pure necessity, never eating any more than she absolutely needs to in order to survive. She prefers to enjoy the pleasures that humans do, and is a great lover of freedom. As such, she cannot stand any sort of enslavement in any form, and will attack those who do try to enslave others in some fashion. Rikana's also somewhat wise from her 400+ years of life, and may share some of her knowledge to those who she actually feels like sharing it with.
• Bio: Ancient legends speak of certain kinds of spiders who possess the ability to weave golden orbs and bear far greater intelligence and lifespans than a normal spider. And it is also said that should one of these spiders live for 400 years, they will gain magical powers and a human-like form, begin eating humans instead of insects, and become a youkai known as a jorogumo. Rikana is one such being, having managed to live long enough to become a jorogumo herself. In the few years since she gained humanoid form, she's traveled far and wide to find enjoyment and fun in any form from the humans around her, getting a thing for messing with people during her travels, as well as learning how to play the shamisen. She's made her way to Onimori and set herself up in an old house in the village, messing with the townspeople as she pleases and occasionally eating one or two of them so she doesn't go hungry. But lately she's been growing more and more bored and restless, wanting for something new to occur to make things fun again...

edited 9th Dec '16 11:40:16 AM by TheHailStormer

@opnerf My character is done, I reckon. Is he a-okay?

@Deceptively Honest Orochi is very loosely based on the Orochi from legend. Mostly just in name and probably keeping the snake theme to some extent. While to some extent familiar with the stories, I mostly just wanted to make some kind of snake demon thing.

edited 9th Dec '16 9:45:30 PM by HeroicSociopath

Queeestion: Does your Minamoto line have any relation whatsoever to my Minamoto line?

oh dag I didn't even notice. I just named my dude after Yoshitsune Minamoto because the name sounded cool. I woulda gone with Musashi because of the fact that my dude wields a huge sword? But Yoshitsune is less about the technical aspect and more about brute force and crazy stunts, so I didn't think it would fit very well.

In other words, not unless you want to. Minamoto is prolly a pretty common name. If you think it would be cool to have him be a very distant relative maybe, but Yoshitsune is a full human so Iunno how well it would work. If you like I can change his name.

Well, actually, historically (and how I use it), Minamoto was one surname given to the Emperor's children when they were demoted from royalty to nobility. Which... happened, but it wasn't exactly common, per se. So there's that. Make of it what you will. I don't have strong opinions either way.

We're starting!

@Heroic Sociopath: Actually no. Manga was not really a thing until the 1900s.

@Imca: You can still join once your sheet is finished/approved.

edited 10th Dec '16 9:16:12 PM by opnerf

Alright, I edited it out. Is he acceptable?