Tayu
11-19-10, 12:19 AM
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/Anglekos/Masami.png
Identity
Given Name
Maki Hanamura (花村真貴). However, she does not use this name. Ever.
Psuedonyms/Aliases
As a Tayu, her name is Masami Maeda (前田雅美).
Actual Age
Seventeen years of age.
Age of Appearance
Due to her primary profession, she dresses and appears slightly older than her actual age; she could be mistaken for a woman in her early twenties.
Race
Human (Akashiman).
Gender
Female.
Birthday
December 4th
Natural Height and Weight
Masami stands at an average five-foot three inches, although her footwear, her geta, often projects her height to about five-foot nine, making her appear very tall for her gender. Without clothing, she weighs around one-hundred and twenty pounds; however, her primary occupation requires her to wear some very heavy clothing, and she can possibly weigh up to one hundred and forty pounds wearing this clothing.
Natural Hair Color, Skin Color, Eye Color
Like most of her race, she has deep, deep black hair, that flows from her head to just down past her waist; utterly straight, it is extremely glossy and meticulously maintained, to nie-perfection. However, it's length is often misconstrued as most of her public appearance has her hair done up in extremely ornate fashion, pierced through with a great amount of amber pins and excellent silver decorations as is the traditional wear for those of her occupation. Her skin is normally a fair white, but often she wears pure white makeup upon her exposed skin when in public, making her appear far paler than she actually is. Finally, her eyes are a reflective black, with crimson eyeliner to accentuate the dark color against the fairness of her skin.
General Base Appearance
Masami is beautiful even by foreign standards, and to both genders. Even if someone had a set preference in what type of being or look they were attracted to, they would find themselves gazing upon her in lust. By society's definition, Masami is the very specimen of beauty, in all of her features; neither too thin nor overweight, her body is both curvaceous and restrained at the same time, reflecting it's obvious purpose of seduction. Normally, her clothing consists of long, heavy, ornate kimonos made of fine silk, which serve as a mark of her status. These kimonos are generally very heavy, although she also wears somewhat thinner and simpler kimonos around her estate. Also, she always wears geta, which are extemely tall shoes made of laquered wood with a silk strap between the big and middle toes. These boost her height extremely and make her appear far talller than she actually is. When not wearing geta, she instead wears tabi socks, which is generally also only in her estate.
Current Occupation
A famous tayu; the highest-ranking courtesan in all of Akashima. Unlike the oiran, a tayu is specifically reserved for only the members of either royalty or important status in Akashiman society. However, she was born with a natural affinity for Spirit Warding, and thus actively practices it on her own; while not being an official Warder, she has enough personal experience to garner the respect from others as such. Due to the lack of Warders in her area, locals usually come to her to drive malicious spirits away - but her unique way of Warding often gives a dark reputation.
General Personality Overview
As a tayu, she has gained a sense of egotistical pride in her abilities and a great amount in her beauty. She considers herself to be the fairest woman in Akashima, even when compared to the Imperial Family itself, and she doesn't hesitate in expressing herself in such a manner as to reveal that pride. However, she does carry a respectable amount of humility despite her profession that is self-inflicted due to personal reasons. So while she has an outer exterior of being vain and haughty, inside she is a deep person that has real feelings and emotions, just like everyone else. Through Warding, she has gathered a deep respect for the spiritual world as well, beyond that of the material plane.
Abilities and Skills
Martial Abilities
- Toho Hana (徒歩花): A forming of flowing, dancing martial arts that was based off of Akashiman royal fan-dancing, it was developed for female descendants of the royal family so they could protect themselves if need be. The martial art utilizes dance techniques to confuse their opponents and make their movements hard to predict, and is often used with either tessen or short blades to make full use of the rotating movements. Masami is currently at above average skill in this art, utilizing some advanced maneuvers within her "dancing".
Spirit Warding
Most of Masami's spiritual abilities come from her own natural talent rather than actual training, so development of her abilities does not follow the traditional path of Spirit Warders. Her abilities can be tracked using a number scale, from 1 (Novice) to 5 (Master). Due to her unique ability, she does not practice the Healing Arts.
- Sight (お目): The ability to "see" things within the spiritual realm. The depth of this power depends on the experience and innate ties to the realm of it's wielder. Currently, Masami is dependable (2) with her Sight; she has more experience than a novice Spirit Warder, but she still has a lot to learn.
- Speech (弁舌): The capability of speaking with the spirits. Like Sight, the depth of this power depends on experience and one's own ties to the spiritual realm. Masami is also dependable (2) in this area.
- Sense (勘): This ability allows the user to detect spiritual, and also, magical forces to a certain extent around the person. Also like Speech and Sight, this ability is experience-based, so right now Masami is dependable (2) when Sensing.
- Onmyoudou (陰陽道): The practice of Warding magic, it mostly consists of constructing and using paper or other talismans to prevent evil spirits from entering or even leaving certain areas, and can also be used to damage, harm, or even destroy some spirits. As it is in the base form of onmyoudou, Masami is a novice (1); as much of her practices don't utilize the base arts of the magic.
- Demonic Absorption (摂取 天魔): Masami practices a unique form of onmyoudou that, instead of banishing evil spirits to the Afterlife, seals them within her body, where they await to be purified and upon doing so, are then sent to the "other side" or destroyed utterly. However, the latter is for very rare cases. As it stands right now, Masami can absorb minor spirits and demons into her body with little effort and effect upon her, but major ones, while she can still absorb them, can inflict ill effects upon her body and even influence her mindset until purified or destroyed. She cannot absorb the greater demons at this point, as their essence is simply too much for her to handle. (3)
Tayu
As a tayu, Masami has learned and actively uses several skills she's obtained over years of studies, practice, and experience. A note: These skills are not combat-orientated, and like her Spirit Warding abilities, can be tracked with a number scale from 1 (Novice) to a 5 (Master).
- Seduction (蠱惑): As a tayu, the art of seduction is one not only innate to Masami but essential as well. She is an expert (4) when it comes to seducing others, relying not only upon her immense beauty to do so but also using insight into her victim's wants and tastes to appeal to their needs, even if their heart belongs to another for example. (Can only be used on another PC with owner's permission.)
- Performing Arts (舞台芸術): Similarly to the geisha, the tayu are skilled in the art of entertaining their "guests" via the musical and performing arts, which include traditional dancing, important cultural rituals, singing traditional songs and playing the shamisen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamisen). However, compared to the geisha, tayu are much more refined and elegant. Currently, Masami is experienced (3) in these arts.
Equipment
Weaponry
- A pair of tessen (鉄扇) that she keeps with her at all times. Exotic Akashiman weapons, their appearance is that of ornate and elegant fans, but sharp steel knives have replaced the wooden slats of the fans, giving them a sharp deadly quality perfect for toho hana. The base of the fans are heavy counterweights that deliver blunt damage easily.
Armory
- None, save for her kimonos, which are usually made of silk and are designed for beauty and aesthetics rather than actual physical defense.
Items
- A pair of regular dancing Akashiman fans, the wood in the slats is made of Akashiman redwood. Despite the rare quality of the fans, they are a heirloom passed down to her and cannot be sold.
- A shamisen of high quality, the instrument, like her fans, is also made of Akashiman redwood, and stretched over the base is dog skin for the resonate notes. Like the fans, this cannot be sold.
- Talisman papers and ink, for her onmyoudou.
History
Maki, or Masami, as she would later come to be called, was born into one of the wealthiest and well-known aristocratic families in Akashima, which also held ties to the royal family. She lived the life of an aristocrat until she was ten years old, whereupon she was promised to the son of the Daimyo of Akashima as a status statement for her family. Unable to marry, however, due to political disputes within, the decision was instead made that she would become an Oiran to the son, whose name was Toshinaga Maeda. Upon becoming an Oiran she changed her name and, as a sign of respect and subservience, took on his last name for her own.
Training in various traditional arts while staying in the limelight of the realm's politics, Masami eventually became a full-fledged tayu; a step up from the regular Oiran, due to her beauty and skill. It was at this point that her supernatural abilities began to manifest themselves, and upon seeing this a few Spirit Warders tried to take her under their wing; however, her upbringing and status would not allow her to stoop to the position of a mere apprentice at that point, and she instead vouched to harness these abilities on her own, developing a unique form of magic that would separate her from normal Warders.
It has been several years since that point, and she now resides in an estate close to that of the Akashiman royal family's, practicing her duties as a tayu and further developing her abilities as a Spirit Warder.
NPC's and Familiars
The Kamuro: Young handmaidens of the tayu. They do not possess any supernatural or combat abilities.
- Hitomi is the eldest of the six, being fourteen years old.
- Keiko is eleven years old.
- Bunko is a ten year old.
- Sachiko is nine years old.
- Shika is seven years old.
- Yumi is the youngest, being six years old.
The Tetsudaite: The assistant to the tayu, she is basically her secretary. Her name is Chiharu, and she is thirty-eight years old. She is in charge of taking care of the kamuro and of the tayu's general affairs. She possesses no combat or supernatural abilities.
Identity
Given Name
Maki Hanamura (花村真貴). However, she does not use this name. Ever.
Psuedonyms/Aliases
As a Tayu, her name is Masami Maeda (前田雅美).
Actual Age
Seventeen years of age.
Age of Appearance
Due to her primary profession, she dresses and appears slightly older than her actual age; she could be mistaken for a woman in her early twenties.
Race
Human (Akashiman).
Gender
Female.
Birthday
December 4th
Natural Height and Weight
Masami stands at an average five-foot three inches, although her footwear, her geta, often projects her height to about five-foot nine, making her appear very tall for her gender. Without clothing, she weighs around one-hundred and twenty pounds; however, her primary occupation requires her to wear some very heavy clothing, and she can possibly weigh up to one hundred and forty pounds wearing this clothing.
Natural Hair Color, Skin Color, Eye Color
Like most of her race, she has deep, deep black hair, that flows from her head to just down past her waist; utterly straight, it is extremely glossy and meticulously maintained, to nie-perfection. However, it's length is often misconstrued as most of her public appearance has her hair done up in extremely ornate fashion, pierced through with a great amount of amber pins and excellent silver decorations as is the traditional wear for those of her occupation. Her skin is normally a fair white, but often she wears pure white makeup upon her exposed skin when in public, making her appear far paler than she actually is. Finally, her eyes are a reflective black, with crimson eyeliner to accentuate the dark color against the fairness of her skin.
General Base Appearance
Masami is beautiful even by foreign standards, and to both genders. Even if someone had a set preference in what type of being or look they were attracted to, they would find themselves gazing upon her in lust. By society's definition, Masami is the very specimen of beauty, in all of her features; neither too thin nor overweight, her body is both curvaceous and restrained at the same time, reflecting it's obvious purpose of seduction. Normally, her clothing consists of long, heavy, ornate kimonos made of fine silk, which serve as a mark of her status. These kimonos are generally very heavy, although she also wears somewhat thinner and simpler kimonos around her estate. Also, she always wears geta, which are extemely tall shoes made of laquered wood with a silk strap between the big and middle toes. These boost her height extremely and make her appear far talller than she actually is. When not wearing geta, she instead wears tabi socks, which is generally also only in her estate.
Current Occupation
A famous tayu; the highest-ranking courtesan in all of Akashima. Unlike the oiran, a tayu is specifically reserved for only the members of either royalty or important status in Akashiman society. However, she was born with a natural affinity for Spirit Warding, and thus actively practices it on her own; while not being an official Warder, she has enough personal experience to garner the respect from others as such. Due to the lack of Warders in her area, locals usually come to her to drive malicious spirits away - but her unique way of Warding often gives a dark reputation.
General Personality Overview
As a tayu, she has gained a sense of egotistical pride in her abilities and a great amount in her beauty. She considers herself to be the fairest woman in Akashima, even when compared to the Imperial Family itself, and she doesn't hesitate in expressing herself in such a manner as to reveal that pride. However, she does carry a respectable amount of humility despite her profession that is self-inflicted due to personal reasons. So while she has an outer exterior of being vain and haughty, inside she is a deep person that has real feelings and emotions, just like everyone else. Through Warding, she has gathered a deep respect for the spiritual world as well, beyond that of the material plane.
Abilities and Skills
Martial Abilities
- Toho Hana (徒歩花): A forming of flowing, dancing martial arts that was based off of Akashiman royal fan-dancing, it was developed for female descendants of the royal family so they could protect themselves if need be. The martial art utilizes dance techniques to confuse their opponents and make their movements hard to predict, and is often used with either tessen or short blades to make full use of the rotating movements. Masami is currently at above average skill in this art, utilizing some advanced maneuvers within her "dancing".
Spirit Warding
Most of Masami's spiritual abilities come from her own natural talent rather than actual training, so development of her abilities does not follow the traditional path of Spirit Warders. Her abilities can be tracked using a number scale, from 1 (Novice) to 5 (Master). Due to her unique ability, she does not practice the Healing Arts.
- Sight (お目): The ability to "see" things within the spiritual realm. The depth of this power depends on the experience and innate ties to the realm of it's wielder. Currently, Masami is dependable (2) with her Sight; she has more experience than a novice Spirit Warder, but she still has a lot to learn.
- Speech (弁舌): The capability of speaking with the spirits. Like Sight, the depth of this power depends on experience and one's own ties to the spiritual realm. Masami is also dependable (2) in this area.
- Sense (勘): This ability allows the user to detect spiritual, and also, magical forces to a certain extent around the person. Also like Speech and Sight, this ability is experience-based, so right now Masami is dependable (2) when Sensing.
- Onmyoudou (陰陽道): The practice of Warding magic, it mostly consists of constructing and using paper or other talismans to prevent evil spirits from entering or even leaving certain areas, and can also be used to damage, harm, or even destroy some spirits. As it is in the base form of onmyoudou, Masami is a novice (1); as much of her practices don't utilize the base arts of the magic.
- Demonic Absorption (摂取 天魔): Masami practices a unique form of onmyoudou that, instead of banishing evil spirits to the Afterlife, seals them within her body, where they await to be purified and upon doing so, are then sent to the "other side" or destroyed utterly. However, the latter is for very rare cases. As it stands right now, Masami can absorb minor spirits and demons into her body with little effort and effect upon her, but major ones, while she can still absorb them, can inflict ill effects upon her body and even influence her mindset until purified or destroyed. She cannot absorb the greater demons at this point, as their essence is simply too much for her to handle. (3)
Tayu
As a tayu, Masami has learned and actively uses several skills she's obtained over years of studies, practice, and experience. A note: These skills are not combat-orientated, and like her Spirit Warding abilities, can be tracked with a number scale from 1 (Novice) to a 5 (Master).
- Seduction (蠱惑): As a tayu, the art of seduction is one not only innate to Masami but essential as well. She is an expert (4) when it comes to seducing others, relying not only upon her immense beauty to do so but also using insight into her victim's wants and tastes to appeal to their needs, even if their heart belongs to another for example. (Can only be used on another PC with owner's permission.)
- Performing Arts (舞台芸術): Similarly to the geisha, the tayu are skilled in the art of entertaining their "guests" via the musical and performing arts, which include traditional dancing, important cultural rituals, singing traditional songs and playing the shamisen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamisen). However, compared to the geisha, tayu are much more refined and elegant. Currently, Masami is experienced (3) in these arts.
Equipment
Weaponry
- A pair of tessen (鉄扇) that she keeps with her at all times. Exotic Akashiman weapons, their appearance is that of ornate and elegant fans, but sharp steel knives have replaced the wooden slats of the fans, giving them a sharp deadly quality perfect for toho hana. The base of the fans are heavy counterweights that deliver blunt damage easily.
Armory
- None, save for her kimonos, which are usually made of silk and are designed for beauty and aesthetics rather than actual physical defense.
Items
- A pair of regular dancing Akashiman fans, the wood in the slats is made of Akashiman redwood. Despite the rare quality of the fans, they are a heirloom passed down to her and cannot be sold.
- A shamisen of high quality, the instrument, like her fans, is also made of Akashiman redwood, and stretched over the base is dog skin for the resonate notes. Like the fans, this cannot be sold.
- Talisman papers and ink, for her onmyoudou.
History
Maki, or Masami, as she would later come to be called, was born into one of the wealthiest and well-known aristocratic families in Akashima, which also held ties to the royal family. She lived the life of an aristocrat until she was ten years old, whereupon she was promised to the son of the Daimyo of Akashima as a status statement for her family. Unable to marry, however, due to political disputes within, the decision was instead made that she would become an Oiran to the son, whose name was Toshinaga Maeda. Upon becoming an Oiran she changed her name and, as a sign of respect and subservience, took on his last name for her own.
Training in various traditional arts while staying in the limelight of the realm's politics, Masami eventually became a full-fledged tayu; a step up from the regular Oiran, due to her beauty and skill. It was at this point that her supernatural abilities began to manifest themselves, and upon seeing this a few Spirit Warders tried to take her under their wing; however, her upbringing and status would not allow her to stoop to the position of a mere apprentice at that point, and she instead vouched to harness these abilities on her own, developing a unique form of magic that would separate her from normal Warders.
It has been several years since that point, and she now resides in an estate close to that of the Akashiman royal family's, practicing her duties as a tayu and further developing her abilities as a Spirit Warder.
NPC's and Familiars
The Kamuro: Young handmaidens of the tayu. They do not possess any supernatural or combat abilities.
- Hitomi is the eldest of the six, being fourteen years old.
- Keiko is eleven years old.
- Bunko is a ten year old.
- Sachiko is nine years old.
- Shika is seven years old.
- Yumi is the youngest, being six years old.
The Tetsudaite: The assistant to the tayu, she is basically her secretary. Her name is Chiharu, and she is thirty-eight years old. She is in charge of taking care of the kamuro and of the tayu's general affairs. She possesses no combat or supernatural abilities.