Chibiko's page

About Chibiko

Appearance character portrait by Nikolas Russel

Chibiko Katahara is part Oni (a tiefling*) and exhibits certain diabolic characteristics. While resembling a petite Tian female human, her skin has a strange pearlescent paleness and her overly-large eyes have an amber hue. Two very small nubs of horn are almost lost in her tangled mess of piled on black hair. She has small fangs, one of which is sometimes jutting out of her lips without her knowledge. She also has a small tail which remains hidden under her robes.

She dresses in a fanciful kimono with gold koi, black leaves, on a red background with gold trim. Her tail and hooves are hidden by the voluminous skirts. She has many small pouches and bottles hanging from her obi... it is not uncommon for her to purchase few small ceramic jars of plum wine before an adventure.

She carries with her a long, thick, blackish staff around 6' in length. The top most portion of the staff appears to be tapered down from the rest, and is in fact a woven handle not unlike that found on a katana or wakizashi. The staff can be broken in the center, and a long sharp blade revealed to be hidden inside. This is a magical no-dachi* called "Willow's Promise" that Chibiko wields wildly in combat even though her command of it is not very great.

Personality and History

Chibiko is very easy going... in that she doesn't stand on the formality one might expect from a member of the Lantern Lodge. Being a witch, and part Oni, she is an outcast and acts often-times as if society's rules do not apply to her. This has not made her life very easy- in fact, her reluctance to obey a certain noble back in Tian resulted in her "assignment" to the Lantern Lodge. Only once she has proven herself able to accept orders can she be allowed to return to her home.

Being assigned to the Lantern Lodge doesn't really mind Chibiko in the slightest, except for perhaps when the Pathfinders get so "high and mighty" about themselves- she has found her life as a Pathfinder to be one-part expert treasure hunter and one-part thug willing to carry out a Venture Captain's orders... so far, it suits her fine and it gives her freedom from the life back home.

She is most interested in learning more about this Cayden Cailen fellow- worshiped here in the west of Golarion as a god, despite his behavior! Adventuring, fighting, drinking and finding treasure... what a wonderful life he must have had... she is confused as to whether he is still alive, a God, or dead- but no matter! There will be time to learn more, Chibiko thinks. UPDATE! Chibiko recently helped to liberate the Abasalom temple of Cayden Cailen from demons... earning her...

Her Familiar Companion

Chibiko's companion is a protean void worm which only revealed its true form to her recently. Most of the time, the worm takes the form of a small silver Fox with two tails that she keeps concealed about her robes. The Fox came to her when she was very young and has taught her all kinds of tricks. She calls him "Om Nom" because he seems to be in dire hunger all the time. She loves Om Nom desperately as he is only true friend she has had- being shunned by people because of her appearance. She loves sneaking him treats of food and making a fuss about him. (Most recently, when sent to the frozen wastes of Irrisen she insisted on buying leather booties to protect Om Nom's feet from the cold before leaving.) "Om" has been trained to bite comrades who have been targeted by magical sleep in order to wake them up. Om Nom can also assume a form similar to a red panda cub

Others Around Chibiko

Chibiko's antics don't particularly endear her to her compatriots, in particular a lawful monk named Lightheart who attempts to control and curtail her chaotic actions at every turn. She has been known to attempt to encourage over-drinking and risk-taking with her party mates and even has slapped one of them on the bottom when behind him on a ladder.

Despite her devil-may-care (no pun intended) attitude, Chibiko is a very lonely person inside. Strangely, her appearance is more accepted outside of Tian and she is only starting to notice how some men look at her. Her facade of crassness and carelessness is her shield from relationships with others- which in the past have been hurtful and disappointing.

Chibiko's opinion of Amara Li is an odd combination of respect and ridicule... while she would never refuse an order from Li, she sees Li as being way too "up tight" and too full of Tian properness. Chibiko delights in the relative freedom she has found in the lands of the Inner Sea and wonders why Amara clings so much to "the old ways". Strangely, there is a part of Chibiko that respects Li for that- another example of Chibiko's somewhat paradoxical state of being affecting her thoughts and feelings.

Chibiko came into ownership of a ship reminiscent of Chinese junks. The ship's name is スター放浪 or Lonely Wandering Star. The ship was purchased by PA and provides her adventuring band with a mobile base of operations as well as opportunities to "make a little money on the side".

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*Being a tiefling and weilding a no-dachi are two boons Chibiko was created with that were awarded at GenCon 2011.

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Inspiration

Some inspiration for Chibiko came from wuxia film witches such as the protagonist ghost from "A Chinese Ghost Story" or this character from "Forbidden Kingdom" (text from Wikipedia.org):

Lian Nichang (練霓裳), nicknamed "Jade Rakshasa" (玉羅剎), is the titular protagonist of the novel. She was raised by wolves as an infant and later adopted and tutored by Ling Muhua. Her prowess in swordplay and qinggong is legendary, and she uses her skills to deliver justice like a vigilante. Though beautiful in appearance, she is deadly, as her sword movements are extremely brutal and aggressive. She also metes out draconian punishments and torturous deaths to her enemies, projecting an image of herself in the jianghu as a menacing demoness. She becomes known as the "White Haired Demoness" (白髮魔女) after her hair turns white.

Other inspiration is from anime characters such as Ryoko from the Tenchi OVA.