13,16,13,13,10,11
Female, Human, Fighter(Brawler)
22yrs, NG
Appearance:
She was that wiry sort of lithe, the kind of person who had to be all knees and elbows as a younger child. She was the kind of child that grew into them, and added a good few pounds of muscle. Her hazel eyes were indicative of her mixed heritage, but they were clear, and alert, indicative of a good head on her shoulders. She was not the type of woman whose bounty was on tantalizing display. She was the type of woman that would walk up, take a soldier's ale, and drink it in front of him with a confident grin. She was not quite corded and taut, but if she worked a little harder, she would be. Scars marked her knuckles, some on her hands, as well as a couple of faint lines on her face. Her dark hair was a cap of short curls on her head, too short to reach the jaw that had a stubborn set to it. When she laughed, her grin was wide, enthusiastic in the simple honesty of the moment. A "pretty lass", she was not, but "handsome woman" had been a compliment within her earshot a coyoke if times.
Background:
Mom left after Dad died. The details were something that she thought little of, because she had forgotten. No siblings, not in this city.. The friends of the family could only shake their head in a knowing manner that she could not understand then. Some did what they could, but that only lasted so long. However, she managed to scrape by, sometimes barely, for a while. Spending the tail end of her formative years as a street rat was a struggle. That struggle changed when she was conscripted into service at an inn named "The Warrior and Cup", in the Dockway.
Lady Eryn had a simple rule: "Work, and you eat." It was easy enough to follow, and it suited her just fine. She had a place to stay that fed her, kept her warm, and was dry. Some of the patrons would laugh when they would shoo her from behind the bar, since her head barely came over the bartop, but bringing the food out to people was also easy. They just learned to keep the knives out of her sight until she was gone. For reasons that she did not know, she had a fear of daggers or anything like them; small, light blades. She did not understand it, and in time, she got the better of it somewhat.
The real secret to the inn was what was downstairs. Illegal fighting. With all the shiphands coming in and out, it was easier to have the fights serve a purpose, instead of wrecking the bar. It was expected that she would find out eventually, but what they did not expect was that she would ken to it. Of course, she was cautioned not to talk, on pain of expulsion, and she kept her tongue.
As years passed, more and more of her time was coming to be spent working with the fighters rather than the inn. A year after that, she was one of the fighters that just happened to work at the inn. A streak of wins earned her the name she decide to take instead of the one she was given. They referred to her as the "Can not K.O.", as she was too quick on her feet, and to her ears, "Kanoko" sounded just fine. It sure beat "Elsinore Pitt". She at least was smart enough to realize that she could not fight forever, so she thought it fitting that if she was causing the hurt, she could learn a healer's art to mend the hurts as well. That it taught her how to hurt better was an unintended side-effect that she embraced.
When she had free time from her apprenticeship, she would often return to The Warrior and Cup, though whether she was serving or fighting was up to Lady Eryn. To her surprise, she was pulled aside one night, and instead of telling her to rest up or serve, she was told to go talk to a porter that was sitting in one corner. Curious, she did as she was told, and the porter, an older gentleman-- if gentlemen like him frequented this section of the Dockway-- looked her over before sighing.
"My lord has not had much luck with his engagements, though this is the first fiancee to actually have fled", he began. "Lady Eryn tells me you're a capable sort, and I trust her word..."
The note had been encountered by Kanoko in her limited exploration of the ship, wanting to stay close to the Ambassador so that she could perform her function, but this was the first time that she was on a ship, and she wanted to get a look at it before they set out.. The rocking of the ship was a bit peculiar to her, but it was nothing that she could not handle. So, with her pack stowed-- not that she knew how to use much in there besides what seemed to be their most common use-- she took the cage containing Tama, as she had not yet reached an agreement with her bunkmate, as well as it being an excuse to get him some fresh air.
The trills of annoyance at being in the cage, she humored, looking around the ship and wandering like a person inexperienced with being on the ship, though she tried to not get in anyone's way.
((There is no mention of what her scribe had her tongue removed for))
"Thank you Ambassador", Kanoko said, standing. "With your leave, I will situate my belongings, and greet my roommate."
Taking her belongings next door, she knocked politely before entering, greeting the other occupant of the room for the duration of the trip. It would be a pain to be so completely proper, so she did relax her greeting a bit, though she still deferred to the Scribe, since she had been positioned under the Ambassador longer. "Good Evening. I'm Kanoko, the assigned aide to the Lady Ambassador. Nice to meet you."
A glance of slight disdain at the size of the space that they were sharing was inevitable, but also quickly accepted, since she recognized that it would be her lot for now. The quarters she occupied prior to this were not much better, if she were to be truly honest. This was but one step.
There was a trill and some chirps(impatience, annoyance) from Tama, and she looked to the cage with a smile. "Hush you", she soothed, relieved that he had enough sense to not speak where he could be heard, or there would be more explanation that she would have wanted to give.
She turned to the scribe. "If it would not bother you, would you object to me letting Tama out of his cage for a while while I am present? He dislikes his cage, and I cannot find it in my heart to blame him so."
Kanoko thought she perhaps was giving less the image of an aide, though she approached with Rasamoro, and waited patiently for him to finish. There was a curious chirp from the bird in its wicker cage, but she shushed it with a look, setting the cage down to greet the Ambassador as befitting her stature. A bow, lingering downwards appropriately enough to display her position was given, before she raised her eyes no further than her belt.
"Esteemed Ambassador, I am Kanoko, your aide. It will be my pleasure to serve." A fairly standard greeting, just the right touch of deference, and just enough of a glance upwards to demonstrate awareness. This was her position, and she would not disgrace herself by failing in it at all. The only thing that remained was to get a feel for the Ambassador herself, so that she could better serve.
Definitely going to have to invest a couple of points in Disguise on next level up. Those checks are getting too close.
Straightening as the others did, she turned towards the Captain and offered him her standard polite smile and a deeper bow of greeting. This was to be the "host" of this "house", and he demanded respect. "Hoshino Kanoko, Captain Semaj."
She would admit that she stood out among the others, but they had not seen or met the envoy yet, and to stand out now-- not that she could help some of it-- may reflect poorly upon her. Perhaps to her credit, she did not bat an eye at seeing so many different types gathered.
Kanoko gave Karval a courteous nod, tacitly acknowledging a point in his favor. "Such is the trend of fashion", she conceded coolly, save for a slight narrowing of her eyes before she settled herself. 'And so the pecking order begins', she thought to herself with slight distaste.
"It is ornamentation", she continued calmly, politely smiling. "If it sees use, would one truly fault the blade?" A brief raise of her eyebrows was enough, she thought, to properly convey the thrust of her statement. While it came off to her as a bit haughty, it did serve her purposes.
Her ears took in the sounds of the dock, even at this late in the day, sights and sounds she did not often see, nor would choose to without good reason. Her attire and demeanor did make her stand out. Hopefully, she would not stand out too much when compared to the envoy. That would be disastrous.
The new arrivals also received a nod and murmured greeting, taking note of them, and sweeping across the rest. This was shaping up to be an interesting gathering so far, though what it implied was uncertain.
A chirp from the thrush in its cage was something other than its occasional chirp and she lifted her face, still wearing the semblance of a faint smile to the Hobgoblin, a slight tilt of her head, her amber eyes landing on him, before she gave a polite nod.
"Evening's greetings", she spoke softly and demurely. While the city guard was very diligent with their work, even civilized people could shed their decorum at times. She was still wearing the clothing of the courts, colors of blue, yellow, and cream in several layers, the decorative sheath of a dagger at her waist, its position fairly obvious that she was an inexperienced hand at it. A pack sat at her feet, though the birdcage was still in her right hand, the bird hopping about idly, looking at everything.
Family had its benefits-- and drawbacks, Kanoko decided, but one of the things that could never be done was ignore one's family. While it pained her to leave the court that she had been patiently working her way up in, she could not deny that a new ship was a chance to make a name-- or be forgotten. Still, orders were orders, and The Most Esteemed Mother was not one to be taken lightly.
So there was an almost undignified hurry about her tasks as she set things in order, and went about acquiring some of the necessities that she would require as an aide to an envoy. Her face was composed, but her mind was racing, as this was a sudden surprise that caught her unprepared. It took half the afternoon to set things in order without seeming amiss, and then she had to go and purchase things that she was certain that she did not know how to use, if even she would need to use!
She felt the agitation echoed in her companion, who was tweeting out a flurry of notes, sitting on the sill of the window, watching her and outside at the same time. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and tried to tie things up with decorum.
Still, the late afternoon saw her heading towards the docks at a mincing pace, face composed and steps even and calm. It would not do to be seen as in a hurry, though neither would it be proper to be late, either. At least a pair of her best clothes were in a bag at her side, but the rest of the items related to travel, she had to go and purchase. However, she was there just as evening arrived, with an mostly unfamiliar assortment of items stuffed into a pack that she was out of practice in carrying. The shopkeeper advised that it was better to have all of these things, than need them and be without. Ancestors, but the bag was heavy!
As she looked around, waiting patiently to see what would happen, she saw a few others greet each other like old friends, while her companion gave a twitter (irritation, annoyance) from the small wicker cage she was carrying him in, and she could not help the slight smile that curled her lips, responding with calm, as well as a slight bit of amusement.. Tama always did think he was a hawk rather than the scant handful of bird that he was.
This was not something that she was exactly prepared for.. Large scary beasts threatening the safety of a small region, sure.. Wildlife attacks, not so much. She could not attack, because she might hit the person the snake was attacking, but there was no one else nearby..
"Help!" she called, hoping that she was not going to regret this, rushing towards the villager's side to help try to get the snake off of him.
Grappling to try to get it off of him. 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
'No reaction at all? Even I would have at least glanced at the one warning me that I was about to die.."
Curiously, Myrie tilts her head at the spellcaster, who had not even seemed to react to her words, and reached out to poke him with her staff to verify that he was not simply a construct of some sort.
When the island shook, she turned her head towards the others, to see what they were doing, quickly realizing that there were more important things to do than try to communicate with the wizard. She began moving towards the point of egress for the villagers, easily enough casting a cantrip to hopefully help before she could get there.
(Had moved adjacent to the spellcaster to poke him, but at the cry of the villager, moving towards the snake, casting Daze(DC12),
Myrie continues approaching, waiting until the mage finishes casting to get his attention-- if her approach and uncommon garb had not done so already to warn him of the unfortunate events about to befall the village. She trusted that the others were already in action, glancing once over her shoulder to confirm.
Once the caster finishes: "There is danger coming, and you must make haste! This village will be sinking beneath the waves in a short time!"
There was haste in her motions, but mostly because she was unsure about how to go about things like this.. The water had already been shed from her fur and clothing with a simple cantrip, her almond eyes were set in a grim squint, tilting her head at the spellcaster as she tried to estimate the best way of getting the people off of the island quickly as possible.
The metal cap of her staff struck the ground as she made a decision, wasting little time as she moved towards the village "I'lll go talk to the mage", she said, her 'l's lasting longer than those speaking proper common. "Hopefullly, he'lll be able to speak the language.."
Spellcraft:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 to identify the spell that the spellcaster is casting as she approaches.
