Kenzo Misashi's page

The son an up-and-coming merchant, eleven-year old Kenzo was sent away to a prestigious school so he could take over his family’s business and bring it to the next level. He left as a boy and was to return as a young man, but he never returned home; there was nothing to return to.

Barely a year into his studies, he was told that his family had met an untimely death in a house fire. With no one left to manage the blossoming Misashi enterprise, his family’s business and properties were quickly absorbed by a rival merchant. And when the payments stopped coming for his continuing education, Kenzo was going to be put out in the street. But the young boy had a strike of good luck. One of his teachers, Ueshiba, had recognized his potential and took him in as his uchi-deshi. He no longer belonged to the Imperial Dragon School of Magic, he was now the personal apprentice-assistant of one its most important teachers.

Ueshiba continued to develop Kenzo’s natural magic talent but, no longer restricted by the school, he also taught the young man other subjects as well. Ueshiba, a Shelyn worshipper, instilled in young Kenzo the love of art and beauty, to seek beauty in all things and in all actions. Kenzo, who excelled in his magical studies, also became an accomplished musician and painter. When students left the school on their annual reprieve, Kenzo remained and continued to satiate his never-ending thirst for knowledge.

Being an uchi-deshi also required excellent physical conditioning. It took great stamina to work and study long hours and Ueshiba never let up on Kenzo. Long hours that none of the other students had to endure; it was as if Kenzo was being trained for something more. Ueshiba taught Kenzo breathing exercises and meditation in motion, slow dance-like moves for full body conditioning. The young man did not develop the raw strength of a warrior but he could match them for agility and toughness.

Along with magical studies came history, lots of history. It was as if Ueshiba was obsessed and he filled his young student’s mind with the glorious history of Minkai and its five ruling families.

Ueshiba had noted how the families were disappearing and commented that it would be a very day for Minkai if none remained to rule this land. To this end, Ueshiba brought along young Kenzo to meetings with like-minded people; these meetings led to tasks. Small tasks at first, like deliver a letter or pick up a parcel. These later turned to escorting people from place to place. And these tasks were not without danger, danger that Kenzo had been prepared to face.

All of this came to a crescendo a couple of months ago. Amid the increasing internal troubles that threatened to turn Minkai into a full out civil war, Ueshiba told Kenzo that he had to leave on an important mission. And Kenzo was to undertake an important mission himself; he had to travel to the other side of the world and find and bring back the Last Heiress.

APPEARANCE

A young man in his prime, Kenzo has long, thick hair usually worn in a topknot. He is in excellent physical conditioning, seemingly out of place in someone who dedicates most of his time to studying. He wears loose, flowing robes; the silk robes, usually in green tones, are beautifully embroidered with golden threads. He has a jade pearl in the claw of a dragon around his neck and a ring in the shape of an oriental golden dragon surrounds his finger. He seems to have a perpetual smile and kind, slightly sad eyes.

PERSONALITY

Kenzo is a compassionate man with a strong sense of duty. He is eternally thankful to his master who has taught him the appreciation for art and beauty, something he exemplifies in his clothes and belongings. If it is not beautiful then it is not worth having so he’s always improving his possessions, making them beautiful if they were not already so.

His connection to the upper planes of existence is strong and he befriends and seeks advice from celestial creatures he encounters or summons. He knows that he too will one day in the upper planes as he improves upon his daily living.

Calm, even when others would be very stressed, he believes in destiny and the natural order of things. He gives his full attention to the task at hand and trusts that it will come out alright. Kenzo is very perceptive and in tune with his immediate surroundings. He often paints or plays his koto to meld into the present moment.