Kichiro Hayashi's page

Kichiro’s homeworld was once a place of green islands and mysterious oceans, where foxes dwelt in fields and woods while humans lived in their cities. At least, that’s what the elders say. Kichiro himself was born after the Day of Fire, when great firestorms consumed the cities, storms blew down the forests, ash rained from the sky, the sun disappeared from the sky, and the oceans froze over. Life struggled to survive in that time, but it managed.

By the time Kichiro was born, the sun had returned and the oceans thawed, but the world was forever changed. As far as the kitsune could tell, humanity was gone. Their once-great cities were now little more than ashes, melted metal, and scorched stone. Ships no longer sailed the seas between islands, leaving the surviving foxes trapped upon their shores. Only a few sheltered pockets of forest still lived, and even the grasses survived only in patches here and there.

Nor were the kitsune themselves unchanged. Kichiro was born a single child, something that would have been unheard-of before the Day of Fire. He was large and strong for a kit, maturing quickly, as if he knew the world was now a hard place. Where once a fox had needed to live a hundred years before it grew its second tail and gained its shapeshifting powers, he changed form before he was ten, and had three tails before his twentieth year. Others of his generation were similarly unusual, though he was the fastest to develop.

Thus did Kichiro grow up in a world made waste, where simple survival consumed most time and effort. Seeking food was hard because of its scarcity, but even harder because strange, dangerous creatures now prowled the wastes. As his powers grew Kichiro started to fight back against these beasts… particularly when he discovered he could change his shape to more than just a humanoid form. Unfortunately the creatures proved inedible, but his strength was still useful in defending against the creatures while searching for something to eat.

Sometime in his eighty-first year, Kichiro found something strange--a portal in the air that led to a place he had never seen before, with a small ribbon with a gem in it (unbeknownst to him, a Telesma) lying on the ground beneath it. Curiously he shifted to his bipedal form and tied the ribbon on one of this tails. It felt oddly warm, and somehow familiar, but he quickly forgot about it when he reached up and climbed through the portal, for what was on the other side was beyond his wildest imaginings.

A city, filled with every sort of creature… and with food! Food of every sort! Food for days, months, years! He wasn’t quite sure what this “money” thing was that one of the creatures near the food started shouting about when he started eating it, but he was sure it’d be fine…

That night, he found out what “money” was, along with “guards” and “jail”. He also learned something darker, for he realized on looking at the various creatures involved in the whole process that they all looked delicious. For some reason the thought of eating their hearts and livers made his mouth water. The thought felt wrong, however, so he buried it deep within his mind and tried to ignore it.

Fortunately, this being Hyraeatan, his honest explanation that he hadn’t had a clue about having to pay for things got him out with only a few hours of work for the store owner. Having time to talk with said owner (who turned out to not be the bad sort), Kichiro agreed with them to work a few extra hours in return for some extra food.

Food in arms, Kichiro retraced his steps and went back through the strange portal to his home, and went to tell his clan about what he’d found. Were it not for the food he’d brought they likely would not have believed him, but with it… well, hungry bellies make for believing minds, and soon enough the whole clan was ready to follow him through this strange hole in the air.

The Hayashi clan of kitsune have settled into the Orchard District of Hyraeatan quite comfortably in the ensuing half-century, one more group of threads in the massive tapestry making up the metropolis. And a good thing, too, for the portal they’d entered through had closed only a few days after they came through. Over this time Kichiro has been quite active, exploring the city, venturing out into the planes, and generally getting himself into as many interesting situations as he can, both to indulge in his own curiosity (and greed) and to bring glory to himself and his clan.

Kichiro has become something of a leader in his clan in spite of his relative youth, thanks to a combination of his power and his charming manner. This has provoked a certain amount of jealousy from the more conservative of the clan elders. Thus far the tension has not resulted in much more than bickering and changing the rule about becoming an elder from having seven tails to being more than six centuries old, but it is growing.

Kichiro’s move to join the Warders is part wanting to try something new, part glory-seeking, and part a genuine desire to protect his home. After all of the wars and tumults Hyraeatan has been through (largely when he’s been off exploring), he thinks it’s about time to lend a tail and do something about it. He joined in time to have a small part in fighting back the Lightbringers’ Incursion… too small, in his opinion.

The next time, he’d have to be in the middle of it all.

'10-Min' Background
Step 1: Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum...more elements are encouraged!

*Kichiro is a master shapeshifter and hunter, who has expanded his talents with his innate kitsune magic to unheard-of heights.
He comes from a wasteland world devastated by some sort of apocalypse
*He’s mostly a free spirit, indulging his curiosity and his taste for mischief freely, but he does have a compassionate streak and he’s loyal to his clan
*Kichiro doesn’t particularly like authority, but he does crave recognition and honor
*He also has a bit of a greedy streak
*He’s usually a pretty friendly guy, who loves meeting new people and seeing new places, but can be savage (almost feral) if provoked

Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.

*Kichiro wants to explore, meet new people, learn new things, and generally just always be encountering novelty. He doesn’t really have an ‘end goal’ in this respect--he’d be happy doing this forever.
*He’d also like to do something about his hunger. Being a friendly guy who wants to eat people doesn’t sit well with him, so if given a way to fix that hunger he’d like to take it.
*Personally, I really like shapeshifters. I’d like lots of opportunities to use his shapeshifting powers to solve problems, as well as ways to expand his shapeshifting abilities (possibly beyond even what the Alteration Sphere gives him)

Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!

*Kichiro wants to eat people (where ‘people’ means any sentient being who’s not a kitsune). Specifically their hearts, or maybe their lungs or livers. He has no idea why, and he hates the fact that one of the first thoughts that runs through his mind whenever he meets someone new with at least semi-recognizable anatomy is “your heart would be delicious”, but that’s just how he is. He very strictly avoids giving in to this hunger, however. (basically mixing a bit of kumiho in)
*Kichiro’s Telesma actually originally belonged to a demigoddess associated with famine and death. She lost it in a fight with another demigod--the same battle tore a hole between planes (the portal he and his clan traveled through). While this demigoddess was slain, death has not necessarily stopped her...
Bearing this Telesma is actually worsening his hunger, unknown to him, due to its continued connection to violent death and so forth.

Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.

*The Clan Elders:
-The Eldest, a nearly 1000-year-old nine-tailed vixen, so old she hardly moves any more, but her mind is still keen and her magic powerful. She is actually fairly supportive of Kichiro, though she won’t hesitate to chew him out if he does something she thinks is stupid.
-Hayashi Haruka, an eight-tailed vixen and a big traditionalist. She spoke against moving from their homeland to Hyraeatan, and is still bitter about being overruled on this by the other elders, not to mention all of the other changes to their traditions that have followed. Largely sees all of this as being Kichiro’s fault.
-Hayashi Saburou, the newest elder, seven-tailed and jealous of his power. Sees Kichiro as a threat to traditional authority and tries to subtly undermine him in the eyes of the clan.
*His parents, Aiko and Yuuto Hayashi. Kichiro is not as close to his parents as might be expected due to the very clan-based society of the kitsune, but is still fond of them. His parents generally support him in turn, though his father Yuuto is wary of the friction between him and the elders.
*Karithsla*ckhthinailiooooui, or whatever it is they’re calling themselves today, a Protean exile (being somewhat inclined to some modicum of order) who shares a mutual fascination with Kichiro. They manage to be friends and trickster rivals simultaneously, laughing together and marveling at each others’ exploits even as they try to one-up each other with harmless practical jokes.

Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.

*Kichiro really likes food. As in, “always carries snacks and tries for at least four meals a day” likes food. He’s not picky about what he eats, though he definitely comments on whether or not it’s good food. (This stems from two things--first, growing up in a wasteland ingrained in him the need to eat whenever there’s food because there might not be food tomorrow. Second, surrounded by people he secretly wants to eat, he overindulges in more ordinary foods to try to smother his horrific secret hunger.)
*Due to the above, he’s on the portly side. He’s not carrying enough extra weight to slow him down, particularly given the strength of the muscle beneath his fat, but he definitely stands out amongst a race usually known for their lithe frames.
*He likes to wink a lot. He also sniffs a lot, particularly in human form.