Kitsu Aikiro

Name: Kitsu Aikiro
Gender: Cisgender Female
Age: 19 years
Appearance and Demeanor: Aikiro is a young woman with fair skin and long, black hair, which she likes to wear loose—though she will put it up in formal style when the occasion demands it. She is unremarkably pretty—pleasant to look at, but not so much that she stands out in a crowd. What really captures people’s attention is her ever-cheerful smile. She has a bubbly, outgoing demeanor. She tries to reign it in and put on a front of solemnity like a proper samurai when the occasion demands it, but she’s not very good at it. She is intensely curious about others and always eager to learn about them.

Twenty Questions

1. Clan: Lion (+1 Water, + 1 Tactics, Status: 35)
2. Family: Kitsu (+ 1 Void, +1 Meditation, +1 Theology, Glory: 40, wealth: 4 koku)
3. School: Kitsu Medium, shugenja (+1 Void, +1 Water, +1 Courtesy, +1 Meditation, +1 Theology, Honor: 50)
4. How does your character stand out?: Passion (+1 Fire)
5. Giri: Serving a specific ancestral spirit, Ikoma Tojashi, the Lion lore mistress who first systematized the teaching of Akodo’s Leadership in the Lion Clan’s dojos. She is a staunch traditionalist, who believes that the other clans fail to properly understand the nuances of Bushido. Aikiro is also answerable to a living lord, Kitsu Sujero, the chief priest of the shrine where she trained—and who sees it as part of his duties that the ancestral spirits are happy with the conduct of their descendants.
6. Ninjo: Learning the customs of other clans, especially their understanding of Bushido. Ikoma Tojashi views Aikiro’s pursuits with some skepticism and disdain. She thinks they might be useful if Aikiro would use them to explain to other clans why they are wrong, but that is not the view Aikiro takes.
7. Relationship with Clan: Aikiro does not believe the Lion Clan is the final authority on all things Bushido-related, but looks to learn from other clans. (+1 Culture)
8. Views on Bushido: Orthodox (+10 Honor)
9. Greatest Accomplishment: Aikiro has bonded with the ancestral spirit, Ikoma Tojashi. (Distinction: Sixth Sense)
10. What holds your character back?: Aikiro takes people at face value and is typically oblivious to deceptions and subtleties. (Adversity: Bluntness)
11. What brings your character peace? Aikiro likes making others happy and, while she maybe oblivious to subtleties, she is perceptive about what gifts others will enjoy. (Passion: Generosity)
12. Trouble: Aikiro dislikes the violence and killing that is part of a samurai’s duty and will shy from doing it if she can avoid it. (Anxiety: Soft-heartedness)
13. Mentor: The lore master Akodo Doraji taught her the value of learning from history—and not only that of the Lion Clan, but of the other clans as well. (Passion: History)
14. Personality, Quirks and Habits: Aikiro always has a warm smile when meeting new people or someone she hasn’t seen in a while, even if they got along badly last time they met. For the most part, she dresses in typical Lion Clan attire—but she wears a broad Unicorn Clan-style sash around her waist, that she was given as a gift when she visited there, as a way of reminding her of what first awakened her curiosity about other clans.
15. Personality, Quirks and Habits: Aikiro has a high-pitched giggle when anxious.
16. Relationships: Aikiro’s mother, Utaku Shoni, is a member of the Unicorn Clan. A visit to the Unicorns when Aikiro was a young teen set on her path of wanting to learn from the other clans. Seeing her fascination with their ways, they gave her a daikyu as a gift. (Equipment: Daikyu)
17. Relationships: Aikiro’s parents would both describe her as dutiful, taking her duties to the Clan and their ancestral spirits seriously. Her father, Kitsu Gorijo, is frustrated with her unorthodox interest in other clans’ practices, while her mother Utaku Shoni delights in it. As part of trying to master her duties, Aikiro has studies law and the art of government. She finds it a bit dull, but she hopes she will be able to use that knowledge to better others’ lives, both those of the samurai and the common folk. Her parents are pleased that she shows such a sense of duty. (+1 Government)
18. Heritage: Dynasty Builder, Kitsu Aijani (+3 Glory, +1 Courtesy)
19. Personal Name: Aikiro
20. Death: Trying to make peace during inter-clan strife.

Rings

Air (Grace/ Cunning): 1
Earth (Resilience): 1
Fire (Quickness/ Passion): 2
Void (Flow/ Wisdom): 3
Water (Adaptability/ Flexibility/ Perceptiveness): 3

Derived Stats

Endurance: 6
Composure: 8
Focus: 3
Vigilance: 2

Skills

Courtesy: 2
Culture: 1
Government: 1
Meditation: 2
Tactics: 1
Theology: 2

Social Standing

Glory: 43
Honor: 60
Status: 35

Traits

• Distinction: Sixth Sense (Void): Sense the supernatural.
• Passion: Generosity (Water): Always fine the perfect gift.
• Passion: History (Earth): Study an object to know its history.
• Adversity: Bluntness (Air): You cannot express yourself with subtlety or detect subtlety or deception in others.
• Anxiety: Soft-Heartedness (Fire): You always spare someone’s life when you have the opportunity.

Techniques

• Invocations
o Biting Steel (Fire, Rank 1): Augment a weapon’s damage by your Fire Ring
o Path to Inner Peace (Water, Rank 1): Remove fatigue
• Rituals
o Cleansing Rite: Remove spiritual contamination
o Commune with Spirits: Ask the spirits for help
• School Ability
o Favor of the Ancestors: Once per scene, you may importune one invocation with a school rank prerequisite up to your school rank without making the sacrifices usually required and without the usual TN increase.
• Shuji
o Ancestry Unearthed (Earth, Rank 1): Make a scholar or social skill check to know something about a character’s ancestry.

Equipment

Bo
Daikyu
Knife
Quiver of arrows
Sanctified robes
Scroll satchel
Traveling clothes
Traveling pack
Wakizashi

Wealth: 4 koku

Background

Kitsu Aikiro was born into the Lion Clan, but her mother was a Unicorn. Her parents’ marriage was an arranged one, but they cared for and respected each other, so it was not an unhappy marriage. Still, Utaku Shoni, Aikiro’s mother, was always made to feel an outsider and a half-barbarian by most other members of the Lion Clan. She dealt with it as stoically as she could, but it always made her a bit unhappy.

When Aikiro was thirteen, her family went on a journey to the Unicorn lands, so her mother could see her family again and Aikiro and her siblings could meet their relatives. Aikiro, who had had a strict and proper Lion upbringing, was fascinated by the Unicorn and their different way of life. She was particularly startled to see how gaijin some of her relatives looked. This was a life changing event for Aikiro and ever since she has been curious to learn the ways of other clans, convinced that all clans can learn from each other and enrich each other. She sees the enmity and rivalry between the clans of Rokugan as deeply misguided.

Shortly after their return from this trip, it soon became apparent that Aikiro, like many members of Kitsu family, could sense the presence of the supernatural. She began training as a traditional Lion shugenja, a medium for the ancestors. One particular ancestral spirit, the great lore mistress Ikoma Tojashi, took a particular interest in Aikiro and bonded with her. On the one hand, Aikiro is happy with this and eager to learn all the honored spirit can teach her, so that she may be an honorable samurai and better serve her clan and the Empire. On the other hand, Aikiro sometimes comes into disagreement with Ikoma Tojashi’s traditionalism and condescending views of other clans.