Yaeko Kakita

Yaeko Kakita
A.K.A.	The Crow Lady
Age	24
Voice Actor	Yumiri Hanamori
Relatives	Parents, a younger brother, Bayushi Houten (cousin)
Series	Legend of Five Rings (with a smattering of Samurai Jack)
Player	Brandon

• Name: Yaeko Kakita
  
• Age: 24
  
• Sex: Female
  
• Birthday: Born in early spring, celebrates on New Years Day
  
• Parents: Kakita Hironobu, Bayushi (now Kakita) Hanako
  
  • Place of Birth: Kyuden Kakita, Takuetsu Province, Rokugan
    
  • Nationality: Rokugani
    
  • Specialty: Iaijutsu and kenjutsu
    
  • Hobbies: Music, poetry, painting
    
  • Likes: The arts, traveling, trying regional cuisines
    
  • Dislikes: Criminals, drunkards, thugs
    
  • Favorite Food: Tai (sea bream) sashimi
    
  • Least Favorite Food: Natto
    
  • Favorite Music: Wagakki
    
  • Favorite Sport: Sumo
    
  • Most Valuable Possessions: Her blade, her fan and her Kenku attire
    
  • Level of Education: Graduate of three elite sword schools, informal training in a special observation based form of investigation
    
  • Seiyuu/Voice Actor: Yumiri Hanamori
    

• Physical Stats
  
  • Height: 5'6"
    
  • Weight: 117 lbs
    
  • Eyes: Blue
    
  • Hair: White
    
  • Special: Missing her right eye, usually covers with a patch
    

Appearance

Yaeko is slender, pale and delicate looking with hair bleached white and a pretty face marred by a missing eye, usually covered with an eyepatch (sometimes a glass eye is used). She usually wears a placid, calm expression though also oftentimes looks a little tired. Her hair is often tied back with some of her hair loose and framing her face, though soemtimes she simply wears it down. She generally wears a traveler's outfit of kimono, hakama, haori jacket, cloth bracers, woven mantle and wide brimmed hat. The kimono, hakama, haori and bracers are generally in dark greys and blues with bird related patterns. Her hat is tightly woven straw, mostly flat but domed im the middle with a silken cord tied under the chin. It is dyed navy blue, with the rim left undyed. Her mantle is woven straw with a wolf pelt cast over it. The straw is of a remarkably dark brown color and the pelt is black. There are a few abnormally large crow feathers woven into the mantle, though there appears to have been more in the past. Her ensemble is sometimes capped off with a long scarf.

Personality

Yaeko is calm, polite, and slow to annoy and actively difficult to truly anger. She is generally soft-spoken as well. However she does sometimes get flustered, which makes her stammer and lose track of trains of thought and generally become a bit of a mess. While rare, she can also become quite angry, with her fury making her silent and cold, rather than coming across through shouting. She only shouts when frustrated, which is an offshoot of her being flustered. While she has learned to be patient with people who are different, she can still quickly become some flavor of emotional if people press the right buttons of things she was raised to find offensive.

Background

Yaeko has the great fortune to have been born with both innate talent and the privilege required to allow her to capitalize on it. Born into the prestigious Kakita family with a once in a generation natural talent for the blade, she quickly rose through the ranks of her dojo and upon her gempukku, her parents (especially her mother who is formerly of the Scorpion clan) used their connections and favors to get the young woman a chance to audition for the Kenshinzen despite her age via a duel with one of their members. She handily won and trained in the Kenshinzen dojo where she continued to distinguish herself. So much so, in fact, that she would eventually be noticed by the mystical Kenku, crow spirits from another realm who are known for being the best swordsmen of any plane of existence. After training with them, she settled into a job as the yoriki to a prominent Imperial magistrate, a man of the Kitsuki family. While serving this man, Yaeko (despite her misgivings on the veracity of a method that called to doubt the word of a samurai at face value) would learn much of the Kitsuki's Method. SHe eventually learned that her cousin, Bayushi Houten, had been admitted into a most strange adventure and desired to join him. However on her way to join this organization known as PARADIGM, the organization itself was attacked and it's HQ sacked. Her transport was interrupted and forcibly redirected to an alien world of steel and machinery ruled over by a shapeshifting demonic tyrant with a deep hatred of samurai. She has wandered this land ever since, writing wrongs and fighting injustice as a wandering samurai known locally as "The Crow Lady."

Skills

Physical Skills:

• Alertness: Amazing (+5)
  
• Athletics: Incredible (+4)
  
• Stealth: Novice (0)
  

Social Skills:

• Subterfuge: Novice (0)
  
• Streetwise: Very Good (+3)
  
• Intimidation: Good (+2)
  
• Leadership: Abysmal (-1)
  
• Expression: Novice (0)
  
• Etiquette: Incredible (+4)
  
• Performance: Very Good (+3)
  

Mental Skills:

• Computers: Abysmal (-1)
  
• Investigation: Amazing (+4)
  
• Medicine: Novice (0)
  
• Law: Very Good (+3)
  
• Occult: Abysmal (-1)
  
• Politics: Very Good (+3)
  
• Science: Novice (0)
  
• Technology: Novice (0)
  

Other Skills:

• Driving: Abysmal (-1)
  
• Survival: Very Good (+3)
  
• Empathy: Very Good (+3)
  
• Animal Ken: Very Good (+3)
  

The Arts:
Shigin: Very Good
Shakuhachi: Very Good
Koto: Incredible
Taiko: Very Good
Painting: Very Good
Poetry: Incredible

Special Abilities

Kitsuki's Method:

• Overview: Students of this method have learned exercises to dramatically increase their perception and attention to details. When investigating an area or studying an enemy, if a detail is visible they will almost surely see it.
  
• Wisdom the Wing Brings: Kitsuki's Method makes one very difficult to deceive; they are able to see the minute imperfections in a physical fabrication. That is, if something is hidden or was hastily altered to deceive a viewer, or even a person in a disguise, if there are imperfections they will be found, with enough time. This is of course assuming Yaeko knows what she is supposed to be looking at in the first place.
  
• Ichi Miru: "First Look" is a technique in which one sizes up another person at a glance. They are taught to quickly recognize things like body language, posture, mode of dress, items on someone's person, someone's overall condition at a glance. This method generally gives one an accurate, if simple, picture of a person's personality and motivations. This ability however is limited to Yaeko's cultural knowledge, so at first will be ineffectual against a lot of people until she is able to learn and adapt. However people are people.
  
• The Eyes Betray the Heart: During conversation, Yaeko can focus on the person speaking and identify the minute tells in a person's body language and eyes to determine if they are lying. However if this ability is used for a prolonged amount of time it would basically entail a lot of awkward staring.
  

Kakita-Ryu and Kenshinzen Special Training:

• Way of the Crane/Drawing the Void: When a Crane warrior is in her Iaijutsu stance, her focus intensifies, increasing her awareness of the world around her and it's dangers. This is the foundation upon which the clan's iaijutsu and kenjutsu both are built. Then Kenshinzen takes this further, able to hold this focus even in the midst of a pitched battle, ever aware of attackers breaking away to interrupt her duel. Effectively this technique allows her to potentially know when she is about to be flanked or attacked from behind while in combat. As this ability is integrated into her iaijutsu stance, it is specifically for combat.
• Speed of Lightning: Students of the Single Strike train with incredible vigor to maximize the speed of their sword strikes. The Speed of Lightning technique makes several following attacks explosively fast, even more so than her usual training regimen would indicate.
• First and Last Strike/Kakita's Strength: With focus and concentration, a Kakita duelist can use her skills to maximize her chances of striking first in a confrontation with a single opponent. The Kenshinzen's training enhances this; she is able to sense the moments between heartbeats to help ensure she strikes precisely when she needs to. This ability is used expressly in one versus one confrontations.
• One Strike, Two Cuts: With this technique, the duelist utilizes her speed to make an immediate follow-up attack after a successful hit. This ability is not spontaneous however and has to be committed to upon making the first attack. If that attack somehow fails the second simply never comes, though in some situations Yaeko may find herself overextended and vulnerable.
• Strike With No Thought: A counter-stance, the duelist assumes her Iaijutsu stance during this technique and waits. While in the stance under this ability, her attacks are purely instinctual and she will lash out with a full speed and power Iai strike when attacked.
• A Single Moment: The Kenshinzen's will to defeat her enemy is a palpable, lethal and intimidating aura. When she makes her strike while under this aura, a successful strike will stun an opponent with fear. Yaeko manifests this ability with a piercing, icey gaze from her one good eye, direct eye contact made and maintained with her target.

Powers & Merits

Merits:

• Code of Honor (1): Bushido
  
• Concentration (1)
  
• Accute Senses (1): Hearing
  
• Catlike Balance (2)
  
• Clear Sighted (3)
  
• Graceful (2)
  

Kenku Kenjutsu:

• Dust Step: A Kenku Swordsman is said to be so light on their feet that they could find enough purchase to leap from a single airborne mote of dust. However most Kenku Swordsman have wings. Yaeko still learned this ability however, and while she can't use it it in the literal sense, she can leap from branch to branch, or onto bamboo support poles or other rickety structures and be able to move and leap off of them without much trouble. Think the aerial acrobatics of Wuxia movies.
  
• Wing and Blade: A Kenku Swordsman is as viable with no feet on the ground as they are with both feet on the ground. This is an extension of Dust Step that basically allows her to use it for combat maneuvers.
  
• Ki Focus: The Kenku taught Yaeko to focus her ki into her blade to enhance her attacks. Coupled with her current sword, a home for wind-asepcted kami, this wraps her blade in an almost imperceptibly thin layer of swirling air. Cuts made with her sword under this effect can cleave armor like it was paper. Ki Focus is not so tiring that it will hamper her mid-battle, but if she is fighting consecutive battles with this effect, it will eventually wear her down. The primary way she activates this ability is a single meditative breath and sheathing her sword. When next she draws it, including for an Iai strike, the blade will be imbued with her ki and the wind. Focusing her ki also enhances her speed a little and makes her body a little more resistant to damage.
  
• Kamaitachi: Yaeko uses this ability to slash at the air, flinging her wind aspected ki from the blade and at a target in the form of a high speed blade of air. This voids her blade of any accumulated ki, and the attacks listed below will not be useable for a brief time while she refocuses, something that the heat of battle can forestall.
  
• Thunderclap: Yaeko focuses her ki and and delivers an Iai strike or a two-handed slash if her sword is all ready drawn, with such speed and power that it creates a vacuum in her sword's wake. The name of the attack comes from the booming sound of air colliding with itself to fill the void her strike creates, usually sounding just at or after the attack's intended point of contact. This is a taxing ability she cannot use more than a few times in any given engagement without exhausting her ki supply, or causing her muscles grievous injury. This ability and it's variation likewise void the blade's wind ki aura and it will need to be restored before she can use it again.
  
• Thunderclap and Flash: A variation of Thunderclap that utilizes her trained speed as well as the agility and leaping prowess of the Kenku training to allow herself to lunge at her target with supernatural speeds. The Flash, being the motion part of the technique, can be done in up to three steps, if a single dash is not viable. This ability is even more exhausting than the original.
  
• Doom of the Living: Yaeko dumps all of her ki into a maelstrom of ki-enhanced strikes intended to do massive damage to anything it hits. This can only be used once per battle and will exhaust ALL of her ki, preventing her from using any Kenku techniques until she can rest.
  

Unique Items

Tonbogiri: Yaeko's blade, commissioned by her mother to commemorate her journey beyond the world. Not as pretty as most Crane blades, but it possesses the soul of one. It was imbued with air kami during it's forging, leaving it with an edge so keen that during it's first open display, a dragonfly landed upon the edge and was split in two by it's own weight. The sword glides through the air unfettered, adding to the wielder's speed. The air kami also protect the blade from most nicks and cracks, provided the weapon is not abused. It's saya is a common nemurenai (magical item/fetish) granted to all kenshinzen that clean and polish the blade it holds when the blade is sheathed.

Nio's Fan: A magical fetish in the form of a beautifully crafted fan, an ivory skeleton that opens to reveal a gorgeous painting of a snowcapped mountain rising from mists to greet a blue sky. The fan magically aids in keeping Yaeko's emotions calm and in control while it is on her person. It works at a more limited capacity if it is not out and open, however.

Kenku Travel Attire: Magicked garments sprouting crow feathers that allow Yaeko to perform her aerial acrobatics and maneuvers and offers moderate protection from harm, a lightweight but inferior alternative to wearing armor. It used to do much more, but the magic has faded over time from overuse and moreover damage to the garments, as marked by her mantle's lack of feathers. It is unknown if the magic aspect of her garb can ever be recovered, though it is unlikely it can get any worse than it all ready is. Dust Step and Wing and Fang are possible without these garments but are significantly more difficult to do.

Items Of Note

• An unremarkable wakizashi in matching colors and dressings as Tonbogiri. Her wakisazhi is always on her person because it is a literal symbol of status and duty. This rule is relaxed at home, however.
  
• A roll of white silken rope used for peace-bonding her weapons.
  
• Her hat, while a constant part of her travel attire, is not actually of Kenku make.
  
• White hair dye
  
• Writing utensils and fine Rokugani paper, jealously guarded during her time in the other world.
  
• Paints and heavier paper, these were acquired locally in the world she was stranded in and aren't what she likes, but she makes due.
  
• A shakuhachi flute
  
• A portable music player gifted to her by someone she saved in the other world. It has become a common part of her travel attire.
  
• Scarfs in varying patterns and colors, all of which match her outfits.
  

Weaknesses & Flaws

Weaknesses: Yaeko is a normal (if not peak physical prowess) human being who eschews armor, and thus is more prone to injury than other fighters in her weight class, making her something of a glass cannon who has to rely on evasion and parries to get by. Yaeko is also bound by bushido, and should she ever TRULY dishonor herself, than her course of action would be clear. Finally, she has belief-based dietary restrictions that, while in a life or death survival scenario she has proven she will break them, in almost ANY other situation she will ardently refuse to eat certain foods; she finds meat that isn't seafood or poultry to be so disgusting it is almost immoral to eat it. This aversion to flesh extends to other goods too; Yaeko will be disgusted by things like hides and leathers unless she knows for a fact that they have been properly cleansed of their filth in accordance to the Rokugani faith systems (her wolf pelt is such an exception). Feathers and fish skin do not bother her. She will ardently REFUSE to touch anything that she can see is made of bone for any reason. Like most Rokugani she has an almost obsessive care for hygine and cleanliness and becomes irritable when she becomes filthy by outside means (except battle, that cannot be helped, but she will want to clean off quickly). Because of this, stinky people will annoy her just by existing in her space. Certain behaviors that go too far against her code and morals will be considered grave and unforgivable offenses. These are behaviors that most people would disapprove of, but Yaeko will hold grudges. Has a tendency to introduce herself surname first without thinking about it, potentially leading to confusion about her acutal name.

Flaws:

• One Eye (2)
  
• Black and White (1)
  
• Intolerance (1): People who show a lack of honor/morals
  
• Enemy (2): The Shapeshifting Demon Lord Aku. She is on his radar, but not his priority.
  
• Compulsion (1): If she is nervous or about to get flustered, she produces her fan to "hide" behind. If she were to lose this fan she would be inconsoleably distraught.
  

NPC(s) to go with char

None

Gallery

• 

  Tonbogiri

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  The painting that decorates her Nio's Fan

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  The general design of her travel outfits, including used colors and patterns.

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  Her shakuhachi, hand carved by a master craftsman