Asuka

Bayushi Asuka
A.K.A.	The Accursed
Age	22
Voice Actor	Kikuko Inoue (as I-No)
Relatives	Bayushi Atsuki - twin brother
Series	Legend of Five Rings
Player	Set/Kay

WIP!!

• Name: Bayushi Asuka
• Age: 22
• Sex: Female
• Birthday: Celebrated on January 1st
• Parents: Deceased
  • Place of Birth: Ryoko Owari Toshi (later relocated to Painted City)
  • Nationality: Rokugani
  • Specialty: Assassination and Subterfuge
  • Hobbies: Dancing, shopping, playing Go, calligraphy, reading
  • Likes: Silk, fashion, theatre, culture, witty banter
  • Dislikes: Dull minds, overly righteous people
  • Favorite Food: Tanuki udon
  • Least Favorite Food: Daifuku (doesn’t care for mochi)
  • Favorite Music: Formerly koto music; recently j-pop
  • Favorite Sport: Swimming
  • Most Valuable Possessions:
  • Level of Education: Brother's Gift Dojo, Shosuro Butei Academy
  • Seiyuu/Voice Actor: Kikuko Inoue (as I-No)

• Physical Stats
  • Height: 5’7”
  • Weight: 132lbs
  • Eyes: Silver
  • Hair: Black
  • Special: Never seen without one of her many masks.

Appearance

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Personality

Sophisticated and charming, Asuka has the elegant air of an approachable socialite. Around friends and associates, she’s all smiles, good humor, and lighthearted playfulness. She seems to enjoy being in the company of others and thrives in social situations. On the battlefield, however, her smile is sinister and her manner is aloof yet professional.

In private, she’s far more introspective than her outward persona belies.

Background

Asuka’s life has been steeped in misfortune since the moment she was born. The birth of a child normally heralds a time of celebration within the Scorpion clan, but triplets are seen as a gravely unfortunate omen since the number three is regarded as unlucky. Seeking to force the hands of fate, Asuka’s parents killed the sibling born last, attempting to pass off Asuka and her brother, Atsuki, as twins, which are a blessed, lucky omen within the clan. Their ghastly offense was discovered, however, and the pair were forced to commit seppuku.

Asuka and her brother were taken in by a Shoshuro foster family, but their misfortune deepened. Atsuki was a frail child, requiring constant care, and it soon became clear that he would never recover. From a very young age, Asuka felt the burden of being the eldest, and most capable, of a disgraced family. Redemption rests entirely upon her shoulders. Rather than shrinking from her responsibility, she pushed herself to her limits, surpassing her sensei's expectations and eventually earning her first mask after her gempukku ceremony.

Not long after, unable to ignore her drive and focus, her sensei met with her to discuss beginning a tutelage in shadow magic. The danger of Tejina is well known in Rokugan, but safer techniques via the usage of power foci have made its practice less taboo. While surveying different foci to use, a locked box sprang open and two bracers coiled around Asuka's wrists, sealing tightly with a hiss. Her sensei's heart was gripped with dread as he recognized the nemurenai that had chosen the girl, but it was impossible to undo what had transpired - the wheel of Fate had been set in motion.

Skills

Physical Skills:

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

Social Skills:

• Subterfuge: Amazing (+6 with Honeyed Tongue)
• Disguise: Incredible (+4)
• Expression: Incredible (+4)
• Etiquette: Very Good (+3)
• Performance (Dance/Acting): Incredible (+4)

Mental Skills:

• Computers: Abysmal (-1)
• Investigation: Good (+2)
• Politics: Very Good (+3)
• Technology: Abysmal (-1)

Other Skills:

• Survival: Good (+2)
• Empathy: Good (+2)

Special Abilities

(These are skills, things that can be learned or trained, like martial arts techniques, Jutsu or magic spells. Abilities that are outside the norm of regular humans, but only because they have not had access to them.)
Venom's Wisdom - A Shosuro technique that imparts the intricacies of creating and stealthily utilizing poisons. Asuka does not often use lethal poisons, since those mimicking the symptoms of illness are much harder to detect, but has the knowledge to concoct and use them.

• Fire Biter - A nonlethal weapon-coating poison that causes extremely painful inflammation and swelling of the joints throughout the body. The afflicted suffers from tremors and severe pains for up to an hour after the poison is introduced into the bloodstream.
  
• Night Silk - A nonlethal poison that puts the afflicted to sleep; essentially a tranquilizer.
  
• Dripping Poison - So named since it is often dripped via a thread into an unsuspecting victim's mouth as they sleep, this poison causes overwhelming nausea, stomach pain, and muscle weakness. It's often mistaken for food poisoning or the flu.
  

Venom's Speed - A Shosuro technique that teaches the ability to plant or coat a weapon in poison with almost preternatural quickness.
Shinobi - Though normally restricted to the Shosuro family, Asuka's Shosuro sensei taught her the art of assassination, stealth, and deception. She will disavow having any such knowledge, however.

• Shadow Has No Mask - A Shinobi technique utilizing acting to master the art of appearing nondescript.
• Shadow Has No Form - A Shinobi technique which instills unique movement and evasive footwork in order to become very difficult to hit.
• Shadow Has No Substance - A Shinobi technique which teaches how to move silently without disturbing one's surroundings, and the use of 'practical stealth' - hiding in tight places, holding against the ceiling, acrobatic sorts of stealth.
• Shadow Has No Mercy - A Shinobi technique specializing in striking an unaware opponent in the vitals, attempting to take them down, ideally, in one blow.

Powers & Merits

(Unique, or hereditary, in-born powers, whether due to genetics or magic, things that can't be taught to others or simply gifted to this person from an outside force. Powers based on weapons should go in the Items. Merits can also go here.)
Catlike Balance (2): Difficulties for balance-related Athletics rolls are at -1.
Graceful (2): You are extremely agile and delicate in your movements. +1 Bonus on all Athletics rolls.
Honeyed Tongue (2): You've sold gallons of snake oil and thousands of deeds to the Brooklyn Bridge, and most customers still think they're satisfied. All subterfuge attempts gain +1 Bonus. +2 if played out cleverly

Unique Items

(Madougu, magical weapons or other unique or special weapons, as well as all techniques related to them, as without it technically the character is NOT able to use these abilities.)
Nemurenai - Coils of Perdition in Repose: A set of matching bracelets said to be fashioned from the Shadow Dragon's scales. The bracelets depict an obsidian two-headed dragon (resembling this) holding a reptilian eye, fashioned from circular emeralds with a dark, slit-like impurity running through their cores. The eyes are unsettling, even to one unfamiliar with magical artifacts, and some swear that they move. This nemurenai is considered extremely dangerous in Rokugan, and Asuka's sensei stressed that it is only to be called upon in times of dire peril; this is because some part of the Shadow Dragon's essence does dwell in the bracelets, allowing him to see all that Asuka sees. This is far from its most sinister aspect, however - when the power of the nemurenai is harnessed, the dragon feeds on the shadows called, storing them within the bracelets to slowly but surely create a beacon. This beacon calls to him, even across worlds, though this power is greatly diminished outside of Rokugan.
They cannot be removed by normal means, though of course Asuka's hands could be severed or the bracelets could be destroyed.

• Protection - The bracelets are incredibly difficult to break, so they can be used to parry or deflect blows (especially from weapons) to great effect. Of course, they are located on a delicate area, so a mistimed parry could get very messy. The bracers are NOT wholly impervious to damage, however, and can be destroyed through sustained holy attacks. If this were to happen, their stored shadow energy would be released, creating a gigantic, pulsing beacon to the Shadow Dragon at Asuka's current location. Needless to say, this would be a dire occurrence. Since this is not drawing upon the magical energy of the nemurenai, using the bracelets in this manner does not store shadow energy.
• Shadow Skipping - Asuka can use the Coils to 'skip' between shadows, moving unseen from one place to another, or to simply hide within the darkness to lie in wait for - or temporarily escape - her target. Naturally she requires shadows within her line of sight to utilize this ability. For each moment that she lingers in the shadows, however, the Dragon is feeding...
• The Blade that Strikes at Nothing - An attacker strikes at Asuka, only to have their blow slice through a shadow instead. A person or entity unaffected by illusions will be able to see through this ruse. (Once per mission? GM discretion.)

Items Of Note

Mask Collection - Veils, domino masks, buccal masks - she owns a wide array of styles and colors for every occasion.

Weaknesses & Flaws

Flaws can go here. Balance is key!
Cursed (5) - Her very birth a dark omen and now bound to a nemurenai that will inevitably call the reality devouring Shadow Dragon, Asuka has resigned herself to her foredoomed existence.
Dark Secret: Poisons (1 pt, only applicable in Rokugan) - Use and knowledge of poisons is a major taboo in samurai society.
Dark Secret: Shinobi (1 pt) - No Samurai would ever admit to being an assassin.
Societal Taboo: Masks - Like Houten, the forceful removal of her mask would shame her deeply. This does not apply to situations when it's culturally appropriate for her to remove it.

NPC(s) to go with char

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