~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Basic Information~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Miko of the Lotus Defense
Alias (optional): Steel Lotus
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Bending Power: Earth
Allegiances: White Lotus, Earth Kingdom
Blood Type(Optional): AB+
Family Members(Optional): Kitsuku Family: Father (King Posuke), Mother (San), and several cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, and aunts.
Birth Date(Optional): 13th day of the Rain season
Star Sign(Optional): Dog
Extra Information: None
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appearance~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Appearance: Miko appears to be your typical southern mountains girl. She's short, skinny but athletic, pale, has medium-length, brown hair, and slanted eyes. Most every feature of her is average with exception to her eyes being a beautiful emerald-gray. Despite her plain physique, her garments and trinkets would speak otherwise, almost resonating nobility. The ensemble; made with magnificent seamstressing and adorned with tassels, necklaces, and cloth bracers; is painted colors of silver, jade, and black. Across her forehead a silk bandanna embroidered with a single, silver medallion bearing the crest of the Inu is firmly tied. Her tunic; smooth, light, elegantly decorated in customary Earth Kingdom patterns, and without a single wrinkle; extends down to just above her knees. Her waist is wrapped with a fine, wide, black leather sash with jade colored rope woven in and out of it like a serpent swimming in an ocean of darkness. Tucked into her sash are several tanned hides with white fur on the underside, visible only near the edges. Slung from her hip hangs a single, worn katana with obvious aging and slightly wieldy for a girl her size. Its handle is tattered and ornamented with a lone snow white tassel with a dark red tip. The guard and ornate scabbard are riddled with dents and chips, antique in character. Matching her luxurious tunic, her skirt and leggings are wide, loose, and stops inches above her feet; a trademark look to the Inu Clan's warrior's battle dress. To complete the look, her feet are wrapped tightly with hard leather sandals inscribed each with silver thread patterns. The sandals are strong enough for traveling without sacrificing comfort or aestheticism.
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: 124 lbs.
Body Type: Slim/Athletic
Extra Feature: None
Voice: Gentle but energetic except for when she is concentrating. When she is concentrating her tone mellows out some.
Extra Clothing/Gear: Miko also carries a ceremonial White Lotus robe (not that anyone from outside the order could tell), several days worth of dried, salted meat, a water bladder, and several palm sized talismans made from pure Inu silver (a higher grade silver found only in the southern mountains of the Earth Kingdom in territory owned solely by the Inu Clan).
Aside from her personal belongings, she is always seen with an Inu companion, named Katsu, at her side. The Inu are typically a medium sized dog known for their intelligence, devoted loyalty, agility, and beauty. Katsu has a typical Inu build, though a little on the runt side. His coat is layered with colors. The bottom of his tail, his belly, chest, throat, chin, cheeks, and the Inu's signature spots above the eyes are all pure white. The rest of his coat is a dark brown, crowned with black on the top of his head, back, tail, and the tips of his ears and nose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Persona~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personality: WIP
Likes: Katsu, all-you-can-eat buffets, snow, jewelry, and winning Pai Sho
Dislikes: Violence, spicy food, the cold, practical gifts, and losing Pai Sho
Goals: Protect those that can't protect themselves and to reclaim her birthright.
Fears: Losing someone close to her (Katsu in particular) or failing to protect someone.
Strength: Miko is very flexible which enables her to perform athletic and acrobatic moves with relative ease. She employs these manuvers in her martial style of weilding a katana in her right hand, the scabbard held in reverse in her left, close range earth-bending, and using combinations of aerial and low kicks. Combining all these elements form her "Lotus Defense". Just as the White Lotus symbol is seen with 8 petals, so too does her form have 8 primary defenses. So far, no one has seen all 8 of her defenses, but the known ones are "The Lightning Blade", "The Indestructable Scabbard", "The Deceptive Feet", "The Shifting Earth", "The Flying Stance", and "The Loyal Fangs".
Weakness: With every stregth comes a flaw, though. Firstly, Miko has gotten into trouble more times that one can count due to her gullible nature. It's also her biggest weakness in fights. She is very trusting of those that don't deserve it, causing her to leave her guard down. Secondly, her stubbornness. When Miko makes a decision or opinion, almost nothing can change her mind. Katsu has been her only saving conscience, and he has saved her from peril several times.
Extra Information: WIP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~History~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History:
Origins: Miko is the only child of King Posuke, leader of the Inu clan and ruler of the village Suko and its surrounding mountains, hills, and forest. Suko is located in the southwestern mountains of the Earth Kingdom. To the north of the village lies Mount Suko (from which the village is named) and its neighboring peaks. The mountains are rich in precious metals, the most famous of all being a silver of unique quality. The silver is mined solely by the Inu Clan and accounts for a large source of the village's export income. South of the mountains are the Stone Hills. They are shallow, rolling hills made entirely of stone and are covered with wild grass. It is in these hills that the village of Suko resides, and it is said the great hall in the village's center was carved from a single hill without the aid of bending a thousand years ago. In order for one to travel between the gentle hills in the south to the steep mountains in the north they must pass through the sacred forest and the base of the mountains. The forest is home to the Inu and prvides the village with wild game, sturdy lumber, and clean, mountain, spring water.
Much like other villages and cities of the Earth Kingdom, the local government is fuedal. The King provides protection and civil services while the commoners provide the workforce. Tradition is big within their culture, specifically with religion playing a large role in the laws of the land. They worship the Inu, a medium sized dog known for its intelligence, devoted loyalty, agile movements, and beautiful appearance. Traditionally, as a coming of age ceremony, each person undergoes a trial in the Sacred Forest in which they bond with an Inu. The bond formed with the Inu is the same as a life long friendship with both being indebted to the other with their life. Among the nobles and royalty, the Inu's color of fur determines one's status. The lighter the color, the higher the respect it deserves (white being the preferred with respect to the first Inu companion, Raikou, who had pure white fur). Gender roles are also implied by tradition. Women are more often cooks, entertainers, couriers, doctors, and full time mothers; while males take the more physical jobs as hunters, miners, farmers, craftsmen, and soldiers. More importantly though, women can not inherit the throne.
Being the princess, the King's only child and female, was not easy for Miko. Her father was ashamed that his first child was not a male, causing him to mistreat Miko, especially when he proved unable to provide a second offspring. Scolding, flogging, and isolation became common occurrences of her life. Sometimes King Posuke would try to pass Miko off as a boy training her in hand to hand combat and the way of the blade, their people's traditional weapon of choice. Impossible expectations were placed on Miko, causing practice to often end with her being disciplined. After infuriating her father, she would spend weeks locked in her room. During these times her mother would teach her the skills of a noble woman. She taught her how to speak several languages, sew, cook, dance, sing, and so forth. The quiet lessons of her mother often gave her peace, notably more so after she developed a passion for cooking, a definite forte of hers. Even her father could seldom find fault with her cooking. As the years passed by, Miko became more proficient in all of her studies causing the King to gradually become less strict. For Miko, the dream of a loving family was just over the horizon. Though, the dream would not last long.
The Bonding: When she turned 12 she asked her father if she could attempt the bonding ritual. He was in a good mood that day and permitted her to take the trial. She left and returned 12 days later half starved and with no companion. Her father threw a fit, labeling her as a pathetic, worthless daughter that should never had been born. For the first time in her life she was brutally beaten by her father. For the next two years she would be confined to the palace. During her isolation she became defiant and stubborn. Despite here attempts to defy her father, she continued her training in preperation for her next attempt to obtain a companion.
Her 14th birthday came and she held another audience with her father requesting a second chance at the bonding ritual. He laughed and gave a sharp no. Miko's hate raged inside her as she stormed out of the great hall. She was not going to take no for an answer; she had to prove she was more that a worthless accident. That night she snuck into her father's bedroom and stole the royal sword, Raikou, and fled the palace. While in the sacred forest, a bear confronted her, chasing her up Mount Suko's slope. Injured and exhausted, she drew Raikou and prepared for battle. Before the bear could make the killing blow, a lone, starving inu came to her rescue, biting into the beast's back allowing Miko to pierce it with her sword. The beast fell, slain by their teamwork.
The Legend: The sword at Miko's side is the legendary sword Raikou, a sword forged thousands of years ago by one of the greatest swordsmiths to ever be recorded in history. Its condition is beyond repair, having lost its blade's sharpness, scarred with nicks and dents, and its luster dulled. This is not to say that no one could repair it, but that no one knows how the sword was made so skillfully. Even the greatest of smiths argue that restoring the sword would only diminish the quality along with the legacy itself.
Although Raikou is heralded as one of the oldest grandmaster smithworks, it also holds a religious value particular to the Inu Clan. Before the Inu Clan reigned in the Suko mountains, the land was ruled by warlords and barbarians. Those with power ruled and died by the same sword that had put them in command. One day a traveler, who was passing through the land, angered one of the warlords as he was unfamiliar with their customs. His punishment was death, but agile and cunning, the man fled to the woods at Mount Suko's summit. In his haste, he encountered a white inu with a broken leg. Risking capture by his pursuers, he bandaged the dog, gave it some food, and continued his escape. Unprepared for the journey, the traveler found himself exhausted at the mountain's snow covered peak, and his hunters were well adapted to the environment. Drawing his blade he readied for battle, one he was assured to lose. They encircled him and waited for the perfect moment to cleave his head.
The winds blew fiercely, the cold biting his skin and the snow blinding his vision. A howl thundered, shaking the mountain beneath his feet and the air he breathed. Between flurries of snow tossed by the wind, the traveler caught glimpses of a white inu flash from foe to foe, biting their necks. The dog appeared to personify the very thunder and lightning that only the heavens commanded. The winds died, and the snow settled. The traveler stood humbled, each foe lying beheaded, a fitting death. The dog sat not in front of the man, nor behind him, but at this side...as one...as equals. That day the two swore a blood oath, each indebted to the other with their life. Raikou was the name bestowed to the dog, a name in his likeness (raikou meaning lightning).
Instead of returning to his travels, the man declared war on the entire region, uniting them and ending their constant war. Though Raikou grew old in age, his fangs never left the traveler's side. Eventually, Raikou died, driving the man into a deep depression. He remained caged in his chambers for days, and could be heard weeping for his companion. When he emerged, he instructed that Raikou's blood be drawn and that a sword that could cut the heavens be made. A ceremony was performed and the sword was anointed in Raikou's blood, infusing it with his spirit. On the handle, a single, white tassel, made from Raikou's fleece, was tied and the tip dipped in the blood to serve as a reminder of the sacrifice a most cherished companion made.
The sword is believed to command to power of thunder and lightning, as did Raikou, but that it will only bid the commands of a truly righteous master. The sharpest of blades, dulled by the hearts of men.
--> UPDATED AS OF June 21, 2011
Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:12 am
