The Black Fox
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Name: Tachibana no Ayame
Race: Kitsune Blooded
Age: Appears to be in her early twenties
Deity: Mizuno, a foreign God Beast
Occupation: Mercenary
Location: Witchwell
Appearance: Ayame appears somewhat slovenly at first glance. Hair rough cut by her own knife, clothing always just a little slapdash, clearly the mercenary holds high fashion in low regard. She stands on the shorter side of her racial average at one hundred fifty two and a half centimeters, with her lithe frame holding slightly more muscle than your common craftsperson might. Ayame’s hair is of a lustrous obsidian black through and through. Creamy skin, softly tanned from time spent in the sun and laced with intricate black tattoos, is most often wrapped in cloths of black and gold.
Her armor is fine layered steel lacquered black and furnished with gold silk lacings. Most often the woman can be seen carrying a thin hexagonal war club that is treated like a walking stick though when combat is known to be imminent she will bring her Nodachi, a weapon akin to a western great sword but forgoing the blunted lower half to extend the hilt halfway along the weapon’s length.
While her Kitsune blood is not immediately evident in her appearance, this is thanks to body shaping magics Ayame learned in her youth. A Kitsune Blood’s tail is a valuable prize after all. Should she drop her magics that conceal her race’s identity, a thing she does only when in safe company or in battle, her ears and tail match the obsidian gloss of her hair. Both ears and tail are tipped with a light coloring of golden fur.
Habits: Ayame tends to always be chewing on a stalk or grass or reed when one is available to be found, though chewing might be over stating the activity involved, whatever it is that graces her lips is shifted about from time to time, but never really masticated upon.
Magical Skills: An expert enchanter in a way most do not expect, Ayame specialty is the filling and draining of energy from the large number of precious stones she has secreted about her person. This ability she uses to great effect in combat, empowering her body with stored energy and strength. Of course such surges in vitality are not without drawbacks. She must properly channel this new energy through her body, strengthening her bones along with muscles and tendons lest she horrifically damage herself by striking a target so hard the recoil from the impact breaks her own bones or tears her own muscles. The same goes for channeling her stored energy for speed. While quicker movements leave less worry in regards to breaking limbs against an opponent, the ground is still mighty hard.
Pushing her body beyond its normal abilities is always very rough on it. After drawing on stored energy Ayame suffers a crash leaving her physically and mentally exhausted as if she had fought hard for a day straight. The longer she overdraws energy the longer the crash lasts.
Armaments Ayame carries aside from her primary weapons, a wide variety of knives both those designed for throwing and those not. These will not be explicitly listed, but assume her person to be hiding at least a generous handful at all times.
• Nagamaki: A single edged blade measuring 160cm from tip to tsuba, with the hilt of the weapon measuring a further 140cm. Nearly half blade half handle a more common name for the weapon is half spear. It is uncommon in use and takes a great deal of practice to perfect its use, however in the hands of an experienced fighter, it can be far more formidable than a common blade. The origins of the weapon point towards the testing of a blade. A katana blade would be affixed to an oversized hilt to allow for perfect leverage on a cut. This was modified for war by elongating the tang of the blade considerably. Ayame’s weapon is again oversized, scaled to someone a solid half meter taller than she.
• Kirikobo: A tall, thin, hexagonal iron club. In the case of Ayame her's has each edge of the shaft filed sharp on the bottom third of the weapon. The total length of his weapon is only 160 cm, which still leaves it a good hand span taller than the warrior woman.
• Tanegashima: Tucked into the broad rope and cloth belt Ayame wears, and well out of sight, rest twin wheellock naval pistols. Heavier than your common army officer's pistol, and designed for longer range engagements, like those from ship to ship, Ayame's weapons stand out from others of this style due to not being overly adorned. Custom commissioned, the barrels are hexagonal, much like her kirikobo, are bodied in polished Ebony and all of the exposed metal has been blued to the point of resembling the deepest twilight. They are both chambered in an oversized .80 caliber.
Brief History: Born to mercenary parents and left to be raised by an Aunt and Uncle, Ayame was raised to be a relatively well educated young woman. However shortly before her sixteenth birthday she left the care of her kindly Aunt and Uncle to join a passing band of mercenaries, wishing to follow in the footsteps of parents she had never met, nor ever would.
Much of the next one and a half years would be spent serving any and all who had fair gold and stuck to their word. Eventually Ayame attracted a small tight knit group of her own, consisting of four others and herself, this small band of warriors worked together to amass a personal fortune the likes of which a common mercenary might likely never see.
In the most recent months Ayame and her crew have been serving the Sweet Ways Acquisitions conglomerate as a mix of hired muscle and an experienced and reliable recovery team for items of value.