Have some characters. I put them in a hider because the second image is kind of large [hider=Characters] [center][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/7ur666n.jpg[/IMG] Standing at exactly 6’ 4’’ Kotaro is rather tall and certainly muscular. He greatly enjoys bright clothing that shows off his muscular structure. [b]Name:[/b] Kotaro Natsume [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Age:[/b] 34 [b]Personality:[/b] Kotaro’s personality is a delicate balancing act. He’s carefree, a bit of a partier, adventurous and a firmly lives by the idea that life will take him where it takes him. He’s all about trying new things and meeting new people. On more than one occasion he has described himself as “a connoisseur of fine food, strong monsters, beautiful women, and handsome men” although many will argue the only thing he’s actually had any amount of experience with is the strong monsters part. Finances are one of his last concerns. In his mind, as long as he can pay for food and shelter, making more money doesn’t really matter. He’s prone to spending days just lazing around if money isn’t an issue. He could easily fill the role of an respectable yet somewhat distant older brother if he still kept in contact with his family, which he doesn’t. He can have a protective streak and likes letting people come to him with their problems. Apart from that, Kotaro is a huge flirt, although most of his advances end in failure because he can be a little over the top at times. Not that that doesn’t stop him from trying. Oh he certainly tries. [b]Skills/Abilities:[/b] Kotaro is an excellent mage in top physical condition. Although some people discredit him because they never actually see him doing anything. Light and sound magic are his forte, and give him some very powerful illusionary abilities. Of course, they can be manipulated for actual fighting purposes, but he likes doing things the tricky way most of the time. Besides, actually fighting would put that pretty face in harms way. Don’t think he can’t fight though, because he can and, if he really worked at it, could probably be one of the most respected mages with the Hunters Guild. Apart from that, Kotaro has an excellent singing voice. It’s so good that many people believe he’s either altering it with magic or isn’t entirely human (but really who can be sure. Anyone could have a mixed heritage if they looked back far enough). With the definite addition of magic he can use it to calm others or even lull them into sleep. Physically, Kotaro has had some practice with a sword, and while he isn’t bad with it, he’s certainly not the best. It’s more of a last resort option. Equipment: Small charms and enchanted objects to aid in his magic use, a mostly unused katana, a wallet that is more often than not mostly empty, and a bag he carries he and Kiel’s stuff in when they travel. [b]Brief Backstory:[/b] It’s hard to say where Kotaro comes from, mostly because he hasn’t had a permanent home for quite some time, and certainly doesn’t consider his childhood town a home. But he started out in a smallish village, coming from a family with lots of children. Because of the divided attention, Kotaro left at a young age to live life how he wanted (if he had stayed, he probably would have ended up working on the family farm, which didn’t sound all too appealing). He expanded his limited knowledge of magic greatly. To keep enough money coming in so he could continue on eating, Kotaro did odd jobs. That was, until he found out about monster hunting. From that point on, he’s spent his life traveling, hunting monsters, and whatever else he pleases. At first, the loneliness of it all bugged him, but he’d long since gotten used to it. After all, he could find company in most cities he went to and getting people to open up to him was far from hard. His first ever traveling partner came in the form of a young merman by the name of Kiel, who he found tangled up and half dead in an old, discarded fishing net. After getting the young merman back on his feet, the two started traveling together. Eventually, they found their way to Shinkawa. ~~~~~~~~ [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IkbS5La.jpg[/IMG] When on land, Kiel looks much like a regular human with just a little bit of webbing between his fingers and toes. He stands at approximately 5’ 7’’, and doesn’t really have much to him. He enjoys vividly colored, loose clothes when in human form. A small, rather plain looking bracelet he almost never takes off allows for him to transform into a human form when on land. He also usually pulls his ridiculously long hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. In the water though, his legs turn into a long, vibrantly pink tail that’s got a small chunk missing out of one fin. [b]Name:[/b] Kiel [b]Race:[/b] Merperson [b]Age:[/b] 17 [b]Personality:[/b] Kiel is usually reserved and quiet, putting on a serious face and rough exterior. He’s become a master at it in the year he’s spent with Kotaro. Sarcasm, dry humor, and downright bluntness are other key traits of his. In actuality, he’s just not very expressive and more than a little socially awkward at times. Pay close attention and one will notice the reserved smiles and quiet laughs that escape his lips from time to time. He’s rather loyal under the surface as well, but will deny it most of the time. Kiel enjoys having things to do with his time versus just laying around. Although he’ll never pass up the opportunity to lounge around in really any body of water that presents itself. Hey, growing up in the water and then having to adapt to being on land all the time is challenging. Give the boy a break. He’s a gentle person by nature and tries to avoid actually being in the thick of things as much as possible. Kiel excels at thinking in the long term of things too and is excellent at managing finances. His above average memory helps with that as well. Although that also means he’s liable to remember just about every slip up, and, when in a more talkative mood, is prone to bringing them up. [b]Skills/Abilities:[/b] Kiel excels at magic involving both water and healing. He’s got basic knowledge of most other types, but let’s be real things like fire and such aren’t really useful when you’ve spent most of your life underwater. Because of his dislike towards participating in actual combat, he tends to favor healing magic most of the time. To go along with his prowess at healing, Kiel’s devoted a lot of time to learning the art of potion making and knows a good deal about the subject. When in merperson form, Kiel is agile, fast, and stronger than most all humans. He also has fantastic vision, which carries over to his human form. Speaking of his human form, while he’s got rather impressive endurance that carried over from his merperson form, Kiel is still slightly awkward on his feet and so it usually doesn’t shine through. It should be noted that he doesn’t have as much innate magical capacity whilst in human form as he would in his merperson form either. Although it is still rather high, it’s not nearly as impressive as it could be. It should also be noted that he doesn’t deal with smog and pollution well either. Having grown up in very clean waters, his body isn’t used to being in pollution and often makes him very ill. Alcohol has a similar effect, so he rarely ever drinks. [b]Equipment:[/b] Various potions and tools and ingredients to make them, all carried around in a small, enchanted leather pouch that protects its contents from water. He’s got a small, ornate dagger as well, but as he absolutely sucks at using it, it is more for defensive purposes. [b]Backstory:[/b] The civilizations of the merfolk are rather spread out and independent of one another, often having little interaction with the human world on top of that. In one of these underwater cities was where Kiel grew up. He spent his youth studying magic like most merfolk do. After all, most of their cities run off of it. And things were just peachy until a few months after his 16th birthday. While it’s not necessarily frowned upon to adventure far beyond the confines of the city, most merpeople don’t for safety reasons. But Kiel did, getting a little bit too curious about what the world had to offer. Somehow, he managed to find his way close to the shore and got tangled up in a fishing net really badly. That’s what all the scars on his face are from, and why there’s a small chunk missing out of his one fin. He’d been stuck there for a while when Kotaro found him pretty close to death. From there, the older man nursed him back to health. It’s been a year now since the two met and Kiel has yet to leave. He can’t exactly put his finger on it, but traveling with the older man is far more interesting than being back home. Eventually, they found their way to Shinkawa [/center] [/hider]