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[hider=Susano Hidari, "White Bolt Mikaboshi"]
[b]Name:[/b] Susano Hidari, "White Bolt Mikaboshi"

[b]Age:[/b] 28

[b]Race:[/b] Human

[b]Gender:[/b] Male

[b]Appearance:[/b]
[img]http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r777/patrick_harkin/1420758204022_zpsfe9da4bc.jpg[/img]

[b]Weapon(s):[/b] Daisho, Daikyu longbow, throwing knives

[b]Class:[/b] Archer

[b]Bio:[/b]

[i]Send a thief to catch a thief.[/i]

Hidari was born out of wedlock, his father an impetuous and impulsive member of the wealthy Susano line and his mother a simple serving maid. His father denied the child and his mother was rejected from service in the castle when it was found she was with child. Thus the young Hidari grew up in the port city of Hofuna. His mother supported the two of them through seamstressing and "entertaining" sailors, but never let her son forget his heritage, his Susano blood. Hidari grew to resent the absent, useless bushi who ruled in their castles and collected taxes but did little in return for all they took. This bitterness soon grew to become hatred at the world as a whole and turned the youth down a dark path. 

He went from getting into fights with other street youths to running with gangs. From there it was a short hop to larger crime organisations and before long Hidari had signed up with a pirate crew that terrified the local merchants. The crew - called the Sons of Mikaboshi - stalked the trade routes between Susano and Raiden, making their money either from raiding cargo or taking protection money instead. (And sometimes they raided merchants who paid them protection money anyway, just to keep the fear up.) Young, nimble Hidari was first assigned as a lookout, high up away from the fighting on the raids, to call if Imperial ships were coming to hunt pirates. But he found lookout duty boring and one lucky raid put a bow and arrow in his hands. From then on he was happy up in the crow's nest, raining arrows down on the hapless merchants and bushi overwhelmed by his savage crewmates.

Over the years, his skill with the bow and the reputation of the Sons of Mikaboshi grew. As he learned to adjust for the motion of the sea, Hidari soon mastered marksmanship and almost immediately was taking the first kill of any raid by sniping the lookout, or the merchant captain. He got the name "White Bolt" for his reputation of suddenly striking out of nowhere, like a bolt of lightning, raining down death. It didn't matter if the skies were clear or if they lashed the seas with rain; it didn't matter if the waters were placid or boiling with waves. White Bolt always found his mark. Of course, such success and reputation soon brought rivals and contenders, bounty hunters and bushi eager for glory. The Sons welcomed this competition, but of course it is a different matter to fight trained soldiers than it is flabby merchants and civilian seamen. 

The campaign against the Sons was long and gruelling, lasting well past the death of the captain Mikaboshi, and Hidari taking the name as captain of the Sons, becoming the next Mikaboshi. What brought the bloodshed to an end was when the Sons captured a Susano flagship, the Emperor's Grace. Hidari ordered his men to take the bushi prisoners, to command a ransom and humiliate the bushi but also to ease hostilities; the Sons had suffered too many casualties to risk a full-blown war with the Susano family. When inventorying the hostages, Hidari realised he recognised the face of one of the older bushi - his father, Susano Tenjin. Hidari made Tenjin an offer. In order for the Sons to cease their piratical raiding of the traders, all Tenjin had to do was formally acknowledge Hidari as his legitimate son and heir. Then the Sons would stop being raiders and become a feared party of the Susano navy. 

It was meant as a mockery, at least in part. A token gesture, just twisting the knife some. Hidari didn't really expect his father to do it. For all his other heirs had died and Hidari was all the family Tenjin had left to carry on his branch of the Susano family. Hidari was presented with a name, with a formal daisho and with a mission to protect the seas - no longer a pirate but a corsair, a privateer. But, of course, the high-minded Susano elders resent being known as the clan that employs pirates and has volunteered Hidari's services towards any dirty, dangerous job they hope will cleanse the stain he represents on the clan's reputation; either he succeeds, bringing glory on the clan, or he dies and they are rid of him.

[b]Special Ability:[/b] Hidari is merely human and so lacks any magical ability, but has excellent balance, accuracy and agility born from a life at sea. He can jump, leap, flip and climb like a trained acrobat and has excellent physical strength and stamina. He maintains his astonishing accuracy despite any adverse conditions in weather or environment, able to target his opponent despite wind or rain, or unsure ground. He also has command of a small pirate fleet of about half a dozen frigates, with a crew of around one hundred and fifty men. 

[b]Misc:[/b] Despite nominally being the heir to a branch of the vaunted and extremely high-ranked Susano family, Hidari has lived most of his entire life among criminals and ronin. As such he lacks much of the honour and philosophy of other bushi, as well as much of their classical education in the arts and classics. He is considered a bushi for legal, social and political purposes and has all the rights and responsibilities of a bushi. However, he has a plethora of skills and experience bushi typically lack from his time among the commoners and the criminals; sleight of hand, deception, the use of poisons... 
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