Soga Emishro
17/153lbs/5'8"Theme
Backstory
When Soga Emishro was first brought into the world by his Hunter mother, and human father, his warrioress mother began to see her life of violence and nigh endless war, though noble in its pursuit secondary to her desire to raise of a family in peace. Her name was Soga Namomai. She was young Hunter in those days, having only recently attained the rank of Nenshouha, and although she was exalted for her selflessness and warrior spirit, her steadily deteriorating willingness to fight led many in the Hunter's order to question her motivations for cowardice, or even disloyalty against her sacred oath and ancient lineage. She remained a Hunter for two years more on friends' urging, but loathed departing from her young son and newborn daughter on missions, not knowing whether she would return to them. Her husband, as a human did not fully understand what she went through every time she left home, but he promised to always be there for her, and urged her to do what she thought was right. At last Namomai could bare the stress no more and opted to retire from service altogether, even if it meant giving up the life and powers she loved, for the people she loved. Branded a traitor she was excommunicated and barred from ever using her powers of life giving again. She deigned it a good time to leave the hustle and bustle of city-life where so many memories lurked, and moved with her burgeoning family to a small plot of grazing land, starting up a cattle ranch in the mountains where they might live in peace.
Although he knew very little of his the mysterious order his wife abandoned for him and their children, or the mythical Youkai that inevitably threatened the world, Soga Emishro's father did not let that bother him overly much, and worked hard to provide for his small yet growing family, and was successful in his simple work. Never once did he suspect his son would grow into a fiery young hunter destined for a life of battle. Namomai watched with pride and dread as her son showed signs of inheriting her powers, until at least she could deny it no longer and began training him in the ways she saw fit, contrary to what she learned from the Hunters' Order. She taught him to fight and use the sword, but to never draw his blade in anger or conceit. She taught the eager Emishro how to manifest his powers, how to control them with the proper reverence demanded of him. Emishro was both smart and mature for his age, a quiet and rational young boy who took his mother's lessons to heart and adopted them into his daily life. He attended school, played with his sister, and did his chores as any normal child should. Yet the boy's blood burned with the fire of male youth, and he longed to use his powers to fight the Youkai as his mother once did. Nevertheless he respected his mother's wishes, remaining on the farm and helping his father with the ranch, whilst training by night and in secret with his mother away from prying eyes, always wearing the limiter as Namomai required.
Despite her care in keeping him hidden, and the small remote community within which they lived Namomai could not keep her son secret from the Hunters forever. Emishro was discovered, and when the Hunters came they demanded he either give up using his powers forever, or join them so that he could be tutored "properly." Faced with such a difficult choice in abandoning his newfound powers Emishro asked for three days to deliberate, which was granted. Emishro spent those three days in heavy internal debate, wondering whether he should make the same choice as his mother forfeiting his birthright, or take the oath. Finally on the eve of his final day he told Namomai and his father and sister of his final decision, which to his surprise she accepted, asking only that he remember what she taught him, and to never dishonor his family. Then she presented him with the Soga Sword, the heirloom whose lore went back farther than written or oral history could even recall. When sheathed within its charm it appeared as nothing more than a tiny penknife, but when drawn shone like frozen fire. It was a simple weapon of the Samurai, a single edged cutting blade, with a rounded guard and a two handed black leather bound hilt, but in its simplistic nature rested a deadly beauty.
Emishro accepted the gift with grace, before embracing his mother, abandoning all semblances of reservedness. The next day he departed, telling his friends he'd grown up with that he would be attending a school for gifted learners in the big city, which was entirely true, even if it left much untold. The entire thing lay far beyond where Emishro had ever ventured before, and it was a tearful goodbye when Emishro left, his little sister jealous and heartbroken at his sudden departure, his father confused and sadden by how fast his son was growing up, and a dreading Namomai, who knew the truth and the danger Emishro was getting himself into.
The Hunters soon discovered Emishro was already familiar with his powers, and possessed the skills of a competent warrior. They determined he would need little formal tutoring and decided to place him in the Hunter's Club, where other young Hunters might keep an eye on him and where Emishro could continue advancing his own abilities with the aid of his peers. The next day they put him on a train to the city with nothing but some vague directions, a few hundred in yen bills, and an uncertain future in the Hunters Club.
Hunter Power
Healing Sacrifice: Emishro's powers are undeinably those of a supporting role, requiring of their dynastic wielder an imense amount of personal sacrifice. All of them are externally based, allowing him to affect others nearby or within short range, without allowing him to enhance himself or ease his own hurts whatsoever. As the name implies Emishro's greatest power is his ability to heal others through physical, skin on skin contact ranging from terrible life threatening wounds and diseases, to minor coughs or bruises. Through even brief contact Emishro can restore a person to full strength, health, and physical repair leaving them feeling well rested, and in perfect condition. This power does not come without a dangerous caveat however. All wounds, sicknesses, and physical and mental exhaustion is reflected back onto Emishro as if they were transported from the patient onto him. The process can be exceeding painful as Emishro's bones snap under a magical force, his flesh laid open, and his body crippled by exhaustion and foul disease. As a result he has a base reluctance to using the power, for the personal sacrifice is great. If called upon, the magic might even be able to restore life itself, at the terrible cost of his own.
Augmentation Gift: Alongside his sacrificial healing Emishro has a more commonly utilized ability, allowing him to improve upon the natural abilities of those he gifts the augmentation too. He can affect upon the mental and physical prowess of those he chooses, making them more skilled than they normally should be. Although it can only be roughly estimated Emishro's power seems to at maximum using physical contact multiply the targets base abilities by six, and through visual augmentation by three. The target would become three or six times as strong, three or six times as fast, or intelligent, or witty and so on. He can only affect one attribute in a single person at a time, though whatever that attribute might be is unlimited, reliant only on Emishro's creativity. He has to see or be touching the individual for it to work, but his visual range lasts until the target is completely out of sight. Still, the speed at which he can change the attribute he is affecting is quite rapid, thus it requires a fair amount of concentration to remained focused and not accidentally stop augmenting.
Heirloom
It is a simple sword, a weapon of the old Samurai passed down for generations from Hunter to Hunter. It is plain steel, and though it seems to shine brighter than any sword should its blue-grey metal gives off no light. A circular guard protects the hand, and upon it chiseled into the rounded surface is a rough inscription in some long lost forgotten language, presumably the weapon's original name. Its hilt is made of wood, replaced countless times over the centuries and re-wrapped in black leather cured and gathered from Emishro's own childhood home. The weapon is nothing more than a sword in the hands of most, but when wielded by Emishro it absorbs the blood of enemies and gives him restoration equal to the wound it delivered. Presumably a deathblow could even restore Emishro's life, though it can not be said for certain, as it is near impossible to test.
Skills
Raised in the mountains in a rural community Emishro is accustomed to hard and rustic work. He can handle most animals including cattle, sheep, and chickens, while also being able to saddle and ride horses with expert proficiency. His home skills could use some work, but he knows how to hunt and skin a deer and angle a fish and cook both over a fire. Besides practical outdoors knowledge he has become quite good at getting an old engine to run again, at least for a few miles, and repairing other odd bits of machinery.
Limiter/Charm
Emishro's limiter is a pair of glasses, whose lenses prevent his powers from manifesting. They can be easily removed and slipped into his pocket should the need arise, as he does need to wear them in order to see. His charm is a sheath for his sword, which transforms the weapon into a small penknife. When drawn they materialize into a full sword and scabbard.
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