βπππ£πππ₯ππ£ ππ¦ππππ£πͺ
Noboru Miyashita
πΈππππ€ππ€: Defiance, The Grinning Ronin
πΈππ: 37
ππ‘πππππ€: Tiefling
πΎπππππ£: Male
ππππ¦π‘ππ₯ππ π: Ronin Mercenary/Demon Hunter
πΈππππππππ₯: Neutral Good
πΈπ‘π‘πππ£ππππ
6'1"
πΉπ¦πππ: Defiance has the kind of build that comes from a lifetime of conflict, all muscle and built well, though on the leaner side as he relies on agility and evasion instead of armored up and soaking hits instead. That being said, he keeps himself in peak physical condition.
πΌπͺππ€: Golden
βπππ£: Black with dark red tips.
ππππ ππ ππ: Red
πππ₯π₯π π π€/ππππ£π€/βπππ£πππππ€: Defiance has a large amount of scars across most of his torso and arms, given the amount of time he's spent in a martial path in life, though nothing that's normally exposed from his normal attire and armor of choice.
βππ£π€π πππ ππ₯πͺππ: Defiance still keeps to the dress and styles of his temple back in his far eastern home, though he utilizes more western materials to do so at this point to maintain and upkeep his attire. The armored portions are leather, though key vitals are protected with plated inserts to avoid making needless noise. Outside his peculiar styling compared to this world, his bearing and general demeanor oozes confidence and ease. It's equal parts practical and stands out, given its odd style, but he's proud of it all the same.
βππ£π€π πππππ₯πͺ:
Confident * Experienced * Generally Happy * Blunt * Isolated * Flippant
βππππ₯ππ ππ€πππ‘ ππ₯ππ₯π¦π€: Single
βπ¦ππ€π₯ππ πππππ£π: What first impression do you make?"After they're done screaming about the devilspawn who just walked into the bar that isn't being turned by the holy symbols getting thrown at me? I like to think I'm pretty pleasant and easy going on first impression, I try at least. I do try and engage people, throw some humor or general taking things less than seriously which always seems to offend or concern more than actually help people relax. I swear I'm fun to be around, but most folks don't see past the strange attire, fighting style, and the whole red skin and horns thing I got going on. Their losses, I suppose, that much is certain."
What are you like in a high stress situation?"Oh I do just fine, I am a mercenary after all. I focus a bit more, of course, lot less joking around but hey, got to take ones work seriously after all. It's how I keep the coins flowing since I certainly won't be winning any popularity contests anytime soon!"
What are your best and worst qualities?"I'm damned reliable and true to my word, I sign on for a job or agree to do something, you can bet your last copper that I'll do it. What good is a mercenary if you can't trust his word that he'll see the job done? Not worth a single coin, that's what. Besides, giving up just isn't in my blood, you don't get anywhere worth going by quitting halfway through, that's just honest truth right there. Worst quality? Hmm, I just do not seem to attract friendly attention and people just do not take kindly to me. Plus that reliability can turn into a nasty stubborn streak a mile wide and twice as long. Plus I have this nasty habit of just not giving up on folks well after I should have, and letting my conscious get the better of me. But hey, that makes me all the more charming right?"
What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?"Nothing at all! I kid, though why ask a question that you would not openly admit to anyone? But fine, if you must know, I'm so sorely tired and irritated at the fact that I have nowhere to call home, no one to call a friend, and no place to have a family. It's so damned exhausting to either be ignored, or run out of, every town you do business in, even after having done nothing but improve quality of life overall for them. Nope, no place for monsters, move along you red skinned devil. So I'll keep rambling, keep moving west until I end up coming back around home again. Or fall off the world, whoever is right I suppose. But gods above is it exhausting."
What are your dreams?"Nothing to be discussed in polite conversation, what happens behind closed doors stays there. Yes I'm joking again, don't worry your pure little head over it. Not sure at this point, settling down might be nice but I can't imagine myself ever just stopping and just...idling? Not sure where my dreams would take me, to see all the wonders of the world and not have to sell my sword to do it? Hard to say, not sure what my dreams are anymore, not like they'll be going anywhere given the typical reactions I get outside of the far eastern temples. But hey, I can have fun along the way, so the journey is a good enough dream for me, near as I can fathom these days. But to stop rambling, either settle down or just continuing to wander until my legs can't carry me anymore."
How do you want to be seen by others?"Dependable, reliable, and as a friend. Mostly the third thing, the first two come as naturally as breathing and sleeping. Not as a monster of convenience would be nice, but hey, least two of the three isn't bad for starters, eh?"
How do you see yourself?"Ooooh that one's fun. I'm...difficult at times, sure. I put on a good showing of upbeat, friendly, and generally very unmercenary like, but its really not all truthful at all. I mean its real, but not honest, I know I'm very bitter and tired, but hey, no rest for the wicked there! I know my worth, for better or worse, and I'll keep a chin up about it. So I guess I know my flaws and strengths, and know the odds in the world for me, and I'd like to think I'm playing the game best I can. Not sure if that rambling answered it properly, but that's the best I'll muster for you."
Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?"Both, certainly both. In a fight you can't afford to sit around and ponder the moral complications of such an encounter, but if you have time, thinking and contemplating your options and the ramifications are especially useful to do. So I do whichever fits for the situation at hand, though I'm slightly partial to the think things out school of, well, thinking!"
What haunts you?"Ah, well. Every time I've been run out of some place, been told that 'You're a hero, and you have to leave', that I'll never have a true and proper home. Every insult, every mockery, every slight all born of something I never chose to be, some days never wanted to be. But that's not anything they concern themselves with, I'm evil because my skin is red and I've got a pair of horns. The fact part of me wants to show them some real evil is...concerning and keeps me up some nights. But I keep a good lid on it, so don't worry your pretty head over it. Does make for some long nights though, I'll tell you that much."
What is your philosophy on life?"Live and let live. Just let someone who's caused you no wrong alone, and let them do the same. Mercenary work doesn't lend itself well to that, of course, but I try to avoid the more antagonistic jobs for a reason."
βππππ₯π€:- Often times fiddling with something.
- Pacing back and forth.
- Drumming his fingers.
βπ πππππ€:- Alchemy Experiments.
- Studying and research.
- Discussing scholarly pursuits.
- Combat Drills.
- Preparing his arcane tricks.
- Simply doing nothing and relaxing aka 'Meditating'.
π½πππ£π€:- Dying Alone
- Never making it back home.
- Not finding his place in the world.
- Being unable to live his life as he sees fit.
πππππ€:- Stormy Weather
- Tea
- Singing and music.
- Time to unwind.
- Snow
- The Far East
π»ππ€πππππ€:- Deserts, Jungles, and other climates like them.
- Isolation.
- Pointless lying.
- Not getting paid.
- Racists.
- Unnecessary cruelty.
ππππ π£πππ₯ππ π:
- Survival - Being unwelcome in most towns for longer than a few days or for the length of a job, Defiance has learned the hard way to survive out in the wild. Even in foreign places he has a knack for picking out what's trouble and what might make for a good meal to get him along to the next day. Coupled with scavenging for ingredients and supplies and he makes for a useful presence when normal supplies are scarce.
- Navigation - Both on land and at sea, Defiance has a knack for keeping his head on straight and knowing where he's going. Being mostly learned from experience and practice, he can pick out a path quickly or figure out how to get through a dense or otherwise hard terrain without losing half of a prospective group in the process. Not from the local terrain difficulties at least, though he does have a preference for the sea over land travel, though as stated he can navigate both readily enough.
- Daemonic Lore - Having been raised to hunt them, and constantly being accused of being one, Defiance has a surprising amount of knowledge when it comes to demons and devils. How to survive them, and how to bring them down in specific.
- Agile - Defiance prefers speed and grace over brute force, though the latter certainly has its place, his preferences show. He's quick on his feet and capable of feats of self taught acrobatics and maneuvering, be it on a rooftop fleeing enemies or just dancing through a particularly crowded marketplace without running into too many people.
- Dark Vision - A staple of many races, Defiance has the typical advantages of dark vision, and drawbacks such as inability to see color, only shades of gray, while utilizing the aforementioned darkvision.
- World Walker - Defiance was born and raised in the far east, and has wandered around the world, north and south included, as part of his wandering mercenary lifestyle. The amount of curious information, trivia, and experience gathered during such a long time homeless and wandering gives him a broad base of experience to pull from, leaving him capable of adapting remarkably quickly and always having a story to share around a campfire to boot.
πππππππ/ππ‘ππππππ₯πͺ ππππππ€:- Hellish Resilience - Beyond the normal fire resistance that his kind boast, Defiance has a particularly durable lineage, capable of rebuking not only fire, but most elemental effects and poison better than most. He's durable overall too, though his frame wouldn't show it, more so than your typical tiefling or adventurer with his frame and build. Coupled with his namesake determination to not back down, and you get someone with a truly inhuman staying power, be it in a fight or in a survival situation.
- Warding Magic - The specialized form of ritual magic practiced by the far eastern temple of yokai (demon) hunters that he was born and raised in, Defiance is adept in the same arts. Typically, combat application revolves around protecting and amplifying his well being and physical capabilities that, in conjunction with the alchemy tonics and pills, allows even a human to go toe to toe with the fiercest of daemons and win, though not necessarily survive the backlash without proper preparation. Alongside this, he has innate access to minor cantrips of a non offensive sort, mostly minor tricks such as flavoring of rations and other minor tricks.
- Eastern Alchemy - Defiance is an competent alchemist, capable of preparing a variety of potions, tonics, and medicines native to his homeland. These include tonics and muscle stimulants that amplify the natural abilities of the patient and, as long as they are not mixed or abused, remain perfectly safe. More pragmatically, having picked up recipes from intelligence gathering orders in exchange for his services, he can prepare and usually maintains a handful of caustic flash bombs and blackpowder bombs as well, and can manufacture poisons should he have the ingrediants. There is nothing magical or even supernatural about any of his creations, however, and he does not have any means of magically infusing his creations, limiting them to what is naturally possible.
- Master-at-Arms - Having spent his entire life wandering the world as a mercenary and daemon hunter, Defiance has encountered and utilized a staggering number of weapons throughout his travels. From something as simple as an especially sturdy stick to early firearms that some seem to favor, he shows a knack for being able to pick up something and use it as a weapon in a hurry, even if he prefers his swords of choice typically speaking, he has no qualms about using anything he can get his hands on as highly effective weapons of war.
πππ§πππ₯π π£πͺ:- Traveling Clothes
- Patchwork mix of leather and plated armor.
- Katana - Fondly named "Ake" by the tiefling, it otherwise is a perfectly serviceable, if mundane, weapon.
- Wakizashi
- Backpack with two weeks rations, rope, sleeping back, his alchemy kit, and other misc trinkets.
- Reagent satchel with necessary supplies for his alchemy practices.
- Several flash and one blackpowder bomb.
- Several medicinal pills for amplifying his speed and reflexes.
βππ€π₯π π£πͺ:
Defiance, his given name by the temple he was raised by being Noboru Miyashita, was an orphan, or at least that was what he was told at any rate once he was old enough to ask. Whether it was true or not didn't exactly matter, given his tiefling heritage would have made him unwelcome in most places anyways. Fortunately for him, the Yokai hunter's temple he was adopted by was willing to, metaphorically, fight fire with fire and often welcomed tieflings and other outcasts into their ranks. Being raised this way had its perks, such as not knowing any other way of life besides that of a hunter. He was raised and trained in the various weapons, eastern alchemy recipes, and magical applications he could utilize thanks to his bloodline offering him magical reserves already, before being sold out via contracts to those in need of hunters.
He would spend his teenage years acting as an agent for his temple, eventually picking up his common nickname of Defiance after being found near dead, but successful in driving off a small gathering of daemons who had been intent on causing trouble. Defiance would steadily feel a mounting wanderlust growing, and during a mission that took him far from his temple's grounds, would decide to not return, sending the share of coin he owed the temple back via trusted courier and wandering beyond the lands of his home. This would, initially, prove to be a grave mistake since his temple's status and protection no longer applied, meaning he was just some tiefling with a sword and some odd tricks, and that introduced him to what his biggest running problem would be.
It took several attempts to even find a town that wouldn't immediately assault him and try to drive Defiance away, and only because they were desperate enough to trust some 'devilspawn' in his word he was there to help. Even after he helped, rather than promised coin, he was faced with the town guard and a demand that he leave. Such early experiences, rather than break him or seemingly form his outlook on life, seemed to have no impact. He learned how to get his pay from reluctant or fearful towns and employers, and quickly garnered a reputation as both veteran mercenary and dangerous enemy. His curious eastern ways also got him into meetings he otherwise wouldn't have, even with his heritage, something he learned to leverage with relative success.
Defiance can't say there was any grand single moments of heroism, or crushing lows, just the constant distrust and wariness that came from having red skin and a pair of horns. He tried to spend longer stretches in larger cities, but never found welcome beyond what he was needed for, a tool to be used and discarded, but he never let it show that it might possibly be wearing on him. The Grinning Ronin, the far eastern devil that took your coin and made problems go away, and never seemed to remain around for long. Never mind the fact that it was the distrust and cold reception that always forced him to move on, that clearly had nothing to do with it at all.
Defiance would spend twenty years, up to his current age, walking steadily west, getting into fights and jobs dealing with all walks of life, gathering a rather worldly amount of experience and knowledge as he did so. When the letter requesting his services in specific came, the amount of gold being offered was, frankly, secondary. It was the task at hand, and especially the pheonix, that caught his eye and his interest. He knew why he was wanted, the kind of experience and abilities he brought to a group was hard to acquire to begin with, but the fact a pheonix had been captured and was being carried off somewhere vital was, well, interesting. Enough so he would answer this call to arms, heading for the oddly comforting sounding town of Forsaken. Maybe he could find a plot of land there to settle down, or maybe he'll get driven on just like everywhere else. Either way, he hoped this would be interesting at least, though the pay was good if nothing else.
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βπππ£πππ₯ππ£ βπ¦π π₯π: "Alright ramblers, let's get rambling."
πΈππͺπ₯ππππ πΌππ€π: Defiance has three distinct 'Masks' or personas he maintains as he goes about his daily life. The first is the most common, casual demeanor that he has during day to day travels and life. This is what most people see as normal, the casual, friendly and flippant mercenary that never seems bothered by his lot in life. If asked, he always says that this is just who he is, and anything else is just the war face or other vague explanations or excuses.
Second is his combat demeanor, much more focused, though Defiance will still show a good amount of having fun when a fight that really tests him or those he's working with at any given time. While far less friendly, he is far more focused and professional, befitting a seasoned mercenary.
The third is one he refuses to acknowledge currently, one that only really comes out when Defiance drinks too much or otherwise is brought emotionally low. He loses the cheeriness and flippant nature, a tired bitterness at the world as a whole coming through during this emotional slump. He'll never admit that this is anything more than a simple hiccup to his 'usual self'.
Theme Song:
Member
Zeus23
Not a Sayan
Fading Memory
CrypticMeaning
Lurking Krog
Ariamis
Lunamaria Hawke
