Post by Keibi Izumi on Jul 18, 2008 16:16:24 GMT -8
Quote: "Wow, that is a large sword. Shame you're too preoccupied with the knife in your ribs to hit me with it."
Name: Keibi Izumi
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6
Weight: 120 lbs
Appearance: She wears a medium grey cape over both shoulders, with a silver chain clasping it shut around her collarbone area. Hanging from the center of the chain is a silver pendant the size of her hand and shaped similarly to a fang. This hangs over her black kimono which fits loosely over her short, thin form.
Her skin is only slightly pale, in contrast to her black hair. The sides of her hair hang just past her chin, while her bangs skim just in front of her steel-grey eyes. The back of her hair layers down into a feathery flip towards the bottom.
She tends to wear a passive smile over her slim face, grey eyes lost in thought. Her cheek bones are very subtle, and her conscious smile is very faint, furtive. She walks with her arms folded behind her back with very slow, flighty steps padded by straw sandals. Her hands are still soft as silk, unworn by her few years of sword use.
The scents of rainwater and copper follow her ceaselessly.
Title: Number 93 of the 99 Zugaikotsu Ronin, The Severing Edge; Keibi Izumi of squad 11.
Number: Number 93
Theme: Blades
Gikou:
1) "Kenkaku-Ki": The very spirit of one's sword mastery extends the sharpness of their blade through the air, causing a cut before the metal touches flesh. Early on, this invisible edge rises only an inch or two from the blade. At the second level, it can double the blade's mass, and at the third, it allows the user to perform slashes that slice the air, turning their strike into a ranged attack.
2) "Motion Trail": Can read the path of an attack, predicting it more easily. At Level Two, it's sped up to match a rapier. At Level Three, the user can actually see the motion trail that will be created by an enemy's slash before it happens, reading the strike's intended target.
3) "Target Mastery": Knowledge of which points on a humanoid enemy's body will kill them instantly, as well as which pressure points would stun them. At Level Three, the user's knowledge is increased to the point where they know just the angle at which to hit a pressure point to instantly kill. However, when faced with entirely non-human foes, the effect is reduced; the Level Three version works only at Level Two efficiency. Either way, the target must be within fifteen feet in order for this to work.
4) "Kamaitachi no Haji": Allows the user to teleport their blade to any position so long as it isn't inside another object. This allows the wielder to change hands, grip their blade differently, or draw it without any motion. At Level Three, the user can teleport their blade to four different positions at once. The blades may intersect each other, but no other object.
5) "Kenkite": Following a blade replication of Kamaitachi no Haji, the user takes hold of one of the blades; all others will follow the pattern of any swing performed with this blade. However, their motions can be set to perform at a certain angle from the user.
6) "Zerfall no Keibi": User's blade automatically moves to block any attack that the user is not consciously aware of. With Kamaitachi no Haji active, this can block up to eight sneak attacks at once; without, only two. Even vague awareness of an attack, however, negates this ability.
Weapon:
Furui-Akuma Katana; Laubere (the 'au' is pronounced like the 'ow' in 'town.' Followed by "BEH-ray"): A neutral grey katana with no ornamentation whatsoever, as such features are superfluous.
Joushou-Seiryoku Katana; Jorene (JOH-rin-ay) www.arco-iris.com/George/images/schiavona.jpg
Tenrai-Seiitsu Katana; Zerfall (ZEHR-ful; rhymes with 'careful'): A sword of the same basic build as Jorene, its blade has grown to nearly twice Jorene's size, counting width and length together. The hand guard curves downward more steeply, coming to a sharp point at the bottom. A diamond-shaped counterweight has been placed at the pommel of the sword. All of this has been added at little to no extra weight.
Personality: Izumi is usually very laid-back, but has a tenuous tolerance for noise at best, preferring not to make more than is needed. She considers sparring equivalent to dancing, and is quite eager for a partner, who will have her utmost respect.
However, she knows that swordsmanship is a battle art, and when placed in combat she is noticeably colder than her usual self, even berating a wounded foe for their incompetence. Nevertheless, if one stays on her side of a fight, she is a very kind and protective person who considers her purpose in fighting to ensure safety from the Demons.
When she's not locked in combat, she can often be found training against the air or quietly sipping lemon-peach tea. During the latter, she'll almost invariably be thinking of how to better improve her technique; there are rare moments, however, when she wants nothing better than to climb a building for no other reason than because she can.
History: Izumi grew up in an unnamed countryside village. Daughter of a local swordsmith named Iasut, she was always fascinated with her father's work. The grace of a blade always enchanted her, and she longed to learn how to use one. Her father would never allow her to touch his swords; at her young age, he feared her making a mistake.
He humoured her by instead simply talking about sword technique; though he knew nothing about the use of a blade, their musings together gave Izumi an unwavering drive to truly master the sword. Throughout their discussions, Iasut noticed, Izumi was always startlingly intuitive; simply through her common senses, she taught herself secrets of the blade that the village's hunters would often confirm.
On her nineteenth year of life, a single bandit attacked the village. Holding a claymore with one hand, his sheer strength sent each of the village's armed men running to cover; they saw no way to beat such a monstrous man in direct combat.
Izumi proved faster than the great blade; taking a cooking knife in hand, she slipped between the man's killing blows and interrupted his praise of the enormous sword by plunging the knife through his stomach.
She realized that day that the skills she'd wished her life over to hone...were already with her. And with that realization came another: as strong as she was, she could help those less fortunate than herself. She could lend herself as a blade to the weak.
She asked her father to craft a sword for her. He agreed. As he poured a year of his time into the blade, a year of his love, the katana became, without a doubt, his finest work.
He presented the blade to his daughter on her twentieth birthday. As Izumi accepted the gift, she opened her mouth to speak, but her father's was the quicker tongue. "You'll return soon," he vowed.
Yet fate would not allow things to be so simple; as Izumi wandered upon a troubled village, she offered her blade, only to be constantly refused; the residents promised her that they were already fated to die, and that she would be no different. Their warnings were too cryptic to be heeded.
She spent a night silently guarding the town, outcries ignored. And finally, she was made to understand their resignation; a jet-black monster attacked that night, tearing life from the earth with every swipe of its deadly claws. After defending several of the townspeople, she drew the beast's eye, and it chased her furiously, hatred redoubled as it saw her analytical grey stare.
As she blocked a single terrible swipe of the beasts's claws, her father's smithing proved itself; her sword tore through the sinewy shadow flesh without hesitation. At that day, though she didn't understand why, she became part of the last line of defense against a threat that she could only call Demons.
And after a month of searching, she found those who shared her fate. A military academy, training each of its students in the skill of combating Demons. This, she felt, was her greatest chance to offer her aid; Demons are just slightly more frightening than the greed of men.
Over the course of five years, she honed her blade, which held steadfast against any blow, dealt or received. And at the end of those years, her instructors surprised her; out of every other student in the room, they honestly believed that she was the best with a sword, and honored her with a magical blade, a Furui Akuma. And with it came the position of Number 93 of the 99 Zugaikotsu Ronin.
And finally, her blade was given a life of peace, waiting for the day when it can return to the village.
Name: Keibi Izumi
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6
Weight: 120 lbs
Appearance: She wears a medium grey cape over both shoulders, with a silver chain clasping it shut around her collarbone area. Hanging from the center of the chain is a silver pendant the size of her hand and shaped similarly to a fang. This hangs over her black kimono which fits loosely over her short, thin form.
Her skin is only slightly pale, in contrast to her black hair. The sides of her hair hang just past her chin, while her bangs skim just in front of her steel-grey eyes. The back of her hair layers down into a feathery flip towards the bottom.
She tends to wear a passive smile over her slim face, grey eyes lost in thought. Her cheek bones are very subtle, and her conscious smile is very faint, furtive. She walks with her arms folded behind her back with very slow, flighty steps padded by straw sandals. Her hands are still soft as silk, unworn by her few years of sword use.
The scents of rainwater and copper follow her ceaselessly.
Title: Number 93 of the 99 Zugaikotsu Ronin, The Severing Edge; Keibi Izumi of squad 11.
Number: Number 93
Theme: Blades
Gikou:
1) "Kenkaku-Ki": The very spirit of one's sword mastery extends the sharpness of their blade through the air, causing a cut before the metal touches flesh. Early on, this invisible edge rises only an inch or two from the blade. At the second level, it can double the blade's mass, and at the third, it allows the user to perform slashes that slice the air, turning their strike into a ranged attack.
2) "Motion Trail": Can read the path of an attack, predicting it more easily. At Level Two, it's sped up to match a rapier. At Level Three, the user can actually see the motion trail that will be created by an enemy's slash before it happens, reading the strike's intended target.
3) "Target Mastery": Knowledge of which points on a humanoid enemy's body will kill them instantly, as well as which pressure points would stun them. At Level Three, the user's knowledge is increased to the point where they know just the angle at which to hit a pressure point to instantly kill. However, when faced with entirely non-human foes, the effect is reduced; the Level Three version works only at Level Two efficiency. Either way, the target must be within fifteen feet in order for this to work.
4) "Kamaitachi no Haji": Allows the user to teleport their blade to any position so long as it isn't inside another object. This allows the wielder to change hands, grip their blade differently, or draw it without any motion. At Level Three, the user can teleport their blade to four different positions at once. The blades may intersect each other, but no other object.
5) "Kenkite": Following a blade replication of Kamaitachi no Haji, the user takes hold of one of the blades; all others will follow the pattern of any swing performed with this blade. However, their motions can be set to perform at a certain angle from the user.
6) "Zerfall no Keibi": User's blade automatically moves to block any attack that the user is not consciously aware of. With Kamaitachi no Haji active, this can block up to eight sneak attacks at once; without, only two. Even vague awareness of an attack, however, negates this ability.
Weapon:
Furui-Akuma Katana; Laubere (the 'au' is pronounced like the 'ow' in 'town.' Followed by "BEH-ray"): A neutral grey katana with no ornamentation whatsoever, as such features are superfluous.
Joushou-Seiryoku Katana; Jorene (JOH-rin-ay) www.arco-iris.com/George/images/schiavona.jpg
Tenrai-Seiitsu Katana; Zerfall (ZEHR-ful; rhymes with 'careful'): A sword of the same basic build as Jorene, its blade has grown to nearly twice Jorene's size, counting width and length together. The hand guard curves downward more steeply, coming to a sharp point at the bottom. A diamond-shaped counterweight has been placed at the pommel of the sword. All of this has been added at little to no extra weight.
Personality: Izumi is usually very laid-back, but has a tenuous tolerance for noise at best, preferring not to make more than is needed. She considers sparring equivalent to dancing, and is quite eager for a partner, who will have her utmost respect.
However, she knows that swordsmanship is a battle art, and when placed in combat she is noticeably colder than her usual self, even berating a wounded foe for their incompetence. Nevertheless, if one stays on her side of a fight, she is a very kind and protective person who considers her purpose in fighting to ensure safety from the Demons.
When she's not locked in combat, she can often be found training against the air or quietly sipping lemon-peach tea. During the latter, she'll almost invariably be thinking of how to better improve her technique; there are rare moments, however, when she wants nothing better than to climb a building for no other reason than because she can.
History: Izumi grew up in an unnamed countryside village. Daughter of a local swordsmith named Iasut, she was always fascinated with her father's work. The grace of a blade always enchanted her, and she longed to learn how to use one. Her father would never allow her to touch his swords; at her young age, he feared her making a mistake.
He humoured her by instead simply talking about sword technique; though he knew nothing about the use of a blade, their musings together gave Izumi an unwavering drive to truly master the sword. Throughout their discussions, Iasut noticed, Izumi was always startlingly intuitive; simply through her common senses, she taught herself secrets of the blade that the village's hunters would often confirm.
On her nineteenth year of life, a single bandit attacked the village. Holding a claymore with one hand, his sheer strength sent each of the village's armed men running to cover; they saw no way to beat such a monstrous man in direct combat.
Izumi proved faster than the great blade; taking a cooking knife in hand, she slipped between the man's killing blows and interrupted his praise of the enormous sword by plunging the knife through his stomach.
She realized that day that the skills she'd wished her life over to hone...were already with her. And with that realization came another: as strong as she was, she could help those less fortunate than herself. She could lend herself as a blade to the weak.
She asked her father to craft a sword for her. He agreed. As he poured a year of his time into the blade, a year of his love, the katana became, without a doubt, his finest work.
He presented the blade to his daughter on her twentieth birthday. As Izumi accepted the gift, she opened her mouth to speak, but her father's was the quicker tongue. "You'll return soon," he vowed.
Yet fate would not allow things to be so simple; as Izumi wandered upon a troubled village, she offered her blade, only to be constantly refused; the residents promised her that they were already fated to die, and that she would be no different. Their warnings were too cryptic to be heeded.
She spent a night silently guarding the town, outcries ignored. And finally, she was made to understand their resignation; a jet-black monster attacked that night, tearing life from the earth with every swipe of its deadly claws. After defending several of the townspeople, she drew the beast's eye, and it chased her furiously, hatred redoubled as it saw her analytical grey stare.
As she blocked a single terrible swipe of the beasts's claws, her father's smithing proved itself; her sword tore through the sinewy shadow flesh without hesitation. At that day, though she didn't understand why, she became part of the last line of defense against a threat that she could only call Demons.
And after a month of searching, she found those who shared her fate. A military academy, training each of its students in the skill of combating Demons. This, she felt, was her greatest chance to offer her aid; Demons are just slightly more frightening than the greed of men.
Over the course of five years, she honed her blade, which held steadfast against any blow, dealt or received. And at the end of those years, her instructors surprised her; out of every other student in the room, they honestly believed that she was the best with a sword, and honored her with a magical blade, a Furui Akuma. And with it came the position of Number 93 of the 99 Zugaikotsu Ronin.
And finally, her blade was given a life of peace, waiting for the day when it can return to the village.
