<div class="floatright">(http://blog.williamcolephoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SHINKOYAMADA.THELASTSAMURAI.WILLIAMCOLEPHOTO.WEB_.570._C2.jpg)</div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Suzume Kyou</div><div class="spoiler_body">Name:      Suzume Kyou<br/>Clan:      Sparrow<br/>School:   Suzume Bushi School<br/>Age:      18<br/>Height:   5’10”<br/>Weight:   180<br/>Build:      Medium, with good tone.  <br/><br/>Description:   The lithe beauty of a young man of the Crane clan hides very nearly the full strength of the Crab’s young warriors.  Kyou is both of these things, yet neither.  Though he maintains manly stoicism, his eyes offer warm camaraderie and compassion.  He does not anger at petty things, but can be provoked to violence for the suffering of common folk that many would overlook.  Some might think his poverty marks him as a child of heaven wallowing in the mud with peasants.  Kyou smiles in quite pity.  He knows his place in the celestial order better than such fools.  He stands above those he rules, yes, for he is their protector.  They stand beneath him to lift him on their shoulders.  <br/>   Kyou does not voice such radical ideas.  He fights for his country, hoping for a chance to stand against the taint.  At court he brushes clean his hakima and tells stories, offering charming smiles to the girls while his eyes promise that there are secrets in his tales he has yet to reveal.  <br/>   There are always more stories to tell.  <br/><br/>Honor:      6.5<br/><br/><br/>Air (3)<br/>3   Reflexes<br/>3   Awareness<br/><br/>Earth (3)<br/>3   Stamina<br/>3   Willpower<br/><br/>Fire (2)<br/>2   Agility<br/>2   Intelligence<br/><br/>Water (2)<br/>3   Strength<br/>2   Perception<br/><br/>Void (2)<br/><br/><br/>Athletics         0<br/>Battle            0<br/>*Caligraphy         1<br/>Courtier         0<br/>Defense            0<br/>Etiquette         1<br/>Iajutsu            0<br/>*Investigation         1<br/>*Kenjutsu         3   (Katana)<br/>Kyujutsu         1<br/>Lore: Bushido         0<br/>*Lore: Heraldry         1<br/>*Lore: History         1<br/>*Lore: Theology         1<br/>Meditation         0<br/>*Perform: Storytelling      3   <br/><br/>Merits:  <br/>(4)   Benten’s Blessing<br/>(7)   Paragon of Compasion<br/>(3)   Voice<br/><br/>Flaws (Max 10)<br/>(4)   Cursed by the Realm: Sakkaku<br/>(2)   Idealistic<br/>(2)   Lechery<br/>(3*)   Overconfident<br/><br/>Technique:  <br/>1:   All Things In Time:  <br/>--The Suzume watches the flow of combat to discover the perfect time for his assault.  At the beginning of each Combat Round, before the first character has taken his Turn, you may reduce your initiative score by 5 to add 1k0 to all your attack and damage rolls for the Round.  <br/><br/>Defense:   20<br/>--Damage Reduction   3<br/>--Increase the target number of all athletics and stealth rolls by 5.  <br/><br/><br/>Outfit:   <br/>Hakima and Robe under Light Armor and Wooden Clogs.<br/>Straw Pack, Cloak and Hat<br/>Chopsticks<br/>Gourd of Water and Gourd of Sake<br/><br/><br/>Katana<br/>Attack Roll   4k2 <br/>Damage      6k2<br/><br/>Wakasashi<br/>Attack Roll      4k2<br/>Damage   5k2<br/>Range      20’<br/><br/>Yumi:  <br/>Attack Roll   3k2<br/>Amunition:   20 Willow Leaf Arrows<br/>Damage   5k2<br/>Keywords:   Large<br/>Strength   3<br/>Range      250’<br/>Special Rules:    Increase the TN of all attack rolls by 10’ if used from horseback.  <br/>20 Questions:  <br/>--1.  My name is Suzume Kyou.  I am a warrior of the sparrow clan.  Do you know what that means?  Let me tell you a story...<br/>--2-3.  Once upon a time there was a man named Suzume Akira.  He worked hard for many years ruling his land, defending his people, and serving his Daimyo.  He had a wife named Moemi, three daughters--mighty Sayuri, beautiful Azuza, and wise Kurumi.  He also had a son, Kyou, which means Apricot.  After many years, Akira was rewarded for his service with permission to retire to a monastery and live out the rest of his life in peace and comfort.  Before he left, Akira told young Apricot the story of a child with mythical powers born from a giant peach, who slew many ogres through strength and wisdom.  Then he left his sword to his son--who was soon to begin his schooling in the arts of the Suzume Bushi--and left his children in their mother's care.  <br/>4.  See above.  Kyou wears a straw hat and cloak over his somewhat mended indigo hakima and kimono. <br/>5.  Trained in swordsmanship and storytelling by his mother's father, Kyou grew up surrounded by myths and legends.  What he longs for most is to live such a mythic life himself.  <br/>6.  Kyou's living hero and most trusted confidant is his older sister--   --the eldest of the Akira's children.  He admires both her honor and her strength.  <br/>7.  Kyou is a dreamer--it is his greatest strength and greatest weakness.  Legends of heroism give him strength while distorting his judgment.  <br/>8.  <br/></div></div><br/>To someone who had watched Suzume Kyou striding lightly down the road towards the city, a tall figure clad in a grass cloak and grass hat, with little visible besides a strong jaw with sensual lips and a long black pony tail, they might easily have mistaken him for a<em>ronin</em>, or even a<em>henin</em>mercenary foolish enough to claim higher station by carrying two blades.<br/><br/>The young Suzume<em>bushi</em>had a pensive look on his face as he traveled.  His elders—even his sensei—had placed a task upon him that would be truly delicious and delightful if he didn't fear that it violated bushido in so many ways...<br/><br/>His duty was his duty, though, and it was particularly important in this instance.  So Kyou quietly told himself a number of stories that romanticized the task that had fallen too him.  While enjoying the cherry blossoms, the thought that he might shame himself with this task grew ever further away, and his excitement grew...<br/><br/>By the time the young warrior entered the room where they were to be hosted, he had put aside his clogs, his straw cloak and hat, and received aid from the local servant girls to straighten and brush his robe.  The glorious young warrior who entered seemed to have little in common with the traditional country bumpkin image of the Sparrow.  A youth in his prime, passing tall and sleep, with a robe and hakima that only emphesied his powerful shoulders.  His face was somewhere between handsome and beautiful, sensual lipped with flashing black eyes.  His silky raven hair was bound back with a leather chord into a pony tail that fell to the small of his back.  He wore rich brown silks embroidered with thread of gold, and his mon were displayed proudly on his chest.<br/><br/>The young warrior strode in gracefully, his eyes quietly drifting over the three beautiful women he'd found himself keeping company with.  He didn't take the time to savor them just now, though.<br/><br/>Sinking to his knees before their hosts, he gave a deep bow, “<em>Iroha-sama</em>,” he addressed the husband and wife both with the title a man of worth would grant to the leaders of a clan.  “My name is Suzume Kyou.  I offer the greetings of my daimyo and my clan.  We offer this humble token of our esteem.”  He offered a small bundle wrapped in the same lustrous brown silk his robe was made from.  Should they open it, they would find a bottle of the finest sake their lands could produce in an enamel bottle worked with ivory and jade.<br/><br/>“I have heard legends of your hospitality.  I have already seen many wonders that revealed the tale tellers were overly modest.”<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Awareness + Etequitte 4k3.  <br/>+ Benten's Blessing?<br/>+ Voice?</div></div>