Lady Oyuki, as she is often called by the other villagers, can be decisively called striking at a mere glance. Her skin is as fair and pale as the snow she is named after, while her long, straight hair is a sharply contrasting shade of jet black. Meeting her gaze, one will find large, rounded eyes of a pale, icy blue framed in long, elegant lashes; eyes that peer keenly out from between a high-set brow above and rounded, rosy cheeks below. Her gaze is tranquil, pure, and piercing; it is almost more like looking back at one's reflection in the mirror-like surface of a frozen lake than meeting the eyes of a fellow human being. Serving to offset her eyes' pale color, however, Oyuki's full lips are a lush red, and the narrow, sharp jawline beneath them serves likewise to counterbalance the roundness of her cheeks. Her whole countenance is a synthesis of opposing extremes both physical and chromatic that all somehow exist in an almost perfect balance of harmony with one another, creating a sense of beauty that is wholly her own.

Despite the intensity of her facial features, however, her build is rather lean, and in certain aspects rather petite. She is tall for a woman, but with narrow shoulders, somewhat short arms, and small, dainty hands. Her figure, too, could best be described as shapely but modest, possessing only a humble bustline, but with wide hips and long legs. However, unlike most of the other villagers, she is rather scrawny, having lived a sheltered life with little to no exposure to the sun or to difficult manual labor. She lacks muscle almost entirely, save what little she has accumulated from simple household chores and occasional walks in the woods around the village. What's more, it wouldn't be difficult to pick out the locations of most of her ribs if one looked closely, as her current frugal lifestyle and overly-diligent mentality has caused her to forgo meals on a rather alarmingly regular basis.

Thus, all these factors combine to create a beautiful woman who, while not exactly diminutive, seems as graceful as a crane, as fragile as glass, and as fleeting and ephemeral as snow.

She favors modest, rather conservative attire, almost all of which is either of her own making, or a hand-me-down from the previous shrine maiden. Almost all her outfits feature multiple layers and show off very little skin, with the long, flowing, curtain-like sleeves of her furisode often hiding even her hands from view, while various hooded gowns, cloaks, and mantles serve to cover her neck and head from the elements, and long skirts trail almost clear down to her sandal-clad feet. Most of her kimonos do not display any ostentatious patterns or eye-catching ornaments, however, and they also lack a clan seal or personal crest of any kind. Pure, simple colors in complimentary hues make up the bulk of her wardrobe. But, of all the colors she wears, blue suits her best - and thus most often finds its way onto her person.

As far as accessories go, she does not often wear them. However, on special occasions, she will occasionally don a small hairpin, decorated with a few colorful stones and an ornament carved in the shape of a lily. It's a cherished possession that formerly belonged to the previous shrine maiden, and she thus takes great care of it. Other such heirlooms make up the bulk of her accoutrements: a roughly-whittled reed flute, and a tall walking staff adorned with a brass head, with several rings and consecrated bells attached by strands of braided cord, said to help pacify spirits and ward off evil. This, in particular, is her constant companion on her walks, and its jingling often heralds her arrival.

A mysterious, beautiful young woman who has lived at the Heiseina shrine for as long as most children of the village can remember. Though the older members of the village often respectfully but distantly call her "Lady Oyuki," it's unclear to the village children and adolescents precisely where this respect -- or perhaps fear -- comes from. The adults, however, know better, and often look to the high slopes of the valley when they speak of her, where a ruined manor house sprawls upon a high plateau, overlooking the village from a perch blanketed almost year-round by snow.

The Tsurugamine family was once a respected, wealthy house. They had settled upon land blessed by the spirits of the valley, where their flocks and herds could graze and eat their fill upon grasses that grew perpetually. They looked down on the other villagers from the comfort of their manor, and their words carried great weight among the elders of the town. The daughter of this blessed house, rumored to be a great beauty, would surely one day have been the most beloved and sought-after bride in all the village.

But something about her attracted the attention of more than just humans. There was an evil spirit from beyond the valley that longed for a child to call her own, and would stop at nothing to claim one; to raise, to bend to her will, and then, ultimately, to feed upon as she came into maturity, to restore the hag's own lost youth. Catching sight of this beautiful girl as she gazed from her balcony into the woods, the ancient hag's wicked soul was filled with desire. If she could claim such a child's vitality, surely her own aged body could be restored. And so, in the dead of winter, the ancient hag stole into the valley, violating the sanctity of the spirits and cursing the land with her intrusion. A thick, heavy snow began to fall without end, chasing out the spirits who would protect her prey from her, and scourging the once-verdant hill of life.

The great manor was frozen in ice, and the child was snatched from her parents' grasp. Though they struggled and screamed, they could do nothing to stop the ancient hag or her magic - and were at last frozen to lifeless husks where they stood. But before the child could be dragged back beyond the valley and into the realm from whence the evil youkai had come, the spirits she had chased away returned, bringing with them their staunch ally.

The sound of bells ringing amidst the stillness of the snow.

The sight of a proud back, standing between her and the unknown that threatened to devour her very existence.

The feeling of a warm cloak wrapped around her as she was carried from the crumbling halls of her once proud home, and a reassuring, gentle voice telling her that the world had not yet ended.

It was thus that the trembling, confused little girl came to find herself brought to the shrine. She didn't know what had happened, or why she had to lose everything -- but at the very least, she was not yet alone. Her new guardian treated her with the utmost kindness, consoling her for her loss and raising her as if the young Yuki was her own child. And as she grew older and came to understand her circumstances, she did not do so with bitterness, but with gratitude.

Her parents had been willing to part with their own lives to save her. Her dear, precious obasama had rushed to her side to save her, and was always there to protect her whenever she was afraid. No matter how much she had lost, she knew above all else that she was loved. Thus, above all else, she desired to return that love. To repay kindness with kindness became her motto, and she worked harder than ever to provide whatever comfort she could in return to the hero who had saved her life. She learned to cook, to sew, to embroider, and many other things, all so that she could provide gift after gift to her cherished obasama. As the only family she had left, and knowing that she could lose that family in an instant, she showered her mentor with all the childish affection and admiration she could, and was doted upon in return, prompting her to redouble her efforts to repay her ever increasing debt of gratitude.

In short, no matter what darkness she had seen, her childhood was happy. Yet, it was also shallow. The hag had been driven away, but was far too powerful to be sealed or slain. If she left the consecrated grounds of the shrine, then surely, the tragedy of her youth would be repeated. And so, she was kept sequestered within the shrine itself, from the time she was a child all the way up until she came of age, deprived of the company of all save for her guardian.

But this all changed when she at last came of age, and shortly thereafter, her dear, cherished mentor and protector passed away, as if her purpose was now fulfilled. So it was that the confused Yuki, the long-rumored daughter of a family now thought dead for at least a decade, came to have dealings with the village itself after her long seclusion.

The reactions her appearance garnered were mixed. Some thought she could not have been real -- that it was a ghost rather than a real girl that the old miko had so painstakingly kept hidden, that she was made of ice and would suck the life out of those who got too close to her, or spirit them away as she herself had been taken as a child. Others pitied her for the tragic life she had lived, offering to take her in and grant her sanctuary now that her guardian, too, was gone. Still others admired her for her beauty, and even went so far as to seek after the hand of this fair, mysterious maiden. Yet she, too shy to meet such fervent affections, retreated back to the safety and the familiarity of her shrine, and refused those who sought to court her as well as those who sought to take her in and offer her shelter. After all... she still had a debt to repay.

This shrine was her home. It was the place the person she had cherished more dearly even than her own parents had lived to protect. It was her duty, then, to see it taken care of. She could not leave. She would not betray her savior's memory. She would show her gratitude through her earnest devotion, her prayers, and her hard work. So it is that she has continued to maintain the shrine and follow in her mentor's footsteps, up until the present day.

And so, when one walks in the woods around the village, one often hears the jingling of bells and distant footsteps just a little further ahead. When one goes to market, one can see a hooded young lady buying fabric and selling clothes. And when one approaches the shrine on the edge of town late in the day, one can sometimes hear the mournful sound of a reed flute echoing between the cliffs overhead, like the song of a bird. So it has always been. So it will always be. Like a crane said to live a thousand years, the mysterious Lady Oyuki continues each day as she always has, living with constancy, with honesty, with duty, and with gratitude.

In that sense, perhaps she isn't so dissimilar from the spirits she seeks to appease - and perhaps that is why they are content to accept her ministrations, inexperienced though she may be.

The Fujiwara Family is one of the more important families in the great valley. While not being descended from the Takamori directly, there is a certain pride in Chiasa’s appearance despite foregoing honorable distinctions and choosing the life of a tinkerer.

Chiasa’s hair is as dark as midnight and her eyes do not stray far behind, becoming like amethysts that have long since lost their luster. Her hair is well combed, though held together with metal bindings to keep it in a ponytail at pretty much all times. What could be said most of all is Chiasa’s expression, or well, lack of a smile. She walks heavy and she comes with a heavy sense of entitlement. She’s about average in height as well, though with how she carries herself it is hard to remember. Her fists curl at the first sign of irritation and her brows narrow with even the most minor of irritations. When she isn’t upset she still looks prickly as a thorn. Essentially, a normal Fujiwara.

Chiasa’s grandfather, Fujiwara Ichiro, often tells an old story.

It is a story that Chiasa has heard told throughout her whole life. The Takamori betrayed the Fujiwara and nobody cared. Had it not been for the pacifistic policies passed they would certainly have met the end of a blade. But was the story that Chiasa’s grandfather told the truth or some kind of bitter story told through the generations to breed resentment and stoke the fires of rebellion?

Fortunately Chiasa has never cared for traditions. She spit on the face of her family with marriage arrangement after marriage arrangement and even before that sought to learn about the old world in lieu of anything her family wished for. This was clear since the very first day she asked about the outside world and the weird gadgetry that the tinkerer of the village would haul in to work on some new project. The strange music the tinkerer would play at festivals inspired her even further, though for some reason her family tried to curb her interests in such things. “It’s unladylike” they’d insist before going into expectations of family and tradition. The Fujiwara directed trade, crafted sake and umeshu; they did not mess with the old world.

Chiasa was not her mother or sisters. She liked the old world. She wanted to know about places beyond the valley. She would do anything she could to know more things. When she was a young girl she asserted herself and demanded the tinkerer make her an apprentice. After much persistence and her own family’s interference complicating things she never thought she’d actually get the chance to learn about machines of the past nor how to make things from them. Her family eternally disappointed, Tinkerer Anayao took in the girl.

She’s still not satisfied all these years later… but that’s just how Chiasa is.

TBD

Itsuki stands taller than average in the village, and while not widely built, has a strong musculature about his body. Due to his family's profession, his clothes are simple and plain, with the only accouterment added to his ensemble is a small wooden carving of a Kodama added to a sash around his waist, the head of which is filled with acorns, creating a soft rattling sound if he moves quickly. He usually keeps his axe on hand during the workday and keeps a set of small whittling knives on him as well. When he and his father work in the forests, he keeps a hollowed-out gourd to store water from as well, usually tied to his sash.

Itsuki is not a normal young man. He is a man enamored with the spiritual realm and desires to travel beyond the well-known and safe valley to the unknown. His family, when placed next to him, single him out constantly as the odd one due Itsuki not sharing his family's boisterous qualities or their love of rice wine. He is a gentle soul, and one that needs to eventually explore the world to truly blossom into the man he is destined to become.

It began when he was a toddler, being carried by his mother as they delivered wood to a nearby village. During their trek, they were beset by a terrible thunderstorm, and the infant Itsuki fell from his mother's arms into the deep brush of the forest. He tumbled through thickets and brush, but something caught him and cradled him. When his family found him, he was safe and unharmed in a thicket of trees. Simple luck they argued. But even as he grew older, Itsuki swore it was not mere chance that he ended up there. The spirits of the trees were the ones that protected him.

The old legends always tell of the simplest folk who commune with the most magical creatures: the bamboo cutter, who finds the tiny baby form of a moon-princess; of the peach-child who was raised by elderly commoners, or of the boy raised by a mountain witch who could commune with animals. Itsuki's life begs to follow in the footsteps of these incredible folktales, but it is constantly hindered by the reality of his life and situation. He is not the hero he wishes he could be. And so instead Itsuki remains the joke of the town, the Kodamatarō of Heiseina.

Itsuki continues to persist under the immense strain of following the tradition of his family, compounded by his desire to venture out and truly see the spiritual world beyond the borders of Heiseina. His dreams are filled with dangerous Yōkai, beautiful moon-princesses, and wise and ancient creatures. But the older he grows, the more the beauty of the world seems to fade and the harsh reality of the peasant life in the village grows ever more apparent.

I might put something here later if I think of it.

Kenichi, at first, is physically unremarkable. He stands at around 5' 6", and is rather skinny. He lacks any clear muscle mass, though his upper body strength has been improved greatly as he has been unable to rely on his legs as much as he had in the past. He has a crop of brown hair that is usually somewhat unkempt, and he wears finely crafted warm clothes in layers (since he tends to get cold fairly easily). His striking blue eyes and angular face (helped, in part, by his lean diet) are stunning, but his expressions are often stoic or somewhat distant. He is never seen without his trusty wooden crutch, painstakingly carved by his father, and often carries a small pouch with his pain medicine for when his nerves start acting up.

Kenichi was born as the older twin of Mako into the prominent Masaki family. Hanako and Akio were pleased to have twins, and hoped that in these two children they could instill their values. Hanako was Heiseina's second physician, serving under her mother-in-law (and therefore Kenichi's grandmother). She wished to instill in her daughter a love for medicine and treating the community's ailments. Akio, an herbalist and outdoorsman who helped to support his wife and mother's practice, was a more adventurous and wild soul at heart. He was excited to have a son he could take out into the valley to find rare medicinal herbs and take in the sights. Perhaps he would even take up an interest in hunting.

Kenichi, however, was far too sickly of a child to go out adventuring and exploring. He spent a lot of his childhood at home, watching his mother work and asking far too many questions. He developed his father's curious spirit, but his curiosity was geared towards why he always felt so feverish and sick. His mother was pleased to have her son take such an interest in her work, given Mako seemed far too interested in what was in the valley and the woods. It even helped to have another set of hands around, as she herself was born with only one arm. Kenichi, by the age of 10, had clearly been marked as the next Apprentice Physician when his grandmother passed away.

He spent 2 years learning the basics of cleaning and tending to wounds, to help take some of the burden off of his mother. He had very steady hands, and had a penchant for stitching or bandaging up wounds. Around the age of 13, Kenichi began to study his first sign: restore. It took him around 20 months to learn his first sign, but was pleased when he had finally gained the ability to begin speeding along the process of wound closure. He continued learning the basics of tending to wounds and beginning to develop a better understanding of diagnosing diseases for a few years. When they were 15, Mako finally began to learn the purify sign as well. With Mako studying full time, Akio took this opportunity to try and bond more with his growing son. Akio took Kenichi out on a small hunting trip.

Of course... Kenichi was always the one to try and please those around him. He wasn't a particularly strong or athletic child, having a rather gaunt figure due to his intense studying and rather sickly demeanor for much of his life. When Akio suggested Kenichi finally climb a tree while he was still young, Kenichi obliged without much thought. Kenichi climbed higher and higher, struggling and sweating his way up. His heart was pounding so loud he couldn't really hear his father shouting for him to get down and that he was joking. Of course, Kenichi did hear the squawking of a giant eagle passing nearby, and his feet slipped in his startled state. Kenichi had seen people with broken bones, and people who had injured themselves falling from a decent height. His mother had reminded him, time and time again, what not to do. But in his startled state of fear, Kenichi's right leg locked into place as he fell to the ground. He couldn't really remember what happened after that.

The next week was just fever dreams and pain. His leg had practically been shattered, and setting it appropriately was a great challenge. The weak Kenichi grew a bit weaker over the course of those months he spent at home trying to do his best not to move his leg. The leg healed remarkably well, all things considered. But Kenichi still has to walk around with a crutch and a limp everywhere he goes. He can't carry heavy things, run quickly, or climb well. Granted, this doesn't bother Kenichi too much in the grand scheme, given his implicit fear of the wildlife of the valley that is associated with the incident.

All the time bedridden and immobile gave Kenichi plenty of time to delve deeper into his studies. Time not spent relearning how to walk with his injury and succumbing to the white hot pain coursing through his leg was spent learning about diagnosing diseases and learning more about how to create his own pain medicine. At the age of 17, Kenichi began learning his second sign: Purify. He finds it both helpful in the preparation of some medicines, but also in combination with restore to help clean wounds.

Kenichi, a young adult now, is still haunted in part by his own limitations and his desire to surpass people's expectations of him. He is someone who desires to improve himself despite his current condition, and yet finds himself limited severely by chronic pain and a somewhat lame leg. He lives a slightly isolated lifestyle, but wants to learn and grow to be more of a member of the community as a whole than just "Doctor Lame Leg." His isolated lifestyle petrifies him with fright at the thought of conflict, either physical or verbal... which is something he will almost certainly have to confront moving forward if he's going to help cleanse his home.

Signs:

Purify: Casting Purify will make something safe to consume for the caster.

Restore (Pending): Casting Restore will significantly reduce the time it takes a wound to heal.

About a dozen centimeters shorter than the other women her age, Sumiko still stands out with her shockingly pale hair and her large blue eyes. The mole on her face is one of many all over her body, and she boldly calls them all "beauty marks." Her natural appearance is homely, but because she paints her face with varying degrees of make-up even at home it's hard to tell. She enjoys dressing up like that, making an art piece on her own skin. She also wears elaborate and stylish clothing as well, including the frames she wears over her eyes. It's common to find ink stains on her hands and arms, and sometimes ever her face.

Painting! Poetry! Dance! Drawing! Acting! Storytelling!

...stilling working on the music!

Even small towns need entertainment. Sumiko takes it upon herself to provide that. She's a "jack of all trades" type when it comes to the arts, with the notable exception of song and instrument. Please, don't call her tone deaf though, she will vehemently deny it. She also is rubbish at pottery, but that's more fun to fail at.

She was born in Heiseina, her family the last of the dying Hayashi clan. Once well respected, they fell into debt and after climbing out they never made it back to their former glory. When her father passed after having two daughters, the clan's fate was sealed. Honestly it was as freeing as it was sad. Their mother passed a couple of years later, and from then on the Hayashi sisters lived on their own in a large empty estate. To provide for themselves, and to feel less lonely, they leased their land for the cultivating of crops and often hosted others in their home. Sumiko, the younger and more rambunctious child, enjoyed listening to all the stories and gossip being thrown around by people coming and going from the estate. This sparked her desire for travel, and from there art as well.

Though she's never been outside of the valley, Sumiko has traveled to most of the tiny villages and homesteads around it peddling her trade. She offers custom portraits, pre-made art pieces and poem compilations, all inspired from things she's seen and heard during her "mini adventures." Have you heard the story of the giant earth spider that was spotted a few miles away? Well here is a painting of it. Have you heard the news about the Kobayashi and Teruko clan marriage? Here are some haiku written for the occasion. Inadvertently she spreads news of Heiseina to the surrounding hamlets, and from the hamlets to Heiseina, through her stories.

When she returns to Heiseina she stays at her family home and mooches off of her more responsible and respectable elder sister. She always makes it back in time for festivals, where she insists that she put on the newest play she's written, play a role in local re-tellings of myths and legends, and participates in dance until she can barely move. Though she has a strong passion for all kinds of art, dance and Kabuki is her favorite pastime, so when she can she goes all out.

Lately, life in the valley has been slower and more peaceful than normal. There haven't been as many interesting stories to create art about. Sumiko has been going out a lot more and pestering others in search of something to spark her creativity.

Standing at a height of 5’5, Fumiko is about average height for a girl of her age, but that is around where the scale of being ‘average’ ends for her. With rather striking facial features, Fumiko has always been a sight easy on the eyes. With her face typically being adorned with a dazzling smile that showed even in her eyes, Fumiko is like a ray of sunshine throughout the village. Those very brown eyes were like windows into her soul, as getting lost in them would easily betray all the hope, joy, and whatever other myriads of emotions she might be feeling. Her elegant facial features, mixed with her fair, flawless skin framed by long, curly, brunette hair that flows just past her shoulders all help to create quite the beauty. The kind that is rare in that her beauty is rather effortless to maintain.

With a lean form and sporting elegant curves, Fumiko’s face is not the only striking thing about her appearance. While she is not toned as other villagers might be, the young girl does keep herself in shape through various activities. Though her clothing choices are not ones chosen to showcase her body, the girl favors outfits that are more comfortable for whatever task is at hand that day than ones that are meant to be ‘pretty'. As such, Fumiko is often seen wearing her favorite yukata, one which is pink and embroidered with flowers along the outside edges. Outside of this, the girl tends to favor simplistic clothing choices, a pair of trousers or shorts accompanied by a simple tunic, if she is going to be spending the day doing labor. On the rare occasions where Fumiko is to dress up, the girl will typically wear a kimono of the same colorings and design as her Yukata, accompanied by matching flowers braided into her hair.

Fumiko’s life is one without struggle, the girl having grown up in a loving home that was absent of strife. At least, strife that a young girl would recognize. A home life that she would later learn many would have done just about anything to have themselves.

Fumiko has enjoyed a close relationship with her Great Uncle, Takamori Kenji, or her “Uncle Kenji” as she often refers to him. As a result of their close relationship through the years, Fumiko has taken on quite a few of his own qualities and world views. These show in her unending optimism for their village and their people thriving together, and how eager she is to put every ounce of her being into working to ensure this comes true. Even if her actions are as small as simply going out to the fields to help the farmers with their harvest for that day, Fumiko does this action with pride.

For much of the years spent in schooling, Fumiko managed to stand out among her classmates. In part for the easy way she went about making friends, part for her excellence in her studies, and in part for just who she is related to. In addition to her studies, Fumiko also had a nasty habit of worming her way into arguments between students and trying to mediate to settle their differences. A task that has met with varying success, and certainly affected the opinion of at least some in her class. These years in her schooling are part of what helped build the girl’s reputation as one of the forefront options to take over after her uncle and helped draw his attention to consider her as one of the few serious candidates.

Around the village, Fumiko has taken on the role of a ‘caretaker’ as she describes it. That is, she watches over and cares for both the children and elderly during the days their families must tend to other responsibilities. As such, Fumiko has used her slight aptitude for signs to learn two very basic signs. The first being fire, which she uses to help light a flame when she is preparing meals for those she is caring for, and to help add a dramatic effect to legends or stories she might tell children for entertainment. The other, glow, is used much the same as the latter effect of fire, more entertainment for the children. Fumi spends much of her time not spent taking lessons and acting as her uncle’s assistant filling this role as a caretaker. As such, much of her time is spent with either the youth or elderly of their village. The elderly who she often spends time listening to their stories and eagerly absorbing their tales instead of telling her own.

In what little free time Fumiko can scrape together, she is doing one of a few different things. She likes to spend that free time either dancing, singing, or out exploring to find beautiful scenes to sketch in her sketchbook. Though her skills with the latter are described best as amateur. Although, exploring might not be the best term. Fumiko very rarely strays beyond the village borders, and even then she does not let her home out of her sight. Unlike her sketching, however, Fumiko is quite adept at both her song and dance. Though she very rarely performs either outside of the privacy of her own chambers, only the children she watches are able to convince her to perform for them.

Despite how pure her life may seem, that does not mean that the girl is without flaws or tragedy in her life. Fumiko lost her mother to illness when she was 14 years old, and despite her firm beliefs to the very end that her mother would recover… Fumi was in the room as she drew her last breath. The girl almost completely shut down and withdrew from the outside world for nearly two months in the wake of this tragedy. Very rarely was she seen outside of her room, and when she was… Fumiko was a skeleton of the girl she used to be. This tragedy haunts her until this very day, with the very concept of death causing Fumiko to quickly retreat back into herself just as she had in the wake of that horrific day. Outside of the tragedy, Fumiko has a few other flaws that mar the image of the perfect young girl she tries to present. She has become so reliant on her perfect memory, that she rarely will listen to the advice of others (save her Uncle) on things she believes to already have knowledge about. Her habit of forcing herself into disagreements between others to try to mediate still persists, and has earned her a few foul points on her reputation.

Though, perhaps her darkest secret is that despite the carefree persona she likes to portray to the world, inside her mind things can get much darker. She battles with a shocking lack of self-confidence, a scar left on her mind from her mother’s passing. Though not a constant companion, when that dark voice raises in the back of her mind, Fumiko has nothing she can do to quiet it. Despite her hopes and beliefs for everybody else in the village, Fumiko’s belief in herself is completely lacking. This shows through the cracks in her facade in the way that Fumiko so wholly dives headfirst into any situation she believes will help others. No matter the cost to herself, a way to subconsciously settle the debt she owes for failing to help her own mother. After all, surely there was something she could have done to save the woman. In addition to this, Fumiko often refrains from giving herself much praise, doubting that she is worth said praise.

Despite her inner demons, Fumiko’s strong desire to serve and help the people of her village still burns just as bright. The girl is vying hard to be chosen to fill her Uncle’s position so that she can play such a helpful role to her home as he had, and without even a second wasted on selfish thoughts of how the position might benefit her. Her innocence to the world also continues to strive onward, as she lacks enough experience to tell her anything outside of her personal tragedy could be remotely commonplace. After all, things had been so ideal and wonderful in their village till now… why would they ever change?

Fumiko knows two signs:

• Fire
• Glow

Fumiko is the great-niece of Takamori Kenji.

The one thing most notable about Sengo Tsubasa is his beauty. While tall, he sports fair skin that looks softer than silk. His jet-black locks contrast his skin, tumbling over his shoulders and reaches his waist. He often pulls it up with a red ribbon, though it isn't uncommon for him to keep it loose. His amethyst-hued eyes often seem like they're looking through you, his features soft and his smile always gentle.

Tsubasa is a young man who dreams of creating a forbidden weapon. Some years ago when he was learning signs from the Signkeeper, he stumbled into her collection of books and accidentally knocked over a pile. In his haste in putting them away, one was opened, revealing a page that had caught his interest: a colorful image of a man clad in metal wielding a weapon. He didn't even look at the rest of the book, entranced by the man and his strange equipment.
Despite knowing it was wrong, he tore the page out of the book and took it with him, obsessing over it for some time. One day, he managed to get the materials to make his first attempt at replicating the weapon. While his success varied, he was inevitably caught by his master. Instead of getting in trouble, however, he was strictly told that he should never attempt to do such a thing ever again and was only saved from being outed because no one else had seen it.
Ashes had been thrown onto his obsession, quelling it for the most part.

• His secondary hobby is flower pressing.
• For some reason, Signkeeper Tomo doesn't seem to like him. He hasn't the foggiest clue as to why, either.
• He is always happy to run errands for others. This is often exploited.

Known Signs:
Heat and Water signs for smithery; tried wind once for fun but doesn't really have an interest in magic