[CHAR] Persona: The Rod of Asclepius

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.................................................................................................	Suzuki Eiko 鈴木 栄子 Kenkōichi's primary counselor and overseer of the female dorms at the academy. A cheery and bright woman, Suzuki is well known for being approachable and offering good advice. She takes her duties seriously and is considered somewhat protective of her students. A native of Kenkōichi, her family owns and operates a general store in town still run by her parents.

[DruSM157]

Name

Yamada Hiroichi

Arcana

Moon

Age

23

Personality Traits

Hiroichi appears to his students to be professional, kind, and open young man-and that isn't a false mask. He is caring, but underneath his kind exterior is a mass of complexes. Hiroichi is constantly questioning himself, his teaching methods, and his success as a teacher to an unhealthy extent, and suffers from extreme imposter syndrome. It's due to this self-destructive mindset that he puts too much of himself in his work, and will overexert himself for his job and his students to an unhealthy extent. He keeps very few close friendships because of this, throwing himself into his work because of his belief that he's "failing his students by not being a good enough instructor." He also has a bad habit of self-deprecating jokes during class and is not the kind of guy to argue at a student if they made fun of him. To put it simply: he's a pushover in class.

Backstory

A prodigy. A brilliant boy. Born for greatness. Hiroichi spent his childhood hearing his family speak about him to others as if he was some perfect angel. Hiroichi came from a relatively poor family, and due to his natural talent and intelligence, found himself with countless opportunities for greatness. He balanced school life with helping his family, even assisting his father with his construction work. Due to part-time jobs throughout school, he rarely made connections with others his age and kept a very small group of friends. He graduated top of his class at his Tokyo High School, enrolled in Tokyo University and was considered a top candidate for medical school. Everything seemed poised for greatness until his life began to spiral out of control after an incident with another student. He would go on to change universities and his major, pursuing a crash course in education.

Due to his top marks and his recommendations from his school, he received a job offer from Kenkoichi International Academy and multiple other schools across the country. He took the position offered to him by the Kenkōichi and was assigned to be the boy's dormitory supervisor, allowing him his own personal suite in the dormitories. He spends his free time in the city, enjoying local restaurants, especially the local Udon stand. Still, he remains awkward with adults his age and tends to connect more with his students, straining his own personal life since it is inappropriate to be friends with your wards. Due to that, his time is mostly spent alone.

Gear

As an educator, he's usually keeping papers and pens in his satchel that he carries to work with him every day. When it comes to implements of destruction, he's actually quite capable of using construction equipment, such as hammers. This goes back to his youth, where he would assist his father, a construction worker, with various DIY tasks around the house.

Persona

Faust, from the legends of Dr. Faustus, the doctor who traded his soul for knowledge. Different stories tell different sides of the doctor, from portraying him as a con man and sinner to someone who wants to use his forbidden knowledge to help the world.

Persona Abilities

Faust takes the appearance of a young man wearing black robes, carrying a demonic tome in his hands. His elemental affinity is focused on curse magic, casting Eiha as well as causing panic with Pulinpa. He is also capable of increasing the defense of his allies with Rakukaja. Faust is also capable of physical abilities as well, though his main focus seems to be magic.

[Hero]

Name

Yukinari Rio / Yukiya Rurizakura

幸也 璃桜 / 雪也 璃桜

Arcana

Strength

Age

15

Personality Traits

Kenkōichi's usual suspect and general headache, Rio is a hot-headed girl whose brashness causes her a lot of trouble. Her tendency to be blunt regardless of who she speaks to makes her come off as cold and uncaring and she is unapologetic about who she hurts so long as she gets to speak her mind freely. There's an underlying sense of arrogance in the way she carries herself, often appearing to be snobbish--though that flies out the window the moment she starts yelling and shouting. Her aggressive demeanor is usually enough to keep people away and her general distrust pushes away the rest. When she isn't riled up, she's surprisingly on the quieter side, preferring to keep to herself. She's extremely expressive, her deadpan looks and scowls obvious even if she does manage to keep her comments to herself.

Backstory

Rio arrived like a hurricane and completely blindsided the staff--no one seems to know where she came from or why she's attending Kenkōichi International Academy. Despite numerous complaints about her attitude and tendency to get into brawls, she has yet to be suspended or expelled. The staff has been baffled by this, though they are reassured by the principal that she is simply to be disciplined and he would take care of contacting her parents. Said parents are either overseas or nonexistent according to some rumors, although no one seems to be too interested in where she's from and are more concerned about wrangling her under control.
From what people have learned, Rio is a latchkey kid currently residing in town with no authority figure in sight. She outright refuses to talk about it, although has let slip that she's an only child. She's not entirely familiar with Kenkōichi but does know where most major landmarks are. She also has some awareness around the town's borders, often taking any tussles there in an effort to get both police and the school off her back.

Gear

Rio specializes in physical combat, her participation in 'gang' fights giving her plenty of experience--she carries around a baseball bat outside of campus on occasion for protection.

Persona

Skuld

Persona Abilities

Physical - Ice

[mickilennial]

Name

Sawajiri Touka

Arcana

Priestess

Age

15-16

Personality Traits

Touka could best be described as sociable, spritely, and kind. Despite never getting over her father’s death and having to more or less find her own way due to her mother seeming to be always working, Touka doesn’t try to publicly appear demure, depressing, or pessimistic.

The way she processes things is mostly mired in repression and nostalgia. If she focuses on the good and on music she believes she can pretty much ignore anything sad or cruel. That said, she’s afraid of getting too close to people. When teasing can be misconstrued as flirting she backpedals and tries to leave a situation as fast as possible and any friendships she has is skin deep because she’s afraid of someone she’s close to leaving her. She doesn’t know if she could bear it, even through her façade. So as long as her friends don't try to be too close and try to peel away her armor she tends to think she will be fine.

Backstory

The Sawajiri Family has nothing, well, close-to-nothing.

Touka’s mother is the head of the household, and has been since the death of her husband and Touka’s father five years ago. Despite help by her mother’s younger brother, the family has struggled immensely. With her mother overworked at the local hospital as one of the nursing staff and her uncle either halfway into a bottle of Saki or chasing skirts Touka has only really had one solace. Music. A naturally gifted singer and instrumentalist, Touka started playing violin when she was very young. Her fondest memory has been the last performance she had that her father, despite being sickly and near death, had seen.

In the years since Touka has tried her best to get through life as quick as possible. She’s had the same friends group since pretty much forever and often appears as the center of attention despite not wanting to be. She’s never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. N-not that’s any of your business! She is currently attending Kenkoichi International Academy with hopes her musical talents can help her become a healthy and more financially stable adult. Maybe one day she can come to terms with her past.

Gear

The most notable thing Touka tends to have on-hand is her violin.

While being athletic enough to participate in team sports, her club activities are limited to music for the most part. Beyond her violin one could often see her with a handbag, backpack, or umbrella depending on the need. She’s a High School Student, not a shoujo protagonist.

Persona

Brigid

Persona Abilities

The aspects of Touka’s Persona revolve around the spring season. Fertility, healing, song, and craft. As such Touka’s abilities would revolve around healing wards, support spells, bard-like enchantments, and the element of water for its restorative properties and of the showers that come in spring to restore the earth.

[Aviaire]

Name

Naoka Toba || 鳥羽 直花

Arcana

Temperance

Age

17 (third year)

Personality Traits

Naoka's personality is easy to tell. She's the mature, hard-working type that doesn't mind a little bit of nonsense. She has a reputation for being a reliable person that'll help out with anything. She gives off the impression of a capable person who has everything planned out.

And indeed, it is everything. Naoka operates on a strict, self-imposed schedule for the sake of her strange fixation with efficiency. She constantly multitasks, trying to get as much done at once as humanly possible. She gets along fine with a lot of people at school, but she's always so busy that she hardly has any time to spend with other people, and paired with her tendency to get skittish when a conversation drags on for too long, she doesn't have very many friends.

Backstory

Naoka's parents are both doctors at the Kenkōichi Research Hospital, and it is only natural that she would follow in their footsteps. Everything in her life has revolved around that fact, so her attending the school closely linked to the hospital was no surprise. She has always worked hard, kept up with her studies in order to live up to their expectations.

Only, that's never been what she's wanted to do. Naoka's greatest passion in life has always been for art, ever since she was little and left to entertain herself as her parents worked long hours. Her determination to keep doing what she loves while still appeasing her parents has lead her to an utterly hectic schedule with a tentative balance between her studies, her passion and everything else.

Though she'd mangaged to keep it together, as she progressed through high school, it was becoming harder and harder to manage, and the time she spent with her friends and her other hobbies began to rapidly decline. Entering her third year, her future looms closer, and Naoka's parents refuse to change their stance, no matter how talented she may be.

She's no closer to making up her mind than she was two years ago.

Gear

While Naoka is well accustomed to the occasional heavy lifting, she's not the most suitable for physical combat. She's quite good at archery, but hasn't touched a bow since she left the club in her second year.

Other than her usual school supplies, Naoka also carries around a thick, fairly heavy sketchbook. It's a far cry from a weapon, but it'd bruise if she whacked one of her classmates with it. On top of that, her bag is always filled with a wide variety of snacks. You can ask for them, just don't tell anyone else.

Persona

Arachne

Persona Abilities

Naoka's persona Arachne, is named after the prideful weaver whose talent eventually became her downfall as she strived to best even the gods. Arachne's abilities consist of inflicting debuffs on her foes in order to finish them off with her electric magic and with slash attacks from her many sharpened legs.

[Sarcelle Renard]

Yuuhei Seiho

Name

Yuuhei Seiho

Arcana

The Magician

Age

17

Personality Traits

While there is an entire slew of disparaging words that can be used to describe Yuuhei, most people would agree that the one that does the job best is determined. Because underneath his relentlessly upbeat spirit and love for dramatic displays is a guy that will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of any interesting stories that come his way. This all naturally combines to make for a rather off-putting individual for a good chunk of the academy’s more respectable students, but the aura of self-confidence that he gives off unabashedly carries on in stride.

And although Yuuhei may simply seem like an impulsive individual, that’s only mostly the case. Because in the end, he is fully capable of meticulously weighing the pros and cons of any given decision, he just almost always chooses the option that seems more entertaining despite all of that. And to top that off, despite his affable demeanor Yuuhei is inherently free-spirited and rarely if ever looks to others for help.

Backstory

Born as the only child to two complete workaholics, Yuuhei was your typical latchkey kid growing up. That’s not to say that his parents were abusive by any stretch of the imagination, just rarely present. The upside to his living situation meant that money was rarely a concern for him growing up, even if his family could never count themselves among the upper crust of society. Honestly though, if you were to ask him about it he would simply shrug and say that it isn't nearly as big of a deal as it sounds.

There’s really not much to say about Yuuhei before he started high school. He was quiet and unremarkable, with shallow and low stakes friendships to match. But that of course changed after entering Kenkōichi International Academy and getting more or less coerced into joining the school’s esteemed Newspaper Club. His first year as a member saw him come out of his shell and spark his desire to chase after things he found interesting. His second solidified his love for the dramatic and was when he was handed the reins as the club’s president.

Now entering his third year at the Academy and Yuuhei has managed to cultivate quite the reputation for himself. With the old president stepping down halfway through the previous year to focus on college exams, her replacement has proven to be far more boisterous and relentless in his methods when it comes to chasing down leads. So much so that teachers are finding it harder and harder to ignore the new direction the once prestigious club seems to be heading.

Whether you love him or hate him, plenty of students have at least heard of some of Yuuhei’s more ridiculous antics. And if you are at all interesting, he has likely heard about you.

Gear

With no real physique to speak of, Yuuhei is hilariously unsuited for close-range fights. However, he is pretty handy with darts, as he somehow has managed to get away with playing with them in the clubroom without them getting confiscated. It remains to be seen if this talent extends to any other kind of thrown projectiles though.

When it comes to his day to day essentials though, you’ll never catch the boy leaving home without his pocket-sized digital camera or the little notebook into which he jots down all sorts of tidbits of info that sport varying degrees of usefulness.

Persona

The Wizard of Oz

Persona Abilities

As the greatest conman of Oz, the demon focuses on debilitating foes with parlor tricks rather than crushing them with sheer magical might. To accomplish this, the sleazy magician employs pyrotechnics in the form of [Agi], wows them into a tizzy with [Dazzler], and prevents them from catching him during his escape with [Sukunda].

[stone]

Name

Laki Hirata || 平田 ラキ

Arcana

Chariot

Age

3rd Year High Schooler (18)

Personality Traits

Hardworking and decisive, Laki places great value on spending one's time intelligently. He's never idling–always reading a book, working with his hands, or earning money at a part-time job. He does have an easygoing and comedic side, but it's been largely suppressed by the urgency of his current situation. No time to relax when there's money to be made and material to study. He can easily overwork himself, but believes it's just a result of not being strong enough.

Due to his mixed parentage and current situation, Laki often feels a bit put out around others. He's never looked quite like everyone else (dominant Samoan genes will do that) and his Japanese is slightly accented. Combine that with the stigma around single mothers and foreigners, well, you get the idea.

Backstory

Laki's life is defined by his heritage–his mother a Japan-naturalized Samoan, his father a small-town doctor. The two parents met while his father was doing humanitarian work in the Samoan islands. They fell in love, married, and eventually moved to Japan when Laki was six. Laki's mother naturalized into a Japanese citizen after five years and picked up a job as a hairdresser.

Soon after, Laki's mother discovered that her husband had cheated on her, driving a crack into their relationship. Furthermore, Laki was struck by a deadly illness that confined him to a bed for almost an entire year. The fractured marriage alongside Laki's rapidly rising medical costs led to his father filing a divorce. With only the income of a hairdresser and little knowledge of Japanese, the single mother and child fell rapidly into debt.

Laki recovered and focused on strengthening his body. His mother worked hard to overcome the language and cultural barrier as best she could. Things were starting to look up–until Laki's mother was struck by the Yellow Plague.

Now, Laki spends almost all his time earning money to support himself, pay for his mother's treatment, and studying to make sure he doesn't drop out of school. It's only a matter of time until something goes wrong...

Gear

Laki is proficient in Limalama, as taught to him by his mother. He makes use of his large frame and strength in order to defend himself and subdue opponents. He hasn't practiced it in a while, though–there's no time!

If he were to use a weapon, he'd probably go for a shield.

Otherwise, the other thing he has going for him is his physical ability, honed through strenuous part-time work and long jogs/bike rides. He's likely the strongest a high schooler can get while balancing study, work, and training.

Persona

Laki's persona is Ti'i-Ti'i, the Samoan version of Hawaii's slightly-more-famous Maui. He appears as a muscular man wielding a huge fish hook carved from bone. His muscles are covered in swirling tattoos that glow with ethereal light. Some famous achievements of his include bringing fire to mankind, hauling islands to their proper places, and lassoing the sun itself.

Persona Abilities

Ti'i-Ti'i focuses on destroying enemies with physical damage, shaping the earth with his might, and protecting allies through buffs.

[Renny]

Name

Caelum Grove

Arcana

Justice

Age

16, 1st Year

Personality Traits

Caelum is a curious fellow, preferring to pander to unbidden thoughts and overanalyzing. He finds his voice very rarely, often leading others to assume he doesn’t speak fluent Japanese or that he’s dumb. His experiences have aged him mentally and disintegrated his tolerance for melodrama and bullying.

That being said his morality and impressions are a carefully crafted facade. He puts forth great effort to be seen as understanding and kind. Shoving his negative and albeit truer emotions, his helplessness, rage, and desire for strength into an all-too-cramped closet. Only letting the door drift loose when topics of court, crime, murder, or justice is discussed. On those days Kendo is all he has to deal with his rage.

Despite this he shows an interest in law and karma, taking the time to pick up books concerning such matters.

Backstory

Japan was supposed to be a fresh start for Caelum’s family. After his father had been laid off for reasons Caelum would never know, they were forced to meet the reality of their poor situation. For a time things that were normal to Caelum had begun to be taken away. Things like the internet, things like running water and lights. Things like a happy home. So it was sudden and propped high with hope when his father broke the news of work overseas. A high-paying contract to work on a new biological agent. It was god-sent, his father proclaimed. An answer to his desperate prayers and even as he said that, Caelum could feel an odd distance between them

In 2017 in the month of April, the family arrived in Japan. They were welcomed by the well known cherry blossoms that bloomed fervently and the insistent stares of the common folk. Caelum imagined that they were oglers at a circus, there to see the traveling freak show.

Everything was healing at first. Caelum was settling in, learning the language and his mother had found a teaching position at a local high-school. She was always really smart, quick-witted his father often called her. It was fun and new but it took a dark turn two years in. His father was deteriorating. It was as if a great fear had sparked a mania in him. He was angry all the time and desperate, so desperate. For days at a time he was in his office; usually yelling on the phone in broken japanese or begging for more time. Caelum remembered the begging the most, cause it was so foreign, so weak-sounding.

Not even three months later had his mother fallen into an inexplicable coma and when the medical bills started piling up, his father was all too quick to pull the plug. Caelum despised his father for that.

The next month his mother’s brother arrived in Japan; a black fire in his eyes as asked for custody of Caelum. Said it was his sister’s dying wish. And though Caelum was happy, he also felt a deep resentment for his father’s disinterested agreement. Its mostly a massive blur, the transition to living with Jasper and the total destruction of his former life. Jasper wanted an investigation into his sister’s death and for two long years nothing came up; recently though they’ve declared it as early onset of the Yellow Plague.

The whole investigation and execution was sadly mishandled. At its core was a blatant injustice and indifference and Caelum was spiraling into depression because of it. Partially he struggled with the unknown of ‘why?’, subconsciously he recognized it was just a permanent twistedness in the story of his life.

Jasper Grove noticed this and throughout his own emotional baggage, sought to help Caelum. Jasper found work at the school as a Janitor, hoping to keep a better eye on the boy. Life with Jasper is stable and comfortable but lately his issues have begun swimming to the surface. Jasper's personal investigation under the guise of a janitor at Kenkōichi International Academy has made his life complicated but they both regret not getting justice and it weighs over them everyday.

Gear

In the hope that physical activities would ‘exorcise’ his anger, Caelum became heavily involved with Kendo. A nostalgic dream of his past self, he threw all his vigor into the practice. He’s often seen with his Shinai after school.

Persona

Musashi

Persona Abilities

Musashi the Sword Saint cuts his enemies with physical skills while utilizing wind & light skills to swiftly dispatch his opponents in the same stroke.