FujiwaraPhoenix

Echoes of a Moonless Night

@Zeroth: Right, form by form then.

Re: Mika:

• This bit:

  Though she’s petite, she’s also filled out rather nicely–and she knows it.

  Could probably be phrased a bit better. Yeah, that's how I'll put that. Could be phrased better.
• Personality seems like it clashes with itself. A girl who tends towards teasing while also shouldering the burden of a clan's livelihood on her shoulders doesn't quite add up; if her wish is to raise it back up, you'd sort of expect her façade to reflect that to some extent, right? A personality more in line with that of a gyaru's would reflect similarly, and in this SPECIFIC case where first impressions matter a lot, letting that "true self" bleed through in either direction (at least for starters) doesn't make much sense to me. In my eyes, the character needs to pick a direction and commit to it. That sorta applies to the whole form, honestly; pick a direction and stick with it instead of going 50/50.
• Onmyodo technique names: I humbly request you reconsider how these are named. For example, "Kekkai no Jutsu" literally translates to "Technique of Barriers"　or "Barrier Technique" (or, if you're really stretching it, Barrier Style or something like that). This is very much a 'me' problem in this context, but, like... Yeah. I'll just leave it at that.
  As for the actual usage of onmyodo... See, logically onmyoji and all that stuff should exist in the world, but in my head Attunement had only really started to come into being around the late Heian in Japan—so, like, around the events of the Genpei War, more or less. Onmyodo as a technique would likely be a line of techniques derived from using ether, and so would not require a Contract to use to begin with. Of course, not all humans should be able to use those techniques to begin with; maybe it'd be apt to call it a certain 'type' of ether that can be manipulated without outside interference only in certain individuals? That's probably the best way to explain it.
• Backstory... Hm. See, with the knowledge of how onmyodo should be, the story only half holds up... And, well, not just that, but also sort of doesn't match the personality (or, well, in my view, personalities) given?
  On one hand, we have the personality, which is (in my opinion) a clash of two personality types that don't make sense without context. On the other, we have the actual backstory, which... Is way more traumatic than I'd expect given the character's personality. You don't just recover from being backstabbed and seeing all your friends and family killed, much less to the point where you'd be able to tease and crack jokes with other people and be so open with them. You know, after a betrayal after doing exactly that?
  It just... Doesn't make sense. Then you have the other half of the personality to compare to: a desire to 'rebuild' and 'recover' the prestige of a clan. On the initial read, I assumed this to mean that they were 'in decline', not 'wiped out'. The former would make a lot more sense, especially in matters where pride and public perception are involved, but... That isn't really applicable in this context. You have a backstory that seeks vengeance after a devastating betrayal and a personality that makes it seem like the weight of her family rests on her shoulders AND an open enough personality to be affable with everyone, but... These three cannot all coexist within the same character.

Re: Kyozan:

• Uh... A 1000+ year old rakshasa? Let's start putting things into perspective.
  First, rakshasa bit. What bugs me more than anything with this section is that they're literally just described as 'oni, but better', which... Feels super off-putting to me? There are probably better ways to address the differences in this context without just going that route.
  And besides, it's not as if oni can't do all the things you say they can't. Oni who are smart, who can use magic, who can use more than just weapons of brute force... They existed and continue to exist in-universe. There's no reason they wouldn't, given the multitude of myths that state they can do just that. Being the traditional (and stereotypical) norm isn't quite right in the context of this world and the way it has developed, honestly speaking.
  Now, the age. '1000 years ago' translated into a more apparent year is approximately 1000AD (duh), which places us right around when Heian-era Japan was starting to decline. Now, a thousand years is a damn long time, obviously, but if we use that and reference a bit later in the form:

  Being sealed for hundreds of years by the Aomori Clan

  things get a bit weird. Now, while this does put us at the start of Attunement within Japan (relatively speaking), relationships between human and youkai would have still been pretty poor for at least a few decades (if not centuries) more. Where am I going with this?
  Well, as stated in the OP, a lot of ether's needed for a youkai to really start ramping up in power. That's a lot of kills. Racking up that amount of kills in that timeframe (as you put 1000+ and not, say, 1100+, I'm estimating it to be sub-100 years of chaos) solo is insane and rather unfeasible unless he really went ham murdering people... Which, again, paints a much bigger target on his back and probably has him approaching, like, famous named youkai status—doubly so if the battle left a canyon in it's wake. If he's older than 1000, though, even if by a factor of 100-200 years, that definitely puts him on Big Three level, which... Yeah, no, I'm not allowing that, even if they are depowered to some extent.
• Backstory. I get... Like, nothing reasonable here. Why was he sealed? Why does he have affection for the people who sealed him away? We get the destruction of the seal and the temple, but no meaningful reason behind the actions that he takes afterwards. A throwaway line about a promise or a vague allusion to watching generation upon generation of humans coming and going isn't enough to justify any of what I just mentioned. I don't have a clue as to why he was as strong as he was, or why he was designated to be hunted, or even why he took any of the actions that he did after popping out of the seal. I can assume, yes, but that assumption alone isn't enough to let me give the okay here. This is also assuming that the battle you allude to at the end of this section did not result in a complete rout, because if it did, there wouldn't be any 'vengeance' motivation in play for Mika.

That should sum up most of my thoughts on the forms.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

Human

Name: Yatsujima Akio
Age: 18
Appearance: "Let's finish this."
At an above-average 176cm, Akio doesn't really stand out from his peers at a glance. More often than not, it's the fight wounds that cause him to stick out like a sore thumb; hard to cover up bloodstained clothing and bruises from fighting, after all.
Personality: Stubborn at heart, Akio is the type of person who refuses to back down in the face of danger. Regardless of how many times he is beaten down, he rises again and again to face what is in front of him until his body physically cannot support him in doing so. This is not to say that he is persistent to the point of being suicidal, though; so long as he feels that there is a chance of victory, he will not give up. That persistence does not only apply to fights, of course; when given a line of action or a promise to keep, Akio will hold to it until the job is done, regardless of the toll it might take upon him.
That being said, he can be a bit blunt at times and often wears his heart on his sleeve—a combination that has led to him getting into more than a bit of trouble with those more inclined to solving problems with than him. With that said, Akio is the type of person more inclined to fight for the sake of others and not his own. It just so happens that all of these things bundled together often leads to his mislabeling as a delinquent in his own right.
Abilities: Beyond the parameter boosts that his Contract bestows him? Nothing of note.
Skills: Akio is fairly proficient at swordplay—a talent which would not have been cultivated had Fumi not decided to train him on a whim. Coupled with the ability to 'read' the flow of a battlefield and his own nature as a person, though, and Akio is a force to be reckoned with.
Equipment: The only real thing of note is the katana he wields in combat. Though it is a normal katana forged with modern methods, the magical energy that flows into it from Fumi means that it is rather durable compared to an unaugmented blade of the same make.
History: Growing up in a fairly unassuming middle-class family, Akio lived his life fairly free of problems for most of his early childhood. The young child had spent his formative years as many a child would—reading manga, playing video games, and slacking off between classes—and as he entered his final year of middle school, he had assumed things would remain much the same.
They did not.
A freak incident at his school had led to a Grudge wreaking havoc on the building and it's surroundings—to say nothing of the other students and staff there. Though he had come out of the mess uninjured, the barely-too-late arrival of emergency forces to settle the incident coupled with what he had seen had left a deep impression on the boy. Counseling was a given, but given how there were children who seemed to be more shaken than him about the incident, the young Akio was left to the side in favor of the people who needed it more.
High school, then, began no better. News of the incident had long since made the rounds around the city, and a gang of delinquents thought it funny to press-gang a few of the incoming students more shaken up by that gruesome past into "helping them out", as it were. Stepping in, though, only served to put him on the receiving end of a rather unceremonious beatdown.
Time and time again, the young Akio would try and step in, only for the routine brawl to break out to try and put him in his place. Eventually, though, Akio began to be able to fight back rather than be placed permanently on the back foot. One or two people being knocked out of the fight was a great improvement from none, of course, but against the overwhelming odds he pitted himself against, even that much could be considered progress.
It was at this point, though, that one of his senpai—a tengu by the name of Takenohara Fumi—stepped in and offered to teach him. Akio had blown her off at first, of course; this was his problem now, and getting other people wrapped up in them was the last thing he wanted to do. But the tengu replied in turn; this was not an offer made of pity, but of honest belief—belief that was rather absent, given his apparent reputation as the local punching bag (that was occasionally fighting back). She wouldn't help him fight herself, of course, but being taught how to fight was different from that, no?
And so the lessons began. Compared to leaving bruised and battered and possibly with a lighter wallet than when he had left, training with Fumi was far more palatable—even if that training left him feeling far worse for wear afterwards. Learning how to use a sword was incredibly straightforward to him, who had only ever picked up a makeshift weapon in those brawls to try and defend himself with, and the constant drills and training exercises had left his body in a far better shape to fight in than before.
Three months had come and gone in the blink of an eye, and Akio soon found himself in yet another brawl with those same delinquents, who at this point had moved on from their initial scheme and only wished to pick a fight with the plucky idiot that served as their stress relief. This time around, though, Akio came armed with a bokuto and experience in fighting beyond that of the simple street fights his opponents were armed with.
Unlike the last fight he had been involved in, Akio came out of this one on top. Against all odds, the young man, though bruised and battered as ever, had left all of the delinquents lying at his feet this time around. If that had been the end of it, all would have been well. If only.
With their pride wounded, the delinquents (after licking their wounds) came back—this time, armed with a few more weapons and a bit more wariness about them. Though Akio had won the second engagement, the tighter margin by which he had done so had left him with a bad premonition. And so he returned to Fumi once more, earnestly asking the upperclassman if she could help continue training him. She obliged.
Fights had become the norm for Akio by this point, and despite what the adults in his life were trying to do to get him to stop, getting wrapped up in brawl after brawl seemed almost inevitable. Juggling academics, training, and fighting was tiring, of course, but it wasn't like he had much of a say in the matter. Though the delinquents that he had first dealt with were no longer a threat, rumors of his purported strength meant that others were coming to look for him, too.
And so went Akio's first year of high school. By this point, though, the young man had set his sights on something more than simply shutting up the people picking fights with him—no, with this sort of power in hand, he could do something meaningful about the Grudges that continued to pop up across the city. An influx in recent years had not slipped past his attention, of course, but the young man was always left wary after what had happened a few years prior, and if he could help resolve or even prevent another incident like that from happening, then there was no reason not to try.
The only matter on that front that remained to be settled, though, was the matter of being Attuned. Using a Weapon had crossed his mind, of course, but the price of one was no small thing; it made much more sense to simply seek a Contract...
And who better to ask than the youkai who had set this whole thing into motion?
His earnest request on the day of Fumi's graduation was met with a conditional 'yes'—so long as he could show growth in mind and body without her, she would consider it. Given everything that he had gone through, though, Akio took this to mean 'handling the delinquent problem once and for all while also keeping up with his studies'. But with a goal in mind, the young man had no reason to shy away from that challenge now; after all, if he couldn't handle such a thing, what good would he be against Grudges?
Two years and a new reputation as a fighter (and a bunch of people who had decided to tag along for their own reasons taking up his mantle as a vigilante peacekeeping group) later, Akio once again returned to Fumi to ask her to form a Contract with him. Though the results were not exactly what she had envisioned, the tengu had no real reason to decline.
Other: Has a little sister who really doesn't care much for the incidental reputation her brother has gained over the last few years. With their father working overseas and mother in a different city, though, the two siblings are surprisingly close despite their apparent butting heads half the time.

Youkai

Name: Takenohara Fumi
Race: Tengu
Age: 20
Appearance: "You know, I don't actually mind wearing this. Bit too outdated for my liking, though."
With a height of 165cm, Fumi is by no means a physical anomaly, and if she chooses to hide her wings, blending into a crowd as a human is quite a simple feat for her.
Personality: At heart, Fumi is a bit of a capricious person; though her dedication towards a task or topic when given direction is admirable in it's own right, the tengu only truly shines when her interest is piqued. Ordinarily, though, Fumi is somewhat lax, placing in just enough effort into things to not stand out. Fueled by her desire to fulfill the 'obligations' levied upon her by her family and surroundings, the young tengu's lack of grander aspirations left her with just enough motivation to live life as it came. Though her skills might not stand out, the results that she puts forth are good enough to leave her unperturbed. When it comes to things that interest her, though, Fumi's focus seems to spike. Placing her usual demeanor to the side, Fumi quickly places her entire self—body, mind, and soul—towards whatever goal she has set for herself.
Aside from that, the young tengu is rather affable—a skill gained from having to help out at her family business growing up—and willing to lend aid to those who ask—and, when the mood strikes her, to those who don't. Whether or not that is a good thing is up for debate.
Abilities: As might be obvious given her wings, Fumi (like most tengu) is able to fly in the sky. She is also rather quick, regardless of if she is on the ground or in the sky. That speed is more suited for sprints than marathons, though; she can quickly close in on a target or retreat from them easily enough, but moving large distances or extended fights can easily burn her out if she isn't managing herself carefully.
Skills: Beyond knowledge of military tactics and strategy drilled into her from a young age, Fumi is also quite adept at using arms of war. Her preferred weapon is a naginata, of course, but she is knowledgeable enough at other forms of armed combat to at least be 'passable' when it comes to using anything else.
Aside from proficiency in combat, Fumi is also a fairly decent chef, if only by dint of having to help her parents out at their restaurant every now and again.
History: As a youkai born in the 'modern era', Fumi never had anything too far off from what people might call a 'normal' time growing up. Born in an era of peace (unlike her predecessors from the last few centuries), the young tengu had little need for the principles of war and combat that were drilled into her from a young age. "As descendants of the tengu of Mt. Kurama, such studies are to be expected", or so she was told, and so every day after classes the young girl would return home to study how to fight—from small-scale conflicts to grand battles, nothing was left untouched. Fumi, of course, felt she had no real reason to learn such things; she had no desire to throw her life away in service of some nebulous goal, and aspirations for power were the furthest thing from her mind; a life of peace and quiet was more than enough for her.
It was about then, though, that Fumi met Yatsujima Akio, a young man who seemed a bit too gung-ho for his own good. Her underclassman by two years, Akio found himself getting wrapped up in one mess after another with the local delinquents, which would inevitably result in him getting a thrashing and being left bloodied and beaten somewhere nearby after school. Even so, the tengu was left curious about her kouhai—doubly so given the frequency of his purported fights—and eventually chose to watch one of those street brawls from the shadows.
Ultimately though, Akio left sprawled out on the floor, bruised and battered—as was the norm whenever she happened to catch a glimpse of the young man in the hallways—but what was more intriguing was the fact that he had actually managed to take down a few of the delinquents in the process. Against such overwhelming odds, to find this sort of success...
Maybe it was something in her bloodline that had flipped a switch, but Fumi found herself wanting to see him succeed—and to that end, teaching Akio a bit more about the art of warfare and fighting seemed like the best way to do so. After all, all those lessons had to be useful for something, right?
So teach him she did. The young man was a bit reluctant at first, not wanting to get someone else involved in his 'problems' on a whim, but Fumi's reasoning and logic ultimately prevailed. Thus began the most entertaining days of her high school life—constant training and putting her learned theory towards more practical applications. It helped, of course, that Akio took to her lessons in kenjutsu like a fish to water, and her drive to help him spurred her own studies onwards. The only thing that remained to be seen, though, was how well those lessons would translate to combat proper.
Three months of unfettered training later, and Akio once again took to the battlefield—this time, with a new bokuto in hand—and Fumi, as before, watched from the sidelines. Compared to the wild and chaotic fistfights he had against the delinquents before, the Akio now seemed to be able to strike down his foes without getting swept up by their flow. And so when he emerged victories, with only a few injuries on him...
Well, it was hard for either of them to call that anything but a win.
Of course, that was only the beginning; the delinquents, with their pride wounded, would inevitably end up trying to strike back at Akio time and time again. Fumi had never actually dug into the reasons why he had gone so far in the first place, but seeing as how he continued to request for her aid in training and practice, she count only assume the constant assaults were at fault.
And so went Fumi's last year in high school; eventful as it was, the young woman could only hope the lessons she had imparted onto the boy would allow him to eventually settle the matter once and for all. But fate, it seemed, had other plans in store. On the day of her graduation, Akio had pulled the tengu aside and asked if, after he graduated, they could form a Contract. The young man had other motives beyond just revenge, it seemed—Grudges seemed to be the reason behind his recklessness. Given that she had seen his growth firsthand, Fumi agreed, though only on the condition that he didn't slack off in his training or his studies.
What she didn't expect was that Akio would take that matter quite as seriously as he did. And so, two years later, the tengu kept true to her promise and applied to a new Grudge-hunting startup—Icelit, it was called—as a pair of Attuned.
Other: Her family owns a somewhat popular izakaya within the city.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

@RolePlayerRoxas: Skellington fine. Accepted.

I suppose it's time for me to toss up my own pair then, huh?

Human

Name: Yatsujima Akio
Age: 18
Appearance: "Let's finish this."
At an above-average 176cm, Akio doesn't really stand out from his peers at a glance. More often than not, it's the fight wounds that cause him to stick out like a sore thumb; hard to cover up bloodstained clothing and bruises from fighting, after all.
Personality: Stubborn at heart, Akio is the type of person who refuses to back down in the face of danger. Regardless of how many times he is beaten down, he rises again and again to face what is in front of him until his body physically cannot support him in doing so. This is not to say that he is persistent to the point of being suicidal, though; so long as he feels that there is a chance of victory, he will not give up. That persistence does not only apply to fights, of course; when given a line of action or a promise to keep, Akio will hold to it until the job is done, regardless of the toll it might take upon him.
That being said, he can be a bit blunt at times and often wears his heart on his sleeve—a combination that has led to him getting into more than a bit of trouble with those more inclined to solving problems with than him. With that said, Akio is the type of person more inclined to fight for the sake of others and not his own. It just so happens that all of these things bundled together often leads to his mislabeling as a delinquent in his own right.
Abilities: Beyond the parameter boosts that his Contract bestows him? Nothing of note.
Skills: Akio is fairly proficient at swordplay—a talent which would not have been cultivated had Fumi not decided to train him on a whim. Coupled with the ability to 'read' the flow of a battlefield and his own nature as a person, though, and Akio is a force to be reckoned with.
Equipment: The only real thing of note is the katana he wields in combat. Though it is a normal katana forged with modern methods, the magical energy that flows into it from Fumi means that it is rather durable compared to an unaugmented blade of the same make.
History: Growing up in a fairly unassuming middle-class family, Akio lived his life fairly free of problems for most of his early childhood. The young child had spent his formative years as many a child would—reading manga, playing video games, and slacking off between classes—and as he entered his final year of middle school, he had assumed things would remain much the same.
They did not.
A freak incident at his school had led to a Grudge wreaking havoc on the building and it's surroundings—to say nothing of the other students and staff there. Though he had come out of the mess uninjured, the barely-too-late arrival of emergency forces to settle the incident coupled with what he had seen had left a deep impression on the boy. Counseling was a given, but given how there were children who seemed to be more shaken than him about the incident, the young Akio was left to the side in favor of the people who needed it more.
High school, then, began no better. News of the incident had long since made the rounds around the city, and a gang of delinquents thought it funny to press-gang a few of the incoming students more shaken up by that gruesome past into "helping them out", as it were. Stepping in, though, only served to put him on the receiving end of a rather unceremonious beatdown.
Time and time again, the young Akio would try and step in, only for the routine brawl to break out to try and put him in his place. Eventually, though, Akio began to be able to fight back rather than be placed permanently on the back foot. One or two people being knocked out of the fight was a great improvement from none, of course, but against the overwhelming odds he pitted himself against, even that much could be considered progress.
It was at this point, though, that one of his senpai—a tengu by the name of Takenohara Fumi—stepped in and offered to teach him. Akio had blown her off at first, of course; this was his problem now, and getting other people wrapped up in them was the last thing he wanted to do. But the tengu replied in turn; this was not an offer made of pity, but of honest belief—belief that was rather absent, given his apparent reputation as the local punching bag (that was occasionally fighting back). She wouldn't help him fight herself, of course, but being taught how to fight was different from that, no?
And so the lessons began. Compared to leaving bruised and battered and possibly with a lighter wallet than when he had left, training with Fumi was far more palatable—even if that training left him feeling far worse for wear afterwards. Learning how to use a sword was incredibly straightforward to him, who had only ever picked up a makeshift weapon in those brawls to try and defend himself with, and the constant drills and training exercises had left his body in a far better shape to fight in than before.
Three months had come and gone in the blink of an eye, and Akio soon found himself in yet another brawl with those same delinquents, who at this point had moved on from their initial scheme and only wished to pick a fight with the plucky idiot that served as their stress relief. This time around, though, Akio came armed with a bokuto and experience in fighting beyond that of the simple street fights his opponents were armed with.
Unlike the last fight he had been involved in, Akio came out of this one on top. Against all odds, the young man, though bruised and battered as ever, had left all of the delinquents lying at his feet this time around. If that had been the end of it, all would have been well. If only.
With their pride wounded, the delinquents (after licking their wounds) came back—this time, armed with a few more weapons and a bit more wariness about them. Though Akio had won the second engagement, the tighter margin by which he had done so had left him with a bad premonition. And so he returned to Fumi once more, earnestly asking the upperclassman if she could help continue training him. She obliged.
Fights had become the norm for Akio by this point, and despite what the adults in his life were trying to do to get him to stop, getting wrapped up in brawl after brawl seemed almost inevitable. Juggling academics, training, and fighting was tiring, of course, but it wasn't like he had much of a say in the matter. Though the delinquents that he had first dealt with were no longer a threat, rumors of his purported strength meant that others were coming to look for him, too.
And so went Akio's first year of high school. By this point, though, the young man had set his sights on something more than simply shutting up the people picking fights with him—no, with this sort of power in hand, he could do something meaningful about the Grudges that continued to pop up across the city. An influx in recent years had not slipped past his attention, of course, but the young man was always left wary after what had happened a few years prior, and if he could help resolve or even prevent another incident like that from happening, then there was no reason not to try.
The only matter on that front that remained to be settled, though, was the matter of being Attuned. Using a Weapon had crossed his mind, of course, but the price of one was no small thing; it made much more sense to simply seek a Contract...
And who better to ask than the youkai who had set this whole thing into motion?
His earnest request on the day of Fumi's graduation was met with a conditional 'yes'—so long as he could show growth in mind and body without her, she would consider it. Given everything that he had gone through, though, Akio took this to mean 'handling the delinquent problem once and for all while also keeping up with his studies'. But with a goal in mind, the young man had no reason to shy away from that challenge now; after all, if he couldn't handle such a thing, what good would he be against Grudges?
Two years and a new reputation as a fighter (and a bunch of people who had decided to tag along for their own reasons taking up his mantle as a vigilante peacekeeping group) later, Akio once again returned to Fumi to ask her to form a Contract with him. Though the results were not exactly what she had envisioned, the tengu had no real reason to decline.
Other: Has a little sister who really doesn't care much for the incidental reputation her brother has gained over the last few years. With their father working overseas and mother in a different city, though, the two siblings are surprisingly close despite their apparent butting heads half the time.

Youkai

Name: Takenohara Fumi
Race: Tengu
Age: 20
Appearance: "You know, I don't actually mind wearing this. Bit too outdated for my liking, though."
With a height of 165cm, Fumi is by no means a physical anomaly, and if she chooses to hide her wings, blending into a crowd as a human is quite a simple feat for her.
Personality: At heart, Fumi is a bit of a capricious person; though her dedication towards a task or topic when given direction is admirable in it's own right, the tengu only truly shines when her interest is piqued. Ordinarily, though, Fumi is somewhat lax, placing in just enough effort into things to not stand out. Fueled by her desire to fulfill the 'obligations' levied upon her by her family and surroundings, the young tengu's lack of grander aspirations left her with just enough motivation to live life as it came. Though her skills might not stand out, the results that she puts forth are good enough to leave her unperturbed. When it comes to things that interest her, though, Fumi's focus seems to spike. Placing her usual demeanor to the side, Fumi quickly places her entire self—body, mind, and soul—towards whatever goal she has set for herself.
Aside from that, the young tengu is rather affable—a skill gained from having to help out at her family business growing up—and willing to lend aid to those who ask—and, when the mood strikes her, to those who don't. Whether or not that is a good thing is up for debate.
Abilities: As might be obvious given her wings, Fumi (like most tengu) is able to fly in the sky. She is also rather quick, regardless of if she is on the ground or in the sky. That speed is more suited for sprints than marathons, though; she can quickly close in on a target or retreat from them easily enough, but moving large distances or extended fights can easily burn her out if she isn't managing herself carefully.
Skills: Beyond knowledge of military tactics and strategy drilled into her from a young age, Fumi is also quite adept at using arms of war. Her preferred weapon is a naginata, of course, but she is knowledgeable enough at other forms of armed combat to at least be 'passable' when it comes to using anything else.
Aside from proficiency in combat, Fumi is also a fairly decent chef, if only by dint of having to help her parents out at their restaurant every now and again.
History: As a youkai born in the 'modern era', Fumi never had anything too far off from what people might call a 'normal' time growing up. Born in an era of peace (unlike her predecessors from the last few centuries), the young tengu had little need for the principles of war and combat that were drilled into her from a young age. "As descendants of the tengu of Mt. Kurama, such studies are to be expected", or so she was told, and so every day after classes the young girl would return home to study how to fight—from small-scale conflicts to grand battles, nothing was left untouched. Fumi, of course, felt she had no real reason to learn such things; she had no desire to throw her life away in service of some nebulous goal, and aspirations for power were the furthest thing from her mind; a life of peace and quiet was more than enough for her.
It was about then, though, that Fumi met Yatsujima Akio, a young man who seemed a bit too gung-ho for his own good. Her underclassman by two years, Akio found himself getting wrapped up in one mess after another with the local delinquents, which would inevitably result in him getting a thrashing and being left bloodied and beaten somewhere nearby after school. Even so, the tengu was left curious about her kouhai—doubly so given the frequency of his purported fights—and eventually chose to watch one of those street brawls from the shadows.
Ultimately though, Akio left sprawled out on the floor, bruised and battered—as was the norm whenever she happened to catch a glimpse of the young man in the hallways—but what was more intriguing was the fact that he had actually managed to take down a few of the delinquents in the process. Against such overwhelming odds, to find this sort of success...
Maybe it was something in her bloodline that had flipped a switch, but Fumi found herself wanting to see him succeed—and to that end, teaching Akio a bit more about the art of warfare and fighting seemed like the best way to do so. After all, all those lessons had to be useful for something, right?
So teach him she did. The young man was a bit reluctant at first, not wanting to get someone else involved in his 'problems' on a whim, but Fumi's reasoning and logic ultimately prevailed. Thus began the most entertaining days of her high school life—constant training and putting her learned theory towards more practical applications. It helped, of course, that Akio took to her lessons in kenjutsu like a fish to water, and her drive to help him spurred her own studies onwards. The only thing that remained to be seen, though, was how well those lessons would translate to combat proper.
Three months of unfettered training later, and Akio once again took to the battlefield—this time, with a new bokuto in hand—and Fumi, as before, watched from the sidelines. Compared to the wild and chaotic fistfights he had against the delinquents before, the Akio now seemed to be able to strike down his foes without getting swept up by their flow. And so when he emerged victories, with only a few injuries on him...
Well, it was hard for either of them to call that anything but a win.
Of course, that was only the beginning; the delinquents, with their pride wounded, would inevitably end up trying to strike back at Akio time and time again. Fumi had never actually dug into the reasons why he had gone so far in the first place, but seeing as how he continued to request for her aid in training and practice, she count only assume the constant assaults were at fault.
And so went Fumi's last year in high school; eventful as it was, the young woman could only hope the lessons she had imparted onto the boy would allow him to eventually settle the matter once and for all. But fate, it seemed, had other plans in store. On the day of her graduation, Akio had pulled the tengu aside and asked if, after he graduated, they could form a Contract. The young man had other motives beyond just revenge, it seemed—Grudges seemed to be the reason behind his recklessness. Given that she had seen his growth firsthand, Fumi agreed, though only on the condition that he didn't slack off in his training or his studies.
What she didn't expect was that Akio would take that matter quite as seriously as he did. And so, two years later, the tengu kept true to her promise and applied to a new Grudge-hunting startup—Icelit, it was called—as a pair of Attuned.
Other: Her family owns a somewhat popular izakaya within the city.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

@Zeroth: Right, let's get to answering.

• With a clearer view of the personality, I think that part's fine. The character's reasonings and motivations are sufficiently explained in my opinion, and a clearer view into the dude's mind makes him less the kind of guy you'd say "please touch grass" to and more fleshed out overall.
• Back to the hiring motivations on both sides: with an academic history now present, I think hiring him as an intern or trainee (like you have said) makes sense. Of course, whether or not he has to lean more into support or not remains to be seen, but that's a problem for the future.
• No mass produced Weapons, no. Anything feeble enough to be disposable isn't going to be of much more use than a normal weapon in the same vein. As for a tell for spiritual energy: it's generally something youkai in general should be able to discern by 'feeling'. More, I'd assume, leaves you able to dump more off to your partner without burning yourself out, while less means you're probably better off with a weapon so you don't burn your stores up. Ain't an end-all be-all sort of thing within context of the world, but if you don't stand out you just won't stand out.
• Useful support skills... I'd think that would include the usual business-end stuff (e.g. bookkeeping, scheduling, equipment maintenance), but also a few more esoteric things. For example:
  
  • Piloting a drone or some other way of getting eyes on the field for live reconnaissance.
  • Transportation to and from a given location.
  • Tech support and maintenance. On a more meta level, given that most of the cast seems to be partnered up, there's going to be pretty liberal usage of things that range from "ol' reliable" to "the latest and greatest" in use... And you can't expect people to figure out how to troubleshoot mid-combat without there being a risk of casualties.
  
  That's just off the top of my head, though.

@Pyromania99: Hey, look, you do you. I'm not gonna shoot a character down because of something like that.

@Raineh Daze: Characters fine. Accepted.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

@Zeroth: Still accepting, but let me first break the form's biggest issues down.

• Personality. I personally feel like your system, set up as it is, has the potential to leave people more confused than if you had simply attempted to write something up piecemeal. The fact that not just I, but other people would have to go and read multiple separate documents over, then match things 1:1 in each to figure out a summary seems unnecessarily complex. Of course, this could just as well be a personal problem, but I still feel that this would be better served with a normal summary.
• Reason to hire. Just because the character wants into the company doesn't mean he has the sufficient qualifications to get in. He brings nothing to the table the way he is now; no physical capabilities, no contract, and no tangible skills OUTSIDE of those that might have made him a reasonable hire beyond his connections.
  Which, honestly speaking, would be better put to use joining his father's company because of nepotism instead of chasing skirts. Leads me to my next point, though.
• Motivation. Joining a company to find a hookup is a red flag, and I have no idea how you bullshit an interview with that as a primary motivation. Just saying.

Oh, and Grudges are the primary enemy in context of the RP, not Youkai. Well, for starters, at least. That's all I have to say on the matter for right now. And yeah, magic tied to weapon/contract presence.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

@Rune_Alchemist: Characters are fine. Accepted.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

Well, it's good that that issue's been settled then, huh?

I'll keep from trying to spin anything up until I see a clearer picture of the cast; if there's anything that might need checking or confirmation, though, again, please do feel free to ask.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

I'll kick us off with a question; do we apply for a youkai/human pair, or do we pair up with other players as either or?

@Vertigo

Either or. There are a lot of pros and cons to whichever route you take, so choose whichever one you prefer more.

Echoes of a Moonless Night — Interest Check

Right, I believe that's sufficient numbers to move to an OoC.

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist@Vertigo@SilverPaw@RolePlayerRoxas@Rin: Here you are, then.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

Azusa City, Japan

"Hm... I suppose this is the place, huh...?"

With a jacket slung over his shoulder, Takeda Eiji glanced between his phone and the building in front of him. As far as buildings went, what he saw wasn't exactly something to write home about—a fairly unassuming exterior that looked about in line with every other building to both his left and right—and he had no doubt that the office that he was about to check out for the first time in person would be much of the same. Of course, his current appearance didn't exactly scream 'professional' (especially compared to the businessmen milling about in suits left and right) but his line of work meant that he had less reason to be in something so stuffy to begin with.

The decision to start this company—Icelit—in his early thirties meant that he had that luxury, of course, but that alone wouldn't have been enough of a reason to do something like this. No, this was less about personal freedom and more about being able to not have to sift through line after line of red tape when getting people on the ground. Sure, that also meant having less resources compared to a larger company, but what was the point of idealism in making this company in the first place without the acceptance of the difficulties that would come with it?

...Or so he believed, at least.

The office itself was fairly barebones, which was to be expected—other that the leftover boxes from the movers that had set everything up here, the only thing of note was the table planted squarely in the middle of the room. There had been a small section partitioned off to function as his personal workspace, but with no actual employees present, the whole area felt empty and lifeless. With a sigh, Eiji draped his jacket onto his chair and, after checking that the computer and modem he had purchased seemed to be functional, got down to business.

The first order of business was hiring some Attuned, though; the sooner he could start handling local jobs to stabilize their income, the better.

---

Youkai

The history between youkai and humans is one that, historically speaking, has been perpetually fueled by conflict. Known by other names across the world (monsters, supernaturals, and so on), youkai are beings that possess capabilities beyond those of humans and, until comparatively recently, often preyed upon them in order to survive. Their forms are varied in nature, ranging from beastlike in nature to nearly identical to humans in appearance, but what ultimately sets them apart more than anything else is their need for ether. Though more than a few youkai can live by simply taking in residual ether from their environment (be it by food or from the land itself), it's naturally high abundance within humans has ultimately led to them being targeted as a matter of survival. Such a way of living was not easily accepted by humans, of course, which led to conflict and turmoil; as the population of humans grew, so too did their ability to fight back. Youkai were never plentiful to begin with, of course, which only served to push them further and further back as the years went by.

In the process of fighting against this enemy that so often hunted them, humans eventually came to understand more about their enemy—and themselves. Initially, it was a simple affair—using the parts of youkai since slain to create weapons to fight back. But as those humans fought with those weapons, they found the presence of their own ether could combine with the magical energy present within those weapons—that they could grow and evolve. This, in context, made sense; a youkai that had hunted a thousand humans was often stronger than one that had killed ten or a hundred. And thus began a bloody arms race—as humans sought youkai to bolster their own strengths, youkai sought to kill and kill to preserve their own strength—and more, at times.

What was not considered for the longest time, however, was the idea of 'coexistence'. Though it was known that many youkai were otherwise harmless (and thus tolerated, if only because they could never lend themselves to weaponry), the idea that a human and a youkai could live for mutual benefit was naught more than a child's folly... And ironically enough, it was a child that created the first Contract within the nation. A youkai could form a contract with a single human and live off their ether alone, and the magical energy supplied by that same youkai could bolster the life of the human they had bound themselves to. Even so, the young pair were cast out from their homes and left to fend for themselves—what became of them remains yet unknown.

But they were only the first within the nation. As more on both sides began to tire of this endless conflict, coexistence seemed more appealing by the day—until eventually, it became the norm.

Or, at least, so the story goes within Japan. For the most part, youkai and humans live in (relative) peace the world over nowadays, with no need to conceal their existences from one another. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing remains a bit of a contentious topic, though.

The Attuned

The Attuned are humans who have either formed a Contract with a youkai or who have chosen to make use of a weapon forged from the body of one. Though one might assume that the latter is taboo, the fact that such weapons can be created with parts that can be easily regenerated (for example, horns or teeth) makes them far more reasonable to obtain—doubly so given the comparative scarcity of youkai.

With the abundance of humans in the modern era, the necessity of a Contract for a youkai to survive has decreased considerably, to the point where it is much more of a personal choice to form one in the first place. The benefits that they provide (beyond the surface-level transaction of ether and magical energy), however, only truly shine when the two Contractors 'unite as one', so to speak. Though the form can differ from Contract to Contract, a human and a youkai can temporarily 'merge' into a single existence—a 'Resonant', so to speak—whose capabilities often outstrip those of the youkai in question by leaps and bounds. Such a transformation is not so easily performed, however—either complete dominion by one side or equilibrium in heart and mind is required to achieve such a state. Otherwise, the Contract simply lends superhuman capabilities to the human, allowing them limited usage of the abilities of their partner should it be desired.

Weapons, of course, are more flexible in nature; as they are used more and more, they adapt to fit the nature of the wielder and often bestow those same supernatural capabilities unto their wielders (though obviously at reduced potency compared to those who hold a Contract). Without the necessity of finding a youkai to Contract, Attuned that use weapons are far more common, but that by no means makes them any weaker; though it requires intense training and dedication, it is possible to draw enough magical energy from a weapon of a high quality and make to place those Attuned on the same level as the youkai whose parts they are made from without being crippled by a need for ether. That being said, making full use of a weapon requires a sort of pseudo-Contract as well, wherein the ether of the user becomes fundamentally intertwined with that of the weapon. Said Contract can be broken at will, but reacclimating to a new weapon (or even to the same one) afterwards is no small feat.

Grudges

Though youkai were for the longest time seen as the primary cause of concern from humans, the trend towards coexistence between the two groups led to a surge in the presence of Grudges—monsters that seemed to only spread corruption and destruction across the land. Grudges are, at a very basic level, amalgamations of malignant magical energy that seem to arise either spontaneously (by coalescing in areas where that sort of energy may gather) or by infecting others—a fact which makes them far more dangerous to youkai than they are to humans by dint of twisting what magical energy they hold, if not outright consuming them to spread further beyond. Their true origins are yet unknown, and though theories posit the source being anything from 'negative emotions' to 'a natural phenomenon that has yet to be fully explained' and everything in between, their presence poses a constant threat to everyday life.

It is for this reason that the Attuned—and companies that employ them—are mainstays in cities across the world. While normal law enforcement is sufficient for the lives of the everyday folk, the Attuned often work independently from them in order to handle threats of a more supernatural variety.

---

A Word from the GM

So, with that preliminary setup and worldbuilding settled, here's all the administrative stuff to get out of the way. To summarize the idea succinctly, this is an urban fantasy RP that takes a lot of cues from... Well, a lot of series, to be quite frank. Chief among those influences are Kara no Kyoukai and Kyoukai no Kanata, which should inform some of the intended atmosphere I intend for this RP... But, well, we'll see where this path leads us.

As for rules:
1. A regular posting schedule. I'd like if people actively post (and will more likely than not ATTEMPT to update sections whose players have already moved regardless of schedule—no promises), but I will always make a global update for any group that has been waiting for a week. Of course, real life should always take priority, so it's not like I'll hunt people down over being a bit late, but, well... You know.
2. Combat... Will be common. Mooks and stuff that the players should be able to roll over can be handled at your discretion; bigger problems I'd prefer the usual 'attempted action => result' route. WITH THAT SAID, I am not perfect and, like any human, am prone to making mistakes. If you believe I have misjudged an action or sequence of events, PLEASE speak up; otherwise, there is no way that I'll know that there is something that needs fixing.
(With that said, sometimes I'll declare GM fiat for the sake of story, but I'm usually reasonable about this sort of thing.)
3. Related to the aforementioned GM fiat: I withhold the right to unilaterally reject characters, actions, or whatever else that I believe would lead to an irreparable game state or would otherwise actively harm the experiences of other people. I will usually give a reason in these cases and ideally I will never HAVE to use it (I'm far more fond of working with people to find a solution that everyone can agree with), but let it be known that the hammer will come down if necessary.

Righty-o, here are the forms for those wanting to apply. As usual, if there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask me or my co-GM @VitaVitaAR (as usual) any questions you may have.

Forms

Humans:
[u]Name[/u]:
[u]Age[/u]:
[u]Appearance[/u]:
[u]Personality[/u]:
[u]Abilities[/u]:
[u]Skills[/u]:
[u]Equipment[/u]:
[u]History[/u]:
[u]Other[/u]:

Youkai:
[u]Name[/u]:
[u]Race[/u]:
[u]Age[/u]:
[u]Appearance[/u]:
[u]Personality[/u]:
[u]Abilities[/u]:
[u]Skills[/u]:
[u]History[/u]:
[u]Other[/u]: