Gowi — Roleplayer Guild

@Player 2

Matsudaira Kiri

“In through the nose... out through the mouth. Nice and calm. Repeat, until serene. Try it!”

NAME
Matsudaira Kiri

ALIAS
Beast

GENDER
Female

AGE
12

ORIGIN
Konohagakure

RANK
Genin

APPEARANCE
 A relatively tall girl at around 5'1, Kiri could easily be confused for a boy were it not for her low, messy twintails and her feminine voice. Her eyes are a cold blue and distinctly intense in contrast to the rather pleasant and relaxed expression her face rests with. Despite her kind expression and soft features, her body is a defined and trained thing, a result of many hours of intense physical exercise. It’s not hard to imagine her filling out with more muscle in the coming years, but as it is she merely looks stronger than her average classmate.

Kiri tends to dress in rather traditional martial clothing, from her baggy and ill-fitting blue dougi to her hand wraps and sarashi. Strangely enough, her hands have already started to develop callouses, and she has a few scars on her palm and knuckles. It cannot be said that she isn't a hard worker, and her body reflects that perfectly.  

PERSONALITY & MOTIVATIONS
If there was one word to sum up Kiri, it would be ‘charitable’. Undoubtedly a result of her upbringing, Kiri seems to have a philanthropic streak, not only in a monetary sense but in the spiritual and mental senses too. While no genius, she is the sort to go out of her way to help a struggling classmate, encouraging them to do their best. While not rich, she will give coinage to the struggling—and so on. It would not be unfair to call her a peaceful idealist. 

But how does becoming a ninja, a literal soldier, fit into the worldview of one who could be called a peaceful idealist? In short, Kiri is not a pacifist. She is a strong believer in self-defense on all levels, from the personal to the national. Naturally, she takes issue with being the initiator of a conflict, but has no qualms with an equal response to an initiation. She desires to protect Konohagakure and the Land of Fire, her beautiful home, from those who would see it sullied. She is her mother's daughter in that sense, if willing to be more proactive to reach that end.

Beyond that, she seems driven by a desire to escape the trappings of her family and the role which is expected of her, to branch out from the family tree and explore the world and meet a certain individual with the opportunities offered to her by the ninja lifestyle.  

CLAN HISTORY
The Matsudaira are not a family of ninja, but a shrine family. Their charge is a purely spiritual one, acting as religious guides and intermediaries for the people of Konoha. In a sense they are analogous to ‘shamans’, performing cleansing rites and other rituals which are viewed to be vital towards the more mundane spiritual elements of the culture. Notably, the family structure tends towards the matriarchal, priestesses having more weight behind them than the priests. In order to defend their temple, be it petty thieves or something more dire, members of the Matsudaira family are trained in use of the daikyu and naginata from a young age. Although they are nontraditional weapons in the history of ninjutsu-based warfare, they offer a slight benefit to those untrained in the ways of ninja and samurai if used proficiently, giving them the ability to 'pick off' individuals and keep a safe distance. Although civilians, the Matsudaira are tough civilians.

It is not entirely unheard of for members of the Matsudaira clan to leave and become members of some other institution, but the small family generally sticks to their role of priests and priestesses. In fact, it is considered odd by the nation at large when a Matsudaira leaves their clan’s role to take up another given the long and dedicated history of their family towards spiritual matters. They rarely interact with the ninja side of Konohagakure outside of occasionally hiring genin teams to assist them with mundane and everyday matters, and have a more of a more noteworthy presence in civilian life. Any recent, extensive interaction with military matters have not ended well for the Matsudaira.

Aiga Matsudaira, the previous matriarch of the family before the current, was a known element in the world as a rather outspoken advocate for a peaceful resolution between the warring nations, but she ultimately met her end on the Day of Fallen Leaves as an unfortunate casualty— or potentially as an intended target. Likely as a result, the eldest son of the current Matsudaira family members, Saga Matsudaira, left Konoha for his own reasons. The second eldest, Iri Matsudaira, took up the role of matriarch of the clan with her grandfather assisting her, and the youngest abandoned her duties as a shrine priestess to begin training as a ninja. 

PERSONAL HISTORY
Kiri’s family life was tense. Interactions between her older siblings, father and grandparents always seemed to have an air of discomfort which she could never quite ignore. Not long after Kiri’s birth, the Matsudaira lost a beloved member of their family— they lost Kiri’s mother. In a sense, she was the then-lynchpin for the family, the point they could all agree that they loved without condition. Without her, there was noone to mitigate the disapproval of Kiri’s grandparents towards her older brother, or for someone to break up the disagreements between her older sister and her father. It all combined to make a very terse setting for a family dinner. 

She was raised in relative comfort, and without much conflict, but the absence of her mother and the climate of the Matsudaira household chafed Kiri. She attended to her role as a priestess-in-training, learned what was expected of her, all without as much of a peep of discontent from her mouth, but the feeling was there, brooding away. 

The event which triggered these feelings of discontent to surface was the self-imposed exile of her older brother, abandoning his family due to the exact same feelings held by Kiri. While Kiri was far too young to remember her mother, her older brother remembered their mother well. Without her around, he picked up the proverbial slack in looking after Kiri, firmly securing his place as the ‘cool brother’ in her eyes. The one who had provided her relief from the monotony of her education was gone, and suddenly the world seemed that much more uncomfortable to Kiri.

She wanted to leave.

The desire to become a ninja was rather sudden, but it was the obvious path to take in order to escape the Matsudaira household and stretch her legs. Not only would she become stronger—and not meet the same fate as her mother, who could not defend herself despite preaching for peace— but there was also the chance that such a life would allow her to find her brother once more.  

Upon entering the academy, it was obvious that Kiri was not from a ninja stock. Her control was less than adequate, and her natural chakra reserves were nothing to brag about, but within her was a drive and a desire to learn which compensated for those failings of hers. One step away from being considered a dead-last or an underachiever, Kiri redeemed herself from such a label through beating enough of her classmates during sparring sessions. Instead, she was considered something of a 'beast', only good for punching and kicking but not for the more refined elements of being a ninja, like ninjutsu. Such an idea hardly phased Kiri, despite the negative denotations, and she instead took it as a sort of compliment to her abilities. Nonetheless, she is still genin material.

INFLUENCE & RELATIONS
Within the village, Kiri is considered the stray daughter of the Matsudaira clan. This isn't necessarily a negative thing, but it definitely isn't a positive thing either. This does not impact on how she is treated, and is more of an afterthought when regarding her. If anything, the worst thing to come from it would be the association with her brother, the one who ran away from his duties at the Shrine and the Land of Fire as a whole.

Among her family, Kiri is regarded as a young upstart. Even her older sister, Iri, wishes for her to put aside her desire to become a ninja and focus instead on her role as a soon-to-be Shrine Priestess, even though she was the one who approved her entering the academy as the current clan head. Conversations with her father and grandparents are few and far between, as she avoids them on her own initiative, believing that they would have very little to say to her beyond their desire to see her 'return', as it were. Her father and grandfather, Furuta and Kitajo Matsudaira, are something of a pair of dour traditionalists, hardened by years of seeing people go off to war to see them not return, only for the war to then come to Konohagakure and take Aiga from them at the very end. Their desire to see Kiri remain with her family is entirely justified, but she remains adamant on her choice, something which has soured relations between Kiri and the eldest members of her family. They don't want to see her meet the same fate as her mother, but she fails to see it as they do.  

In the Academy, Kiri has earned the nickname 'Beast' due to her near-savantish focus on Taijutsu and her below-average scoring in other areas. She's not necessarily unpopular, but she is not highly regarded either. Still, she offers what help she can to those who desire it. 

Mother †  - Aiga Matsudaira(42), both a reputable priestess and a known, outspoken advocate for peace. Killed by Iwa forces on the Day of Fallen Leaves. 

Father - Furuta Matsudaira (45), married into the family from a civilian family. A stoic historian and a dabbling martial artist. Disapproves of his youngest daughter's choice to become a ninja. 

Grandmother †  - Inoue Matsudaira (81), more of a warrior than a priestess. While not a samurai or a ninja, she could handle herself in a fight better than most. Was responsible for Kiri and Iri's education up until her natural death in the summer of CE 107.

Grandfather - Kitajo Matsudaira (85), not too dissimilar from his son-in-law, Kitajo is even more of a scholar than Furuta. Because of his late wife's more hot-headed nature, he tended to be the one to handle the more official side of running a temple. A long term planner, and fiscally intelligent, enough so to ensure the Matsudaira family was comfortable with what money it had. 

Brother - Daigo Matsudaira (20), the prodigal son. Influence from his father resulted him taking to martial arts from a young age, focusing more on that than his potential duties to the temple. By the time he left the Matsudaira household for good, he was on the cusp of becoming a world-class fighter in his own right. Cared deeply for his siblings. Location and status currently unknown. 

Sister - Iri Matsudaira (17), the current head of the Matsudaira family. Where Kiri and Daigo picked up elements from around the entirety of their family, Iri is most certainly her mother's daughter. A kind and considerate soul, she is not fond of conflict and does what she can to steer individuals away from it. Disapproves of her sister's choice to become a ninja, but it accepting of it.  

CHAKRA NATURE
Lightning

SPECIAL TRAITS
 Hakkyokuken, the 8 Extremities Fist: A fledgling style of Kiri’s own design, Hakkyokuken’s basis comes from the lessons of her brother, academy taijutsu and her education in naginata techniques. The idea behind Hakkyokuken, as put forward by Kiri, is to hit where you would be afraid to be hit, and with a force you would wish to avoid. While still a ‘work in progress’, Kiri believes that regions like the legs, neck and thorax are the most effective areas to strike. She is of the belief that the practice of this style will be additionally beneficial against non-taijutsu specialists due to the absence of a comprehensive guarding technique taught to students at the academy. The development of Hakkyokuken is a long-term project for Kiri, and she intends for it to be her legacy to give to the ninja world. To the end of using this form of combat, Kiri has trained her body into a powerful weapon with room to grow further.

FOCUS & SKILLS
Kiri has a rather blatant leaning towards taijutsu to a near exclusive extent. This is not because she is incapable of ninjutsu, but that she lacks an obvious talent for it like a child from an actual ninja family would. She is perfectly mediocre (if leaning towards below average) when it comes to her academy jutsu, but puts in enough effort to make herself passable. However, her physical ability was worth mentioning among her classmates. She took to academy taijutsu well enough to the point where she progressed beyond it, adapting more complex techniques and stances into her fighting style. Her affinity for taijutsu is a result of her brother’s influence, a not unskilled martial artist in his own right. One of her fondest memories is that of her brother first taking her aside and teaching her how to throw a good punch, one she thinks back to as 'the good times'. It cannot be said that Kiri is a taijutsu genius, not a natural one at the least, but rather she is a monster of effort, putting far more into her craft comparative to the rest of her studies. 

On a slightly related note, if academy students were graded on their abilities with a daikyu, Kiri could have been considered a prodigy.  

EQUIPMENT & INVENTORY
Being less than exceptional in terms of chakra and ninjutsu, Kiri compensates with this by being rather savvy and on the ball when it comes to making use of the standard array of ninja equipment. Her aim with kunai and shuriken is decent, and her ability to make a plan of attack with them is not half-bad either. She has a pair of weighted, red gloves and shin guards which she wears when training, not too dissimilar from the weighted gloves used by boxers, if heavier. Beyond the standard ninja equipment, Kiri is something of a prodigy with a daikyu, having near supernatural aim and ability with one, but this is something which will rarely ever be seen due to the nature of being a ninja.  

On top of this, she is quite exceptional with spears and glaives. Both the daikyu and the spear were a subject of her initial training in the Matsudaira, essentially taught to pull a bowstring at the same time she learned to walk. Although unlikely to actively be seen, the skills she learned from her initial training have helped her in the creation of her own budding martial style.

JUTSU
N/A

N/A

Flying Tetsuzanko
River Crushes Stone

Charging Step Technique
Kagura Flip-Crescent Slam
Stone Divides River

Academy Techniques

CUSTOM JUTSU

Name

Charging Step Technique

Rank

D-Rank

Range

Medium

Description

When first conceptualizing Hakkyokuken, Kiri encountered the problem of range. In an actual fight, it wasn’t inconceivable for her to simply be outranged and punished for it, so in order to resolve that she began working on the first ‘complex’ movement of Hakkyokuken, the Charging Step.

At the core of Hakkyokuken is the idea of explosive force transferred through striking points, and the Charging Step is no different. Through the balls of her feet, Kiri expels enough force to send her almost gliding forward, closing the gap between her and an opponent at a distance. There is the obvious problem of it being a one directional movement, and therefore predictable, but speed of the movement is nothing to scoffed at. For those at the level of genin, the movement would be observable, but the problem comes with reacting to the movement in a timely manner. It is the simplest expression of Hakkyokuken’s base idea, and a display of how it could grow in the future. The immediate drawback of using this technique is the amount of strain it puts on Kiri's legs. As she currently is, utilizing abilities which require strength of such degree are bound to take their toll, at least until her body has grown to accommodate such a thing. 

Name

Flying Tetsuzanko

Rank

C-Rank

Range

Medium

Description

The tetsuzanko is a rather basic movement in Hakkyokuken, in which force is applied through a turning step into a charge-lean, directing the force through the back of the shoulder. The Flying Tetsuzanko is the same in principle, there being no difference in the fundamental movement, but it is done through the Charging Step Technique, increasing the force- and therefore the force expelled- behind the technique. To those unable to dodge the Charging Step-Tetsuzanko combination, they should expect a blow strong enough to blow through the doors of a temple gate. Its weakness is inherently linked with the Charging Step Technique, given that it is built off of it. Smashing into something with so much force is, much like the initial movement of the Charging Step, bound to take its toll if used without a degree consideration.

Name

Kagura Flip-Crescent Slam

Rank

D-Rank

Range

Short

Description

Kiri shoots into the air, doing a rapid flip forward to position her descent just above her opponent. When she is in range, she grips what she can (usually the shoulders) and performs another flip with them in her grip, swinging them with her and then slamming them into the ground, upper-back first. Naturally, this taijutsu technique has a not inconsiderable amount of setup, and relies on it not being done in isolation in order to pull of it. If done in isolation, it can be avoided or countered off by a mindful opponent. 

Name

Stone Divides Surging River

Rank

D-Rank

Range

Short

Description

A defensive taijutsu technique. While by no means a perfect defense, it is effective at enabling the user to block or parrying a single attack, even if it may result in the user still being harmed to some degree. Kiri covers up her openings in this brief defensive stance, allowing her to move and respond to an oncoming attack. This response is not absolute physical protection, especially from overwhelming ninjutsu or certain weapons and excessive physical force, but it does contribute to mitigating the damage of such. Taking swords as an example, she may 'parry' the blade, but she could still receive a cut. None the less, it is a decent attempt at a defensive technique by a beginner. 

Name

River Crushes Stone

Rank

C-Rank

Range

Short

Description

In the event of the blocked or parried blow being close range, Kiri can respond to Stone Divides Surging River with River Crushes Stone. She reaches out, gripping the front of her opponent, and drags them into a fierce palm strike to their thorax. The strike is intended to be done with enough force to do serious damage to the sternum, and send the opponent reeling backwards. While a highly situation based technique, once an attack has been blocked by Stone Divides Surging River, the setup for River Crushes Stone is essentially a minimal effort. The potential lethality of River Crushes Stone is reflected in its rank, riding the line between a simple martial technique and a straight up assassination technique. The  conceptual idea behind it, according to Kiri, is that of a bow being loosed, and the arrow hitting true. It is her current 'trumpcard', largely untested but unseen by most.

◈ I fixed spacing and formatting of the CS a bit.
◈ Her height seems reasonable enough for a tall girl of her relative age.
◈ I have zero issues with your clan history, personality, or personal history.
◈ Your family section is fine, though I find it odd to put the given name first for consistency's sake.
◈ I feel like the incorporation of weights would be more apt to see with development of their jonin-sensei's instruction, but it is fine if you wish to keep it.
◈ There have been shinobi who specialize in archery before, such as Yamanaka Inokari (NPC), so you may get to incorporate this in time. But what is your angle knowing this? Taijutsu Specialist or Archery Specialist? Prodigal conditioning aside, and all that?
◈ The custom jutsu seems feasible as long as fights are communicated, planned, and whatnot— but this goes for all jutsu and not just custom taijutsu skills, so heh. I believe the rest of the GM team sees no issue with them.
◈ Accepted.

“Did you mean that theologically, physically, or historically?”



NAME
Joshua Hirotaka Ray

CALLSIGN
Apollo

ALIAS
Ray

GENDER
Male

D - O - B
January 7th, 2650 (27)

ORIGIN
Last Respite, Rocky Mountain Territories


PERSONALITY & MOTIVATIONS
---     

EFFECTS OF POLARIS SHIFT
When “perfect synchronization” with a NC occurs, the human mind adapts and is affected by an infinite possibility of psychological effects— some of which including a “bleeding effect” of previous pilot attributes and memories. These can also affect an individual physically, though generally it leans toward mental disorders and issues. This is the curse a pilot bears.

PERSONAL HISTORY
Joshua Ray grew up in one of the many scattered surface settlements, in a still somewhat irradiated, yet peaceful area in one of outlying Denver-Vegas territories. Living a somewhat sheltered life, he developed a love of reading pre-war and modern stories, documents, and religious writings, not to mention a strong sense of righteousness and morality that stands with him to this day. When he was of age, he began wandering the world with his own two feet, going from continent to continent by salvaged boat or independent aerial transporters. Doing odd-jobs as needed around the world, he never lost his thirst for justice nor his hope to play a part in creating a better future for all of mankind. One day while working in a medical facility, what appeared to be an error in some minor group or another's "Neural-Combatant Compatibility" detection hardware revealed that he had the necessary mental or psychological asset that gave him the capability to control one.

Calling in favors with friends and extended family, he soon found himself controlling a custom-built lightweight NC known as the Apollo, after an absolutely ancient group or project that apparently resulted in men landing on the moon overhead. While originally built from scrap at a junkyard and using hand-me-down Neural Nets and software, over three years the Apollo turned into the heavily armed and armored beast it is today. Eventually, however, he accepted all the independent contracts that he was any interested in, and decided to finally fall into a larger group. Going from one corporate army to another, he now waits to see if New Anchorage wants him or not.

INFLUENCE & RELATIONS
Within your family and comrades. Use a hider, please.


APPEARANCE
Joshua seems by all appearances fairly unassuming— a vibe he hopes to not lose as he gets older and more experienced as it has been in many ways a defense mechanism that has allowed him to stay alive for his twenty-seven years of living. He’s fairly lanky though surprisingly well-toned which is accented by his tendency to hover other pilots given his standing at six foot even. His hair is naturally dark with a shade of black that gives off a blue-black impression; perhaps tying back to his ancestry that he’s been trying to ignore. His eyes are a muted green, though many people have perceived them as gray-blue in the past. As per clothing Joshua is rather lacking in depth as the only thing he keeps as a statement is a silver cross around his neck and a dark jacket that goes to just above his knees.

TRAITS
Quick: Joshua is known out-of-mech as fast as he is on his feet as he is in his mind— he’s a fast thinker and it lends to his way of surviving scenarios that could’ve been fatal.

Religious: Odd for a man of science, perhaps but Joshua is a Neo-Christian and follows the faith as it stands from the religious epicenters that exist as the megacities of Italy, Israel, and Germany. However, Joshua considers himself “unorthodox” due to his clashing views and his more wayward stance on forging his own interpretations of religious scripture.

Starbound: Joshua consistently thinks and dreams about the life beyond the stars as he lives a life trapped upon the post-apocalyptic surface. Due to this obsession he has poured much of his spare credits and free time into trying to understand astrology, and theoretical science. In part this also fuels a sort of escapism he pours himself into through what pre-war science fiction novels he can find as well as those of a post-war authorship.

Swordsman: For reasons that Joshua isn’t privy to explain, he is a skilled swordsman and by extension a competent martial artist. He doesn’t like to bring out his abilities but when the situation calls for it he is welcome to show people that he isn’t all snark and caution.

INVENTORY
General equipment used or educated with.


MANUFACTURER
Denver-Vegas

TYPE
Medium

SQUAD ROLE
Support

ARMAMENTS
Sensor Array (H): N/A

Shoulder (R+L): Hidden inside the shoulders of the Apollo are two single canons that when extended fire high powered ion (left) and plasma (right) rounds.

Arm (L): A compartment holding a extendable Red Star-designed (and state of the art) NC sword.

Arm (R): A mid-range flamethrower with a limited tank built inside the Apollo’s right forearm exists as a useful utility against other NC’s when they are in deadly close range. Following the NC’s oldest rule of overheating an enemy to survive or win out over them, it can seem a bit of a surprise when thrown at a enemy.
On-Hand Weapon: Thermal Assault Rifle

Leg (L): N/A

Leg (R): N/A

OBSERVATIONAL NOTES
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