Hah-zoo “Resolve”
Age: 26 - At least 200
Occupation: Ronin Samurai, Enma’s Guardian
Kaifuku Role: Enma’s Samurai, Leader
Mundane Identity: None goes by Hazou
Race: Goryō [御霊] - while it may be true that Hazou was no aristocrat, he was destined for Heaven. In the time of his life for his number of good deeds and be a respected individual in his time of life. But when Hazou was slain by his brothers great grief struck his soul and held onto it.
Hazou could not accept his death. He died with a grudge and when it was time to speak with Enma, being the soul that Hazou was, a good, kind individual, an honorable warrior, Enma granted him the wish to rise again from Hell if he vowed his services to him.
Though Hazou himself is less a Ghost and more like a Ghoul. He doesn’t rot or fall apart, in fact he’s quite alive, but quite dead at the same time. In fact if Hazou walked past a shrine or something to unveil his flesh you could see he was quite skeletal underneath his skin.
With that said Hazou has all the weaknesses of a human being, he didn’t get super strength, but may have unnatural speed, though he always had that. And has the ability to summon blue yokai fire from his hand or wrap it around his blade.
Hazou can be banished back to hell, he can be sealed, and is quite subjected to the magic of Priest. Who can seal him or harm in any number of ways.
*Not attached to his race persay; Hazou Does possess an unnatural supernatural speed. Full of after images right before he moves. Nothing like so fast he can dodge everything, but the way he moves is flows so well like liquid that it's more like an mirage of supernatural speed then actual supernatural speed. This is something noted when Hikari was alive too.
Appearance:
5’8”, 130 pound,
172cm, 58kg
Reputation:
In life and in death Hazou has always been considered an honorable warrior. Who he was would be commemorated through the years. And who he is would be praised for the years he had crossed the threshold of the living.
He always been an honorable samurai, and that was the reason why he had to die. A skilled leader, a calm individual, with a lot of wisdom and a lot of advice. His presence causes jealousy in others doing near the same work.
While those not doing near the same work honor him. The tombstone that has his original name is visited day and day out by people he did not know directly, but knew his work to honor him. And as a ronin he is often hired by the lowly class, for short sums of money to help them when they are threatened by a bigger threat than they can handle.
Meanwhile, on the other end. He is celebrated and mourned by Enma, who weeps that a honorable warrior of justice, with the many good deeds he had done. Must be bound as an endless spirit who may see his grudge never fulfilled.
While some Demons sneer at Hazou for what he is because he is not cruel or wicked. Not in the same way that they are.
Personality:
Hazou is many things and he represents many things too many different individuals. Because his life no longer merely pertains to the Mundane. To the Mundane, Hazou is more a title, and very few people see the man who has aided them for the near two hundred years as the same individual. But many individuals who had taken on the name and the mantle. That may be accurate in some sense. They see him as a drifter, a wanderer and a loner.
Which also may be a bit true. Hazou doesn’t talk much, he never has talked much, he always been quiet and still like the surface of a pond. The only ripples are usually when something strikes the surface. Which probably makes many in the Kaifuku wonder how he can lead. But Hazou as himself when he is not working is not the same Hazou who works for the Kaifuku.
On his days off he prefers to wander and be alone with his thoughts. He likes shogi, practicing his sword style, and listening to the wind. Even making whistles out of blades of grass. When it is time to dispatch orders for the Kaifuku, Hazou changes.
Not by much. He’s steadfast, strong, and a well suited leader. As he had lead his own platoon before when he was alive in the Shinsengumi. He is tactical and strategic, he treats the battlefield like a shogi battle, even saying that a fight can be assessed like a board. He doesn’t wave nor falter in his beliefs.
Though some could argue that he can be too self righteous or too virtuous. Unlike others Hazou may get a complaint here and there that he had done nothing wrong with his life. That he would not understand sin or what living as a sin is. But then again resurrecting as a vengeful wraith isn’t exactly honorable.
He’s loyal and dedicated to his people. He has no trouble or problem aiding those who may need aid. Lending advice and wisdom if they so ask. He dislikes loud and obnoxious people, he dislikes when people yell or abuse each other. He also seems to scoff at the common samurai practice as of current. Seeing them as warriors of hire for money rather than the symbol they ought to represent.
He also dislikes being woken up, he often has a dark aura surrounding him for about an hour or so when he wakes up. And can get territorial when it comes to food, the last person who tried to take something off his plate had their chopsticks shoved up their nose as he continued to eat.
Weapons: Engetsu “Old Moon” - Long Blade, Shingetsu “New Moon” - Short Blade
Engetsu and Shingetsu were the swords Hazou used in his life and afterlife. He had no children to pass his swords on and they were as legendary as the man who was brutally murdered. Story goes that a group of individuals request or outright protested that Hazou’s sword be distributed like some cheap souvenir to pass onto him. It is said in popular myth and lore that swords can become alive when their masters use them. Hazou’s soul so pure that when they were buried with him in his coffin and taken to the afterlife with them, they absorbed his holy energy as it dispersed.
It is said that these blades when they cut demons, feels like holy light striking through them. It is said it is this energy that creates the arcs of light that Hazou produces when he moves at his incredible speeds.
Equipment:
Hazou rarely carries anything on a mission than his swords and still wears his coat when he was in the Shinsengumi. For him it means something for him to wear the coat, to continue to uphold his ideas and his beliefs.
As for when he’s not working;
Shogi pieces in a pouch that looks awfully similar to a money bag, so people try to take it all the time
A notepad of sorts that has written shogi strategies on it and some haikus
Fighting Style:
Tsuki no Michi - Path of the Moon - 月の道
It will always be said what Hazou took with him to his grave was his own personal style, that was known to others as the Path of the Moon. They said he moved with flow and elegance, and with an unnatural speed. His movements reminded them of waves, guided by a delicate hand, standing on invisible auras others could not see. He seemed to glide with his blades. And when he directed his blades, he struck with quick strikes, with arcs of light that reminded people of the shapes of the moons.
Arcs that represented full moons, crescent moons, half moons, they felt a strange aura, a strange energy, a strange protector. Perhaps the moon goddess had really smiled down on him, or perhaps that was all merely myth trying to compensate to understand the left handed swordsman and his strange technique.
He didn’t fight like any other samurai of the time of his life, he fought, like he glided, like he floated. Like he was stepping off the ground. Like he were made of paper, with twirling streaks, and powerful blows.
Skills:
Cooking -
Most surprising is that while Hazou’s haiku writing skills might be completely abysmal, his cooking talents are often praised. If he were not a samurai, perhaps he could have been hired as a private chef for some rich political individual. If no one else knows how to cook it become Hazou’s responsibility to make dinner for everyone.
The only issue with that is Hazou can be stubborn and doesn’t take request from others very well. It usually takes a little coaxing to serve something people might want, buying the ingredients or bringing the ingredients over to him as a subtle hint.
Cleaning -
Yep it can be joked that Hazou ended up with all the housewife skills, but one of the first things Misugi taught him upon arriving in the Shinsengumi was the importance of cleaning one’s place of stay. Hazou could be considered a bit of a neat freak when it comes to the home. Wood floors are polished until they sparkle, tatami are swept and the front of the estate should look pristine. A clean home is a clean mind. But Hazou is not the only person that cleans. No what’s more scary than his own sense of cleanliness, but the strict standards he forces on others to clean with him.
Observant -
He’s not all cleaning and cooking though. Hazou’s sharp gaze is not without good reason. Hazou is very observant to the point it’s obnoxious. One of the things Hazou is good at noticing is changes in details or when something has been moved out of place. Great and useful in a mission tracking something down, very bad when someone takes something of Hazou’s he doesn’t want you to take.
Tracking -
Hazou has a great sense of putting clues together and tracking or following an individual. Following footsteps. This all goes in with his observant nature as well.
Gaishō-teki unmei
The story begins two hundred years with a man, not a vengeful, or grieving wraith, but of a man. Not just any ordinary man, a man celebrated, and loved by all. One who died unexpected, though not shockingly. It was more the nature of the death surprised all.
Kazehara Hikari was a loved and respected man, who still believed the Bushi code could be used for all. He didn’t believe in a world where only few people could afford Samurai, but Samurai were the symbol of Japan and its citizens.
Perhaps this view they say developed from his upbringing. It is said Hikari grew up in a small village near some rice paddy fields. His village was known for the quality of their rice and was visited for their many unique rice dishes.
It is said one day the village was attacked by rogue bandits. The village with no way of defending itself, was cut down and many were slaughtered. Even Hikari’s own parents were slaughtered when they refused the deserting samurai service. Hikari orphaned wandered from his village as a survivor and tried to do things for money. Making little to nothing.
Now some stories say Mistu found him half dead passed out in the street and other stories say he found the boy asking for money, starving and dying being passed by people. Mistu being the captain of the Shinsengumi at the time. Appalled by the mistreatment of the boy Mistu took in Hikari.
He taught Hikari swordsmanship, in the eventually hope the boy would join the Shinsengumi when he was old and strong enough to do. Mitsu received a lot of criticism at the time for doing such a thing, it was said there was always some kind of tension between Hikari and Ota. But other stories state that Hikari and Ota were once friends.
In the Shinsengumi Hikari made the most of his life. Respected by the lower people, they saw him as the people’s samurai. Something Hikari strived for. He was strong and said to be quite skilled despite coming from a rice farm.
Ota and several other Shinsengumi members who were earning more political favor than people favor grew jealous of Hikari’s celebrated fame. It goes Ota asked Hikari to patrol the village they were stationed out together at night.
Hikari having no real conflict with Ota, besides a few snide comments, agreed and set out to patrol with him. Hikari was lead into a trap and overwhelmed by sheer numbers as five of his brothers jumped him, slaughtered him in cold blood.
It is said Hikari’s soul was traumatized by such a death. Instead of feeling deep wrath or true vengeance, his soul was traumatized with grief and depression. How could they have done that to him. Treated him in such a way when all he wanted was to celebrate their good deeds with them. He didn’t care about the fame or the celebratory comments people made in his name.
Unable to accept his death as a spirit Hikari wandered. He watched as his death brought great despair on the people he knew, maybe even indirectly knew as he saved them or helped someone they knew out. It was hard to watch his own funeral or the great grief that struck Mitsu a man he greatly admired and respected.
When he was found by a Shikigami meant to bring him to the land of the dead. Where he would be judged by his deed. Hikari was not ready to leave his life, he was not ready to die, he didn’t understand how anyone had the heart to do such a thing to him. The spirit was clearly traumatized by the brutality of its death, yet it was brought to the Great Gate to be judged by the 12 Great Kings.
Hikari had done nothing wrong in his life. Possibly one of the reasons he brought jealousy outside of others. While they drank, slept with too many woman, abused their position, Hikari had remained pure in mind and soul.
It is said when Hikari came to Enma’s judgment the spirit overwhelmed with all the events that had happened broke down at Enma’s desk. He plead to Enma he was not ready to die, he had not yet completed the things he sought. He desired, desperately desire to allow his grudge to be granted.
Seeing the spirits pain stirred something in Enma. He agreed. But told the spirit he was destined for Heaven. If he commits to being a servant to Enma, that when his vessel or if he is ever expelled again from life that he will remain in Hell. The spirit agreed.
That vessel would come to be known as Hazou. The spirit inhabits a body or was resurrected as a wraith who carries Hikari’s grudge. Not that Hazou himself is Hikari, but he inhabits the things Hikari’s soul wished and carries out.
Member
Izurich
