Name: Ryuki, “Mount Oroi's Crimson Ape” and “Vermillion Guardian”
Race: Simian Oni
Age: 84
Gender: Male
Appearance: In his human guise,
Ryuki is 5’11” and 183 lbs. His skin is slightly tanned, hair a dull red, and eyes a bright green. It’s hard to tell with the length of his hair, but a pair of small horns are present on his forehead. His regular attire is rather strange in this land, and shaped by what he remembers from vague tales he heard quite some time ago. His talisman is the pair of glasses that also seem to manifest whenever he assumes a human form. The one thing he does have to carry around are his weapons which are an one-edged sword about the size of an odachi and an axe meant to be wielded in one hand.
As a Spirit,
Ryuki is far more intimidating sight. Usually he plants his hands on the ground and as a result his posture is hunched over. Even then he’s just shy of 7’, and when he stands straight up he’s about 8’3 or so. At just over 375 lbs. he’s literally just muscle and bone. His skin’s texture is described as rocky, while the white fur is likened to silken metal.
His horns are more unusual than impressive. Incredibly thin, they curve up and outward from Ryuki’s forehead for just over a foot. While touchable at the base, the tips of his horns glow almost white hot and will quickly incinerate those without protection. Thankfully the heat seems very much contained and doesn’t seem to transfer unless another organism touches them.
Skills Drinker & Brewer:
Holds his liquor like it’s nobody’s business and also a fairly competent brewer. His homemade stuff tends to be rather weak, for an oni at the least, and focuses more on the taste. Call him a juice maker though and he’ll bring out the batches that are basically poison for regular humans.Green Thumbs:
To that end, he’s also a got a fairly good green thumb in either of his forms. The mountain sides of Oroi yielded quite the variety of fruit while he made his home there, and he’s cultivated similar fruit fields around the guild.Tranquility:
A rather unbefitting skill of the supposedly boisterous race of Oni, but Ryuki is very skilled in the art of meditation. So much that he can actually enter into a trance where it can become hard to tell if he’s still alive as his breathing and heart rate slow to almost imperceptible levels. Sinister Glasses:
Somehow Ryuki has the developed a method that causes his glasses to gleam at the slightest adjustment. It doesn’t actually have much use, but looks rather nifty. Might frighten or unnerve those not used to it.Powers Oni Physiology:
Exactly what it says on the tin. Even in his human guise, Ryuki is physically superior to mortals and effectively untouched by age or sickness. In his Spirit form, the disparity in physical traits is only magnified further and the rest of his supernatural abilities become available for use. The World’s Flow:
What allowed Ryuki to gain the title of Vermillion Guardian, it is the ability to immerse one’s self in their surrounding environments. To read the various flows of energy in the natural world around him and notice others that move through it. From his home atop Mount Oroi, he watched over and protected those that flocked to the area for the safety he offered against malevolent spirits. At the same time, in this state Ryuki seems to fade into his surroundings. It becomes incredibly difficult to focus on him despite his appearance, and supernatural methods are almost certain to outright fail.Internal Forge:
A blessing of fire that burns bright within Ryuki. While it doesn’t manifest as the ability to manipulate flames, he is able to manipulate his internal body temperature to dangerous levels. Darker shades of red indicate hotter temperatures, and he can increase it to such a degree that even metal will melt if touched for too long. Other effects include a heightened body temperature, the ability to ignore intense heat or cold, being the best portable heater before they’re even a thing, and other stuff of that manner.Weapons/Equipment Sword:
A weird hybrid of katana and odachi that’s about halfway in length compared to the two styles. The blade is also considerably heavier, but doesn’t prove too problematic for Ryuki to use. Axe:
Normally carried at the back of his waist. Designed to withstand use even in his Spirit form like his sword, but otherwise nothing unusual about it.Bottomless Gourd:
A treasure of immense value to Ryuki, it is a container that holds much more than its size alone would suggest. Rather plain, it is attached to a wide strap as its contents remain heavy as ever.Bio: Childhood wasn’t really a thing for Ryuki. He sort of just materialized one day atop Mount Oroi with a vague understanding of the world he had been born into. In a fashion most un-oni-like, he sat down to try and puzzle things out rather than obey the instinctual urges. His awareness expanded and for how long he stayed like that, the Spirit could not be certain.
Eventually the ceaseless dance between lights and shadows beneath him, along with his own urges, spurred him to descend. Naturally when his first appearance at the village inspired quite a bit of terror and panic, and that whetted his appetite just fine. The piss poor performance of the town guards though, exhausted as they were by attacks from other Spirits killed the mood though and left him rather disappointed.
In a fortunate turn of events for the surrounding settlements, another Spirit also decided to try their luck with that village that night. For a moment it seemed he was content to leave the villagers to their fate, but then it clicked. If the humans could not put up a fight, then maybe this creature would instead. It wasn’t his intention to protect them, merely a side-effect of his desire for a challenge, but the humans did not question their savior, even if it was only through coincidence. A celebration was held in his honor, and though confused, he quickly learnt that the cuisine of humans might very well be better than the cooks themselves. Maybe. He didn’t really know since he had never ate a human before.
Suffice to say, but news spread quickly and soon enough the humans from around the mountain regularly made the trek up for his aid. It wasn’t a bad arrangement, and for a few years he simply lazed about in that manner. Eventually he decided to take a more proactive role and began to experiment with the abilities he had. His awareness slowly expanded until he sensed other Spirits and sought them out before they could attack the human settlements. The requests for aid became less and less common as he prevented attacks in the first place, and soon they simply arrived with offerings and to spend time.
His attention turned to other pursuits when Mount Oroi was established as his territory with only the occasional challenge. The mountainside forest became lush with various fruits, and it was rumored that the smell of liquor and spirits infused the very earth where Ryuki lived. It was also somehow agreed on by the various villages that benefited from his protection that his name was to be Ryuki. He doesn’t quite remember how it came to be, but did accept it.
All in all things were good, and then one day members from Yatsuragiha came for him. It was actually fairly touching that the village guards barred them from his home. While he could not say he tired of his self-appointed task, the chance to see more of the world did interest Ryuki. He had never assumed a human guise in all his life, and the talisman provided proved quite helpful. He bid the various village heads farewell, ensured he would come back to check on them, and departed with the guild’s members.