Name: Miki Personal Journal:kansaiphones Contact Info: Email: JackofAntics@gmail.com, AIM: Yamiryu7, Skype: JackofAntics, Plurk: kansaiphones (private), PMs through my personal journal and character journals, Other Characters Played: Keroro Gunsou sgtgunpla and Lili Zanatto tsunkinesis Preferred Housing: N/A
Character Name: Saori Nakagawa Character Age: 28 physically, 80 mentally Background: Saori’s living world is modeled after our current world. However, her world also contains gods, spirits, ghosts and other supernatural creatures. Humans rarely encounter them in plain sight, but their actions can influence the human realm such as ‘spirited away’ cases, people going insane or unsolved homicide cases. Lowly spirits can increase their powers and sometimes evolve by consuming strong emotions. Because of this, they often harass humans they see as a potential meal until they are ripe for eating. In the case they devour strong negative emotions and/or human flesh, they evolve into mononoke.
Saori's parents moved to Kyoto when her mom was still pregnant with her. The move happened because her father got a new job there. Her mother was a homemaker while her father worked at a university, as a literature professor. Three years later, Akira was born. All was good until Akira was 4 and Saori was 7, when their mother got sick. Her health began to deteriorate until she finally passed away. That left Saori to basically become the caretaker of the house. Her father was devastated with the lost of his wife and his children's mother so the depression began to set in.
One year later, the father went to work but never returned. She vividly remembers walking to the train station with him where they departed to take their own trains. (Saori would later find out he was devoured by a mononoke and later kills it, but she was too late to retrieve and purify his soul.) Their grandmother who lived nearby took them in. When her age made it difficult to raise them to her best of her skills, Saori took over.
In high school, grandmother thought showing her around Kyoto’s Gion district might convince her to become a geiko, an apprentice geisha. After a traditional tea ceremony, she ended up falling in love with tea instead. During her whatever spare time she does have, she looks for new books (specifically on ghost/paranormal subjects) or manga, or buying different kinds of tea.
Her curiosity about the supernatural started when she was little. Her father worked until his disappearance on translating several folklore from classical Japanese language to the modern version. While Akira would be scared out of his wits by some of the stories, Saori would always ask for more. Her love for folklore is later reflected in her college work.
Saori eventually graduated high school and attended a college in Osaka. She even studied abroad in America for a year. She graduated college with a degree in English. However it wasn't without a hitch. A week before her graduation, Akira disappeared. There was a police search, but with no leads, it quickly became a cold case.
Saori worked in a publication company after graduation, specializing in translation work for three years, but found the work to be not as satisfying over time. She got her projects done on time, but there other things that bothered her. It was mostly the social pressure she felt from her higher ups. She was already past 25 and still not married. She already saw countless co-workers come and go as soon as they found a suitable husband to marry. It was then Grandmother suggested she maybe do something she liked: cooking. So she began to plan out making a cafe.
One day, she was visiting the Fushimi-Inari temple in Kyoto. As she climbed up the stairs to the main building, she heard the sounds of little bells chiming. Thinking it was nothing, she continued. Then the chimes got louder and louder as she went up until he finally looked back. That was the last anyone ever heard from Saori. She’s captured by a Nopperabou, a faceless mononoke who has taken her deep in the neighboring mountain side.
It's explained that mononoke grow from the weaker ayakashi when they feed on a human's strongest emotion. In most cases, it's a very bad thing. In exchange for the power boost, they lose their identity. However there is a way to overcome this. If they consume a soul of someone who despite many hardships occurring in their life are still pure, not only does their power increase but their lifespan increases as well without losing their identity.
The Nopperabou is able to pull away her soul from her body. A man by the name of Tenjou arrives to take it down but it’s too late. The Mononoke pins down Saori’s soul and eats her physical body in front of her and Tenjou. The man finishes the creature but the damage is done. Tenjou then decides to take her to see Inari, his father, about her options since she died prematurely according how much time was left in her lifespan. And while she is able to be reincarnated, she wouldn’t be able to do very soon. The next chance she’s able to be reborn won’t be for another century. A soul without a body must reside in the supernatural realm for extra protection against Mononoke.
The realm of supernatural is known as Kuukan. All souls return here after living their most recent past life and wait to be reincarnated onto the next. There are judges who determine, based on the deeds they did, their next incarnation, when they will be reborn and where they can stay as they wait. If they wish to be reborn into something better, ie human or above, they can use the wait period to tip the odds in their favor and ask for a second judgment.
Kuukan in general is a chop suey of cultures and time periods. While firearms of today’s caliber can be found, magic tends to be the most effective manner of combat when it arrives. Since wait period between incarnations can be quite long, it’s not uncommon for souls to develop “another life” such as creating a family or starting a new business.
The realm is split into “districts” even though they are about the size of a small densely populated country. There are four main districts, which transitional areas between. The First District belongs to the deities from past and present mythologies. Said deities are not immortal and are subject to the rules of reincarnation as well. Because of this, the name of the gods are more of legacy title that’s passed on to those the predecessor finds worthy to share. While it’s possible for one person to carry that title like Tenjou’s father, many prefer to share the title with their spouse. It not only serves a check and balance system but its said there extra benefits like power boosts and extra abilities exclusive to those who share titles. They work in sync with each other to decide what events will occur Those who work under them reside in both the First and Second Districts. Majority of the Second Districts are souls or supernatural creatures whose good deeds outweigh the bad. The biggest district is the third district. It can be considered a “purgatory” where those deemed as neutral reside. It serves as the gateway and orientation center for souls returning from the living world. The final and currently the fast growing area is the Fourth District. Hell is a common name for it. It’s home to souls, ayakashi, and malicious supernatural creatures. Unlike the other districts, because of its rapid increase, security at the borders is much more restricted.
Inari decides that Saori can stay under Tenjou's care. After touring around Kuukan and staying with Tenjou, she realizes his purpose. He’s the leader of Inari's elite corps dedicated to protecting both the living and souls in Kuukan from being eaten by ayakashi who want to be mononoke. In the past century, the influx of souls returning from their time in the living realm has decreased due to the rogue supernatural creatures consuming said souls. The problem with that is two fold for another reason. Souls that were consumed by them are forcibly removed from the cycle and new souls are extremely hard to produce and only arrive in small batches every fifty years or so. With mononoke consuming at a rate faster than production, this throws the balance between the living realm and Kuukan off. This became a great concern to many of the gods. Inari was the one who spearheaded the creation of the corps and other gods have given their support to it.
Saori comes to a decision to help Tenjou so more people won't suffer the same fate as her. Tenjou objected but eventually gives in. She goes through training with Pluto, the corps second-strongest, and it would take her a few years until she got Inari's blessing and joined in the corps. During her training, Saori learned when souls are not attached to a living body they can tap into their innate powers. They can vary from purification to manipulation of elements. In her case, she can manipulate smoke to take on forms her will. While she can use different types of smoke, her strongest affinity is for smoke from lit incense. Plus its purifying abilities make it a better anti-ayakashi/mononoke weapon.
Inari would later reveal to Saori that his ‘name’ is technically a title and has to be passed down to his son but traditionally the title of a god was shared by someone so he must marry if he intends to inherit. Fortunately over the years of working together Tenjou proposes to Saori. And while they have their duties as gods to fulfill prayers of the various sorts, they often go out to deal with the constant mononoke problem. This is where I’m pulling Saori from.
Saori Nakagawa | Original Character | Not reserved 1/?
Personal Journal:
Contact Info: Email: JackofAntics@gmail.com, AIM: Yamiryu7, Skype: JackofAntics, Plurk:
Other Characters Played: Keroro Gunsou
Preferred Housing: N/A
Character Name: Saori Nakagawa
Character Age: 28 physically, 80 mentally
Background:
Saori’s living world is modeled after our current world. However, her world also contains gods, spirits, ghosts and other supernatural creatures. Humans rarely encounter them in plain sight, but their actions can influence the human realm such as ‘spirited away’ cases, people going insane or unsolved homicide cases. Lowly spirits can increase their powers and sometimes evolve by consuming strong emotions. Because of this, they often harass humans they see as a potential meal until they are ripe for eating. In the case they devour strong negative emotions and/or human flesh, they evolve into mononoke.
Saori's parents moved to Kyoto when her mom was still pregnant with her. The move happened because her father got a new job there. Her mother was a homemaker while her father worked at a university, as a literature professor. Three years later, Akira was born. All was good until Akira was 4 and Saori was 7, when their mother got sick. Her health began to deteriorate until she finally passed away. That left Saori to basically become the caretaker of the house. Her father was devastated with the lost of his wife and his children's mother so the depression began to set in.
One year later, the father went to work but never returned. She vividly remembers walking to the train station with him where they departed to take their own trains. (Saori would later find out he was devoured by a mononoke and later kills it, but she was too late to retrieve and purify his soul.) Their grandmother who lived nearby took them in. When her age made it difficult to raise them to her best of her skills, Saori took over.
In high school, grandmother thought showing her around Kyoto’s Gion district might convince her to become a geiko, an apprentice geisha. After a traditional tea ceremony, she ended up falling in love with tea instead. During her whatever spare time she does have, she looks for new books (specifically on ghost/paranormal subjects) or manga, or buying different kinds of tea.
Her curiosity about the supernatural started when she was little. Her father worked until his disappearance on translating several folklore from classical Japanese language to the modern version. While Akira would be scared out of his wits by some of the stories, Saori would always ask for more. Her love for folklore is later reflected in her college work.
Saori eventually graduated high school and attended a college in Osaka. She even studied abroad in America for a year. She graduated college with a degree in English. However it wasn't without a hitch. A week before her graduation, Akira disappeared. There was a police search, but with no leads, it quickly became a cold case.
Saori worked in a publication company after graduation, specializing in translation work for three years, but found the work to be not as satisfying over time. She got her projects done on time, but there other things that bothered her. It was mostly the social pressure she felt from her higher ups. She was already past 25 and still not married. She already saw countless co-workers come and go as soon as they found a suitable husband to marry. It was then Grandmother suggested she maybe do something she liked: cooking. So she began to plan out making a cafe.
One day, she was visiting the Fushimi-Inari temple in Kyoto. As she climbed up the stairs to the main building, she heard the sounds of little bells chiming. Thinking it was nothing, she continued. Then the chimes got louder and louder as she went up until he finally looked back. That was the last anyone ever heard from Saori. She’s captured by a Nopperabou, a faceless mononoke who has taken her deep in the neighboring mountain side.
It's explained that mononoke grow from the weaker ayakashi when they feed on a human's strongest emotion. In most cases, it's a very bad thing. In exchange for the power boost, they lose their identity. However there is a way to overcome this. If they consume a soul of someone who despite many hardships occurring in their life are still pure, not only does their power increase but their lifespan increases as well without losing their identity.
The Nopperabou is able to pull away her soul from her body. A man by the name of Tenjou arrives to take it down but it’s too late. The Mononoke pins down Saori’s soul and eats her physical body in front of her and Tenjou. The man finishes the creature but the damage is done. Tenjou then decides to take her to see Inari, his father, about her options since she died prematurely according how much time was left in her lifespan. And while she is able to be reincarnated, she wouldn’t be able to do very soon. The next chance she’s able to be reborn won’t be for another century. A soul without a body must reside in the supernatural realm for extra protection against Mononoke.
The realm of supernatural is known as Kuukan. All souls return here after living their most recent past life and wait to be reincarnated onto the next. There are judges who determine, based on the deeds they did, their next incarnation, when they will be reborn and where they can stay as they wait. If they wish to be reborn into something better, ie human or above, they can use the wait period to tip the odds in their favor and ask for a second judgment.
Kuukan in general is a chop suey of cultures and time periods. While firearms of today’s caliber can be found, magic tends to be the most effective manner of combat when it arrives. Since wait period between incarnations can be quite long, it’s not uncommon for souls to develop “another life” such as creating a family or starting a new business.
The realm is split into “districts” even though they are about the size of a small densely populated country. There are four main districts, which transitional areas between. The First District belongs to the deities from past and present mythologies. Said deities are not immortal and are subject to the rules of reincarnation as well. Because of this, the name of the gods are more of legacy title that’s passed on to those the predecessor finds worthy to share. While it’s possible for one person to carry that title like Tenjou’s father, many prefer to share the title with their spouse. It not only serves a check and balance system but its said there extra benefits like power boosts and extra abilities exclusive to those who share titles. They work in sync with each other to decide what events will occur Those who work under them reside in both the First and Second Districts. Majority of the Second Districts are souls or supernatural creatures whose good deeds outweigh the bad. The biggest district is the third district. It can be considered a “purgatory” where those deemed as neutral reside. It serves as the gateway and orientation center for souls returning from the living world. The final and currently the fast growing area is the Fourth District. Hell is a common name for it. It’s home to souls, ayakashi, and malicious supernatural creatures. Unlike the other districts, because of its rapid increase, security at the borders is much more restricted.
Inari decides that Saori can stay under Tenjou's care. After touring around Kuukan and staying with Tenjou, she realizes his purpose. He’s the leader of Inari's elite corps dedicated to protecting both the living and souls in Kuukan from being eaten by ayakashi who want to be mononoke. In the past century, the influx of souls returning from their time in the living realm has decreased due to the rogue supernatural creatures consuming said souls. The problem with that is two fold for another reason. Souls that were consumed by them are forcibly removed from the cycle and new souls are extremely hard to produce and only arrive in small batches every fifty years or so. With mononoke consuming at a rate faster than production, this throws the balance between the living realm and Kuukan off. This became a great concern to many of the gods. Inari was the one who spearheaded the creation of the corps and other gods have given their support to it.
Saori comes to a decision to help Tenjou so more people won't suffer the same fate as her. Tenjou objected but eventually gives in. She goes through training with Pluto, the corps second-strongest, and it would take her a few years until she got Inari's blessing and joined in the corps. During her training, Saori learned when souls are not attached to a living body they can tap into their innate powers. They can vary from purification to manipulation of elements. In her case, she can manipulate smoke to take on forms her will. While she can use different types of smoke, her strongest affinity is for smoke from lit incense. Plus its purifying abilities make it a better anti-ayakashi/mononoke weapon.
Inari would later reveal to Saori that his ‘name’ is technically a title and has to be passed down to his son but traditionally the title of a god was shared by someone so he must marry if he intends to inherit. Fortunately over the years of working together Tenjou proposes to Saori. And while they have their duties as gods to fulfill prayers of the various sorts, they often go out to deal with the constant mononoke problem. This is where I’m pulling Saori from.