⌈"Lord, give me strength⌋
⌈Age⌋
23
⌈Appearance⌋
With a height of 5"6 and a well-built physique, Hiroshi cuts an imposing figure, especially when outfitted in full armor which is admittedly hard to come by for a ronin. Thus, Hiroshi contents himself with armoring his torso, arms, and knees, relying on speed and finesse to compensate for his vulnerable points. It is foreign appearance that sets him apart, however. Hiroshi's eyes are brown and a tad too wide and his skin betrays his Portuguese heritage as he is obviously not pure nihonjin. He takes advantage of negative stereotypes by keeping his hair long and unkempt and has a rather magnificent beard if he can say so himself.
Hiroshi prefers to wear simple clothes or his own armor if possible, disliking ostentatious clothing, though he does not mind wearing simple midnight blue kimono on more formal occasions. At all times, he keeps his katana and wakizasha sheathed at his side and iron crucifix over his heart. He can also often be seen wearing a sugegasa, particularly on hotter days.
⌈Likes⌋
- Stars
- Different Languages
- Trade
- Combat
- Jesuits
- Crucifixes
- Good food and drink
- Religion/Folklore
⌈Dislikes⌋
- Most nobles
- Injustice
- Being treated as if he's nothing
- Dishonor
- His mother's family
⌈Personality⌋
Hiroshi's manner is one of calm confidence amidst a storm. He feels things deeply, but he almost never loses control of himself save for times of extreme distress and when that happens, his rage is something to behold. His eyes burn in fury and his voice rumbles in fury as he lashes out at whatever has finally caused him to lose his temper. He does not stop until he has said his peace or, if it is in battle, he has achieved complete victory. This, however, is not the norm and Hiroshi feels deeply ashamed in the aftermath.
Most of the time, Hiroshi is focused, but easy-going. He always shows respect to whoever he is interacting with unless given a reason otherwise. He possesses a dry and, at times, a surprisingly risque sense of humor for someone raised by monks. Although an honorable man, Hiroshi is a cutthroat haggler and, were things different, could have become a successful merchant. As it stands, Hiroshi cannot bring himself to pursue that sort of life due to the issues he still has with his father. He is also fluent in Japanese, Latin, and Portuguese and can speak passable Chinese and Korean. Hiroshi is a religious man, though he respects the spirituality of the land of his birth. He will never charge a Jesuit as he feels forever indebted to the order he raised and, to his guilt, left to pursue the life of a ronin.
At heart, Hiroshi seeks the honor denied to him as child born out of wedlock in a land where some view him as foreign though his mannerisms differ only slightly from his countrymen. He seeks the acknowledgement of a father whom he hasn't seen in years and a way to vindicate his choice of life to the monks who raised him. The event of his mother's death left a wound on his soul and he feels guilty that his very existence was the cause. Nevertheless, Hiroshi has been taught to look beyond himself and has vowed never to harm an innocent or let anyone suffer when he has the means to prevent it.
⌈Relationships⌋
Francisco Perez| Hiroshi's father, Francisco is an aloof Portuguese merchant who impregnated a woman from a prominent Samurai family on Kyushu. Hiroshi has only met him a few times and at once hates and craves for his approval.
Hamasoki Motoko- Hiroshi's mother, a daughter of a prominet Samurai family, she was disowned when she was found to be pregnant outside of wedlock, but was cared for at a monastery set up by missionaries in Kyushu. Shortly after he was born, she committed seppuku.
Brother Arashi "Juan" Hayashi| The man who was Hiroshi's primary parental figure, Brother Arashi taught him about honor, God, and his homeland. The monk had hoped that Arashi would join the Jesuit Order as he had. Hiroshi could not bring himself to explain himself to him face to face and left him a letter before he left the monastery.
⌈Equipment⌋
Katana| Hiroshi prizes his katana above all his weapons as it is one he earned from completing one of his first jobs. It is a weapons forged by a real samurai swordsmith rather than a cheap knock-off commonly used by Ronin such as the one he first wielded. It is of average length and width with its hilt fitting surprisingly perfectly in his hands, as though it was forged for him.
Wakizasha| Little more than a long dagger, Hiroshi uses this weapon when a shorter blade is required. Hiroshi dislikes this weapon as it is the very weapon his mother used to kill herself, but he chose to take it long ago and has used it since.
Yumi| Although he is more of a close range fighter, Hiroshi has found the yumi longbow useful in the past and keeps his skills sharp in this area, though he acknowledges he will never be a master at the art.
⌈Strengths⌋
Hiroshi's primary areas of expertise are trade and combat. He understands the value of goods and services well and has an eye for detail that he has inherited from his father. This has served him well in life from when he discerns whether someone is telling him the whole truth to the condition or value of an object to his opponents' fighting styles. In battle, Hiroshi uses his speed and endurance to wear down his opponent until an opening presents itself before striking without mercy or hesitation. He also has a gift for languages, religion, and folklore and is able to interact with Portuguese and Christians much more smoothly than a normal Ronin.
⌈Weaknesses⌋
Hiroshi suffers from a severe lack of self-worth that would be today diagnosed as depression. He feels stained from the dishonor of his birth causing his mother to kill herself and his father to keep his distance. In addition, he has a strong distaste for manipulation and will not compromise his honor, even if that makes things more difficult for him.
⌈Home⌋
Raised in a monastery on Kyushu under the protection of the Otomo clan, since becoming a ronin, Hiroshi has wandered the country, going where fortune and duty has demanded.
⌈History⌋
As with all human's, Hamasoki Hiroshi's story begins with his parents. Francisco Perez was a well-to-do Portuguese merchant with a keen eye for opportunity and dwindling prospects either at home or in the Portuguese colonies in the New World. It was inevitable then that he would find his way to an a growing market for goods from Portugal and her colonies in the form of Nihon. Francisco was a gifted haggler who, thanks to the Portuguese presence in India and China, found himself doing quite well in acquiring goods the Japanese desired from said countries and through fruitful business relations and personal charm, Francisco gained the friendship of a minor samurai family in Kyushu, the Hamasakis.
Hamasaki Motoko, the head of the family's youngest daughter, found herself fascinated with the strange foreigner and Francisco, in turn, was charmed by the demure young woman. Soon enough, the two began an affair, culminating in Hiroshi's birth. The family was dishonored by this half-foreign bastard and Motoko was disowned by her family with the implication that they would cut down Francisco Perez if he ever dared to show his face at their home again. With Hiroshi in tow, Motoko made her way to a small monastery in Hoshu under the protection of the powerful Otomo clan and run by the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. There, she sent letter after letter to Francisco with no reply. Fearing that he had died or, worse, abandoned her and their child and feeling the shame she brought upon herself and her family, she killed herself with the only possession she had left from her family, a wakizasha just days before Francisco arrived, having been delayed by ill weather and fortune.
Hiroshi was left in the care of the Jesuits, Francisco having neither the ability or interest in raising a child himself. He paid them an annual stipend for this service, but he remained aloof. It was an older monk, Brother Arashi "Juan" Hayashi who raised him as a father would. As he grew up, Hiroshi proved to be a gifted child, excelling in physical activity and the speaking and understanding of the Latin, Japanese, and Portuguese spoken in his childhood home. At times, Francisco would visit his child and teach him what he knew about trade and money, but the man remained cold and seemingly uncaring towards his only child. In addition, he was often bullied by other orphans for being a foreigner's bastard, though not to the extent he would have outside the monastery. No matter how much Arashi reassured him that he was worthy in the eyes of God, Hiroshi still felt the dishonor of his birth and felt the sting of his father's disinterest. In addition, he he was fascinated with his samurai heritage, more than even the things of God and his father's trade. While he honored Brother Arashi, Hiroshi felt that his place wasn't the monastery. He longed to travel the world not as monk or a merchant like his father, but as a samurai like those in his mother's family.
Things soon changed with the arrival of an aging ronin who had tired of his life as a wandering mercenary and converted to Christianity. In secret, Hiroshi begged the older man to teach him the way of the sword and of the ronin and after several fruitless attempts, he agreed. Over the course of five years, Hiroshi proved himself to be a natural and the old ronin felt that Hiroshi could do well as a ronin, though he still warned Hiroshi that he would not be able to achieve the honor he sough through the life. Eventually, Brother Arashi found out about Hiroshi's secret training and forbade him to learn anymore from the old ronin, but he needn't have bothered. The old ronin soon died as a result of a long life smoking cigars and drinking sake. Nonetheless, fearing for the direction Hiroshi's life was taking him, Brother Arashi encouraged his ward to take vows as monk or priest. Reluctantly, Hiroshi agreed but on the night before he did so, he ran away, leaving a letter apologizing for his disloyalty, but vowing to gain honor as a ronin and, if possible, a samurai.
Hiroshi traveled alone with only the cheap iron katana that was the ronin's beforehand. He took any job he could, provided that it was one of honor, and proved himself time and again, slowly building for himself a reputation as a ronin of skill and character. Throughout all this, he never forgot about the monastery that was his home or the monks who had been his family. At times, he has questioned his decision, but the knowledge of his mother's shameful death and the memories of his father's disinterest quashed those doubts. This was his path and he vowed to cleanse himself of the shame of his birth and bring honor to the Jesuit Order through his life in repentance for his actions. Inside, he knows that this goes against everything he was taught by the monks, but it is a path that he cannot leave.