ââTradition is power for many, yet it is also our weaknessââ
âAgeâ
19
âThe warrior is not made with age, he is made despite itâ
âAppearanceâ
Korin can normally be distinguished from other samurai on sight, this isnât always a good thing though. For instance his heritage causes his skin to be a little darker than the normal light skin of others making him seem more like a farmer whose skin would get tanned in the sun. His skin isnât worn though, it still possesses an almost fresh look to it without many wrinkles or major problems with his complexion. The other main difference between him and others is that he possesses slightly more distinct features, these come in the form of his nose being a little more angled than the soft features of the japenese, his eyes a bit less angled and his mouth a little wider. Most of these small things could be missed but closer scrutiny makes it so that you can tell something isnât the same about him.
His hair is dark brown and hangs in long locks, he keeps it either tied up in a ponytail or it is allowed to hang loosely. When in combat it will almost always be in a ponytail though and thrown around his neck so that it will not get in the way when moving. The hair is a bit wavy, almost curly, making it so that it doesnât hang straight most of the time and as such it can seem to be lumpy or disheveled at times, yet Korin has a general sense of order around him.
Korin normally wears a simple purple kimono with white underneath, on the back is the symbol of his now extinct clan. His entire attire seems as though it never gets dirty, never even seems to get ruffled when heâs moving around and this all just creates a sense of order around him. On his waist he wears his DaishĆ consisting of the long katana and the shorter wakizashi, in addition to these he wears a small carrying satchel on the small of his back where he keeps two kama or small scythes and a number of other tools while above this he has his bow and quiver, normally his bow is unstrung and wrapped in a water proof cloth.
âLikesâ
-Meditation
-Nature
-Birds
-Calligraphy
-Adaptation
âDislikesâ
-Impatience
-Loss of control
-Constraint
âPersonalityâ
To those who donât know him very well, Korin might seem rather cold and separate from everything, almost detached form the world around him in any emotional way. In truth Korin feels very strongly about certain things but those things have all just kinda been taken from his life. This creates the sort of detachment since most of those things that he cared about most he has lost, even with these scars though he still seeks some way to belong, a way to regain his lost honor but more importantly his lost place in society or rather position in society where he belongs.
The main reason why he may seem cold is his ability to never lose control of his emotions, he has spent a lot of time working on things such as meditation and working on his zen archery which forces one to be able to control their emotional state and calm it down. Because of this Korin is capable of doing what he calls feeding the flame, when he is doing something such as fighting, shooting a bow, meditation or any important activity that requires focus he imagines a flame in his head and then feeds all thoughts and emotions into it. He then lets the flame slowly fade away into a pinprick until he is left with a void of no thoughts, this void is where he finds perfect focus and clarity and it is from constant work on improving this focus that he has gained a powerful control over his emotions and never loses control of himself to such things as anger or despair.
Many are surprised by how artistically talented he is, an artist with the brush as well as the blade Korin spends what time he can painting or writing. His patience has also allowed him to become a very dedicated person when it comes to studies and practices, he will often work on a single thing until he has mastered it; this could be anything from a way to blend colors on the canvas to a way to make it so that his arrow draws are a tenth of a second faster. His artistic and scholarly pursuits have made him intelligent also, as many samurai need to be since they often must command troops and be able to strategize, Korin is in possession of a keen intellect and insight. Sadly this doesnât extend to such things as thinking ten moves ahead of his opponents but rather comes in the form of him being able to study and learn things quickly as well as spotting flaws and gaps in an opponentâs form that he can quickly capitalize on.
The most drastic change of Korin from the traditional samurai is that he doesnât allow himself to be constrained by things like tradition, his way of fighting and his family was not the most traditional. While he still fallows bushido he does believe in adaptation, this is why he wields the Kama. His father taught him that stagnation in anything leads too decay of ones abilities, wits and eventually oneâs life.
âRelationshipsâ
Korins family are all dead, there is no one left in his life that is important to him or that he has any real ties too.
âEquipmentâ
Katana and wakizashi-this is the traditional long and short sword, the short blade that Korin weilds is a little longer than normal but it is also a bit heavier
Kama -These are Filipino scythes that are used in tandem, the gap between the blades and the handles can be used to catch blades and scythes, these weapons are unusual and as such often catch opponents off guard.
Yumi Bow- This bow has a long range and incredible draw strength, this allows it to peirce armor from a distance with the long arrow shafts and bow design. The one down side is it takes time for the arrow to be refitted and fired, this is not a fast process but it is an accurate one in the hands of a master.
âStrengthsâ
Adaptation-Korin is more adaptable than most, able to come up with solutions to problems and move how the situation needs him too
Emotionally Controlled- Not the sort to go into a blind rage or mope around out of sorrow, he possesses an iron grip over his emotional state and as such can keep going even when the times are tough and can fight at his best when others would be afraid.
Physical Peak- The body is a temple and this temple is clean and powerful, constant training and focus on improvement have given him great abilities in strength, speed and coordination.
Ambidextrous- Training from child hood has allowed him to use both hands equally well, this trait allows him to excel at dual wielding weapons and also with his hand coordination.
âWeaknessesâ
Emotionally Cold- Emotional trauma combined with zen training makes him seem frigid to the world around him, an uncracking stone. This often creates issues between him and those around him.
Lone Wolf- Time spent alone and away from people have made him more comfortable on his own than with other people, while this doesnât mean that he cannot be around others it does mean that he sometimes becomes uncomfortable or feels crowded.
Attachment Issues- Due to his extreme fear of loss the main problems he has is that he doesnât form loyalties or attachments easily. This also works another way though, if he does become attached to something he will be extremely hurt if he does lose it and also he go to insane lengths in order to protect it.
[/size=90]
âHomeâ
Korin used to live on the southernmost tip but after the death of the daimyo he has wandered from place to place with no real home to call his own.
âHistoryâ
On the southernmost part of Japan was a small province ruled by the Nageswai clan, the daimyo their was an honorable lord but he did not possess so much power as to be considered of any real note.Korins father was a retainer of the Daimyo, an honored council and protector. An oddity of this main was that one of his wives was a foreigner, a Filipino women to be specific. That wife produced only one son, Korin. Korin was born to a rather large family, he already had an older brother who would soon perish in service to the clan as well as a few older sisters who would be married off to various clans and people; later on he would have a number of younger siblings who would grow close to Korin as an older brother and mentor.
For the beginning of his life he almost never left his motherâs side, even during this time though he was made to undergo intensive training. The daimyo had ordered early training in the hopes of raising his standings by having a number of powerful warriors. From the moment he could walk Korin was taught the basics of japenese martial arts, when he was five years old he even began accompanying his father and learned basic lessons in samurai culture form him. In this way Korin developed a close relation to both of his parents, instead of them being separate from him they were actually his teachers and instructors in things. During these five years he had three brothers and four sisters born, these siblings developed a rather odd relationship with Korin since they did not share the same mother.
By seven years of age Korin had begun to attend the small school in the local village, he was educated formally along with the other local children. One of the other samurai children even became a sort of rival for Korin, they both competed for a place of dominance in the class, basically they tried to one up each other in whatever they had to do. One of the strangest things to happen from this though was that Korin was brought to the center of the village one day by his father, his rivals father committed seppuku for failing in his duties to the daimyo. Korins father had him watch the enire thing, explaining that in death the man was earning back his honor. This was the first real death that Korin had ever witnessed, soon after his rival just seemed to vanish and Korin never knew what happened to him. A few days later Korin was sent on a task by his father, part of his training in this time was in honing his emotions and being able to do small things such as fetch materials or travel for long distances in order to prove his abilities, this particular task was to journey out to a reputedly haunted house and find the severed head in the house and place his mark upon that head. Korin completed the task with some trepidation but he was his fatherâs son, able to conquer his fear and do what was needed without too many issues. This was the first time that Korin had ever seen pride in his fatherâs eyes, a sight that he would aim to gain again and again.
Between the ages of seven and ten Korin began his training with weapons, a local monk was instructed by his father to teach him mediation techniques and zen archery. He would spend hours focusing on pulling the bow string back and visualizing the shot, everything from the flight of the arrow to the thud of the arrow striking. Also during this time his father gave him his bokken, or wooden sword, that Korin began to carry with him and practice with. This was his first instruction on the use of a sword, this instruction would become more rigorous and intense as time went on, he would almost never be apart from a blade after this moment. With the beginning of his formal sword training his father also made him begin doing things with his left hand, these things ranged from writing and eating. Anytime he failed to do something correctly such as if his calligraphy was wrong or bad with his left hand he was punished. This was done until he could use both hands equally well.
Ages ten to fifteen had more activates for him, or at least more events that stuck in his memory. The first thing was the death of his mother, even at this time he had been taught how to hold back his emotions and as such he did not cry at this event. One again he saw pride in his fatherâs eyes; this caused a lot of confusion from him. This was also the first time he was given the kama, his scythes from his motherâs people. His father began teaching him how tradition was important but that there was a certain amount of power in things which were not traditional. At the age of fifteen he was an adult and given his blades, the next day he left on a task for his master and succeeded. This marked the first time he felt himself truly become part of a society, part of a clan and welcomed by a master.
This time of happiness wouldnât last long though, his entire life was turned upside down when one day while on guard duty at the Daimyos summer home, a rival Daimyo sent his samurai to attack and kill Korinâs lord. During the battle the Daimyo was indeed slain but Korin was also badly wounded. While he was unable to move due to wounds Korins father and the last of the clan made a huge attack against the offending Daimyo ending in his fatherâs death but also the destruction of the rival Daimyo and his clan. By the time Korin had even recovered his entire life had been ripped apart and he had lost his home and family. With that done and reduced to a masterless ronin Korin began a trek across Japan, fighting and slaying bandits for money while also continuing his training and searching for a new master and new home. Tales of this vagabond ronin became common among bandits, an avenger who hunted the hunters. In truth though Korin simple hunted them to keep his skills sharp and in order to provide for himself.
