The Cast

[Isawa Natsuko]

Name: Isawa Natsuko
Clan: Phoenix
Occupation: Shugenja in training
Age: 17-18
Height: 5' 5"
Build: a bit scrawny
Hair: Black, unruly, a bit below shoulder length
Eyes: Bright, icy blue
Marital Status: Betrothed

There may be young samurai here who are already well-known for their skill with a blade or in the courts. Natsuko isn't among them. It's possible there are a few shugenja here with a chance of becoming one of the very rare Topaz Champions trained in the ways of the kami. That's not likely to be Natsuko's destiny. But there are many here solely to show the skills that a clan or family boasts among their new generation. She'd fit that description, or at least is probably intended to. She's just never had any inclination toward standing out and really pushing any such message. Thankfully, there are plenty of her clanmates this year to carry that duty.

Natsuko tends to hide piercing blue eyes behind the unusual curls and frizz of hair that hints at ancestors from farther away than it's polite to mention. She hides the curls in hoods of glowing orange and sunny yellows. She doesn't slouch, but she's only middling tall, so it's not as if that helps her stand out in any way.

Wide sleeves tend to hide the ruinous scar tearing down her left forearm, though the missing pair of fingers are more readily seen. Not least because the scroll satchel slung over that shoulder is such a rattling, misshapen sack that it seems to require a fair bit of gripping and adjusting just to keep it settled at her hip. It's definitely a scroll satchel though, honest. It's not, quite, an eyesore, but definitely not fashionable. There's a scent of herbs that hangs around her like temple incense on monk's robes, and a constant, irregular clicking and shuffling as that satchel is adjusted.

Similarly, Natsuko is very careful to stand and bow and speak politely and appropriately, when the situation calls for it. It's apparent she hasn't the experience or training to navigate such etiquette with a Doji courtier's precision, but it's adequate, even if she shows little inclination to seek out chances to demonstrate such things. That attention to carefully doing the task before her may stand her in good stead here, or at least avoid embarrassment for herself and the Phoenix.

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Hooks:

Escaping to the quiet of the woods sound good? Maybe swimming?
Smoking is very relaxing in such a high stress environment, don't you agree?
Would you like to discuss tea? Possibly for hours?
What do you know about, um...disguises....like for acting?
How about being stared at until I know things about your family? That's probably not unnerving at all.

[Ide Yizhak]

Name: Ide Yizhak
School: Ide Trader
Age: 16
Height: 5'6"
Build: Thin, would be lanky if taller
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

A modest young man who would usually not be in the spotlight, Ide Yihzak is simply an up and coming courtier who is really good with numbers. He hopes to be able to make good connections and make his parents proud.

Hooks:
-Want to explore nature? Count Yizhak in if he's not doing anyting important.
-Bet you will find him doing community service

[Kakita Yuji]

Name: Kakita Yuji
School: Kakita Duelist (in Training)
Age: 16
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 143 lbs:
Hair: White
Eyes: Blue


Kakita Yuji "The Beautiful Avalanche", is a local in the town of Tsuma. His family has served the Kakita Dueling Academy for generations. His father, Kakita Fumihiko is one of the sensei who teach tactics, his mother Kakita Ayame is one of the dueling instructors. His grandfather, Kakita Yoshitoru, has semi-retired, but still provides his insights as one of the former head sensei happily with those who ask for it.

Yuji is the oldest of three brothers. His next youngest brother is Kakita Shinichi two years his junior, and two years prior to that is Kakita Sadahige. The boys get along well, and can often be seen about town on those various fancies of Crane children, though Yuji's days of childhood are drawing to a close.

Hooks:

Poetry: Yuji wants to gather a poetry compilation of all this year's Topaz competitors consisting of two poems, their initial impression of Tsuma and their final impression of Tsuma. He also plans on sending out incomplete poems to give others an opportunity to collaborate on them.

Games: Yuji loves Sadane, Go, Shogi, Hanafuda, and whatever other games you care to partake in.

Long Trips: Yuji enjoys taking long rides along the Tengu river and long hikes in the forest. Who knows how much longer he can delight in such simple pleasures?

[Kaeru Kaori]

Name: Kaeru Kaori
School: Ronin (Rich Frog Dojo)
Age: 16
Height: 167 cm
Build: Athletic
Hair: Reddish
Eyes: Green

Kaori wears utilitarian clothes, though of decent make. Judging by her hair and her general body type, one can surmise she has some Lion and Crane in her forebearers, though as befitting a ronin, she does not speak much of that. She wears the frog mon of the Kaeru, and bears it with pride.

Hooks:
- She is a native of Rich Frog, and knows the city quite well. Have you ever been?
- For a ronin, she seems to have a keen interest in family trees and ancestry. Must be that weird ronin family thing...
- She seems to avoid any and all kind of fish and other seafood. Perhaps it's superstition, or something else?!
- She has been given an invitation by Miya Tetsu, the governor of the Rich Frog. She seems quite keen to prove herself worthy of his honor. Are you staking your reputation and life's work on a single competition in your teens as well?! Or are you a laid back slacker?!

[Suzume Rin]

Name: Suzume Rin
Clan: Sparrow
Occupation: Part-time carer full-time trainee
Age: 18
Height: 5'7"
Build: Lanky and underfed, swallowed by her clothes
Hair: Brown and generally tied back
Eyes: Warm and brown
Marital Status: Single and ready to work dutifully to raise her eleven siblings.

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(Art Credit to https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/samdoesa ... the-storm/ )

"Riiiiiiiiiin! I fell in the field and now my leg hurts! Can you make it better?"
- Suzume Taro, brother No. 4, age 6

"If you keep feeding that horse before you you're gonna be nothing but skin and bones dear. One gust and you're going to fly away."
- Aunty Funaki

"Wait...so by providing shoes for all the centipedes the mice demonstrated their virtuousness?.... Rin! That doesn't make any sense!"
- The entire family on story night.

Rin is a Sparrow's Sparrow, dutiful, hardworking and generally good-natured when she's not run off her feet. As the eldest of 12 she's been taking on co-parenting duties since she could be trusted to watch her siblings. In her free time she gets to work tirelessly pulling a meager bounty from the Suzume lands to feed her considerable family. The Topaz is daunting, sure, but it also serves as an opportunity to prove herself and hopefully bring some recognition to the family name...that and honestly it can't be more work than marshaling all the other kids.

Hooks:

• Swapping Stories Like most Suzume, Rin loves a good tale and can be easily pressed to tell some of her own.

• Discussing Duty Rin has only ever met a few Crane before this. Now she's surrounded by so many strange samurai and she has questions. Mr Shosuro, why is my family so poor?

• Exploring Everywhere Why come all this way if you're not going to look around? Maybe there's somewhere nice for fishing.

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Name: Kuni Mitsuko
Clan: Crab
Occupation: Nearly graduated Hida junior officer
Age: 17
Height: 5'7"
Build: Lean, unremarkable.
Hair: Black, usually worn up in slightly awkward ways.
Eyes: Grey and impatient.
Marital Status: Single and completely buried in her work.

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The scrawny Kuni girl doesn't look much like you'd expect for a Hida-trained commander, but behind the traditional facepaint and the glare of something approaching perpetual rage, there's a strong-willed and thoughtful samurai who's shown more than enough times that she knows how to get things done in the famed Hide Battle Leader School. Reserved and quite bookish by Hida standards, Mitsuko simply exemplifies the studious and skeptical traditions of the Kuni. Third daughter of the (in?)famous Kuni shugenja sensei, Kuni Etsumiko, and the only one of six children not able to speak to the kami, Mitsuko tries hard to be a glorious example of success in all things. She's done well at that so far, but the anxiety caused by constantly worrying about how well she's doing and whether she's embarrassing her family means that Mitsuko is always on edge and quick to lash out. When she focuses and calms, Mitsuko is insightful and harmonizes with the universe, but those feelings are generally cut short by some angst or need to get something done.

Hooks:

• Here to Represent for the Family Besides trying to focus and do well in all the tests, Mitsuko will likely regularly be in the dojo, trying to get as prepared as possible for the iaijutsu tournament at the end.

• Quiet Intensity Mitsuko can hardly resist a chance to share her opinion about things, once someone draws the wallflower into a conversation.

• Weakness: Animals Mother's not here to complain about a few minutes spent with the kind of pets that most Kuni frown upon. Mitsuko is no rebel and desperately wants to be a good Kuni/Crab... But, I mean... come on. Like... puppies? Please!

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[Shosuro Kaoru]

Name Shosuro Kaoru
Clan Scorpion
Occupation Bureaucrat
Age 16
Height 155cm/5'1"
Marital status Negotiation phase

Quiet and well-behaved, Kaoru is the kind of efficient help you commonly find in the shadow of samurai of far higher status, relieving them of the burden of paperwork, one of these brush-pusher always appearing to be consulting or writing some kind of legal document.

In her free time, she reads non-fiction books.

Little else is publicly known about her. It is unclear why the Scorpion chose to send such an apparently unremarkable person to the Topaz Championship, but that people are asking themselves that question is likely to be but the first step in one of these complex, multi-dimensional plans the clan is known for.

Hooks:

• Books good. History? Philosophy? The classics? Kaoru is interested in exchanging on these subjects.
• She's good company in general if you want to kill time quietly around a go ban or a similar peaceful activity...
• ... But be ready to witness impressive cases of analysis paralysis if the game state turns complex.

[Kitsuki Jun]

Kitsuki Jun 木月 淳
Clan: Dragon
Occupation: Aspiring magistrate
Marital Status: Let's uh at least finish this growth spurt first?
Age: 17
Height: 5' 10"
Build: I work out but I'm also still filling out
Hair: Black, neatly top-knotted
Eyes: Dark brown
Complexion: Light, not very tanned

Jun is an intent young samurai with a vaguely scholarly air, one which somehow persists even when he's climbing a tree to inspect a bird's nest or getting gamely trounced in an unarmed sparring match. His voice has settled into a calm (usually!), slightly resonant tenor range; his dark-eyed gaze is intense but rarely harsh. His everyday dress is practical in cut, but made well from good-quality materials. Wrapped around one wrist is a strand of finely carved ebony beads, of the kind sometimes used by Fortunist monks and lay devotees to tally their prayers; Jun can often be seen running them between his fingers when he's otherwise obligated to keep still.

Jun has the stance of someone who has studied some swordplay, and calluses on his hands to match--usually paired with ink stains--though obviously in Tsuma town he carries no weapons more serious than a walking staff. Physically, he appears to be in the no-longer-a-puppy-not-quite-a-hound-dog stage of growth that strikes justified terror in the hearts of kitchen stewards empire-wide--muscular, but still with a lanky quality that makes it clear he's not quite done growing. And yes, he will have another helping, please.

Conversation-starters:

• Jun wants to serve as a magistrate, an ambition he makes blindingly obvious. What do you want to be when you grow up?
• Great-uncle Kitsuki Kiyomizu was an illustrious magistrate, best remembered nowadays as a crusader against official corruption. His casebook is still widely read, especially among the Emerald Magistrate corps. Maybe you’ve skimmed it?
• Jun is always ready to keep up his martial arts practice (and won't mind if you outclass him, as long as he can learn something).
• Read anything new lately?
• Jun is happy to hear about your home province, your family history, that one time you saw a weird lizard climbing a tree... as long as it's new to him, he's interested.
• Just don't ask him about anything numinous, spiritual, unseen, etcetera. (Or maybe do, if you enjoy confusing Dragons.)

[Kaiu Taura]

Kaiu Taura
School: Kaiu Engineer
Age: 15
Height: 5'4"/162.5cm
Build: Slender but with wiry muscles
Hair: Black
Eyes: Grey
Marital Status: Unwed, not promised

Taura is unknown outside of Crab lands and not well known there, she won her place here by a feat of exceptional bridge repair that allowed a vital supply caravan to arrive in time. While she did not think much of it, someone in the Clan took notice and, well, here she is, This is her first time outside of Crab lands and she is happy to be a complete tourist, looking at everything and everything she can, within bounds of propriety of course.

She is slender and her skin is dark from time spent working in the sun, her hands are rough, moreso from hard work than weapon use.

Hooks:
Curious about, well, just about everything.
Need something fixed? I can help
Curious about the Crab? She is a lot less scary than a Hida

[Doji Nanako]

Name: Doji Nanako
Clan: Crane
School: Kakita Duelist
Age: 16
Height: 5'2"
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue-green
Build: Willowy
Occupation: Potential adult
Marital Status: Single

Nanako is in many ways a typical Crane girl: demure, proper, a true child of Doji. Unusually, the choice of how to train the young Nanako for service to her clan was reconsidered a number of times prior to her final selection for the Kakita Academy. It has proven to be a prudent choice thus far: Nanako has done well enough in her studies to be considered for the Topaz Championship despite certain personal irregularities.

Nanako has developed something of a reputation for being extremely unlucky, both for herself and those around her. Tragedy, though not ruin (yet), has come to Nanako's family: her parents were lost to disease or war, along with many of her older siblings, which has left her to be raised by her grandmother. Nanako's grandmother and the girl's pets seem so far to be the only living things that can be about her and not have some misfortune come to them.

Hooks

• 大凶: An unluckiness follows Nanako around, though she does her best to go with the outrageous slings and arrows cast at her by life (sometimes literally).
• Animals seem to enjoy Nanako's company, particularly cats. Are you into cats as well? ...Are cats into you?
• You wouldn't put away a daruma without achieving the goal for which you got it, right!? Nanako takes portents, talismans, and fortune-telling very seriously.

[Asahina Sakura]

Name: Asahina Sakura
Clan: Crane
School: Asahina Artificer
Age: 16
Height: 5'3"
Hair: White
Eyes: Brown
Build: Thin
Marital Status: Single

Description:
What stands out about Sakura is… nothing, and that in and of itself as a Crane is worth noticing. She is plain by Crane-standards, and does little with regard to makeup, keeping her attire invariably understated though no less refined than her cousins and siblings. While she dyes her hair white, its upkeep is rarely ornate, instead kept in place with simple ties and the occasional ribbon.

Sakura is the daughter of Asahina Sayuri, former Topaz champion and darling of every Winter Court she attends. She is also Asahina Tenshin's youngest sister, and both the bane of his existence and his eternal shadow.

Hooks:

• I see dead people: Standing with one foot in two worlds, she's often quiet and distracted by surrounding spirit activity.
• Jack of all arts: Sakura has yet to really find her niche regarding creating art, but enjoys trying all methods.
• Playing doctor: While she is a skilled artist, she prefers to spend her extracurricular time focusing on healing the living, whether of physical or spiritual injury.
• Well, this is awkward: It doesn't take long to notice why she's often so quiet - when she gets to talking interpersonally, Sakura has a way of tripping over her words and generally coming off on the wrong foot, rubbing others the wrong way for a variety of reasons, especially to those she might admire or have interest in otherwise.