Saori Nakagawa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
needsteaplz) wrote2014-08-31 11:51 pm
needsteaplz) wrote2014-08-31 11:51 pm
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melodiesoflife
Player
Name: Miki
Age: 26
Personal Journal:kansaiphones
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
kansaiphones
Other In-Game Characters: N/A
Character (Original Character)
Name: Saori Nakagawa
Age: 98; physically looks 30
Gender: Female
Canon: original
Canon Point: Became the goddess Inari and a mother of five-year old twins.
World History:
“All things are true...few things are accurate.”
Saori’s world at the time of its creation was once home to all flora and fauna of both physical and supernatural origins. The dinosaurs were a good idea at the time but eventually a reset was needed and humanity was created.
Even gods lived amongst humans during this time. As many classic myths and folklore from all over the world have proven, such coexistence proved to be a strain on everyone and the planet. The majority of the gods from pantheons across the world decided to create a separate realm to become the residence of souls, the supernatural, and deities. While a god could go back to the realm of the living, permanent residence is not an option because of the risks of their identity being discovered are too high.
With the separation of realms, humans began to gain more independence from the gods and followed the events of our own current timeline. The difference is that gods still influenced these events because they were a necessity according to the grand design set by overseers of fate. The human population with supernatural abilities were once plentiful but began to dwindle over time.
The realm of supernatural is known as Kuukan. AThe number of souls may not be infinite but to prevent either realms from collapsing from the populations, the great rule that both sides must be balanced was created. All souls return to Kuukan once their physical bodies in the living realm expired. They are escorted by psychopomps based on a soul’s preference from angels to the Grim Reaper to gateways across the world in locations of great spiritual significance, leading them into Kuukan. There are judges from multiple pantheons that await them to weigh their sins against their good deeds based not only upon their faith but a whole person in general. From that point, they determine where they go for their next life, ranging from hungry ghosts to deities, and when the rebirth is initiated. If a soul requests a repeal, 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. Architecture, fashion, language and etc trickle through from the living realm from incoming souls. 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 vary from weeks to years, it’s not uncommon for souls to develop “another life” such as creating a family or starting a new business. While beliefs of one group may clash with another, the general rule is for everyone to get along or risk being cast down into lower districts.
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, 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. Gods focus their work both in the region of origin so to speak and the groups that still worship them.
Those who work under the gods 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 lifestyles of the first two districts are indeed rich. Many of the public establishments like the libraries, schools, and such exist here. Kuukan is more or less a mythology/folklore fan’s wet dream. After all, it’s not every day you can spend a morning talking stories with a river spirit and then have afternoon tea with Demeter. Knowledge and creativity can freely flourish in the Second District thanks to the peace that surrounds the district. Passage between the First and Third districts is easy with the right paperwork.
The Third District can be considered purgatory in a sense. The souls that reside here are considered neutral in terms of crimes and good deeds. It serves as the gateway and orientation center for souls returning from the living world. Majority of souls who experienced a human life reside here. It's not uncommon to see many children and animals here. There are many apartments and markets located in this urban district. Because it's hard job to ensure security between districts, it's not uncommon for an Ayakashi tried to sneak in from the Fourth District in the hope to power themselves up.
The final and currently the fast growing area is the Fourth District. Hell is a common name for it. It’s home to souls in need of punishment from their crimes, ayakashi, and malicious supernatural creatures. Unlike the other districts, because of its rapid increase, security at the borders is much more restricted. Like in Dante's Inferno, it can be further broken down into smaller areas devoted for a specific crime's punishment. Crimes can range from abuse to gluttony. The punishments are carried by workers who follow the gods of judgement. Only after they serve their sentence, a soul is re-evaluated to see if they are transferred to another district, reborn, or stuck in the Fourth District. It is not an easy path to redemption since temptation is abound and there are others who would like a free meal and power boost.While it is possible to traverse between the districts, the relations between them are mixed. Balance must be maintained amongst the district populations. It is easier for a citizen in the First to go between the districts versus a citizen from the Fourth going up. The biggest worry citizens from the first three districts is that an Ayakashi from the Fourth could devour them.
The First District sticks with the Second District out of all the areas. As mentioned earlier, many of those who work under the gods reside in the Second District as well many services also located there. Third District is the middle child where it can go between good and bad relations with the other districts. While it may not be in good light for the First, many citizens try to be on their best behaviour in order to rise from the ranks. Because the Fourth District houses the most notorious souls, the First and Second districts try not to be associated with them. Security between Second and Third districts is rather strict and heavily monitored. There is a law enforcement present that maintains the peace through the first three districts. In more intense cases where a rogue Ayakashi slips from the Fourth District, this is when the Inari Corps steps in.
Character History: Saori's parents moved to Kyoto when her mom was still pregnant with her from Niigata prefecture. The move happened because her father got a new job there. Her mother was a homemaker while her father as a literature professor at the local university. Three years later, Akira was born. All was good until when 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. She had to seek permission to work in part-time jobs while at school for the extra income.
In high school, her 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 looked 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. Under her host family, she learned even more cooking and even had her first boyfriend, a German study-abroad student. He did propose to her before they had to part, but she turned him down. She graduated college with a degree in English. However it wasn't without a hitch.
A week before her graduation, Akira discovered about the rejected proposal and he was angry with her. He wanted her to live her own life for once and stop holding back for his sake. Upset from the news, Akira stormed out of the apartment but never came back. There was a police search, but with no leads, it quickly became a cold case. While trying to find any clues, she came across a necklace with a green-blue stone with a note attached to it. That necklace was supposed to be her graduation gift.
Saori worked in a publishing 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 in 2013, she visited 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. Because an average human doesn’t have the powers to see the supernatural, they are unaware that their actions may have been influenced by an Ayakashi in the hopes to fatten their meal. In exchange for the power boost however, many Ayakashi lose their identity and reduced to rabid beasts in search of a next meal. 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.
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 came 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.
For the longest time, she always wanted to have children of her own while her husband, Tenjou, did not. Six years into their marriage, Saori saved a child from a mononoke attack and the girl clung onto her until they were home. Tenjou tried to convince both of them that adoption wasn’t an option but he eventually caved in. While they did spread word of the missing girl, there weren’t much leads to follow up on. A few months later, the girl’s parents eventually did show up on their doorstep. After a tearful goodbye, Tenjou decided they should have kids. A month later, Saori is pregnant and gives birth to fraternal twins, Toushiaki and Yae, who are now 5 years old. Now she and Tenjou juggle between being parents, gods, and defenders of the realm.
Personality:
Saori’s an older sister/motherly type of character. She’s quite independent because she had to help take care of her little brother, grandmother, and herself for a good portion of her life. Akira was a handful as a child, so she had to be more mature than other kids her age. When their grandmother was getting too old to run the household herself, Saori took on the responsibility. That also meant getting permission to work a part time job while in high school and college, which left barely enough time to for herself.
As she took on the guardian role, she essentially became an anchor not only to her family and friends, but to her husband. Tenjou and his corps were in a period of feeling burned out from the rise of rogue mononoke attacking both in Kuukan and the living world before she arrived. Her presence helped to lift their morale. Even though Tenjou didn’t want to admit it, he took the fact he couldn’t save Saori very personally. She always reassures him it was never his fault.
If a person needed someone to talk to or needed something, Saori would be there to help in anyway possible. She always waits for them to finish and never says her opinion out loud unless they do want to hear it. In many cases she tries to get all sides of the story. She’s considered by her peers as a very reliable and diligent hard worker.
However, she does tend not to be open about herself to others immediately in return. She mostly keeps it to herself unless she has someone who she completely trusts and has managed to stay by her side for a very long time. Building those long term relationships is even harder. After losing her family and regrettably saying no to her first marriage proposal, it’s hard for her to imagine herself having those types of relationships. This would explain why it would take Tenjou years to get close enough to her to propose to her. When she realizes his feelings towards her, she accepts them but Tenjou was tied down to his doubts about the idea of marriage. While Inari and Saori came to an agreement that she would marry him, she would wait until he came around and become more honest with himself. Before her death, she never sought out even one night stands.
Her tendency to fall on the "you never asked" policy of explaining herself is one of her bad habits. This is seen when Saori never mentions her godly status. Her biggest reason for that is, she doesn't want people to judge her because of it. She understands that some people will think less of her and some people have a bias against deities. Saori wants to be judged for who she is as a person.
As she spent more time in Kuukan, along with her best friend Ami’s influence, those walls she kept herself in began to break down. Ami would be the one next to Tenjou who would show Saori around Kuukan plus was a major help in her self-discovery moments. Because she burdened herself with her family’s needs over her own, she had little time devoted to herself. She didn’t have a committed relationship and didn’t explore much of her sexuality until her study abroad experience in the States. Ami helped her see what her own limits were and taught her it was okay to indulge in herself from time to time. Thanks to her, Saori managed to lighten up even more.
Some, including her own husband, have argued her kindness makes her unfit to be part of the corps. Her kindness does not make her a doormat. She does get angry and stands up for herself if her close friends and family get hurt, she’s being pestered while at work, or someone insults her skills without providing any sort of constructive criticism. Violence is a last resort for her. In her line of work however there isn’t much of a choice, but Saori always tends to be the one who checks on the victims first before anything else. After experiencing the multiple deaths in the family and her own, she knows the value of life very well.
The relationship between Tenjou and Saori can be described as a test of patience and trust. Neither side sought the other actively, it just happened. They wavered between strictly work partners and friends with benefits. Her initial enthusiasm to join the corps willingly reminded him how he was when the corps was founded: optimistic, energized and ready to dive into anything. At the time they met, he was a knight in sour armor. While he continued doing his work as a protector of souls from Mononoke, his cynicism reared its head now and then. Since his father allowed Saori to stay in their residence and join in the corps, he would often avoid her if possible. It was not out of spite, but he was afraid of failing her again. If she died in her current state, it would be a permanent death.
During their work, she often interacted with many individuals and he was amazed with how resilient emotionally and physically she was. She manages to give hope to others, including himself. Several years since she entered the corps, Tenjou told her his real name and she only calls him by that when they are alone or if she’s deadly serious about a matter.They did realize they had feelings for each other early on, but neither pushed for going beyond just dating each other despite all of their friends trying to get them together. Fear and hesitation was what kept them from getting married sooner. For Tenjou, being a son of a significant god and next in line was a lot of pressure. He had doubts he could carry the legacy and if Saori would ever want someone like him as a husband. Saori, on the other hand, was more than ready, but she knew Tenjou wasn't and so she didn't pressure him into marriage. They both developed a deep respect for each other and their near death experience wakes them up and he manages to propose to her.
Another thing to note is she never actively pursued becoming a god. Many of her opponents accuse her of it, but it’s far from the truth. It happened to come along with marrying Tenjou. She would only use her powers if it was part of her godly duty, like blessings. Plus she counts her own soul power to be separate, so she uses it more in combat. Unlike some of the elitists, Saori considers being Inari only a small part of who she is and not everything.
Third-Person Sample: From the test drive meme
Mognet Sample:
Okay, Brigid, I'm all set.
Hello, everyone. My name is Saori and apparently I'm classified as a Dragoon here. I know not everyone brought here has combat experience, but I'd be happy to help whether it's sparring or another set of hands on a mission. Also since we're all from different worlds, I'd like to hear about mythology and folklore if anyone would like to share them. I'm a bit of collector of that sort of material, you see.
Oh, Brigid, remind me to make my special spicy curry one of these days. I'm curious if anyone can handle the heat. Anyways, I hope to meet some of you in the future.
Crystallis
Moogle Name: Brigid
Moogle Gender: Female
First Job: Dragoon
Second Job: Monk
Limit Break: Fortune doesn’t favor fools A fox cry signals the start. Saori sweep-kicks a single target to knock them off balance to launch them into the air. She rushes the enemy and sets off a barrage of physical attacks. The opponent is sent higher until she appears behind them in a blink of an eye to slam them back down into the earth.
Name: Miki
Age: 26
Personal Journal:
kansaiphonesContact:
Other In-Game Characters: N/A
Character (Original Character)
Name: Saori Nakagawa
Age: 98; physically looks 30
Gender: Female
Canon: original
Canon Point: Became the goddess Inari and a mother of five-year old twins.
World History:
“All things are true...few things are accurate.”
Saori’s world at the time of its creation was once home to all flora and fauna of both physical and supernatural origins. The dinosaurs were a good idea at the time but eventually a reset was needed and humanity was created.
Even gods lived amongst humans during this time. As many classic myths and folklore from all over the world have proven, such coexistence proved to be a strain on everyone and the planet. The majority of the gods from pantheons across the world decided to create a separate realm to become the residence of souls, the supernatural, and deities. While a god could go back to the realm of the living, permanent residence is not an option because of the risks of their identity being discovered are too high.
With the separation of realms, humans began to gain more independence from the gods and followed the events of our own current timeline. The difference is that gods still influenced these events because they were a necessity according to the grand design set by overseers of fate. The human population with supernatural abilities were once plentiful but began to dwindle over time.
The realm of supernatural is known as Kuukan. AThe number of souls may not be infinite but to prevent either realms from collapsing from the populations, the great rule that both sides must be balanced was created. All souls return to Kuukan once their physical bodies in the living realm expired. They are escorted by psychopomps based on a soul’s preference from angels to the Grim Reaper to gateways across the world in locations of great spiritual significance, leading them into Kuukan. There are judges from multiple pantheons that await them to weigh their sins against their good deeds based not only upon their faith but a whole person in general. From that point, they determine where they go for their next life, ranging from hungry ghosts to deities, and when the rebirth is initiated. If a soul requests a repeal, 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. Architecture, fashion, language and etc trickle through from the living realm from incoming souls. 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 vary from weeks to years, it’s not uncommon for souls to develop “another life” such as creating a family or starting a new business. While beliefs of one group may clash with another, the general rule is for everyone to get along or risk being cast down into lower districts.
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, 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. Gods focus their work both in the region of origin so to speak and the groups that still worship them.
Those who work under the gods 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 lifestyles of the first two districts are indeed rich. Many of the public establishments like the libraries, schools, and such exist here. Kuukan is more or less a mythology/folklore fan’s wet dream. After all, it’s not every day you can spend a morning talking stories with a river spirit and then have afternoon tea with Demeter. Knowledge and creativity can freely flourish in the Second District thanks to the peace that surrounds the district. Passage between the First and Third districts is easy with the right paperwork.
The Third District can be considered purgatory in a sense. The souls that reside here are considered neutral in terms of crimes and good deeds. It serves as the gateway and orientation center for souls returning from the living world. Majority of souls who experienced a human life reside here. It's not uncommon to see many children and animals here. There are many apartments and markets located in this urban district. Because it's hard job to ensure security between districts, it's not uncommon for an Ayakashi tried to sneak in from the Fourth District in the hope to power themselves up.
The final and currently the fast growing area is the Fourth District. Hell is a common name for it. It’s home to souls in need of punishment from their crimes, ayakashi, and malicious supernatural creatures. Unlike the other districts, because of its rapid increase, security at the borders is much more restricted. Like in Dante's Inferno, it can be further broken down into smaller areas devoted for a specific crime's punishment. Crimes can range from abuse to gluttony. The punishments are carried by workers who follow the gods of judgement. Only after they serve their sentence, a soul is re-evaluated to see if they are transferred to another district, reborn, or stuck in the Fourth District. It is not an easy path to redemption since temptation is abound and there are others who would like a free meal and power boost.While it is possible to traverse between the districts, the relations between them are mixed. Balance must be maintained amongst the district populations. It is easier for a citizen in the First to go between the districts versus a citizen from the Fourth going up. The biggest worry citizens from the first three districts is that an Ayakashi from the Fourth could devour them.
The First District sticks with the Second District out of all the areas. As mentioned earlier, many of those who work under the gods reside in the Second District as well many services also located there. Third District is the middle child where it can go between good and bad relations with the other districts. While it may not be in good light for the First, many citizens try to be on their best behaviour in order to rise from the ranks. Because the Fourth District houses the most notorious souls, the First and Second districts try not to be associated with them. Security between Second and Third districts is rather strict and heavily monitored. There is a law enforcement present that maintains the peace through the first three districts. In more intense cases where a rogue Ayakashi slips from the Fourth District, this is when the Inari Corps steps in.
Character History: Saori's parents moved to Kyoto when her mom was still pregnant with her from Niigata prefecture. The move happened because her father got a new job there. Her mother was a homemaker while her father as a literature professor at the local university. Three years later, Akira was born. All was good until when 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. She had to seek permission to work in part-time jobs while at school for the extra income.
In high school, her 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 looked 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. Under her host family, she learned even more cooking and even had her first boyfriend, a German study-abroad student. He did propose to her before they had to part, but she turned him down. She graduated college with a degree in English. However it wasn't without a hitch.
A week before her graduation, Akira discovered about the rejected proposal and he was angry with her. He wanted her to live her own life for once and stop holding back for his sake. Upset from the news, Akira stormed out of the apartment but never came back. There was a police search, but with no leads, it quickly became a cold case. While trying to find any clues, she came across a necklace with a green-blue stone with a note attached to it. That necklace was supposed to be her graduation gift.
Saori worked in a publishing 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 in 2013, she visited 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. Because an average human doesn’t have the powers to see the supernatural, they are unaware that their actions may have been influenced by an Ayakashi in the hopes to fatten their meal. In exchange for the power boost however, many Ayakashi lose their identity and reduced to rabid beasts in search of a next meal. 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.
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 came 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.
For the longest time, she always wanted to have children of her own while her husband, Tenjou, did not. Six years into their marriage, Saori saved a child from a mononoke attack and the girl clung onto her until they were home. Tenjou tried to convince both of them that adoption wasn’t an option but he eventually caved in. While they did spread word of the missing girl, there weren’t much leads to follow up on. A few months later, the girl’s parents eventually did show up on their doorstep. After a tearful goodbye, Tenjou decided they should have kids. A month later, Saori is pregnant and gives birth to fraternal twins, Toushiaki and Yae, who are now 5 years old. Now she and Tenjou juggle between being parents, gods, and defenders of the realm.
Personality:
Saori’s an older sister/motherly type of character. She’s quite independent because she had to help take care of her little brother, grandmother, and herself for a good portion of her life. Akira was a handful as a child, so she had to be more mature than other kids her age. When their grandmother was getting too old to run the household herself, Saori took on the responsibility. That also meant getting permission to work a part time job while in high school and college, which left barely enough time to for herself.
As she took on the guardian role, she essentially became an anchor not only to her family and friends, but to her husband. Tenjou and his corps were in a period of feeling burned out from the rise of rogue mononoke attacking both in Kuukan and the living world before she arrived. Her presence helped to lift their morale. Even though Tenjou didn’t want to admit it, he took the fact he couldn’t save Saori very personally. She always reassures him it was never his fault.
If a person needed someone to talk to or needed something, Saori would be there to help in anyway possible. She always waits for them to finish and never says her opinion out loud unless they do want to hear it. In many cases she tries to get all sides of the story. She’s considered by her peers as a very reliable and diligent hard worker.
However, she does tend not to be open about herself to others immediately in return. She mostly keeps it to herself unless she has someone who she completely trusts and has managed to stay by her side for a very long time. Building those long term relationships is even harder. After losing her family and regrettably saying no to her first marriage proposal, it’s hard for her to imagine herself having those types of relationships. This would explain why it would take Tenjou years to get close enough to her to propose to her. When she realizes his feelings towards her, she accepts them but Tenjou was tied down to his doubts about the idea of marriage. While Inari and Saori came to an agreement that she would marry him, she would wait until he came around and become more honest with himself. Before her death, she never sought out even one night stands.
Her tendency to fall on the "you never asked" policy of explaining herself is one of her bad habits. This is seen when Saori never mentions her godly status. Her biggest reason for that is, she doesn't want people to judge her because of it. She understands that some people will think less of her and some people have a bias against deities. Saori wants to be judged for who she is as a person.
As she spent more time in Kuukan, along with her best friend Ami’s influence, those walls she kept herself in began to break down. Ami would be the one next to Tenjou who would show Saori around Kuukan plus was a major help in her self-discovery moments. Because she burdened herself with her family’s needs over her own, she had little time devoted to herself. She didn’t have a committed relationship and didn’t explore much of her sexuality until her study abroad experience in the States. Ami helped her see what her own limits were and taught her it was okay to indulge in herself from time to time. Thanks to her, Saori managed to lighten up even more.
Some, including her own husband, have argued her kindness makes her unfit to be part of the corps. Her kindness does not make her a doormat. She does get angry and stands up for herself if her close friends and family get hurt, she’s being pestered while at work, or someone insults her skills without providing any sort of constructive criticism. Violence is a last resort for her. In her line of work however there isn’t much of a choice, but Saori always tends to be the one who checks on the victims first before anything else. After experiencing the multiple deaths in the family and her own, she knows the value of life very well.
The relationship between Tenjou and Saori can be described as a test of patience and trust. Neither side sought the other actively, it just happened. They wavered between strictly work partners and friends with benefits. Her initial enthusiasm to join the corps willingly reminded him how he was when the corps was founded: optimistic, energized and ready to dive into anything. At the time they met, he was a knight in sour armor. While he continued doing his work as a protector of souls from Mononoke, his cynicism reared its head now and then. Since his father allowed Saori to stay in their residence and join in the corps, he would often avoid her if possible. It was not out of spite, but he was afraid of failing her again. If she died in her current state, it would be a permanent death.
During their work, she often interacted with many individuals and he was amazed with how resilient emotionally and physically she was. She manages to give hope to others, including himself. Several years since she entered the corps, Tenjou told her his real name and she only calls him by that when they are alone or if she’s deadly serious about a matter.They did realize they had feelings for each other early on, but neither pushed for going beyond just dating each other despite all of their friends trying to get them together. Fear and hesitation was what kept them from getting married sooner. For Tenjou, being a son of a significant god and next in line was a lot of pressure. He had doubts he could carry the legacy and if Saori would ever want someone like him as a husband. Saori, on the other hand, was more than ready, but she knew Tenjou wasn't and so she didn't pressure him into marriage. They both developed a deep respect for each other and their near death experience wakes them up and he manages to propose to her.
Another thing to note is she never actively pursued becoming a god. Many of her opponents accuse her of it, but it’s far from the truth. It happened to come along with marrying Tenjou. She would only use her powers if it was part of her godly duty, like blessings. Plus she counts her own soul power to be separate, so she uses it more in combat. Unlike some of the elitists, Saori considers being Inari only a small part of who she is and not everything.
Third-Person Sample: From the test drive meme
Mognet Sample:
Okay, Brigid, I'm all set.
Hello, everyone. My name is Saori and apparently I'm classified as a Dragoon here. I know not everyone brought here has combat experience, but I'd be happy to help whether it's sparring or another set of hands on a mission. Also since we're all from different worlds, I'd like to hear about mythology and folklore if anyone would like to share them. I'm a bit of collector of that sort of material, you see.
Oh, Brigid, remind me to make my special spicy curry one of these days. I'm curious if anyone can handle the heat. Anyways, I hope to meet some of you in the future.
Crystallis
Moogle Name: Brigid
Moogle Gender: Female
First Job: Dragoon
Second Job: Monk
Limit Break: Fortune doesn’t favor fools A fox cry signals the start. Saori sweep-kicks a single target to knock them off balance to launch them into the air. She rushes the enemy and sets off a barrage of physical attacks. The opponent is sent higher until she appears behind them in a blink of an eye to slam them back down into the earth.