Name: Tama-no-Hinode
Template: Focused Practitioner
High Concept: Oni Slaying Deva
Trouble: God in Human Skin
Aspect: Knowledge of the Rising Sun
Aspect: Life is never Quiet
Aspect:
Aspect:
Skills
Superb: Lore, Conviction
Great: Weapon, Athletics
Good: Endurance, Investigation
Fair: Discipline, Contacts, Rapport
Average: Deceit, Empathy, Intimidation, Might, Presence
Mediocre: Alertness, Burglary, Craftmanship, Driving, Fists, Guns, Performance, Resources, Scholarship, Stealth
Stress:
Physical: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Mental: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Social: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Consequences:
Mild:
Moderate:
Severe:
Powers (2/10 Refresh)
Evocation (3 Refresh): As the reincarnation of Amaterasu, Evocation magic quite literally comes naturally to Hinode. However, incompatibilities in mindset make Rituals difficult to use, and he never bothered to relearn the talent. Related Aspect: Oni Slaying Deva.
Cassandra's Tears (0 Refresh): Due to Divinity, Hinode can technically see into all timelines at once, existing in more then one place at one time. However, he has no ability to direct the power; his vision sees whatever Amaterasu is currently looking at on the Time Axis. Related Aspect, God in Human Skin.
Sight (1 Refresh): As a Divinity, Hinode naturally has the sight. Related Aspect: God in Human Skin.
Beast Change – White Fox with 9 Tails (1 Refresh): As a Deva of Amaterasu descended from Tamamo-no-Mae, Hinode has access to a fox form that, perhaps, might be the real him. Whether Hinode or the fox is the true Hinode, is irrelevant, however. Whilst in Fox Form, Stealth and Weapon ranks are swapped, as are Might and Burglary, and Presence and Investigation. Related Aspect: Oni Slaying Deva.
Glimpse of Divinity (0 Refresh): When a person uses the Sight upon Hinode, it becomes immediately obvious that he is in some way related to Amaterasu. The fox ears and shining halo are dead giveaways. Related Aspect: God in Human Skin.
Item of Power: Taiyo no Tsurugi – Masamune (太陽の剣:正宗の剣) (3 Refresh)
- [0] Purpose: A magical blade that originates from the tail of Orochi, as a magical gift to Amaterasu. Only those sharing either Amaterasu's blood, soul or blessing may draw it.
- [0] It is what it is. Masamune is an exquisitely designed katana. Weapon 3.
- [0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual dedicated upon perverting its purpose.
- [+2] Discount Already Applied. As an Item of Power, the sword already includes the one-time discount.
- [-2] Sunlight Edge. The Masamune, when drawn, is like a miniature fragment of the sun trapped in metal. Attacks made with Masamune against targets not immune to fire suffer three additional stress, and Masamune satisfies any Catches that have to do with heat, the Sun, or if the target is a Youkai.
- [-1] True Aim. When you use it in keeping with its purposes, the Masamune adds 1 to your Weapons skill.
- [-1] Always at Hand. Drawing the Masamune does not take a supplemental action. It is instantaneous, and you may do it during someone else's turn. If you are ambushed and would defend and Mediocre, you may have the sword spring into your hand and defend at Good instead.
- [-1] Mark of Power. For the Supernatural, in the hands of someone who may rightfully use it, the Masamune is an obvious artefact of Amaterasu's direct attention.
- Related Aspect: God in Human Skin.
Phase 1—Background and Early Life
Amongst the Japanese pantheon, there is one deity who perpetually wonders how humans live, Okami-no-Amaterasu, the mother who guides the sun. Throughout the ages, she has occasionally popped in on the world to satisfy that curiosity, and perhaps lend a hand to her precious children, who populate the world in the stead of the gods. Recently, that desire struck again, and the result, was Hinode.
As a mortal, he is a young man who was born in Kyoto, to a small family who had the blessings of Inari and tended to the food markets. A divine blessing, he has an elder brother and a younger sister. Money was never tight, although one must wonder if that was simply Inari lending a hand.
His young life was pleasant, if, by the standards of those who serve as Amaterasu's mortal incarnations, dull. He grew up as one of the local hands to the shrines, serving as a guide to those who wished to see the old ways, though keenly aware that he had been passed by.
His education was, relatively speaking, normal. As a Deva, an avatar of Amaterasu, he had access to the special trait known as the 'Knowledge of the Rising Sun', the ability to pick details out of the knowledge that Amaterasu knows. Due to lack of interest, his schooling ended in high school. As Amaterasu's previous incarnation was a well regarded physicist, he had no desire to continue his education. Instead, he lived as a Shinto mystic, granting blessings of a sort and performing parlour tricks.
However, as a Deva, he could easily see the dark side of the world, the mystic side that others sought not to see. Even as a child, he had the defeat of multiple Oni under his belt, demons of Japanese origin.
For Hinode, the fact that he was a part of Amaterasu was an inescapable fact that he had always known. But even so, he wished to be a human, to live as a human. To do that, he had to help solve human problems.
Phase 2 – Rising Conflict
There are many demons in Japanese myth, many creatures that would wish harm on the land. However, chief among them was the recurring terror, the demon of the Mountain of Evil Spirits. Yamata-no-Orochi.
Every one hundred years, the demon would return and wreck havoc. Once upon a time, those reigns of terror often overlaped, for Orochi would survive to terrorise generations. The very first time he was slain, it was by Amaterasu's brother, Susano'O, a god cast down to be a man, who had done the deed. Since then, the job had always fallen to the three siblings of the Sun, Moon and Cloud to do the deed. If Amaterasu was the Sun, Tsukyomi the Moon, and Susano'O the Clouds, then Orochi, surely enough, was the vile earth beneath.
The warning signs were obvious, in hindsight. The rise in Oni in the area, the holes to the Nevernever created by the Demon Gates Rashomon, created by the interference of Oni, and the spilling of power. However, after an incident at Honnoji temple during Hinode's travels, the possibility of Orochi returning could no longer be ignored. Maybe it'd be a decade. Maybe it'd be less. More. Well, by Hinode's math, it would be more.
With the historical temple at Honnoji destroyed, and the Rashomon within it permanently cracked open, with a heavy heart, Hinode accepted this life would not be quiet at all.
Phase 3 – First Adventure: The Holy Sword of the Sun
Co-Starring:
With the return of Orochi on the horizon, Hinode came to a few conclusions on what needed to be done. The first of which, of course, was the return of his holy sword, lent to the descendants of Amaterasu. It had many names and many shapes, Kusanagi, Murakumo, but right now, it's name was Masamune.
And currently, that sword was in America, in the antique collection of a crime lord.
In truth, tracking the blade down wasn't exactly hard. The crime lord was unusually proud of his possession, as was the case of most people who thought they had a piece of the Imperial Regalia. In truth, humans had made a number of laws regarding the rules of magic, and while Hinode was relatively sure that they might not apply to him, the current perception of him being human meant that breaching them, possessing a man and simply taking the sword would likely cause problems until his next reincarnation.
At least Hinode could be reasonably sure the blade would not be stolen out from under his nose. After all, anyone who knew of the Imperial Regalia knew the sword of the set was a straight edged blade, right? The form had only changed again a scant few centuries ago with the name change, after all.