Kou Miyami
Apr 12, 2023 9:22:16 GMT -5
Post by Kou Miyami on Apr 12, 2023 9:22:16 GMT -5
Name: Kou Miyami
Age: 81
Race: Fellblood
Nationality: Crescent Isles
Height: 4’11
Appearance: Age has already claimed mama Kou Miyami, as is evident in her stooped shoulders and the smile lines in her face. Her hair has already gone fully gray, usually kept up by elegant pins. She is the kind of woman who often wears modest robes and clothes, and despite the fact that she is clearly well off, she rarely wears jewelry and nice things. A pair of round spectacles frame her face - without them, she cannot see. Often shuffles around wearing slippers and cannot get very far without her cane.
Personality: A hard day’s work is no stranger to mama Kou. She is a woman who came from humble beginnings, and despite the fact that she now lives a life of decent means, she has never quite lost those habits. She prefers to handle cooking and cleaning herself and loves having guests over. She likes to think she still has a bit of a wild streak in her.
The Time Which Kou Cannot Remember
Before she lived in Starlight City, in the earliest days of her youth, Kou once lived on a miniscule island on the outer rings of the country. They were a fishing community; as waterlogged and sunken as the island was, there was little to do save drink and boat. Her family has always been bereft of money and material possessions, but they were happy. It was only Kou and her mother and father in that small house. Her mother would play games with her, teach her how to make tea, and her father would take her out on the water and pretend to hunt for mermaids while he worked. They were hard workers - well respected by their community, the kind of good folks who kept their heads down and enjoyed every second of what they did.
What a shame, then, that they committed the sin of clinging to that life.
Kou does not remember the incident which tore her family from their roots; but it has been ingrained into the very fabric of her being.
It was not manmade forces that destroyed her home, but in the late summer of her fourth year of life, a tsunami tore the entire island apart. A great and terrible storm, the divine will of the primordial world - rain and storm tore apart the foundations of the city, leaving nothing but ruins, and the floods submerged the islands. Some families were lucky enough to escape by boat to seek refuge in one of the surrounding islands. Most were stranded, left to die submerged by the storm. And some, like Kou’s father…
They stayed behind to shuttle as many people to safety as they could.
His efforts angered the celestial spirit of the tsunami. Forces of nature exist to destroy all in their path, and they do not take kindly to those who interfere with their divine will. As Kou’s father was on the water, a great, draconic spirit appeared in front of him - the manifestation of the Storm. It was anger that Kou’s father had defied death, denying the Tsunami its havoc. It threatened to kill him, to drown him one hundred times over for every life he saved in repayment of the souls that should have been claimed by its storm.
But Kou’s father pleaded for life. He had a wife and a daughter to return to - a lifetime of precious memories behind him, and a lifetime before him. He did not want to die. On his boat, amidst the torrent of waves, staring up at the draconic spirit, he got on his knees and begged for one second chance.
The god of the storm was outraged. How dare a mortal defy the natural order? How dare? He ought to have killed the man for daring to plead for mercy. Yet… there are some fates which are worse than death. It was one such choice that the draconic spirit chose for Kou’s father.
It granted him life, on one condition; everyone would know that he had cheated death. With each year of his stolen life, he and his bloodline would be forever marred by his choice. With each year, he and his children and his children’s children - born human - would grow more infernal with each passing year, the blood of the demons infecting their appearance. Everyone would know that their family had brought such horrible misfortune upon themselves. Such was the price for choosing to live when he had been slated to die.
Kou’s father returned to the mainland looking every bit the demon that the draconic spirit had made him out to be. With their home destroyed, and nowhere else to go, he took his family to Starlight City in hopes of finding a better life. He had been changed, but his family loved him all the same, and they would make this work. They opened a small restaurant in the slums of the city. They hoped to escape the tragedy which they had left behind…
But misfortune would follow them for the rest of their life.
What a shame, then, that they committed the sin of clinging to that life.
Kou does not remember the incident which tore her family from their roots; but it has been ingrained into the very fabric of her being.
It was not manmade forces that destroyed her home, but in the late summer of her fourth year of life, a tsunami tore the entire island apart. A great and terrible storm, the divine will of the primordial world - rain and storm tore apart the foundations of the city, leaving nothing but ruins, and the floods submerged the islands. Some families were lucky enough to escape by boat to seek refuge in one of the surrounding islands. Most were stranded, left to die submerged by the storm. And some, like Kou’s father…
They stayed behind to shuttle as many people to safety as they could.
His efforts angered the celestial spirit of the tsunami. Forces of nature exist to destroy all in their path, and they do not take kindly to those who interfere with their divine will. As Kou’s father was on the water, a great, draconic spirit appeared in front of him - the manifestation of the Storm. It was anger that Kou’s father had defied death, denying the Tsunami its havoc. It threatened to kill him, to drown him one hundred times over for every life he saved in repayment of the souls that should have been claimed by its storm.
But Kou’s father pleaded for life. He had a wife and a daughter to return to - a lifetime of precious memories behind him, and a lifetime before him. He did not want to die. On his boat, amidst the torrent of waves, staring up at the draconic spirit, he got on his knees and begged for one second chance.
The god of the storm was outraged. How dare a mortal defy the natural order? How dare? He ought to have killed the man for daring to plead for mercy. Yet… there are some fates which are worse than death. It was one such choice that the draconic spirit chose for Kou’s father.
It granted him life, on one condition; everyone would know that he had cheated death. With each year of his stolen life, he and his bloodline would be forever marred by his choice. With each year, he and his children and his children’s children - born human - would grow more infernal with each passing year, the blood of the demons infecting their appearance. Everyone would know that their family had brought such horrible misfortune upon themselves. Such was the price for choosing to live when he had been slated to die.
Kou’s father returned to the mainland looking every bit the demon that the draconic spirit had made him out to be. With their home destroyed, and nowhere else to go, he took his family to Starlight City in hopes of finding a better life. He had been changed, but his family loved him all the same, and they would make this work. They opened a small restaurant in the slums of the city. They hoped to escape the tragedy which they had left behind…
But misfortune would follow them for the rest of their life.
Kou’s Humble Roots
For as long as Kou could remember, she’d been working at her parents’ restaurant.
Her family managed their small business in the city’s bowels; overworked, busy, and unable to hire help, her parents put Kou to work from a young age. She assisted with the cooking and cleaning, working eighteen hours a day for no pay - only when she was a teenager did her parents finally consent to paying her an allowance. Kou set money away where she could, pinched pennies and tucked solars away until the day she could move out on her own.
Kou did not mind the labor and toil. She loved her parents - her mother, a human, and her father, seemingly a fellblood… though she’d not been born with any of his features. Imagine her surprise when, in her early teenage years, she began growing horns and her skin started turning red. She was so overjoyed to have a piece of her papa with her, but her father only seemed dismayed. She never quite understood why, even into her young adult years. (She never did understand, even after her father passed away and she continued to grow more demonic with each passing year).
The Miyami family were hard workers, humble and kind. Yet they were not especially popular. Locals to Starlight City were wary of the demon-touched family, left to wonder what they could have done to be marked by demons. It did not mean they were hated, but most folks kept their distance. But their business did well enough - no one could deny they made good food. Kou’s father did his best to keep misfortune from claiming Kou the way it had his, and for the first half of her life… it worked.
Her life changed the day a handsome stranger strolled into the restaurant.
Kou was immediately charmed by his smooth talking, and promises of a better life. She was young and starstruck, and filled with dreams of grandeur. She collected her meager savings and ran away with him, much to her family’s chagrin. A shame, then, that it did not work out for her.
Nearly a year later Kou returned with a child out of wedlock, no money, and nothing to her name except the clothes on her back, and a plea that her parents help her. She had disgraced her family with her flight of whimsy - and her parents had a choice. Kick her out, or accept her into their home once more.
And her parents chose love.
It was difficult for Kou to work with a child, but her parents helped. Kou wanted to give her kid a better life - emboldened by this promise to herself, Kou worked herself to the bone, building up their restaurant and saving money until her family could afford a nicer property on the other side of Starlight City. And her child grew up happy and successful… with something off about him. It was obvious to everyone that her son, Ryu, was not a normal human, or even a normal fellblood. He, too, had the blood of a demon in him.
Rumors began to circulate that Kou had been spirited away by a demon in disguise. That she had tainted her family line with the blood of yokai, and that was why she and her son were so demonic. She never had any reason to believe otherwise. All that mattered to her was was that her son was safe and protected from a world that hated him, and made sure he knew he was safe and loved. She gave her youth to ensure that Nomura was safe and cared for, until the day Ryu turned twenty and left the nest to strike out on his own.
Kou was left alone. Her parents passed away, leaving the restaurant to her. She stuck to her home, keeping the restaurant open by herself, and years passed. And they passed. Her hands grew gnarled and her hair turned gray, and still, Kou continued to work, sending money to her son wherever she could.
Unbeknownst to Kou, Nomura became quite successful in the Crescent Isles - a warrior, a conquerer who had amassed fame and power over the years. All for the sake of his mother, who had nothing, and had given him the world. And then Ryu himself had a son.
Taro Miyami grew up hearing stories of his grandmother while training in Nomura’s footsteps. He heard stories of her kindness… her dedication. Taro may never have met his grandmother, but he knew that she never once stopped sending her meager paychecks to Ryu, accompanied with home cooked food from her kitchen. Ryu died in battle when Taro was twenty-four, passing the mantle of the leader of the Defiant Drakes to him.
Heart heavy after the passing of his father, Taro knew it was time to return home. To let Kou know about the loss of her son. To meet the woman he knew from stories only, but felt the love of all the same. Kou welcomed him with open arms, and held him while he cried over his father’s death.
And it was here that Taro made one request of Kou.
“Please, I beg of you. Retire and close the restaurant. You have worked hard enough. Let me take care of you, for my father’s sake. For my sake.”
Kou did not wish to retire - not yet. But in her old age, it was difficult for her to maintain her beloved restaurant on her own. So she relented to her grandson’s demands, and settled into retirement in a large, fancy house that Taro gave her. With gifts and servants to take care of her. Taro would make sure she was cared for, comfortable, and happy.
Unfortunate for him that Kou did not take to retirement easy.
She had the heart of a worker, and constantly shooed her servants away to do things herself, despite the fact she gave her grandson a heart attack whenever he heard about her straining herself in the garden or the kitchen. Getting her to relax was like pulling teeth. He begged for her to take it easy on herself, and take some time for her hobbies.
“If there was one thing in the world that you could do, what would it be?”
He did not like her answer.
Kou had lost her youth to work, and it was a dream of hers to see the world and live as an adventurer like her “hero” of a grandson. To feel young and wild and free again. Taro resisted, reminding her that it wasn’t safe. But Kou insisted. She wanted to see the parts of the world she’d only read about in books.
So Taro relented, on one condition.
He pulled some of his finest warriors from the battlefield, sending them on the most important mission of all - protecting Kou while she had her fun. And so Kou set off, ready to reclaim a bit of her lost youth, with Taro’s toughest, most threatening soldiers chase after her and attempt to keep her safe from any threats she might find.
Hopefully, she doesn’t give them a heart attack…
To this day Kou still does not know about her curse, or the nature of her grandson’s work. She galavants around the world, protected by the vicious gang Tarou runs in Starlight City. All that matters to her is that she and her family are happy and content.
protect him at all cost. (can’t use discord anymore so making use of this here)
