Kano Choshin
Kupao of the Order of Iron Fangs

Hsien-jin Tanuki of the Kuan-Yü
The Pissy Badger of the Cool Jade Figurine
Assistant Delegate to the Hirayanu of the Court of Emerald Eyes

Description


Hotei: ~Choshin is a stocky Asian fellow evidently in his early 30s. Ravenesque hair, bangs streaked naturally white, is cut traditionally short. Brown eyes glitter with intense awareness, caution, intelligence, and a tenacity unmatched. He is dressed in a pair of loose cotton blue-jeans, Nike sneakers, iconless white T-shirt, and a denim jacket. A bright-red, silk hankerchief is wound tightly around his right hand, and a small ring with a small, unworked nugget of white jade is worn on his left. He fills his attire out well with his powerfully developed build and generates an air of authority that borders on viciousness. He could easily fit the concept of club bouncer or martial artist, or even drill sergeant.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Pakua 1; Rank 15

Wani: ~In his fierce Wani form, Choshin becomes six feet of rippling fur, claw, and attitude. His clothing vanishes, replaced by thick, black fur striped white. His face elongates to take on a definite muzzle-like shape, and a perpetual snarl emanates. Wicked, iron claws clench and unclench, the badger-like creature bristling with aggression. Should he assume the Mask of Shintai, the ferocious energy simply shudders around him. More than one person might piss themselves upon sight of such a godling.~

OOC: Appearance 0; Pakua 1; Rank 15

Animal: ~A simple, "innocent" badger, with thick black fur, white stripes, and an AQ (attitude quotient) bigger than your IQ.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Pakua 1; Rank 15

"Grrr...stupid dead thing."

History


Youth

In 1968, Zenshin and Suzuko Kano gave birth to young, strapping Choshin. The family lived in Naha, the capitol of Okinawa, and they were a good, hard-working folk. Zenshin was the usual foreman of a local laboring outfit and was paid well enough to keep his family clothed and fed, and to the simple family, that's all they needed. Suzuko read bedtime myths and stories to Choshin and the youth recieved karate training from his father. Zenshin believed everyone in Okinawa should know karate, and passed on shoreiryu to his son. The boy proved a good and faithful son for many years.

But then in 1981, Choshin was in a terrible automobile accident with his friends and their father. They sustained head injuries, but Choshin, even in the backseat with his seatbelt on, was crashed into a coma. When he awakened from this perilous state a week later, he was a different child. His parents worried but refused to consider a psychologist. School officials constantly reported how Choshin was now picking fights in the schoolyard, beating the hell out of bullies he once coolly ignored (as his father instructed). When Choshin got home with such reports, Zenshin only knew to beat him. He didn't know what else to do. And it bothered him that his son took it in stride and seemed to learn nothing from it.

Kun Shou

What the Kano parents didn't realize was that a certain hirayanu spirit realized Choshin was on the brink of death. The boy would have likely passed, leaving another tragedy that would be forgotten in weeks by all but the parents. So he underwent the Kun Shou, and Choshin became Tanuki. But the process left both the spirit and his newly acquired body and memories dazed. He didn't quite recall that he was actually hsien -- and this was not uncommon. It wasn't until he was sixteen that a particularly unpleasant situation jogged his memory. A group of schoolyard bullies decided to make an example of the Kano boy by jumping him en masse, armed with baseball bats and brass knuckles. They jumped him alright, and after a few smacks, were laughing with sadistic delight. Til a Louisville Slugger made contact with Choshin's head, at least. He fell still and the bullies turned to run, til they heard a fierce growl. And then, admidst screams, the Tanuki was upon them, Wani form and all, wicked claws raking, enraged and pained muzzle snapping. The bullies were left alive but in tatters. And that day, Kano Choshin ran away from home, from Naha.

Artistry

Attracted to the incident (and also the one who made sure all the details were covered up, as Pakua only goes so far!), an older Tanuki, and a traveling knight of the Yu, set upon finding the boy. He did so, catching up to Kano in Kagoshima. Kano learned all that he needed to know from the elder, who was named Chinto Nakara. Chinto took Kano under wing, instructing him in the ways of Wu Tan and honing the boy's martial arts skills. By the age of 22, Kano was sharp as a hawk and as deadly as a sword. Chinto took him to the mainland, to China, to Lanzhou. There Kano was introduced to Qi I Hu, the Blue Mandarin of the region, and a fellow Tanuki. There the proper rites were performed, and Kano was indoctrinated into the Yu as well. Proud and pleased, that's where he and Chinto parted ways. Chinto went back east, and Kano decided to settle down for awhile. He traveled a bit to the east, finally moving into a small farming community fifty miles north of Beijing.

There he worked as the blacksmith's assistant. He never really learned the craft, but put his Tieh Tan to good use, and proved indisposable to his master (who was ignorant of the source of the young man's insight and power). A few years ticked by, and Kano fell in love with a pretty Chinese girl, a farmer's daughter. Her name was Wu Lei. Their romance was simple but epic, lasting for six years before a tragedy (which is why it's epic) sundered the pair. In 1990, the Jade Mandarin, a corrupt Chu-ih-yu, had cut a deal with the Kin-jin from Russia. During these callous and ignorant vampires' visit, they visited several small communities to sate their bloody hunger. Kano came home from work one night to find Lei sitting on the porch swing limply, eyes wide in shock, blood everywhere. The Tanuki snapped. The peaceful life he sought, the dreams he loved, the woman he worshipped... It was all gone, because someone was hungry. Something was hungry. Clenched in Lei's hands, he took the locket he gave to her back. He took the scarf from her bloody throat. And Wu Lei was cremated and buried the very next day. He would have buried her that night, but he couldn't even see his home's doorknob through the tears. The bloody scarf he wound around his right fist.

Killing the Dead

The locket he placed around his neck, listening to its whispers, the metal's tale regarding who was responsible. Kano began the hunt. He took up all the weapons he knew and could carry and went after the villains who were on their way back to Russia. He caught up with the group of six vampires in Mongolia -- they were hitting another small farming community. The scream drew Kano to the enemy before the local constable could even wake up. He marched right up to the bloody-mouthed monsters in Wani, a sai in each hand. They pulled their inauspicious firearms, armed with silver bullets (wasn't he a Lupine?!), which auspiciously failed to work. He'd already struck one down with his Yugen-charged weapons before they realized their weapons had been magicked. Four rushed the Tanuki, fangs and claws bared, the last, their elder, standing in the background, patiently waiting for his brood to slay this foolish beast-child. Perhaps it was Kano's rage taken form, or a gift from the Heavens, for the vampires' hellish speed was matched by his own, as the blood of Lei on the scarf soaked into his hand. He met their assaults with precision and speed, taking wounds of his own. But he survived. They did not. The elder frowned and seemed to glow with dark glory...and Kano, blinded in righteous fury, snarled with rage borne of Hell. The three hundred year old leech blanched and fled. Kano caught up, burying an entire sai through the back of the vampire's head, thus ending those vampires' unlives and avenging the needless death of his Wu Lei.

Since that night, Kano was never again the same. Nearly eleven years passed, and he remained as embittered as always. Of course, most simply passed it off as typical badger attitude. None realized that for that night, and many more after just like it, the Yu awarded Kano with the office of Kuan-Yü -- demon hunter. Kuei-jin and Kin-jin alike fell before the badger's vicious wrath and often cruel tactics. Kano became a traveling knight of the Yu and hunter of demons. He worked alone like the Shih, and found himself often in desperate odds. Han Fa, notorious akuma in Wuhan, was found with a length of piano wire through his neck. His body bore multiple claw wounds as if he'd been assaulted by a rabid animal and assassin at the same time. A horrifying pile of bloodless corpses was discovered in Shanghai, but that horror was topped by the discovery of their killer found dismembered and crucified in the next room. And Kano was there when a united force of hengeyokai and hsien repelled an advance in the north by the Baba Yaga's "Armies of Night and War", a battle which claimed the life of Gregornous, one of the Zmei (thank the Zhong Lung).

Surly Badger

And so far, he always survived and his enemies have not. At last, he returned to Beijing in 2000. A new Jade Mandarin stood, the old, corrupt one ousted by the Yellow Lotus, and she and Kano spoke at length about the Kin-jin. It was she who suggested Kano take his remarkable skill and quiet reputation (before it got loud) to America, to aid the small collective of Shinma located there in Kansas City. Knowing the West to be a hive for the undead, Kano heartily agreed. So here he is. Try not to piss him off.

Remembrance


Kano has difficulty recalling much anymore. Most of his hsien-related memories return only when he can staunch off some of his bitterness. This typically happens only in the height of adrenaline-pumped hunting action. Recently, however, his romance of Jordyn Sampson inspires a quickening memory.

Jade Talismans


White
Level: 4
Chi: 3 Yin, 1 Yang
Origin: He discovered this sterling sample of jade in an abandoned "badger burrow" adjacent to the Yu holdings in Beijing not long after his Kun Shou. Kano kept it until he learned the rituals to awaken True Jade himself.
Description: This piece is an unworked nugget of white jade set in a silver ring, which he wears at all times on his left hand.

Auspicious Treasures


Token of Righteous Vengeance
Level: 3
Origin: This simple hankerchief belonged to his mortal lover. Her murder and his resulting fury seems to have drawn the attention of the Heavens, for only they could have invested such sudden sorcery in a mundane object like this.
Description: Once a fine silk scarf, it is now a brown strip of cloth -- once soaked in his lover's blood -- that Kano always keeps wrapped around his right fist.
Effects: 1) Grant one extra action per turn
Yugen Costs: Treasure) none; Effect #1) 1
Activation: Kano needs only to clench his fists and remember the horror of finding Wu Lei dead.

Fortunes Favored


Style: Martial Arts
Examples: Chi focus, kata, fancy weaponry display, kiai

Significant Other


It isn’t often that hsien and the Waigoren fae meet. But in a city with a strong Little Asia center, it is almost inevitable. This driven Tanuki vampire hunter was in no condition to pursue a decent relationship. He just needed a little comfort now and then. Han Phat hooked him up with a classy courtesan: Jordyn Sampson. Jordyn, a Satyress, provided Kano with lusty pleasures he never dreamed of before. In return, she found him to be a strong, stoic, and dependable if irascible companion. Their relationship was professional for a long time. But danger visited Jordyn and Kano came to the rescue like a knight saving a damsel in distress. Kano became more protective of the Satyress, even coming to work as her "driver" (bodyguard). Eventually, their relationship developed into a passionate love. Jordyn tries to bring some culture and light into his zealous lifestyle as a Kuan-Yü. In return, he convinced her to leave her profession as a prostitute and be his woman. Now they serve each other alone through passion and romance. Kano still hunts vampires all the time, but Jordyn stays true and out of the prostitution game. She fulfills her personal desires by cooking, often for her lover. They can never have children -- so the hsien curse goes. But perhaps one day marriage will be on the menu.

Jordyn

Weakness
Vengeful


Kano has perverted justice into vengeance. All that matters to him now is satisfaction. But there is never enough. His ferocity turns inwards and his fists clench tighter. Only his focus on mastery of the martial arts anchors him against that seething outrage.

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

Driven and dedicated, his focus makes it difficult to sway him from his chosen path. Unfortunately, he does not always bother to differentiate between "good" and "evil" vampires. This lack of wisdom can be exploited.

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