Post by AmehanaArashi on Sept 26, 2016 15:36:36 GMT -8
Name: Raikou Hake
Account(s) played on: Amehana Ishtari (display Amehana Arashi)
Aliases: Sometimes called Rai by those exceptionally close to her. She has also gotten used to being called Princess by some ponies, but is only comfortable with it coming from certain ones. (Two rather darkly colored ponies exposed to often in the Library may be somewhat responsible for her being able to become comfortable with such titles and they know who they are. If not, “Surprise!" She is also referred to by some as The Bonded, or The Crystalline.
Home sim and/or land: Raikou usually goes between her bookshop in Nisa, which she considers home, and her father’s home in the Ibex Empire.
She is one of the Librarians of the Trotsdale Library as well, but is rather mum about how she can travel such long distances so fast.
Origin: Ibex Empire
Gender: Female
Breed/Species: Eastern Ibexian Kirin, crystalline, winged
Game style preferences: General, sometimes a Quest Giver.
Are you a Spirit? Of what?: Not a spirit and depending on how much tea she’s had she might run screaming at the idea of being called a spirit. However she has been one of the Nisean Guardians for quite some time now, connected to the Nisean Element of Knowledge. Later she began accepting the bonding process to the Ibexian Crystals and is undergoing the final phases to make this bond irrevocable and permanently tied to her land in order to follow the Crystal’s directives of guiding the Emperor and helping ensure that the desertification process of some areas of Ibex is reversed. And to feed the crystal, because it does require some give and take...
“Main” reality or “alternate” reality: Main
Age: 30’s (or so it seems)
Personality/Emotional Description: Despite how long she has been outside of Ibex, and missed some chances due to how shy and absorbed in work she is, she is STILL often very shy, but she tries. When displaying whether she likes people she will deliver to them a poem or some other gift she has created herself, and is known to hide disappointment if the point of a poem is missed. Raikou is normally always seen with a smile, which can be a little creepy at times. Her true mood does not always match her face. Although generally happy she does carry some rather deep regrets that she speaks little of save for those that have earned her trust. When she loves she loves fiercely, so she guards herself and at times will be very distant and withdrawn if something has sparked a memory. She pours herself into her work, whether that be her Guardian Role, her Bonded role, keeping adequate stock and exchange in her bookstore chain… or the books she writes/illustrates that somehow always make the Emperor and other readers feel a little better and a little wiser after reading them.
Culture/Religion/Spirituality/Sect(if any): Raikou is your typical Eastern Ibexian, steeped deeply in the views of the Orient. She is a member of the Crystal Cult, a subsect of the religious views connected to the crystal shrines. Although some members of this wish to see her ruling Ibex, she feels that she has quite enough to take care of and so consults often with the crystals in trying to find a way to keep Horin influenced in a way that will please the Land itself, without some sort of a coup involved. Despite her differences with him she would rather not have anyone chain her to the throne even with being Bonded.
---
Description:
Purple and a now fully crystalline (instead of merely looking a bit like crystal as she once did), but her wings, mane, and all tufts are teal green. As she began the bonding process she developed fanglike tusks, which point downwards...she'd not greatly happy about that since they get in the way. The picture does not show very well, but she has cloven hooves, and her mane extends down her back like a dragon (but fur, much like some 'horselike' renditions of kirin in Asian art and less like the 'dragonlike' renditions). When wearing clothes she favors kimono. She now wears a collar with crystals all the time, and is now found with various crystals and flowers stuck in her hair. She’ll make the excuse she took a tumble.
Mark:
Talent: Writing and painting are her talents, conveying ideas with paint and word. As such she now writes down the things that well up inside of her from the crystals to share their “light.” The danger though is that without care she may be consumed by her role and forget who she is. Her knowledge gathering has put her in some predicaments and her shown talents are outgrowths of this.
Strengths:
Loyalty, kindness, writing, some medical skills. Since she knows Tai Chi (or whatever you want to call the equivalent) for both its energy (chi) circulation use, health benefits, and exercise she does know some aspects of martial arts...though in a peaceful application. Over time she has learned to understand some of what the crystals say in their energetic emanations, but only when they want her to and she is well. Her bonding to the Crystal has helped her see and understand better the way that energy flows, so in some cases she can offer advice on what to do to improve energy flows for a particular situation. Due to her position with the crystals she functions as the Voice of the land, but first she has several things to learn about the use of the power granted by her position. Caveat: She’s not a bottomless source of knowledge, and just because she might have an understanding of how something works or should work doesn’t mean she herself can actually do or repair that thing.
Weaknesses:
Generally not very strong, though desperation can fuel her strength. Can't see very far without her glasses as she's very nearsighted. She does Tai Chi for exercise to keep flexible. She can be distractible and daydreamy, and sometimes has trouble focusing. Because she is so shy she generally has trouble making friends, though she can be drawn out. She is still a little clumsy, but the more that she accepts her role the less clumsy and more graceful she is. Prolonged use in the functions the Crystals put her through can tire her, as does attempting to obtain the knowledge stored in them.
Further Limitations:
Raikou can’t create out of thin air, although she has been working on a process of writing and book creation that is intended to make the reader feel as if they are there while reading… hopefully safer than the comic book we saw Spike with in one of the show episodes. She hasn’t achieved that yet, but is indeed working her way closer to what she intends. She also can’t write something that will brainwash anyone, although she can gently influence by drawing more attention to a point of view. She can access the energy of the crystals of Ibex for use in her spells related to her books and to draw on them for knowledge that they store, though this is still difficult as she is new to her role and even this type of magic is learned whether or not it is intrinsic.
Her path at this point is settling into her role and filling the duties she was called to, including the repair of the land and maintaining the proper balance of power without accidentally making a mess of things.
By this point she also MUST wear at least one crystal from her homeland when she leaves it. She has to be able to draw sustenance energetically from this crystal, which will carry a charge for a long time. When it is depleted she must return home to rest. Creating such charged jewels is a tactic that has been done by the crystal shrines for a long time to increase the likelihood of explorers to be able to find their way home. At times she must also draw sustenance from Nisa’s flowers. This helps her stay tied to the two lands and possibly is the way of the two Lands ensuring that she doesn’t move on while she still has duties to tend. This of course is in addition to eating regular food and drink.
Backstory: Raikou comes from the Ibex Empire, and is a crystalline kirin that looks more like an alicorn in build. There are old family legends that had possible explanations, but Raikou never paid much attention since she was more focused on her art, and she was away from other foals much of the time so always thought she looked normal despite not looking white like either parent.
She grew up near one of the mountain shrines (where in the innermost part there is a spring and crystal that is carefully guarded) and was part of a wealthy family, which allowed her the chance to learn to read the classics, practice writing, calligraphy, and poetry. There was a library there, and the monks also had strange tales to tell. Even though she often brushed off the stories of why she had such an odd coloring she did absorb various old tales as a result of studying them for writing styles, even though some of the "histories" cataloged she was of two minds as to whether they were allegory or fact. This is what led to her wandering away in order to experience more of the world to expand the depth of her poetry. If you ask her for a tale she might give you a tale, and some of the ones she's read she considers rather strange.
Her cutie mark came to her one day when she was seated with one of the priests conducting her lessons in poetry, and she finally managed one that captured the beauty of the lightning, in strokes that were attractive and also conveyed the energy of the rolling thunder.
One of the first places that her wanders took her were to the most distant (from her home) part of the Ibex Empire where she caught the eye of the Horinega family, who had been looking for a match for their son Oda. As the Hake grew rice and Horinega made sake it seemed to be a reasonable match and a marriage was arranged between her and Oda. The pair did well, though were never very close despite caring about each other's welfare. Raikou was more interested by her books than the Horinega's sake business, and was very disinclined to give up her writing, which was the trait that had caught Oda (and his parents') interest in the first place. They did, however, produce a daughter and fulfilled the bloodline mixing that had been desired. Oda and Raikou decided to end the marriage as they wanted to make certain things stayed amicable and that there would be no fighting. Raikou then took Ashe with her (on mutual agreement), free to find someone that she felt a true connection with and returned to her family. While Ashe was younger Oda visited often, so she did not grow up without a father, nor felt lacking in one. He often stayed in the Hake family home when not busy with the business he would be inheriting, and during these times Raikou did her most exploring. The last time Raikou saw Oda Horinega he was in the company of another female, and his visits with his daughter stopped. By this time Ashe was already into her teens. Raikou assumes Oda remarried. Although she believes she might like marriage to the right one, she is in absolutely no hurry either.
Raikou's writing makes it less needful for her to depend on her father and family's rice and coffers. She also is not eligible currently to inherit the family holdings since she is female (which she doesn't really want anyway) due to tradition. The more successful she becomes as a writer though the more eligible she becomes to inherit, in addition to not having to rely on her parents.
As Ashe was such a free-spirited child Raikou intended to find an interesting and safe land for her daughter to explore and learn. This gave her research and inspiration finding treks another layer of purpose.
Raikou still is not sure how she got to this realm though. She remembers a storm, getting lost, and tripping. During the trip that resulted in her entering the Roanoak empire she suffered a head injury that left her with a few memory gaps, but nothing that she could not deal with.
It took some time for her to find out where she was and in relation to where her homeland lay. When she found civilization after finally making her way out of mists of the mountains (which is always a bad thing for an explorer to get lost in) it was in a port town near Nisa, which fascinates her for the exotic plants. There are a few ponies that she met early in her time exploring beyond Nisa and the Ibex Empire that she feels were instrumental in their small actions for her being able to regain calm enough to stay, explore, learn, and continue to grow (and in becoming less skittish, but not quite “not skittish enough&rdquo. These certain ponies have only to ask for something of her, and she would do her utmost, though some of them may not realize how deep her friendship is toward them. Part of the reason she stays so close is because there are ponies here that she wants to learn what to do to repay the favors she feels were done to her, as well as to be near the ponies she is developing friendships with.
As she was so taken for the area and it seemed to be a good place for it, Raikou sent home to her family for her daughter. Although the family bonds of the Hake are strong and loving, Ashe is a kirin that does not like restraints of traditional lifestyles. What Raikou has seen of the culture of the area has led her to believe it to be a good place for Ashe to come for her Broadening so that she sees more than one way of life. The fact of having heard of (and later met) another kirin in the port was taken as a favorable sign. She now looks forward to seeing her daughter blossom here.
Current Story: Finalizing her bonds to the Crystals of the Ibex Empire and learning the role expected of her. To Ibexian standards merely gaining a leadership or similar role is not the end of the journey. Merely the beginning of another adventure.
And there’s still the desertification of some areas to fix, an emperor to influence, and figuring out how to balance things for her homeland correctly. Now that she’s here she’s still got quite a lot to do.
Family
Father: Yasuragi Hake. He managed family lands which produced a great deal of rice due to careful management. His mark was a calligraphy Hake (brush). (bio forthcoming)
Mother: Menmitsu Hake. She assisted her husband in his duties of managing the estate, as well as produced embroidered robes which were sold through caravans to the lands to the West. She currently focuses more on her embroidery. (bio forthcoming)
Daughter: Ashe Hake
Account(s) played on: Amehana Ishtari (display Amehana Arashi)
Aliases: Sometimes called Rai by those exceptionally close to her. She has also gotten used to being called Princess by some ponies, but is only comfortable with it coming from certain ones. (Two rather darkly colored ponies exposed to often in the Library may be somewhat responsible for her being able to become comfortable with such titles and they know who they are. If not, “Surprise!" She is also referred to by some as The Bonded, or The Crystalline.
Home sim and/or land: Raikou usually goes between her bookshop in Nisa, which she considers home, and her father’s home in the Ibex Empire.
She is one of the Librarians of the Trotsdale Library as well, but is rather mum about how she can travel such long distances so fast.
Origin: Ibex Empire
Gender: Female
Breed/Species: Eastern Ibexian Kirin, crystalline, winged
Game style preferences: General, sometimes a Quest Giver.
Are you a Spirit? Of what?: Not a spirit and depending on how much tea she’s had she might run screaming at the idea of being called a spirit. However she has been one of the Nisean Guardians for quite some time now, connected to the Nisean Element of Knowledge. Later she began accepting the bonding process to the Ibexian Crystals and is undergoing the final phases to make this bond irrevocable and permanently tied to her land in order to follow the Crystal’s directives of guiding the Emperor and helping ensure that the desertification process of some areas of Ibex is reversed. And to feed the crystal, because it does require some give and take...
“Main” reality or “alternate” reality: Main
Age: 30’s (or so it seems)
Personality/Emotional Description: Despite how long she has been outside of Ibex, and missed some chances due to how shy and absorbed in work she is, she is STILL often very shy, but she tries. When displaying whether she likes people she will deliver to them a poem or some other gift she has created herself, and is known to hide disappointment if the point of a poem is missed. Raikou is normally always seen with a smile, which can be a little creepy at times. Her true mood does not always match her face. Although generally happy she does carry some rather deep regrets that she speaks little of save for those that have earned her trust. When she loves she loves fiercely, so she guards herself and at times will be very distant and withdrawn if something has sparked a memory. She pours herself into her work, whether that be her Guardian Role, her Bonded role, keeping adequate stock and exchange in her bookstore chain… or the books she writes/illustrates that somehow always make the Emperor and other readers feel a little better and a little wiser after reading them.
Culture/Religion/Spirituality/Sect(if any): Raikou is your typical Eastern Ibexian, steeped deeply in the views of the Orient. She is a member of the Crystal Cult, a subsect of the religious views connected to the crystal shrines. Although some members of this wish to see her ruling Ibex, she feels that she has quite enough to take care of and so consults often with the crystals in trying to find a way to keep Horin influenced in a way that will please the Land itself, without some sort of a coup involved. Despite her differences with him she would rather not have anyone chain her to the throne even with being Bonded.
---
Description:
Purple and a now fully crystalline (instead of merely looking a bit like crystal as she once did), but her wings, mane, and all tufts are teal green. As she began the bonding process she developed fanglike tusks, which point downwards...she'd not greatly happy about that since they get in the way. The picture does not show very well, but she has cloven hooves, and her mane extends down her back like a dragon (but fur, much like some 'horselike' renditions of kirin in Asian art and less like the 'dragonlike' renditions). When wearing clothes she favors kimono. She now wears a collar with crystals all the time, and is now found with various crystals and flowers stuck in her hair. She’ll make the excuse she took a tumble.
Mark:
Talent: Writing and painting are her talents, conveying ideas with paint and word. As such she now writes down the things that well up inside of her from the crystals to share their “light.” The danger though is that without care she may be consumed by her role and forget who she is. Her knowledge gathering has put her in some predicaments and her shown talents are outgrowths of this.
Strengths:
Loyalty, kindness, writing, some medical skills. Since she knows Tai Chi (or whatever you want to call the equivalent) for both its energy (chi) circulation use, health benefits, and exercise she does know some aspects of martial arts...though in a peaceful application. Over time she has learned to understand some of what the crystals say in their energetic emanations, but only when they want her to and she is well. Her bonding to the Crystal has helped her see and understand better the way that energy flows, so in some cases she can offer advice on what to do to improve energy flows for a particular situation. Due to her position with the crystals she functions as the Voice of the land, but first she has several things to learn about the use of the power granted by her position. Caveat: She’s not a bottomless source of knowledge, and just because she might have an understanding of how something works or should work doesn’t mean she herself can actually do or repair that thing.
Weaknesses:
Generally not very strong, though desperation can fuel her strength. Can't see very far without her glasses as she's very nearsighted. She does Tai Chi for exercise to keep flexible. She can be distractible and daydreamy, and sometimes has trouble focusing. Because she is so shy she generally has trouble making friends, though she can be drawn out. She is still a little clumsy, but the more that she accepts her role the less clumsy and more graceful she is. Prolonged use in the functions the Crystals put her through can tire her, as does attempting to obtain the knowledge stored in them.
Further Limitations:
Raikou can’t create out of thin air, although she has been working on a process of writing and book creation that is intended to make the reader feel as if they are there while reading… hopefully safer than the comic book we saw Spike with in one of the show episodes. She hasn’t achieved that yet, but is indeed working her way closer to what she intends. She also can’t write something that will brainwash anyone, although she can gently influence by drawing more attention to a point of view. She can access the energy of the crystals of Ibex for use in her spells related to her books and to draw on them for knowledge that they store, though this is still difficult as she is new to her role and even this type of magic is learned whether or not it is intrinsic.
Her path at this point is settling into her role and filling the duties she was called to, including the repair of the land and maintaining the proper balance of power without accidentally making a mess of things.
By this point she also MUST wear at least one crystal from her homeland when she leaves it. She has to be able to draw sustenance energetically from this crystal, which will carry a charge for a long time. When it is depleted she must return home to rest. Creating such charged jewels is a tactic that has been done by the crystal shrines for a long time to increase the likelihood of explorers to be able to find their way home. At times she must also draw sustenance from Nisa’s flowers. This helps her stay tied to the two lands and possibly is the way of the two Lands ensuring that she doesn’t move on while she still has duties to tend. This of course is in addition to eating regular food and drink.
Backstory: Raikou comes from the Ibex Empire, and is a crystalline kirin that looks more like an alicorn in build. There are old family legends that had possible explanations, but Raikou never paid much attention since she was more focused on her art, and she was away from other foals much of the time so always thought she looked normal despite not looking white like either parent.
She grew up near one of the mountain shrines (where in the innermost part there is a spring and crystal that is carefully guarded) and was part of a wealthy family, which allowed her the chance to learn to read the classics, practice writing, calligraphy, and poetry. There was a library there, and the monks also had strange tales to tell. Even though she often brushed off the stories of why she had such an odd coloring she did absorb various old tales as a result of studying them for writing styles, even though some of the "histories" cataloged she was of two minds as to whether they were allegory or fact. This is what led to her wandering away in order to experience more of the world to expand the depth of her poetry. If you ask her for a tale she might give you a tale, and some of the ones she's read she considers rather strange.
Her cutie mark came to her one day when she was seated with one of the priests conducting her lessons in poetry, and she finally managed one that captured the beauty of the lightning, in strokes that were attractive and also conveyed the energy of the rolling thunder.
One of the first places that her wanders took her were to the most distant (from her home) part of the Ibex Empire where she caught the eye of the Horinega family, who had been looking for a match for their son Oda. As the Hake grew rice and Horinega made sake it seemed to be a reasonable match and a marriage was arranged between her and Oda. The pair did well, though were never very close despite caring about each other's welfare. Raikou was more interested by her books than the Horinega's sake business, and was very disinclined to give up her writing, which was the trait that had caught Oda (and his parents') interest in the first place. They did, however, produce a daughter and fulfilled the bloodline mixing that had been desired. Oda and Raikou decided to end the marriage as they wanted to make certain things stayed amicable and that there would be no fighting. Raikou then took Ashe with her (on mutual agreement), free to find someone that she felt a true connection with and returned to her family. While Ashe was younger Oda visited often, so she did not grow up without a father, nor felt lacking in one. He often stayed in the Hake family home when not busy with the business he would be inheriting, and during these times Raikou did her most exploring. The last time Raikou saw Oda Horinega he was in the company of another female, and his visits with his daughter stopped. By this time Ashe was already into her teens. Raikou assumes Oda remarried. Although she believes she might like marriage to the right one, she is in absolutely no hurry either.
Raikou's writing makes it less needful for her to depend on her father and family's rice and coffers. She also is not eligible currently to inherit the family holdings since she is female (which she doesn't really want anyway) due to tradition. The more successful she becomes as a writer though the more eligible she becomes to inherit, in addition to not having to rely on her parents.
As Ashe was such a free-spirited child Raikou intended to find an interesting and safe land for her daughter to explore and learn. This gave her research and inspiration finding treks another layer of purpose.
Raikou still is not sure how she got to this realm though. She remembers a storm, getting lost, and tripping. During the trip that resulted in her entering the Roanoak empire she suffered a head injury that left her with a few memory gaps, but nothing that she could not deal with.
It took some time for her to find out where she was and in relation to where her homeland lay. When she found civilization after finally making her way out of mists of the mountains (which is always a bad thing for an explorer to get lost in) it was in a port town near Nisa, which fascinates her for the exotic plants. There are a few ponies that she met early in her time exploring beyond Nisa and the Ibex Empire that she feels were instrumental in their small actions for her being able to regain calm enough to stay, explore, learn, and continue to grow (and in becoming less skittish, but not quite “not skittish enough&rdquo. These certain ponies have only to ask for something of her, and she would do her utmost, though some of them may not realize how deep her friendship is toward them. Part of the reason she stays so close is because there are ponies here that she wants to learn what to do to repay the favors she feels were done to her, as well as to be near the ponies she is developing friendships with.
As she was so taken for the area and it seemed to be a good place for it, Raikou sent home to her family for her daughter. Although the family bonds of the Hake are strong and loving, Ashe is a kirin that does not like restraints of traditional lifestyles. What Raikou has seen of the culture of the area has led her to believe it to be a good place for Ashe to come for her Broadening so that she sees more than one way of life. The fact of having heard of (and later met) another kirin in the port was taken as a favorable sign. She now looks forward to seeing her daughter blossom here.
Current Story: Finalizing her bonds to the Crystals of the Ibex Empire and learning the role expected of her. To Ibexian standards merely gaining a leadership or similar role is not the end of the journey. Merely the beginning of another adventure.
And there’s still the desertification of some areas to fix, an emperor to influence, and figuring out how to balance things for her homeland correctly. Now that she’s here she’s still got quite a lot to do.
Family
Father: Yasuragi Hake. He managed family lands which produced a great deal of rice due to careful management. His mark was a calligraphy Hake (brush). (bio forthcoming)
Mother: Menmitsu Hake. She assisted her husband in his duties of managing the estate, as well as produced embroidered robes which were sold through caravans to the lands to the West. She currently focuses more on her embroidery. (bio forthcoming)
Daughter: Ashe Hake