Togashi Myo-en (妙縁)Age: 23-ish
Gender: Female
Clan: Dragon
Height: 5'5"
Build: Flexible-looking musculature, without much extra padding
Hair: Shaved!
Eyes: Black
Marital Status: Monk, but also it's complicated?
Click for full-size portraitDescription:The first thing most people notice about the young woman who goes by Myo-en ("wondrous fate") is the tattoos, a twining riot of images from the nape of her neck along the spine to...well,to somewhere below the sash of her loose trousers, and wrapping around the front of her shoulders to run down her arms as well. The tapestry has had a few additions and alterations in recent years, though even old friends might find it hard to spot all the specific changes amidst the complexity unless one has spent a lot of time looking scandalously closely at her skin in the past.
The bare skin itself often gets noticed only as an afterthought; under all that ink the half-nakedness of her smoothly muscled form only partly seems to register. Certainly
she doesn't seem self-conscious about it, though even in winter she seldom wears more than a simple singlet or chest wrap above her hakama when indoors. Outside, she might make the slight concession of a loose
quilted jacket and scarf--perhaps a straw cloak if it is snowing
hard.
Myo-en keeps her head neatly shaved these days (though friends and acquaintances who knew her two years ago would likely remember that back then she
used to wear it blunt-cut; at some point she must have switched to this more orthodox style). Keen eyes so dark the pupils are barely distinguishable from the irises watch the world with detached curiosity. Here at the tail end of a northern winter her skin is paler than usual, but still shows traces of last summer's healthy tan where the tattoos stop. Her capable-looking hands are calloused, particularly about the knuckles, in a way that suggests hard martial training at least as much as other labor. She is never without three ancient-looking bronze coins tucked in to a pocket, and takes them out and tosses them over and over, meditatively, in idle moments.
An especially large, glossy, and opinionated black crow accompanies Myo-en almost everywhere. It's, uh, well, it is what it is. The two seem quite friendly with one another.
Stuff you might know:Myo-en was one of many samurai (yes, even Dragons!) to serve in the War of Broken Fangs against the Naga three years ago. Nothing much was noted about her exploits at the time... until some months later, when the Dragon representatives at the Emperor's Winter Court announced that a certain Togashi had made contact with the long-lost Unicorn Clan through a magic mirror recovered deep in the Shinomen. A brief period of somewhat unsettling notoriety followed--now mostly past, blessedly.
Myo-en was present in Ryoko Owari during the unrest that attended the appointment of the city's new governor two years ago. Troubled by the experience, she faded back into the mountains for some time (though keeping up an occasional correspondence with her friends in other provinces). Since the arrival of the Unicorn Clan last year, she has been slightly more involved in Dragon business again, and there was even a rumor that she might possibly be betrothed to one of the Unicorn daimyos' children? However, most of the Unicorn are now gone again and no marriage seems to have materialized, at least not yet.
Possible hooks: - Myo-en spent the winter in Toshi no Omoidoso
- If you've been in Dragon lands in the past couple of years, you are more likely to have met or heard of her
- Unicorn might know of her, as the discoverer of part of Shinjo's Mirror
- Publicly and enthusiastically interested in omens, portents, and divinations of all sorts
- Rumored to understand the Naga language and to have learned some of the snake-people's stories
- Mens sana in corpore sano--maybe you, too, enjoy a strenuous unarmed workout?
- What's the deal with that bird following her around?
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Dragon • Tattooed Monk • Ascetically Under-Dressed • Crow Companion • Experienced Honor: What is Expected • Glory: 3.4 • Status: 1 •
ProfileSpeaks Naga, sometimes. Carries: Jade pendant, walking staff, small pocketknife, divination coins. Padded jacket if working outdoors... maybe.