Mio Mitsu
"Spiky Girl"

Teppen of the Nezumi
Gold Shadow of the Dragon
Leaf of the Whispers of Eventide
Tunnel Runner of the Daraku Deceit
Ethereal Phantom of the Court of Bamboo Talons

Description


Homid: ~Mio is a slim Japanese girl, maybe nineteen or twenty years old. She weighs no more than 110 pounds and stands approximately 5'5'. Her dark hair sweeps side to side with every step, shorn short and (usually) even at just above shoulder length. Black-painted lips slash across Mio's smooth face, under a sharp, little nose. Bright, keen, and milk chocolate-brown eyes drift to one end of the scenery to the other. Sneakers, black or blue denim pants, and a T-shirt or tank top covers her sleight frame. A light rucksack is tossed over one shoulder, one hand often clutching the strap in place. She needs to trim those sharp little nails!~

OOC: Appearance 3; Glory 7, Virtue 6, Wisdom 7

Crinos: ~All clothing is shed or vanishes as Mio puts on 75 pounds and drops all semblance of human flesh. Thick, bristling brown fur covers the (often) bipedal rat-woman head to toe. Both hands and feet become bony, slender claws poised with superior balance and agility. A very prehensile, flesh-toned tail almost as long as her body whips about behind. Her pretty face becomes a long muzzled rat's head. Narrow, beady eyes, wide "radar" ears, and a wiggling black nose observe the environment. The muzzle parts only to hiss or growl and reveal a mouth of sharp teeth capable of biting a man's limb clean off. Her sleight shape plumps out some, but it is almost entirely muscle and natural fat padding, giving her the appearance of what she really is -- a giant, ill-tempered rat.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Reduced Delirium; Glory 7, Virtue 6, Wisdom 7

Rodens: ~And now in this innocuous (if generally despised) form, Mio becomes a small brown ship rat. Narrow, beady eyes, wide "radar" ears, and a wiggling black nose observe the environment. Silent and keen, Mio makes great use of this form for her daily spying and sewer crawling routine.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Glory 7, Virtue 6, Wisdom 7

"There's cheese at the bottom of every cave!"

History


Youth

Mio knew how old she is: nineteen. Mio even knew where she was born: Sendai. And Mio remembered where she grew up: the streets of Osaka. But she did not recall anything about that early life. Not a thing. Because in 1998, that life became null and void. Lying in a gutter, the teenager did not even the see the black rat crawl up behind her and bite her firmly on the ass.

First Change & Tutelage

Crawling away into an alley, shivering from some fever, Mio hid herself away in a dumpster. And the Birthing Plague began. Torn by its visions, she cried out in that garbage but no one heard. She writhed and twitched, eyes wide but seeing nothing but Mother Rat's dreams. Mio envisioned herself falling forever in a deep, dank hole. There was only darkness, nothing to hold onto, only empty air to flail uselessly in. She screamed out but her voice echoed in that bottomless pit without reply. But as she fell, she heard the squeaks of rats. Frightened at first, she gazed around herself until she realized that as she felt dozens of pairs of beady crimson eyes hovered around her, staring. And then she heard the Mother Rat speak: "To see, just open your eyes, my child". She fell for what felt like ages more, the rodent eyes all around her, til she realized what the Mother Rat meant! She closed her eyes, and then opened them again. At that moment, she threw off her humanity and embraced her Ratkinhood. Indeed, she was so successful she totally forgot about what her life as a human had been. She could then see the walls of the pit and grab a hold of them. And slowly, as ever since, she's been crawling down deeper into that hole.

Mio left that garbage dumpster as a rat, not a girl. She crawled from a hole in its rusty bottom and made for the nearest sewer. There, the deliverer of the Birthing Plague waited to guide her into her new life as Nezumi. Her sensei's name was Mineko Watanabe aka "Passing Bones". Mineko was an Iron-Ranked Knife Skulker and taught Mio what she could. She brought Mio before the local Nezumi burrow's elders as well as the local Beast-Court's gai'nan. The Beast-Court of the Forgotten Blade and the Nezumi Colony of the Bullet Tunnel both became Mio's homes for the five years. During that time, she learned much about the ways of the hengeyokai and Nezumi. Her past entirely forgotten, she embraced her new life with reckless vigor. Both institutions were war-like in nature. Although she was not a warrior, she was considered a scout and she often pushed herself ahead to uncover all she could of the enemy and their locations.

Early Years

Her test to become a Wood-Ranked Leaf of the Beast-Courts involved a mission with a few other young shapechangers -- two Hakken, one Boli Zouiszhe, and a Kitsune in fact. The five as a wave sentai went forth to search out and destroy any three random packs of demonic foes. The quest took nearly three months and Mio's talents were put to sore test. As the only one there with serious searching and streetwise talents, she did most of the preliminary work in discovering their enemies. She was grateful to be allowed to sit back behind the front lines as the werewolves rushed forward to slay the bakemono and Yomi spirits she located. This proved to be what was expected of her for the next couple years, however.

So when Mio was not digging for enemy locations in either the physical world or Umbra, she was embracing her latest hobby. Inspired by the Birthing Plague's visions, Mio began to spelunk regularly. There were a number of natural and unnatural caves and mines outside and in the city. She took a great deal of interest in what may lay at the bottom or end of every tunnel and cave. Usually, there was nothing. But it didn't stop her from searching anyway. Her curious hobby encouraged the Nezumi elders to pass onto Mio through Mineko a gift: Peak's Hook. Not so useful in the modern era, this grappling hook fetish would prove much more handy for the spelunker. She made great use of it from then on, and also began to earn a bit of a reputation. In times of self-defense or battle, Mio would rely on either beshadowed throwing knives -- or that hook as a wicked rake.

In late 1999, outsider Tengu began to flock throughout Japan -- including Osaka's Court structures. They brought disturbing reports of a conspiracy to shut down Japan down electronically on the eve of the next millennium. While this did not bother Mio or the Nezumi in the least, the other hengeyokai were more concerned. A technological crash would make humanity suffer greatly, and the shockwaves would engulf all the shen, too. The Tengu spoke of Kumo behind this wicked chaos, and that alone was enough to make the Nezumi consider investigating. Helping stop it was another matter, of course!

And Mio helped. Following hints of the spirits and clues in the environment, Mio sniffed and scoured in a methodically instinctual fashion. She did not give up; she barely even slept. Instead, she was hard at work to track down the Goblin Spiders' lair. The trail of silk and desiccated corpses cruelly buried led Mio through the urban sprawl to the caverns beyond. With the aid of Peak's Hook, she explored those caves again. And to her shock, they were no longer uninhabited. Scrambling out, she ducked through Boltholes and returned to the Nezumi to report. In return, they cut a deal for inviolate territory with the Court of the Forgotten Sword. The hengeyokai moved onto the Kumo before they were ready.

Mio joined several other Nezumi Warriors and Knife Skulkers despite their suggestion otherwise. In the process, as she tried to sneak in while the fighters stormed the caves, a Goblin Spider discovered her as it crawled along the wall to escape. It cut her rope and she plummeted to the bottom of the cave. At the last moment, she turned Crinos and that was the only thing that saved her as she fell, impaled, on a stalagmite. Delirious, she swung her grappling hook at the Kumo, only enough to keep it at bay a few moments. The Kumo would have drunk her dry had her comrades not intervened. Nonetheless, she was cited for helping "flush out" the enemy. And half in jest, she was nicknamed "Spiky Girl". She was pulled off the earthen spike and given time to regenerate with one guard as the others moved on to clear out the Kumo webs. When the warriors returned victorious, Mio was rewarded with praise for her deeds that not long later got her promoted to Voto and Iron Rank.

Recent Years

So then it was time for Mio to strike out on her own. Packing the few things she wanted to keep, Mio began to wander from Osaka to explore other cities and caverns throughout Japan. All over Honshu Island and occasionally to the smaller isles did she travel. Mio ran as many tunnels as she could. When she was low on funds for food, she scrounged up more. If that failed, she'd steal or even lie with a man (only to rob him as he slept). She learned how to life on her own, self-sustained, for the next three years.

But when she returned to visit her home Courts, it was becoming clear that she was wanted for sex. Breeding time was upon the Nezumi and she was demanded. Disgusted with the idea of doing but being a baby machine, she made it clear her intent to leave. The elders were angry but would not punish her except to tattoo a mark on her shoulder -- the glyph reading "non-breeder". It was both a warning for and an insult to Mio so that no Ratkin would approach her for purposes of breeding. Mineko, her original sensei, came to her and told her that she should leave Japan til she was ready to do her duty in the propagation of the species. She was taught the Rite of the Birthing Plague so that one day she too could pass on the gift. And she was given ideas about the types of shen she might find outside Japan.

Surprisingly, Mio inquired about America. Perhaps it was because she was interested in the cavern systems in the West or simply because she wanted to get away from the Nezumi Plague altogether. The few presences of hengeyokai in America were mentioned. So Mio decided to check out one of these hengeyokai "colonies". After comparing some geological and demographic research, she was determined to check out Kansas City's area and the hengeyokai of Little Asia. Traveling by ship (as a rat), she hitchhiked from the West Coast to the Midwest. Now the Nezumi began to seek a new destiny here, among her fellow dispossessed and the barbaric gaijin.

Fetishes


Peak's Hook
Level: 2
Gnosis: 5
Origin: This was a gift to Mio from the Nezumi elders of the Court of the Forgotten Blade, as its utility has lessened in the modern age. It was once used to scale castle walls at night. Nowadays, infiltration from below and within is much safer and sneakier than trying to scale skyscrapers.
Description: The fetish is simply a medium-sized grappling hook of fine black matte steel. The two hooks are barbed enough, with little teeth for extra "bite", to use the grapple as an emergency weapon.
Effects: 1) any rope or cord attached will not break (but can be purposely severed), 2) reduces the difficulty of Climbing rolls
Activation: Slinging the fetish into climbing use will activate it provided the person slinging the hook is a shapeshifter.

Battle Scars


Class: Improper Bone Setting
Description: Six by six diameter gouge
Location: Middle of lower back
Origin: Impaled by stalagmite when falling in cavern
Effects: Spine will fracture (as one level of aggravated damage) when she next reaches Incapacitated

Significant Other


Mio met Mikura Tomitsu in 2005. The young Skulker recently arrived to the city. So the Runner felt obliged to drag Mikura before the Regent. After Mikura joined the Beast-Court, Mio gave this fellow street rat a tour of the town. But from there, their acquaintance skyrocketed into raw, feral passion. Their relationship isn't going to be very productive. But it'll be hot and steamy while it lasts!

Mikura

Significant Other


Name: Saigo Sugie, 2012
Nature: Erotic

Sugie



Weakness
Ignorance


Mio does not remember her life before the Birthing Plague. Maybe it's important to remember her mundane human life, maybe it isn't. But it's certainly not real healthy to not even care.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Although like any Ratkin, Mio embraces violence regularly, and she has a habit of jumping head-first into dangerous situations, she is not doomed to corruption by these traits alone. However, overzealous abandon and lust for the Wyld is as dangerous spiritually as embracing the webs of the Weaver or the stench of the Wyrm. Imbalance is not healthy, and the hengeyokai -- even the Nezumi -- must and do recognize this.

Links

Character Stats

Character Profiles

The Coalition of Little Asia

E-mail me!

Main Character Hub

Back to Game Hub