Kazama Shu

"In another life, in another dream, by a different name.
Gave it all away for a memory, and a quiet lie."

About

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“Call me whatever you like. It's just a name.”
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Assumed Name: Kazama Shu
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Blue (Left eye has a fleck of gold)
Race: Hyur (Midlander)
Relationship Status: MarriedAppearance: Tall, lithe, a little underweight—sinewy. He moves with the slow, purposeful grace of a tiger. His black hair is often jaw length and messy, though sometimes he can be seen with it cut shorter when he's returned to civilization. His indigo eyes are lined with exhaustion, his expression usually deadpan. Despite how heavy the world seems to rest on his shoulders, he generally manages to hold himself like a man who was raised to stand proud and maintain good posture.Accessories:
• Wears a small bone flute on a leather string around his neck.
• Wears a “lucky” Mhachi penny on a shorter necklace.
• A leather bracelet with a jade bead on his left wrist.
• Dagger.
• Short swords.
• Throwing knives.Smells like: Tobacco smoke and incense. Occasionally smells like somnus.Occupation: Bounty hunter; treasure hunter; purveyor of intelligence; bodyguard; if you pay him well enough he'll consider almost anything.Personality: Quiet; tired; distant; aloof; melancholy; gentle; kind; sarcasticA quiet man, jaded, and cynical. However, he often contradicts himself, seeming perfectly at ease with the way of the world, speaking words he was taught, and in some manner, words he believes. “Everything in its own time.” “It's beyond my control.” But there's an apathy there, not tranquility. He dusts responsibility from his hands and moves on, resigned to the world's indifference rather than being at peace with it. He's not entirely cold, for there is kindness in his heart, though seldom expressed. He is too tired and world-weary to bother himself with showing more than civility to people, though at times a ray of light seems to break through the clouds and he'll show a smile, a little humor, a warm gesture or kindness, some sign that he really is a good man at his core. Lost, perhaps, but good.Strengths:
• Patient. He is never in a rush. He isn't in a rush to speak, to act, to make things happen. Everything in its own time, he says.• Calm in a crisis, calm in general, Shu is not the excitable sort, and is not easily ruffled.• Former shinobi skilled in ninjutsu, martial arts, swordsmanship, sabotage, and espionage. He prefers to avoid physical confrontation in general, and has many tricks up his sleeves to escape situations without fighting, but he can fight if he has to.
(Akin to an average npc ninja. He's no prodigy.)Weaknesses:
• Withdrawn. Opening up to people is a struggle. He's closed himself off, he says he doesn't care. There's a frigid dismissiveness about him. He's not responsible for your feelings.• Weak-willed. Hedonistic. Has sold people out to fund his drug addiction, and while he is trying to be better, he remains quite self-indulgent, and still gives into temptations.• Chronically exhausted; head in the clouds; lazy. He is, more often than not, lethargic. It takes a great deal of effort for him just to drag himself from one task to another some days. He may be dull and slow to react as a result. When he is particularly tired, he may seem miles away, lost in his thoughts. He's cagier than usual during moments like this, and he'll lie about what is actually on his mind. He'd rather not be bothered by things, but a man has to earn money to eat. Such is life.• Greedy. He doesn't care if the job he takes is dangerous, or even legal, so long as it pays well to fund his addiction.

History:
Shu always thought his dreams were special. Clear, vivid, and at times, prophetic. It was the only thing he felt was special about him as he stood beside his talented geomancer family. Mediocre. The slacker. The family disappointment. Shu could never find his place among his family. With his ineptitude too much for him to bear, Shu left to train with a secretive clan of Shinobi, but his dreams always remained important to him, his greatest obsession.While visiting a brothel with a friend, Shu was introduced to somnus. It was like some sort of miracle to Shu. It opened up his mind to everything he believed he was. His dreams were more than just dreams.That was all it took. Before even the actual addiction controlled his mind, he had chained himself to somnus. He wanted to dream again, and again, and again. And when the money was gone, there was someone to offer him what he wanted for just a little job. And another little job. And another little job. Until Shu stood, watching the flames and carnage wrought by the Garlean war machine, and himself. Never will he forget the look of betrayal in the eyes of his dearest friend.Life was never the same after that. It couldn't be. He was held on a leash by the Garleans, the somnus a tight chain around his neck, and his desire to keep dreaming kept him from fighting back. Even if his dreams had grown infrequent. Even if, when he did, the dreams faded away as his eyes opened. They'd come back. They had to.After a mission resulting in him facing his mother, of all people, and temporarily losing his sight to a meridian attack, Shu fled across the water to Hingashi. Trouble followed him wherever he went in his desperate hunt for money and somnus. For a brief time, a ronin assisted Shu, helping him to get off the drugs, but the dreams haunted him. He was a shell without them. He was lost, and somnus called him back into its arms. Ashamed, Shu abandoned yet another friend, and took his surname. A strange way to honor a man that tried to help him.Presently he takes on any job that pays well regardless of the risk, which generally ranges from bounty hunting, to procuring rare and difficult to find items and artifacts for various employers.

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“Ah, yes. An unfortunate side-effect… Everyone thinks I'm their soulmate.”
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Dream walker: Can cross into the dreams of others on accident.For as long as he can remember, he has had vivid dreams. For the most part, nothing out of the ordinary, just elaborate stories brimming with color, life, clear enough to feel real. At times there were occurrences in his dreams that crossed into reality. Coincidences or premonitions, neither mattered, for he has never been able to distinguish what might be a glimpse of the future or simply a manifestation of his mind.Those that know him, and even those that don't, might see him in their dreams, might talk to him in their dreams. Whether or not they remember him, or think it's anything more than a dream is another matter. Whether or not he remembers is also another matter, for the somnus he had used to enhance his dreams has made him forget them now, more often than not.Notes on Shu's dream-walking:
• He cannot do anything to the dreamer's physical body. It's essentially just a dream.
• He cannot make a dreamer think anything in the dream, nor can he control them in the dream.
• It exhausts him tremendously when he ends up in someone's dreams, sometimes making him sick with migraines, dizziness, nausea when he wakes.
• There are times when, sleeping in close proximity to people (or even at a distance) if he has been thinking about someone, he will enter their dreams without meaning to. To his frustration he can't seem to think of someone and do it at will.
• Caused by some sort of aetheric anomaly wherein it connects him to the dreamer. Or is it the Echo?-One last note: I, the writer, will never use this without the consent of whoever I am writing with. I will only use it if we discuss it and plot, and only if the other party asks explicitly. Otherwise it will not be featured in rp at all and only the mention of his dream obsession will be present. Shu is mostly supposed to be a normal guy facing the struggles of addiction.

Hooks

under construction-

Rumors

May be true, may be exaggerated, may be completely false, or anything in between.

“Who's that guy?”
“Heard his name is Kazuma? Something like that. Think he's a bounty hunter.”-“He's so desperate for money I heard he'll take any job.”
“Well he has to pay for his smoking and whoring somehow.”-“I can recommend Kazama.”
“That lazy sod? He always looks half-asleep.”
“No, well, yes actually. He does. But, I have seen him fight! It was impressive! Reminded me of those samurai from the Far East. I've seen them before while in Kugane. Let me tell you…”-"My sister hired that bastard. She told me she woke up in her bed, in the middle of the night, and he was there, threatened her at knife-point that if she didn't pay he'd kill her husband and make her watch.”-“He ain't someone I'd wanna have a drink with, but he is reliable. Gets the job done, that's for sure.”-“He's a demon, that one. Passed through the village looking for work. We've heard of what he does; killin’ people, takin’ advantage of women. Sent him on his way.”-“Useless. That's what he is. Moody, useless, and lazy. Don't waste your time.”

OOC

Hello, and thank you for looking at my carrd!A note on Shu: Generally I'm allergic to overpowered characters (though I do not consider Shu overpowered), and as a result I play him very low powered. So while he has abilities such as his dream walking, it is entirely optional, and only comes up if someone would like to explore that.Timezone: Pacific Time (USA)
Server/World: Crystal | Brynhildr (but always willing to travel!)Writing style
Para - multi-para, but I will match my writing partner. In game I tend to write less than on discord, but generally still write at least a paragraph.Platform and Availability: Discord or In-game
I'm in my 30's, and I'm usually very busy and perpetually exhausted. As such, I'm really not in the game all that much except for in the evenings for a couple of hours. I am available for discord rp, or in game rp, but in game rp usually requires arranging in advance and I am generally not available for more than a couple hours at a time.
For discord rp I'm available all day, though my replies tend to be spread out as I reply between whatever I'm doing. This is my preferred method of rp because I love being able to rp more than two hours a day, though I do enjoy in-game rp as well. So a mix is always a delight!IC is not OOC
I am not my character. Whatever I write IC are purely his views and opinions, not mine. I'm writing a fictional character and here to have fun telling collaborative stories with people!Communication
Please communicate with me! Do you want something to happen? Let's talk about it! You want to discuss an idea you have, I am always willing to bounce ideas around. Need clarification on something my character did? Feel free to ask! Did I slip up on some lore? Feel free to correct me nicely. Uncomfortable with certain things? Let me know! I'm super chill. Don't be afraid to chat!RP Etiquette
Please don't god-mode, powerplay, or metagame.
I will absolutely respect you and your character, and I expect the same.Yes
- Friends, allies, rivals, friendly rivals, enemies, any kinda connections.
- Action/Adventure
- Character drama and conflicts
- Deep thoughts
- Mature and Dark themes
- Just about anything that can create some good character growth
- Long term rp, short term rpNo
- OOC trauma dumping. Please leave it at the door.
- No killing my character. If there's an altercation, injuries may be sustained, but nothing mortal. I will determine the gravity of the wound.
I will not rp with anyone under the age of 21.
And just as a final note, if for whatever reason our styles don't mesh, you lose interest, or any other reason, there are no hard feelings if you don't want to continue RPing.-All art featured is by me unless otherwise stated.