Post by iroha on Apr 14, 2010 13:32:52 GMT -5
Name: Irohahime
Nicknames / Alias: Iroha
Gender: Female
Age: Counting the time in which she was alive, 416.
Race: Shinigami
Birth date: August 2
Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Occupation: 11th division, 9th seat
Appearance:
Attire: Iroha dresses in a manner that would make conservatives wail in despair. She has discarded the traditional shinigami robes for something vaguely resembling a woman's kimono, though designed by someone with no sense for modesty. The sleeves have been removed from the garment and the skirt has been shortened in length considerably, to a point where it barely passes for decent. She has scrapped the usual simple white sash to hold her clothes in place in favor of a wide obi, most often tied simply in place. On more festive occasions she does tend to favor more dramatic obi knots, but they tend to get in the way otherwise.
For reasons of personal taste, Iroha's right arm is almost completely encased in a long black glove, wavering off to a cord-like pattern on the end. Her left hand and arm is devoid of a matching glove, where instead she has thin silk cords wrapped around her upper arm and across her hand. She eschews the typical plain white tabi most shinigami wear, preferring to just wear the simple straw sandals that are part of the uniform. She likes it best when she can go barefoot, however, and will happily kick off her sandals every chance she gets.
Personality: Had she been born a man, a peasant, or in a time in history when women were seen as something more than tools for forming political allegiances and bearing sons, Irohahime probably would have been a much happier person on the whole. Alas, she arrived to the world a daughter to a powerful daimyo in the middle of Japan's feudal era, a time where women, particularly of her status, were heavily regulated and were forced to aspire to a notion of meekness and pliability to their lords and husbands.
Alas, Irohahime had too much of her father in her.
Date Masamune was a powerful daimyo in Japan's Sengoku period- a man whose wild reckless nature and his temper were almost as infamous as his brilliance as a military leader and tactician. Irohahime inherited much of her father's disposition, a fact that people have unsuccessfully tried to stifle out of her.
She's a bitter girl because of that- bitter because for as long as she can remember, she's been nothing but a prisoner to rules, regulations, etiquette, formality... true, she is in a far more independent state than she ever was, but Iroha is one whose fierce pride and independence is something she guards and treasures with jealousy, and will lash out at anyone she sees as threatening to her and her values. Unfortunately for her, she's a girl, and no matter how hard she tries, people will still see her as a girl, helpless and weak, and worth protecting.
How she hates that. If there's one thing Irohahime hates, its dependence. Seeing other people depend on one another is bad enough, but this woman finds the idea of having to depend on someone else for anything as abhorrent. She believes strongly that she can, should, and will live without the support of anyone. Don't look down on her because she's a girl. She's fought men plenty of times in the past to prove that she's not some helpless airhead waif, and that the "-hime" in her name doesn't amount to jack. She's no princess. She's a warrior and a fighter, just like her dad was. Just let her stand on her own and she can show you what she's made of.
Sadly for her, that sort of mindset doesn't work well under any sort of authority. It should be unsurprising, then, that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do. This brings her in frequent head-to-head clashes with authority figures, particularly if she holds little respect for them. Wild as she may act, Irohahime puts high value in respect. Honor, not so much, though she knows perfectly well where it can come in use. Earning her respect is like trying to tame a wild animal to show it who's boss, but for those few who do reign her in, she can be a fierce ally, though admittedly quite the fickle headache when she wants to be.
Having lived her life in the upper crust of society, Iroha does have something of an overbearing sense of pride and ego. She doesn't exhibit it in the form of ceaseless bragging or the demand to be paid tribute for her greatness (appealing though the latter bit may be), it certainly makes itself noticeable when she's butting heads with people. A fair bit spoiled from her lifetime, Irohahime is quite used to getting things to turn out her way, and being told no is not something she likes to hear.
She's a little ball of stress, and what better way for her to let it all out in a no-holds barred, wild vicious fight to the death? Combat is something that Iroha has come to love as a way to just let it all out and to express her inner frustrations, and she jumps at any chance to stick a fist or sword into something. Someone. Anything! She's a vicious little monster in combat, with no sense of restraint or concept of a fair fight. She just likes to pound her enemies into a sickening smear on the ground, and will keep pounding long after they're gone until exhaustion finally gets the better of her. If she could only learn to rein in her temper, she'd be quite the dangerous combatant and much more successful in her fights.
Weaknesses:
-Temper- Iroha has what many would consider far too much of her father in her, for the girl has a short fuse to a big powder keg. It doesn't take much to set her off, and even less than that if one knows what buttons to push.
-Prideful- Willful. Or, in less than polite terms, stubborn as a mule. Once she sets her mind to something, Iroha won't back down, even if she's wrong and knows she's wrong. And in the rare case she admits she's wrong, don't expect an apology. You won't get it... at least directly.
-Got Something to Prove- Being born and raised in a male-dominated society, Iroha was always unfortunate in being a woman. The afterlife, too, has subjugated her to settings of male dominance, so she always acts like she's in a tooth and nail battle to assert her dominance despite her 'lesser' gender.
-Poor Little Rich Girl- Born to a powerful daimyo and married off to the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Iroha was never in want of wealth and comfort in the material sense. Even though she's been dead a good long while, she can have trouble coming to terms that her noble status in life doesn't amount to squat in the afterlife.
-Rebel Without a Cause- Iroha has a problem with authority figures, thanks to her irritatingly strong will. Its no secret that she resents being an underling, and tends to lash out at it with every chance she gets, whether she has a good reason to or not.
Spiritual Pressure: Average
Total Stat Points: 350
Stats:
Strength: 49
Agility: 42
Speed: 35
Reflexes: 35
Charisma: 28
Intelligence: 35
Will: 49
Defense: 21
Stamina: 28
Endurance: 28
Equipment / Inventory:
-Jatai- Her Zanpakuto, a simple katana. Its nothing fancy or elaborate in its design. The weapon bears a strong resemblance to her father's blade. The cross guard is stylized to resemble a cross, perhaps as a sign of respect to the Christian faith he had such a strong interest in. The scabbard is rather plain, and dangles from the side of her obi through a clever trick of knotting the cord that helps hold the sash closed.
Bio: Born in 1594, Irohahime was not the eldest child of the great daimyo Date Masamune, though she was the eldest between him and his wife Megohime. Her birth was mixed with a mixture of disappointment and joy- disappointment in that their eldest child had not been a son (Masamune already had two sons through concubines, but because of their mother’s status they were ineligible to be heirs to the clan), but joy in that they had finally produced a child after 15 years of marriage, when questions of infertility had begun to arise.
Another good reason for celebration in having a daughter was for political purposes- the time in which they lived is what is now known as the Sengoku period, a long tumultuous state of civil war between the various feudal lords of Japan. With shaky alliances and political scheming, to ensure loyalty of a powerful daimyo such as Date Masamune was something the main political forces desired greatly. The man had always been viewed with suspicion, due to his wild and reckless nature and powerful holdings in the north, so a daughter would be a perfect thing to have to ensure loyalty.
Yet she would not have to worry about that for some time. From what she can recall, Irohahime’s early days were full of nothing but joy. Her parents were delighted to have a daughter at last, and though she was subject to the training and high demand of etiquette all girls were expected to have, she was utterly spoiled at the same time. Though her father was often away in those early years, he and Irohahime were exceedingly close. He doted on his daughter endlessly, and since the pair of them had such a similar mindset and outlook on life. A little too similar, perhaps- Irohahime decided that she wanted to be a famous warrior and general, just like daddy!
Unfortunately for her, she would never be able to achieve a dream of that sort. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ma who finally ended the Sengoku era with his ascent to the shogun rank, arranged with Date Masamune to engage Irohahime to his sixth son, Matsudaira Tadateru. He was not about to miss the chance to bind the wild daimyo of the north more closely to him, despite their already strong alliance. No one ever fully trusted Date Masamune, but that is a tale for a different day. In 1599 the pair were formally engaged, Irohahime being but five years old and her future husband only two years her elder.
When she was 12, Irohahime and Matsudaira Tadateru were wed. Since the wedding was of purely political purposes, it is of no surprise that the pair had no sense of affection for one another. Even less surprising that the pair bashed heads often. Tadateru was one who had expected his wife to be meek and demure like a proper woman should be, but Irohahime obviously had her own idea on how things should be run. Though their clashes became less frequent and violent over the course of their marriage, they were far from a picture of an idyllic couple.
Although Irohahime resented being used as a political pawn in such a fashion, she did not harbor her anger towards her father for long. Indeed, she even went along with most of his political manipulations, including the one request that she and her husband convert to Christianity, as a show of good faith between the Date clan and the limited Western presence that the shogun allowed. It was no secret that Date Masamune was fascinated with the people of the west and wished for good relations, though his reasons for such an alliance were a thinly-veiled attempt to acquire a supply of superior Western firearms and similar technologies. This lasted until 1614, when the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity. Privately, however, Irohahime remained a Christian until her death.
Just as Matsudaira Tadateru clashed with Irohahime, he tended to clash with his father and brothers. They were nothing like the squabbles with his wife, but Tokugawa Ieyasu finally got fed up with his uppity son and had him exiled to Ise in 1615. Irohahime, seeing a rare chance, demanded a divorce- something unheard of a woman demanding in those days. Tadateru conceded, and while he went off to exile in Ise, she returned home to her parents in Sendai.
Being how she was only 21 years of age at that point, her parents strongly urged her to remarry. She was still young, and had yet to bear any children. Irohahime, however, refused to remarry, and for once she got her way. The rest of her life was spent in relative quiet, though she took as active a hand as she could in aiding her father (and afterwards, her brother) in building Sendai from a small backwater fishing town to a flourishing city. She passed quietly in 1661.
When she died, Irohahime’s spirit found itself in a locale of far less than ideal conditions. She was sent to Rukongai’s 74th district in the north, and the base lawlessness of the place was a sharp contrast to her lifetime of comfort and wealth. Shell-shocked at first, she was quick to try and hide and just keep her head down until she could get herself acclimated to the place. Unfortunately for her, she happened to be a relatively good-looking young woman (lol retcon) in Rukongai, which soon got her a rash of unwanted attention.
While the higher-numbered districts have deserved their lawless reputation, this district had come under an order of sorts. Not the order most people like, but organized crime was order in a sense. If you were one of the lucky few in the local gang you were guaranteed some sense of comfort in the district, but aside from that it was every man for himself.
The leader of this local gang was a man by the name of Honda, who had a notable weakness for women. The presence of any pretty girl never lay out of his gaze for long, so naturally he managed to catch a glimpse of Irohahime and began his pursuit of her. Irohahime initially refused his advances, as any proper woman would, but when she deduced that there was probably something to be gained in siding with him, she finally relented, though she had her own ideas on terms of acceptance.
She was taken to Honda’s residence, and initially, the two managed to hit it off right away. Irohahime’s knowledge of administration was a great asset to the organization, and in exchange she found herself drawn to the callousness of crime and the thrill of the tales of the men and their fights. Here she saw a chance that she could finally do what she wanted: she could be a warrior and a fighter like her father had been. She demanded that Honda allow her to learn to fight. He refused, citing that she was too valuable at administrative duties… not to mention that women do not fight. It’s a man’s job to protect a woman.
One can imagine how poorly this went over with Irohahime. Their relationship took a sharp turn for the worse, and within a few short months the pair fought as hard and as often as Iroha had with her former husband Tadateru. It got to the point where he wanted to kick her out, but she got to him first. She slit his throat in his sleep, with his own blade.
Honda’s gang went into a frenzy, but from the time she had been with the gang, Irohahime had managed to slowly gather up the reins of command during her time as Honda’s consort and soon executed her iron grip and imposed her will on the men beneath her.
Those were good times as far as she was concerned. Having run households all her life, and her ruthless nature, Iroha’s little crime syndicate rapidly gained in power, until she soon had control of the entire district. For most of the time in her power, it was an almost unheard of span of peace in the fringe district.
It was not to last, however. Word of the gang’s success spread to the surrounding districts, drawing in gangsters and cutthroats who wanted nothing more than a slice of Iroha’s success. Some thought they could do so by joining with her and her lot, whilst others thought that they could only take the profits through creating rival gangs. Everything quickly spun out of control from that. There were just too many pieces, both within and without, for Iroha to control. She made a valiant effort to keep her control of the situation, but when her gang split into several mutinous factions, she had no choice but to abdicate and flee the entire district.
She moved inward, having only the clothes on her back and a knife she had been fortunate enough to grab in her frenzied flight. For the better part of a year Iroha grew paranoid that her gang was after her, and after frequent moves and twelve districts inwards that she finally settled down a bit. Things were quiet for a time, and it seemed that Iroha was destined to live the rest of her days in Rukongai in relative boredom.
It was then that the hunger pangs began.
They were small at first, almost unnoticeable. Iroha ignored them for a time, thinking that it was simple paranoia coming back to strike at her. But they persisted, and upon mentioning it to an acquaintance she learned of Spiritual Energy and its implications. She learned of the shinigami as well, and the notion intrigued her. Not only did it mean it could give her a break from the dull joylessness of her current life, but the life of a shinigami sounded exactly like the sort of thing Iroha dreamed of: fearsome warriors devoted to fighting monsters and evils, and they didn’t give a damn if you were a girl or not. Surely, she had found her call to heaven!
Immediately she set out to enroll in the Shinigami Academy, and Iroha barely managed to pass the entrance examinations. She was placed in one of the lower classes for her education, much to her irritation. However, Iroha had decided to accept her unfavorable position, simply because she wanted that reward at the end.
Her times at the academy were rough. Iroha did fairly well in her studies, but with her violent temper and less-than-stellar attitude she often found herself clashing with the other students. More than once Iroha found herself shackled with the threat of expulsion, but she somehow managed to cling through the entire six years and successfully graduate. While most students are allowed to lobby for the division of her choice, Iroha was all but forced to volunteer for the 11th division. As far as her teachers were concerned, there couldn’t be a better fit. Here, just take your zanpakuto and go join the gang of violent hellions.
And were they ever right.
It was tough at first. Aside from vice-captain Yachiru, the 11th squad’s list of females in the division was almost nonexistent. Much headbutting ensued between the violent-tempered girl and the rest of her squad, and while things have quieted down, Iroha still sometimes has trouble demanding the same respect as with her male peers. Its frustrating, but truth be told Iroha has come to love demanding respect by punching people in the face. And surprisingly, she’s managed to connect her fist and blade with enough faces to allow the girl a steady climb in the shinigami ranks. She hasn’t even been in the squad for a decade, and already the former princess has managed to get a seat in the single digit positions. She certainly plans to rise higher in the ranks, but at the same time she has little intention in raising a blade against Kenpachi. She’s not that stupid or willing to throw her life away. Or afterlife. Whatever.
RP Sample: ---
Zanpakuto Powers- With the command phrase of "Strike, Jatai," Iroha's sword thins and extends to the shape of a bullwhip, though instead of the typical loose strands of cord on the opposite end of the knot at at the tip of the whip, the weapon features long thing viper fangs. These fangs glimmer with poison, which is capable of inflicting a paralyzing neurotoxin. It is not lethal, but capable of causing paralysis and inflicting a great deal of pain.
Irohahime has yet to achieve bankai.
Kido- Iroahime, in the typical 11th squad fashion, has only the basest knowledge of kido. She only knows the lowest four or five numbers in each category, and knows up to the number nine in binding arts by theory (though she has never exercised the spells on her own). Again, int he typical 11th squad fashion, she uses said arts so infrequently that she can almost be considered to not have any knowledge in kido.
Nicknames / Alias: Iroha
Gender: Female
Age: Counting the time in which she was alive, 416.
Race: Shinigami
Birth date: August 2
Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Occupation: 11th division, 9th seat
Appearance:
Attire: Iroha dresses in a manner that would make conservatives wail in despair. She has discarded the traditional shinigami robes for something vaguely resembling a woman's kimono, though designed by someone with no sense for modesty. The sleeves have been removed from the garment and the skirt has been shortened in length considerably, to a point where it barely passes for decent. She has scrapped the usual simple white sash to hold her clothes in place in favor of a wide obi, most often tied simply in place. On more festive occasions she does tend to favor more dramatic obi knots, but they tend to get in the way otherwise.
For reasons of personal taste, Iroha's right arm is almost completely encased in a long black glove, wavering off to a cord-like pattern on the end. Her left hand and arm is devoid of a matching glove, where instead she has thin silk cords wrapped around her upper arm and across her hand. She eschews the typical plain white tabi most shinigami wear, preferring to just wear the simple straw sandals that are part of the uniform. She likes it best when she can go barefoot, however, and will happily kick off her sandals every chance she gets.
Personality: Had she been born a man, a peasant, or in a time in history when women were seen as something more than tools for forming political allegiances and bearing sons, Irohahime probably would have been a much happier person on the whole. Alas, she arrived to the world a daughter to a powerful daimyo in the middle of Japan's feudal era, a time where women, particularly of her status, were heavily regulated and were forced to aspire to a notion of meekness and pliability to their lords and husbands.
Alas, Irohahime had too much of her father in her.
Date Masamune was a powerful daimyo in Japan's Sengoku period- a man whose wild reckless nature and his temper were almost as infamous as his brilliance as a military leader and tactician. Irohahime inherited much of her father's disposition, a fact that people have unsuccessfully tried to stifle out of her.
She's a bitter girl because of that- bitter because for as long as she can remember, she's been nothing but a prisoner to rules, regulations, etiquette, formality... true, she is in a far more independent state than she ever was, but Iroha is one whose fierce pride and independence is something she guards and treasures with jealousy, and will lash out at anyone she sees as threatening to her and her values. Unfortunately for her, she's a girl, and no matter how hard she tries, people will still see her as a girl, helpless and weak, and worth protecting.
How she hates that. If there's one thing Irohahime hates, its dependence. Seeing other people depend on one another is bad enough, but this woman finds the idea of having to depend on someone else for anything as abhorrent. She believes strongly that she can, should, and will live without the support of anyone. Don't look down on her because she's a girl. She's fought men plenty of times in the past to prove that she's not some helpless airhead waif, and that the "-hime" in her name doesn't amount to jack. She's no princess. She's a warrior and a fighter, just like her dad was. Just let her stand on her own and she can show you what she's made of.
Sadly for her, that sort of mindset doesn't work well under any sort of authority. It should be unsurprising, then, that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do. This brings her in frequent head-to-head clashes with authority figures, particularly if she holds little respect for them. Wild as she may act, Irohahime puts high value in respect. Honor, not so much, though she knows perfectly well where it can come in use. Earning her respect is like trying to tame a wild animal to show it who's boss, but for those few who do reign her in, she can be a fierce ally, though admittedly quite the fickle headache when she wants to be.
Having lived her life in the upper crust of society, Iroha does have something of an overbearing sense of pride and ego. She doesn't exhibit it in the form of ceaseless bragging or the demand to be paid tribute for her greatness (appealing though the latter bit may be), it certainly makes itself noticeable when she's butting heads with people. A fair bit spoiled from her lifetime, Irohahime is quite used to getting things to turn out her way, and being told no is not something she likes to hear.
She's a little ball of stress, and what better way for her to let it all out in a no-holds barred, wild vicious fight to the death? Combat is something that Iroha has come to love as a way to just let it all out and to express her inner frustrations, and she jumps at any chance to stick a fist or sword into something. Someone. Anything! She's a vicious little monster in combat, with no sense of restraint or concept of a fair fight. She just likes to pound her enemies into a sickening smear on the ground, and will keep pounding long after they're gone until exhaustion finally gets the better of her. If she could only learn to rein in her temper, she'd be quite the dangerous combatant and much more successful in her fights.
Weaknesses:
-Temper- Iroha has what many would consider far too much of her father in her, for the girl has a short fuse to a big powder keg. It doesn't take much to set her off, and even less than that if one knows what buttons to push.
-Prideful- Willful. Or, in less than polite terms, stubborn as a mule. Once she sets her mind to something, Iroha won't back down, even if she's wrong and knows she's wrong. And in the rare case she admits she's wrong, don't expect an apology. You won't get it... at least directly.
-Got Something to Prove- Being born and raised in a male-dominated society, Iroha was always unfortunate in being a woman. The afterlife, too, has subjugated her to settings of male dominance, so she always acts like she's in a tooth and nail battle to assert her dominance despite her 'lesser' gender.
-Poor Little Rich Girl- Born to a powerful daimyo and married off to the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Iroha was never in want of wealth and comfort in the material sense. Even though she's been dead a good long while, she can have trouble coming to terms that her noble status in life doesn't amount to squat in the afterlife.
-Rebel Without a Cause- Iroha has a problem with authority figures, thanks to her irritatingly strong will. Its no secret that she resents being an underling, and tends to lash out at it with every chance she gets, whether she has a good reason to or not.
Spiritual Pressure: Average
Total Stat Points: 350
Stats:
Strength: 49
Agility: 42
Speed: 35
Reflexes: 35
Charisma: 28
Intelligence: 35
Will: 49
Defense: 21
Stamina: 28
Endurance: 28
Equipment / Inventory:
-Jatai- Her Zanpakuto, a simple katana. Its nothing fancy or elaborate in its design. The weapon bears a strong resemblance to her father's blade. The cross guard is stylized to resemble a cross, perhaps as a sign of respect to the Christian faith he had such a strong interest in. The scabbard is rather plain, and dangles from the side of her obi through a clever trick of knotting the cord that helps hold the sash closed.
Bio: Born in 1594, Irohahime was not the eldest child of the great daimyo Date Masamune, though she was the eldest between him and his wife Megohime. Her birth was mixed with a mixture of disappointment and joy- disappointment in that their eldest child had not been a son (Masamune already had two sons through concubines, but because of their mother’s status they were ineligible to be heirs to the clan), but joy in that they had finally produced a child after 15 years of marriage, when questions of infertility had begun to arise.
Another good reason for celebration in having a daughter was for political purposes- the time in which they lived is what is now known as the Sengoku period, a long tumultuous state of civil war between the various feudal lords of Japan. With shaky alliances and political scheming, to ensure loyalty of a powerful daimyo such as Date Masamune was something the main political forces desired greatly. The man had always been viewed with suspicion, due to his wild and reckless nature and powerful holdings in the north, so a daughter would be a perfect thing to have to ensure loyalty.
Yet she would not have to worry about that for some time. From what she can recall, Irohahime’s early days were full of nothing but joy. Her parents were delighted to have a daughter at last, and though she was subject to the training and high demand of etiquette all girls were expected to have, she was utterly spoiled at the same time. Though her father was often away in those early years, he and Irohahime were exceedingly close. He doted on his daughter endlessly, and since the pair of them had such a similar mindset and outlook on life. A little too similar, perhaps- Irohahime decided that she wanted to be a famous warrior and general, just like daddy!
Unfortunately for her, she would never be able to achieve a dream of that sort. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ma who finally ended the Sengoku era with his ascent to the shogun rank, arranged with Date Masamune to engage Irohahime to his sixth son, Matsudaira Tadateru. He was not about to miss the chance to bind the wild daimyo of the north more closely to him, despite their already strong alliance. No one ever fully trusted Date Masamune, but that is a tale for a different day. In 1599 the pair were formally engaged, Irohahime being but five years old and her future husband only two years her elder.
When she was 12, Irohahime and Matsudaira Tadateru were wed. Since the wedding was of purely political purposes, it is of no surprise that the pair had no sense of affection for one another. Even less surprising that the pair bashed heads often. Tadateru was one who had expected his wife to be meek and demure like a proper woman should be, but Irohahime obviously had her own idea on how things should be run. Though their clashes became less frequent and violent over the course of their marriage, they were far from a picture of an idyllic couple.
Although Irohahime resented being used as a political pawn in such a fashion, she did not harbor her anger towards her father for long. Indeed, she even went along with most of his political manipulations, including the one request that she and her husband convert to Christianity, as a show of good faith between the Date clan and the limited Western presence that the shogun allowed. It was no secret that Date Masamune was fascinated with the people of the west and wished for good relations, though his reasons for such an alliance were a thinly-veiled attempt to acquire a supply of superior Western firearms and similar technologies. This lasted until 1614, when the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity. Privately, however, Irohahime remained a Christian until her death.
Just as Matsudaira Tadateru clashed with Irohahime, he tended to clash with his father and brothers. They were nothing like the squabbles with his wife, but Tokugawa Ieyasu finally got fed up with his uppity son and had him exiled to Ise in 1615. Irohahime, seeing a rare chance, demanded a divorce- something unheard of a woman demanding in those days. Tadateru conceded, and while he went off to exile in Ise, she returned home to her parents in Sendai.
Being how she was only 21 years of age at that point, her parents strongly urged her to remarry. She was still young, and had yet to bear any children. Irohahime, however, refused to remarry, and for once she got her way. The rest of her life was spent in relative quiet, though she took as active a hand as she could in aiding her father (and afterwards, her brother) in building Sendai from a small backwater fishing town to a flourishing city. She passed quietly in 1661.
When she died, Irohahime’s spirit found itself in a locale of far less than ideal conditions. She was sent to Rukongai’s 74th district in the north, and the base lawlessness of the place was a sharp contrast to her lifetime of comfort and wealth. Shell-shocked at first, she was quick to try and hide and just keep her head down until she could get herself acclimated to the place. Unfortunately for her, she happened to be a relatively good-looking young woman (lol retcon) in Rukongai, which soon got her a rash of unwanted attention.
While the higher-numbered districts have deserved their lawless reputation, this district had come under an order of sorts. Not the order most people like, but organized crime was order in a sense. If you were one of the lucky few in the local gang you were guaranteed some sense of comfort in the district, but aside from that it was every man for himself.
The leader of this local gang was a man by the name of Honda, who had a notable weakness for women. The presence of any pretty girl never lay out of his gaze for long, so naturally he managed to catch a glimpse of Irohahime and began his pursuit of her. Irohahime initially refused his advances, as any proper woman would, but when she deduced that there was probably something to be gained in siding with him, she finally relented, though she had her own ideas on terms of acceptance.
She was taken to Honda’s residence, and initially, the two managed to hit it off right away. Irohahime’s knowledge of administration was a great asset to the organization, and in exchange she found herself drawn to the callousness of crime and the thrill of the tales of the men and their fights. Here she saw a chance that she could finally do what she wanted: she could be a warrior and a fighter like her father had been. She demanded that Honda allow her to learn to fight. He refused, citing that she was too valuable at administrative duties… not to mention that women do not fight. It’s a man’s job to protect a woman.
One can imagine how poorly this went over with Irohahime. Their relationship took a sharp turn for the worse, and within a few short months the pair fought as hard and as often as Iroha had with her former husband Tadateru. It got to the point where he wanted to kick her out, but she got to him first. She slit his throat in his sleep, with his own blade.
Honda’s gang went into a frenzy, but from the time she had been with the gang, Irohahime had managed to slowly gather up the reins of command during her time as Honda’s consort and soon executed her iron grip and imposed her will on the men beneath her.
Those were good times as far as she was concerned. Having run households all her life, and her ruthless nature, Iroha’s little crime syndicate rapidly gained in power, until she soon had control of the entire district. For most of the time in her power, it was an almost unheard of span of peace in the fringe district.
It was not to last, however. Word of the gang’s success spread to the surrounding districts, drawing in gangsters and cutthroats who wanted nothing more than a slice of Iroha’s success. Some thought they could do so by joining with her and her lot, whilst others thought that they could only take the profits through creating rival gangs. Everything quickly spun out of control from that. There were just too many pieces, both within and without, for Iroha to control. She made a valiant effort to keep her control of the situation, but when her gang split into several mutinous factions, she had no choice but to abdicate and flee the entire district.
She moved inward, having only the clothes on her back and a knife she had been fortunate enough to grab in her frenzied flight. For the better part of a year Iroha grew paranoid that her gang was after her, and after frequent moves and twelve districts inwards that she finally settled down a bit. Things were quiet for a time, and it seemed that Iroha was destined to live the rest of her days in Rukongai in relative boredom.
It was then that the hunger pangs began.
They were small at first, almost unnoticeable. Iroha ignored them for a time, thinking that it was simple paranoia coming back to strike at her. But they persisted, and upon mentioning it to an acquaintance she learned of Spiritual Energy and its implications. She learned of the shinigami as well, and the notion intrigued her. Not only did it mean it could give her a break from the dull joylessness of her current life, but the life of a shinigami sounded exactly like the sort of thing Iroha dreamed of: fearsome warriors devoted to fighting monsters and evils, and they didn’t give a damn if you were a girl or not. Surely, she had found her call to heaven!
Immediately she set out to enroll in the Shinigami Academy, and Iroha barely managed to pass the entrance examinations. She was placed in one of the lower classes for her education, much to her irritation. However, Iroha had decided to accept her unfavorable position, simply because she wanted that reward at the end.
Her times at the academy were rough. Iroha did fairly well in her studies, but with her violent temper and less-than-stellar attitude she often found herself clashing with the other students. More than once Iroha found herself shackled with the threat of expulsion, but she somehow managed to cling through the entire six years and successfully graduate. While most students are allowed to lobby for the division of her choice, Iroha was all but forced to volunteer for the 11th division. As far as her teachers were concerned, there couldn’t be a better fit. Here, just take your zanpakuto and go join the gang of violent hellions.
And were they ever right.
It was tough at first. Aside from vice-captain Yachiru, the 11th squad’s list of females in the division was almost nonexistent. Much headbutting ensued between the violent-tempered girl and the rest of her squad, and while things have quieted down, Iroha still sometimes has trouble demanding the same respect as with her male peers. Its frustrating, but truth be told Iroha has come to love demanding respect by punching people in the face. And surprisingly, she’s managed to connect her fist and blade with enough faces to allow the girl a steady climb in the shinigami ranks. She hasn’t even been in the squad for a decade, and already the former princess has managed to get a seat in the single digit positions. She certainly plans to rise higher in the ranks, but at the same time she has little intention in raising a blade against Kenpachi. She’s not that stupid or willing to throw her life away. Or afterlife. Whatever.
RP Sample: ---
Zanpakuto Powers- With the command phrase of "Strike, Jatai," Iroha's sword thins and extends to the shape of a bullwhip, though instead of the typical loose strands of cord on the opposite end of the knot at at the tip of the whip, the weapon features long thing viper fangs. These fangs glimmer with poison, which is capable of inflicting a paralyzing neurotoxin. It is not lethal, but capable of causing paralysis and inflicting a great deal of pain.
Irohahime has yet to achieve bankai.
Kido- Iroahime, in the typical 11th squad fashion, has only the basest knowledge of kido. She only knows the lowest four or five numbers in each category, and knows up to the number nine in binding arts by theory (though she has never exercised the spells on her own). Again, int he typical 11th squad fashion, she uses said arts so infrequently that she can almost be considered to not have any knowledge in kido.