Jion is a little on the tall side for a Japanese man, but still not extremely tall. He's got long, straight, dusty gray hair, sort of salt-and-pepper, like it went gray from stress. It sometimes hangs in his eyes, which are almond-shaped and very dark. He's got lines around his eyes as if he used to smile a lot, but now his mouth is drawn, as if he never smiles. He has a small scar on the back of his left hand, and looks like he might be attractive if he'd ever clean himself up.
Jion wears a long kimono, the kind that comes down to the ankle. It's off white, with a simple check design along the hem, and sashed closed with a wide, faded blue obi. He wears white tabi socks and simple geta sandals -- the kind that clip-clop when you walk on stones. All his clothing is very simple; it doesn't look like he has any other clothes. His katana is tucked into the faded blue obi, in a simple black scabbard.
Jion's katana is a posthumous legacy from his sensei. Although you cannot see this when the katana is drawn, the tang is unsigned. His katana is not crafted by some sort of renegade sword-smith, however, despite the fact all smiths usually sign their tangs. It is said the greatest sword smiths -- people like Masamune or Osafune -- wouldn't sign the tangs of their very best blades. They believed the true master would recognize the worth of the blade for its strength and beauty, and know it was a masterwork, instead of having to be told.
Jion's master believed swordsmanship was an extension of philosophy, and thus taking lives for the sake of saving lives is ultimately a futile endeavor. The master acknowledged that killing was really the only solution for someone that was truly vile, but cautioned against killing in general. He explained that if Jion went out and killed, even for the sake of what he thought was "justice," he would still be a murderer, and there was little point in self-righteousness in such a situation. Slaying one's opponents would ensure Jion's path, by his very nature as a swordsman, was always going to be lined in blood.
Jion's master advised the young man not to go into the world, because it was going to be very hard on him and he'd most likely lose his way. It is easy to state that a true swordsman shouldn't involve himself in the petty wars of the states -- but much harder to actually live up to that statement. Jion's master wished to prevent his student from involving himself in the petty feudal wars, trying to battle the Shogunate. After all, no matter how awful Ieyasu might seem, murdering in the name of opposing him is still murder.
But eventually the master died... and when Jion saw fires burning in the village of the valley below, he couldn't overcome his sense of justice, nor just stay safe up on the mountain. He went down into the valley, and found a crew of bandits doing what bandits do -- raping and pillaging -- and he killed them all.
When he recovered himself, Jion was wracked with guilt. His master had been dead less than a month, and Jion goes and kills a large group of people -- then keeps on doing it! True, they are always individuals who deserve such punishment -- but still, he feels quite guilty. In the end, he feels it puts them on the same moral footing... a murderer is, after all, still a murderer, despite what the law of the land says. However, he keeps on killing because he doesn't think he could live with doing otherwise, and he doesn't know an alternative. In a way, he can't help himself. When he sees people who are obviously in need, and he knows he can help them, he can't do anything else... it just doesn't make him happy.
Jion has never passed on his master's principles to anyone, because he believes he's failed to live up to the philosophical example given him. As such, he doesn't feel worthy to teach another student, and wouldn't want to force anyone else to feel as compromised as he does -- or worse, find someone that didn't care... because then he'd have to stop them, perhaps violently, for his master's honor. Caught in this philosophical quandary, he chose to just wander, living like a peasant, while he tried to resolve this issue. He tried to stop in at temple when he could as well, and has even been to the big Fudo shrines in the capital once.
To feed himself, Jion would offer to assist farmers in their fields. If they accepted his offer, he'd ask them to keep his sword safe in their home while he worked the fields with them. Usually, the farmer was too afraid of him as a samurai, or genuinely liked him, so the blade was quite safe -- and working for a day or two kept him from starving, since the farming families would usually feed him as well.
It was during this time that Sumire met him on the road. They have been traveling together since. They both enjoy the company, and he likes having a destination, however tenuous.
BESM One-Shot Character Sheet Name: Sakurai Jion Player: Ian Role: Samurai Human Height: 5'08" Mass: 138 lbs. Age: 26 yrs. Sex: Male Shock Value: 15 STATS: Cost ================================================== Body 1 9 Mind 1 4 Soul 1 6 ACV [(B+M+S)/3] 7 DCV [ACV-2] 5 Health [(B+S)x5] 75 Energy [(M+S)x5] 50 Total: 19 ATTRIBUTES =================================================== Normal Cost:11 Levels ====== Combat Mastery 2 1 Highly Skilled 1 1 Kensei 1 5 Blind Fighting Chanbara Master Judge Opponent Lightning Draw Precise Stroke Massive Damage 2 1 Personal Gear 1 1 1 major item: katana 4 minor items: light regular armor, clothing, special blade cleaning cloth, & ??? Special Cost: 4 Levels Specialties ======= Weapon Attack 4 1 attack does 15 pts Personal Gear (katana) Mugetsu (poetic term for moonless sky) Advantages: accurate, penetrating Disadvantages: only in melee (equivalent to 2 disads) Total: 34 SKILLS Cost Levels Specialties =================================================== Acrobatics 3 1 Jumps Social Sciences 1 1 Psychology (Kurogane [black metal] philosophy) Combat Skills: Melee Attack 5 3 katana without any bonuses does 10 damage Melee Defense 5 2 katana Total: 29 DEFECTS Points =================================================== Skeleton in the Closet -1 Jion is a ronin, having no clan and no allegiance. Even though he has never killed anyone but murderers and bandits, he still considers himself a murderer. As such he has changed his name and distanced himself from his clan as best he can. Linking him with them would damage their reputation, for having produced a phantom killer and leaving him at large. Special Requirement -2 Must behave as his master's philosophy dictates; can't kill (which really means can't draw his blade) except in the defense of the defenseless.