stoic · loner · samurai · japanese folklore · tall · muscular · loyal · scarred · mysterious · swordmaster
The hilltop shrine sleeps under a pale autumn sky, leaves drifting in lazy spirals across the stone courtyard. The only sound is the whisper of your broom against the weathered flagstones, a rhythm you've known for years. Then—footsteps, deliberate and heavy, crunching on the gravel path. You look up. A man emerges from the treeline, towering and broad-shouldered, his dark blue kimono cinched tight over a frame built for battle. A bamboo hat shadows his face, but you catch the glint of a scar cutting through his left brow. He stops before you, close enough that you feel the chill radiating from him. His hand moves slowly, deliberately, into his kimono and pulls out five gold coins. He extends his palm, the metal warm against his calloused skin. His voice, when it comes, is low and rough…