Shinjo Toshino, Yoriki
Statistics
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Schticks: Unique Schticks: Stirring Speech, Acrobatic
Manoeuvres
Weapons: bo, manriki-gusari
Wealth level: Working stiff
Background
Shinjo Toshino is not a happy man. But it was not always so. Once he had a position of honor and respect, an important job, a young wife, and a bright future. He had made a name for himself as a dedicated and dependable yoriki for the chief magistrate in the border city of Mamuru Kyotai. His first big assignment was tackling a criminal organization called the Black Lanterns that had set up shop in the city. This criminal organization concerned itself mostly with smuggling between the Crane and Phoenix lands, but recently had been expanding its influence into local prostitution and racketeering rings. There had been previous confrontations with the magistrates and the Black Lanterns, but nothing decisive. After one den or front was closed down, another one would pop up. As Toshino continued to investigate, it became obvious that the Black Lanterns had too many resources to be operating alone. One of the noble families must have been backing their operations, or worse, running them outright. But who was behind it all?Toshino helped lead several crackdowns. Slowly, like coaxing the bonsai into a new shape, hints trickled in as Toshino investigated who was behind the Black Lanterns. When the death threats started, he knew he was close. He took steps to protect Kasuko, his wife, but he wasn't careful enough. After the next crackdown, he came home and found his wife lying dead next to a bowl of poisoned rice. A red iris, possibly a taunt from the assassin, was painted on the underside of the bowl.
Consumed with rage, Toshino sought out a maho-tsukai, a sorcerous witch specialized in the dark arts of blood magic, and begged her to divine the whereabouts of his wife's murderer. The crone demanded money but also one of his fingers. Without even considering the cost, Toshino emptied out his savings and offered her the smallest finger on his left hand. Using the finger bones for her spell, the crone told Toshino that his wife's assassin was in the Hachiya estate. Before dawn rose the next day, Toshino burned it to the ground.
Toshino met the aftermath of the fire with an emptiness that not even vengeance could fill. The Hachiya family was one of the primary suspects behind the Black Lanterns, but Toshino had acted before he had any proof. The Hachiya family was also allied with the Scorpion clan, and fearing retribution, the magistrate decided everyone might be better off without Toshino in the city… he had some connections in the Dragon provinces, maybe Toshino could make a new start there? Toshino doesn't care what happened to him now, he is an empty man blown wherever the wind will carry him. Wandering into the uncharted wilderness doesn't sound so bad… maybe he will find a death there that will grant him an end to his torment.
Lately, Toshino's sleep has been interrupted by reoccurring nightmares.
He is chasing a woman wrapped all in white through a field of red irises,
but the flowers burn like fire and the stems cut like knives. He runs harder,
but the flowers burn brighter until the entire field is a burning wall
of flame. As the wall surges forward to envelop him, he calls out to the
woman in white, but just before the flames surround him he sees her turn
into a white crane and fly away. Then he wakes up, wondering if he is being
haunted by his dead wife, or just going insane.
Character Trivia
Toshino's father ran a fairly successful ranch somewhere near the Dragon lands, mostly raising horses. Many say he was born in the saddle or maybe even - well, his mother doesn't talk much about that, good girls don't do that sort of thing. As he grew into a young man, he made a name for himself first for his horsemanship skills, but later for breaking up a cattle rustling ring and capturing the ringleaders. This caught the attention of the magistrate, who offered the young man a position as a yoriki.
Notes:
The picture is of Toshiro Mifune as Kyojio Niide "Red Beard" in Akira Kurosawa's 1965 movie Akahige (Red Beard), and was obtained from Ramona Boersma's Toshiro Mifune page
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