Akiko Nomura
Contents
Appearance
Akiko is a young Au Ra woman with black skin, and mismatched eyes, one of white, and one of black. Half of her face appears, at first, to be painted white. But on closer inspection, it is tattooed with a special ink. The opposite half of her torso is likewise tattooed, flipping once more at her legs. There are various other tattoos upon her body. If they fall on the 'white' halves of her body, there is a notable ABSENCE of white ink to form the design. If they fall on the black half, it is done in white ink. The most significant of these tattoos is a one upon her back of two large serpents struggling for dominance, each one consuming the tail of the other, and each one being either white or black.
History
Akiko was born into a conquered Doma. The land had already fallen under Garlean rule when she was but an infant, and her parents abandoned her upon the steps of a small, out of the way temple. Whether this was due to food, mercy, or a belief that with her mismatched eyes, she was cursed, Akiko never knew. The Temple told her all these things and more. Upon the outside, the Temple appeared to merely be another place of worhship, but was in actuality, a cult worshipping Balance as a primal force of the world. Raising young orphans in secret, the cult desired to take out any powerful individuals that might unify or otherwise amass too large a power to be controlled, which might result in a Calamity. It trained it's children as assassins, sent to eliminate these targets, and marked it's agents with tattoos of white and black, to represent both order and chaos, good and evil, light and dark, as well as the two sides of the Au Ra race, and it's progenitors.
Akiko was trained as one of these assassins. Under the guise of a courtesan, she lived within Doma, taking out individuals that were otherwise upsetting the natural balance, and attempting to gain access to higher officers within the Garlean army, so as to weaken their power base. However, with the Doman rebellion, the cult moved into the open, hoping to strike off the head of the snake and save Doma.
They failed, and many were slaughtered. Akiko knows of no others who survived and made it to Eorzea.
Personality
Polite and friendly, Akiko at first glance gives off the impression of a charming, intelligent young woman, friendly and always willing to listen. However, under certain circumstances, a much darker, colder view is seen of the woman. Cruel, greedy, and malicious, the woman takes a certain thrill over taking over one's entire existence in their last moments, prolonging their suffering, or using the threat of death to entrap others to use as pawns.
Affiliations and Known Associates
"The Cult of Twilight's Balance" The Rendezvous Host Club
Characteristics
- Nicknames: Aki, Ko
- Age: 26
- Nameday: 26th of the 1 Astral Moon
- Gender: Female (?)
- Sexuality: Pansexual
- Marital Status: Single
- Alignment: True Nuetral/Chaotic Nuetral
- Height: 5'1"
- Weight: 124 lbs
- Body: Slim
- Hair: Black with white streaks
- Eyes: Left Black, Right White
- Skin: Black with half her body covered in white tattoos
- Clothing: Doman dress
Likes
- Strawberries
- Music
- The Ocean
- Beer (Has a strange obsession with it)
- Flirting
Dislikes
- Being turned down
- Stagnation
- Apathy
- Losing
- Garleans
Areas of Expertise
- Martial: Skilled with dual blades, and hand to hand combat
- Crafting: Is a lovely cook!
- Other: Is a trained courtesan. Can sing, dance, and play many instruments.
Strengths
- Agile
- Clever
- Confident
- Few morals
- High pain tolerance
Weaknesses
- Physically weak (relatively)
- Aetherically weak
- Vain
- Few morals
- Stunted emotional growth
Other Notes
Religion
A cultist of Balance, Akiko's faith believes that the world around us is alive, and has it's own unique spirit. And that the world is playing a game with itself, the opposing elements of the world acting as players. When any one force in the world gains too much power, a Calamity occurs, and the board is wiped clean and restarted. In order to prevent this, agents are sent out to stop or delay such. Many other spiritual beliefs are incorporated, such as the belief that both sides of life should be celebrated. Each day is a blessing, and is to be lived fully, without regret, while death is not a thing to be feared, but to be welcomed.
Quirks
Refers to herself in speech as 'one'. This is occasionally broken in times of great stress or emotion, or during certain aggressive moments when she is not acting on any purpose but her own.
Equipment
Many, MANY small blades.
Rumours
The following rumours can be heard about Akiko, predominantly in Limsa. (If your character has an opinion about her, feel free to add it here.)
Common rumours
- "Oh her? Yeah, one of the refugees. I keep seeing her at the east end each morning, and the west end each night." (Limsan dock-worker)
- "I swear I've seen her around that nunnery a few times... You know. The one by the fisherman's guild."
- "Oh her? Isn't she some sort of courtesan or something? I heard that somewhere."
Uncommon rumours
- "Apparently, she doesn't tolerate weak men. But I saw her with the shyest woman the other day..."
- "Some bloke tried to rob her once, and she pulled a knife out of her arse and stabbed him right in the jewels!"
- "I swore, she was talking to the air the other day. Nobody there..."
Rare rumours
- "One of the painted assassins supposedly upholding the 'balance'. Bunch of psychos if you ask me."
- "I saw her once take up a woman into an inn room... Those sheets were absolutely stained with SOMETHING afterwords. And the welts on the woman's back... You have to wonder."
What PCs are saying
Known Haunts
You might have run into or otherwise know Akiko from:
- Limsa!
- The Goblet!
- Doma (Other domans woo!)
- Garlean Empire