Sunshine Applications (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunshineapps) wrote2015-05-04 12:13 am
sunshineapps) wrote2015-05-04 12:13 am
Entry tags:
Kawauso Maniwa
Name: Kawauso Maniwa
Canon: Katanagatari
Character Journal:otterlyzen
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Birthday: April 2nd
Village Affiliation: Land of Rain
Rank: Civiliian
Canon History:
Once, Japan was divided and at war, and during this a man who would be remembered for his crafting skills created thousands of powerful blades that many coveted. These blades were hardly special compared to the twelve blades who would later create. This is the cornerstone for what would be the greatest mistake of many lives.
Fast forward to the Edo era and Kawauso's ninja clan has been approached by a strategian of the Yanari Shogunate. Togame wishes to use them in order to find and collect twelve mysteriously powerful blades known as the Deviant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki. During the brief partnership a fellow ninja by the name of Komori manages to acquire one of these blades and then promptly decides that instead of awaiting the inevitable betrayal to do the betraying himself. Needless to say this does not give the Maniwa clan any favors with the largest power in Japan considering betraying Togame is pretty much betraying the Shogunate. Which is a bad idea and because of however the whole team up had been set up the entire Maniwa clan is now pretty much on the need to be dealt with list. But they can recover from it and even get an advantage, after all they have one of the blades the Shogunate wants so they can bargain.
This confidence in many ways will lead to their downfall.
Of course many details are not learned by Kawauso until long after the event had come to pass. So there is nothing he can do when Komori goes to follow Togame as she acquires a new ally in her quest and thus runs afoul of said ally, losing the deviant blade alongside his life in the process. A moment that was the first motion of the cascading failure his clan would have in acquiring the blades before Togame can. Even with their contacts and Kawauso's ability to aide them half a year passes with a few more Maniwa deaths, before someone proposes to gain leverage via Togame's new ally. For Shichika has an older sister that had been left behind when he had joined Togame on her sword collecting quest. Three of their numbers, the insect squad, are dispatched to collect her and thus use her against Shichika and Togame via a bargaining chip.
The plan fails and what had once been a team of twelve strong is now reduced to half their numbers. Something their leader (though Houou will deny actually being the leader and will claim to be more of a supervisor then anything) does not take lying down and decides to take matters into his hands and down a different path. As Houou gathers the remaining group, missing an arm, Kawauso and his remaining heads learn of the deaths and how Houou decided the best course is to stop being aggressive and keep a truce of avoidance with Togame. Not all of the surviving heads take this well or easily and one of their own, Kyoken, decides she refuses to follow such and allow the one they all believe to be responsible for so many of her kin's death to live. Seeing how bad of a backlash this would cause for one of their own to attack Togame and Shichika after barely anytime had passed since the truce was made, Houou along with Kawauso give chase to hopefully intervene and stop Kyoken before she breaks the truce.
Kawauso going along with Houou though has another meaning as Houou asks if Kawauso is certain about what would happen if they are unable to stop Kyoken. In his usual way he assures his leader, even going so far as to say it would be interesting to experience death since it is one thing he has never experienced before. A view that soon proves to be a good thing as the duo arrive too late to stop Kyoken and find her already defeated and dead. Thus in order to keep the truce in place Kawauso's ability and how it is used to find the blades is divulged.
Right before Houou quickly and efficiently executes a willing Kawauso in hopes it will protect the clan.
Perhaps if foresight had been a talent within the Maniwa clan they would have known such actions were futile as they had been destined to be erased from history long before any of them had ever been born.
Canon Abilities/Powers:
Due to the set up of Kawauso's canon he has the normal 'ninja' skills that one automatically expects when they think of ninjas in an anime. The being able to move at speeds normal people can't (Along with the silly hands held out behind them like wings as they run), popping up from seemingly nowhere and disappearing just as quickly, using projectiles like shurikens and throwing knives, and all that jazz.
What makes Kawauso special is his Ninpo (Ninja Skill) called Kiroku Tadori or in laymans terms psychometry. Basically if he touches an inanimate object he can see and shift through the past of that object. Very useful for spying and such considering if you give someone a little trinket that they carry into an important meeting and steal it from them he can witness everything that happened to the item during said meeting and gain information that way.
It is also mentioned in canon that his ability could be developed and used to actually read the minds of others, but his ability won't because "of his shyness" what that actually means is up to interpretation and for sake of clarity I lean towards him refusing to do so because it probably is bad enough seeing every single instance of someone using a blanket at an inn before going to sleep, could you imagine learning people's life story if he shook someone's hand?
Appearance: Kawauso is a lanky young man at about 5'6 in height and pale skin. He has light brown almost grey hair that sticks out in little spikes on the side of his head hair which curls into a puff ball of an afro if not kept in his hat/ponytail, whisker like marks on his cheeks, and a perpetual smile on his face. His almond shaped eyes are a bit unusual as the Sclera of them is black and his pupils and irises are white and the same shade of white that one can not tell where the iris ends and the pupil begins. The color doesn't seem to affect his sight at all in anyway. Also, due to being of the Maniwa clan he dresses in clothing that one can pretty much consider cosplay that gives him the look of an otter.
His hat the head with the snout as the brim and even little ears on the side and his hair is styled like an otter like tail on the back of said hat as little adornments, a black turtleneck shirt under a brown with bits of white sleeveless vest that looks a bit like fur. He also has black (on the outside) and white (on the inside) pants, black boots, and elbow length brown gloves that resemble otter claws on his hands. A picture to help with reference
Personality:
Kawauso is first and foremost easy going and playful. Blunt and honest to the point one wonders if he has ever lied or deceived anyone at all in his life. He believes that if it is boring, unnecessary, or overly complicated then he doesn't want to deal with it and will just doggedly trundled full steam ahead or completely ignore it depending on his mood and situation at the time. This coupled with his need to tweak people's metaphorical noses, the more uptight the more he wants to make them fluff up and become frazzled, can make a personality that can drive many people up the wall when they are trying to handle him in long and large dosages. His nature of doing things seemingly only if it amuses or catches his interest is also a point that can drive many up the proverbial wall since he can go from being laidback and quiet to a curiosity driven chatterbox.
The very fact that insults, threats, and even acts of violence are easily brushed away doesn't help those trying to deal with him when it seems very little phases him or seems to have very little impact on his behavior. This all becomes even more confusing to those who meet him when they realize or are told about his career of being a travelling fortune teller as he tends to act and speak more like a rural merchant then a mystic with any sort of ability to read the future or past.
Aside from all of this, Kawauso is very friendly and tactile with anyone he meets, though, luckily for everyone he did learn some manners in regards to personal space of strangers. However, if you go from stranger to friend, or even just acquaintance, chances are your space bubble is going to get invaded. How much of this is just him liking physical contact and how much of it is his gift driving him to touch things is debatable considering he doesn't really talk about such and just sprawls by instinct. Whichever case it is he is an instinctive cuddler and very demonstrative with his affection. Affection that is for the vast majority of the time stays firmly within the realm of platonic, even when he gets in a mood to flirt, as he just finds being affectionate for affection sake far more rewarding then only gifting hugs and cheek rubs to a select few based on people's views of romance and partnership.
It should also be warned that Kawauso has horrible taste in humor, making the most cringe worthy in how bad they are jokes and coming up with puns at the worst possible moment.
On a more serious side of things, what many don't realize due to his openly honest nature is that one can easily lie by omission and by being so earnestly truthful when he does give answers makes most people not even realize he may be hiding something or that his mind is far sharper and devious then his attitude would lead one to believe. After all, being an adult of the Maniwa clan he has a wider understanding of the maneuvering and plots that are happening in regards to his clan and the motivation to make certain Maniwa as a whole can find a way to be able to take care of itself without worry of others trying to take advantage or decimate them due to their collection of 'talents' within their ranks. A ploy he practices without many realizing as his soothsayer calling is ninety percent observation made guesses eight percent vague guesses, and two percent actual mysticism. After all, if he can make a correct prediction five out of a hundred times it's still enough to make people think he may be able to correctly predict their answers.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ His blunt honesty and easy way of lying by omission has kept him alive and his ability hidden in plain sight.
+/- Though not actually trained in any formal way he still has picked up some tricks of the trade and his wandering nature has kept him in shape that he isn't a wilting flower if he ever had to actually go against a shinobi. Though, most shinobi could take him out easily if they aren't inexperienced and over confident.
+ He's very easy to get along with once you get used to his quirks
+ His ability is an information collectors dream
- Inversely, it's sort of a wonder that his ability hasn't made him go insane yet, from information overload if he isn't careful in his handling of objects.
+/- His personality makes it to where one has to find a hook to make him want to be motivated enough to exceed his normal average. However, once motivated he learns and adapts quickly.
Sunshine Abilities/Powers:
For the most part Kawauso is pretty much a typical civilian with a bit of control of his chakra. Though nothing that any academy student wouldn't be able to do. Physically he's pretty fit and capable since being a mobile resting station means he has to be able to survive and navigate various terrain on his own. So there's a lot of hidden strength in that bean pole of a body that you don't really get to see unless you catch him having to change a broken wheel on his cart/home.
His survival skills and knowledge are also pretty up there, alongside herbal remedies and such due to his roaming and his mobile way station operation. After all, it would be a poor random encounter of a safe haven if he couldn't treat his fellows if they have injuries. Though mostly he can patch and stitch them up enough to be stable until they can see an actual doctor or healer.
Kawauso's main skills though lie in his observation of people and thus studying how they act and react to things. This cultivated skill is the main focus of his ability to earn money. This is because of his job skill tree.
Psychometry/Mind Reading: In the most basic definition of it all, Kawauso has a spiritual ability that allows him to read the past of an object by touching it. Because of how powerful his gift is, it's not easy for him to turn it off, instead he's gotten use to quickly shifting through and cataloging the emotions, sensory information, and history without having to actually go into a trance. Though he does go into a deep meditative trance if the information in an object he needs is very old or he wants to get a better focus on a particular memory. Those who helped him also saw that he has the potential to take his touch reading to actual living things, but he has yet to try and unlock such stating he's too shy to read other people's minds. Likely he doesn't want to give up the only tactile comfort he has by being able to touch people without seeing their lives like he can objects.
Fortune Telling: Having spent most of his teenage years being trained in the mystical mumbo jumbo as he fondly calls it, Kawauso is extremely proficient in various areas of telling someone's fortune. His skills diverse enough that he can hook a variety of customers and rotate his specialty enough that it won't seem stale when he doubles back on his trade routes. Some of his main practices are:
-Tasseography The study of tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
-Pyromancy The study of images within a fire
-Pendulum Readings usually by interpreting the shapes created in the sand via the swinging of a free moving pendulum needle
-Palmistry The reading of ones palm and hand lines
-Oneiromancy Interpreting ones dreams
-Numerology Divination through number patterns
-Lithomancy Prediction via the patterns caused from tossed stones
-Hydromancy Predictions based on water ripples
-Geomancy Interpretting patterns and shape within rock, earth, and sand
-Feng Shui Earth's Harmony and how it affects ones life and future
-Scrying Seeing events of future and past within reflective surfaces.
-Cleromancy Bone tossing or Die throwing
-Ceromancy Reading the shapes of melted wax from a candle
-Cartomancy The use of normal cards to read the future
-Taromancy The use of tarot cards in regards to Cartomancy.
-Bazi or Four Pillars of Destiny The reading of ones destiny based on year, month, day, and hour one is born
-Augury Seeing omens in the patterns of a birds flight
-Astromancy Anything regarding the movement of stars and other heavenly bodies
-Arithmancy Interpreting ones self via numerical values based on ones name. (Names hold a lot of power, especially true names if you follow mystical lore)
Kawauso is also a mimic, though due to him only using such ability for his own amusement it is not as advance and smooth as someone who studies such with the intent to use it for survival or to aide their village. As such he has a very easy time (In that he only needs to see it two or three times) to mimic someone's body language or little physical quirks. The more he observes said tells the more he catches and can mimic the subtle points of such that truly make it unique to an individual. Voices take far longer for him to acquire a proficient level with. (About ten twenty minute conversations if he feels motivated enough to pick up someone's speech and voice.) Because of this it never gets fully utilized and thus a very rusty skill.
Though fortune telling is his main choice of income he does have entertainer skills that also double as a self defense skills as he had been taught and has honed his own trick knife throwing skills.
Sunshine History:
Kawauso is part of the last generation of Maniwa who can actually remember roaming the world surrounded by clan-kin and not really knowing what a stationary and permanent home was. To his young mind, home was pretty much being with the clan. In many ways he was born to wanderlust and the life such creates. Though he wouldn't really understand such until he turned eight years old and his ability began to manifest itself.
Because of his young age and the suddenness of his ability, the months between it awakening and him being placed in the care of a fortune teller everyone knew as Old Lady Crow are hazy and hardly there in his memories. All he knows is that the first clear memory of waking up inside her cart was the beginning of ten years of training. It was ten years of intense training to first get a handle on his ability and then learning a trade that would allow him to easily hide said ability in plain sight. As most of the world either see fortune tellers as charlatans or just don't think about such abilities since it usually can not be used reliably like chakra can.
This isn't to say those ten years were horrible or lonely. Old Lady Crow had several young apprentices that traveled with her and Kyoken had been known to roam around the same paths they did when she wasn't helping to guard the Maniwa clan as a whole. The interactions becoming both more frequent and then rare as he grew older and the large clan begin to form smaller units to settle or roam about, all in order to keep them from becoming a large target due to the unique and varied abilities that had manifested over the generations within the strays collected by the original clan.
Thus, by the time he was eighteen, and deemed ready to go out on his own, Kawauso decided to give in to his need to always be on the move and took up being a traveling mystic, while also being there to house and help any of his clan or clan allies that would come across him during his random meanderings. These random paths, or 'Direction by Fate' if he had to use mysticism in it all, would lead him to the Land of Rain at the age of twenty one and thus deciding to roam primarily within this land with only occasional trips outside of its territory.
His lack of fighting capability outside of being able to hold his own against most random bandits and mooks, coupled with his easy acceptance of the whole "if you don't work against me we won't have to crush you" attitude of Amegakure has him settling easily within the country.
Prose sample:
Test Drive Meme Thread
"You may want to avoid fast moving water for a time as it may dredge up that which you don't truly wish to remember."
Of course it would, if the flashes of roaring rapids and the high pitch wail as a small body was ripped away and taken down shore played in disjointed snapshots behind his eyelids when he blinked were to go by. The numbness that he had learned long ago was what shock felt like in memory flashes barely hiding the guilt and almost fully realized relief that brought more guilt tangled into that moment made it easier to pick out that the customer had in a way wanted such to happen, but didn't at the same time. All of this like some clammy and still damp chill only he knew was there on the sun and skin warmed bracelet that had brushed his fingertips when he had collected his payment.
He sometimes wondered about how different memories felt when he knew they were there and were just waiting for him to get careless and touch the object again. So as to dump him into those hidden secrets many of his customers held. Secrets seemed to be his best customers for fortune telling and good luck charms. Perhaps, because of the secret itself...maybe. It didn't really matter in the end as he smiled and offered to sell this secret a dream aide that Old Lady Crow had taught him to make with the sales pitch of it aiding in finding closure through ones own dreamscape or such. He had stopped paying attention halfway through the lecture and had instead focused on seeing how many colored threads he could weave into the web before it became hideous and he would get smacked for wasting yarn.
Perhaps he'll get an Open before long. They and their lack of secrets made his head feel a lot less crowded then the ones with secrets drenched into their very clothing.
Missive Sample:
Greetings from the land of always wet somehow!
It has been an oddly slow few weeks both in business and in company. I swear this place isn't as gloomy as its name implies so a quick vacation here wouldn't hurt any of you. So there has been talk I hear that maybe I will get a little minion to teach all of this mystical hocus pocus too, or will my fragile little heart be broken when KyoKyo tells me she wouldn't trust me to look after a cactus.
Yes, I am still in despair mommy wolf would say such about me. I take care of Kuro and Shiro or else I would have to pull this cart all on my own.
Aside from my everlasting debate with Kyo-chan, this is my usual letter to proclaim I am still alive and retain all the usual limbs that I had since the last letter. I hope everything is still going well with everyone else. My congratulations to those who graduated or earned their newest ranks in their apprenticeships, and good luck to those who may still be about to attempt to advance.
-Kawauso
Canon: Katanagatari
Character Journal:
otterlyzenGender: Male
Age: 25
Birthday: April 2nd
Village Affiliation: Land of Rain
Rank: Civiliian
Canon History:
Once, Japan was divided and at war, and during this a man who would be remembered for his crafting skills created thousands of powerful blades that many coveted. These blades were hardly special compared to the twelve blades who would later create. This is the cornerstone for what would be the greatest mistake of many lives.
Fast forward to the Edo era and Kawauso's ninja clan has been approached by a strategian of the Yanari Shogunate. Togame wishes to use them in order to find and collect twelve mysteriously powerful blades known as the Deviant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki. During the brief partnership a fellow ninja by the name of Komori manages to acquire one of these blades and then promptly decides that instead of awaiting the inevitable betrayal to do the betraying himself. Needless to say this does not give the Maniwa clan any favors with the largest power in Japan considering betraying Togame is pretty much betraying the Shogunate. Which is a bad idea and because of however the whole team up had been set up the entire Maniwa clan is now pretty much on the need to be dealt with list. But they can recover from it and even get an advantage, after all they have one of the blades the Shogunate wants so they can bargain.
This confidence in many ways will lead to their downfall.
Of course many details are not learned by Kawauso until long after the event had come to pass. So there is nothing he can do when Komori goes to follow Togame as she acquires a new ally in her quest and thus runs afoul of said ally, losing the deviant blade alongside his life in the process. A moment that was the first motion of the cascading failure his clan would have in acquiring the blades before Togame can. Even with their contacts and Kawauso's ability to aide them half a year passes with a few more Maniwa deaths, before someone proposes to gain leverage via Togame's new ally. For Shichika has an older sister that had been left behind when he had joined Togame on her sword collecting quest. Three of their numbers, the insect squad, are dispatched to collect her and thus use her against Shichika and Togame via a bargaining chip.
The plan fails and what had once been a team of twelve strong is now reduced to half their numbers. Something their leader (though Houou will deny actually being the leader and will claim to be more of a supervisor then anything) does not take lying down and decides to take matters into his hands and down a different path. As Houou gathers the remaining group, missing an arm, Kawauso and his remaining heads learn of the deaths and how Houou decided the best course is to stop being aggressive and keep a truce of avoidance with Togame. Not all of the surviving heads take this well or easily and one of their own, Kyoken, decides she refuses to follow such and allow the one they all believe to be responsible for so many of her kin's death to live. Seeing how bad of a backlash this would cause for one of their own to attack Togame and Shichika after barely anytime had passed since the truce was made, Houou along with Kawauso give chase to hopefully intervene and stop Kyoken before she breaks the truce.
Kawauso going along with Houou though has another meaning as Houou asks if Kawauso is certain about what would happen if they are unable to stop Kyoken. In his usual way he assures his leader, even going so far as to say it would be interesting to experience death since it is one thing he has never experienced before. A view that soon proves to be a good thing as the duo arrive too late to stop Kyoken and find her already defeated and dead. Thus in order to keep the truce in place Kawauso's ability and how it is used to find the blades is divulged.
Right before Houou quickly and efficiently executes a willing Kawauso in hopes it will protect the clan.
Perhaps if foresight had been a talent within the Maniwa clan they would have known such actions were futile as they had been destined to be erased from history long before any of them had ever been born.
Canon Abilities/Powers:
Due to the set up of Kawauso's canon he has the normal 'ninja' skills that one automatically expects when they think of ninjas in an anime. The being able to move at speeds normal people can't (Along with the silly hands held out behind them like wings as they run), popping up from seemingly nowhere and disappearing just as quickly, using projectiles like shurikens and throwing knives, and all that jazz.
What makes Kawauso special is his Ninpo (Ninja Skill) called Kiroku Tadori or in laymans terms psychometry. Basically if he touches an inanimate object he can see and shift through the past of that object. Very useful for spying and such considering if you give someone a little trinket that they carry into an important meeting and steal it from them he can witness everything that happened to the item during said meeting and gain information that way.
It is also mentioned in canon that his ability could be developed and used to actually read the minds of others, but his ability won't because "of his shyness" what that actually means is up to interpretation and for sake of clarity I lean towards him refusing to do so because it probably is bad enough seeing every single instance of someone using a blanket at an inn before going to sleep, could you imagine learning people's life story if he shook someone's hand?
Appearance: Kawauso is a lanky young man at about 5'6 in height and pale skin. He has light brown almost grey hair that sticks out in little spikes on the side of his head hair which curls into a puff ball of an afro if not kept in his hat/ponytail, whisker like marks on his cheeks, and a perpetual smile on his face. His almond shaped eyes are a bit unusual as the Sclera of them is black and his pupils and irises are white and the same shade of white that one can not tell where the iris ends and the pupil begins. The color doesn't seem to affect his sight at all in anyway. Also, due to being of the Maniwa clan he dresses in clothing that one can pretty much consider cosplay that gives him the look of an otter.
His hat the head with the snout as the brim and even little ears on the side and his hair is styled like an otter like tail on the back of said hat as little adornments, a black turtleneck shirt under a brown with bits of white sleeveless vest that looks a bit like fur. He also has black (on the outside) and white (on the inside) pants, black boots, and elbow length brown gloves that resemble otter claws on his hands. A picture to help with reference
Personality:
Kawauso is first and foremost easy going and playful. Blunt and honest to the point one wonders if he has ever lied or deceived anyone at all in his life. He believes that if it is boring, unnecessary, or overly complicated then he doesn't want to deal with it and will just doggedly trundled full steam ahead or completely ignore it depending on his mood and situation at the time. This coupled with his need to tweak people's metaphorical noses, the more uptight the more he wants to make them fluff up and become frazzled, can make a personality that can drive many people up the wall when they are trying to handle him in long and large dosages. His nature of doing things seemingly only if it amuses or catches his interest is also a point that can drive many up the proverbial wall since he can go from being laidback and quiet to a curiosity driven chatterbox.
The very fact that insults, threats, and even acts of violence are easily brushed away doesn't help those trying to deal with him when it seems very little phases him or seems to have very little impact on his behavior. This all becomes even more confusing to those who meet him when they realize or are told about his career of being a travelling fortune teller as he tends to act and speak more like a rural merchant then a mystic with any sort of ability to read the future or past.
Aside from all of this, Kawauso is very friendly and tactile with anyone he meets, though, luckily for everyone he did learn some manners in regards to personal space of strangers. However, if you go from stranger to friend, or even just acquaintance, chances are your space bubble is going to get invaded. How much of this is just him liking physical contact and how much of it is his gift driving him to touch things is debatable considering he doesn't really talk about such and just sprawls by instinct. Whichever case it is he is an instinctive cuddler and very demonstrative with his affection. Affection that is for the vast majority of the time stays firmly within the realm of platonic, even when he gets in a mood to flirt, as he just finds being affectionate for affection sake far more rewarding then only gifting hugs and cheek rubs to a select few based on people's views of romance and partnership.
It should also be warned that Kawauso has horrible taste in humor, making the most cringe worthy in how bad they are jokes and coming up with puns at the worst possible moment.
On a more serious side of things, what many don't realize due to his openly honest nature is that one can easily lie by omission and by being so earnestly truthful when he does give answers makes most people not even realize he may be hiding something or that his mind is far sharper and devious then his attitude would lead one to believe. After all, being an adult of the Maniwa clan he has a wider understanding of the maneuvering and plots that are happening in regards to his clan and the motivation to make certain Maniwa as a whole can find a way to be able to take care of itself without worry of others trying to take advantage or decimate them due to their collection of 'talents' within their ranks. A ploy he practices without many realizing as his soothsayer calling is ninety percent observation made guesses eight percent vague guesses, and two percent actual mysticism. After all, if he can make a correct prediction five out of a hundred times it's still enough to make people think he may be able to correctly predict their answers.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ His blunt honesty and easy way of lying by omission has kept him alive and his ability hidden in plain sight.
+/- Though not actually trained in any formal way he still has picked up some tricks of the trade and his wandering nature has kept him in shape that he isn't a wilting flower if he ever had to actually go against a shinobi. Though, most shinobi could take him out easily if they aren't inexperienced and over confident.
+ He's very easy to get along with once you get used to his quirks
+ His ability is an information collectors dream
- Inversely, it's sort of a wonder that his ability hasn't made him go insane yet, from information overload if he isn't careful in his handling of objects.
+/- His personality makes it to where one has to find a hook to make him want to be motivated enough to exceed his normal average. However, once motivated he learns and adapts quickly.
Sunshine Abilities/Powers:
For the most part Kawauso is pretty much a typical civilian with a bit of control of his chakra. Though nothing that any academy student wouldn't be able to do. Physically he's pretty fit and capable since being a mobile resting station means he has to be able to survive and navigate various terrain on his own. So there's a lot of hidden strength in that bean pole of a body that you don't really get to see unless you catch him having to change a broken wheel on his cart/home.
His survival skills and knowledge are also pretty up there, alongside herbal remedies and such due to his roaming and his mobile way station operation. After all, it would be a poor random encounter of a safe haven if he couldn't treat his fellows if they have injuries. Though mostly he can patch and stitch them up enough to be stable until they can see an actual doctor or healer.
Kawauso's main skills though lie in his observation of people and thus studying how they act and react to things. This cultivated skill is the main focus of his ability to earn money. This is because of his job skill tree.
Psychometry/Mind Reading: In the most basic definition of it all, Kawauso has a spiritual ability that allows him to read the past of an object by touching it. Because of how powerful his gift is, it's not easy for him to turn it off, instead he's gotten use to quickly shifting through and cataloging the emotions, sensory information, and history without having to actually go into a trance. Though he does go into a deep meditative trance if the information in an object he needs is very old or he wants to get a better focus on a particular memory. Those who helped him also saw that he has the potential to take his touch reading to actual living things, but he has yet to try and unlock such stating he's too shy to read other people's minds. Likely he doesn't want to give up the only tactile comfort he has by being able to touch people without seeing their lives like he can objects.
Fortune Telling: Having spent most of his teenage years being trained in the mystical mumbo jumbo as he fondly calls it, Kawauso is extremely proficient in various areas of telling someone's fortune. His skills diverse enough that he can hook a variety of customers and rotate his specialty enough that it won't seem stale when he doubles back on his trade routes. Some of his main practices are:
-Tasseography The study of tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
-Pyromancy The study of images within a fire
-Pendulum Readings usually by interpreting the shapes created in the sand via the swinging of a free moving pendulum needle
-Palmistry The reading of ones palm and hand lines
-Oneiromancy Interpreting ones dreams
-Numerology Divination through number patterns
-Lithomancy Prediction via the patterns caused from tossed stones
-Hydromancy Predictions based on water ripples
-Geomancy Interpretting patterns and shape within rock, earth, and sand
-Feng Shui Earth's Harmony and how it affects ones life and future
-Scrying Seeing events of future and past within reflective surfaces.
-Cleromancy Bone tossing or Die throwing
-Ceromancy Reading the shapes of melted wax from a candle
-Cartomancy The use of normal cards to read the future
-Taromancy The use of tarot cards in regards to Cartomancy.
-Bazi or Four Pillars of Destiny The reading of ones destiny based on year, month, day, and hour one is born
-Augury Seeing omens in the patterns of a birds flight
-Astromancy Anything regarding the movement of stars and other heavenly bodies
-Arithmancy Interpreting ones self via numerical values based on ones name. (Names hold a lot of power, especially true names if you follow mystical lore)
Kawauso is also a mimic, though due to him only using such ability for his own amusement it is not as advance and smooth as someone who studies such with the intent to use it for survival or to aide their village. As such he has a very easy time (In that he only needs to see it two or three times) to mimic someone's body language or little physical quirks. The more he observes said tells the more he catches and can mimic the subtle points of such that truly make it unique to an individual. Voices take far longer for him to acquire a proficient level with. (About ten twenty minute conversations if he feels motivated enough to pick up someone's speech and voice.) Because of this it never gets fully utilized and thus a very rusty skill.
Though fortune telling is his main choice of income he does have entertainer skills that also double as a self defense skills as he had been taught and has honed his own trick knife throwing skills.
Sunshine History:
Kawauso is part of the last generation of Maniwa who can actually remember roaming the world surrounded by clan-kin and not really knowing what a stationary and permanent home was. To his young mind, home was pretty much being with the clan. In many ways he was born to wanderlust and the life such creates. Though he wouldn't really understand such until he turned eight years old and his ability began to manifest itself.
Because of his young age and the suddenness of his ability, the months between it awakening and him being placed in the care of a fortune teller everyone knew as Old Lady Crow are hazy and hardly there in his memories. All he knows is that the first clear memory of waking up inside her cart was the beginning of ten years of training. It was ten years of intense training to first get a handle on his ability and then learning a trade that would allow him to easily hide said ability in plain sight. As most of the world either see fortune tellers as charlatans or just don't think about such abilities since it usually can not be used reliably like chakra can.
This isn't to say those ten years were horrible or lonely. Old Lady Crow had several young apprentices that traveled with her and Kyoken had been known to roam around the same paths they did when she wasn't helping to guard the Maniwa clan as a whole. The interactions becoming both more frequent and then rare as he grew older and the large clan begin to form smaller units to settle or roam about, all in order to keep them from becoming a large target due to the unique and varied abilities that had manifested over the generations within the strays collected by the original clan.
Thus, by the time he was eighteen, and deemed ready to go out on his own, Kawauso decided to give in to his need to always be on the move and took up being a traveling mystic, while also being there to house and help any of his clan or clan allies that would come across him during his random meanderings. These random paths, or 'Direction by Fate' if he had to use mysticism in it all, would lead him to the Land of Rain at the age of twenty one and thus deciding to roam primarily within this land with only occasional trips outside of its territory.
His lack of fighting capability outside of being able to hold his own against most random bandits and mooks, coupled with his easy acceptance of the whole "if you don't work against me we won't have to crush you" attitude of Amegakure has him settling easily within the country.
Prose sample:
Test Drive Meme Thread
"You may want to avoid fast moving water for a time as it may dredge up that which you don't truly wish to remember."
Of course it would, if the flashes of roaring rapids and the high pitch wail as a small body was ripped away and taken down shore played in disjointed snapshots behind his eyelids when he blinked were to go by. The numbness that he had learned long ago was what shock felt like in memory flashes barely hiding the guilt and almost fully realized relief that brought more guilt tangled into that moment made it easier to pick out that the customer had in a way wanted such to happen, but didn't at the same time. All of this like some clammy and still damp chill only he knew was there on the sun and skin warmed bracelet that had brushed his fingertips when he had collected his payment.
He sometimes wondered about how different memories felt when he knew they were there and were just waiting for him to get careless and touch the object again. So as to dump him into those hidden secrets many of his customers held. Secrets seemed to be his best customers for fortune telling and good luck charms. Perhaps, because of the secret itself...maybe. It didn't really matter in the end as he smiled and offered to sell this secret a dream aide that Old Lady Crow had taught him to make with the sales pitch of it aiding in finding closure through ones own dreamscape or such. He had stopped paying attention halfway through the lecture and had instead focused on seeing how many colored threads he could weave into the web before it became hideous and he would get smacked for wasting yarn.
Perhaps he'll get an Open before long. They and their lack of secrets made his head feel a lot less crowded then the ones with secrets drenched into their very clothing.
Missive Sample:
Greetings from the land of always wet somehow!
It has been an oddly slow few weeks both in business and in company. I swear this place isn't as gloomy as its name implies so a quick vacation here wouldn't hurt any of you. So there has been talk I hear that maybe I will get a little minion to teach all of this mystical hocus pocus too, or will my fragile little heart be broken when KyoKyo tells me she wouldn't trust me to look after a cactus.
Yes, I am still in despair mommy wolf would say such about me. I take care of Kuro and Shiro or else I would have to pull this cart all on my own.
Aside from my everlasting debate with Kyo-chan, this is my usual letter to proclaim I am still alive and retain all the usual limbs that I had since the last letter. I hope everything is still going well with everyone else. My congratulations to those who graduated or earned their newest ranks in their apprenticeships, and good luck to those who may still be about to attempt to advance.
-Kawauso