Kaien Shinjiro
海園信次郎

Cursed Monk | Consumer of Yokai | Shrine Keeper

WAR AND GARLEANS | "Silently, I watched their heads roll. While they remained stoic and prepared for their demise, I saw only one option for me — I offered my services to them. You would think monks were without judgement and hatred, but the looks they gave me that day proved that they were not above their humanity. I betrayed my family because I feared death, but what's worse is that I still do and would make the same mistake again."Back during Garlean occupation, many of the monks of his temple were forced into the military. There was outrage. His peaceful collective, having sworn never to end a life regardless of how small, was met with a terrible dilemma; serve or die. Most decided to die, while Kaien -- only sixteen at the time -- chose to live. He had been involved in the Garlean Doman unit until shortly before the resistance took place. It wasn't until the final few years of his service that Kaien had managed to make quite a name for himself with his fellow colleagues, enough so that the Garleans fully recognized their martial discipline and skill, offering them better positions and higher rewards. However, regardless of their training or reputation, they were still the same group who survived off of betrayal, and the moment the Garleans lost, they abandoned their comrades to die. Kaien holds little to no respect for Garleans, especially after forcing a group of pacifist monks to fight their wars for them.FORSAKEN MONK | Due to his overwhelming fear of death, Kaien acted upon the ultimate taboo for his collective: he consumed the spirits he was meant to guide and purify. It started with small spirits, the souls being torn from bodies into the life stream, before devolving into full born yokai and monstrous curses. If he hadn't, he would have indeed died many times over, but now he walks a life constantly haunted by the kami he had prayed for and the souls he once had guardianship over. All levels of heaven and hell seek repayment, and his debt only grows.SEEKING POWER | Kaien has managed to maintain a rather innocent status amongst the villages who don't know him or his past. This allows him to come and go out of shrines, people's homes, and areas of potentially vast spiritual power without many doubting the validity of his professionalism. However, his intentions are not nearly as altruistic as people believe. With every village he visits, he consumes yokai, souls, and kami for power. Villages are confused when their good fortune suddenly disappears, or when the sickness of their child fades into nothingness. As there are positive and negative impacts to the area when yokai and kami are consumed/removed, most don't consider or even care to investigate the situation until it is far too late. Recently, villagers have been running into strange tales of children and adults that were supposedly blessed by the Kami going missing. Only the lower half of a small child was found in the woods, and the village doctor claimed it to be the attack of a tiger. Each village has offered up their own tales as a reasoning for the disappearances, and each time, Kaien has been the one to validate their fears.WELL-TRAVELLED | Kaien has traveled everywhere from Doma, to Kugane, through Ala Mhigo to Gridania, Ul'dah, and Limsa Lominsa. There's a possibility you may have seen him offering medical assistance or selling small handcrafted curios during festivals with other monks.APPEARANCE | Kaien seems to emit a strange clinking or jingling sound whenever he walks as if wearing a full suit made of iron swords. Even his Shamisen, an instrument he enjoys playing, is surprisingly heavy. This is all seemingly hidden underneath his thick monk robes, which is adorned with multiple layers of cloth and the personal addition of armor. He won't be sneaking anywhere anytime soon.