Kliff Hargrave

## Summary

A twenty-two year old Kitsune mortal born in Kyūbi-no-Kuni, searching for his lost love, Cethline. He fights as a redeemer champion of Daikitsu, the kitsune goddess of agriculture, with a sort of determination to live, and protect those he cares for. However, a spirit unknown to him, named Volk, haunts him, and took control of his fox form, forcing him to seal his fox form. He is currently traveling with the party, searching for a way to identify and dispel this unknown spirit, hoping to find his beloved in the process.

## Biography

### Early life (before age 10)

Kliff, originally named Misaki, was born into the Inari family as an illegitimate child, with the identity of his father being a mystery. The Inari family was honored by the village as the envoys of Daikitsu, the Kitsune deity of agriculture. Kliff was neglected by his mother, Hanako, for being male. To her, he was useless, as males were unable to be priestesses. Needless to say, she did not care for him, only ever bothering to place a seal to suppress his fox form, which was also used on his sister. His sister, Yukiko, took pity on her brother, and used her status to ask one of the villagers to house him. The village harbored similar feelings of indifference towards the young boy. He never felt welcomed, just tolerated. Yukiko was the only one that ever gave him the light of day. While she often played tricks on him, she also often joked with him, teaching him parts of rituals she was learning from her mother, Misaki grew attached to Yukiko, but Yukiko longed to be free from their mother. So one day when she was eighteen, she ran away, going missing.

### Age 10-18

Enraged, the villagers began blaming Misaki for her disappearance. Hanako insisted that he was not involved, but this did not improve his situation. The villager housing him kicked him out, fearing the wrath of the other villagers, and Hanako took him in once more. Over the next year, Misaki began to make a plan, to run away like his sister did. On the night of his tenth birthday, Misaki ran from home. He ran for two days straight, until collapsing in a forest near a village, where he was found by a young girl named Cethline. He woke up in The Town of Grove, also known as just Grove. The town was known as a gathering place for many outsiders, so a kitsune was no big deal.

He met the girl that found him, Cethline, and while he recovered from his travels, they got to know each other. For the first time in a while, he felt welcomed. Not wanting to return Misaki to his abusive home, Cethline's family arranged for the town's medic, Din Hargrave, to shelter and feed him in exchange for manual labor from the boy. Wanting a new start for his life, Misaki agreed, taking a new name, along with the last name of the woman that now housed him. From here on, he was known as Kliff Hargrave.

Din was a kind woman, but was always busy with the clinic. She often had Kliff keep the house clean, and tend to her portion of farmland that she owned. He rarely helped with the clinic, but never hated it whenever he had to help. The two were friendly with each other, acting more as friends than mother and child. And of course, Kliff never underappreciated her kindness and hospitality.

In his free time, Kliff often found himself "training" with Cethline. She wanted to be an adventurer, and often persuaded him into this "training," which at the time, was simply play fighting with sticks. However, the two eventually developed actual fighting skill, with Kliff mastering defense, and Cethline mastering offense. At age twelve, Kliff picked up a hobby in drawing. He enjoyed sketching, and painting, and was mostly self taught. He often found himself using Cethline as his muse, always sketching her with flowing hair. After a while of these sketches, he realized something about himself, and by the age of fifteen, he fell in love with Cethline, and they officially started dating. The two's love was pure, and true. He was willing to travel the world with her. When they were both eighteen, they set off on their first adventure. They were as happy as can be.

### Age 19-Present Day

Their adventures were going smoothly as they traveled across Aruvia, finding treasure, and riches. But none of that mattered to Kliff himself, as he was just happy to be with Cethline. At age twenty, he worked up the courage to propose to her. But as he knelt down, revealing the ring, a sharp pain, like someone had stabbed him, rushed through his body. As his vision blurred, he began seeing green flames engulf his hands, and heard Cethline call his name in distress, before inevitably fainting. While unconscious, he had a dream. He dreamed of a woman that looked like Cethline, but had a completely different voice. Somehow, he understood immediately that this was Daikitsu, the kitsune goddess his mother followed. She told him that a great misfortune has befallen him.

She informs Kliff that a spirit had possessed him. Though she herself did not know who the spirit was, she offered her assistance to Kliff, explaining that the spirit only has access to controlling his fox form, which can be sealed the same way Hanako once did. In exchange for her assistance, she asked that he dedicates himself to her, becoming one of her champions. Kliff simply asked, "is Cethline in danger?" She nodded yes, and, and before he could ask another question, she said, "no need to worry, she will be safe once the seal is placed. And yes, you can still keep your devotion to her." Not even a second passed until Kliff was knelt on the ground in reverence. Still knelt he just asked, "...why do you want to help me?" She simply smiled and replied, "oh sweet child, your life has been naught but misery. I simply wish to see one of my children live a good life, and nothing more." As she said this, the dream faded, as Kliff began to wake up.

He woke up surrounded in the ruins of the town. He had no memory of what had happened. On his arm were wrappings with the suppressing seals drawn across them, and figured that Daikitsu had placed them. Upon quickly realizing the disappearance of Cethline, he began frantically investigating the still burning remains of this village. Remembering Daikitsu's words, and through his thorough investigations, he pieced together that the spirit must have used his body to cause this destruction. Eventually, he found the red cloak Cethline used to wear, with bits and pieces burned or torn off. His heart sank, as he began to believe he had killed her. He blamed himself for being too weak to resist, and with tears in his eyes, buried the remains of the cloak. He then wandered aimlessly for the next year, dealing with whatever cursed spirit was plaguing him. "Re-sealing rituals" as he called it were performed frequently to ensure the strength of the seal. Unsure on what to really do, he simply traveled around the Magocracy for a while, until he began hearing about a particular rumor.

"Did you hear? About the thing about the forest ranger from uh, that one place? He was spotted again here!" one man said. Another replied, "here?! In the Magocracy?! I thought he was just spotted up in the Silent Grove!" Just as Kliff began to tune out, he heard the other man speak, "Yeah! That sly fox is on the move it seems. And what's even weirder? Just like earlier reports, this one claims to have spotted him traveling with a girl in a red cloak!" Kliff nearly chocked on his drink, drawing the attention of the two men. After a bit of coughing he a composed himself, asking what they knew. "Hmm... Oh yeah! This one was nearby," one said as he began to draw an imaginary map. "We are here so, just head south to this small little village." Kliff thanked them, an ran on his way. He looked at an actual map, confirmed with some townsfolk on the location, and set off to this small town. He did expect to be roped into an even bigger adventure.

## Appearance

Kliff is a young kitsune man with red eyes, black hair, fox ears, and a tail, with the black at the tips of his ears and tail fading into a dark grey color. He wears dark leather armor, with a hooded black medieval style cowl that leaves most of his chest exposed. Pinned on his cowl is the symbol of Daikitsu, the goddess of agriculture. On his back he has various equipment, most notably, his great sword, and leather hide shield. At his left hip sits a short sword, and on the right rests his satchel. He has an arm guard on his left arm, but his right arm is wrapped in what appears to be bandages. He wears dark beige trousers, and simple, but worn, brown boots.

## Personality/Alignment

Kliff appears to be a stoic person, however, he's actually very anxious, and emotional by nature. He tries his best to be well mannered, and kind to others for Cethline's sake, but after she went missing, he found it difficult to do so. He often bottles up his emotions so that he's not a bother to others, but it always eventually results in it "overflowing" in some form of outburst (as seen in the encounter with Masao, as he breaks down in tears when the party is in danger). As of late, he's been trying to get better with expressing himself, going so far as to pick up his old hobby of art, and learning how to play the flute from Miilo. His alignment is Neutral Good.

## Relationships and Acquaintances

### The Party

**These are excerpts from his journal where he keeps record of his travels.**

Yukiko Inari - "She's my sis. I was angry after reuniting at first but, due to certain... events, I've realized I need to appreciate that she's, y'know, alive."

Cor - "Ah, the unofficial leader of the party. I feel comfortable around her... but I should probably keep the whole 'spirit possessing my fox form' thing to myself."

Miilo - "I like the kid. He's a little airheaded, but he's seems to like me... most of the time."

Amos - "I... know nothing about him. I hope I can get to know him more soon."

Dughall - "I've tried to get along but, the rat is just so... standoff-ish."

Pippin - "He's so innocent... Cethline would adore the little guy. He seems to like my hood."

### Important People

Cethline - Friends to lovers, Cethline and Kliff grew up in Grove, and trained to be adventurers. Kliff loves her with his whole being, vowing to protect her at all costs. As written in his journal, "she's the lone rose that stands tall in a desolate field." (He cringes deeply whenever he re-reads that part).

Volk - Kliff only knows that there is something sealed in his fox form. He's looking to find out who or what it is.

### Family

Besides Yukiko, the only blood-related family he knows of is his mother, Hanako, though he cares for her about as much as she cared for him. As for his father, he truly is a mystery. Not even Hanako knew a lot of him.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Hargrave, they were more so employers to Kliff than they were adoptive parents. He only really chose the name Hargrave out of respect. However, he and Mrs. Hargrave would have some pleasant moments together from time to time.

### Enemies

Masao - After only one encounter, Kliff deeply fears him. Though he knows little of him, Kliff wishes to never see him again.

Jellico Bounce-Bounce - A constant thorn in the parties side. Nearly killed Yukiko, causing Kliff to deeply despise this clown. Jellico is probably the only person (thing?) Kliff genuinely desires to see dead.

## Proficiencies and Skills

#### Acrobatics

Being of kitsune descent, Kliff has always fought with a form of coordination. As a kid, he could deftly dodge his opponents attacks, but nowadays he prefers to just stand his ground in defense. However, he never lost his acrobatic skills thanks to his daily stretch routines.

#### Crafting

An adventurer needs to know how to survive out in the wild, including how craft certain things. While not having a knack of survival instincts, over time Kliff learned how to craft or repair certain essentials such as tents, bedrolls, and other such necessities.

#### Defense

Having high constitution allows Kliff to take a hit, and take it well. (Though, he may need some better armor soon)

#### Artistry

As a child, Kliff loved to sketch and paint. While he hasn't done any big projects recently, he's been trying to de-rust his skills recently.

## Trivia

### Random notes

- For clarification, Kliff is clueless on who the spirit, Volk, is. A large part his story is discovering who this spirit is.

### Favorites

 **Hobby** | Sketching/Painting
 **Ice Cream Flavor** | Cookies and Cream

### Creator Notes

- Kliff (and this page) was created by, yours truly, MyCroisantski.

- Kliff was based off an oc of the same name, belonging to Mycroisantski. Furthermore, this "base" version of Kliff was inspired by the wolf from the story, Little Red Ridding Hood. And yes, Cethline was based on Little Red herself.

- Much of what happens during this campaign directly affects the development of said oc.