Kirin

**Kirin** *(*キリン, *Kirin)* was one of the main protagonists in the on-going series, *Sin & Virtue: Rise of the Runelords.* He was introduced in Chapter 9 and served as one of the main protagonists in Ex Nobis up until his death in Chapter 11.

## Profile

### Background

An endangered race in the country of Varisia, The Tengu population has dwindled down to singular survivors of excessive slave trading threading into their habitat, the Mushfens, at the bottom of the country. The young folk die out due to lack of parental guidance, with the parents abducted by those in desperate need of cheap, easy work force. The ones that manage to make it to common bipedal civilization adapted to the city environment, surviving but never thriving. Those who fell under the rule of their captors often never saw the light of freedom until their eventual death by physical abuse.

**However one Tengu did not only persevere, but thrived...**

Kirin grew up in the tough environment, and learned to adapt to the difficulty that he went through. During his time, he met many other creatures from differing origin, from elves and dwarves. During the time he didn’t have to do anything, he helped others with anything he could, making bonds with the other enslaved creatures. In order to communicate with others, he made it himself a hobby to learn other slaves' language, to help them speak to him. He’d go far in order to protect his fellow friends, which didn't last long under the eyes of the captors. Because of this behavior, he was transported and removed from regular labor, and was forcibly trained in combat. He would be put to battle against other slaves like a gladiator, for the amusement of human spectators. Here he resided for one year, being forced to fight those who share his fate.

After two years of being forced to fight, with a giant skull dam in the background as scenery, he begun to disobey his owners. He tried to fake a loss in the arena, but due to his impeccable ability with his weapons, those who made him fight thought of him as too much of a danger to keep him alive. He was considered "not entertaining” enough, and was sent on a ship with disobedient slaves to be traded for those far more willing to adhere to their masters orders. However, due to either his luck, or an unknown force, the ship got caught in a thunderstorm, and was sent to the ocean floor. Kirin held on to driftwood, and stranded at the north-west of Sandpoint.

Not all who resided upon the vessel survived the storm however, Kirin was one of the few to and this ended up being a blessing in disguise. Thought dead by his captors and knee-deep in provisions and supplies still wetly clung to the bloated corpses of those he travelled with, Kirin scavenged attire from those who fell and crafted a mask fitting for someone of his stature, adopting the disguise of a halfling of sorts. There he walked into Sandpoint trying to find purpose into his suddenly unchained, free life.

### Appearance

Kirin is a nine years of age Tengu, that has nearly reached his adult state. His leathery skin held a rose-purple colour, something that complimented his gleaming silver hawk eyes. Donning a coat of charcoal feathers matching his hooked beak, a memory from when the falling bell in the Magnimar Clocktower almost crushed him. His talons are shaven down, in consideration for his delicate equipment like his bowstring. Kirin isn't one for fashion, he opts to wear airy clothes that don't hinder him in battle. The exception of this is the blue stone on a cord resting around his neck, a parting gift from an old friend.

### Personality

Particularly quiet when in a group, Kirin rather keeps all of his eleven ways to speak to himself. He truly cares about his comrades however, and his way to express this is by doing the thing he knows how to do best; Fighting. Kirin shows himself to be very confident when in combat and competition, becoming something of a braggert even going out of his way to propose himself as one of the leading forces of Ex Nobis during the events at Fort Rannick. He is serious, showing interest that the conversation stays on topic yet despite his overt seriousness, he found himself enjoying literature to an extent, so much so that he enjoyed ciphers and translating large pieces of material for Ex Nobis and Ianus.

Yet Kirin's lack of experience with genuinely good natured people detered him from opening up about his thoughts to a majority of his companions, despite this he is able to talk with a select few properly one-to-one, that is if he grows to trust them over a long period. His life experience is an overall shallow one, that was only focused around battle, so his knowledge about most everyday life is considered very lackluster. After Ex Nobis' efforts at the Skull Dam and Xander's sacrifice, Kirin struggled with the knowledge of his death and revival, leading him to develop a debilitating case of paranoia, only being able to put his faint amount of his remaining trust in Mose Miniri, a fellow slave.

### Relationships

Kirin is unable to talk to the majority of the cast comfortably, however there are some characters he has bonded with over the course of his journey.

**Mose Miniri**

Kirin has known Mose for most of his live in captivity, who trained besides him due to their shared troublesome behavior. Mose is the closest friend Kirin had before his send-off to the sea, and they were a big support to him when he slipped into his mental instability, as Mose was the only person Kirin could still put some of his trust into. He trusted Mose to the fullest, outside of combat or not. Kirin had trouble communicating outside of combat, and so he was always grateful to have the best possible talksperson chatter cat as his friend.
**Akari Saito**

In a world seemingly ruled by the genetic lottery of Magicks, Kirin sees Akari as a fellow "sister" in arms. They quickly grew to become companions due to their shares traits, such as their introvertive nature and that they both arrived in Varisia per shipwreck. Although disapproving of her lazy nature, Kirin appreciated her down-to-earth mindset and avoiding nonsense in conversation. Despite almost losing an arm to her in a sparring match, Kirin saw Akari as a dependable person up until his paranoia took over his opinion of her, which shifted to him seeing Akari as lying and manipulative after she killed Miguel.
**Valstrax**

Together with Mose he was one of the other monstrous participants in the gladiator arena that the slavers made them participate in. In the four years spending his time there Kirin would see Valstrax less of a friend, and more of a necessary brother in arms. After the years of hardship they developed a deep respect for each other, with Kirin fearfully admired Valstrax's magical abilities while simultaneously being intimidated by his extraordinary intelligence, and Valstrax being fascinated by Kirin's astounding perseverance.
**Miguel Nápoles**

Kirin thought Miguel was going to be another cutout, selfish person. Adding to the fact he was of nobility made him even more suspicious, however Miguel quickly proved him wrong. Over time he began seeing Miguel as a kind and respectable figure with flaws, who he enjoyed following advice and directions from. After the events in Magnimar and Fort Rannick, he lost most of his trust in Miguel after he was detained by him against both of their better wills. Unable to make the judgement call when Miguel offered him a way out of death by execution, Kirin realized that Miguel was a truly good person the moment he was gone. Kirin's deep respect for Miguel persisted.
**Sellfrid Oric**

Sellfrid was one of the first to see worth in Kirin besides serving as a battle monster. Therefor, Kirin took most of the stuff Sellfrid said to heart, supporting him wherever he went. Although he did see the difficult decisions Sellfrid had to make regarding his religion, the struggles made Kirin wonder if religion, or higher powers are even fit to cater to, like Sellfrid does. At the end of the day, Kirin admired Sellfrid's strength and leadership, and saw him as a beacon of purpose after stranding in Sandpoint.
**Saku Les**

Kirin grew to respect Saku after they fought beside each other for weeks, both of them being archers. The more time passed however, Kirin began to dislike Saku's tendencies to put himself first before the party, and the eyes of jealousy that Saku gave Kirin when wielding his weapon better than he did.
**"Traveller" / Kader Weiss**

Kirin felt sorry for the boy with the problematic behavior, and he wished he could have been there for Kader when he needed it most. Due to Kirin's own communication problems, he could never be there fully for Kader, and they never fully saw eye-to-eye. After Kader's worshipping of the heroes faded, Kirin felt the hatred Kader had for him. Deciding it was most likely his own fault, he stopped his attempts to grow closer to the boy, only interacting with Kader when the boy went against his allies.

## Role

### Rise of the Runelords

**See Chapter Articles for Kirin's role during the series.**

## Abilities

### Knowledge

Kirin is a master of language theory, being able to properly speak, read and write over eleven languages, including sign language. He learned these from fellow imprisoned monster folk growing up amongst them in slavery. His other knowledge mostly consisted basic anatomy and battle tactics, spotting and piercing exposed weak points to end combat as efficiently as possible. Kirin is very adept at analyzing other creature's anatomy during combat, directly applying his newfound wits to dispatch the opposition. He also had limited knowledge of value, being able to identify materials and armor. He possesses very detailed knowledge about craftmanship regarding bows in particular. An example of this is when he crafted a unique bow overnight that allowed operation without the use of his front limbs, the Harpy's Bow.

### Combat

#### Ranged Combat

Kirin's most recognizable trait is his ability to wield a bow better than anyone else. With a simple tactic of "Kill before being killed", his deadly accuracy makes him an extreme threat from any distance. Coupled with his amazing eyes, his precision is acute enough to shoot arrows between the ridges and joints of armor. His quick draw allows him to fire multiple arrows per opening, and at his peak; multiple arrows per second. Attributes combined, he is able to dispatch enemies as large as giants within 15 seconds, targeting vitals to minimize his loss of arrows as much as possible. Being as able at a distance as he is, he took the rear and provided cover for his allies during battle. Being able to enter the sky to get clear shots without the risk of getting intercepted makes him able to assist for as long as his ammunition allowed him to.

#### Close Combat

Kirin has displayed the ability to handle a human-sized longsword with some proficiency, however; He loses most of his confidence and combat capability once he has to resort to bladed fights, as shown in Chapter 9 where Akari almost de-armed him, and in Chapter 11 where he was quickly outclassed by hags. He prefers to carry one with him as an emergency cutting tool and backup weapon. Despite him bearing talons, he never utilized his racial weaponry, strictly sticking to traditional means of harm.

### Displayed Skills

* **Greatly Skilled Self Trained Combatant** - Self trained in the art of force from childhood, Kirin is a fierce and confident fighter. His prowess with the bow and arrow is unmatched, being able to take down the most fearsome foes with a couple of well aimed releases of his string. Due to his introverted personality he has developed nearly all of his skills solo.
	+ **Kierkestring** - A substyle of bow usage. it requires a firm and tough bowstring made from a single flexible material to avoid damage from filed down talons. Due to it's resistance to snapping, Kirin is able to put more strength into a shot by holding the string directly with his talons. This causes a severe decrease in accuracy if not adjusted to with, and puts more strain on the user. However, the resulting damage caused by the arrow is enough to pierce solid armor.
	+ **Harpy's Talonbow** - A bow crafted by Kirin himself to allow him the power of his archery when morphed into his Form of the Sky.
* **Form of the Sky** - Kirin is able to adept aspects of feral avians into his own anatomy for a limited time. He becomes able to sprout wings from his back, granting him the power of flight, using this he outmaneuvers enemies within the third dimension and gains new angles of attack to exploit. Utilizing this power to it's fullest extent allows Kirin to morph completely into an abnormally large raven. In this form his speed and animalistic attributes are pushed even further, making him significantly stronger and faster at the cost of his front limbs. This is partially mitigated by his ability to use the **Harpy's Talonbow**.
* **Extraordinary Agility** - Despite his light, frail frame, Kirin is extremely dexterous, enabling him to outpace others by miles. He has been observed moving faster than ordinary eyes can see him, moving like a jet-black blur. Able to reposition in all axis' of movement due to his Flight, infantry could not combat him if they didn't possess ranged prowess. At the peak of his physique he was able to dodge a point-blank volley of arrows from a five-man squad without getting hit.
	+ **Acute Acrobat** - Kirin is a master acrobat, being able to climb onto large building and use his Flight to the best of its ability.
* **Eagle's Eyesight** - Kirin is able to notice threats from further away, and faster than other people, being able to identify threats from up to 1500 Meters away.
* **Scholar of Language, Speaker of None** - Ironically, despite Kirin's introverted nature getting in the way of him communicating with others he is fluent in nearly all aspects in a total of seven languages (Sindarin, Dwarven, Lhazarese, Jotun, Goblinese, King's Speech, Orcish), including sign language.
* **Post-Paranoia Perception** - After his realizations of reincarnation, Kirin feverishly trained to detect half-truths and lies in other people to moderate success, calling out Kader's attempt to delude his intention of murdering Miguel.