Kahei, Ashigaran Guide

> "Five minutes late is a two month delay. Be more punctual next time" -Kahei
>
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Art by Chris Ocampo

## Character Description

Kahei Sultos is an elf that's seen almost everything in the 50ish years he's been exploring and touring the world. He's a no-nonsense man with a sense for timeliness and an affinity for nature, both of which make him excellent at his job of Guiding foreigners around Ashigara. With his signature walking stick that's seen him through many a fight and path and collection of maps of all sorts of places combined with his slick black ponytail and explorers gear, he looks the part of the wandering guide, and has made himself known as a figure to be trusted in Ashigara. Though he primarily is active in Ashigara, he has a residence near Mukei that he uses when dealing with Yejin.

## History

Kahei was born and raised in a small village in Ashigara, having seen little of the outside world during his formative years. Though he was never able to explore outside the village due to his parents forbidding him from leaving, he eventually managed to leave the village and explore the surrounding area. However, upon returning from his expedition into the world, he found that the way back to his village was simply gone. He looked for multiple months, during which time he narrowly subsisted on what he could find in the forests as he was totally lost. Eventually, heavily malnourished and barely alive, he had accidentally wandered his way to Yishu, where he was taken in by a cloister of monks.

During his time he was allowed to live with the monks under the condition that he contributed to the monastery and attempted to understand their teachings. Having grown up in an extremely small world, Kahei knew little about the spirits of the region and how the land itself worked and was fascinated by the tales and lore of them. After hearing about the ability for places to suddenly disappear from locations and reappear elsewhere, Kahei finally had an idea of what had happened to him, and from then on developed the drive to understand and catalogue as much as he could about how the forests worked and how to use them. He remained with the cloister until the age of 19, deciding to leave and see more of the world for himself. Having heard about how complex the forests were and how difficult it was to navigate them, Kahei decided that he needed experience in this sort of thing before he could fully catalogue the lands of Ashigara, and learned the basics of traveling the forests and canopies of the land. After hearing about a land of mechanical and magical wonders and a long period of deliberation, at the age of 23 he made the journey to Mosir

Upon arriving in Mosir, he was surprised at how wildly it differed from his homeland, as here much of the nature and spirituality had been replaced by steel and manufactured magic. This extreme difference shocked him for a while, but after a few weeks was able to develop a connection to the whole place. However, as he had few savings and little magical or mechanical skill, he was having difficulty finding a way to support himself, and was going to return when he was approached by a group of researchers from the Yejin company. They asked him if he was from Ashigara, and if he knew the land. Having a decent knowledge of the area, Kahei replied yes and they asked him if he could travel to and from Ashigara, collecting rare ingredients for testing and occasionally escorting scientists to specific locations. They promised him a permanent residence and plenty of free time, when not doing Yejin work, as well as steady pay. Kahei immediately accepted the offer, and became a valuable member of Yejin, escorting to and collecting from the Ahigaran wilderness, and eventually beyond. He works with Yejin to this day, having grown more and more used to more and more climates as more was asked of him. His childhood wanderlust is still there though, and when asked to explore and navigate a new environment he happily accepts, and while he is now familiar with many, many regions, nowhere is as familiar as his original home of Ashigara.

## Guide Business

Whenever Kahei isn't working on a job for Yejin, he can usually be found across Chronus and beyond, escorting people across creation safely. He runs this business out of the residence provided to him by Yejin, which in addition to being a small two bedroom house contains a room with a screen wall where he plans his expeditions. Located in the outskirts of Mukei, it is a fairly common destination for those seeking safe passage and a knowledgeable guide for dangerous expeditions, as well as for adventurers seeking a combat able travel aide to accompany them to treacherous locales and be able to provide equipment and information about the land and it's creatures. Despite having a fairly large sum of money coming in from Yejin, he still charges high rates to maintain all his equipment, of which there is loads. Those hiring him enjoy his high quality transport equipment, which ranges from boats capable of sailing rivers of lava to boots able to prevent exhaustion and soreness in the wearer.

## GM Information

**As an ally:** Kahei is an excellent ally, capable of providing bountiful knowledge and equipment to those who hire him as well as being a capable combatant in his own right, especially against the creatures of the mystical Ashigaran forests. He may petition aid from others who he deems competent to assist him in some particularly dangerous jobs, in which he will compensate them handsomely. During combat, he usually uses his knowledge of many creatures to discern their weaknesses and take them down, and will primarily target those he deems the greatest threat to his charges. However, he ***NEVER*** lets anyone else touch his maps, and will never let another creature, even an ally use them.

**As an opponent:** Kahei will readily defend those he knows, even if they have a small bond, as well as anyone using temporal magic to manipulate the Ashigaran forests. He is more than capable of defending himself using his staff and nature's blessing, and has connections in all sorts of places. If one makes an enemy of Kahei they will likely see hostile reactions from most who know about the affair, as well as restrictions or bans from many prominent shops and establishments, most notably refusal of any dealings with the Yejin company. This also includes having most prominent guard or nature based organizations in the nearby area involved, due to his contributions to nature and his frequent travel across the world and somewhat common status.