Moriko
| Moriko | |
|---|---|
| |
| IC Information | |
| Use Name: | Moriko |
| Gender/Sexuality: | Female/Lesbian |
| Species: | Hamadryad |
| Place of Origin: | Yuriba |
| Age: | 1289 (March 21, 721 - November 15, 2010) |
| Zodiac Sign: | Aries |
| Height: | 5'3"-5'4" |
| Hair Colour: | Variable; usually red-pink |
| Eye Colour: | Sea-green |
| Romantic Status: | N/A |
| Romantic Identification: | Polyamorous, Open, Disclosed |
| Residence: | Maple Enclave, Underhill |
| Occupation: | High Priestess of Akibimi |
| Preferences | |
| Likes: | Autumn, water, birds, a good breeze, light fabrics, dancing, being chronically lazy, people who care about her culture, dangerous women, sass, swimming, gardening, a good story |
| Dislikes: | Being indoors, heavy clothing, technology, winter, people who disrespect her culture, men, innocence, cuddling, Inishie-san |
| OOC Information | |
| Source: | Original Character |
Moriko was one of those few people who could truly claim to be native to Yuriba. She was a casual-tempered, somewhat playful dryad who lived for centuries among the Yuriban people, serving as the High Priestess of Akibimi. She had a reputation among native Yuribans as a somewhat eccentric character known for sleeping for years on end and for waving her legs at people.
She apparently died on November 15, 2010.
Contents |
Psychological profile
General personality
Moriko was a soft-spoken woman who seemed to view the world with good humour. Though she was typically polite to people there wa often an air of understated amusement about her, as though she knew things most others did not. She seemed to delight in never giving straight answers to important questions, especially those regarding her origin preferring to let people discover these things for themselves. Aside from this she tended to be sly and level-headed, and though she could be considered sensual in her mannerisms she was otherwise fairly dispassionate, showing little interest in romance. Her familiarity with the modern village of Yuriba was minimal, though she looked unfondly upon the generally hedonistic atmosphere ushered in by "the foreigners".
Her views on gender relations and religion were mainly in line with those of other native Yuribans. She had difficulty understanding the notions of male-female relationships and masculine deities.
Moriko seldom ate solid food or drank anything other than water. She claimed to sleep for years on end and could often be found napping. She had a great reverence for books that seemed to go beyond mere knowledge-seeking. She was extremely uncomfortable indoors and appeared to be afraid of ceilings, though this manifested more as nervousness than anything else. She frequently went about in the nude, though she considered this entirely natural for a dryad and not in any way sexual. As a concession to modesty and the varying reactions of foreigners she usually did clothe herself when visiting the village.
Romantic preferences
Moriko tended to be fairly selective when it came to relationships. She frowned upon taking casual romance as true love and tended to warn against throwing oneself obsessively into relationships, having expressed the belief that love is best handled through a balance with outside relationships. For her, disagreement within a relationship was not a bad thing if it is endured: She believed that a relationship can only function if the partners accept each others' flaws and foibles as well as their commonalities. She looked fondly upon relationships tempered through hardship.
She frowned upon high-drama relationships and had been known to be mercilessly blunt to those who would approach her on such a footing.
More negatively she had a well-earned reputation as a cold-hearted pragmatist who had been known to insert herself into relationships with the intent of testing and tempering them. While some saw her as a selfish homewrecker in light of her talent for exploding into relationships and throwing them into chaos, her motives were altruistic and aimed towards testing whether a relationship was strong enough to survive hardship and strife. She considered it an extension of the role of Akibimi in love. Though she seldom admitted it, she did feel somewhat guilty when a relationship splintered because of her.
History
Most of Moriko's early history is poorly documented, largely because she's old enough that many who knew her as a youth have passed on. What is evident is that she was chosen to succeed the old High Priestess of Akibimi at what is typically a relatively old age for a dryad - likely between age 100 and 150. She seemed to stop aging entirely around that point, though she's made clear that she's neither immortal nor undying. About a millennium ago she stepped into the role of high priestess and held it until her death. While some rumours suggested she was a direct descendant of Momiji, this has not been conclusively proven. Though she claimed to live under the hill, the tree associated with her appeared to grow above it; in fact her roots ran so deep they apparently reached from the island of Yuriba itself straight through to a pocket of Underhill and out the other side to form an identical maple tree growing on a high hilltop.
Her history in the modern village began in 2006, when she awoke from a long sleep and began to appear on Akibimi-san, offering occasional riddles to travelers and scaring away troublemakers. Upon entering the village itself she renewed her relationship with breisleach and established another with the young plantgirl Genesis Magite, later known as Xenesaris. She developed a relationship with Lumi, though this collapsed following an incident in which Lumi's erstwhile lover Kaslin raided Chikyuu's Heart and stole sacred offerings from the goddess' altar, prompting the dryad to confront him and bring the offerings back.
Later that year she presided over the wedding of breisleach and Irriel, and she struck up a relationship with Symphony, only to find herself dismayed at the girl's apparent departure from the island. She was present at the First Snow ceremony and danced the ceremonial steps there with breisleach and Nagisa Vendaris, after which she informed her friends that for the first time in her life she would remain awake through the winter.
She unexpectedly found herself embroiled in the love network of Hokuto, Nisa, Lyra, Kashiri, and Tess when she and Lyra discovered a strong attraction to each other. Following a period of tension Lyra parted ways with her former paramours, leaving herself and Moriko to explore their mutual attraction. The two proved somewhat reclusive, though she did work extensively with Lyra in preparing the menu and premises for the Four Seasons Cookhouse, which has opened in the village itself.
Her life proved otherwise peaceful and calm, appropriate for a dryad in her advanced age. During the late summer of 2007, however, she once again discovered Symphony and renewed her relationship with her, allowing it to blossom from close friendship and into love.
She was a participant in the 2008 silent auction, not only winning the island's only copy of An Evening for Two but auctioning off a date. This was won by Wildflower. Around the same time she met Kaleaithne at the spring anniversary dance in a rather unusual manner, sharing an intense dance of light and fire with her. The two shared a brief attraction, but with Kaleaithne's abrupt departure Moriko considers the relationship a mere flirtation.
Having parted company with Lyra in early 2008, the dryad kept in touch mostly with Symphony where romance is concerned, mainly spending her time enjoying the springtime weather and looking to expand her circle of friends.
As of November 2008 the High Priestess returned to Underhill for the long term, claiming that with her life drawing to a close within the next century or two, her priority was to train her successor. As of spring 2010, however, she began to appear in the village again. The search for a successor appeared to end around November of the same year, an occurrence highlighted by a sudden marked change in Moriko's appearance: her hair has inexplicably turned white, and she appears to have aged ten to fifteen years all at once.
Moriko died of old age after taking part in the First Snow ritual of November 2010, vanishing from the island after the ritual illusion faded. While her tree remains on Akibimi-san and under the hill, nothing grows from it.
Relations
Before her death Moriko had been piecing together a relationship with Molly Harlan since the summer of 2010. She considered breisleach a close friend, having known her well before the founding of Yuriba village. For a time she shared an unusual relationship with Aurane. The dryad harboured a quiet grudge against Kaslin. While at one point she was close to the late Lumi, relations between the two had broken down to the point where she took the former Sentry of Fuyuzora's death with only minor, passing dismay. Her most recent romantic links were to Lyra and Symphony; she was also the subject of Kaleaithne's infatuation for a time.
She apparently dated Sior at one point, but the two seldom spoke afterward