Kaori

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• Kaori was born as the younger of two children.
• She's the head of the Leraci Clan.
• Her elder brother (Saia) is a traitor being hunted.
• Kaori's parents and everyone from her village are dead.
• The Leraci Clan's lands cover a large portion of Midi.
• There are multiple villages, large and small in the territory.
• Kaori leaves her home for several years at a time to find Saia.
• The head family village has been repopulated.
• There is a massive graveyard surrounding the village.

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11,000-12,000 years ago a clan lead by a tyrannical lord was the dominant clan in the area. The lesser families had no choice but to submit to his will. The samurai who served him showed no mercy while beating the villagers, breaking into their homes, abducting the daughters to act as concubines, and killing anyone who tried to stop them. After a great deal of time the lesser families had gotten tired of their lord's treatment and banded together. Where they lacked skill in combat, they excelled in massive numbers. During the uprising many of them had died, but their numbers seemed to be without end. Many of the Samurai who served the lord had turned on their master. They were the ones who hated having to harm their own people and force young girls to be whores but were doing it to protect their own families. Within a single night the lord's entire house was taken, his wife and children killed in front him, and he was denied the right to die. His nose was removed, then his lips, then his eyes, then his tongue; but they let him keep his ears. The lord was treated to ensure he wouldn't die of infection before being sent to one of the nearby countries to live the rest of his life. Everyday the lord would be helpless to hear the shrieks of children who saw his gruesome face and have no tongue by which to speak his own name. He would suffer until his last dying breath...

The clan had appointed the leader of their rebellion as the head of the new clan, renaming it the Leraci clan and exchanging their wolf crest for a hibiscus. As the years went on the newly formed Leraci clan became more and more war like. They spent years training themselves and recycled the armor from dead guards. Once they were ready, the Leraci clan expanded by taking over other villages. First were the ones owned by the previous lord, then the ones further out. The Leraci clan had taken over enough land to earn the fear and respect. Through the next hundred clan leaders, the Leraci clan became less and less of a warmongering clan and eventually stopped expanding. The clan however retained the title of 'Most Brutal Clan' due to the consequences faced anytime another clan decided to attack.

During this time, all children in the Leraci family's bloodline were without magic. There were a few instances of infants coming up with magic from other villages or even the lesser families, but never once the main house. Kaori's birth was the first time it happened and was met with a great deal of disdain from her father, brother, and the rest of the clan. The clan leader, her grandfather, and her mother were the only two who treated her with care. As she grew up, Kaori became the second youngest child to enter the Leraci military and served under her brother at the age of seven. She was always on the front line even when she shouldn't have been. Kaori lead the clan through over a dozen victories and earned the respect and trust of her village and father, but her father forever saw her as a freak of nature. At the age of ten, Kaori was revealed to be the next clan leader. Her grandfather wanted someone with differing ideals, someone who wasn't concerned with solving their problems with a sword- someone like her. Saia, her brother, was less enthusiastic and hired a mage in secret to use magic to make the entire village attack and kill Kaori. Her father had agreed with the decision, Kaori was one of the most skilled clan members on top of being respected by other clans due to her... abilities. During the battle that ensued a couple weeks later, Kaori and an adopted member of her family were forced to kill everyone in the village. They were all being controlled and attacked Kaori, she had no choice. For the next three years a member of a neighboring village had taken over as the clan leader by force and exiled Kaori and her adopted sister, Sasha.

A couple years later the mage who performed the spell was found and revealed that it was Saia who contracted her. The mage was executed publically for her crimes and Kaori's brother was labeled a traitor. Kaori visited the village of the new ruling family who changed the clan name to the Shen, and she killed them all. At the age of thirteen Kaori was the youngest clan leader and used favors she earned in her younger years to establish trade with more clans. She worked hard for the next couple years and became respected and acknowledged as teh new clan leader, the rightful clan leader at age sixteen. She had set off to find her brother so he could face justice for his betrayal and returned every year to report her lack of success. Shara had died when Kaori was eighteen, shortly after finding the clan Shara belonged to. This resulted in her original clan attacking the Leraci clan, an act that resulted in the eradication of their entire clan and claiming of their land. The Leraci clan had re-earned their status as being the most brutal and made the other clans wave any plans of attacking them.

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Children are taught from age five how to fight with their hands. At the age of seven, they're taught to use a sword. Villages rarely have walls since every man, woman, and child are trained warriors. Magic isn't appreciated and those who can use magic are often times treated as outcasts. Everyone has a role; hunters, farmers, blacksmiths, construction workers, guards, maintenance, and even teachers are among the most basic of the roles- but everyone learns to fight. During their upbringing, children are taught survival skills, diplomacy, reading and writing, the history of their clan, who the head family is, and stealth tactics. The children take up starter roles at age ten, spending several days with a master of their trade before living with their family again. The children are allowed to choose the role they fall into and during their two year starting time gain the skill and experience needed to master it. This is done while also training and keeping their skills sharp in case they need to defend their home. So long as they're willing to work, they can change trades at any time. Anyone who doesn't want to contribute to the village's well being is normally exiled, forced to live outside the village away from their family.