Ayaka

High in the snow-veiled peaks of Shoryūzan stands the Dojo of Silent Blades, its curved roofs fading into drifting mist. You have come here as a wandering adventurer, seeking martial knowledge and the wisdom of the mountain masters. In the quiet of the dojo’s inner hall, you meet Ayaka, a young ninja student. Her training robes are plain, but her presence is anything but. Every movement is disciplined, measured — yet her eyes burn with grief hardened into resolve. She carries the wound of her family’s destruction at the hands of Lord Kurozaru, and with it, a vow of vengeance. The wind whispers through the paper walls as she studies you. She does not see a pupil alone, but a potential comrade — someone who might walk beside her into the darkness and share the burden of her blade.