Nori

[sunshinehistory]

Country/Village: Earth, Blue Mountains
Rank: Civilian
Age at Game Start: 108
Birthday: October 29th

Appearance

Hair. The first thing for anyone to notice about Nori is his hair. Auburn in color, it's the most ridiculous hairstyle in the world, shaped into three prongs that stick out above his ears, as well as straight up. In the back, it's tied into a big, short braid. But that's not where his quirks end. Having grown out his facial hair as well, Nori's eyebrows are even braided into his hair. His sideburns and mustache are braided into his beard, which also parts into sections of three and clasped together with silver.

The next thing to notice about Nori is his height- or lack thereof. He stands at about 4'5", childlike but far too broad in stature to be considered one even at a distance. Short and stout, he nevertheless has quick reflexes and light steps, keeping himself clad in soft sole boots and light brown layers of cloth.

Abilities/Powers

Taijutsu		Ninjutsu		Genjutsu		Fuinjutsu		Weapons		Fitness		Speed		Stamina		Intelligence		Hand Seals		TOTAL
6.0		6.0		5.0		6.5		10.0		8.5		7.0		6.5		6.0		5.5		67.0
Offensive	4.0	Chakra Control	3.0	Detection	3.0	Creation	2.0	Range	5.0	Dexterity	5.0	Body Speed	7.0	Physical	4.5	Tactical Ability	3.0	Hand speed	3.5
Defensive	2.0	Jutsu Strength	3.0	Usage	2.0	Removal	4.5	Melee	5.0	Strength	3.5			Chakra	2.0	Emotional Control	3.0	Seal Recognition	2.0

Nori has a remarkable talent for stealth and concealment, skills honed from years and years of practical exercise of infiltration and exfiltration tactics on the job. Agile and light-footed, he's well-accustomed to using his short stature and surprising flexibility to better duck behind obstacles and hide himself from unfriendly eyes. It's a necessary skill, as his shorter legs often prevent him from winning any straight-out races with taller folk.

His lack of reach also tends to pin him at a disadvantage in close-range encounters, and so Nori prefers combat from a safe kunai-throwing distance or through sneak attacks. When forced into melee, Nori tends to favor a spiked battlestaff to compensate for his shorter arms, often keeping an opponent at mid-range until he can properly disable them. He fights with an aggressive mercilessness leftover from participation in the shinobi wars, and has no reservations about utilizing underhanded tactics.

In addition to his battlestaff, Nori's also proficient with swords, axes, and maces. Though rarely used, he keeps them sealed within scrolls and tucked in any of numerous pockets on his person should he need them. But he's very gifted with projectiles, and has kunai and senbon by the dozen, the latter of which is generally tipped in various poisons mostly paralytic in nature. Some of the more common poisons he makes himself, but he barters for those much more complex in nature with knowledge enough to understand the properties and ingredients that make up a given venom. As well, his body boasts a hardy endurance and a good immune system resistant to illness and milder forms of poison.

But what Nori's known most for are his clever, nimble fingers capable of theft under the nose of most anyone the moment their attention wanders. It's an expert skill developed from almost eighty years of practice, and he's quite proud of it, will occasionally show it off by stealing an object then replacing it somewhere else before his target's aware it was stolen to begin with. With such a skill however, Nori's seen the inside of jail cells many times before, and he swiftly took up lock-picking as a countermeasure, as well as spurned an academic, then practical interest in fuinjutsu. He's grown very adept with both, and it's rare that a given jail can hold him for longer than a week.

Nori has a lesser known Earth affinity, one that hardly sees much use in combat with his smaller chakra reserves. He instead uses it primarily to burrow underground or blend in with any surrounding rock to hide himself.

He also has a summons contract with foxes.

Personality

Nori is a thief by nature, a kleptomaniac with sticky fingers so well-versed in the art of pick-pocketing that he might not even realize he's doing it. If something catches his eye and looks to be of value, it's probably disappeared into one of his many pockets or sleeves. Given to mischief, sometimes all he wants to do is replace an object where it hadn't been before, and is fond of doing as much to targets simply for the childish glee of being able to do so.

He's an unapologetic creature, shameless in his thefts and equally blunt to the point of disrespect in social contexts. But for all of that, he possesses an easy smile and good-natured humor, capable of charm and cracking jokes when he wants to. His simple love of food, alcohol, and pipe-weed allows him to strike up friendly conversation with most anyone. With his short stature and eccentric hair style, Nori often comes across as a harmless curiosity capable of making fast friends.

But there's a calculated cunning behind his disarming smile. He makes tactical acquaintances for one reason or another and has gradually built up a reliable network of international contacts. He often smooths relations over with a casual visit and a good drink to go with it every once in awhile and manages to make it all look perfectly effortless and not at all suspicious. As such, he has reliable feelers out in most countries, and is endlessly resourceful in using them.

For all that he's charismatic however, Nori is highly independent. He prefers to work alone, and is rarely inclined to take orders unless it greatly benefits him in some way because he has a strong sense of self-preservation and he holds a great distrust for much of the world around him. But he has great faith in himself and pride in his abilities, and coupled with a daring adventurous streak, Nori often finds himself in the thick of trouble. What he might be out to prove is anyone's guess.

Even more questionable are his loyalties. Faulty at worst and unpredictable at best, in the end, Nori only really seems to look out for himself. It's only sensible in his line of work, but his true loyalties lie in his best kept secret- his two brothers, the only beings in the world he trusts implicitly. He does everything to protect them and keep them safe and unaffiliated with him in any way. He keeps his distance, never mentions them, and claims residence in an entirely different country. It's a fierce loyalty that brings out both the best and worst in him in the form of compassion for his youngest brother, and an utter lack of mercy toward anyone that might harm either of them.

History

Born natively into the Blue Mountains long after the fall of Erebor, Nori grew up knowing little of the world beyond the mountain fortress he was brought up in. There was a battle outside their halls, he was told. The outside world was dangerous and they couldn't afford lose their home a second (a third?) time. For awhile, this was enough for little Nori. Enough to keep him inside and protected until he was old enough to start understanding the consequences of the endless battle that raged outside.

People that left sometimes didn't come back. And if they did, they weren't always whole. They were dying, and one day it could be Dori that might never come back.

Fear and the bone-deep loyalty inherent in the clan as a whole drove Nori to seek weapons training as early as instructors would take him. He trained in their traditional weapons- sword and axe- and attained passable proficiency with them, then took the time to try out half a dozen others simply out of curiosity. Spears, maces, staves, flail and hammer, but ultimately fell in love with the ever versatile knives and daggers. Unusual weapons for a short, stocky clan that often lacked the reach to make them effective primary weapons against their taller enemies, but Nori quite firmly ignored any and all protests against his choice with a single-minded determination.

He loved the quickness with which they could be drawn, their easy flexibility in his hand and between his fingers, and reveled in the lightning-fast flurry of strikes he could land on an opponent with a larger, more traditional weapon. They were light and allowed him ease of movement, could be thrown at a moment's notice, and were just as effective as a sword in the right places. His fighting style took a turn for the unusual by their clan's standards, becoming an agile, light-footed fighter in contrast to the rigid, sturdy stances and heavy handed weapons that were generally favored. He won some spars and lost others, and rose to all challenges with a fierce pride.

But the battle outside their stone walls seemed to close in, and the time for play ended as the people fighting it became ones he knew. Suddenly it was personal, and Nori relented to practicing with a long mace so that he might sooner be allowed to join the fight. There were protests when he made to do so before coming of age, but while he was forbidden from participating directly, Nori managed to talk his way into joining a reconnaissance effort.

He trained in stealth, and excelled at infiltration and ex-filtration techniques as a compliment to his nimble footwork. He was quick and clever, practiced slipping in and out of his family's home without being noticed, then out of the mountain itself and into shinobi camps. When he came back with valuable intel on a risky self-appointed solo 'mission' one night, Nori couldn't remember much beyond the ringing in his ears and the grudging approval in the eyes of some of the more important people in the mountain.

He was placed under temporary house arrest, but Nori considered it a chance to practice his new-found skills, and made a point of escaping whenever possible. Unrepentant, he led many a guard on a merry chase through Ered Luin and while this often resulted in an extension of his punishment, it became quickly apparent that he'd stay put for approximately nothing and with his majority nearing, he was finally put to real field use.

Nori spent ten years flitting in and outside the mountain, gathering intelligence and reporting back on enemy movement. He learned how to spot most sensor-nin and the best ways to avoid detection, then brushed up on his knowledge of human anatomy for the times his missions required him to silence loose ends or even assassinate key targets. He learned that what he was protecting wasn't just a home, but a valuable resource of silver and iron.

It was useful work, good work that minimized their risks, but his favorite assignments were ones where he needed to physically steal information. There was a special thrill in acquisition, of sizing up an object, its guard force, and slipping through to pocket it all unnoticed; creating diversions, escaping notice as outrage broke through the camps in his wake. Nori grew bolder and stole other things, useful things, and the occasional pretty thing to bring back as trophies. Praised and scolded in equal measure, Nori basked in his success up until the day his daring inevitably got him captured by shinobi.

He'd always known that information came at a price, but he'd never interrogated anyone. An altogether unpleasant practice, he decided once the fear and panic drained away to pained resignation. He would've died there if not for a timely raid and lucky rescue. The experience gave him his first real chance to reflect on his chosen path, but ultimately refused to be cowed by it and instead received formal training on resisting interrogation. But it was a skill he didn't have to put to immediate use, as for the very first time in centuries, whispers of a real truce between the Uchiha and Senju reached the Blue Mountains.

A very fragile peace settled over the land, and Nori ventured out to investigate these rumors, exercising extreme caution and ever leery of falling into another trap. Plans for proper settlements were being made, tentative borders drawn, with some ambitious enough to throw around words like 'country' and 'village', and he turned back home with this information just as bewildered as the rest of the world. The clan as a whole retreated into their mountain settlement, determining the temporary peace too fragile to risk disturbing and ultimately distrusting the new alliances being formed.

Nori grew restless within the mountain, grown too used to his freedom. Soon enough, his fingers were wandering again, and bereft of proper targets, his hands found themselves in pockets that didn't belong to him. He was caught and thrown into jail repeatedly until he finally consented to pursue a craft to both occupy his time and work toward his own ends.

Locksmithing proved particularly fascinating to a fledging thief, and Nori took to it more for the knowledge of how they worked and how to take them apart rather than make them. He kept a relatively low profile as he practiced lock-picking, then swiftly made quite the nuisance of himself, getting thrown in various jail cells and then escaping as he grew increasingly familiar with them.

He was all but kicked out of the mountain after a few years, ordered to 'investigate' once again. Fairly pleased with himself, he went without complaint. And so at 46 years old, bright-eyed and eager, Nori adopted a new name and ventured out into the new world with only a loose idea of where to go. It was a strange peace that had settled over the continent, one that allowed for open travel with only a moderate risk of attack by the few that opposed the idea of civilization. It was a vast improvement from the time that stepping out the mountain often meant being drawn into a bloodbath.

However, it was also just a little boring, and he was of the mind that it was a kind of peace that wouldn't last.

True to form, it was only two years later that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara clashed in the Valley of the End, and the unraveling peace sparked into war once again. For awhile, it was like nothing had changed, and Nori found himself in the thick of it despite best efforts to remain neutral. Alone with no backup or support, these years proved to be the hardest as he was forced to rely on nothing but his own skills and resourcefulness to get him out of various sticky situations. With a thief's luck, he made increasingly narrow escapes before he sustained significant injuries that would've made it impossible, and barely managed to fight or flee just before his body gave out on him.

But difficult as those years had been, Nori found a certain pride in his accomplishments, tasted true independence and thrilled in it. And so rather than return to the Blue Mountains with the (surprising) end of what would later be called the Great Shinobi War, he continued to roam and found that he loved the wide, open world so much more than his mountainous homeland. He picked up a couple ninjutsu while he was at it, experimenting with a new-found interest.

At one point, he even stumbled across a traveling troupe and laughingly joined them for a time. Made up of wanderers after his own heart, Nori learned various sleight of hand tricks and performed knife-throwing feats with a showman's flare for the dramatic. His own movements adopted a pronounced flourish and delighting in the new company he found himself a part of, found his first real friend in the outside world.

But it couldn't last forever, and Nori received a shock in the form of a letter from his brother stating that their mother was pregnant and expecting another child. It took a few months (and then an extra couple weeks) to get home, but he managed to be there for his younger brother's birth. Ori's pudgy face and warm brown eyes awoke an unexpected surge of love and devotion in Nori, and he took to the newest addition in their family with cheer and a real hope for the future.

The birth wasn't without its complications however, and after a tumultuous two years in which their mother's health waxed and waned, Nori and Dori found themselves the sole support for their youngest brother.

They mourned, but little Ori proved an effective distraction took up most of their time and attention. Dori took over most of his care, while Nori set aside his tricks and illegal dealings to take up real trade work for a time in an effort to help support them. But his fingers itched and his work brought him no measure of real satisfaction, and all too soon he was up to his old habits again. And as Ori grew up, the tensions in their household rose. Nori chafed under the rigid structure of domestic life, and Dori approved even less of his illegal ventures with an impressionable child in the house. After six years it became too much, and Nori left with a need to feel the wide open road beneath his feet again.

It seemed he'd barely left however, when the Second World War crashed through the stability of the new world order. Villages now firmly aligned with solidly drawn country borders clashed, and all too aware of his precious child brother in the Blue Mountains, Nori's feet found their way back north, where he patrolled and defended the country's border and mountain itself from invaders. It was during this period that he discovered his knack for sealing and took the opportunity to hone the new skill as much as possible. The number of knives and daggers he kept on his person tripled, and Nori discovered many new uses for all of them.

All the while, he got to watch Ori grow up into a teenager and regaled him with wild tales of his adventures in between patrols. Even his usual disagreements with Dori were on more of an even keel than they had been in the past, and together they encouraged Ori to seek out his very own craft in a deliberate effort to steer him away from combat despite his inherited strength. The war lasted nine long years, and Nori solidified his connections in Lightning and grew closer to his brothers. So much so that it was harder to leave them than ever before, but with his brothers safe, Nori again felt the siren call of the road and wandered back out into the world at large- but not before causing a minor uproar for the mountain to remember him by.

He rejoined the Maniwani and drifted in and out of their troupe as they wandered the countryside. He struck deals, took on odd jobs, and relayed information back for a small fee. After acquiring an interesting bottle of paralytic poison, Nori began playing around with poison-tipped senbon and was all too happy to observe their various effects in action when the Third War broke out six years later.

Because for all it was shorter than the Second, the Third war was particularly intensive, forcing a sizable force from the mountain to participate as their settlement fell under threat. It was a hard, desperate fight that called back to the Warring States Era, and sickening in the way even children from the shinobi nations were forced into battle and sabotage. It was here he learned that lasting peace was an unattainable goal, that alliances were weak and mercy was an uphill battle.

There wasn't a lot of time to share with his brothers, but Nori made efforts to check in on them every few months where he could. When it finally ended, he spent a year inside the mountain to recover from the emotional toll it had taken on all of them. Naturally, his wanderlust took hold not long after and he ventured back out again.

He unwittingly uncovered a plot within Kumogakure a few years later, and with firm memories of children fighting a war they shouldn't be and no will to see that happen again anytime soon, Nori adopted a new alias and played a small role in tipping off the new Hokage to the plot. Crisis successfully averted, Nori flitted back in with the Maniwa, then back out when something else caught his interest. He started to send gifts back to the Blue Mountains for his brothers to let them know he was alive, and occasionally stopped in for a brief visit that ultimately left the settlement in various states of chaos.

Nori eventually found his infamy catching up with him, and as legal processes began to establish real order, he secured himself some paperwork that settled him in a small village in Earth Country. He changed his name again, altered his appearance somewhat, and expanded his intelligence networks to keep an ear out for rising tensions between various countries. His role as a part-time performer came to an end as the Maniwani chose to settle in different countries, and he felt the loss of kindred spirits keenly, but will still wander through their chosen settlements to catch up. He has a vested interest in their well-being, and relays pertinent information back to them where he can.

In the meantime, he wanders the wilds as merchant and mercenary, fingers plucking out small treasures as he goes. And every so often, Nori returns home just long enough to check up on his brothers and cause a bit of healthy mayhem in Ered Luin- just to make sure no one's forgotten him.