Tachibana Miko

• Species (Other)

  Kitsune

• Age

  120

• Gender

  Female

• Residence

  Seattle, state of Cascadia, Vesprian Federation, Parias (North America)

• Hometown

  Zekkei, Muko-Gawa, (South) America

• Occupation

  Accountant, Mechanic, Singer, Dancer, Musican, Tank Commander, Actor/Stunt Woman, Govenor/ Senator

• Character Images

  

• Physical Description

   

  

• Backstory

   

  Back in the early 2000s, Miko was the self made success story. A refugee fleeing political upheaval in Japan's south american colonies, she joined the Vesperian army, earning citizenship and climbing up the ranks, proving herself as the natural leader, exceptional tank commander and fearless soldier the allies needed in the third great war against the red armies.

  Winning the unwinnable, earning her medals and her praise, she served her 20 years, got her lifetime penchant, retired and went off to do whatever she wanted for 30 years. She represented the Vespy dream of the old west. People traveling from far and wide to the new frontier, a land free from old laws and expectations, where anyone can make their way and reinvent themselves, free from what they were in the past. 

  Exceptionally talented dancer and part time instructor at the Bruce Lee academy of dance. Would've stayed if the scene wasnt filled with image conscious premadanas. Won martial arts tournaments the world over. Her dance paired with her martial arts and infamy landed her roles in plenty an action film. Continued to do more action films, even working low budget grindhouse flicks just to spite the critics who said she was wasting her time by refusing more dramatic roles. Was a fan of the new fangled genre of heavy metal, so she joined in and formed her own speed metal act. Made the songs even faster and the lyrics more objectionable just to piss off the detractors in her "age group." 

  But then the dimensional incursions happened, and Salem followed. That got Miko's attention and made her think "That won't be good. I may actually have to use my talents for more magnanimous reasons now." So while Salem hosted it's first four years of university, Miko went back to school herself to learn the nuances of politics. Upon her graduation, she parlayed her fame and media attention, her respect from the older generations and her popularity with the younger ones into a politcal capaign for govenor of Cascadia (Washington + Northern Oregon and Southern edge of BC) in '92. And that's where she started putting some of Vesperia's first anti-magic legislature. 

  She wasn't preachy about it. She wasn't like the hellfire and brimstone "magic is satanic and unatural!" types. Nor was she quite the "they'll take our jobs and conquer the country!" type. No, she spun magic use as a choice made by the weak. It was a crutch keeping people from their true potential. After all, if you didnlt feel your best without magic, you werenlt gonna feel your best with it. Worse still, that crutch could become a burden. Magic wasnlt liberating. It was limiting.

  "It would weigh on your mind. It would seperate you from everyone else. And you had no choice in the matter. It was not power that was earned. It was not power you worked for. It wasn't power you spent a life time mastering and cultivating. It wasn't even power you wanted. It was power cast down at random from an indifferent universe to people who happened to exist at the wrong palce at the wrong time. How fair was that?" 

  That was Miko's game. Convincing people that they didn't need magic. That it was a curse. An unfair burden and a crutch used by the weak. An easy way out. The pitfall to deny yoruself your true potential.

  To work towards having your own power. To be someone whose earned their power in life. Not to be someone who was given power at random, never having even earned it or even asked for it. So how fair was it that people like that were given even more power and preferential treatment in life? It was now a question of fairness and pride. Magic only existed to be managed and ignored. That was the sign of true strength. Having magic and not needing it. 

  So for 8 years, she magic proofed one of the biggest states in the Vesperian federation. Boosted funding for the tech industry to make magic application obsolete. Kept building of magic portals to Salem out of the major cities. Cracked down on magic favoritism in bussiness. Upped fines for public magic use. Made permits difficult to get. Restricted the sale of magical items, rescources and potions. Funded bootleg Salem schools that operated more like clinics to teach concealment and moderation of magic as a condition, not a power. 

  Other leaders across the country copied her methods to varying extremes, but Vesperia's anti-magic leanings can be traced back to her, as could the headaches of many a domestic mage. Miko managed to make magic into a political issue. When her term finished, she capaigned and got elected to the USV senate, where she could encourage her policies to be spread on a more national level. 

  But her work didn't come without a price. The press was aware that her husband Alex was a mage, and expected her stance to drive a wedge between them. Their happy,  quirky relationship fractured. While they didn't divorce, they did seperate, trading custody of Ryuko every other week. They were cordial in the press, improving her image that her issue with mages wasn't personal, but were still a broken family. This helped the public put further trust in her. She's serious about this if she's willing to risk the love of her life for this cause. She kept up the witchhunt. He resumed the witchcraft at Salem, and it went that way for over a decade. 

  Until in 2003, she dissappered. 

  Some thought it was retaliation from the mage community. Some thought it was from political rivals. Some thought it was an old grudge from the war, or even from her homecountry. But all that came secondary, when the truth of Miko's past came to light.

  She wasn't a refugee fleeing political unrest with the clothes on her back. She was from a politically connected wealthy family, who she turned her back on by starting the political unrest. Her fresh start in the west was made thanks to money she embezzled from them in the chaos. So much for being the self made woman fullfilling the dream. 

  Worst of all, the public got this bombshell. Overwhelming proof that Miko herself, was an enchanted. How she managed to survive so many near death expriences. How she always seemed to have an edge in combat. How she managed to walk away when many, many others didn't. Getting lucky thanks to magic. Salem and the mage communities suspected this for decades.

  They even offered her a place in the first class, only for her to reject it and deny that she had powers, making sure it all got swept under the rug. She never had a day of formal magic training in her life. And many suspected that perhaps this was the cause of her dissaperence. Her powers got out of control and it cost her. Eagle eyed reaserchers even found her wearing a crude nullifying rune on her person in every public apperence she made. 

  Almost overnight, Miko was branded a hypocrite. Denying magic and showing her pride for doing things on your own, while having such powers herself the entire time. And look where it got her. Dead. 

  Her anti-magic policies were rolled back. Wouldn't want anyone else to end up like Miko. Training and exploration of ones own magic was encouraged. Denying the future that was magic was to result in being left behind. 

  But just because she was gone doesn't mean there weren't consequences to be had. Alex knew. He kept his wife's magic a secret. They never even seperated. They met in secret and kept up their family life. He stood by while life was made harder for him and his fellow mages. Alex was made a pariah at Salem. For enabling such behavior from her and never coming clean. He left Salem and the mage community at large. Went to salvaging what was left of his wifes legacy, and left the country with Ryuko. 

  The world moved on, and Miko was made into the last thing she wanted to be. An example of being weak and powerless. To stubborn to admit ones own faults and seek help. Good thing she isn't around to feel the backlash of all her actions. 

   

  TL;DR- Eternally young Kitsune who embezzled from her own rich crime family, gained VF citizenship by fighting in the third great war, became a war hero, retired and became a dancer, martial arts actor, speed metal musician and senator who started the first legislation against magic users. Mysertiously dissapeared, some suspect due to her own supressed magical powers. Now stuck at the same magic shcool she tried to shut down. 

• Personality

  Stubborn, confident, cocky, fearless, loud, outgoing, abraisive, charasmatic, unorthodox, flirtatious, lewd, self- righteous, passionate, blunt

• Likes

  Martial arts, fights, tanks, heavy metal music, dancing, singing, competition

• Dislikes

  Beauracracy, diplomacy, conformity, expectations, high socoiety, daytime TV, ballet, hippies/ yuppies, socialism, government aid programs, democracy,

• Friends

  Alexander (husband), Ryuko (daughter)

• Rivals

  Mage community of Salem

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