Sweet Augustine

Sweet Augustine is the name of a ship that met its violent end in a natural harbor one late summer. It's also the assumed name of the man who woke up in its wreckage, pinned with splintered wood through the leg and no memory of who he was, or how he'd gotten there. It was, in fact, the very siding that bore the ship's name that had him pinned in the surf, and after pulling it out and dragging himself onto dry land, the man decided it was as good a name as any. It had kind of chosen him, in a way.

Sweet Augustine wasn't the only ship in that grisly graveyard: there were at least 3 others (possibly more, the wreckage made it difficult to say), and all bore at least a few remains of crew members. Sweet Augustine (the man this time, not the ship) was apparently the only survivor. Not sure if he should be devastated, glad to be alive, out for revenge, or what, some kind of mysterious glowing woman shortly appeared before him like a holy vision to make absolutely nothing any clearer to him. She informed him it was his duty to "go east", helpfully pointed out east for him, and then disappeared again. Sweet Augustine (he decided he would shorten that to Augustine, or maybe just August) quickly found out that if he hadn't made any eastward progress in a day, his dreams would be haunted by horrific visions, all violence and viscera, terror and despair. It made for very unrestful sleep. August figured he should probably follow the only doctrine he knew, and began to travel east.

He made enemies and allies as he went, and everything he saw he saw for the first time. He quickly discovered he was clueless as to even the very basics, and had to learn as he went. For example: what the fuck is a handshake? Sure, he knows people generally have names, but are you sure you exchange them upon meeting others? Even if you don't intend to spend very long with them? Absolutely wild. August was a quick study, but there was a lot to learn. And to make matters worse, or at least stranger — sometimes there were things he did know. He picked up a bow once, borrowed from a man he traveled with for a few weeks, and it instantly felt familiar in his grip. His aim was pretty damn good, too. Once, hitting the dead center of a target, he remembered lining up a shot and watching a skull split under his arrow. So, that was a little jarring.

Memories haunted him now and then, always jolting into his mind as a result of some unexpectedly familiar action. Most of them were unpleasant. August began to suspect he had been an unpleasant, violent man, and did not much care for the thought. He got it in his head that perhaps he'd been killed in that battle he awoke in, and maybe he'd even been restored by some kind of greater being as a second chance. As that glowing "go east" lady never reappeared, it was all just guesswork. August began tentatively doing good deeds, just in case. Did it make the bad dreams slightly less bad? Hard to say. Regardless, he carried on, headed east and making cursory attempts to do good things when it occurred to him to. He has yet to see any progress or gain any results, but as a wandering vagrant without any conceivable purpose or goal, what better does he have to do than follow instructions and hunches?

August is, if nothing else, very good at taking instructions. He's devoted several months of his life already to following the suggestion of a lady he saw for 5 seconds (although he's got pretty good motivation to, what with the dreams). He's a blank slate that doesn't really mind following orders, if only because he's curious what the result of them will be, and where they'll get him. I'm excited to take such a blank slate to a game like this, to see what kind of guy all that youkai business shapes him into. He might get fed up with mysterious forces in his head and rebel just to be a dick, or he might become their most fervent supporter. He would certainly humor a voice in his head for a while, it being such a new and interesting experience to him. (Also, possibly totally normal? He doesn't have much of a gauge for that.)

● Your character finds an injured okami deep in the woods. Its leg is broken, trapped under a fallen tree, but it’s clearly in good health otherwise. They know this type of youkai is able to discern the morality of their past actions, and can turn hostile to them based off that judgment. What do they do?

Oh, absolutely not. There is no way August can take a chance like this. He's almost certain he's done some really shitty things (even if he doesn't know what those shitty things were, maybe the dog knows!), and there's no way the decent fellow he's been since then could possibly balance that out. The rules, as he understands them, tell him that helping out this okami will result in punishment, possibly death, and he would really like to avoid both of those things. Without an ounce of guilt in him, August will stare that dog right in the eyes as he slinks back into the bushes and beats a hasty retreat. Hopefully it dies there and he never has to face the consequences of this decision!

● Your character's worst enemy asks to meet alone by moonlight in a remote location, to discuss temporarily banding together against a larger threat. How do they respond to the invitation?

August's worst enemy is probably someone he disagreed with once and maybe punched, let's be honest. He's not been around long enough to get any truly deep grudges going, and he's usually too distracted by new and confusing experiences to hang onto anger at anyone for too long, anyway. Having not much of the ego it takes to maintain hating someone, it's really no problem at all for him to cheerfully stroll into this meeting. Something good is about to happen, they're about to take down a threat! He can put aside a difference or two for that, no problem.

It would probably not occur to him to consider this a maybe trap, or come armed. What do you mean his enemy may not feel the same about putting things behind you?

● Your character has the option to lead a rampaging oni away from path where it would find and attack a lone, inhabited farmhouse. However, the only road they can distract it down leads to the city, where it will inevitably do more damage. What do they choose to do?

Augustine would spend several seconds too long in paralyzed indecision, trying to figure out what the "good deed" here would be. Would it be to divert it to the city, for the one-on-one personal satisfaction of having spared that guy's farm? That guy would probably be pretty grateful to him, and that's a good thing. Or is it better to save everything in town, and get that farmer mad at him? If a lot of people are mad at him, does that kinda spread out and disperse the anger, and make it easier to bear? Is it better to have one guy's praise, does targeted praise count for more than general appreciation? And what if the folks in the city never even hear about what he saved them from, then what's the point of that?

Of course, by then the oni has stayed on its path and trampled the farmhouse, and the decision is made for him. Well! Oops! Moral quandaries are hard, he needs extra time on this test.

● A shrine of a powerful god offers your character a unique boon crafted to overcome the biggest challenge they’re currently facing. In return, it only asks to be able to possess your character for a 24 hour span of its choosing, which they will not necessarily get warning for. How do they feel about the exchange, and more importantly, do they accept it?

August has not really been alive long enough yet (that he remembers) to have much of a grasp on long-term consequences. He needs this thing done now, and this is a way to get it done. And since he's never experienced being controlled by some outside force, well, how bad could it be? His imagination is already working overtime with trying to get a handle on everyday situations and encounters, he doesn't have the mental bandwidth to consider the negative implications of giving the god control over himself. Even if he did, if someone sat down and really walked him through it, he would probably just shrug. He doesn't hold anything valuable or important (yet), so he doesn't have very much to lose. He'll take today's victory in exchange for tomorrow's uncertainty, no problem.