App for thefarshore

[bussounoshima]

Player Information
Name: Oozaru
Contact: Plurk @ escaliers
Age: 24
Other Characters: N/A

Character Information

Name: 28th of Arhat, Sharak Sanzo
Canon: Saiyuki Reload Blast
Canon Point: shot. 4 “Kouten” Chapter 10
Age: 34
History:
Over 12 years ago, a woman was named Sharak Sanzo and inherited the Kouten scripture, one of The Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth. We don't know any details of her life before this. As the name suggests, the scriptures were supposedly used to create Heaven and Earth and they come in a set of five. The Kouten scripture governs over the infinite and the unknown. In order to inherit it, Sharak went through intense training and was selected by the previous guardian of Kouten. One of her fellow trainees, Hassan, fell in love with her during this time and decided to dedicate his life to protecting and following her. Which was nice of him! He's still with her, though Sharak has repeatedly rejected his romantic advances.

Sharak has a fortress in the Himalayas of India, north of where Houto castle and the Gyuumaoh resurrection is happening. She's the top monk in the west, which doesn't mean much now considering that the entire area has become dominated by youkai. When the Gyuumaoh experiments first began, Sharak felt responsible as the authority for the area. She wanted to lead an army on Houto castle to end the Minus Wave, but the Three Aspects instead ordered her to focus her efforts on protecting the humans of the area. With the power of her scripture, Kouten, Sharak can create barriers that cover large areas of land. Several villages are protected from youkai by her barrier, and she's trying to extend her domain even further. However, most of India is now controlled by youkai, with the local humans either being killed or running away.

Eventually, the Genjo Sanzo party arrive in India and meet Sharak. She welcomes them warmly and everyone makes friends pretty quick. The two Sanzos are able to exchange information on the scriptures and on the Gyuumaoh experiments. Sharak confirms they're the cause of the Minus Wave and Genjo tells her about Ukoku Sanzo, the man behind them. The Sanzo party help Sharak and her men defend some of the villages and she and Genjo accidentally activate their scriptures at the same time. This leads to them realising that the scriptures have some effect on each other and that it's probably a bad idea to do it again, though they're both curious about what would happen.

One of the villagers they rescue breaks the source of Sharak's barrier, as his family is being held hostage by Kougaiji and his men. The barriers around Sharak's fortress and the surrounding villages fall and they're attacked by youkai! Sharak has to put all her energy into rebuilding the barriers while Genjo and Hassan protect the fortress from Kougaiji and Dokugakuji. During this fight, Genjo is badly injured by Kougaiji (and within the supposed story of the game here, he dies and becomes a shinki) before the war god Nataku shows up after 500 years in a coma. He brings an end to the fight and vanishes again, just as Sharak finally gets the barrier back up.

A few days later, Sharak and the boys go to visit the Three Aspects and learn what all that was about. They're not really satisfied with any of the answers they get. Sharak and Hassan make a detour to visit a youkai village under Sharak's protection, as she's worried that Nataku might get it into his head to wipe out all the youkai in the area even if they're peaceful. Ironically, Nataku chooses that exact moment to show up. There's a theory that he's actually summoned by the Kouten scripture, as Sharak was intending to use it to strengthen the barrier around the village. Sharak tries to reason with him, but Nataku doesn't listen and instead states his intention to kill all humans and youkai present. Obviously Sharak doesn't take that lying down, but she's swept away to the Near Shore before anything else can be done.


Personality:
The 28th of Arhat, Sharak Sanzo, is the most holy monk in western Asia. Chosen by the gods to protect the Kouten scripture, she is the most divine woman in Shangri'la- and probably the most badass. Like most of the Sanzos we've seen so far, Sharak doesn't really fit the image the phrase "most holiest of monks" brings to mind. She definitely defies expectations on first glance. To start with, she's a woman and the only female monk we've seen so far in the series. She wears her robes in a laid back style with one sleeve hanging off her waist and with the Kouten scripture casually draped over one shoulder and tucked into her belt. Covered in brutal looking scars, she greets Genjo Sanzo with a gun to the head and an approving smile when he returns in kind. She smokes, talks like a yakuza and is quick to leap into battle.

Unlike many of the other Sanzo priests we've seen so far, who work with small groups or alone, she has a small army under her command and acts in a much more militaristic manner. This makes sense, considering her base is right next to enemy territory and she's had to hold out against the youkai at Hotou castle for a years now. Sharak even wanted to raise an army and attack the youkai directly, but the Three Aspects ordered her to stay and focus on protecting civilians. She's very powerful and clearly a well-respected leader. Despite her intimidating manner, her men have a high respect for her and she's beloved by the villagers under her protection. However, despite this, her station does keep her separate from those around her. Goku notes that he thinks she's the same as Genjo Sanzo- she has people she relies on and cares for, but the weight of "Sanzo" is still a heavy one that means she can't be exactly the same as them.

Even though at first glance she's the exact opposite of what one would expect from a monk, Sharak takes her station very seriously. When Genjo tells her about Ukoku Sanzo's actions, she's incredibly offended and decides they have to deal with him so that he doesn't bring shame to the name of Sanzo. (Better late than never, Sharak). Her duty is to protect the people of her region- human and youkai alike- and she feels responsible for them. She worries about her actions driving the youkai to extinction, as they're hunted by humans and are pushed out of the region by her barrier, so she makes sure to include those willing to ally with her under her protection. She even goes against Nataku to defend those youkai, saying she'll take responsibility for them. Gojyo mentions that it's nice to see the remaining high priest is a "good person" ie. not a racist asshole. Sharak preaches love and understanding, in contrast to her rough manner, and treats the people under her protection kindly. She even takes time in battle to comfort frightened children and is affectionate with the kids in the youkai village. She also praises the youkai for holding out against the Minus Wave on their own when they thank her for helping them and try to give her the credit.

A female priest is pretty unusual within the world of Saiyuki, but Sharak refuses to be treated any differently due to her gender. She even tells Hassan not to look at her like she's a woman, though in that case it was probably more to do with her shooting down his romantic advances. But, all the same, she clearly doesn't enjoy being protected or treated delicately. When a village was under attack Hassan went to volunteer to go but before he could, she took Genjo's passenger seat in Jeep and didn't let anyone say anything about whether she was going with them or not. She's very stubborn about it, telling Hakkai she isn't used to words like safety or guarantee when he warns her it might be dangerous. While we’re on the subject of womanhood, she mentions that she is unable to have any children of her own though it is unclear if she means it’s because of her position or because of some physical condition. However, she can still protect others and it’s clear that she’s fond of children.

Talking about her relationships with others, the big two for her so far are Genjo Sanzo and Hassan. Genjo is the first of her colleagues that Sharak has met in person since she took the title herself, and she’s the first Genjo has met that hasn’t been a creepy, evil fuckwit to him. So they’re both pretty happy to get the chance to hang out and click pretty quickly. As mentioned above, the weight of “Sanzo” can be a heavy one and it’s nice to spend time with someone who understands that fully. Sharak sees Genjo as an equal, someone who doesn’t need her protection and who she can consult on Sanzo business openly. She’d heard about him long before he went west and initially had her doubts about him. A child taking on the mantle of Sanzo? And he’s already lost one of his master’s scriptures? But seeing him make it all the way to India and meeting him in person has convinced her otherwise and she praises him for doing as well as he has. They have a good, positive relationship that I am terrified is going to get her killed because Saiyuki is that kind of story sometimes.

Hassan isn’t too excited about Genjo becoming so close to Sharak at first, getting pretty jealous and making a move on her. It sounds like it isn’t the first time she’s had to tell him no. Hassan reaffirms how serious he is about loving her and Sharak says he has odd taste, leaving the room looking a little upset by the exchange. Despite him being in love with her putting some tension on their relationship, he's clearly an important friend to Sharak. She trusts him completely and relies on him. While Sharak is focused on reforming the barrier, she's attacked by Dokugakuji and then the fortress starts to collapse around her ears. At no point during this does she falter in the slightest, not even opening her eyes or pausing in her chanting, while Hassan protects her with his own body. He's her second in command and they've known each other for years.


Abilities: Buddhist magic, marksmanship, martial arts. That's all stuff that's part of the Sanzo training, which basically involves some old monks trying to kill you in different ways for several months. We see her spring a trap to bind Nataku in vines and we've seen other monks use magic at different points in the series to break barriers, draw people to them and kill youkai. Hassan uses spells to attack enemy youkai and to make cuts appear on someone's body. Since he had the same training Sharak did, we assume she can do that too.

Sharak can activate the powers of the Kouten Scripture, which she claims are used to defend though it is said to embody the unknown and the infinite. This means she can make large and small barriers, to either block attacks or keep enemies out of select areas. After a while in game, she'll probably put one up around her temple, just to be safe. She carries fire arms as well. We see her use an automatic pistol and a submachine gun and considering she's lived this long as Sanzo, she's presumably very good with them.

As a priest, Sharak is well educated, particularly in areas like philosophy and religion. She's an intelligent woman and very well-spoken, when she isn't impersonating a yakuza boss. She also has experience managing a fortress and army and with protecting a large area filled with people, so she's competent when it comes to organising that sort of thing. She also talks about hunting and gathering food, so she probably has good wilderness survival skills.

Strengths: Strong, kind, intelligent, commanding, compassionate.
Weaknesses: Puts herself on a pedestal, impulsive, quick to anger, emotionally distant, can be self-deprecating.

God/Shinki: God
Why?: Well, Sanzos are supposedly chosen by the gods, and are the highest ranked priests in Buddhism. So it seems fair that Sharak would become a god herself. I also like the idea of her taking on a shinki and feeling responsible for them, what with her role as a protector in canon and her feelings regarding motherhood. From an OOC standpoint, playing her without memories isn't something I'm keen on for the moment.
Top 3 Choices: Aditi, Kartikeya, Shed.
God Type: As a Sanzo priest, Sharak's original identity is always going to be very important to her and so she will be reluctant to embrace the new identity Heaven has picked out for her. She'll likely answer prayers that interest her or seem really important, like if someone is in danger or it's so unique she feels it deserves a closer look. On the whole she'll be more concerned with the Near Shore and figuring out what's going on with the new gods and shinki. That said, any shinki she accumulates she'll feel very responsible for and she'll take protecting and guiding them seriously though she may find the "partner" part of it a little more difficult.
Power: Walking on air- if she can imagine a surface, she can stand on it. She wants to get ten meters in the air, she can imagine some steps and walk up there. If she's falling, she can imagine a surface mid-air and stand there. So, like flying except she has to physically walk whatever distance she travels. As she grows more confident with the ability, she'll be able to extend it to other people by keeping physical contact with them.

Writing Sample

Sample:
Bakerstreet thread with Goku.
Test drive with a few people, Konzen thread should be long enough.

Other

Anything Else?: