Iroha (彩桜春 / いろは) – Lore Summary
Iroha is a tsukumogami yōkai from Inazuma. She was originally a white weasel-hair paintbrush created by an elderly artist over 200 years ago. He used the brush for more than 50 years, treating it like a grandchild—speaking to it and pouring his emotions into his work. When he passed away at the age of 112, he left the brush behind in an abandoned house, along with his lingering regrets and his desire to keep living and painting.
Though a tsukumogami usually requires 100 years to awaken, Iroha gained consciousness after only around 50. Whether this was due to strong spiritual energy or the artist’s powerful will, she will never know.
After awakening, Iroha was taken in by villagers on Narukami Island. Carrying a fragment of her creator’s spirit, she developed a deep passion for painting the world around her.
She now wears a montsuki (a formal men’s kimono) that once belonged to someone close to her creator that kept his clothing. She claimed to be his student to receive it, and it was later restored and redesigned by Chiori. This outfit remains one of her few connections to her creator.
Currently, Iroha travels across Teyvat to refine her art and fulfill her creator’s wish.
While in Sumeru, she wandered the forest in search of Aranara and inspiration, where she encountered a strange figure sitting in a tree. Intrigued, she immediately sketched him—drawn to his unusual appearance and wide hat. Though he initially paid her little attention, both quickly realized the other was not human.
“...You’re not human, are you?”
“What do you think it means to be human?”
This shared understanding brought them closer. As fellow beings from Inazuma who had both spent time learning how to be human, conversation came easily. Over time, they exchanged their thoughts on many hard subjects…
“The purpose of my existence..I have given up on pursuing such feeble matters.”
“Or perhaps you had already found such purpose?”
When Iroha finally came to understand her creator’s true wish, an Anemo Vision appeared on her thigh.
Lineart was done by Tôi Lét on Facebook, while I did the coloring
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