Dawg I want nothing more than a full essay about Shiro ong
Who sent this? The last time I posted anything about Shiro was like 2 months ago. Aside from the ask that just got posted.
Shiro Hane, eldest daughter of Hugo and Delia Hane. Her name translates to "White Wing," a nod to Fire Emblem's Pegasus Knights, which is fitting considering she was created to playtest my homebrew Pegasus Knight class, the Skywatcher. Weirdly enough, her parents don't seem to be named anything japanese, so... They're just weeaboos I guess.
As is Pegasus Knight tradition, she has two younger siblings, Kazia and Sora (translating to Wind and Sky, respectively), and all three of them are color coded - green for her, blue for Kazia the middle sister, and pink for Sora the youngest sibling.
All of them live on the Hane Farm, which exports much of the city's food. She started helping from a young age, and at this point would nearly be capable of running the place if her parents weren't around.
For the most part, her younger siblings look up to her as the ever-perfect eldest sibling, and she does her part in maintaining the image of a perfect paragon. Beauty, grace, charisma, strength, duty - you name it, she's got it, and she makes it look easy. Though rolling max Strength at level 1 certainly doesn't hurt. Her siblings may or may not develop an inferiority complex from this.
As for Shiro herself, she's got a number of heros to choose from in her bloodline alone. Her father's implied to be a retired(?) adventurer, and her grandmother was a legend in her own right. But the one she looks up to most is her grandfather, one "Tin-Hat Donny." Left behind to tend the farm and care for the kids while grandma was out there being a legend , he singlehandedly fended off an invasion of undead from the farm - apparently with such gusto that a corner of the farm remains cursed to this day. "The Killing Field," as it came to be known, is full of fog, and the kiddos have been warned away from going anywhere near it. It's actually uncertain whether or not it's actually cursed, or whether Grandpa Donny made it up to improve sales and reassure customers that they aren't eating bits of zombie, but the result is the same nonetheless. Shiro's been promised that she'll be allowed in after a bit of adventuring experience, but it still irks her that part of the farm is impossible for her to manage for now.
While as with any family there are occasional bits of friction, on the whole they care about each other and plan to form their own flight squadron in the future. After all, there's no better way to perform the Pegasus Knight's sacred Triangle Attack.
Speaking of which, it's basically impossible to talk about a Pegasus Knight without also mentioning said steed. Kenshi is Shiro's personal pegasus, having been assigned to her from a young age by her parents. Both Shiro and Kenshi take this duty vary seriously - though there have been some moments when they wished they didn't, like the time Shiro's siblings painted her horse without her knowledge. Her sibling have got their own pegasi to worry about now, at least.
Reflective of Fire Emblem's mechanics, in combat Shiro and Kenshi act as a single unit - moving as one, fighting as one, and dying as one. Not that either of them have died, but Kenshi doesnt have his own health bar. The nature of a Bonded Mount is more like a transformation such as Rage than a normal mount - part of the reason why I wrote the Skywatcher class was to get around 5e's weirdness with mounts. Ingame, this is explained by the "summoned" mount being a spectral projection of the horse, much like Echo Knight's thing but without the mechanical messiness.
Until recently it was unknown to Shiro that Skywatchers can actually bond to multiple mounts at once. So now she can also summon a motorcycle from hell. It remains to be seen what Kenshi thinks about this. The motorcycle's name is Rohan, mostly because I liked the pattern of names it created. Ken-shi. Shi-ro. Ro-han. Han-e.
Oh yeah, she got the bike after the party killed a man who kidnapped one of their classmates. These are high schoolers. They're currently trying to save several of their classmates, including one of the party's siblings, two of their parents, and one of their party members, from being sacrificed to a dragon.
In combat, Shiro leverages her monstrous strength and unmatched mobility with dual lances. Most pegasus knights (read: GBA Fire Emblems) wouldn't have the consitution to wield such weapons, but that's not a problem for Shiro. Shiro also has the ability to Rally, granting buffs to her allies in lieu of an attack, as well as Canto to grab and move an ally with her enormous movement speed.
Outside of combat, Shiro still has high charisma for social situations, though her track record is about as good at talking herself into bad situations as it is at talking herself out of bad situations. From talking smack to a serial cannibal (and instantly getting downed from full HP because of it) to accidentally inviting a complete stranger to join the party without consulting any of them (out-of-universe, another player was joining the group), she could stand to hold back sometimes. Rallies also give her just a pinch of utility, allowing her to grant proficiency in any skill - briefly. She's also extremely prepared for all sort of situations, carrying tools such as medical kits, disguise kits, and weaver's tools at all times. And... Ropes and chains for some reason. Don't read too much into that.
Shiro's got a thirst for recognition, for validation, for the chance to prove herself. She's got a stubborn streak and a strong sense of justice. She's got a strong body and a sharp mind. Shiro is also so, so very green. I don't mean her color palette (though that's also green) - she's had one week of school and she's facing down life-or-death situations. That's 5e for you.
She's also got signs of a budding romance with the party's cleric, but she's taking that at her own pace. No matter what a talking motorcycle might have to say about it.
Shiro has been a blast to play, both character-wise and mechanics-wise. Can't wait for the next session when she'll finally punch a fish in the face.
