OC SPOTLIGHT February: Kazuo // mostly sfw

this oc spotlight is going to be a little different, because i want to talk about the character's role in two different stories, set in two completely different universes.

the first story takes place in our weird underground desert empire. it's a low fantasy and very folklory setting populated by monsters, its society and aesthetics primarily inspired by various elements of ancient chinese, arabic, and egyptian culture. it's also the home of characters like weshau and minoru, tha'ra and soha, iskandar and renza, and a bunch of others you might already be familiar with.

the other setting is 'Gods Among Us' (GAU), which is set in a version of the real world where magic and witchcraft and divinity is real and where we create characters and stories inspired by mythology, religion, and folklore. here you'd also find vanu and hadrien, samuel and isaac, nian and tu shen, luca and rin, etc. 

kazuo's basic design is largely the same in both settings. he's a shapeshifting monster person with antlers, fangs, a strong built, and a fluffy tail. his quadrupedal form is large and powerful, his were-form is tall and regal, and his most human-like form is fast and agile. his basic personality is quite stern, determined, prideful, and stubborn. he's unforgiving, stoic, loyal, and humourless; not exactly a people person. 

-----

in the desert setting, kazuo is an imperial agent. specifically he's an inquisitor, an expert at dealing with magical and supernatural threats to the safety and well-being of the empire--through any means necessary. this includes rogue sorcerers, magical beasts, dangerous spirits, and malevolent ghosts. for kazuo, his work is his life. he never allows himself any down-time and takes a lot of pride in doing it well. he's known to be stern and unforgiving, treating his opponents like weeds in a garden; his goal is to uproot them for good, by any means and at any cost. if kazuo gets on your case, you'd better run.

he's not exactly mortal so he's been around for a long while, and has earned a fair bit of renown and respect for the feats he has managed. but being respected by the lawful and feared by the lawless is not a recipe for making friends. the empresses value his hard work and the so-called imperial triad (the highest officials) trust him, but he really is married to his work. at the start of his character development arch he tells himself that this is the way he likes it; that he doesn't mind being alone. the empire is more important.

kazuo was originally a sentinel, that is, part of the imperial police. but after he played a part in ending the civil war that ravaged the empire a few centuries prior--specifically with killing a spirit that was encouraging and feeding off of the discord caused by it--he was rewarded with the title of inquisitor. 

i joke that kazuo's theme songs are "stars" from les miserables and "falcon in the dive" from scarlet pimpernel--he's kind of a javert or chauvelin type of person. he's obsessed with duty, doing his job perfectly, and always finishing what he's started. he's an agent of the law but as an inquisitor he's also occasionally above the law--he's not only allowed to do whatever it takes to finish his mission, he's willing and capable. "to make an omelet you have to break some eggs." 

he's been the bane of many a rogue and criminal, perhaps most notably the so-called "black sun." in this underground empire, darkness and shadow is familiar and safe--light, on the other hand, is bad and destructive. the black sun was an infamous light monster who wreaked havoc throughout the empire, wielding terrifying light magic. he murdered imperial dignitaries and military officers, destroyed anyone and anything else that came in his way, and seemed too powerful to capture or kill. he eventually made it to the capital itself, targeting prominent aristocrats and officials and reducing a few city blocks to smoldering embers in the process. but kazuo worked together with the sun knights and shadow guards to finally organise his capture. 

kazuo would have preferred that the black sun was executed, but a scientist proposed that research on this light monster may produce the cure for the worst disease known in this land; the light plague. the black sun was imprisoned in a high security prison instead, where the scientists could conduct their studies and experiments, but no-one ever found out why exactly he did what he did. he seemed to have been picking targets off of a hitlist, but no manner of interrogation would make him reveal why--or who he'd been working for.

kazuo always considered the capture of the black sun as a personal success and a personal failure, and the same time. the uncapturable criminal was caught, but allowed to live, and the mystery surrounding his actions irked kazuo to no end. 

and then, after decades of imprisonment, something unthinkable happens; the black sun escapes. kazuo immediately gets on the case, taking it rather personally--and it doesn't help that he soon discovers that an old ... acquaintance of his had a hand in it.

haruki is a fox spirit, directly associated with the realm of shamassah, the blind god of trickery, illusion, gambling, deceit, mischief, lies, and thievery. he's a cheeky devil who's always enjoyed annoying kazuo (and other grumpy people who take everything too seriously) just for the fun of it. kazuo is a clever bastard, but haruki is an expert at tricky deviousness and so repeatedly outsmarts the inquisitor in hilarious little ways. it's only when kazuo has started understanding how haruki works that he manages to outsmart him in return, which leaves haruki disgruntled--but impressed, perhaps even intrigued. kazuo threatens to kill him but haruki convinces him to give him his freedom back on the condition that haruki promises to show up and help if ever kazuo calls for it. 

of course, kazuo is too proud to call for anyone's help, much less a spirit. even after he's left mortally wounded and alone in the desert (courtesy of an encounter with a flying magical beast that managed to carry him off before he killed it), he refuses to call on haruki. in fact haruki stumbles on him by accident, huddled up in an old ruin with no food, water, or medical supplies, and too wounded to move. it's only then that kazuo swallows his pride and asks for his help, leaving them even. haruki treats his wounds, helps him get back home, and during that trip they're more or less forced to get to know one another better.

from then on, the tone of their relationship is slightly different. haruki still enjoys annoying him, and kazuo still regularly threatens to exorcise haruki, but they have a new-found respect and appreciation for one another, though none of them would admit it. 

but then, some time later, kazuo learns that it was haruki and a certain daivan priest that broke the black sun out of prison. 

what happens afterwards is really more the story of "the black sun"--whose actual name is Lei--and the priest, khayri. suffice to say that they had good reason to break lei out, because a certain god have certain plans for him. kazuo eventually catches up to them and what starts as a violent antagonistic encounter ends with kazuo being forced to realise that he couldn't possibly defy divine orders. he's convinced to join their cause and their group, and in an unexpected turn of events kazuo ends up helping and protecting the black sun on his mission rather than hunting him down. 

throughout all this, kazuo goes from having a very black-and-white idea of right and wrong to viewing the world in a much more nuanced and complex way. he used to think that most spirits deserve to be either exorcised, killed, or tamed--and then he ends up falling in love with one. him and haruki go from merely tolerating one another to sleeping with one another--which is quite significant, since kazuo is very demisexual. for the first time in a long while, kazuo allows himself to care about something that isn't work. it does him good.

-----

in GAU, on the other hand, kazuo is an ancient woodland spirit--a kami of sengoku japan. he's the guardian of a forest where he's treated as a leader by the local spirits and worshipped by the local humans.

as a general rule he'll reward those who earn it--those who treat him and his forest with the proper respect --and punish those who deserve it. he's venerated for the help he's occasionally provided in past times of need, and feared for the merciless determination with which he hunts down those who earn his ire, whether human or spirit. in his stern pride he can be fickle in judging others; he never forgets a slight and is loathe to forgive. he's especially harsh with respect to his forest, since he'll tolerate no human bullshit or spiritual idiocy on the premises. but his forest has also become something of a safe haven for pure souls who would face great danger outside it, for whatever reason. kazuo takes pride in ensuring their safety, as long as they keep playing by his rules.

this kazuo has known haruki for a long while already; haruki is a tricksy tanuki who occasionally annoys kazuo with his harmless shenanigans, but as a resident of the forest he's also under kazuo's protection. 

not too far from this forest there's a castle and a powerhungry human lord, kagehiro, who recently betrayed and replaced the master he once served. but being a local ruler is not enough for him; he wants more. his court magician shiori knows of an ancient ritual to capture and enslave a powerful spirit, forcing it to do their bidding and essentially turning it into a weapon that few of their enemies would be able to defend themselves against. 

shiori rides out at the head of an expedition to find a suitable beast, a mysterious witch hidden in a palanquin and asking around in villages. a scoundrel who narily escaped kazuo alive after trespassing on forbidden areas of the forest sees their opportunity to get revenge, and so they sell him out, telling shiori that they know where and how to find "a terrible, powerful monster."

it's not easy and many of his men die in the process, but at the end of the day, through trickery and deceit, shiori captures kazuo and brings him back to the castle where the ritual is enacted. kazuo is put in magical shackles that force him to obey any order they give him, and kagehiro and shiori start making plans of conquest. the magician tries seducing the spirit, but to no avail; it only makes kazuo despise him more. kagehiro, on the other hand, finds himself jealous and it's not long before the lord and the witch become lovers.

meanwhile, now that the forest guardian is gone, malevolent spirits and demons are running rampant in kazuo's forest and its surroundings, and the villagers implore haruki to bring their protector back. haruki hesitantly agrees, and on his way to the castle he enlists the help of a thunder yokai known as raikyou. they infiltrate kagehiro's castle in the guise of a humble servant and common soldier, and kazuo has to begrudgingly admit that he's glad to see the mischievous tanuki again. 

it takes haruki a little bit of time to figure out how exactly shiori is keeping kazuo under his control, but at the end of the day haruki outsmarts him and tricks him into breaking the spell; kazuo is free. and kazuo is not going to let shiori and kagehiro's sins go unpunished--nor is raikyou, who (due to his personal history) has a special hatred for greedy and powerhungry men. it escalates into a battle that leaves the courtyards strewn with dead bodies. the only reason kagehiro and shiori survives is because haruki comes up with a punishment that's worse than death; he turns kagehiro into a monster ("as on the inside, so on the outside") and takes away most of shiori's magic. 

the two of them return to the forest, kazuo gets everything back in order, and all is well. the whole ordeal inevitably brings the two of them closer, and against all odds, romance blooms; the forest has never seen a more beautiful spring.

-----

... alright, i hope that wasn't too confusing. hope you enjoyed the read and feel free to comment below if you have any questions or if there's anything else you want to know about kazuo!

// art + kazuo + the black sun/lei + kagehiro + raikyou © me; haruki + khayri + shiori © kubi.