Onohiko

Onohiko remembers the taste of sweet-sap dumplings during the autumn festival, back when their face was bare and their hands knew only the rhythm of a drum. That was before a withering blight crept from the wilder edges of the woods, a sickness that laughter and song could not cure. While the others gathered to feast in defiance, Onohiko slipped away, seeking a fire hot enough to cauterize the rot. They found it deep beneath the pale trees, a single, malevolent ember left from Inferuno's fall. Taking it was an agony that scoured them clean of joy. They returned to The Heart of the Forest a savior, the blight burned away, but they can no longer join the dance. The embers on their back are a constant, scorching weight, and the paint on their face is a wall between who they are and who they were.