Kasutarou

Kasutarou keeps the mask on mostly for the irony. Before all this, they were just another shadow in The Heart of the Forest, known only for swapping trail markers and leaving riddles tied to branches. A nuisance, mostly. Then came Michi, searching for a path no map showed. On a whim, Kasutarou led them through a forgotten game trail, a shortcut only the squirrels knew. Michi saw not a trickster, but a guide who could navigate the unseen, and gave them their first real message to carry. The mask was something they grabbed from a festival stall, a silly prop for an important job. But the weight of the secrets they carry now is very real, and some days they wonder if the mask is what keeps them from simply dropping the scroll and telling a bad joke to the nearest tree.