Chimper #1619
The gossips in The Teikodian Empire claim Aisen was a general who betrayed the Emperor, or a shadow mage born of some dark ritual. They don't know the truth. Aisen was a blacksmith. They remember the smell of quenched steel, not the scent of fear. The change was not a choice. It was a searing white light from a clandestine Imperial lab that erupted through their forge, an event that should have ended them. Instead, it ignited a terrifying evolution, freezing their face in a permanent mask of shock and binding the shadows to their soul. This transcendence, a feat that even Musashi would hear whispers of, cost them their craft, their home, everything. They wear the overalls still, a stubborn ghost of a life they can't reclaim. The Love Wand, once a silly trinket from a lost friend, is the only thing that grounds them. They travel because standing still means letting the darkness win.
