Kiroro

The trainees will tell you Kiroro is the finest bamboo artisan near the lake, crafting practice staves that never splinter and flutes that sing with the winter wind. They say the mask is just for keeping the wood dust out of their lungs. The older warriors, however, remember a different Kiroro—a promising student who left for a trial and returned silent, clad in the mask, carrying bamboo they refused to explain. A traveling merchant once swore they recognized the stalk on Kiroro’s back as a rare type used only for carrying coded messages. No one knows the truth, but all the stories end the same way: with the small, lucky plant on their head, which does nothing to change the profound sadness in their eyes.