Yaone

Hello. I am Yaone. I apologize that I cannot speak with you at this time. Please leave a message and I shall contact you soon.

[Beep!]

(Player Note: Given that very little about Yaone's background is ever given in canon, I wrote up a brief overview of her life up until her first encounter with Kougaiji. Obviously, this is subject to change as Minekura releases more canon information on Yaone's background. This is just a working reference to cover me if the subject of her life before Kougaiji ever comes up in play.)


Yaone was the only child of a youkai couple that ran a successful apothecary business in a bustling small town in the country. She grew up fairly close to her parents, developing an especially tight bond with her mother and spent her early years of life toddling underfoot in the shop. Without any brothers or sisters to play with and her parents frequently too busy serving as the town's only healer, Yaone ventured outside the home to find playmates among the townspeople.

Early on, Yaone had a knack for people, easily making an eclectic mix of friends in her town due to her charm, sense of humor, and adventurous nature. She was a fairly popular and pleasant playmate and children of all sorts dropped by her house to invite her out to play games. However, even then Yaone could be aloof at times and was always reluctant to get involved with the other children's drama. If the other children started doing something Yaone perceived as unjust or unfair, she'd refuse to participate and go home. She had a soft spot for lonely, awkward, or unpopular kids and would try to make friends with them. Yaone also had a recurring pattern of protective and caring behavior toward 'the little guy'. For the most part, Yaone was well-behaved and stayed out of trouble, trying to find ways to help that didn't involve the fighting she disliked, but there were a few scattered physical scuffles with other children when she felt they went too far with their cruelty.

When this happened, Yaone would usually get grounded and have to stay home without visitors. During these periods, she'd spend hours reading. Her tastes mostly fell into well-written adventures stories full of intrigue but she had an interest in sciences as well. When Yaone wasn't out, she'd help her parents around the shop, picking up tidbits of informal training through playing gopher and observation. The family business was also a big bonding activity for them that they enjoyed together.

Friction between Yaone and her parents started growing when she hit adolescence though the common ground they shared helped smooth things out. The main conflict was Yaone wanting more independence and personal space and just not wanting to comply with anyone's rules or routine but her own but nothing particularly out of the ordinary for a blossoming, teenage girl.

When Yaone turned 15, her parents decided it was time to officially start her apprenticeship into the family business and for the next two years, she underwent extensive training and studying to be an apothecary. In this time, she learned how to diagnose medical conditions and compound medicines. As her skills grew, she also began dabbling in poisons and explosives.

At the age of 17, tragedy struck. A freak accident in her parents' shop resulted in a fire that took both their lives. Yaone had barely completed her apprenticeship when it happened and the incident shocked her and left her griefstricken. In her grief, Yaone began to pull away from the townspeople and withdraw from her friends, overwhelmed by her new status as an orphan thrust into the adult world without any family. They tried to help her but Yaone couldn't get over the loss of her parents and eventually abandoned the property she'd inherited in favor of moving on and starting over fresh someplace else where no one knew her.

After a brief period of drifting during which Yaone supported herself as a travelling apothecary in rural villages, she coincidentally stopped in the next town over from where Gonou and Kanan had moved. It's at this point that she's intercepted and taken captive by the youkai traffickers that appear in her backstory flashback.

Player Information

Name: Alice
Contact: mimarin @ plurk
Age: 37
Other Characters: None presently but I played Ayumu Yamazaki from PMK in the past.
Character Information

Name: Yaone
Canon: Saiyuki/Saiyuki Reload
Canon Point: Act 10 of Saiyuki Reload, after Dokugakuji and Yaone reveal Kougaiji's brainwashed condition to the Sanzo group.
Age: 24 (Estimated - Yaone doesn't have an official age.)
History: Not much has been revealed about Yaone's past in the series. In the manga, it's stated that she was the daughter of a youkai family in the apothecary business and learning the family trade. In the anime, it's mentioned that her parents died without any details on it, only that she lived on her own for some time afterward. For the purpose of this history, I'm going with a combination of both for headcanon: Yaone was the only daughter of youkai parents in the apothecary business. She was in training up until their deaths after which she lived alone. After being orphaned, Yaone's beauty caught the eye of youkai traffickers and her lack of family connections made her an easy mark for abduction.

Roughly three years before the story starts, Yaone was selected to become a concubine for Hyakugan Maoh, centipede demon notorious for his weakness for beautiful women and habit of devouring them once he tired of them. While Yaone is in transit to this grisly fate, she is intercepted by Kougaiji, a charismatic youkai prince, who takes an immediate liking to her. Upon learning of her background in medicine, he buys her off the traffickers. Despite stating that he didn't rescue her to save her and only bought her to serve as his personal apothecary onward, Yaone interprets his gesture as a great kindness toward her. Yaone's gratitude toward her savior forges the foundation of the tremendous loyalty she displays toward Kougaiji throughout the series.

Before delving further into Yaone's history throughout the series, it helps to know a little bit of background. The main conflict of the story centers around two predominant races in the setting: humans and youkai. Gyokumen Koushu, the acting leader of the youkai, is gathering five sacred scriptures to use in experiments to revive her lover and Kougaiji's father, Gyumaoh, a fallen youkai king that once wreaked havoc across the land and will likely do so again, if she succeeds. These experiments are creating the Minus Wave, a phenomenon that is causes youkai to lose themselves and rampage all over the land, upsetting the peace between humans and youkai. Gyokumen is using Kougaiji's mother whom she'd cursed in the past as leverage for his coopertion. This is important since Yaone is Kougaiji's servant and therefore an antagonist for the series' protagonists - the Sanzo Party, who hold one of the scriptures they seek and are out to halt the resurrection.

Yaone's first major appearance occurs in Chapter 8 of the first series. After expressing his frustration at Gyokumen's insistence on trying to overwhelm the Sanzo Party through sheer numbers despite repeated failure to his group, the suggestion of taking their scripture themselves is raised. Yaone, desiring to be useful and repay Kougaiji for his kindness to her years before, volunteers to take on the mission herself. Initially, Kougaiji refuses, thinking it too dangerous but eventually caves when Yaone insists.

A month into the journey west, Yaone goes undercover as a waitress at a bar along the Sanzo Party's group, intending to poison their food. However, there's complications in Yaone's plan when she finds herself too busy with her waitressing cover to easily carry out her plot. Futher complications come when customers begin sexually harrassing her, causing the Sanzo Party to intervene on her behalf. In turn, this results in Yaone hesitating to carry out her plot. After some inner debate, Yaone follows through, knocking everyone out in the bar except Cho Hakkai, a member of the Sanzo Party, with a drug.

Upon realizing that Hakkai hadn't breathed in her sleep medicine, Yaone reveals herself as a youkai assassin and proceeds to duel Hakkai with a spear and small bombs before she's forced to resort to her contingency plan - rigged explosives. Yaone expresses regret for having to cause collateral damage but her plan is foiled when they don't detonate and Hakkai reveals that he'd tampered with her explosives earlier. Facing complete failure in her task despite working so hard at it, Yaone falls swiftly into despair and pulls out a knife, claiming her life is worth nothing if she can't be useful to Kougaiji.

Before Yaone can commit suicide, however, Kougaiji arrives to retrieve her. After brief fight, the pair escape to safety. Once they're away, Yaone offers her life to Kougaiji as atonement for failing him. Kougaiji responds by calling her behavior stupid and reminding her of her promise to always be by his side, asking her if it'd been a lie. Yaone admits it wasn't and renews her vow to stay with him until the very end.

Yaone doesn't appear again until Chapter 15 when she rushes to find Kougaiji at Houtou Castle to inform him that his little sister, Lirin, has gone missing. Dokugakuji, another of Kougaiji's vassals, joins with the news that one of the long-distance dragons they use for travel is also absent. Kougaiji assumes correctly that Lirin must have gone off to fight the Sanzo Party on her own. The group leaves quickly to track her down.

Kougaiji's group arrives to find Lirin entangled in a conflict with the Sanzo Party. Both sides wind up fighting and Yaone winds up dueling Hakkai once again after asking him to be her opponent once more. The pair exchange pleasantries, Yaone apologizing for Hakkai having to see her in an unseemly state during their previous encounter, and have a cordial conversation in which she tells him of her hopes to live and serve her lord. Then the two begin fighting. At one point, Kougaiji's struggling in his own fight against Goku and Yaone makes a move to abandon her own duel to assist him but is denied.

The battle's disrupted by a large shikigami summoned by Chin Yisou, another of the Sanzo Party's enemies, forcing the groups to put aside their conflict for now. Yaone is injured by falling debris while shielding Kougaiji's body from the impact with her own after which she is left in Hakkai's care. The shikigami is defeated and the parties part on fairly amicable terms, with Hakkai telling Yaone to be careful with her injury and Yaone asking the group to take care and stay strong for their next fight.

Yaone returns in Chapter 23 when Kougaiji goes to inform her and the rest of the group that Gyokumen has changed their assignment from killing the Sanzo Party to finding the other sacred scriptures. Kougaiji and Dokugakuji leave the castle to carry out their new mission while Yaone stays behind to look after Lirin who's been forbidden to leave the castle. Yaone accidentally lets news of their trip to search for a scripture lost in the desert to Lirin and the pair wind up seeing off the other half of the party.

In Chapter 29, while Kougaiji and Dokugakuji are away, Yaone finds Lirin in the room where Kougaiji's mother is trapped in stone. She informs her that Gyokumen has requested for her presence and the pair have a conversation about Rasetsunyo and whether or not she'll love Lirin when her own mother doesn't. Yaone hugs her and reassures the girl that she'll be loved, regardless of the lack of blood connections because she and Kougaiji love her very much.

In Chapter 33, it's revealed that Lirin was kidnapped by Gyokumen and her team of scientists to be used in their revitalization experiments. Yaone's been tied up and held captive by Ni Jyeni, Gyokumen's head scientist. Yaone demands answers about Lirin's whereabouts and what he and his staff are planning to do with her charge and is informed that she's been taken on Gyokumen's orders. A rather nasty exchange ensues between the two before the scene fades out on Ni filling her in on part of his scheme.

While Yaone's still locked way, Dokugakuji returns from the desert with a seriously injured Kougaiji and starts seeking her out for aid. The pair's intercepted by Ni armed with a lie that Gyokumen's sent Yaone out on a mission to convince Dokugakuji to release Kougaiji to him for medical treatment. With extreme reluctance, Dokugakuji hands him over to Ni.

Once Kougaiji and Lirin are both in custody, Yaone is either released or escapes from her captivity and reunites with Dokugakuji. The pair exchange information about what's transpired, both clearly upset by the other's news. After a few brief moments of blaming themselves for what had happened to the remainder of their group, Yaone takes charge of the situation and formulates a plan. She tells Dokugakuji that saving Kougaiji's life is their top priority and that now they have to trust in his safety and focus on finding Lirin.

Yaone and Dokugakuji reappear in Chapter 44. A month has passed since Lirin was captured and Kougaiji taken into quarantine for treatment by Ni Jyeni. During that time, Kougaiji hasn't been permitted visitors, leaving his vassals to worry over his well-being. Dokugakuji arrives at Houten Castle with the scripture from the desert and Yaone welcomes him home. Shortly after, Ni calls the pair to the chamber where Rasetsunyo is kept. There they discover Kougaiji who has been brainwashed into a killing machine that will follow Gyokumen's orders. Before their eyes, Gyokumen orders Kougaiji to kill a fellow youkai in cold blood. Yaone begs for him to stop but he does it anyway to her obvious grief.

A horrified Yaone leaves with Dokugakuji who then claims that Kougaiji might now be beyond their help and that he's not good enough to protect their lord. Angered by his words, Yaone slaps him and calls him a coward, stating that she won't forgive him if those were his true feelings on the matter. Despite her own tears, Yaone insists that they are the only ones who can help Kougaiji now.

In Chapter 45, the still brainwashed and now cold Kougaiji leaves the castle with Dokugakuji and Yaone in tow with a new mission to assassinate the Sanzo Party and retrieve their scripture.

Yaone and Dokugakuji don't appear again until Act 7 of the sequel manga, Saiyuki Reload. The pair stumble across three members of the Sanzo Party on the verge of drowning in a river. They ask what they're doing and if they've seen Kougaiji anywhere. Upon learning they haven't, Yaone apologizes for the interruption and turns to leave, companion in tow. The Sanzo Party protests and the pair turns back to rescue them from the water. Inquiries are made into why they were in such a hurry and Yaone says they've strayed from their lord's side. The Sanzo Party points out that if Kougaiji's still after the scripture, he'll find them, to which the pair advises them to leave it and run. Hakkai asks what happened to their group to send them into such a panic but before he can get an answer, a new assassin appears.

Zakuro, a youkai illusionist working under Gyokumen's orders, arrives much to the surprise and protest of Dokugakuji and Yaone, who had known nothing of his involvement in the mission. He asks the pair if they're considering switching sides and reveals that he was sent to kill the Sanzo Party because Gyokumen no longer trusted them. Yaone responds by warning the Sanzo Party not to look into Zakuro's eyes but it comes too late - the group becomes locked in a fierce battle with vivid hallucinations. At different points during the fight with Zakuro, Yaone and Dokugakuji intervene on behalf of the Sanzo Party. Yaone shouts at Gojyo in an attempt to get him to realize the illusion isn't real and after being provoked into it, Dokugakuji knocks his little brother out to free him. Eventually, the Sanzo Party frees themselves from Zakuro's illusions and the assassin retreats, leaving Dokugakuji and Yaone behind.

In Act 10, Dokugakuji and Yaone reveal the circumstances of their separation from Kougaiji - that he has been brainwashed into a cold, merciless killing machine and is no longer himself. After this conversation, while the blended group is searching for their lost companions, is the point I'll be pulling Yaone from.

Personality: First impressions of Yaone tend to be that she's a very polite, courteous young woman. As Kougaiji's attendant apothecary, she's dedicated, loyal, and hardworking to a fault, frequently putting herself in grave danger or pushing beyond her limits trying to be of use to him. In addition to this, Yaone works within Kougaiji's faction as an organizer and caretaker of his little sister, Lirin. Intelligent and calm-natured, she also plays the role of taskmaster within strategy meetings, often suggesting tactical approaches and solutions to problems at hand or providing the others with information she's gathered. On occasions Yaone is met with resistance from her lord, she won't hesitate to question or apply pressure on matters of importance to her until he acquiesces. Sometimes this tendency of Yaone's leads to outright insubordination though it generally comes with a sincere apology for doing what she believes is right.

After getting to know Yaone better, it's clear that underneath her gentle, well-mannered exterior lies a woman of strong conviction and principles that govern her actions. In the series, it's stated that youkai tend not to follow orders aside from Kougaiji's and Yaone is no exception. While she's an antagonist within the series, it's evident that she cares little for Gyokumen, her scientists, or their cause outside of her lord's personal involvement in it. The lines drawn between ally and enemy are very blurred for Yaone. She's friendly toward the Sanzo Party, going so far as to consciously aid them in various ways ranging from treating their injuries, exchanging information with them, interfering with attempts on their lives, and giving them well-wishes.

Outside of Kougaiji's inner circle, Yaone doesn't seem to care much for her youkai allies, going so far as to interfere with their assassination attempts of the Sanzo Party in both the manga and the anime. This suggests two things about Yaone - that she's formed an emotional attachment to people who are supposed to be her enemies and personally disagrees with the methods and attitudes utilized on her side of the conflict. At a couple of different points in both the manga and the anime, the question of whose side Yaone is on is raised and the only answers she gives are silence or resistance.

It brings to question just why Yaone is fighting for a cause she doesn't believe in or even supports that much. Yaone's loyalties within Gyokumen's forces lay squarely with Kougaiji and the familial bonds she's formed with his inner circle. She loves Kougaiji's little sister, Lirin, like she's her own and deeply cares for her fellow servant, Dokugakuji, as a partner, close friend, and big brother figure. Yaone's loyalty to her lord, while absolute, is a more complex matter due to the psychologically damaging circumstances under which she'd first entered his service.

As stated in her history, she was orphaned and then victimized by traffickers who objectified her for her beauty and planned to sell her into sexual slavery that'd likely result in her own horrific murder. When Kougaiji purchased Yaone, then in a highly vulnerable and depressed state, he became her rescuer but also her owner. At the time, Yaone's options were certain death or a life of service to Kougaiji in exchange for security and protection in a society that become cruel to her. It's unclear if Kougaiji ever offered to return her freedom but what is clear is that Yaone feels as if her life belongs to her lord and has vowed more than once to always stay by his side, regardless of what it costs her. It's not uncommon for victims of trafficking to become completely devoted to a benevolent owner in an attempt to secure their status and security with them out of fear of being sold to someone worse. Yaone displays a remarkable, intense, and somewhat obsessive desire to be useful and willingness to go to extremes in order to further Kougaiji's goals. In her years of service to Kougaiji, she's developed genuine emotional attachment which appears to be reciprocated but that initial meeting still produces an element of dysfunction in how Yaone relates to him.

It's also not unusual for trafficking victims to have low self-esteem which is one of Yaone's most glaring flaws. Simply put, she believes her life has no meaning or value outside her usefulness to Kougaiji. Her entire debut chapter is an ongoing chain of self-destructive actions starting with repressing her own clear misgivings about killing the Sanzo Party in favor of adopting them as her enemies for no other reason than they're Kougaiji's enemies to outright declaring herself worthless and trying to commit suicide when she fails. Once Kougaiji sets her straight, Yaone seems to improve for a while up until she decides to shield her lord from falling debris with her body despite being physically smaller and more delicate than he is. When Lirin is kidnapped and Yaone is held captive by Ni, she doesn't hesitate to issue demands and threaten her captor with violent retaliation despite being in no position to do so safely. After Kougaiji is brainwashed into a cold, merciless killer with little apparent chance of returning to normal and also threatens to kill her and Dokugakuji if they get in his way, she sides with him against the Sanzo Party anyway, stating that she just wants to be near Kougaiji and that's all she cares about. While it can be argued that Yaone does these things out of pure devotion to her lord, there's a number of instances and a wounding experience that support her also having self-destructive impulses.

That said, Yaone has a dependent streak. On some level, she sees herself as needing protection and support from others to be able to act. After Lirin is captured and Kougaiji is taken away to be experimented on, Yaone runs to Dokugakuji rather than look into the matter or set off on her own. She appears to lean on him pretty heavily during Kougaiji's brainwashed period. This doesn't mean that Yaone isn't capable of independence. Prior to her encounter with the traffickers and Kougaiji, she survived well enough on her own and several times throughout the series, she does act independently of orders or support. It's just that during low points and rough times, Yaone's inclined to turn to the people she's close to for help rather than initially tackle a problem on her own.

Yaone tends not to voice her personal beliefs or values outright in the series but her actions often speak for her. It's clear that repaying perceived kindnesses is important to Yaone. Outside of her entire relationship with Kougaiji, she displays this trait with Hakkai in the anime, at one point healing him to his confusion and stating that it's because of something he'd done for her in the past. (This doesn't happen in the manga but it's consistent with her behavior there so I'm including it as an example.) She's very concerned with the welfare of innocents whether they be youkai or human and worries about collateral damage and unnecessary destruction. Yaone appears to be an empathetic person by nature, given the amount of consideration she shows Kougaiji's brainwashed state and how much care she shows Lirin. Yaone also seems to hold the belief that it's not necessary to display mercy to one's enemies but she often displays it to some degree toward the Sanzo Party suggesting that on some level, she doesn't truly see them as her own enemies.

She displays a surprising amount of discipline during her first mission, enduring the sexual harassment from the tavern customers, when it's hinted that under normal circumstances, she'd beat them up. In one of the side materials, the mangaka states that Yaone dislikes fighting but she's willing to go to the front lines for Kougaiji. In spite of this, it's important to note that Yaone's appears inexperienced with combat at the start of the story but the events in canon has steadily tempered her and made her a better fighter.

Abilities: Medicine - Yaone's primary skillset is that of an expert apothecary. She formulates and dispenses herbs and chemical compounds to patients. In addition to this, she is also the equivalent of a doctor with a general practice in medicine. As such, she's capable of diagnosing and treating physical illness and injury. It's important to note that while Yaone's skills and knowledge encompass a broad range, she's not a specialist and any ailment that requires concentrated, specialized care such as one might get from a neurologist or cardiologist, etc, is beyond her level of skill.

Poisons - Yaone's medical training also ventures into the sphere of poisons. Her level of skill at extracting, formulating, and administering poison is equivalent to her ability in medicine. These poisons can come in a variety of forms and be ingested in just as many ways. In canon, she's laced them in food or administered them as a gas but it's feasible she's proficient to use other methods as well.

Explosives - Yaone's abilities as an apothecary extends into the creation of "fire medicine" or gunpowder. She's often seen throwing small bombs in combat but she also has enough knowledge and skill to rig a whole building to explode with a handheld trigger.

Combat - Yaone utilizes a short spear in combat. While she's proficient enough to hold her own in fights against other youkai, she's rarely portrayed as winning them. Despite her insistence on going to the front lines, Yaone is, first and foremost, a healer not a fighter. However, given that her fighting ability seems to be steadily increasing since her first appearance where she had minimal experience, it's implied that with further training and experience, she'll continue to improve.

Youkai Abilities - Not a whole lot has been shown about Yaone's abilities as a youkai but it can be assumed she has superior strength, endurance, speed, and agility to that of an ordinary human. From what's shown, Yaone seems to rely most on her speed and dexterity, suggesting that she might not be as physically strong or sturdy as the other youkai in the series.
Strengths: loyal, determined, caring, intelligent, sociable
Weaknesses: dependent, foolish, stubborn, self-destructive, low self-worth

God/Shinki: God
Why?: In canon, Yaone's a person of low social status, first as an orphan without family connections that resulted in her being objectified and handed off to a terrible fate. Her lot improves when she's elevated to the position of personal apothecary of a charismatic prince but she remains a follower in servitude. I feel the role of goddess would challenge Yaone and place her on an interesting new path she just doesn't have in canon.
Top 3 Choices: He Xiangu (Chinese), Palden Lhamo (Buddhism), Isis (Egyptian)

God Type: Yaone's a healer so He Xiangu's domain would be well within her comfort zone. She'll answer prayers related to health and medicine but will also break domain to take up prayers for protection or intervention if innocents are threatened. In a crisis, Yaone's unlikely to wait for backup from her shinki and act on her own without regard to her personal safety, focusing mainly on resolving the situation as quickly as possible. In terms of Heaven's politics and hierarchy, while Yaone will remain conscious of potential consequences of falling out of favor for rebellion, she's also promised herself to follow only one master, Prince Kougaiji, and that vow will make her refuse to bow down and accept Amaterasu's rulership. Despite performing her tasks as a goddess of healing, Yaone will maintain her own primary agenda of returning to her lord's side and will ally with just about anyone to that end.

Power: Mental Healing - As a goddess, Yaone has the power to heal a person's mind. She can neutralize and potentially reverse psychological damage such as mental illness, disorders, and trauma back to a state of health. However, this ability comes with limitations. The more chronic and deeply ingrained a condition is into the person's psyche, the harder it will be for Yaone to heal. For example, certain mental illnesses and personality disorders known to be treatment-resistant will take multiple, repeated attempts to heal. Much like a liposuction can only remove fat from a person and do nothing to correct any eating or exercise habits, Yaone's power has no effect on maladaptive coping mechanisms, behaviors, etc, that may be contributing to the ailment. Her power is a magical panacea for the mind, so to speak.

The power only activates with conscious focus when Yaone is in physical contact with the recipient. While she is healing, a brief empathic connection is formed and the person will be able to see Yaone's mental and emotional state as well. The connection breaks abruptly upon physical release. Yaone's power is also tied directly to her stamina. If she uses it too much, she'll tire and require rest.

As for how it'll work in game, Yaone's power will be completely optional and used only with player input and consent. I'm flexible and content to work with whatever other folks want to do with this power for their characters. Also if anyone has questions or needs further input from me, I can do that, too.

Additional note: Yaone's power works as described on NPCs but with player-controlled characters, there will be a learning curve. Mental health is a brand new field she'll be branching out into so she'll need to spend time studying, practicing, and interacting with a PC before her power will be able to be used.

Writing Sample

Sample: Yaone on the TDM

Other

Anything Else?: I'd like for Yaone to be assigned Sakon Shima as her shinki as per an arrangement his player and I have discussed.