Mukade Ayame

Ayame was raised in the Mukade Clan, an old ninja family from Noir Vale with traditions that go back to the Dark Forest. The clan made it through the Shrine War by doing whatever it took to keep their people safe. Their history was not seen as shameful or heroic- just the work their ancestors did to survive.

She grew up in a close family, though her childhood was strict compared to most. For Ayame, secrecy and the tough parts of ninja life felt normal. She learned early that protecting others sometimes meant lying, keeping secrets, or doing hard things without hesitation. As she got older, she chose to keep following her family's ways and became even better at them than she expected.

After the Shrine War, the Mukade adapted to life in Noir Vale. When the four villages were established and the reforms of Tenshō 212 took place, many members of the clan left the ninja life behind and became ordinary citizens. Others kept the old traditions alive within the family. Ayame's parents were among those who chose to continue them, with her father serving as the head of the clan.

Despite the secretive nature of their work, the Mukade Clan had long maintained ties with several small, closed ninja clans. Their families had known one another for generations, and once every three months they would come together for private gatherings. These were opportunities to share food and information away from the eyes of the wider villages. Ayame grew up attending these gatherings and came to know many of the families personally.

Then members of those clans began disappearing.

At first, the Mukade treated the disappearances as a reason for concern. As more people vanished, however, suspicion began to fall upon the very clans they had once gathered with. Eventually, the Mukade Clan was given orders to treat anyone connected to those clans as a potential threat. The reason behind the orders was never made completely clear, only that the suspected clans were believed to have some connection to the disappearances.

The change was drastic. Families who had once shared meals and traditions with the Mukade were now being watched and treated with suspicion. The Mukade themselves also gained a reputation for becoming increasingly territorial and almost unwilling to negotiate when dealing with.

For Ayame, the accusation is difficult to accept. These were families she had known since childhood, yet she cannot simply dismiss an order from her own people.

Now, with Leaders and Guardians disappearing across the Empire and members of the Mukade Clan disappearing at the same time, Ayame has been ordered to take up a civilian position at the Zatsuyou House as a simple merchant. It gives her an innocent place within the flow of Noir Vale while allowing her to quietly listen for information.

She does not know who is responsible, or whether the old clans truly have anything to do with it. And whether it is somehow even related to Lady Arceus’s silence.

For now, she follows the orders she is given and returns to her main position when her work is done and to leisure when she sees the time.

And waits for someone to give her a reason to follow the trail.

Likes

• Quiet evenings
• Good food, especially warm meals
• Tea and herbal drinks
• Festivals
• People-watching
• Listening to gossip and interesting stories
• Games that involve strategy
• Hot springs
• Rope techniques, especially in clothes

Dislikes

• People who make promises they don't intend to keep
• Being rushed
• Loud, attention-seeking people
• Wastefulness
• Extremely sweet foods
• Being unable to figure something out
• People touching her belongings without asking
• Needless paperwork

Trivia

• Ayame has surprisingly good ears for footprints; sometimes can profile them before seeing them.
• She genuinely enjoys gossip, though she is much better at listening to it than spreading it.
• She tends to sit where she can see the entrances and exits without consciously thinking about it.
• She considers careless use of poison extremely disrespectful to the craft.
• Her natural venom has a distinctive bitter taste if one were curious.
• She rarely has a full night of sleep.
• She likes to joke about marrying someone, just to have her parents' nagging go away.
• She likes to collect resourceful bugs as snacks, especially Sizzlipedes.
• Her specialised moves are Rear-Naked Choke (Grappling Submission (Choke/Crank) followed by a Strategic Strike)