Rioitchi || Black-Backed Jackal

[Caliber]

Name:: Rioitchi
Age:: Four Years
Gender:: Male
Pack:: None
Rank:: N/A
Summary:: A tricksy jackal with a light and cunning heart, but a bloodstained background that has left wounds that will never heal.




Markings:: Normal markings.
Sscars:: A small v-shaped cut on his left ear.

Appearance:: Rioichi is slight and lithe like most jackals, enabling him to be quite dexterous and limber. He has short, slender legs, dainty paws, and a well-proportioned triangular head. His ears are large and triangular as well, allowing him to give of heat easier. His face is quite foxlike in proportion, with a slender muzzle and laughing green eyes. His tail is fairly bushy, keeping him warm on cold nights.
Rio’s coat is mostly orangy-brown, with a slight reddish-gold hue. His underparts are lighter and fairer in color, more like a creamy tan. On his face, neck, shoulders and back, the orange-brown is mixed with a lighter gray, giving his fur a less-saturated look. On top of the gray-brown, over his neck, shoulders, back, butt and tail, longer black hairs accent his coat and give it a fuller look. Really, he is a very handsome creature.





Likes:: Danger, freedom, a good joke, hunting.

Dislikes:: Aardwolves, killing, being wet, royalty.

Fears:: Commitment, scorpions, his friends being hurt.

Strengths:: Cunning, swift, smart.

Weaknesses:: Small size, his fear of forming bonds, food.

Personality:: In the simplest terms, Rioichi is a natural-born trickster. He lives to be devious, and he is good at it. He is probably one of the trickiest thieves and criminals you would ever meet, and this makes him unnerving to many other creatures.
When you meet Rioichi, it is hard to really distinguish his personality. The fact that he is sly and crafty isn’t immediately obvious, but it’s pretty easy to figure out. He always seems to have a cunning smile on his face, and a furtive gleam in his eyes. Rioichi is a word smith; he can tell you anything and make it seem plausible. This has helped him out of many sticky situations, and he’s used it to convince animals of his ‘innocence.’
Mostly though, Rioichi is charming and friendly, feeling no need to be suspicious even though he’s such a criminal. He is nice to almost everyone… except for those who want to kill him or harm him, or to harm his friends. Rioichi is as nice to females as he is to males; it really makes no difference to him. He loves making jokes, and he likes to be known as more of the comedian of a group.
It seems strange that Rio is a loner because he’s such a friendly and charismatic ‘people person.’ He has his reasons though, but he usually doesn’t reveal it to anyone. In fact, even though he loves to talk and make jokes, he doesn’t reveal anything about his past. It’s just his way to keep others from finding him when he decides to disappear.






Parents:: He lived with his mother until she was killed. He never knew his father.
Siblings:: Two brothers [deceased] and two sisters [one deceased, one missing].
Life turning moments:: When his family was slain.

History:: Rio was born in a litter of four others to his mother; his father, he never knew. However, when he was born, Rioichi was named by his mother as Jemadari (meaning ‘Army General’). For the first few months of his life, everything was perfect for Rioichi and his family. He spent his time playing with his siblings, two brothers and two sisters, sleeping, and eating. Everything was as it should be.
However, nothing perfect could ever last, as Rioichi soon found out. One day, halfway though Rio’s sixth month, the perfect life was shattered. A group of aardwolves had moved into the area, and one day they came to the jackal’s den. The time they came, Rio was away from home. He had decided, like any rebellious child, to go adventuring while his mother and siblings slept. This he did, and when he returned, he found that his mother, brothers, and one of his sisters had been killed and left in the den where they lie. The other sister… Rio never discovered what happened to her, and he assumes she was killed and eaten/taken away by the aardwolves.
Heartbroken, traumatized, and severely pissed off, Rioichi spent the next hour in a state of shock. Finally, he decided that he had to do something. He collapsed the den on top of his dead family, so they wouldn’t be dug up and eaten by scavengers. Then, he ran away and never came back.
For days, Rioichi plotted, though and brainstormed, trying to find a way to get back at the aardwolves. After a little over a week, he finally decided what to do. The next night, he located the aardwolves’ den. There, he stole away two of their cubs. Rio had planned to take the cubs and kill them somehow but, when the moment came, he couldn’t do it. In a moment realization he discovered that he couldn’t do to them when they did to him, and he took the cubs back and left before the aardwolves could find him and catch him.
Ever since, Rio changed his name and wandered wherever he went, without family and without ties. He tried to keep the relationships to a minimum, for he came under the impression that friends and family can only cause pain. Momentary joy, yes, but long term heartache. Thus, Rio wanders to keep himself from forming too tight of bonds.





Who are you?:: Caliber
How old are you?:: 17
How long have you been roleplaying?: Four or five years
How did you find us?:: An advert on Virtus.

Roleplay sample:: It was barely morning, and it was already scorching. A hazy orange sun shimmered on the horizon, throwing long shadows across the flatlands. The leaves on the acacia trees fluttered dryly in the breeze and the branches rattled slightly, sounding like hollow bones. Everything was dry and baked, but the pale brown grass was still growing high… or at least high enough to cover the slender, sloping shoulders of a small jackal.

Rioitchi lowered his head and sniffed carefully at the thin, barely disguised trail weaving away through the dry stalks. His nose twitched as he catalogued the different scents. All kinds of plants, prey animals, larger creatures… and one more. He lifted his head slightly and sniffed again to make sure. Yes, it was there. Hyena scent.

Rio never much cared for hyenas. They were fairly boring, dull, and witless creatures as far as he was concerned, neither offering much opportunity for his trickery nor verbal spars. The little jackal sighed. The temperature on the flatlands was gradually rising, and he was going to need water soon. And the hyenas were between him and the only waterhole in many miles.

Switching his ears annoyedly, Rio turned and pushed off the main trail and in to the deeper grass. Using his nose and bouncing high every once in a while to make sure he was on track, he gradually approached the waterhole. Eventually, he pushed through the last grasses to find himself standing on a slope running down to the edge of the muddy water. Several hyenas were lapping at the water and resting in the shade of some nearby trees, but it appeared that no one had noticed him. Carefully, he started picking his way cautiously down to the water on dainty paws, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

Suddenly, speaking from behind him in a tone that made his pelt prickle and his heart leap with both excitement and panic, the gravely voice of a hyena spoke: “Are you lost, leetle jackal?”