Oyama Hayate

Oyama Hayate is the 30 year old son of Oyama Maru.

Despite being the son of one of the best teachers at the Sixty-Storms Shugenja school, whose connection to the Kami is powerful and undeniable, Hayate has inherited little of these abilities. In fact, he cannot communicate with the Kami at all, though the Kami of Air and Fire have placed their guardianship upon him to a certain extent, and with a certain amount of resignation, out of respect for his mother. This has led to him being able to accomplish feats which others would not expect him to be able to do, nor himself, really.

Hayate's childhood was disappointing, to himself and his mother, due to his inability to commune with the Kami. His cousin Oyama Shimakaze is a powerful Shugenja student, and is a source of jealousy. He was also unlucky enough to be born with one green and one brown eye, which many have taken as a sign of evil, and perhaps the source of his frustrations with Shugenja. It also caused him to be somewhat outcast, or at least treated at arms length. Though never truly bitter about his situation, he is resigned, and somewhat glum. He is also not gifted in the subtleties of the arts, which are largely lost on him, and so is not a frequent guest at any high social event. He is, however, practical, skilled in combat with weapons of all kinds, and possesses an uncanny agility and a certain amount of dumb luck, which appear mainly in the form of recovering ungracefully from trips, falls, and attacks, but recovering nonetheless.

After failing out of the Shugenja school, Hayate decided that the way of the Bushi was for him, after watching the other warriors around him. After all, Bushi-see, Bushi-do. He studied at the Yoritomo Bushi school, which has emphasized naval warfare, and incorporated the pitching and rolling of the ships into their style, as well as unconventional weapons. This suited Hayate quite well, as he is rather unconventional himself. This school also focuses on quick and destructive attacks, and Hayate has become an adept warrior, if slightly odd to watch in a fight.

Hayate is also married to daughter Hayo Shubi, the daughter of the Oyama`s adopted Ronin Hayo Gama, who is also a sailing master. An arranged, but not unhappy marriage, Hayate is just relieved to have a wife.

Hayate hopes mainly to accomplish some great deed of some sort in order to make up for his shortcomings. He does not particularly care what it is, as long as he does not dishonour his family, which he believes he has already done to a certain extent by failing to live up to his mother's achievements.