Sakashima the Impostor

"I wonder sometimes how others can stand to be the same person, with the same face, day in and day out, when there’s so much more out there to explore…" 

- Sakashima the Impostor

Sakashima the Impostor is an infamous master of disguise and a figure surrounded by mystery. His ability to fool almost anyone has made him a legendary figure in Kamigawa, to the point that of those that have heard of him, many believe him to be a myth. Those that know him to be real often fear his abilities and what secrets he knows and where he may strike.

Biography
Sakashima was brought to an orphanage in Eigan Town as a baby, with the only thing identifying him being a small token bearing the crest of the Sakashima clan, a small noble clan which had at the time been disgraced and sent to a small town known as Reito. As a result Sakashima never knew his first name, and has only one name. Sakashima was raised in the orphanage for much of his childhood. It was during this time where he first discovered his talent for disguise. At the age of five, he disguised himself as Natsumi, a five year old girl who also lived in the orphanage, using mud and other objects in order to gain an extra rice ball.

As he grew older he further developed this skill though at the time he did little more than use it for minor pranks. He studied a range of subjects at the orphanage, including art, swordplay and sorcery, though his skills were average in all of these fields. He grew to realise his fate of mediocrity and the thought of living an ordinary life was hellish to him. As a result he realised that if Sakashima could not change history, then he would cease being Sakashima.

By the age of 10, he had left the orphanage and lived a life off his skill at disguise. By the time he was 14 he has already disguised himself as all manner of people, including those of other races, even disguising as a kami to fool the priests of a temple. During this time learned many secrets, though he rarely did anything with this knowledge, seeing these exploits as challenges to test his skill. It was at this time that he had made his first ever slip. Disguising as an apprentice jushi delivering scrolls, he was found out by a master jushi named Chisen.

Rather than having Sakashima arrested, Chisen laughed and complimented his bravado before delving into a long and detailed speech regarding how his disguise could be improved. Shocked at his wisdom and knowledge, Sakashima knelt down on the spot and begged the old jushi to take him as his student. The jushi agreed and over the following months Chisen taught Sakashima the art of the blank scroll, the ability to wholly becoming another mentally. The training left a strange effect on Sakashima, his facial features flattened, eventually leaving him without a face. When Chisen saw this, he bid Sakashima farewell, knowing that he had perfected the art, saying how lucky he was to be able to live everyday as someone different.

After this Sakashima continued his exploits, even as the Kami War raged on, developing his skills further and further. He continued to seek more and more difficult challenges, hidden and secret places, the Honden of Night's Reach, the depths of akki warrens and even the throne room of the daimyo Konda himself, yet all these were no challenge. He even began to intentionally introduce slip ups into his disguises, yet he was still never caught. His greatest exploit was sneaking into the cloud palaces of the soratami, the only human who has ever tricked the soratami done so. As a result of this he has earned the enmity of the soratami.

Personality
Sakashima is cocky and sure of himself, believing that his skills and his wits are enough to get him out of any situation. Still he is not reckless, knowing his abilities incredibly well. He is also naturally carefree, more likely to be impressed by any who manage to outsmart him than angry. His drive to test himself can result in him being placed in tricky situations, though more often than not he manages to escape unscathed.

Though normally not sentimental and having no real connections to other people, having never lived as any single person for very long, he does carry the token carved with his family crest with him at all times to remind him who he is.

He is also not materialistic, even though his skills allowing him to enjoy great luxury. Despite the great amount of secrets and information he has obtained throughout his life, he has never sold such information, nor is he very interested in what others would consider valuable information. Instead he finds the mundane day to day information of how people live more intriguing. He prefers to change personas regularly, feeling that living as a single person, even in luxury is boring and meaningless.

His love of challenge is the core of what drives him, and one day he hopes to fool the kami themselves, though he believes that even they may not provide the challenge he is looking for.

Relationships
His habit of entering secret locations and learning sensitive information has made him no shortage of enemies. Both the soratami as well as the daimyo Konda have people hunting for him, though his skills make it difficult for these men. Of all the men to have chased Sakashima, a samurai of Konda, Hojo Tachibana, has come the closest, and Sakashima likes to think of him as something of a rival, occasionally leaving clues of his whereabouts intentionally for him to find.

Sakashima has no real friends, with few even knowing that they have interacted with him. The closest thing he has is the master jushi Chisen, his mentor who he holds a deep respect for. Still he does not hold onto sentiment, preferring instead to fully immerse himself in whatever life he is living at the moment.