Ilsa Maruyama

Ilsa Maruyama
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/linmeister/ilsaportraitresized.jpg
Personal Status
Race	Shinigami
Age	50 (aged 30)
Gender	Female
Height	191 cm (6'3")
Weight	109 kg (240 lbs.)
Professional Status
Affiliation	Gotei 13, Soul Society
Occupation	Lieutenant of the 1st Division
Team	1st Division
Base of Operations	1st Division HQ, Seireitei, Soul Society
Zanpakutō
Shikai	Hinometori
Bankai	Amenokaigan no Hinometori
User Data
Username	Nekomata
AIM	theamazinglin

Ilsa Maruyama (あい叉丸山, Maruyama Ilsa) is the lieutenant of the 1st Division in the Gotei 13, serving under Captain Sayis Inuzuri.

Appearance[]

Ilsa definitely stands out from a crowd. At 6’3” and 240 pounds, she looks rather like a Valkyrie in shinigami uniform. Under her shihakushou, Ilsa is broad-framed and muscular. The Valkyrie look is completed with a thick white-blonde braid that hangs to the small of her back, skin so pale that it’s nearly translucent, and large gray eyes. Her coloring makes her look washed out, and the black Shinigami uniform heightens this effect. Ilsa’s face is rather ordinary; oval-shaped, with a straight nose that is neither long nor short, and lips that are a little on the thin side. Her clothing is the standard shihakushou. She wears a necklace of chunky, colorful glass beads with her uniform, the sort that make most women look like children playing dress-up with Mommy’s jewelry. Ilsa is big enough to carry this look off. Matching dangly earrings and a bracelet on her left wrist complete the ensemble. Strangely, the beads don’t click together nearly as much as one would expect. Closer examination reveals knots between the beads, preventing them from sliding around on their string. She has several sets of bead jewelry in various colors and switches them out as the whim strikes her. Her right ear also sports a silver ear chain, her Chomei, above the bead earring.

Personality[]

The first thing that most people notice about Ilsa (once they get over her size) is the fact that she is friendly and polite. She knows that she is physically intimidating, and compensates by being courteous. Ilsa is also quite intelligent. This adds to the intimidation factor, so she doesn’t speak much beyond pleasantries and small talk. Once she does open up, though, people are often shocked to find a keen mind inside the giantess’ body. Mysteries and unanswered questions are as irresistible to Ilsa as catnip to a cat. Once she gets her teeth into a matter, she won’t let go until she’s satisfied. She loves kidou due to the mental challenge it presents. However… she can be rather lazy. If she doesn’t find something interesting, she skates by with the minimum amount of effort required to perform the task. Her Academy instructors in hand-to-hand combat despaired of her. Such potential, such reach and strength, and she just wouldn’t cooperate! Because Ilsa thought (and still thinks) that hand-to-hand is boring and unnecessary. In Zanjutsu, though, Ilsa put in some effort. It’s not that she found the swordplay itself interesting. Ilsa wanted to know more about her Zanpakutō’s spirit, and she figured that the only way to learn about it is to spend time with it. Now that she has achieved Shikai, Ilsa continues to spend time training with her weapon. She is determined not to be the stereotypical 10th Division member who doesn't know how to use her Zanpakutō and she is learning that there are advantages in knowing two forms of combat. Now that she isn’t carting 50-pound sacks of flour around or kneading large batches of dough for her parents’ bakery, Ilsa makes herself work out with a weighted bokken on a regular basis. Sure, it’s boring, but she’s rather vain about her physical strength. She enjoys arm wrestling people who claim that women and/or Kidō specialists are inherently weak. When Ilsa fights, she fights dirty, another facet of her personality that Academy instructors tried- and failed- to train out of her. She believes that there is no such thing as a fair fight. You take your opponent down by any means necessary and move on. If an ally is in trouble, Ilsa will move in to help regardless of what he wants. Her ally can hate her all he wants as long as he’s alive at the end of the fight.

Background[]

Ilsa came to Rukongai 21 years ago, another lost and confused soul. She remembered her given name, but not much else. Fortunately for her, she landed in the North 26th District, a fairly civilized part of town. An older woman named Maruyama Hisami found Ilsa wandering around. Hisami took pity on her and brought her home to the Western-style bakery that Hisami ran with her husband, Maruyama Peter. Peter had arrived in similar circumstances, right down to not knowing his family name, and agreed to let Ilsa stay for a while. It turned out that Ilsa knew how to bake, both Maruyamas liked her, and eventually they adopted her as their daughter. After about five years, Ilsa began to get hungry. She tried to hide it, eating more of what she baked than usual. When Peter caught her with her hand in the cookie jar (literally), she admitted why she had been eating so much. Ilsa had been in Rukongai long enough to know what hunger meant, and she didn’t want to leave her family. Her parents tried to convince her to go to the Academy, but Ilsa refused. Eventually a shinigami came to the Maruyama bakery when Ilsa was running the counter. He succeeded where her parents had failed, and talked her into becoming a Shinigami. Ilsa excelled in the more cerebral parts of her education and barely passed in physical combat. Raw strength doesn’t mean much in Hakuda or Zanjutsu unless one has the skill to go with it. Most of her fellow students either avoided her or teased her for her size, her coloring, her Rukongai background, or some combination of the three. She made a few close friends, though, including her roommate Hayashi Mariko. Mariko was the daughter of a minor noble house, and decided to teach Ilsa Seireitei etiquette. The two of them became inseparable despite the fact that tiny, nimble Mariko preferred fighting to studying. They were quite a distinctive pair, with pale-haired Ilsa standing head and shoulders over her black-haired friend. The roommates tutored one another constantly, and as a result both managed to pass the final exams on their first try.

Abilities[]

Feats[]

Henshou(返照, Reflection of Light): Ilsa can convert any Kidou except those that target the caster into a beam of light, reflecting it off of one or more shiny surfaces (things in which you can see a reflection or partial reflection; windows, puddles, clean cars, etc.). The beam of light travels at the same speed as a Kidou of similar form, such as Oukasen. Once the maximum number of reflections is reached, the beam of light hits a non-reflective surface, or Ilsa wills it to end, the Kidou will revert to its natural form. The place where the beam of light lands or where Henshou ends is considered to be the target. If the 'target' is not viable for that particular Kidou (such as an Aquatic Cell Henshou hitting a wall), nothing happens. Using Henshou adds an additional 50% to the Kidou’s cost, has a maximum range of 30 meters total for all reflections, and a maximum of 10 reflections. All Henshou Kidou are vulnerable to techs and feats that target energy-based attacks.

Items[]

Washi no Reimotsu (イーグルの贈り物, Gift of the Eagle): Each winner of the 10th Division tournament received a unique prize from Sayis Inuzuri, a crystalline pendant shaped like their Zanpakutou's released form. In Ilsa's case, her pendant broadens the scope of one of her shikai abilities, Washi no Ome. For a cost of 200 Reiatsu, Ilsa can project a three-dimensional map from Hinometori that shows onlookers what she sees with Washi no Ome. The map is not static; it changes as Ilsa chooses what she wants to look at. This ability lasts as long as Ilsa keeps Washi no Ome active.

Zanpakutou[]

Hinometori (日の目鳥, Sunlight Bird): Hinometori is a slightly longer than usual katana, with the hilt wrapped in white and yellow. The tsuba is round and made of what appears to be crystal, etched with a pattern of feathers radiating from the center.

Manifestation: Hinometori takes the form of a large bird made entirely of crystal. Depending on his mood, Hinometori can be absolutely transparent with no shine at all, sparkle a bit, throw off rainbows as if his feathers were prisms, or shine with blinding light. He is about the size of a condor and his features are similar to those of the fenghuang (Chinese phoenix). Hinometori is fond of Ilsa, referring to her as ‘fledgling’ or ‘Ilsa-chan’. Shadows and darkness, whether physical shadows or the darkness of mysteries, annoy Hinometori. He considers it his mission in life to illuminate the darkness in the world and reveal its truths.

Shikai: Hinometori is triggered by the release command "Shine" (照らす, terasu). The katana begins to glow with a golden light, similar to sunlight. It stretches as the glow intensifies to a blinding level. The transformation only takes a few seconds; once it’s done, the light goes out. The sword has become a glaive made entirely of crystal. Hinometori is six and a half feet long in this form. A phoenix-like bird in flight is etched within the blade. The shaft is a twelve-sided column.

Washi no Ome (目の鷲 Eyes of the Eagle): By paying 500 Reiatsu, Ilsa can create an eagle-like construct that she can send anywhere within the range of her Reiatsu Nōkan. This construct initially starts exactly 1 kilometer above her, but she can move it anywhere within the technique's range by paying an additional 100 Reiatsu per movement (rotating the eagle on the spot costs nothing). This construct links its view with Ilsa’s, her mind processing what it sees to give her a consistent mind map of whatever the construct views in addition to her own sight. As with Tenrai Chikaku, Washi no Ome pierces all illusions. By focusing her mind on the eagle construct, she can fully link her senses with it and assume control of it directly to search out specific objects or beings. She forsakes her own senses in the meantime, leaving her relatively vulnerable. Any damage to the construct instantly ends Washi no Ome.

Tenrai Chikaku (天来知覚, Divine Perception): Tenrai Chikaku heightens or decreases Ilsa’s perceptions as she wishes. While this ability is active, Ilsa’s eyes become faceted crystalline orbs, similar to the crystal of which Hinometori’s released form is made. She can see in the dark as if it were daylight, shoot into battle with greater accuracy, and perceive incoming attacks much faster. By paying 5% Reiatsu all illusions that cost less than this are pierced by this ability; Hinometori will not abide anything that is not the truth. When Ilsa uses the opposite side of this ability, one or more of her senses is deadened to some degree. Even if she is decreasing her senses, Tenrai Chikaku still pierces illusions. She may use both sides of the ability at once; for example, sharpening her vision and deadening her sense of touch.

Bankai: Amenokaigan no Hinometori (日の目の鳥星開眼, Sunlight Bird of Celestial Enlightenment): When Ilsa releases her bankai, she glows with a painfully bright white-gold light, similar to the light that Hinometori emits upon shikai. After a few seconds the light fades, but not all the way; she is still surrounded by a nimbus of light strong enough to read by. Her eyes are replaced with orbs of white fire, her shihakushou has turned white with a golden sash, and most strikingly of all, she has grown enormous crystalline wings. When she speaks, her voice is overlaid with the sweet, piercing notes of chimes. The nimbus of light remains the entire time she is in bankai, and cannot be extinguished. Ilsa’s weapon is a Western-style greatsword of white fire, identical to that which forms her eyes. The hilt and guard are made of the same crystal as her wings.

Hagoromo (Robe of Feathers or Angel’s Raiment): Hagoromo refers to Ilsa’s wings. They are more a symbol of flight than functional wings; she does not have to beat them to stay aloft, although she will fall if one or both are sufficiently damaged. Her flight speed and maneuverability are dependent on her hohou. The wings are made of the same zanpakutou-strength crystal as Hinometori’s Shikai form, and thus can be used as an impromptu shield or weapon. The wings’ durability is dependent on her Zanjutsu. Her wingspan is 15 feet. She can dismiss her wings if she really needs to fit into a tight space, but she cannot reactivate them.

Kogeru Nichirin (Burning Sun): Ilsa can strengthen her aura of light to the point where anyone within 15 feet is burned. Her aura of light turns pure white when Kogeru Nichirin is active. She can spare allies with whom she has attained United Front from the effects. Kogeru Nichirin costs 5% of Ilsa’s Reiatsu per round.

Shinri no Kayō (Song of Truth): Ilsa sings one perfect, inhumanly clear note. Her enemies are plunged into a memory in which they were forced to face a painful truth about themselves. If they have never experienced such a thing, Shinri no Kayou triggers an epiphany in them. The victim cannot move or perceive anything other than the memory for one round. Instinctive defenses are applicable. On Hollows, Shinri no Kayou temporarily returns the Hollow’s mind to that of the Plus soul it once was, with all the memories of what it has done as a Hollow. This ability costs 6% Reiatsu per person affected. After using Shinri no Kayō, Ilsa must wait 3 rounds before using it again.

Wakemotsu Tenrai Chikaku (Shared Divine Perception) - This is an extension of Ilsa’s shikai ability Tenrai Chikaku. As she has found out the hard way, enhanced senses can be as much curse as blessing without the ability to control them. In addition to enhancing or decreasing her own senses at will, Ilsa has the option to enhance those of an enemy or ally. When used on herself, Wakemotsu Tenrai Chikaku has no cost and lasts as long as she is in Bankai. If she chooses to pay 5% Reiatsu, Wakemotsu Tenrai Chikaku will pierce any illusion equal to or less than this cost. Ilsa can only use this part of the ability on herself. When used on someone else, Wakemotsu Tenrai Chikaku costs 5% Reiatsu, can stack up to 2 times, and lasts for 3 rounds. Ilsa can choose to pay for multiple stacks when activating the ability. To an ally, the enhanced senses feel as natural as their own, boosting their prime stat by 10% of Ilsa’s Kidō per stack. An ally may decrease their enhanced senses at will. To an enemy, the enhanced senses are profoundly unnatural, decreasing their prime stat by 10% of Ilsa’s Kidō per stack. She must hit an enemy with a 1’ wide beam of light with a 30’ range in order to affect them. This beam of light travels at the same speed as a Kidō of similar form.

Trivia[]

Ilsa enjoys baking in what little there is of her spare time.
Her crush on Sayis Inuzuri is probably the worst-kept secret in the First and Tenth Divisions. She's getting over that now to some degree, but he's still her idol in many ways.
She appreciates good tea, both green and black, although she mostly drinks the latter as a source of caffeine.
Ever since her friend Takashi introduced her to Earthly science fiction, Ilsa wants to be the shinigami equivalent of Honor Harrington when she grows up.

Quotes[]

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