Kwang-seok Noh

House → "I should think that would be obvious." Tiger

Name → "Anger tempered with Justice. My father clearly wanted a second boy..." Kwang-seok Noh

Age → "I am not ashamed to admit that I have not yet reached two decades." 19

Gender → "...My father clearly wanted a second boy, but that's not what he got." Female

Personality → "Judge me as you will, you can not shake me."

Kwang-seok is a fierce proponent of justice, and a has a stubborn, rigid moral system that she is not willing to compromise for anyone. Immediately prone to suspicion around other people associated with the zodiac, she tends to have a "it's me against you" attitude, and though she can work well with people when she needs to, is extremely rebellious against anything she sees as opposed to her understanding of the world. While proud of who she is and what she can do, she holds no pride in being part of the House of Tiger, more disgusted and angered by having grown up as part of its system. She does have a bit of a temper, and is quick to lash out when facing a perceived opponent or enemy, whether verbally or physically. That said, she is a very gentle person to begin with, and believes in the inherent goodness of people until proven otherwise, though this does not mean that she is quick to trust. Trust and distrust are two things that both should be earned, not assumed. Intelligent, physically strong, fairly charismatic, socially sensitive, and hard-working, many people, especially within the Tiger House, see her as the "perfect daughter," but in reality, she struggles with the fear that no one will ever love her for who she is, and not what she represents and can do. In part believing herself to be unlovable, she tends to draw away when people get too close to her. Her mentality also strongly affects her performance, meaning that she is never at her peak strength in times of fear or anger, whether it be physically or academically. She is also forgetful and at times a little reckless, and she can be sometimes rebellious to the point of stupidity, going against even logical things if it is presented in a way she doesn't like, or by a person she distrusts. This, however, largely manifests itself in relation to the Tiger House elders and her father. Though she respects them inherently, she disagrees with the way they have done things up till now, and often locks horns with them when it does not always make sense from a logical standpoint. She is strong, but not dextrous, and refuses to be demure and "womanly" yet retains a natural, effortless grace in the way she moves. Though not at all afraid to express her opinion, she can be willing to compromise, and does take care to listen to others' opinions as well. And finally, though she has many strengths in her own way, it would be something of a stretch to call her abilities anything more than regular. She is not a superhuman and it cannot be said that she is thus any stronger or smarter or more talented than a regular person would be.

Important History Notes → "The reason why I am here is because I must be here. Fate has given me no choice."

Kwang-seok is the second child of the main family. Her grandfather is the main elder, and her father the current head of the whole Tiger House. She has one older brother named Gun-seok, but no other siblings, because her mother died when she was still young, and her father refused to remarry. Normally, her older brother, only a year her senior, would be the one to inherit rule of the house, but he is strongly autistic. In the typical fashion of their House, everyone turned a blind eye to the truth, and refused to get him help. Instead, he was raised along with the other children, no mercy given. Seen as a "disappointment" and a "freak" (and most definitely not eligible to be the next leader), he was heavily bullied by the other children, who followed the example their caretakers set for them. Kwang-seok was constantly coming to his aid, fighting off the bullies and protecting him. Since she was only a girl, she was not treated with the same respect she would have received if she'd been a boy and the next successor, but she was still treated more politely and courteously than the other children, barring her cousin, who was thought to be the next in line.

Determined to be better in every way than every one of the people she'd grown up with, who had so tortured her brother, she upheld the ideals of the House more purely than any of the rest of them, more obsessed with a fierce and unwavering sense of justice than the rest. And yet, at the same time, she hated the House, it's pride, and all it had done to cause her and her brother grief. Knowing his son would not be competent enough to rule, Kwang-seok's father quietly groomed her as he would have a son of his, teaching her all the necessary skills to rule, even as she received her general education in regular schools outside of the main house. Unbeknownst to her, he was planning to officially declare her as his heir when she turned 20, but on November 18th, her precious brother disappeared. He was not the first to disappear, but he was the first to be gone for more than two weeks. When he came back, he was gripping the message on a small note in his hand, but everything else about him was shut down. Perhaps it was because he wanted to make a bigger statement, and she was the only one who would've recognized the change, but whoever the strange antagonist was, he decided to leave her with nothing. Gun-seok walked into the main house with a blank look in his eyes, reached his rooms, and collapsed into a deep coma. That was where Kwang-seok found him, as she'd checked his room every day since the day he'd disappeared.

He was quickly taken to the hospital, but though medical records showed no signs of any problems, he did not wake up. Enraged, Kwang-seok demanded to be allowed to go on a search for the sender even before the Four Pillars contacted them, and when the summons came, she forced the elders, her father included, to allow her to go, even though she was merely a woman and not considered a worthy representative. Bent on finding justice for her brother, she has every intention of beginning a search, no matter how this little conference goes.

Notes on House → "It is in our blood that we stake our pride, and no doubt that blood is also what will rob us of everything that is truly important."

The House of Tiger has a very strict structure that hides itself in a false sense of levity. They have a main house that serves as a central base and houses a number of the families under the House of Tiger, particularly the elders and families they have decided are more important, called "central families," though no one really knows who or why decided they were more important. While there are no strictly enforced rules demanding that people of the blood return to the main house, it is something of an unspoken rule that no matter where you go in life after growing up, you must return at some point, particularly when you get married and have your first child. The children are taken in and all raised together, indoctrinated with the ideals of the Tiger House. Bringing the child back to be raised with the others is almost a legal policy, and if a parent refuses, the child will be taken from them. Most of these children do not see their parents again until they are the age of five. The more prestigious the family is within the house, the greater the likelihood the child will know their parents. Even among the children, there is a clear distinction between the central families and the satellite families, as some children are favored by the adults. Thus, they learn and get used to the hierarchy of the house before they even come to know their parents. It is a system that lends itself to a great deal of childhood bullying.

Also a strong patriarchy, girls are not expected to inherit anything like the pride of the house, and if they marry, their families are automatically considered a satellite family, unless they come from the main family itself. The "main family" as it is known, is the family that leads the House. The eldest sons are quite strongly favored and given more freedom overall, but with the assumption that they are going to inherit the rule of the House, and their own family will become the next main family. If the eldest son of previous head himself does not have a son, though this is rare, he can decide who will next rule, which is quite usually his eldest younger brother's eldest son. Overall, it's a rather complicated system that enforces ancient ideals of prejudice and ruthlessly ranks its families. They are a proud, wealthy family, with a great property in the style of an traditional Korean mansion. They are also rather nationalistic and supremacist, so descendants that have married foreigners are shunned, and it is not unusual for them to consider themselves above "regular humans." A number of the people found in this House are very unpleasant because they have been brought up with this mindset; though, of course, not everyone is this way. Children are fluent in Korean, English, and Chinese, and are taught martial arts and calligraphy, even the girls.

An important thing to know about the House of Tiger is that it lies right on the border between North and South Korea, in the seaside county of Goseong. This being the case, the Korean War was a terrifying time for them. Thanks to the protective magic around the main house, they remained precisely where they were as the rest of the area was laid waste to, hiding within their walls until the armistice was established, only to find that they were right on that border. It may be exactly because of this whole trauma that they are so protective and rigidly traditional.

Views on Other Houses → "Why should we concern ourselves with the affairs of others?"

As Kwang-seok was growing up, she never really thought about the existence of the other houses. While she knew the legend inside and out for as long as she could remember, as every Tiger child must, they'd been so alone for so long, that it was difficult to actually imagine these other houses existing. This being the case, she'd never really held any particular opinions of the others. Right up until she read the words, "the Thirteen Houses" on that nasty little note she'd read and reread so many times, it had become thoroughly crumpled. Hearing the Four Pillars call for a "conference," she immediately understood that the House of Tiger would not be the only one attending, and started researching the other houses desperately. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any real, concrete information about them, so her opinions of them remains uncertain. All she has to go on are the original legend and the opinions the house holds in general.​

She sees:

the Rat as somewhat devious, and perhaps one to keep an eye on, but also potentially misunderstood and capable of good insight.​

the Water Buffalo as probably somewhat gullible and hard-working, but that does not mean they're necessarily weak.​

the Rabbit as ... quick-footed and resourceful maybe?​

the Dragon as kind, observant, and noble, but also perhaps a bit too proud, like many of her Tiger colleagues.​

the Snake as, much like the rat, clever, but perhaps a bit more self-absorbed and devious than might be wished for.​

the Horse as ... maybe strong and fast, but who knows?​

the Sheep as kindhearted and willing to help others, but perhaps just as ready to rely on others, rather than go its own way and rely on its own strength.​

the Monkey as cheeky and more likely to cause mischief than anything else, but capable of working together with others.​

the Rooster as more sharp-witted than it looks, and willing to give a little to gain a little.​

the Dog as a little too playful and easily distracted, and less serious, despite being perfectly capable.​

the Pig as being too absorbed with the present to remember to be cautious of the future, and most definitely not very ambitious.​

the Cat as willing to give second chances, but a potential source of conflict with the Rat.​

Appearance → "Who cares what I look like?"