Kanuri
Legacy Name: Kanuri

Kanuri- a dialect continuum spoken by some four million people, as of 1987, in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as small minorities in southern Libya and by a diaspora in Sudan. It belongs to the Western Saharan subphylum of Nilo-Saharan. Kanuri is the language associated with the Kanem and Bornu empires which dominated the Lake Chad region for a thousand years. -Wikipedia

It is a particular craving that some people have. The want, the need, to mark their bodies. To change and alter with metal and ink. Some look down upon them while others exalt them. And likewise those that perform such feats upon others are seen either as devils or god given artists.

Kanuri always had an artistic vein running through him. However he had no patience for canvas or paper. They were too static, too dead for him. He wanted to create "living" art. At first, he went to places that were alive to him. This meant the streets, with it's many bustling people. Graffiti was his first attempt to discover living art. This made him an oddity among the troubled youth who painted to prove something, so the police were a bit more lenient and would give him sketchbooks to keep him out of trouble for a couple weeks. In high school he found work as a skateboard artists, having himself found the life on wheels exhilarating. He would create designs and send them to skate manufacturers for a commissioners fee. It was a good living for a teenager and funded his college career, but it was not quite enough.

After studying business and the more traditional arts, Kanuri became apprenticed to one of the best tattoo and piercing artist in that side of the country, having impressed him with his extensive portfolio. Kanuri studied for years, mastering the ink. He found that flesh was indeed the perfect canvas, as it lived and breathed and so made his art come alive. This was his true calling.

Eventually Kanuri managed to open up his own tattoo, fur dye, and piercing parlor, Black Lion Studio, and he settled down comfortably. But he still had an itch that needed to be scratched. He contacted an old friend from school and they co-opened a skate shop, Black Street Skate, selling and repairing bikes, roller blades, surf boards, snowboards, and of course, skateboards featuring his designs. It made him happy to see children and even adults being able to enjoy themselves out of doors. But even after all of this, that itch was merely soothed, not scratched.

And then Kanuri opened his eyes and looked around. The streets were rather dirty, teenagers were angry at the world, schools were losing students, there was no safe place to bike or board, and people just did not want to hang around the city anymore. Kanuri knew that he had to do something about this. He went to the city council, he went to the local business owners, and he went to his neighbors. They wanted to make this city better, they just needed someone to lead them. And that person was Kanuri.

Things quickly changed for the better. Parks became cleaner and safer, neighborhood gardens flourished, new skate parks opened up, streets were beautified, new businesses were attracted and opened up shops, and teenagers got the help they needed, even from the tattoo artist himself. Kanuri today is on many councils that continue to clean up his neighborhood. While many might find the presence of a tattoo artist puzzling or even alarming, it does not take long to see that he really cares about the city and the people that live there.

Of course, there are some things in the city that even Kanuri can not clean up. He was dismayed to discover that an old friend, Urdu, had become a sort of leader of the secret underworld in his area, though Kanuri has no idea of its supernatural nature. Urdu claimed to only be playing defense, to keep the homes and business in the area out of the hands of the grasping corporations. But Kanuri can see clearly that the edge is closer than his friend believes. He does not agree with the business, but Kanuri has taken it upon himself to be Urdu's conscious and keep him closer to the light. Because of this, Kanuri has become the unofficial liaison between Urdu and the local community. If anyone has a problem, they take it to Kanuri.

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Kanuri appears as an anthro black archan with tattooed blacklight markings. He is rather tall with a thick build. He usually wears his mane loose, but will tie it back for council meetings. He often wears loose jeans and graphic tees. At council meetings he wears a regular suit.