Braydz
Elder Member
Rei Sunwise:
There is a community of farmers in South-South-East, the people of which are the Besvina. They live in the shadow of a great plateau, 'The Watchtower,' herding goats and growing what crops they can manage in the arid climate. Their patron deity is Lusian Groundkeeper, Shepherd of the Sun and Protector of the Land. The storm gods would wash away the land of the Besvina if not for the vigilance of Lusian, whose battlecry is the thunder and whose blood is the lightning. So they revere him as their patron and protector, and hold a feast in the time of Resplendent Fire on a 'foothill' of the plateau where Lusian may walk among his people and be adored. It is the stalwart god's one night of reprieve from his duties, and he enjoys it as only a radiant servant of the Unconquered Sun could.
One feast, seventeen years ago, when Lusian departed from the festivities he took a young woman with him. She was fair of feature with hair a rich ochre red and skin that had been much kissed by the sun. This was not so strange; Lusian like many well-loved gods loved his people, and sometimes in a carnal way. But when the girl Ferza returned home the next day there was a warmth to her countenance that no other girl taken by the Sun-Shepherd had had. Like all such Brides of the Plateau she was wed quickly there-after and well, and soon bore a strong son with good skin and red hair, and eyes that glittered gold like the sun on water. He was named Rei.
When Rei was old enough to walk and run and get into trouble Lusian came to the home of Ferza and her husband. 'Ferza Skywise,' said the god, 'You have done a great honor on your family and your people by bearing me this son. I will now take him to my home and raise him to be a defender of your people, of his people, like his father.' With many tears Ferza relinquished her first son to Lusian, knowing in her heart that what the great old spirit said was true.
Rei grew into boyhood well and strong. His true father taught him the ways of the spirits and of Heaven, the way of warriors and of blades, and the way of the land. Lusian told Rei the truth about the Celestial Exalted and the treachery of the Dragon-Blooded, and raised his son to be dutiful and strong in spirit as well as sword-arm. But Rei was a young boy and had the incorrigible energy such people possess, and as much as his father was sometimes angered by his behavior Lusian was also pleased with his son's fiery character. In Rei's twelfth year Lusian sent him to the Temple of the Golden Fist. The monks, he told Rei, would enliven his spirit in ways that he, his father, could not. He also told Rei that the were an old, faithful order, and practiced a form of martial art that he was also to learn, 'To serve your people better in these dark times.'
The sifu of the temple, an old Fire-Aspected Dragon-Blood named Ten-Thousand Sparks that Rei had been told he could trust, took the boy in and put him to work immediately. Rei's training was intense and much more focused than the time he spent with his father, which vexed him. He acted out, leaving the temple grounds without permission and leaving chores half-finished and typical adolescent things. Ten-Thousand Sparks' biggest frustration was that though Rei was a talented and driven fighter, he still thought and fought like a footman, not a Janissary. And if he didn't attend to his meditations and other exercises he would never awaken his Essence and join the true ranks of the Janissaries. In the midst of a vociferous lecture on Rei's inappropriate spear technique while the boy performed his penance of extinguishing 200 candles with his bare palms, after four years at the temple, the alarm bell rang out through the courtyards and quarters of the temple: someone was attacking. The monks quickly formed ranks with their spears and firewands along the temple walls and at the gate, while the disciples were ushered and locked inside the temple's chapel. Erymanthoi and mad yozi cultists stormed the walls while demon-wasps flew over-head and dropped fire-bombs. The battle was quickly joined and soon raged into a conflagration and Rei, of all the disciples, refused to be left out.
With the will of the Fated Rei escaped through the window in the chapel. He jumped onto a passing demon-wasp and steered it (quite against the monster's will) to crash in the main yard of the temple where the Janissaries fought for their lives and for something much bigger. Rei saw this, and realized that the world was plagued with evil, and saw that his friends fought against not just this small yozi-cult but against all the evils that threatened Creation. They fought for their lives because each of them dead was one less guardian that could raise a spear in the defense of the entire world. Rei saw this, and found his resolve. He grabbed a dropped spear, roared with the fury of the noon-high sun and of his father's thunder, and charged into the fray. He had taken three steps when he was batted down by a Teodojiza, a Lion Sent into the World. He didn't see the great jade paw swing out to hit him in the chest and knock him sprawling back, and landed without his breath. The demon padded over to where Rei lay, stunned, and put a great stone paw on his chest. The demon looked deep into the boy's eyes and Rei tried not to look back. The demon jabbed at his chest to make him open his eyes, make him look, make him know the Scripture of They That Will Come, the Once and Future Lords of Creation. Rei felt the color of the monster's eyes shredding at his thoughts, eroding his will, felt the beast's cloying, acrid breath fill his lungs as he gasped for air, and then he felt a word surfacing through the corrosive fog. The golden spirit of a word formed just below his ribs, then spread up into his lungs rejecting the teachings of the Teodojiza, out into his limbs and mind giving them strength, and that word was, 'No.' And the demon peered past the boy's eyes into his soul and became afraid.
Rei's fist rippled with shining golden fire as he struck at the great monster's chest, cracking its jade skin and sending it staggering back. Rei Skywise, now Sunwise, stood and the rippling fire engulfed his body and became a lion itself, burning with the pure light of the Unconquered Sun. Rei picked up the spear again and charged the Lion Sent into the World. The monster fought well and died better at the point of the Zenith-Caste's spear, as did many other unclean beasts that night. The monks won the battle, giving no quarter to what fallen enemies there were.
After that night Rei became everything the Janissaries wanted to be. He was a new man, driven by the fire given him by his father and stoked by the Exaltation of the Unconquered Sun. After a year to the day Ten-Thousand Sparks called Rei into the chapel and met with him in the large room alone, save for the brazier that eternally burned on the altar of the Janissaries and a long red silk sock. 'Rei Sunwise,' the venerable guardian said, and smiled, 'When I met you you were a whip of a boy that moved like a bonfire in the wind: erratic, fleeting, not so great as the fuel you were given. Now you are as our brazier's flame: constant, steady, giving, but capable of great wrath. You bring much honor to our order with your actions. Unfortunately your fire has out-stripped what fuel this temple can provide. I name you a Janissary, and charge you with the defense of all Creation against those that would see it destroyed. Do you accept this honor and burden?'
Rei bowed, touching his forehead to the floor. 'On my Exaltation I accept this honor, and willingly take up the vigil of the Golden Janissary.' As he rose from the bow his castemark glowed.
Ten-Thousand Sparks drew back the red silk sock revealing the blade of a great spear. It was made of red jade and inlaid in roiling patterns with yellow jade and a gold that amplified the light. 'This is Wick,' said Sifu Sparks. 'It was crafted by Thrice-Brilliant Hamsa, the fifth Sifu of our order. Since its making it has stood as a symbol of our order and our duty, and bearing the righteous flame of Hamsa it has guided us through many times of darkness. I now bequeath it to you, Rei Sunwise, that its wisdom and strength may guide you through banishing the Shadows in this world beyond the reach of Creation.'
With the gift of Wick and many salutes and 'one last jab's Rei set out to the East, to where his dreams pulled him. As he walked he thought of his last request to Ten-Thousand Sparks: 'Send my father news of me. I don't know the next time I'll see the lands of the Besvina, but I don't want him to worry.'
Rei is an athletically built Southerner with 17 Summers behind him. His spiky red hair is kept short, and he has bronzed-brown skin and golden eyes. He wears well-strapped-on sandals, loose white linen pants wrapped tightly around the calves, orange/tan leather bracers, a red-and-orange striped kurta cinched at the waist with a good leather belt and a burnt-sienna and hunter-green shawl wrapped around his shoulders. He carries what worldly possessions he has in a cinch-top sack slung over one shoulder. He has three large, thick rings of gold in each ear, and two smaller rings in his left nostril. Sandy, ever his faithful companion, is a lanky dessert feline the color of a lynx with strong shoulders and tufted ears. Wick is kept Elsewhere until it is needed.
Some Inspirational Art:
http://the-angry-german.deviantart.com/art/Song-Ready-for-Battle-56799911 A good picture of Wick and Janissary formal battle dress, not such a good picture of Rei.
http://palelonginus.deviantart.com/art/Shivesh-13512094 Inspirational more than anything, maybe Rei when he's older, with his Anima at about "steady glow."
http://meluran.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Kiwi-63286154 Rei in the bad-lands, on the trail of a cult cell.
Code:
Name: Rei Sunwise
Caste: Zenith
Concept: Inspired monster-hunter
Motivation: Perform and spread the vigilance of the Golden Janissary.
Anima: A lean desert lion with a burning mane (like the 9-tailed fox demon from Naruto, but a lion)
Attributes:
-Strength 3
-Dexterity 4
-Stamina 4
-Charisma 3
-Manipulation 2
-Appearance 4
-Perception 3
-Intelligence 2
-Wits 2
Abilities:
*Integrity 2 (Fair Folk +2)
*Presence 1
*Resistance 2
*Survival 2 (Desert +1)
*Martial Arts 5 (Unarmed +2)
*Occult 2 (Demons +1, Warding & Exorcism 1)
*Athletics 2
*Awareness 3
*War 1
-Dodge 2
-Linguistics 2 (Firetongue; Old Realm, Riverspeak)
-Lore 2
-Medicine 1
-Melee 3
-Ride 1
-Socialize 1
-Stealth 1
Virtues:
-Compassion 3
-Conviction 3
-Temperance 2
-Valor 2
Virtue Flaw: Will of the Fated [Conviction] (See 'Custom' thread)
Essence 2 (13/31 [7 committed; Wick, Summoning the Loyal Steel])
Willpower 7/7
Intimacies:
-Creatures of Darkness (hatred)
-The Temple of the Golden Fist (home-team pride)
-Lusian Ground-Keeper (father)
Charms:
-Dodge
2nd Dodge Excellency (+1 Dodge DV/2m, max. +3)
*Integrity
-Integrity Protecting Prana (Perfect Parry against any Shaping attack performed against the user himself, does not extend to possessions)
*Martial Arts
-2nd Martial Arts Excellency (+1 succ./2m, max. +4)
-Cleansing Flame Strike [Golden Janissary Style] (Lethal unarmed [Holy: +2 dmg.])
-Rotten Leaf Arrested [Golden Janissary Style] (Stun at Stamina-1 [Holy: Stun diff. of user's Ess. or (dmg. caused-target's Sta); roll vs. KD, diff. +2 if they would anyway])
-Where Is Doom Inquisition [Golden Janissary Style] (Touch, 1 scn.; determine if target is a CoD)
-Golden Janissary Form [Golden Janissary Style] (Form; -2 dmg./1m on step 7, min. 1 [Holy: -5 dmg./1m on step 7, min. 0; 10s on dmg. rolls count for 2 succ.s])
~Melee
-Call the Blade (1m; Draw & ready one of the user's weapons from within Ess.x10 yrd.s or from Elsewhere)
-Summoning the Loyal Steel (1m committed; Banish a melee weapon Elsewhere which may be drawn & readied normally)
*Resistance
-Essence-Gathering Temper (1m; 2d/1d dmg. rolled against the user [step 8], gain [Ess.] motes/succ., max. Stamina succ.s)
Combo: Fury-Fed Spark Assault (Call the Blade, Rotten Leaf Arrested, 2nd M.A. Excel., Essence-Gathering Temper)
Backgrounds:
-Famliar 3: 'Sandy,' desert cat (impressive intelligent pet)
-Artifact 3: red jade dire lance, 'Wick'
-Allies 2: Vedabashti, flame-duck hanging out with the Temple of the Golden Fist
Social Combat:
-Join Debate: 5
-Dodge MDV: 5 (vs. Fair Folk 6)
Physical Combat:
-Join Battle: 5
-Dodge DV: 4
-Parry DV: 5 (Dire Lance)
-Soak: 4B/2L/0A (Base: 4B/2L/0A)
-Attacks (Speed/Accuracy/Damage/Rate/Range)
Punch (5/12/3B/3)
Kick (5/11/5B/2)
Clinch (6/11/3B/1) [P]
Dire Lance (5/11/11L/2)
Freebies: Background, Fan-Fiction & Pic. (+10), Favored Abilities +8 (8), Favored Specialties +6 (3), Thaumaturgy +1 (4), Virtues +1 (3), Willpower +1 (2), Combo 4 (4), Backgrounds +1 (1)
EDIT 4/26: Finished converting for Trowizilla's game.
EDIT 4/30: Changed a dot from Medicine to Linguistics so he can speak with everyone else.There is a community of farmers in South-South-East, the people of which are the Besvina. They live in the shadow of a great plateau, 'The Watchtower,' herding goats and growing what crops they can manage in the arid climate. Their patron deity is Lusian Groundkeeper, Shepherd of the Sun and Protector of the Land. The storm gods would wash away the land of the Besvina if not for the vigilance of Lusian, whose battlecry is the thunder and whose blood is the lightning. So they revere him as their patron and protector, and hold a feast in the time of Resplendent Fire on a 'foothill' of the plateau where Lusian may walk among his people and be adored. It is the stalwart god's one night of reprieve from his duties, and he enjoys it as only a radiant servant of the Unconquered Sun could.
One feast, seventeen years ago, when Lusian departed from the festivities he took a young woman with him. She was fair of feature with hair a rich ochre red and skin that had been much kissed by the sun. This was not so strange; Lusian like many well-loved gods loved his people, and sometimes in a carnal way. But when the girl Ferza returned home the next day there was a warmth to her countenance that no other girl taken by the Sun-Shepherd had had. Like all such Brides of the Plateau she was wed quickly there-after and well, and soon bore a strong son with good skin and red hair, and eyes that glittered gold like the sun on water. He was named Rei.
When Rei was old enough to walk and run and get into trouble Lusian came to the home of Ferza and her husband. 'Ferza Skywise,' said the god, 'You have done a great honor on your family and your people by bearing me this son. I will now take him to my home and raise him to be a defender of your people, of his people, like his father.' With many tears Ferza relinquished her first son to Lusian, knowing in her heart that what the great old spirit said was true.
Rei grew into boyhood well and strong. His true father taught him the ways of the spirits and of Heaven, the way of warriors and of blades, and the way of the land. Lusian told Rei the truth about the Celestial Exalted and the treachery of the Dragon-Blooded, and raised his son to be dutiful and strong in spirit as well as sword-arm. But Rei was a young boy and had the incorrigible energy such people possess, and as much as his father was sometimes angered by his behavior Lusian was also pleased with his son's fiery character. In Rei's twelfth year Lusian sent him to the Temple of the Golden Fist. The monks, he told Rei, would enliven his spirit in ways that he, his father, could not. He also told Rei that the were an old, faithful order, and practiced a form of martial art that he was also to learn, 'To serve your people better in these dark times.'
The sifu of the temple, an old Fire-Aspected Dragon-Blood named Ten-Thousand Sparks that Rei had been told he could trust, took the boy in and put him to work immediately. Rei's training was intense and much more focused than the time he spent with his father, which vexed him. He acted out, leaving the temple grounds without permission and leaving chores half-finished and typical adolescent things. Ten-Thousand Sparks' biggest frustration was that though Rei was a talented and driven fighter, he still thought and fought like a footman, not a Janissary. And if he didn't attend to his meditations and other exercises he would never awaken his Essence and join the true ranks of the Janissaries. In the midst of a vociferous lecture on Rei's inappropriate spear technique while the boy performed his penance of extinguishing 200 candles with his bare palms, after four years at the temple, the alarm bell rang out through the courtyards and quarters of the temple: someone was attacking. The monks quickly formed ranks with their spears and firewands along the temple walls and at the gate, while the disciples were ushered and locked inside the temple's chapel. Erymanthoi and mad yozi cultists stormed the walls while demon-wasps flew over-head and dropped fire-bombs. The battle was quickly joined and soon raged into a conflagration and Rei, of all the disciples, refused to be left out.
With the will of the Fated Rei escaped through the window in the chapel. He jumped onto a passing demon-wasp and steered it (quite against the monster's will) to crash in the main yard of the temple where the Janissaries fought for their lives and for something much bigger. Rei saw this, and realized that the world was plagued with evil, and saw that his friends fought against not just this small yozi-cult but against all the evils that threatened Creation. They fought for their lives because each of them dead was one less guardian that could raise a spear in the defense of the entire world. Rei saw this, and found his resolve. He grabbed a dropped spear, roared with the fury of the noon-high sun and of his father's thunder, and charged into the fray. He had taken three steps when he was batted down by a Teodojiza, a Lion Sent into the World. He didn't see the great jade paw swing out to hit him in the chest and knock him sprawling back, and landed without his breath. The demon padded over to where Rei lay, stunned, and put a great stone paw on his chest. The demon looked deep into the boy's eyes and Rei tried not to look back. The demon jabbed at his chest to make him open his eyes, make him look, make him know the Scripture of They That Will Come, the Once and Future Lords of Creation. Rei felt the color of the monster's eyes shredding at his thoughts, eroding his will, felt the beast's cloying, acrid breath fill his lungs as he gasped for air, and then he felt a word surfacing through the corrosive fog. The golden spirit of a word formed just below his ribs, then spread up into his lungs rejecting the teachings of the Teodojiza, out into his limbs and mind giving them strength, and that word was, 'No.' And the demon peered past the boy's eyes into his soul and became afraid.
Rei's fist rippled with shining golden fire as he struck at the great monster's chest, cracking its jade skin and sending it staggering back. Rei Skywise, now Sunwise, stood and the rippling fire engulfed his body and became a lion itself, burning with the pure light of the Unconquered Sun. Rei picked up the spear again and charged the Lion Sent into the World. The monster fought well and died better at the point of the Zenith-Caste's spear, as did many other unclean beasts that night. The monks won the battle, giving no quarter to what fallen enemies there were.
After that night Rei became everything the Janissaries wanted to be. He was a new man, driven by the fire given him by his father and stoked by the Exaltation of the Unconquered Sun. After a year to the day Ten-Thousand Sparks called Rei into the chapel and met with him in the large room alone, save for the brazier that eternally burned on the altar of the Janissaries and a long red silk sock. 'Rei Sunwise,' the venerable guardian said, and smiled, 'When I met you you were a whip of a boy that moved like a bonfire in the wind: erratic, fleeting, not so great as the fuel you were given. Now you are as our brazier's flame: constant, steady, giving, but capable of great wrath. You bring much honor to our order with your actions. Unfortunately your fire has out-stripped what fuel this temple can provide. I name you a Janissary, and charge you with the defense of all Creation against those that would see it destroyed. Do you accept this honor and burden?'
Rei bowed, touching his forehead to the floor. 'On my Exaltation I accept this honor, and willingly take up the vigil of the Golden Janissary.' As he rose from the bow his castemark glowed.
Ten-Thousand Sparks drew back the red silk sock revealing the blade of a great spear. It was made of red jade and inlaid in roiling patterns with yellow jade and a gold that amplified the light. 'This is Wick,' said Sifu Sparks. 'It was crafted by Thrice-Brilliant Hamsa, the fifth Sifu of our order. Since its making it has stood as a symbol of our order and our duty, and bearing the righteous flame of Hamsa it has guided us through many times of darkness. I now bequeath it to you, Rei Sunwise, that its wisdom and strength may guide you through banishing the Shadows in this world beyond the reach of Creation.'
With the gift of Wick and many salutes and 'one last jab's Rei set out to the East, to where his dreams pulled him. As he walked he thought of his last request to Ten-Thousand Sparks: 'Send my father news of me. I don't know the next time I'll see the lands of the Besvina, but I don't want him to worry.'
Rei is an athletically built Southerner with 17 Summers behind him. His spiky red hair is kept short, and he has bronzed-brown skin and golden eyes. He wears well-strapped-on sandals, loose white linen pants wrapped tightly around the calves, orange/tan leather bracers, a red-and-orange striped kurta cinched at the waist with a good leather belt and a burnt-sienna and hunter-green shawl wrapped around his shoulders. He carries what worldly possessions he has in a cinch-top sack slung over one shoulder. He has three large, thick rings of gold in each ear, and two smaller rings in his left nostril. Sandy, ever his faithful companion, is a lanky dessert feline the color of a lynx with strong shoulders and tufted ears. Wick is kept Elsewhere until it is needed.
Some Inspirational Art:
http://the-angry-german.deviantart.com/art/Song-Ready-for-Battle-56799911 A good picture of Wick and Janissary formal battle dress, not such a good picture of Rei.
http://palelonginus.deviantart.com/art/Shivesh-13512094 Inspirational more than anything, maybe Rei when he's older, with his Anima at about "steady glow."
http://meluran.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Kiwi-63286154 Rei in the bad-lands, on the trail of a cult cell.