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Not done yet, but gonna finish tonight, probs. Zhu Qiang  High Concept: Retired Rescue Grandpa Invoke: Ply upon the sympathies for the elderly and those who have lost children, come across as ‘just an old man,’ appear wise and sage-like without being such Compel: Be treated as “just an old man,” be considered a liability, be a little rusty as moves that worked just fine 30 years ago(!), be a really nice old man with a soft spot for kids. It is the priority of the young to strike out at the world and forge their own paths and spread their own tales, be they of just heroes or cruel villains. Once upon a younger time, Grandpa Qiang was known as Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon, feared for his ruthless brand of roaming justice, yet respected for his refusal to stray from the path of honor. Many bandits were struck down, like swathes of rice flowers before the scythe, same as many maiden hearts were broken, like fragile, spun jade in his monstrous hands, all in the name of the Great Red-Mountain Demon’s youth. However, whereas the priority of the young is to strive, the priority of the elderly is to maintain. No longer a young man urged by red-lusts and the impetuousness of youth, the calmer, wiser, shorter Grandpa Qiang spent his days as a shaman for one of the few villages that never requested him to leave. His life was mostly simple, livened by the presence of unruly, or sometimes merely overly playful, 99-year spirits, and sometimes by the village children, emboldened by their parents whispers of “Old Man Qiang’s” past and delighted by his willingness to tell them stories. With a supply of constant, if simple, food and a small hut near the outskirts of the village to keep him steady, Grandpa Qiang was content to live the rest of his life in relative peace. Fate, however, foresaw a different end for Grandpa Qiang, and a renewed demand for Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon. Following the expulsion of a particularly unfortunate kamuiy born from misfortune and the evils of desperate men unleashed upon a caravan, Qiang returned to a village raging in uproar and despair. While he had been away, a rogue band of miscreants had snuck upon the village and kidnapped several children before fleeing away on horseback. Their parents, unable to follow, had grieved and raged until Qiang’s return, at which they begged for him on bended knees to save their children. Grandpa Qiang, who had cherished the children’s laughter and hoped to protect their futures, could not refuse their parents’ request. Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon, born again of fury and determination, would smash their kidnappers’ bones to bloody dust. Trouble: Retired Vigilante Invoke: To defend those in need, the bring justice upon the unjust Compel: Forgetting his age in the heat of indignation, becoming furious at those who do not act. Even once Qiang sought a life of peace, he knew that he could not channel tranquility in his heart without a venue to expend his innate wrath on. Before the kidnapping, he served as both shaman and mediator for the villagers who housed him, dispelling and bringing peace to their spirits, both benign and vengeful, and preventing anyone from acting out on their own violences by subduing them and composing poetry with them in order to temper their tempers and stoke their inner yin towards more focused action. Qiang is no longer within his simple village’s borders, however, and the spirits and reckless actions of his fellow men are even more impacting than he remembered from his youth. Betobetos and simple 99-year spirits are the rarest of his obstacles; amongst the unkept roads that caravans dare to travel only as last resorts, dozens, if not scores of kamuiy roam, seeking to bring unwary travelers to a rotting, plagued end. Miscreants and highwaymen, none of which the very ones he seeks to rescue his children, are themselves foul beasts upon the land, beasts that Qiang’s spirit, once tempered and cooled by peace and love, finds itself roaring to furious life and demanding justice upon. Qiang only hopes to find his children soon, before the Great Red-Mountain Demon returns completely. Aspect: Spirit-Warder Invoke:Be attuned to spiritual wrongness, know how and be experienced in dealing with the spiritual, discern rage and grief from possession and haunting. Compel:Be more susceptible to the spirits, come across as ‘crazy old man’ by others, feel the need to carry salt and flame and talk to invisible shoe-spirits. Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon fought men and beasts alike, serving his justice upon them. Grandpa Qiang faced spirits and the raw emotions of his fellow men, bringing peace and control back to them, and giving them comfort. Qiang is beset on all sides by all four and must deliver to them the appropriate action, as best as he is able to. Aspect: Old Man From the Mountains Invoke: Knowing useful herbs and remedies, being a hardy old man, getting along well with other old mountain men Compel: Never been much for fashions or trends, terrible manners, can't read Before Grandpa Qiang, and before Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon, Qiang the baby was born in the wilds and abandoned. He was raised by a vagrant, who died, and then by himself, until he grew strong, but his upbringing was never forgotten. Even as an old monk, Qiang cannot read, and he has always stayed closer to the fringes of society than in the bright city lanterns. Aspect: Once a Hero, Never Forgotten Invoke: Using his former reputation to his advantage, having old connections from the old days, other retired badasses, knows a lotta stories and is the subject of a few, too. Compel: His former reputation isn't exactly good all over, being sure about wrong connections, other badasses might be dead, or hate him. Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon was a hero of the younger times, no matter how he acted. For better or worse, his name has been recorded in the memories of the people and passed down to their children. His name has also been recorded in quite a few wanted posters, and while he is much shorter and has much less of an impressive beard these days, name-dropping has an equal chance of getting him information on the kidnappers as it does of getting him chased out of a town. Skills +4 Will +3 Fight, Chi +2 Physique, Deceive, Burglary +1 Athletics, Lore, Notice, Contacts(old badasses) Kung Fu Style - Mountain Bashe (Stone Serpent), Reborn Spirit (Ghost Phoenix) Stone Resists The Blow: You gain 2 Armor against any physical attack you are aware of. Serpent Strikes First: Use Fight to determine turn order instead of Notice in combat. Apply a +2 bonus instead if both Notice and the selected Skill are the same rank or Notice is greater Mountain Does Not Fall: You get a +2 bonus to defend against attempts to create an advantage based on unbalancing, pushing, tripping, or knocking over the defender. If a technique from an opponent instead allows them to create such an advantage with free invocations, one less free invocation is granted though the advantage is still created. Ghost Strikes the Spirit: : Ignore 1 point of Armor when making Fight attacks and add +1 Weapon Rating to any Fight attack against opponents with a lower Chi skill than the attacker Stunts You Need Exorcism!: Once per scene, by taking a moment to interact with another character, Qiang can convince them with subtle chi manipulation and some fast talk that they are being haunted. Place A Foul Spirit Lurks on that character with two free invokes. Bishamon's Evil Eye: Once per session, Qiang may spend a Fate Point to activate Bishamon's Evil Eye, a spiritual technique he learned in order to deal with the lies of spirits. While active, the Evil Eye allows Qiang's sight to pierce through all illusions, seeing the world as it is both spiritually and physically. This technique lasts the entire scene, being very noticeable and very unpleasant to behold. With Age, Comes Experience: Qiang's years of fighting, surviving and learning have honed his body to respond purely to his willpower. Will replaces Physique when Qiang has suffered at least one consequence. Refresh: 1 Velyoukai fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Feb 15, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 23:20
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Place and face. Place and face. Fplace! The Swamp That Souls Disappear In Aspects: Growing in Power; Growing in...Size?, Spiritual Nexus, Den of The Humble Sagacious Swamp Hermit In his youth, Qiang the Red-Mountain Demon traveled and came upon a beautiful swampland. In the day, the trees allowed beams of sunlight to filter through, lending a shimmering flare to the surface of the waters, and a sense of timeless tranquility enveloped the entirety of the swampland. Despite its beauty, though, Qiang later discovered that he was immensely lucky to have slept the night there and survived to leave the next day. For generations, the swamplands have glowed with an enchanting beauty in the day, and an terrifyingly ethereal glamour at night. Bizarre, shimmering snakes of moonlight and stardust wander the treetops and throughout the swamp at night, entrancing travelers and leading them to never be seen or heard from again. Qiang himself was faced with one such moonlight serpent, but his refusal to follow his curiosity was perhaps what saved his life. Or perhaps...  Moon-Child With Laughing Eyes Aspects: Shikigami, Daughter of the Swamp Hermit, One of Legion, Judge of Character. ...Qiang owes his life to the mysterious spirit that visited him the night he stayed in the swamp. A bizarre and distressingly energetic spirit, Moon-Child With Laughing Eyes wandered into Qiang's camp and proceeded to tease him with illusions and temptations. Only when Qiang refused to be swayed did the spirit cease, instead taking spot in Qiang's camp and partaking of his supplies in equal share. When the moonlight serpents gathered, it was Moon-Child With Laughing Eyes' mountain-air laughter, clear and grating on Qiang's ears like stone on stone, that dispersed them and allowed Qiang to rest in peace. Moon-Child With Laughing Eyes disappeared by the morning, and Qiang never sought to curry its attentions or those of the swamp ever again. The Humble Sagacious Swamp Hermit Aspects: Irritating Eccentric Old Man, Master of the Staff, Sage of the Swamp, Is He Even Human...? Velyoukai fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Feb 13, 2014 |
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Feb 10, 2014 21:54
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Made requested edits, continuing to rage and ponder at A Foul Spirit Lurks.
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Feb 15, 2014 01:57
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Vivacious Yue - A sweet girl. She reminds me of the children I seek, and so her smiles are both a balm and a dagger. She will not be kidnapped, I vow it, Bentenrai. Beautiful Doctor Zhang - A kind heart lies beneath the boy's pretty face and shallow dalliances, yet it is the kindest whose hearts break piece by piece from suffering. I pray for his strength to remain for years to come. Xu Lei - Hmph. His style demands discipline, but his eyes and spirit ring with laughter. Such reckless, free-spirited youth, and yet, I can only hope to help ensure he survives long enough to realize it. Shu Li - A commendable passion to the aid of others, yet he bears a burden that threatens to consume him completely. I sense a kindred spirit, but I lament that it is in one so young, before he has even spent his youthful vigor. Centipede Hong - The weight of silent remorse is heavy, indeed. I know not his past, nor shall it matter; I shall pray for him to find his way and my wrath will crush any who would tear him away from it. ???  I truly have no notion as to the identity of this strange old man. He has hounded me for years, ever since that fateful night spent in the Swamp of Lost Souls. He makes no flashy entrance, nor does he give any declaration of intent or identity. He has simply come upon me at times when the sun has just passed the horizon, fists raised to engage me in combat. We fight and fight, until one of us clearly has the upper hand, and then he leaves, walking away until I can no longer see him. The last we fought was the first night of my journey to discover the bandits who kidnapped the children. He solidly trounced me, leaving me with shame and a renewed need to revisit my training. He will not win next time.
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Feb 19, 2014 22:21
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Or the three older brothers of that girl.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:00
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