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The Widow of the Red Path is a [[DeathLords|Deathlord]], the ghost of a powerful Solar betrayed and killed by the Dragon Blooded in the Usurpation.
  
 
== Widow of the Red Path ==
 
== Widow of the Red Path ==
  
<b>Name</b>: Widow of the Red Path <br>
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The Widow of the Red Path was once a mighty night caste solar, a freedom fighter and leader of secret armies. Driven insane by the great curse, she becomes a paranoid ditator, using fear to rule with an iron fist from the shadows. Betrayed by her Sidereal mentor and her own dragon blooded students, aids and supposedly faithful assassins, the night caste spilled the blood of hundreds of enemies, but was finally outnumbered and sank like a memory into the underworld. From here she plans to return to Creation and forge it into a more agreeable image.
<b>Known as</b>: <i>The Iron Matron</i>, <i>Mistress of the Invisible Legion</i> <br>
 
<b>Nature</b>: Architect <br>
 
<b>Caste</b>: Midnight <br>
 
<b>Liege</b>: [[HammerOne/WhispersoftheBrokenTemple|Whispers of the Broken Temple]]<br>
 
<b>Anima</b>:  Reddish shadows become blood covered assassins and scarlet banners. <br>
 
<b>Concept</b>: Terrorist mastermind, stager of great displays, Deathlord's right hand <br>
 
  
<b>Attributes</b><br>
 
Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2 <br>
 
Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2 <br>
 
Perception 2, Intelligence 5, Wits 4 <br>
 
  
<b>Abilities</b><br>
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=== Background ===
Archery 0, Athletics 0, Awareness 1, Brawl 0, Bureacracy 0, Craft 0 , Dodge 0, <b>Endurance</b> 2, Investigation 0, <b>Larcerny</b> 0, <b>Linguistics</b> 3, <b>Lore</b> 3, Martial Arts 2, Medicine 0, Melee 0, <b>Occult</b> 3, <b>Performance</b> 3, <b>Presence</b> 3, <b>Resistance</b> 2, Ride 0, Sail 0, <b>Socialize</b> 3, Stealth 0, <b>Survival</b> 0, Thrown 0,
 
  
<b>Backgrounds</b><br>
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The story of the deathlord known as the Widow of the Red Path starts with the story of another solar, a Zenith caste known as <b>Red Mountain Poet</b>, one of the great leaders of the first age.
<i>Liege</i> 5, <i>Abyssal Command</i> 3, <i>Spies</i> 3, <i>Artifact</i> 5, <i>Resources</i> 4, <i>Manse</i> 3, <i>Followers</i> 5, <i>Influence</i> 2(Rebel armies of the Hundred Kingdoms)     
 
  
<b>Merits</B>:<br> 
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* Mortal Life
 
<b>Flaws</b>: <br>
 
  
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* Exaltation and The Demon's Face
  
<B>Virtues</B>: Compassion 2, Valor 3, Temperance 4, Conviction 5
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* The Circle
  
<b>Willpower</B>:8<br>
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* Lords of the
<b>Essence</B>: 5<br>
 
<b>Personal essence pool</B>: 23<br>
 
<b>Periferal essence pool</B>: 57<br>
 
<b>Health Levels</b>:  -0, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated
 
  
<b>Combat</b><br>
 
  
<b>Charms</b>:<br>
 
<b>Occult</b>: <i>Shadowland Circle Necromancy</i>, <i>Labyrinth Circle Necromancy</i><br>   
 
<b>Performance</b>: <i>Haunting Inflection Trick</i>, <i>Elegy for the Fallen</i>, <i>Mobid Fascination Style</i>, <i>Heart-Sculpting Oration</i><br>
 
<b>Presence</b>: <i>Elegant Tyrant's Majesty</i><br>
 
<b>Presence</b>: <i>Spirit-Hardened Frame</i>, <i>Ivory Blossom Carapace</i>, <i>Crimson Petal Armor</i>,
 
  
<b>Spells</b>:<br>
 
<b>Shadowland Circle Necromancy</b>:  <br>
 
<b>Labyrinth Circle Necromancy</b>:  <br> 
 
  
<b>Equipment</B>
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=== Description ===
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The Widow appears to most who encounter her as an ancient woman, taller than most men and gaunt to the point of being a skeleton. Pale weathered skin sit stretched across bones. Her posture is regal and a wicked smile always seems to play across her skull like face. Her long and slender neck, always protected by a black soulsteel neck brace, only enforces the image of her head as a skull. Thin whispy white hair is pulled back across the top of head and gathered in a ball, held by a tiny black soulsteel medallion, showing the screaming face of a handsome elder man, in fact the widow's former mentor known simply as the [[HammerOne/demonmask|Demon Mask]].
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Most of the time, the Widow appears in a simply cut, but beautiful black silk kimono, adorned with many small black pieces of red Jade, cut into the likeness of drops of blood, which, by what seems an optical illusion constantly move and twist across the dark fabric, giving the impression that the jade blood drops are continuously running down the Widow's dress. However if one, as unlikely as that seems, inspects the blood drops closely, one will notice that they are actually the blood red yes of a host of ghostly assassins, hiding in the fabric of their mistress' dress.
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At times when more grandeur is required, as talking to large groups of her followers or when attending meetings with her fellow Deathlords, the Widow appears in something that appears part ball gown and part armour. A segmented soulsteel chestarmor, black as the abyss, protects her body, while her arms and legs are obscured by large night black sleeves, adorned once again with small drop like pieces of jade, serving as windows for a hidden legion of ghostly assassins and bodyguards. Each shoulder of the dress is covered by a black soulsteel shoulder guard, depicting the face of a grinning demonic face, who all who sees it, finds disturbingly familiar. On these occasions, the Widow will wear a beautiful tiara, held by nine soulsteel pins, each of which is a lethal weapon that the widow can take and throw with deadly accuracy, draining the very life force out of almost any victim it hits. The Widow will keep her face covered by a beautiful white jade mask, showing the doll like face of an almost featureless young woman, with only red lips and the merest hint of a nose can be seen, apart from the eye sockets, where the Widow's glowing eyes shine menacingly.
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 +
 
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=== Traits ===
  
<b>Bonus point</b>: 0(15+12) <br>
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Although her exaltation given affinities are lost along with her life and the exaltation herself, her centuries as one of the chosen of the Unconquered Sun has still made her master of certain skill and abilities. As a former member of the Night Caste of Solar Exalted, the widow had a great affinity with the Abilities of <b>Athletics</b>, <b>Awareness</b>, <b>Dodge</b>, <b>Larceny</b> and <b>Stealth</b>. In addition, her years of training in the Division of Secrets of the celestial hierachy made her a master of the abilities of <b>Investigation</b>, <b>Occult</b>, <b>Performance</b>, <b>Presence</b> and <b>Martial Arts</b>, making her in the eyes of some gods and exalted, the equal of the Chosen of both Endings and Secrets in more ways than one.
  
<b>Experience points</b>: +111<br>
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Apart from knowing all standard Abyssal Charms, the Widow of the Red Path has developed several secret dark charms dealing with maipulation, secrecy and fear, secrets which only the Widow and her closest followers knows. In addition, the Widow is a master martial artist, mastering at least three Sidereal martial arts from her studies under the [[HammerOne/demonmask|Demon Mask]].
  
=== Description ===
 
  
=== Biography ===
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=== Followers ===
  
When she still walked among the living, the woman who would become the Widow of the Red Path was the consort and advisor of one of the greatest warlords, ever seen in the Hundred Kingdoms, a rebel named <i>Crimson Mountain</i>. More thant two decades ago, this charismatic leader gathered rebel group from all over the region into one great army and set forth to destroy the enemies of his various allies, one kingdom at the time. Always at his side, his wife worked tirelessly to turn her husband into a living legend, and skillfully set the stage for a number of grand parades and rallies where thousand of mesmerized followers offered their undying allegiance. Soon she had turned her husband into a demi god to his many followers, something no man could kill.
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* [[HammerOne/GreatIronTeacher|Great Iron Teacher of Vengeance's Truth ]]
  
In the end, it wasn't a man that killed the Crimson Mountain; it was a simple beast, his own horse. One day, while returning with a small retinue from one of his many allied, the rebel leader forced his horse to jump across a fallen three that blocked their path. He stumble and fell, and when his men reached his side, they knew he was dead, if not by the glazed look in his eyes, then by the twisted angle of his neck. Carrying his body back to the main camp in secret, the members of the retinue contacted Crimson Mountain's wife and the allied generals.
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* [[HammerOne/BeastOfWar|Beast Of War]]
  
Although she grieved for her dead husband, the woman who would become the Widow of the Red path was filled with a great rage upon hearing the news of his death; how dared he upset her carefully planned and orchestrate drama? She quickly outlined her plan for the further success of her grand scheme and what the allied generals had to do. Here, her rage grew, first into surprise and then into a flaming fury as the allied general refused to hear her out and even told her not to interfere. In her blind arrogance, she had never considered that the allied generals had been fooled by her rouse and thought her late husband to truly be the semi divine leader; she had made him up to be. Quickly regaining her composure, she began spreading dissent and mistrust among the generals and quickly raised the question of who should be the new leader of the rebel armies. Skillfully making the generals mistrust each other, she casually suggested that she, in her capacity of the widow of the Crimson Mountain should be made leader. After much debate the generals finally and less than enthusiastically made her the new leader.
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* [[HammerOne/DustandBonesofSevenMonkeys|Dust and Bones of Seven Monkeys]]
  
For a short while, it seemed to work; the generals carried out her orders and the rebel army made progress against the Realm backed forces of several of the Hundred Kingdoms. But as the power of the rebel army grew, so did the ambition of the allied generals. Soon a plan was set in motion to once and for all rid the rebel generals of the consort of the Crimson Mountain. While a skilled manipulator, the consort was not as skilled a general as her late husband and when the generals told her that a great blow could be struck against the Realm, she eagerly took their advice and rode out, expecting the generals to follow her. However, when she came to the great forest opening, where her generals had told her she would surprise the realm backed forces, they were not only waiting for her, they had been reinforced with soldiers from one of the Real legions led by several terrestrial exalted. And the allied generals were nowhere to be seen.
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* [[HammerOne/Prince of Poisoned Dreams|Prince of Poisoned Dreams]]
  
The battle was short and bloody; the consort's forces were butchered to a man, and the bodies were left to rot on the battlefield, a feast for the scavengers. Missed by the dragon blooded, the consort lay dying, slashed wide open by the blade of a large Water aspected dragon blooded, slowly feeling the blood flow from her body and her life with it. Though she was weak from her wounds and her vision had started to go dark, the consort still stirred, trying to sit up and put of the inevitable, shaking from growing shock and a dark rage capable to bend steel. She struggled for what seemed to be hours, but her body remained unresponsive. Just as the last energy left her and the darkness closed in, for second she thought she heard a faint chuckle and as the world went black, a voice, deep and soft as silk, rose from the darkness, calling her name.
 
  
=== Detailed Backgrounds ===
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=== Plans and Influence ===
  
=== Story Ideas ===
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The Central part of the Widow's plans center around her <i>Five Armies Stratagem</i>: the creation of five secret armies to ensure her hold on her path on creation. So far no one has pierced the veil of secrecy the Widow has wowen around these armies and she has even had them fight each other to maintain the deception.
  
*Although she is specifically ordered by her master to let the matter go, the Widow is still furious at the generals who betrayed her and had her killed. Most of all however, she is furious at them for not respecting her and following her brilliant plans. So while she is managing her master's many schemes and building his clandestine armies, she is secretly searching the Hundred Kingdoms, indeed the entire East for any surviving members of the allied generals. Although it has been two decades, a surprising five of the original eight generals are still alive, having either set them selves up as the petty kings they fought many years ago or retired to one of the many small monasteries that dot the kingdoms. The players are relatives or students of one of the retired generals. As they meet with him, he tells them of the mysterious deaths of two of his old companions. No one else remembers the real army, except for children's tales of Crimson Mountain, a mystical reble hero, so no one sees the connection, except the player's elderly patron. The retired general wishes to warn his surviving companions and asks the players to escort him. From here on, the players will ahve numerous encoutners with agents and assassins, sent by the Widow of the Red Path. The Widow will go the great lengths to cover her tracks, both to avoid the players but also to avoid alerting her master to her own small projects. (<i>Whispers of the Broken Temple is well aware of his Deathknight's vendetta, but remains passive, simply to see how it players out</i>).
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* [[HammerOne/armyoftheghosttiger|Ghost Tiger Army]] is a rebel army, led by a group of descendants of a powerful Full Moon Lunar, known in stories as the [[HammerOne/LegendaryTigerGeneral|Legendary Tiger General]]The core group of the army are all suprisingly human looking beastmen, who gather their forces for the moment when their legends fortell of the return of their ancestor as the Invincible Ghost Tiger, hence the name of the group. The Widow has secretly been grooming one of the beastmen as the army's leader and has him possessed by one of her most skillfull nemissaries, giving her full control of the Ghost Tiger Army very soon.
  
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* [[HammerOne/houseofthedarkcentipede|House of the Black Iron Centipede]]. Led by the Widow's newest Deathknight, trader in vices [[HammerOne/Prince of Poisoned Dreams|Prince of Poisoned Dreams]], the House of the Black Iron Centipede are one of the most influential criminal organisations in the east, specialising in smuggling, slavery and drugs. Some say that the House was originally created by a powerful Chosen of Endings as a tool, usable across many different identities, without uncovering any.
  
=== Other Notes ===
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* [[HammerOne/DarkWaterClan|Dark Water Clan]] -A deeply corrupted clan of predominantly Water aspected terrestrials, the clan of the Dark Water is one of Widows's has secretly served the Widow for decades if not centuries.

Latest revision as of 01:16, 6 April 2010

Back to HammerOne
Back to Deathlords

The Widow of the Red Path is a Deathlord, the ghost of a powerful Solar betrayed and killed by the Dragon Blooded in the Usurpation.

Widow of the Red Path

The Widow of the Red Path was once a mighty night caste solar, a freedom fighter and leader of secret armies. Driven insane by the great curse, she becomes a paranoid ditator, using fear to rule with an iron fist from the shadows. Betrayed by her Sidereal mentor and her own dragon blooded students, aids and supposedly faithful assassins, the night caste spilled the blood of hundreds of enemies, but was finally outnumbered and sank like a memory into the underworld. From here she plans to return to Creation and forge it into a more agreeable image.


Background

The story of the deathlord known as the Widow of the Red Path starts with the story of another solar, a Zenith caste known as Red Mountain Poet, one of the great leaders of the first age.

  • Mortal Life
  • Exaltation and The Demon's Face
  • The Circle
  • Lords of the



Description

The Widow appears to most who encounter her as an ancient woman, taller than most men and gaunt to the point of being a skeleton. Pale weathered skin sit stretched across bones. Her posture is regal and a wicked smile always seems to play across her skull like face. Her long and slender neck, always protected by a black soulsteel neck brace, only enforces the image of her head as a skull. Thin whispy white hair is pulled back across the top of head and gathered in a ball, held by a tiny black soulsteel medallion, showing the screaming face of a handsome elder man, in fact the widow's former mentor known simply as the Demon Mask.

Most of the time, the Widow appears in a simply cut, but beautiful black silk kimono, adorned with many small black pieces of red Jade, cut into the likeness of drops of blood, which, by what seems an optical illusion constantly move and twist across the dark fabric, giving the impression that the jade blood drops are continuously running down the Widow's dress. However if one, as unlikely as that seems, inspects the blood drops closely, one will notice that they are actually the blood red yes of a host of ghostly assassins, hiding in the fabric of their mistress' dress.

At times when more grandeur is required, as talking to large groups of her followers or when attending meetings with her fellow Deathlords, the Widow appears in something that appears part ball gown and part armour. A segmented soulsteel chestarmor, black as the abyss, protects her body, while her arms and legs are obscured by large night black sleeves, adorned once again with small drop like pieces of jade, serving as windows for a hidden legion of ghostly assassins and bodyguards. Each shoulder of the dress is covered by a black soulsteel shoulder guard, depicting the face of a grinning demonic face, who all who sees it, finds disturbingly familiar. On these occasions, the Widow will wear a beautiful tiara, held by nine soulsteel pins, each of which is a lethal weapon that the widow can take and throw with deadly accuracy, draining the very life force out of almost any victim it hits. The Widow will keep her face covered by a beautiful white jade mask, showing the doll like face of an almost featureless young woman, with only red lips and the merest hint of a nose can be seen, apart from the eye sockets, where the Widow's glowing eyes shine menacingly.


Traits

Although her exaltation given affinities are lost along with her life and the exaltation herself, her centuries as one of the chosen of the Unconquered Sun has still made her master of certain skill and abilities. As a former member of the Night Caste of Solar Exalted, the widow had a great affinity with the Abilities of Athletics, Awareness, Dodge, Larceny and Stealth. In addition, her years of training in the Division of Secrets of the celestial hierachy made her a master of the abilities of Investigation, Occult, Performance, Presence and Martial Arts, making her in the eyes of some gods and exalted, the equal of the Chosen of both Endings and Secrets in more ways than one.

Apart from knowing all standard Abyssal Charms, the Widow of the Red Path has developed several secret dark charms dealing with maipulation, secrecy and fear, secrets which only the Widow and her closest followers knows. In addition, the Widow is a master martial artist, mastering at least three Sidereal martial arts from her studies under the Demon Mask.


Followers


Plans and Influence

The Central part of the Widow's plans center around her Five Armies Stratagem: the creation of five secret armies to ensure her hold on her path on creation. So far no one has pierced the veil of secrecy the Widow has wowen around these armies and she has even had them fight each other to maintain the deception.

  • Ghost Tiger Army is a rebel army, led by a group of descendants of a powerful Full Moon Lunar, known in stories as the Legendary Tiger GeneralThe core group of the army are all suprisingly human looking beastmen, who gather their forces for the moment when their legends fortell of the return of their ancestor as the Invincible Ghost Tiger, hence the name of the group. The Widow has secretly been grooming one of the beastmen as the army's leader and has him possessed by one of her most skillfull nemissaries, giving her full control of the Ghost Tiger Army very soon.
  • House of the Black Iron Centipede. Led by the Widow's newest Deathknight, trader in vices Prince of Poisoned Dreams, the House of the Black Iron Centipede are one of the most influential criminal organisations in the east, specialising in smuggling, slavery and drugs. Some say that the House was originally created by a powerful Chosen of Endings as a tool, usable across many different identities, without uncovering any.
  • Dark Water Clan -A deeply corrupted clan of predominantly Water aspected terrestrials, the clan of the Dark Water is one of Widows's has secretly served the Widow for decades if not centuries.