Revision as of 01:18, 6 April 2010

History

I was... born in the south, 20 years ago or so, in a little town just south of the Lap. It thrives on trade, as it stands in the border between the desert and the plains. Guild caravans, scavengers, and more would come to this town to do business and then move elsewhere. It... was not a bad place to live, I suppose, but I wanted to see more... from time to time, I would see Dragon-blooded soldiers, going to and from the Lap. Some were scum... but some of them were to admire. When I was younger, I often wished I could be like them as well.

I think that's what made me desire to travel. I wanted adventure in my life, fighting bandits and their ilk, maybe even the Fair Folk. I wanted to be a hero. A hero, I thought, needed to know how to fight first of all, so I trained hard as soon as I was able to. I learned swordfighting and to fight with my bare fists... I never did have any luck with the bow though. When I gained some confidence, I signed on with one of the desert caravans.

I'll be the first to admit that I learned nothing about survival while in said caravans, but I picked up other useful skills. They uses sand-boats instead of the usual animals, and so could often move quickly from place to place. I eventually learned how to sail said boats as well, and I eventually got my first taste of real battle, fighting the Dunespeople. I wanted more, but I was still young... I thought it couldn't hurt to stay with the caravans for a few more years.

Perhaps, if I had decided to leave earlier, my fate would have been different.

Exaltation

It was... several miles south of Yane. I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday... it was the last day I was... well, alive. It was a job like any other... guard a fairly large caravan, large enough to warrant hiring more guards. This group was lead by a dragon-blooded... earth aspect, I think. His name was... is? He calls himself Tenth Gauntlet.

Things went pretty smoothly the first few days... I talked with Tenth Gauntlet a lot, he had been all across the East and the South, apparently. I was more than a little starstruck.

... and one night he revealed his true colors. Over half of my group was resting, since his group was taking the night shift. And then... they sprung a trap on all of us. They were actually part of a bandit group, just waiting for the caravan to run through their territory. The attack came from the rest of their group, who was waiting in ambush.

... I was confused, I didn't suspect them at first. I thought this was just a large bandit group that had set up an ambush for us... but I didn't know why the rest of the men didn't get up to fight. It was... actually, pretty simple, they had been poisoned in their sleep.

I fought as they came towards me, I could do no less... and I rejoiced when I saw Tenth Gauntlet coming my way. Surely, I thought, with a dragon-blood in our side, we could not lose.

... and then he stabbed me in the back with his daiklave.

It's almost funny... it didn't hurt all that much until he pulled it out and I fell to my knees. I could just -stare- at him, and at his grin as he moved to the bandits and spoke to them as if they were the best of friends, leaving me to die there with that wound in my stomach.

I had to hear the rest of the battle, as my vision went fast. The sounds of men and women dying, the sounds of the sandships burning, and slowly... nothing.

... and then... I saw him, moving clearly through the darkness and the fire as if it wasn't there. He was... beautiful and I wondered why he seemed unfazed by the fire, and yet he stood strong among it all. I only noticed he was a child as he came towards me and glanced down. Then... he spoke, in a voice so very sweet.

"A clever setup," he said. "pose as mercenaries for hire and lure caravans to their doom. You poor child, you didn't see it coming at all, did you?"

The pain was gone by then... I only felt cold as I looked up to him. He continued. "And so, you die... dreams and hopes shattered by the betrayal of one you admired. Such is the fate that destiny has beset upon you. How terribly sad."

I felt myself dying slowly as he spoke, my vision of everything but him, and every noise but his voice dissapearing. And yet, he continued, lifting his hand in the air and raising a single finger. "But... it doesn't have to be that way. You don't want to die, do you? Go on, shake your head if you don't." So I did, I think. "Of course you don't, not in such an ignoble way, not to rot in the middle of the desert, to be food to scavengers who will leave only your bones to bleach in the sand... not after you have done so much."

He extended his hand to me, invitingly. "Come, child... swear yourself to me, and you shall live. Renounce your destiny and the name it gave you, and you will be mightier than the pest that dared betray you. You shall be a fierce knight who will destroy any who stands in your way again. You shall be young forever... and all I want, is your name and your loyalty."

... It... perhaps shames me to say this now, but I was terryfied of dying... and like he said, I didn't want my death to come in such a way... how could I not accept? I don't know where I got the strength to set my hand upon his claw... and so I was reborn.

I am now the Invinsible Guardian in Bloodied Sands, and I serve my lord, First Sacrifice of Morning, he who saved my life and gave me another chance. He has trained me and given me more power than I ever dreamed of when I was but a mortal, and I owe him much. He allowed me to hunt down those bandits that slayed me so long ago... now, only Tenth Gauntlet remains, the coward hiding in who knows what godsforsaken place. I will find him and destroy him, but I will show him more mercy than he showed me... I will not leave him to rot with a deadly wound in his chest. Maybe I will just kill him, or maybe I'll give him over to my circlemates... it depends on how I feel that day, I suppose.

That thought... it fills me with dark glee I cannot deny. I want his death so badly it hurts! ... and yet... when I am asked to do other tasks, similar tasks... why do I feel so hollow in the inside? Why does it -hurt-?

I have not discussed this with the others or my liege, although I suspect he knows. Perhaps... I'll have some answers in the future, but for now... I serve.

Personality

As far as Abyssals go, the Guardian is a very bad one. Once, she wanted to be a hero, and this desire still burns within her, refusing to let go. Thus, she is surprisingly compassionate and dislikes wanton killing, refusing to murder those she deems as innocents, and would go as far as to protect them.

However, she is -very- good at killing, although she doesn't enjoy it. Her victims include bandits (who she particularily hates), fae, demons, and the enemies of her liege. Despite being so... well, nice, she's also incredibly easy to manipulate, and a skilled manipulator can pull her strings quite easily. She's not -completely- gullible, but comes close.

The Guardian is more than happy to do other duties though. She makes for a fairly good bodyguard for her circlemates, and is very handy in duties that requires raw physical power. She has yet to find a non-magical door that can stop her for long. Her training has given her some fairly good investigation skills, she has a commanding presence, and years of working on sandboats have given her a good idea of sailing in general.

... But while she's loyal to her liege, as he saved her life, it's very likely that she won't be able to keep doing her work for much longer, unless she has a very sudden change of heart. She is, however, rather protective of the rest of her circle, seeing it as her duty to help them as much as possible.

The Guardian used to be an Explorer when she was alive, but the drastic change of her lifestyle has changed this nature to Martyr. Perhaps, one day, she'll return to her roots.

Appearance

The Guardian is a hauntingly beautiful woman, tall and powerful and yet with a surprisingly gentle air around her, despite her usual death-related clothes and armor. Her skin, a dark color once, has only gotten slightly paler with time. Her long hair, once brown, is beggining to become white. Only her eyes remain the same deep blue they have always been.

While certainly powerful looking, few would suspect that the Guardian is inhumanly strong, as a result of both her training in life and even more so since her Exaltation. She's athletic for sure, but not to the point where one would expect.

Despite being a harbringer of death, when she is relaxed and at peace the Guardian doesn't appear to be as dangerous as she can be. When angry, her eyes blaze and her enemies die in showers of blood, but unlike many of her breathen she does not appear to enjoy her duty... most of the time.

Character Sheet

Title: The Invincible Guardian in Bloodied Sands
Concept: Hero in the Wrong Place
Nature: Martyr
Caste: Dusk
Anima: A great ghostly serpentine dragon

---

ATTRIBUTES

PHYSICAL
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 3

SOCIAL
Charisma: 4
Manipulation: 1
Appearance: 4

MENTAL
Perception: 2
Intelligence: 2
Wits: 3

---

ABILITIES

DUSK
(x)Brawl: 4
(x)Melee: 5
(x)Thrown: 4

MIDNIGHT
Endurance: 2
(x)Presence: 4

DAYBREAK
(x)Investigation: 3
Lore: 2

DAY
(x)Athletics: 4
Awareness: 1
(x)Dodge: 4
Stealth: 1

MOONSHADOW
Linguistics: 2
(x)Sail: 3

SPECIALTIES
Sail (sandboats): 1
Melee (sandy surfaces): 1

---

ADVANTAGES

BACKGROUNDS
Artifact: 3
Liege: 3
Resources: 3
Underworld Manse: 2
Whispers: 2

CHARMS
Name | Cost (Ability)
1. Ravaging Strike | 1m (Brawl)
2. Lashing Tempest Attack | 1m / 2 yards (Brawl)
3. Furious Blade | 1m/1d (Melee)
4. Svage Shade Style | 1m (Melee)
5. Elegant Flowing Deflection | 1m/2d (Melee)
6. Fluttering Moth Defense | 2m (Melee)
7. Hungry Missle Technique | 1m/1d (Thrown)
8. Ox-body technique (-1,-2x2) | - (Endurance)
9. Elegant Tyrant's Mastery | 6m (Presence)
10. Enhanced Strength Discipline | 3m/dot (Athletics)

---

WILLPOWER: 7

VIRTUES Compassion: 4 Temperance: 2 Conviction: 2 Valor: 3

HEALTH -0x1, -1x3, -2x4, -4x1, I

SOAK (B / L / A): 8 / 6 / 5

ESSENCE: 2 Personal: 13 Peripheral: 32

---

Linguistics: Flametongue, Riverspeak, Old Realm

---

Expanded Backgrounds

Artifact: 3 </b>

<b> The Ebony Raiton (4)

The Ebony Raiton is a huge soulsteel Grand Daiklave. It's blade is lightly curved, and it's hilt appears to be made with both human and animal bones, wrapped in black feathers and skin. It doesn't appear to be particularily different than a normal Grand Daiklave, although it is somewhat stronger.

The true ability of the blade, however, comes from the "feathers" the blade can create. The blade bends in at least three pieces, and the edge of the blade extrudes about 10 razor sharp soulsteel feathers. When seen like this, it appears like a huge bird's wing. When in this form, the Ebony Raiton is not very effective for attacking, but it becomes very good for defending. However, that's not the true purpose of the feathers.

The feathers can be shot from the blade with a simple swing. The user can fire only one or all ten of them in one go, and he can designate what target each feather strikes. Once the feathers have been shot, they can be commanded to return to the blade in the next action, to be fired again in the action after that one. If for some reason they cannot be retrieved this way, it must be done manually. Otherwise, the feather regrows in the next new moon. The feathers can be used as impropu Melee weapons, but they are not made for the job and can hurt the wielder if he doesn't use protective gloves.

Each feather must be rolled for individually, with multiple action penalties. However, the user may also fire up to three feathers at a single opponent, with a single roll, that likewise can be defended with a single roll. This attack uses only the Accuracy from a single feather, but adds the Damage from each of them.

Even if the blade has fired all feathers, even if they cannot be retrieved, the blade can still produce replicas though. These shadow replicas can only be fired three at a time, and they hold not the power of the real things, but they'll do in a pinch. Each of these replicas costs 1 mote to create.

The blade can shift forms back and forth with a reflexive action, but only one change is possible per turn. The weapon can benefit from both Melee charms and Thrown charms. The Ebony Raiton needs 8 motes of commitment. It has two hearthstone slots.

Ebony Raiton: Speed: -3, Acc: +4, Dam: +12L, Def: +1
Ebony Raiton (spread): Speed: -4, Acc: +1, Dam: +10L, Def: +6
Raiton's Feathers: Acc: +3, Dam: +4L, Rate: 10, Range: 50
Raiton's feathers (melee): Speed: +0, Acc: +1, Dam: +2L, Def: -2
Shadow Feathers: Acc: +0, Dam: +1L, Rate: 3, Range: 30

PC RULES:
Ebony Raiton: Speed: +11, Acc: +4, Dam: +13L, Def: +0, Rate: 3
Ebony Raiton (spread): Speed: +9, Acc: +1, Dam: +9L, Def: +6, Rate: 3
Raiton's Feathers: Acc: +3, Dam: +4L, Rate: 10, Range: 50
Raiton's feathers (melee): Speed: -1, Acc: +1, Dam: +2L, Def: -2, Rate: 3
Shadow Feathers: Acc: +0, Dam: +1L, Rate: 3, Range: 30

The Invincible's Armor (3)

This soulsteel armor, at first sight, wouldn't appear to live to it's name. The protection it offers is almost like that of an artifact breastplate, although it covers most of the user's body. However, the true power of the artifact comes through in combat.

The souls used to forge the armor were that of people that wished above all else to protect something. When the Exalt enters battle and he slays his first enemy, the armor begins to turn away mortal weapons from the Exalt's skin. While he fights and kills, no mere mortal can do as much as scratch him. The weapon of extras tend to break when they hit the armor. Only a true heroic mortal may be able to hurt the user of this armor, and only if all his will is behind the attack (aka: Appropiately Dramatic Moments).

Even Exalts suffer this penalty if they use non-magical weapons against her. Arrows shatter harmlessly while swords are turned away. An Exalt loses half his attack die (round down) if he's using a non-magical weapon against the user of the armor, after all the bonuses and penalties are considered but -before- charms apply. Normal arrows fired from magical bows also suffer this penalty. Weapons made of the magic materials suffer no penalty whatsoever.

The effects start once the Exalt has killed the first man, and ends the turn after he stops killing. The armor requires 4 motes of commitment.

The Invincible's armor: Soak (L/B): 5/5, Mobility Penalty: -1, Fatigue: 0, Commitment: 4

Liege: 3</b> The Guardian serves First Sacrifice of Morning, and she serves faithfully enough, even with all the doubt clouding her mind lately.

<b>Resources: 3</b> The Guardian's liege has granted her a fair ammount of resources for her service. She's actually not entirely sure what to do with all of it, as she never had so much in all her life put toguether.

<b>Underworld Manse: 2</b> 3 levels in Hearthstones 1 and 2

Road of Hatred Stone (1) - +1 to any WP rolls that aid her in the pursuit of the object of her hatred. She also regains one extra WP roll when she achieves a goal related to her driving hatred.

Stone of Driving Focus (2) - This opaque red stone allows the bearer's determination to knock aside impediments to her finding things she wants. Add her Conviction to all Investigation rolls she makes.

<b> Whispers: 2 </b>

The Guardian is not too conected to the Malfeans... and this suits her just fine, since the visions she has seen lately have started to give her nightmares.

(Tiffa/TheInvincibleGuardian/OldComments for her previous version )