DarkSirenSally/TokumiFamily

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Tokumi's Family

Tokumi is the daughter of Peleps Nalin Bejan, a Water Aspect Dragon-Blooded and high-ranking officer in the Imperial Navy. Her real father is Bejan's once-rival and long-time lover, Tepet Tilis Hazult, a Fire Aspect who now serves as her second in command. Her "official" father, the man Bejan married, is Ragara Geros, a wealthy unExalted patrician in the Thousand Scales.

Bejan is a woman of regal posture and grace, with thick, glossy black hair down to her waist, bluish-pale skin and almond-shaped eyes of aquamarine that seem to reflect the myriad shifting shades of the sea. Her figure exhibits the lithe suppleness of a dancer combined with the enduring strength of a mariner at home with the rigors of life at sea. When out of uniform, she favors blouses of vivid shades of scarlet, cobalt or emerald offset by slim pants of deepest black silk, or close-fitting gowns of the same bright colors accented in gold. Her weapons of choice are a razor edged war fan of interlocking blue jade plates, Gale Beater, and a black jade, single-edged curved daiklaive, Shadow on the Water, with a hilt guard forged into a stylized reprentation of seafoam and lotus petals. To her subordinates she is keenly observant, cool under fire and impatient with inadequacy, but rewards good work fairly and well. To her children she is much the same, but she expects them to embody the same striving for perfection as she has all her life, and to grow into future leaders themselves.

Bejan's parents are Peleps Nalin, whose comparatively small but stubborn branch of the House emphasizes showing respect to one's competitors, and Peleps Calisor, a distant relative who came to share Nalin's philosophies and married her to propogate such beliefs through their family line. Nalin Exalted as an Air aspect, a woman with an air of wisdom and patience seemingly impervious to the withering scorn and scathing whispers of her less scrupulous peers; Calisor is a few decades older than her, a Water Aspect trained as a master spy for the House who has observed one too many an up-and-coming Peleps family ruined by cutthroat competition that went too far. Bejan follows her parents' philosophy of respectful competition to a point -- as soon as an opponent shows himself unwilling to be respectful in return, she will gladly retaliate in kind. Nor is she likely to show much consideration to those who dare challenge or cut a deal with her but prove lacking in the skill, resources or pure breeding with which to contend with her.

Hazult is casually, even chaotically handsome -- hazel eyes varying from grey to green in the light, taut-muscled form bronzed by the sun, windblown reddish-gold hair cut shoulder length. He carries himself with the easy stance of a man sure of his talents, every move exuding a flair that could be mistaken as arrogance to some and foolishness to others. He is used to being underestimated, and it has often worked to his advantage. He has a quick, clever wit, a disarming personality and a penchant for coming up with wild but ingenious ideas that work. He treats friends and enemies alike with the same amiable demeanor until the moment he is put in a situation in which his skills are called upon in all seriousness. Then he becomes intensely focused, unshakable from his goal, a force to be reckoned with. His favored weapon is a red jade reaver daiklaive, Crimson Dervish, which he carries strapped on his back at all times.

Hazult comes from a primarily military-oriented line of ancestors; his parents are Cathak Uzade and Tepet Tilis Xochis, both Dragon-Blooded (Earth and Water, respectively) who served in command positions in their respective Houses' legions. Xochis was killed during her participation in House Tepet's ill-fated campaign against the Northern barbarians; Uzade, a son of Cathak Cainan, has yet to remarry, opting instead to continue an active career in the Legion for a time. It is said that Uzade was genuinely in love with his wife and continues to command and fight in order to ease the pain of his loss, though he knows very well that expectations and etiquette will soon call him home to address his new marriage proposals. Hazult has, in some form, inherited his father's penchant for enduring love, having accepted, in the end, a subordinate position to his lover in order to remain close to her. He is deeply loyal to Bejan, and cares more about his children than he would openly admit. He truly mourned Kizuko's death, to the point that the subject became a frequent subject of argument with Bejan, until she expressly forbade him -- as an order -- never to speak of it again. Still, it festers in his heart, as does the fact that as close to Bejan as he has become, he must share her with a man who provides her with the practical-minded stability that she craves but that he, by nature, could not give.

Hazult and Bejan first met in primary school, two of the brightest students in their class who competed neck and neck for several years. Hazult was deeply attracted to her, but she responded to his initial advances with anywhere from cool indifference to insufferable disdain. Bejan was a perfectionist and a diligent student, always pushing herself towards new levels of progress, taking every mistake as a sign of inadequacy she must train to eliminate. Observing this, Hazult brazenly took on the challenge to win her heart -- or the very least, her respect -- by emerging as her foremost challenger in every field she excelled in, and besting her at those she did not. It was not long before Bejan realized that not only was Hazult genuine in his efforts, he was enough of a match for her to take seriously. They became favorites at school for their lively -- and often heated -- debates, sparring matches and performances, attracting spectators and followers with their distinctive but opposing personalities. No matter who won or lost, though, they neither gloated nor scorned each other, but saw each competition as an opportunity to better themselves.

As students in the House of Bells, Hazult and Bejan spent a great deal more time on individual study and cultivating their own network of connections, but they still paid close attention to one another's failings and achievements. They learned much about each other in those final formative years of schooling, and came to the conclusion that they would mutually benefit from working together, as long as one of them would be willing to concede to the leadership of the other. So it was that they entered the Imperial Navy as comrades, with Bejan climbing steadily up the ranks and Hazult always one step behind -- but never meekly, always pushing her towards daring opportunities to one-up her opponents or vie for a promotion, never hesitating to question an order or suggest a better course of action. Their arguments are explosive, their making up even more so. Nonetheless, Hazult is Bejan's most valued officer and aide, and she would trust him with her life; she would just rather keep that fact little-known.

Given the volatile nature of their relationship, Hazult has grudgingly agreed that it is best that they marry elsewhere, but this has not kept them from maintaining a discreet but very exciting affair. Hazult has yet to marry (and it may be that he never will), but Bejan shrewdly chose to accept the marriage arranged for her from childhood. Geros's position in the Thousand Scales provides Bejan with a certain amount of political immunity she has come to regard as invaluable, while his inherited wealth funds her interests in the Threshold, including several holdings and Manses, as well as her endeavors in the black market overseas. Bejan, in turn, backs her husband's policies with the might of her command in the Navy, as well as her network of spies whom she has no scruples about sending to sabotage enemies outside her House and family.

Geros is a solemn, serious man who places much importance on etiquette and tradition. He tends to be straightforward and to the point in his dealings with people, unimpressed by flashiness and unmoved by sentiment. Tall and dignified, with dark brown skin and eyes, he keeps his grey-streaked black hair and beard neatly groomed and trimmed and clothes himself in dark, sober colors. He has a strong interest in the education of his children, believing it one of the greatest advantages that seperate them from the children of ordinary peasants, Exalted or otherwise. Though he recognizes the importance of combat training, he is not himself skilled in such, and would not be displeased if his children opted to concentrate on more socially oriented disciplines.

Geros's parents (and whom Tokumi would inaccurately claim as her grandparents) are Ragara Thelos and Sesus Nara, both who live rich, decadent lives hosting parties and maintaining contacts for House Ragara in the Imperial Palace. They very rarely check on their one unExalted son, other than to cull favors from him and his illustrious (they are quite fond of Bejan) wife once in a while -- for good sums of jade, of course. When Thelos and Nara deign to visit in person, it puts Geros in an atypical state of agitation, which he often takes out on the children for as little as a slight error in posture.

In truth, only one of Bejan's three still-living children were fathered by Geros -- her eldest and first son, Lejos, 20 years old, unExalted as well but poised to inherit much of Geros' wealth and influence. Tokumi, at 14 years of age, is in the middle, as was her twin sister Kizuko until her untimely death. Bejan's youngest child is another son, Hakaze, currently 5 years old. Hazult does not see much of his children with Bejan, but knows that they are his; Tokumi and Hakaze, on the other hand, do not know to treat him as their father. Hazult has accepted this fact, and remains a fringe influence in his children's lives, but he is not particularly fond of Bejan's choice of Geros, even though he realizes how much the marriage has been to her advantage. Bejan, to her credit, very rarely shares Geros' bed, and Geros has his own seperate affairs Bejan cares little about -- though she has, once or twice, sent agents to "rid" him of a lover she feels is below his station.