Kalisara/RubySage
Ruby Sage
Player: catmandrake
Experience: 0 spent, 0 banked
Caste: Twilight
Concept: Enterprising sorcerer
Anima: A blooming flower with petals of fire and a center of pure light
Attributes
||Str 2||Cha 3||Int 5|| ||Sta 2||App 3||Wit 3|| ||Dex 3||Man 3||Per 3||
Abilities
Craft(Air) 1 (Gemcraft +1)
Craft(Earth) 1
Investigation 1
Lore 3 (The South +2)
Occult 5
Melee 3
Presence 2
Resistance 2
Bureaucracy 3 (Commerce +1)
Linguistics 1 – Flametongue, Old Realm
Martial Arts 1
Integrity 2
Survival 1
Athletics 1
Awareness 2
Dodge 2
Larceny 1
Stealth 1
Ride 1
Socialise 1
Charms
First Craft Excellency
Second Presence Excellency
First Melee Excellency
Ox-Body Technique (-1, -1, -2)
Body-Mending Meditation
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (Emerald Countermagic, Demon of the First Circle, Infallible Messenger, Ritual of Elemental Empowerment)
Backgrounds
Allies 1 (Semir, an experienced Guild merchant prince who leads a caravan between Gem and Chiaroscuro, helped Ruby escape from slavery 5 years ago. After losing a caravan to Wyld barbarian attack, the Guild has been making him jump through hoops to recover his assets and get out of debt. Semir is getting sick of it.)
Artifact 2 (Red Jade Hearthstone Bracers: +3 to Dodge, -1 Speed to attacks, 1 Hearthstone socket; Attune 4m(8m for a Solar))
Contacts 3 (A Gem nobleman with the ear of the Despot; a old and knowledgeable mortal thaumaturge in Gem, he'll throw business Ruby's way if a client has a job that's out of his purview, and Ruby will do likewise; and Sydha, a fencer of stolen goods with her fingers in the black market scene in Gem)
Influence 1 (Ruby masquerades as a Fire-Aspect Dragon-Blooded and is known among the economic, political, and social circles of power in Gem)
Manse 1 (A small Fire-Aspected Manse hidden in the volcanic mountains behind Gem, about a day’s travel away from the city. Minimally furnished and poorly lit, it produces a Gem of Night Vision. Ruby cut a deal with the former owner, a rather weak fire elemental, after finding the place. She allowed the elemental to remain in residence and attuned to the Manse (and to avoid a thrashing from an Exalt) provided the elemental would keep the place a secret and not contest Ruby’s ownership of the Manse or its hearthstone. Near the manse is a large cavern Ruby has used to practice and cast Sorcery without attracting unwanted attention.)
Resources 3 (Ruby owns a fashionable store in Gem selling blown-glass trinkets, minor magical items, and various other goods not under the umbrella of one of the noble families monopolies. She also takes jobs as a freelance savant and occultist.)
Merits and Flaws
Hidden Manse -2
Vice (Compassion – toward creatures of darkness -2) +1
Other Traits
||Compassion 3(3)||Conviction 2(2)||Temperance 4(4)||Valour 1(1)||Willpower 7(7)|| Virtue Flaw: Paralyzing Indecision ; Limit: 0
Overwhelmed by the countless possible options open to her at any given moment, the Exalt loses all confidence in her ability to choose among them. She will immediately stop whatever she was doing and begin endlessly deliberating with herself which choice she should make. The Solar cannot take any actions of her own volition, nor activate any Charms (excepting those that activate themselves automatically, such as Surprise Anticipation Method). If the character is suffering Limit Break while in combat, she will take no action other than Guard (as the preservation of her own life is the one thing she is sure of). The Exalt may be able to take other actions if inaction would be tantamount to following an unacceptable order.
Partial Control: The character still cannot make any decisions for herself, but she may be directed and led by someone she trusts (Circlemates usually qualify). She can be directed in combat but takes a -2 penalty to all actions except Guard because of her uncertainty.
Duration: One full day.
Limit Break Condition: The character has to make a critical decision in which the wrong choice could result in truly catastrophic consequences, or, the character finds out that a decision she made in the past about a serious matter was the wrong choice.
||Essence 3||Personal 18||Peripheral 30(38)||Committed 8||
COMBAT
Join Battle: 5
dDV = 6
Staff (Speed 5 ; Accuracy 9 ; Damage 10B ; pDV 5 ; Rate 2 ; 2,R)
Knife (Speed 4 ; Accuracy 8 ; Damage 5L ; pDV 4 ; Rate 3 ; T)
Short Sword (Speed 3 ; Accuracy 9 ; Damage 6L ; pDV 4 ; Rate 2)
Straight Sword (Speed 3 ; Accuracy 9 ; Damage 6L ; pDV 4 ; Rate 2)
Slashing Sword (Speed 3 ; Accuracy 8 ; Damage 6L ; pDV 4 ; Rate 3)
Chopping Sword (Speed 3 ; Accuracy 8 ; Damage 8L/2 ; pDV 3 ; Rate 2 ; O)
Great Sword (Speed 5 ; Accuracy 8 ; Damage 10L/2 ; pDV 3 ; Rate 2 ; 2, O, R)
Throwing Knife (Speed 4 ; Accuracy 4 ; Damage 5L ; Range 15)
Punch (Speed 4 ; Accuracy 5 ; Damage 2B ; pDV 3 ; Rate 3)
Kick (Speed 4 ; Accuracy 4 ; Damage 5B ; pDV 1 ; Rate 2)
Clinch (Speed 5 ; Accuracy 4 ; Damage 2B ; Rate 1)
Soak 13B/9L/8A, Piercing 7B/5L/4A, Hardness 0B/0L (Unarmoured 2B/1L/0A)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4Kalisara/RubySage/Dying
SOCIAL
pMDV = 3, dMDV = 6
Motivation: Acquire power and influence in order to abolish slavery in the South
Intimacies: Her family, wealth, knowledge
Equipment
Earth-Empowered Exceptional Staff
Water-Empowered Exceptional Knife: 1m to change forms
Perronele, the Living Armor; Worn under clothes.
Sesselja, the Stomach Bottle Bug: Kept in the stomach, the sesselja suffers the effects of alcohol or poison in place of the sorcerer. It can use the Charm Touch of Grace to heal its summoner.
Set of general purpose, everyday clothes, Wood-Empowered so that they repair themselves.
Set of courtly clothing, Water-Empowered so she can wear a different outfit each time she puts them on. 1m to change forms.
Traveling coat, Air-Empowered to keep her cool in hot weather, with a removable liner, Fire-Empowered to keep her warm in cold weather. 1m to make the coat grow cool or make the liner grow warm for up to a full day.
Fire-Empowered cooking pot, self-heating. 1m to make it grow hot.
Water-Empowered key. 1m to change forms.
Various crafting tools, Water-Empowered so they can be resized and reshaped for 1m, drastically reducing the number of tools she needs and the amount of space they take up.
Story
Looking back on it, Ruby Sage's whole life up to her Exaltation could be seen as her initiation into sorcery. She was born a slave in Gem named Medala. Her family cut and appraised precious stones for the Despot. Medala wanted so much more than a lifetime of drudgery in the lava tubes of Gem. When she was thirteen and just beginning to bud, she made her escape. She convinced a black market fence named Sydha to smuggle her onto a caravan bound for Chiaroscuro. Wyld barbarians attacked and destroyed the caravan only a few days out of Gem, but Medala and the merchant prince of the caravan, a man named Semir, escaped into the desert. He was not a typical soft, city-born Guildsman; he knew a thing or two about desert survival. It was a long journey north through the desert, weathering sandstorms, avoiding beasts and barbarian tribes, and scrounging enough food and water to survive. Semir taught her many things about the world, but never once took advantage of her. Nearly a year later, they finally reached Chiaroscuro. Semir had been declared dead and was in for a long, bureaucratic struggle to recover most of his assets. He was away most of the time and let Medala house-sit for him while she looked for work in Chiaroscuro.
One fateful day however, a member of a mercenary company from Gem somehow recognized her. He threatened to return her to Gem. Medala feared being made a slave again more than anything. She fled from the mercenary, and ducked into a mystic's shop to hide. The owner was a lecherous old man and Medala was ripe for plucking by his estimation. He agreed to hide her from the pursuing soldier and even take her in as his apprentice, but only if she agreed to sleep with him. Holding back tears, she sacrificed her virginity for sanctuary. But somehow, in that moment of violation, the world came into focus for her. She understood its structure, and how to shape that structure by the force of her will. The mystic pushed himself off of her in horror as the sunset red glow of her anima filled his bedroom and the newly acquired Caste mark burned gold on her forehead. The old man worked quickly, throwing up warding circles around her. He threatened to report her to the Tri-Khan or agents of the Realm unless she performed further sexual favors for him. Now Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, Medala would tolerate no such threats. She shattered his pathetic wards like the brittlest glass and killed him with his own knife. Knowing she would now be a fugitive in Chiaroscuro as well, she took what she could carry from the mystic's store and disappeared back into the desert.
When she once more set foot in Gem she was a new woman. The girl Medala was gone, redefined into Ruby Sage, outcaste Fire-Aspected Dragon-Blooded sorcerer. She simulated the Aspect markings with makeup, wore red Jade whenever possible, and set herself up as a merchant and sorcerer for hire. Few ever questioned her persona. She reestablished contact with Sydha, and befriended Semir when he returned to Gem. Ruby longs to tell her friends of her true identity, longs to see her family once again, but she can't risk revealing her secret yet, not while the Despot still rules in Gem and the Wyld Hunt still rides. But Ruby Sage is eighteen years old, Chosen by the Sun, and ambitious, it shouldn't take too long to reshape the world.
Description: Ruby has the nigh-black skin of Gem natives and subtly accents it with red pigments to give it a fiery sheen. Her natural red hair is cut close to the scalp. Her typical wardrobe matches her assumed name; she dresses in ornate silk robes of bright red and dark green. The sleeves are long and the collar is high to conceal the perronele she wears beneath them. The series of smooth, round, black gemstones in her choker are actually constructed of dark glass. Her perronele can hide its eyes beneath these settings and still be able to see though the glass in every direction around Ruby. She prominently displays her red Jade Hearthstone Bracers whenever the situation permits. Ruby makes no secret of her love for jewelry. She wears numerous rings, bracelets, and necklaces. She never goes without an ornate ruby encrusted circlet over her brow, which can neatly cover her caste mark should she need to spend a mote or two of peripheral Essence.
