Ketrus/Raptor

WORK IN PROGRESS!

Description

"Afraid of the dark? Me? No. The dark simply disgusts me."

When he was a little boy, Five Graces Raptor managed to sneak away from his minders just long enough to find a lost lower-class girl about his age, wandering the Little Market with a scared look in her eyes. He 'rescued' her, and she introduced herself as 'Marianne'. Raptor and Marianne played together for the rest of that day, the minders unsuccessful in any efforts to seperate the two. When she suddenly disappeared the next day, his caretakers explained that Marianne's parents had been found, and that she had gone home. For one reason or another, Raptor never forgot Marianne.

It would be two years before he saw her again, the second time also in the Little Market. He called out to her, but she did not answer, he looked into her eyes but there was nothing there. She was dressed in clothes even more threadbare than the ones she had worn previously, and a collar adorned with three jade bits was fastened tight around her neck. The Fair Ones had eaten her dreams and sold her back to the Guild. Raptor wanted to save her. To rescue her. He nearly had a hand cut off by an enraged slavekeeper, before his minders stopped the older, crueller man. Then he wanted to buy her, to somehow restore her, but nothing could be done. The Marianne he knew was gone forever. She was eight years old.

Five Graces Raptor grew into his role as a wealthy scion of a Guild prince within the largest city in all the Threshhold. He grew in other ways too, many thanks to Marianne. He became cold and uncaring towards other, losing his pity for all but the vicitims of the Fair Folk. His hatred for them, the Raksha, the devourers of souls, became a centerpoint for his soul and his spirit grew around it. He found more and more reasons to hate them, and to be sure there is no lack of them in Creation, and thee only fueled the fire.

Fortunately, Marianne was not the only influence on him, she was never his only friend. Besides the endless lackies and minders one would expect of the son of a prince of Nexus, he made two real and true friends. Educated together throughout their lifetimes within a prestigious academy of both mundane and occult lore, they bonded in youth in such a way that age could not weather it. Zealous Living and Beautitious Orchid have been the only things holding Five Graces Raptor back from being completely consumed by his bitterness towards the Raksha.

He dreamt of them on the eve of his seventeenth birthday, but his dreams were troubled. He cannot recall the exact details, but he remembers a landscape of snow and fire, where the trees were adamant and the hills coal. There was a great clash, and his friends fought beside him. Then they were struck down, and it seems as though even their bodies and memories might disappear as well. That is when he screamed with a silence that shattered the adamant trees and consumed the hills of coals without burning them. He awoke, startled, with the iron dagger normally kept under his pillow lodged deeply in the heart of a Fair One, and the castemark of the Iron Wolves upon his brow.

It had been looking for a great story to tell, of valor and cunning, a rare dream from a prestigious line within the very seat of its supposedly great power. There had always been Raksha hiding in the wyld zones of Nexus, and some had even grown strong. This one considered himself mighty, in the ways of both mortal and wyld combat, so it drew back and removed the dagger with only an angry hiss and a newfound hatred for his prey. No one blow of mortal kind would slay him that night.

Five Graces Raptor was mortal no longer, though, and he was not limited to a single blow. He found his sword all too fast, and he had been an exceptional fencer and athlete even before his Second Breath. More importantly, though, he was armed with a hatred for the creature before him that nearly rivalled the might of the Unconquered Sun flowing through his veins. The Raksha was slain, destroyed utterly before anyone else in the Manor had even noticed it was there.

Zealous Living and Beautitious Orchid were great help, in those early days. They helped him figure out how to use his magic to assure that no one would look overlong at him, and notice the changes in his Essence the Exaltation had wrought. They even helped him locate an old Manse and artifact cache of his First Age incarnation's, although that month-long excursion cost them all dearly upon their return. They have guided and protected him, even helping him in his new quest.

Before his Exaltation, Five Graces Raptor would not be content with the death of a single Raksha. Now he will not be content with a single Raksha yet living. He hunts down those Fair Ones lurking in the city of Nexus, with the aid of his friends, then slays them in the night even as he still attends his classes during the day. He leads the double lives of student and hunter, desperately trying to conceal his Exaltation from public notice even as he eagerly uses it to cut down his most hated foes.

What is the reason for his desire for secrecy? It has nothing to do with the Wyld Hunt directly, although the Realm is his motivation. His family has made its money working as the liason between House Cynis and the Guild in Nexus, a position it has held for several hundred years. For a Solar Exalted to be discovered among its sons would be disastrous. Even if it didn't kill him, and it probably would, it would ruin his family forever. Although they are admittedly distant, he is not so callous as to destroy them when they might be saved.

This attitude would change if he knew the truth of his family's operation. The second-born son in what is essentially a matriarchy, he is not privy to the details of their business. Their main function, for many generations, has been coordinating the exchange and sale of slaves to and fro the Fair Folk. They are the ones who allow the Raksha to roam the world with mortal slaves. His very mother is the one who sold Marianne to the Fair Ones, simply as a means to remove the distraction from his son's life. The family has always concealed these things from Raptor, just as he conceals his new nature from them, out of concern for his 'considerable' hatred for the enemies of Creation. They have no idea just how 'considerable' this hatred is, nor do they realize what new power backs it up. Should Five Graces Raptor ever learn these terrible secrets, he would stop at nothing to destroy his house and wipe its every association from the face of Creation.

Five Graces Raptor is a handsome boy of seventeen years, tall and muscled, although not overly so. He is attractive in an almost feminine mien, his face that odd sort of cute that borders on androgyny. He carries himself with poise and wit, and is acceptable within the social standards of high-society, although nowhere near exceptional or cunning. He is stronger than he looks, and very, very fast. Should he draw his iron sword, very few people could avoid its blade, and very few attacks would make it past his vigilant guard. A brilliant fencer, a remarkable listener, and an inhuman athlete, he is a capable enemy of those that would feed on the dreams of mankind.

Character Sheet

Name:   Five Graces Raptor   Concept: Hunting those who hunt men
Player: Ketrus               Anima:   A great golden bird of prey
Caste:  Night                XP:      0/0
Motivation:  To hunt down every last one of those filthy fair folk
                            (=Attributes=)
(Physical)              (Social)                (Mental)
Strength      [XXXX.]   Charisma      [XX...]   Perception    [XX...]
Dexterity     [XXXXX]   Manipulation  [XX...]   Intelligence  [XX...]
Stamina       [XX...]   Appearance    [XXXX.]   Wits          [XXX..]

                            (=Abilities=) 8
(Dawn)                  (Zenith)                (Twilight)
Archery       [.....]   .Integrity    [XXX..]   Craft         [.....]
Martial Arts  [.....]   Perform       [.....]   .Investigation[X....]
.Melee        [XXXXX]   Presence      [XXX..]   .Lore         [X....]
Thrown        [.....]   .Resistance   [X....]   Medicine      [.....]
War           [.....]   Survival      [.....]   Occult        [X....]

(Night)                 (Eclipse)               (Specialties)
.Athletics    [XXXXX]   Bureaucracy   [X....]   Melee:  Swords +2
.Awareness    [XXXXX]   Linguistics   [X....]   Athletics:  Leaping +2
.Dodge        [X....]   Ride          [.....]
.Larceny      [.....]   Sail          [.....]
.Stealth      [XXX..]   Socialize     [XXX..]

Languages: Riverspeak, High Realm

   (=Backgrounds=) 3                      (=Virtues=) 6
Allies         [XX...]        Compassion [X....]    Temperance  [XX...]
Artifact       [XX...]        Conviction [XXXX.]    Valor       [XXXX.]
Artifact       [X....]        Virtue Flaw:  Heart of Flint
Manse          [XX...]        Condition:  Frustrated by the childish nature of the world
Resources      [XXX..]
                                          (=Attacks=)
Essence        [XX........]   Sword: 3 spd, 15 acc, +8L dam, 7 PV, 4 rate
Willpower      [XXXXXXXX..]   Fist:  4 spd, 6 acc, +4B dam, 4 PV, 3 rate
Limit          [.........!]   Kick:  4 spd, 5 acc, +7B dam, 2 PV, 2 rate
                              DV: 6, Soak: 8/7 LKetrus/Raptor/B, Join: 8, MDV: 7

Health Levels:                Personal Ess 14/14
-0:  [ ]                      Periph Ess   25/33
-1:  [ ] [ ] [ ]              Committed     0/8
-2:  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
-4:  [ ]
Incap[ ]

                             (=Charms=)
(Athletics)
Graceful Crane Stance                         (3m, scene, ref)
  Autosucceed balance, combo-ok
Monkey Leap Technique                         (3m, scene, ref)
  Jumpx2 as move, combo-ok
(Awareness)
Keen Hearing and Touch Technique              (3m, scene, ref)
  +2 autosucc to hearing and touch, combo-ok
(Melee)
First Melee Excellency                        (1m/d, inst, ref(1/2))
  +dice to Melee attackKetrus/Raptor/DV
Dipping Swallow Defense                       (2m, inst, ref(2))
  Parry at full DV, combo-ok
Bulwark Stance                                (5m, until next action, ref(2))
  Parry all at full DV, combo-ok
Five-Fold Bulkwark Stance                     (5m1w, scene, simp)
  Negate onslaught, -1 of action penalties, combo-ok
(Integrity)
First Integrity Excellency                    (1m/d, inst, ref(2))
  +dice to Integrity, up to WP+Integrity, combo-ok
(Resistance)
Ox-Body Technique                             (Permanent)
  -1, -2, -2 HL's
(Stealth)
Easily-Overlooked Presence Method             (3m, scene, simple)
  Autofail to detect unless in battle, +2 mod, combo-ok

Intimacies: His friends

Merits:
Eidetic Recall 1 (Hearing)

Flaws:
Disciple 2 (His allies)
Secrets 1 (Solar son of a house allied with Cynis)

Backgrounds:

Allies 2 - Childhood Friends

Somewhat experienced god-blooded and longtime classmates and friends with Five Graces Raptor, Zealous Living and Beautitious Orchid are teenagers absolutely in love with Nexus and absolutely sick of its walls. They've accompanied him--whether he likes it or not--on several of his 'missions', including the one that reclaimed an ancient Manse which once belonged to his First Age incarnation. Between Zealous Living's connections, and Beautitious Orchid's access to her mother's 'Office', they've got a setup that makes information gathering very easy. Raptor has taken advantage of this to help him track down the Fair Folk living within Nexus, so that he may cut them down. On a more profound note, he only ever considers himself 'home' in the company of 'Zeel' and 'Orchy', as they are quite literally the only true sources of genuine affection in his life.

That, and they put up with him being such a grouch. Oh, and that anathema thing too, they don't mind it either. Really, it's the grouch part that's challenging.

Zealous Living, "Zeel", son of the Zealous clan, sons and daughters of Unchallenged Precept, god of Eastern Religion - "Don't worry--I've got this covered."

Str 2 Dex 2 Stam 2, Cha 3 Man 4 App 3, Per 2 Int 2 Wit 3

Archery 1, Martial Arts 1, Melee 3, Integrity 1, Performance 3, Presence 3 (Girls +2), Investigation 3 (Fair Folk +1), Lore 3 (Gossip +2), Occult 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 3, Linguistics 3 (Riverspeak, Forest-tongue, High Realm, Old Realm), Ride 1, Sail 1, Socialize 4 (Girls +2)

Artifact 1, Contacts 3, Henchmen 2, Inheritance 3, Manse 2, Mentor 2, Patron 1, Resources 3

Longevity, God-Body (10), Dynasty of Inheritance, Awakened Essence, Magical Attunement, Affected by Wards, Artisan of Prayers

Hoodwink, Principle of Motion, Measure the Wind, Shapechange, First Socialize Excellency -- Enchanting Feature (smile), Lucky(3), Destiny(1), Selective Conception(1)

Comp 3, Conv 2, Temp 2, Val 2, WP 8, Ess 2, E.Pool 35

The handsome and clever son of a prestigious line, Zealous Living is the son of Zealous Journeys and Rude Awakening, a lesser goddess of Truth. Oddly enough, he is remarkably efficient at lying, cheating, and deceiving his way through almost any situation, although he is generally too good natured to do so. He's cut a swath through the female population of Dolomere's Academy, a history for which Orchid has never fully forgiven him. He is resourceful by nature, and strong willed by training. He can be stubborn, but he is more likely to be adaptable, taking whatever life throws at him as a challenge, rather than an obstacle. His father adores him. His mother is less than thrilled with the result of breeding with his line, as she often remarks during celestial functions--"It -would- take a born liar to reconcile religion with truth." Zealous Living can't help but flash his mother a smile, every time she tells that joke.

Beauticious Orchid, "Orchid", daughter of Magnificent Bindings, goddess of Librarians - "I'm a genius! Really!"

Str 2 Dex 3 Stam 2, Cha 3 Man 1 App 2, Per 3 Int 4 Wit 1

Martial Arts 3, Melee 1, Integrity 3, Performance 2, Resistance 1 (Alcohol +3), Craft(Air, Water, & Wood) 2, Investigation 1 (Research +3), Lore 4, :Occult 4, Athletics 3 (Running for her life +3), Dodge 3 (Because of things Raptor did +3), Stealth 2, Bureaucracy 1, Linguistics 3 (Riverspeak, High Realm, Low Realm, Old Realm), Socialize 1 (Not embarrassing mother +2)

Artifact 2, Backing 1, Contacts 1, Henchmen 1, Inheritance 2, Manse 3, Patron 2, Resources 3

Longevity, God-Body (7), Awakened Essence, Magical Attunement, Sanctum's Key -- Prodigy(Occult+1), Prodigy(Lore), Destiny(3)

Principle of Motion, Measure the Wind, Essence Plethorax1, Touch of Grace, First Lore Excellency

Comp 4, Conv 2, Temp 3, Val 1, WP 7, Ess 3, E.Pool 50

A terribly active girl, she is somewhat plain among the largely supernatural students of Dolomere's Academy of the Fine and Occult Arts... but only in appearance. Within her lurks a dedicated heart and a brilliant mind, and she is one of the only students in the entire school to attain her level of essence mastery. She is undergoing training to master the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery trials, which is causing her no end of worry as she tries desperately to figure out her sacrifice. The daughter of a goddess largely forgotten outside of circles of scholars and savants, her heritage is not especially powerful nor influential, but she is quite driven to make the most of what she has. Her mother positively adores her.

Artifact 2, Artifact 1, and Manse 2

The results of one of his earliest 'adventures' after being Exalted. Him, Orchid, and Zeel sort of... snuck out of the city. For three weeks. Thankfully, Zeel talked his personal assistants into accompanying them, and the trip was uneventful. The welcoming committee when they got HOME, though, THAT was murder. Zeel convinced everyone that Orchid found the location of an ancient manse in some dusty old tome, and they (fortunately) bought the cover story. Unfortunately, this did little to absolve any of them from punishment.

Resources 3

Limited access to his family's fortune.

Equipment:
Jade Hearthstone Bracers set with the Monkey Stone
-1 speed, +3 dodge, x2 jumping

Orihalcum Chain Shirt
+7/5 LKetrus/Raptor/B soak, 3/3 hardness, 0 mob, 0 fat

Exceptional Iron Short Sword
4 speed, +3 acc, +4L dam, +1 def, 4 rate

Notes

He is made to counteract the abilities of the Noble and Cataphract stock enemies in the corebook, and he can usually take a Raksha warrior in single combat. His typical tactics involve stealth, so that he can ready his persistents before battle. Once he engages, he relies on his hearing to give an edge in his timing, so that he may attack with one or even two flurries before the enemy can react. If the opponent is potent offensively, he'll withdraw at the end of an attack to a perch the target would find difficult to reach or maintain. Against a worth foe, he almost always attacks four times, investing as much Excellency as he can afford on the last blow. He stays as mobile as possible during combat, so that even the quick and cunning archers among the fair ones have difficulty reaching him. In a straight, one on one fight, he is less effective but still capable.

Zealous Living is his information gatherer and social cover, and Beautitious Orchid provides him with lore and healing in between missions. As 'equivilent to a starting character', they are both very experienced and potent god-blooded. He holds them both invaluable as both assets in his mission and as friends. Should they be captured or detained from aiding him, he would go very far out of his way to return them to him, to the point of risking his life. This is reflected in the Disciple flaw that offsets their Allies cost. It is assumed that the Storyteller will make them at least as much trouble as they are assets once he joins with other Solars.