LiOfOrchid/Hikaru
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Hikaru
Name: Hikaru
Caste: Endings
Nature: Penitent
Concept: Wandering Ronin
ATTRIBUTES
Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4
Charisma 4, Manipulation 3, Appearance 2
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3
ABILITIES
Athletics* 2, Awareness* 2, Bureaucracy* 2, Craft (Fate) 1, Dodge* 3, Endurance 1, Linguistics 2 (Native: Firetongue, Realm, Old Realm), Lore* 3, Martial Arts* 3, Medicine* 2, Melee* 4, Occult 2, Resistance 1, Ride 3, Socialize 1, Stealth* 3, Survival 1
BACKGROUNDS
Allies 1 (Asha’anryu), Artifact 3, Backing 1 (Bronze Faction), Celestial Manse 2 (Pagoda of Fivefold Orchards), Familiar 5 (Kinkuma – Spirit Horse), Salary 2, Sifu 4 (Shevon the Unwelcome Repose)
MERITS
None
FLAWS
Enemy 3 (Kiyasha City God)
One Eye 2
VIRTUES
Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 1, Valor 3
WILLPOWER: 7
ESSENCE: 3
ESSENCE POOL: 13/35 (29)
HEALTH: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated
CHARMS
- Athletics: Inexorable Advance
- Lore: Systematic Understanding of Everything
- Martial Arts: Secrets of Future Strife, Flight of Mercury, Blade of the Battle Maiden, Joy in Adversity Stance
- Melee: Harmony of Blows, Impeding the Flow, Smiling at the Damned
- Ride: Ordained Bridle of Mercury, Breaking the Wyld Mortal
- Stealth: Soft Presence Practice, Blinding the Boar
COLLEGES
The Messenger 2, The Rising Smoke 2, The Sword 3
RESPLENDENT DESTINIES
EQUIPMENT
- Starmetal and Black Jade Reaper Daiklave, "Threadcutter". Speed: +9, Acc: +4, Dam: +6L, Def: +1, Rate: 4. Threadcutter's scabbard acts as a buckler (+1 diff to be hit with melee attacks) and reduces wound penalties by 1.
- Hearthstone: Sentinel's Stone. Trigger: Concentration. Adds 1 die to Awareness, 3 if standing watch.
COMBAT
Base initiative: 7 (14 in first round of combat)
Soak: 4B/2L (Unarmored)
Dodge: 10 (Essence +3)
+1 difficulty to be hit by melee (Threadcutter's hilt acts as buckler)
Minimum Damage: 3
ATTACKS
Threadcutter: Spd 16 (23 in 1st Rd), Acc 12, Dmg 9L, Def 9
BONUS POINTS
Abilities: 1
Backgrounds: 6
Essence: 10
Flaws: -5
Virtues: 3
Kinkuma
Familiar 5
Str 7, Dex 4, Sta 7, Per 3, Int 2, Wit 3
Athletics 4, Awareness 1, Brawl 4, Dodge 4, Survival 1
Inheritance 3
Merits: God-Body (10 points), Writ of Heavenly Passage (1 point)
- +5 Personal Essence while in contact
- can share one sense with Hikaru at a range of 100 yards
- top running speed ~70mph
The Memorial of the City Kiyasha, and the Exaltation of Hikaru
I am Asha’anryu the Mount Enshrouded. I am sure you have heard of me. I am the God of the volcano found on the shore of the Southwestern part of Creation known as the Threshold. I have been witness to many things, but it is now my duty to extend unto the Bureaus of Heaven this testimonial.
Let it be known as the Memorial of the City Kiyasha. Named (at least originally) after Me, built on My slopes and across the peninsula that extends from My southeastern edge to the mainland, it was teeming with mortals. Until recently, that is.
It has been some time since I last roamed the streets, canals and hallowed halls of Yu Shan. It hardly suits My nature. The ones that venerate My name prefer that I stay somnolent, rather than active. It seems that until a few months ago, I had been resting for close to 600 years.
I need the rest, you see. I created Myself for the highly necessary task of relieving Gaia of her tension in my area. It is a very taxing chore and I resent being roused to perform this duty, as it does cause some upheaval as I have been led to understand. Hence, My worshippers had been feeding Me lives that I would remain quiescent, which I have been so magnanimous as to grant them. I prefer it that way, after all, really.
I would appreciate discretion regarding this previously mentioned fact. Most of those that worshipped Me shared the fate of Kiyasha, but it is never well for mortals to be over-informed.
To return to my narrative, it seems that it became necessary for one Hikaru of Kiyasha to awaken Me. As I am not what one could call agreeable upon awakening, I did what I normally do.
Regrettably, Kiyasha is no more.
Undoubtedly, this Hikaru will be submitting his own memorial, as he has been sent to the Heavenly City to train in his new duties as a Chosen of Saturn. This is of course why he survived My displeasure. His new Master, Shevon the Unwelcome Repose, has brought him to the Pagoda of Fivefold Orchards in Yu Shan to reacquaint him with his soul’s Celestial Manse.
Would that I could once again behold the sacred geometry of that most perfect of cities, but alas, such is not My Way. I have much still to do here in Creation. I am also once again weary.
Apparently, My reemergence was necessary to purge the world of a thoroughly corrupt warlord that had some ambitions for a place called Gem. I do not like the name of this place as once a greedy fool sought to enter My enshrined and very sensitive innards searching for these “gems”. It pleased Me to keep him where his avarice took him. His remains have since rotted to nothingness. I have since seen fit to forgive him for his trespasses. May his reborn footsteps never tread My slopes again.
But I digress.
Being a swordsman of some talent and devotion even before his Exaltation, the Sidereal Hikaru had entered into the service of this Weiyi of the Onyx Hammer. At first, the Exalted said, they worked well together and it seemed that Weiyi had only the best interests of Kiyasha in mind.
Then there were troubles. A deathknight (I shall not deign to write his “name” as the thought of such abominations offends Me greatly) arrived with a large entourage, in order to negotiate. Being somewhat precocious, Hikaru investigated and found that this thing was already in agreement with his master, as well as some Dynastic representatives and that many were to suffer to realize their schemes.
He confronted his lord and they had words. Hikaru agreed to stay on with Weiyi, but promised himself that he would work against the despot he’d thought benevolent. A masked figure was then seen doing what a mortal can to disrupt the preparations being made for war.
Finally, Weiyi intuited that his warrior might not have been as loyal as he’d hoped. The family of the young Hikaru was brought into custody to ensure his compliance with Weiyi’s wishes. In order to cement My blessing, they were brought to the heights for sacrifice, such as I have accepted before. Hikaru tried to intervene and was captured. I delivered the souls of his mother, father and sister for rebirth as gently as I could. Their deaths were swift and merciful.
Apparently, the boy was brought to the water dungeon in the Seagate Palace and left to suffer. He seemed to have other ideas on the matter, however and affected an escape. Searching the lower reaches, he found a cache of ancient weaponry. Donning the panoply of his former self, he also found such clues as might be needed to awaken Me.
Performing the sacred rites, his dogged determination to end the city of his birth and rearing caught my attention and I arose from my centuries-long slumber. Wroth, I had my smallest Avatar confront this presumptuous half-mortal. He had a choice to make. Either he gave himself to Me to consume so as to whet My appetite that I might consume the city below or I would return to the sleep which still beckoned with sweet seductive softness. He chose to give himself to Me and in that moment claimed his Essence. Then the Unwelcome Repose, also called Shevon released Charms that concealed him from even My perception and forbade My acceptance of his new charge’s sacrifice. I relented but still had no choice but to demand a life to stoke My inner fires.
They consulted in whispers, which I was so graceful as to not listen in on, and then made a choice and brought to Me an elderly gentleman who came willingly to My deadly, all-consuming embrace. It was all the sweeter for his joy at ending his current existence.
I think some of the main targets of this Hikaru’s wrath escaped the doomed city, but their power was certainly broken. I am very thorough.
Thus ends my testimonial. You may of course reach either Myself, My Avatars or My Spirit Servitors should you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Two Painful Memories
Dearest Mother,
I would first wish to call to your attention, wherever your spirit may be, to the fact that I am now writing with proper strokes in the Realm fashion. I know you would be proud. You were ever saddened by my attention to Father’s weapons instruction and lack of diligence when you wished to write and compose with me.
The boy ran out of the armory, shouting and in his left hand spinning a practice sword over his head, his black hair flying and his violet eyes flashing. He let out a warbling howl as he streaked towards a group of people practicing both sword strokes and katas. A woman to whom he bore a strong resemblance came out of the living quarters section of the Seagate Palace into the courtyard. Her features arranged into a stern mien to hide the disappointment she felt, she called out, “Hikaru! Hikaru, come here!”
The boy stopped in his tracks and looked over, his eyes widening. His deception had failed. His mother marched forward, only slightly thrown off her stride by her clearly pregnant belly. She stopped a few paces from her son and pointed at the ground near her. He immediately approached.
“I am nearly of a mind to strike you, you know,” she said softly, stroking one hand through his hair, down the side of his face, leaving no sting in her words. She hated how the sight of his odd beautiful eyes did this to her, instantly melting her heart. He was such a sweet child but he had no patience for all those things that made a good warrior a worthwhile man.
“Come back to the apartment with me, baby boy. Let’s write a poem together. You have the sloppiest strokes I have ever had the misfortune of seeing. You must practice if you are to be a proper gentleman.”
Hikaru regarded his mother but could not help but look away longingly at the knot of practicing men and women. Looking back and forth, he could not put together a response. The need to please his mother and the sense of freedom and power to be found in the movement of hip, arm and sword as one battled inside him but was quickly over. Being a boy, sensation won over duty.
“NO! Writing is boring! I want to fight, Mama!” He crossed his arms as he burst out with this response, resolute in his decision.
SMACK
“I did NOT wish to strike you, my son, but had your father heard you speak to me that way he would have done so, as I would have had you spoken to him in such a fashion. You may go and practice this time, but should you EVER take it into your misguided little mind to speak to me in that tone again I will see to it that Tiny Whisker will be your sparring partner. Understand it is not that you chose to practice the sword over the brush but the way in which you chose to express your choice. Am I clear?” she asked, hands on her hips as she looked down at the wayward nine year-old, disappointed with herself that she had chosen to use the threat of a bully on her boy.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied, the very figure of wide-eyed repentance.
“Good, then you may go,” she watched as he ran off, his cares already abandoned, flying almost visibly like a shroud from his shoulders to land in a forgotten, forlorn heap at her feet.
But you, my Mother, would be amazed at the unique methods that my new Master, the most honorable Shevon the Unwelcome Repose uses to encourage me.
The young Sidereal student had been instructed to report to the Master. Hikaru dressed with a care and precision that had heretofore only been reserved for his care and maintenance of a blade that morning. After bathing, he had oiled and tied his long black hair up into the proper fighter’s topknot. He then located a robe of white linen and donned it carefully, tying the ties in the proper order and fashion, making sure no wrinkles showed. He girded his mid-section with a thick leather and starmetal belt onto which he attached the sheathed daiklave, Threadcutter. Over all of this he then swathed himself in a light blue raw silk over-robe embroidered with white clouds and waves. He then put on the black felt eye-patch, decorated in amethyst and silver, that he had found in his quarters over the scarred socket of his right eye. A pair of sandals and he was done, ready to face his first sword practice as a Chosen of the Maiden of Endings.
Leaving the main house of the Pagoda of Fivefold Orchards the young man went through a door that lead right to the stables. There Kinkuma, his spirit steed, first great-great grandson of Kuma the Thundering Sunbeam awaited. The pair beheld each other a moment, once again overcome by the bond their souls shared, despite having just met when Kinkuma decided to meet the new Sidereal being shown into Heaven after the destruction of a city. Through some miracle of spiritual association, they were simply now one. In this way, the Steed was aware when the Rider wanted to go somewhere. Though he often thought himself unworthy of such a kingly gift, Hikaru accepted his friend’s help, as it was formidable indeed.
Standing no larger than an ordinary mortal warsteed, Kuma’s descendant was the color of gray storm clouds with a mane of flowing black. His eyes were a pale blue and his hooves were like ebony. His Heavenly heritage was apparent, but could be mostly subsumed under a mortal façade during forays into Creation. Handily, Hikaru required none of the normal accoutrements riders of mortal horses needed. Of course he would use it in Creation; he just didn’t need it.
Together they made their way through Yu Shan, which was to Hikaru a blur of fantastic scenery on top of heavenly beauty unmatched by anything he’d heretofore seen, to the Manse of Ten Thousand Inspiring Eulogies of the Brave, the shadowy, silent home of Shevon. All the doors Hikaru encountered silently opened after he left Kinkuma at the door to be brought aside and refreshed.
Making his way to his Sifu’s study, Hikaru bowed, saluting with enclosed fist and spoke. “I have come to train as you instructed, my Master.”
Shevon, his bald pate surrounded by tufts of wispy white hair that seemed to naturally curl upwards sat writing, dressed in sea-green robes trimmed and decorated in violet. He sat on a cushion behind a low writing desk on a dais, surrounded by scrolls. He did not even deign to look up from his calligraphy as he spoke. “Train? I have no time to train! These memorials need to be sent to the Inscriber in the Stone of Ages after review in the Bureau! I have no time for impertinent children with delusions of grandeur,” he replied to his apprentice, continuing to scratch on a piece of parchment with an odd, metal-tipped quill.
Hikaru, confused, frowned and replied “But that is what you said we would do when last we met. You said, “Come the day after tomorrow and I shall show you the Ways in which Essence is properly used in combat. Do you not recall, Honored Master?”
“Of course I recall saying that! Have you suddenly become a Lunar Exalted in parrot form? I am no doddering oldster as you seem to wish me to be! Do you take me for Chejop Kejak? I simply wish to get my paperwork done! But you’re too good to wait around for me to do so, are you? You are so eminently worthy of all my time and attention that you won’t allow me a moment’s peace from your quoting and nagging. You wish to receive instruction? Very well, then. Hyaihhh!” The last accompanied the flick of his wrist as the quill flew from his hand and into and Hikaru’s shoulder with a delicate spray of blood.
“Nghh,” Hikaru grunted at the sudden pain and clutched his wounded shoulder, looking up just in time to witness the airborne form of Shevon, who had just leapt over his desk, producing a daiklave, seemingly from nowhere. Violet light blazed from their anima as Hikaru ripped Threadcutter from its scabbard and met the downward slash from his flying mentor in a screaming clash of starmetal. Shevon’s other hand whipped out like a striking serpent and plucked the pen from his apprentice’s shoulder and he flipped back onto the dais like a swirl of seafoam.
The student, understanding his teacher’s intent, jumped up onto the dais and used what Charms he’d already learned to strike his opponent with all his might. Shevon half-turned to meet the younger man’s onslaught and calmly parried each and every blow as he used the blood on the pen to finish his writing.
One, two, three, four, no FIVE strikes were turned aside with casual, dismissive ease as Hikaru beat on a seemingly solid wall of starmetal and Shevon yawned and scritch-scratched out his memorials. He seemed to only need glance over his shoulder with an annoyed frown every few moments to gauge where his student would try to land the next blow.
Minutes passed in this fashion, seeming to be an eternity to the student as the Sifu showed him in no uncertain terms why he was the Master. Finally, drained of all Essence and blazing with violet fury, Hikaru found himself punched by a spinning back fist swiftly followed by a fierce kick to his gut fuelled by the spin of the punch’s follow-through. The force of the blow landed so solidly to his center it sent the younger man flying across the study, through the wood-framed paper door and into a moaning heap at the doorstep.
“Well, that was a bracing little distraction,” Shevon said, regarding his fallen student with a sidelong glance while sheathing his blade and straightening his garments. “It’s certainly a shame that you’re former teacher burned up in that city of yours. Otherwise, I’d have quite a few harsh criticisms of your pathetic little showing here to pass along to him.”
He sighed. “Are you even listening?” he asked, going over to Hikaru’s slightly stirring, lightly moaning form. A slippered toe poked at an uninjured shoulder and with a slight lift of his foot, Shevon flipped Hikaru over. “This is not a good time for a nap. Now stop bleeding all over my clean floor and help me copy these eulogies. Wayang himself is waiting for them at the Bureau of Endings. What am I supposed to do? Tell him my apprentice is a stranger to beatings and took a few blows to the head remiss?! Bah! Get up now before I make you sorry you were ever Exalted!”
The pen clattered to the floor next to Hikaru’s head as his eye slowly opened.
Overall, I find him to be a most polite and concerned man that treats me well if a tad harshly. I certainly can say that I have no illusions about my place in the scheme of things.
There are many other things, great wonders, I have seen that I wish you and Ani could have beheld. I would have derived a good deal of pleasure at the expressions I know you would have worn at the sights of everyday life in Heaven.
I know that you will never get the opportunity to read this letter, Honored Mother. I must have faith that wherever you are and in whatever state, I can make you proud. I have offered to you and Father and Sister my prayers for rest and release. I only hope that I was able to kill those that were responsible for your descent into Asha’anryu’s maw. I am comforted with the knowledge that he is swift in taking those that are given to him.
Farewell.
Seated in his own study, Hikaru regarded the missive before him and read it over. With a tear from his eye, he crumpled it up and dashed it into his wastebasket. He was due at his teacher’s manse for more instruction within the hour.
