Paladinltd/Scipio

Scipio

Aspect: Fire
Concept: Ambitious Heir
Nature: Visionary

Age: 17
Apparent age: looks 17 though his Aspect marking makes him appear to be much more powerful
DOB: Ascending Fire 12, 751
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 165 Ibs.
Hair Color: Black and Red
Eye Color: Yellow
Skin Tone: ruddy red
Vice: Pride
Virtue: Wrath
Ethnic Group: Dynast
Mother: The Scarlet Empress
Father: Unknown
Siblings: Mnemon, Ragara, V’Neef

Attributes

Charisma 3 Manipulation 3 Appearance 3
Strength 3 Dexterity 4 Stamina 3
Perception 2 Intelligence 2 Wits 3

Virtues

Compassion 1 Conviction 3 Temperance 2 Valor 3

Abilities

Archery 1 *Athletics 3 *Awareness 3 Bureaucracy 2 *Dodge 4 Endurance 3 *Martial arts 5 *Melee 5 (+2 Scarlet Revenge) *Larceny 3(+2 disguises) Linguistics 1 (High Realm, Low Realm) Lore 2 Performance 1 *Presence 5 Ride 1 *Socialize 2 Survival 1

caste or favored indicated by *

Background

Artifact 4

• The Scarlet Revenge 4

Cainan steepled his fingers, resting his nose on the point. His eyes wandered from the first student to the second to the sword lying on his desk in one of the few classrooms that had survived the recent student rebellion.

“Can either of you two tell me what this daiklave is?” he asked. The first student, Peleps Narad piped up immediately, giving a long-winded and overly cheerful tale of how it was once wielded by the Scarlet Empress herself, and was first used in her role as a lieutenant of the old Shogunate.

The other student, Scipio just stared, fire in his eyes.

Cainan sat back in his seat. “As you know” he said “You two are at the top of your class in almost all respects”. That drew a smile from Narad.

Scipio just stared.

Cainan continued. “It is a tradition here at the House of Bells for the top student of each class to receive an artifact from the faculty. Now normally it is only a simple artifact, nothing bigger then an elemental lens, but due to unusual circumstances…” his gaze turned to Scipio “The faculty and I have been forced to reconsider what we reward are students. We felt that because of the highly stress and death rate your class has faced a bigger prize deserves to be rewarded, namely this,” he gestured at the sword “The Empresses old sword.”

Narad blinked. Scipio continued to stare.

“But, since there are two of you, and only one prize, I have deemed it necessary for the two of you to test one another in single combat.”

Narad looked at Cainan aghast “Now sir? Here?”

Scipio continued to stare.

Cainan nodded slowly “I expect the best of both of you. You may begin whenever you’re ready.”

Immediately Scipio’s foot connected with Narad’s head, knocking him clear across the room. Before the confused could even lift himself up the maddened Scipio was on top of him. Narad rolled out of the way as a foot come crashing down on the spot of the floor that his head had just occupied. He spun and brought his fist up to connect with Scipio’s knee, allowing him a moment to regain his footing. Narad fell back near Cainan’s desk hoping to condense the amount of room Scipio would have for hard kicks and drawing him into closer combat. Scipio charged his fellow but a hard and sudden elbow to the temple sent him crashing to the ground.

After it seemed like Scipio was finished, Narad leaned over offering his hand to his fellow in a sign of good sportsmanship. His kindness would cost him.

Scipio’s foot smashed into Narad’s groin, crushing one of his testicles and shoving the other back into his pelvis and before Cainan could stop him, Scipio had leapt up grabbed the sword off the desk and ran Narad through with it.

Scipio smiled sanguinely as he wiped the sword on the body of his classmate. He turned to Cainan, bowed, sneered contemptuously and left.

The Scarlet Revenge is thought to be the sword that the Scarlet Empress used during the war with the Fair Folk. This story has been contradicted by a great deal of evidence and the Empress has refused to either confirm or deny it, but the story still persists. The sword was given to the House of Bells as a gift from the Empress two hundred years ago, and was recently given to Scipio as a gift for graduating at the top of his class.

As a weapon it functions similarly to a Reaver Daiklave. It also has the following magical abilities

• • when unsheathed it provides +2 to all presence rolls involving combat or intimidation.
  • It provides bonuses when facing multiple opponents. For every enemy beyond the first the penalties for taking multiple actions is reduced by 1
  • the Scarlet Revenge deals piercing damage.

• Chain Shirt 2– A small gift from Chejop Kejak after his exaltation, this chain shirt has proved useful more than once. Constantly on the alert for possible assassins Scipio will always where this, only removing it when he is making love or bathing.

• Mask 2 – Scipio was given this mask by his contacts in the All-Seeing Eye to aid in hiding his identity while going out in public. He rarely uses it now that he is resting in Noble, but he always keeps it on his person just on the off chance that the Immaculate Order betrays him.

Breeding 6 – at the peak of terrestrial power, Scipio is a rare breed even among his Dragon-blooded fellows. His Exaltation was almost certain, and even before it he exhibited the reddish skin. The advocates of the Empresses breeding program hope he will marry and start his house quickly, furthering and expanding the work of his mother

Connections 2 (All-Seeing Eye) – One of the many duties of the All-Seeing Eye is to assure the survival of the Empresses children, protecting them from one another. Publicly the children are supposed to fend for themselves but the playing field is far too skewed in favor of the older children. The protection is supposed to be kept secret, but with the way the Empire is deteriorating and the continued persecution of the Iselsi by Mnemon and her house, agents of the Eye have made themselves known to Scipio, hiding him in Noble and declaring their intention to help him seek the throne. The Sidereals in charge of the Eye have condoned this, though it is not known why.

Resources 1 – In the custody of the Deliberative, Scipio receives an allowance to help him get his house started. Though he is now an exile many of the senators of the Deliberative still are willing to give Scipio money through secret channels, though it is a pittance compared to what it once was, either out of old loyalties for the Empress or hope that he will help balance out the Empire.

Reputation 3 (Empress’s son) – Scipio is well known throughout the realm as the youngest son of the Scarlet Empress. All dealing with him, from the lowest disenfranchised to the heads of the Great Houses must show him respect. Even now that he is on the run, he still expects the same respect from the peasantry that he had when he was still in the Empires favor. Those who don’t give him his due respect will find themselves short one head.

Charms

Dodge
Flickering Candle Meditation
Lore:
Elemental Bolt Attack
Martial Arts
Five-Dragon Fortitude, Five-Dragon Claw
Melee
Stoking Bonfire Style, Dragon-Graced Weapon
Presence
Glowing Coal Radiance

Combat Statistics

Base Initiative: 7
Attack:
Punch: Spd 7 Acc 8 Dmg 3B Pry 8
Kick: Spd 4 Acc 7 Dmg 5B Pry 7
Reaver Daiklave (Scarlet Revenge): Spd 10 Acc 9 Dmg 11L Pry 7
Dodge Pool: 7 Soak: 8B/4L
Willpower: 7 Health levels <nowiki>-0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4Paladinltd/Scipio/Incap<nowiki>
Essence: 2
Essence pool: 15 Peripheral Essence: 22(32) Committed Essence: 10

Exalted Power Combat

Attack:
Fist: Spd 7 Acc 8 Dmg 3 Pry 9 Rate 5
Kick: Spd 4 Acc 8 Dmg 6B Pry 4 Rate 3
Reaver Daiklave (Scarlet Revenge): Spd 17 Acc 10 Dmg 12 Pry 7 Rate 4
Dodge Pool: 9

Appearance

Scipio stands five feet, seven inches but the way he carries himself he seems much bigger. His skin is red and his eyes a bright yellow, a result of his particularly high breed, making him appear more powerful, and adding to his aura of power. In his role as Grey Wolf he wears an Immaculate Order, though instead of the normal sheet white he has chosen to make to black. He wears a heavy black coat which serves to hide most of his red skin and his unusual red and black hair. He always wears his chain shirt under his clothing and always carries at least one weapon on his person.

Merits

Driving Passion 3 – Scipio wants one thing and one thing only: the Scarlet Throne. Nothing will stop him, not his sister Mnemon, not his nephew and former teacher Cathak Cainan, not the whole damned bloody legion will stop him from achieving his goal, even if it means the entire Realm has to burn.

Born to Rule 2 – From birth Scipio was meant to rule the throne. When she held him to her bosom his mother would whisper in his ear, telling him of the greatness and glory awaiting him. As he grew he would always lead his friends on dangerous adventures and though there were some feeble protests from parents when their children died, The Empress would claim that childhood was always dangerous and that those that survived would grow to be stronger. When he went into the house of Bells many of the teachers assumed that both the ruthless upper-classmen and the brutal training would put him in his place. It did in fact put him in his place, though certainly not as they would have wished. The House of Bells death rate increased by fifteen percent during Scipio’s tenure at the school, and despite being cleared of all charges involving the Resplendent Fire Rebellion, many surviving students and teachers claim secretly that it was he who incited the student rebellion. And now that the Deliberative has relinquished custody of the boy, it is unknown what he will do, but the Senators shiver with terror at the thought.

Legendary Breeding 3 - Scipio is a result of the extensive breeding program set up by the Scarlet Empress, and he is seen as the triumph of that program. No one is certain who the father is and there has a firestorm of controversy surrounding who it might be. Some have speculated that is Cathak Cainan despite his denial.

Flaws

Wanted 5 – Scipio has been declared an enemy of the state for high treason, by the Deliberative. The charges were unclear and some were obviously fabricated but it no longer matters as both widespread condemnation by the Deliberative and Mnemon propaganda have turned public opinion against him, and forcing him to go into hiding. All Imperial citizens are supposed to immediately report any sighting of him, or they will be charged with high treason and executed immediately, and there is no less then eleven Magistrates hunting him down, along with a full dragon assigned to almost every prefecture. Scipio is in a great deal of trouble.

Enemy 5 – Mnemon is the top contender for the Scarlet throne, and she certainly will have it no other way. Ragara is too old and senile, while the Roseblack has been exiled upon threat of beheading. The only real competition is Cathak Cainan and he claims to have no desire for the throne. This leaves Scipio at the very bottom rung, without support without a house and without the four-hundred odd years of experience Mnemon has on him. Nevertheless Mnemon is a careful schemer, and has gone to great lengths to make sure that her little brother can not threaten her in any way. A motion was passed through the Deliberative by Senator Mnemon Amorin, condemning Scipio and ordering his immediate imprisonment. Mnemon herself has sent out both legions and demons out to scour lands, though all these activities were kept in secret. Mnemon has vowed that she will not rest until Scipio is caught and has made no secret of her desire to see her little brother to die – slowly.

Description

Scipio is the last child of the Scarlet Empress before she disappeared five years ago, raised in time of tumultuous circumstances, from the Great Eastern Wars, The sack and conquering of Thorns, and the disappearance of his mother. It is in this time that Scipio intends to insert himself, to rise above the chaff and to take control of the empire that is rightfully his.

When his mother disappeared the Deliberative oversaw his care, ensuring both his education and survival. When he was kicked out of Primary School for both beating a teacher to death with her own arm and decapitating a student who attempted to poison him, the Deliberative pulled strings to allow the boy into the House of Bells, where it was hoped the brutal discipline who put some humility into him.

But if they thought that they quell the fire within Scipio’s breast they were sadly mistaken. After nearly thirteen deaths, and twenty-five brutal maiming, all of which could supposedly be linked back to the boy, it was thought that Scipio would be expelled. Before he could however the infamous Ascendant Fire Rebellion erupted, this resulted in the death of two thirds of the faculty, and over half of the student body, and was only stopped when Cathak Cainan collapsed the main building on the majority of the student rebels. Any evidence linking Scipio to any crimes during his tenure at the House of Bells was destroyed in the flames, along with a good majority of the witness, allowing Scipio to graduate at the top of his class (what was left of it).

After his graduation, the Deliberative rescinded their custody of him, allowing him to grow on his own and to hopeful construct his own house. It was at this time that Mnemon took notice of her little brothers rising career. She combed through his past looking for anything to brand him a traitor. When she found out his involvement with the Ascendant Fire Rebellion, she knew she had all she needed to destroy him, socially and financially.

When the evidence was introduced to the Deliberative it was initially dismissed, but between bribes, favors and blackmails Mnemon was able to force her way through. Both houses of the Deliberative condemned Scipio and a proclamation was sent out declaring his both his treachery and demanding his immediate imprisonment.

Scipio was quickly captured and his hearthstones were taken. He escaped during his transfer to the Imperial city and attempted to flee to the port city of Noble. There he was contacted by members of the All-Seeing Eye who guaranteed his safety until they could get him off the Blessed Isle. They gave him a new identity as Grey Wolf, an Outcaste formerly of the Red-Piss Legion. Scipio now waits in his small apartment waiting to be contacted again, but he will not wait for long.