Shallows/Kaede
For Quick reference:
Here is the Foundation page for The End of the World.
Here is the Introduction.
Here are links to the Characters.
Here are the House Rules.
Here are links to the Missions, as they are made available to the players.
Here you will find the additional elements about the version of Creation that The End of the world is played in. I call it Player Notes.
Here you will find the current [[disposition of the Sidereal Shards for this game.
Here are links to the Storyteller notes. (Players please refrain from visiting here.)
Kaede, the Silk-Winged Ghost
Spirit Type: Minor Divinity
Concept: Pretty but Scatter-Brained Butterfly God
Nature: Caregiver
Inheritance: 3
Picture: (Bug) Here and (Non-Bug) Here
Str 1 Dex 5 Stm 2
Chr 4 Man 1 App 5
Per 3 Int 3 Wts 1
- Performance 5
- Dodge 5
Awareness 2 Bureaucracy 1 Investigation 1 Larceny 1 Linguistics 1 (Native: Old Realm, High Realm) Lore 2 Occult 3 Presence 2 Socialize 3 Stealth 2
Merits: Alternate Shape: Butterfly (4) Prodigy: Dodge (2) Enchanting Feature: Wings (2) Awakened Essence
Flaws: Mute (4) Climate Sensitive: Cold (2) Affected by Spirit Wards
Backgrounds: Salary 2 Savant 3 Contacts 3 Reputation 2 (Sidereal Sidekick) Influence 1 (Ranking Spirit in Suyu’s Household) Artifact 2 (Multiform musical instrument. Green jade, moonsilver, and willow: Koto, biwa, hand drum, and long-flute)
Essence 2 Willpower 7
Compassion 4 Conviction 1 Temperance 2 Valor 3
Spirit Charms: Materialize (Valor) Principle of Motion (Valor) Touch of Grace (Compassion)
hasn't always been the ornamental house-pet of a Celestial Exalt...
Centuries ago, he was a gainfully employed divinity known as the Silk-Winged Ghost, a proud and beautiful young god from the Division of Nature who over-saw the migrations and well-being of the butterflies on the Sun Pearl Islands. When his bright-winged charges (and their homeland-) were lost to the Wyld during the Great Contagion, like so many other gods, he suddenly found himself stuck in Heaven without a purpose or an occupation.
Poverty and sorrow over the loss of his swallowtails eventually forced him into an abandoned part of the city. The hardships of feral living weren't kind to such a fragile being, though, and over the years much of his pride and power were lost. In time he might have ceased to exist altogether...
Luckily, Suyu has a habit of bringing home strays... which started with the tattered butterfly god. When she found him in a ruined park during an early trip to Yu Shan, the soft-hearted Sidereal couldn't bear to leave him behind. (Much to her sifu's amusement, she insisted that he'd just "followed her home" and that she was only keeping him until she could find a good place for him... It was a scene that Saiya Kadu knew they were destined to repeat many times-)
While Suyu's other adoptees have all moved on to terrestrial assignments or jobs as part of her own staff, her Sifu's, or an ally's, Kaede has stayed with her... Hatsuyuki has taken the place of his long-lost butterflies, and acting as the Sidereal's helper and companion is now the only job that he has any interest in doing.
Kaede has two forms... a green-winged swallowtail (The form he favors in Creation, even though it's small-) and a vaguely fae humanoid with ornamental wings (The form he favors in Heaven, even though he can no longer fly when using it-). He has no real combat capability in either form and neither speaks. Like any ordinary butterfly, he's both completely harmless and absolutely silent no matter what he looks like.
Silence aside, he's an excellent dancer, a good koto player, and a passable spy... He has more courage than he's usually given credit for. He's also socially adept, although his manners are hopelessly old-fashioned by the standards of Yu Shan's society divas. (He was popular in his day, but there was no need to keep up with the latest styles when he was living in the slums, so he's a few centuries behind the times-). He considers himself an excellent judge of character, though that may or may not be true-
Personality-wise, Kaede is devoted and fairly bright, but more than a little scatter-brained. He usually means well, but he's far too easily distracted to be trusted with anything too complex. He's just not the most sensible creature in Creation.