Stanoje/Upadana

Background

400 years ago, a young mortal visited Heaven during the Carnival of Meeting. During the revelries he got lost in labyrinthine Yu-Shan and ended up in one of its ruined quarters where a gang of disenfranchised godlings attacked him. Already frightened and confused, Upadana became even more so when he Exalted as one of the Dragon-Blooded.

Unceasing Pilgrimage, a god trolling the downtrodden quarter for a carnal encounter excitingly below his station, came upon the scene and immediately recognized it as an opportunity. Much more powerful than the gang members, he fought them off quickly and decisively and carried the gravely wounded boy Exalt to his palatial home.

While nursing the boy back to health, he used his Charms on the Exalt's mind, making him obedient and infatuated. In his weakened and confused state, Upadana was unable to resist Unceasing Pilgrimage's manipulations.

The god had Upadana trained to be his personal warrior. Whenever one of Unceasing Pilgrimage's Creation-side enemies would bother him he would send the Dragon-Blood to deal with the matter with intimidation and brute force. Most of these enemies are terrestrial gods who encroach upon Unceasing Pilgrimage's domain, the bridges and holy texts of the east.

During his centuries of service, Upadana's mind has been wiped and reconstructed so many times by his master that it's now mess of conflicting impulses and intense emotion responses with only vague corresponding memories. The god's Charms keep the Exalt deeply in love with him and unquestioningly loyal and obedient. Visiting Yu-Shan and being in the company of his god are Upadana's rare rewards. Unceasing Pilgrimage dangles the promise of a night's pleasure in front of him, but has yet to deliver on it. It is doubtful that he ever will.

To keep him stable and in the dark, the god regularly wipes his memories. Otherwise the deep-running emotional contradictions and ever more disturbing flashbacks would drive him violently insane. As a result, Upadana believes that he has been his god's servant only a few decades at the most, not four whole centuries. The food of Heaven, combined with powerful sorceries and divine gifts have retarded his aging and kept him in his physical prime.

He is convinced that his god loves him above else and that only the necessities of Heavenly politics force Unceasing Pilgrimage to send him out on missions all the time. If someone were to free him of this false belief, he would surely become a vessel of vengeance, though the question is whether his anger would be directed at his god or at those who robbed him of his belief in the god's love.

As a Dragon-Blood, Upadana can't enter Heaven by himself; he has to be accompanied by a resident god. Even when he's in Yu-Shan, he is only allowed to stay in a separate apartment, away from Unceasing Pilgrimage. When he needs to communicate with his god from Creation, he uses an Infallible Messenger.

Statistics

Name: Upadana
Type: Dragon-Blooded
Aspect: Fire
Motivation: Vanquish the enemies of Unceasing Pilgrimage
Intimacies: Unceasing Pilgrimage's love; my inherent superiority over other Dragon-Bloods; my swordsmanship; the perfect execution of Unceasing Pilgrimage's orders; my memories
Concept: Brainwashed killer of a celestial god
Quote: "My master has decreed your existence ended. I am here to see to that."
Age: 400 years
Age of Exaltation: 14
Experience Points: 1610 XP

Attributes:
Strength 6, Dexterity 6, Stamina 6
Charisma 5, Manipulation 3, Appearance 4
Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 4

Abilities:
Athletics 6 (Leaping +1, Balancing +1) , Awareness 6 (Sense Ambushes +3), Dodge 6 (Against Spirit Opponents +3), Integrity 5 (Spirit Charms +3), Linguistics 4 (Native: Riverspeak; Old, High and Low Realm; Foorest-tongue), Lore 3, Martial Arts 6 (Against Spirits +1, Fighting in Armor +2), Melee 6 (Swords +3), Occult 6 (Spirits +3), Presence 5 (Intimidation +3), Resistance 5 (In Combat +2), Ride 4, Socialize 3, Survival 4 (Forests +2), War 2

Backgrounds: Artifact 2 (Enticing Laugh, red jade daiklave), Artifact 5 (red jade superheavy plate), Manse 3, Salary 2

Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 5, Valor 5
Willpower: 10
Essence: 5
Personal Essence: 15, Peripheral Essence: 27 (40)
Join Battle: 10
DDV: 9, PDV: 9 (sword), 7 (unarmed)
MDDV: 10, MPDV: 5
Soak: 3L/5B (natural), 18L/20B (red jade superheavy plate, -2 movement penalty, 10L/10B hardness)
Health Levels: 0-/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap

Attacks:
Clinch Speed 6, Accuracy 12, Damage +6B, Defense -, Rate 1, Tags C, N, P
Kick Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage +9B, Defense -2, Rate 2, Tags N
Punch Speed 5, Accuracy 13, Damage +6B, Defense +2, Rate 3, Tags N
Enticing Laugh Speed 4, Accuracy 18, Damage +13L, Defense +2, Rate 3, Tags -
Spirit Sword Speed 4, Accuracy 17, Damage 10L, Defense +2, Rate 3, Tags -

Charms:
Athletics: First Athletics Excellency; Third Athletics Excellency; Effortlessly Rising Flame; Falling Star Maneuver; Bellows-Pumping Stride; Incense Smoke Ladder
Linguistics: Language-Learning Ritual; Thousand Tongues Meditation
Lore: Elemental Concentration Technique
Occult: First Occult Excellency, Third Occult Excellency; Terrestrial Circle Sorcery; Spirit-Detecting Mirror Technique; Spirit-Grounding Shout; Spirit-Chaining Strike; Spirit-Shredding Attack
Awareness: First Awareness Excellency; Third Awareness Excellency; All-Encompassing Earth Sense; Feeling the Dragon's Bones
Integrity: First Integrity Excellency; Third Integrity Excellency; Unsleeping Earth Meditation; Untiring Earth Meditation; Oath of the Ten-Thousand Dragons (Unceasing Pilgrimage's worshippers); Ten-Thousand Dragons Fight as One; Granite Curtain of Serenity; Inviolate Dragon Spirit; Chaos-Warding Prana; Defense-From-Anathema Method
Resistance: First Resistance Excellency; Third Resistance Excellency; Ox-Body Technique (x4); Uneating Earth Meditation; Unbreathing Earth Meditation; Unfeeling Earth Meditation; Strength of Stone Technique; Mountain Toppling Method
Dodge: First Dodge Excellency; Third Dodge Excellency; Threshold Warding Stance; Hopping Firecracker Evasion; Virtuous Negation Defense; Smoldering Karma Strike; Unassailable Body of Fire Defense; Safety Among Enemies; Elemental Defense Technique
Melee: First Melee Excellency; Third Melee Excellency; Terrestrial Melee Reinforcement; Dragon-Graced Weapon; Ghost-Fire Blade Portentious Comet Deflecting Mode; Refining the Inner Blade; Blinding Spark Distraction; Threshing Floor Technique; Ringing Anvil Onslaught
Presence: First Presence Excellency; Third Presence Excellency Glowing Coal Radiance; Unbearable Taunt Technique; Aura of Invulnerability; Terrifying Fire Dragon Roar
Ride: First Ride Excellency; Third Ride Excellency; Great Heart Companion; Elemental Halo's Mercy; Heaven-Graced Riding Technique Five-Dragon Horseman Prana
Martial Arts (Universal): First Martial Arts Excellency; Third Martial Arts Excellency; Pasiap's Humility; Moment of Daana'd
Martial Arts (Five-Dragon Style): Five-Dragon Claw; Five-Dragon-Force Blow; Five-Dragon Fortitude; Five-Dragon Blocking Technique; Five-Dragon Form; Five-Dragon Fist; Five-Dragon Invulnerability; Five-Dragon Wrath

Spells:
Terrestrial Circle: Death of Obsidian Butterflies; Emerald Countermagic; Infallible Messenger; Invulnerable Skin of Bronze; Stormwind Rider; Burning Eyes of the Offender; Dance of the Smoke Cobras; Flight of Separation; The Horse that Travels Earth and Water; Incantation of Effective Restoration; Incantation of Spiritual Discretion; Open the Spirit Door; Sleep of Stony Safety; Spirit Sword; Unbreakable Bones of Stone

Combos

Weightless Chains Bind the Unworthy Spirit

Spirit-Chaining Strike; Ghost-Fire Blade; Ringing Anvil Onslaught
Activation cost: 14 m, 2 wp
Experience cost: 12 xp

Purpose: Increase chance of successful attack so that Spirit-Chaining Strike applies.

Ghost-Fire Blade allows all attacks in a flurry to affect dematerialized spirits (2 m). Ringing Anvil Onslaught gives a number of extra attacks depending on roll (8 m). Spirit-Chaining Strike imposes penalties on a successfully hit spirit (4 m including surcharge, 1 wp,).

Phantoms Ablaze Kata

Mountain Toppling Method; Dragon-Graced Weapon; Ghost-Fire Blade
Activation cost: 8 m, 1 wp
Experience cost: 7 xp

Purpose: Inflict lots of damage on an unmaterialized spirit.

Increase Strength by 5 for one action with Mountain Toppling Method (5 m including surcharge). A successful attack sets the target on fire for a single action, which is a +4L bonus to the damage dice pool (1 m). Ghost-Fire Blade allows all attacks in a flurry to affect dematerialized spirits (2 m).

Mighty Dragons Strike

Mountain Toppling Method; Five-Dragon Claw; Five-Dragon-Force Blow
Activation cost 10 m, 1 wp
Experience cost 8 xp

Purpose: Armed or unarmed attack that inflicts lots of damage.

Increase Strength by 5 for one action with Mountain Toppling Method (5 m including surcharge). Boosted by Five-Dragon Claw, the attack inflicts lethal damage and ignores Hardness (2 m including surcharge). Five-Dragon-Force Blow doubles base damage before subtracting soak and has the potential to make knockdown more difficult (3 m including surcharge).

Expanded Backgrounds

Artifact 2 (Enticing Laugh): This is Upadana's personal weapon, given to him by his master. It is a red jade daiklave the god supposedly had specially made for the Exalt. In truth, it was a minor bribe from a young Sidereal Exalt who, in turn, had taken it off the corpse of an Immaculate monk she had disposed of. It is inset with a Windhands Gemstone.

Artifact 5 (red jade superheavy plate): During most of his missions Upadana wears superheavy plate armor made from red jade. He likes it for its intimidation factor and it suits his straightforward combat style perfectly.

Salary 2: Unceasing Pilgrimage is powerful enough that he can pay his Exalted agent a salary that allows him to live more than comfortably in Creation.

Manse 3: His manse is an air-aspected temple to Unceasing Pilgrimage located in Great Forks. It has a staff attendants and guards that deal with day-to-day matters. Occasionally, one of the many Essence-wielders of Great Forks will try to take over the temple. Upadana takes a dim view of such affronts to his beloved god. The manse provides him with a Windhands Gemstone.