TrialByFire/BrokenWingShun

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Broken Wing Shun

A lesser son of a lesser sire, Shun gave up his noble name at a young age to enter the Immaculate monastaries as an acolyte. His noble blood was weak in any case, and except for the off chance of exaltation he had no future in court. It was, in fact, out of mercy that his parents decided to send him away from the predatory courts of the Realm to a quiet monastery in the Threshold. In honor of his parents, Shun entered training for the Fire Dragon style of martial arts, enduring the harsh extremes the basic training katas inflicted on his young mortal body. He became proficient with unattuned short daiklaves, mostly by fashioning his own training swords of about that weight and balance, but also sometimes by sneaking a midnight training session with his instructor's blades. He was punished severely whenever he was caught doing this.

Shun was known as "little wing" by the monks, for his ambition always soared past his breeding. Yet many of them grew very proud of him. The boy who came to them at 12 years of age flourished in studies both martial and scholastic. Shun's dedication was such that he learned the ways of Essence, and was granted the right to train with the daiklaves he had been punished for stealing chances with.

During his sixth year at the monastery, Shun began to have strange dreams, entirely contrary to what he had been previously taught. He dreamt of a different story of the destruction of the Anathema, a story of usurpation of the rightful rule of the Solar Exalted by the treacherous Dragon Blooded legions. Eventually, these dreams led him to seek out a secret passage in the monastery, previously unknown to him before the dreams. It led to a basement chamber, filled with scrolls. From these scrolls he gleaned some truths not contained in the scriptures of the Immaculate Order he had been training with. Just enough to make him very mad by the time his instructors found him.

His punishment would already have been severe enough from his Dragon Blooded masters, had not the Unconquered Sun seen fit to set a Twilight Exaltation upon the boy at that very moment. The red-gold light of the setting sun burst forth from his brow, damning him in the eyes of his teachers but opening his eyes further to the truth of what he had read. He killed his mentors with swords drawn from his own fighting instructor's belt, the same pair he had been punished for touching and eventually earned the right to train with. Of course, the monks in charge of his teaching were young Terrestrials, low enough in station to directly deal with the teaching of talented mortals. Shun fled quickly, taking some scrolls with him and committing what he could to memory on the road before selling the priceless artifacts of knowledge to a curios dealer in Nexus.

The new strength of the Unconquered Sun in Shun's heart allowed him to hold out for a fairly good deal, and with the small fortune this sale afforded him Shun had his start in the business of scavenging ancient relics. Shun's new friends bring relics to him for identification and authentication, and his mastery of Essence makes him wise enough to provide. Yet this does not fulfill his deep yearnings, and on the street Shun is known as "broken wing;" even his friends in the underworld can tell he is meant for something greater.

In truth, Shun's purpose has changed since he began living on the streets of Nexus. He began with thoughts of revenge against those who lied to him, those who killed the original bearer of his Exaltation, but that was before he saw the real squalor people in cities lived in. Immaculate philosophy spoke of the balance of the world, karma which determined who was poor and who was rich, and how the Dragon Blooded improved the karma of all with their enlightened benevolence. Shun saw a different world in Nexus, and the other trading cities of the Scavenger Lands. Dragon Bloods were feared, not respected, and for deadly reasons. Shun made a vow in his heart never to worsen the condition of the people like their Terrestrial masters were doing, to bring back the glories of the First Age when magic and technology alike made people's lots better.

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(496xp spent, 4 unspent)

Strength 5
Dexterity 5
Stamina 5

Intelligence 2
Perception 5
Wits 5

Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 3

Dawn
Archery 0
Martial Arts 5*
Melee 0
Thrown 0
War 0

Zenith
Integrity 3*
Performance 0
Presence 1
Resistance 5
Survival 1

Twilight*
Craft 2
Investigation 1
Lore 5
Medicine 2
Occult 2

Night
Athletics 2*
Awareness 1
Dodge 5*
Larceny 0
Stealth 0

Eclipse
Bureaucracy 1
Linguistics 2*
Ride 0
Sail 0
Socialize 0

Specialties
Dodge:1vs1_____ 2
MartialArts:1v1 2
_______________ 0
_______________ 0
_______________ 0

Charms
First Martial Arts Excellency
Second Martial Arts Excellency
Third Martial Arts Excellency
Martial Arts Essence Flow
Second Dodge Excellency
Dodge Essence Flow
Shadow Over Water
Seven Shadow Evasion (Compassion)
First Lore Excellency
Second Lore Excellency
Chaos-Repelling Pattern
Wyld-Shaping Technique
First Occult Excellency
First Integrity Excellency
Essence-Gathering Temper
Iron Skin Concentration

Celestial Monkey Style
Monkey Tail Distraction Strike
Flowing Mirror of Opposition Technique
Body of War Meditation
Withering Paw Strike
Celestial Monkey Form
Walking in the Footsteps of Ten Thousand Things
Four Halo Golden Monkey Palm
Four Halo Golden Monkey Realignment
Celestial Godbody Understanding

Combos
Light Mirror and Shadow (Four Halo Golden Monkey Palm, Flowing Mirror of Opposition Technique, Seven Shadow Evasion, Shadow Over Water, Essence-Gathering Temper, Iron Skin Concentration. Minimum 3m, 2w.)

Flaws
Throwback 2

Backgrounds
Artifact ••• (Grand Goremaul)
Artifact ••• (Second Grand Goremaul)
Artifact •• (Hearthstone Bracers)
Artifact ••••• (Superheavy Plate)
Artifact •• (Skinmount Amulet)
Artifact •• (Second Skinmount)
Artifact ••••• (Essence-Containing Gem)
Manse •••• (Adamant Skin)
Manse •••• (Seven Leaping Dragons)
Manse ••• (Windhands)
Contacts 2
Resources N/A(A plethora of wealth formed from the Wyld)
Mentor 5(Omun Dos, First Age Lunar master of Celestial Monkey Style)
Note: All Artifacts and Manses were formed using Wyld-Shaping Technique, and thus are vulnerable to it.

Equipment
Orichalcum Grand Goremauls (Pair)
Jade Hearthstone Bracers
Moonsilver Superheavy Plate
Skinmount Amulets (Pair)
Gem of Adamant Skin
Seven Leaping Dragons Stone
Windhands Gemstone
Essence-Containing Gem (75m)

Willpower 10|10

Virtues
Compassion 5|5
Temperance 5|5
Conviction 5|5
Valor 5|5

Essence 5
Personal 25|25
Peripheral 81|41
Committed 40

Attacks
Fist Speed 4, Accuracy 15(25), Damage 5B, Parry DV 6(+5), Rate 3

Kick Speed 4, Accuracy 14(24), Damage 8B, Parry DV 4(+5), Rate 2

Grand Goremauls Speed 4, Accuracy 17(19/+10)(Orichalcum), Damage 21L/5, Parry DV 5 (6/+5), Rate 2(Orichalcum)

Dodge DV 9(10/+5)

Soak(Moonsilver Superheavy Plate)
Bashing 5(20/10)
Lethal 2(17/10)
Aggravated 0(15)

Health Levels
-0
-1
-1
-2
-2
-4
Incap

Comments

On casual inspection, I see a pair of artifact goremaul. How are you going to wield them both? Or is the other one just for backup and additional coolness factor? Also, is there any limit on the hearthstone available? At any rate, you might want to list the background multiple times instead of N/A to reflect the actual possessions (e.g. Manse 4: Gemstone of Adamant Skin, Manse 4: Seven Leaping Dragons Stone, Manse 3: Windhands Gem). It makes the character easier to gauge in a glance. - TonyC

I'll redo the backgrounds at some point. For right now, the goremaul thing: on Ex2 page 374, "Should a character have triple the minimum strength necessary to wield a two-handed weapon, she can use the weapon one-handed. Attempting to use a weapon one-handed with less than the necessary Strength gives the wielder a -1 external penalty per point by which she fails to meet the triple-Strength requirement." Since Celestial God-Body Understanding halves the Strength minimum to wield all weapons, they become Str 2 minimum. Thus, a 6 strength is sufficient to wield them one-handed. Shun can achieve a Strength of 10 using Body of War Meditation. Therefore, he can easily wield his chosen weapons paired using that technique. - IanPrice

Ian, you might want create a new page for discussing Celestial Monkey style in 2e. Of particular concern is Flowing Mirror Opposition. A 1st ed init modifier (this includes 1st ed weapon speed) does not necessarily convert to a 2nd ed speed modifier. In 1e, regardless of init, each side will get one action per turn. In 2e, the difference between speed 3 and 4 is one action every 12 ticks. This is too powerful an effect for a 2/1 Reflexive Combo-OK charm costing 1m. - TonyC

Started at MartialArts/CelestialMonkey2e - IanPrice