WaiyaddoNoDan/Sekhu

Title: Sekhu Siaka-Tamer
Caste: Zenith
Nature: Visionary
Anima: Snarling lion
Concept: Bitter, drunken prophet

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

Abilities:
Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Brawl 5 (+2 while drunk), Dodge 1, Endurance 3, Linguistics 1 (Low Realm, Riverspeak), Lore 3, Performance 2 (+2 while drunk), Presence 3, Resistance 4, Socialize 2 (+2 while drunk), Survival 1, Thrown 2

Note: The Face background is in use, so an additional 2 background points are available
Backgrounds: Artifact 1, Contacts 2 (various Threshold innkeepers and bartenders), Followers 2, Influence 1, Manse 1, Resources 2

Virtues:
Compassion 4, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 2
Virtue Flaw: Red Rage of Compassion (Compassion)

Willpower: 7
Health: -0,-1,-1,-1,-1,-2,-2,-2,-2,-2,-2,-4,Incap
Essence: 2
Essence pool: 13/26(31)

Flaws: Known Anathema (1), Wanted (1)

Charms:

• Brawl
  

Sledgehammer Fist Punch
Heaven Thunder Hammer
Ferocious Jab
Fists of Iron Technique
Thunderclap Rush Attack
Ox-Stunning Blow

• Endurance
  

Ox-Body Technique x2 (-1,-2,-2)

• Resistance
  

Durability of Oak Meditation

Combos:

• Drunk-Calming Pat: Thunderclap Rush Attack, Ferocious Jab, Ox-Stunning Blow
• Creation-Rocking Foe-Cannon Methodology: Thunderclap Rush Attack, Ferocious Jab, Heaven Thunder Hammer

Equipment: simple woolen traveling garments, buff jacket, Light of Reason (orichalcum smashfist)

Combat:
Base initiative: 6
Soak: 5L/8B (3L/4B buff jacket)
Dodge: 6
Attacks:
Light of Reason: Spd 3, Acc 10, Dam 9L, Def 12, Rate 8
Bare Hands: Spd 6, Acc 9, Dmg 4B, Def 10, Rate 5

Followers

Steady Gei is bulky and imposing, but unskilled in combat and weak of mind. He was rescued from slavery by Sekhu, and will not willingly part ways with him. Helpful with baggage, and little else.
Verdant Spring, Sheng's brother, is a beautiful but frail farm girl whose virtue Sekhu rescued from a drunken Outcaste. She is also the brains of the foursome. She negotiates with merchants for food, feed, and other necessities that overcome Gei's ability to count, Sekhu's patience, and Sheng's common sense.
Brilliant Sheng, named when his mother had greater hopes for him, is Spring's sister and a farmboy out to see the world. His arm and several ribs were broken by the Outcaste that nearly raped his sister, and he hopes to pick up some of Sekhu's skills from observation so that he can protect her. His only abilities of any use off a farm are driving his horse-drawn wagon, as well as the most basic carpentry.

Appearance and personality

Sekhu Siaka-Tamer is a tall, muscular man moving into middle age. While not as bulky as he once was, his Exaltation has brought him strength as great as he had in his prime. His hair hangs to his shoulders, drab brown shot through with grey, and his short-trimmed beard is nearly colorless. In his buff jacket and traveling cloak, he could be easily mistaken for any traveler or pilgrim, but for the mass of gleaming orichalcum usually encasing his right hand and forearm - the smashfist Light of Reason, as its owner sarcastically calls it. If his left hand doesn't hold a walking stick, it almost always has a cup or bottle.

Above all, justice, freedom, and truth are Sekhu's ideals. Even before the opening of the Jade Prison and the return of the Solars, he quietly worshipped the Unconquered Sun as the living embodiement of his beliefs. Even as he grew cynical and embittered at the unfairness of life and the arbitrary cruelties of the Immaculates and the Realm, even as he lost himself in drink and misery, he fought for his beliefs. Of course, the more drunk and morose he got, the more likely he was to get himself in over his head. Telling off Immaculates, picking fights with God-Blooded, it's amazing that he wasn't killed and a miracle that he wasn't imprisoned for heresy and manhandling of the priesthood. He is certain now that he survived because all that had gone before was a test, and the Unconquered Sun has declared him worthy to bear the powers of his priesthood, the true Princes of the Earth.

He is a very proactive Zenith. If he believes a matter will only be resolved through combat, he uses his Combos to end fights before they begin. If conflict can be resolved peacefully, he's usually willing to call a truce and drink his way to an agreement. Occasionally dishonest folk, such as thieves, assassins, or other ne'er-do-wells, have tried to poison the Siaka-Tamer, but their efforts are generally useless against the powerful immunity he has built up during yeras of heavy drinking, reinforced by the Unconquered Sun's blessing.

Exaltation

"Recant your heresy, dog, and I may yet you live!" shouted Togo the Siaka. The Immaculate bared his teeth, each one filed sharp. This was one of the few enjoyments he got from his job as an itinerant: being obliged to beat heretics, suspected or known, within inches of their life... or beyond. The particular heretic he now held by the throat was amusing, if not terribly challenging. He had surprised Togo with a kicked table and immediately pressed his advantage with a leg he'd turn off another piece of furniture, swinging wildly. Even with his Flowing Water Defense, one of the drunken lout's swings managed to clip his shoulder with a glancing blow. Surprising, for a mortal.
"Not heresy... to speak the truth," the greybeard said defiantly, before coughing up blood. He continued through his blood-flecked lips, "...and the truth... is that... you, sir, are the do--"
"ENOUGH!" the Immaculate shouted, and he squeezed.
And squeezed.
And...

...he was suddenly blinded by a blaze of golden fire washing all around him, filling the room. No, wait... he could see one thing. Gleaming on the forehead of the heretic, mocking him, the sign of the Forsaken, within the silently roaring mouth of a great golden lion. Driving all distractions from his mind, he executed his ultimate attack, the Body-Disrupting Oscillation Technique.
The first blow struck the anathema directly in the solar plexus utilizing the Flow Reversal Strike, a blow that would kill any mortal man. Togo's fist ached as though he had punched a great stone, and the anathema looked bemused. In a fury, the Immaculate continued his assault, but the next blow was caught easily in the Forsaken's steady grip.
"Enough of this nonsense," the middle-aged man said. He looked as though he had just thought of something. "Ah, yes... I think it was called Creation-Rocking Foe-Cannon Methodology!" Everyone in the tavern, including him, stared in amazement as the attack punched through the Immaculate's defense and he hurtled through the front of the tavern, shattering a window and a good part of the wall. After a terrified moment of silence, the anathema shrugged and went back to the bar.
"I'd help you fix that wall, but I do more damage with a hammer than I can repair..." he said sheepishly. He pulled a purse out of his coat and began counting out coins. "...I think that ought to about cover it. Hey--!"
At his sudden shout, everyone stiffened, prepared for the worst. Did he decide to kill them all?
"... my drink didn't get spilled, through that whole fight! I'm glad such fine liquor didn't go to waste." He tossed more coins on the counter, and grinned. "In celebration, a round for everybody!"

Some minutes later, things had calmed down a bit. The timid had quietly escaped, and the rest had just applauded the anathema's bawdy rendition of a local love song while he retreated to refill his mug. The tavernmaster eyed him appreciatively as he drained half of it immediately.
"What's your name, anathema?"
The anathema set down the mug and looked at the other man seriously. "I am Sekhu, but I am no anathema. The word is a lie forged by the Dragon-Blooded. I am Chosen, Exalt, and Sun-Child, given power to oppose the evils of this world by the Unconquered Sun himself. Of course," he added with a grin, "at this exact moment I'm appreciating the power to not get killed by some pissy Immaculate, so as to enjoy good drink and merry company!" With that, he emptied the mug and sprang up, calling for silence.
"He killed the Siaka?" the owner's wife asked him quietly. She had been in the back room during the fight.
"No, Erb said that he was only injured - but he fled town."
"About time someone did something about that horrid man, I say."
"Indeed, love. I don't know the truth of what he said about anathema, but he seems a good enough man, and I'll see that it's known he's done the area a favor." With that, they put the conversation on hold to hear their guest's singing.

The song he sang was sad, and terrible. It was the ballad of Vaznia, of the death of her Lunar lover and her implacable quest for revenge against the Primordials themselves. Sekhu found himself weeping, and he realized that he had written the ballad as a eulogy to Vaznia upon her death. They had been friends, before she launched on her self-destructive campaign of revenge, and he could still remember her face, blood-streaked, smiling, and dead, after the battle.

He finished the song, had his mug refilled, and made his way to an empty corner table. He quietly drank to Vaznia, and his wife Lyrga and all five of his children, and all the others he had loved and lost in this or any other life.