Masaaki
Born to barbarians in the South Eastern mountains near Rathess, Masaaki quickly
proved himself stronger and more capable than most of his tribe. Surrounded
by a violent culture, the young Masaaki quickly learned to fight, and excelled
at it, rising to the lead his mountain clan only a few years after attaining
adulthood.
The young Masaaki was content for some time with his life, organizing raids on the beastmen living in the nearby forest and the occasional foray into other human settlements. One raid, however, Masaaki encountered something more powerful than a beastman - a Lunar Exalted, who commanded sorcerous power the like of which Masaaki and his warriors had never seen. The Lunar, a cowardly trickster, watched her beastmen fall before Masaaki and his men, then summoned a small horde of lesser demons. The demons fought fiercely, gleefully taking the opportunity this trip to Creation offered them to kill and destroy. At the end of the battle, the imps were all dead - but only Masaaki and three of his strongest henchmen survived.
The Lunar effortlessly evaded their attempts to find her, but more profound was the effect on Masaaki's outlook. He was no longer lord of all he surveyed; something out there was stronger than him, had beaten him. He found this intolerable. Leaving his men to look after themselves, Masaaki went on a trek up into the mountains, seeking enlightenment and power. After a series of adventures, he discovered from a spirit tales of a cache of first-age artifacts to be found in a cave on the other side of the mountain. When he eventually discovered the "cache," it consisted of nothing more than a thin golden circlet and a large, heavy staff. Masaaki, eager to make the most of even a small find, quickly donned the circlet - and an entire life flashed behind his eyes.
At that moment, Masaaki knew he was an avatar of the Unconquered Sun, ready to go forth into the world and show all who opposed him the how mighty he was. His natural arrogance was magnified, his fighting prowess accentuated, and his hatred of demons and creatures of evil increased tenfold. He returned with his prizes to his people, to tell them of his ascension. They had crowned a new leader in his absence, and grown lazy. Masaaki was angered, but when he rose his staff to strike down his rival, the circlet tightened about his head, causing him to drop his weapon and fall to the ground in pain.
Giving in to the circlet's influence, Masaaki left his tribe, vowing to return one day. For now, though, he wanders Creation, spreading his newfound knowledge and belief in the Unconquered Sun's righteousness.
Adventures:
Masaaki hates demons; in his view, they are foul abominations which taint Creation by their very presence. The only thing almost as bad as a demon is someone who summons them to Creation - and he just happens to have heard about the member of your party who cast Demon of the First Circle and bound a Blood Ape into service.
He may not always show it, but Masaaki is wise, infused with the knowledge and wisdom of his previous incarnation. He truly is a sage, and as such has decided to aid those whose actions he sees as spiritually worthwhile. He does have his own project, however; a little matter of travelling far across Creation to collect the ancient scriptures of the lost religion of the First Age.
Nature: Bravo
Caste: Zenith
Anima: Masaaki's iconic anima takes the form of his totem, a gaint monkey clad in golden armour.
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5, Charisma 3, Appearance 2, Manipulation 2, Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 3
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 1 (3 with Circlet of Humility), Valour 4
Virtue Flaw: Foolhardy Contempt
Abilities: Athletics 4, Dodge 2, Endurance 4, Linguistics 1 (Native: Tribal Tongues - Own Mountain Tribe, Local Beastmen, South-Eastern Barbarians; Forest-Tongue), Martial Arts 2, Melee 4 (Staves +1, Multiple Opponents +1, Versus Demons +1), Occult 2 (Demonology +1), Performance 1, Presence 2, Resistance 4, Survival 2
Backgrounds: Artifact 3 (Wishing Staff), Artifact 2 (Circlet of Humility), Influence 1, Resources 1
Charms: Durability of Oak Meditation, Excellent Strike, Graceful Crane Stance, Iron Skin Concentration, Monkey Leap Technique, One Weapon Two Blows, Ox-Body Technique x 3 (-0, -0, -1/-2/-2), Peony Blossom Attack
Base Initiative: 7
Attack:
Punch: Speed 7 Accuracy 6 Damage 4B Defence 6
Kick: Speed 4 Accuracy 5 Damage 6B Defence 5
Wishing Staff: Speed 9 Accuracy 11 Damage 8L Defence 9Dodge Pool: 6 Soak: 2L/5B (skin)
Willpower: 6 Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Essence: 2
Personal Essence: 12 Peripheral Essence: 29
Other Notes: This is Masaaki as he starts out on his journey as a wandering sage and warrior. If you want to make Masaaki more powerful, then in addition to improving his existing skills he should have learned Tiger Style martial arts, increased his Essence score, and begun learning sorcery (particularly appropriate spells for Masaaki include Cirrus Skiff, Cloud Trapeze, Army of One and anything involving trickery, shape-shifting or altering other's perceptions).
The Wishing Staff attack does not include the specialties for fighting demons or multiple opponents, though it does factor in his staff specialty.
Masaaki's Temperance is effectively 3 thanks to the Circlet of Humility that he wears, but this does not add to his Essence pool; see the artifact's entry for details.