I do believe the time has come to enter the fray.
Name: Green Shadow Kerish
Caste: Casteless Lunar
Spirit/Tell: Scorpian / Solid black eyes and pattern of white arcs down back reminescent of scorpian chitin.
Motivation: Destroy the threats to the East.
Backstory
The Green Shadow Clan are a tribe of barbarians in the mideast of Creation, just short of the Bordermarches but well within range of the Wyld's hostile presence. She grew up learning the things all Green Shadows did: How to ambush, how to avoid being ambushed, and how to survive the Eastern forests. She grew up to be wary, militant, and meticulous in all things. Up until the time of her Exaltation, she was an exceptional asset to her tribe.
Her Exaltation occurred when a Fair Folk Noble and his retinue came upon the tribe's camp, seeking to plunder away captives. As per Green Shadow tactics, the mightiest warriors fought to distract so that those who couldn't hold their own could flee. The Strategos had learned the tactic well, though, and ordered his retinue to engage in the capture while he personally cut down those who fought. He turned his back when he thought he had bested them all, but then heard a feral chittering behind him.
He turned, and saw two figures. One was a woman clad in moonsilver armor holding a powerbow in a relaxed position. A coy smirk crossed her face as she glanced at the other woman, who sported a lengthy scorpian stringer, razor claws, and patches of black chitin. Hollow black eyes stared at the Strategos as the full moon burned on her brow, her snarl of rage echoed by the maddening chitter. As the archer faded from view, Kerish lunged at the raksha.
Fighting the woman was maddening: She struck with ten thousand blows in an instant, then beat a hasty retreat the moment a counterattack could be mustered. As the woman's mindless wrath gave way to meticulous certainty, the Strategos called for a pause in the battle. He gestured to his retinue, all of whom had taken multiple captives.
The Strategos put forward a simple challenge: He possessed a freehold, not far from here. He would hold the hostages there, where they would be given the minimum neccesary to ensure their good health, and none would feed upon them. Every night, he would hold a challenge for a fatal duel between Kerish and one of his retinue. In any duel where Kerish was victorious, any of her tribe that her opponent for that night had taken would be given freedom. If the minion was victorious, either through killing Kerish or by lacking an opponent, then the protection from feeding on that combatant's prizes would be revoked. Having few options, Kerish reluctantly agreed.
And so, for weeks, Kerish fought. During periods of rest, she would seek out shelter, eventually settling for a manse in a minor shadowland to ward off the assassins the Strategos sent at night. She would initially transform while at the freehold, suffering the odd mutation as neccesary, but after she felt her attachments to her tribe begin to waver after resuming human form she decided that it would be better to remain in her war form indefinitely, or at least until her tribe's freedom was won.
After the third week, [Redacted] found her. [Redacted] revealed a great many things to the ignorant Kerish: About her transformative abilities being due to Lunar Exaltation, about the [Redacted] that [third person singular] represented, and most importantly that the Strategos had been recapturing her tribe personally while she hid from the assassins. With [Redacted] wiping out the retinue personally, Kerish was able to fight the Strategos personally. While she was bloodied by the battle, she was ultimately triumphant thanks to the venom in her tail.
After attending to her injuries, [Redacted] lead Kerish to the North to be properly initiated into [Redacted] and to meet [Redacted]. She immediately recognized [Redacted] as an old friend, and her Bond ensured her membership in [Redacted]. After receiving some essential equipment, armor that allowed modesty despite transformations with bracers to hold her hearthstone, she was directed to important matters in [Redacted], to begin work under [Redacted]. Although parting with [Redacted] was reluctant, she complied. Creation was in danger, and she had a lot of work ahead of her
Personality
Kerish is defensive in every sense of the word. She's cautious in combat, slow to trust, and on edge about things most people would be at ease with. That's not to say that she's a coward, however. Indeed, while hiding is her most efficient solution to a given threat, her most enjoyable solution is violence. She is very much aware of the impact tranforming to her true form had on her ability to relate to others, causing her to be rather averse to the idea of taking on that form unless absolutely neccesary.
Appearance
Kerish rarely dons her true form anymore, due to the dangers such action has proven to have to her mental health and how the form has lost its human appearance anyhow. If she were to take the form, it would be of an athletic female figure with glossy black scales along her back, shoulder, and upper limbs. The scales actually cover her entire body, but those are the areas where the patterns are darker than her brown skin and have scales large enough to distinguish individually. They also darken around her digits, which now end in wicked barbed claws. Her hair, dark green and shoulder-length, is all that remains unaltered. Thanks to her transformative habit, the only clothing on her person would be moonsilver artifacts, a pair of bracers and a minimally skirted breastplate.
In her war form, the thin scales grow and dark to match the patch patterns. Her clawed hands turn into proportional scorpian claws, an extra pair of eyes open above the first, and a lengthy scorpian tail emmerges from the Lunar's lower back. Unlike normal war forms, Kerish does not increase in size from this transformation, making it possible for her to use it without destroying clothes. Her favorance of her spirit shape means the complication remains, however.
Attributes
Physical
Strength ●●●
Dexterity ●●●●● (In War Form ●●●)
Stamina ●●●●
Social
Charisma ●
Manipulation ●●●●
Appearance ●●●
Mental
Perception ●●●●
Intelligence ●●
Wits ●●●●●
Abilities
Archery
Athletics ●●●
Awareness ●●●
Dodge ●●●
Integrity ●●
Martial Arts ●●●●● (Claws ●●●)
Melee
Resistance ●●●
Thrown
War
Craft
Larceny
Linguistics ●● (Native Barbarian Languages (Eastern Bordermarches,) Forest-tongue, Riverspeak)
Performance
Presence ●●●
Ride
Sail
Socialize
Stealth ●●●
Survival ●●● (The East ●●●)
Bueraucracy
Investigation
Lore
Occult
Medicine
Backgrounds
Artifact ●
Artifact ●
Artifact ●●
Backing [Redacted] ●
Manse ●●
Artifacts and Equipment
Adapted Heaven Glory Shroud - Artifact ● - +7 Essence to Anima Flare
Moonsilver Breastplate - Artifact ● - +7L/+5L soak, 2 Hardness, comes with skirt
Moonsilver Hearthstone Bracers - Artifact ●● - Hearthstone slot, +3 Dodge dice, +2L soak
Ghostwalker Crystal - Manse ●● - +2 difficulty to see or hear Kerish's passage, +4 motes/hour
Charms
[Dexterity]
[Excellencies]
*First Dexterity Excellency
Flawless Dexterity Focus
[Charms]
Golden Tiger Stance
Wary Swallow Method
Wind-Dancing Method
[Stamina]
[Excellencies]
[Charms]
*Ox-Body Technique
*Ox-Body Technique
*Ox-Body Technique
*Ox-Body Technique
[Wits]
[Excellencies]
*First Wits Excellency
[Charms]
Meerkat Alertness Practice
Wasp Sting Blur
Many-Armed Monkey Style
Knacks
Humble Mouse Shape
Deadly Beastman Transformation (Talons, Thick Skin, Small, Enhanced Sight, Scorpian Tail x2, Toxic)
Terrifying Beastman Alteration
Chimerism
Greater Curse 2pt
Claws 1pt
Scales 1pt
Deficiency Vulnerability (Alcohol) 1pt
Sociopathic Detachment 1pt
Join Combat: 8
Attacks:
True Shape Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 10, Damage 3B, Defense -, Rate 1, C, N, P
True Shape Claw Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 14, Damage 3L, Defense +2, Rate 3, N
True Shape Claw Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 13, Damage 6L, Defense -2, Rate 2, N
War Form Claw Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 14, Damage 6L, Defense -2, Rate 2, N
War Form Scorpian Claws: Speed 5, Accuracy 15, Damage 5L, Defense +2, Rate 3, N
War Form Scorpian Tail: Speed 5, Accuracy 16, Damage 5L, Defense +2, Rate 2, N, P, Toxic*
War Form Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 14, Damage 3B, Defense -, Rate 1, C, N, P
*Tail Poison: Damage 5L/action, Toxicity 2, Tolerance -/-, Penalty -2
Defenses:
Dodge DV 7 (10 in War Form)
Parry DV 8 (9 in War Form)
Soak: 12L/10B (13L/11B in war form)
Health:
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
-X [ ]
Social Defenses:
Dodge MDV 6
Parry MDV 4
Virtues
Compassion ●
Conviction ●●●●
Temperance ●●●
Valor ●●
Intimacies
Bondmate (Loyalty)
Willpower: 7/7
Essence:
Permanent: ●●●
Personal: 17/17
Peripheral: 36/42 (6 Committed)
Bonus Points: 0/15
-10 Essence 2>3
-4 Favored Specialties
+4 Chimerism Penalties
-2 Chimerism Bonuses
-3 Conviction 3>4
XP 10/22
-12 Martial Arts 3>5
Author
Topic: [Exalted 2e] Magical Hobos of Violence and JUSTICE. OoC thread. (Read 14286 times)