<div class="floatright">(http://imageshack.us/a/img689/930/7a7e1932c1c8bc0987e1c1f.jpg)</div><br/>Name: General Steel Orchid<br/>Caste: Dawn<br/>Anima: A Gold-White Banner marked with the Dawn symbol<br/>Motivation: Free the Unconquered Sun<br/><br/>Strength 3 Dexterity 5 Stamina 3<br/>Charisma 4 Manipulation 2 Appearance 4<br/>Perception 5 Intelligence 3 Wits 5<br/><br/>*Archery 3<br/>Athletics 3<br/>*Awareness 5 (Initiative +3)<br/>Craft (Fire) 1<br/>Dodge 3<br/>*Integrity 4<br/>Linguistics 1: Ratspeak<br/>Lore 3<br/>*Martial Arts 3<br/>Medicine 2<br/>*Melee 5 (Two-Handed Blades +3)<br/>*Occult 2<br/>Performance 1<br/>*Presence 4<br/>*Resistance 5 (Fatigue +3)<br/>Sail 2<br/>Socialize 3<br/>*Thrown 3<br/>*War 5 (Tactics +3)<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">CHARMS</div><div class="spoiler_body">Martial Arts<br/><br/>Fists of Iron Attack<br/>Thunderclap Rush Attack<br/><br/>Melee<br/><br/>Melee Resurgent<br/>Hungry Tiger Technique<br/>Golden Destruction Cut<br/>One Weapon, Two Blows<br/>Peony Blossom Attack<br/>Iron Whirlwind Attack<br/>Invincible Fury of the Dawn<br/>Call the Blade<br/>Iron Raptor Technique<br/>Blazing Solar Bolt<br/><br/>Thrown<br/><br/>Joint-Wounding Attack<br/><br/>War<br/><br/>War Triumphant<br/>Rout-Stemming Gesture<br/>Commanding the Celestial Army<br/>Mob-Dispersing Rebuke<br/>Fury-Inciting Presence<br/>General of the All-Seeing Sun<br/>Ideal Battle Knowledge Prana<br/>Heroism-Encouraging Presence<br/>Tiger Warrior Training Technique<br/>Legendary Warrior Curriculum<br/>Elegant Dance of Bow and Blade<br/>Dawn King's Strife<br/><br/>Integrity<br/><br/>Integrity Triumphant<br/>Integrity-Protecting Prana<br/>Phoenix Renewal Tactic<br/><br/>Presence<br/><br/>Presence Triumphant<br/>Irresistible Salesman Spirit<br/><br/>Resistance<br/><br/>Ox-Body Technique x3<br/>Essence-Gathering Temper<br/>Durability of Oak Meditation<br/>Soul Fire Resurgence<br/>Invincible Essence Reinforcement<br/><br/>Awareness<br/><br/>Awareness Overwhelming<br/>Panoptic Fusion Discipline<br/>Surprise Anticipation Method<br/></div></div><br/>Compassion 2 Conviction 3 Temperance 2 Valor 5<br/>Essence 5 Willpower 10<br/>Limit Break: Heart of Flint (Conviction)<br/><br/><br/>Artifact 4 Offensive<br/>-Orichalcum Royal Warstrider (5)<br/>-Attached Grand Daiklaive (3)<br/>-Nova Battery (1)<br/>This level 1 orichalcum/lightning essence core powers artifacts as if it was level 3.<br/>-Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive<br/><br/>Artifact 2 Defensive<br/>-Orichalcum Superheavy Plate<br/>-Silken Armor<br/>-Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light<br/><br/>Warstrider AI 4<br/>Backing 5: The Deliberative Army<br/>Class 4<br/>Command 5<br/>Connections 4: The Deliberative Army<br/>Connections 1: The Scurrying Nation<br/>Connections 1: The Dragon Academies<br/>Connections 1: The Void Hunt<br/>Cult 3<br/><br/>Tactical Instincts +3<br/><br/>Personal Essence: 25<br/>Peripheral Essence: 38  (19 committed, 57 total) (Warstrider takes 24 motes to attune)<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Exceptional Alchemical Glass Greatsword: Speed 6 - Accuracy +2 - Damage +6L - Defense -1 - Rate 1 - 2, P, R<br/><br/>Exceptional Reinforced Breastplate - +8L/+7B - Mobility -2 - Fatigue 0<br/><br/>Good Luck Charm, Walkaway<br/><br/>Intimacies:<br/>The Unconquered Sun: Love/concern<br/>Autocthtonia: Devotion<br/>Faithful Exalts: Devotion<br/>Unfaithful Exalts: Scorn<br/>Primordials: Hatred<br/>The Spiral: Wistful dreaming<br/>Her troops: Perfectionist expectation (Never completely satisfied with their accomplishments and always expecting them to do better)<br/>Her servants: Unspoken appreciation<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Original backstory</div><div class="spoiler_body">Steel Orchid was fortunate enough during her childhood to see one of the few rare public artist performances of a Celestial Exalt, hinting at the beauty and majesty of the Spire.  Her childlike wonder had little difficulty in conjuring all sorts of images and glorious places.  She wanted to see it all.<br/><br/>Everyone has to grow up someday.  Not everyone completely loses their dreams.<br/><br/>Her Exaltation came relatively young, during her teenage years, when a Terrestrial was putting sexual pressure on some of her friends.  This was back when she had time for friends.  She figured that after she clubbed him on the back of the head with a pipe, she was going to have to run, but he nearly died.  She still can't stand bullying, although she understands the irony of raiding other planets for their resources.<br/><br/>She tends to think of herself as a weapon, a shield between the encroaching death and the many people who depend on her.  Her talents have pointed her naturally towards the Deliberative Army, where her tactical ability and close quarters prowess have ensured that she ascended rapidly through the ranks.<br/><br/>Her primary skills, however, are dedicated towards her warstrider Golden Fury.  The right hand of the Royal Warstrider is constantly wrapped around an orichalcum grand daiklaive, with pistons adjusting the handle so that she can adjust her grip at a moment's notice.<br/><br/>Even outside the warstrider, however, she has herself trained and focused for duty.  Her default assortment is a greatsword of alchemically-treated glass and a reinforced breastplate complete with gauntlets and boots, though she's been known to take other items as well as the situation requires.<br/><br/>Her eagerness to help has gained her a number of allies.  Both the Upright Soldier Military Academy and the Void Hunt have requested and gained her expertise in a large number of minor disputes, but such tales pale in comparison to the third Connection.  <br/><br/>A few years ago, she ended up lost in the Reaches, heavily wounded and alone.  One of the rats came up to her and started nibbling at her, and she grabbed it with the reflexive intent to squash it.  Something in its eyes, though, reminded her of just that look from her old friend from so long ago, being bullied by that Terrestrial.  She let it go, removing her gauntlet to squeeze out some blood into a puddle for the animal.  With a squeak of joy, it lapped at the blood, thanked her for saving his life and showed her the way back to civilization.<br/><br/>After that, she'd head out to the edge and bring out some food for the rats, meeting a few who knew their way around Autocthtonia very well.  Another alliance formed easily enough, and whenever she needs help within the Reaches, she knows how to call for help.<br/><br/>Her private life is dramatically less impressive, at least when compared to other Exalts.  She has few additions to her personal staff besides the usual cooking and cleaning: a masseuse, an elder who's exceptionally proficient at Gateway (though she's passing the point where he can even challenge her anymore) and a former trainer who keeps her appraised of the state of each soldier under her command.<br/><br/>When everything is done, when the Spiral is theirs and every threat is destroyed, perhaps she can attempt to have a true life for herself.</div></div><br/><hr/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">New backstory</div><div class="spoiler_body">The years have not been kind.  No matter how much Steel Orchid does, whether become a general, claim an entire legion of troops under her command, or prove herself time and again, it never truly feels like they're getting closer to their goal.  She's spent what little free time she has in learning more and more, with only a few indulgences for herself like taking the time to learn the strange language inimical to the Scurrying Nation.<br/><br/>They call her a general now.  She has officers who understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of her troops, even if she doesn't.  There are just too many, and they come and go too quickly for her to handle the situation.  Thankfully, her extraordinary prowess with understanding the battlefield allows her to handle units the same way one would understand individuals.<br/><br/>Her army group is called the Sunburners, decorated with an eight-pointed gold star painted over the heart.  On more than one occasion, she's proven a soldier unworthy to wear that star by slicing it clean from his armor.  Within Autocthtonia, they salute with a fist to the chest, the resounding sound against the plate echoing upon the walls.  Outside, they salute with a hand to the forehead (often held so as to protect against the glare from the sunlight).  She holds her troops to an exceptional standard while on duty, but allows leniencies otherwise, sometimes even fronting her own credit to provide various forms of entertainment when they do spectacularly well.  It's the only real way she knows how to thank them.<br/><br/>She's had to give up on any single opponent keeping her tactically sharp.  The Upright Soldier Military Academy has five Earth Dragon brothers, each linked with a Torc of Unified Action and each a genius in the art of war, who are able to play her to roughly even odds.  She knows that she hones their edges just as much as they hone hers.<br/><br/>It never seems like enough.  No matter how much her mind shows her the array of choices and possibilities, no matter how she can look and see that things are improving, she hasn't yet learned how to kill that little girl who just wants to go home to the Spiral and stop all the fighting.  The strategy is simple: they need the Unconquered Sun to be freed.  What she's always known in her heart has been tempered by the mental understanding that only his glory offers them a true chance of victory.<br/><br/>Once she got to meet Lytek.  She didn't have much to say beyond thanking him that she had no memories of dying.  He said a number of things but she didn't really understand most of it.  Like magitech, so much of it simply flew over her head; she barely had the talent for even crafting steel.  However, she knows that there are any number of things that cannot be created by those who know how to best use them.<br/><br/>It's far less common now, but she still goes out to the Reaches from time to time with a can of processed meat, feeding the rats as thanks to the one who saved her so very long ago.  She hasn't seen Skirling in forever, and she doesn't know the lifespan of rats, but she doesn't want to find out.  It almost certainly isn't long enough for him to still be alive.<br/><br/>Last week, a few of the officers anonymously asked her to deal with one of the corporals who was getting drunk on duty and harassing his subordinates.  It was simple enough to determine, since he stank of ale and tried to take a swing at her.  After she knocked his plate armor out of alignment so that he couldn't properly defend himself, she kicked him to the floor and ripped the medals of rank from his chest.  It wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with someone like that.  She doesn't even remember his name.  The difficult part is how easy it feels when she deals with someone one on one.  It almost makes her want to rush in to the Spiral already, a foolhardy and reckless charge of arrogance.<br/><br/>She knew that this long war was taking its toll on her.  She could only imagine how other people were coping, even if she knew she could never so much as bring it up.  Everyone had to believe that only they were cracking under the pressure, because each person had to believe that their allies would stand fast no matter what.  Soon this nightmare would hopefully end, and usher in an age of peace and paradise. <br/></div></div><br/><hr/><br/>-0:  [ ]<br/>-1:  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]<br/>-2:  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]<br/>-4:  [ ]<br/>Inc: [ ]<br/><br/>Personal Essence: 25 / 25<br/>Peripheral Essence: 38 / 38 (Warstrider takes 24 motes to attune)<br/><br/>Willpower: O O O O O O O O O O<br/><br/>Conviction: [ ] [ ] [ ]<br/>Valor: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]<br/><br/>Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive: Speed 5 - Accuracy 16 - Damage +14L/4 - Defense 14/2=7 - Rate 2 - 2, O, R<br/>Exceptional Fighting Gauntlets: Speed 5 - Accuracy 9 - Damage +9B - Defense 10/2=5 - Rate 2<br/>Exceptional Iron Boots: Speed 5 - Accuracy 9 - Damage +10B - Defense 5/2=3 - Rate 2<br/><br/>Unarmored Soak: 9 B - 11 L - 5 A - 1 H (Silken Armor)<br/>Armored Soak: 26 B - 28 L - 22 A - 11 H<br/><br/>Warstrider:<br/><br/>Orichalcum Grand Daiklaive: Speed 5 - Accuracy 17 - Damage +40L/8 - Defense 14/2=7 - Rate 3 - 2, O, P, R<br/><br/>Soak: 33 B - 35 L - 29 A - 13 H