<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Undaunted Cloud</strong></span><br/><br/><strong>Concept</strong>: Daring Smuggler/Merchant ship's captain<br/><strong>Preferred Pronouns</strong>: He<br/><strong>Exalt type and Caste</strong>: Solar Eclipse<br/><strong>Background</strong>:<br/>Cloud grew up in the Shades district of Wu Jian, his parents fairly prosperous merchants. The mainly traded with the other merchant houses, but on occasion were able to grace the halls of the Dragonblooded rulers. It was on one of these trips that 12 year old Cloud first met Nissar Xiu, (as yet unexalted) granddaughter of Nissar Vedan, the ruler of Wu-Jian. They should never had come face to face, but they did. Worlds apart, they should never have becomes friends, but they did.<br/><br/>And they should never .. could never .. have fallen in love, but they did.<br/><br/>The sages would say that in all things there must be balance, and for every moment of joy must come sadness. When their relationship, such as it was, was discovered, Cloud was all but hunted down the Nissar guards, fleeing Wu Jian with the aid of the Thousand Waves. In his last words to Xiu he promised he would come back for her, one day.<br/><br/>His next few years were spent on a dozen different vessels, under a dozen different names, but each time they docked in Wu Jian he would try to sneak Topside to catch a glimpse of Xiu, leaving notes in the secret places they had once stolen moments together. He never knew whether or not she received them, but he wanted to ensure she knew he had not forgotten his promise.<br/><br/>His Second Breath was drawn during a run in with Lintha pirates, the few survivors of that fight left drifting on the open ocean in a small boat that was entirely unsuited to it. The tides carried them to the island where Cloud found his ship, and the handful of crew swore their loyalty to him in the halls that had not heard voices raised in centuries.<br/><br/>His fortunes waxing, Cloud still sends messages to Xiu each time they dock in Wu Jian, these more carefully concealed in gifts from a variety of sources, as he sails the ocean, looking for the secrets that will allow him to raise his power to the point where he can come back for her again.<br/><br/><strong>Personality</strong>:<br/>What do they like? Good food and drink, seeing sights no one has seen in living memory (or before), pitting his skills against wind, wave and other captains.<br/>What do they hate? Those who prey on the weak<br/>What will they die to defend? Anyone who he has a bond of loyalty with<br/>What would they never do? Betray anyone to the Realm (except maybe the Lintha)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Attributes</strong></span>:<br/><strong>Force</strong>: ●●○○○<br/><strong>Finesse</strong>:●●●●○<br/><strong>Fortitude</strong>:●●●○○<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Abilities</strong></span>:<br/><strong>Awareness</strong>: 2<br/><strong>Athletics</strong>: 1<br/><strong>Close combat</strong>: 3<br/><strong>Craft</strong>: 1<br/><strong>Embassy</strong>: 4<br/><strong>Integrity</strong>: 3<br/><strong>Navigate</strong>: 2<br/><strong>Performance</strong>: 1<br/><strong>Physique</strong>: 1<br/><strong>Presence</strong>: 3<br/><strong>Ranged Combat</strong>:<br/><strong>Sagacity</strong>: 2<br/><strong>Stealth</strong>: 1<br/><strong>War</strong>: 1<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Merits</strong></span>:<br/>Followers (1) - Ships crew<br/>Resources (2)<br/>Hearthstone in Pendant (and Manse) (3) - Gem of Purification - when placed into a container, it makes any liquid, or food cooked with that liquid, safe to eat, removing any foulness or poison from it.<br/>His manse is hidden behind a waterfall on a small uninhabited island near Wu Jian. It was where he found his ship, and the remains of what he presumes was it's previous owner (Laughing Sparrow perhaps?) in a hall filled with treasures from the past.<br/>Artifact (4) -<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Storm Riders Oath - First Age Gale Class courier</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Defense</strong> 4, <strong>Soak</strong> 3, <strong>Hardness 6</strong>, <strong>Health Levels</strong> 6<br/>Armed with <br/>Implosion Bow: Accuracy 1, Damage +3, Overwhelming 4 (Artifact, Ranged [Long], Balanced, Pulling)<br/>Tidecutter Bolts: Accuracy 3, Damage +1, Overwhelming 3 (Artifact, Ranged [Medium], Powerful, Piercing)<br/>Special features: Commit one mote of essence to allow the ship to take to the air or submerge beneath the waves. The ships essence engines allow it to travel half as fast as normal when flying or submerged.<br/>Chameleon field: When activated, the Chameleon field changes the appearance of the ship to match something that should naturally be where it is. A normal light ship on the sea, or a large orca or saikal under it. In the air, a giant hawk or Haslanti airship. How it would appear in the depths of the Wyld or the likes of Malfeas is perhaps left best to the imagination. It takes one mote of essence committed to activate and maintain the chameleon field.<br/><br/><em>There is nowhere I cannot go.</em><br/><br/>These are the words best remembered from the first pilot of the Gale class Storm Riders Oath. The name of the pilot themselves is lost to time, but the history of the ship was not. Commissioned during the Primordial War, it earned a reputation for being able to get into, and out of, the most inhospitable and dangerous places, often helping deliver, or extract, Night caste or Waning Moon operatives. However much damage it took, it always got it's people home.<br/><br/>After the War, it's purpose changed to exploration, pushing the boundaries of the Wyld, the deepest depths of the Western ocean, or the highest peaks of the North.<br/><br/>It was lost during the Usurpation, surfacing some centuries later in the hands of the notoriously unpredictable pirate Laughing Sparrow. There are a thousand tales in the West that claim to concern Storm Riders Oath, the ship that has gone everywhere, and come back again (mostly) in one piece.<br/><br/>The sinking of the Lintha ship Blood Tear. The race against the fae lord Aborith, for the souls of all the island of Taraleu. The slaying of the wyld monstrosity Old One Eye. The rescue of Peleps Akiko from the pirates of the Grinning Maw. The great Whale God's bargain.<br/><br/>No one .. except perhaps the ship itself .. knows which of these are true.<br/><br/>And Storm Riders Oath will never tell.<br/></div></div><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Charms</strong></span>:<br/>Ox Body Technique<br/>Snake style MA - Serpentine Evasion<br/>Strange Tongue Understanding<br/>Harmonious Presence Meditation<br/>Illimitable Master Fence<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Virtues</strong></span>:<br/>Major:  Loyalty<br/>Minor:  Wonder<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Intimacies</strong></span>:<br/>Major: Restore Wu Jian to the it's First Age glories, with Xiu at his side (Wonder/Loyalty)<br/>Minor: Nissar Xiu, (as yet unexalted) granddaughter of Nissar Vedan, the ruler of Wu-Jian. (Loyalty)<br/>Minor:<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Thousand Waves Break the Shore</div><div class="spoiler_body">Thirteen Schools - The so-called Thirteen Schools, underground martial arts societies whose initiates swear mighty oaths of obedience to their masters, have existed in some form or another for centuries. Some ancient and some newly fledged, all thrive in the vacuum left by Nemoia’s hands-off reign, and they’ve never been more powerful. Some protect the downtrodden against thugs and thieves. Others form criminal gangs controlling their domain through violence and intimidation. Each school claims a corner of Wu-Jian as its own and, capricious as the ocean, forms alliances and enmities at a dazzling pace. When members of opposing schools meet, citizens scatter — Wu-Jian’s rickety buildings are no match for the fists of a martial artist.<br/><br/>Thousand Waves Break the Shore is comprised of mortals rising in unity — and anonymity — against Dragon-Blooded dominance. The Guild funnels money to the school, made untraceable through a web of pirates. The school actively undermines the Dynasty, hiding suspects wanted (for any reason) by the Realm, stealing taxes, and offering protection to preachers willing to go against the Immaculate Philosophy. The school’s Prince-Eating Mendicant style focuses on attacking in groups, and striking quickly before vanishing again into Wu-Jian’s alleys</div></div>(Loyalty)<br/><br/>Great Curse<br/>Personal condition: Deliberate Cruelty (Scene)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Essence</strong></span>: 1<span class="bbc_u"><strong>Motes</strong></span>: 5<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Health levels</strong></span><br/>2x0 [ ] [ ]<br/>2x1 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]<br/>1x2 [ ] [ ]<br/>Incap [ ]<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Parry</strong></span>: 4<br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Evasion</strong></span>: 3<br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Soak</strong></span>: 2<br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Hardness</strong></span>: 3<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Equipment</strong></span>:<br/><br/>(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/e/ec/E-e-.jpg)  (https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/62/Trimaran-design-799x426-e1439492059950.jpg)<br/>