The Deserter from the Battlefield
From Summoner
Contents |
Something's Always Coming
Title: The Deserter From the Battlefield
True Name: Maharza Sunai (formerly: Insult to Serenity)
Concept: Unclaimed Weapon
Caste: Dusk
Motivation: Find an unshakable justification worth killing for.
Liege: Renegade - Princess Magnificent With Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers
You Can Hear It In the Ground
Attributes
Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Appearance 4
Mental: Perception 3, Wits 4, Intelligence 2
Abilities
Dusk: Archery 2(Firewand +1), Martial Arts 3(Disarm +2), Melee 5 (Multiple Weapons +2), Thrown 1, War 3 (Vs. Superior Numbers +1)
Midnight: Integrity 3, Performance 1, Presence 1, Resistance 2
Daybreak: Craft(Wood) 1, Lore 1, Medicine 1
Day: Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Larceny, Stealth
Moonshadow: Bureacracy, Linguistics 1(Flametongue, Riverspeak), Ride, Sail, Socialize
And Never Comes, But Shakes the Boards
Backgrounds
Allies 1 (A shield-bearer with abject faith tempered by a soldier's common sense)
Influence 3 (Those who see his panoply might recognize the unique mask of Insult to Serenity)
Familiar 1 (A Varangian war elephant, currently in the position of the shield-bearer)
Resources 4 (His abandoned panoply and stipend)
Charms
Martial Arts: First Martial Arts Excellency
Melee: First Melee Excellency, Five Shadow Feint, Unfurling Iron Lotus, Elegant Flowing Deflection, Vengeful Riposte, Death Deflecting Technique, Eye of the Tempest
Integrity: Eternal Emnity Approach (Senseless Killers)
Resistance: Ox-Body Technique
Dodge: Uncanny Impulse Evasion
And Rattles All the Doors
Virtues
Compassion: 2
Conviction: 1
Temperance: 2
Valor: 4 (Vice 1: Unclear Purpose)
Finishing Touches
Willpower: 6
Intimacies: Senseless Killers (Reverse), Innocents
Essence: 2
Essence Pool: 12/29
Health Levels: -0x2, -1x4, -2x5, -4, Inc, Dyingx4
What Are We Waiting For?
Known Backstory
The one formerly known as Insult to Venus was a boy born to a poor Varangian weaver. A faithful adherent to the Maidens, she immediately sought out various readings on her fatherless child - they all returned the same answer. Venus shall not cast her eyes upon the boy, for she offends her sensibilities. His eyes, scarlet red, were ever under Mars' gaze. Taking this in stride, the mother named her boy Maharza after his 'patroness' and raised him to be strong.
She surrendered the boy to the army at the age of five, with written records of all of her hard-purchased divinations. At a loss, but certain of some greatness in the boy, they took him in and trained him as a fusillier and front-line fighter, something the boy seemed to find almost natural. He understood little else than the give and take of combat, the living, flowing ebb of violent athleticism. To him, there was nothing else. The army was more than happy not to disabuse him of this notion, piling on gifts and commendations as the boy proved himself an able warrior earlier than most men become aware of girls (or other boys. Maharza has shown no interest in such affairs.).
Something changed, however, when his shield-bearer Hannu asked him a question one night. "Master, you fight so well. What drives you so? Why this? What destiny do you seek?" Maharza had no answer.
And it shook him to his core.
The next day, he took to the field against a Harborhead village, and he fought as efficiently and mercilessly as before. He killed fathers. He killed mothers. He killed children barely holding their spears. He killed all who sought to destabilize the Flaming Wall, any who charged the elephant artillery. And none of it satisfied him. Stories say his mask ran red with blood, as he sought a meaningful kill in all the fray. His own allies simply stood and watched as he took smaller cuts, then more telling wounds as he fought the desperate villagers all his own. He killed them all, though spears sprouted from his body like tall stalks of wheat. He staggered to his knees, more out of exhaustion than his coming end. He would die begging Venus for an answer.
Or so he thought.
As far as Varang is concerned, Maharza Sunai murdered his own brethren and deserted that night, but there is more to the story. The rest is not part of the legend. At least, none of the legend that Hannu tells, wherever he can finagle a meal and some fodder for a rather large pack animal...with a very large howdah. Hannu is searching for someone, he will say. Hannu will not rest until he finds him...that is, unless the rooms are cheap and clean, and the wine is strong and cheap. It would be rude to deprive an innkeeper's children a story.
