Jarrod Ng
From Demiurge Games
Once a respectable CPA in an accounting firm within the Washington DC area, Jarrod Ng eventually fell prey to a Technocratic Conspiracy when he got entangled in a plot involving Robert Singleton. A practicing Wu Lung, Jarrod became embroiled in a plot when a scientist at a nearby Technocratic stronghold fled and came to him for sanctuary and safe passage west to see Mr. Singleton. The scientist in question was completely invisible, having used some sort of technology to cause light to bend around his form and eluding his captors in his altered state. Jarrod had gone to pray at his ancestor's shrine for consultation on the matter when a strike force invaded his house and forced him to flee. Jarrod found himself as chauffeur regardless and took his unseen charge cross country to the promise of sanctuary.
During his race westward, Jarrod learned that he had been painted as a meth dealer, with the break in of his home being conveyed as a drug bust. Jarrod's spirits began to fall as he realized his current predicament was caused by his beliefs in magic. After several days and nights driving, Jarrod and his passenger reached the manor and the scientist relayed information regarding Robert's company. The group effort went about attempting to cure the scientist's invisibility affliction leaving Jarrod's problems on hold.
During this time, Jarrod was confined to the manor for fear of someone recognizing him and turning him into the authorities and with the confinement came boredom. To alleviate his boredom Jarrod began arranging things in the house and the garden with his talent in Geomancy and the guidance of his Ancestors via a small shrine he had crafted in his room. Through his efforts, the Five Elemental Dragons took up residence in small shrines located around the compound, augmenting the manor's defenses further.
The scientist was cured and Jarrod was often overlooked again. He stayed silent, convincing himself that the man had taken him in and was feeding him and he should be thankful. His ancestor spirits had intervened on the man's behalf in the form of the guardian spirits, he chastised himself for allowing his own feelings of being ignored to cloud his emotions and doubt their judgment. He continued to aid where he could, often getting himself hurt in the process as he threw himself in the face of impending disaster since he was the senior mage of the group. Reality was unkind to him, the paradox backlash from crushing a Technocratic Killbot that had invaded the compound nearly disabled him, turning him blue in tone and nearly blinding him as his eyes maladjusted to the odd spectrum he absorbed and reflected.
Shortly after recovering, Jarrod was hospitalized after engaging a consumption bane that was feeding off an ancient artifact Robert had stumbled across. The young Wu Lung nearly died as all the vital fluids within his body as well as his will were simultaneously consumed while in contact with the evil spirit. Only through the intervention of the manor's various spirit guardians was the Bane destroyed and Jarrod left barely living. It was after his return from the hospital that the wizard felt utterly betrayed by his host. Jarrod learned that for months things were kept hidden from him, a secret laboratory which housed various books, artefacts, and wards, a safe haven that everyone in the household knew about save him and that's when he snapped.
Within hours he was gone, his ancestor shrine was left behind along with his veneration of the spirits, they had betrayed him as much as his former host. Let them stay with him, he can have them. Jarrod moved to Seattle and integrated into the culture in China Town, working as a dim sum waiter during the day and helping the local immigrants with their taxes. His magic fell to the way-side, doing minor feng shui rituals and exorcisms for spare change.
Jarrod eventually opened his own import shop within Seattle, specializing in feng shui materials and Chinese artwork and furniture. During his time there, he joined the local Hermetic chantry in an attempt to stay in practice with his skills. The initiates in The Coven often used Jarrod as a buffer between themselves and their mentor, turning to him to try and fix their problems before they got in trouble for it. This involved him in the cleansing of Pier 70 for Brian Spencer, where he saw Julia Hardgrave. Finding Robert's girlfriend involved in things, Jarrod finished his business and went on a business trip, deciding to expand his shop a bit with other imported art goods.
On one of his trips to Spain, he was contacted to aid two neophyte mages sent from the US to free a master mage's granddaughter who had been kidnapped by a death cult. After meeting Guin and Eddie for the first time, Jarrod vowed the Etherite who had asked him for aid was going to owe him something large and expensive. After being guilted by his great aunt Tsai, Jarrod also built a second ancestor shrine and made them some rice since the white millionaire kept burning it, effectively ending his estrangement with the family. Rescuing the girl from the cult and defeating an air elemental, he bid the two mages goodbye and went back about his business.
A few weeks later Guin showed up and asked for her help cause something of her bosses had been stolen and she needed help getting it back. Kind of annoyed someone had given out his number, he agreed to help and they went to a small apartment complex and broke in. While Eddie was breaking the safe open, a pirannah jawed winged lion popped out of the Dreaming to attack them. Jarrod was taking care of it, protecting Eddie while Guin stood back and prime blasted the shit out of the place trying to hit it. Nevermind the asian was in close proximity and the lion kept dodging her. Eddie finally got the safe open and took out a top hat. Jarrod went off on Guin, healed the lion cause it was just doing its job, made haste out of there separately from the other two.
Since then he has come under the guardianship of a Dryad grove along with Eddie, defeating a dire ape spirit that was defiling the node and sucking it dry. Again.. Jarrod got beat up. After the battle he decided to homestead the land to protect it from further development. Eddie can come and go as he pleases to Jarrod's place, it's partly his too.
Then Guin and Eddie called him randomly, spouting off about demons and summons and bands and TV crews and Jarrod could only piece together random bits from what they were trying to communicate. Jarrod got what he could from the conversation and decided to hedge his bets, going along with what they planned but also leaving contingencies in place should the need arise. It turns out a pair of pain demons were trying to use Television and the power of Rock and Roll to summon Satan, or something to that effect. It didn't work, the world rejoiced, and Jarrod was once again... beat up.
Auntie Tsai came to him again, this time waking him up from a dead slumber to aid Robert. Jarrod learned that something terrible had happened to the millionaire, he was unconscious and something was eatting him.. the old woman didn't make things extremely clear at that point. That and she just dropped on him the guy was now his cousin... what? Jarrod was forced to mentally project himself to the other mage, but found him unresponsive. Gathering Julia to try with him, the two of them broke through and helped Robert fight off Obtchnok, an avatar of fear. What happened there? You guessed it! Battered Jarrod! Jarrod managed to cover his genuine concern for Robert under the veneer of forced family obligation.. though Julia knew better, she was a wench like that.
Jarrod was visited by Rural Road, and the homestead was finished up as a thank you for his effort dealing with the pain demons. He is now the full and rightful owner of the property! And Jarrod didn't get beat up. To celebrate his fortune and his happiness, many house warming parties were thrown, inviting friends and neighbors over to make merriment, starting with the Singleton crew then with the Seattle crew followed up by Eddie and Guin with the neighbors.
The following Summer, draught plagued the county, leaving most of the surrounding farmers desperate for water. Jarrod called on Tsai to find out if there was some spiritual reason the rains hadn't shown up, and she told him some sort of pact had been neglected and a dance or a festival needed to be done. The Community had called a townhall meeting and were discussing things to be done when Vanessa Onatah showed up and suggested getting added to the city's water infrastructure. A former resident, Vanessa had recently moved into the city to facilitate her career in investment banking. Jarrod crushed on her bad. Jarrod got everyone to try doing a farmer's market to raise money for water, arranged entertainment and a whole lot of stuff. And the rain came! Since then he's taken a lot of time to try and hit on Vanessa, though he's spent so much time alone he has crap for social skills.
Guin called Jarrod again, seems she needed help with an invasion on her parent's acreage... he agreed to help despite really disliking the magical moron at this point in time and went. Oh gee.. they were protecting a unicorn from a bunch of orcish invaders? Dubba Tee Eff mate? So Jarrod was drafted to take on an army and she saw no problem with this. Jarrod sucked up the paradox backlash and summoned all his ancestors and let the ghosts of his family slaughter the extradimensional beasts. Then when the dragon appeared and was just as quickly unraveled by someone else farther away, he just got his chinese butt home and changed his phone number. He was tired of this crap.
One day while driving home he saw someone looking lost on the side of the road. The kid turned out to be a water elemental lost on his way to the Element Jambouree. Jarrod dropped the kid off at the glen where the other two elementals were waiting for him, met them, and proceeded to ward the place to protect them. He learned they were the representatives that gathered to speak with the Voice of the Land, formerly Vanessa. Aunty Tsai goaded Jarrod into accepting the position, and the next day, Ed the earth elemental was kidnapped by a bunch of corrupted air elementals bent on corrupting him by dropping him in a vat of hazardous waste. Channeling the combat prowess of his ancestors, Jarrod for the first time managed to not get beaten up, actually interrupting the tainted leader mid-evil-monologue and saving Ed and cleansing all the corrupted elementals.
Jarrod spent another day just vegging with the crew at the campsite and asked why there were only three elementals and Fire hadn't sent a rep. Learning that about 200 years ago the Voice had gone nuts and called down a killer storm that had taken all four representatives to dismiss and inadvertantly got the fire elemental slain. Jarrod figured they could use the help of the fourth, if for nothing else in the attempt to summon Captain Planet, and held a big old bonfire to requisition the fire elementals for a new representative.
Apparently someone was trying to sabotage the event and Jarrod found some fire sprites trying to start fires around his county. Trapping the little buggers, he put them into lanterns and set them up in the dryad grove... which they seemed to like since they were now lighting something and singing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." Jarrod's jail was apparently a luxury penthouse for the spirits so they treated him well and told him about an impending attack to kill the new Fire elemental. Jarrod scrambled and called on the family to head off the inland heading tsunami spirit... Auntie Tsai apparently kicked it's ass and the world was saved. Huzzah.
Then Jarrod got a dream request from his grandma to go help his little cousin Yan. Laying on the guilt trip like only an asian can, she convinced him to go and help her deal with whatever her problem was. Jarrod got there and the place was a mess... chi lines going everywhich way but where they were supposed to... and some ghosts haunting the place. Remodeling the place and setting a spirit trap, he forced the spirits to materialize... and found them to be 3 brit punks. He was in a mood and ended up getting into a fight with the three of them because he actually missed getting beaten up. Then found out that Yan had done some dirty business against their ancestor...
