Mao Jingai (The Mountain)

From Familia Niveum

Current revision as of 23:10, 26 December 2006

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Duke of Stone, Realm's Heart

Mao Jingai, "the Mountain"

Description

The Mountain is a large man with faded, weathered skin of a greyish complexion. He looks to be in his forties, though this is just a matter of appearance. He stands huge at 6' 6", generally towering over those around him. In fact, it is impossible for him to deliberately hide (see restrictions). His face is at all times emotionless and impassive.

When on official duties or formal protocal, Jingai often wears a white jade mask covering all of his face except his mouth and eyes.

Personal Code

Jingai follows the Code of Heaven, as he is told his predecessor did before him.

Beauty is the Highest Principle. Justice is a Form of Beauty. Lesser beings should respect their betters.

Application of Code

Jingai seeks to further the cause of beauty by making humans appreciate natural terrain in general and mountainous stony vistas in particular. He also favors the expressiveness of stone sculpture. Jingai encourages humans to reflect the beauty of stone both in art and in their lives. He does his best to mete out appropriate and beautifully creative punishments to injustice, particularly injustice that his somehow involved the use of his own Estate. Finally, he seeks to punish disrespect to himself, his Familia, and his Estate in a manner commensurate with the crime; seeing himself as the defender of the Familia's honor when it is tarnished.

Miraculous Abilities

• Aspect 1
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points
• Domain 4 (Estate of Stone)
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points
• Realm 2
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points
• Spirit 0
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points

Gifts

Durant

Jingai has the Durant Gift, retaining much of his stone self.

Eternal

Jingai has been granted the Eternal Gift by the peaches of immortality.

Terrible Curse of Stone

(Expanded Petrify with a look) Jingai possesses the terrifying ability to change anything to stone with a glance. Only those rare beings that possess an Auctoritas as safe. Often he will use this as punishment for those that have offended the court or him, turning the offender into a piece of stone art. He has some control over the stone form they take, which may resemble a perfect statue of the object or person, or may be a large rock which only resembles the former object in faint outline.

Defining Features

Limits

Limits are handicaps under which the Noble operates; but in adversity there is power, and limits grant extra miracle points.

• None

Restrictions

Restrictions are much like limits, but less universally problematic; they grant extra miracle points only when they become a major problem.

• Can't Swim
  • The Mountain is quite incapable of floating upon water. Attempting to swim will send him sinking to the bottom like Stone. This is a restriction of Attribute; +1MP when appropriate.

• Drinks Only Water
  • The Mountain cannot drink any liquid other than pure, uncontaminated water. All other liquids are anathema to him. This is a restriction of Attribute; +1MP when appropriate.

• Incapable of Hiding
  • The Mountain cannot hide or properly conceal himself. Something about the metaphysical mountain that still looms within him draws the eye and makes spotting him child's play, no matter what his efforts at concealment. This is a restriction of Spirit; +1MP when appropriate.

• Ceremonial Executioner
  • The Mountain is required to function as the chancel's executioner when a judgement of death is rendered. This involves much elaborate ceremony and decoration, but cannot be avoided. Fortunately sentences of death are rare, restitution being prefered, and non-important prisoners are held for execution in batches. This is a restriction of Realm; +1MP when appropriate.

Virtue

• Stoic
  • Upon no occasion can the Mountain ever be induced to show excitement, anxiety, or concern through tone of voice or manner. As the mountain spirit he was born from, he is virtually immoveable in a metaphysical sense. This is not to say he will never be influenced by such emotions, but when he is he will never show it. At most he might calmly state, "This is quite terrifying." It is on very rare occasions possible for him to display pure joy, as long as it is untouched by any of the above emotions.

Bonds

Not naturally a creature of strong emotion, Jingai has many weak bonds rather than few strong ones.

• His Anchor, Kong Zheli – 4 pts
• A folk tale told regarding the nobility and strength of stone, still popular and retold in many forms – 2 pts
• A copper-plated marble statue of Chairman Mao that was once designed by an artist while visiting his slopes, currently in a city park in Beijing – 2 pts
• The Strawberry Chain, a bracelet inlaid with quartz stones once gathered from his slopes. Though it would be safer to gather it to him, his pride demands it remain in human hands, where it may be admired. – 4 pts
• The red-veined arrow petal flower, a rare breed of mountain flower which once grew near his slopes; (He cultivates several in his own flower garden.) – 2 pts
• Chang Kai, the last human to climb him before his transformation. Kai is currently a resident of the Jade courts, plucked from his home in prosaic reality and brought to live in the world of the supernatural. He has no idea why he is favored as he is by Jingai, but has been apprenticed as a court scribe since no one will allow him to go home. – 2 pts
• Valley View Ceramics, a high-tech venture technology firm based in California, exploring the use of ceramic and stone components in cutting-edge electronics and machinery. Though not at all important to Jingai _before_ becoming a Noble, his Estate is so much a part of him that he has become enraptured with this link to its future. – 2 pts
• His "friendly" rivalry with the Power of Metal, which provides occupation for them both 2pts

Estate of Stone

Discussion of Estate

Stone embodies the physical substance of rock, the same rock lurking beneath a thin (relatively) layer of dirt everywhere in the world one goes. This includes both unworked stone (which may contain other substances yet unreleased, such as metals unsmelted) as well as any object made of stone such as many an ancient fortress wall. It also includes gemstones, for even humans recognize their essential "stone" quality. Indeed, in some ways the Stonelord lays claim to much of the wealth ready to be dug from the earth, and it is a simple matter for him to fill his palms with precious gems to excite the greed of human fools.

Though a very physical Estate, "Stone" does extend slightly to the metaphorical, for 'stone' is defined by certain traits. Stone is hard, unyielding, and breaks rather than bends. These traits are so associated with stone that the estate lays claim to them. It is in this narrow intersection that the stonelord can affect the stuff of the soul, for he can sometimes impart the qualities of stone to make a person's heart stiffen and become unyielding, like unto a thing of stone.

Despite certain street terminology, the Estate has nothing at all to do with the drug-influenced state of mind known as being "stone". That's just a colloquialism.

Sample Miracles

• Level 1 (Ghost Miracles): Make a stone object appear larger and more imposing or smaller and less noticeable. Impart the texture (but not properties) of stone to an object. Make a stone object appear to be in a different location from where it truly is, when not examined closely. Create a visual illusion so an object appears to be made of stone when it is not. Make a flawed gemstone look valuable or a valuable stone look flawed.

• Level 2 (Lesser Divinations): Know the location of any specific stone or item of stone. Sense the hard and unyielding qualities of stone in a person's heart. Sense the locations of all stone objects in the immediate area, whether constructed or natural. Speak intelligibly with a specific stone spirit and command it to recount its experiences. Sense objects buried in stone. Sense an earthquake or other large movement of stone about to occur in the area being focused upon.

• Level 3 (Lesser Preservations): --Note – Stone by its very nature is the essence of durant, so some of these miracles can perhaps stretch further than they could to preserve a more ephemeral estate.-- Make a stone object unbreakable (except by an opposed miracle or truly astonishing mundane force). Reassemble a stone object that has been shattered. Preserve someone's stone heart from being swayed by emotion or sentiment. Make a mine continue to produce a particular type of stone without playing out. Keep a stone object clean and free of dirt, dust, or lichen growths.

• Level 4 (Lesser Creations): Create a handful of flawless gemstones. Encase an enemy in a shell of stone. Create a ton of stone over someone's head and let it drop. Create a stone wall or stone path ahead. Give kidney stones to a human or animal. Create metaphorical stone within the human heart. Make a stone statue or sculpture; duplicate any existing work of stone on a small scale.

• Level 5 (Lesser Destructions & Major Divinations): Query every piece of stone in the world for having been exposed to a specific person's face or have heard certain words spoken in its presence. Know perfectly everything a given piece of stone has experienced. See those future events which are unchangeable and immutable, "set in stone". Wipe a given piece of stone from existence. Cause a building's foundations to crumble, bringing it down. Remove all stones from a farmer's field.

• Level 6 (Lesser Changes and Major Preservations): Animate stone and cause it to move. Make stone objects that constantly regenerate themselves when chipped away at. Summon a specific piece of stone to location. Make an item of stone sought after/famous. Bring to life a stone statue as the object it resembled. Change one type of stone to another. Make a gemstone so precious that anyone who sees it is overcome with an insane desire to own it at all costs.

• Level 7 (Major Creations): Create a mountain of stone. Raise a new stone island up out of the ocean. Create a magic stone that always returns when thrown away and weighs heavily on its bearer. Create a pass-stone, that causes stone barriers to spring aside. Create a new use for stone.

• Level 8 (Major Destructions): Call down a stone meteor strike big enough to wipe out a city (actually major creation + 1 for working remotely). Create an earthquake or a volcano by shredding the stone plates holding in the fires of the earth, Make a certain type of stone disappear from the earth entirely.

• Level 9: (Major changes): Make all stone everywhere reject humanity and crumble at human touch, forever denying any use or support from the estate to men.

Personality

Jingai is calm, rational, and rather dangerous. (At least, to anyone without an Auctoritas.) He has no tolerance for disrepsect and little for foolishness. He can often seem slow and ponderous in his decision-making processes, waiting until some internal standard has been met and allowing the rest of the Familia to race ahead and direct the way. However when he does come to a decision, he will move ahead with incredible force and strength of will, and woe betide those who stand in his way.

History

Jingai is a relative newcomer to the Familia, having been created by the August Personage of Jade a little under five years ago. His predecessor did not have a noble death in battle, but turned her head to the side and refused to eat any more peaches of immortality. So, tormented by some secret sorrow, the former Sovereign of Stone perished quietly. Some say (not very loudly) that she had discovered some terrible secret of the Jade Emperor’s and so left his service in the only way open to her.

Perhaps it was distress over human shortcomings that led the Imperator to select the next host of his soul shard, for he chose not a human being or animal, but the spirit of an entire mountain. Molded by a jade miracle, the Mountain took human shape and needs. There is a part of him that hates the Emperor for thrusting this new existence upon him, but it is not in a Mountain’s nature to offer complaint. A Mountain endures.

A new appreciation for beauty has led him to embrace the Code of Heaven.

The Mountain does maintain the human identity of Mao Jingai in the prosaic world, though not very well. Set up for him by the Cammora, he uses it to travel and to experience being human. He is experimenting with many human concepts, though he is unsure whether he likes any of them. Inside the Chancel, though, he will often prefer solitude. He has requested that those who know him call him Jingai to aid in immersing himself in humanity.

Anchors

Kong Zheli

Zheli is a geologist in her late twenties. Jingai has already made her famous and wealthy in the mineral extraction industry for her uncanny "instinct" for where deposits are, though she is also viewed as flighty and unreliable for the way she constantly dances about the globe, abandoning jobs at her seeming whim. (In fact, Jingai does not hesitate to pull her away from whatever she's working on her his own needs.)

Zheli's virtue is that she is cosmopolitan, able to blend in with a wide variety of cultures and peoples. Her flaw is that she is uncharismatic and poor at persuading people. (And in addition, she has a biting and sarcastic tongue in her head when she chooses to lay into someone, which she will often do.)

Zheli both hates and loves Jingai, for he constantly destroys her life… but at the same time he offers such uncanny insight into her profession, the only thing she really cares about. She hears Jingai only when he speaks in her head, for he never visits her in person. Having only one Anchor, he tries to keep her as his "ace in the hole" as much as possible, and he would not bring her near the Chancel unless dire circumstances dictated.

Jingai loves her, in his mountain way. He loves her because he feels she understands mountains.

Notable friends and Enemies

Jingai has a friendly rivalry with Cameron Beckett, the power of Metal. Metal is the estate of an Aaron’s Serpent, and Cameron is relatively new to his position. Unable to discern heads or tails of what his mysterious Imperator desires of him and somewhat disdained by his haughty Familia, Cameron seized upon the idea of creating a rivalry to give himself something to do. Introduced to Jingai at a party, Cameron decided that Stone was the natural mirror image of Metal and that the two of them should be competitors.

So far it has been a relatively peaceful conflict, as those among the Powers go, focused more on trying to outdo each other than attempting to harm each other. The Mountain was reluctant at first, but he has lately gotten into the spirit of it. No sooner does he hear that Metal is up to something than Stone must prove its superiority.

He also frequently sups with Deuteronomy, the Power of Guilt. (See below.)

Finally, he is on excellent terms with Judge Dee, head of the 73rd Branch of Efficacious Order. Dee heads the branch of the court that deals in smuggling, trade violations, and any unauthorized traffic with the prosaic world. Dee tends to be quite busy, due to the fact the the regulations regarding such traffic are the most violated in all of the First Kingdom and the penalties he is allowed by law to impose hardly out-weigh the potential gains from such lightly regarded crime. He and Jingai are friends because Dee is attempting to help the Mountain puzzle out humanity, regarding it as a worthy diversion from the monotomy of his case load.

Goals and Motivations

Jingai has several important interests.

• 1. Questions that consume Jingai are, “What makes humans so special?” “Why are they the only entities endowed with agency in the prosaic world?” In an attempt to come to grips with the prosaic world, he spends a great deal of time outside the chancel simply walking amongst humanity, seeking out new experiences. Oftentimes the specific quests he undertakes in the human world, such as trying to eat at every restaurant in a certain city or catch one hundred fish at a certain pier, make little to sense to anyone but him. Yet underneath it all there is a very concrete plan to consume the human experience until he understands it on a visceral level.

• Jingai has made it known that he is open to truly original suggestions for understanding humanity. Greatly rewarded will be those who please him, but terrible punishment will befall those who attempt to twist his quest to their own ends.

• 2. Among Noble society, there is an ambition Jingai works strongly towards but speaks little of: Destroy Locust Court. It is the enemy of his Imperator and worse, inelegant. He would like very much to bring Medan and his Powers before the Jade Court for trial and execution.

• For this reason, he sups every two fortnights with Deuteronomy, the Power of Guilt. The two eat at a nice mortal restaurant, have cups of clear spring water, and discuss the issues of the day. Deuteronomy is a pleasant woman who favors long flowing dresses, spicy foods, and debating the finer points of guilt. She is seeking information on the Jade Court just as much as Jingai seeks information on the Locust, and so each knowing this, they get along amicably.

• 3. In the Prosaic World Jingai often acts as patron of stone sculptors, though he can be quite critical of those who do not understand the stone they work.

• Jingai does not take the view that his Estate is in very much danger from the Excrucians due to its solidity. While it is certainly possible to attack the very concept of Stone, it would be (in his view) difficult.