Fifth Way

History

• Born to House Cynis
• Joined the Immaculate Order, but quickly became disenchanted.
• Left to seek enlightenment.
• Lived as a rice farmer for twenty-two years. Achieved the Enlightenment of Earth.
• Spent sixteen years living in a faerie freehold. Achieved the Enlightenment of Fire.
• Spent seven years living among the Lunar Exalted. Achieved the Enlightenment of Water.
• Honored by the order for slaying one of the Anathema. Briefly stays, but soon leaves again.
• Spent twenty-six years in Yu Shan seeking the perfect lotus bulb. Achieved the Enlightenment of Air.
• Returned to the Realm to again be among the Exalted. Achieved the Enlightenment of Wood.
• Settled down to start a monastery.

Once there was a dragon, who became disgusted with his family, and left them. Swearing himself from his Exalted powers, he shed his finery and station, and wandered the earth. He walked until his feet bled and his frame shuddered for want of food, and then stopped to seek a village where he might find shelter. Nothing is free in Creation, but they offered him food for work, and work he did. He stayed there through the harvest, and through the winter, and into the years that followed. In time, he built a house, and was married. His wife, Biyu, bore him two children -- Maris and Pengo. And together, they were happy.

But in time, Maris and Pengo showed signs of the elemental blood, and Exalted. They were taken by House Cynis, master of the Prefecture in which Biyu and the dragon lived. It was not long later that Biyu died, and the dragon buried her. It was by this means that the dragon attained the first enlightenment.

"What will be," he said, "will be."

With no desire to remain on the Isle, the dragon moved on, leaving Creation all together. He wandered to the edge of the world, and into the Wyld, and found a freehold there. The faeries knew not what to think of this creature, who seemed to desire nothing from them, but who also had nothing they could take. And so he stayed, and listened to them, and watched their mad games. The dragon wondered if he had gone mad himself, for in time, it began to make a strange sort of sense to him, and he feared for his sanity.

Tasting his distress, the leader of the faeries came upon him, and whispered to him the secret by which the chaos could be made calm. "What is," she said, "is." It was by this means that the dragon attained the second enlightenment.

In time, the dragon left the freehold, and came upon a great battle between the Fair Folk and the Lunar Exalted. Curious, and without fear, he approached the victorious lunars, and asked why they did battle with their wyld cousins. They taught him of their ways, and the great battle at the edge of the world, and he showed them the weaknesses of the freeholds in the area. They traveled together for many years, and did battle with the faeries, and by one of them he sired a child.

But, the Lunars are not truly human, and it was only a matter of time until their monstrous side showed. The dragon saw horrors of which he could not conceive, but said nothing. That night, he slept with his lover one more time, and she fell asleep comforted in his embrace. It was while she slept that he broke her neck, did battle with her fellows, and then slew they child they had together.

"What was," he said, "was." It was by this means that the dragon attained the third enlightenment.

Returning to Creation, the dragon was lauded by his peers for his victory over evil, but the adoration turned to ashes around him, and he took no joy in it. Instead, he devoted his time to the study of the common lotus, to seek to understand this humble plant and its deep wisdom. For many years, he labored in the Imperial Palace as a gardener, until he left to go to Yu Shan. There, he petitioned to see the god of those little bulbs, that he might ask her of her domain.

She was Xingfen, God of Lotus Flowers that Bloom in the Springtime. The two spoke at great length about her domain, and he listened with rapt attention like no mortal ever had. He came to care for her, and she for him, and in time they were married. By her, her had a child -- Chao-Dei, Lesser God of Flowers Which Bloom in Early Spring. More, she did not die as his first wife had, but instead became one with him.

"One," they said, "is all." It was by this means that the dragon attained the fourth enlightenment.

Finally, with nowhere left to wander, the dragon and his wife journeyed down into the depths of the earth. Sensing a corruption of her domain, they did battle with many demons, until they came upon the Grove of the Emerald Lotus, manse of Qaf. There, among a toxic emerald bloom, they saw demons struggling to find the very enlightenment that the dragon had once sought. And in that recognition, he spared them.

"All," the mountain said, "is one."

It was by this means that the dragon attained the fifth enlightenment, and ceased to wander Creation.

Appearance and Personality

• Humble dress and style.
• Huge cloth over his back, containing his weapons.

Attributes

Physical	Social	Mental
Strength 4(6)	Charisma 2	Perception 4
Dexterity 5	Manipulation 1	Intelligence 3
Stamina 1(3)	Appearance 4	Wits 2

Abilities

Slayer	Malefactor	Defiler
Archery 1	Integrity 5	Craft
Martial Arts 5	Performance 1	Investigation
Melee 1	Presence 3	Lore 3
Thrown	Resistance 2	Medicine 0
War 5	Survival	Occult 3

Scourge	Fiend	Specialties
Athletics	Bureaucracy 0	War -- Mortals +3
Awareness 5	Linguistics 3	MA -- Earth Style +3
Dodge	Ride 1
Larceny	Sail
Stealth 3	Socialize 3

Languages

Native Language: High Realm (The Imperial City)
Language 1: Old Realm
Language 2: Forest Tongue
Language 3: River Tongue
Language 4: Low Realm

Backgrounds

Henchmen 3 (The Furious Five, Acolyte Monks)
Breeding 5
Manse 5
Artifact 5
Artifact 3
Artifact 3
Artifact 2
Ally 1: Xingfen
Ally 1: Shay Glen, Master of the Golden Bough Freehold
Ally 1: Rain of Silver Tears, Young Sidereal
Ally 1: Fall from Cutting Heights, First Circle Demon of Qaf
Reputation 3: Way the Five-Times Enlightened, Slayer of Anathema

Charms

Martial Arts

• First Martial Arts Excellency
• Third Martial Arts Excellency
  • Terrestrial Martial Arts Reinforcement
• Tiger and Lotus Method
  • Tiger and Lotus Unity

War

• Enfolded in Dragon's Wings
  • Tireless Footfalls Cadence

Integrity

• Third Integrity Excellency
  
  • Ten Thousand Dragons Fight as One: Creation
    
    • Granite Curtain of Serenity
      
    • Chaos Warding Prana
      

Immaculate Earth Style

• Force of the Mountain
• Stone Dragon Skin
• Unmoving Mountain Stance
• Weapon Breaking Defense Technique
• Stillness of Stone
• Perfection of the Earth Body
• Avalanche Method
• Shattering Fist Strike
• Earthshaker Attack
• Earth Dragon Form
• Ghost Grounding Blow
• Hungry Earth Strike

Equipment

Mundane Equipment

• Robes
• Prayer Beads

Magical Equipment

• Grand Yasal Crystal (Rating 3)
  • Contains One Summoning-Bound Garda Bird (ROGD 118)
• Orichalcum Thunderbolt Shield
  • Material Harmonizer
• Skin Mount Amulet
  • Seven Leaping Dragon Stone (Ex 386)
• Skin Mount Amulet
  • Firebird Gem (OdyC, 94)
• Goremaul (Jade)
  • Stone of Healing (Ex 385)
• Grand Yasal Crystal (Rating 3)
  • Contains One Summoning-Bound TEODOZJIA (ROGD 2, pg 87)
• Prayer Beads of the Enlightened Scholar (Rating 3)
• Oath: I Shall Uphold the Sanctity of All Life (Rating 5, Glorious Hero Form Str/Sta, Beguilement)

Combat Statistics

Defense Values

Dodge DV 5

Dodge DV is (Dexterity + Dodge + Essence if 2 or greater)/2, round up

(5+0+5)/2 = 5

Parry DV 4 (10)

Parry is rated as (Dexterity + Ability + Weapon Defense Bonus)/2, round up.

(5+8+1)/2 = 7 (+3 Shield)

Mental Dodge DV 8

Mental Dodge is calculated as (Willpower + Integrity + Pertinent Specialty + Essence)/2

(8+5+5)/2 = 9

Mental Parry DV 5

Mental Parry DV is calculated as the higher of Charisma or Manipulation + the highest of Investigation, Performance or Presence, plus any pertinent specializations, divided by two, rounded up. (Mathematically, that's (Attribute + Ability + Specialization)/2, rounded up. Stunts must be appropriate to the attribute/ability combination used. (You may use a sub-optimal ability at any time on your own behest.)

(7+2)/2 = 5

Health 8/8

~0 [ ]
~1 [ ] [ ] [ ]
~2 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
~4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Incapacitated [ ]
Dying [ ] [ ]

Weapon Stats

Jade Goremaul
Speed 4, Accuracy +1, Damage +17B/4, Defense +1, Rate 2, Tags: O, P

Mass Combat Stats (The Furious Five)

Stats reflect buffs from Terrestrial Ability Reinforcement.

Magnitude: 1
Drill: 4
Endurance: 7
Might: 2
Close Combat Rating: 7(14)
Close Combat Damage: 3
Armor: 2
Morale: 3
Formation: Close. Double close combat rating.

Essence 5

Commitment 15

• Thunderbolt Shield (5)
• Goremaul (5)
• Prayer Beads of the Enlightened Scholar (5)
• Principle of Motion (10)

Other Information

Intimacies

• Wisdom
• Mortals
• The Immaculate Code
• Xingfen
• Harmony
• The Lotus
• Martial Arts
• Creation

Merits

• Longevity (1pt)
• Large (1pt)

Flaws

• Oathbound: The Immaculate Code (5 pts)
• Ward: Maris and Pengo Cynis (3 pts)
• Ward: Chao-Dei, Lesser God of Flowers Which Bloom in Early Spring (2 pts)

Experience Points 750/750

Built with Anathema to 687

Third Integrity Excellency (8 XP)
Integrity 2 -> 5 (15XP)
Ten Thousand Dragons Fight as One (8 XP)
Granite Curtain of Serenity (8 XP)
Chaos Warding Prana (8 XP)
Third Martial Arts Excellency (8 XP)
Artifact 0 -> 3 (11XP)
Artifact 0 -> 3 (11XP)
Artifact 0 -> 2 (5XP)

Prayer Beads of the Enlightened Scholar:
When attuned, these prayer beads grant the wearer an instinctive understanding of the flows of Essence around him, roughly equivalent to the All Seeing Sight of the Sorcerer. Since they are not actually based on sight however, the GM is encouraged to describe things in a slightly odd way. The wearer knows as many things as the all-seeing sorcerer, but he does not know the same things. For instance, instead of knowing that a god is red, he might know what weapons are hidden under its robes from how they swish.

Artifact 5: Ring of Being

[i]Cloak of Whirling Shadows:
Base Artifact Rating: 4
Helltech Rating: 4
Urge: Destroy all that threatens what you love.
The essence of warfare is flow. Defend, attack, parry and strike. It is by this means that your enemies might be undone. Few know that better than the spirit Cloak of Whirling Shadows, who was made into a shield in the second age. Shaped by the Mountain of Wisdom and painted by the Shadow of All Things, he is a traditional affectation of the trainee instructor at the Fivefold Academy of Shadows—the great martial arts school of the demon city.

Fall from Cutting Heights and her demon band gave the shield to Fifth Way after he taught them the Meditation on Serenity to help them control their predatory urges. How her group came to be in possession of it -- and the fate of the previous owner -- are unknown.

Functions as a Orchicalum Thunderbolt Shield, plus helltech charms. Spirit Charms:

• First Excellency: Martial Arts, Awareness
• Divine Ability Subordination: Martial Arts
• Infinite (Ability) Mastery: Martial Arts, Awareness
• Measure the Wind
• Mind-Knife Sacrament
• Meat of Broken Flesh
• Spirit Cutting
• Words of Power[/i]