Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 2907478" data-attributes="member: 198">More on TroubleThe guy that Edouard so aptly named trouble is my PC, Meiji Kitsume. He's, shall we say, not exactly a typically heroic adventurer. For a little bit more of an introduction to the character, here's the background Mallus and I came up with for the character. Plus a little section on his personality:Background:Some people say that Meiji is a lying, suave scoundrel who will do anything for a woman and whose unreliability is the only  reliable thing about him. And then there are his enemies, who don't say much about him other than, "It's Meiji - kill the bastard!" That may sound a little mean, but unfortunately for Meiji, it's true. He is a bastard (in more ways than one). Meiji was born as the result of a short liaison between Master Voorae, second son of the noble house of [insert name], and a low-class young geisha called Reitha - or at least so his mother claimed. Young Meiji spent the first dozen years of his life growing up in the odd corners of the bordello Reitha called home. Though his life was more materially comfortable than that of many others (geishas make decent money), being the son of a geisha and the weediest child in his school made his life quite painful in other ways. Often picked upon by both socially superior and physically stronger children, Meiji took refuge in the combination of thick skin, a sardonic sense of humor and a keen wit. He also developed his one constant desire, a fascination with magic, which tales heard and the rare demonstration seen led him to believe could triumph over the physical strength which he did not possess.With his background, Meiji's interest in magic could have remained a pipe dream if it were not for an unforeseen eventuality - Voorae ascending to the position of master of his House, aided less by natural ability and more by an abysmally undercooked plate of pork momos shared by his father and elder brother (Voorae was a little too squeamish to indulge in the time-honored art of poisoning his seniors). As soon as she heard of the event, Reitha dispatched her son to his 'father', hoping that Voorae would bestow at least some of his new-found wealth on his son. Instead, Meiji returned with a black eye and aching ribs. To his mother's surprise, Meiji was off the next day to his father's estate again. Reitha presumed her son was a little greedier than she had thought, but she was wrong. Meiji was simply certain that Voorae was the only path to the destiny he so craved.After his guards administered the third consecutive beating to Meiji, the exasperated Voorae (whose aforementioned squeamishness kept Meiji alive) gave in and offered the young boy a substantial payment in return for never bothering him again. Instead of money, Meiji asked for simply the wherewithal to be trained in magic by an accomplished spellcaster. Voorae quickly agreed and had Meiji sent to the family Wu-Jen and Shugenja so that they could discover which path the boy was most suited for. The two spellcasters discovered that Meiji had almost equal potential for both arcane and divine magic. With the two masters unsure who should train the boy, Voorae (not really wishing to waste family resources on him) had Meiji sent to a traveling mystic who was reputed to have magical skills in both areas. To the partial surprise of all concerned, the mystic accepted Meiji on sight.Meiji's new master was someone referred to as the Venerable Initiate into the Twin Mysteries of the Wu and Shu, but never to her face. She preferred to be called Little Wushu, and her outward appearance was that of a short, round, red-headed girl of about 16. She claimed to be 4000 years old. Which, if it were true, would make her roughly twice as old as the Empire (and human civilization). At other times she claimed to be from 'the future'. She also claimed to be cursed and that the outward signs of the curse include her flame-red hair, her unaging teenage body, and her pathological lying. Unsurprisingly, no respectable religious or scholarly body would have anything to do with her. Especially since she also claimed to be working on what she called her 'Grand Unified Theology', that would streamline the Empire's rather messy and baroque traditional belief system with, she said, a minimum of rhetoric and deicide. Meiji spent a half dozen years traveling with her, being trained as a shugenja but also learning some wu-jen magic and ways to manipulate all magical energies. Finally, at the age of twenty, Little Wushu claimed that Meiji had completed his apprenticeship and that she was bored with him. Armed with a headful of spells and the money he had earned and saved during their travels, Meiji departed from his master. After visiting his mother, he bestowed most of the money on her and then left. For the next four years, he gallivanted from place to place, developing his magical abilities and using them to gain some degree of wealth and a smidgin of fame (or rather, notoriety). Personality:Meiji is not a bad guy. But then he's not really a good guy either. He just happens to care a lot about number one. Though he is not mean enough to harm people simply to benefit himself, neither is he altruistic enough to risk his neck except when it is likely to help him somehow. On the positive side, he has a ready wit and a keen intelligence, is a great drinking companion, very charismatic (especially with the ladies) when he wishes to exert himself, and a very versatile and creative spellcaster. On the negative side, he is an inveterate liar and a braggart, significantly lacking in self-control, and prone to get into trouble. Unknown to just about everyone, Meiji has a considerable lack of self-confidence. His upbringing and background have convinced him that he will always be picked upon, and he deals with this awareness by expressing an exaggerated confidence. Similarly, being a physical coward makes him stick his neck into danger with a feigned bravado. The relationship - or lack thereof - between his parents has ironically made him even more of a rake than his father, untrusting of romantic relations in particular and human relations in general. The fact that his temperament is extremely mercurial does not help matters. Hidden beneath his surface (even from himself), however, Meiji seeks desperately to find people who are willing to accept him for who he is and for his personal skills, rather than viewing him due to his background and past. In many ways, he is his own worst enemy.</blockquote>

Verification