About Hapushet Bladesinger
The Zopesh-nyt-Ra have lived in the Southern deserts for centuries, living largely as other tribes do on the rocky cliffs and baked clay that surround the deep dunes, herding goats and farming a subsistence living from the unforgiving ground. In many ways, they are unremarkable - just one more tribe of desert dwellers, lost in the vastness of the burning South. Two things, however, mark the Zopesh-nyt-Ra out from the tribes around them: first, they have never given up the worship of the Unconquered Sun, though centuries have passed since the Great Uprising, and second, they have maintained a tradition of thaumaturgical bladecraft that may very well extend back to the end of the First Age. The unique swords of the Zopesh-nyt-Ra are sought after by clan warriors and tribal chiefs throughout the South and Southeast, admired for their astonishing balance and minor mystical powers.
The Zopesh might have continued their existence for centuries more, but the Sun chose instead to bring them to the attention of the Loom of Fate with the birth of a young man named Hapushet. Always a large and strong child, Hapushet was chosen early by the shaman-smiths for induction into their secrets, and his forgecraft was among the finest even the Zopesh had ever seen. It was widely believed that he would lead the forge-temple one day, but Fate had other plans.
In the late fall of Hapushet's 22nd year, the Zopesh were raided by the Desert People, with a shocking fury that caught the small tribe off-guard. Though raids were not unusual, few truly tempted the blades of the Zopesh-nyt-Ra, as all knew they saved their finest work for their own heroes, and blood feuds would deny a tribe the chance to trade for a Zopesh sword. The Desert People, however, cared not for such things, only for the bounty on slaves that the Dynasty's representative in Chiaroscuro had recently offered. Though they fought back mightily, most of the tribe was captured - including Hapushet. In long chains of bound captives, the Zopesh were forced to run across the desert for nearly two weeks; several children and elders died in the crossing. Finally, they reached Chiaroscuro, where the exhausted and half-dead tribesfolk were unceremoniously dumped into cages to await their turns on the auction block.
As the Sun sank into the West, Hapushet knew despair. The next day's dawning would see his tribe scattered, his family lost forever. He stared at his chains... and then began to work. As the last glimmers of twilight fell over Chiaroscuro, a shimmering light appeared on Hapushet's brow, a circle half-filled with gold, and with neither hammer nor flame, Hapushet reforged his chains into a weapon. Calling upon the strength he suddenly felt flowing through him, he turned his chain on the cage and shattered it to splinters. A nearby guard was felled the same way, and he quickly freed his fellow captives and together, they gathered what supplies they could and fled the city for their desert home.
Though Hapushet did not know what had happened to him, the tribal shamans and their spirit allies did. They began to worship him as the avatar of the Sun come among them, and told him of the flawed metal that now replaced the perfect gold that had once been Creation. Burning with new purpose, Hapushet tattooed his Caste Mark on his forehead permanently, then set out from his people once more, to see the world remade once again into what it was meant to be.
Hapushet Bladesinger
Caste: Twilight
Anima: A massive figure of a forge-god holding a hammer
Motivation: To reforge Creation into a shining paradise
Concept: Mystic bladesmith
Attributes
Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 5, Wits 3
Abilities
Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 1, Craft: Fire 5 (Swords +1), Dodge 2, Integrity 2, Investigation 2, Linguistics 2 (Native: Flametongue, Old Realm, Riverspeak), Lore 3, Melee 3 (Self-Crafted Weapons +3), Occult 5, Resistance 1, Survival 1, Thrown 1
Backgrounds
Artifact 2, Contacts 1, Cult 1, Resources 3
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 2
Virtue Flaw: Heart of Flint
Willpower 6
Willpower Points 6
Essence 3
Essence Pool 15/34(36)
Charms
Craft
- Craftsman Needs No Tools
- Second Craft Excellency
Melee
- First Melee Excellency
- Hungry Tiger Technique
Occult
- Spirit-Detecting Glance
- Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Resistance
- Ox-Body Technique
Spells Known
Ritual of Elemental Empowerment
Summon Elemental
Unbreakable Bones of Stone
Equipment
Air-empowered exceptional short sword, Earth-empowered breastplate
Combat
Join Battle 5
Soak 7L/7B (Earth-empowered breastplate, +6L/+4B)
Health Levels [ ] -0; [ ][ ][ ] -1; [ ][ ][ ][ ] -2; [ ] -4; [ ] Incapacitated
Dodge DV 3 (4 unarmored)
Attacks
Air-empowered exceptional short sword
- Spd 3, Attack 11, Damage 8L, PDV 5, Rate 2
Punch
- Spd 5, Attack 3, Damage 4B, PDV 4, Rate 3
Social Interaction
Join Debate 5
Intimacies: The destruction of slavery (hatred); the advancement of good weaponscraft (inspiration)
Dodge MDV 5
Parry MDV 2
