Xuo Shou's page

Xuo is a Taoist priest and demon hunter. That being said if he did not wear the robes, wield the sword, or fulfill his duties as such none would think him one at all. He is prone to merriment with women and drink, acts of pettiness, and proposing generous donations for his services. While many think this the core of what he is and a disgrace to his sect, Xuo is not so shallow. He has a deep respect for life and all that it offers, taking his demon hunting seriously as well as the eradication of evil. Those who catch Xuo in the midst of battle find a icy swordsman without mercy or a ruthless fighter. While he prefers diplomacy and non violent solutions he knows that more often then not the best, at times only, path is one of combat.

Born to mountain folk Xuo was an oddity. For the mountains bred strong, big, and rugged folk. Yet Xuo was ever a slim boy of little brute strength and size. He was nimble as a jumping mountain goat and keen of mind. Too keen to be kept tucked away in the mountains, when he came of age he was sent south to some remote family, he learned much on his way there. Upon his arrival he found his distant cousins to be softer then even him in all ways but sharp witted by far, finding himself lacking in comparison. He spent his days studying and watching his cousins merchant work. He grew interested in Taoism while in the south, his interest quickly grew more personal. It was during this time that he received news of his home village being under a plague. Returning home, with a Taoist healer in tow by way of his cousins, he found his home in shambles. For it was no plague but the work of a spider demon. The Taoist priest was a healer but no stranger to the sword or ways of demons. He destroyed the creature and rescued what was left of the village. Sadly that did not include his parents. Upon his return to the south he drowned himself in all that could be had from women to drink to drugs. During one such fueled night he came across a lone woman being devoured by a demon down an alley. In his haze he felt a need to destroy the thing, rambling words half remembered from his priestly escort north. To both the surprise of the demon and young Xuo they took effect, driving the demon away in pain. After that night he swore to become a priest himself and destroy over a thousand demons before he died. If not more then any other priest their ever was or would be.

There was once a minor lord of the south. A generous and kind lord much loved by his people. Yet the lord was no fool, he knew how wicked the political games and those that played it could be and often were. So the lord was in turn wickedly cunning if not of temperament. His many rivals found their plans foiled and ruined at ever turn, always some how working in the lords favor. Increasing his own influence and wealth rather then diminishing it. The lord was also a family man, having a gentle and loving wife with no less then six children. His favorite by far was his first born and heir. The lordling was blessed with many things both physically, mentally, and even magically. Having shown signs of sorcerous power at a young age. Yet it was not to last, the lords rivals had passed their limit of disappointment. They allied with one another and did with brute force that they could not with schemes. Bring down the lord and his household in a single night. They sent an army of killers to murder the lords whole house, sack, and finally burn it to ashes. For the most part they were successful, only the lordling heir making it out alive. A combination of luck, timing, and his budding sorcerous power allowed him to escape into the near by lands. With news of his great losses sinking in, he imposed himself to exile in the near by forest of his father's lands. Tending to his hatred and sorcerous power.

Years later the lordling was gone, in his place was a dark sorcerer of great power. Extending his influence slowly in the criminal underworld he built a vast intelligence network and personal organization. He tracked down every single soul who had taken part in his families downfall. Ruining them in every sense until he finally killed them and took their souls, denying them even the escape of death. His actions did not go unnoticed, heaven bore witness to his growing darkness and seemingly eternal hatred. Upon the death and soul capture of his last victim of vengeance he was cursed by the heavens for his unrepentant evil.

So was he stripped of his sorcerous power and barely human form. For the heavens had turned him into the snake that seemed so fitting of his nature. Yet they did not rob him of his sense of self or memories. His hatred endured and so did his cunning mind. Making use of his new form he spied upon sages and foul sorcerers in turn, gathering knowledge of the mystic arts that had once come purely from his will. He learned how to bring out magic with knowledge alone and to climb his way back up from his lowly station.

Through countless years and the study of mystic secrets stolen from others was born the snake demon Silver Fang. Not simply a master of magic but a master of poison, blood, and souls. Having developed a hatred for humanity and the heavens they hold so dear, he grew to learn a truth of his own making. Humanity was unworthy, those of mixed blood were the more perfect beings. Half blood and so called tainted beings were more worthy, closer to the world and truth then humans could ever be. So did he become their patron and enemy of all pure humans. By poison, blood, or magic he would wipe away all the lacking humans from under heaven and put in their stead those that shared much more in common with their world.

Deep in the south Xuo had been on the trail of a particularly slippery demon. It was only his relentless pursuit and keen senses that had kept the fiend from escaping. After all it had tried to kill him no less then four times, the prideful demon could not let itself fully flee from him. Which was fine by him, every attack was a chance to finish the thing. Still he wondered where it was taking him, he had not missed the slight signs of ancient dwellings over the course of his chase through the dimming day.

Spotting a sudden movement he made for it. Bursting through some tree limbs and underbrush he landed in a clearing the she demon running around a bend, he went after her. He was closing the gap and his surroundings were showing clear signs of an ancient village, one clearly hidden from the rest of the world. Then came a sight that froze him as surely as a god's grip, for a moment he thought he found one. The skeletal snake bones he saw were massive, he would wager in life it could warp itself around mountains with ease. That such a beast was lying behind a hidden village stirred his mind a good deal. Yet his focus quickly imposed itself upon him, the demoness was still about, so he remained alert as he picked his way around the old giant bones. Following it's great ribs down towards it's skull, marveling at the sheer size and with his senses properly focused lingering power. For even after so much time it's body retained the great power it once had in life. He understood now why the demon came, the grave itself gave off sinister might he had never known, yet it was not as foul to him oddly enough. That was when the demon fell upon him from above, leaping off the tip of one of the towering rib bones and on to his back.

Going with the flow of the blow he rolled off and away from the demon. She did not waste a moment coming in with her sharp yellow teeth and black nailed claws. He back flipped away with one hand as the other wrapped around a bottle with in his robes. Throwing the bottle before him it shattered, spraying the holy water before him as a barrier. The demoness merely smiled with her jagged teeth and charged forward, he noticed a split second before she passed over it. The holy water was being burned away, the graves power was too great. She had picked her battlefield well, he prepared his stance to receive her. Again came the bite and claws, he avoided the teeth aimed at his neck but both claws racked and tore at one of his arms. She laughed and blew fog from her mouth along with mockery, he doubted it was as disadvantageous to her as it was to him. He backed away as he strained his senses for the coming attack. He bumped into something, out of reflex grabbing at it. With a dreadfully loud crack he found he had pulled free a bone from the fallen snake. At that instant he felt a rush of odd energy and the sense of impending attack. Again on reflex he lashed out with the bone in hand at the suspected source of attack.

Out of some deep sense, skill, or sheer luck he had hit the demon. Then the bone did something none expected. It went right through the supernaturally tough skin of the demon with ease and burned with a dark yet glowing power. Eating away at her as well as burning the foulness from her. A few strikes later and there was little left of the former demoness. Breathing deeply the creeping sun rose over the mountains and brought it's full light upon the valley of the snake bones. A wash of bright silver nearly blinded him as only now could he see that the snake was not made of ivory like any mere beast or man but rather of silver. From it's bones to the bits of scales scattered upon the ground, it was all silver. That was save for the bones he had broken away, it was dark and nearly black. Finding that he had broken off a fang from the massive skull of the snake he could not understand why it had changed. Still he felt none of the odd evil the rest of the grave gave off and it was in no small part the reason he was whole. He would keep it and have it brought back to the temple, it could be forged into a fitting weapon he was sure. So would the Black Fang be his.