Shi-Oda

Name: Shi-Oda
Age: 19
Exaltation/Caste: Full Moon Lunar
Affiliations: Halta (Glorious Crown), The Silver Pact, Pack of Falling Blades

Bio:
The sweeping wind that descends from the canopy to strike down the wicked! A holy flame of the East, with a flashing blade that brings hope to children and fear to brigands from Mount Meru to the Wyld! Shi-Oda, knight errant and dealer of righteous blows, asks and accepts no quarter from evil or tyranny!

If a man is measured by his reputation, Shi-Oda grows taller every time he introduces himself to opposition. For a man from Halta, he is extraordinarily large, and always has been - he occasionally jokes about having some tiger or rockodile on his mother's side, but knowing Haltan customs, this maybe be more truth than jest.

As a boy, in accordance with Haltan custom, Shiyo underwent The Test, where he was bid to survive on the surface with nothing but a knife and simple clothes, and not return until he had the hide of a powerful animal or a rare plant. For three seasons, he tried this test and failed, delaying his acceptance as an adult in his culture. On the fourth attempt, he roved far and wide to prove his value - and stumbled directly into the camp of a Linowan scouting party. The Linowan, being a slightly barbaric river society locked in an endless war with the Haltans, sought to capture and kill the boy before he could relay their position. With only a knife and his strength, Shi-Oda bravely and single-handedly turned and ran into the woods, screaming for his life.

But a boy barely a teen has little hope evading a military force for long. Shiyo did his best to lead them astray, through dangerous places, and narrowly evaded capture for days... until spent and exhausted, he was finally cornered atop a boulder and about to be run through on spears.

Then Luna decided that, as Shiyo puffed his chest and howled in impotent defiance of his inevitable death, that he'd made a fine son. Blessed with strength and fortitude beyond anything he'd ever known, primal rage roaring in his veins, Shiyo was delighted to find that the Linowan spears barely hurt. The scouting party afforded him ample opportunity to test his new instincts and abilities, and Shi-Oda took as much pleasure in hunting and hounding them as they had him. He returned to Glorious Crown in victory, carrying the hides of two dozen Linowan - who were, by Haltan standards, but animals - and enjoyed his status as a capable adult with a story to tell.

For all of a week, anyway. Halta being what it is, a project of a secret cadre of Lunars, Shi-Oda was snatched up to receive education and tattoos, endure his trials, and learn about his birthright. He was Fostered to the Pack of Falling Blades, a seeking pack primarily concerned with finding stray Lunars that didn't have the education needed to survive or the Moonsilver tattoos to preserve their sanity. He was inducted into the Silver Pact as a member in good standing.

Shi-Oda found several aspects of his new people's values disquieting, and still does. For example, in Halta, Humanity - or Consciousness, sentience, etc - is defined by intelligence. Beastmen are loathsome abominations in much of Creation, but are as normal and respected as anybody else in most of Halta. Conversely, those without the capacity for intelligent, complicated thought are _not_ humans - such as young children, or elderly gone to seed, are more akin to pets or other (generally taken care of) animals such as livestock.

A more worldly view of Creation has led him to realize that the Linowan are, in fact, human beings, meaning that Shi-Oda is quietly horrified at how he passed The Test and no longer tells that story unless it is a precaution.

After awhile, Shi-Oda parted ways with the Pack of the Falling Sword in order to explore on his own. He found an affection for Terrestrial habits in spite of knowing what they'd done, and as such took to carrying an overlarge sword and wearing massive, ornate plate armor into combat - both of which his Lunar Foster happily forged for him, if only because she thought that a young Lunar trekking about, dressed as though he were pretending to be a Solar, was absolutely hilarious. And indeed, with his big mouth, flashy style, and glowing armor, Shiyo has gotten into his share of nonsense.

Recently, this nonsense put him in contact with, and then the employ of, a suspicious Sidereal who talks of uniting every corner of Creation with wondrous technology. Although he was quick to scoff at the very ambition - as Lunars have their own ways of helping distant settlements - her suggestion that she might be able to introduce him to his Solar mate was just enough to tip the scales between disdain and curiosity.

And just as promised, she introduced Shi-Oda to his mate, and they've been completely subtle and low profile sword enthusiasts ever since.


Appearance:
Shiyo is tall, he wears literal shining armor, and carries a large sword. He's the literal example of Luna's front line, and what Immaculate Monks like to think of as 'free game' as far as the normally shifty and tricksy children of the moon go. Like most Haltans, Shi-Oda was short and had green hair as a mortal; his exaltation into a Full Moon changed both, and under his armor, aside from solid muscle, you'd find tattoos like silver flames across his back, around his neck, and down his legs. Shiyo's tell is a large, swirling gold-silver mane that never seems to stop moving - equal parts cape and scarf, drawn by an invisible wind.

Potential Plot Hooks:
-Shiyo was Fostered by Sky-Chasing Horns, a Sword of Luna with a notoriously liberal view on the creation of Beastmen. And a reputation for siring/birthing beastmen. Shiyo's reputation among the Silver Pact is somewhat stained by this.
-Similarly to his views on Beastmen, Shiyo finds it a little hard to wrap his head around Creation's fear of the Fair Folk. After all, Glorious Crown trades with them all the time.
-Although he's learned how to back down from challenges he cannot overcome, Shiyo isn't at all subtle in his travel and is remarkably easy to find if you know what he's looking like and have jungle friends.


Character Sheet



Past RPs:

It was like this when we got here! (6XP)