Characters

• Cicada

  Musings of a slave

  Sable Cicada kept playing the peaceful melody on the flute, filling the dark bedchamber with an atmosphere of serenity. The form of her lord lying on the bed she sat beside had not stirred for a few minutes. He was probably sound asleep.

  The discoveries and occurrences that had happened since they had arrived at the wedding had disturbed her lord Cathak Tabius, and so he had told her to play for him as he tried to sleep.

  Her lord did not stir as she put down the flute and she could hear his steady breathing. After pausing for a moment she stood up and walked around the bed, making sure the nets that kept insects out were in place so that no bug could interfere with her lord's rest.

  She wished her lord would have let her dance for him instead, she preferred that so much to the flute. But it would likely have invigorated him at a time when he very much needed rest. Still, she liked dancing a lot. She would chuckle to herself every time she recalled how she had been yelled at by her teachers when she had danced on the top of the roof and spires of the Cathak villas. It had improved her balance and dexterity much and feeling the caress of the wind in high places had been one of her few joys. And after meeting him Tabius had encouraged her, so to Malfeas with her teachers and their talk about risking valuable House property.

  She then went to the wardrobe and folded and prepared her lord's clothes for the next day. She stopped in front of the mirror for a moment to look at herself by the light of the single candle still burning.

  Her long white hair was still neat in a simple straight ponytail reaching to her hip, the faint blue coloring barely visible in the poor light. She picked up a comb and absent-minded ran it through the hair for a while. When attending formal functions where a servant could not bring weapons she would use disguised throwing spikes as hairpins, turning even her hair into a weapon.

  She straightened her tunic a little. It was a simple affair, white, sleeveless, of thin fabric, with buttons closing it from the left side collar down to her left breast. Only just long enough to cover her hips. From just above her knees and down she wore leggings of the same white fabric with a pair of light leather sandals on her feet. Though she was just as comfortable barefooted, after all, that was how she had spent her entire life before becoming lord Tabius's servant.

  Around her waist she wore a belt of plain leather. Attached to it was the chakram of blue jade given to her by the House Cathak. It was a somewhat uncommon chakram, shaped like a crescent, with engraved pictures of nighttime mountaintops and clouds, but it flew accurately enough to give her an edge in most combats. Often she would loosely tie a sash of the same plain white fabric as her tunic over the belt and chakram to give some more camouflage.

  In accordance with her standing no accessories graced her. Only a simple collar and a pair of hopelessly old-fashioned bracers both of jade provided a bit of ornamentation.

  Looking in the mirror she had to admit that she had grown a lot since being a scrawny peasant girl sewing other people's clothes. She filled her light clothes well and its white color set off her soft, tanned skin. Often had she noticed how dynasts would look at her like wolves at a lamb. But her discomfort was of no consequence, it was only good if everybody thought of her as a common toy. The less they knew of her true capabilities the better.

  The studying of her own shape made her consider her lord. She was sure that she could help him relax in better ways than by her mediocre flute playing. But for some reason he had never requested her to serve him in that fashion. It was a fact for which she was glad, but could not help to wonder if she was in some way displeasing her lord.

  Viciously she snuffed out that line of thought. She had no right whatsoever to question her lord's motives, not after all the things he had done for her.

  She was staring angrily at herself in the mirror, into her own dark red eyes. Dark red most of the time that was, as she looked away at other things her eyes took different colors as the light fell on them from other angles. It was a good thing that her work required her to look down and away from her superiors, otherwise she would attract all too much attention.

  Once her lord had joked on how lucky she was to be his servant and not nobility, otherwise weird Dynasts with a taste for exotic beauty would come from all over the Realm to court and otherwise chase her. It had been the only time ever her lord had made her cry, and she had not been able to explain to him why. Keeping secrets from her lord was the most painful part of her life. But fortunately he never inquired further.

  A soft "puuuh" brought her back from her musings. Puuhda, her little long eared friend from the north, had crawled up on her shoulder and put a forepaw on her cheek while looking sadly at her. She immediately cleared away her thoughts and cheered up. The link the two of them shared made any strong feelings of hers just as painful to him. He too lightened up as soon as she calmed down.

  Puuhda could be a real pest who seemed to delight in teasing her. But she could wish for no better friend to be at her side when she needed him. Thanks to "Stinker", as she would sometimes call him, she was never truly alone, no matter what appearances might be.

  She gave a little sigh. She still had much work to do preparing for the next day, so she hurried off to make sure once more that every window and door was secure.

  For a brief moment she wondered why she, when thinking of loneliness, had recalled the image of Tei.

• Jynaru

  Ledaal Jynaru is tall and thin, yet tightly muscled, with shoulderlength dark brown hair and shocking green eyes. His skin is the pale color of a young birch sapling. He is reserved in action and in voice, unless in extremely dire straits. Perhaps the best comparison is that of a cat lounging in the sun. And then having its tail stepped on.

  He favors simplicity in his clothing, preferring deep blues, greens, and blacks in coloration, and simple designs, emphasizing comfort and utility over the current fashion. Generally, this means loose, flowing trousers and shirts. He always wears a small steel chain around his neck which is polished brightly. It is the only thing that might be considered jewelry that he owns, or at least is known to own.

• Maris

  Cynis Maris is 6 and a half feet tall with aqua tone skin and a jet black short cropped hair. He is built like a heavyweight boxer and seems to exude presence. His dark deep blue eyes stare piercingly at those around him and while the fashionable clothes he wears to parties fit him well they do not take away the general feel that Maris is merely a wolf in sheeps clothing. He wears black pants with blue trim, black leather sandals, and a blue silk shirt with numerous black geometric patterns on it that is sleeveless to show off his prodigous arms and the two Black Jade Bracers he wears on his upper arms. Both look old but sport engravings of the Water Dragon powerfully swimming through the sea and giant waves flowing over the world. A dark purple gem sits in the hearthstone set on the left bracer and the symbol for House Cynis sits on the right. Maris is very attractive and always has a smile on. Though one wonders what exactly he's smiling at a lot of the time. Maris is constantly under the influence of the Gem of Seduction giving him an effective appearence of 4 for most cases and for those he views as potential partners as 5 or more.

  When not attending parties Maris dresses in his Dark Water Armor and it is an intimidating site. Made of the blackest of jade it seems to suck the light from the air around it and seems to cling to him like water. It consists of lower arm bracers, Shoulder Gaurds, a Breastplate, Black Leather Skirt, and Greaves. He also wears two Black leather gloves with 3 Black Jade Serrated Blades coming out of the back of them. The gloves have black jade veined through them and give one the impression of an immense many tentacled beast on which the blades are it's largest claws. The Armor itself is done in the Elemental iconic style at first glance with a caricature of Daana'd displayed on the front of the Breastplate. It shows Daana'd swimming down to hell gracefully to seal it's gates refusing to partake in the dark desires of the Anathema all around her. Something about the whole thing looks wrong though and on closer inspection one notices that the images of the Anathema are alarming graphic. Also Daana'd zealous eyes and open mouth as she dives to the depths of hell are very suggestive. The Leather Skirt shows images of Daana'd fending off the hedonist Solars on her quest to the underworld and seem to move as Maris walks. The greaves show the naked spirits of Anathema crouching amoung eachother and watching in vain upwards as Daana'd seals the gates. The Actual image of this is shown in the upper front portion of the Leather Skirt and seems to go from open to closed as he walks. Maris almost seems to be a parady of an Immaculate monk as he strides powerfully to his destination. Though the armor holds many crude images most are quite similar to the ones seen in any Immaculate shrine that reside in Cynis Manses and the Immaculates have decided it's just not worth it to quarrel over how Cynis decides to represent the dragons. As such though his armor may seem lewd and innappriopriate to House Cynis it's perfectly worshipful.

• Shakel

• Tabius

  The night was dark with but a sliver of the moon showing in the heavens as Tabius of House Cathak moved silently onlong. His flaming red hair tied back in a tail, the wind on his pale yet smooth skin. All of his 6 foot 1 medium build frame is backed up back against the wall of a house. Close behind him are 4 of the 5 men in his fang.

  Tonight they traveled without armor for silence was their ally. Ahead stood a half dozen guards standing around an archway, the enterence to an important walled werehouse. Tugging twice on a rope attaching himself to his men he slowely moves out walking straight towards the guards and the archway. Closer and closer the five of them move, but not one guard raises an eyebrow. They passed through the gate with none the wiser moving on to their true objective unnoticed thanks to Tabius's Sorceries.

  Cathak Tabius 6'1" 160lbs with a medium build
  Flame Red Hair, Amber Eyes
  Pale and smooth complection

  Tabius seems always to be dressed to the height of fashion for whatever occation it may be, but he usually wears a white jade and platinum headband with a gem of some kind over the forhead. Tabius is the product of a Cathak Mnemon marriage and attended the Heptagram. Upon graduation his skills both mystical and martial were put to the test over the period of 2 years, one of which he spend leading a fang on house business in Chanos.

  Tabius was assigned a personal servant by the name of Sable Cicada by House Cathak upon his admitance to the Hetpagram. Through the 4 years at the Heptagram and the 2 years of service she has been a loyal servant and friend. She has grown out of her total slavishness and into a fine well mannered young woman. She has kept him rooted in knowing his place, lacking much of the hubris a Sorcerer might have.

  People, even Exalted, seem to be taken in by the aura of awe and respect that Tabius seems to carry about himself.

• Tala

  V'neef Tala (only goes by Tala, but wouldn't deny her house of birth if recognized)
  Aspect: Water

  She is the first child of a relatively young dynast of house V'neef and his wife-by-arranged-marriage. She attended all the schools that a noble would and went to the Cloister of Wisdom where she began her pursuit of spiritual perfection.
  She seeks to become as close to her elemental aspect as she can, thus she travels the path of the water dragon as a wandering monk of the Immaculate Order. It is possible that any dynast might know her from primary school or another immaculate might know her as she studied both at a monastery devoted to her Path and has visited a few other temples. While she maintains family ties, she goes simply by her given name.

  Tala is a beautiful young woman who could not be mistaken for anything but an Exalt of the water aspect. The smooth, hypnotically graceful way she moves and her bluish-aqua colored skin speak well of her bloodline. Her head is shaved clean in the manner of an Immaculate monk. When the sun hits her in the right manner it even appears to gleam as if reflecting off of a pool of water and she smells like the fresh clear water of a running stream. Tala has a lithe, semi-athletic build at 5'6".

  She dresses in the simple robes of an Immaculate and those who know can tell from the belt she wears that she is of the second coil. Adorning her neck is a torc crafted in the form of a sea serpent from blue jade. Set in the torc is a dark green, almost black gemstone. When she fights she dons a pair of fingerless leather gloves which each have 3 black jade blades extending from the knuckles. The right glove has a jade setting containing an opaque red stone with streaks of dark silver. Otherwise the gloves are kept in a leather wrapping handing from her belt.

  On a 1-5 scale she's a 3. If she ever let her hair grow out it would be a dark blue-black like the depths of the western ocean.

• Tei

  Peleps Tei is a small man, topping out at only 5' 4", with ruby red skin and eyes of garnet. Tei wears plain red immaculate robes, and a red jade choker around his neck. He keeps his head shaved as all monks do, but wears a broad brimmed hat when traveling. So cunningly made and fitted, is his jade breastplate, as to be nearly unnoticeable when he wears it beneath his robes. Set at its center is a clear gemstone. On his left arm, he wears a bracer fashioned in the likeness of a dragons head containing a glimmering red-gold jewel.

  Sheathed at his hips is a pair of single edged short swords with a wicked inside curve. Tei never raises his voice unless he sees the innocent being threatened, and then he lets his blades speak for him. When he spends essence, his anima erupts into a bonfire of reds and golds, swirling around him as a sinuous dragon glides lazily through it lashing out at the monks opponents in time with his strikes

• Vanal

  Cathak Vanal is a solider. Everything about him screams it, from his posture, to his clothing, to his manner of speaking. He carries himself tall and straight, appearing even taller than his 6 feet of height make him seem. He weighs roughly 170 pounds, with broad shoulders, and is obviously fit. He keeps his light brown hair cut very short, both for convinience, and to prevent an easy hand-hold for his foes when he fights. He also maintains a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, and every other part of his face is almost always clean-shaven. His very slightly reddish complexion is the only trace of his elemental aspect, but it deepens in times of exertion and stress (such as being in combat, or chewing out an undiscipline dsubordinate)

  His choice of clothing depends on his location. Off duty, he favors clothing with a distinctly military cut, high-necked tunics and simple but well-pressed, trousers are the rule. Most often he is clad of dark blue or dark red, though black, maroon, and green are also colors he favors on occasion.. He often wears a cape or long coat over this, and is almost never seen not wearing a pair of black or white gloves.

  On duty, he is found in a simple tunic and loose trousers, either green, maroon, or blood-red in color. Over this he wars his armor, a suit of lamellar, buffed and polished to a glistening silver sheen. Indeed, it is so polished, one could easily use as an ad-hoc replacement for a mirror. In the sun, his suit's breastplate is almost blinding, and nearly blistering to the touch after a few hours. Oddly enough, the armor is relatively undecorated. He bears only his House mon on his left shoulder, and his Talon's insignia on the right and on his buckler.

  He wears minimal jewlery. An unadorned black jade band given to him by his fiancee is worn on his right ring finger, and a simple Collar of the Dragon's Cleansing Touch (translation:a Jade Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light) dangles from his neck in the form of a very plain pendant.

  In short, Cathak Vanal prefers to make a more subtle impression of himself, he doesn't care for wearing gaudy jewlery or ostentatious fashions, he instead prefers to present a rather sedate, impeccably clean, and professional appearance.