[Scion] Yueh Tian Qiang [Hero]

[Arak Noak]

Birth Name: Yueh Tian Qiang

Nick Names: Hanzi, Qiang

Aliases: 49er Hanzi, recently Enforcer Hanzi

Calling: Triad Member & conflicted Taoist / Future God of Dragons, Serpents and Magic

Known Relatives: His father, Yueh Bei, was still alive when he left China but Qiang has not heard from him since leaving three years ago.

Nature: Cynic

Age: 21

D.o.B.: May 5, 1988, 12:01 am (Year of the Earth Dragon, Month of the Snake, Hour of the Rat, corresponding to his External, Internal and Secret Zodiac signs respectively)

Gender: Male

Ethnic Background: Chinese

Nationality: Chinese

Height: 5’ 7”

Weight: 165 lbs

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Hair Color: Black

Handedness: Right

Distinguishing Marks: A tattoo of a Chinese Dragon wrapped around his right arm with the head resting on the back of his hand. The Dragon looks exactly like Qiang's Dragon companion. The tattoo appears to have been created utilizing some metallic and translucent inks such that the scales do not appear as ink but as metal. Many people have often noted that the tattoo seems to move when view from the edge of their vision.

Appearance: Unexceptional, Qiang could blend into a crowd easily, even more so when he is among other people of Asian descent.

Personality: Qiang is a man caught between two worlds. At once traditional and modern, Qiang embraces traditional values and methods where he can while seeking to live in the very modern here and now. In person he is quick of mind, self assured, with a noble bearing. He has shown himself to be wise and well spoken, charming and cautious. To those who have earned his respect he treats them as equals or as deserving underlings. Those who earn him enmity find him ruthlessly vindictive and, when the situation calls for it, violent.

Interests: Chinese Myth, Qi study, accumulation of power to aid his Divine Mother against the Titans

History: Yueh Bei was the kind of down and out manual laborer that subsisted on the fringes of Shanghai. A dock worker, sometimes fisherman, and always gambling addict, Bei was completely unprepared when an attractive older woman became interested in him. He was likewise completely unprepared when she disappeared within a week of giving birth to his son Yueh Tian Qaing. Despite this he tried to raise the boy as best he could.

Qiang grew up in poverty in the worst neighborhoods of Shanghai, a street kid who spent as much time ditching school as attending. His father tried to provide for Qiang but gambling continued to consume his income and by the time Qiang was eight his father was in debt more than he could ever hope to repay. Bei struck a deal with the Triad and essentially sold Qiang into their service. For the next six years Qiang worked menial jobs for the Triad to pay off his father’s debt. He grew resentful of the work and of his father who had continued to gamble away more than he could earn. At fourteen Qiang appealed to the Triad to be declared independent of Bei and to be allowed to join the Triad. Sociable and quick witted, Qiang was well liked by the Enforcers and Deputies and the Dragon Head agreed to his request. Free at last from his father’s debt Qiang reapplied himself to both school and the Triad. He became an initiate at seventeen and thought that his life was finally starting to take shape.

Things started to fall apart less than six months later. The police, who had always been willing to accept graft, suddenly turned virtuous. Led by a new chief of police, Cao Fei, the law started to push back on the Triads. Raid after raid came at the worst possible time and in the worst possible locations. Every shipment of counterfeit goods, every pimp, every chop shop, month by month and week by week the police took down one operation after another, paring down the Triad with the efficiency that could only come from a man inside. By the time a year had passed the Triads were failing fast, if something did not happen soon they would be wiped out utterly by the police.

Qiang was in dire straits and soon found himself hiding out in the place he never expected to be, his father’s ramshackle apartment. That would prove to be the least of his surprises as that was the night that he met his mother for the first time. She was indeed as beautiful as his father had said, though in a stately manner befitting a queen. They spoke for what seemed hours, Qiang finding that he easily adapted to his mother’s formal style of speech. Finally she asked the question that surprised him most, “Qiang, my son, you must make a choice. You are at a crossroads in your life. You can choose to stay as you are and with surety I can tell you that you will be in jail within a year and you will not survive that. You can choose to flee before the police and the Triads and you will live a life wasted much as your father, never living up to your potential.”

“Or? There must be a third choice mother. Though I have just met you, I can tell by your demeanor that you would not torment me so.”

His mother laughed, “Qiang you are indeed quick of mind. You are correct you have a third choice. You can accept my offer and in return I will give you the power to fight the foe who is tearing your life down. Know that I do not give this to you without a price, one day you will need to serve me as you have loyally served the Triads.”

“I would gladly die before failing to honor my mother. Though you were not there for me I can hardly blame you, father was… father is a man who does not deserve one such as you. I will gladly agree to serve you but can you not simply take me away with you now?”

“No my child, now is not your time to join me, you must first prove yourself capable of serving and then you must train and prepare yourself.” She laid he hand on Qiang’s head and he felt the gentle loving touch of his mother for the first time since he was born. He felt something more however, and expanding sense in his mind. Suddenly he smelled parchment and ink, he heard the whisper of silk flowing as though stirred by the gentlest breeze, and suddenly he knew that his mother was something more than she seemed. The smell of fresh peaches stirred a memory from childhood, the stories of Chinese myth, the legend of Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West. He opened his eyes and beheld the goddess his mother, the grower of the Peaches of Immortality. She smiled at his comprehension, “I have awoken in you some of your power my son.” His arm itched and she gently swept her hand down, soothing his skin where she touched. He looked down to see a massive tattoo of a dragon, resplendent in Jade and Copper that coiled from his shoulder down to his hand. The dragon moved as though getting comfortable and settled its head upon the back of his hand; Qiang could have sworn that he heard a contented sigh. “And this is Huilang, she will be your guardian and your companion. You need only concentrate and you will be able to rouse her to life or borrow some of ability to walk the sky.”

“I … I do not know how to thank you mother…”

“You can thank me by proving you worthy of the power I have given you. If you do well I will gift you with still great power, but I must go now my son, I will return if you succeed and if you fail I will visit you in the infernal realms of the Yama Kinds.” With those words she disappeared leaving behind the smell of peaches.

Within days Qiang had found that the new policeman responsible for everything was in fact a Scion of the Loa god Shango. Qiang felt proud that his mother was willing to test him against one of the children of a rival god from another religion. For weeks the two circled each other testing their power until they finally met. Cao Fei had mortal followers with him, Qiang was alone save Huilang but she was more than a match for a handful of mortals. As the dragon held off Fei’s followers Qiang, squared off with Fei. The two fought for nearly an hour, with Fei’s skill with a sword and Epic strength far surpassing Qiang’s own ability. His naturaly hardy constitution and the dexterity allowed him to avoid the other man’s blows while striking back time and again. In the end Qiang stood victorious, though beaten and bloody himself, over Fei. “Should I slay you now? Or will you yield and agree to leave this city?” Qiang’s offer was genuine but the Scion of the Loa was unwilling to be run off by a common criminal. Qiang ended the man’s life quickly before slumping off into the night to recover.

A week later Xiwangmu returned. “I am pleased my son. You defeated Cao Fei and even offered the man his life. Your use of cunning and speed pleases me.” She laid her hand on Qiang’s head and he gasped as power beyond what he was expecting flooded into him. “I have imparted in you the knowledge to bend and twist Fate to your will and the skill to manipulate Qi. Take this coin, with it you will be able to use what mortals call magic. Lastly I have increased the ichor in your body, bringing you more power.”

“Mother, am I to serve you now, may I join you in heaven?”

She shook her head sadly, “You are still too weak to join me but first you will need to leave this city. You have killed a man and you cannot stay here. You will go to America and you will study, you must learn and develop your power beyond what I have bestowed upon you.”

With Cap Fei dead the police’s resistance to coercion and bribery faltered and eventually failed completely returning things to the way they had been. The Dragon Head, impressed by Qiang’s success in dealing with the police granted him a request to flee to America. Qiang’s first stop was San Francisco where he once again proved his worth to the Triad by dealing the the opposing Yakuza led by a Scion of Susano-O. Their battle was less evenly matched than Qiang’s battle with Fei. The Scion of Susano-O was more experienced in combat and would have easily defeated Qiang had it not been for the careful use of Fate twisting magic and the Yin-Yang Destruction technique that allowed him to negate much of the power the other man brought to the battle. Though a worthy foe the other Scion has proven himself in the weeks before to be dishonorable and Qiang slew the man without offering him his life.

After fleeing San Francisco Qiang wanders down through LA and to San Diego then makes his way across the county toward New York. He lives simply, seeking to balance the Yin of his past deeds with the yang of positive actions. He knows from his study of Qi that to achive balance one must be equal in both Yin and Yang. Six months pass and he arrives in New York where he picks up with the Triad but moderates his deeds, choosing to forgo his enforcer status to work in the Triads more legitimate business fronts.

While in New York he meets a woman who he feels completes his soul, the Yin to his Yang (yin is the female side). However the New York Yakuza had learned that he was in the city and seek revenge for the destruction of their San Francisco branch. He and his love are ambushed as they go out for an evening on the town, a night where he intended to propose marriage to her. He is able to escape but she is killed. Realizing that the cycle of revenge will never end he forgoes vengeance. The local Dragon Head, realizing that Qiang has lost the killer instinct packs him up to Boston to determine if the city is fit for expansion.

About eighteen months ago Qiang, with a handful of men descended on Boston’s Chinatown. They started with simple protection rackets and underground gambling and prostitution. While strong arming the owner of the Golden Gate Restaurant Qiang was surpised to scent another being of the divine Chinese Bureaucracy. The owner’s grandson had the distinct odor of a scion of his pantheon. When Qiang next spoke to his mother he informed her of the boy and asked what he should do. Xiwangmu said that she would look into the boy and see who his parent was. The young man was a scion of Sun Wukong and once informed King Monkey saw to it that the boy’s Ichor was activated. Tiring of the Triad lifestyle and wishing to devote more time to assisting his mother how he could on Earth, Qiang used his ever growing power over the strands of fate to effectively remove himself from the Triad. He now spends most of his time researching Chinese Myth, studying new spells, and hunting down the Titanspawn that act as foot soldiers on earth for the Godswar that Qiang is still too weak to take part in.

Pantheon: Celestial Bureaucracy

Patron: Xiwangmu

Patron Rivals: Guanyin, Nüwa; Athena, Frigg, Quetzalcoátl, Susano-o, Shango

Virtues: Duty *, Harmony ***, Intellect ****, Valor *

Physical: Strength ***, Dexterity ***, Stamina *****

Epic-Physical: (f)Dexterity, (f)Stamina

Knacks:

Mental: Perception **, Intelligence **, Wits ***

Epic-Mental: (f)Wits

Knacks:

Social: Charisma ****, Manipulation ****, Appearance *

Epic-Social:

Knacks:

Abilities: Academics *, (f)Animal Ken ***, Art – Chinese Calligraphy **, Athletics *, (f)Awareness ***, (f)Brawl ***, Command *, Control, Craft, Empathy, Fortitude *, (f)Integrity *, Investigation **, Larceny **, Marksmanship *, Medicine *, Melee *, (f)Occult ***, Politics, (f)Presence ***, Science, Stealth **, Survival, Thrown

Birthrights:

• Relic ** (Dragon Tattoo, see Distinguishing Marks; links to creature, also allows access to Animal purview)

  

• Creature *** (Huilang, a Chinese Dragon, as Coatl, Hero pg 325) The Huilang's scales are a deep green Jade and Copperand her hair appears to be made of spun glittering gold.

  

• Relic * (Jade Coin, A octagonal jade coin with the eight trigrams of the I Ching on each side arranged around a Yin-Yang. One side is White Jade with Black Jade detail the opposite side is the reverse, the yin-yang in the center is both colors on both sides, showing where the two stones meet to form the balanced whole.; Provides access to the Magic purview.)

  

Boons:

• (f)Animal (Serpents) – Animal Aspect ***
• (f)Health
• (f)Justice
• (f)Magic *** - The Unlidded Eye *, Peaceful Meeting * (Ragnarok pg 44), Bona Fortuna **, Demand a Labor ***
• Sky - Sky's Grace * (linked to Animal Purview via Five Circle Conjunction)
• (f)Taiyi *** (Scion Companion, pg. 96) (Five Circle Augmentation, Yin-Yang Destruction, Five Circle Conjuction (Sky's Grace Linked to Animal Purview))

Join Battle 6

Attacks:

• Light: Acc 7, 4B, DV 4, Spd 4
• Heavy: Acc 5, 7B, PDV 2, Spd 5
• Clinch: Acc 6, 3B, Spd 6
• Glock: Acc 5, 4L, Range 20, Clip 15, Spd 4, penetrating
• Qiang (Chinese Spear. as Naganata): Acc 5, 9L, PDV 3, Spd 5

Soak:

• Stamina: 5B / 3L
• Epic-Stamina:
• Armor: 2B / 0L (leather jacket)
• Total: 7B / 3L

Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incap.

Dodge DV: 4

Willpower: 7

Legend: 4

Legend Points: 16

Misc. Equipment: Leather jacket, Glock 17, Qiang (Chinese Spear, as nagata), parchment, inks and calligraphy brushes, BMW M3, expensive business suits

BP:

-14 2 Legend Dots

-1 1 Relic Dot

Experience:

Code:

Story/Purchase          Exp Change / Current Exp / Exp Total
June 2009                    +9    /      9      /     9
"Balance"                    +1    /      10     /     10
"Cold Tea"                   +1    /      11     /     11
The Unlidded Eye (Magic 1)   -4    /       7     /     11
Academics 1                  -3    /       4     /     11
July 2009                    +9    /      13     /     20
August 2009                  +9    /      22     /     29