Description

Personality

Motivations: Kun has a very deep-seated pride in his mother, and one major reason for his decision to leave his village to offer his aid to the Empress is his desire not to disgrace the honour of her name. More than that, though, Kun desires to create peace in the empire, for as many people as he can.

Personality: Generally perceived as an easy-going slacker by those that meet him, and not entirely unjustifiedly, Kun is not a hugely exciteable guy. He is very much a relaxed and peaceful person, but that doesn't mean that he can't be motivated to act if it called for. Some things that can compel him to action are conflicts that he thinks he can resolve, people in need of help, pretty girls who want to talk to him, the promise is a meal or a pleasant song or view of the countryside, and discomfort. An unashamedly kind-hearted person, he does not continue with his role as Acting Shaman of his village out of some ideal of loyalty to his neighbours or any nonsense like that, but simply because of good-hearted concern for the people. He enjoys clear days, animals, conversations with interesting people and sticky rice with black bean paste. He dislikes unreasonable or aggressive people, strong winds and wheat dumplings.

Equipment

Weapons: Kun's preferred weapon is a simple cudgel of knotted wood. Less than a metre long, one tip tapers to a point while the other ends in a thick knob. It is made of shiny black wood, as Kun has cured it in order to improve its ability to deflect blades. It is the weapon that Kun has most practice with, and it functions well as a conduit for his spiritual energy, so he uses it for exorcisms as often as in combat with living foes.

Kun has also inherited his mother's sword, a thick-bladed jian (two-edged sword) that was once more than three feet long, and designed for use with two hands. The blade is now broken, though, and what remains is just under two feet long. The blade is four inches thick where it meets the guard (a pair of backwards-facing wings of black metal.) and is only slightly narrower at its “tip”. Despite its weight, Kun wields the sword one-handed, although he has only received cursory instruction from his mother in its use.

Kun also carries a simple sling made of flax, which he uses to cast stones at foes. Through extensive practice, he has learned to charge the stones that he throws with spiritual energy, and thus he is also rather talented as a marksman.

Other Items: As well as such basic tools as a carving knife, steel and flint and flask, Kun carries many tools of his trade as a herbalist and healer. These include an assortment of dried and otherwise preserved herbs and oils of importance, a small stone mortar and pestle for mixing and grinding, a roll of bandages and even needle and catgut for field dressing.

History

Chung Nuo was famous among the Rabbit Clan, not to mention the Imperial Court and many of the other clans. As part of her Shaman training under the almost mythical Shaman master Kong Wen, she decided to travel the Empire seeking out spirits and conflicts in the lands of all 12 clans. In the years that followed, Nuo became notorious as a shaman, healer and warrior, with achievements to her name such as slaying the great Horse bandit Stone Fang and exorcising the evil spirits of the Guo family in the Kern Foothills. She came to the Emperor's attention, however, when she defused a potentially disastrous conflict between the clans of the Phoenix and the Wolf. At this time, there were numerous worrying incidents of brief forest fires flaring up in the forests of the Wolf Clan East of the Verdant Shrine. The proximity to Town Furie and the smaller hamlet of Feyore was unmistakable, and before long there were mutterings of a possiblity of aggression from the Phoenix clan, which the Phoenix themselves were naturally unwilling to take responsibility for. When a fire spontaneously flared up and threatened the enhulf the nearby Wolf village of Bakue, arms were taken up and a troop of Wolf fighters headed towards Phoenix land in search of revenge. Happening upon a Phoenix caravan, there might have been a bloodbath were it not for a sudden fire seizing the forest around them and scattering all of those involved. This delayed any deaths that might have been caused, thankfully, as that would likely have precipitated full-scale hostilities. However, after this the knowledge of friction between the two clans began to spread, and before long messengers were carrying demands between the two clan Elders. The Wolves demanded that the Phoenixes turned over those responsible, the proud Phoenixes insisted that none of their clan had had any hand in the arson.

At this moment, the Emperor himself was on a royal visit to the Verdant Sacred Shrine with his wife, when word reached him of these diplomatic tensions. Lung Wang was worried that combat might break out while he was still in the country, but it was at this moment that Chung Nuo (a guest of the Shrine at that time) stepped forward. Claiming that she could put an end to the hostilities without any blood being shed, she asked for two of the Empire's guards to accompany her as witnesses while she investigated the scene of the supposed crimes. On the recommendation of his advisers, who had heard of Nuo's deeds, Lung Wang allowed it and dispatched Nuo with two of his trusted guards. As she had suspected, the cause of the fire turned out not to be member of the Phoenix clan, but a malevolent demonic spirit that she exorcised without even requiring the assistance of the Imperial soldiers. Returning to the Emperor, Nuo explained what had happened, and the soldiers confirmed what she said. Almost instantly, Wolf diplomats were dispatched to the Phoenix lands to explain and offer their condolences for the accusation. All-out war between two of the clans had been avoided, and the emperor had only Nuo to thank for it. He rewarded her with an Imperial Commendation, and Lung Feng gave her a precious brooch of her own as personal thanks. Accepting these treasures humbly, Nuo continued on her travels.

Just over a year later, the Shaman returned to her home village of Len, filled with the wisdom and strength that she had earned on her travels, as well as the small swelling that would soon become Chung Kun. She took the role of village shaman from the elderly Lam Qing despite her parturient condition, and yet no-one could draw her tongue on the identity of the child's father. Within the year, Nuo had birthed Kun, with the aid of a midwife that she herself had trained in the weeks leading up to the birth. He was a happy, healthy, and very manageable child, proving friendly to mostly anyone who was given the task of looking after him while Nuo left the village on her Shamanic duties. The years passed without much issue, until but a month after Kun's fifth birthday, a traveller from the Rat clan arrived at Len. He was weak and bedraggled, but intent, demanding to see the legendary shaman Chung Nuo.

Before the morning came, Nuo left with the man, leaving the sleeping Kun unaware that he might never see his mother again.

Fortunately, he did. Less than two weeks later, Nuo was found face-down in a paddy field just slightly South of the village. Rushed to Lam Qing for treatment, the retired Shaman was astonished to find himself completely at a loss. He said that he had never seen anyone closer to death, despite having next to nothing visibly wrong with them. Upon seeing his mother, Kun wept for the first time since he was weaned.

After two days of rest, Nuo was conscious again. She admitted that she couldn't provide any advice in treating her “wound”, but reassured those around her that as soon as the Sceptre, the Absolute, made its way back to the village, she would be healed by its miraculous provenance.

And yet, this turned out not to be so. Even after long hours of meditation with the staff, Nuo informed the others, the “wound” within her would not heal. The truth of what had happened to her in the Cursed Valley of the Rat clan she only told to Lam Qing and the village head, Tien Hong. It was at this point that Nuo finally began to train her son in the ways of the shaman, while splitting the duties of the role between herself and Lam Qing to compensate for her weakened state.

Many years later, the Emperor was dead. Demons were returning to the land, and the evil spirits of the world were appearing in even greater numbers, like poison rising to the surface of the Earth. Chung Nuo was in the same weakened state, such that the only time she could sleep without pain or night terrors was when the Sceptre was in her village, and she had her hands wrapped around it. She was still the village shaman, though, and acted as such. She treated the wounds of the workers, listened to the crops and told the farmers how to handle them, and advised Tien Hong on trade. To the villagers, she was still the true authority in their lives, and was still paid the greatest respect. Unbeknownst to them, of course, for the past four years it had been Kun, and not Nuo, who had acted as the village's spiritual defender, seeking out and exorcising evil spirits by night in the surrounding lands.

When the Empress' messenger arrived, bearing a letter that begged for Chung Nuo's assistance, she and her son both knew what they had to do for the sake of peace in the Empire.