Shu Izanagi

Basic Stats

Name: Shu Izanagi

Player: Kerrus

Nature: Survivor

Essence: Pattern

Demeanor: Penitent (I was sent here to end great evil. But I was too late, and there is much evil here. My duty is far from over)

Tradition: Euthanatos

Concept: Assassin from the Past (Meji Restoration/1860s)

Arete: 3

Willpower: 7

Quintessence: 2/3

Experience: 5

Foci: Silver Pocket Watch, Jade Dice.

History

Shu Inazagi is Ninja- an assassin from the Meji Restoration period whom was thrown into the future en route to his target by unknown forces. Arriving nearly a hundred and fifty years later, his target had since died of old age, and almost everyone he knew was lost to the sands of time.

Trained in the Euthanatos Tradition, Shu plays the architypical noble assassin, although he is not without his share of secrets and shames. Out of time, he struggles to adapt to the modern world- but has also discovered that while a change in times has brought many changes to the world at large, his particular skillset is still extremely relevant. Rejoining the modern traditions, Shu seeks to identify the reason- and the cause- for his trip forward in time. He can never go back, but if there is any way to atone for his failures, he will seek it out.

A survivor by nature, he was raised by a famous assassin after the death of his family by slavers. Unused to the company of others, Shu knows that he can only truly rely on himself. It was during a mission under his master that Shu awoke, and became more than a simple assassin. A betrayal by an unknown party brought then young sleeper a hair's breadth away from death. Making contact with his avatar, the spirit of a powerful Shogunate warlord, Shu discovered a purpose that had previously been missing from his life. Duty forged him into a powerful weapon, and honour guided that weapon to strike he final blow.

Cast into the modern world, Shu struggles to reaffirm his sense of duty and justice with the realities of his current existence, and his now ancient failure. vowing not to fail again, Shu works to survive each day and advance his interests. He seeks the identity of his betrayer, and too follows his Avatar's shadowy goals- goals which are yet unknown to him.

Attributes

Physical

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3

Stamina: 4

Social

Charisma: 2

Manipulation: 2

Appearance: 2

Mental

Perception: 3

Intelligence: 2

Wits: 3

Talents

Alertness: 3

Athletics: 2

Awareness: 3

Dodge: 2

Subterfuge: 3

Skills

Meditation: 2

Melee: 3

Stealth: 3

Survival: 1

Knowledges

Investigation: 3

Medicine: 2

Spheres

Entropy: 3

Time: 3

Rotes

The Ninja Strikes Surely: A ninja does not strike blindly, rather, he strikes with the sure knowledge of how to properly hit the target, and the confidence that he will. Directing a measure of his ki into his chosen weapon, he accelerates its movement to be just fast enough to catch his enemy off guard. Even when enemies see the blade coming, they are often surprised by the quickness of it.

Time 1: Lower the difficulty to hit with one per success

Sense the Twisted Ki: Unnatural Ki leave eddies and whorls in the local chi- a taint that, to a western sleeper, might appear as the smell of brimstone. Trained in the ninja arts, Shu can reach out with his Ki and feel for these imperfections, even if his physical senses cannot detect its source.

Entropy 2: The mage knows when something out of place in ths environment is there.

The Ninja Giveth, and the Ninja Taketh away: Ki is the stuff of life- but it is not life itself, but rather a greater energy that permeates the world in different forms. Gathering Ki to to oneself is the foundation of the ninja arts, but so too can the ninja direct Ki away from them. By forming their Ki in a particular pattern, they can affect the natural chi of the external world. During a period of luck, typically brought on by a balance of the natural flows of energy, the Ninja can expel his ki outwards, forming a sort of internal void. By casting away the good luck, the Ninja can open that void up during a time of bad luck, and turn bad to good.

Entropy 2: The rote is done when something is going well for the mage or somebody in the vicinity, turning the good luck bad. Now the Mage has some extra "fortune-capital", which will help him the next time he is near failure by turning bad luck good. This only works on random events, but sometimes it can work by creating random but helpful effects (the mage tries to explain his presence in the wardrobe to an irate husband with a gun, when suddenly the phone rings and distracts the husband, allowing escape.) The amount of good luck depends upon the amount of bad luck produced in the first step.

Backgrounds

Avatar: 3

Mentor: 1

Arcane: 3

Other

Gear: Two swords, clothes on his back, foci, bag of two hundred year old ninja holstic medicines?

Paradigm: Assassin trained from birth to destroy a particular lineage. Trained in the use of 'death's art', a collection of powers and abilities focused on making it easier to kill or subdue someone. Death's Art is your traditional ninja secret art from a stylistic point of view. More Nabari no Ou or Ninja Scroll than Naruto, however.

Powers are primarily focused on the self- enhancing self into a better instrument of death. Typically uses Entropy/Time to glimpse into the future to determine enemy course of action. Melee focused- death god powers typically require a close contact with the victim. (Not a shooty character)

Typically views the world through the concept that people and things have a certain definable essence, and that to invoke Death's Art, one must invoke those essences- basically praying to the objects for the... right? Permission, maybe, to end them or use them to end someone. So like, he'd invoke the name of his sword, the lineage of it, its forger, and the like. He'd invoke the spirit of being sharp and true striking and stuff, and this would give him power.

Conversely, he wouldn't be able to really do stuff that he can't attribute to Death's Art- summoning a fireball out of thin air wouldn't be within his paradigm, because it's completely outside his view of how the world works. You can't invoke the spirit of fire and burning unless you have something to burn- to him, 'air', as we know it, isn't a substance. He might be able to light something on fire, but again, it would definitely have to be melee (and that assumes he even has points in Prime :p)

Merits & Flaws

Ambidextrous (1 point Merit)

You can perform tasks with your offhand at no penalty- such as wielding two weapons :D

Anachronism (2 Point Flaw) (2 point penalty when dealing with stuff outside his cultural knowledge. Lightbulbs? fine. Computers? less so)

Distorted Image (1 point flaw) (Images of your character do not appear... as your character. This manifests, for example, by images of your character depicting its shadow making rude gestures, or even your character appearing as a dragon or a shapeless horror. This is not so much of a problem to people who know what your character is as it is that the mall security cameras are showing Shiva the Destroyer in Housewares, Aisle 6.) [Manifests as Shu's shadow always holding a pair of drawn swords and swinging them around, regardless of what Shu is actually doing in the image]