Character:Wounded Sparrow

A character for Qin: The Warring States.

Campaign

Wounded Sparrow fits best in a campaign on which wandering/travel (due to her basic nature) and the supernatural (due to her weakness) are likely to be a heavy focus, or at least not out of place. She's meant to be a good source of muscle for a group, providing a largely combat-oriented focus. Games focused on tarnished souls in need/search of redemption would be a good fit for the character.

Character Stats

Personal Information

Name: Wounded Sparrow

State:

Character Type: Soldier

Height: 5'2"

Weight: 115lbs

Sex: Female

Age: 27

Aspects

Metal: 4

Water: 3

Fire: 2

Wood: 2

Earth: 3

Gift and Weakness

Gift: Health of the Rat

Weakness: Haunted Soul

Secondary Aspects

Renown: 2

Chi: 12

Passive Defense: 7

Resistance: 7

Breath of Life: 17 boxes (6/5/3/2/1)

Skills

Qiangshu (spears) 2, Heraldry 1, Acting 2, Dodge 2, Survival (forests) 1, Daoshu (daggers & short-swords) 1

Taos & Techniques

Taos: Tao of the Sudden Lightning (2), Tao of the Light Step (2)

Combat Techniques: Qiangshu: Hold at Bay, Repel, Charge, Double Blow; Daoshu: Direct Hit

Character Background

Born into a small village, Wounded Sparrow lived an uneventful youth: playing with the other children when she was young, helping her family with their trade as she got older, and finally falling in love with a local boy. Her life took its first unexpected turn when the boy left the village to become a soldier; so, at the age of 15, she cut her hair, disguised herself as a boy, and set out from her home in order to follow him into military service.

The boy himself didn't survive long, falling to an assault on some unimportant and little-remembered battlefield. Sparrow, however, stayed with the army, travelling from battle to battle, siege to siege, and though the art of strategy and tactics evaded her she quickly gained skill in the use of the spear.

During a particularly desperate battle, Wounded Sparrow's -- veteran of eight years of combat, both good and bad -- nerve finally broke and she ran, abandoning her comrades. The desperate battle turned into a rout, and Wounded Sparrow watched from where she was hidden, unable to help, while the men she had known for so long were cut down without mercy.

Since then, she's wandered the roads, seeking work were she can find it and all the time maintaining her long-ago assumed disguise as best she can. She's haunted by spirits who take the form of her dead comrades, accusing her of cowardice and being the cause of their deaths and promising her ruin should her identity ever be revealed. In consequence of this, she spends much of her time seeking solace in the bottom of a bottle, and rarely stays in one place for long, often preferring to forgo inns & human company for a bed in fields and forest.

Notes

Despite the loner theme present, Wounded Sparrow is really meant more for a story where the principle theme is redemption: coming to terms with her past, with her actions, dealing with the spirits (who may or may not be her dead comrades), and once again learning to live with people are good story arcs for the character.

The system itself is interesting, though perhaps a bit more math-heavy during character creation than I could convince my players to try.