Commander Gero, The Sagacious Shadow King

A character from Sands_of_Their_Demise

• Commander Gero, the Sagacious Shadow King
• Caste: Defiler
• Concept: Cold-blooded mastermind
• Anima: A whirlwind of disembodied green arms, looking as if ready to descend upon onlookers.
• Gero appears as a thin man with short black hair, as well as a short beard. His expression is almost always unreadable.

Motivation

• To turn Creation into the kind of world his wife would have wanted.

Urge

• Urge (Cecelynian): To take control of the Guild and use it to further the Reclamation.

Intimacies

• Order (enforce)
• Civilization (elevate)
• His wife's memory (cherish)
• Gratuitous sadism (despise)
• The Enlightened Purifier (hate)

Attributes

Physical

• Strength 2
• Dexterity 3
• Stamina 2

Social

• Charisma 2
• Manipulation 5
• Appearance 3

Mental

• Perception 3
• Intelligence 5
• Wits 4

Abilities

Caste

• Craft (Air) 5
• Craft (Fire) 5
• Craft (Vitriol) 5
• Investigation 3
• Lore 5
• Occult 5

Favored

• War 3
• Integrity 5
• Presence 2 (obtaining loyalty +2)
• Awareness 3
• Bureaucracy 3

Unfavored

• Martial Arts 2
• Performance 1
• Resistance 1
• Dodge 2
• Larceny 1
• Linguistics 1 (Old Realm, native Flametongue)
• Socialize 2 (discerning motive +2)

Backgrounds

Backing 1 (She Who Lives In Her Name)

As a Green Sun Prince, Gero is officially a champion of the Yozis, with the perks that this implies.

Contacts 3

Gero has lived a movemented life even before exalting, and he knows people. This includes Guildsmen from his early days, a few Terrestrial spirits from his time as a Sidereal's sidekick, and servants of the Yozi both in Creation and Malfeas since his exaltation.

Cult 1

Gero does not encourage the Iron Shadow to worship him (for now, at least). As a champion of She Who Lives In Her Name, however, he occasionally benefits from the prayers of cultists the world over.

Followers 3: The Iron Shadow

Gero has, over the past year or two, assembled nearly a hundred of reliable individuals who, like him, were dissatisfied with the state of Creation, and believed it needed drastic changes. He has united them under the banner of the Iron Shadow, a covert organization that believes the world must be reborn in a better form - one more fitting humanity. Operating from within an underground base, the Iron Shadow is mostly focused on gathering resources and information for now; its members have been made aware of the Reclamation, but believe the commander may manipulate it to serve the organization's goals.

Influence 2 (the Guild)

In Malfeas, Gero wields some influence due to his status. In the Guild, however, he has built himself a reputation over the last year as a capable merchant who has rapidly built a fortune from almost nothing. That and his old connections to Guild bureaucracy mean that he can get a few important people to at least listen to him.

Resources 4

Since his exaltation, Gero has found it very easy to obtain material wealth. Using the supernatural competence afforded by his Charms and the information provided by infernalist spies, he has been able to become a very successful Guild merchant. Much of his wealth has been going into the funding of the Iron Shadow.

Savant 1

Gero has some knowledge of the First Age's science and history.

Spies 3 (The Guild)

Between his pre-exaltation contacts, the assistance of Yozi cultists, and an infiltrated agent or two of Iron Shadow, Gero tends to be very well-informed about the Guild's doings, especially in the South.

Charms

Malfeas

Hardened Devil Body

Insignificant Embers Intuition

Skyfire Seizing Repast

Sun-Heart Furnace Soul

Cecelyne

First Cecelyne Excellency

Transcendent Desert Creature

Verdant Emptiness Endowement

She Who Lives In Her Name

First She Who Lives In Her Name Excellency

She Who Lives in Her Name Inevitability Technique

Factual Determination Analysis

Cosmic Transcendence of Conviction

Essence-Dissecting Stare

Counter-Conceptual Interposition

Mind-Hand Manipulation

Tool-Transcending Constructs

Experimental Acceleration Master

Sorcerous Enlightenment of She Who Lives In Her Name X2

Heretical

Unsurpassed Devil-Craft

Spells

First Circle

Infallible Messenger

Azure Chariot

Second Circle

Threefold Binding of the Heart

Whirlwind of Fate

Essence

• Essence: 4
• Personal: /
• Peripheral: /
• Committed to Charms:
• Committed to artifacts:
• Willpower: 10/10
• Anima status:

Virtues

• Compassion: 2
• Conviction: 5
• Temperance: 4
• Valor: 4
• (Virtue channels used: None)

Limit Break

Describe your flaw and record here your limit

History

Growing up in an impoverished family in a Southern city, Gero displayed a keen mind and a strong drive to succeed from an early age. Teaching himself how to read and acquiring what books he could, he eventually managed to earn a position as a scribe within the Guild, and began playing office politics to advance in the Guild's bureaucracy.

It was in that position that he first met Yanoa. A friendly travelling aristocrat, she needed to consult with the Guild for information. The two of them quickly took an interest in each other - Gero felt there was something unusual about here that roused his curiosity, and Yanoa quickly realized how exceptionally bright the hardened young man was. He ended up assisting her in her quest as she delved into the depths of the city's criminal underworld in what turned out to be a hunt for a Yozi cult, which she then proceeded to destroy with incredible supernatural might. Maintaining a level head, he asked her what exactly she was. She revealed herself to be an agent of Heaven, a Chosen of Serenity. Before leaving, she promised to return in the near future.

After her departure, he noticed how everyone else seemed to gradually forget about her. Only he seemed to hold on to the memories until her return. And return she eventually did, several times. The otherwise cold, calculating young man found himself fascinated with the smiling, idealistic women who acted as the will of Heaven on Earth; she, for herself, felt the same fascination for the driven, rough genius who had risen from the gutter.

As their relationship grew, Gero began acting as a sidekick of sorts on Yanoa's adventures, as she went across Creation, trying to solve a wide variety of supernatural problems. Where Gero was an utter cynic, Yanoa insisted on seeing the best in people; in her words, if love was not the strongest power in Creation, then it was her duty to MAKE IT the strongest power - she wished to make Creation into a place where love could triumph over all adversity, and even the lowliest mortals could achieve their dreams. Seeing her passion, Gero could almost believe it was possible. Almost.

Over the years, Gero helped Yanoa stop a war in the Hundred Kingdom, arrange the meeting and romance of a wealthy Nexus patron and the scholar whose important work would thus get funded, mastermind a political alliance between two nations of the Eastern Bordermarches against their Raksha neighbors, hunt down a Dragon-Blooded Akuma in Corral, and even extradite a ghostly spy from Stygia. Eventually, the two of them got married, and Gero found himself living in Yu-Shan (Yanoa did not hide the issue of her extended lifespan - she had remained faithful to her two previous husbands as long as they lived). As huge an improvement as living in the celestial city was over his previous life, he found that he did not care about status and power so much anymore - making his wife happy seemed far more meaningful. And as he saw her soldier on and maintain her positive attitude despite her demanding work and the obvious morass of politics Yu-Shan put her through, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, she could actually make love triumph in the long run.

But all good things come to an end. After many years of marital bliss, the Jade Prison broke, and the Solar Exaltations returned to Creation. A passionate Gold Faction loyalist, Yanoa became more active than ever, with Gero always assisting her. Then one day, Yanoa was sent to try to reason with the Enlightened Purifier, one of the Illuminated Cult's Solar trainees who had left the Cult's training camp after learning more than he was supposed to. Yanoa attempted diplomacy, but the Solar angrily accused her kind of being untrustworthy manipulators, then attacked her...and won. Gero helplessly watched as his wife was cut down before him. It was after that event that Gero was offered exaltation by the Yozis. He accepted - he wasn't sure yet WHAT he was going to do, but he suspected that it would require all the power in the world.

In Malfeas, Gero learned about the Reclamation, and got a far closer look at the Yozis than the Sidereals had. He quickly concluded that he despised them and their broken selves, unable to adapt the way humans did. He also despised the insane cruelty of their deeds and plans - everything Yanoa had wanted to stop. And as he considered the matter, he came to a decision: He would change Creation. Deeply. On a metaphysical level. He would turn it into the sort of world Yanoa would have wanted to live in - a world where love trumped oppression, where even the weakest mortal could lead a free and meaningful life. It wouldn't be a world that welcomed a cold, ruthless man like Gero...but it would be a world where someone like his wife would have been at home in.

Naturally, Gero has kept his true plans to himself. For now, he is making himself useful to the Reclamation, figuring that in order to truly change Creation, he is going to need immense power...and he is far more willing to make sacrifices for his plans than his wife ever was. He has been studying Sorcery, and, even more intently, the art of Hellstrider manufacture; he has personally designed and built several new First Circle ones. Within Creation, he has been masterminding the creation of a secret society called the Iron Shadow, devoted to bringing about his vision; the loyal members of the Iron Shadow, even though they are not privy to the details of his plan, have been told that he plans to bring a new order to Creation, ending the Time of Tumult.

Conflict

Physical

• Join Battle:
• Dodge DV:
• Parry DV:
• Soak: L/B/A

Movement

• Move:
• Dash:

Social

• Join Debate:
• Dodge MDV:
• Parry MDV:

Health Levels

• -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated
• (wounds are designated as bashing, lethal or aggravated)

Equipment

List your stuff here, including combat stats if you have weapons

History

• Give us at least two or three short paragraphs

Personality

• Give at least one short paragraph

XP

• Earned: #
• Spent: # (make a list of all purchases here)
• Unspent: #