Horus al'Osir

Description Horus is a tall, quite muscular man with corn-blond hair collar length at the back and sides with a single forelock that hangs down his nose far enough to be visibly divided. He wears an olive kimono and hakama under a burgundy haori and commonly carries a small fan. Although he usually goes barefoot inside buildings, when travelling he likes to wear geta sandals. He also often wears a straw hat on his head, covering the glorious orichalcum crown that he wears at almost all times and a scarf over the torc around his neck. He also wears bracers and a ring of the same magical material that are partly masked by the sleeves of his haori. His eyes are as blue as the sky, disconcertingly steady and usually cast into shadow by the brim of his hat.

History Port Calin has many customs and one of them is that a younger brother should not seek to surpass his elder. Heaven was clearly not considering this when they selected the souls born as the sons of House al'Osir. Ainu al'Osir had the makings of a fine member of the nobility, possessed of ambition, sagacity and skill that would make him a strong head of the House in the years to come... his brother Horus was beloved by the whole family, a scholar, a gifted martial artist and a born leader who would surely have been chosen as the next Shogun... had it not been for the accident of birth that left him forever junior to Ainu, who could never ignore the whispers that suggested that Horus would make a better heir than he, the eldest. The matter came to a head over a game of Gateway. Before, Horus had always deferred to Ainu - allowed him victories in front of others and pretended ignorance of how his brother seethed at the condenscion. But for once they played without witnesses and Horus did not hold back. Their conflict began with Gateway, then became words and ended when they settled their differences with their fists and their feet. Servants found Ainu, beaten half to death in the garden, in time to save his life and the hue and cry was raised. It was too late to prevent Horus from taking his leave however and he left the palace ahead of the pursuit, vanishing aboard one of the many ships departing Port Calin that day as a common mercenary. Winding up in Kirighast, Horus took jobs guarding the many caravens of Guild and other merchants that snake across the deserts of the South. It was on one of these that he Exalted - the caraven ambushed by a band of the Lion Folk, he put his back to a wagon and prepared to sell his life as dearly as he could. Instead the light of the Unconquered Sun fell upon him and he slew three of the Lion Folk, leaving the others to flee into the desert and Horus as the only survivor. He slept away the rest of the day, dreaming dreams of the past before rising to walk back to the nearest town in the cool of the night. Even once he had reached the town, Horus remained concerned at what he had become. He had been reared to the Immaculate Faith, albeit that of Lookshy rather than that of the Realm. By his own lights he had somehow become a devil - one of the Blasphemous. As he reached the gates however, an old woman reached out and caught his arm. "They said you would come," she whispered. "From the north, a man of great strength, a man who would some day be King by his own hand." Horus looked into her eyes and saw that they were those of a trusted counsellor from his dreams. He followed her and she would lead him to the Sequestered Tabernacle.

One ally of the Circle Horus is an adept of the Cult of the Illunminated, a graduate of the Sequestered Tabernacle. While he is not going to have his hand held by the Cult, he can count upon their aid when he really needs it. Of course, he can also count upon their agenda.

One enemy defeated by the PC As the city left the Wyld it was hounded by the Fair Folk trying to fight their way inside. Horus and his student were foremost and at their hands the cataphracts, hobgoblins and wyld beasts of the Ruby and Lapis Courts fell into ruin and defeat. At the height of the battle, Horus duelled with Shusai of the Immaculate Blade in front of the city gates and the proud cataphract fell from the city in defeat, a defeat she has sworn to avenge.

An NPC who owes the PC a debt Amaya, the patron saint of the Sequestered Tabernacle and one of Horus' fellow Exemplars owes her life to Horus, who saved her life when the Tabernacle was laid waste. Alerted to the threat, Horus rushed back to the Tabernacle and attacked the Wyld Hunt from behind, breaking through their ranks to allow a small party to escape with him in his Flying Pagoda.

An NPC whom the PC owes a debt Horus possesses powerful artifacts from the First Age, presented to him by the Golden Lord, one of the Unconquered Sun's greatest lieutenants. The Golden Lords is actually abivalent about trusting the young Solar with the artifacts but was not acting on his own behalf but on a request from high in the Crimson Panoply of Victory. It isn't clear whether this was engineered by the Gold Faction - it seems likely, but the Golden Lord didn't say so and he wasn't exactly withholding information during the rest of their conversations. Nonetheless, Horus considers himself indebted to the powerful God.

A major change to the setting The Cult of the Illuminated has lost Kether Rock and the Sequestered Tabernacle to pre-emptive strikes by Wyld Hunts led by members of the Bronze Faction. Only a few of the most powerful Exalted escaped - the Sidereal teachers and a handful of graduates. In the course of a day, almost a dozen Solar Exalted died... as did almost a hundred Dragonblooded (mostly Immaculate monks) and one unfortunate Sidereal. The Wyld Hunt's losses were quite simply legendary and their threat has been blunted for the moment.

A minor change to the setting Amoth City-Smiter was brought under audit when he was accused in complicity in the near destruction of the Imperial City. He has fled Yu Shan rather than face judgement so he is either guilty or would face censure for other reasons that an audit would reveal.

Name: Horus al'Osir

Concept: Illuminated Teacher Calling: Exemplar Caste: Zenith Anima: A great Celestial Lion, fangs bared and the eyes ablaze with the light of the sun Motivation: become the Priest-King of Creation Intimacies: Horus' students, Amaya of the Sequestered Tabernacle

Attributes: Strength 5 (8), Dexterity 5 (8), Stamina 2 (5) Charisma 5, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3 Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 4

Abilities: Dawn Abilities: Archery, Martial Arts (cf) 5 (+3 Unarmed), Melee, Thrown, War (f) 5 (+1 Small Units) Zenith Abilities: Integrity 3 (+1 Fair Folk), Performance (c) 5 (+3 Public Speaking), Presence 1, Resistance (c) 3 (+1 In Combat), Survival 1 Twilight Abilities: Craft, Investigation (f) 3 (+1 Conducting Interviews), Lore 5 (cf) (+3 First Age), Medicine (c), Occult Night Abilities: Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Dodge (f) 3 (+3 Unarmored), Larceny, Stealth Eclipse Abilities: Bureaucracy 1, Linguistics 1, Ride 1, Sail 1, Socialize 1

Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 5, Valor 2 Flaw: Ascetic Drive

Backgrounds: Artifact 5 (Ring of the Deliberative (5), Travelling Pagoda (5)), Artifact 5 (Crown of Thunder (5), Orichalcum Perfected Kata Bracers (4), Blessing of the Sun (1)), Followers 2, Manse 5 (Gem of Perfect Mobility (5), Ice Gem (4), Jewel of the Flying Heart (1)), Manse 3 (Freedom Stone (3), Windhands Gem (3)), Resources 1; Manse 4 (Seven Leaping Dragons Stone) (Legend bonus)

Charms: Calling Charms: Second Martial Arts Excellency, Infinite Martial Arts Mastery, Striking Cobra Technique, Serpentine Evasion, Snake Form, Essence Fangs and Scales, Second Lore Excellency, Second Performance Excellency Non-Calling Charms: Immanent Solar Glory (x2), Pearlescent Filigree Defense, Five-Dragon Claw, Five-Dragon Force Blow, Durability of Oak Meditation, Iron Skin Concentration, Iron Kettle Body Combos: Five Dragons Bow To The Unconquered Sun (Five-Dragon Claw + Five-Dragon Force Blow + Second Martial Arts Excellency + Iron Skin Concentration + Serpentine Evasion)

Bonus Points: +1 Essence (7), +12 Background Points (12), + 1 War (1), Dodge (+2 Unarmored) (1)

Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated Essence: 4 Willpower: 7 Personal Essence Pool: 19 Peripheral Essence Pool: 46+20 Committed Essence: 30-35

Soak: Bashing Soak: 5 (22) Lethal Soak: 2 (22) Aggravated Soak: 0 (4)

Defense Values: Parry DV: 9 Dodge DV: 10 Parry mDV: 7 Dodge mDV: 7

Attacks: Clinch: Spd 3, Acc 20 (24), Dam 12B (16L), PDV -, Rate 1 Kick: Spd 3, Acc 20 (24), Dam 15B (19L), PDV 7 (14), Rate 2 Punch: Spd 3, Acc 21 (25), Dam 12B (16L), PDV 9 (16), Rate 3