Maric Buries-Bones

"Ruh roh."

Maric is a character from A New Beginning

• Maric Buries-Bones
• Caste: Full Moon Caste Lunar
• Concept: Adorable. Deadly.
• A plain-faced young man of nondescript demeanour, Maric is dour-faced, being far too seasoned by numerous misadventures to usually display more emotion than a long-suffering hangdog look whenever things go wrong. Unless his captain and bonded Solar, or his crew, or an innocent bystander, is threatened, at which point he turns into a compact bundle of pure ravening fury. Usually attired in the loose vest and canvas trousers of a sailor, his body is covered by the intricate patterns of his moonsilver tattoos, which congregate around his chest, into which appears to be set an amulet buried into the flesh itself, with three settings, one of which is empty. He is often prone to sighing and rolling his soulful brown eyes.

Motivation

• Protect the innocent

Intimacies

Natural

Negative

• Amon (guilt)

Positive

• crew (responsibility)
• Amon (protective)

Anima

After spending 11+m, Maric doubles his speed, and also doubles his Strength for purposes of feats of strength. His iconic banner is that of a snarling, howling dog's head that superimposes itself over his actual visage.

Attributes

Physical

• Strength 5
• Dexterity 5 (7, symbiotic elemental passenger) (Caste)
• Stamina 4 (Favoured)

Social

• Charisma 5 (Caste)
• Manipulation 1
• Appearance 2

Mental

• Perception 4
• Intelligence 3
• Wits 4 (Caste)

Abilities

Favored

Martial Arts 5 (7, symbiotic elemental passenger) (natural weapons +3)
Survival 5

Unfavored

Athletics 5
Awareness 5
Integrity 5
Larceny 5
Lore 1
Linguistics 1 (Seatongue, Low Realm (native))
Resistance 5
Sail 5
Stealth 5

Backgrounds

Symbiotic Elemental Passenger (Artifact 3)

The spirit of a bound brine-cur, whose pack Maric rescued from a group of Immaculate monks and with whom he's been observed to have several similarities, bonded to his skin and infusing him with its agility and prowess. The elemental submitted itself to the binding as tribute to the Exalt's might and also the purity of his purpose.

Subtle Silver Skin (Artifact 5)

A prize reclaimed from his First Age tomb, Maric's suit of moonsilver powered armour is usually unobtrusive, duplicating the appearance of everyday clothes and attire appropriate to the context. When he sheds the facade of relaxed vulnerability, though, the moonsilver erupts in a fury of activity, sheathing him in layers of imperishable magical material that endured Primordial battles. Its powers enhance his attempts to escape detection as well as grant him the ability to interact with dematerialised entities.

The Turtle King's Palace (Manse 4 and 3)

A Gem of Adamant Skin and a Freedom Stone. The Turtle King's Palace is an odd manse, rediscovered by Maric while pearl-diving during a period while his ship was becalmed for an extended period of time. The undersea palace-complex, located at the bottom of a deep-sea trench, is actually a compound manse, capping two demesnes of Earth and of Water. Murals on the wall suggest that the palace was once the abode of a Lunar akuma of the Ebon Dragon, who was obsessed with the kidnapping of princesses.

Shrine of the Ocean-Dredging Dog (Cult 1)

Maric, in his canine spirit-shape, is known to some small villages along the Coral Archipelago as Dredges-the-Oceans, for the time he once single-handedly rescued a fishing fleet wrecked at sea during a storm, swimming them to shore in the form of an enormous dog. They still remember him in their prayers as a benevolent ocean-spirit, and he has a small cult that prays to him that he will be vigilant of storms at sea and merciful to those wrecked sailors he encounters.

Warden of the Rising Sun (Backing 1)

With the Sun King Seneschals, who have absolutely no idea what happened to his previous Solar mate.

Elegant Purple Lotus (Sifu 1)

Gold-Faction Sidereal Sifu, who occasionally enters Maric's dreams to impart martial secrets. She usually wears the shape of Maric's youthful mentor, Ishmael Barrel-Broacher, but has recently been debating appearing in her true form, having developed something of a fondness for the earnest young Lunar.

Merits

Solar Bond 5

With concomitant Eternal Vow, but no True Love component

Flaws

Intolerance 3

Against the extremely wealthy.

Code of Honour 2

Can't lie to or betray allies.

Dark Secret 5

Killed his former Solar mate.

Charms

Strength

• Excellency Package
  
• Claws of the Silver Moon (Gift 3m committed)
  
• Impressions of Strength (Undeniable Might edge, Fury-OK)
  
• Burrowing Devil Style (Fury-OK)
  

Dexterity

• Excellency Package
  
• Golden Tiger Stance (Fury-OK)
  
• Ferocious Guardian Beast Stance (PD parry, 3m other)
  
• Heron Sheds Rain (PD parry, 5m self)
  
• Wary Swallow Method (1m surprise negator)
  
• Wind-Dancing Method (3m flurry breaker, hop 8 yards)
  
• Wasp-Sting Blur (Fury-OK)
  
• Octopus and Spider Barrage (6m 1wp Extra Action flurry)
  

Stamina

• Excellency Package
  
• Might-Bolstering Blow (Fury-OK)
  
• Armour-Forming Technique (Gift, 1m/3L/3B soak)
  
• Bruise-Relief Method (Gift, 2m)
  
• Limb-Shielding Growth (Gift, 2m)
  
• Relentless Lunar Fury (1m 1wp, no Combos)
  
• Ox-Body Technique*5
  

Charisma

• Outworld Forsaking Stance (3m perfect mental parry, or add CHA to DV vs creature of darkness)
• Boundary-Marking Meditation (12m, 1wp claims Essencex10 square miles)
• Eclipse Phase Guardian (Permanent, joint ownership, stunt upgrade)

Perception

• Excellency Package
• Eye of the Cat (6m, Combo-OK, scene, Simple)

Intelligence

• Righteous Lion Defence

Wits

• Excellency Package
• The Spider's Trap Door (4m supplemental)
• Meerkat Alertness Practice (2m supplemental)
• Furious Unhappy Recourse (6m counterattack)
• Hungry Eagle Method (5m, Combo-Basic, counterattack, action-long)
• Snake-Seizing Mongoose Methodology (+1wp, Permanent, Instant)

Knacks

• Prey's Skin Disguise
• Hybrid Body Rearrangement
• Quicksilver Second Face
• Lightning-Change Style
• Deadly Beastman Transformation

Deadly Beastman Transformation

At Essence 4, Maric has 8 mutation points to spend, and does so accordingly:

• Gazelle's Pace (-2): provides long-distance land-speed equivalent to that of a horse; adds +4 to Dexterity for purposes of movement and +4 to Strength for jumping; +2 to rolls for competitive running
• Scorpion's Tail (-2): grants a tail capable of attacking, although instead of ending in a barb it is a muscular, fleshy, fluffy thing, normally dealing bashing instead of lethal damage. Claws of the Silver Moon causes this tail's bristles to become moonsilver spines capable of tearing flesh, converting damage to lethal
• Inexhaustible (-2, CoCD: the Wyld pg 146): man's loyal best friends are truly tireless in service to their masters; Maric in his battle-form partakes of this resilience, being completely immune to fatigue from any source
• Fangs (-1): Maric's jaws are armed with sharp, vicious fangs
• Small (-1): in his war-form, Maric is significantly smaller than the average Lunar using Deadly Beastman Transformation, standing no taller than a tall man or wider than a broad man. This makes him harder to hit, adding +1 to each of his DVs.

Combos

Claw-Biting Sentinel Stance

Sometimes, the best way for a protector to fulfil his duty is to eliminate a threat before it can realise its full potential. This Combo represents Maric's internalisation of this principle, as he goes all-out to destroy potential aggressors before they have the chance to strike at what he has sworn to protect.
First and Second Dexterity and Strength Excellencies + Wind-Dancing Method + Wary Swallow Method + Ferocious Guardian Beast Stance + Octopus and Spider Barrage + Hungry Eagle Method

Essence

• Essence: 4
• Personal: 24/24
• Peripheral: 40/50
• Committed to Charms:
• Committed to artifacts: 10
• Willpower: 8/10
• Anima status: Totemic

Virtues

• Compassion: 2
• Conviction: 5
• Temperance: 1
• Valor: 5
• (Virtue channels used: None)

Limit Break

The Curse of the Lone Wolf

Conflict

Physical

• Join Battle: 9
• Dodge DV: 6
• Parry DV: 10
• Soak: 30L/32B/27A

Movement

• Move: 11/12, 22/24 w/ armour or anima, 33/36 w/ armour and anima
• Dash: 17/18, 34/36 w/ armour or anima, 51/54 w/ armour and anima
• Flight: 22/24, 44/48 w/armour or anima, 66/72 w/ armour and anima (ascends at normal running speed, dives at 10x running speed)
• What this means: Outside of combat, Maric can fly reflexively at 160m/h, or move normally at 80m/h. This is 6 (or 3) times as fast as the listed rate for a magical tireless horse (Core page 264). Considering Maric is also inexhaustible in his warform, this means that he could fly from Lookshy to Nexus in a day.

Social

• Join Debate: 9
• Dodge MDV: 10
• Parry MDV: 3

Health Levels

• -0, -1x2, -2x22, -4, Incapacitated, 14 Dying
• (wounds are designated as bashing, lethal or aggravated)

Equipment

Moonsilver Celestial Battle Armour
Gem of Adamant Skin
Freedom Stone

Claws of the Silver Moon
Speed 5 Accuracy +7/8 Damage +8L/5L Defence +0 Rate +0

History

The child of a fisherman, Maric was orphaned at an early age when his father vanished at sea and his mother died soon after of a wasting grief. He spent his late childhood and early adolescence doing odd jobs for enough money to get by, occasionally supplementing this by extorting trinkets and treats from the children of the wealthier families on the island. The wealthy mostly kept the poor fishermen in line because they owned the leases on the fishing boats, but having no particular attachment to the fishing industry, Maric remained out of their sway, and soon gained a reputation for being something of a bully. All that changed when an enlightened sailor, whose ship was berthed at Maric's nameless village for resupply, saw him picking on other children, abusing his greater physical prowess. This man, known to his friends as Ishmael Barrel-Broacher for his mighty fists, was an exponent of Seafaring Hero Style, and soon beat the young Maric senseless after calling him a coward.

When Maric came to, he was on his back on a wooden deck, feeling the sway of the ocean beneath him with the sun on his face. He had been taken on board Ishmael's vessel as a deckhand. The grizzled seaman had seen talent in Maric, and was determined to train him. For years, Maric sailed with the crew, growing in strength and wisdom under Ishmael.

One day a mighty storm blew up and sank Maric's ship. Ishmael was killed in the initial accident, impaled by a broken spar, but Maric fought to hang on to him. Determined to bury the man he loved like a father and instead of leaving his body to the mercy of the elements, Maric bound a cord under Ishmael's arms, which he then gripped between his teeth. He began to swim, striking out in a random direction. He swam until his limbs grew leaden and the dead weight of Ishmael's corpse seemed to weigh as much as the whole world. He swam until his vision grew dark. He swam and swam and swam until the cold and the damp and the burning salt of the sea had snuffed almost every last spark of life in his body.

He woke up with sand on his face, the cord still clenched between his teeth, but slack now, its precious burden gone. Frantic, Maric forced himself to his feet, only to see a pyre already set, dry wood stacked and primed with tinder, with a torch thrust into the sand close to hand. He applied flame to the pyre and prayed for Ishmael's soul. Applause disrupted his prayers, and he furiously rounded on the interloper, only to stop and stare at the apparition before him. A woman with a beauty that was far beyond anything a simple boy like Maric could even begin to relate to, slender and deadly in gleaming silver armour, a mighty silver spear in hand, seated on a rock and clapping, smiling with uninhibited warmth.

"Did you save me?" Maric asked.

"No. I just watched you save yourself," she replied, still smiling. "Although I thought I'd help you with the pyre. You mightn't have found enough wood around here, otherwise."

In silence they watched until Ishmael's mortal form had been dispersed to the winds, and then Maric followed her back to her camp, where they ate fresh-caught swordfish, which the huntress had speared. With precious fresh water she washed the salt from Maric's hair and beard. With trembling hands, at her bequest Maric helped her remove her accoutrements. With her touch she eased Maric's raw grief. He drank purpose from her mouth and she taught his hands animal cunning and gentle savagery, and in the aftermath of their passion Maric discovered himself born anew, filled with new power and new purpose.

The woman pointed off to the west. "That way, by the ruins of sunken Luthe, you will find one who may guide you for a little time, until you find your own way."

He glanced off to the side, following her pointing finger; when he looked back, she was gone, and the full moon cast its light down from a formerly-empty sky.

Personality

Maric is stoic, protective (and possessive), and also deeply, deeply guilty at having failed his former Solar mate. Although he slew her out of desperation and rage/pain/fear, he still believes that if he had been better, wiser, stronger, he could have saved her, taken her captive and brought her to his elders, who would surely have been able to assist them (ignorant of the fact that even Leviathan would probably have executed an Infernal on sight, Solar bond be damned). He tries not to let his guilt show in his dealings with his new mate, Amon Dral, but occasionally it manifests as a brusque gruffness.

XP

• Earned: 72
• Spent: 72
  • (Charm) Furious Unhappy Recourse
  • (Charm) Hungry Eagle Method
  • (Charm) Perception Excellency Package
  • (Charm) Eye of the Cat
  • (Charm) Snake-Seizing Mongoose Methodology
  • (Attribute) Perception 4
  • (Charm) Boundary-Marking Meditation
  • (Charm) Eclipse Phase Guardian
• Unspent: 0

Wishlist

• Roused Bear Throw