Editing Character:Li Jian Chu (section)

==Miscellaneous==
===Chosaten===
The Holy Kingdom of Chosaten lies at the northern edge of the Yellow Forest and is in fact neither holy nor truly a kingdom. There is the old bloodline of the priest-kings who traditionally are held to be of great spiritual power and to intercede with the ancestors on behalf of their people. But like his fathers and grandfathers before him the current 'ruler and high priest of all Chosaten', Priest-King Akewara holds no true power and is little more than a convenient figurehead for official ceremonies. Rulership lies in the hands of the High Council, a body composed of the representatives of the major clans with a token presence from the minor clans. These ruling families of Chosaten are between them in control of nearly all the nation's lands and wealth and are involved in a constant struggle for supremacy. The internal politics of the High Council are vicious and alliances can shift quickly. Currently the White Shield Alliance holds the majority and its leader Dao Tseng is the most powerful man in the country.

The common people of course don't care much, which of the great and powerful holds sway in the Council this year. They are more inwardly focused, polite, private and often suspicious of outlanders. Ancestor worship is widely spread in Chosaten which accounts in part for the priest-kings high popularity among the people despite his ineffectualness. There are few devout Immaculates and even fewer Immaculate monks in the kingdom, but they are accepted and sometimes even revered, though more on their personal merits and those of their faith. However despite the Immaculate Faith's insignificant influence there are ancient scriptures going back to the one of the early priest-kings that list Solars and Lunars among many others (such as redheaded and left-handed children) as harbingers of doom and catalysts of destruction. These are believed only by very few for they resemble the writings of a madman in places, but they have often provided useful pretexts for aggressive political moves within the families or even in the High Council.

In response to Nine Oaks's demands the High Council has 'suggested' to the priest-king that a delegation be sent to negotiate a better deal. Secretly several of the major clans have sent their own agents to try and make alternative arrangements to meet their quota of sacrifices while leaving their rivals burdened.

===Huan Zhao===
Huan Zhao (previously Li-Deng Zhao), a cousin from the Deng branch of the family, grew up together with Jian and shared the same strict instructors. After a protracted duel of academic and mindgame one-upmanship the two boys so close in age and with similar gifts of intelligence became the best of friends. This friendship continued as boys became men with their own, different responsibilities even when occasional letters were all the contact they had after Zhao was married into the Huan family a few months before the fateful day of caravan attack. When Jian returned to the family from his enforced hermitage a few weeks ago he sent Zhao a cryptic note to tell him him that contrary to general knowledge he was still alive, but he has not yet met him in person, unsure how he would react to his tattoos and their personal and political implications.

===Custom Charms===
'''Blade of the Battle Maiden'''<br>
'''Cost:''' 2m/die, (1wp); '''Mins:''' Martial Arts 3, Ess 2; '''Type:''' Reflexive<br>
'''Keywords:''' Obvious<br>
'''Duration:''' One scene<br>
'''Prerequisites:''' Secrets of Future Strife<br>
Charging his hands with disruptive essence the Exalt deals lethal internal injuries even with the lightest of touches. Activating this Charm is a complicated process involving difficult internal channeling techniques - after the initial Charm invocation the Exalt can continue to increase the essence flow as a reflexive non-charm action. Spending more than 2m per Action on this Charm requires the additional expenditure of one point of Willpower to control the forceful release of energies. No more than two times the Exalt's Martial Arts rating in motes can be committed to this Charm.<br>
For the rest of the scene the character’s Martial Arts attacks (including clinches) inflict lethal damage. The character can also parry lethal damage from physical attacks (including ranged attacks) without using a weapon or stunt. What’s more, every two motes spent on this Charm add one die to each unarmed Martial Arts attack, and one to the pool used to calculate Parry Defense Value. Neither armor nor weapons (even Form Weapons) can be used with this Charm.<br>
''Example 1: Waiting for his opponent to finish taunting him Li Jian Chu can take his time activating Blade of the Battle Maiden. He invokes this Charm for 2m and on the two following actions spends another 2m each as a reflexive non-charm action. He now has 6m committed and adds three dice to unarmed attacks and PDV calculation.''<br>
''Example 2: Ambushed by dangerous enemies Jian needs the maximum effect and fast! He activates the Charm and commits 10m - his maximum, since he has MA 5. He also has to spend one point of Willpower since he puts more than 2m/action into BotBM. He now adds five dice to attacks and PDV calculation. Let's hope it is enough.''

Comment: I'm balancing this version of BotBM off Water Dragon Form (5m), which in addition to its primary powerful soak effect adds three dice to all Martial Arts rolls. In comparison BotBM costs slightly more essence per die, is either much slower to activate or costs WP, and dealing/parrying lethal damage is much less powerful than Water Dragon Form's soak boost plus reflexive soak adder. On the plus side BotBM can add more than three dice (a maximum of five barring Ess >6), is more flexible and doesn't have the drawbacks of a Form Charm. Disallowing weapons is a neutral factor in Jian's case, since Claws of the Silver Moon (once he learns it) enhances his natural unarmed attacks and is equivalent to using Moonsilver Tiger Claws with Water Dragon Style.
===Jian minus tattoos===
[[Image:Jian.png]]