Franco

Franco is a character for the The_Moon's_Reflection game run by Celeste.

Character's Name: Franco

Archetype Po from "Kung Fu Panda".

Class/Kit: Monk

Race/Subrace: Human

Age/Birthdate: The campaign begins on 1st Richfest 573 CY. Franco is 19, so his birthdate would be 554?

Deity: Franco is a philosophy student.

Social Class: Born a yeoman, Franco's learning has taken him out of the caste system and into the monastics.

Birthplace: Suburb of Chendl. He knows the town and surrounding area...all to well...

Why is your character in Chendl? While he'd been bumming around the countryside for a while after leaving (getting kicked out of) the monastary, Franco heard of Sylvie's news and wasted no time getting himself to her aide.

What is your character's strongest attribute? Wisdom and then Charisma; Franco gets along with most people who are fun. That includes children, which leads many unfun people to view Franco as a simpleton or wastrel. In truth, Franco's perceptions take him past where most people think but children don't have those blinders beat onto them yet.

What is your character's weakest attribute? Constitution/Self-Discipline and Strength. While Franco disciplines himself daily, in private, it's always a struggle and the scent of fresh bread tortures him.

Who is your character's closest ally? Still open...maybe another PC?

Who is your character's worst enemy? Dorren, a hardened criminal. See below

What is the most noticeable aspect of the character's personality? Smiling, relaxed, always willing to ask odd questions or think in strange ways.

What is your character's fondest wish? To be able to train without it being so much effort!

How is your character connected to the missing wizard, his niece, and/or the trip to Morsten? As a young teen in trouble and heading towards a bad life, Franco was often found in indiscreet situations and occasionally with his hands on someone else's portables. While...um...talking to a fair lass of no real repute she happened to mention a raid planned on Sylvie's family that night. Sylvie had once laughed at one of his jokes and bought him a berry pie as a thank you. It doesn't take much for a teen guy. Franco pushed himself to the scene as fast as he could go. Not being able to stop the raid directly he was able to make enough noise and ruckus (he was actualy trying to get his pants back on) to alert the guards and scare off Dorren and the other thieves. A few days later Franco was found beaten and tied up as a warning to other sniches. Galen somehow found out about the connection and arranged for Franco to be taken in by a monastic order for healing, recovery, and maybe a little infusion of some morals.

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SyuRev Yap Kon "Drowned Stone Path"

There are a small number of widely dispersed temples that focus on SyuRev Yap Kon. However, the majority of the order's followers live near small clusters of each other or spend some months travelling between temples. Followers habitually have on their person a small stone that's well rounded; these stones generally come from strongly flowing streams. There is nothing mystical about the stone itself; it just serves as a focus of contemplation. In fact, in 356 a failing student named Chaqua threw his stone into a creek as he prepared to leave the order. Seeing the stone skip seven times, for seven is a strong number for the students, Chaqua burst our laughing, crying, and wet his pants as he hurried back to the master to answer a thought trap that had stumped him for three years. Master Wet Breeks, as he became known, has encouraged the art of stone skipping for some decades now.

SyuRev Yap Kon followers begin to learn body arts from the very beginning. "Choo-Da", the sacred art of "Sweep the temple floor" often takes a student a full year to master. It is generally taught in conjunction with "FinDang", the sacred art of "Shut your mouth". While serving as an apprentice, a follower will learn the ways of the body. How to move with purposeful effort, how to not move with purposeful effort, and the painful lessons of moving with unpurposeful effort. An apprentice spends however long it takes to become familier with his or her limbs and how to control them. Each apprentice is given a rounded stone from a stream but without explination. Some students focus on becoming as hard as a rock, others as dense and immoveable. Some just seek to become as quiet and self-contained. Each path is valid, and it is the mark of a senior apprentice who realizes that the rock's smooth shape not only encompasses all these qualities but has been worn down to that shape just as the apprentice has had the unpurposeful motion worn out of them.

From that realization the apprentice sees the rock as a Master of SyuRev Yap Kon, able to do whatever is necessary for the moment. Senior students will sweep the temple floor standig on one foot and balancing a bowl of water on their head, or they might spend a week climbing the temple walls and brushing them with their hands. As a student enters a journyman state they will pursue a wide variety of physical disciplines such as horse back riding, sailing, tree climbing, swimming, weapons practice, long distance running, mud wrestling, and gardening. Each activity is a way for the student to deepen their understanding of moving with purpose.

While students often begin their studies with large motions mimicing animals like the tiger, crane, and donkey, these are but training tools. The path is followed taken that the motions are understood so that they may be forgotten. A ShaKlop, "wet pebble", is a master in training. Their role is to travel from temple to temple while minimizing movements for their particular areas of study. At each temple the ShaKlop will demontrate for the BiiPhlops, "masters", what they understand. That demonstration is both a test of the ShaKlop and the temple where he's from; thus all are encouraged to do their best to learn more as they travel between temples. If the BiiPhlops are suiteably impressed they will ask the ShaKlop to stay for some time and teach their path to the apprentices. Often an advanced ShaKlop will be asked to take an apprentice or three along with them so that the apprentice may learn more about that path. Sometimes these are the top students, sometimes the ones the BiiPhlops hope can learn better someplace else.

Once a student becomes a BiiPhlop they again enter a path of training. While even the senior apprentices are taught internal arts, the BiiPhlops cultivate Vaear, "that which is not". This spiritual training gives the BiiPholp supernatural abilities. It is also where the darkest traditions lay and where many an otherwise wholesome student has been lost. Vaear bends the mind of a weak practitioner or one who has hidden evil. There are rumors that dark Vaear masters can even sunder the veil between that which is and that which is not. Few know of this, even fewer speak of it. No one visits those temples without dark purpose.