Ashadar Shan

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Ashadar Shan
Eclipse caste Solar exalt
Concept: Patrician merchant prince

Motivation and Nature

Motivation: To rebuild the Scarlet Empire into a once-more-Creation-spanning Shogunate
Nature: Conniver
(Natures no longer appear in Exalted Second Edition, but Shan is old school, dating back to ’01, so here it is.)
Intimacies: Cathak Yuusuka

Attributes

PHYSICAL:

• Strength 2 (average strength; lift 160 lbs)
• Dexterity 5 (almost inhumanly swift and graceful)
• Stamina 2 (unexceptional stamina; soak 2 bashing / 1 lethal)

SOCIAL:

• Charisma 4 (powerful, swaying almost anyone to his cause)
• Manipulation 5 (could talk his way into the halls of the Celestial Incarnae)
• Appearance 2 (fair appearance)

MENTAL:

• Perception 2 (everyday alertness to the world around him)
• Intelligence 5 (a true genius, capable of understanding the subtlest intricacies of a subject)
• Wits 2 (passable at thinking on his feet)

Abilities

Caste Abilities

• Bureaucracy 5 (could out-compete the Guild in a local market or reform the Realm’s bureaucracy)
• Linguistics 3 (speaks High Realm, Old Realm, Flametongue and Riverspeak)
• Ride 1 (could probably jump a low stone wall or break a wild horse)
• Socialize 2 (could obtain minor favors through flattery or blackmail)

Favored Abilities

• Martial Arts 2 (able to break a stack of boards, or flawlessly perform katas in an exhibition)
• Melee 5 (could defeat a skilled soldier while blindfolded)
• Performance 5 (could start a riot with a speech or entrance a horde of demons with a song)
• Presence 5 (capable of convincing a Wyld Hunt to kneel and worship the Unconquered Sun)
• Occult 3 (able to successfully bargain with moderately powerful gods)

Other Abilities

• Archery 1
• Athletics 1
• Integrity 1
• Lore 3
• Resistance 1
• War 3

Willpower, Virtues and Essence

Willpower: 7 (extremely strong willed & determined)
Virtues:

• Compassion: 1 "Your point being?"
• Conviction: 4 "Some sacrifices are necessary."
• Temperance: 2 "Let's keep this civil, shall we?"
• Valor: 3 "Though hell itself shall set its teeth against me"

Essence: 2

• Personal Essence: 13
• Peripheral Essence: 31

Backgrounds

Followers: 2

• Shan normally travels with a large retinue of skilled aides, guards, and servants. Treated kindly and paid well, they are extremely loyal.
• Shan currently employs several mercenary companies: the Red Clouds, the 5th Lancers, the Lark River Brotherhood, the Painted Lightning Flight, and Companions of Cypress Hill. These are paid for out of his pocket, and not quite so loyal. They are not counted as Followers.

Influence: 3

• Shan is the most important person in Heroncrest prefecture, which lies in a large valley north of Arjuf on the east bank of the Caracal river. He is reasonably well-connected throughout the Realm and in those places he extensively trades with (see below). He also maintains some connections with other alumni from the House of Bells. His trade routes garner him influence in Nexus and the cities of the South, including Chiaroscuro, Yane and Paragon.

Resources: 5

• Shan is exceedingly wealthy, one of the top few percent even in the Realm. He holds large estates in Heroncrest (he has favorable leases on the majority of the prefecture) and maintains smaller townhouses and warehouses in Paragon, Chiaroscuro, Nexus, Grey Falls, Arjuf, and Lord’s Crossing. He has a townhouse in the Imperial City. His merchandise is eclectic – gold, gems and firedust in the South, rare herbs, essences and exotica from the East. His estates on the Isle grow fruits, grapes, and tea plants. He has been attempting to introduce mulberry groves and set up silk production, but this is still in the works.
• While Shan deals with the Guild on a day-to-day basis, he does not actually hold a position of responsibility within that organization. His merchant empire was built by Ashadar Caral, his Outcaste great-grandfather, at the time when the Empress had forbidden the Guild to deal with the Realm, and Caral made his fortune playing the middleman. All subsequent members of House Ashadar have continued the separation. Shan pays funds into Guild coffers for his use of Guild caravans and the like, but neither gives nor receives orders.

Charms

Athletics

• Graceful Crane Stance

Linguistics

• Sagacious Reading of Intent

Melee

• First Melee Excellency
• Dipping Swallow Defense
• Bulwark Stance
• Heavenly Guardian Defense

Occult

• Spirit-Detecting Glance
• Spirit-Cutting Attack

Presence

• First Presence Excellency
• Irresistible Salesman Spirit