Character:Nuwa

Nüwa
Dawn Caste aspiring sword-saint

A quiet and serious young woman. South-eastern descent, tanned skin, green eyes, black hair, usually clad in greens and browns, carries two slightly curved swords.

Motivation

To free the people of the east from false prophets and tyranny so they can find their way to enlightenment.

Anima

When Nüwa taps into peripheral essence her castemark shimmers in rose-tinged gold. With further expenditures the cloak of her anima becomes visible, a deep gold suffused by the glorious red of the sunrise that surrounds her as a coruscating aura. At its maximum it coalesces into its iconic form, a ring of flying blades high over Nüwa's head - the Crown of Swords, a banner that has struck fear into the hearts of her opponents since times immemorial.

Attributes

PHYSICAL: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3
SOCIAL: Charisma 3, Manipulation 1, Appearance 3
MENTAL: Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 4

Abilities

Caste Abilities

Martial Arts 5 (Unarmed +1), Melee 6 (Swords +3)

Favored Abilities

Integrity 3 (Self-control +1), Resistance 3, Lore 3, Athletics 3, Awareness 5 (Join Battle +1)

Unfavored Abilities

Presence 2, Survival 1, Craft (Wood) 1, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Linguistics 2 (Forest-tongue, Riverspeak, Old Realm), Socialize 1

Backgrounds

Face 2

Nüwa's name is known among practitioners of the martial arts across the East. Her reputation began as that of a teen prodigy when she won her first contest at the age of 15 and was given the affectionate name of 'East Wind's Iron Blossom' by the presiding master. Since then as her talent matured and her mastery of the blade grew it has steadily increased. News of the bitter triumph at NAME, the hard lessons she gave to the godblooded High-Flying Silver and Steady Iron Heart and her other exploits of the past few months have yet to spread through the East but once they do Nüwa's renown will likely increase sharply.

Artifact 3

Nüwa's preferred weapon - when fighting with only one blade - 'First Light' is a slightly curved orichalkum reaper daiklave of great simplicity, the only apparent power of which is to cut so cleanly that wounds remain free of infections. The appearance of simplicity is deceptive however, for Nüwa did not find the weapon entombed with the remains of a previous incarnation nor did she buy it, steal it or win it in battle. Instead in her moment of Exaltation after NAME broke her right-hand sword in the battle at NAME Nüwa instinctively reached into the Crown of Blades and from the light of her anima drew forth First Light. This mysterious origin explains perhaps why the weapon's attunement cannot be broken by any means, not even by herself, as well as her inability to attune other weapons.
In rules terms First Light is an orichalkum reaper daiklave (Spd 4, Acc +5, Dmg +8L, Def +3, Rate 4) which prevents all infections in the wounds it causes. It cannot be de-attuned at all, willingly or unwillingly (against charms that contest this effect the weapon gains 8 automatic successes on the opposed roll), and prevents the attunement of other artifact weapons until Nüwa masters the necessary charms.

Unknown to Nüwa the Crown of Swords is more than just the symbol of her totemic anima. It is in fact both a construct within her anima as well as a place which contains the full panoply of Nüwa's previous incarnation. Through powerful charms he had attuned himself to all of his hundreds of artifact weapons and other implements of battle at once and stored them in the safest place possible: his own soul. These charms, which Nüwa currently lacks, allowed him to summon and banish those artifacts at will. Simultaneously the only way for him and her to attune new artifacts is through the Crown of Blades. Once Nüwa gains access to and control over that part of herself she will have at her disposal a panoply perhaps greater than that of any Solar in the Second Age - but that day is still far away.

Artifact 1

The Thorns of the Heavenly Rose, a set of paired swords, were a gift to Nüwa from her sifu Subtle Glory of the Eastern Wind when she left his dojo behind to learn from the world. Originally forged by a Shogunate master smith the red-tinged blades represent the very pinnacle of mortal craft and art and are no less sharp today than when they first saw the light of day almost a thousand years ago. It is said that five times five gods of war and conflict, among them the Maiden of Battles herself, were petitioned to bless the swords and empower the thaumaturgic rituals upon them. The hilts, being of lesser resistance against the ages than the blades, were recently recreated from the rare bloodwood from the far eastern jungles by Subtle Glory of the Eastern Wind. Properly treated this wood creates a bond between the weapon and its bearer akin to the attunement of an Exalt's magical weapon.
During the fight at NAME the Blasphemous NAME employed dark charms to break one of the two Thorns. Nüwa still carries the shards with her, feeling that she owes it to the history of the blade as well as to her sifu who gave it to her. One day she hopes to find a master smith sufficient skill to reforge it.
The remaining Thorn of the Heavenly Rose is in rules terms a perfect straight sword (Spd 4, Acc +4, Dmg +4L, Def +2, Rate 2) that three times per story allows the negation of one HL of damage suffered by its wielder or the addition of one HL to the damage she inflicts. However as a mortal weapon it does not possess the indestructibility of artifact weapons.

Charms

Melee

3rd Melee Excellency (4m, reroll attack or add 3 to PDV)
Call the Blade (1m, call your weapon to your hand from Ess*10 meters away)
Dipping Swallow Defense (2m, use full PDV)
Bulwark Stance (5m, negate all penalties to PDV for one action)
Fivefold Bulwark Stance (5m, 1wp, DV penalties for actions reduced by 1, no onslaught penalties)
Heavenly Guardian Defense (4m, perfect defense with the Temperance Flaw)

Integrity

2nd Integrity Excellency (2m/sux, add automatic successes to Integrity roll or MDV)
Temptation-Resisting Stance (6m, add Temperance to mental DVs)

Athletics

Graceful Crane Stance (3m, perfect balance)

Awareness

Surprise-Anticipation Method (1m, negate any surprise)

Intimacies

The path to enlightenment begins with the art of the sword.
My sifu, Subtle Glory of the East Wind, is like a father to me.
The needless killing of sentient beings is cruel and weighs heavily on my karma.

Essence

Essence: 2
Peripheral: 27/27 (32)
Personal: 13/13
Committed: 5 peripheral (daiklave)
Anima Status: None

Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated
(wounds are designated as bashing, lethal or aggravated)

Willpower

OOOOO OO (Willpower 7/7)

Virtues

Compassion: 3 - Strength is only a virtue when it is used to protect the weak and for the benefit of all.
Conviction: 2 - Don't focus on your goals to the exclusion of all else - you'll lose sight of the big picture.
Temperance: 4 - Worldly desires and attachments are the source of all suffering. Free yourself from them.
Valor: 2 - Courage means facing your fears, not running blindly into danger.

Limit Break

Ascetic Drive
When the pressure becomes too great Nüwa often leaves her material possessions behind and retreats into seclusion to meditate far away from worldly affairs.

Limit Condition: Being confronted with her own failures and human weaknesses.
Limit: ----- -----

Equipment

Hand: Spd 5, Acc 12, Dmg 3B, PDV 6, rate 3
Kick: Spd 6, Acc 10, Dmg 6B, PDV 5, rate 1
Wooden stick: Spd 4, Acc 14, Dmg 6B, PDV 8, rate 3
Thorn: Spd 4, Acc 18, Dmg 7L, PDV 8, rate 2
First Light: Spd 4, Acc 19, Dmg 11L, PDV 9, rate 4

XP

XP gained:
XP spent:
XP unspent: