Mari

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• Mari
• Caste: Night
• Concept: Jailbait Assault Berserker
• Description: Mari appears to be a girl of sixteen, not terribly attractive, but with a winning smile and the ability to inspire a protective reaction from most people. Her skin is dark, and usually bronze due to the sorcery she uses to ward herself. She dresses simply, in a silk shift and bangles of starmetal, with only her extensive tattoos to cover up the rest of her body.

Motivation

• Help Nee-san liberate Thorns

Intimacies

Natural

Positive

• Shrike Nee-san (adoration)
• Candy! (omnomnomnom)

Supernatural

Positive

• Shrike Nee-san (love/lust, from numerous applications of Husband-Seducing Demon Dance and other Charms)

Attributes

Physical

• Strength 17 (base 5, +2 from DIT, +5 from UBOS, +5 Increasing Strength Exercise)
• Dexterity 7 (base 5, +2 from DIT)
• Stamina 7 (base 2, +5 from UBOS) (4 XP)

Social

• Charisma 5
• Manipulation 1
• Appearance 2

Mental

• Perception 5
• Intelligence 2 (4 XP) (Functionally 5 due to Rubric Cube)
• Wits 3

Abilities

Caste

Athletics 7 (Combat Mobility +3, Feats of Strength +3) (1.5 BP, DIT)
Awareness 5 (Vision +3) (5.5 BP)
Larceny 1 (Disguises +3) (2.5 BP)
Dodge 3 (3 BP)
Stealth 5 (5 BP)

Favored

Martial Arts 7 (Bare Hands +3) (DIT)

Integrity 5 (Against Essence Channellers +3) (DIT)
Resistance 5

Craft (Fire 1, Air 2, Magitech 5)
Investigate 5
Lore 5
Occult 5

(It should be noted that Mari, as of now, acts like she has Craft 0 Lore 1 Occult 3; reverting to the listed values will occur at some future event.)

Unfavored

War 4 (When Outnumbered +3) (3.5 BP)
Linguistics 1 (1 BP)

Backgrounds

Manse 5: The Living Steel Dojo

This Earth-Aspected Manse looks to be little more than a bunker of black basalt from the outside, but imost people don't even get to see through the Greater Veil of Shadows (Power 4) which wards it. Mari only found out by literally running right into it and feeling her way to the Manse's front door. Inside, the Dojo contains extensive Archives (Power 2) on martial arts, as well as built-in food production (Provider 3) and various Magical Conveniences. The living areas are comfortably furnished, but much of the space is devoted to training equipment and courses. It is, however, very big, and could probably house and feed hundreds of people for, well, ever.

The Living Steel Dojo produces a composite Hearthstone; it combines the properties of a Kata-Sculpting Gem and a Stone of Conviction.

Manse 5: The Temple of Light

Built in a mountain peak on the fringes of Lookshy, the Temple of Light was once a retreat for one of Mari's previous incarnations, Five Moons. It incorporates a fully-stocked and functional factory-cathedral and an integrated reality engine designed to facilitate the use of the Wyld-Shaping Technique. It is staffed by a group of potent statue-servitors; all of whom are the equivalent of Second Circle Demons.

The Temple of Light produces the Rubric Cube; it allows the substitution of Intelligence with one's Essence score for all purposes and adds (Essence/2) successes to all Intelligence-based actions. Its name derives from the fact that it was engineered in the form of a mechanical puzzle; it consists of twenty-six unique miniature cubes. Each of these includes a concealed inward extension that interlocks with the other cubes, while permitting them to move to different locations. However, the centre cube of each of the six faces is merely a single square façade; all six are affixed to the core mechanism. These provide structure for the other pieces to fit into and rotate around. So there are twenty-one pieces: a single core piece consisting of three intersecting axes holding the six centre squares in place but letting them rotate, and twenty smaller plastic pieces which fit into it to form the assembled puzzle. When Mari plays with the cube, it sometimes jogs her memories and allows her to remember things from her prior incarnation.

Artifact 3: Zsofika Demon-Ink Tattoo

This attractive tattoo of the Kite Flute looks like the demoness herself, captured mid-step on Mari's back. Away from the eyes of mortals, it continues dancing to an unheard rhythm, though it will change its steps to match those of any ambient music.

This tattoo grants +2 to Dexterity, +2 to Athletics and +3 specialties in Combat Mobility. Zsofika blesses those who bear her image with her grace and skill.

Artifact 3: Sondok Demon-Ink Tattoo

Sondok stands in a suitably martial pose opposite Zsofika, performing a dance with her sword in counterpoint to Zsofika's steps. Lucky viewers might be able to see them battle on Mari's back, war fan against Malfean blade.

This tattoo grants +2 to Strength, +2 to Martial Arts and +3 specialties in practicing Martial Arts in armor. The ferocity of Sondok infuses those who wear her on their skin.

Tattoo Artifact 2: Skin-Mount Setting

This intricate pattern of brass filigree and characters decorates Mari's pubic mound, and its enchantments form a natural adhesion point for Hearthstones. The intimate connection permits an expansion of the body's natural Essence capacity.

Artifact 1: Teodozjia Demon-Ink Tattoo

The lion gracing her lower back lends its conviction to Mari. It grimaces in the presence of holy objects and people, like Determination of Mountains, for instance.

Allies 1: Seven Times Blessed By The Sun

Mari met this Twilight physician while saving a riverboat from the ravages of demons. She met him again when she found him running a clinic of sorts in the helot district. Impressed by his selflessness and the way he coudl cure people by simply thumping them hard enough, she adopted him as a pet.

Allies 1: Coral

A former lover of one of Mari's prior incarnations, Coral was once the Goddess of Infernal Licence, holding sway over the purview of the intimate relations of Celestial Exalted with demons. She lost her purview during the Usurpation, and was in a terrible funk until she met Mari again, and consequently Wind of Lament, who found her a new purview as the Goddess of Returning Lawgivers. She's terribly fond of Mari and the feeling is mutual.

Allies 1: Shimazu, Keeper of the Five Score Forbidden Lore

During her sojourn into Malfeas to rescue Blossom, Coral's sister goddess, Mari encountered a strange demon who claimed to have known her and even given her the demon-ink tattoos on her back. She figured that it couldn't hurt to have him along for the rude, However, it seems he knows more than he lets on...

Allies 1: Amilar Kraik, Master of the Valkshawsen Academy of Sorcery

Mari's first encounter with the Master of Valkshawsen came when she defused an activated soulbreaker orb in one of his armories. She felt sorry for his rotting condition and his loneliness in the bowels of the Academy, and she's taken it upon herself to hook him up with Seven and to bring him candy whenever possible.

Merits

Enchanting Features

Mari is cute. As in, really cute. She's not sexy (that's Shrike) but if she really wants to, she can make people go "awwwww" and want to hug her.

Paragon of Conviction

Mari is stubborn. As in, really stubborn. She's so stubborn that she actuslly transcends conventional definitions of stubborn. Fortunately she's also terribly mercurial. But once she decides on something, no power in the 'verse can keep her from doing it.

Prodigy (Martial Arts)

Mari is badass. As in, really badass. She picked up the lessons from the Living Steel Dojo with frightening speed and the only reason she hasn't grown more is because she seriously could not be bothered to learn. If she can focus herself and properly study...

Flaws

Permanent Caste Mark 2
Amnesia 3
Nightmares 2
Greater Curse 3

Permanent Caste Mark

Mari has a big red ring on her brow, with occasional swirls within. This marks her as a Wretched, which is probably not good.

Amnesia

Mari doesn't remember anything before being summoned to Shrike.

Nightmares

Mari has bad dreams - usually about a city with a mad green sun and buildings of brass. She likes the place, but not what she does while she's in it.

Greater Curse

And of course, Mari tends to throw temper tantrums much more often than most. Except that her tantrums usually involve brutally destroying people who get in her way.

Charms

First/Second/Third Excellency

Martial Arts
War
Resistance
Integrity
Craft
Investigate
Lore
Occult
Athletics
Awareness
Dodge
Larceny
Stealth
Linguistics

Infinite Mastery

Martial Arts
Resistance
Integrity
Craft
Investigate
Lore
Occult
Athletics
Awareness
Dodge
Stealth

Essence Flow

Martial Arts
Resistance
Integrity
Craft
Investigate
Lore
Occult
Athletics
Awareness
Dodge
Stealth

Resistance

Ox-Body Technique x5
Durability of Oak Meditation
Iron Skin Concentration

Dodge

Reflex Sidestep Technique

Integrity

Integrity-Protecting Prana

Temptation-Resisting Stance (Conviction version)

Phoenix Renewal Tactic (Conviction)
Epic Zeal of Conviction
Champion of Conviction Meditation

Craft

Crack-Mending Technique
Craftsman Needs No Tools
Wonder-Forging Genius x2

Investigate

Crafty Observation Method
Misdeed-Unveiling Illumination

Lore

Chaos-Repelling Pattern
Wyld-Shaping Technique
Wyld Cauldron Methodology
Immanent Solar Glory
All Shining As The Sun

Occult

Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
- Unbreakable Bones of Stone
- Invulnerable Skin of Bronze

Athletics

Graceful Crane Stance
Lightning Speed
Monkey Leap Technique
Unparalleled Acumen Meditation
Increasing Strength Exercise

Solar Hero Style

Fists of Iron Technique
Sledgehammer Fist Punch
Dragon Coil Technique
Solar Hero Form
Heaven Thunder Hammer

Orichalcum Fists of Battle

Steel-Seizing Alacrity
Immortal Blade-Deflecting Palm
Avalanche-Warding Method

Combos

"Playtime!"

Steel-Seizing Alacrity
Immortal Blade-Deflecting Palm
Avalanche-Warding Method
Reflex Sidestep Technique
Dragon Coil Technique
Sledgehammer Fist Punch
Solar Hero Form
Iron Skin Concentration
First Martial Arts Excellency

Essence

• Essence: 5
• Personal: 25/25
• Peripheral: 56/56 (formerly 77/77)
• Committed to Charms: 14 (Chaos-Repelling Pattern, Unparallelled Acumen Meditation)
• Committed to artifacts: 7 (Discreet Essence Armor, 3 Demon-Ink Tattoos)
• Willpower: 10/10
• Anima status: Quiescent

Virtues

• Compassion: 2
• Conviction: 6
• Temperance: 1
• Valor: 3
• (Virtue channels used: 0)

Limit Break

Virtue Flaw: Monumental Ego (see: http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Monumental_Ego) Partial Control: While the character still believes that everything they do will succeed, he remains lucid enough to recognize his own failures, though he will never accept full responsibility for them.
Condition: The character singlehandedly achieves something that significantly furthers his Motivation.
Duration: One scene in combat or (Conviction) hours otherwise.

Conflict

Physical

• Join Battle: 11
• Dodge DV: 11
• FOIT Punch: Speed 5 Acc 22 Dam 23B/L PDV 11 Rate 4 Keywords N, P
  
• FOIT Kick: Speed 5 Acc 21 Dam 26B/L PDV 9 Rate 3 Keywords N, P
  
• FOIT Clinch: Speed 6 Acc 31 (using Str) Dam 23B/L Def Rate 2 - Keywords C,N,P
  
• Soak (L/B/A): 10L/19B/0A (6L/12B Invulnerable Skin of Bronze Stamina 7)
• Hardness: 6L/12B (6L/12B Invulnerable Skin of Bronze)

Movement

• Move: 7 (17 with Lightning Speed)
• Dash: 13 (20 with Lightning Speed)
• Jump: 27 vertical, 54 horizontal, doubled with Monkey Leap Technique

Social

• Join Debate: 10
• Dodge MDV: 10
• Parry MDV: 7

Health Levels

• -0 x1 / -1 x7 / -2 x12 / -4 x 1 / Incap / Dying
• (wounds are designated as bashing, lethal or aggravated)

History

Mari... doesn't know very much about herself. She remembers a crimson sky hanging over a city of brass and verdigris, a green sun shining like a sickly eye of fire in the heavens. She remembers the wind that killed in its passing, and the clamor that was made to ward it away.

She remembers pleasure, mixed with sweetest pain, of the air grinding mountains to dust and the gales of arrowheads and flaring light.

Then, she remembers nothing, except that she woke up in a world where the sky was blue and the sun was yellow, and that Shrike-nee was there. Shrike-nee held her. Shrike-nee loved her.

She loves Shrike-nee too. She grudgingly puts on the pretty dresses Shrike-nee asks her to wear, because it makes her happy. She dislikes all bald people, because they separated her from her Nee-san once and made Mari very sad.

But she's far too flighty to hold a grudge...

The Truth

Mari Exalted as a Solar in the North, when she threw herself at a pack of blood-apes led by a Green Sun Prince to buy time for her brother and family to escape. She never thought she would score a hit on the demons, much less punch its head clean off with her suddenly gold-glowing fists. Emboldened by her success, she saw the rest of the demons off and pursued the Infernal... only to chase him into Hell and see the door close behind her.

She evaded capture, and spent several years surviving in the Demon City, with only her wits and reflexes to guide her. In order to conceal her status as a Solar (and to improve her own abilities), she had demon-ink tattoos of various demons made to order; the demonic chalcanth in the ink masked her Solar Essence (and still does, to some extent). She also borrowed faces, including one of a Scourge, and frequently did so during her endless errands for her illegal demon allies.

Eventually, the forces of the Yozis found her, and in her desperation, she hit on a radical plan. She would fully tune her metaphysical signature to that of a demon which was to be summoned, and escape to Creation via that route. But something went horribly wrong with the spell, and while she ended up in Creation again, she was bereft of her mind and memory.

That is, until she realised that she was in Shrike's boudoir...

Personality

Being that Mari has the mental age of a ten-year old, she is not at all interested in domination or conquest or similarly long-ranged plans. She is content to be led and directed by others and to satisfy her own desires, be they for food, sex or simply to play with things. To Mari, "play" encompasses everything from pattycake with Shrike to ripping fully armed and armored Realm elite troops to pieces; for the most part, Shrike has taught Mari to obey the basic rules of society, though Mari's irrepressible childishness usually shines through. Mari is very easily manipulated, especially by treats and pretty objects / people.

Ever since she met Coral, Mari has regained a certain amount of self-awareness. She can actually use proper pronouns now, though she still likes to nickname people and her childish mentality is very much still in evidence. She doesn't know it, but she has a good heart, which, aided by Wrath's attempts to teach her to be a good person, may help put her on the straight and narrow...

Goals

Mari has no higher goals at the moment. Although, she likes candy, being with her friends, and so on.

XP

• Earned: 136 (16 weeks (15 May 2010) + 8 Story Arc)
• Spent: 49 (Int, Appearance, Stamina to 2 (12 XP), Teodozjia DIT (2 XP), 4 Charms (32 XP), Compassion to 2 (3 XP))
• 2 Charms cashed in: Secrets of Future Strife and Joy In Adversity Stance +16
• Sidequests + 18 +4 +4 +8 +12
• Pool Party Bonus +4
• 5 Charms: Phoenix Renewal Tactic (Conviction), Epic Zeal of Conviction, Champion of Conviction Meditation, Evidence-Discerning Method, Golden Magistrate Clarity
• 9 Charms: Chaos-Repelling Pattern, Wyld-Shaping Technique, Wyld Cauldron Methodology, Crack-Mending Technique, Craftsman Needs No Tools, Wonder-Forging Genius x2, Immanent Solar Glory, Custom Charm: All Shining As The Sun
• Heir Apparent 5 (10 XP)
• 1 Charm: Increasing Strength Exercise
• Cashed in Artifact 3 (Discreet Essence Armor) for 3 BP and bought 4 Allies 1 backgrounds for 4 BP
• Traded Shadow over Water, Seven Shadow Evasion and Leaping Dodge Method for Steel-Seizing Alacrity, Immortal Blade-Deflecting Palm and Avalanche-Warding Method.
• Cult 1 (Gunzosha) (3 XP)

• Unspent: 28

Note: 3 BP remaining

Custom Charms

All Shining As The Sun

Cost: None; Mins: Lore 5, Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Immanent Solar Glory

Solars are absolute masters of what is rightfully theirs, which may well include Creation and everything in it. This Charm permanently enhances an Exalt's capabilities, allowing him to treat artifacts of any magical material as orichalcum for the purposes of usage and/or attunement. In addition, he never takes penalties for working with magical materials other than orichalcum. Non-orichalcum artifacts attuned in this way tend to have golden highlights even in the lowest light.

At Essence 5, the Solar works a greater miracle on artifice. By paying an extra 2 motes, he may cause a non-orichalcum artifact which normally grants a bonus based on its magical material composition to grant an additional orichalcum magical material bonus. Thus, a suit of moonsilver armor could, at the cost of 2 extra motes of commitment, grant +2B/L soak in addition to having a mobility penalty of 0. Orichalcum artifacts instead reduce their attunement cost by 1, to a minimum of 1 mote. Artifacts which do not grant a magical material bonus do not do so under the influence of this Charm.

Wonderwork-Weaving Hands

Cost: None; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools, Crack-Mending Technique

The excellence of the Sun flows into the world through his Chosen. From their hands come the wonders that Exalt the world. This Charm permanently enhances its two prerequisites, changing their Durations to Indefinite. In addition, as long as either prerequisite is active, the Solar reduces the time required to perform any Craft actions by one step: from seasons => months => weeks => days => hours => scenes=> long ticks/minutes => short ticks. Therefore, a Solar can perform minor maintenance almost effortlessly and stretch a bar of pig iron into a mastercrafted sword in minutes with his bare hands.

This Charm may be re-purchased at Essence 6+, 8+ and 10. Each repurchase reduces the time required to perform any crafting action by one further step. This step reduction is cumulative wih that provided by artifacts such as Atelier Manses, but under no circumstance can any combination of effects including Wonderwork-Weaving Hands reduce the step for Craft actions by more than (Essence/3).

Finally, at Essence 5, the mote cost for Craftsman Needs No Tools and Crack-Mending Technique becomes (10-Essence).

Steel-Seizing Alacrity

Cost: 2m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Solar Hero Form

The Solar Hero scorns blades of mere steel - after all, his knuckles are harder and his flesh is tougher! A Solar with this Charm may use her full Parry DV as calculated via Martial Arts to defend herself from an attack.

The Solar may make the use of this Charm Obvious if she wishes; her anima smashes the blow aside, her hands glow with divine Essence to seize and discard an incoming sword, or a wave of deflecting power ripples out from her body to defeat the attack. A similar clause applies to Immortal Blade-Deflecting Palm.

Avalanche-Warding Method

Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 7)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Knockback, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steel-Seizing Alacrity OR Immortal Blade-Deflecting Palm, Heaven Thunder Hammer

Beset by a thousand falling boulders, the Solar Hero meets the cascade of rock with a fury of his own, breaking storms with raw power and waves with sheer brutality. This Charm can only be activated when the Solar uses her Parry DV to defend against an attack. Regardless of the defense's success or failure, the Solar emits a flare of radiant Solar Essence which blows the attacker (Strength x Martial Arts) yards in any plausible vector away from her. This knockback follows all the rules of Heaven Thunder Hammer when damage must be determined for striking an obstacle.

At Essence 4+, the Solar may instead launch himself the distance he would have propelled his enemy, except that he may control how far and in which direction he goes (so long as it is directly away from the enemy) and he does not take damage for striking obstacles.