Tianxia Blood Silk & Jade:Iron Butterfly Ping
Contents
Iron Butterfly Ping
Jianghu Rank: 1
Refresh: 2
Fate Points: 3
Picture:
Aspects:
High Concept: The Bandit Lord’s Run-Away Daughter
- Invoke: Iron Butterfly grew up in a bandit camp and learned many skills related to stealth, fighting, observation, etc. from her father and his men. Now that she has fled, she continues to use them for her own purposes.
- Compel: Growing up in a bandit camp, especially given the way Iron Lung tried to shelter her from the realities of his trade, Iron Butterfly is somewhat naïve about the world. There are also quite a number of people who might be trying to track her down--her father’s men, to bring her home; her father’s enemies, for revenge or to use her as a hostage.
Trouble: Always Sees the Best in People--Even When It Isn’t There: Despite what she’s learned, Iron Butterfly can’t in her heart believe that Iron Lung is a truly brutal man. She sees him as someone who once really was a social bandit and has lost his way and who could, with help, become the hero he always claimed he was to her--and Iron Butterfly hopes that someday she can go back and redeem her father. She tends to extend this optimistic outlook to others as well.
- Invoke: Sometimes it does bring out the best in people …
- Compel: … but sometimes it means she badly misjudges them. She might take self-serving misrepresentations or lies at face values, when others would know to be skeptical. She might focus on trying to help someone be a better person when they need to fought or otherwise confronted about their misdeeds.
Phase One: Searching for Heroism: Distraught to learn that Iron Lung was not the hero she idolized him to be, Iron Butterfly is searching for a real hero, hoping to become his or her student--or at least find someone she can look up to. She also wishes to become a hero herself.
- Invoke: This means that Iron Butterfly can often push herself to greater heights when she is risking her own safety to help others in distress.
- Compel: This also means that she’s willing to go to go the extra mile to help others, even when it interferes with other plans she has. She’s also prone to placing herself in danger as well--sometimes needless danger for the sake of proving herself.
Phase Two: Curious About All the New People: Having grown up in relative isolation in a bandit camp, Iron Butterfly is immensely curious about all the new people she is meeting in Bao Jiang and eager to learn as much as she can about them. She is a bit of a gossip--not maliciously so, but out of an earnest curiosity to learn more about others and know what’s going on in the big city.
- Invoke: On the plus side, this means she’s very well informed about goings-on and her genuine interest in others makes many people take a liking to her.
- Compel: On the down side, many consider her quite nosy and she does indeed sometimes stick her nose into things that are none of her business, sometimes going to significant efforts to eavesdrop on others. This breeds a certain amount of resentment and sometimes gets her into bigger trouble, especially if she’s caught listening when she shouldn’t.
Phase Three: Emerald Feather the Parrot: Iron Butterfly has a faithful parrot companion, Emerald Feather, a gift from her father. He is a bit more than a pet, since, like many parrots, he is highly intelligent and has a limited vocabulary he can use to communicate with others.
- Invoke: Thus, Iron Butterfly sometimes uses him as a messenger or spy.
- Compel: Unfortunately, Emerald Feather also has a somewhat churlish sense of humor and is a bit overconfident--meaning he sometimes leaves himself open to attacks after insulting people.
Skills:
Great (+4) Fighting
Good (+3) Athletics, Stealth
Fair (+2) Burglary, Chi, Notice, Rapport
Average (+1) Investigate, Physique, Shoot, Will
Stress:
Physical O O O
Mental O O O
Consequences:
Mild [2]: _________________________
Moderate [4]: Concussion From a Staff Strike
Severe [6]: _______________________
Kung Fu:
Lightning Crane
Form Aspect: Lightning Crane stylists rely on quick deflecting blocks and subtle but effective evasions executed quickly and without wasted energy. Attacks come in the form of quick hand strikes, low kicks, and the occasional sweep or throw. A Lightning Crane practitioner’s footwork is key to its success, as balance and solid footing lets them throw their entire bodies behind bursts of speed in attack and defense. In many ways this style seems like a stripped down speeded up version of other Crane styles despite being a fully developed style of its own.
Techniques:
Crane Sleeps Standing: +2 bonus when Overcoming physical obstacles based on physical obstruction or poor footing.
Lightning Crosses the Sky: When you succeed with style on a Fight attack, you may move 1 zone in addition to gaining a boost. If someone or something tries to stop this movement, gain a +2 to rolls to overcome.
Lightning Splits the Tree: When you succeed with style on a Fight attack, you may remove an invocation on an existing advantage affecting you instead of taking a boost.
Lightning Strikes Without Pause: Gain a +2 bonus to Notice (or other skill) used when determining turn order.
Stunts:
Emerald Spy: +2 to Notice, even when Iron Butterfly isn’t in the scene. Emerald Feather can act as a spy for Iron Butterfly and report back, using his limited vocabulary.
Forest Child: +2 to Stealth in the wilderness. Iron Butterfly was trained in stealth in the woods and is particularly adept at using it in non-urban conditions.
The Iron Butterfly Flaps Her Wings: Add +2 Weapon Rating to Fight attacks made when using twin war fans, the weapons in which Iron Butterfly specializes and from which she has taken her name.
Background:
Gender: Female Age: 18 years Height: 5’6” Weight: 130 lbs.
Appearance: Iron Butterfly Ping is an unassuming young woman of slight build. She wears her hair and dresses fashionably, at least as much as someone of her station can afford. She is careful, however, to make sure her fashionable clothes will let her move freely, whether in a fight or sneaking around. She also avoids items, such as flashy or noisy jewelry that might expose her.
Character History: Iron Butterfly Ping is the daughter of the notorious bandit lord Iron Lung Ping, so named for his great shout, which strikes fear in his enemies. Iron Lung is a ruthless bandit, but he was also a doting father who wanted his daughter to think well of him. He gave her a great deal of training in both kung fu and the arts of banditry, while telling her legends of social bandits who stole from the corrupt rich and gave to the down-trodden poor, always letting her think that he and his men were such social bandits. Thus, despite growing up in a bandit camp, Iron Butterfly managed to remain fairly naïve. When she came of age, her mother, Bao Lubin decided to disabuse her of these ideas. Lubin was born in a noble family, but had been kidnapped and forcibly wedded by Iron Lung after he attacked her caravan. At first, her family sought her ransom--but when her conservative relatives learned she was no longer a maiden, they considered her dishonored and left her in Iron Lung’s hands. Lubin made the best of her situation, setting up the bandit camp as a sort of court over which she and her husband lorded it over--but Lubin never forgave and always secretly hated her husband. One day, when Iron Butterfly was prattling her father’s praises and Lubin knew that Iron Lung had in fact just done some particularly brutal deeds, Lubin decided to disabuse her daughter of her illusions. She told Iron Butterfly the truth and, as proof, lead her by stealth to see Iron Lung and his men torturing captives, not simply for information but sadistic pleasure. Horrified, Iron Butterfly decided to flee. She was determined to go out and find real heroes who could replace her father as people to emulate--and to become a hero herself, eventually returning to redeem her father from his evil ways.
