Aji (Tenebrae)

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Aji was created because of growing dissatisfaction with Treyvan. On the most part, it wasn't the interaction with staff, but the loss of the playgroup that my character on Treyvan had originally been designed to play with. The group pretty much self-imploded after a key figure left. At any rate, in keeping with my like for martial arts and speed, here's Aji, a monk with a checkered past.

I haven't played her much, mostly on account of being somewhat overextended across various games and suddenly finding myself in the midst of real world issues that needed to be dealt with. Still, I like the concept. I just need to take her out for a spin.

Description

Even the quickest of glances would show that this small package of a human has spent many years honing her body into an exquisite display of physical prowess. Blessed with legs that are long for her 5' height, she has a peculiar aura of vengeance hidden behind naivete, with a darkness of history and things best left unseen that perverts her smooth visage of youth. Though she is quite attractive -- straight, dark blonde tresses worn in a pair of long braids; chestnut eyes; mildly pouting lips -- she nevertheless feels like a firecracker ready to explode.

Yellows and browns, mixed with the metallic hints of bronzes and coppers weave a complex and irregular pattern that adheres to the contours of her upper body. Sleeveless, the shirt extends barely beyond her waist, just long enough to suit well with a wide, cream sash. The sash is knotted on the left and dangles down to mid-thigh, where the colour's light and subdued hue complements her pale grey pants. Only three-quarters in length, the pants have wide cuffs trimmed in yellow that overhang bared legs and the black, latticed lacing that extends from her thong sandals up to her knee.

A pair of butterfly swords rest snugly in their sheath, which is held fast to her back by her sash. A pair of nunchaku also fit nicely in the embrace of the sash.

Background

There are very few things as tumultuous as a hurricane. Perhaps, then, it was fitting that this phase of the young woman's life began in the middle of a furious storm that truly brought out the untamable nature of the seas over the archipelago of the Shattered Seas just east of the Aerith mainland.

That fateful night, she had been been embroiled in a rooftop fight that took her from building to building in the city and stronghold of the warlord that ruled over her home. The battle had been long and spirited, though it seemed as if her opponent had been toying with her, waiting for the perfect moment to end it all and drive home a point, most likely ending in her death.

Yet, the fury of nature was benevolent. It forced <Warlord's Name> to break off his attack, giving Aji the chance to escape, now a marked woman. Then again, she had been marked much earlier in life.

At a young age, her father had been a loyal and lauded knight of the warlord. At the warlord's bequest, he had embarked on a quest to the mainland for him, in search of secrets or treasures or something else, though it is hard to remember what it was for anymore. The quest turned out to be a red herring though, for the warlord's true desire was Aji's mother. She was a virtuous woman, though, and refused the warlord's advances, sending him into a rage that left her mother dead at his own hands. Aji's nanny saved her from certain doom, escaping with the child to a monastery for sanctuary.

There, Aji grew up with the principles of the monks in the monastery, learning their discipline and their martial arts, but never quite finding the peace and harmony of the soul to truly be the prodigy they thought she would be. It was, comparatively, a good and peaceful upbringing, but she was plagued with the trauma of having seen her mother slain by the hand of their lord and that was an experience that continues to eat at her soul to this day.

The hatred and animosity that she harboured for this hateful man continued until the arrogance of her youth and ability surpassed the monks' ability to contain her. She fled the monastery with the goal to avenge the losses of her mother and father, only to find herself woefully outmatched. By all rights, she should be dead, and somewhere, someone is keeping tabs on the interest on the lifetime she has borrowed.

Unable to defeat her archenemy and too proud to return to the monastery with her tail between her legs, Aji chose to go mainland instead. Escaping the grasp of the warlord and leaving her homeland with the intent to return again, to finish what she had started.

Now, more than a decade after her father had made the same crossing to the continental landmass of Aerith, Aji followed in his footsteps. News never came back of his demise and without other guidance, she sought his. Thus, she assumed a quest of her own: to find her father, wherever he may have traveled in this land.

With a few meager possessions, she crossed the continent, following along the northern arm of the landmass through Charn and Khaz-Duin, by Dragnier, and then west to Myrddion.

While traversing Charn, she learned what true cruelty might be, while observing the ways with which the local rulers oppressed their people to achieve their needs. In some ways, it made her life seem more bearable, but in these people she saw no honour. The cruelty she witnessed in the long months it took for her to make her way from one end of the empire to the other formed a distinct distaste in her mouth that returns whenever she sees injustice performed on another.

She passed through Khaz-Duin, not without a few incidents with the monstrous humanoids in the passes, but managed to steal some moments in the tranquility of the peaks before continuing on with her search. Through considerable effort, she was able to vaguely follow the trail that her father had taken, though surely years have passed and memories are fuzzy. Still, a man dressed in the elaborate armours customary of her land is usual and the old men and women with long memories were able to keep her travels pointed to new directions.

So, some two years or so later, after the great hurricane gave her a new lease on life, she has arrived in Myrddion and, more specifically, Alexandria. She is still in search of her father, still seeking revenge for her mother, and still too unsettled and embittered to truly be at peace with herself.

Inspirations

Her name, Aji, came from the Japanese name for a fish that I had never had before, until I had sushi in Hong Kong in the winter of 2002. Aji is "horse mackerel" in English and is apparently a fresh-water fish in Japan. The sashimi was great, but when we were done, the chef took the rest of the fish, bones and all, and deep fried them. Fabulous dish all the way around. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to that restaurant.

Her history was developed as a smattering of themes taken from random samurai stories, Iron Monkey (1993), and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).

Plot Hooks

• Quest to find her father
• Quest to improve her martial skills
• Quest to exact revenge on the warlord
• People with knowledge of her father's whereabouts
• People connected with monks from her order in the Shattered Seas
• Friends of the warlord
• Enemies of the warlord