Orban Sol
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:19 am
Name:
Alias: Orban Sol
Birth name: Zhou Chun Feng
(OOC: Please note as that Chun Feng is in exile, and there are assassins hunting him, he has changed his name for security reasons as well as to fit into the Thar Shaddin society. I'll refer to him as Orban in all of my posts, unless there are flashbacks, I am describing his past, or he meets someone from that life)
Age:
20
Race:
Mostly Human
Occupation & Residence:
Herbalist; Scholar; Dreamer
Orban has found a niche for himself in Thar Shaddin, opening a small apothecary in the Temple district. Utilising the herbalism and medicinal knowledge learned from his tutors, combined with the limited but growing repertoire of magic skills he has been learning from the Temple (and surreptitiously from the University), Orban produces potions and other concoctions for those who are able to find his humble store, although his main patronage stems from the temple. Though his potions mainly aid in healing the many types of illness and afflictions brought on both naturally and by supernatural causes, he reluctantly fulfills orders from time to time for other, darker purposes - usually only if pressed by influential (or indeed dangerous) members of the community.
Orban lives in the quarters above his Apothecary store, again a rather humble affair consisting only of a small common area, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The three discrete bodyguards who have accompanied him since his exile function as both his staff and his servants.
Physical Description:
Standing at 185cm, 'Orban' enjoyed the finer things in life in his childhood, thanks primarily to his family's high standing with the Emperor. Coupled with his preference for indoor activities, Orban has always leaned toward the heftier side of the average human male, although recently months of exile have made inroads into his girth.
His features are distinctly Eastern, making it impossible for him to hide his heritage - a fact that he has increasingly come to rue as he has discovered the prejudices of the outside world. He has taken to keeping his matte-black hair in a rough state to match with the locals of the region, but tries to keep the rest of himself as clean and neat as is practicable in a place like Marn.
As the custom in his family has always been to 'dispose of' children who are born with or develop deformities, debilitating diseases, or other defects, one could say that the only truly remarkable feature about Orban is that he has none.
Possessions:
Though exiled, Orban nevertheless departed with a significant portion of the family's wealth to, in the words of his father, ''tide you over until matters can be sorted''. Realising the fickleness of economy in the central regions, Orban's father converted much of the family's currency deposits into debt notices from all the major trading companies that pass through Thar Shaddin. Diversifying funds through different companies meant less chance of Orban drawing notice when converting to hard currency, and using debt notices also meant that Orban could carry a much larger amount without drawing notice (bags of gold or jewels, for instance, painted their owners with glowing 'rob me' signs).
Orban has used very little of this wealth so far, as his father had grossly overestimated the need for money in Thar Shaddin. He has so far only dared to use the smallest two of his debt notices, and even these drew some unwanted attention. Over thirty larger ones are still locked away, bound in a mundane-looking book that most if not all potential thieves would overlook. The sums he has procured so far have allowed him to purchase the humble apothecary store where he works, all the required equipment and stock for it to function, as well as the living quarters above it. They have also allowed him to ‘acquire’ a license to practice minor healing arts, a commodity in the city which he found was certainly not given away lightly. Finally, he also maintains four stalls at the Temple stables; where he keeps enough horses for a quick getaway should the need ever arise.
On his person, Orban usually keeps no weapons, as he is only passable in their use. He carries a sickle and small sack for the harvesting and storage of useful herbs which he may come across. Outwardly he dresses in plain robes, trying to blend into the crowd as much as possible, but these robes hide specially crafted arm, shoulder, and leg bracers, as well as a suit of link-mail that has been a family heirloom for many generations. These are designed to keep him safe while his bodyguards deal with whatever dangers are present.
Powers or Strengths:
Orban's major strength is a family secret - a potion which is imbibed once a month from the age of five until death. The potion is a toxin, and is therefore deadly when consumed alone, but the real secret is the counter-toxin that the family has developed and refined. The trick is to deliver the toxin and wait one full day for the effects to take hold. At this point the subject will almost always be unconscious, meaning this is not a treatment which can be conducted alone. The counter-toxin must be administered exactly one day after the poison, and it takes another day for the patient to fully recover. To this end, Orban closes his store for two days at the beginning of each month to continue his ‘treatment’, with the cover story that due to his religion he must pray for divine inspiration each month.
The effects of this potion are two-fold; firstly, the user becomes, over time, immune to all non-supernatural forms of disease and poison, and is resistant in some degree to most supernatural forms. Secondly, the user’s natural healing rates are accelerated, meaning injuries such as internal bleeding or bone fractures heal without treatment – although obviously the more serious the injury, the longer the healing period. As poison and concealed small arms are the most commonly encountered assassination methods in the East, this is a highly useful and closely guarded secret.
Orban’s other strength is that he has some affinity for magic, although so far it is only limited to small cantrips and such which help him in his line of work and in everyday life. He has been providing certain services to the temple for free in exchange for tuition in minor healing arts from their clerics, and this in turn gives his brews an extra ‘kick’ when consumed, and means he has gained the versatility in crafting a potion for almost any situation or need. Orban has also secretly requisitioned the services of one of more trustworthy clerics who also teaches at the University, and ‘borrows’ tomes and other knowledge through this medium as often as can be done while maintaining discretion. As Orban has been educated by some of the best minds in the East since childhood, he has no trouble ‘self-learning’ the knowledge gained this way, although this means even his limited magical skills are somewhat unpredictable.
Weaknesses:
Orban's major weakness is that he has only had rudimental training in the use of weapons. Weapons training is one of the major parts of the schooling received as a disciple, and as Orban was exiled before this, he has only been taught the basics by his tutors as a child. He therefore relies on hand-to-hand combat, although he is no grandmaster at this form either, and also on his three highly skilled bodyguards, at least two of which accompany him at all times.
Also, Orban is practically incapacitated for two days at the beginning of each month, as he must continue his family’s secret ‘treatment’. Each month that he skips must be made up by doubling the following month’s dose – that is, four days of treatment with the associated incapacitation. Should he skip two months or more he will begin to lose his immunities and suffer increasingly serious side-effects. Six months, and he is as good as dead.
History:
Chun Feng (meaning Spring Wind) had a spoiled upbringing, through no fault of his own other than that he was born into a merchant family that had only a generation ago paid its way into the Tian Xia nobility. Though many of those with true noble blood looked down upon families such as his, it was nevertheless a far better fate than to have been born of a humble peasant or simple trader. From an early age, education was strongly emphasised by Chun Feng's parents, to the point that he grew up with little knowledge of outdoor activities - 'sports' to him were games such as Eastern Chess (the Western style being forbidden), or his other favourite, 'Black and White', so named as opponents dueled with oblique markers painted either black or white. This focus on his studies also meant that Chun Feng's social skills developed slowly - a major concern for his parents, as they were relying on their son to cement the family's position in the nobility by marrying into noble blood. Thus it was that after the exchange of a copious amount of diplomacy and even more generous amounts of currency, Chun Feng was betrothed at the age of 8 to Jini of the Li Family, a family which was not only held in high esteem at court, but had an undisputed claim to noble blood. At the time the boy was not interested in the least, and in fact annoyed at the frequent visits from this immature girl 2 years his junior, but over time as Chun Feng matured the bond between the two grew quickly, to an extent which could almost have been called love.
This all changed four years ago when, at the age of 16, Chun Feng became of eligible age to be selected as a disciple to the Royal Court. This was a pivotal time in his life, as Jini would turn 14 the day after the selection trials, which was the age when their betrothal would come into legal effect and they would officially be wed. Fate would have it, however, that among the other disciple candidates that year was Jini's brother, Sunni. Though for candidates from families of such high distinction there were usually dozens of opportunities waiting across all disciplines, both Chun Feng and Sunni had their sights set on becoming the disciple of Guan Ping, the chief advisor of the Emperor. When they realised that their children were of the same mind, the two families sought to secretly undermine the opposition, for they could not engage in open hostilities without losing face due to the upcoming wedding. A bitter power struggle ensued, through both political and economic means, each family vying for the support of other noble families to gain the upper hand. A month before the official selections, Chun Feng's father made a breakthrough by securing the support of the Guan family itself, and with it, near surety that Guan Ping would choose his son. Outraged and desperate, the Li family tried to take the matter to the Emperor himself, but their petitions were ultimately rejected, leaving them no further choice but to admit defeat and arrange a lesser position for Sunni.
Things took a turn for the worse, however, when one of Sunni's friends overheard Jini and Chun Feng making plans for a secret rendezvous at the edge of the Cloud Forest on the outskirts of town. Still mad with rage and hate for the upstart who would soon take the position Sunni believed was rightfully his, the influential young noble decided to take matters into his own hands. Sunni's plan was as simple as it was brash - to misdirect his sister and keep her occupied while he and a gang of friends 'persuaded' Chun Feng to relinquish his claim to their mutually coveted position. What he did not count on was that Chun Feng had planned to surprise Jini by taking her hunting, and was therefore both armed and on horseback. As the overconfident Sunni and his company of six walked into the clearing where the rendezvous had been planned, Chun Feng immediately realised something was wrong, and drew his bow at his would-be attackers. Armed only with large sticks and over-inflated egos, Sunni’s party was startled by this turn of events, and attacked Chun Feng in a panic. As fate would have it, though Chun Feng blindly fired only one arrow, it happened to pierce Sunni through the heart, killing him instantly. With six howling men rushing at him, Chun Feng himself panicked, and dropped his weapon before scrambling to his horse and galloping away.
The following month was a nightmare for all involved – the Li family, in a state of shock and mourning, immediately cancelled not only the wedding between Jini and Chun Feng, but all diplomatic and trading ties with the Zhou family. All of the young nobles involved were given a number of public lashings equivalent to their respective ages. And as for Chun Feng himself, only the benevolence of Guan Ping saved him from summary execution. Instead, Chun Feng was exiled beyond the borders of Tian Xia, for a period of 20 years.
These events occurred four years ago – Chun Feng, now Orban Sol, resides in Thar Shaddin, shopkeeper of a humble apothecary in the Temple district. He is still haunted by his past from time to time, as assassins from the Li family strive to exact revenge. Upon departing, Orban’s father assigned the family’s three most skilled bodyguards to defend Orban with their lives, but daily life is still a game of deception and subterfuge for Orban, as though he grows increasingly weary of this existence, he knows there is still a very long time before his sentence is complete.
(OOC: I have chosen not to go into too much detail in regards to Orban’s personality, as that is something that can be developed and will be ever-changing)
(OOC: Please let me know if any of the history doesn't make sense or fit into the setting, as I am pulling the character from a story I'm in the middle of writing atm but will probably never finish lol)
Alias: Orban Sol
Birth name: Zhou Chun Feng
(OOC: Please note as that Chun Feng is in exile, and there are assassins hunting him, he has changed his name for security reasons as well as to fit into the Thar Shaddin society. I'll refer to him as Orban in all of my posts, unless there are flashbacks, I am describing his past, or he meets someone from that life)
Age:
20
Race:
Mostly Human
Occupation & Residence:
Herbalist; Scholar; Dreamer
Orban has found a niche for himself in Thar Shaddin, opening a small apothecary in the Temple district. Utilising the herbalism and medicinal knowledge learned from his tutors, combined with the limited but growing repertoire of magic skills he has been learning from the Temple (and surreptitiously from the University), Orban produces potions and other concoctions for those who are able to find his humble store, although his main patronage stems from the temple. Though his potions mainly aid in healing the many types of illness and afflictions brought on both naturally and by supernatural causes, he reluctantly fulfills orders from time to time for other, darker purposes - usually only if pressed by influential (or indeed dangerous) members of the community.
Orban lives in the quarters above his Apothecary store, again a rather humble affair consisting only of a small common area, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The three discrete bodyguards who have accompanied him since his exile function as both his staff and his servants.
Physical Description:
Standing at 185cm, 'Orban' enjoyed the finer things in life in his childhood, thanks primarily to his family's high standing with the Emperor. Coupled with his preference for indoor activities, Orban has always leaned toward the heftier side of the average human male, although recently months of exile have made inroads into his girth.
His features are distinctly Eastern, making it impossible for him to hide his heritage - a fact that he has increasingly come to rue as he has discovered the prejudices of the outside world. He has taken to keeping his matte-black hair in a rough state to match with the locals of the region, but tries to keep the rest of himself as clean and neat as is practicable in a place like Marn.
As the custom in his family has always been to 'dispose of' children who are born with or develop deformities, debilitating diseases, or other defects, one could say that the only truly remarkable feature about Orban is that he has none.
Possessions:
Though exiled, Orban nevertheless departed with a significant portion of the family's wealth to, in the words of his father, ''tide you over until matters can be sorted''. Realising the fickleness of economy in the central regions, Orban's father converted much of the family's currency deposits into debt notices from all the major trading companies that pass through Thar Shaddin. Diversifying funds through different companies meant less chance of Orban drawing notice when converting to hard currency, and using debt notices also meant that Orban could carry a much larger amount without drawing notice (bags of gold or jewels, for instance, painted their owners with glowing 'rob me' signs).
Orban has used very little of this wealth so far, as his father had grossly overestimated the need for money in Thar Shaddin. He has so far only dared to use the smallest two of his debt notices, and even these drew some unwanted attention. Over thirty larger ones are still locked away, bound in a mundane-looking book that most if not all potential thieves would overlook. The sums he has procured so far have allowed him to purchase the humble apothecary store where he works, all the required equipment and stock for it to function, as well as the living quarters above it. They have also allowed him to ‘acquire’ a license to practice minor healing arts, a commodity in the city which he found was certainly not given away lightly. Finally, he also maintains four stalls at the Temple stables; where he keeps enough horses for a quick getaway should the need ever arise.
On his person, Orban usually keeps no weapons, as he is only passable in their use. He carries a sickle and small sack for the harvesting and storage of useful herbs which he may come across. Outwardly he dresses in plain robes, trying to blend into the crowd as much as possible, but these robes hide specially crafted arm, shoulder, and leg bracers, as well as a suit of link-mail that has been a family heirloom for many generations. These are designed to keep him safe while his bodyguards deal with whatever dangers are present.
Powers or Strengths:
Orban's major strength is a family secret - a potion which is imbibed once a month from the age of five until death. The potion is a toxin, and is therefore deadly when consumed alone, but the real secret is the counter-toxin that the family has developed and refined. The trick is to deliver the toxin and wait one full day for the effects to take hold. At this point the subject will almost always be unconscious, meaning this is not a treatment which can be conducted alone. The counter-toxin must be administered exactly one day after the poison, and it takes another day for the patient to fully recover. To this end, Orban closes his store for two days at the beginning of each month to continue his ‘treatment’, with the cover story that due to his religion he must pray for divine inspiration each month.
The effects of this potion are two-fold; firstly, the user becomes, over time, immune to all non-supernatural forms of disease and poison, and is resistant in some degree to most supernatural forms. Secondly, the user’s natural healing rates are accelerated, meaning injuries such as internal bleeding or bone fractures heal without treatment – although obviously the more serious the injury, the longer the healing period. As poison and concealed small arms are the most commonly encountered assassination methods in the East, this is a highly useful and closely guarded secret.
Orban’s other strength is that he has some affinity for magic, although so far it is only limited to small cantrips and such which help him in his line of work and in everyday life. He has been providing certain services to the temple for free in exchange for tuition in minor healing arts from their clerics, and this in turn gives his brews an extra ‘kick’ when consumed, and means he has gained the versatility in crafting a potion for almost any situation or need. Orban has also secretly requisitioned the services of one of more trustworthy clerics who also teaches at the University, and ‘borrows’ tomes and other knowledge through this medium as often as can be done while maintaining discretion. As Orban has been educated by some of the best minds in the East since childhood, he has no trouble ‘self-learning’ the knowledge gained this way, although this means even his limited magical skills are somewhat unpredictable.
Weaknesses:
Orban's major weakness is that he has only had rudimental training in the use of weapons. Weapons training is one of the major parts of the schooling received as a disciple, and as Orban was exiled before this, he has only been taught the basics by his tutors as a child. He therefore relies on hand-to-hand combat, although he is no grandmaster at this form either, and also on his three highly skilled bodyguards, at least two of which accompany him at all times.
Also, Orban is practically incapacitated for two days at the beginning of each month, as he must continue his family’s secret ‘treatment’. Each month that he skips must be made up by doubling the following month’s dose – that is, four days of treatment with the associated incapacitation. Should he skip two months or more he will begin to lose his immunities and suffer increasingly serious side-effects. Six months, and he is as good as dead.
History:
Chun Feng (meaning Spring Wind) had a spoiled upbringing, through no fault of his own other than that he was born into a merchant family that had only a generation ago paid its way into the Tian Xia nobility. Though many of those with true noble blood looked down upon families such as his, it was nevertheless a far better fate than to have been born of a humble peasant or simple trader. From an early age, education was strongly emphasised by Chun Feng's parents, to the point that he grew up with little knowledge of outdoor activities - 'sports' to him were games such as Eastern Chess (the Western style being forbidden), or his other favourite, 'Black and White', so named as opponents dueled with oblique markers painted either black or white. This focus on his studies also meant that Chun Feng's social skills developed slowly - a major concern for his parents, as they were relying on their son to cement the family's position in the nobility by marrying into noble blood. Thus it was that after the exchange of a copious amount of diplomacy and even more generous amounts of currency, Chun Feng was betrothed at the age of 8 to Jini of the Li Family, a family which was not only held in high esteem at court, but had an undisputed claim to noble blood. At the time the boy was not interested in the least, and in fact annoyed at the frequent visits from this immature girl 2 years his junior, but over time as Chun Feng matured the bond between the two grew quickly, to an extent which could almost have been called love.
This all changed four years ago when, at the age of 16, Chun Feng became of eligible age to be selected as a disciple to the Royal Court. This was a pivotal time in his life, as Jini would turn 14 the day after the selection trials, which was the age when their betrothal would come into legal effect and they would officially be wed. Fate would have it, however, that among the other disciple candidates that year was Jini's brother, Sunni. Though for candidates from families of such high distinction there were usually dozens of opportunities waiting across all disciplines, both Chun Feng and Sunni had their sights set on becoming the disciple of Guan Ping, the chief advisor of the Emperor. When they realised that their children were of the same mind, the two families sought to secretly undermine the opposition, for they could not engage in open hostilities without losing face due to the upcoming wedding. A bitter power struggle ensued, through both political and economic means, each family vying for the support of other noble families to gain the upper hand. A month before the official selections, Chun Feng's father made a breakthrough by securing the support of the Guan family itself, and with it, near surety that Guan Ping would choose his son. Outraged and desperate, the Li family tried to take the matter to the Emperor himself, but their petitions were ultimately rejected, leaving them no further choice but to admit defeat and arrange a lesser position for Sunni.
Things took a turn for the worse, however, when one of Sunni's friends overheard Jini and Chun Feng making plans for a secret rendezvous at the edge of the Cloud Forest on the outskirts of town. Still mad with rage and hate for the upstart who would soon take the position Sunni believed was rightfully his, the influential young noble decided to take matters into his own hands. Sunni's plan was as simple as it was brash - to misdirect his sister and keep her occupied while he and a gang of friends 'persuaded' Chun Feng to relinquish his claim to their mutually coveted position. What he did not count on was that Chun Feng had planned to surprise Jini by taking her hunting, and was therefore both armed and on horseback. As the overconfident Sunni and his company of six walked into the clearing where the rendezvous had been planned, Chun Feng immediately realised something was wrong, and drew his bow at his would-be attackers. Armed only with large sticks and over-inflated egos, Sunni’s party was startled by this turn of events, and attacked Chun Feng in a panic. As fate would have it, though Chun Feng blindly fired only one arrow, it happened to pierce Sunni through the heart, killing him instantly. With six howling men rushing at him, Chun Feng himself panicked, and dropped his weapon before scrambling to his horse and galloping away.
The following month was a nightmare for all involved – the Li family, in a state of shock and mourning, immediately cancelled not only the wedding between Jini and Chun Feng, but all diplomatic and trading ties with the Zhou family. All of the young nobles involved were given a number of public lashings equivalent to their respective ages. And as for Chun Feng himself, only the benevolence of Guan Ping saved him from summary execution. Instead, Chun Feng was exiled beyond the borders of Tian Xia, for a period of 20 years.
These events occurred four years ago – Chun Feng, now Orban Sol, resides in Thar Shaddin, shopkeeper of a humble apothecary in the Temple district. He is still haunted by his past from time to time, as assassins from the Li family strive to exact revenge. Upon departing, Orban’s father assigned the family’s three most skilled bodyguards to defend Orban with their lives, but daily life is still a game of deception and subterfuge for Orban, as though he grows increasingly weary of this existence, he knows there is still a very long time before his sentence is complete.
(OOC: I have chosen not to go into too much detail in regards to Orban’s personality, as that is something that can be developed and will be ever-changing)
(OOC: Please let me know if any of the history doesn't make sense or fit into the setting, as I am pulling the character from a story I'm in the middle of writing atm but will probably never finish lol)
