Leonard

Actors on a Stage of Shadows...

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Draylen
Lunatic
Posts: 359
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:01 pm

Leonard

Post by Draylen »

Name: Leonard
Description: Brown haired and brown eyes, there's little that stands out about the short sorcerer at first. Born in Amber, but soon fostered out to a shadow that Fiona has dominion over, the Gem of Nammu^. He was raised as relatively minor nobility of the Venetian-like city of Enki's Tear the first few years, until he developed a surprising talent for the shadow's native magic, Surfcalling. This aptitude rocketed him into the dangerous circuits and noble alliances of the powerful ten families and the Doge, winning him some wealth - and a lot of the wrong kinds of attention. The swirling dangers of the courts led him to favoring wearing simpler colors, standing out only amidst the upper crust - though fitting in quite nicely with the peasantry and lesser populace. even removed from that place, native habit leads to him adopting almost monastic style brown habits, simple robes of plain cloth as much as possible.
Fiona took him home after some unusual circumstances, and has now granted him the Duchy of the Keystone Spire&, a minor place of earthly power he has yet to attune to. this is distant from Amber by some roads, but he does still find occasion to appear once a season for a time.

Home Shadow(s): Amber, The Gem of Nammu, the Keystone Spire

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High Concept: The Sly Sparrow of Enki's Tear
Surviving in a court of such decadence and intrigue leaves its mark. While most of the denizens became peacocks, striving to stand out and being all the same even for it, Leonard retreated and took advantage of subterfuge and psychology to become almost invisible amongst the sea of beautiful people. He kept quiet and to himself, working almost anonymously to improve the crafts he'd learned here.
Invoke:
- To remain unnoticed
- To survive in a hostile political environment
- To make allies among the lower class
Compel:
- To avoid drawing attention, even when it would be advantageous
- To keep secrets, even when the information is important
- To insult or aggravate the nobility and upper crust

Trouble: The Knight of Endless Currents
shortly after his twenty fifth birthday in Enki's Tear, of course, he found himself with much more trouble than he could easily shirk off. Desperate to get out, he attempted to get to Mother, and found himself taking steps that were not back nor sideways, but both at once. Traversing this path between was not too hard, though it winded him and taxed his energy, until he ran into a 'brick wall'. It held him in place, trapped him as solidly as a frozen wave, before he slid down underneath. The place he found himself was dark, crushing, freezing and soaking, and the sorceries he had known faltered and failed him, he found himself beginning to drown.
At least, until the Forever Serpent, Leviathan, a twisting, inky black water Dragon found him. The monster breathed a bubble of air around him, and knighted him as the Knight of Endless Currents, until he washed up, unconscious, at the feet of Fiona on Treasure Island.
Invoke:
- To enhance his Power of water sorcery
- To act in the service of Leviathan
- To be unstoppable in his course of action
- To be owed fealty by lesser servants of Leviathan
Compel:
- To call to the Leviathan's service
- To never pause but only slow, never freeze but only flow
-

Duke of the Keystone Spire
Fiona could hardly have not noticed being Walked towards, even by so juvenile an attempt. Bemused at the boy at her feet, she took him back to Amber for a brief respite before guiding him to Walk toward a small mesa town, hardly more than six thousand people in a mining community. the central point of this was a stone tower, constructed without mortar, that had existed 'for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years'. Water is in scarce supply, with most of it coming from wells filled by underground rivers. This, she explained, was his home now. He was the duke, and to rule over the town and mesa in her name, while she handled other things. The Spire is its own source of Power, he could feel that, minor as it might be - and if he can attune to it, She will nominate him to the Collegiate and perhaps even for some actual Power all his own.
Invoke:
- To act as equals with peers and Peers
- To consider the needs of the people he's been given command of
- To stand firm and endure, whatever may come
- To be owed fealty by the people of Keystone Mesa
Compel:
- To enforce the duties of rulership
- To question morality - for one, or for all?
- To stand in place, to support another's burdens

Lingering Questions
Six months has Leonard worked to rule justly and true over the dominion he's been given. A fortnight every two months brings him back to Amber, for supplies and to report on the status of the holdings to Mother - little ever changes. she has dropped hints about the rest of her family, about the true potential of his Pathfinding, even about the father he's never met and the Power or Powers tied to that blood, but he has figured out little or none of it. Enough questions to drown a river, enough loose ends to build a tower.
Invoke:
- To find information about whatever's at hand
- To ask the right question - whatever that may be
- To know where the research can be found - even without being able to piece it together
Compel:
- To follow information about Personal Secrets
- To push towards Pattern, will he or nil he
- To cast doubt upon his heritage

Riptide General
After escorting the ladies Tainu and Niazi to Amber successfully, Leonard was compelled to appear before his uncle, Benedict. Already intensely nervous and concerned about what this might mean, he proceeded to make a miserable showing. In concern, Benedict prompted him to have additional training under his fairly direct supervision - the first part of which was to walk the Pattern. After that, Benedict took Leonard along to a strange shadow, wherein the peoples of the continent had banded together to fight the King of Death in a grueling, many year war. Benedict told him not to come back until he succeeded, left him a trump deck, and walked off, shortly before a band of four burst into the grove pursued by hordes of the undead. Leonard fought, and took on a Name within the shadow, a peculiar type of magic built around narrative structures, until they succeeded in taking down the King of Death.
Invoke:
- To take command of a military situation
- To lead a force into the fray
- To manage logistics and supply trains
Compel
- To be the first one into the fire
- To be uncomfortable in insufficiently defensible locations
- To hate and fear the undead

Approaches:
Power: 3
Focus: 4
Craft: 4
Sneak: 3
Flair: 0
Quick: 1
Powers:
Pattern (free)
Trump deck (free)
Water Sorcery "Surfcalling"; Powered by Leviathan. 'Ebb', 'flow', 'Twist'.

Stunt:
Because Ebb is my Signature Spell, I get +2 to Focus when using it for defensive purposes.
Because I am a war veteran, I can use Twist to give myself +3 to Quickly avoid enemy blows.
Draylen
Lunatic
Posts: 359
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:01 pm

Leonard's Royal Suite

Post by Draylen »

The floor is a rich, dark brown hard wood, with a soft area rug across the center of it. It bulges slightly in the center, hiding a steel trap door that will show only the first of two panic rooms immediately in the initial sitting room. The furniture is somewhat plain, but sturdy and excellently made, of dark brown oak stained for a richer hue and comfortable cream cushions on the front and back. They do only have one arm, on the left, which is perhaps slightly awkward, but counterbalanced by an endtable and a small coffee table, completing the furnishings in the room and providing enough to balance on.

The walls are a gradient of blue, nearly matching the dark color of the floor and then brightening and taking on a greenish tint as they reach for the ceiling. The effect is similar to being underwater, and is comforting to Leonard, as well as possibly Niazi, though this much water might be less comfortable for Tainu. Along one side is a wall of bookshelves made of Remba coral, carefully filled mostly with books from his collection at the town house, but with a few others he'd been intending to purchase for himself one day. One of them, The Prisoner of the Abyss, is a false book, and is, in fact, the door handle to the other entry-way panic room, hidden behind the shelving units.

There is also a series of steel slats in a small box above the doorway to the entry, that will slide down to completely bar entry into the room when they're down.

The other two walls lead to separate areas - on the east side is a hallway that leads to three bedrooms. One, significantly larger, has a much more modest bed, though perhaps the nicer rug and garderobe, and the four posts surrounding it have silken canopies attached. The other two are about the same size; for another tenant, they would probably be servant quarters, but Leonard being Leonard, both have been made up as guest rooms, each loosely themed toward the current would-be occupants.

To the north is a kitchen area, with the bathing chambers splitting off from it. A water pump is almost closer to the entry way than either, but with Leonard's magic, that makes little difficulty. The kitchen itself is very well stocked to cook in, but has no actual food as yet, being an array of proper utensils, vessels, plates, and the enchanted cookware that was put on display. Leonard will roll his eyes when he sees that.

Beyond the kitchen is a cozy dining area, with a table that will comfortably feast six, and perhaps eight at a stretch. The table and chairs are both ironwood, extremely sturdy, and not particularly comfortable, but finer cushions than on the sitting room chairs are there to remedy that. Broad bay windows overlook the courtyards outside, with the windows on either side only opening in with a latch that is both readily locked and intentionally stiff.
Wyvern
Prismatic Pangolin
Posts: 2283
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:50 pm

Leonard's Companions

Post by Wyvern »

A pair of companions have ended up being, to some degree or another, Leonard's responsibility; both hail from the city of Kurashiki in the Jade Empire.

Lady Alishan Tainu
A kitsune, and daughter of the current ruler of Kurashiki, Lady Alishan Jianan. She has, somehow, grown up with something vaguely resembling a moral compass - or, at the very least, has managed to be more kitsune than kumiho. In her home shadow she has access to illusions and foxfire, with limitations that have been poorly explored. Outside of Amber she still has shapeshifting, able to switch between a fox form and a nearly-human form with fox ears and tail, but - much to her annoyance - without access to the hammerspace clothing storage she enjoys in the Jade Empire.
Her eyes are yellow, and her fur coloration is slightly more vibrant than a typical red fox - more red/orange than the mundane fox's orange/white, with this carrying over to her hair in human form.
Left to her own devices, she tends to wear outfits in red-and-silver; however, she's recently started training with Amber's Rangers, and can often be seen in the green of their uniform.
Aspects:
• Reluctant Kitsune: with her mother's example to learn from, Tainu is not much fond of the fox parts of her ancestry.
• Escape Route: Tainu tries to always have one available, even if it's something like 'leave the window open so she could slip out as a fox if she had to'.
Approaches: Quick/Sneak/Focus +3, Flair/Craft +2, Power +0

Tainu's guest room is densely-packed, with a loft bed over a desk, hanging shelves, and a general attempt to make efficient use of the room's vertical space as well as the horizontal. It is not a good room to be a tall person in. The colors trend toward deep browns, with wood-paneled walls and only the occasional hint of blue or green. A narrow door opens out to a balcony, and a glass-paneled skylight offers a potential additional exit for someone athletic enough to climb up to it.

Lady Niazi Ying
Originally a half-blood water dragon, Ying has been much changed by a recent encounter with the Power beneath the Keystone Spire, taking on aspects of earth and durability; even in her most human form, her skin has been replaced with polished black scales, and her claws and antler-like horns shine gold rather than their original ivory. Her eyes are still their original seafoam-blue-green, at least. She can shapeshift to a serpentine draconic form; a bit stockier than your average oriental dragon, but still with a water-like flow to her movements. Like Tainu, she has access to a hammerspace effect for clothing if she's in the Jade Empire's shadow.
Ying prefers ocean colors for her clothing, blues and greens, and has recently taken to wearing brown tiger's eye jewelry to match Leonard's usual colors of brown/blue/green.
Ying is a reasonably competent alchemist in the Jade Empire, but has had little opportunity to learn to generalize that skill set. This is, in some respects, the skill set that landed her traveling with Leonard - her father built a number of alchemical weapons that were then used to attack the Amber embassy (as opposed to the purchaser's stated intent of being used to support the Jade Empire's army). This lead, in turn, to some unpleasantness with Julian, who seems to feel that "but I was framed" isn't really much of an excuse.
Aspects:
• Elemental Dragon of Keystone Spire
• Unwanted Ascension: of particular note, her current state removes her from being able to (legally) inherit anything of her father's back in the Jade Empire; their rules on inheritance are very human-centric; her original human form was close enough to pass; her current one is not.
Approaches: Power/Craft +4, Focus +3, Quick/Flair +2, Sneak +0

Ying's guest room emphasizes the 'underwater' theming of Leonard's suite, the walls, ceiling, and carpet done entirely in blues and blue-greens - even the lamps here burn blue. Or perhaps that's just expensive colored glass around them? The furniture is generally coral-themed in a variety of bright colors, and a fishtank (with a few skittish fish and some lethargic snails) sits by the windows. The room's bookshelves feature a variety of tomes - on Amber local nobility, on chemistry and alchemy and economics, and even one slim green-bound book 'Observations on Creatures of Power' by Fiona.
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