Post by Ren on Dec 28, 2010 18:16:15 GMT -5
Full Name: Ren (was adopted into the Yi clan, but has repudiated it)
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Birthplace: Fire Nation, exact location unknown
Loyalty: Fire Nation
Status: Former Vice Minister of Way in the Fire Nation, now a lieutenant and chief strategist of Rising Phoenix.
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 140lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Grey
Distinguishing Features: Ren is bald, due to shaving his head, and he has a pair of red, claw-shaped tattoos trailing down from the outside corners of his eyes.
Appearance: Ren is moderately tall, about 5'11". He has pale, smooth skin, unblemished by work or war. His build is average, neither thin nor bulky, and while fit he is not athletic. His life has been mostly sedentary, and it shows.
His face is oval-shaped, with long, slightly slanted eyes and a long, slender nose. His brows arch over his eyes, making him look perpetually sceptical. His eyes are a pale shade of grey. Like the rest of his face, they tend to be unexpressive, capable of absorbing intensity but not giving anything back. Perhaps his most notable feature is the pair of red marks tattooed on his face; they run from the outer corner of his eyes to a curving, tapered point on his jaw-line. Finally, although his hair would be black, he keeps it completely shaven, as he finds hair a nuisance. Thus, he appears bald.
Ren usually wears robes of black silk, decorated with gold embroidery in various patterns. They feature high collars and very deep sleeves. He normally wears a matching scarf over his head, protecting his scalp from sunburn. The wide sleeves of his robes are used to hide the dispensers for his bo-shuriken. He also keeps a set of monk's garments, which are red and black and much simpler in design.
Personality: Ren is a reserved man. He seldom talks, except when giving orders or discussing plans. He keeps his thoughts to himself, having learned to tell people as little as possible and only what they want to hear.
Inside, Ren is fiercely ambitious and patriotic. He wants the Fire Nation to lead the world, and he wants to lead the Fire Nation. He knows he is exceptionally gifted in policy and strategy, and feels that he deserves a high position. However, he has always lacked the strength to fight for what he wants. So he deferred his dreams under a mask of indifference, until his heart hardened and it became difficult for him to show or feel emotion.
He is very intelligent. Having no other weapon, he has learned to be cunning and deceptive. All of his actions are calculated to put people off their guard, so he might more easily manipulate them. Analytic and cautious, he will act only from afar, and preferably when his opponents least expect him to.
He hates the noble class with a secret passion, resentful of their pride and arrogant anger. At the same time he envies them, desiring their power for himself. Hence his dream to gain power, and force down the throats of the upper class the same bitter draughts that he has had to drink.
Family:
- Birth family: Unknown
- Monks: Disbanded, most have died
- Wei Yi: Adoptive father, 62, imprisoned for embezzling
History: Ren was an orphan found abandoned at the Kaliyuga Monastery, being only about a year old. The monks, though not accustomed to young children, gratefully took him in. Their order, originally founded in imitation of the Air Monks, was now on the verge of extinction, as no new novices joined them. Thus they saw the boy's coming as a sign.
The boy was given the name Ren. For the next eighteen years he lived in the monastery, seeing nothing of the world beyond the island on which it was built. There was a small village down by the harbour, but he did not frequent it, as there was ill feeling between the monks and the villagers. Instead he tended to stay behind the high walls, leaving only to investigate the natural world. He was taught the secrets of herb and beast, and how to prepare the former (the monks were vegetarian) for food and medicine. He was also taught how to think and debate, for the monks would often debate points of philosophy among themselves.
Ren believed he was happy enough. Still, he yearned for something more. The life of a monastic was not truly his calling, although the monks never saw that. On his eighteenth birthday (that is, the eighteenth anniversary of his being found), he was made a full member of the temple, given the tattoos that all the monks wore to symbolise their sorrow at the extermination of the Air Nomads. The very next day, the Fire Lord's soldiers appeared, and ordered the monastery closed, the monks' order suppressed.
What happened to his adoptive family Ren never knew. As for himself, he was adopted by the man who had suppressed the monastery, and enrolled in a military academy. Although he was several years behind the other students, he quickly managed to catch up. In the theoretical side, anyway. He could not firebend, and he had no taste for combat. Even after taking up throwing knives, he was still considered a failure by the academy's masters, and he was. He did not pass the military service exam.
His foster father, furious, disowned him. Ren, who had always resented this man who had taken him from the monastery, was now faced with the prospect of being turned adrift in the world. So, to prevent that, he began blackmailing the officer, who had enriched himself greatly by holding back his soldier's pay and other crimes. Finding himself trapped, the officer agreed to pull some strings so that Ren could take the civil service exam. This he did, after a few weeks of hastily studying the classics, he managed to scrape by. He was given a bottom degree position in the Ministry of War, and shipped out to the Earth Kingdom to help with logistics.
In the nine years he served, he discovered that the officers of the army he worked with were not nice men. Arrogant most of them, often cruel, they bullied the logistics officials and sneered at the fireless Ren when he tried to advise them. Shocked at what soldiers were capable of, Ren let his taciturn nature take over, quietly exalting when the Army would be defeated on account of not having listened to him.
Azulon passed on, to be succeeded by Ozai, but that made little difference to the front. Ren had, by this time, locked away all the humane teachings of the monks, letting his ambition become his only guide. As he had been with his "father", he appeared outwardly subservient to his superiors in the Ministry, and the officers, but always he was plotting to rise above them. The War held no interest for him; his sights were always on Kazan, and the royal court. In time, his machinations combined with real recognition of his talent finally paid off.
After the Day of Black Sun, he was made Vice Minister of War and called back to Kazan. He got to collaborate with the renowned Qin himself, studying with admiration the schematics for the airships. For the first time he came truly to appreciate just how glorious the Fire Nation could be. He decided then to use his position to better his country. He was working on a project to use rockets as offensive weapons when he was called to attend Ozai's coronation as Phoenix King. Although he detested Ozai and Azula personally, he could not help but feel national pride at the spectacle.
Sadly, the promise of a new world was not to be. Ren felt a deep sense of betrayal when he learned of all that had happened on the day of the Comet. He could not care less about Ozai, or Azula; he did not particularly care whether the Fire Nation actually ruled the world. A small part of him was in fact glad that the Earth Kingdom had been spared the devastation the Phoenix King had planned.
Why, then? Cynically, he looked at the situation following Ozai's fall and knew that peace would not ensue. There was too much hatred accumulated on both sides. Not even an Avatar could change that, no matter what miracles attended him. Besides, Zuko had betrayed his country, in a sense beyond the merely political: the Fie Nation was built on individualism, and Zuko had used -- had apparently needed -- help in his coup. Most importantly, his own dreams had been bound up with Ozai's administration, and they fell in flames with the air fleet. He had hoped to manipulate the paranoid Azula and take over the country ... now he was again helpless. Despairing, he resigned his post before Zuko could purge him.
The first thing he did was visit the old monastery, where he shaved his head and chin again in remembrance of what he had been. Then, through his contacts he learned of the fledgeling organization that would become Rising Phoenix, and joined as one of its first members. His position quickly became established as tactician and organiser. It is Ren who collects and processes the information, and assigns missions to the agents. Having affirmed Ozai's position as leader of the organization, and providing the Phoenix King with the remnants of his Secret Forces, his position is even more secure. He is now almost always to be found in Rising Phoenix' headquarters, coordinating the group's efforts to restore things to the way they were.
Skills:
- Strategy: Ren is a genius, well-schooled in strategy both through education and experience.
- Deception: Ren has cultivated the persona of a harmless scholar or monk for most of his life. This partly real façade is by now impenetrable unless he chooses to lower it, and he can lie and dissemble without difficulty or fear of detection.
- Politics: Going hand-in-hand with the above abilities is a matery of politics, both in devising policy and working the strings of manipulation that get things done.
- Medicine: Ren was trained in the healing arts by the monks. He knows herbal remedies, acupuncture, even some surgery. He can use this knowledge to hurt as well as to heal; medicine and poison are near allied, and he has no qualms about using the latter.
- Cooking: Ren is a proficient maker of food; not a gourmet chef, perhaps, but nobody would ever object to his meals. This knowledge makes him all the more proficient at adding poison to dishes.
- Thrown weaponry: Ren is capable of hitting a stationary target with a thrown weapon (shuriken, knife, dart, etc.) with near-perfect accuracy. He is nowhere near as good at hitting a moving target, however.
Weaponry: Bo-shuriken: Ren's weapons of choice, these are essentially nails balanced for flight. Hidden within his capacious sleeves are dispensers, containing twelve (that is, six each) of the slender rods at full capacity, which he can slide out and throw within seconds.
War Fan: Made of solid steel covered in black enamel, on each side it has the characters for "Fire", "Wind", "Mountain" and "Forest" painted in gold. The implement is generally used to direct battles, though it can also be used to block attacks.
Strengths:
- Greatest Mind Under Heaven: Ren is an unparalleled genius, possibly th most intelligent man currently alive. His vast intellect provides him with quite an advantage, and perfectly fits him to the role of adviser.
- Calm: Being trained as a monk taught him to disregard emotion, as well as techniques to maintain his calm under all circumstances. He is never flustered or upset, always able to sublimate anger and adjust to any situation.
Weaknesses:
- Combat: Ren has almost no combat ability. Although he could kill someone with his shuriken through the element of surprise, once a battle begins they become largely ineffective. In a combat situation, Ren's only course is to stay back behind his soldiers, or flee.
- Heartless: While his lack of emotions is often an asset, it sometimes interferes with his attempts to manipulate -- he finds it very difficult to feign compassion or enthusiasm. His lack of empathy also interferes with his ability to tell when another's emotions are sincere.
Role Play Sample: Ren did not immediately turn when Hei Li entered the room; he just lowered his head so that he looked at the stained windowsill. At the man's words, however, the strategist pivoted, silent except for the rustling of his monk's robes. He wore the disguise today for much the same reason that he did not risk entering the Crater. Not that, as a disguise, it would conceal his tattoos, which would identify him to any who had seen him; it was more the innocuous appearance he was interested in.
He returned the man's grandiose bow with one that was simple, but nearly as deep. "Welcome, Hei Li." His grey eyes were fixed on the gold of the other. He had quickly learned, with the mask concealing the man's expressions, that his eyes were the main key to reading his thoughts. What do they say at the moment? Expressive as they were, Ren still feared deception. Foxes were said to leave clear trails, which when followed proved false.
Be that as it may, what Ren did see was mischief and disgust. Mischief, or mockery -- obviously concurring with his tone and posture. But disgust? Perhaps it was The Rust Bucket's amenities that he was unappreciative of. Ren had not thought that a former pirate and avowed imitator of beasts would be so picky. That could be a useful piece of information.
Ren straightened, still maintaining eye contact. "Princess Ursa has returned," he explained, folding his hands back into his sleeves. "Did you know of this?"
He gave no hint that he knew Hei Li was employed by her, nor of the danger that lurked within the capacious sleeves of Ren's monkish garb. At such close range, with an unprepared target, Ren could not miss.
Your Name: Flammifleure (Flam) or Vulpes.
Other Characters: Ozai, Hei Li, Zudao, Qing-Yu, Masamune, Kelaj, Long Feng.
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Birthplace: Fire Nation, exact location unknown
Loyalty: Fire Nation
Status: Former Vice Minister of Way in the Fire Nation, now a lieutenant and chief strategist of Rising Phoenix.
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 140lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Grey
Distinguishing Features: Ren is bald, due to shaving his head, and he has a pair of red, claw-shaped tattoos trailing down from the outside corners of his eyes.
Appearance: Ren is moderately tall, about 5'11". He has pale, smooth skin, unblemished by work or war. His build is average, neither thin nor bulky, and while fit he is not athletic. His life has been mostly sedentary, and it shows.
His face is oval-shaped, with long, slightly slanted eyes and a long, slender nose. His brows arch over his eyes, making him look perpetually sceptical. His eyes are a pale shade of grey. Like the rest of his face, they tend to be unexpressive, capable of absorbing intensity but not giving anything back. Perhaps his most notable feature is the pair of red marks tattooed on his face; they run from the outer corner of his eyes to a curving, tapered point on his jaw-line. Finally, although his hair would be black, he keeps it completely shaven, as he finds hair a nuisance. Thus, he appears bald.
Ren usually wears robes of black silk, decorated with gold embroidery in various patterns. They feature high collars and very deep sleeves. He normally wears a matching scarf over his head, protecting his scalp from sunburn. The wide sleeves of his robes are used to hide the dispensers for his bo-shuriken. He also keeps a set of monk's garments, which are red and black and much simpler in design.
Personality: Ren is a reserved man. He seldom talks, except when giving orders or discussing plans. He keeps his thoughts to himself, having learned to tell people as little as possible and only what they want to hear.
Inside, Ren is fiercely ambitious and patriotic. He wants the Fire Nation to lead the world, and he wants to lead the Fire Nation. He knows he is exceptionally gifted in policy and strategy, and feels that he deserves a high position. However, he has always lacked the strength to fight for what he wants. So he deferred his dreams under a mask of indifference, until his heart hardened and it became difficult for him to show or feel emotion.
He is very intelligent. Having no other weapon, he has learned to be cunning and deceptive. All of his actions are calculated to put people off their guard, so he might more easily manipulate them. Analytic and cautious, he will act only from afar, and preferably when his opponents least expect him to.
He hates the noble class with a secret passion, resentful of their pride and arrogant anger. At the same time he envies them, desiring their power for himself. Hence his dream to gain power, and force down the throats of the upper class the same bitter draughts that he has had to drink.
Family:
- Birth family: Unknown
- Monks: Disbanded, most have died
- Wei Yi: Adoptive father, 62, imprisoned for embezzling
History: Ren was an orphan found abandoned at the Kaliyuga Monastery, being only about a year old. The monks, though not accustomed to young children, gratefully took him in. Their order, originally founded in imitation of the Air Monks, was now on the verge of extinction, as no new novices joined them. Thus they saw the boy's coming as a sign.
The boy was given the name Ren. For the next eighteen years he lived in the monastery, seeing nothing of the world beyond the island on which it was built. There was a small village down by the harbour, but he did not frequent it, as there was ill feeling between the monks and the villagers. Instead he tended to stay behind the high walls, leaving only to investigate the natural world. He was taught the secrets of herb and beast, and how to prepare the former (the monks were vegetarian) for food and medicine. He was also taught how to think and debate, for the monks would often debate points of philosophy among themselves.
Ren believed he was happy enough. Still, he yearned for something more. The life of a monastic was not truly his calling, although the monks never saw that. On his eighteenth birthday (that is, the eighteenth anniversary of his being found), he was made a full member of the temple, given the tattoos that all the monks wore to symbolise their sorrow at the extermination of the Air Nomads. The very next day, the Fire Lord's soldiers appeared, and ordered the monastery closed, the monks' order suppressed.
What happened to his adoptive family Ren never knew. As for himself, he was adopted by the man who had suppressed the monastery, and enrolled in a military academy. Although he was several years behind the other students, he quickly managed to catch up. In the theoretical side, anyway. He could not firebend, and he had no taste for combat. Even after taking up throwing knives, he was still considered a failure by the academy's masters, and he was. He did not pass the military service exam.
His foster father, furious, disowned him. Ren, who had always resented this man who had taken him from the monastery, was now faced with the prospect of being turned adrift in the world. So, to prevent that, he began blackmailing the officer, who had enriched himself greatly by holding back his soldier's pay and other crimes. Finding himself trapped, the officer agreed to pull some strings so that Ren could take the civil service exam. This he did, after a few weeks of hastily studying the classics, he managed to scrape by. He was given a bottom degree position in the Ministry of War, and shipped out to the Earth Kingdom to help with logistics.
In the nine years he served, he discovered that the officers of the army he worked with were not nice men. Arrogant most of them, often cruel, they bullied the logistics officials and sneered at the fireless Ren when he tried to advise them. Shocked at what soldiers were capable of, Ren let his taciturn nature take over, quietly exalting when the Army would be defeated on account of not having listened to him.
Azulon passed on, to be succeeded by Ozai, but that made little difference to the front. Ren had, by this time, locked away all the humane teachings of the monks, letting his ambition become his only guide. As he had been with his "father", he appeared outwardly subservient to his superiors in the Ministry, and the officers, but always he was plotting to rise above them. The War held no interest for him; his sights were always on Kazan, and the royal court. In time, his machinations combined with real recognition of his talent finally paid off.
After the Day of Black Sun, he was made Vice Minister of War and called back to Kazan. He got to collaborate with the renowned Qin himself, studying with admiration the schematics for the airships. For the first time he came truly to appreciate just how glorious the Fire Nation could be. He decided then to use his position to better his country. He was working on a project to use rockets as offensive weapons when he was called to attend Ozai's coronation as Phoenix King. Although he detested Ozai and Azula personally, he could not help but feel national pride at the spectacle.
Sadly, the promise of a new world was not to be. Ren felt a deep sense of betrayal when he learned of all that had happened on the day of the Comet. He could not care less about Ozai, or Azula; he did not particularly care whether the Fire Nation actually ruled the world. A small part of him was in fact glad that the Earth Kingdom had been spared the devastation the Phoenix King had planned.
Why, then? Cynically, he looked at the situation following Ozai's fall and knew that peace would not ensue. There was too much hatred accumulated on both sides. Not even an Avatar could change that, no matter what miracles attended him. Besides, Zuko had betrayed his country, in a sense beyond the merely political: the Fie Nation was built on individualism, and Zuko had used -- had apparently needed -- help in his coup. Most importantly, his own dreams had been bound up with Ozai's administration, and they fell in flames with the air fleet. He had hoped to manipulate the paranoid Azula and take over the country ... now he was again helpless. Despairing, he resigned his post before Zuko could purge him.
The first thing he did was visit the old monastery, where he shaved his head and chin again in remembrance of what he had been. Then, through his contacts he learned of the fledgeling organization that would become Rising Phoenix, and joined as one of its first members. His position quickly became established as tactician and organiser. It is Ren who collects and processes the information, and assigns missions to the agents. Having affirmed Ozai's position as leader of the organization, and providing the Phoenix King with the remnants of his Secret Forces, his position is even more secure. He is now almost always to be found in Rising Phoenix' headquarters, coordinating the group's efforts to restore things to the way they were.
Skills:
- Strategy: Ren is a genius, well-schooled in strategy both through education and experience.
- Deception: Ren has cultivated the persona of a harmless scholar or monk for most of his life. This partly real façade is by now impenetrable unless he chooses to lower it, and he can lie and dissemble without difficulty or fear of detection.
- Politics: Going hand-in-hand with the above abilities is a matery of politics, both in devising policy and working the strings of manipulation that get things done.
- Medicine: Ren was trained in the healing arts by the monks. He knows herbal remedies, acupuncture, even some surgery. He can use this knowledge to hurt as well as to heal; medicine and poison are near allied, and he has no qualms about using the latter.
- Cooking: Ren is a proficient maker of food; not a gourmet chef, perhaps, but nobody would ever object to his meals. This knowledge makes him all the more proficient at adding poison to dishes.
- Thrown weaponry: Ren is capable of hitting a stationary target with a thrown weapon (shuriken, knife, dart, etc.) with near-perfect accuracy. He is nowhere near as good at hitting a moving target, however.
Weaponry: Bo-shuriken: Ren's weapons of choice, these are essentially nails balanced for flight. Hidden within his capacious sleeves are dispensers, containing twelve (that is, six each) of the slender rods at full capacity, which he can slide out and throw within seconds.
War Fan: Made of solid steel covered in black enamel, on each side it has the characters for "Fire", "Wind", "Mountain" and "Forest" painted in gold. The implement is generally used to direct battles, though it can also be used to block attacks.
Strengths:
- Greatest Mind Under Heaven: Ren is an unparalleled genius, possibly th most intelligent man currently alive. His vast intellect provides him with quite an advantage, and perfectly fits him to the role of adviser.
- Calm: Being trained as a monk taught him to disregard emotion, as well as techniques to maintain his calm under all circumstances. He is never flustered or upset, always able to sublimate anger and adjust to any situation.
Weaknesses:
- Combat: Ren has almost no combat ability. Although he could kill someone with his shuriken through the element of surprise, once a battle begins they become largely ineffective. In a combat situation, Ren's only course is to stay back behind his soldiers, or flee.
- Heartless: While his lack of emotions is often an asset, it sometimes interferes with his attempts to manipulate -- he finds it very difficult to feign compassion or enthusiasm. His lack of empathy also interferes with his ability to tell when another's emotions are sincere.
Role Play Sample: Ren did not immediately turn when Hei Li entered the room; he just lowered his head so that he looked at the stained windowsill. At the man's words, however, the strategist pivoted, silent except for the rustling of his monk's robes. He wore the disguise today for much the same reason that he did not risk entering the Crater. Not that, as a disguise, it would conceal his tattoos, which would identify him to any who had seen him; it was more the innocuous appearance he was interested in.
He returned the man's grandiose bow with one that was simple, but nearly as deep. "Welcome, Hei Li." His grey eyes were fixed on the gold of the other. He had quickly learned, with the mask concealing the man's expressions, that his eyes were the main key to reading his thoughts. What do they say at the moment? Expressive as they were, Ren still feared deception. Foxes were said to leave clear trails, which when followed proved false.
Be that as it may, what Ren did see was mischief and disgust. Mischief, or mockery -- obviously concurring with his tone and posture. But disgust? Perhaps it was The Rust Bucket's amenities that he was unappreciative of. Ren had not thought that a former pirate and avowed imitator of beasts would be so picky. That could be a useful piece of information.
Ren straightened, still maintaining eye contact. "Princess Ursa has returned," he explained, folding his hands back into his sleeves. "Did you know of this?"
He gave no hint that he knew Hei Li was employed by her, nor of the danger that lurked within the capacious sleeves of Ren's monkish garb. At such close range, with an unprepared target, Ren could not miss.
Your Name: Flammifleure (Flam) or Vulpes.
Other Characters: Ozai, Hei Li, Zudao, Qing-Yu, Masamune, Kelaj, Long Feng.
