Xue Ren (Snow/Blood Blade Edge)
'A kill within every ten steps,
Not leaving traces within a thousand miles,
Dusting off one's clothes and leaving after the deed,
Hiding one's presence and name deep.'
~ Excerpt from Li Bai's 'The Verse of the Wandering
Swordsman'
'A kill within every ten steps,
Not leaving traces within a thousand miles,
Dusting off one's clothes and leaving after the deed,
Hiding one's presence and name deep.'
~ Excerpt from Li Bai's 'The Verse of the Wandering Swordsman'
Xue Ren has always yearned for the life of a wandering swordsman as described by Li Bai. He had yearned for it as Mu Xue Ren (Snow Blade Edge), the eldest son of Mu Chen Shan the 'Light Wind Sword'. He yearns for it now as Xue Ren (Blood Blade Edge), high ranking assassin for the society known as You Ming.
The days before ‘fame' :
Life as Mu Xue Ren was but no more than a pleasant memory buried deep within himself that is only cultivated when he needs the motivation to stay in his line of work. Those were the days of sunlight in his life, training hard under his father but living otherwise carefree with his parents and siblings.
Everything changed in one night, with his parents and most of the students of the Light Wind School slaughtered except for the faithful few who had sacrificed their lives later so that Xue Ren and his siblings could escape and each scatter to ‘safety'. Xue Ren had never seen any of his siblings since.
He was 9 when that happened. Wandering alone, he was soon taken in by the You Ming which taught him the assassin trade. There and then, he changed the first character of his name, to remind himself of the blood debt. He took to the training like one starving and suddenly given food. Revenge burned bright in his heart always and drove him to strive for excellency in his craft.
Xue Ren the Assassin:
Xue Ren uses a sword as his primary weapon. He utilises surprise attacks but otherwise prefers to fight in an open manner as opposed to throat slitting in the dark or using poisons. However, he could capably use such methods when required or specifically requested by a client.
He has little interaction with other members of You Ming besides his own contact person. He prefers it this way, instinctively mistrustful of others, especially those in his own line of business.
Equipment:
- A high quality sword used in his day-to-day assassinations
- Various poisons and powders
- Light Wind Sword: hereditary sword of The Light Wind School, kept close by Xue Ren but unsoiled by blood until the day of his vengeance
Roleplaying Scenarios/Plot Hooks:
- Search out the culprit :
- Direction 1: the classic troupe of feud among
martial arts practitioners or massacre based on family heirloom/
weapon or relic
of power/book of awesome kung-fu in possession by anyone remotely related to the
Light Wind School
- Direction 2: somehow the Light Wind School got embroiled into political intrigue
- Buying freedom : how does Xue Ren buy his own freedom from You Ming?
- Sibling reunion : Xue Ren was ordered to kill one of his long-lost siblings. What should he do?
Rough portrait from Deviantart.com: http://www.deviantart.com/art/A-male-character-77285860.
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? Responses (9)
Reads like a nice Wuxia plot, and a likable assassin :)
The deviant art link no worky.
Fixed, Muro. Thanks for letting me know.
This is why society needs a dedicated system for the placements of orphans into foster care. If left on their own all orphans will become vigilantes, assassins or time traveling crime lords.
So he is famous?
I really like the sword that he carries that is waiting for blood. You should totally write a Haiku about that and put it in the teaser. I like the picture too, makes him look young and innocent. Did you draw that?
Well, I guess I have in mind that he would be famous among the martial arts world but in terms of everyday citizenry, not really. A good logical extrapolation on the foster care system :)
Nope, totally hopeless at drawings I am. I just browsed deviantart.com for a Chinese male and used the first thing that suited my purpose. Also, now that you mention the teaser, I did not make up the excerpt (I sometimes do but not in this instance). Li Bai is an actual poet in ancient China, in the Tang dynasty. Just want to make that clear.
Haiku about the sword? Not in the right mind for doing it right now but if my muse comes back, I will come back and add one.
Solid character, given to stylistic treatment.
Scarlet wings take flight
Sword to sleep until vengeance
Scattered to the wind
There you go, Axle, Scras made one up for you and spared me the effort. :) Thanks, Scras.
Creative, succinct, and usable. I like it.
This is pretty cool. Nicely stylized.
One thing about that text at the start:
'A kill within every ten steps,
Not leaving traces within a thousand miles,
Umm, if you killed every 10 steps, that is a pretty easy trace to follow :P