Lord of the Ashen Cloud

Basic Information

Name: Lord of the Ashen Cloud
AKA: Ash, Ryoku Exodus
Type: Dragon-Blooded Exalt
Player: Tony
Current Age: 28 (Chapter 1: 21)
Aspect: Fire
Concept: Member of the Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Motivation: Separate himself completely from the strands of destiny and societies expectations.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Anima: When Ash's anima first flares it is little more than a orange flecked gust of swirling wind, as he spends more essence the flecks of light and the gusting winds both grow in quantity and intensity until they erupt into a swirling fire storm engulfing his surroundings.
Likes: Fine women, fine wine, fine tobacco. Things that fly. Things that go BOOM.
Dislikes: Society's expectations and norms. Dull or tacky people or things.
Theme Song: The Prodigy - Girls
Lord of the Ashen Cloud: Character Sheet

Background

Ash was born to the name Exodus, he grew up as a part of a noble Dragon-Blooded House in Cherek, though his life was not so grand as other Princes of Creation. His father was the elder of the House, proud northerner and Air Caste; his mother was a Fire Aspected lost egg who his father fancied and treated her as little more than a concubine. Needless to say he was only ever considered a half part of the House, even after he exalted he was a disappointment to his father by following in his mother's Fire Aspected footsteps. Despite the somewhat outcast youth he was too potentially helpful to disgrace completely so he was raised as a glorified servant like his mother.

Ash was well behaved, but deceitful growing up, natural charisma and a knack for getting his way kept him in relative favor with the House. He was a servant for many House elders who were not used to having an exalted servant who could accomplish their work for them as competently as they could, or cared to at least. As a result he was given more responsibility and access then was ever intended.

A particularly lazy accountant gave him access to the House's sealed vault, tasked with making a mundane report of what was left in it. So Ash was given the boring task of counting the Jade talons in the vault, a number that was found to be surprisingly low. The lack of work, and Jade, gave him time to explore what else was locked away in the vault. It was here he discovered the ancient flying vessel in disrepair, Geronimo... The ship had been forgotten about for a generation. The elder before his father told few for fear someone would steal it if it was discovered, in keeping it secret he failed to get it repaired properly. It hadn't been out of the vault since the Shogunate.

Ash graduated secondary school at 17 years old, he seemed to be distancing himself from his duties as a servant and begun having success in the real estate market. A tremendous knack, or luck, finding Greenfields in the typically icy fields of the north. His charm, appearance, and fire aspected nature gave people comfort when buying from him. He took a short sabbatical to the south soon after graduation, returning in only a few months. Secretly he brought with him an artisan from the south. Someone to work in the House's vault and fix Geronimo for a portion of Ash's discovered real estate fortune. Three short months later the ship was flight ready. Ash took it on it's grand return voyage into the skies. The public display and Ash's actions are the stuff of legend, but it left his now former House in shambles. (A story called Blood Runs Too Deep.)

Ash never returned to Cherek, though his reputation never left, he made his way south and east in his newly repaired ship. He set out compiling a carefully hand-picked crew, each crewman was a former prize slave of his or her master. Ash systematically assassinated the slave masters and claimed their prize slaves; buying their loyalty with freedom and fair pay to work as a crewman aboard Geronimo. The systematic, extreme, and wide spread nature of the assassinations drew the attention of the Grass Spiders who asked him to join after his historic assassination of a performer in a crowed opera house in Nexus.

His exit from Cherek, which earned him fame and notoriety, also earned him his new found title which was given to him by Tiamat upon his initiation into The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders.

Stories

How I Became A Grass Spider

Suggested Music: Kid Cudi - Day N Night

Ash took the hookah from Opal with a smirk, “How did I join this lot of psychopaths?” He paused for a moment while he took a long inhale of smoke, blowing it out slowly in smoke rings before he continued.

“I’m not sure your delicate ears can handle it… You don’t have a thing for actors do you?” Ash gave Opal a flirtatious wink as he said it and was greeted with a playful backhand to the shoulder which didn’t do a great deal to discourage him, but got him back on track with the story.

“Well, it was not so very long ago and I was on a search to gather a fitting crew for my exquisite vessel. I was in Nexus, scouting some talent…” He paused for a short moment, smirking to himself as he seemed to remember a portion of the story he did not share before continuing.

“That is when I spotted him. Glorious Ruby Viper or Magnificent Orichalcum Lion… Okay, I don’t remember his name. But he was a famous actor at the time, he was the new big thing in Nexus and he was doing his final show before he made all the guild tours.” Ash made a jerking off motion as he spoke of the actor, who he clearly didn’t think much of, and the guild, which he seemed to hold at an even lower regard.

“So, one night I was invited by a new friend to some big banquette the night before the show. All the big guild traders and high society types would be there, so I figured it was a good time to show face. I caught sight of a particularly fine specimen; almost certainly a high priced concubine on retainer to one the city’s wealthy. Far too high class to be with a guildsman. So I move in for the kill.”

The circle was familiar enough with the phrase to know this meant he was going to hit on a girl, not actually go kill someone. Though all too often the target ended up that way anyway.

“Then disaster struck. What’s his face, the actor beats me to the punch. Swept in and stole her just as I was making my move. Classic steal, breaks my only cardinal rule…” Ash took a deep breath as if deeply pained, leaned forward a bit to hit the hookah again and exhaled in extended fashion as he sat back in his chair and continued. “In that moment I knew that I would kill him.”

The circle, especially Opal and Fay, was often forced to overlook his more than occasional objectification of women. Then again the girl was already a slave, and Ash took a surprisingly harsh stance against slavery. They’d never known him to actually force himself on a woman, maybe because they almost always gave in willingly.

“Anyway, I decided I had picked my target. It was time to do my research. So I made friends with the director of the show and got a copy of the script. Blah, blah, blah… A night of boring reading later I had picked the perfect spot. The highest point of the show, his solo moment under the spot light.”

“BOOM!” Ash yelled suddenly at the top of his lungs at Mesa who had just started to have a slightly glazed over look, he nearly fell out of his seat at the sudden yell.

“Well, it was much more a crash than a boom. I paid off some of stage crew to arrange an opening in the cat walk so that nothing would be above a certain point in the stage. A few dinar to some out of work street scum cleared a nice easy entry point on the roof. And a short hunting expedition got me my weapon of choice.”

“The Strix hit the actor just right, the great bird crashed through the weakened roof and the beak made direct contact with his head. Blood, guts, and brains spewed all over the stage just before they dropped the curtain, it was a marvelous sight… Or so I’m told. The unfortunate part of a giant bird drop is it requires me to be quite some distance away….” He reflected on the moment with a hint of nostalgic sadness.

“Anyway, The One-Eyed Queen and Whitaker had dragged Ruk to see the show. At first they thought another Grass Spider had done it. They soon found out that wasn’t the case, Ruk spoke with Tiamat who was already on my trail after my fairly public claim to my rightful inheritance… And to cut out the boring details by the end of the week I had been recruited…”

“Oh!... And of course I met back up with my original target at What’s His Face’s funeral….”

“Jackpot…”

---

“Right Zealot? Did you get a girl with your first hit?” Ash poked fun as he passed the bowl on around the circle to their next companion.

Prelude

• Beautiful Sin - A mission with Ash and Opal that doesn't go according to plan when Ash strays from it.
• Blood Runs Too Deep - Ash's origin story detailing the events leading up to his ownership of his airship, The Geronimo.

Chapter 1

• An Average Morning - Ash and Mesa enjoy and average breakfast at The Range Homes.
• The Beginning - Mesa and Ash pursue a man believed to be connected to the mysterious death of one of their companions only to be left with more questions than they started with.
• A Dish Served Cold - After the death of two of The Geronimo's crew, Moon and Naru seek revenge and emotional closure on their own.
• Enjoy The Silence - Moon lectures Ash on the meaninglessness of his nightly self-destructive escapades.
• The Real Deal - The Geronimo goes down leaving vessel and crew battered and bruised.

Chapter 2

• A Visit to the Waterfall Pagoda - Gyoki pays Ash and unexpected visit at his home away from home.
• Down to Business - After a restless night in his manse, Ash decides to decides to start taking his responsibilities more seriously, even if that means placing more trust in those around him.
• The Hanged Man - Ash and The Geronimo undertake a seemingly simple smuggling mission that turns out to be anything but.
• The Long Way Home - Ash and Opal speak their minds on the streets of Nexus.
• The Ten of Wands - Ash gets a lecture from Rustung and discovers what he's missed while away from The Range Homes.

What He's Been Up To

The Veil War

In the 7 years since Chapter 1, Ash has become a different man and remained completely unchanged depending on your perspective. Ash is more a member of the organization than ever before, he had always been the sort that could disappear one day. During the Veil War he proved to be a loyal and dependable member of the organization and earned greater respect among the elder members, though he spent no more time training his skills than he had before. In fact, despite showing that he was unwaveringly loyal to the Grass Spiders he seemed to grow increasingly distant throughout the 7 years since Chapter 1, spending more and more time away from The Range Homes when he was not specifically requested to be there. (A surprisingly small amount of time.) The slow trend hit a cliff approximately 3 years ago when two of his crew members were killed during The Veil War and The Grass Spider's prevented him from directly getting his revenge, though Moon and Naru made sure the act didn't go unpunished. Ash has not privately or publicly displayed any displeasure in the fact that he was unable to extract his own revenge, outside of the one angry night when Rizuka and Oak had to calm him down. However, since that night he has greatly increased his level of activity outside of The Grass Spider's organization. He discovered, and claimed ownership of a Manse in the far east where he has set up a semi-permanent camp for him and his expanding crew; who have assisted Ash in wildly spreading his sphere of influence throughout the Scavenger Lands. Moon's alchemy and crafting skills have allowed him to start a small business with wide reaching specialty products, while this does serve as a means of income for him it primarily is used to spread a wide net of connections.

Recently Gyoki has visited Ash at the Waterfall-Pagoda Manse where they two had a rather confusing (at least for Ash) conversation, but Ash at least recognized that the organization had grown interested in his increasing absence and that they were demanding his attention back; at some point the two lives Ash has begun to live may begin to conflict with one another, but for now Ash is still unwaveringly loyal to The Grass Spiders.

Fallback Move

Use what you've got... especially if you have an airship! Ash made his name dropping large or explosive items from great height in his airship and he continues to use this technique when in a pinch.

Ash makes wide use of his social skills and often excessive resources, finding a way to use those around him to help or completely accomplish the task at hand. Ash isn't above hiring help or even having other groups complete his assassinations (Or unknowingly be a distraction for his). If Ash is forced to fight, he takes great care to put himself well ahead before the engagement ever begins.

Defining Quote

"I had a thought... It was... fairly rash."

"I'm willing to accept that."

"I mean... Look at me. I don't look like I'm from a shitty town."