Character Creation: Concept

Character

I wanted to try out the Laughing Monster MA style so the base concept was just a guy from a MA gang of that style. I decided that I wanted to flesh out the god that would be exalting my character first, since my concept was so loose, so I did that before continuing here.

God

According to the style's description in Lunar, it originates through a number of interactions between the Fae and Creation, so I figured it should originate on the edges of creation. It also says the it is epitomized by impetuosity, wicked humor, misdirection, and confusion. This description made me think of someone being harassed by a troop of monkeys screaming and shaking the trees above them. Monkeys can also switch from playful to murderous quickly and unpredictable, which sounded fitting to me. Baboons are large monkeys that can be dangerous, so I decided that the god being associated with baboons as well made sense.

So that led me to how did this baboon god become the god of Laughing Monster style? Well it made sense to that an minor terrestrial god that was unhappy with its limited purview might see this new thing that exists without a god and work to associate itself with it. So this small god of a local troop of baboons approached the shaman that took the style from the Fae and offered to be the patron of his tribe. He used his powers to help the tribe tame his troop of baboons (FYI for those that don't know, it is illegal for gods to interfere this much in creation but celestial enforcement is a joke). He became the patron god of the tribe and worked to intermingle the tribes worship of him with the practice and teaching of the MA style. A large part of the success of doing so was due to the similar nature of Laughing Monster Style and the baboon god.

I liked the idea that the god is unfit for his new role and lacks the traits to fulfill his ambitions. He is fairly clever but impatient and easily distracted. His ambition and nature as an animal that has alphas means he is always worried about maintaining his dominance and is prone to extreme paranoia. He is susceptible to vanity as it soothes his fears. He also has a cruel sense of humor that does his long term plans and worshipers harm.

Over time, he has developed a pattern. He will seek out the largest/strongest group of practitioners of the style. He will teach them the secrets of the style and grant them power in return for worship and gifts.

I am imagining he might have a charm that allows him to commit like 10 motes and a willpower to uplift one of his worshipers, which gives them an essence pool of the amount committed. Maybe they can only use it on charms for the style. Or other ways to loan mortals essence. If there are already essence-wielders in the group, he can teach them the styles charms, give them hearthstones or artifacts he has collected, teach them sorcery, give them a baboon familiar and other things.

At first he is generous but quickly becomes more demanding. In addition, he often pits the leaders of the group against each other, offering things to whoever brings him the greatest gift. The group becomes more powerful but starts attracting a lot of negative attention as the try to get their hands on better and better offerings. Quickly moving from gold and gems to artifacts, hearthstones, sacred relics, ancient lore, and other things that the powers in the area are not so willing to lose. In addition, he doesn't penalize worshipers from turning on each other. In fact, when one member rises to high, he will often encourage it, out of his fear of losing his control over the group.

Eventually the inevitable happens and they either tear each other apart or powerful outsiders hunt them down for causing too much trouble. The survivors scatter in every direction, many of which go on to start their own group in different parts of creation, spreading like a cancer. Meanwhile, the god takes all the gifts he's gained and moves onto the next group, often on the far side of Creation.

School

Once I had the above, I moved on to what the school here in Wu-Jian looked like. The idea that many of the martial arts schools in the city also operate like criminal gangs that run parts of the city, fits really well with everything I had going so far, so they definitely follow that pattern. I feel like the style is too cancerous to be one of the very top schools and that controlling rich areas doesn't feel right. Instead I like the idea of them controlling one of the poorest areas in the city. They aren't running casinos and fronts for large drug operations. They make their money from extortion, blackmail, theft, and murder.

The school operates as a pyramid. Currently the god Khi'Too'Ten sits at the top, as he is in residence. He has the title of Hanshi and is addressed as Dai Sensei Khi'Too'Ten. According to the teachings of Laughing Monster Style, only Khi'Too'Ten is allowed to hold this rank.

a couple of masters (Renshi) sitting at the top (currently 3). They are responsible for the strategic level of running the school and criminal operations. They rarely directly participate in the crime aspect of the organization. Instead, they control and direct the profits, keep those under them in-line, and offer training and guidance. Under the masters are the Senseis (Lts), which are (in theory) each personally loyal to one of the masters. They run the day-to-day of large scale operations and manage smaller operations through their inferiors. They are also in charge of the day-to-day training of the schools members.

Under the Senseis are the senior students (Sgts). They do not have a title but are called Senpai by those beneath them. They run smaller operations or parts of large operations and often have younger students they are responsible for. They are often responsible for keeping order during training and asked to run individual parts of training, like katas and drills. While becoming a Sensei generally takes over a decade of work and study, particularly driven and competent individuals can join this rank quite quickly.

At the bottom of the pyramid are the students (foot soldiers). Many of them are very young, children and young teens, and most never make it out of this category. Most of the schools members are drawn from the poorest and most desperate. They are forced to prove themselves before receiving any training and many don't survive or return. Members of this group are often forced into dangerous jobs like pick-pocketing in enemy territory or picking fights with other schools in order to create a distraction for other work. Many people from this walk of life are too sick and hungry to keep up and either die or drop out. Those that do make it tend to be strong (not necessarily physically) but have anti-social tendencies and piles of trauma.

The Exaltation

Khi'Too'Ten (the name of the god) would not normally risk exalting a champion. The diminishment he would suffer plus the power of an exalt would generally put his dominance in too much danger, but the promise of the power of exaltation pushed is greed and ambition higher than his fear. He put together a plan to steal an exaltation. (My thought is that he stole it from another dojo in the city that was granted it on the promise that they would stop this alchemist. It could add an interesting rivalry aspect to another dojo.)

Khi'Too'Ten awarded the exaltation by flipping a coin onto the mat of the dojo and telling the entire school that whoever brought him the coin would be greatly awarded and be his champion. Then he went into a back room and closed the door. Everyone froze, waiting for someone to make the first move, and then all chaos broke out. The main contenders for the coin were the Senseis backed by their most loyal senior students. Most of the younger students were smart enough to scatter and those that decided to try and impress their superiors were quickly injured and limped off. The three Renshi, on the other hand, didn't move a muscle. After much injury and a few deaths, one of the Senseis came out on top. When to took a step toward the door, the Renshi he served called out his name. There was a brief pause before he made a dash for the door. All three Renshi acted at once and the Sensei was forced back. A stalemate ensued and a stillness pervaded the dojo. While the Renshi all wanted the prize for themselves, they wanted one of the other Renshi to receive it even less. After a moment, the three of them nodded to each other and retook their seats. The Sensei would be allowed to take the prize