Vigorous March of Progress
Appearance: Vigorous March of Progress is constructed primarily of red jade. Next to his Jade Caste peers, he is not tall nor massive, though certainly stocky, with a sharp chin and piercing eyes of white jade. It is not a form many would define as beautiful, and yet composure programs and inflection-pistons installed beneath the surface work to create a figure whose poise and posture draw attention, invoke respect and inspiration, unanticipated allure.
In dress sense, social programming can be seen crashing against personal politics: when amongst the workers of the Populat he favours the coveralls and cap many of them wear. When interacting with the Tripartite, he takes up garb reminiscent of a Lector’s robe, but left open and cut of the simple cloth of Populat clothing, shabby and untailored in a way that somehow reinforces his presence rather than removing from it. More distinctive is the suit of orichalcum battle armour, the Mantle of the Irrepressible Propagandist, though even here March often eschews use of helm to deploy a full range of subtle facial expressions
Select Preferences
Favourite food: Grilled-rat-on-a-stick (tastes best fresh from a glass market stall!).
Favourite beverage: Solvent-based liquors
Most disliked tastes/scents: Fake-rat-on-a-stick. You CAN tell the difference.
Sexual preferences: Populat.
Favoured Divine Minister: None, they are all mere facets of the Great Maker.
Preferred entertainment: Speeches, murals.
Preferred Combat Art: Brawling
Favourite Place: Maker’s Anvil (Harmegis, Claslat)
Languages: Autochthonic (Native), Old Realm, Signal Lamp Code
History: Vigorous March of Progress is an Alchemical Exalt of red jade, forged by the nation of Claslat as it sought Champions in a time of growing scarcity and unrest, his designers tasked with the engineering of an Assembly to uncover the mysteries of the Seal of Eight Divinities and its opening. The Sodalites had originally conceived of an Alchemical to support the effort with words... as much as the rewards of breaking the Seal would be great, tales of heroic Champions would be vital to inspire and calm a Populat increasingly agitated by shortages of resources and increasing numbers of stillbirths. Combat and craftsmanship were not deemed of primary importance for the task... there would be other Champions to study and to fight. Rather, durability was installed to protect in the harshness of factory floors and when observing forays, along with charismatic circuitry to deliver needed propaganda to the populace.
When Vigorous March of Progress opened his eyes to the Realm of Brass and Shadow and announced his name, the goal seemed realized, and the young Alchemical was put through paces assisting the Lectors in spreading tales amongst the Populat of the factories and glass markets. Here, the charismatic Jade Caste proved popular with those it was hoped he would placate, as he shared in their frustrations towards the corrupt barons of the glot economy and encouraged them to labour harder & support each other, through forms such as the Study Circle.
But, while March could weave an excellent story, some within the Tripartite grew concerned over the content of his messages... the Jade Caste seemed at times to slip into reformism, an unbefitting attitude for a Champion of Claslat, particularly one working so closely with the masses. He had demanded he be assigned to a factory bunk rather than the private quarters due an Alchemical (a demand which had been accepted) and that the Tripartite follow in his footsteps (a demand which had not). He had been associated with an incident of violence relating to glot corruption that most would have preferred quietly ignored. Questions were asked, irregularities found in the selection of his soulgem... any thought of keeping him in the nation was abandoned, and the opportunity to send him off in company of the more reliable members of his assembly eagerly taken. It would be far easier to vet the propaganda he produced if much of it needed to be transmitted from the field.
Past Lives: Vigorous March of Progress, like all Alchemical Exalts, bears a soul which has proven its heroism across a dozen generations, in a tradition of self-sacrifice on behalf of others. The memories of many past lives continue to play through his mind
Sunya – A Populat foreman from a factory in the city of Shray in Claslat over three centuries ago, Sunya lived in a time of great unrest within his nation. Sunya had agitated for better working conditions, but when violence broke out between Tripartite Regulators and rioting workers, he attempted to calm both sides. Despite being injured in the fighting, when damage rendered the surrounding area unstable Sunya led members of both sides in stabilizing supports, refusing to withdraw for treatment until he was sure the others would be safe. Alas, when the job was done, Sunya could not be saved and died of his injuries.
Prompt Efficient Labor – A Jade Caste Alchemical Exalt, brought into being by Claslat some three centuries ago, to help resolve a tumultuous period in the Nation’s history as it introduced the revolutionary economic concept known as the ‘glot’. While not the inventor of the concept, Labour was amongst those tasked with implementing it amongst the riotous Populat of the time, convincing them of its merits and ensuring their behavior was not corrupted by its use. Labour accomplished this task well, aided by the artifact armour Mantle of the Irrepressible Propagandist. Labour’s service stretched for many years, the Alchemical growing in stature to the status of a Colossus before finally falling in battle to halt a gremlin horde encroaching on Claslat. Unlike the humans who bore his soul, Vigorous March of Progress knows of Labour’s life only second-hand, rather than through memory.
Molot – A human born into a small tunnel-dwelling tribe, who had gained access to the soulgem of Prompt Efficient Labour after it was lost to Claslat. Nicknamed ‘Iron Arse’ by his comrades, Molot was a brave warrior and hard worker, and his small tribe shared property and decision-making with each other based on immediate expertise and short-term accomplishment, rather than class or currency. Alas for the tribe, the region they inhabited was increasingly tainted by encroaching blight, forcing them to the outskirts of Nurad, where unable to scavenge sufficient food they turned to raiding, and were hunted and killed by a moonsilver Champion of that Nation. Molot fell attempting to stand against the Champion, to buy time for his tribe to escape: while his memories do not last long enough to reveal the truth, it seems likely his sacrifice inflicted little delay on the Alchemical.
Inessa – A Populat Vocant from Nurad, serving as assistant to the Glorious Luminors of the Brilliant Rapture. Inessa sacrificed herself to help her Luminor escape the dangers bubbling from a blight zone which encroached upon their work area... a worthy sacrifice for others. The life visible when a gem is examined, however, pales next to the full understanding that comes with memory… Inessa’s last memories were of bitterness at how her Luminor, once saved, had not thought it worth trying to rescue her in turn before he made his escape.
Ulian – A Glorious Luminor of the Brilliant Rapture, Ulian was the result of a Populat soul deemed to have earned life in a different role, and of an exchange of soulgems between Claslat and Nurad which saw a soul return to its origin after many years away. Ulian was by no means brilliant, but he was diligent, training other Luminors in the secrets of their Sodality. His death came when he was training his young lover and protégé, Dezda, in repairing the lighting of a factory. Without illuminated screens, several mechanisms had gone unmonitored, and the results proved deadly, as systems overheated and burst under the resulting pressure. Ulian insisted on saving Dezda before the factory suffered an explosion, and was going back in to search for others when it did so, killing him.
Jeon – The most recent bearer of the soul now housed within Vigorous March of Progress, Jeon was a worker at Ore Foundry N17 in Harmegis. Better read than many of his peers, Jeon issued repeated calls to recognize the difficulties faced by the Foundry, which had seen quotas rise and safeties retracted even as glot corruption deprived workers of well-earned respite. The pleas of a Populat factory worker were ignored by Harmegis’ plutarchs for years, until in desperation he walked to the square outside the Foundry and lit himself on fire, suicide by self-immolation to draw attention to the suffering. The event certainly drew the eyes of the state, which condemned such a sacrifice as wasteful and foolish… but those eyes also uncovered corruption in the Foundry leadership; and its removal led to a bettering of conditions, at least for a time.
Personal Relations: Len (Ally ●), Kahu (Ally ●), Tael (Contacts ●), Dezda (Contacts ●), Evar (Contacts ●), Rensky (Enemy 1)
Outlook:
- On Autochthonia: “The Great Maker is everything, and He is suffering. He offers up much to those in his embrace, but it is not enough. Can one blame the Maker for this lack? No, he has provided what is needed, and in turn the vast masses of the people work their hardest and pray to him as is only right. If there are shortages, if there are stillborns, the fault lies not with the Maker nor with the people… the flaw, the source of suffering, must lie with the system that lies between Maker and People!”
--- (On Glots and Glot Bosses): “The flaw can be seen laid bare in Claslat, where corrupt glot bosses exploit hardworking labour, using violence and deception to leech as parasites upon the hard work of the Populat. The reward of rest and luxury ought be granted those who earn them by the sweat of their brows, not expropriated with thugs and glass!”
--- (On Social Classes): “It can be seen in the extravagance of the Tripartite. Private quarters, luxuries, protection from privation, all these are they accorded. Praise is certainly deserved by the man who designs a bolt, for bolts must be designed. But just as we would be lost to the void if the man designing bolts ceased to make his contribution, so two would we be lost if the man who hammers those bolts into being put down his tools. Both are vital to our survival, and both ought be judged and rewarded in equal measure. Class is a false division, an awning to shelter corruption. All should live, dine, and love together… luxuries ought be a commendation not for a select few who monopolize a set of tasks but for any whose labours rise above and beyond what is expected of them!”
--- (On Claslat and the other Nations): “It can be seen in eight polities… there are many humans, all who work and pray and strive for a better tomorrow. There is but one Maker, who provides for all. And between the One and the many, each supporting the other, all things that could be done united are wasted seven times over. Eight commands, eight policies, eight establishments… would a worker claim eight bunks in the dormitories? Would a tube spit out eight plates for each who approached? Some have told me that there are eight Poles, eight Divine Ministers, and for that reason there are Eight Nations… thus I should not cast critical gaze but patriotic love and obedient devotion. But shall I love and pray and worship the Mistress of Pistons? Or Debok Moon? Shall THEY receive my patriotic love, my obedient devotion? I would be castigated for such a heresy, and rightly so, for they are naught but facets of the Maker. And so too can a Nation never be somehow worthy in of itself, be more than a facet of our united whole. To believe otherwise is to be a tool of corruption which now threatens doom upon us.”
- On the Seal of Eight Divinities and Project Razor: “When one who has nothing works and works, and each day finds she has less and less, she asks ‘Why is this so? Where has my labour gone?’ And the reply, from the one clad in fine clothes and fat on double rations, comes ‘Cease your complaints, this place does not have enough for us. But do not look at my fine robes and my full belly for the reason, look around the bend of that tunnel, through the smoke of that cavern… there is another place there, a place of plenty, which will save you from your suffering. I promise I shall find it, but you must keep at your bench and at your labours, must keep dressing me in fine clothes and feeding me fine meals while your belly is empty, for only if you do can I find that other place and save us all.’
Perhaps there is a Seal, perhaps not. But our salvation is not there, it is here, our savior not some myth of plenty but our own sweat and our own right thinking. The quest to break the Seal is empty, commissioned by those who know true blame lies with themselves in order to distract those best positioned to set our world right, and mislead the masses should they begin to question.”
- On the Assembly: “Like lamps, all minds begin dark, one must throw switch and connect arcs to set them alight… or recycle and replace if they fail to illuminate. With proper labour and correct argument, there is no need for concern.”
