Mnemon Icheka

Overview

Name: Icheka Mnemon Age: 24 Aspect: Water Concept: Iselsi Agent

Anima: A series of concentric blue-black spheres slowly rotating in different directions, carrying the penetrating chill of the deep ocean.

Motivation: Restore and expand the powerbase of House Iselsi on the Blessed Isle.

Intimacies: House Iselsi, Mnemon Caras, Mnemon Miasa, Sesus Indira, The Immaculate Order, Mnemon Kora (Avenge), The Realm, Peleps Deham, Ledaal Shinjo, Sesus Septimus, Cathak Okubo

Attributes

Physical Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2.

Social Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3.

Mental Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 3.

Abilities

Air Linguistics 3, Lore 3, Occult 0, Stealth 0, Thrown 0.

Earth Awareness 3, Craft 0, Integrity 4(X), Resistance 3, War 2.

Fire Athletics 0, Dodge 0, Melee 2, Presence 3(X), Socialize 3.

Water Bureaucracy 4(X), Investigation 4(X), Larceny 0(X), Martial Arts 4(X), Sail 0(X).

Wood Archery 2, Medicine 3, Performance 3, Ride 2, Survival 0.

Specialties Investigation: Discerning Motivation 1 Martial Arts: Razor Claws 1 Performance: Acting 1

Languages High Realm Low Realm Old Realm Riverspeak

Virtues

Compassion 2, Conviction 3(X), Temperance 2, Valor 2.

Virtue Flaw: “Conviction can turn them into a great tidal wave, smashing aside and washing away anything that stands between them and their goals, regardless of the cost.” Also, immersion in water.

Backgrounds

Ally 1 Artifact 3 Arsenal 1 Backing: All-Seeing Eye 1 Backing: Deliberative 1 Breeding 3 Connections: High Society 1 Connections: Immaculate Order 1 Manse 3 Mentor 3 Reputation 1 Resources 3

Charms

Wind-Carried Words Auspicious First Meeting Attitude x 2 (the second purchase lets me "reset" the bonus when I complete a task directly requested by the target that takes a scene or longer to accomplish) Second Presence Excellency Second Performance Excellency +2 Unknown

Essence

Essence: 2 Personal (Committed): 13/13 Peripheral (Committed): 12/12 (14 other motes committed; not shown)

Willpower: 8/8 Limit: 7/10

Combat

== Health Levels: == -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/I Soak: 11B/ 11L. Hardness: 8B/ 8L.

Parry DV: 7 Dodge DV: 2 Mental Parry DV: 5 (includes +1 from Mind-cleansing Gem) Mental Dodge DV: 8 (includes +1 from Mind-cleansing Gem)

Possessions

Equipment Icheka's person always bears a small scroll in his calligraphy detailing the Five Noble Insights and the Five Diligent Practices of the Immaculate Order.

Artifacts Horns of Daana'd (Black Jade Hook Daiklaives; 2-dot pair) Speed 5, Accuracy +2, Damage +5L/2, Defense +5, Rate 3, Attune 6 (pair), Tags: D, M A pair of slender blade jade hook daiklaives whose edges are rippled like ocean waves.

Root of the Mountain (Black Jade Reinforced Breastplate; 2-dot) Soak +10L/+9B, Hardness 8L/8B, Mobility -1, Fatigue 0, Attune 4

Four jade hearthstone amulets.

All of the above items were provided to Icheka by the bloodline of Mnemon Caras. The hook daiklaives and armour belonged to Mnemon Karahgil, who slew an Anathema during a Wyld Hunt in the Southern mountain ranges by triggering an avalanche. Karaghil intercepted the Anathema's charge at his comrades by tackling it over the ridge opposite the Hunt. When Karaghil's comrades dug him out, both he and the Anathema were dead, each crushed as much by their opponent's fearsome grip as they were by the tons of granite around them.

Manses & Hearthstones Virtue's Pedestal (Level 1 Earth Manse) Near the western rocky hills of Incas, there stands a hollow pentagonal pillar of marble 200 feet tall. It's outer surface is a rough-hewn and dull, but inside it is encrusted like a geode, and the millions of facets sparkle in the sunlight streaming through the skylight. Despite its enthusiastic glittering, the Pedestal demands more respect of it majesty than gaiety at its display. The manse produces the Gem of Dignity (1-dot Earth; Oadenol's Codex p. 88).

Flawless Rill Freehold (Level 1 Manse) This is home to Icheka's “parents”. (see Blessed Isle p. 134 for complete description, including hearthstone)

Murmuring Sanctum (Level 2 Manse) Nestled in a hollow near the Flawless Rill Freehold is a grotto with a waterfall cascading almost lazily down a series of terraces into a shallow pool. The pool is surrounded and overhung by a glade of willows, giving the locale a cozy feel. Staring into the pool, one sees a confluence of willow branches entwined around an irregular, blue-white orb. Reaching into the pool's reflection, one can pluck out the image of the orb, finding that they now hold the Stone of Recognition (Oadenol's Codex p. 96).

Vale of Still Water (Level 2 Water Manse) It was through Icheka's mentor, Inexorable Tide, that he was allowed to attune to this manse. Southwest of the Palace Sublime in a narrow canyon, each of whose walls is covered by a layer of water at least 10 feet deep and utterly undisturbed by the elements such that it presents a perfectly mirrored surface. Immaculate monks with the vale to contemplate their most private doubts and personal trials of faith. The Vale of Still water produces a Mind-Cleansing Gem (2-dot water; Oadenol's Codex p. 96) front a delicate stalagmite mid-way between the canyon walls.

Backstory

Personal Information Birthplace: An unknown Iselsi household of the Yamah bloodline within the Scarlet prefecture. Age of Exaltation: 12 Primary School: The Academy for the Cultivation of Youthful Talents Secondary School: The Cloister of Wisdom Current Dwelling: A suite in the Mnemon wing of the Imperial Palace, although he also has a one-room sleeping chamber reserved for him in the Palace of the Deliberative.

Tendencies & Preferences: Favourite food: Scallops, lightly simmered with capers in butter and fine white wine. Favourite beverage: A bittersweet syrup of honey and lime juice filtered through crushed cashews. Most disliked tastes/scents: Boiled cabbage. Lilacs. Sexual preferences: Women, preferably at least a decade his senior (more if Exalted). Favoured Immaculate temple: Daana'd, but visits them all equally. Preferred entertainment: Poetry. Favoured Method/Instrument: Acting. Preferred reading material: Political theory. Preferred Combat Art: Dueling, unarmed and unarmoured (he's not that good at it, but likes it for aesthetic reasons)

History: Synopsis: Icheka was crib-swapped into Mnemon from House Iselsi, and the the Immaculate Order provided a tutor (the Iselsi monk Inexorable Tide) due to strong ties between the Order and Caras' line. He attended the Academy of for the Cultivation of Youthful talents in 754, Exalted in his 4th Form (age 12). His tutor assured Caras of Icheka's promise and suitability for the Order, and Icheka's primary school teachers confirmed the assessment. Icheka was sent to the Cloister of Wisdom, where he continued to exceed expectations, but upon his return, although his faith in the Order was stronger than ever, he expressed an interest in politics, and so Caras himself made Icheka his page in the Deliberative.

Family: The identity of Icheka's Islesli birth parents are unknown, and he grew up as the son of Mnemon Asaska, a Water-aspected granddaughter of Mnemon Caras, who revels in the fact that her family inherited her manse from the routed Iselsi of the now-defunct Manoton bloodline. Although proud of her healthy “son”, Araska paid him little personal attention as a child, leaving him in the care of an Immaculate tutor by the name of Inexorable Tide, who was an Iselsi agent within the Order.

Expanded Backgrounds: Ally 1 (Mnemon Miasa) Icheka and his cousin Miasa were both enrolled in The Academy for the Cultivation of Youthful Talents in RY754. Their common House affiliation afforded them some solidarity, but the had deep-seated ideological differences that coloured their relationship. Miasa, originating from the main Mnemon line, was fiercely proud of the purity of her blood, and looked disdainfully on some of the children one form above them for their origins outside the Imperial City. Icheka cautioned Miasa that the Dragons choose those who were worthy by their devotions to the tenets of the Immaculate philosophy, knowingly or unknowingly, in a previous life, not simply the blood in their parents veins. Although the veracity of his assurances are dubious at best, his prediction seemed to bear fruit by the end of their time at the Academy. Not only did Icheka exalt a year ahead of Miasa, but the outsiders were the only exalts of the RY753 crop of students, leading Miasa to put more stock in Icheka's assessments, if not relax her position of the primacy of heritage. Their friendship continued to grow during their time in The Cloister of Wisdom, with Icheka's social savvy and Miasa's fierce dedication serving the pair well.

Backing: All-Seeing Eye 1 During Icheka's time at the Cloister of Wisdom, Icheka's keen mind and diplomatic bearing attracted the attention of Hitayasham, the instructor of his herbalism and healing classes. The two began a game, each trying to have an extended conversation, at first directly through a series of notes, and then indirectly by manipulating the behaviour of the other students as a form of language and private joke between them. One day, Hitayasha asked if Icheka wished to continue the game after his graduation, a prospect to which he agreed readily. Thus he was recruited into the All-Seeing Eye.

Backing: Deliberative 1 Icheka is a Page attached to the office of Mnemon Caras in the Greater Chamber.

Connections: High Society 1 (Sesus Indira) Indira is a middle-aged Sesus Dynast, the mistress of her House's social scene in the Imperial Palace, concerned with fashion and galas and social matters rather than the more direct politics of House, Scales, or Deliberative. The Sesus branch heads in the City, being more concerned with those sort of things, have let her claim a great deal of social authority. It was Indira who first approached Icheka, after overhearing praise of Icheka by Sesus Tegra at one of her parties, who had been impressed by the young Water aspect's admirable service to Mnemon Caras. Indira invited Icheka to lunch the following day, and saw immediately that he would be a great asset in her social circles, and he has been a frequent guest at her events ever since.

Mentor 3 (Inexorable Tide) It was under Tide's guidance that Icheka spent his formative years prior to attending The Academy for the Cultivation of Youthful Talents, and the two formed a close bond. Naturally, Tide took great pains to ensure that Icheka remained emotionally detached from House Mnemon and more sympathetic to his Iselsi roots, which were an object of playful conspiracy between the pair. After Icheka's graduation from the Cloister of Wisdom, Tide still mentors his favoured student from his position a local temple to Daana'd.

Reputation 1 (Immaculate Devotion) Despite the strong tradition of Immaculate devotion in Mnemon Caras' bloodline, Icheka managed to pleasantly surprise his elders with his thoughtful and reasoned adoption of the Order's tenets at such a young age. Indeed, friends and associates of his family were impressed by his devout demeanor, and even detractors of House Mnemon were forced to concede that Icheka was a fine contribution to the House on the religious front.

Resources 3

Flaws: Obligation: House Iselsi 1 Dark Secret: House Isesli 4 Oathbound 1 (strict adherence to the Five Noble Insights and the Five Diligent Practices)