Quote Originally Posted by Falcos View Post
Got a bit of a doozy for you.
This is the one I've tried my best to flesh out on my own, but I'd still love your spin on it.
Shui Leigong, Human from the far-off land of Kara-Tur. Chosen at birth by the destroyer-storm-God Talos to be his servant on earth, he is a Storm Sorcerer/Paladin multiclass. He was born as a potential heir to the Jade Throne, and has been sent out, along with all of the other potential heirs to bring back "something of value" to prove that he'd be an acceptable Emperor. He's gone to Faerun, with three retainers; his personal majordomo, an Emperor's scribe to record his findings, and a cartographer to map the unfamiliar lands.
He misses his home dearly, and he attempts to learn what is needed to become Emperor, find something "valuable" to bring back, and serve his God faithfully - with the mindset of "If I'm an avatar of destruction, surely there are always things that need to be destroyed."
Think you can work with this amount of restrictions, mon amie?
And... finally... challenge accepted!
Was a busy (insane?) week at work last week...
Then I decided to do new folks before repeat folks...
Then I had to do a crash course in Network + Certificates (just barely failed, sigh)...
And now I am writing because my brain needs to think about something other than creating Subnets and knowing what port FTP, SSH, and every other protocol you can - and can't imagine - uses!
I took the opportunity to tie your origin into another one over here. Simply because the region and... what I mention below... seems to tie it all together nicely.
This one, I feel was SIGNIFICANTLY easier than your previous requests...
This one at least operated out of D&D (not 5e, but still, D&D rather than MTG)...
So that made the familiarity of it much easier...
Anyway - hopefully that means I got close to the mark!
As always - tell me your thoughts - what you liked, hated, loved, whatever! Tell me!
Enjoy!
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Kara-Tor; the great Eastern Human expanse! At one time considered one most rapidly expanding kingdoms to the Far East whose government was composed of eight ministries: State, War, Magic, Faith, Sea, Agriculture, Public Works and State Security.(1) The current Emperor, a wiser, older human by the name of Kanja No’chie now sat on the throne. Rather than the militant behavior like previous Emperors before him, Kanja enjoyed the idea of peace and tranquility; and more so the expanse on knowledge.

Devastating attacks from a Tuigan Horde invasion decimated the northwestern providences, forcing refuges to flee westward across the Golden Way Trade towards the Unapproachable East, settling in the Thesk region. (1)

Kanja believed that war begot war, and sought instead to make peace with the warring tribes, hoping to find peaceful settlements as to why they were attacking and what could be done to resolve the issues. For the most part, Kanja’s plan worked beautifully; but there were those who felt disgraced by Kanja’s army, and the only way to redeem themselves was to kill them or to die honorably trying. Applying the forces of the Wu Jen, which the previous emperor Kai Tso Shou Chin had also used, Kanja hoped that they infinite wisdom could convince those who refused to find peace to see the error of their ways.

The Sensō Clan had been particularly resistant to Kanja’s peace offerings, once sending back the severed head of one of his most trusted Wu Jens, hoping to instigate a war with him. Instead, Kanja gave his most trusted friend and confidant, Watashi No’yūjin a funeral ceremony like no other; and buried him in a massive tomb, guarded by a golden dragon, the highest honor any can hope to obtain.

Realizing that Kanja would not go so easily to war, the Sensō Clan demanded something of great value; something that they knew Kanja did not have in his possession; something so great, so magnificent, so unique that it would be the only thing to settle the Honor Dispute.

Kanja gathered his most trusted individuals and explained that since he had no son, each of them was being considered for the throne. However, to earn the Jade Throne, the person must undergo a critical mission to satisfy the The Sensō Clan’s demands of this wondrous unique item that would settle whatever transgression that caused an Honor Dispute that Onak Sensō, leader of the Sensō Clan, had in his mind that had happened.

Shui Leigong, one of the humans whom Kanja had selected was prophesied to be reborn as the Avatar of Talos, the Storm God of Destruction. On the day of Shui Leigong’s birth a small island with a small population of people called Dansā was wiped from the map by a raging storm that triggered Earth shattering effects, triggering a massive tsunami that washed away most of the island’s existence. This had been one of the steps to the prophecy; that a chosen child will be born with such power that it will trigger a massive storm bringing destruction.

Shui grew up worshiping Talos, knowing he would become the avatar and discovered, aside from the holy magic bestowed upon his god, he seemed to be able to naturally shape and manipulate the magical air around him, which further led to the idea that Shui was indeed the Avatar of Talos; and that the innate ability to shape magic was tied to the blood of Talos that coursed through his veins.

Kanja had told the other potential heirs to seek something great to settle Onak Sensō debt; but before Shui could leave, Kanja pulled him aside and explained something else.

“I need all of you to return, but especially you, young one,” the old Kanja said, his dark brown eyes now a light grey, as blindness had begun to settle in.

“All of these great things will not be given to Onak Sensō, but rather to Talos so that Talos can see the great gifts we give him and strike down Onak Sensō once and for all from this world, and kill him, and his descendants, so that no other will bring harm through the eyes of revenge!”

That had been nearly five years ago. Now Shui was now wandering Faerûn in search of… something? He traveled with three trusted companions; his majordomo, who was an elderly man, blind in one eye (though Shui believed it was both) named Dai Dōmo, as well as Kanja’s own personal scribe (none too pleased with leaving the safety of the Palace) named Sukuraibu, and the (overly talkative) Chizu Seisaku-sha, who was a cartographer.

Like Sukuraibu, Shui missed home (though he simply missed the familiarity, the customs, his family, his friends), while Sukuraibu on the other hand missed it because it was safe; and the things they’d encountered in Faerûn were things unlike Kara-Tor. Also many people of Faerûn were … uncivilized in how they behaved; very little self-control among the humans.


1. This information was taken directly from https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Kara-Tur (and just abbreviated/slightly rewritten - just wanted to give credit where credit is due).