Danda Hu
Kin of the Silver Chain
Adept of the Dreamspeakers
Black Tiger of the Red Spears
Agent of the Court of Shooting Stars
Description
~Wild and untamed, Danda Hu ranges wherever he pleases. The Mongolian immigrant still sports his youth in his mid-20s. There is much yet to see and learn in the world! Hu saunters onto the scene with a searching gaze. And who knows what those eyes of his see. Slanted like most Orientals, the coloration is not at all human. The feline slits and golden hue are very bestial indeed. A shock of white flows down the center of his wild mane of black hair. His confident step, curious smile, and feline attributes all suggest "tiger-man". And perhaps that's just what he is. Hu prefers simple clothing that have seen better days and could be better laundered. A pair of dark slacks and a white t-shirt conceal his well-built and agile frame. A pair of cheap sandals are occasionally worn on his feet, though he often plods barefoot through the grass and earth. The loose tank top hints at some large tattoo peeking out on his back, but the shirt hides it mostly. Albeit odd, Danda Hu seems like a good guy, a friendly face, and a curious mind. But like a cat, he keeps his share of secrets, too.~
OOC: Appearance 3; Arcane 2; Primal Marks
"How can you not have seen him?! It was big and black and orange and white! With stripes! Are you blind, man?!"
History
Youth
Parts of Mongolia were always wild and unexplored. Away from all civilization was where Danda Hu was born in 1978. His father was a fearsome Khan -- weretiger -- named Dan Ji. His mother was a loving woman of Khan heritage named Mu Tao. They lived like primitives in a deep forest. Dan Ji occupied a cave for his mate and their only son, whom they called Xiao Hu ("Little Tiger"). Mu Tao once was a professional dancer, performing traditional Mongolian ceremonies for spectators. But she gave that life up to live with the man she fell in love with, Dan Ji. Their son, Xiao Hu, showed no promise to change into a Trueborn Khan someday. Nevertheless, they adored their child. Dan Ji instructed his boy in the basic lore of the Bastet and the spirits and the supernatural world.
And Xiao Hu grew up in this isolated environment. He had no friends but he occupied most of his time learning. He picked up basic hunting and gathering techniques. The boy even acquired some of his father's brand of martial arts: tiger-style kung fu. Despite this odd upbringing, Xiao Hu didn't feel lonely. His parents were always around to keep him company. He loved them both, never believing what his father was, Khan, was evil.
Well, his parents weren't always there. For the first decade of Xiao Hu's life, he rarely saw his father leave their home for any reason. But in 1988, Dan Ji discovered the secret of Reaching the Umbra. Despite his promise, the Khan stepped sideways and never returned. Mu Tao and Xiao Hu waited and waited. But Dan Ji never came back. What choice did they have but to go on with life? Xiao Hu began to take care of his mother, acquiring food for them both. It was a lot of responsibility for a boy his age.
However, Xiao Hu grew up fast, raised to be self-sufficient, a provider. As his mother grew depressed with the loss of her mate, he had to take care of her more and more. Unfortunately, such a negative bent of mind weakened her constitution all around. Mu Tao grew sicklier and sicklier over the next few years. Despite Xiao Hu's best efforts, she deteriorated more and more. And even as she slowly perished, he began to have odd dreams. Every night, his sleep was plagued with images of tigers, or a single tiger, marching through the foliage. He often started to wake and peeked out of the cave, half-believing it was his father returning at long last. But it was always just a dream.
Then, when Xiao Hu was thirteen, he watched his mother succumb. Her depression overpowered her senses, and she just stopped eating at proper intervals. She wasted away and finally never woke up. Xiao Hu buried his mother and felt alone, truly alone, for the first time in his life. He tried his damnedest to stay good-natured and upbeat. He learned from his mother's slow demise that a dim view on life was as dangerous as an angry boar. And as months ticked by, Xiao Hu seemed to manage okay. He wasn't happy, true, but he wasn't miserable either. He just was. He lived as he always lived. But with no one to talk to, Xiao Hu began to hear voices that weren't really there. Or were they? He wasn't sure, but he could swear he hear whispers now and then -- when he was wide-awake even. And not just when he was sitting around the campfire, roasting his latest catch. Sometimes he heard the voices when he was stalking his prey (small rodents and mammals namely). As he grew older, Xiao Hu tried to puzzle out what the whispers said. It seemed to him that they said the same thing over and over.
So what were the voices telling him? What were the gods whispering, if it was indeed the gods? And as Xiao Hu tried to puzzle out the voices, he began to catch brief glimpses of something beyond. A palm leaf appeared too fuzzy sometimes, or strangely colored monkeys leaped from one tree to another and out of sight before he could get a straight glimpse. Very weird. Finally, in 1992, Xiao Hu decided to leave his lonely home. He decided he would travel across the world to seek the answers to his life and solve the mysteries of those strange sensations. He began a long trek through greater Mongolia and down through the northern provinces of China. As he went, he lived off the land. He hunted small animals, harvested healthy wild plants. And he stayed so aloof from civilization that authorities were completely unaware of his existence. Hu also practiced the kung fu his father showed him. Dan Ji warned him long ago that the martial arts would be necessary to survive in the world beyond the cave. Hu took that warning to heart everyday.
Awakening
For two long years young Xiao Hu crossed northern China. He sought answers to his dilemma but found none. And he encountered no one, so distant he remained from civilization. Xiao Hu was growing more desperate with every day. But 1994 yielded different results for the youth. The images of a strange world beyond the obvious grew headier. Hu saw more and more of these elements. Until at last Hu saw something that really riled him from his despair: a tiger.
He could scarcely believe his eyes. The striped feline prowled like his father once did. He hurried after the stalking tiger that always remained on the periphery of his vision. For hours, Hu tracked the beast. It led him through the woods to a swamp. Hu didn't relent, however. Even when the muck dragged the youth down and threatened to drown and bury him, Hu continued.
When Hu reached a particularly deep part of the swamp, the tiger stopped. It stood at the edge of the murky water, gazing mysteriously at Xiao Hu. What did it want and what did this mean? Hu's mind taunted him with possibilities. If this was his father, why didn't he help? Why? Because he didn't care, that was why! That was why he abandoned his mate and son. Filled with outrage, the adolescent pulled himself free of the marsh. He launched a blood-curdling shriek and tackle at the surprised tiger. Young Hu managed to drive the heavy cat down and put it in a deadly headlock from which it couldn't escape, no matter how it viciously clawed at the boy's unbelievably strong arms -- Wild Talent on display.
Finally, all the fight just left the fierce predator. Pained by his own wounds, Hu passed out on top of the tiger. The animal did not succumb to the boy, however, only surrender. After Hu lost consciousness, the tiger slipped free and just left. It left the boy alone, for Hu passed this ordeal and proved he was a man. He proved he was self-reliant and tough -- very tough -- which was a necessity to survive the harsh reality of the modern world. When Hu opened his eyes again at last, they changed. Now he looked at the world through a tiger's eyes. His wounds were gone.
And the mere glimpses he once had of the Periphery were replaced with the full panoramic view of the spirit realm. Hu could now see all the spirits of the living and breathing Yang World. The boy was awestruck: the spirit world possessed such an ethereal beauty and primal animation. As Hu rose to his feet, he caught sight of the prowling tiger once again. When their gazes met, the silence said so much more. Hu knew in his gut that this tiger wasn't real. It was spirit, and it was his guide. Filled with a reinvigorated strength of heart, Hu set back on his path. Once more, he followed the tiger. It led him far, away from the marsh and towards the mountains to the south.
Passing the Mountain
During his trek, Hu passed over a peak that was inhabited. A wrinkled old man emerged from a small hut perched there on the pass. The old man regarded the boy as he approached curiously. The man introduced himself as Pashan and invited the boy into the hut for food. Though tough, Hu was fairly naïve. And he accepted the gesture. Fortunately, Pashan was no villain. Pashan recognized the true nature, awareness, and power of the recently Awakened youth. He decided to take the boy in as a student. So they spent a short while getting acquainted and then Pashan cut straight to the chase. He told Xiao Hu about the Awakened, about being a human being with a greatly extended awareness and power over the elements. Hu learned about the reverence spirits were due and the gifts they could give in return for the proper obeisance. While unsure, when he glanced out the window, the tiger was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was supposed to be here?
So Hu agreed to stay with Pashan awhile. And once the learning began, awhile became years. Hu studied long and hard at Pashan's side, coming to understand the ways and weirds of all manner of spirits and magicks. They were all part of a dream, he was told, a dream born from heaven and the greatest of all gods. It was up to him to interpret the world-spirits' needs and wants. He was a Dreamspeaker. And Hu knew this was true. The tiger, his guide, lingered nearby the hut, near Pashan, always drawing Hu back. For Hu often explored the mountains, hunting and gathering his food as he always did. But he never had reason to leave Pashan. Curiously, Pashan did not ever seem to see the tiger. Hu got the feeling that Pashan did see his tiger-guide, but denied it because it was meant to be something personal and private for Hu alone.
Whatever the case was, he learned the proper obeisance to all spirits from Pashan. Hu found he could channel his Arts effectively through these means. One of his mystick Arts required no further obeisance, he and Pashan realized. By daring to wrestle a tiger on the day of his Awakening, he proved himself worthy of mastery of his own body's destiny. Pashan chose a coming of age name for the boy to reflect this. Instead of Xiao Hu, he was renamed Danda Hu ("Bold Tiger"). Hu was a man now.
For six long years, Danda Hu studied and trained under Pashan. He adopted some of the old man's own martial arts techniques into the system his father taught him long ago. Hu was quite the fighter, in fact. Pashan was proud of his growing pupil. And Hu treated Pashan much like a surrogate father or grandfather. But Hu continued to believe his spirit-guide, the tiger, was in fact his father. He stopped calling to it, pleading with it, to return to him as father not long after he first met Pashan. But he resolved to always follow the tiger, wherever it may lead him.
Unpleasant Residents
At last, in the year 2000, wanderlust overcame Danda Hu. It was time to part ways from Pashan. By this time, Hu knew his spirit-guide was not his father. But he was determined that the tiger could lead him to his sire. The tiger left Pashan's sanctuary and Hu followed. Throughout Mongolia and northern China, Hu traveled by foot. As always, he lived off the land. Hu enjoyed the beauty of nature, the rawness of the elements, and the ethereal dreams that embodied all these things. He avoided cities and never landed difficulty with civil authorities. As before, they didn't even know he existed. His life remained simple if lonely.
A year passed and his voyage proved interesting but uneventful. One night, however, Hu saw a glowing line on the earth, as wide as a creek bed. He followed this primal energy, noting a shift in the behavior of nearby spirits -- quiet and subdued. Hu stumbled down a grotto. And in an instant, a half-dozen furry, muscle-bound creatures pounced him. He struggled vainly to escape, but was soon rendered unconscious.
When Hu woke up, he found himself bound by cord in a hut. A mandala was drawn on the floor and it seemed to nullify his Arts. The spirits would just not respond. Then a wild-looking man -- a true Mongolian throwback -- entered the small hut. He was flanked by two of the creatures that pounced Hu hours before. They were unmistakably werewolves! Hu was worried. His father long ago warned him of these temperamental beasts.
The man did not introduce himself. Instead he told Hu that the mage intruded upon holy ground, a dragon nest that belonged to the Yanlinjinshen (Uktena). The man demanded that Hu tell him everything he knew -- of himself, of his powers, and of his heritage. If Hu refused, his blood, his life, would be sacrificed to the gods to appease their wrath for Hu's intrusion. Clearly, Hu had no choice. Grudgingly, Hu spilled his guts, not that he knew much to begin with. But the Garou at least proved as good as their word. Hu was released with a warning to stay away from all dragon nests. Danda Hu resolved only to stay away from werewolves!
Hu traveled onwards, following his spirit-guide. It led him further and further west in China. For a while, Hu was miserable with himself for his weakness back at the dragon nest. The standoffish behavior that the tiger displayed compounded his feelings. Clearly, his spirit-guide was disappointed. After several months of guilt-tripping himself, however, Hu got over it. He realized the only other possible outcome back there was his execution. So he was stronger than he thought for refusing to die a pointless death. Once he felt better about his past, the tiger grew closer again. It was now 2003 and the young man had much to yet fulfill.
And it was good that Hu struck an accord with himself. In early 2003, he came across a lumbering operation in a small and isolated forest. Hu cautiously observed all those machines and winced at the spirits' pain and fury. Justice was demanded and Hu promised to deliver. With his preternatural awareness, he soon realized that this wasn't a government operation. He recognized Awakened souls leading the workers, driving for timber and a clearing, perhaps to build a base. Hu deduced that these were agents of the Technocracy, which Pashan warned him strongly about.
But Hu couldn't let them get away with this rapine. The world screamed out in agony. So the Dreamspeaker helped channel that fury. Machines broke down, men were overcome with illness, and Hu slunk through the Shadow. His sabotage soon drove the Subtle Thunders to dispatch an armed party. They slaughtered every animal they encountered in the woods, fearing that hengeyokai, hsien, or some other beast-shen were responsible. Even the tiger that Hu followed everywhere was furious now. Infused with this righteous indignation, Danda Hu fell upon the soldiers. Though well armed, they weren't fast or fierce enough to tag Hu. He struck them all down with thunderous blows. Covered in the blood of men for the first time, even if it was the blood of his enemies, Hu fled the scene.
Danda Hu was not proud that he killed four men. But he also realized the Subtle Thunders would want to slay him now. He fled the region, often having to step sideways into the Mirror Land of the spirit realm just to escape unexpected pursuit. Even keeping to the wilderness wasn't quite enough to elude the Five Metal Dragons! At least, Hu learned from spirits, he delayed their project in the forest long enough for hengeyokai to arrive and hold them off permanently.
A Fresh View
However, Hu was now a marked man. For months, he sensed or was warned of relentless hunters. In a dream, his teacher Pashan appeared. It was like the old days, when they would sit in his cottage and enjoy a meal together. Only now Pashan was warning him of the Subtle Thunders. Hu was advised to leave China and perhaps the Middle Kingdom altogether. Pashan recommended the Coalition of Little Asia: an alliance of shen courts, including chi'n ta. This was located in the United States: Kansas City, Missouri, specifically.
So Hu decided to take his old mentor's counsel. He followed his spirit-guide in a hurried trek across China to the coast. Hu visited a city for the first time in his life. He was overwhelmed by Shanghai's pollution, population, and torpidity. Terrified, Hu avoided everyone and stowed away on a freighter heading across the Pacific Ocean. The voyage took long months. During this time, Hu used his Arts to remain unnoticed. He stole food and water only as he absolutely needed them. Hu also learned rough English from a sailor who was also learning the language through a tape-recorded system.
Eventually, the freighter ported in San Francisco. Hu snuck off-board and hurried from the city. Once again, he followed the tiger. It led him across the country, over the Rockies, through the forests, and finally to the vast plains. The journey took many more months. But Hu never really tired, nor did he succumb to loneliness. He avoided civilization as always. But Hu looked forward to this Coalition. If hengeyokai were present, so might be Khan. Hu reached Little Asia in 2004. The spirits led him to the Court of Shooting Stars. He introduced himself to Lady Nekoko and joined this institution. But as before, Hu avoided his fellow man and the city as often as possible. He discovered and established his den in the nearby woods. There he settled in for a while to consider the fate of his father and his own future.
Den of All Seasons (Sanctum)
Located deep in the woods between Midori-no-Koyama and the Yamahasu Pagoda lies a quiet glen. Tall Midwestern trees and a bubbling stream surround a low rise of earth and limestone. The canopy permits only a little sun or moonlight to filter down upon the glen. The outcropping of moss-draped stone is not solid, however. Low to the ground, a dark cavernous opening permits entrance for some beast. In this case, a man and whomever he chooses to allow entrance.
This opening leads into a dark hole in the stone and ground. No light fixtures are placed in the cave, though not far within lies the bones of a campfire constantly reused. Not unoften, the bones of recent meals lie nearby, too. The cave extends back almost fifteen yards and widens to almost the same across. But it is cramped quartars, the ceiling never rising more than six feet high. Despite its tightness, the cave is neither damp nor too hot or cold. Its hospitality, though primitive, is liveable. The end of the cave boasts the inhabitants' sleeping area, just beds of soft, pure moss found growing deep inside that cavern. The earthy, rock walls are painted with inks of natural origin, reds and blacks particularly. The drawings illustrate wild animals, vast plains, great mountains, and other natural elements and settings that remark upon Danda Hu's Path so far in his life. No doubt as his experiences grow, so will this mural.
OOC: Arcane 2
Significant Other
Hu met this young Khan, Xiaomao, not long after he moved to the Little Asia area in 2004. Both possessing simple and sensual lives, their mating felt quite natural and good. The two moved into Hu's den-like Sanctum. There they produced "kits" and continue to live a life of Tigers.
Xiaomao
Weakness
Wrong Aeon
Some Dreamspeakers and many Tradition mages at whole are guilty of living in the past, being stuck in the past. But Danda Hu is not only stuck in the past, but the primitive wilderness. He's not a technophobe, he simply lacks the upbringing most human beings get nowadays. He approaches new things with curiousity...but ignorance. And besides, even if he realizes the joys of microwave ovens, he's so used to stabbing a spear through his dinner and slow-roasting it on a spit that he probably won't install appliances in his den-Sanctum anytime soon.
Likelihood of Corruption
Low.
Despite or perhaps because of his talents with the Yang World, demons find it difficult to approach and corrupt the Dreamspeaker. It's not impossible by far, and his dealings with those entities make it more likely. But he's also a strong-willed young man, not easily swayed from his true purpose.
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