Name: Chuko Wolong

Nationality: Qaylu

Occupation: Strategist, Scholar and Adviser

Religion: A follower of The Dali


[hider=Appearance and Personality]
Appearance and Personality: Wolong is a slightly short man whose skin is far darker and more weather worn than the majority of Qaylu, mainly from managing to survive months out in the open ocean with nothing but sea-soaked rags to protect himself. He has since become significantly less starved and worn down than he initially appeared and in fact there's a certain level of whipcord fitness about him, but the scars of his betrayal and survival are still apparent in his appearance and the ordeal seems to have aged him more than his forty-odd years. He keeps his long grey-streaked hair pinned up in a tidy bob atop his head held by a simple wooden ring and pin and keeps a neatly trimmed beard and mustache at all possible times. His clothes these days are generally simple and serviceable if unusually neatly worn and he forgoes any sort of jewelry or adornment. 

However, there are two things that are most noticeably unusual about Wolong's appearance that also mark him out as one of the secretive and isolated Qaylu people. The first is a metallic folding fan that he keeps on his person engraved with the character-writing of the Qaylu, apparently his only possession from his former life. The second are his eyes, almond-slanted and glittering with an uncannily focused brightness behind their brown irises as if at every single moment there's some hidden layer behind everything they see that only he perceives. More than one courtier in a ballroom or commander on the battlefield have found themselves the focus of those eyes, usually before they were cut down by a surprise ambush or unexpected retort.

As is the way of many Qaylu, Wolong generally keeps himself contained behind a curtain of rationality and emotional stoicism as if his emotions were stored in a little black box hidden within the fortress of his mind. He certainly has emotions as intense as any other man's, but maintains that allowing himself to be ruled by passion and feeling is a failing and that control over emotion begins first with manipulating its' expression. Even while he hungers for justice against those who destroyed his life, he tries to act only on his intellect. Wolong serves Oromis faithfully and freely admits that his master may truly be a god given what he is capable of doing, but maintains that Oromis' divinity has no impact on his own view of the Cosmos or his own reasoning, and in fact Oromis' claim to many past lives only serves to support The Dali. Instead Wolong serves Oromis not just as a means to get justice against his betrayers but also because he finds the man to be a just and charismatic ruler that he is happy to serve and because he believes that if he can guide Oromis and ensure his reign, the world will prosper because of it.

When not engaged in affairs of war or state, Chuko Wolong is a subdued but kind and affable man, concerned not only with his numerous personal studies and the welfare of the people his master rules but also hobbies of poetry, philosophy, music and art. Above all he is an avid player of the Qaylu strategy game [i]wei-go[/i], even attempting to get other members of Oromis' court and military to adopt the game. Though he rarely advertises as such, he's also rather skilled in [i]rongdao[/i] a disciplined form of unarmed combat common to Qaylu. Wolong justifies the hobby by saying that he has to stay physically fit and the physical discipline helps him discipline his body and mind as well.
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[hider=Biography]
Biography:

Wolong was born in the isolated and hidden lands of Qaylu in the valley citadel of Zhongshu, the only son of the Chuko family, a minor group of advisers to the Citadel Lord. He was a driven and highly inquisitive child, thirsty for knowledge of any kind but other than that relatively without ambitions. His parents and everyone who knew him were convinced that he would be an exceptional scholar, perhaps even in numerous fields, but nothing more in terms of his station in life. All of that changed when he discovered the game of [i]Wei-go[/i]. He became obsessed with the analytical and tactical aspects of the game and was soon regarded by all in his valley as one of the finest players in the kingdom. Eventually, no mere game could sate his desire for tactical conquest and he began to wonder if the strategies he employed would function on the battlefield as well as the game board. Thus it came to pass that his family used their small amount of influence to get him an officer's commission in their lord's armies, not understanding the source of Wolong's sudden ambitions but pleased nonetheless.

Minor wars of a political nature were common among the Citadel Lords of Qaylu, and to the delight of both his master and his family Wolong's brilliant tactical mind translated smoothly from war-games to war itself. Over years of subsequent conflicts Wolong won stunning victories, first with the small force under his command and then with every increasing troops as his merits earned him rank. He became known for near always emerging with shockingly low casualties outmaneuvering much larger and better-equipped forces time and again, humiliating his foes and their lords with ploys few before him dared try, until his own master became something of a region-wide power.

Wolong took no real glory in his victories and desired nothing but to further his studies in ways both strategic and academic while testing his intellect on the battlefield and providing for his family and people. However, his lord and master couldn't bring himself to believe that this officer, by that time the equivalent a general in his forces, had achieved such a meteoric rise without any hint of true ambition. So, fearful of some sort of coup, the lord of Zhongshu waited until a time of relative peace and then had Wolong secretly arrested. Fearing that the people and the army alike would revolt if their golden general was publicly executed, but also feeling that a quick death was too good for the alleged usurper, the Lord of Zhongshu had Chuko Wolong set adrift on a tiny boat in the open sea, with little to no supplies and nothing from his former life but the clothes on his back and his strategist's fan, as a reminder of his 'crimes'.

Wolong was supposed to die alone at sea, but fate and the man himself both seemed to have other plans. by collecting rainwater to drink, improvising a sail and net from his courtly clothing and using his knowledge of the weather and winds he was able to barely extend his survival and control his boat's path well enough to prevent it from sinking. He was not sure exactly where he sought to go, only that he desired to survive to see his former master pay. Eventually, his boat drifted to the Hamrock Isles and he washed up on shore weakened and humbled but alive. Thereafter, he sought out the ruler of the land and used his knowledge of the scholarly arts tactics and promises of the weaknesses of Qaylu itself to take up service with Oromis and has since become one of the God-Emperor's advisers. In exchange for his loyal service he desires his former master to be punished for his cruelty and betrayal once Oromis' armies inevitably arrive in Qaylu.
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Magical Artefact(s):

Motivation: Chuko Wolong foremost desires that the master who betrayed him be deposed and pay for his crimes. Other than that he wishes to realize Oromis' vision of a world without war and strife, though primarily because such an environment would allow him to pursue his intellectual hobbies and studies in peace.