[b]Name[/b]: General Akura Geerathan
[b]Age[/b]: 45
[b]Gender[/b]: Male

[b]Physical description[/b]: For  a man of his age, Akura is a fit man. Age has been creeping up on him though, evidenced by a slight widening around the hips and a silvering of his hair. He still is a man in his prime, with wide shoulders and a towering frame. Unlike the other generals, he refuses to grow a beard - preferring a thin, curled moustache after the fashion of the Emperor. Among the younger lot, it is all the rage.

[b]Background[/b]: The best thing that can be said about Akura is that he is loyal. He is loyal to his Emperor. He is loyal to men he considers his superiors. He is loyal to his dead father whose dying wish he is still carrying out.

Akura comes from a family of faithful soldiers to His Divine Majesty. His great-grandfather had fought alongside Emperor Kumoto himself during the siege of Al Eban deep in Tarrmen lands. He had been raised to nobility for his valour that day. Since those days, the Geerathan Family has grown in strength and stature. Akura's father, Okanori Geerathan, had earned his salt by quelling the Sanghuk Rebellion fifty years ago - the last big dissension against the Emperor, may he live for eternity.

And when his father lay dying on his massive bed in the family mansion, the great general had looked at his only son with eyes brimming with sadness, and said "I wish you were not such a disappointment."

Akura had always had things easy in his life. By very nature of his blood, he was accepted into the Imperial Academy. He was not surprised to find out that, despite his poor performance and his constant flouting of authority, he was passed with flying colors. His first posting was one most Academy graduates would die for - in the scenic Balenian prefecture of Wardin. The Balenians had taken to Imperial culture quicker than the headstrong Tarrmen and almost never rebelled. The few independent principalities were quite content to pay tribute to the Emperor with their tails firmly tucked. Akura spent four glorious years inspecting his soldiers, filing reports, carousing with thick bodied Balenian girls, hunting bears and fathering two bastards.

From there, he was transferred to the coastal Gungyang prefecture deep in the heart of the Empire. It was here he met his future wife Rumiki. The Lady Rumiki Mori came from a very ancient and proud Family with numerous marriage ties to the Emperor. There were at least three Moris who were governors, and many more prefects. The hands of fate and the machinations of his father brought them together. It was supposed to be a political marriage, meant to strengthen the Geerathan legitimacy. But Akura was smitten. No lady had ever deigned to lie with him and he had only known the uncouth barmaids and peasant girls. But Rumiki was a student of the arts of seduction and lovemaking. She studied the Jendai Book of Love religiously and constantly tried her tricks on Akura, binding him to her like a puppy on a leash.

His father's health progressively declined in the following years, and the old man used all his influence to get Akura promoted to Captain. But the Geerathan name only went so far. His father had always wanted to see the golden stars of a general pinned on his son's shoulders. And the dying man knew he was never going to live long enough to see it, if it ever happened.

With the passing of the great general, the Family name steadily lost value. Akura was just a captain in a minor province. He was content to remain so, but not Rumiki. She wanted to be the wife of a general. She got them posted to the restive prefecture of Al Kudan. Akura initially baulked at the posting, but she convinced him that a year's service in Al Kudan would earn him bigger repute than serving ten years in Wardin. Akura earned his first battle scar in Al Kudan when ambushed by separatists in the narrow streets.

Yet, somehow, he had survived. Perhaps it was his wife's constant chiding; perhaps it was the ghost of his dead father echoing his dying words; or perhaps Akura did have hitherto undiscovered martial skills. But he survived three gruelling years in the scorching heat and the constant hatred. He returned to Candorin assured of his golden stars.

But he hadn't counted on the Tongun. The Tongun is the High Commander of the army - a man who acts as the Emperor's right hand. The current Tongun was Lord Goran Ishiwara - a ruthless man who jealously guarded his position and who actively pursued power. Lord Goran had no patience for men like Akura - borderline soldiers who were just lucky to have been born in a noble family. He flatly declined to entertain any notions of promotion. Akura assumed he had reached the limit of his career.

But Rumiki would not give up so easily. No one was sure quite how she did it. Many whispered within Akura's earshot that she had performed the Jendai arts on Tongun Ishiwara. Akura refused to believe his loving wife would betray his trust like that. He assumed she had used her family's connections to get the Tongun to agree. In the end, Akura joined his illustrious ancestors in becoming the fourth general in the Geerathan family.

But whatever influences his wife may have exerted over the Tongun, it ended with the promotion. Almost as if in vengeance, the Tongun had him posted to Kuma. Rumiki was shattered, of course. She couldn't bear moving a thousand leagues across seas to some flea-ridden jungle. She offered to manage the family estates while he was off earning honour as she put it. Akura had no illusions about the posting. The Crisis was two years old now and already there were murmurs of it being a lost cause. All those involved in the crisis would be quickly renounced in that scenario lest failure be laid at the Emperor's feet. Even the Tongun might be asked to fall on his sword. Akura did not fancy his chances. And yet...

And yet, should he be successful in turning the tide, should he manage to snatch even a tiny semblance of victory, anything to save his and the Emperor's face, he would be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams. He could even be granted a prefecture or, he dared not hope, a governorship. But all that depended on how he performed in these thick forests. Or how he seemed to perform.

[b]Strengths[/b]:
- Akura is a bootlicker, pure and simple. That is an advantage in certain political scenarios.
- Akura, despite his less-than-stellar reputation, commands the respect of his soldiers by being nice to them. He is more forgiving than most when it comes to discipline.
- Akura is a military theoretician. He understands the science of warfare better than the actual fighting of it. This does help in the planning stages.
- Akura is a decent cavalryman.

[b]Weaknesses[/b]:
- He is very trusting, sometimes at the expense of people's real failings.
- He is quite a liability when it comes to actual fighting. He prefers to hang back and delegate.
- He can be quickly intimidated by show of authority.
- He considers himself quite the ladies man. In reality, he is easily beguiled by sensual charms.
- He drinks quite heavily at times.