Dear Mr Curly, I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all nothings lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that I am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat. Yours sleepily, Vasco Pyjama xxx P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!
Sabine didn't follow up her opinion on what the others would think about her and Peiter being together. She didn't care. "I do not know if there is a name for my favourite food, it is meats and spices in a flatbread that Redguards make." Before Peiter could say anything more, Sabine stopped the conversation by bringing her head forward and kissing him deeply. Not forcing the chat was a good idea to her.
"Of course not," Janius said, remaining on a level tone, "But now you know the truth about skooma and moon sugar addiction. No words I could have said would tell you as much. I apologise if it was distressing," Janius certainly didn't sound very apologetic. He tried hard to not show his growing regrets in taking Kaleeth to the den, as it sounded like she would be staying cross for a while.
Sabine grinned at Peiter's confusion. She shouldn't have expected him to understand. She hummed in agreement with the idea of supporting Tzirret, but paused such that the topic seemed to fade away.
Only half an effort was made by Sabine to then come up with something else to say. She kept getting distracted by just looking at Peiter. For lack of anything better, she asked a simple question, "What is your favourite food?"
Even though Janius did not display as much haste to leave as Kaleeth, he was just as glad to be out of the building as she was. He responded to her calmly, "Yes, I did. There are such places in Bravil that I had seen before."
Right! Only took me a couple of hours. Hopefully this doesn't sound too much like Mulan. I only ripped off some themes. >_> <_<
Let me know what you think and if anything needs changing...
Name: Chu Kyang Gender: Female Age: 18
Appearance:
Without looking closely or regarding her hair or face, Kyang's state of dress would suggest that she is a young man. Her build, though slighter than an average soldier, holds strength and skill to hold her own in a fight. Her clothing reflects this intent. She wears a coat of metal scales that covers her body and arms, over a long, vibrant blue robe. Grey foot wrappings and sandals cover her feet and a plumed, hide and steel skullcap with leather skirts to cover the neck sits under her arm wherever she is out of a fight. On her back is a knapsack with a few mementos and up her sleeve is a dagger, but her most precious personal item is the Chu family's polearm, the Dragon Ship Tiller - a glaive with a broad reclining blade, a circular hilt, and a tassel. The base of the blade depicts the head of a boar in bronze.
Kyang's grey eyes tend to glint with what could either be daring madness or simply knowing something that others do not.
Can Manipulate Qi/Ki?: Nope.
Abilities (if any):
Combat Training: Much to the chagrin of her family, Kyang practices her martial arts forms regularly. The original rationale was 'self-defence', but it has since grown to the point where mere muggers or kidnappers are the least of her worries. Her hand-to-hand and knife fighting techniques are rudimentary, while her real skill lies in polearm techniques.
Historical and Military Knowledge: Kyang idolises her great grandfather, the renowned general Chu Chihun. She has not only poured over the historical documents that made up his career, but has expanded her voracious reading to military doctrine and the international histories of Kanami in general.
Unflappable Cunning: It is difficult enough to surprise Kyang, but if she shows any fear at all, she is almost inhuman in her ability to obscure it. She is instead resourceful and tries to plan on her feet in clever ways.
Personality:
Kyang tends to be blunt and vocal about most things, but could not be described as prideful or impatient. Arrogant, maybe, but she likes to deliberately get a rise out of those who act serious in particular. That said, she is not this way out of ignorance for common decency, she just prefers open honesty rather than unnecessary subtext.
The two things that frustrate her the most are people who overcomplicate things and those that doubt her abilities. She is fiercely independent after travelling for so long and is insulted by people who presume to do things for her. This, in turn, makes it difficult to admit that she needs help when such occasions arise.
Despite her banter or her gripes, Kyang is a loyal friend and an encouraging presence. Her loud, confident, and direct nature lends a sort of courage in the face of adversity. As well, her quick plans, whether they are sound or not, give an aura of certainty about her.
History:
In the last war of significant scale taken part in by Daeyang-Gug, few versed in its history could pass over the exploits of the legendary general Chu Chihun. On record for winning countless battles, breaking daunting sieges, and commanding the defence of a city against a force twelve times his garrison's number and still achieving victory. His name became immortal and his family was well rewarded.
Three generations later, the Chu family's military legacy has changed forms. Their calling has instead been edged into the realms of politics to remain relevant the prevailing peacetime. The current head of the house is indeed still relevant, being a high ranking governmental official and only two degrees of separation from the king. The family's youngest adult daughter, however, was never a flatterer.
Kyang grew up in a stifling, cloistered childhood amongst her family. The only friends she could have were delicate flowers of young girls, brought to tears by the mildest of chilly winds. She grew up with her family's intention to marry her off and slot her into the role of a lady of the house. Unfortunately, Kyang was more interested in watching the guard drills in the courtyard than learning to pour tea. She liked their dances more than any others. With not much to do but study and practice etiquette, Kyang spend her free time reading, eventually becoming entranced by the stories of her great grandfather.
Age granted Kyang more freedoms, but she was still tied to the family. Whenever she could, she slinked away to find libraries of friends’ houses or kingdom records for more material to worm through, she found herself a tutor to teach 'self-defence', and she would disguise herself and train with the household guard at times. Their cameraderie and blunt nature rubbed off on her. By the time she approached her adulthood, she could never resemble the noble lady that her family needed her to be.
It wasn't even Kyang's eighteenth birthday before she was informed that she would marry a man she had never met. While living with the conveniences of her family was manageable, Kyang knew that she would have fewer freedoms and more responsibilities in matrimony. She knew she had to leave without notice.
What was to be a birthday feast in Kyang's honour found her absent. She had taken the family glaive (disused for decades by this point), a guard uniform, a fistful of coin, and a few personal items, and then disappeared in broad daylight. No one spotted her leaving and no one searching found her since.
Kyang's plan was to head to Mingdu and assume a new identity. If she could, she wanted to become a librarian, or translator, or a scribe, or something similar. If all else failed, she supposed that she could become a nun. Her primary objective was to avoid the stifling and stilted lifestyle she left behind, instead gaining more independence.
There was no chance of Kyang getting a career in the military, which was what she really wanted. She considered trying to cross-dress her way into an army, but she didn't believe it would work like that one tragic story from Yunshou about the girl who took his sick father's place in the draft.
She reached Mingdu within the year, for better or for worse.
Other: Legends suggest that Dragon Ship Tiller, the Chu family glaive that Kyang carries, holds the soul of a powerful patron creature or ancestor. While it is an exquisite weapon in and of itself, there does not appear to be any outward power imparted by it. However, more than one historical source has attributed General Chu Chihun's tactical prowess to the powers of the glaive, which may explain Kyang's quick thinking.
It was only then that Sabine realised what Peiter did not know. "Right, I never told you. One of the reasons that we went to Black Marsh was because Meesei wanted me to talk to the Hist so I wouldn't be afraid and nervous all of the time. There was also a number of trials and a ritual, but I spoke to them. Or, not 'spoke'. More...thought with them? There are not words to describe it." Sabine shrugged, "I do not know if it would work for Tzirret or not. It worked for me because there were memories in my life that made me scared all the time. Tzirret might have bad memories of his own."
Janius didn't realise that he was holding his breath until he sighed with relief. "Very good. Thank you, Colours," Janius said genuinely. Janius gave Kaleeth a glance and considered apologising to her for bringing her here, but he believed that she needed to see the influence of skooma first hand to be truly trusted with moon sugar. Janius hoped the sight impacted her similarly to the first time he saw the inside of a skooma den in Bravil. For now, he waited quietly for the woman to return. If Kaleeth didn't want the sugar either, they could pass it off to Ahnasha or, as mentioned before, throw it into the dock water.
Sabine's smile was about as wide as possible. She closed her eyes momentarily when Peiter kissed her on the cheek. Sympathy for Tzirret did come over her, though. "It is sad. I actually used to be always nervous like that a few years ago. I talked a lot less, though. We might be able to help him if we found a hist tree." Sabine spoke bluntly without realising that Peiter might not have known what she was talking about.
The response Kaleeth gave was a little more explosive than Janius predicted, but it was not entirely unexpected. Keeping calm and collected, he pulled the door shut to leave the addicts to their fixes. As he walked up to Kaleeth and Colours, the point Colours brought up was actually something Janius forgot to consider. He put his hands on both Colours and Kaleeth's shoulders and tried to console them. "Hold on, hold on, what if we buy some moon sugar instead. Do they have that?" Janius leaned in and lowered his voice, "If that won't work, we can just buy it and throw it into the dock later. It's just a bit of coin."
"Well," Sabine grinned and giggled at the thought, "He was right about the confusion. If we get him to drink again, maybe we can unlock more wisdom." Now that she was in a glowingly good mood, Sabine shifted such that her head was level with Peiter's. She felt like talking more. "Have you or Tzirret been in relationships before?" She asked casually.
Janius left the door open and leaned against the wall next to it. His humourless face returned as he looked at Kaleeth, "That, my love, is skooma. Those people in there, look, they're starved, wasting. They spend all their gold and time here, because nothing matters to them except the euphoria. All of them became this after one bottle." Janius kept his voice low enough that the others in the room would not hear. He didn't want to make them cross by lecturing, even if they weren't listening. "I have some gold to help you buy your bottle, but I want you to make the decision yourself."
[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjJCVylFBo[/youtube][/center]
[quote=Michael Leunig. The Curly Pyjama Letters.]
Dear Mr Curly,
I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all [u]nothings[/u] lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that [u]I[/u] am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat.
Yours sleepily,
Vasco Pyjama
xxx
P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!
[/quote]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><iframe src="//youtube.com/embed/HPjJCVylFBo?theme=dark" frameborder="0" width="496" height="279" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br><br><blockquote class="bb-quote">Dear Mr Curly,<br>I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all <span class="bb-u">nothings</span> lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that <span class="bb-u">I</span> am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat.<br>Yours sleepily,<br>	Vasco Pyjama<br>	xxx<br>P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!<footer>Michael Leunig. The Curly Pyjama Letters.</footer></blockquote></div>
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