vneef_healer

House V'Neef has its fingers in almost every piece of research into medicine, biology, or Genesis tech in Creation. (Even Project Desus, if the rumors are true.) The House certainly encourages a keen interest in how life works, what makes it tick, plant and animal. It's not too surprising, then, that at least one member of that illustrious House would decide to go into the military as a healer.

Alia could be a textbook example of the bloodline of her House; strength, grace and beauty carefully nurtured as it grows to reach its full potential. Brown hair frames a face with large, vibrant green eyes. Around her temples curl rose briars, the most obvious sign of her Exaltation. (There are rumors that House V'Neef experiments with Genesis Tech on their own bloodline. They might even be true.)

Alia's traveling clothes are simple, by the standards to which she's accustomed. Nothing flashy, oh no, that would be CRASS. But the green pants, shirt, and black boots are very well made and of very good materials.

She's carefully coaxing a small vine to attach itself to the new trellis in a little pot sitting in the window of the dormitory. She could only bring SOME of her plants at home with her to the House of Bells, but she's hoping they'll help keep her from getting homesick. "Come on now, you silly thing. You know you need something to climb."

So, the Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier splatbook describes the structure of the Imperial Legions. Each group of troops has its own mon, or heraldic device. This is an example of how that might work.

First things first, we need to decide what the mons have to accomplish. Per the book, they are used by commanders to determine where troops are and to relay orders appropriately. That means they need to be readily distinct from one another and, ideally, should not repeat.

The Legion: Per the book these "display a pentagon bearing the crest of the legion’s lord". Possibly the heraldic device of the individual exalted? We won't worry about that too much, except to suppose that, say, the device for the First Legion has the symbol for 1 in there somewhere that sticks around no matter who is currently in charge of the Legion.

To differentiate each Legion from the others, we can use colors and combinations of colors other than black and white. (We'll use black and white for other stuff later.) So: red, dark red, orange, yellow, light green, green, light blue, blue, light purple, and purple. That should give us plenty of combinations to work with. These color(s) will be used on the devices of the Legion and its subunits. (That is, the image itself on the mon as opposed to the background.)

Dragon: Each Legion has 10 dragons. When you already have the Immaculate Dragons playing such a large part in Imperial Culture, it makes sense that their Mons might get used at this level. But, we have 10 Dragons and only 5 Immaculate Dragons! Not a problem, this is where black and white come in. 5 Dragons get black background (dark), 5 get white (bright). This will also halve the number of mons we have to create from here on out!

Wing: Each Dragon has 2 wings. Let's keep the black or white background from here on out. That means we need 10 mons that, with the background, will make the Legion's 20 Wings. Animals have a long and storied history on heraldry, so let's use them here.
1. Bear
2. Stooping hawk
3. Tiger
4. Buck (the deer, that is)
5. Wolf
6. Horse
7. Turtle
8. Phoenix
9. Ram
10.Lion.

Talon. Each wing has 2 talons, so with our black/white scheme, we still need 20 of them. Time for symbols!
1. mid-day sun
2. crescent moon
3. oak tree
4. three stars
5. crossed swords
6. skull
7. fortress
8. spiral
9. cross
10.lightning bolt
11.rose
12.flames
13.breaking wave
14.tornado
15.three drops in a line
16.three swords, point up
17.clenched fist
18.rising sun
19.bunch of arrows
20.bundle of grain.

Scales: Identified by number, so no need for work here.

An example, for clarification.

Here's an infantryman, let's call him Li Sung. Li Sung has the great honor to be a member of the First Legion.

Let's give the First Legion the colors red and orange and say that their devices get split, color-wise, straight down the middle vertically.

First Legion: Pentagon with the Lord's Crest, possibly with the number one on there somewhere.

Dragon Pentagon with the Lord's Crest over a white diamond emblazoned with the symbol of Pasiap in red and orange.
Li Sung belongs to the fifth dragon of the First Legion. Let's say that dragons 1-5 are on a white background, while 6-10 are on a black background. (Let's also say that the mons go from Air to Earth in order of the elemental advantages detailed in the 1000 Correct Actions.)

Wing White diamond with Pasiap's symbol in red and orange over a white triangle marked with a turtle in red and orange.

Talon White triangle marked with a turtle in red and orange over a white circle marked with a skull in red and orange.

Scale White circle marked with a skull in red and orange over the number 1. (For the 1rst scale of the Talon.)

In summary: Li Sung is of the first scale of the bright skull talon, in the bright turtle wing, in the bright Earth dragon of the First Legion.

V'Neef Lelani Alia (wood) See user info

Cathak Nihen Fajah (fire) Fajah Exalted recently and unexpectedly, so she received a rushed 'catch up' Dynast education before she was sent to the House of Bells. She has more skill than she realizes where things military are concerned, and Alia is helping her with the "book stuff". It's likely that she has a crush on Jusai. She has the bronzed skin and red hair that one might expect of a fire aspect.

Mnemon Caras Jusai (earth) Jusai is tall and powerfully built with earthy brown skin and bluish grey hair that display his Earth aspect. He is polite and formal almost to a fault, the result of his House's upbringing. While it is quite likely that he has a crush on Fajah, he initially met her through Alia (who might, one day, end up being his wife). Jusai is tough in melee, capable of hitting like an avalanche and taking blows as if he were a wall rather than flesh.

Ledaal Kebok Coren (air) Ledaal has very pale skin and white hair with piercing blue eyes. She's prone to strong and passionate feelings, which tend to alter the weather around her. (Storms when she's angry, rain when she's sad, clear skies when she's happy, etc.) These weather changes are a result of her heritage, which is a secret. (Her great-grandfather is a powerful storm demon named Yan.) Coren is talented with blades and with wind manipulation.

Peleps Najalin Malakai (water) Thanks to the blue-green skin and hair typical of his aspect and his usual placid demeanor, you might be tempted to write Malakai off as mostly harmless. But if he got upset, REALLY upset, you would find out that the still waters on the surface were hiding a hungry whirlpool underneath..... Malakai is the best of the five of them at moving quietly and he's Jusai's rival when it comes to martial arts.

On the plus side, NONE of the students lived up to their instructor's high standards, so Alia and Fajah didn't embarass themselves too much.

On the down side, this means the students are, one and all, badly bruised and exhausted from their training.

Once the two of them are safe back in their dorm, Alia shuffles over to her shelves in search of her stash of bruise healing balm.

And they get to do this again tomorrow morning. Joy.

Name V'Neef Lelani Alia

Aspect: Wood

Concept: Battlefield Healer

Intimacies:

Motivation: "Heal and comfort all who protect Creation"

Anima: Green rose briars twisting outward and the smell of roses

Attributes:

Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Appearance 3
Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3

Abilities
Linguistics 1 (old realm), *Lore 2, *Occult 3, Awareness 1, Craft(wood) 2, Craft(water) 2, Integrity 2, *Resistance 3, War 3, Athletics 1, Dodge 2, Melee 2(straight sword +1), Presence 3(comforting +1), Socialize 2, Martial Arts 2, *Archery 3(long bow +2), *Medicine 5, *Performance 2 *Ride 2 , *Survival 3(herbalism +2)

Backgrounds:

Breeding 4, Family 3, Manse 1, Resources 3, Connections(military) 1, Artifact 1

Charms:

(Medicine) Second Medicine Excellency, Infection Banishing Prana, Disease Banishing Technique

(Resistance) First Resistance Excellency, Ox-Body Technique, Strength of Stone Technique

(Archery) Dragon-Graced Arrow(wood)

Virtues:
Compassion 3 (weakness), Conviction 2, Temperance 2, Valor 2

Essence 2 (14/23/26) Willpower: 6

Health:

Ok, -1, -1, -2. -2, -4, Incap.

Combat:
Dodge DV: 3
Parry DV: 3

Straight Sword: Speed 4 Accuracy 7, Damage 5 Defense 3
Long Bow: Speed 6 Accuracy 9 Damage 4 Range 200

Soak 2B/1L (5b/7L/6A)

Arts: Alchemy, Adept Rank
Rituals Known (Life's little luxuries, munificent antivenin, blood-staunching compress, wound cleansing unguent)

Equipment:

Jade Breastplate: Hardness 2/2 6L/4B no fatigue or mobility penalty, reduces environmental damage by 2 (2 essence committed)

Jade Hearthstone Amulet: Regain 3 essence per hour (1 Essence committed.)
Hearthstone of Healing (+3 to Medicine rolls)