| 
View
 

Samual Kirby

Page history last edited by paganzack 7 years, 3 months ago

 

Samual Alexander Kirby

Fēnliè Línghún - The Splintered Soul 

(Pron. Fen-li Ling-Huen)

Hyper-Focus

 

Member of the Sept of Heroes Rebirth

Breed: Homid     Auspice: Theurge     Tribe: Bone Gnawer     Rank: Fostern

 

Title:

Peacemaker

 

Physical Description:

Chapter I:  Sam is a slightly overweight balding man in his mid thirties. He has gray/blue eyes, and an unkempt ginger/blonde beard. The hair that he does have is black, and shaved short. He hunches, making his 6 ft frame look shorter. Looks can be deceiving however, and much of his mass comes from muscle rather than fat.  Sam is usually covered almost head to foot. He never wears short sleeves and his hands are covered by finger-less gloves. He has a nervous habit of tugging his coat sleeves back into place if they begin to ride up over his forearms. His finger pads lack prints, but instead are covered with criss-crossed scars that appear too uniform to be accidental. 

 

Chapter II: Sam dresses all in white. He wears a white tee and thin white pants. His finger-less gloves are now an off white in color, but he no longer bothers to cover the scars which mar his arms. He wears tabi socks and sandals, and his eyes are covered by a strip of white cloth that bares the stains of where his eyes were removed. His beard is still scruffy, but his head is now shaved. He uses a staff about five feet in length to negotiate the world. Sam radiates an aura of calm and peace.

 

Chapter III: Samual wears the habit of a Buddhist monk, typically white, gray, or blue, with a yellow or red mantle draped around him and tied in place with a simple chord. Those who are more familiar with the different branches of Budhism may recognize him as a disciple of Chan Buddhism. A student of the Shao-lin temple, Samual has also undergone the Jieba ceremony, and bares 9 burn marks upon his shaved head, denoting his dedication to the teachings of Buddha. These burns are a symbolic reminder of his vows of conduct: remain celibate, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t drink, don’t use drugs, don’t eat meat, don’t kill animals, and don’t judge others. His eyes have been restored, but he still carries a short staff. Added to his accouterments are a string of Buddhist prayer beads worn around his wrist, and an ornate and ancient looking Jian (Chinese Sword), which he wears on his back. 

 

Relevant Merits/Flaws/Pure Breed: 

Amnesia, Bad sight 

 


Character Information

 

CHAPTER I

 

History and First Change

Sam's past is a mystery, even to him. His first memory is of waking up naked in a park, in downtown Saint Paul in July of 2015. He was found by a homeless man named Jack, who scrounged up a few items of clothing for him, and showed him how to survive on the streets. 

 

Of the time between that day, and the day he arrived on the sept, little is known, and Sam doesn't speak of it much. When he has spoken of it, the story is never quite the same, though whether this is intentional or simply caused by bad memory is unknown. Though there are variances in his story, Sam has stated that Jack, the homeless man who first discovered him, is now dead. It is also known that up to and including his first few weeks among the Garou, Sam was a heavy drinker, preferring to spend his days in the oblivion of an alcoholic stupor than in the reality of his situation. 

 

Sam claims to remember little of his first change. Sometimes, he will talk about a $20.00 bill, but he doesn't go into detail. 

 

Since his introduction to the sept, he has made a number of changes in his life. The first was taking on a name. Seeing as he could not remember his own, his den-parent called him Sam. It came from a comment that Sam made about his head feeling like Swiss cheese. Xander, the Den-Parent in question named him after the Character Sam Beckett from the show Quantum Leap, who also described his mind like Swiss cheese. Later, Sam tacked on the last name of Slate, as an inside joke. (Blank Slate)

 

On his first night among the Garou, Sam made several friends, including a fellow cub Jasper, and a number of Cliath and Fostern. One such Fostern was a man who called himself Jump. This Garou above many others showed Sam a great kindness, though his reasoning behind it is still unknown. He offered the young cub a job as a live-in night-watchman at a block of apartments. Now with a home, and a job, Sam began to spread his wings, and explore his own tastes and desires. One thing that eluded him however, was a sense of style. Over a number of months, he explored the various clothing choices of other Garou that he encountered, incorporating what he thought looked good, or felt comfortable into his regular attire. When mimicking one Garou of the Sept however, Sam discovered the joy of coffee. He quickly swapped one addiction for another, and replaced his drinking problem with a caffeine addiction. 

 

 

Rise To Cliath    

The Sept of Heroes Rest had lost its Caern. Now was the time to call another. The ritualists gathered to perform their task, and to his great surprise, Sam was one of them. Buzzing on copious amounts of coffee, the young cub practically vibrated with energy as they went to their task. Sam was nothing if not obedient, and so when Autumn Winters Eve told him that he needed to focus purely on Gaia, and the ritual, he did as he was told. A strand of beads running over and over through his fingers in continuous motion, he set his focus to that very task. Despite a number of distractions, one of them involving an interesting encounter with Coyote, who had taken the form of an incredibly buxom young woman, Sam's focus did not waver. 

 

Several hours later, an exhausted Sam stood before the Sept to be named as Hyper-Focus, a newly minted member of the Bone Gnawer tribe. A short time after that, once the congratulations of his new tribe had all been given and received, Sam crawled off to bed, planning to sleep for several days if he could get away with it. 

 

 

Troubled Life

Sam's life after his Rite of Passage took many twists and turns. On the urging of the Sept Alpha Autumn Norris, Sam began to run with a pack, the Flock, but soon realized that their purpose did not fit with the life he was trying to lead. Despite not fitting with them, he considered Seeks on Three Paws a valued mentor of Theurge knowledge, and was close to Mikayla Up All Night. Despite a rocky start, he developed a close friendship with Jupiter, a timid and quiet member of the flock. 

 

He began to despair that there were no packs that would fit his ideals. Then, when he had all but given up on finding anyone he could pack with, he met a freshly made Cliath named Camille, Not Gonna Take It. The two hit it off, discovering that they both saw an alternative to the common Garou practice of 'Hit first, ask questions later, or never.' Together with Daeg, a young Galliard, and Sam's cub-hood best friend Jasper, they formed Against the Tide, under the spirit of Chameleon, a pack dedicated to showing the older Garou of the sept that there were alternative ways of approaching a problem. The packs numbers soon swelled as Elliot and Lavandel were added to their number.

 

The pack went on several missions together, and were surprisingly effective in their abilities. With each success however, Sam was growing more and more uncomfortable. He could feel himself slipping away. Dedicated to peace, he found himself instead espousing violence, something so totally against his nature.

 

 

Becoming Fostern

Sam started working to re-connect with his true purpose. Reasoning that his message would be heard more if he was of higher rank, he challenged his mentor Seeks on Three Paws for the rank of Fostern. He was tasked with making deals with two spirits who he had never before worked with, and who demanded respect and courage from their supplicants. These deals should benefit either his pack or the whole Sept. 

 

He chose to deal first with Black Unicorn, who agreed to lend the pack his aid at a time of need if the pack helped those who could not help themselves. Sam renegotiated the terms of the deal, and took the whole chiminage upon himself for a lunar cycle for each of his pack-mates.

 

His second deal was with Wild Turkey, and through this deal, he was able to add a level of protection to the Sept that would give them advanced warning of any attack. Some of the sept railed against the terms of the deal, but Sam resolutely stood up to their questioning, and they came to understand that the spirit deal was for the good of the sept. Though Turkey was not a spirit who demanded respect or courage, Seeks on three Paws determined that Sam's defense of his choice was good enough to pass the challenge.

 

 

CHAPTER II

 

Sands of Time

 A short time after Sam became Fostern, the Sept became aware of a threat that could destroy them. They traveled through the dreaming to a Sept from the past, and there learned that they were facing agents and spirits of the Wyld. Upon waking from the dreaming, the Sept was attacked and Against the Tide stepped up to the challenge. Though they fought bravely, Camille, and Jasper were aged by Sands of Time, a spirit that added decades to those they touched. Seeing that Camille was close to dying, Sam threw himself into the path of several of these spirits, buying the rest of his pack time enough to dispatch them. 

 

The battle left Camille, Jasper and Sam all aged before their time, along with others on the Sept, and Sam's selfless Sacrifice had left him blinded by cataracts. Jasper and Sam considered walking the way of the winter wolf, but Camille made them promise that they would seek another way to resolve the issue. Time and again Sam offered his own life in order to take the years from his pack and others on the Sept, but Autumn refused to accept his offer, instead seeking other means to restore them.

 

 

Tambia's Offer

This alternative came a short time later. The pack were directed to travel to Tambia's realm. Isaac Babbett, his wife Lucy, Michael the Mokole and all those who had been affected by the time spirits accompanied them. Once in Tabia's realm, negotiations began with the powerful celestine, but though some were willing to take the deal, Sam was not. Her price was too high. Having recovered from addiction more than once, Sam saw Tambia's offer of a healing drink that needed to be cultivated and taken at frequent intervals too much like a dependency. He turned his back on the spirit, and traveled home with his pack. 

 

Sam immediately called upon Black Unicorn, seeking his wisdom and intending to offer himself in sacrifice so that his pack might have their youth restored. While talking to this spirit, Sam found his age renewed, along with his eyes. Joy soon turned to Anger as he found out how it had occurred. Lucy, the Fianna who had journeyed with them to meet Tambia, had separated from them after they had left the Celestine's realm, and had made a deal of her own with some unknown entity. This deal gave all the aged Garou's years to a kinfolk, her mother. The woman, aged beyond the lifespan of a human, died instantly. Upon learning this, Sam became so distraught that he frenzied. He was disabled and knocked unconscious, but while out, Lucy whispered to him that she had done this so that he could continue to be a 'Soldier for Gaia."

 

 

Eyes

When Sam regained consciousness, he immediately separated himself from the rest of his pack. He was sickened by what had transpired. The return of his vision brought about by the death of an innocent, and the loss of conviction to his path that he had been experiencing previously drove him into a deep despair. He consulted several spirits, and read many religious texts, and eventually found his solution. He would dedicate himself to Dove, a spirit who demanded peace through non-violence. And his eyes? As the bible said, if thine eyes offend you, pluck them out. This he did, accidentally broadcasting the act to his pack. With this act of sacrifice cementing him to his purpose, he found the peace he had been seeking for so long.

 

 

The Crossroads

If the Garou had not understood Sam's peaceful leanings before, they absolutely could not come to terms with them now. Focusing only on the injury he had caused himself, the Garou of the Sept, and even those of his pack, could not, or would not accept the fact that Sam was more at peace now than he had ever been. They began whispering and plotting, threatening to kill him as he was a weakness to the Sept. Even some of his pack considered this a better solution than talking to him and understanding his choices. But Sam ignored them all. He was truly and finally at peace for the first time since he could remember.

 

The Sept could not keep from meddling however. A Garou named Uspa Vitu, under the assumption that he was doing the right thing led Sam to a crossroads, and there summoned Legba, one of the Loa. He had the spirit show Sam his past. Not just the past that he remembered, but all that had come before. 

 

Sam saw everything. His true name was revealed to himself... Alex Kirby... And the abuse that young Alex had suffered at the hands of first his father, and later, his foster parents. He was forced to relive the torture-training he had experienced when joining the SAS, and later the actual torture he had undergone when captured in Afghanistan. The worst of his memories however were yet to come, and he experienced those too, going through the loss and vengeance that had come afterwards all over again.

 

This schism almost destroyed him. Uspa, Laughing at the 'good' that he had done, brought him back to the Sept broken and shattered into a thousand pieces.

 

Sam, or Alex, he did not know which he was any more, could not come to terms with the warring dichotomy within himself. He needed balance, or he needed death. He chose to find balance or die trying, and left the Sept without telling anyone, bound for the mountains of Tibet... 

 


CHAPTER III

 

With the guidance of The Buddha

With his memories returned, Sam/Alex now had access to funds and resources that he had not known existed for the past two years. It took him little time to access a drop point cache that he had hidden in the city which contained an ample supply of money, fake documents and weapons. Using some of this newly acquired wealth, he took a room at a high priced hotel. A few calls later, and a woman appeared at his door. Sam/Alex’s new employee was named Sophie, and she was part nurse, part assistant, and ready to travel out of the country.

 

The two of them took a private charter flight from Eden Prairie Airport to Hawaii. From there, they went on to Tokyo Japan, and from there, flew into Chongquing airport in South Western China. With Sophie’s assistance, they began the trek from China across the border into the mountains of Tibet. Their final destination was the Ganden Monastery, one of the great three University monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of the Wangbur Mountain. The trek was a difficult one, made harder by Sam/Alex’s blindness, but eventually, they arrived at the monastery gates. At this time, Sam/Alex dismissed Sophie, giving her a list of all his secret caches, and telling her to do with the money whatever she wished. 

 

The monks were at first baffled by this blind westerner who had turned up at their gate. Fortunately, there were a few monks able to speak English, and of these, one was a Chinese Stargazer Kinfolk, who at one time had been a business mogul in Hong Kong, but had given it up for the monastic life.  He was shocked to discover that Sam/Alex was of the Bone Gnawer tribe, but after listening to the Garou’s story, Monk Dah-Ouah took Sam/Alex under his wing, and agreed to guide him along his path to enlightenment. He gave him a new name, not in Tibetan, but in his native Mandarin - Fēnliè Línghún (Pron. Fen-li Ling-Huen) which meant ‘Splintered Soul’.

 

A student of the Shaolin Chan Buddhism, Dah-Ouah saw that the way to bring his pupils’ mind back to unity was through not only the teachings of the Buddha, but also through the practice of this ancient martial art. The Sam half of his soul hated the violence Alex was capable of, and the Alex half needed the spiritual guidance that Sam so easily accepted.  Through studying the grace and flow of the various forms of Wu-Shu, and then later of Wu-Dan, Sam could come to see the beauty of the art of defense, and come to terms with the need to strike when necessary. Through studying the teachings of Buddha, Alex could learn to look past the events which had set him on a path of bloody retribution. 

 

Things began with some difficulty at first. Though he understood the reasoning behind it, Sam had no wish to learn combat of any kind, even in its guise as a meditation. Alex on the other hand found the thought of letting go of his hatred and anger inconceivable. But as time went on, slowly, both sides of the Garou came to accept their masters teaching.

 

There was no sense of time at the monastery, and though Fēnliè Línghún experienced days and nights, they did pass as time did elsewhere. from the moment he had entered the monastery, he had been aware that the spiritual energy of the place was as strong as any Caern, but had no ability to touch it as he did the Gnosis he was used to dealing with. 

 

After what seemed like years at the temple, his master reached out to the garou of the Star Gazers, asking for them to send a healer to consult with Fēnliè Línghún, to see if anything could be done to return his sight to him. An elder Star Gazer Lao Lang arrived a month later, curious to see this Bone Gnawer who had accepted the Buddha into his heart. He was impressed by Fēnliè Línghún’s dedication to completing the journey he had started, and agreed, through rites and healing gifts to try and restore his sight. It took time, but the missing organs eventually began to regrow. It was an agonizing experience for the Bone Gnawer, but through meditation, and his ability to resist pain, he weathered it, and though not completely returned, his sight was partially restored.

 

Lao Lang invited Fēnliè Línghún to come back to China with him to participate in the Jieba ceremony, which few monks had been able to endure since the ban on the practice had been lifted in 2007. Fēnliè Línghún agreed, and they traveled into China together. At the Shaolin monastery in Hunan Province, he underwent the ceremony, in which nine sticks of incense were attached to a monks head and burned down into the flesh. Each of the resulting burn marks represented one of the fundamental rules of conduct: remain celibate, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t drink, don’t use drugs, don’t eat meat, don’t kill animals, and don’t judge others. The process was his final step in dedicating himself to the teachings of the Buddha.

 

The night of the Jeiba Ceremony, Fēnliè Línghún was recovering in his small cell, meditating to relieve the pain he had endured. He dove deep within himself, and received a vision. He saw his pack, Against the Tide,  coming to him bloodied and scarred, their bodies held together by sinew and bone only, with savage wounds bleeding profusely. Their hands were held out to him, asking him why he had abandoned them, begging him to save their souls. 

 

So shaken was he by the vision that he told Lao Lang of what he had seen and asked permission to leave the temple. Seeing that the young garou had made up his mind, he was told to go with Buddha, but that he would be welcomed back at any time. Fēnliè Línghún left immediately, heading for home. 

 

Homecomings

When he returned to the Sept of Fangs in the Wyrms Heel, the Bone Gnawer theurge was a much changed man. On the journey home, he had decided that while in the western world, he would go by the name Samual Alexander Kirby, an acknowledgement of the man he had been, and the man he had become among the Garou. He was surprised to find out that though several years had passed for him, barely two months had gone by for the rest of the world. His surprise was nothing however, compared to that of his former Sept mates, and his pack. He had left a broken man, and returned to the edge of the Bawn a Shaolin Master, clothed in the robes of a Chan Buddhist monk.  

 

His pack welcomed him back, but the welcome was a cautious one. Though they were pleased to see him, it was clear that the change within him was one that would take them some time to adjust to. Lavendel, his young sister however, declared that she liked this Samual much better than the old one.

 

Schism

 From the moment he returned, Samual could tell that all was not well with his pack. Though they had added another Garou to their number in his absence, the pack itself had begun to drift apart. All its members seemed preoccupied with their own tasks. His brothers and sisters were strangers not only to him, but to each other. Samual knew that something must be done, but was distracted from the task by the arrival to the Sept of an old friend and mentor Bhivadesh. He and the Stargazer spoke for a while during the other Garou's visit, and made plans to connect again a few months later. During this time, Samual volunteered to lead the upcoming Rite of Reawakening, a ritual of renewal performed by the Garou every spring.

 

Tragic Sacrifice

Fill in about the Rite of Reawakening - 

 

Reconnect

Journey to the COG homelands. 

 

CHAPTER IV

 

Capture and Torture

Describe the capture and torture by Matthew Blake.

 

  

Pack:

Against The Tide

 

Personal Totem:

Chimera - The Lady of Mirrors

 - Like the Stargazer tribe over which she has domain, the Chimera is a mystery. A shape-shifter and illusionist, she wears many faces in her quest for inner enlightenment.

 

Samual's relationship with Chimera began within weeks of his introduction to Garou life. He first became impressed with her when seeing her appear to claim a Garou cub as Cliath, and approached Hunts Tomorrow, who he knew followed her, to introduce him to the spirit. Shy and with more than a few doubts about who he was and what lay in an unknown past, Sam, as he was known then, could not bring himself to follow the mysterious spirit's ban.

 

It was almost a year later, after a brief stint following the teachings of Dove, that Samual entered into the Monastic life of a Chan Buddhist. his teachers, Dah-Ouah and Lao Lang, Stargazer kinfolk and Elder respectively, were both followers of both the Buddha, and of Chimera. During this time, Samual and Chimera became reacquainted, and Samual knew that he was finally ready to dedicate himself to her philosophy.  

 

Renown 

Glory:

  • Defeating 3 minor enemies single handed
  • Assisting to defeat a group of dangerous foes

 

Honor: 

  • Honoring the traditions of the Bone Gnawer Tribe by learning Tribal Rites 
  • Healing Garou outside of his pack 

  • Defending the Caern of Earths Chorus

     

Wisdom:

  • Following the orders of one of Higher Rank - Rite of Passage
  • Remaining focused on a task set before him - Rite of Passage
  • Assisting in a Rite of great power (Caern Building) - Rite of Passage
  • Creating new/unique Talens 
  • Clever Solution to a minor problem - Shorting out camera's and removing a guard with a single talen 

 

Stories:

Add links to stories involving your character.

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.