This is cobbled together out of bits I've written over the months and I've edited it down to stop it getting too massive. I was gonna post it on the General Discussion thread about our characters' bios but when I saw the preview I thought it'd be better here where longer posts are more at home
Burning Fist's Backstory
As the Qinghai Plateau rises to meet the Great Himalayas there nestles the remote and little known Green Mountain Pass, a timeless pocket of tranquility undisturbed by war, revolution and interdimensional alien invasion. At the head of Green Mountain Pass stands the Wu-Kong Temple where the 108 Disciples of Xuanzang have peacefully practiced meditation, studied scriptures and trained in the 36 Martial Techniques of Huiyang for over a thousand years. That peace was shattered the day the Tsoo warlord Steel Typhoon arrived with his tattooed bandit army.
The first the monks of Wu-Kong knew of his arrival was when farmers and villagers from up and down Green Mountain Pass came seeking refuge in the Temple with stories of slaughter and demons running amok in the night. The next they knew was when Steel Typhoon had silently and mysteriously laid seige to the Temple.
Throughout the next twelve nights the Tsoo army assaulted the Temple and although many defenders were killed or wounded and parts of the Temple were all but destroyed, they were held at bay. The days within the Temple were spent tending the wounded, fortifying the gates and courtyards and planning the next night's defence. As the siege and attacks wore on however, the monks came to realise that it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed and defeated. And then what? Who could say
On the thirteenth day Abbot Fei's most accomplished student, Lai Pang-Xiang, decided upon a desperate course of action. Picking six of the best practitioners of the Martial Techniques, he slipped out of the Temple and infiltrated the Tsoo encampment. Once inside they, began causing mayhem among the unprepared Tsoo. They burnt their rice, they scattered their oxen, they destroyed carts and spiked their cannons, but it wasnt long before Steel Typhoon's men had them on the defensive and the seven monks had to fight for their lives and those of everyone in the Wu-Kong Temple.
Eventually, in the evening, Lai Pang-Xiang and his two surviving comrades were caught, surrounded on all sides by Tsoo bandits. There was no escape, there were even Tsoo bowmen atop the tent frames and underneath the last few carts that had remained intact. Even had their been a way out it was unlikely the three exhausted, bloodied and beaten men would've been able to get very far.
The three of them stood back to back, moving round so each could see what they were facing in the circle of Tsoo fighters around them. There was movement, the Tsoo parted and Steel Typhoon strode into the circle. He stared at the three monks for a few moments then threw back his head and laughed.
And then, as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the distant Himalayas, a great cry rose up from the direction of the Wu-Kong Temple. It was impossible for Steel Typhoon to comprehend but a column was charging down the Temple road onto his encampment. He could see the Wu-Kong banner fluttering in the torchlight carried by the men and he could see thirty, maybe forty monks and a hundred villagers and farmers all ready to fight against him.
The battle didn't last very long, the Tsoo were already in disarray following Lai Pang-Xiang's audacious raid and they were entirely unprepared to be attacked by the people who they expected to wipe out this very night. At some point during the battle, Steel Typhoon and a dozen of his men escaped on horseback and, by morning, the Tsoo threat to Green Mountain Pass was over.
Although Steel Typhoon had been defeated, the victory was a bitter one. Eighteen of the Disciples of Xuanzang who had remained inside the Temple during the attack were dead, killed by an assassin who could scale sheer walls, strike within locked chambers and kill unseen in crowded rooms. The deaths were sad but the karma of each victim would bring them back to the Wu-Kong Temple in their next life as it had in many lifetimes before. However, each of the dead had acquired wisdom which would take lifetimes for them to relearn in such a way as could be taught. This was the true loss, and the choice of targets was impeccable.
Whoever the assassin was, his knowledge and subtlety was such that it was impossible he could be a subordinate of the brutish Steel Typhoon. It was more likely that Steel Typhoon was in his pay to provide strength for the assassin's fiendish plot. Although the Temple had been saved the assassin had still been partially successful.
Among the assassin's victims was Abbot Fei, Lai Pang-Xiang's master and friend. Realising that his karma lay with finding Steel Typhoon and the mystical assassin, Lai Pang-Xiang took the name Burning Fist and left the Wu-Kong Temple to fulfill it. He tracked Steel Typhoon down to Paragon City where he had become a crime lord among the Tsoo crime clans there.
Over the course of many adventures, Burning Fist finally vanquished Steel Typhoon. He also discovered that his master's killer was called Cao Qin and, through meditation and contact with the bodhisattva Seung Yin, found out that he was a hero from the Hell of Hungry Ghosts come to the human realm to destroy wisdom and spread misery, hate and discord. Burning Fist eventually found him but, after an epic battle across the rooftops of Peregrine Island, Cao Qin managed to escape from this world through one of Portal Corporation's interdimensional portals. With an infinite number of places he couldve fled to and no way of following, Burning Fist had to be satisfied with banishing Cao Qin from this world.
Although in his heart Burning Fist longs to return to the simple tranquility of Green Mountain Pass he knows that, for now, Paragon City needs him more than the Wu-Kong Temple does. He also knows that one day, in this lifetime or the next, he'll return to the Temple and help repair what Cao Qin and Steel Typhoon had almost destroyed.
Until that day, Burning Fist, aka Lai Pang-Xiang, Hero of the Wu-Kong Temple and Master of the 36 Martial Techniques of Huiyang will be watching over the good people of Paragon City.
This is cobbled together out of bits I've written over the months and I've edited it down to stop it getting too massive. I was gonna post it on the General Discussion thread about our characters' bios but when I saw the preview I thought it'd be better here where longer posts are more at home
Burning Fist's Backstory
As the Qinghai Plateau rises to meet the Great Himalayas there nestles the remote and little known Green Mountain Pass, a timeless pocket of tranquility undisturbed by war, revolution and interdimensional alien invasion. At the head of Green Mountain Pass stands the Wu-Kong Temple where the 108 Disciples of Xuanzang have peacefully practiced meditation, studied scriptures and trained in the 36 Martial Techniques of Huiyang for over a thousand years. That peace was shattered the day the Tsoo warlord Steel Typhoon arrived with his tattooed bandit army.
The first the monks of Wu-Kong knew of his arrival was when farmers and villagers from up and down Green Mountain Pass came seeking refuge in the Temple with stories of slaughter and demons running amok in the night. The next they knew was when Steel Typhoon had silently and mysteriously laid seige to the Temple.
Throughout the next twelve nights the Tsoo army assaulted the Temple and although many defenders were killed or wounded and parts of the Temple were all but destroyed, they were held at bay. The days within the Temple were spent tending the wounded, fortifying the gates and courtyards and planning the next night's defence. As the siege and attacks wore on however, the monks came to realise that it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed and defeated. And then what? Who could say
On the thirteenth day Abbot Fei's most accomplished student, Lai Pang-Xiang, decided upon a desperate course of action. Picking six of the best practitioners of the Martial Techniques, he slipped out of the Temple and infiltrated the Tsoo encampment. Once inside they, began causing mayhem among the unprepared Tsoo. They burnt their rice, they scattered their oxen, they destroyed carts and spiked their cannons, but it wasnt long before Steel Typhoon's men had them on the defensive and the seven monks had to fight for their lives and those of everyone in the Wu-Kong Temple.
Eventually, in the evening, Lai Pang-Xiang and his two surviving comrades were caught, surrounded on all sides by Tsoo bandits. There was no escape, there were even Tsoo bowmen atop the tent frames and underneath the last few carts that had remained intact. Even had their been a way out it was unlikely the three exhausted, bloodied and beaten men would've been able to get very far.
The three of them stood back to back, moving round so each could see what they were facing in the circle of Tsoo fighters around them. There was movement, the Tsoo parted and Steel Typhoon strode into the circle. He stared at the three monks for a few moments then threw back his head and laughed.
And then, as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the distant Himalayas, a great cry rose up from the direction of the Wu-Kong Temple. It was impossible for Steel Typhoon to comprehend but a column was charging down the Temple road onto his encampment. He could see the Wu-Kong banner fluttering in the torchlight carried by the men and he could see thirty, maybe forty monks and a hundred villagers and farmers all ready to fight against him.
The battle didn't last very long, the Tsoo were already in disarray following Lai Pang-Xiang's audacious raid and they were entirely unprepared to be attacked by the people who they expected to wipe out this very night. At some point during the battle, Steel Typhoon and a dozen of his men escaped on horseback and, by morning, the Tsoo threat to Green Mountain Pass was over.
Although Steel Typhoon had been defeated, the victory was a bitter one. Eighteen of the Disciples of Xuanzang who had remained inside the Temple during the attack were dead, killed by an assassin who could scale sheer walls, strike within locked chambers and kill unseen in crowded rooms. The deaths were sad but the karma of each victim would bring them back to the Wu-Kong Temple in their next life as it had in many lifetimes before. However, each of the dead had acquired wisdom which would take lifetimes for them to relearn in such a way as could be taught. This was the true loss, and the choice of targets was impeccable.
Whoever the assassin was, his knowledge and subtlety was such that it was impossible he could be a subordinate of the brutish Steel Typhoon. It was more likely that Steel Typhoon was in his pay to provide strength for the assassin's fiendish plot. Although the Temple had been saved the assassin had still been partially successful.
Among the assassin's victims was Abbot Fei, Lai Pang-Xiang's master and friend. Realising that his karma lay with finding Steel Typhoon and the mystical assassin, Lai Pang-Xiang took the name Burning Fist and left the Wu-Kong Temple to fulfill it. He tracked Steel Typhoon down to Paragon City where he had become a crime lord among the Tsoo crime clans there.
Over the course of many adventures, Burning Fist finally vanquished Steel Typhoon. He also discovered that his master's killer was called Cao Qin and, through meditation and contact with the bodhisattva Seung Yin, found out that he was a hero from the Hell of Hungry Ghosts come to the human realm to destroy wisdom and spread misery, hate and discord. Burning Fist eventually found him but, after an epic battle across the rooftops of Peregrine Island, Cao Qin managed to escape from this world through one of Portal Corporation's interdimensional portals. With an infinite number of places he couldve fled to and no way of following, Burning Fist had to be satisfied with banishing Cao Qin from this world.
Although in his heart Burning Fist longs to return to the simple tranquility of Green Mountain Pass he knows that, for now, Paragon City needs him more than the Wu-Kong Temple does. He also knows that one day, in this lifetime or the next, he'll return to the Temple and help repair what Cao Qin and Steel Typhoon had almost destroyed.
Until that day, Burning Fist, aka Lai Pang-Xiang, Hero of the Wu-Kong Temple and Master of the 36 Martial Techniques of Huiyang will be watching over the good people of Paragon City.