Origins The Sicarian

Though this isn't Roleplaying, I figure this is the best place for a story I've written. I've written stories before, but is my first time dipping into CoH/CoV

Quote:

27th of April, of the year 1999, nameless dojo, Yingbage, Keriya County, China. “Once more, Sicarian. What are the tenets of the Xuán Qú?” The youth indicated as Sicarian stopped going through the kata he was working on, and faced his instructor, making a short, but courteous bow. “Master. We have four truths. One, the Evil in this world will not change its ways. Two, the Evil in this world has its roots in individuals. Three, only by destroying the roots, will it be assured that the Evil in this world will vanish. Four, in the pursuit of destroying Evil, nothing is prohibited; everything is permitted.” The instructor, an older man of small stock usually associated with Chinese men, nodded, visibly tense. As short as the man was, he still had an almost palpable sense of authority about him, a commanding presence. “Now, then, what do we, the Xuán Qú, do with these truths, our tenets, as motivation?” As the question hung in the air and Sicarian thought about it, the demeanour of the master became even darker, subtly changing for the worse. This, as if there were unspoken questions that were more important – the tension rose, and the young man tensed up in response. “We seek out the ‘roots’, and destroy them utterly. So we have the means to destroy them, we train in the ways of martial arts. So we have the opportunity to destroy them, we train in the ways of stealth. So we have the mindset to destroy them, we train in the ways of meditation.” The master nodded slowly, and spoke another question, low, softly. Dark. “And what, exactly, Sicarian, do we gain by not only destroying the roots, but the plants as well?” For the first time that the master had entered Sicarian’s training session, the assassin found himself grasping for a proper answer, suspecting the master wasn’t pleased. “Master. We...I...Destroying the ‘roots’ is not enough. Maybe it was enough in the old days, but, more and more followers are willing to step up to fill their leader’s shoes. We should not allow this!” Another short, but courteous bow followed Sicarian’s words, as if he suspected to be scolded for his words and apologized beforehand. To his surprise, the mood suddenly lightened as his master started to smile. “I will be honest with you, young one. The other students and even some of the other masters have taken to speaking behind your back, referring to you by a new name; ‘Berserker Assassin’. Collateral damage seems to follow wherever you go. Some wish to see you punished for this, others respect you for it.” The master walked up to his student and laid a hand on his shoulder – no mean feat, as the student was a good lot taller than the master. “Calm yourself. I am of the latter opinion. There is no time, no use to coddle those who wish ill upon the world. They are indeed better off dead. I have a plan for you, but you are not ready yet. Double your training, young one. I will keep a close eye and I will tell you when you are ready.” 27th of April, of the year 2004, Talos Island harbour, Paragon City, United States of America. As the smuggler’s ship slowly ploughed through the waters of Talos Island harbour, the captain let out a sigh of relief. The journey from Weihai had been an arduous one. Trading with the Chinese was difficult, at best, for a small-time trader like himself. American Customs always seemed worse when going to Paragon City and to top it off, his passenger hadn’t exactly made things better. His passenger. The seaman slowly shook his head as he thought of the man. In the many weeks he had been aboard his ship, he had spoken maybe ten words. The rest of the time, he and the few other sailors had seen him constantly in the cargo hold, practicing what he figured was kung-fu. The occasional ‘ghost fire’ he had seen floating about the man, the captain had chosen to ignore – he had seen enough of it in the city of heroes proper, but he was glad to get rid of this ‘Sicarian’ regardless. As if the martial artist had read the man’s thoughts, a polite cough notified the captain of his presence as he turned around to face him. “Here we are, Paragon City.” The captain, as he was, was a man of little subtlety and as such, simply held up his hand, clearly expecting something. Sicarian, clearly unimpressed, shook his head, rummaged around in his knapsack and produced a wad of dollar bills. As the captain started counting them, his eyes grew wide, but he was too late – the assassin was already gone. High above the captain’s cabin, atop the boom of one of the cranes to be used to unload the ship, Sicarian once more shook his head. The man had been exactly as gullible as his master had predicted, and the assassin gladly took advantage of it. Standing up, he took in Talos Island fully for the first time, and all of Paragon City he could see from his vantage point. Off in the distance, the gigantic statue of the titanic hero who had given the island it’s name. Beyond the glimmering of the fabled War Walls, Sicarian could spot buildings in Skyway City and Founder's Falls. Beyond those neighborhoods, he knew, lay the rest of Paragon City. And as far as he was concerned, these were his new hunting grounds.

Notes:
1. “Xuán Qú” is my take on translating “Black Lotus” to Chinese. I am aware that this is probably not a proper translation, but I forgive myself for this ;-)
2. Is Sicarian’s port of arrival lore-correct (enough)?


What say you all? Do you want more? Please let me know and be honest, but constructive if you've got critique

Short answer: Cool story, bro.

Slightly longer answer: There are several places ocean-going vessels can make port, and Talos Island is one of them. I will nod to the use of 'shaked his head', which should be 'shook his head', but this I think may just be the language crossover and thus forgivable. I can ask a friend of mine who speaks Chinese to see how accurate Xuán Qú a translation is.

I'd love to see more of this mysterious character's story. If your char is or becomes RP-able, I'd recommend dropping more of his tales into the IC Story Thread if the installments are brief enough, or keep adding them here.

Overall, welcome to the roleplay section, where some of us are sane.

Sorry for the double post, but, I've ammended my first post. It contains some things I wanted to add, but IMO, would've looked out of place in the next section.

Speaking of which, I'm writing it as we 'speak'