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Post by Fa Mulan on Aug 12, 2017 6:03:59 GMT -5
Player Information
Player Name: Arien
Age: 28
Other Characters Played: Moana
How You Found Us: Invite
Character Information
Character Name: Fa Mulan
Type of Creature: Human
Rank: Force of Good
Movie/TV Series: Mulan
Home Island: Isle of the Mountain
Powers, Skills, and/or Any Other Abilities:
Martial Artist: Mulan was trained in martial arts by Li Shang, and while initially slow to learn, flourished in later lessons. While not a specialist in any specific form of Kung Fu, she is capable of mixing and matching a variety of styles to suit her needs, able to apply them to overcome opponents.
Weapon Mastery: Mulan carries her father's sword with her at all times, and was trained in its use. It is perhaps the weapon she is most skilled with, tending toward a unique style that focuses on speed and agility over raw strength. She also has some talent in archery.
Equestrian: Having learned to ride before joining the Chinese army, Mulan only honed her riding skills while working under Li Shang. She is very competent on horse-back, especially if said horse is her loyal steed Khan, and can stand in the saddle and perform acrobatic dismounts.
Strategist: Mulan is intelligent, cunning and resourceful. Ever a quick-thinker, Mulan often devises schemes and tricks to overcome the odds stacked against her, and is adept at planning 'off the cuff' should a given situation call for it.
Backstory:
N/A
Canon History:
Mulan was born an only child to Fa Zhou and his wife, Fa Li, and was raised in a time of relative peace. Despite her clumsy nature and often free-spirited approach to tasks, she was expected to live the life of the typical Chinese woman – to be learned in the arts, adopt a graceful and elegant poise, and be married off into an honourable family. Despite wishing to make her family proud, Mulan struggled to adhere to the expectations placed on her, awkward in the presence of others and desperate to keep true to herself, not become just another 'trophy wife' whose true personality was masked.
As she grew, she became something of a public embarrassment due to her lack of 'typical' femininity. However her mind was quick and she often found ways of skirting the chores she was given through use of a natural cunning. Eventually, fearing that Mulan would be unable to find a husband alone, her family insisted she visit the towns aged Matchmaker. It was a visit that would end in disaster, even though in possession of a lucky cricket, humiliating both Mulan and her parents. On that same day, with her father already upset at her failure – she would only serve to further wound his honour.
A marauding hoard of Huns – led by the fearsome Shan Yu – breached the Great Wall, ending China's peace. As a result of the invasion, each family was served a conscription notice; calling all able men to arms. Fa Zhou was one such man, and though he had fought in previous battles and suffered crippling injuries, his service was required once more. Desperate to try and protect her father, Mulan publicly attempted to refuse the summons, though she was berated by her parent and he agreed to fight for his land and his Emperor.
Fearing for her father's safety, Mulan made the decision to take his place, deciding to disguise herself as a male in order to join the army – even though women were strictly forbidden from enlisting. Cutting her hair short and donning her father's armour, Mulan stole his sword and took her family's horse, Khan, riding to the nearest camp to her ancestral home. On waking to find her gone – her father was devastated, instantly understanding her actions.
On her journey to the army's main encampment, Mulan encountered a dragon – Mushu – and the same lucky cricket given to her by her grandmother when she had been sent to visit the matchmaker. Mushu explained that he was an ancestral guardian who could aid her in passing as a warrior. Taking the name 'Ping', Mulan enlisted shortly after the meeting, and with both Mushu and the cricket, Cri-kee, aiding her, began training as a warrior.
Despite a terrible start to her tutelage under Captain Li Shang, receiving awful advice from her dragon companion, 'Ping' quickly proved to be a worthy soldier – using strategy and problem-solving skills to win the hearts of her comrades, and eventually flourished under Shang's watchful eyes. All the while, Mulan maintained her disguise, managing to keep her gender a secret even as she grew from a clumsy, awkward girl into a skilled, talented woman.
Through the machinations of Mushu, Mulan and her unit were called into battle much earlier than expected, a forged letter urging they come to the aid of the main Chinese army, led by Li Shang's father. However, even with the dragon's intervention, they were too late to be of any aid. Upon arrival at the chosen field of battle, they discovered the entire army had been destroyed by the Hun invaders. General Shang had fallen in combat, and not a single soldier had been left to offer aid.
Taken by a desire to avenge his father, Li Shang led Mulan and the rest of his battalion to a nearby mountain pass, hoping to take the Huns by surprise and avenge the fallen. However, a mistake by Mushu alerted the marauding horde to their position, and vastly outnumbered, Shang was nearly killed. Desperation taking over, Mulan used a gun-powder rocket to cause an avalanche, crushing a great deal of the Hun horde and saving her friends in the process.
She too was injured, and it was this injury that would reveal her gender – to her comrades, and to the recovering Li Shang. The punishment for a woman's entry into the armed forces was death; a consequence Mulan would only narrowly escape.
Given pardon for saving the Captain Shang's life, Mulan was sent home dishonoured. However, before she was able to return to her homestead, she learned that Shan Yu had survived the avalanche, and that he and a few of his living generals were making their way toward Imperial City – the home of the Emperor. Desperate to warn her former allies, Mulan changed her course and attempted to convince her former Captain of what she'd seen. Unfortunately, seen as a liar and unworthy to aid military decision making due to her being a woman, Shang ignored her.
Her former friends from her battalion, however, did not. Joining Mulan and offering their aid, they kept an eye out for the small Hun force and though they were alerted to their presence, the group were unable to stop Shan Yu capturing the Emperor. Disguising herself and her three companions as concubines, Mulan and her friends entered the Imperial Palace and defeated the Hun guards. On doing so, the young Fa warrior distracted Shan Yu while her allies rescued the wizened ruler of China, escaping with him.
The battle between Mulan and Shan Yu was initially one sided, the Hun warlord far stronger than the young woman, and indeed better armed. However, Mulan's cunning allowed her to turn the tide, and angering the hulking giant, she was able to disarm him, pin him to the roof of the palace and keep him in place for long enough for Mushu to fire a firework at the invader. The following explosion seemed to kill Shan Yu.
Despite her success, Mulan was dragged before the Emperor, guilty of the crime of being a woman in war. Initially fearful of retribution, the young warrior was surprised when the old man proclaimed her a hero to all China, bowing before her, causing a gathering of civilian onlookers to do the same. With her family's honour restored, Mulan initially refused offers to sit at the Emperor's side as a consul, wishing to return home to her family in order to reconcile with her father.
Game Information:
Following her return to her family, Mulan spent a short time living at her ancestral home, before being recalled into the Emperor's service. As a very public heroine and skilled warrior, Mulan was asked to represent the Land of the Dragon as an envoy and enforcer to the other kingdoms of Rohandor - a request she felt honour-bound to accept.
Anything Else:
- Mulan has two animal companions: Khan, a trusty warhorse, and Cri-kee, a mischevious and stubborn cricket who is supposed to bring good fortune.
OOC:
N/A
Sample Post
Twilight had drawn in, and long shadows stretched out across the cobblestones underfoot as daylight waned. A biting chill nipped at her cheeks, and she was glad for the thick cloak that lay about her shoulders, pulled tight over the lightweight leather plates of her scouting armour. At her waist hung her father's sword, the scabbard jostled gently by the quick movement of her legs, as she moved with a definite purpose, her boots creaking atop the fine layer of freshly fallen snow that dusted the Great Wall's ramparts. Occasionally, she stopped between crenelations, peering out over the steep hills either side of the impressive structure, checking to make sure all was still. When she was certain it was, she moved on.
Mulan rarely visited the giant stone divide that protected her lands from outsiders, and it was even more rare that she patrolled it. Once upon a time, when she had first joined the Chinese army as 'Fa Ping' – it was a task she would have undertaken daily had her regiment been tasked with protecting the Wall. But following the defeat of Hun invaders and the stories told about her aid in overcoming Shan Yu, the young woman had become something of a war hero. Though she still served her Emperor's forces, it was in a very different manner.
Her newfound status had seen her appointed as an envoy – a councillor that bore messages from the Emperor to the other lands of the newly discovered Rohandor. While occasionally she was tasked with baring military threats, she tended to represent an extension of peace; one of China's most recognizable and respected individuals offering aid to struggling islands and continents. As such, Mulan had spent little time in her homeland since accepting the role the Emperor offered her, and most of what she had was spent with her family, aiding her father with the day-to-day chores she had once spent so much effort avoiding.
It was a rare treat, then, that she got wander the length of the Great Wall, alone and unbothered. It was a simple task, one that gave her space to think, to get lost in her own world for just a little, before returning to her duties. She'd never ask for it, and she didn't need it, but she appreciated it. There were times that even age and experience couldn't quite quell the youthful rebelliousness in her gut that yearned to be a carefree child again. It gripped her at odd moments, and it was difficult to shake. Often, she ignored it, but there were times - those rare moments when she was alone - that she could give in to the playful whimsy that occasionally surfaced.
It was the tall, rising crenelations of the Wall that stirred the aforemention pull, her eyes fixating on the uppermost stones - just broad enough to balance on. It was something she'd wanted to do since she'd first seen the wall; though she'd never found the chance. Glancing to her left, and then her right, she bit her lip.
Then, with another glance about herself, making sure she was alone, Mulan mounted the Wall's side, finally coming to perch on one of the raised crenelations, swaying a little as she rose to a standing position, arms outstretched as she found her balance. As nimbly as she could, she began springing between the rows of stone, wobbling occasionally, but always catching herself before tipping.
Her movements raised her lips in a smile – though the rather sudden appearance of a group of patrolling watchmen quickly wiped the expression from her face. Catching sight of them still and staring at her in her peripheral vision, Mulan gulped and dropped back to the walkway in a manner a little less graceful than her former movements. Quickly straightening up, she adjusted her cloak and gestured, with a thumb, to the Wall's side.
“Uh...I was checking...something,” she managed, offering a fleeting smile, trying to ignore the blush that was quickly rising on her face.
The watchmen just continued to stare.
“Everything's fine,” Mulan quickly added, before nodding at the group – who stood to attention – quickly wheeling, and turning away, unsure of whether to die with embarrassment or burst out in fits of laughter.
Application Fee Information
First Character?: No
Character(s) Paying Fee: Moana
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