Chai

***Spoiler warning:**
The following page may contain spoilers about the plot of the Hous SMP. It is also a roleplay page, so keep this in mind.*

## Family & relationship(s)

### Partner(s)

Cherry (ex-girlfriend)Grey (ex-girlfriend)

## Other information

### Builds

The AequinoctiumThe Parlor

Chai is fueled by a curiosity hot enough to melt netherite and something deeper and perhaps more sinister. They appear weak and shy, but if given a spark, they can move mountains in order to shape the world into something beautiful.

## Appearance

Chai has pale skin, red eyes, and black hair left to grow out and frame his face with loose pieces. He wears a golden chain with a green gem in the center, and a purple cloak held in place by a silver cap on his shoulder and a red and gold clasp. His shirt is a pale yellow, with a dark green vest tied together with strings in the front. He has dark blue pants and boots in the same color as his shirt.

He has described his own stature as "clearly not that of a warrior," however he has also been shown as capable of decent physical feats, such as grand construction projects, massive resource collection, and extended chase scenes.

## Personality

Chai makes an effort to be agreeable with those around them. They will change their beliefs and lie about their allegiances in order to get close to people that can help them. They encourage toxic behaviors in those around them, such as providing drugs to addicts and stoking paranoia in the traumatized, in order to convince them that they are on their side and everyone else is against them. Manipulation is their default, and remorse is a distant feeling. It is hard to describe them as charismatic, as a certain uncanniness hovers around them, but it is a small enough feeling that most choose to ignore.

Chai is incredibly reckless and doubts the worst in others. Their past makes them believe they can worm their way out of any situation. They have never met someone who won't listen to them, and who is beyond persuasion. They are impatient and dastardly. The consequences have never been bad enough to make them second-guess, and they have never seen true evil.

They are also very curious. Their curiosity is stronger than their self-preservation, morality, and kindness combined.

## Ideology

Chai works with an ideology of change. They want to be there when the next turning point comes around. More than that, they want to be the one to bring about this point. The specifics of the change don't matter, so long as nothing stays the same for too long.

Their morality tends toward utilitarianism, however they tend to act based on emotion rather than morality. Their morality is flexible enough that they can convince themselves of most things. In general, they see the world as a giant trolley problem filled with levers that they can choose to pull or ignore, except you can't always know which choice will hurt the least people. In their eyes, the only rational thing to do is to flip as many levers as possible, and accept responsibility for the status of things, rather than ignore the levers and pretend they have no say. This leads them to act, always, in any way, so long as they are making choices.

They have expressed that they do not believe in "fate" many times to Aetheria. To them, fate is an excuse to avoid one's personal responsibility, and whether or not it is real, one should act as if they have free will, and as if the future is indeterminate.

They have a fluid perception of their relationships. Friendship comes naturally, but it feels like a trap to them. They prefer to think of people by their value to them. Some are their mentors: reserved for the few people they believe are more knowledgeable than himself. Some are more like comrades: equals, and those he wants to rise along with. Some are their citizens: the general population of the realm, consisting of anyone they believe can and should be protected. And finally, there are the disowned: those who, one way or another, are incapable or unworthy of his help.

## History

### Lucidity

#### Firelake Village

Chai was orphaned as a baby by the conquering power Lucidity, and given the name "Frost" by a soldier for their pale blue eyes. All those older than thirteen were executed, and everyone else was made into a Lucid resident. Their village, called Firelake Village for the nearby lake that glowed orange in the sunset, was made into a pumpkin farming village, and was assigned two caretakers, known as Frosted.

Frost was the youngest child and never knew their parents. However, even as a child, they saw the pain and loss in their adoptive siblings for their families, and became inspired to protect them. On one occasion, two soldiers on horseback rode through on their way to a camp, and demanded any wheat, potatoes, and carrots they had. Frost threatened to have them executed once they moved to the capitol should any of them die from starvation, taking advantage of a Lucid law that anyone whose actions or inactions result in a child's death will be publicly executed.

When they were thirteen, they became the last of their adopted family to move away from Firelake Village in pursuit of higher education. They decided to pursue the Citizen path (a path designated for historians, priests, lawyers, and government officials, known as Eretians, Spiraled, Quacks, and Dreamers respectively). They changed their name to Rome, because of Rome's varied history and their need to be anything that Lucidity required of them.

#### At the Capital

Rome arrived at the capitol (Jukarming, a portmanteau of jukebox, karma, and arming) and was amazed by the architecture, people, culture, and lifestyle. As preparation for his education, he attended a service for Church Prime, the religion of Lucidity and the basis for the ideology of their education. Each of the four paths tests them twice. The first test can be deadly, but if a student fails, they only lose one life and have a disadvantage on the second test. At the end of the second test, however, each path executes a certain percentage of the worst performing students. Rome's path had the highest rate of 50% of students being executed. Church Prime justifies this practice by saying that killing the worst performing students motivates everyone to do better, to reach their "prime."

At church, he met two Citizens the same age as himself: Grey and Cherry. Grey was a runaway witch, and very shy. Cherry was the only daughter of two prestigious capitol residents. During the service, they argued for each of their beliefs about the executions, and became fast friends.

Throughout their schooling, Rome and Cherry established themselves as the top of their class. Only one of them could become a Dreamer, the anonymous authoritarian leaders of Lucidity. Grey, on the other hand, was falling behind due to her not growing up in Lucidity and her shy nature. At age seventeen, the first test was coming up, and Grey was worried she would die, and receive a disadvantage in the final test. Her talent was potion making, and she was a genius of her trade, inventing new potions with strong effects, and she came up with a solution to her problem.

The Eucharist, as she called it, was a permanent telepathic connection between any number of individuals. Rome and Cherry agreed to it, wanting to save their friend's life. They gathered the materials needed and drank the potion, giving them the Anaphora. The Anaphora was Grey's name for the link. It allowed them to think quicker, know each others' thoughts, feelings, memories, and pain, and communicate without being physically together. It also turned their eyes from their natural color to a deep, swirling shade of red.

All three of the group passed the first test, with none of them losing a life. Soon after, they became romantic partners.

#### Rise to Power

After obtaining the Anaphora, Grey began performing much better in her studies. Rome and Cherry, likewise, became unstoppably superior to their peers. If there was any doubt before, it was gone now; the next Dreamer would be one of the two.

The final test for Citizens was to write and deliver an hour-long speech about a topic of their choosing. The catch was, the speech would be given to the masked Dreamers, and all the Citizens (around 100) would deliver their speech at the same time, in the same ballroom. The Dreamers would decide how the Citizens performed, and assign them their positions which they would hold for the rest of their lives.

After the speeches were delivered, the Citizens gathered in a room to wait for the response. A Dreamer read out half of the names of the Citizens, which everyone noted included the less intelligent students, with the notable exceptions of Rome, Cherry, and Grey. They followed the Dreamer out of the room into a hallway, where Cherry, then Grey, and finally Rome were dragged into a small room with two unmasked Dreamers.

The Dreamers told Rome that he was the best student in the class, and would become the next Dreamer. They also told him that they knew about the Anaphora, and because the position was anonymous, Cherry and Grey would have to die. Rome devised a quick plan to break their spawn anchor in the room, kill Cherry and Grey once (saving two of each of their lives), and plea with the Dreamers to let this be enough. He did so, and Cherry and Grey died, spawning in some location of the world. This broke the Anaphora, and Rome could no longer hear his loves. He said this much to the Dreamers, who agreed that this was enough.

Rome changed his name to Chai, a combination of Cherry and Grey's names, in honor of the people that gave him the strength to make it this far. He ran away from Lucidity that night. As he ran, he tripped, and landed on the ground with the force of his overwhelming grief. This shattered the barrier between realms, and he fell into Hous.

### Arriving at Hous

Chai arrived on their own, and figured out some of the surroundings with a quick walk around. They established the Camp as a base of operations, and as a lookout over what they found out later were the ruins of the Festival, and travelled to the Village to get resources. On these trips, they would occasionally run into people, and used this opportunity to learn about the world around them.

Their first meeting was with Evera and Lua, who gave them an official tour, and after a rocky start and an ominous warning of a person named "L", became good friends. Another trip, Chai ran into Snes, and impressed her with their drive and ambition to make the W.B.A. into something great. They also talked with Khizuo and Aetheria, with varying degrees of success.

#### Allyship with L

While hanging out with Evera one day, Evera decided to show Chai the incomplete Caelum Turrim, and give a bit of background into the warning about L. She described him first as intelligent, and then as a monster who killed her friends. Chai was hooked, and began preparing for a meeting. On the wall of the tower was a sign with a list of supplies, namely obsidian, which makes up the bulk of the tower.

Chai spent the next week gathering obsidian as well as upgrading their armor and weapons and preparing potions. They left a book titled "An Offering", without a signature or name for security purposes, proposing a meeting with L, along with a chest full of obsidian.

The next day, Chai and L met at Pepper's house, a neutral and unoccupied space, as dictated by the book. Chai told L of their feelings of being directionless and naïve, and L told Chai about his worldview and gave a mild defense of his actions. Chai learned about a world of stories, and was told that they could choose what character they could play, so long as they were brave enough. Chai, motivated by a desire to be important and a philosophy of creating change in the world, offered to be an ally to L. They were told to gather obsidian, blackstone, wither skeleton skulls, TNT, slime blocks, and several other items. They were also told to improve their very weak combat skills and to report information about the members of Hous to L.

Chai immediately set out to gather resources, with a new, hidden goal: to prove themself to L by creating a story out of a broken person. Their allyship was conditional on Chai being useful, and Chai had just made themself very clear on L's radar. To protect their safety, they had to do what they do best. Take action, and have drive outside of a chain-of-command.

#### Conflict with Moonshine

Overhearing Evera mention a shrine to Godnotfound in Moonshine, Chai followed them through the nether. At Moonshine, Godnotfound immediately killed Chai (non-canonically). Chai returned and told Evera they were fine, and that the gods could only inconvenience them, rather than actually hurting them. Godnotfound responded by killing Chai again. Chai returned, and Evera proposed that Godnotfound allow Chai to collect their items and leave, which was granted.

Chai had to know what they were doing. They went home and grabbed invisibility potions. When they returned to the portal, it was broken. They had to travel one thousand blocks through the overworld. By the time they arrived, the conversation was over, however on their way out, they were spotted by Star without invisibility.

On the outskirts of Moonshine, Godnotfound flew to them as they were leaving. Chai lied, and told the god they were lost, and were trying to find their home. Godnotfound followed them as Chai wandered aimlessly in the wrong direction, and after a while suggested they teleport Chai to their home. Chai, mildly weary and very spooked, accepted. After a few moments, Godnotfound teleported Chai to Callum Turrim, saying they had seen Chai frequent the tower. Chai lied, and said they must be mistaken, as they hadn't been there since Evera advised they stay away. Godnotfound let them go.

A week later, Chai and Ria were outside of the casino opening after the party ended. Ria said she was going to Moonshine to bother its residents, and Chai falsely interpreted this as an invitation. Upon arrival, Lowkey attacked Chai without warning. Chai tried to defend themselves, verbally and with their weapons, but they were not prepared for a fight and Lowkey was much better at fighting than them, and unwilling to listen. Chai, in a panic, and recalling that at the party Tealeaf was not a strong fighter, shouted that they would kill Tealeaf if Lowkey did not stop attacking them. They changed target, attacking Tealeaf and ignoring Lowkey. A minute later, Lowkey stated that Chai needed to leave, or he would kill them.

Chai attempted to defend themselves, and said that Ria invited them, but Ria claimed to know nothing about this. Star yelled that Chai had been stalking them a week ago, and Lowkey assumed something similar happened this time. Realizing that the Moonshine residents would not listen to them, Chai left Moonshine.

#### Disillusionment

Chai meets Challenger, the god of fighting and nobility, and impresses him with their bravery. Chai discusses L with him, seeking advice. They believe their partnership is hurting him more than helping but can't get over their loyalty. Challenger points out that this loyalty is taken for granted, and L does not see Chai as an equal, but this does nothing to dissuade them because they already know these things. Challenger tells them that L is doomed to fail, and this makes Chai very uncertain. They feel as if they will be left behind and begin to doubt their friendship.

Later, L kills Evera and Melite, Sol's child. This is unforgivable to Chai. Evera, they believed, was protected as she was whom L used as leverage to secure their partnership. Melite is a child, and while murder in general is morally bad, murder of a child is unjustifiable because it snuffs out infinite potential. Chai goes from seeing L as an unconventional genius to a spiteful, childish, self-destructive tool. Evera takes them to Melite's bedroom, where their blood still stains the floors. At the morbid beauty of this realization and unity, and its internal battle with the disgust they feel at themself for their blindness, they cry and hug Evera.

Chai writes a book, titled "A Posteriori," Latin for "from the later" and refers to a conclusion reached by tracing the effects to its causes. This book is a resignation left in Callum Turrim, written with spite and signed off as "The Projectionist". They go to the tower later to confront L, calling his story childish and insulting him in other ways. Anticipating L attempting to kill them for their betrayal, they throw a potion of slowness and run away. L is equipped with a trident and ender pearls, and Chai is comparatively lacking in resources, but trained in the art of running away. He runs away for days, depleting his healing and food until he has only one totem. At their home, they abruptly turn and accept their fate with bravery, and drink their last strength potion. L, however, upon breaking a totem, runs away to heal, giving Chai the opportunity to use their potions of speed and invisibility to escape underground. L gives up, but Chai doesn't believe him and jokingly prays to any god who would listen to him. Aetheria hears this, and comes to watch over him. Chai breaks to the surface and mistakes his grey and white skin for that of L's, and runs to the Arctic Commune.

### Interlude

Chai spends the next few months unsure of their place. During this time, they speak with Lowkey, and grow closer to Tealeaf, Sol, and Aetheria. They aide Evera with a trial, now in earnest. They help the Village understand the growing conflict.

### Vice President

Snes confesses her stress with her nation, and its result in her losing a life to a heart attack. Chai patiently asks what he can do, and offers to move in. Snes is at first weary, but trusts Chai and offers them position of vice president of the W.B.A. He accepts and moves in immediately with the goal to grow his power and influence and fix the bleeding nation.

They build the Parlor, an oasis in the desert, and makes it their office and home. They learn about the authoritarian practices done to its citizens, and Snes's shocking apathy to harm done to her citizens. They meet with Covet and Lowkey in the bar outside the Parlor. Evera is angry that they would leave, and worried that they will be hurt by the nation, but Chai is confident they can make it a better place, or more accurately, believes it is the only place he belongs. Their relationship becomes strained.

Meanwhile, on occasional trips to the mainland, they talk with Sol who had recently left Moonshine. Chai is both concerned because they are alone and sees an opportunity to repair things with Moonshine by caring for one of their citizens. They offer Sol residency until they are ready to return to Moonshine, which Sol accepts immediately. Chai advises that Sol not sign anything, knowing the sketchy contracts Snes loves to hang over her citizens.

Sol does not take this advice and signs a contract for work as a guard. Evera is once more angry that Chai would do something so reckless to one of her friends, but they are confident they can protect Sol. When Sol later decides to leave, Snes informs them that this can only be done if they are injured and fires a firework at them. Chai finds this out later from Evera, though they struggle to express sorrow or regret for it.

#### The End Crystals

Prior to Sol's injury, Snes reveals to Chai that she has a new weapon that needs testing. This weapon could level the playing field for their nation, which has no strong fighters. Chai is excited and agrees, and suggests Aetheria as the test subject. He is strong and loyal to Chai, and could keep them a secret. Aetheria later agrees, after Chai argues that he could study them with the W.B.A. and spend time with themself. After Sol's injury, on a phone call, Snes shares the location of the testing site. Chai shouts at her for injuring Sol and promises revenge if she does it again.

## Personal Items

Catharsis: a sword. The name is Greek for "purification" and refers to the pain and relief of expelling emotions.

Lacunae: an axe. The name is Latin for "void" and is legal-speak for a situation not covered by the law.

"An Offering": The book they wrote to L, returned to them and kept in their ender chest.

Sheet music, gifted by Snes.

Rose: an immortal rose from a distant land, gifted by Aetheria.

Shield of Roses: a shield with a rose on it, gifted by Aetheria.

W.B.A Pin: a symbol of their vice presidency, gifted by Snes.

T: a totem gifted by L on Christmas.

## Pets

Quill: a fast, strong, and agile brown horse.

## Quotes

*"Oh dear."* Said frequently with a flat tone, after encountering anything considered offensive by polite society.

*"Why are spies always on the side of the good guys?"* Said to L upon their meeting.

*"You can't die yet, I still need my mentor!"* Said to Snes after being told about them being the heir to the W.B.A.

*"He is going to die soon, and I'll be left to clean up his mess."* Said to the Challenger about L.

*"It is customary to give a two-week notice before resigning from a position. It is also customary to avoid killing one's co-workers."* Written in "A Posteriori".

*"Touch one of my citizens again, and I'll kill you."* Said over the phone to Snes.

## Trivia

* Their favorite food is pumpkin pie.
* Their birthday is June 21, making them a Gemini on the cusp of being a Cancer. This is also the date of the Summer Solstice.
* Their favorite flower is the rose, a flower that no longer exists in game.
* They know most forms of classical dance, as well as calligraphy and the language of flowers.
* In Lucidity they learned many forms of sign language, and through the Anaphora they learned some Latin from Cherry.