Golden Age Xian

## Personality

~~Ruled by cowardice, caution and curiosity, Xian's mind is a whirling tempest, and her heart a blackened shrine for twisted beliefs. She holds each life as precious, yet despises mankind for their sinful ways. But even then, she is still hopeful; believing everyone can be cleared of sin in one way or the other. But there is only so much hope a woman can hold, and endless oceans of blood for her to spill.~~

~~Dirtying her blade is always for the better judgement; if people refuse to repent, then it is her duty to repent for them, letting their sins become her own. To the innocent, she is a kind and gentle soul. To sinners, she is nothing more than their judge, jury and executioner.~~

Xian's death and cryogenic freeze has destroyed her previous steadfast ideals, finding it difficult to place her trust in anybody anymore, doubt and paranoia tainting her every thought. Wishing to feel warmth again, she finds that each soul she frees only tosses her further back into that icy prison she was confined in.

Previously so fixated on saving others, she had failed to save even herself, being forced to rely on the kindness and twisted nature of others. No longer a frivolous murderer, Xian only swings her scythe for those who threaten herself and the very few she holds in high regards. Blindly following religion only proved fatal, and she's grown tired of dancing with the devil. No more.

## Backstory

The village was a sleepy one; resting amongst the snow-capped mountains of China, away from the hustle and bustle of society. One evening in June, a baby girl was born. The parents were overjoyed, but pleasure had come before marriage, and a bastard child only struck fear into their hearts. Ashamed at the betrayal of their religion and teaching, they took her to the village's temple, where the Elders took her in. Questions of what to do with the child were brought up, trying to think of a solution to their unexpected problem. An Elder of the name Wu rose, and decided that he would teach the girl of religion, and in time, she would learn to be a holy woman. The others accepted this solution, and the man finally gifted the child with a name: **Jiutian Xuannü**.

Wu and his wife Xiao soon realised they were out of their depth, unaccustomed to caring for children. One or the other cursed with infertility,, neither were experienced, but nonetheless, the young girl had found herself a new set of parents after her old ones tossed her aside so carelessly.

Wu took it on himself to teach the young girl, quickly finding that she was a difficult student. Her memory was poor, or she didn't care enough. A girl as young as she was only interested in childish activities, not sermons on religion. Xiao aided him, the two trying their hardest to teach her. Sometimes, it succeeded; other times, it failed without a doubt. But their patience was bountiful and they persevered. Other teachings were less bothersome, and in time, the girl learnt to speak Chinese and some formal English. In the end, her brain ended up developing a skewed method of learning, filling in the gaps by itself and leaving herself with a strange, warped view on religion.

Other than that, Xuannü's childhood was filled with naps and toys, as well as books and stories of deities. Her quirk had failed to manifest by the age of 4, and the couple wondered if her abandonment was linked to this - it didn't stop them from caring for her as best they could, however, and in a way only a child could be, she was grateful for it.

At the age of 7, Xiao decided that her husband had done enough, and began to teach the girl the ways of medicine and healing. Her heart learned of humility and selflessness, and it was the first thing to take root in her soul. Each lesson taught her something new, and her eyes grew a little brighter.

Xuannü collapsed one night at the age of 9, wailing and thrashing, dark spittle seeping from bared teeth. Horror rushed them back to the temple, Wu and Xiao terrified at this new development. Pure black energy coursed through her veins and bled from her eyes, waking from her fever dreams to choke and throw up. It was demonic to look at, and every fretful night was spent with Xiao sitting by her side, trying to heal the girl with medicines and her own blessed quirk.

*"Xuannü, please. . . ! What do you desire? what will help you?"*

*"I-I wan' . . to h. . . elp, ma- ma. . ."*

The next day, the girl was healed. Months later, she discovered her skill of restoring stamina to others. The Elders were pleased, and hastened Xiao to teach the girl so they could have another holy woman among them to aid the elderly. Years passed with no other signs of illness, and Xuannü was being praised continuously for flourishing in the art of medicine.

On the other hand, Xuannü was experiencing something else entirely. Unexplainable fears clawed at her heart, and she felt at danger no matter where she was, be it with her parents or at the temple. Praise was no use to her, and she begged Wu to teach her how to protect herself.

*"Please. . . It's the only way I'll know peace. I can't even breathe, that's how weak I feel."*

*". . . Very well. But please, don't make me regret this, Xuannü."*

*"You won't, father, I promise."*

Throwing herself into the training, she put all of her attention into learning hand to hand combat and spear fighting - Wu's quirk was one of speed, and he trained her stamina and endurance, teaching her to move faster, strike harder, and last longer. Watching herself improve and slowly gain more confidence, Xuannü was only eager to fight and improve her own body, growing stronger with each passing day. Of course, this perverse love for combat only brought scorn to the family. The Elders scolded Wu for teaching the girl of violence, no matter the justification.

Watching from afar, guilt riddled Xuannü, and she found herself shadowing Wu for a while, trying to see how he was feeling about the whole ordeal.The man stayed calm as always, and let the young woman follow him around for a while, as well as continuing their training. One evening, he gave her his beloved spear, passed down from generation to generation. It was only appropriate for him to pass it onto his daughter, even if they weren't blood. The gesture was incredibly touching, and Xuannü swore to protect it and his legacy until her last breath.

One evening, a particularly vocal Elder confronted Wu to discuss Xuannü, and an argument broke out with the former growing aggressive. Then the verbal became physical, and Xuannü watched in terror. Wu was fast, but the other man was a heavy hitter, and once he'd managed to get a blow in, there would be nothing to stop him getting in more.

*"Stop. . . Stop-! Get off of him!"*

*"Xuannü, no--!"*

One earth-shattering blow, and Wu's words died in his throat.

Xuannü watched in horror, unable to comprehend what was happening in front of her - then suddenly, the facts got twisted, and she was seeing a monster standing in front of her. A man who had killed her father for nothing more than a petty little argument - a sinner. In a fit of rage and sorrow, she beheaded the man as if his neck was butter.

Shock replaced anger. Guilt replaced shock.

What had she done? What did that make of her? A reaper? A murderer? A lunatic? She didn't know, and she realised that she didn't want to know either.  Two corpses at her feet, blood-soaked wood and a dead father. . . She collapsed to the floor, taken by the black energy once more.

The Elders stumbled across the scene, and cries of outrage and sorrow, blaming the girl for the scene in front of them. Shunned from the temple, the sick girl spent many days and nights choking and crying, mourning her father and repenting for her sins. One ominous evening, Xuannü could hear Wu in her mind, asking her the same question he did all those nights ago, when it all started.

***“What do you wish for?”***

She staggered up to her feet, rage spilling from her - her father was taken from her, her mother left to her own sorrows and troubles. All because the temple shunned them, broke them and beat them and sent them away without another thought. Holy men wouldn’t commit such heinous acts, and she wouldn’t stand by watching. That night, black footsteps and blood painted the temple halls as the girl stumbled through, dirtied spear in hand and returning to the place where Wu died. In her hands, lay a box of matches. All around her, flammable drapes and wood to burn.

***“What did you wish for then, Xu?"***  she is asked again, by a voice so similar to Wu’s, and a quiet, broken sob punctured the silence.

*“I. . . I wanted to run away.”*

The temple burned with such a fiery red, illuminating the night as Xuannü fled from her crimes; her only company was the wails of the burning men and women she had condemned. Buffeted by a sudden burst of speed; black energy was her warpaint, and she was dripping in it. That night, she truly earned her namesake as *'the Dark Lady'.* Her mother was asleep when she packed her stuff, and she felt her heart break. But staying would only bring more pain to Xiao, so it was only best for her daughter to leave.

Weeks of travel brought her to a city nearby, and she wandered it helplessly, trying to learn the customs outside of her home, but only found her soaked in more and more blood over time, reaping the souls of many who crossed paths with her.

Men who take advantage of others; thieves who wanted nothing more but to survive; women who let envy poison them; children who didn't know any better.

The bodies at her feet kept piling up; so did her guilt and inner turmoil. But it was justifiable. She was cutting out the tasteless parts of mankind so the book of life could sing nothing but the praises of humanity.

Even if there were a few unfortunate souls caught in the crossfire.

She fled, settled, killed and fled again - trapped in a vicious cycle of sins and atonement. But this was the path that Xuannü chose, adopting the alias of **Tao** to mark this. And this path was one that she was more than willing to walk in an effort to atone for the mistakes she cannot help from making.

Arriving in WayHaven, the woman was quick to make some pleasant acquaintances, but also far too quick to throw herself into dangerous situations, as well as spilling more blood. Left shaken and troubled, partly because of the ominous Mister Arbiter, the woman was at her wit’s end before she stumbled across the timeless woman known as  Vileblood. Witnessing her crimes and finding a strange sort of kinship with Vileblood, Tao was taken in, becoming her protégé.

It took only so long until her twisted mind began to see the woman as something more of a mentor, her godless, warped religion suddenly finding itself a figurehead. The woman was a goddess in the priestess’ eyes, and she found herself wholly devoted to her.

One day, the two decided that they must get rid of the infamous #2 Hero  StarForger; her murderous tendencies and apathetic ways went against everything they believed in, and she would prove to be a very, very dangerous threat if they were to continue ignoring her. Taking her sidekick Rosso hostage, Vileblood and StarForger dueled to the death with Tao secretly assisting her mentor. The unfair fight led to StarForger’s demise, but the hero blasted her with everything she had and with Rosso’s assistance, Vileblood fell that day.

Aghast with the turn of events, Tao found herself mentorless, and godless. Fleeing from the fires once again, she felt her heart grow heavy in mourning and loss, stumbling through the streets of Wayhaven. Regrets poured from her and once again, she was left choking and spitting out black energy. Left facedown on the pavements in the middle of a nasty rainstorm, she was confronted by the man she just kept running into, Immanuel Maserati.

A vial was left in her possession before the fight with StarForger.

*"If something happens to me and you ever feel like you are lost, please drink this. It should help you but you will have to pay a hefty price."*

Her only options were death; death as she choked on the endless black pouring from her, or death at the hands of her mentor’s blood. Tao chose the latter, and that evening, the woman died in the man’s arms. But her time was not yet - the reaper had passed her by, and the woman found that she was still alive. Dead, but breathing, and now in possession of Vile’s quirk. In light of her second life and newfound ‘immortality’, she tossed aside her name to be known henceforth as **Xian**.

After a gentle moment with Sin, the two parted ways with nothing more than a kiss.

Days later, Xian met with Arbiter once again, hoping to discuss matters now that Vileblood was gone, leaving their fragile treaty in tatters. Frightened with the things she’d experienced in Wayhaven and horribly unaccustomed to her new state of life, fear gripped the woman and told her to run. To flee from this city to another where she could attempt to find peace, or fall into the same patterns as before.

He offered to help her, teaching her how to secure safety and allies in the underground, and the woman found herself regretting her choices. Thinking of Sin, she realised that she didn’t want to leave Wayhaven, but the woman had been too trusting of the man garbed in black. Exposed to temperatures of -40c, her limbs froze and blood stilled, and Xian ‘died’ once again, locked away in a freezer to be forgotten by the world.

It wasn’t until a month or so later that she was ‘revived’ by the mad doctor Primus, deciding that the woman would have some use to him.

And so, the reaper had let Xian live again. She’s not sure she’ll be so lucky next time.

## Resources

12,500 that she stole from the Temple and sinners. A small house on the outskirts of town and a mobile phone.

### Equipment/Weaponry

A spear passed down to her from Elder Wu. The blade is manually retractable, so the it looks more like a staff, instead of a spear. This allows her to carry it in public without getting in trouble. When pushing the blade in or pulling it out, it takes a turn or so to do so.

**C Rank Loot: Shuuhui.**

Xuannü is now in possession of a new double-sided spear, with the ability to transform into a sabre and a dagger, similar to her mentor Vileblood. The spear is called Shuuhui (Redemption in Chinese) and has armour piercing, allowing the blades to do double the damage against armour and natural resistance.

### Specializations

Excellent medicinal knowledge. Trained in hand-to-hand combat and spear fighting.

## Quirk

**Blood Imbuement.**

The user can enhance the blood in their own body. This allows them to perform inhuman feats of speed and strength. The user can also drain their blood into their blade to enhance it. This quirk was passed onto her from Vileblood.

*Blooddrive:* The user has died. The only reason they are still alive is due to their quirk. Their blood keeps them alive so as long as their heart doesn't get destroyed and they don't lose more than half the blood in their body they won't be able to die. They, of course, can still feel pain like normal.

*Bloodblade:* The user drips a few drops of blood onto her blade to increase the cutting power to 20kN and the swing speed to double the normal speed. She can also send out a blade wave made of the blood that is 3 meters long and travels at 50m/s. The blade wave only deals 5kN and after using it the buff on the blade will wear out and it will take one turn before it can be reapplied. She can buff up to 3 weapons at the same time. In case of twin weapons (aka a twinblade), the damage is split up, so one will deal 20kN and the other will deal 10kN. The weapons only stay buffed for 3 turns, before going on cooldown for 1 turn.

*Bloodburst:* The user can increase her acceleration enormously for the next 10 meters they move. This ability increases their acceleration to 5x the normal human limit and has a 1 turn cooldown.

### Versatility

With impressive speed and offense, Tao can walk away from unfavourable situations unharmed - or at the very least, the only one walking.

### Example

***Drip**.*

*Blade glowing scarlet with spilt blood, Xian inhales. Her foe stood cautious, but how were they to know of her new nature? The days of protection and healing had been snatched away from her all too early. A priestess no longer, she was forced to accept everything she tried to mask and conceal behind pallid skin.*

*She disappears, and blood erupts from her enemy.*

*Xian was nothing more than a bloody executioner.*

*Stumbling after the attack, she doesn't look back, listening to the head rolling across a now bloody ground.*

 "I'm sorry, Vile."

### Mutation

The underground doctor, Primus, is able to endow customers with enhanced traits, via combining their DNA with an animal's. Utilising the DNA from her frozen corpse, Xian received the following:

```
Vampire Mutation (Primus):
- 12kN Natural Resistance.
- Immunity to non-quirk poisons.
- Increased blood flow to avoid bleeding out.
- 10kN punch strength.
- 12kN kick strength.
- 500kg lift strength.
- Can clot wounds no bigger than a fist with their own blood
- No longer gets exhausted thanks to mutation.
- 40mph speed.
- 0.17 reaction time.
- Difficult to feel the cold due a lower body temperature. Harder to notice when the user is freezing.
- Small fangs.
- Eyes shine when under sunlight. User's vision is slightly better in the dark, and slightly worse during the day.

```