Justin Liang (Inkstainer)

*"How you present yourself... will change how much you get.*" - Inkstainer

## Overview

A fit Chinese-American man in his 20s, nearly always seen with twin small guardian lion statues, and usually a sketchbook.

Justin is a Warden by declaration, with more expertise in Sealing and Binding than he cares to use or admit. He has a dangerous combination of curiosity, novelty-seeking and optimism. He always dresses at least one step too formally for any occasion and prefers to wear well-tailored formalwear.

**Current Location:** Sanctuary

**Former Location:** Living with OctaneDoctor

## Practice

Justin's Practice is very straightforward and reliant on preparation. Without time or access to materials, he is effectively a strong but non-combatant baseline human.

### Seals/Diagrams

His main Practice is drawing seals and diagrams, meant either for warding a location or throwing down in the moment to cause an effect. He typically keeps at least one small book of seals on him for self-defense, and uses them as his main trade good.

### Artifact

His inherited artifact, a pair of green stone guardian lions, are used to access a specific location via a Shaping ritual. It takes him about two minutes to set up and enact the ritual. Once complete, a circular area becomes akin to a demesnes, with a tall stone pillar capable of being used to bind others and Others. When bound to this pillar, an individual remains with the pillar even after the ritual itself ends, able to be retrieved at a later time.

#### Guardians

The area containing the pillar also contains two Guardians; as they are each over a hundred years old, they are quite strong. As the latest inheritor of the artifact, Justin pours in time and love every day to give them power, and has shaped them to resemble two very tall and muscular men: one, a knight with a sword and shield, and the other a ronin with a longbow and katana.

### Implement

Justin's implement is a fountain pen, specifically a burgundy metal Pilot Falcon. He makes heavy use of it for both Practice and personal art, and it aids him significantly in drawing diagrams and seals.

As a result of poor early habits, every time he uses his Implement, he leaves a blotch of ink on his fingers which takes several days to fade. As a result, his fingers are nearly always covered in various colors of dark ink. The more he's used his Implement recently, the more of his skin the ink covers.

## Pre-OMO History

Justin's family is a prominent New England binder family and a side branch of a major Practitioner family in China. He attended mundane private elementary, middle, and high school. He attended mundane college, earning a double B.A. in History and Art, then a M.A. in Political Science, with the unstated goal of putting off returning home for as long as possible.

Shortly after returning home from completing his Master's degree, he fled, seeking assistance from users of OMO.

## OMO History

His introduction to OMO was a thread entitled "Looking for help breaking connections" in which he solicited advice for breaking connections with his family, which was actively tracking him. He took deals with OMO users Silver, Seafoam, and NacatlGoneWild.

In exchange for the use of scissors which cut connections from Silver, he bound the Nex Machina Yubi and passed her to Silver for delivery to The Abyss following the defeat of King Leer.

Shortly after the binding of Yubi, he begged for money on OMO in the guise of asking for commissions, ultimately accruing $600.

OctaneDoctor offered to temporarily host him at their residence not far from New York City. Desperate, Justin accepted and found more than just a place to stay.

Justin moved in with OctaneDoctor. With the tar he had claimed from defeating Yubi, the two experimented. It ended badly. They pulled through, just barely, posting an ill-advised selfie to OMO afterwards.

Along with user BrokenLock, Justin and OctaneDoctor took a job from Silver to bind her and Glory's drug-dealing child (who is a tree), and he showed the capability (and major drawback) of his artifacts for the first time.

Justin later solicited and accepted a job at Sanctuary from the Lady of House Lim. Personally moved by /u/kaCHING\_CASH, he posted "Inquiry to buy out kaCHING\_CASH's debt" and subsequently had a conversation with her before sending the official inquiry, binding himself to the Lady with $350k of debt.

He accompanied OctaneDoctor and The Lady of House Lim on a trip to the Philippines. [Story in progress.]

## Relationships

OctaneDoctor - Friendship, minor claim on (courtesy of Silver)

Silver - Business relationship (two of three instances where he does a job binding a dangerous Other for her and being injured/incapacitated, while she arrives later to pick them up)

The Lady of House Lim - Employer