XUN JIAN

The Dragon of the Northern River

"I may be a human, or I may be a dragon... It doesn't matter right now. I'll fight to protect those that gave me a second chance, now and forever!"

Jian

Ri's younger brother. A teenage boy that hides great power, pulling him between humanity and beasthood. Once, he was an ordinary boy. Happy, healthy, playful. He studied hard to be as good of a painter as his sister, even if his true passions lay elsewhere -- Jian was more interested in music than the visual arts, showing a great talent for playing the erhu very early on. However, as his father's son, he was urged to paint, which he grew to resent.

Xun Jian was only a child when their clan fell into ruin. When his father attempted to pass down the Inkbound Bloodcraft technique down to him, Jian's unstable Spirit Foundation reacted poorly to his lack of artistic training compared to Ri's years of expertise. Jian absorbed far too much Qi into his body, and the koi scales tattooed onto his back grew into true scales running down his whole body. Shortly after, Jian started developing a serpentine tail, claws and horns, much to the horror of his father and sister. This advantage allowed him to gain some time, as the bandits that attacked their clan believed the boy to be a monster, thus creating an opportunity for Jian and Ri to escape.

When they were found by the Xun clan, Jian, scarred both mentally and physically, reacted well to the Xun clan's hospitality... At first. Great lovers of science, many Xun clan members soon took to Jian as a case study, which he accepted at first -- But soon grew to reject. As the years went by, and Jian grew into his mid teens, the boy had become a hermit, cultivating and practising with his erhu day in, and day out.

Jian was angry. Angry at everything that happened to him. Angry at those that considered him a monster... And, to an extent, at those that considered him an oddity. But far from rejecting their words entirely, Jian began feeling deep down that they might be right. The more he isolated himself, the more he believed himself something far from human. Beast instincts awoke inside him, instincts that made him crave battle and cultivation. Jian sought to better himself, scrape the stars, and prove to himself that there was a place in the world for him after all.

However, those thoughts might lead him astray, and as such, Jian makes sure to train diligently in the physical and spiritual arts as to direct these impulses in the most effective way possible. Far from being mean to his new clan, despite being distant, Jian is quite thankful for the new life he has been given, and he seeks to defend the Xun clan from any threats that may come in the future.

Noble

Jian was raised alongside his older sister, Ri, in a clan that heavily valued the arts. However, one day they were attacked, and Ri had to take her younger brother with her into the unknown. Despite inheriting noble blood, Jian never completed his ink training, and as such, only Ri inherited the family technique.

Mystic Beast Spirit Foundation: Heavenly Meteoric River Dragon Foundation

From birth, Jian was already different from his sister in terms of their roots. They were both dragons, in their own ways -- But Jian was destined to embody the legend far more literally than Ri ever was. This unstable Spirit Foundation is much like a hidden gene, waiting for a chain reaction to activate the latent draconic potential in the host. The host soon starts transforming into a dragon, taking on more and more dragon elements as they grow in power and age. It is unknown whether Jian will remain human at all by the end of his life, as if he seeks immortality... He may shed his skin and fly off into the unknown with renewed scales.

TALENTS

Skill 5
Intelligence 1
Body 5
Perception 3

PERKS

Item Refiner 2

Jian grew attached to the art of the erhu, and by tinkering with his own instrument over the years, he became an accomplished young luthier. Woodworking, carving arts and other forms of item crafting come naturally to him through sheer curiosity alone. He can craft a variety of items and trinkets, sometimes even making gifts for others when he feels bad about being so reclusive, but he excels at crafting musical instruments.

Tamer 1

Due to his draconic nature, Jian sees a kinship in many beasts. He can communicate easily with some creatures, and even has the potential to calm down or tame furious beasts.

Innovator 2

Being alone all the time, with no direction in life due to having failed at inheriting his family's trade and techniques, Jian had to improvise. He carved his own path and played his own melody. Jian is a pioneer of musical cultivation techniques, and with enough time, he might have enough creativity to find new paths towards the development of unorthodox techniques or all new cultivation methods.

Natural Insight

Jian's connection to nature and the elements is especially strong in his bond with dragons. Despite never having met a dragon, if Jian were to meet one face-to-face, he would be able to understand one perfectly. Jian often feels the call of dragons, as if he was meant to live among them one day. Jian can connect easily with any creature that has draconic blood, even just partially, and perhaps in the future, he might be able to befriend them, command them... Or even become one of them.

TECHNIQUES

Melodic Reconstruction (Earth Rank Cultivation Technique)

A work-in-progress technique, stemmed from Jian’s passion for music and his aversion to inheriting his father’s Inkbound Bloodcraft technique, which was successfully passed down to his sister, Ri, after it scarred him permanently in his attempt to use it so many years back. Its principle is not too different from that of Inkbound Bloodcraft: Melodic Reconstruction involves drawing in large amounts of Qi and channeling it through the string of an especially crafted erhu. Jian doesn’t need to play a specific melody: As he meditates, the song comes to him through the will of Qi itself. As Qi pours in and is transformed into music, Jian must be very careful to obey the tempo and intensity demanded of the air around him, as well as to keep his own feelings in check, since music must be played with feeling.

Jian gains emotional control through this technique by keeping consistent Qi flow between all his meridians, and as such, he grows stronger as he learns to redirect the draconic power in himself in healthy ways, transforming and managing his power, as well as making it slowly grow and develop. The technique demands an intense yin/yang balance, as well as meticulous erhu playing that must be honed through many years of practice.

Song of Calamitous Omens (Yellow Rank Elemental Manipulation Technique)

Jian can use his erhu in battle. With a quick and powerful draw of the bow and the string, Jian can focus Qi in such a way that it amplifies the sound and transforms the air it cuts through into a mighty wind gale that can sweep away enemies. The attack is aligned with the Wind element

Dancing Dragon Kicks (Yellow Rank Martial Arts technique)

A variation of the Flowing Wind Kicks technique, Jian ascends in the air with great speed and uses acrobatics to circle his opponent with ease, striking with the intensity of a river dragon. Jian modified the technique to be aligned with the Water element rather than Wind, as well as use his own musical Qi flow to strengthen the technique. Jian strikes with a certain rhythm, which can vary in tempo. The beat can be more or less complex depending on his current Qi reserves, exhaustion, and other factors. Careful opponents who pick up on this might be capable of predicting the beat and counter or parry the attack, since Jian will lose his streak if he misses the beat. It’s effectively an air dash with water effects, with the only drawback that it has to actually strike something in order to move Jian forwards.

Heavenly Dragon’s Meteoric Solar Breath (Heaven Rank Elemental Manipulation Technique)

As the young dragon’s blood boils, innate instincts handed down from heaven overtake Jian’s body, as if many dragons of legend possessed him with a power that he is destined to one day own, but does not yet belong to him. An unbridled aura of stellar gold surrounds the boy as he draws in immense amounts of Fire-aligned Qi, only to let it all shred through his opponent in a torrent of flaming stars, like a solar flare that sprays anything it touches with untold destruction. Due to the unstable nature of Jian’s Qi, he must still refine the technique further, since it can bring great exhaustion to the boy. Perhaps, one day, the true power of this technique will be revealed to Jian – If he accepts the dragon inside him.

ITEMS

Koi Robes (free Yellow-Rank item)

Woven by a Xun-aligned seamstress when Jian started having growth spurts. It calms down his body and helps with regulating his meridians, as well as providing minor protection.

Jian’s Erhu (Earth-Rank item)

Crafted by him, Jian wields this instrument as a cultivation tool, as well as a Qi weapon. It’s an expertly-crafted reinforced wooden erhu, through which Qi can be absorbed and redirected with the careful application of Jian’s playing. It also has a bow.

COMPANION

Dashan, Guardian of the Mountain (Rare Beast Spirit)

A Shisa dog of great stature, a living creature borne of stone and bound by great determination to serve a master. Jian accidentally awoke him from a nap shortly after being adopted into the Xun clan, during a mountain trek that he got sidetracked in. Jian believed the creature was merely a statue, and when he leaned on the rock beast for a breather, Dashan awoke, finding the situation rather humorous. Perhaps born out of a curiosity for Moyu’s many beasts, Jian decided to gain Dashan’s friendship after seeing the Shisa dog’s deep loneliness with his Dragon Insight, since Shisa dogs have the lineage of dragons.

The Shisa dog acts as a loyal guardian to both Jian and Ri, to a degree, and he lets Ri test new talismans on him often – The smooth rock surface of his body is perfect for graffiti. Dashan seems to like this practice, and Jian seems to tolerate it, even if he sometimes has to beg his sister to stop doodling on his friend.

Dashan can’t talk to most other cultivators – Or can he? Perhaps he chooses not to. Others with insight into animals might know he’s certainly smarter than he looks. Jian talks to him all the time, and Dashan is his deepest friend and confidant beside his own sister, Ri. They share an undying bond. Coincidentally, when Jian was a small child, he had a dog that was killed during the attack on his prior clan… Was his meeting with Dashan destined to happen?

S0 I2 B3 P1

Shisa Dog Bloodline

Peerless Wall: Dashan can create a Qi barrier, surrounding himself and others within a small radius to protect them from some attacks. With enough power, it can be shattered.

COMPLICATIONS

Ghost Domain
Insidious Cult
Stars of Destiny
Destroyed Clan


FULL COST: 57

SPENT STAT POINTS

2 Body
1 Skill

Bought stat points:

+3 Body (18)
+4 Skill (24)
+2 Perception (12)
+1 Intelligence (6)

2 points remained, which went to Dashan.

Edit

Pub: 07 Dec 2025 02:11 UTC

Edit: 07 Dec 2025 02:23 UTC

Views: 218