Zannin Choki

Commander of the Devaki
Leader of the Family of the Empowered of the House of Yizhi

Description


~Imposing and sharp like an eagle, Zannin stands a good 6'3" -- tall for an Asian man. His musculature supports his height, giving him an average weight of 180 pounds. The man could be anywhere from his early 30s to late 40s; it's difficult to tell with his superb physique. He carries himself with a defiant, almost perpetually angry look. A combination of hard-and-soft black leather and silks are his most common attire, worn with casual disdain. He realizes he's not bad looking but clearly couldn't give a damn about such matters. Dark-brown eyes carry a darker glint hinting at a more sinister purpose, but he's consistently polite and eloquent in the social arenas in which he chooses to participate. Zannin stands as an enigma, difficult to comprehend to those who would seek to try; a potential danger man to those who couldn't care less about who he is so much as what he might be.~

OOC: Appearance 3

"I am soldier, I am philosopher. I am slayer, I am lover. I am the teacher and the student. You are my lesson."

History


Parentage

Zannin would have been born into the noble prestige of House Choki of Okinawa. His bachelor father, Seji, was the youngest of several brothers and though he had his own estate, he did not rule in the Choki's barony. The truth be told, Seji was quite jealous of his older brothers' better fortune. In the mid-19th century, tradition was still very much a part of Okinawan culture. Seji railed against it nonetheless, avoiding his family and cursing the heavens for denying him his rightful place as the baron. The gods answered his blasphemy. Vicious bandits infiltrated his estate and murdered the lord, Seji. They stole the valuable goods and burned the place down. Having alienated himself, Seji's brothers would not hear of the tragedy for some time. And it wasn't the end of Seji anyway. He took his Second Breath three months later, rising as a hellish, flesh-starved monster.

At this era in time, Japan still had a firm grip on the Ryukyu islands. Satsuma samurai, backed secretly by the gaki vampires, were positioned all over Okinawa. So it was that one of the feared Searing Winds discovered the rapacious chih'mei, subdued him, and brought him into captivity for seven years, teaching him the ways of the Wan Kuei, and especially the Dharmic Path of the Howl of the Devil-Tiger. During that time, of course, the Choki brothers heard of Seji's tragedy and moved in to quietly clean up the mess behind and mourn him. Seji was all but forgotten in the years that followed. But Seji soon returned home in spiteful, dark glory. He moved back into his destroyed estate and ordered its rebuilding. Several young girls vanished from the nearby village and none were seen again. Among those girls was Mu Iruki, a fisherman's daughter, and an attractive beauty. The girls Seji kidnapped were of course for his feeding pleasure and ease as well as to fulfill other whims of the flesh. Iruki was even impregnated by the beast, much to his surprise -- hence why he did not destroy her or the growing child. He left her to her own devices though she could never leave the estate (or even her bed chambers) -- but he did not feed from her anymore. Iruki was overwhelmed with despair and sorrow, but found comfort in the coming baby even if it was born of wedlock and rape. Iruki lived for the coming baby. When the child arrived, she named him Zannin due to her plight. Seji found that name appropriate and rewarded the mother with strangulation.

Youth

Then Seji began to raise the infant on his own with only an old nursemaid to help. Zannin grew to toddler age, unaware and unaffected of his father's evil...yet. Seji had plans for the youth. However, before he could enact any of them, the village rose up against the twisted, demonic lord. His estate was again burned to the ground. The nursemaid fled with the sobbing child while the Koa was destroyed by the wrath of the people. The nursemaid hid in the village and was met by a strange but kindly older woman. The woman introduced herself as Rinshu Jinde and the architect of the village's rebellion. She told her that the child was chosen and was also Half-Damned, like his father, and would need proper care. After a short debate, the nursemaid reluctantly parted with Zannin. Unknown to the dhampyr toddler, he had come under the care of one of the few Jin Hai left in the world.

But Rinshu Jinde needed Zannin to grow up normally before the Coming of Age. After three years of care, she gave him over to the Choki family once again. She vanished mysteriously after helping to confirm the child's identity. Though dubious, they at last accepted the child into their household...though never quite accepting him as a true Choki. Zannin was treated like a peasant, a second-class citizen, most of the time. Of course, they educated him in both literature and the martial arts. However, as a result of his isolation, he grew rather bitter. The dark, sinuous voice in his head was already driving him towards anger and fear. But Zannin grew stubborn and strong instead of caving in. He took his aggression out on other children in the area, rich or poor. Zannin became a neighborhood bully, angry and malcontent, but in truth afraid of his own shadow -- metaphorically, at least. Zannin grew up this way, feeling lost and alone. He did not know how to really deal with the P'o. He never understood his true roots. But it was clear that he was bound by destiny and joss. He was rarely injured and when he was, he healed rapidly. He always won various games of chance youth were stricken with. And once, when he incited the wrong fight and his enemies pulled knives, only the coincidental passing of a Satsuma samurai broke the deadly brawl up before anyone got hurt.

Coming of Age & Training

But it seemed joss wouldn't always watch over him. The next time he picked the wrong fight, at the age of sixteen, three Japanese marines took it upon themselves to teach him a lesson. Armed with clubs and even a tetsubo, Zannin was beaten virtually lifeless. Fearful of punishment for the unauthorized "murder", the soldiers buried the comatose noble alive and returned to their posts as if it never happened. Within a day, Zannin was shocked awake as his body craved air. He frantically dug himself out of his unmarked grave in the local cemetery, gasping for air, body in virtual shock.

And Rinshu Jinde was there, tending his wounds, restoring his ch'i energy through herbal concoctions and acupressure. Zannin did not recognize the old woman at first, but soon expressed his recall with a gasped "nanny?!" And Jinde and Zannin were once more reunited. The ancient Jin Hai took him back under her wing, schooling him in the truth of his existence, explaining all that he needed to know. Needless to say, he was even more shocked than before. But it all made sense, and he soon accepted it. Despite his self-grave-salvation, he knew he wasn't one of the Hungry Dead. He didn't crave any flesh or blood, though the voice in his head -- that had always been there -- was suggesting he eat Jinde. The cannibalistic urge wasn't new either, but severely twisted enough that Zannin repressed it. He could repress most of the Demon's urges, and Jinde was pleased with the way she found him: a diamond in the rough.

Rinshu Jinde began to train the young dhampyr in the martial and mystic ways of the Half-Damned. Their relationship was much the same as Ti Feng with Mao Li Wen -- the Jin Hai creating a masterful warrior from one of their descendants. Of course, Rinshu Jinde began Zannin Choki's training in 1863. Ti Feng and Mao Li Wen began over a hundred years later. Rinshu Jinde even brought in a close friend who owed her much -- Kai, one of the Shih -- to further Zannin's training. The dhampyr's fists had to be forged, his will shaped and honed like a katana, and the dark urges had to be channeled. Though the mystic Bridges Wah Sung Yi passed down to his followers millennia ago were beyond the ken of a Shade Walker, Kai was able to pass on the rudimentary skills of Mo Chi Kung Fu. This fringe style of Shaolin Wu Shu taught him all he needed to know about demon-hunting, complimenting the shuri-te he already had been trained in. Kai's meditation techniques helped him learn how to channel his Demon's ferocity, while Jinde passed on the meditation techniques to channel his inherent good fortune as well as a couple of the mystic Shintai Arts. For the next ten years, Zannin was turned into a skilled demon hunter. When the training was done, Kai returned to his own wandering path in Southeast Asia where he remains feared to this day, his life clearly extended far longer than humanly possible.

Early Years

Although ten years had passed, he was only physically eighteen -- at the height of his physical condition. And Zannin was loosed onto the unwary Middle Kingdom. Surgical strikes eliminated bakemono posing as highwaymen on the roads from Koza to Nago. A gaki with a questionable past was found slain in his Naha haven, the head seperated from his body, both parts lying amidst Infernal symbols, confirming the akuma's guilt. Zannin then moved his crusade into Nippon proper during the height of the Meiji Restoration (...rebellion). Many power-mongering vampires fell to Zannin's deadly jen (Chinese long sword) and fierce intent. For Zannin's part, he had found a purpose to his life at last. He wanted nothing more but to be the instrument of Heaven's justice. His angst burned away by a decade of harsh training, he loosed his channeled fury on the unaware monsters of the world. Jinde remained close, guiding the headstrong dhampyr away from a short and glorious but pointless end. Her wisdom proved invaluable, for Zannin relied on his joss quite a bit, but even good luck runs out eventually and taking her advice saved his hide more than once.

For several years more, Zannin sowed a silent reputation of deadly fear in the Japanese archipelago among demons or wanna-be demons. The horror some gaki wrought disgusted the dhampyr, and many Devil-Tigers especially, even those not branded as akuma, found themselves at the opposite end of a mercy blade. But as time passed, Zannin grew tired and bitter again. He saw no end to the evil. He felt his actions were but a drop in the ocean. He announced his retirement at the effective age of 25 to Jinde and returned to Okinawa.

Zannin sought a "normal life" in Naha. He blended into the mortal scene, taking up a simple job as a dock-worker. Who would know that the most notorious demon hunter of the century was hauling smelly crates of fish? Time passed and Zannin found a girl who caught his eye. A young maiden by the name of Toriji Ana, he sought her out and eventually won her over. The two were formally married in Naha and lived happily together for a few years. Their romance was quiet and content. But as is often the case for the Half-Damned, tragedy struck. Zannin could hide his face but not his reputation. And even one's face is discovered inevitably. His many enemies among the gaki, especially from the Crimson Devils, paid his home a visit. He returned home one morning after working all night to find Ana butchered like cattle. That moment, Zannin lost it. The years of suppression surfaced and Zannin entered the most ferocious frenzies he ever imagined possible. During the course of this wild Fire Soul, he destroyed their small home and even half-devoured Ana's corpse.

Naturally, when Zannin came to his senses he was horrified. The dhampyr rushed out of his home, out of Naha, out of Okinawa, the taste of his wife's flesh on his lips. The police later discovered the mess and the crime was, of course, never solved. It was in 1908 that Zannin came back to his teacher, Rinshu Jinde. She seemed to know all along that this might happen, and welcomed the young Shade Walker back. He wanted revenge, of course, and his purpose for demon-hunting was renewed...if embittered. Jinde helped him channel his outrage once again and Zannin Choki was back in that deadly business.

Whether his wife's murderers were ever destroyed, by his hand or just fate, he did not know. But he searched for them and all shen like them. For the past 85 years, Zannin grew older and more brutal in his hunting tactics. He walked through World War battlefields to rid the blasted landscape of the leech-like monsters of which his parentage consisted. He stalked among urban explosions and hacked through calcifying Kumo webs. Wandering bakemono vagabonds continued to show up in Okinawa and other less urbanized places, and then promptly vanish. The Burnings only steeled his hatred, extending it now to the Kin-jin who he believed (as does Jinde) were partially behind the political pressure that caused the atomic bomb droppings. Nearly every Kuei-jin Court held a price-tag on his head; he possessed dozens and dozens of kills under his belt, and not all were verified akuma. In fact, many were just the average Celestial Devils whose beliefs got them caught in the wrong place, wrong time. Even a few promising jina fell to Zannin's wrath; it seemed skill and raw power means very little against the joss-blessed and Fate-marked dhampyr.

Recent Years

But what that destiny may be is uncertain as of yet. The fate the heavens speak of to those who can listen is the primary reason Rinshu Jinde has not put a stop to his blood-blind warpath. However, she has tried to guide him away from a road similar to what his father once walked, meeting with limited success. Zannin never truly recovered from that tragedy that stole the life he tried to make. The Kuei-jin, on the other hand, have no such reservations. Many young Wu seek his scalp for glory and prestige but have not yet met with success. At Jinde's request, Zannin left for America to avoid the full brunt of the Courts' anger.

In America, Zannin joined the Court of Infinite Ages. Seeing an opportunity to join forces with goblin and demon-slayers galore, he was at the forefront of many of the Court's battles. Indeed, Zannin was involved greatly in the "crusades" that Lady Nekoko waged upon the Kin-jin. When the Court broke up and became the Coalition, Zannin naturally joined the House of Yizhi. One thing is for certain: the circle of blood is tightening and Zannin is right in the middle of it.

The P'o


What Zannin blames his internal and external anguish on is irrelevant to his darker half. It is without a doubt the fault of his damned father, and indeed, all vampires, for existing. It's their existence that plagues the world and heavies it with corrosion and corruption. It's their evil that makes Zannin's life miserable. Zannin's Demon Within has only one great vision: a world purified of those miserable leeches, regardless of what their pretentious ideas about their place in the universe may be. While Zannin seeks to take the scalps of only those vampires deserving of execution, his P'o feels that is half-assed, tree-huggin' hippy-crap. Nothing short of absolute destruction for all vampires will do to purify and ultimately beautify the world in which Zannin lives.

Jade Talismans


Zannin possesses no magical artifacts, but he does own one small Jade Talisman. Furthermore, he is aware of its special powers and has awakened it. Red jade is the only True Jade he knows of special powers for.

Red
Level: 1
Chi: 1 Yang
Origin: The jade was afixed to the sword, both of which were a gift from his Jin Hai mentor, Rinshu Jinde.
Description: This small, smooth stone is shaped into a half-sphere and mounted securely on the pommel of his jen (Chinese sword).
Significant Other


These two Shade Walkers share the same Jin Rui sensei back home in Japan. Not surprisingly, Rinshu Jinde sent Senshi to learn all she could of the fighting ways and control of joss from the experienced Zannin. But Jinde may have counted on their relationship deepening all along. Zannin and Senshi, feeling the same outcast sentiments all dhampyrs feel, and walking the same path as vampire hunters, grew intimately close. Of course, marriage is pointless for a pair of warriors like them ready to die any day. And two Shade Walkers can produce no children: too much death between them. Or is there…? What does Jinde know that they do not? And when does joss become destiny?

Senshi

Weakness
The Past That Haunts


Zannin has lived -- survived -- many years. Along the way, he has lost many friends and earned many foes. He stands alone in a sea of blood that threatens to drown him. Zannin must learn to let go of the past, worry less about the future, and accept the present.

Likelihood of Corruption


High.

The P'o grows and twists in his breast. It grows stronger as the years tick by. Though his self-discipline has restrained the Demon Within most times, and he has kept as much of his humanity as realistically possible, the dhampyr's lifestyle seems to insure that he will one day become the very sort of thing he seeks to destroy. Who knows what destiny has in store for him?

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