Yuan Tsi the Stargazer

Visual Description

Yuan Tsi is not a towering figure. In fact, he is shorter than most human women when standing straight. Yuan’s stance and stride, however, look trained and purposeful. He is covered with a short and thick coat of fur that ranges from brown to an orange-gold. This hair is present everywhere but the center of his face and the palms of his hands. It’s impossible to determine Yuan’s muscularity, as a result.

He has three short braids that star at the crown of his head and end near his neck. These are invisible from the front. Yuan’s visible skin is black, comprising of his heavy brows and a nose whose nostrils are wide. They nearly form a heart. Yuan’s jaw sticks out distinctly, having large canines but thin lips.  Yuan’s long, broad tail rises out of its own sleeve behind him, forming a question mark in the air.

Yuan’s clothing is both ceremonial and functional. He has a set of thin sandals that let his toes overhang. His clothing’s colours blend in a gradient. Yuan’s loose, billowing pants tie off at the ankle. They start out dark brown before fading to a forest green at the waist and belly. A series of brown and green belts hold it tight, there. The green gives way to blue as several bands of cloth wrap around the collar and shoulders. Two thick wristwraps, made of leather-like bark, envelop his forearms. One is emblazoned with the sun and moon, the other has a tree.

A seven foot wooden rod is usually in his hand on or his back. Almost as wide as his arm, it has many small carvings of many beasts.

Backstory

It is said to the young ones in the jungles of Grenar that nothing can defeat the forest’s ability to grow again. That anything lost will be returned. What bulls***.

Yuan Tsi grew up in the treetop villages of his people, the Vanara. Straightforward childhood; there was nothing but tree branches and the sky to worry about. There was just terrorizing his older siblings, a twin brother-sister pair (Xuel and Meika). Sure, the outer jungle was scary, but that was what the wardens were for. They were sentinels in the night and protectors in the day. The Vanara worship Gaira and Ooa, the Above and Below.

Every member of each tribe had to spend several years among the wardens when they came of age. It gives new adults the experience they need to take care of themselves and their children, and gives the villages a first line of defence.

Each Vanaran took up a sole weapon to fight with, and Yuan chose the quarterstaff. Training was hard, and the watch harder. There was barely time in the first year where something in Yuan was not broken. There were many practice guard posts. If someone could sneak up to you and take a belonging without your notice, they gave their next shift to you. This was a dual practice of stealth and awareness that was vital later.

As part of the actual wardens, the Vanara had to monitor and ask questions of travellers found in their domain. One shouldn't scare the outlanders, though, for they tried to avoid combat at all costs. There were also many great beasts to contend with. While many of these would attack with little provocation, the wardens did their best to domesticate nearby ones into accepting the Vanaran presence.

With two years ahead of Yuan, his siblings finished their honour among the wardens after his first year. They decided to leave the jungles for a time and explore the world. Yuan was struck with loneliness, staying up at night to stare at the light-speckled sky. No matter how far you went, you had the same sky.

When Yuan was done his duty years, he managed to jump a ship to catch up to his brother and sister. They were acting as guards to beastfolk caravans who traded with the Gith. Joining with them in those mountain passes, Yuan escorted wagons for a good year and a half. The three of them were good - very good. Several times they were approached to become mercenaries elsewhere. One particularly fervent potential employer was a Gith trader by the name of Jal'may, who was always paranoid of being assasinated. Liking the open road, the trio declined and stayed with the caravan. Life was good.

That is, until his siblings vanished. They disappeared while on guard, with their possessions left behind. Suspecting kidnap, Yuan hunted after them for five months, using a travelling circus to blend in while he entered cities to search. It was safer to join with them than travel alone, and avoid questioning guards that would tip off the gang. Yuan performed for them in return, doing a high-wire act that made it look like he was scared out of his wits, pretend to fall, but catch himself with his tail. After that stunt, he would perform to the best of his abilities. Zirdo, the human ringmaster, assured Yuan that there would always be a place for him, if he wanted it.

Yuan managed to find the siblings slaved to a notorious gang. The gang claimed that Xuel and Mieka had killed some of their members, and this was retribution.

Yuan tried to pay for his family’s freedom, but was tricked. A combat ensued, leading to Xuel’s death – as well as half the gang. Both shellshocked from their loss, the younger brother and older sister fell into despair. She travelled back home, while Yuan felt that he couldn’t. Feeling responsible for his brother’s death, he remained in a foreign world to seek out some sort of peace. Sometimes, that meant getting drunk off his tail.

At night, Yuan climbs to the rooftops and stares up into the night sky, wondering if his brother could still see the same stars and moons.