Name: Yi-Shan
Age: 30
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 185lbs
Blood Type: A
Origins:
Yi Shan is one of the most powerful and
promising disciples of the Order of the
Celestial Dawn, but this was not always
the case. Born Zhao Hei, the son of Zhao
Daiyu, the man now known as Yi Shan
was raised to live and die for the Covenant of Twilight.
The Covenant of Twilight’s Sifu who
trained him were impressed by Zhao
Hei’s control and focus. As an adolescent, he was already learning and putting into practice techniques that most
adults take years to master. While he
molded and perfected his body, Zhao
Hei’s mother Zhao Daiyu took charge of
educating his mind and spirit, whispering
the poisonous rhetoric of the Covenant
of Twilight in his ears.
Although his progress was remarkable,
Zhao Hei was not the only prodigy rising
through the ranks of the Covenant. He
soon was introduced to Zi Mei, an exotic beauty about his own age. Their Sifu, desperate to keep challenging their talented young charges, encouraged competition between the two. Full of youthful high spirits and
the arrogance of those to whom things come easy, it was not long before Zhao Hei and Zi Mei were friends
and rivals, learning as much from one another as they ever did from their teachers.
Finally, Zhao Daiyu declared that her son was ready and he began to undertake his first missions for the
Covenant. His mind full of his mother’s lies, he did not balk at any task asked of him. What did it matter if
he killed, so long as it was for the greater good of all humanity? It was right and natural that his hand end
the life of those who would oppose the Covenant, because who else could be fit to rule?
In the course of his duties for the Covenant of Shadows, Zhao Hei excelled as he did in training. Many died
by his hand. Many sacred artifacts were removed from their hallowed ground. Many learned to fear the
sigil of the Covenant of Twilight thanks to his devotion to his mother’s cause.
One fateful day when Zhao Hei was barely 18, he and Zi Mei were sent on a mission together. A provincial
governor was proving obstinate and resisting the will of the Covenant. Leading a team of assassins, Zi Mei
and Zhao Hei prepared to do the Covenant’s will.
They met resistance from the Governor’s guards. While their men battled, Zhao Hei and Zi Mei used their
peerless mastery of Chi to break free of their opponents and make their way the governor’s chambers.
There, they met the man who would change Zhao Hei’s life forever.
Lu Chen, the Pillar of Heaven, was a guest of the Governor that night. Calmly and with perfect serenity,
he asked the two brash young assassins to leave. Something about the old man’s presence gave Zhao Hei
pause, but Zi Mei laughed in his face and attacked. The battle that followed was swift and, to Zhao Hei, almost dreamlike. It had been some time since anyone but Zi Mei had proved a challenge for him, but the old
man defeated both of the Covenant assassins easily, stripping them of their weapons and punishing them
with powerful strikes and masterful Chi techniques. When it became evident that all was lost, Zhao Hei
shouted for Zi Mei to flee and, staggering from the pain of his wounds, hurled himself at Lu Chen. Zi Mei
made good her escape thanks to Zhao Hei’s sacrifice.
Impressed by the fortitude and nobility his enemy demonstrated, Lu Chen let Zhao Hei live. Against the
wishes of the Order of the Celestial Dawn elders, he brought the boy back to his temple for recuperation
and, if Zhao Hei proved willing, training. Over the next few weeks, as Zhao Hei’s body healed, Lu Chen attempted to heal his mind and lift the veil of lies woven so skillfully by Zhao Daiyu by sharing with him the
Way of the Celestial Dawn and bringing him towards Enlightenment.
When Zi Mei brought word of Zhao Hei’s failure and capture back to the Covenant, and after describing the
wizened old man who had defeated them both, Zhao Daiyu gave her son up for lost. She dispatched another
team of Covenant assassins to end the boy’s life before his strength was turned to the cause of the Celestial
Dawn.
The assassins made their way to Lu Chen’s temple and waited patiently until Lu Chen was called away on
Order business (no doubt manufactured by some intrigue of Zhao Daiyu’s). As soon as the old man was
gone, they struck, attacking Zhao Hei before he had fully recovered his strength. The battle was fierce.
Zhao Daiyu had sent her best men, and Zhao Hei was still injured by his battle with Lu Chen. Although he
dispatched several of his assailants, he lost an eye in the battle and, blinded by his own blood, was surely
doomed… until Zi Mei intervened. She fell upon the remaining assassins like a hailstorm, killing them all
in seconds and catching Zhao Hei’s body before he fell. She stayed long enough for him to regain consciousness, then told him that from now on they would be enemies and vanished into the night.
When Lu Chen returned, Zhao Hei was ready to listen to his words. He cast off his old name and became Yi
Shan, “One Mountain.” With Lu Chen’s guidance, he broke down the weapons and armor of his mother’s
assassins and reforged them for his own purposes.
Now, Yi Shan rises through the ranks of the Order of the Celestial Dawn as swiftly as ever Zhao Hei ascended in the Covenant. He has crossed blades with Zi Mei several times in the course of his work for the
Order, and though they remain rivals, they have, in truth, become enemies.
Personality
Yi Shan is stoic and calm, as solid as the mountain. When provoked by injustice, his rage is powerful and
destructive. The anger that he unleashes on his enemies reflects the anger that burns within him: anger at
his mother and at himself, for all the wrongs done in the name of the Covenant of Twilight.
Fighting Style
Yi Shan’s style is a hybrid of those he learned in the Covenant of Twilight and the Celestial Dawn. His
ability to manipulate his Chi has always been potent, and throughout his life his teachers have nurtured
this ability. Since completing his training with Lu Chen, Yi Shan has sought out all the other masters of
the Celestial Dawn and learned from them as well, ultimately developing his own style which he calls
Tieh Lei, “Iron Thunder.” By harnessing his Chi, Yi Shan is able to make his body like iron, able to deliver
hammer-like blows that sound like thunder. His great strength is matched only by his incredible toughness
and durability.
As a result, Yi Shan is able to fight bare-handed against men wielding weapons and clad in armor with
ease. His fists can shatter bone or crumple armor alike, and when he dons the twin-bladed claws he has
forged from the swords of his mother’s assassins, his great strength is put to great use cutting and slashing
with almost no adjustment in his style.