App and general info

[heartinparadise]

Name: Yuki

Character: Xie Lian
Canon: Heaven Official's Blessing
Canon Point: End of Chapter 127
Character age: 800+

Canon Abilities/Powers:
- Xie Lian is a martial god, which means he ascended to godhood because his fighting skills were just that good. When it comes to combat, he's unmatched, he is proficient in a wide variety of weapons, specializing in the sword, but even unarmed, he is more than formidable.
- Because he's a god, he's also immortal. He doesn't age, and can suffer mortal wounds without dying(though that isn't to say he doesn't feel pain or can't be killed). Gods can still be killed, though it usually requires their body be completely destroyed.
- He can hear the prayers of his followers. Whether he grants them is a different story, but he can hear prayers offered in a shrine or temple in his name.
- Extremely high pain tolerance. This is less of a super power and more that he has suffered a lot of horrible painful things and now he's fairly numb to things like large gashes, stab wounds, broken bones, or stepping on nails.
- He is very strong. Can lift a couple tons no prob, break through walls, fight for days without tiring much, leap tall buildings, move very fast and agile, etc.
- Xie Lian can use magic. His specific type of 'magic' is about manipulating energy/mana/chi/etc. In canon, this magic is used for(but not limited to) things like:
* Blast opponents
* Move objects (as small as shutting a door, or as large as controlling a 20-story stone statue like a giant mecha)
* Create barriers
* Fly, by riding on a sword(yes, like a skateboard).
* Make his soul leave his body to possess someone else(only with permission/access granted by the other party).
* Speak telepathically to others(only with permission/access granted by the other party).
* Transportation magic, teleporting from one location to another by walking through a doorway (specific magic array must be drawn)
* Imbue objects(usually charms or talismans) with protective magic.
- He has a spiritual weapon, Ruoye, which is a long strip of semi-sentient silk that he uses to fight or restrain his opponents.
- Not sure this is a power, but his cooking is so bad that it will actually cause a person to lose consciousness, and in extreme cases, can cause prolonged weakness, dizziness, and speech impediments.

- At the canon point I've picked, his powers are severely dampened due to a curse; he can take and use energy/mana that is given, but he can't cultivate it himself. He also is cursed with absolutely terrible luck. It does not affect his martial skills or his immortality.

What is their greatest negative emotion towards an object, situation, or person in their past?:
Xie Lian's is regret. He regrets his second ascension and the consequences of it more than anything else.

When Xie Lian ascended to godhood for the first time, he was only 17. He still had a lot of attachments to the mortal world, he was crown prince, next in line to inherit a kingdom, and cared a great deal for his people. As a god, he isn't supposed to meddle in the affairs of humans; he can answer prayers, but anything beyond that is a big no-no.
Xie Lian is okay with that until he finds out his old kingdom is on the verge of collapse and war and all sorts of bad things. He throws a proverbial middle finger to the other gods and goes down to fight a war in-person, siding with his kingdom.
One might think that this would make his followers and believers even more zealous and faithful, seeing their god fighting alongside them, and it does at first, but inevitably, it slowly has the opposite effect. The people see how human he still is, how capable of mistakes, and lose faith. And the less faith they have, the more his power wanes. He starts to let them down again and again, which turns into a quick downward spiral.
On top of everything else, a plague breaks out in his kingdom, causing people to die some pretty horrific deaths as it spreads. Xie Lian loses his kingdom, his loyal retainers, his family, everything, and has to resort to petty theft and street performances just to survive.
Throughout all of this, Xie Lian is stalked by a mysterious masked figure in white, Bai Wuxiang, who seems bent on the young god's downfall and twisting him into his successor, traumatizing and inflicting emotional abuses on Xie Lian.
As Xie Lian is trying to pull himself up from his first fall from grace, Bai Wuxiang lures him into trap, pitting him against the common folk Xie Lian has always claimed to protect. It ends in a grotesque display, Xie Lian forced to sacrifice himself to save the people by taking over a hundred fatal stab wounds and left upon the altar of his abandoned temple.
Something in Xie Lian starts to break, and the rift is only ripped wider when he finally regains enough consciousness to drag himself home to his parents, only to find that they've committed suicide. Xie Lian makes an attempt to join them, but since he's immortal, all it does is cause him more pain.
Feeling justified in his anger, he dons the mask and mantle of Bai Wuxiang, goes after the royal family of the kingdom that destroyed his, and plans to release the same terrible plague that decimated his kingdom's population. He's joined by a masked follower, who only goes by Wu Ming. Despite Xie Lian's new and cold persona, Wu Ming follows without question, willing to do whatever is asked of him. As the time comes for the plague to be released, Xie Lian has a change of heart, and tries to recall the curse, or take on the pain of it himself. Rather than let Xie Lian go through with it, Wu Ming takes the brunt of the curse instead, obliterating him, body and soul.
Since things like good and evil or the petty fights between human kingdoms mean little to gods, it's deemed that the ensuing destruction caused by Xie Lian's curse merits enough to ascend to godhood for a second time.
Xie Lian rejects it, choosing to fall from grace within moments of his second ascension, and begs the Heavenly Emperor to curse him as well, as a self-inflicted punishment. The events leading up to his second ascension remain his greatest regret.
(We do find out later, that Wu Ming was not actually obliterated, and is, in fact, Hua Cheng, but I'll be taking Xie Lian from a canon-point before he figures that out.)

How aware are they of this negative emotion, and how do they act on it in canon?:
I would say this event has absolutely shaped who he is, and continues to shape how he lives his life on a daily basis. He went from being a crown prince to living a very humble life in penance for the guilt he feels. Xie Lian tries to enact positive changes, going on to mentor the descendant of the family responsible for his own kingdom's downfall, and play the part of a general, in another country's war, only to guide them toward the paths of least bloodshed and peaceful resolution. He becomes self-sacrificing to an almost ridiculous degree, putting everyone before himself and often recklessly throwing himself into danger so others won't have to. His regret changed him, and he spends every day trying to make up for it.

What is their greatest virtue?:
Compassion. Xie Lian cares about not just the people around him, but the common people, great or small, to the point of self-sacrifice and his own downfall. As a crown prince, he frequently claims that he wants to "save the common people." It's his greatest struggle when he becomes a god, he just can't let go of wanting to save his people and his kingdom, but even as his kingdom is falling, he wears himself thin providing for the people who would later go to war with his own kingdom.
After his fall from grace, he spends his time traveling around rather humbly, doing good in small ways. He gets caught in conflicts frequently because he is trying to help others. The only reason he hasn't become a martyr is because he can't actually die, but he's fought and suffered, all for the common people.

How aware are they of their virtue, and how do they act on it in canon?:
Xie Lian's personal motto is about wanting to save the common people, so he's aware that it's his goal, but he doesn't necessarily think of himself as pious or compassionate or as doing anything more than what he believes is right.
He acts on it in a number of ways:
As a crown prince, Xie Lian is diligent in his studies, he works hard alongside others, and he uses his status to lift others up too. Xie Lian recognizes talent in a youth of low birth and lifts him to work at his side. He throws aside ceremony and propriety to rescue a child. He gifts a pearl of immeasurable value to a poor man who has lost his family, in hope that the man can still save those around him.
As a god, Xie Lian puts people above all else. He fights (literally, on a battlefield) for those of his kingdom. Without rest, he carries water to the drought-ridden kingdoms surrounding his own. All the while, doing everything he can to answer the prayers of his worshippers. While other gods want praise and adulation, Xie Lian tells his followers that he prefers they don't even kneel at his temples.
After his fall from grace, Xie Lian continues to provide acts of service to others. He survives on just scraps, but won't hesitate to put himself in harm's way to help another. In his time wandering, he was an advisor and teacher to the kingdom that felled his own, working in disguise to help raise them up. When he can't continue there, he ends up in another city, and becomes a general who works toward peace and the path of least bloodshed. Wherever he goes, he continues to do good and help others.

Items:
- White robes
- bamboo hat
- semi-sentient spiritual weapon in the form of a silk band
- Fangxin, a sword
- crystal ring on a silver chain
- paper talismans.