Mu Ronin
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Sword Saint | |
| Mu Ronin | |
| Player: Enantiodromos | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Brute |
| Security Level: | 50+3 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Asai Bhakin |
| Known Aliases: | (the) Red Jedi |
| Species: | human |
| Age: | 31 |
| Height: | 6' 1" |
| Weight: | 180 lbs |
| Eye Color: | blue-grey |
| Hair Color: | black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Naturalized Citizen of the U.S. |
| Occupation: | Superhero |
| Place of Birth: | Tau Tau 12-24, Akan city |
| Base of Operations: | King's Row |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Dual Blades, Electric Armor, Flight, Mu Mastery | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Static Energy Field Blades | |
| No additional information available. | |
From a proud lineage of European barbarians whose sorcerous bloodlines have served the peacekeeping Republic of the Spider-Queen of Mazimbabwe for two millennia. Gifted in the Mu arts of energy channeling, relentlessly trained from an early age in fighting arts and their own specialized abilities, the Mu Sword Saints are generals in the Republic's army. When Asai Bhakin discovered that the Republic's greatest scientists, at the behest of the queen, were concealing the discovery of other dimensions where war and terror raged, he defied his responsibilities and left (his) Earth for ours, leaving behind him as he leapt through the portal, a circular letter to his peers and superiors, regarding the true nature of duty.
Contents |
Personality
Asai (INTP) is gifted intellectually and in terms of his sorcerous abilities. He is more intuitive and more philosophical than most Mu Sword Saints (ISTP), which figured strongly into his decision to break his vows and leave the ranks of Akan Republic Mu Sword Saints when he discovered the ongoing violence and terror on Primal and Praetorian earth.
Acquaintances
Asai has made good friends with a number of heroes in the city, including the psychometer Miriam Bloechl, the Archaeologist Doc Delilah, Cadao Kestrel, and Unai Kemen, and the leadership of Vanguard, including the Lady Grey and especially Borea.
More controversially, he has maintained a longstanding friendship with the Archvillians Sirocco and Mu'Vorkin, as well as with the ghost-mage Tarixus. Asai was instrumental in keeping Sirocco alive against both the might of Primal Earth's Mu worshipers of the corrupt incarnation of Hequat, and against the God of Death, Mot.
Powers
Mu Sorcery
Asai comes from a long line of Mu sorcerers on Tau Tau 12-24, who have been bred for centuries by the Republic for such abilities; his innate ability to channel Mu energy was in the top 0.1% for his generation. His mastery of spellcraft allows him to channel energies of almost any form, frequency, or magnitude away from himself harmlessly, to project energy as a weapon at short and long range, to sap energy from nearby opponents, to use it to fly, and to power the armor and weapons of his order.
Armor And Weapons
Equipment issued to Akan Republic Mu Sword Saint has been continuously revised for generations. Their body armor and helmet use and recycle their energy to dampen kinetic impacts, and their weapons allow them to focus their energy into coherent static fields, usually shaped like swords.
Skills
Asai is a competent navigator and metallurgist, a brilliant tactician, and a seasoned expert in light and heavy armed combat.
Celebrity Interview
“Today, we’re here with the Hero of the City known as Mu Ronin, a man by the name of Asai Bhakin. Mr. Bhakin, thank you so much for talking with us today.”
“My pleasure, Miranda.”
“First, let’s go over some of the things people have heard about you that aren’t true. I think that’s a good place to get started?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Are you an Alien, Mr. Bhakin?”
He chuckled. “I am not from Rhode Island, Miranda, no. But I am human, just like yourself.”
“So, then, are you a Jedi? I’ve heard people sometimes call you the Red Jedi. Any connection with the force?”
“Ah, no. No, I have recently finished viewing these plays... movies... portraying the life of, ah, Luke Skywalker, and the sword-saints who call themselves the Jedi. They are very interesting, but they are fiction, after all. They do force one to confront the possibility that human imagination is capable of seeing dimly across the boundaries of dimensions. This is only speculation. Nevertheless, there are certain commonalities.”
“Like the light sabers?”
“The Jedi’s primary weapon is a static energy field blade, much like the pair that are standard issue in my military order. And, like my order, they serve as peacekeepers in a Republic. But there the similarity ends. For example, Jedi seem to go into battle unarmored. Our equipment is all precision manufactured in the ...”
“Yes, entirely in red. Rather like the Knights of Ren.”
“Well, no. You’re thinking of Snoke’s praetorian guard. ... I’m glad this is an extended interview. So far I am not sure we’ve clarified much.”
“Sorry, mister Bhakin.”
“Not at all; it’s my fault. If I have not mentioned it, Miranda, I appreciate the way you properly aspirate my family name. You have some training in language?”
Giggles. “Oh, you’re welcome. My uncle’s wife is Indian, and my undergrad was in linguistics. ”
“I see.”
“But enough about me! So your ... armor looks a lot like Snoke’s Praetorian Guard.”
“But! My armor is much cooler looking, so they are easy to tell apart. Also, I am real, not from a movie.”
“Yes! Of course. So you are not an alien, and not a Jedi. Where are you from? Listening to your accent, I wonder if maybe you are from Russia or Lithuania.”
“You’re right again, Miranda. My native language has a lot in common with Lithuanian. Even moreso, Old Prussian, which almost nobody speaks anymore. There is a delightful polish lady I know in King’s Row, who makes the very best pierogies in her little shop, Babica’s, and talks in Prussian low german to me like her Grandmother did. One of my very favorite things about this city. Still, I am not from the Europe you recognize.”
“So. You’re not alien, a jedi, or polish.” She laughed,” I don’t think we’re getting much closer to the heart of the matter. You call yourself ‘Mu Ronin.’ The name suggests your... swordsmanship... but also an obscure organization that is part of the autocracy in the Rogue Isles, under Arachnos. The so-called ‘Mu Mystics.’ Any connection there?"
"Yes, now we're on the right track."
"So, who are the Mu? Can you enlighten us?”
“Well. I will try to be succinct.
“There was once nation in the Mediterranean, a kind of theocracy, long before the Hellenes-- indeed before Khem, that is, Egypt, rose to power. These people were experts in magic. Their civilization went through a long civil war, dividing the devotees of the Gods from the more popular secularist factions, who saw magic as simply another tool. Eventually, they split. The Kwansea, the secularists, hid their greatest city here in North America, but were wiped out. Today, scholars call them Oranbegans, after their lost city. Their enemy, the Mu, were not completely wiped out, but scattered over the earth.
“Nevertheless, their lineages persisted down through the milleniums, and for nearly a century now, the ruler of the Rogue Isles has recruited and even bred members of that lost civilization, and resurrected knowledge of their ancient culture has... evidently returned to them.”
“The whole history is strange and new to me, mister Bhakin, but you seem surprised by the last part. Why surprised?”
“Well. Think about it. It’s a strange thing to resurrect a culture. To guide them, they had a number of ancient texts, and magic that let them speak to their ancestors. But Miranda, these are Americans, Canadias, Russians, Europeans, people like anyone in Paragon City. They have a culture. But they adopted this Mu culture. Imagine your children decided to try and become... Egyptians, or Ghanians. Wouldn't that seem strange?”
“I see what you mean. They’re not really Mu. Wait, are you saying you are? Are you from the ancient past, Mister Bhakin?”
“No, not the ancient past. You are familiar with the Portal Corporation? And the war being waged against invaders from a place called ‘Praetorian Earth?’”
“Yes! The place where bizarro-Statesman and bizarro-Back-Alley-Brawler come from! So you’re from Praetorian Earth?”
“Portal Corporation’s designation for Praetorian earth is ‘Upsilon Beta Nine Six.’ Tina Macintyre, one of the top folks at Portal Corp, and a friend of mine, recently tested me and was able to identify my dimension in their nomenclature-- ‘Tau Tau Twelve-Twenty Four.’ I have studied Earth ‘prime’ -- your world-- extensively, to understand how it differs from mine.
“I believe the point of divergence is that on my Earth, before the worshipers of Ermeeth and Hequat warred, the great Empire of Akan arose and subdued them. The Empire of Akan was a nation whose center is West Africa, and its capital is called Wiasakoma, meaning 'World-Heart.'
"After a colonial period, the Empire reformed into a great and egalitarian Republic that brought Africa and Europe justice and peace. Though my people still warred with the Kwansea-- the Oranbegans-- neither party was wiped out on our world. As a nation we, the Mu, pledged our allegiance to the Akan Republic, and our goddess Hequat became part of the Akan pantheon one of the spouses of the Trickster-creator god Anansi. For generations the most gifted of our sorcerers were trained in the war colleges of Akan.”
“So, if you were going to name your earth....”
“Anansi-Earth, I think.”
“Let me see if I have this right then. You, Mister Bhakin, are a sorcerer-swordsman...”
“The term that best fits is sword-saint.”
“So, then.” She glanced through her notes, writing still. “You are a sword saint of the Mu Mystics, who are peacekeepers in the Akan Republic of Anansi Earth.”
"Oh, oh, thank you. For our listeners at home, Mister Bhakin bowed with his, ah, hands folded at his chest. Can you explain that gesture?"
"Sure, Miranda. It's a bow, much like a Korean bow. Here in the states, I suppose it's a combination of 'thank you' and 'give me five.'"
Miranda giggled. "For our listeners, Mister Bhakin just high fived me!"
