Psi Monk
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Psi Monk | |
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| Player: ... | |
| Basic Data | |
| Foundation Rank: | Operative |
|---|---|
| Origin: | Natural |
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| 'Day Job': | Professor of Metaphysics, PCU |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Kei Keller |
| Known Aliases: | Psi Monk, Professor K, Professor Keller |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 45 |
| Height: | 6'4" |
| Weight: | 200lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | None |
| Blood Type: | A+ |
| Biographical Data | |
| Birthplace: | Los Angeles, CA |
| Birthdate: | April 4, 1962 |
| Citizenship: | USA |
| Current Residence: | Paragon City |
| Religion/Faith: | Chan Buddhist |
| Sexual Orientation: | Heterosexual |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Languages | |
| Confidential | |
| Known Relatives | |
| Jade Keller (wife), Meah Bernough and Chase Jones (step-children), Jake Darksong and Vagary Keller (adopted children), Michael Mars (son). Kai also has four brothers and two sisters, but none live in Paragon City. | |
| Known Powers | |
| Kai has no known "powers" | |
| Training / Abilities | |
| Kai is a master of several kung fu styles, and can control his chi in such a way as to maintain balance within his body. | |
| Equipment | |
| Though skilled in the use of many martial weapons, Kai uses only his hands and feet in the field. | |
| Footnotes | |
| Confidential | |
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Contents |
OOC Information
Psi Monk was first created when City of Heroes was still in beta-testing. His original story had him starting out as a martial artist, but eventually respecializing as a Mind/Kinetics Controller. Then Cryptic dropped the bomb that players would not be able to change archetypes when respecializing, so he was stuck as a MA/Regen Scrapper with a name that didn't quite fit. His story, however, evolved to allow the name to make at least a little sense, and now that Cryptic is considering offering Psionic Weaponry as a Scrapper power set, the character may even come more into line with his name.
Affiliations
Kai Keller (registered as the hero Psi Monk) is an Advisor in The Zenvious Foundation. He spent some time in The Dauntless Reverie and has maintained some friendships there. He is engaged to the hero Jade Ohm.
The Path to Perfection
Into a world filled with questions and doubt, Kai Keller was born on December 6, 1963, child of immigrants from opposite sides of the world. Hans Keller (Germany) and Xhongwei Xian (China) had seven children in all, of which Kai was the middle. He grew up in a multi-cultural home, and though his parents were attentive, there was never enough time to spend with each child in a family of that size.
The Education of a Geek
As a young man, Kai filled any void that having a large family might have caused with an attention to comic books, sci-fi and fantasy novels, and eventually computers. Entering high-school two years early, he delved into the metaphysics often espoused by the stories he enjoyed so much. Intellectual and introverted, Kai was often either ignored or harassed by his older classmates, who saw his interests as deviant and strange. As a junior, however, he did make one solid friendship, that of Jeffrey Bernough, an up-and-coming football player who, even in ninth grade, was already slated as a replacement for the varsity team's quarterback.
Kai Keller graduated high school at fifteen years of age and took an internship with a small software firm in Redmond, Washington. After two years, however, he managed to save the funds necessary to continue his education. His selection of Paragon City University was based on two factors:
- The school's metaphysics program was not merely top notch, but the only serious applied metaphysics program in the nation.
- Jeffrey Bernough would be attending school in Paragon City on a football scholarship.
The next six years were spent nose buried in books and watching in envy as women fawned over his best friend.
Young (and Unrequited) Love
While working as assistant to a professor in Language Arts, Kai met a freshman with whom he would fall in love. Outgoing and excited by life, Jade Fix saw him as a dear friend and confidant, but nothing more. It was through him, however, that she met her future husband, Jeffrey Bernough, captain of PCU's football team. Soon after Kai's graduation, he had the painful honor of attending the wedding of Jeffrey and Jade as best man. "It is better to have loved and lost," he reminded himself, though he truly believed it would have been better had he not loved at all. Yet he still could not deny his feelings for her.
The Road Less Traveled
Kai was offered a position as Adjunct Professor of Metaphysics at PCU, which he accepted. Throwing himself into his work, he began to study psychic and psionic phenomena in an attempt to determine if indeed the mind could exercise complete control over the functions of the body. Two years into these studies, he came upon information about the Shaolin monks of China. Intrigued by their ability to control aspects of their being that seemed impossible, he applied for and received a grant to fund a journey to China's Sacred Mountain and the Shaolin temple. Welcomed by the monks, six months of observation stretched into a year, and then two, and soon Kai requested an extended sabbatical in order to study the ways of the Shaolin.
For the next fifteen years, the once gangly and awkward Keller improved his body and his mind, studying ancient Chan Buddhism and kung fu. Ten years into his studies, he helped found a satellite temple, teaching others about the balance of chi and the way of the Shaolin, and protecting a cache of mystical artifacts known as the Trappings of Master Po.
A Tale of Two Tragedies
In the fall of 2003, Keller took a trip to Australia to visit a friend, a former colleague from Paragon City University, leaving the temple setting for the first time in well over a decade. Though he enjoyed the vacation, he was eager to return to the monastery. Upon his return, however, he made a horrifying discovery: During his absence, the temple had been attacked and his fellow monks slain in their sleep. It soon became evident that the purpose of the attack was to obtain the Trappings, which had fallen into unknown hands. For six months, he sought out information and rumor concerning the artifacts, his search finally leading him back to Paragon City.
His return to Paragon City was marred not only by the bitter memory of his murdered brethren, but with more bad news that was to follow. Jeffrey Bernough had been killed by an unknown assailant, and his daughter, Meah (Twilight Eclipse) had gone missing. With nowhere else to turn, Jade Ohm came to Kai for support and assistance in finding her daughter, who was thought to be held on the Rogue Isles.
The Foundation
Kai Keller, having been offered once again a position in the metaphysics department at PCU, renewed his search for those who took the lives of his compatriots and stole the Trappings of Master Po, aided by the enigmatic Dauntless Reverie. It was during this search that Jade introduced him to Zen Kajii (Zenvious) and Kai became interested in The Zenvious Foundation. Taking on the role of mentor for the Foundation's singular student, Zoe Fix (Little Zoe), he found himself engaging Mr. Zen in philosophical discussions and games of Chess and Go sometimes into the later hours of the night. He quickly became Mr. Zen's closest friend - outside of the matronly Kaijitsu - and advisor. Through the Foundation has gone through a number of changes, both minor and major, Professor Keller continues to serve in a leadership capacity.
New Love and Old Love
One thing never changed for Kai: He was never capable of fully expressing the feelings he had for Jade. Even after twenty years, his love for her had not faded, and now, two years after her husband's death, she was beginning to feel pangs of loneliness again. Ever her friend, Kai made the conscious decision not to take advantage of her emotional state and watched in sadness as she became involved in a relationship first with Connor Knight, then with James Broderick (Pyronova), and finally with Tim O'Reiley (Lectrician), with whom she became engaged.
During a routine visit to Pocket D to place an order for the Foundation, Kai met an attractive yoga instructor by the name of Luna Si. Intrigued by her playful attitude and her occupation, the Professor agreed to yoga sessions with her, and eventually they enjoyed a single picnic date together. In that short time, he discovered something he had not believed possible - that he could love someone other than Jade. Their relationship, though intense, was short-lived. Jade and Tim ended their engagement and Kai was faced with a choice - to remain with the new love he had found or to chase a dream which had eluded him for twenty years.
Faced with a decision potentially painful to all involved, Kai chose the dream, offering Jade his long-standing love. She accepted, and the two began their relationship.
Ties to Heaven and Earth
During what should have been a routine series of tasks for the Peregrine Island branch of the Paragon Police Department, a Circle of Thorns Death Mage managed to strike Jade unconscious. Rage and the desire for vengeance welled up inside of Kai, but he pushed them back, letting balance reign in his body, mind, and spirit. Achieving an ascended state, he defeated the mage not with foot or fist, but with a simple look, a technique the monks of his order had long sought, but few had achieved: The Gaze of Master Po. Jade, who was not seriously wounded after all, woke to find her lover in his altered state of being. It was in this form that he was able to heal a grievous injury she suffered while giving birth to her daughter, and soon it was discovered that she was pregnant.
The excitement over her pregnancy bled into concern, however, as difficulties began to arise. Foremost were the child's apparently unnatural spurts of growth, which were later explained when it was discovered that each growth event coincided with a short disappearance - less than 1/100th of a second. It was found, however, that though she was only gone from their time-stream for an extremely short period, she was being held extra-dimensionally for weeks at a time, tested and observed by the Iradu, a religious sect of the Rikti from fourteen hundred years in the future. Making matters worse was the unborn child's nearly insatiable need for power. As Jade grew listless, the Professor grew concerned, and it was not until it was discovered that the baby was sapping her of her energy that the problem could be resolved. At first, Jade spent hours a day absorbing energy from the Foundation's orichalcum power supply, then Mr. Zen provided her with a charm forged of the green, mystical stone. Later, as Kai learned to control his ascended state, he would spend the night awake and in that altered form, a living power supply for his beloved and their child.
A minor scare among the rest was the discovery that their child shared ninety eight percent of its DNA markers with Mike Mars (Mr. Protagonist). There was, for a very short time, the rumor that Mike was the real father, but that rumor was quashed by Maggie Accident, a young geneticist at the Foundation, who reminded the couple that the child shared the appropriate number of genetic markers to denote Kai as father and Jade as mother, and for Mike Mars to be a parent at all, he would have to be both. It was thus decided that the similarity in their genes was merely a coincidental anomaly.
A Tale of Two (More) Tragedies
On April 6, 2007, Kai Keller lost another friend - this time the Foundation's Axiom, Mr. Zen. While Kai may have maintained an unruffled outer veneer, few things could have left him with such inner turmoil. Mr. Zen had graciously taken to being the nearest thing the Professor had to a "best friend". To lose such a close compatriot for the second time was emotionally devastating to the point where he was unable to hold onto the level of balance necessary to enter into his ascended state. He was, however, able to break through that barrier when Clockwork Dawn attacked the Foundation, and in his altered form he was able to aid in subduing her.
It was this attack, however, that precipitated the second tragedy. Jade had been provided with a reverse RFID tag that kept her safe from the Iradu's invasion, and Kai, along with Toxstrike and Saya Ragehunter managed to defend Jade when Malta Operatives, under a disturbing contract with an Iradu mentalist, sought to physically abduct her. When the Foundation was attacked by Clockwork Dawn, however, Jade was forced to use her powers, shorting out the reverse RFID. The Iradu were able to lock on to her and teleport her into their pocket dimension. This time she was held until the child was born. She was subsequently returned, but without their son.
The Spark of Life
Life for Kai Keller took an upward turn when he and Jade were offered the opportunity to raise Little Miss Vagary, a boisterous girl whose adoptive father, Rizpoly, had been killed by the Envoy of Shadows. While Vagary and Kai seem polar opposites - one calm and reserved, the other spontaneous and excited - they have already become close.
Not too long after Vagary's adoption, however, Jade and Mike Mars returned from a mission given to them by Lady Grey, during which Mike was revealed to be their lost son, who was raised in a Rikti creche in a far off time.
Abilities
Unlike many of the heroes of Paragon City's elite, Kai Keller lacks any sort of super powers. He instead relies on his training, skills he has honed over the course of years, and a disciplined understanding of the techniques of the Shaolin.
Kung Fu
Kai's martial training included several diverse styles of kung fu.
- Tai chi chuan - A kung fu style known for its slow-motion training style and focus on the promotion of health and longevity. Commonly known as "Tai Chi", this form of kung fu helps the Professor maintain internal balance.
- Hung Gar - Wide stances, martial skill with various weapons, circular strikes and blocks, and leaping attacks characterize the main form of kung fu utilized by Kai Keller in cases of direct confrontation.
- Ba Gua - The technique of "walking the circle", or using circular movements to keep your focus on your opponent is often employed by Kai in his work in Paragon City.
- Chu Gar - Known as Southern Praying Mantis style, this kung fu is aesthetically unappealing, but very effective in closed quarters such as caves, where Keller often battles the Circle of Thorns.
- Zui Quan - Trained in a style of wushu that imitates a drunkard in his movements, Kai creates momentum through postures and weight of his body, and imitates drunken behavior through staggering and fluidity in his movements.
Game Mechanics: Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Focus Chi, Crane Kick, Crippling Axe Kick, Dragons Tail, Eagle Claw, Sands of Mu, Focused Accuracy, Combat Jumping.
Improved Health
Kai's Shaolin training, most notably the introspective nature of Chan Buddhism, helps him maintain a high level of mind-over-body control. Over the course of his tenure in the temple, the feats he had only read about prior to his journey to China - control of body temperature, the ability to withstand tremendous pain, a miraculously increased rate of healing, nearly unlimited stamina - became feats he could perform. It is through this inner balance that the Professor maintains an outward display of balance, as well.
Game Mechanics: Fast Healing, Quick Recovery, Reconstruction, Dull Pain, Integration, Resilience, Instant Healing, Revive, Swift, Health, Stamina.
Great Leap
The modern myths concerning Shaolin monks and their ability to leap long distances, run along the tops of trees, and land with graceful balance from falls that should have injured them have proven themselves to be carefully guarded, ancient secrets among the Shaolin order - secrets passed along to each member of their monastic society.
Game Mechanics: Super Jump.
Chi Mastery
The most guarded and secret techniques of the Shaolin include the ability to focus chi in short bursts of time that render the body virtually invulnerable. The venerable Master Po was the first and most skilled of the monks to take advantage of this ability naming it "The Tortoise Shell".
Game Mechanics: Moment of Glory.
| The Zenvious Foundation | |
| Axioms | |
| Mr. Zen | Kaijitsu | |
| Directors | |
| Jade Ohm | Jet Falcon | Mechanizm | |
| Field Officers | |
| Bobby Thistle | Hero Prime | Lanara | Zarp Draken | Zeal Drain | |
| More Info | |
| Virtueverse Page | Website |
