[Ifni]

*curtsies gracefully*

And here is the *cough* "Terrestrial" half of the new contingent, Untimely Orchid aka Eris Stormcrow aka Tepet Ireva. Nexus information-broker and Eclipse caste, for all your Solar Socialize/Linguistics/Presence/Investigation needs, currently posing as an outcaste Wood Aspect.

I'm going to have to spend two posts to transfer her vignettes as well, sorry. Succinctness is not one of my virtues...

Character sheet:

Spoiler

Name: Eris Stormcrow, aka Untimely Orchid, aka Tepet Ireva
Exalt Type and Caste: Eclipse Caste Solar
Anima: A great white-gold tree in the midst of a storm of wind and lightning. (More details in spoiler.)

Spoiler

When Eris' anima burns totemic, she seems to stand before a massive ash-tree, its branches spreading wide above her, and its great roots reaching down into the earth. Its bark is white but brushed with gold. The tree's branches have no real end, vanishing into hair-thin twigs that trail golden Essence at their distant extremities, still reaching outward and upward. Unlike normal ash trees, this one has long clusters of filmy golden flowers hanging from its branches.

The branches shake furiously, as if tossed by a mighty storm, and bolts of lightning fork constantly out of her anima to strike the tree, lighting it with the searing white radiance of the sun's corona.

Motivation: Reconcile the Dragon-Blooded with the Celestial Exalted.

Appearance:

Spoiler

Nine years after Thorns, the woman who was once called Tepet Ireva and now goes by Untimely Orchid is still barely five feet tall - no prosperity will ever make up for that early malnutrition - but once-pallid skin is now a healthy suntanned brown. The old scars are still visible, but they've faded. She's filled out, and now is trim and fit, wiry muscle cording her arms from long hours of sword-practice. Her long hair is a dark green, nearly black; she often rinses it with a wash to bring out the green highlights. She sometimes wears it loose or partially so in the city, but in the field she always braids it up to be out of the way, and present nothing for an opponent to grab onto. She often weaves colored (usually green) silk cords through her hair. She is pretty rather than beautiful, with a youthful-looking heart-shaped face. Despite her diminutive size she possesses a commanding presence, and her smile can light up a room. Her voice is low and pleasant.

She wears a wide range of outfits when in the city, although she prefers silk dresses or kimonos with patterns of flowers or vines. Outside the city, she usually wears a green coat with small flowers embroidered around the hem and cuffs, over dark trousers and her breastplate. She carries her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her back, and a shortsword and knife at her belt. The bow is usually the finest weapon she has in plain view, and taken together with Wood Aspects' reputation, people tend to assume she's an archer unless they're very observant; this is a deliberate misdirection.

More inspiration for the sisters:

Spoiler

Relevant tropes:
Guile Hero
Silk Hiding Steel
Small Girl Big Gun Daiklave
Survivor Guilt
(Sort of. There are a lot of people she knew and liked in Thorns who probably died horribly, in part because of her actions, and to no good end. She usually manages to successfully bury that knowledge by focusing on practical action, and sometimes manages not to think about the people she left behind for months at a time - but the current day has been triggering traumatic memories left right and center, and she's just been presented with someone to blame. Related to this, may be developing a case of...)
Rage Against The Heavens

Music: May It Be (YouTube link)

Background:
See this post and this post.

Attributes

Spoiler

Primary (Social): 8
Secondary (Physical): 6
Tertiary (Mental): 4

Physical:
Strength ●●●
Dexterity ●●●●●
Stamina ●●

Social:
Charisma ●●●●●
Manipulation ●●●●
Appearance ●●● (+●●●● if Infinite Resplendence Amulet is active at obvious level)

Mental
Perception ●●
Intelligence ●●●
Wits ●●

Abilities (Specializations +)

Spoiler

[Note: Place [C]aste and [F]avoured tags, for clarity.]
Total without BP/XP: 28/28
(If using Dawn Solution rules, 4 free specialty dots, and Abilities can be raised to 5 without BP)

Archery
Martial Arts
[F] Melee ●●●●● (+●●● Sword-Master)

Spoiler

This is just a Swords specialty, to be clear.

Thrown
War

[F] Integrity ●
Performance
[F] Presence ●●●●● (+●●● Negotiation)
[F] Resistance ●●●●● (+●● Adrenaline Fueled), +1 sux to reduce or avoid the effects of deleterious environmental conditions, toxins or disease

Spoiler

This is intended to be basically the "in combat" specialty from the corebook, just a little more evocative. It should never apply in social situations unless, say, it's a roll to stay awake and keep going in very high-stakes negotiations. It should not apply in combats where she doesn't feel that there's any danger, or when it's devolved into a long war of attrition and the adrenaline is wearing off. But for general purposes, "in combat" should be the dividing line.

Survival +1 sux to reduce or avoid the effects of deleterious environmental conditions, toxins or disease

Craft
[F] Investigation ●●●●
Lore ●
Medicine
Occult

Athletics
Awareness
Dodge
Larceny
Stealth

[C] Bureaucracy ●
[C] Linguistics ●●●●● +1 from Exceptional Writing Kit (High Realm, Old Realm, Riverspeak, Flametongue, Seatongue)
[C] Ride ●
[C] Sail ●
[C] Socialize ●●●

Backgrounds, Artifacts and Equipment:

Spoiler

Backgrounds:
Ally ● (Tepet Firada, the White Rose of Thorns)

Spoiler

Tepet Firada, Eris' older sister, is a Wood Aspect and a monk of the Immaculate Order. She joined the Order nearly a decade ago, has been initiated into Celestial Martial Arts, and studies the Wood Dragon style. While still very young for a Terrestrial and junior in the Order, her devotion to the cause - and the fact that she won victories against Anathema in Thorns, and even killed one single-handedly - has drawn the attention of her superiors.

Firada is slightly taller than average, strong and tough and whipcord lean; from when she was nine until she was twenty-five, her life and her sister's life depended on her skills with blade and bow and fists.

She was once known as the White Rose of Thorns, and her anima is a dense briar-tangle of vicious black thorns and many-petalled white roses. She is competent with swords and in unarmed combat, but prefers to take down her foes from powerbow range where possible, ideally without being seen.

Firada is devoted to her parents and siblings, but neither her friends nor her kin really understand, especially as she can't tell them the truth about Ireva. She and her sister were inseparable for sixteen years, and her absence still leaves a gap. She and her sister keep in touch secretly using the Wind-Carried Words Technique; she asked to be assigned to the East, and she tries to warn Iri when a Wyld Hunt might be near her location. Not that it's been a major threat, for most of the last nine years, but now...

Her feelings toward the Lunar and (especially) Solar Anathema are ambiguous; she hasn't completely rejected Immaculate teachings regarding them, only carving out an exception for Ireva, but there's doubt in her heart. Toward Abyssals, on the other hand, her approach is unambiguous and lethal; she'll take joy in any defeat she can hand them. And perhaps, one day, Thorns...

Artifact ●●●● (Starmetal and Orichalcum Infinite Resplendence Amulet)
Artifact ●●● (Jade Grand Daiklave)
Artifact ● (Fivefold Harmonic Adapter)
Artifact ● (Orichalcum Breastplate)
Resources ●●
Contacts ●●●

Spoiler

Major contacts (to be detailed further):
(1) Anaxos Ro, a senior Guildsman who used to trade into Thorns, but focused his efforts elsewhere after his role in aiding the escape of the killers of Forger of Forgotten Nightmares. He is in his late middle age, and now spends most of his time in Nexus.

(2) Swift-Fire-Over-Water, a baiji who governs a stretch of water along the coast north of Thorns. Swift has a sanctum in that area, which he keeps very quiet; he is quite unhappy about Thorns as a result. He is one of the more politically powerful and well-connected of the dolphin-gods. He's been around since the First Age, and he is not fond of the Immaculate Order, but his attitude toward the returning Solars is somewhat less clear.
(3) Three Drops, an ice-weasel-totem No Moon mystic. Originally from the far north, she had a falling out with the Bull of the North's circle, and left in a hurry. She is at least a Terrestrial Circle sorceress. Getting straight answers out of her tends to be a difficult endeavor.

Manse ●● (Jewel of the Lawgiver's Authority)
Manse ● (Stone of Humble Glory)
Manse ●● (Mind-Cleansing Gem)

Artifacts and Equipment:
Remembrance (Jade Grand Daiklave)

Spoiler

This massive blade was the property of a Fire-Aspected hero of Thorns, who died several centuries ago. Her ghost lingered, to watch over the city she'd protected. When a child of Thorns Exalted in the aftermath of the Mask's invasion, she contacted the Resistance; after bestowing her panoply on Tepet Firada, she passed into Lethe. When Firada and Ireva parted outside Thorns, the White Rose of Thorns gave Remembrance to her sister, telling her that she needed it more.

The great jade sword has lain in shadow for a long time, and taken on some of its aspect. Its blade shades from a dark lustrous green, through violet-hued evening-sky blue, into a deep wine-red along the cutting edges. The different colors of the jade ripple together, in swirling patterns reminiscent of waves and flames and smoke on the wind. Black jade twines through the patterns, depicting a stylized Elemental Dragon. Where the tail coils around the hilt there is a hand-guard, wrought as an intricate spray of flowers and twisting thorns in all the dark colors of the blade. Set among the flowers, one in the hilt and two at the base of the blade, are three gleaming circles of translucent clouded white.

Also hidden among the flowers of the hand-guard, lying flat to the jade and covered with a cap of thinly hammered steel shaped like a leaf, is the orichalcum adapter that Eris uses to easily attune the blade.

The Forger's Lab Coat Of Infinite Pockets (Orichalcum and Starmetal Infinite Resplendence Amulet)

Spoiler

This smooth teardrop of orichalcum, suspended within a cage of fragile starmetal strands, was one of the most highly prized possessions of the Daybreak called the Forger of Forgotten Nightmares. Not so much for its properties, but for the story behind it.

Forger was a superlative crafter, but preferred to pursue his own research rather than attempt to satisfy the incessant - and insatiable - clamoring for artifacts from his so-called circle. He was not pleased when the political maneuvering of the Midnight called Darkness At Noon led to a direct order from the Mask that he supply her with the amulet she wanted, constructed of - of all things - orichalcum. Darkness was planning to pose as a Solar in order to try to lure in some new recruits, and wanted an artifact to help her manifest the appropriate golden glory. That was her story, anyway; Forger suspected something more going on. But the order had come directly from his liege, and so after several horrifyingly uncomfortable months spent in the burning sunlight of Creation away from his laboratory and creations, he delivered the requested artifact.

On returning to Thorns, it became apparent that certain of his fellow deathknights had taken Darkness' success as a demonstration of what was possible with sufficient persistence. If Forger wanted to be left alone, he was going to have to demonstrate the consequences of bullying him with extreme prejudice - but of course, while preserving deniability.

It took a non-negligible commitment of time and resources, although Typhon's assistance greatly accelerated matters. Such a shame, that Darkness' Lunar mate had been in the area; who would have guessed it? At least Typhon's operatives had managed to retrieve her panoply.

Forger claimed the amulet, mostly for the effect on his fellows; the torrent of requests for artifacts dried up remarkably after that. He didn't anticipate requiring the glorious Solar aura often, although it sometimes had amusing effects when dealing with prisoners, but a self-cleaning lab coat was convenient. A self-cleaning lab coat with an abundance of Elsewhere-pockets proved even more convenient, once he caged the orichalcum teardrop in a little of the starmetal salvaged from the dead gods of Thorns.

When the young Eclipse Eris killed Forger with her sister's jade daiklave, his body faded into nothingness, but his Lab Coat remained. As the one item in his panoply that didn't shriek with the pain of tormented souls, she took it with her when she fled. She got a nasty shock the first time she looked inside the pockets, though. The small lump of raw moonsilver, she used to pay for their passage out of the city; the fivefold resonant adapter was a pleasant surprise (well, the orichalcum original; the soulsteel copies were a bit more distressing, even if they did have notes pasted to them saying things like "Fails to attune properly; try more blood?" and "Works but leads to uncontrollable anima eruptions every ten minutes; bad for stealth"). The extensive set of tools, on the other hand...

She wasn't sure if they were for surgery or crafting, or even if Forger had seen a difference. It was hard not to vomit, when she first saw them, and matched them to what she'd seen in the lab. She kept them in the Lab Coat, not wanting them to fall into the hands of someone who might use them as intended; they came in handy several years later when she had to re-equip a workshop manse.

Below is the somewhat shorter and lighter version of this story:

Spoiler

you see, once there was a Daybreak researcher
he only wanted to be left alone to play in his lab and build hideous necrotech abominations
is that so wrong?
but his circle-mates harassed him constantly with demands for shiny artifacts
well, evil doomful artifacts, but you get the point
he said No in a hundred different ways, but eventually the Midnight went over his head and got the Deathlord to order him to make her the artifact she wanted
to boost her Appearance. ("It'll facilitate me posing as a Solar!" she said. "It's critical to my mission!" she said.)
So, with much grumbling, he said yes, and THEN he found out the damn thing had to be made out of orichalcum.
Several months in the burning, horrible sunlight later, away from his nice dark lab, he was a very unhappy Daybreak. But he gave the Midnight her amulet.
And then everyone else went, "Ooh, so we just have to be persistent enough and we can get artifacts? Sweet!"
The Daybreak realized that he needed to squash this line of thought fast.
So he teamed up with the Day caste to arrange for the Midnight to get ambushed and killed by her Lunar mate, who she'd had run-ins with before.
and the Day's agents brought back the amulet, and the Daybreak wore it around "in memory of our poor lost sister", and people stopped asking him for artifacts.
I mean, not that he needed appearance, but a self-cleaning lab coat was handy
and then he figured out that if he added starmetal to it he could make it a self-cleaning lab coat of infinite pockets!
Yay!
And it was a happy ending.
Until a stupid Eclipse stabbed him through the chest with a giant hunk of jade just because he was casting mind-control sorcery on her Dragon-Blooded sister.
Solars are jerks.

Glamor of the Dance (Orichalcum Breastplate)

Spoiler

This orichalcum breastplate has a distinctly late-First-Age quality, all smooth elegant curves, designed for aesthetics as much as function and considerably lighter and more minimalist than earlier examples of its type. It was used as ceremonial armor by one of the construct-guardians and performers of the Puppeteer's Toybox, a wooden maiden designed for perfection in the dance of swords. She was destroyed in the Usurpation, taken by surprise by fire that cared nothing for the deadly beauty of her dance. Her armor lay undisturbed in its cabinet for more than a millennium.

The Forger's Enigma (Orichalcum Fivefold Harmonic Adapter)

Spoiler

This small, slightly irregular disk of orichalcum set in adamant has a slightly scuffed look, as if it's been subjected to considerable stresses. Delicate spidery runes are engraved on its surface.

A relic of the First Age that's been bouncing around the world for fifteen hundred years - mostly as a curiosity, given the absence of the Solars - it ended up in the collection of a scholar and thaumaturgist of Thorns, who died when the city was invaded. Some years later, the Forger of Forgotten Nightmares came across it when trawling through the treasury, and was inspired to create soulsteel versions using it as a model. It took a little experimentation, but he eventually succeeded.

He kept the orichalcum original as a souvenir, as well as some of the early failed copies. They were in the pockets of his lab-coat when he died at Eris' hands.

Manse: The Puppeteer's Toybox
Stone: Jewel of the Lawgiver's Authority ●● (socketed in Remembrance) [Oadenol's Codex]. Subtracts 2 from the difficulty of all attempts to sway others' opinions or beliefs (minimum 1). Applies to both speech and writing.

Spoiler

Creation Points: [(Value of Manse x2)+bonus from Manse Flaws]
Flaws: Maintenance ●● (requires day-long simple maintenance once a month, usually performed by the Bound Servitor)

Powers:
Network Node ●
Bound Servitor ●● ("Puppet", a magitech construct)
Workshop Manse (Magitech) ●●●

This Solar-aspected manse is located in the rocky hills near the headwaters of the Avarice River, carved into the crest of a high ridge where it catches the sun for almost the entire day. That made it ideal for forging and working orichalcum, and for various other tasks where light was the preferred tool; the manse once boasted a massive array of lenses and mirrors, to focus light and divide it into pure colors, to amplify it to a cutting beam or trap and confine it. The ridge itself is mostly granite, but the interior of the manse was faced with white marble and golden wood, brought up from the lowlands.

It was designed as a workshop, not a palace, and so its amenities were always rather basic, by the standards of its time - the rooms for crafters and staff were relatively simple, utilitarian even, albeit comfortable.

Other, more powerful manses were geared for mass production, or the creation of the greatest wonders. The Toybox was on a much smaller scale, the personal workshop of a single Celestial, where she enjoyed the luxury of side-projects and experimentation for its own sake, with no need to justify herself to colleagues. In particular, she enjoyed building constructs, for ornamentation and mock-battle and theater, and as assistants. She considered herself an artist, and each of her Puppets were custom-designed, unique, and built by her own hands.

In the aftermath of the Usurpation, the Toybox was attacked - the mirrors broken, and the Exalt's collection of unique tools and machinery removed. The Puppets were destroyed (if they fought) or taken away for study, with the one exception being the caretaker-construct who maintained the place. As it did not attack the invaders when left alone, and in fact seemed to do very little except berate them for creating a mess, they decided to leave it to its duties guarding a stripped and broken manse, rather than deal with an uncapped and potentially unpredictable demesne.

So things remained, for roughly fifteen hundred years. An open, sunny forest of golden poplars grew up around the manse. The guardian-construct continued to do its duty faithfully, whispering to itself the stories of its lost kinsfolk, and its mother-creator, and a better brighter time. In the end it forgot its name, and knew itself only as Puppet - the last and lonely Puppet.

And little changed, until Eris came seeking the next node in the network, and with the assistance of two Lunars repaired the manse enough to be usable - at least, with the additional provision of a complete set of First-Age-quality tools (albeit with some unfortunate aesthetics). The light of a Solar anima woke old memories in the Puppet, of a time when it had family, and it became incredibly eager to help. With Eris' departure, it has grown quiet again, although it will speak to Three Drops, and she is gentle to it in its madness.

Manse: The Waystone
Stone: Stone of Humble Glory ● (socketed in Remembrance) [Oadenol's Codex p89]. +4 (average of Conviction and Temperance, round up) to any social roll where the character tells the truth without exaggeration or deliberate deception.

Spoiler

Creation Points: 2 [(Value of Manse x2)+bonus from Manse Flaws]
Powers:
Network Node
Magical Conveniences

In a forest in the Hundred Kingdoms there is a smooth green hill crowned with a circle of stones, and in the hill is a hidden doorway, and beyond the doorway is a place that was once a shelter and waypost for travelers. Within is a winding corridor, from which open snug sleeping rooms, lit with Essence lamps that glow with a soft golden light in response to movement. In the central chamber, where lavish rugs and large cushions are scattered across the floor, ancient stories play out in pictures across a slab of translucent crystal set in the wall. A small adjoining kitchen was once well-stocked with First Age cooking and food-storage appliances.

Digging the manse out from under various mud-slides and fallen trees consumed most of the time spent in excavation; once they actually got inside, the experienced scavengers on the crew told Eris it was the friendliest manse they'd ever encountered. They took back a large cache of pristine First-Age wonders - Essence-powered ice-chests, self-heating cooking pots, hand-lamps that react to movement, clocks still keeping perfect time after millennia, and so forth. However, even stripped of its artifacts, the Waystone is still as well-appointed as any inn in the Second Age, and it exudes a welcoming calm.

Manse: Shrine of the Sea's Song
Stone: Mind-Cleansing Gem ●● (socketed in Remembrance) [Oadenol's Codex p96]. +1 to Dodge and Parry MDVs, can break UMI on a touch.

Spoiler

Creation Points: 6 [(Value of Manse x2)+bonus from Manse Flaws]
Flaws: Habitability ●● (this manse is not designed with habitation in mind, although you could camp in it)

Powers:
Analytical Senses ●●
Sympathetic Dream Link ●●
Password Activations ● (harmonizing with the sea-song, see below)
Network Node ●

There is a stretch of coast, some way north of Thorns, where even smugglers steer clear of the rocky shore. The reefs and rocks are treacherous in the extreme, interacting with the currents to produce a morass of foaming, swirling water, and the few meagre inlets offer little shelter from storms or watchers. On the land side, there are a few salt-tolerant plants clinging to the tops of the cliffs, and then unpromising scrubland.

The unpromising aspect of the coast is not entirely accidental. The baiji Swift-Fire-Over-Water keeps his sanctum here, and prefers that fact to remain unknown. He also watches over an ancient manse. Should the manse ever fail, Swift is prepared to move in and add the demesne to his holdings, but he refrains from destroying it himself out of a residual respect for the Exalt who built it (with whom he had a complicated but not hostile relationship). He's also become rather fond of the old place, over the years.

The Shrine of the Sea's Song is a cave system shaped like a spiraling shell, buried beneath the cliffs. Access from air or land is impossible for anything larger than a mouse, and would involve traversing a maze of narrow cracks through the rock. The easiest access is by swimming in; the shell's mouth comes down to sea level and opens onto the water, and it is possible to swim into that cave from the sea, if you know the way through the underwater tunnels. (Swift, of course, has had the route memorized for a couple of thousand years.) Attunement to the manse automatically grants knowledge of the route.

The beach where the mouth of the shell opens is of soft golden sand, carpeted with seashells of all shapes and sizes. Lifting one of the seashells to one's ear reveals a soft, ever-changing song, which gives the manse its name. Entering the manse itself, this song fills the air, almost imperceptibly at first and growing louder as one moves toward the center.

The walls of the manse resemble the inside of a seashell, fluted and pearly and opalescent; there is no interior lighting, the designer having apparently assumed that anyone visiting would bring their own lights. The light of a Celestial anima refracts brilliantly from the walls, sending rainbows scattering everywhere; at certain points in the manse, this refraction also reveals images or words worked deep into the nacreous walls, and invisible in normal light.

While the general layout is a spiral, the manse has many branches and passageways, with no obvious regular pattern. Deep channels of salt water run down every corridor; some rooms have additional pools, positioned to enhance the echoes of the sea-song as it reverberates off the surface.

The hearthroom is large, and alone of all chambers in the manse shines with its own faint pearly light. Here the deep channel runs into a series of natural-looking rock-pools that fill the back half of the room, while the front half is the same golden sand as the rest of the floor. The hearthstone forms randomly in one of the rock-pools; finding it can be a slightly time-consuming process, but one that the creator of the manse treasured, as a reminder of their childhood playing along the shore.

Anyone entering the Shrine may attempt to harmonize with the music of the sea-song, requiring a Performance+Charisma roll. For the hearthstone bearer, this roll is difficulty 1, and only needs to be made once in the bearer's life unless their attunement to the manse is broken (failures can be retried using the normal rules; a botch requires a day's wait before trying again). For anyone else, the roll is difficulty 3, and must be made anew each time they wish to communicate with the manse; a botch requires a week's wait before trying again.

Once harmony is achieved, the sea-song provides a status report on the manse itself, other nodes in the network and any information the manse has stored regarding visitors. The Shrine automatically registers the echoes of the sea-song from any being or object entering the manse, and analyzes them to produce an Essence-signature. An Exalt harmonized to the sea-song can induce the manse to examine specific beings or objects.

The hearthstone bearer hears the song of the Shrine, quietly, even when he or she is far away. In sleep the music is clearest, and the hearthstone bearer can receive the same information she would from harmonizing with the song.

In the First Age, this demesne remained uncapped far longer than most, due to a pair of baiji that built their sanctums on it, and used all their considerable charm and influence to keep it as it was. They were assisted in this by a Celestial Exalt who was charmed by the song that issued from every sea-shell found in the demesne. Eventually, she persuaded the baiji to agree to her capping the demesne, but with a very particular purpose: to focus and enhance the sea-song. Since the manse's primary purpose was as an instrument of music, it is nearly uninhabitable and has few useful powers; its location is inconvenient and a fairly well-connected baiji (one of the original pair) still considers it his territory. For all these reasons, neither the Sidereals nor the Dragon-Blooded considered it worth the trouble in the aftermath of the Usurpation, and by now it has passed out of all mortal records.

Resources: ●●

Spoiler

Eris maintains a comfortable apartment in the Cinnabar district of Nexus. Her favorite feature of the place is the wide balcony, twined with vines that sprout lavish red flowers.

She lives simply; no drugs, no hard alcohol. Losing control would be too dangerous. Everyday clothing and party outfits are handled equally well by her amulet, and she keeps a week's worth of traveling supplies in the space accessed by the pockets, as well as hair dye and cosmetics, and her daiklave. If she needs to depart in a hurry, she won't leave anything important behind.

She has a modest income from investments, from working as a scribe and translator and message-transmitter, and sometimes from her business as an information broker; she prefers to barter in kind, there, but sometimes people have nothing to offer but coin.

-Exceptional writing kit (+1 to Linguistics rolls)

Spoiler

Eris' writing kit contains a fine inkstone, several high-quality ink-sticks of different colors, quill pens and replacement nibs, a full set of fine calligraphy brushes, a folding lap-desk, and a small book of haiku for inspiration.

-Fine self bow (Str ●●●, +1 Accuracy, typically slung over her back)

Spoiler

This finely constructed bow is made from a springy, naturally curved length of dark-stained yew wood.

-Quivers of all four standard arrow types
-The Golden Rose (good luck charm, found)

Spoiler

This carved wooden rose was clearly broken off a larger structure, and the once-bright yellow paint is peeling and discolored. The baiji Swift-Fire-Over-Water gave it to Eris; it was once part of the figurehead of a ship, which survived a terrible storm in which the rest of the trade-fleet perished. The ship in question ended up stuck on a reef, but she was hung up in such a way that she did not sink or founder; most of her crew survived, and even some of the trade-goods were successfully removed and taken to land.

-Collection of lucky rocks (Oadenol's Codex; always end up back in her possession within a few hours of being dropped or thrown)

Spoiler

Since becoming aware of the curious properties of these Wyld-tainted stones, Eris has been collecting them. She's sure she'll find some use for them in the future. At present, she sometimes uses them as a gimmick for customers; she gives someone a rock while they think over an offer, or drops the rocks in a basket outside her apartment when she leaves for the day. People wishing to talk with her can tie or paste a message to the stone and be sure she'll receive it within a few hours.

-Premade paper prayers, mostly for healing and good fortune

Spoiler

She's not generally one for bothering the gods, but you never know when you'll need them...

-Knife (typically worn at her belt)
-Short sword (typically worn at her belt)
-Walking stick / staff (typically carried, when out of town)
-Hammer (kept in an Elsewhere-pocket, used primarily as a tool)
-Axe (kept in an Elsewhere-pocket, used primarily as a tool)

Charms

Spoiler

Melee
First Melee Excellency

Integrity
Integrity Protecting Prana

Presence
Second Presence Excellency
Irresistible Salesman Spirit

Resistance
Durability Of Oak Meditation
Spirit Strengthens The Skin

Investigation
Second Investigation Excellency
Judge's Ear Technique

Linguistics
Second Linguistics Excellency
Sagacious Reading of Intent
Letter-Within-A-Letter Technique
Wind-Carried Words Technique

Socialize
Second Socialize Excellency
Mastery of Small Manners
Taboo Inflicting Diatribe

Future charm planning:

Spoiler

Resistance tree:
Iron Skin Concentration
Adamant Skin Technique
Iron Kettle Body
Armored In Righteousness Stance

Investigation tree:
Courtier's Eye Technique
Know The Soul's Price
Unblinking Sentinel Gaze (GttMH:UCS)

Interesting Charms from outside Core:

Spoiler

From Abyssals:
Minds Yield To Glory (Presence)
Heartfelt Honorific Opportunity (Socialize) - makes social attacks unblockable and undodgeable. Lovely with Wise-Eyed Courtier Method and Taboo Inflicting Diatribe. Requires E3, Soc5 unfortunately...

From GttMH UCS:
Armored in Righteousness Stance (Resistance - makes Iron Kettle Body stack with armor)
Shining In Every Eye Attitude (Socialize - give positive intimacies of admiration)

From Lords of Creation: (require E4-5)
Golden Courtier Misdirection (Socialize)
Web-Cutting Eyes (Socialize)

Combos: (I know we don't need to buy them now, but I still like to define my combo displays and/or come up with names)

Unassailable Spirit Of The Ash (Durability of Oak Meditation + Spirit Strengthens The Skin + First Melee Excellency)
Combo display: Eris' light brown skin becomes barklike in texture and takes on a deep golden-brown hue, as a wreath of golden Essence-flowers blooms in her hair, and her eyes glow green-gold from edge to edge. Should a blow strike her, it is blunted by a tangle of thorns and vines; should she attack using Essence, there is the keening of wind through leaves, and she strikes out of the center of a ghostly image of ephemeral branches tossed in a wild storm.

How To Win Friends And Influence People (Irresistible Salesman Spirit + Mastery of Small Manners + Sagacious Reading of Intent + Second Presence/Socialize/Investigation Excellencies)

Combat Stats:

Spoiler

Join Combat: 2

Attacks:

Spoiler

Remembrance: Speed: 4 | Acc: 14 | Damage: 15L/4 | Parry DV: 7 | Rate: 1 | Tags: 2, R, O
Self Bow: Speed: 6 | Acc: 6 | Damage: depends on arrows | Parry DV: - | Rate: 2 | Range: 150

Spoiler

Broadhead Arrows: Damage +5L
Fowling Arrows: Damage +5B
Frog Crotch Arrows: Damage +7L, double lethal soak from armor
Target Arrows: Damage +3L, piercing

Hands: Speed: 5 | Acc: 6 | Damage: 3B | Parry DV: 4 | Rate: 3
Feet: Speed: 5 | Acc: 5 | Damage: 6B | Parry DV: 2 | Rate: 2
Clinch: Speed: 6 | Acc: 5 | Damage: 3B | Parry DV: - | Rate: 1

Dodge DV: 4

Permanent Charms (Effects)
Ox-Body Technique x1 (one -1 HL and two -2 HLs, free)

Soak:
Bashing: 9B (6 orichalcum breastplate + 1 Amulet + 2 Stamina)
Lethal: 10L (8 orichalcum breastplate + 1 Amulet + 1 Stamina)
Aggravated: 8A (orichalcum breastplate)

Hardness:
Bashing: 3 (orichalcum breastplate)
Lethal: 3 (orichalcum breastplate)
Aggravated: 3 (orichalcum breastplate)

Health:
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
X [ ]

Mental Defenses:
Dodge MDV: 7
Charisma Parry MDV:
>Presence: 8 if specialty applies, 6 otherwise
>Performance: 4
Manipulation Parry MDV:
>Presence: 7 if specialty applies, 6 otherwise
>Performance: 3

Virtues:
Compassion ●●
Conviction ●●●●●
Temperance ●●
Valor ●●

Virtue Flaw/Flawed Virtue:
Deliberate Cruelty/Conviction

Intimacies:
+Tepet Firada (Beloved Sister + Absolute Loyalty)
+Parents (Wistful Memory And Yearning)
+Anaxos Ro (Respected Business Partner)
+Rebels And Outcasts (Fellow Feeling)
+Kharal Zhou (Friendship/Trust)
-Abyssals (Hatred)

In progress:
+Symphony of Chimes (Magnificent Bastard)[*][*][ ][ ][ ]
+Isa (Wary Respect)[*][ ][ ][ ][ ]
+Aya (Protectiveness)[*][*][ ][ ][ ]
-Sidereals (Anger)[*][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Languages:
Low Realm (Native)
High Realm
Riverspeak
Old Realm
Flametongue
Seatongue

Permanent Willpower: ●●●●● ●●●●●
Temporary Willpower: 10/10

Virtue channels expended:
Conviction 1/5

Limit: 2/10

Essence:
Permanent: ●●
Personal: 5 + 3 committed (16) [(Permanent Essence x3)+Willpower]
Peripheral: 20 (35) (15 attuned, 8 Grand Daiklave + 2 Orichalcum Breastplate + 5 Infinite Resplendence Amulet) [(Permanent Essence x7)+Willpower)+Sum of Virtues]

Bonus Points and XP:

Spoiler

Bonus Points: Total: 0/30
Willpower 5->10 = 5
Conviction -> 5 = 2
Extra Caste/Favored Abilities = 4
Extra Backgrounds = 14
Specialties in caste/favored abilities = 2
Extra Charm = 3

Experience Points. Spent: 12 | Left: 5 | Total: 17
Stamina 1->2 = 4
Appearance 2->3 = 8

Couple of things which came to mind:

-Child is on the Convention on Thorns, right? I don't know how much information the Bureau has on what's happening inside the city (and in particular, in the Undercity), but if they have agents there, it's possible Child knows something about Orchid (or her older sister) already.

-I can think of a few ways Zhou might have met Orchid, if you wanted to introduce them together. They're both sword-fighters, so they could have met at a training yard / fencing match; alternatively, Orchid runs a discussion group at her apartment once a week with any of her contacts who are in the city, to share the latest information on topics of interest (and it's known that she's interested in any news out of Thorns or regarding the Anathema). She's also moderately well-known as someone to talk to for general information/gossip/contacts, for people who are trying to find their feet in Nexus, especially outcastes. (This is basically "she has a good Contacts rating, Charisma 5, high Investigation/Socialize/Presence, and has been living in Nexus for a while".)

-How well-known is Skandi? We would presumably have seen the anima banner go up; I'm not sure how widespread the tales of Skandi the Wolf are. Would Orchid know of him?