Hoi chummers!
I'm finally getting to play (not run) a game, and created a physical adept. I wanted to get some feedback on his background if you decide you have a minute to spare:
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Born in Seattle, Jonathan Hensley was born to a wage slave family working for Wuxing and lived a comfortable life for his first five years. His birth mother died when he was only three, though his father met and fell in a whirlwind romance with a mid-level corp executive on temporary duty from Hong Kong. They were married, and his father followed Lijuan (his Chinese nationalist wife) back to Hong Kong when her time in Seattle was up and she facilitated his transfer.
Growing up in Hong Kong had its ups and downs for the next couple of years. It was a new, exciting place to explore, but wild and dangerous when they briefly traveled outside the corporate enclave. Jon was fascinated with martial arts, and watched new and old trids about kung fu masters, and imagined himself growing up to perform similar deeds. However, one fateful evening when they were out to dinner at Lijuan's favorite restaurant in her childhood neighborhood, they were caught in a crossfire during a Triad shoot out. Both his father and step-mother were killed, though it was unclear whose bullets claimed their lives. After the violence subsided, an older member of the Red Dragons saw the young boy, huddled and splattered in the blood of his parents. Whether it was an act of kindness or seeing some spark in Jon, Gang Jun (the Sheung Fa) took the boy in, who seemed to be in a state of shock and catatonic as he was unable--or unwilling--to speak.
Slowly, he brought Jon out of his state, though he remained silent. Gang Jun let the boy watch the Triad's martial arts training which he seemed particularly interested in. Eventually, Jon began mimicking their moves, so Gang Jun allowed him to start training with the gang and did not spare him the rigor of that training. Jon took to it like a natural, and Gang Jun noted the beginnings of magical traces in his aura. Two years later, advancing quickly in skill, Jon broke his silence when Gang Jun asked what name he would go by. "Kenshiro" was his answer, and the only name to which he answers to this day.
As Kenshiro grew, Gang Jun molded the story of that night subtlety, ensuring that the Yellow Lotus Triad was to blame for Kenshiro's parents' deaths. Having no reason to doubt his mentor, he continued to train in martial arts, develop his adept powers under Gang Jun's tutelage, and learn the ways of the Triad. But Kenshiro never forgot the trauma he went through as a child, and, coupled with Gang Jun’s teaching took to following the code of Wuxia. Kenshiro’s strikes are precise, never endangering the innocent; he will not accept a bribe, nor serve the corrupt (even as he saw his mentor through a distorted lens).
When the Triad War in Hong Kong broke out in 2062, Kenshiro was only 15 years old, but that didn't stop him from being a soldier and taking years of pent-up angst out on his enemies. Though the Red Dragons were victorious, Gang Jun fell during the conflict, and Kenshiro again lost another father figure. He was around for some of the years of consolidation of the aftermath, searching for answers and his true path. It was then that a mentor spirit reached out to him, sensing his loneliness and meanderings. Kenshiro saw in Yīngxióng an honorable authority figure that was eternal. This filled the voids that Kenshiro felt most deeply, and he dedicated himself to becoming a paragon of his mentor. The successor to Gang Jun didn't know how to fit this Westerner who showed such promise into the Hong Kong situation. Consulting with the Red Dragon hierarchy, word came down to send Kenshiro back to Seattle, to covertly work with the Red Dragon-affiliated Triad The Octagon which had been losing ground to their rivals the Yellow Lotus.
For a few years, that's exactly what Kenshiro has been doing. Learning to be more subtle and patient, he works the shadows, while pursuing his agenda against the Yellow Lotus Triad. He does not work openly with the Red Dragons' Ocatagon, but takes runs that hinder or disrupt the Lotus' operations. Kenshiro has access to The Octagon if needed, but prefers to keep them at a distance. He continues to hone his skills and powers, and looks forward to the day that he can reign vengeance down on the rival and (as he sees it) dishonorable Triad, and allow the Red Dragons to reclaim their position of power in Seattle. His teammates know nothing of his relationship to the Red Dragons, but do notice his vehemence in pursing runs against the Yellow Lotus Triad.
