(塔嘰) Tǎ Gī Epiphanes
(Whispering Tower)
Age: 27
Abilities
~ Bowmanship ~Mostly self-trained, Tagi has spent the better part of his life practicing archery. Finding the practice meditative, he trains his focus into the mechanics, and his Qi into the tips of his arrows. His accuracy and precision hardly waiver through an almost instinctual, yet calculative, mindset as he executes his art.
~ Metalsmithing ~Tagi makes his living off crafting and dealing fine jewelry, sometimes custom-made and personalized for the buyer. He designs necklaces, bracelets, and the likes, along with statuettes, talismans, amulets, and most other ornaments.
He also enjoys crafting his own arrows, putting extra effort into his arrowheads. Boiling the process and machinations down to a science, he tests their physics along a wide array of variables, such as weight, force, travel path, and impaling pattern.
He imbues his Qi into all his work, believing he leaves traces of whatever his mindset is during construction as a sort of purpose or fortune in the final product.
~ Terrestrial Divining ~Much like the light of the fire, the flow of water, and the drift of the air, Tagi believes stones and metals to have life of their own. He can feel abnormalities in the earth, particularly that of crystals and metal veins that run beneath it.
~ Geomancy ~Along the same lines as above, Tagi believes these products of the earth speak to him. He believes the matter of the earth itself is the conduit of the divine itself, manifesting as a medium through which physical beings can communicate. He believes crystals and metals have a type of soul, or intelligence, and that they can relay to him ethereal will.
~ Revelation ~Often, Tagi receives
visions during his sleep and meditations, which he interprets as divine revelation. In odd ways, they correlate to his life and he attributes déjà vu to prophecy fulfilled. Sometimes, they spark new ideas and challenge his thought, but other times he finds himself haunted as he tries to reconcile newly founded internal struggles or piece together seemingly cryptic puzzles.
Affinity
1 : EARTH2 : METALPersonality
Tagi has a straight-faced demeanor, while still speaking with a generally welcoming tone. He speaks pretentiously and concisely, but is nonetheless understanding and empathetic with regards to others.
His education has taught him to follow the mantras
"
there is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance"
and
"
nature knows no good or evil, only balance and imbalance".
Due to his visions, Tagi has adopted a stoic mentality in believing the universe is absolute, but he often pushes it aside in his active life. He is an avid reader in his conquest for scholarship, and a moderate socialite with hopes of expanding his perceptions. He puts thought and care into his efforts regardless, ultimately hoping to reach higher levels of understanding on his quest for self-discovery.
History
Born to a master calligrapher in the Dragon's Domain, Tagi was fortunate enough to achieve a high level of literacy at a young age. He learned the virtue of discipline and patience through a strict upbringing, honing his finesse in the process. Being forced to construct and style a corpus of characters for hours on end, he developed an expansive vocabulary and began reading texts his family kept around their household. They were mostly spiritual, consisting of religious critiques and meditation guides.
At the age of 14, Tagi was caught stealing ink in his venture to do some writing of his own. His parents exiled him to the Tortoise's Rest to work for his uncle, a miner. He parsed through their handbooks learning how to identify the various gemstones and metals they expounded their efforts into. Here, he gradually became more attune to
tracking deposits of these valuables in the cavernous walls of the mountain, on its surface, and in the ground beneath them.
During their free time at these mining encampments, the laborers would practice archery and hold their own competitions with the locals. Although their equipment was lacking and all their training was amateur, it only kept them on their toes as they quickly became accustomed to whatever they could get their hands on. Tagi was allowed to participate in the games of men, and proved himself folly capable of playing at the same level as the adults.
Maybe it was the awe of the mountains, or being surrounded by the fascinating products of the earth, but Tagi became aware of his subconscious connection to crystals and metals. He had always had dreams, but he grew up being told they were normal. During his time at the Tortoise's Rest, they became more vivid and revealed themselves even in his waking hours. They bring him advice, reflection, and sometimes even prophecy, even in the vaguest ways. He struggled to understand them, but submitted to the process of giving time to tell.
By the age of 18, Tagi held enough seniority that he was allowed to keep a small portion of whatever he found at the expense of his own profits. He began fashioning trinkets for himself, as well as idols and various other ornaments. The art and design process fascinated him. He would hand out these pieces as gifts to his fellow workers, and they believed fortune struck them and the spirits guarded them through Tagi's works. He began selling his creations as custom works and used the proceeds to purchase various philosophical texts and mystical treatises, hoping to understand what continued to run through his head. After a while, he gave himself the epithet "
Epiphanes" half-jokingly, considering himself a revelator through his craft.
When he turned 21, Tagi was called to the home of a prominent business family in the Kirin's Realm after one had discovered an intricately designed dragon statuette in a high-end jewelry store. Over the course of 12 months, he was commissioned to construct all the jewelry and ornaments for a particularly grandiose wedding between their son and the daughter of a regionally renowned musician. The wedding went off without absolutely no problems, and both sides attributed such fortune to the powers of Tagi's work.
After this and a handsome payoff, Tagi opened up his own jewelry shop, working relentlessly with a staff not allowed to touch the material between its delivery and completion. In his free time, he continued reading, meditating through archery and traditional means, and orchestrating designs. He is convinced the divine speaks to him in all hours of the day, and that he is able to actively tap into their energy through the crystals and metals he handles regularly. When one comes into his shop, one can expect thorough philosophical preaching, with glimmers of pretentious prophesying.
Equipment
~ Custom-Woven Tunic ~Brown, with the interior lined with gold and silver threading.
~ Full-Body Wrappings ~Protecting his skin and lungs from the gases and harmful particles that permeate his workspace.
~ Custom Axe/Pickaxe ~Forged during his time in the mines of various alloys he felt to be most ideal and suitable for resistance.
~ Composite Bow ~Gifted by a benefactor.
~ Large Leather Quiver ~ Gifted by a benefactor.
Capacity for 30 of his hand-made arrows.
Other
