Fire Emblem ¦ Dan'zi
Dan'zi
Class: Myrmidon
Level: 15
Occupation: Sellsword
Inventory: Killing Edge, Vulnerary
Weapon + Level: Sword + C
Extra: His teeth are abnormally sharp for an average person and his ears have a very, very slight 'point' to them. He bears a particularly long, nasty scar that never healed properly across his chest as well as many smaller, more minor ones along his body. As a memento of his mentor, he wears his same tattered, old headband.
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History: Although Chon'sin is a nation renowned for its skilled swordmasters, adherence to a traditional lifestyle, and thriving culture, its sprawling slums never vanished even after a lengthy rebuilding period following its occupation by Valm. Dan'zi's mother was a lowly e living in Chon'sin's slums who already had many mouths to feed by the time he was born. However, Dan'zi wasn't like the rest of his bastard siblings; being fathered by a mysterious manakete, he had the blood of the formerly great Divine Dragon tribe flowing through his veins, and his partial dragonkin heritage was enough to set him apart from the rest of his brothers and sisters. Because he was so different, his mother constantly neglected him and his seven siblings often tormented him. He grew accustomed to their constant abuse during the earliest years of his life.
Come his eighth birthday, his mother found that she couldn't afford to support all of her children and abandoned him on the street. In the poorer areas of Chon'sin, it was a common practice to 'return' a child to lessen the amount of mouths to feed; once a child is returned, they can no longer go home or consider themselves a part of the family. Dan'zi had no choice but to raise himself and turned to a life of pickpocketing and thievery, often having to steal his meals or resort to mugging unsuspecting travelers. He took up residence in an old, decrepit shrine dedicated to Naga outside of the slums' limits and lived like a lone wolf for a few years. Having only himself to worry about, Dan'zi's only concerns involved his day-to-day survival and how he would make it through the next day. His days were lonely and wrought with danger, and he often had to go days without eating.
However, his life completely changed one fateful evening on the streets of Chon'sin at the age of eleven. Years of experience hardened him into a true bandit; he knew the streets like the back of his hand, he knew the best targets to pursue, and he knew how to rob them blind. His target that night was a cloaked old man that walked alone, hunched over feebly. Dan'zi drew his flimsy bronze sword on the old man and threatened to kill him for his money, but he had unwittingly grossly underestimated him; the man then tossed his cloak aside, standing up straight with a killing rdge in hand, and cautioned Dan'zi to flee. His pride wouldn't let him back down from the challenge, though, and thus Dan'zi was easily crushed by the elderly swordmaster in only two strikes: one aimed for his chest, and the other aimed at his blade which promptly broke upon impact.
It didn't take long for the open gash on his chest to start bleeding out, and Dan'zi truly believed that he would die right then and there. Instead of leaving him to bleed to death alone like an animal, though, the old man sheathed his blade and treated the gaping wound with a vulnerary he had on hand. Then he handed Dan'zi his coin purse and told him to seek out an orphanage to live in before putting his cloak back on and heading along his way. Although he had left Dan'zi with a scar on his chest, the boy was otherwise touched by the man's generosity. In the slums, the only law was 'every man for himself', yet the mysterious swordmaster had the kindness to give up his money and treat Dan'zi's wound before his condition worsened. Dan'zi took the injury he received as a lesson: if he continued to live the life of a thief, it could potentially kill him in the long-run. Wanting to know more about the elderly man, Dan'zi pursued him.
The old man turned out to be a former dynast rebel by the name of An'hai who had once ran a dojo in Chon'sin's capital, but retired from instructing once his age began to hamper his skill. Dan'zi followed An'hai to his modest home out in the surrounding forest and, upon catching up with him, pleaded for the old soldier to teach him how to fight with a sword as he did. Imaginably, An'hai was reluctant to teach him at first, but he eventually conceeded and agreed to instruct Dan'zi. Instead of pickpocketing unsuspecting pedestrians or stealing from food carts, Dan'zi turned up at the old man's home everyday without fail in order to train and become stronger. While An'hai was undoubtedly a kindhearted man, he made for a merciless teacher; he taught young Dan'zi all of his lessons the hard way and never once held back when they trained together, although he always made sure to treat his pupil's wounds afterward. The training was harsh, but Dan'zi never gave up or backed down. Over time, in an odd way, the two developed a father-son dynamic which resulted in An'hai officially adopting him as his son. That didn't change the harshness of Dan'zi's daily training routine, though.
Even years after Dan'zi's skill surpassed his mentor's, the two continued to passionately spar together until Dan'zi was roughly eighteen years-old. An'hai's health deteriorated rapidly as the years went by and it only continued to worsen. One day, he contracted pneumonia and became bedridden due to his age and frailty. With his dying breath, he conferred his headband and killing edge unto Dan'zi and told him to use his blade for good. Since the former Chon'sin soldier had been the only person in his life that had ever been truly family to him, Dan'zi grieved his death for many moons. After giving An'hai a proper burial in accordance with Chon'sin customs, he still found it difficult to part with his former mentor and adoptive father. However, he had An'hai's last wish to adhere to, and he couldn't accomplish it by lingering around his grave. A few weeks following An'hai's death, Dan'zi left Chon'sin with a new resolution to use his sword to help others as his teacher would have wanted.
... Or at least, Dan'zi had resolved to use his sword to help others for a short while. Life as a vagabond turned out to be more difficult than he had anticipated, and in no time at all, he had to set aside his morals and resort to becoming a sellsword, selling his skill with a blade to the highest bidder just to survive. Despite his age and youthful appearance due to his mixed heritage, Dan'zi proved to be a skillful swordsman and quickly made a decent name for himself among brigands and thieves. Many took to calling him the 'Crimson Dragon' because of his vivid red hair and ferocity with a sword. For years following his mentor's death, he constantly moved between bands of rogues, seemingly serving a new employer every time he so much as blinked. Eventually, he wound up serving a group of bandits known as the Ylissean Miscreants that constantly pillaged and raided various small villages in Ylisse. Naturally, the raids went completely against Dan'zi's morals, but the gold was too good to refuse and he had no choice but to continue to serve the Miscreants.
During one of the Miscreants' raids, however, the Ylissean Shepherds suddenly came to the village's aid and engaged in battle against them. The Miscreants put up a good fight, but alas, they were no match for Ylisse's world famous militia. One by the one, the Miscreants fell to the Shepherds' expertise in tactics, but one of the Shepherds noticed that Dan'zi was reluctant to fight. Rightfully, he was; he had sold out his morals only to fight a battle he didn't believe in, but what little pride he had left prevented him from surrendering to the Shepherds from the start. After the Shepherd offered him the chance to redeem himself by fighting alongside the Shepherds, Dan'zi turned his blade on his former employer and slayed him himself. Having regained his sense of purpose and his resolve to fulfill An'hai's last wish, he officially gave up his roguish ways and joined the Shepherds after the battle.
Age + Birthday: 22 + 10/21
Important People:
An'hai | 63 (deceased) | An'hai was kind enough to take Dan'zi under his wing as both a child and student in the ways of the sword despite Dan'zi being an orphan, outcast, and outlaw. As an adoptive father, he was caring without being overbearing, but as a teacher, he straddled the fine line between 'strict' and 'cruel' and is in fact the reason for many of Dan'zi's scars. | In life, An'hai was a down-to-earth sort of man who could keep his cool no matter what situation he was in and calmly think things through. However, in spite of his relaxed, cautious nature and generosity, when it came to the art of the sword, An'hai was neither merciful nor forgiving as a teacher to Dan'zi. His methods of teaching were extraordinarily harsh and physically taxing because he never held back, but that was the style he believed worked best in order to properly teach the importance of life and death, and Dan'zi revered him for it.
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Personality: Dan'zi takes after his mentor in many ways when it comes to battle. Like the late An'hai, he's a pragmatist, capable of retaining his composure in combat and calmly assessing the situation before making his move. He maintains intense focus on his target and patiently waits for his chance to strike. As a result, he can often spot an enemy's weak point within moments and strike them down with a fierce critical hit. Although many enemies fall prey to his superier skill and lightning speed, even Dan'zi knows his limits. When he needs assistance taking an enemy down, he's always more than happy to accept the help and team up with others in a pinch. In battle, his preferred strategy is to pick off straggling units so that his companions can focus on the main forces without any distractions. On the flipside, though, Dan'zi doesn't take orders very well; he prefers being given a simple directive from the start and then acting as he sees fit because the presence of others tends to easily throw off his focus. His mentor before him took fighting very seriously, and likewise, Dan'zi is no different in that regard.
On the other hand, Dan'zi is practically a completely different person outside of the combat zone. He's a gentle-natured, easygoing young man with a fun-loving side and a healthy curiosity for things unfamiliar to him in reality, a stark contrast to his significantly more secretive, taciturn teacher. Scarce few things can truly upset or anger Dan'zi to the point that it's almost impossible to catch him without a perpetual, carefree smile on his face. With his bright optimism and almost childlike enthusiasm, it's difficult for those who get to know him to envision him as the vicious, cutthroat swordsman-for-hire he is, but neither his stoic, focused side nor his good-natured, serene side are his 'true personality' so to speak. Dan'zi knows that there's always a time and place for everything; while he likes to joke around with his quirky sense of humor and relax when he isn't caught in the midst of battle, he knows when it's necessary to wisen up and be serious. As bizarre as his mannerisms may seem at times, he's secretly a lot more aware of the things that happen around him than he lets on.
Although he tends to get along well with others because he's a largely amiable individual, as an introvert, Dan'zi needs a lot of time to himself to contemplate over things and occasionally take breaks from interacting with others. After all, having to deal with people too often tends to stress him out even if he doesn't exactly dislike people. His tendency to withdraw into his own mind imaginably often leads to others growing suspicious of him and his intentions which can lead to misunderstandings. For instance, at mealtimes, Dan'zi prefers quietly eating by himself as opposed to eating with others, leading some to conclude that he's antisocial and cold when both couldn't be further from the truth. He requires having a little space every now and again in order to recuperate and hold himself together, and that's all there is to it.
Ironically, though he likes to be left alone from time to time, he actually feels lonely a lot of the time even around other people. His friendly, agreeable demeanor offsets his inner resentment and anguish. The reason Dan'zi acts so cheerful all the time is because he's an inwardly sensitive guy and doesn't want to seem weak to the people around him. In a way, he uses it to put an emotional barrier between himself and others because he's still emotionally scarred by the loss of his mentor, the one person he was closest with throughout his whole life. Dan'zi doesn't want to feel the same pain of loss as he did when An'hai died or burden others with his problems, preferring to withdraw into himself and smile to throw of others' suspicions instead. He's unable to be completely honest with other people when talking about himself and as a result is quite secretive. The one thing Dan'zi dislikes the most is when others pry into his personal life with instrusive questions; he's not comfortable talking about his past with just anyone and, if pressed far enough, is prone to snapping at people that dig too deep without meaning to.
Despite being something of a multi-faced person, Dan'zi is still a pleasant, warmhearted guy that can easily befriend anyone willing to approach him first.
Likes:
- Sunrises: He enjoys waking up early just to watch the sun rise every morning. - Children: Surprisingly, Dan'zi is quite good with them and typically gets along well with those younger than him. - Gambling: As a rambling, gambling man, Dan'zi is always up for a fair game and carries dice and a deck of cards with him everywhere. - Meat: Few things make him happier than a nice roast.
Dislikes:
- Wyrmslayers: Allies can't even wield one around him without him assuming that they're plotting to kill him. - Dark Mages: They're usually very sneaky and suspicious people. Needless to say, Dan'zi just doesn't trust them. - Raw Vegetables: He doesn't care for the taste and texture of most raw vegetables and typically reacts to them with disgust. - Alcohol: His tolerance for alcohol is absurdly low and consuming it often brings out the worst in him. Dan'zi is a true teetotaler.
Trivia:
- Despite being half-manakete, he's sadly unable to shapeshift using a Dragonstone. Wyrmslayers are still unusually effective on him. - His name means 'child of dawn'. Many who know this think it suits him well; Dan'zi is always awake by the crack of dawn. - Dan'zi is very skilled in the art of sleight of hand. His hand movements are so fast and precise that he can fool even the most observant onlookers. - He looks like a mischievous teenager in his mid-teens but is actually an adult in his early twenties, thanks to his manakete blood. - Many from Chon'sin are known for their eloquence, but not Dan'zi. He has a crude, slangy speech pattern much like a Feroxi.
Dream: Dan'zi dreams of using his blade to make his mentor proud and redemption from his dishonest lifestyle.
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Stats:
Strength - 4
Magic - 1 Skill - 8 Speed - 9 Luck - 5 Defense - 3 Resistence - 2 |
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Comments?: Wow, I love Fire Emblem as a series so much, and then this beautiful fic comes along. How could I resist? I have logged literally hundreds of hours into the three most recent games alone (Shadow Dragon, Heroes of Light and Shadow, Awakening), I just can't get enough of the series. It's like Pokemon with hundreds of amazing characters and omg. I didn't play Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn, unfortunately, but I'm hoping Dan'zi is a good fit for this story, eheh. ;u;
I left the details of Dan'zi's recruitment slightly vague because I thought it would be more interesting to have someone else's character talk him out of banditry. Lucina, Lux, anyone would work, but if that's not okay, let me know and I'll revise~
Tagline: The earliest riser in the army.
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