3. Tao of Lucheran Quan

Tao of Lucheran Quan

  • T

    Player Name: Lucheran Quan
    Account Name: Tao Quan

    Over three centuries ago there was a monk of fantastic power his name was Tao Gu Shen, or loosely translated as “The Way of the Ancient Spirit.” During his lifetime Tao Gu Shen accomplished much, including meeting and finding a beautiful elven woman named Tyrathiealliel. Her home had been consumed by a war that is long forgotten, leaving her utterly alone.
    With nothing else to do but travel Tyrathiealliel left her home and put her ancestral life behind her. After many years and many more battles Tyrathiealliel came upon a lone monastery deep in the mountain range. These mountains were completely unknown to Tyrathiealliel even though she had been through this region many times before. She didn’t give it much thought, however because the recent encounter with giants had wounded her badly and she needed attention soon.
    Late in the evening a simple monastery came into view. She couldn’t quite be sure but something was amiss in this mountain range, something that Tyrathiealliel couldn’t quite place. The animals seemed silenced but so alive all at once. The sun seemed to shine, even though it was slowly descending behind the mountains. It was at this point that heaven and earth seemed to converge into one endless cycle where neither a beginning nor end could be seen.
    The monastery was not extraordinary by any standards, Tyrathiealliel had seen many in her travels, but what made this place so unique? Her keen senses were telling her that something was different here, even ethereal. The monastery was set atop one of the highest plateaus of the mountainous peaks that surrounded the elven maiden, near the Snow Eagle Aerie Tyrathiealliel noted.
    It stood nearly 5 stories tall with sweeping rooftops and a simple elegance about it. She couldn’t be sure if there was anyone even here since there were no lights present in any of the windows. Tyrathiealliel sincerely hoped that the large building was inhabited for if it wasn’t she most certainly was dead. After all she had lost a lot of blood and her weary legs could carry her no further.
    She looked to the monastery, bleary eyed, full of hope and dread all at the same time, was this it? Was her short, lonely life to come to an end? What had she accomplished? Her home was ransacked and destroyed in the war, the war where her lineage was completely whipped out. After that she had left searching, but searching for what? Another home, new friends, new family? Wherever she wandered Tyrathiealliel had always felt alone, there was never much acceptance from humans for her. Dwarves, ha she would never succumb to a dwarvish fate, she had too much love for being under the sky. So what then? She couldn’t ever seem to get along with other elves so she just wandered the world, to end up on an unknown mountain range and die? What had she accomplished in her short elven life?
    Tyrathiealliel pondered the questions and emotions that suddenly welled up inside her letting her gaze fall upon the first star of the night. Slowly she lowered her head regarding the monastery; then Tyrathiealliel noticed what truly made this monastery unique; there was something energetically different to this place and these mountains. Her elven senses were keen and she could clearly feel a true benevolence to this mountain range, but all the energy wasn’t coming from the terrain around her, it was coming directly from the monastery itself! By the time Tyrathiealliel had come out of her thoughts it was already dark and not only that but she was still bleeding. She began to feel faint, her world started to spin around and all of the sudden she felt the hard, cold granite that was once beneath her feet.
    She couldn’t tell if she had fallen or not but her body told her it felt so good to lay down. Her world slowly became dark, but she swore she heard chanting she couldn’t quite be sure but she swore it was coming from the monastery. The chanting became louder and clearer, she felt at peace, she felt it was finally her time to leave her mortal coil. The chanting grew and Tyrathiealliel immediately knew it wasn’t coming from the monastery, but rather it was coming from within her!
    Tyrathiealliel called upon all of her willpower to lift her head to regard the monastery, what was this place? She wondered in all her years she had never felt such magic, such peace, such power! Where did all this come from? Her thoughts became a jumble as she was hoisted from the ground. She turned her head to regard who had picked her up, only to look directly into the face of a grinning giant.
    She had no strength to fight back; she could barely move her head to regard the giant. Tyrathiealliel knew her time was at an end and suddenly her regrets became so real and she started to cry. She looked to the monastery hopeful that the doors would open and legions of monks would pour out to save her life. It was then that Tyrathiealliel vowed that she would live with no regrets, from this moment on, even if she lived for another minute.
    Her head lolled to the ground as she began to black out, all she could hear were the giants behind her, probably discussing the best way to prepare elvish meat.
    “Don’t worry, you shall not die.”
    Tyrathiealliel barely heard the words, no she had not heard them, they had come from within her mind as did the chanting. She tried futilely to lift her head again to see if her hopes had come true, had the door to the monastery opened? Alas, her muscles would simply not heed her call and all she could do was helplessly look upon the ground. Her eyes started to close, she must’ve been hallucinating, and then she saw a pair of booted feet step on the ground before her.
    Tyrathiealliel thought she had drawn her last breath, she was now stuck between two giants and apparently they decided how they would dine this evening. Then Tyrathiealliel heard it, a sound that gave her a glimmer of hope, the sound of a bone crushing and a loud gurgle of blood. Then she was falling to the cold granite below.
    She never hit the cold, unforgiving stone, she wondered why she hadn’t hit the ground yet and then she understood. She was being held up by a man covered head to toe in flowing blue robes that seemed to catch all the starlight and reflect it back to the heavens. He laid her upon the stone gently and never let his eyes falter from the other 3 giants now approaching him, with weapons drawn. The 4th giant lay writhing in agony clutching at its crushed esophagus gasping for air.
    She looked at this man with respect and sheer admiration. How in the nine hells had he fallen a giant with a single blow? Granted any creature would fall with a blow that crushed its esophagus, but to crush a giant’s? The blow would have to be able to smash the granite that Tyrathiealliel now laid upon. However this man had done it! He was extremely powerful indeed and now he stood toe to toe and fearless against 3 more giants!
    She stood upon the edge of consciousness, her head pounding just as much as her heart. Especially after such a near brush with death, but she knew she wasn’t out of danger yet. Sure this man had killed one giant, but she had never seen anyone take on 3. Once the giants were done with him, she knew they would come after her and now was her chance to escape. She called upon all of her years of training and her willpower to move, she just had to get up and run that was all. That was far too much, her battered body simply would not respond to her call. Tyrathiealliel was forced to watch her would be savior perish at the hands of the beasts.

          • He knew he had lost the element of surprise as the three behemoths encircled him. Though that hardly mattered to the man, he had already killed one of them and the other three were no true threat to him. The giant came in hard, like a landslide, rushing at this new attacker that had killed his comrade. The monk didn’t move an inch as the giant bore down on him.
            The swing was fast for a giant, but hardly caught the man by surprise. He had read it perfectly and before the giant even started his swing the man was behind it, scoring nearly 5 hits. Gnollianar turned and regarded the man, obviously feeling the strikes but he hardly took notice as a huge smile displayed across his face.
        • How had he moved that fast? Tyrathiealliel had seen magically enchanted men move in the blink of an eye, but this man had seemed to disappear entirely! But how could he considering that she had seen him strike the giant? Though soon enough Tyrathiealliel saw that this man’s ego was his downfall as she watched in horror, the man had turned his back on the giant!
        • Sensing the kill Gnollianar prepared for another strike, the man was sandwiched between him and his two giant friends. This man was an easy kill. The giant went to lift his sword, but found to his shock that it could not move! Gnollianar didn’t give it much thought though for the giant knew that Rokanaris and Kelmaren could easily dispose of this man.
          Gnollianar’s confidence almost didn’t allow him to notice a small gurgling in his stomach. Dinner will be served soon enough he thought and with both a human and an elf to dine on he would be full enough.
        • Rokanaris came in a little more cautiously towards the human, seeing how quickly he dodged Gnollianar.
          “Gnollianar, press in on the human so that we can eat sooner,” growled Rokanaris. Rokanaris couldn’t quite tell why Gnollianar hadn’t moved in already, especially when he was already flanking the human. Suddenly he could tell by the look in Gnollianar’s eyes that something was wrong. Rokanaris looked to Kelmaren and motioned for him to flank left on the human. With Kelmaren in position everything was set. The giants didn’t stand a chance.
          The man moved in a blur, not even registering to Tyrathiealliel’s keen elven eyesight. She couldn’t believe how fast this man was moving and he was even a human! Never had Tyrathiealliel seen anything like this in all her days on Faerun.
        • He stood till the last possible seconds that he could manage. Holding his position and showing no sign of visible fear as the giants rushed towards him. The first giant came in hard on his left thinking to have the advantage of the flanked human and also hoping to catch him unprepared. It couldn’t have been more wrong, the man leaped into the air easily clearing the giant’s 10 foot frame and snap kicked the beast in the face.
          The giant kept coming in full force as its vision blurred from the momentous force of the kick, the man landing nimbly behind him. The giant quickly spun around hoping to catch the human off guard, only to be caught by two fists straight in its knee caps. The sickening crack of bone and cartilage filled the air as the giants legs bent backward making the giant look like an oversized stork.
          Kelmaren hit the ground in sheer pain; never had he experienced anything like this and from an unarmed human! Rage replaced pain as Kelmaren turned on his buttocks to face his opponent; it was then that Kelmaren grabbed a huge boulder ready to throw and crush this miserable human. Kelmaren held his attack though because he quickly noticed Rokanaris was wading in on the human.

    Rokanaris couldn’t believe that this man had just taken out three of his comrades in arms and now it was only him. What could he possibly offer against this human? As he was in his throws of despair Rokanaris then noticed Kelmaren still somewhat flanking the human with a huge boulder ready to throw. Rokanaris looked to the monk and noticed that he didn’t even have his eyes open.
    “You shall die by my hands!” Rokanaris yelled as he begun his charge.
    He headed straight for the monk, drawing back his fist that had he had used to smash boulders. The monk leaped high into the air, but thanks to Kelmaren’s mishap Rokanaris was more than prepared. He spun impossibly quick for a giant, his fist was moving strait for the human.
    “I like my human crushed, easier to eat!!!” he yelled with a wide grin displayed across his face. Rokanaris waited for what seemed like hours for the monk to come down. Eventually he lowered his fist and started to look straight up into the night sky.
    “Where in the hells could he have gone?”
    “I don’t know. I-I-I didn’t see him land,” Kelmaren stammered looking around as though he thought the dangerous man would appear behind him. Kelmaren looked to his right and left frantically, he knew that no human could possibly fly, or could he? Kelmaren then realized his mistake as he looked to his right, or more pointedly to a giant boulder a few yards away. Was that Rokanaris carrying a boulder to crush the human? If it was it was the biggest boulder he had ever seen a giant carry. It was three times the size of a giant!!!
    It was then that Kelmaren had noticed that it looked as though the boulder was rolling towards him. Kelmaren was still wondering if the boulder was rolling towards him as it easily rolled over him crushing him into the granite below.
    Rokanaris ran to get beside Gnollianar and try to see what was wrong with him. He was desperate he had to get Gnollianar to move; he shook him and smacked him, though nothing at all worked. In all his desperation Rokanaris never noticed the monk sneaking in silently behind him.

    Tyrathiealliel had never seen a battle such as this. She couldn’t tell if this man was truly doing such feats or if she was hallucinating from all of her blood loss. After a few seconds of thought she realized it didn’t really matter, there was only one giant left and this man had already taken out three of them without even breaking a sweat.
    Tyrathiealliel then noticed the blue robe walking slowly from the shadows towards the giant that was trying so desperately to revive its apparently paralyzed friend. She smiled as she knew this monk had won the day, but that smile quickly turned to a face of shock as he simply disappeared.

        • Rokanaris quickly turned around as he noticed his folly; he turned his back on this deadly man. Though with a sigh of relief he noticed the monk was no where to be seen. He turned back to Gnollianar shaking him vigorously for perhaps the 100th time. Rokanaris knew that Gnollianar’s revival was the only way they stood a chance.
          Suddenly Rokanaris flinched as he felt a small prick in the back of his neck, suddenly he couldn’t move either. He knew immediately that he and Gnollianar were both dead. The monk appeared seemingly out of no where right next to both of the frightened giants. He touched Gnollianar in a few select spots and smacked his chest twice.
          As suddenly as he was paralyzed, Gnollianar regained control of all his body once again. Rage replaced everything that he had ever thought about as he sparred off against the human. His stomach gurgled louder again and this time it seemed even painful.
          “Soon enough, I will dine upon you, soon eno…” Gnollianar didn’t even finish the words before blood poured from his mouth and the sound of a loud explosion erupted from within his body.
          Gnollianar looked down to his body; his stomach was gone replaced by what looked to be a small sapling of a tree. What kind of trickery had the monk played on him, what was this illusion. Gnollianar was still pondering what happened when he hit the ground dead, his stomach fully exploded, with his spine sticking out his abdomen looking oddly like a sapling.
          The monk walked slowly and nonchalantly towards the last standing giant. He stood before the frozen beast and non-ceremoniously reached around the giant’s neck and removed a small pin. The giant began to twitch violently, shaking the ground upon which he stood. Veins began to become visible through the giants stone like skin. They became larger and larger until they started to explode.

    Rokanaris had never felt such pain; he couldn’t even begin to understand what was happening to him. He glared wickedly upon the monk, but then Rokanaris thought that it was raining, no not raining, it was his own blood exploding from his body. Rokanaris looked again to the monk, with a questioning stare and then and only then did Rokanaris realize that the monk’s eyes were not at all closed. He was sincerely blind, that was the last thought Rokanaris knew as his head exploded and splashed on the granite all around his bloody body.

        • Tyrathiealliel couldn’t be sure what she had seen. Had this man really defeated four giants and not only that but he was unarmed! She had never seen such battle prowess, such brutal efficiency, and such power!
          The monk slowly came back into view as once again his robes shown a bright blue, Tyrathiealliel noted there was not a drop of blood upon them. He walked over to her and never said a word as he crouched down to examine her wounds. Tyrathiealliel couldn’t help but look into her savior’s eyes, only to find him completely blind. How could a blind man fight off four giants? How did he know where to move, or where to strike? All these questions plagued the elf’s thoughts as she slipped into unconsciousness.
        • When she finally awoke and her eyes had regained her focus she wasn’t sure exactly where she was, then she saw him. He was a tall man with hair the color of a dark oak brown. He stood nearly 6 and half feet tall with huge broad shoulders and corded muscular arms. Even though he wore the robes of a monk Tyrathiealliel could tell that he was a powerful man his gait was strong and true, yet he seemed to float like an elf that Tyrathiealliel had once known.
          “I am glad you are alright” the man replied in a slow and easy tone.
          He turned slowly away from the window and Tyrathiealliel noticed his eyes. It was almost as if they were on fire, not like flames of a camp fire, but an inner fire, typically Tyrathiealliel recalled only in the eldest of elves. She remembered her father then, the king of her fallen home, but even his eyes paled in comparison to this man’s.
          “Do you not speak of the common tongue?” asked the man, then slowly repeating the phrase in elven.
          “Yes, I can speak both,” Tyrathiealliel replied filled with shock. It wasn’t at all uncommon for humans to know the elfish tongue, but this man had spoken as though he was elfish, melodic tone and all.
          “I am a monk I can easily speak elven,” he said.
          Tyrathiealliel immediately knew her folly for this man had easily seen her shock. Her warrior instincts screamed at her that she had made a huge mistake, you should never show your emotions, and especially to anyone you didn’t know. It went against all her father taught her. Yet, Tyrathiealliel felt that this man meant her no harm.
          “Forgive me I have forgotten my manners; my name is Tao Gu Shen.”
          “Tyrathiealliel, I give you many thanks for saving my life. I am entirely in your debt. My life is yours.”
          “Ha ha ha, that won’t be necessary at all, your thanks is more than enough Tyrathiealliel. I am happy that you are alright.”
          Tyrathiealliel was once again set back on her heels of Tao Gu Shen’s grasp of the elfish language. Her name was hard enough to pronounce in elfish tongue yet this human had done it flawlessly.
          “Tyra, please my friends call me, Tyra.”
          “Thank you,” Tao Gu Shen bowed realizing the great honor that Tyra had bestowed upon him. It was rare indeed for an elf to call a human a friend, especially one that she trusted enough to call him friend.
          “I will let you rest; lunch will be in 2 hours if you are hungry.”
          “Thank you,” Tyra rested her head comfortably on the pillow to rest some more

    Tyra had been looking out the window for hours now, slowly watching the sunrise. Years had passed since she had come to this monastery, she had found out much about this temple she had come to call home. The mountains around her had never grown dull and always seemed full of life; Tyra thought back to her first night here and remembered the energy she felt around this place. She laughed as she realized she still felt that energy today. The only difference is it now flowed through her as well.
    Tyra found out that she had come to a temple the monks called The Palace between the Earth and The Sky. A thoroughly magically palace and mountain range that only came around every 1,000 years and only if the Jaded One had allowed it. This palace was a palace of the gods, all the monks here had cultivated themselves to become immortal. The palace only came around to keep the monks beliefs and religion alive. It would stay upon the earth for 250 years only to disappear to the courts of heaven again.
    Tyra looked low and rubbed her stomach, it had been nine long months that she had been carrying this living being inside her. She sighed as she remembered that she couldn’t train again today. The monks had forbidden it, Tyra understood though most of the techniques the monks had shown her would’ve easily killed her child. Although, she remembered she could always do the meditation “Heaven’s Gate,” the most powerful meditation and highly treasured by the monks. It was the secret to the monk’s immortality.
    “Another beautiful day,” Tyra replied coming out of meditation. She had sensed her master’s presence from down the hall.
    “Everyday is a beautiful day.”
    “Well met,” Tyra replied.
    “How is the child?”
    “Exceptional,” Tyra replied.
    “As he should be,” Tao Gu Shen said slowly bending down to kiss his beloved student and wife.
    “He will be miraculous; after all he is the child of Tao Cong Tian.”
    He said using Tyra’s monk given name. He smiled as he considered the meaning of her name “The Way to Follow the Sky,” seemed only fitting for his beloved. He walked slowly towards the window and closed his eyes, listening quietly to the wind.
    “It will be soon,” Tao Gu Shen remarked assuredly to Tao Cong Tian.
    “Very soon indeed.”

    The day was a beautiful one even by the monastery’s standards, it was even more beautiful because it was a day of celebration, the day of the Jaded One and it was the Year of the Dragon.
    Tao Cong Tian was giving birth making her day even more magical, surprisingly she had no pain and the child birth was pain free, other than the pain of her missing practice again. The sound of a child broke the air, as he took in his first breath of life.
    “Amazing indeed is the coming of life. Even more amazing is having it happen in The Palace between Heaven and Earth. We are not supposed to have children here.” Tao Gu Shen exclaimed to his wife with a wide smile. It was the first time she saw emotion from him.
    “Then it must be destiny,”
    “Indeed it must,” Tao Gu Shen agreed.
    “I will leave you with the honor naming our son, my beloved husband.”
    “Tao Quan,” his father replied already bestowing the highest honor to his babe, giving him a monk’s title at birth.
    “The Way of the Fist,” Tao Cong Tian replied. “You truly are a special babe.”
    “May I see my son?”
    Tao Cong Tian gingerly handed over Tao Quan. Tao Gu Shen raised his son high to the heavens and stated bluntly;
    “Your training begins tomorrow.”
    Tao Cong Tian could only smile…a special babe indeed.

          • He sweated profusely as he went through his fabled quarterstaff routine for what must have been the 1,000th time today. The sun was high in the sky he had already been practicing for nearly 8 hours and he still had 6 more to go. It didn’t truly matter to Tao Quan he loved to practice, especially with his favorite weapon.
            He took a small break to get some water and realized that he had yet to meditate today. Realizing that a warrior’s art was only a good as his mind, he dutifully put down his swords and thought he would meditate for the last six hours.
            Tao…Tao Quan.
            Soon Quan realized he was hearing this voice in his mind, another trap, a distraction set up by the mind to bother his meditation. Quan easily put it out of his mind, going back to his deep meditation.
            TAO QUAN. Don’t shut me out…please.
            The voice boomed inside his mind, quickly Quan realized this was someone of exceptional abilities to break his meditations.
            Father? Quan replied as much as asked.
            It is me my son. Please come to the temple hall. It is important.
            Quan knew better than to question his father, especially if his father intruded into his meditations. Quan quickly picked up the quarterstaff and ran the 10 miles of the steep mountain trails to the temple.

    “Yes father?"
    “The time has come,” Tao Gu Shen stated calmly.
    “What time?” Quan asked with a perplexed question on his face. He couldn’t quite place it but something seemed out of place.
    “We are leaving this earthly realm; our 250 years have come to an end.”
    “I have learned much in my 20 years in the temple father I am ready to follow you wherever we may go.”
    “No.”
    “No?” Quan echoed incredulously.
    “You have a destiny to fulfill. Somewhere in the realms there is an ancient book that you must seek out and use to the best of your abilities.”
    “But father I am supposed to come with you, mother and the rest of the monks. I am an immortal and I should…….”
    “No, you are not yet immortal. That is something we all know. This book is of the utmost importance to the temple. It has our most sacred of teachings and it cannot be found by any outsiders. They simply aren’t ready.”
    “Very well, I will find the book and then I will be back in time for us to go to the court yard of the Jaded One.” Quan replied respectively.
    “You don’t understand we have no idea where it is. This quest must be done and then you must continue to cultivate yourself to become immortal. This book will help. It is the book of a 1,000 Heavens”
    “Yes father,” Quan immediately knew the great burden that had been placed upon his shoulders. The book of a 1,000 Heavens? Quan had heard of the book, but surprisingly little, especially considering it was the most sacred of documents.
    “The book of a 1,000 Heavens is a powerful book indeed, my son. When the temple arrives on this earth, so does the book. Though we as monks have no idea where it is, it always appears in different regions of the world. It has been over 10,000 years since the book was last seen sitting in our halls. The only monk to have found it was the Jaded One himself!”
    Quan’s throat became dry as a desert, the Jaded One? The highest god of the temple’s order? Suddenly Quan realized how much this book meant!
    “Do you understand Quan it is your destiny to find this book, I know it is so.”
    “Yes father, I un….”
    “YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!! Sorry my son, don’t ever treat this quest lightly. You find this book there is no telling what you can achieve!”
    “Forgive me father.”
    “You must pack for the road now; your quest begins at once.”
    Bowing respectfully Quan got up to make his leave.
    “Quan!”
    “Yes father,” Quan turned quickly bowing again.
    “Remember the world below is much different than ours. This will be a test of your patience, ego and humanity. The world below would not understand our ways and beliefs. You must do what you can to learn of this world known as Faerun. This will aid greatly in your training.”
    “Yes, Master.”
    “And Quan, this is the most important point. You will loose nearly all of your ethereal skills in the world below, as you will no longer be under the guidance of me or the monastery. Remember this!”
    “Yes, Master.”
    “Also you will have no need for your name in the world below….you will now be known as Lucheran, until you return to the temple that is.”
    “Lucheran Quan?” Quan mumbled, he hated the idea of losing his monk given name, though he knew his father meant no disrespect in it.
    “Quan, goodbye my son.”
    Quan put his right hand across the front of his chest gently cupping it with his left. The temple’s sign for good blessing and thank you. Quan turned around and went for his room. Quan didn’t have much to think about, his focus was solely upon the Book of 1,000 Heavens. He packed light for he already knew the basics of how to hunt for food and sustain himself indefinitely on the open road. He took his quarterstaff off his wall and placed it across his back.
    He saw no monks in the corridors of the temple as he went to start his quest. On his way out of the temple Quan walked by the hall of worship and heard the monks chanting, including his father and mother. He never got to say goodbye to his mother, when would he see her again? Then Quan listened to the chanting more and realized every monk was chanting their goodbyes’ and all were wishing him luck. Quan moved on, always remembering his childhood years in the temple, but he put all those behind him as he walked out the front door.
    Quan opened the large oak doors to the temple doors that would’ve been impossible for anyone to open including most giants, but all who dwelled within these walls were not really of this world. They swung open easily to Quan’s strength and shut as easily as a spring breeze behind him. Quan started for the mountain trail that led down and never looked back, Quan never saw the temple start to disappear towards heaven.


  • I must commend you on the story. If you truly liked this character remember you have a soulshard you can exchange for life with the succubus. Failing that talk to the player guides for tips on how to continue a char you really like.

  • T

    Alas Lucheran Quan is Dead,
    His father will be sad,
    Though his death wasn't bad,
    For a kobold bashed him in the head!!!
    :lol: