Cathak Zuriel

The Right Hand of the Dragons

The markings of Hesiesh are strong on Cathak Zuriel's body. Though of fair complexion, his skin is brilliant like a paper lantern perilously close to the burning candle within--few could doubt the power his frame contains. A single, long braid of mighty crimson hair falls back to his waist held together with red jade claps both at the base of his head and the end of the braid. His eye colour is perhaps the most telling of his aspect markings as his irises form a blazing gold corona around his pupils. Around him, the scent of sweet incense always fills the air. The young man is of average height and overall size, being neither too slim nor bulging with excess musculature. However he is almost superhumanly agile which translates to quick, flickering motions akin to those of a flame. In sum, he is the perfect specimen of a crimson dragon.

         Covering Zuriel's body is a beautifully ornate set of expensive clothing, clearly made of the finest silk in Creation. The whole ensemble begins with a golden, long-sleeve shirt and a pair of crimson leggings topped off with matching leather boots. Over this is worn a crimson, short-sleeved tunic with the crest of House Cathak embroidered on the chest which drops to mid-thigh. Securing his tunic is a golden, silk sash tied about his waist. Upon his forearms are a pair of red jade hearthstone bracers, the left one housing a jagged, triangular jewel. Over his hands are a pair of red, articulated gauntlets. Across his shoulders are curved plates of jade and feathersteel linked to a torc about his neck. Set into the torc's hearthstone socket is a murky blue-black stone full of shifting colours. From this armature flows a rich, crimson cloak with the symbol of the 25rd Imperial Legion embroidered on it prominently in gold thread.

         Hanging from the sash and resting on Zuriel's left hip is a twinned scabbard for his paired short swords while at his right hip is his infinite jade chakram in a large, red pouch. With practicality in mind, the short swords eschew needless vanity which serves to exalt the masterful craftsmanship behind them. A strong pommel with the mons of the Hesiesh flows into a leather-wrapped grip and ends with a simple crossguard. The blades are a work of art as they are made of Chiaroscuran glass and hold a razor's edge capable of splitting hair. Perfectly balanced and curving slightly inward, the swords are lacquered with red jade to give them a fiery appearance and add strength to the weapon. The infinite jade chakram is, of course, made of blue jade. The personal style for his chakram and it is simply that the edges are serrated to give the impression of fire. To further augment the fiery appearance its painted red with the outer edges fading into yellow.

Born Patriot

Cathak Zuriel graduated from the House of Bells at the top of his class, excelling in strategy.  The people that have met him all agree that he is a very amicable and friendly fellow with impeccable manners and etiquette, the paragon of grace and virtue in every situation. Those that do lay eyes on him cannot help but note the superior breeding of his mien. He is the consummate soldier, always in uniform and proper military posture.  Pious and patriotic to a fault, he takes every opportunity speak of the virtue of the Realm and its Immaculate Order. Of course, no man stands without criticism, though none could say that Cathak Zuriel cannot suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous gossip with dignity. Zuriel has been said, though quietly, to be too idealistic for his own good, and perhaps too ready to believe in the matchless power of the Realm and his own kung fu, when a more humble perspective might fare him better. But the mighty are always accused of vainglory.  Though even in the throes of a Civil War, Zuriel still holds on to the ideals of the Realm and believes that through perseverence and the acts of righteous men, the Scarlet Empire will hold and come out stronger than before.  Though if anyone implied that he was righteous, he would laugh at the idea claiming to merely do that which is needed for his beloved country.

Immaculate Grandmaster 

Zuriel studied the Glorious Paths of the Dragon becoming one of the handful of Immaculate Grandmasters. He enjoys a certain degree of fame within the martial arts circle as an excellent martial artist, capable of taking on and defeating powerful gods and Anathema. Among his most commendable accomplishments are driving back Octavian the Living Tower and the defeats of Scarlet Knife an Infernal Anathema in Malfeas, the Solar Anathema known as the Seven Thunders Kid, another Solar Anathema named Minus the Bear, the Lunar Anathema Trakar, as well as the defeat of a powerful deathknight which had two fallen Dragon-Blooded servants.  Even noble raksha fall at his feet as witnessed by the effortless defeat of Duke Chanis.  He holds the honour of winning the tournament in Nexus and being named "Strongest Dragon-Blood in the East."

During Calibration, Zuriel pits his skill against those of the gods both to test himself and for the entertainment of the population of Yu-Shan during the Festival of Meetings.  So far Zuriel has been pitted against Siakal the Western War Goddess and Tachi-Kun the Central War God.  Both times he's won, even though against Tachi-Kun he had to wade through 500 minor war gods to get to the Central War God.  Astonishingly, after impressing the god with his martial prowess, Zuriel had the distinct pleasure in serving as his primateur and fighting in Tachi-Kun's name against the infamous Fudou the Mountain.  What's more suprising is that the Dragon-Blooded bested the Lunar Anathema.  His latest personal exploit involved defeating the behemoth named Spari Roso.  It was a tough battle, or so he claims, but in the end he persevered and the behemoth became a volcano.  The volcano still lacks a name, but surely Zuriel will think of something appropriate for it.

Conqueror

The Hundred Kingdoms provided Zuriel with much adventure during the first few seasons of his stay in the region. His first foray into the kingdoms involved him taking control of the Uzumaqua Spiral, a kingdom with a very powerful war manse. This led rise to Strategos Cathak Kitono leading the 23rd Imperial Legion into the Hundred Kingdoms in an attempt to expand the Greyfalls satrapy. The result was a series of holdings under House Cathak, administered by the Found Egg: Cathak Darius and his wife Cathak Min Li. These holdings became known as the Vir Sidus Empire and included the Provinces of Thousand Lakes, Lotus Crown, Uzumaqua Spiral, Lumaba, Three Roots and Steel Wind--though recent action have added the Province of Freehold (formerly the Slaver's Union) and the Province of Trakar. Unfortunately, this military action caused Zuriel's cousin Kitono to be ousted from the legion and instead placed the martial artist in a reluctant position of military command.

Master Strategist

As Strategos of the 23rd Imperial Legion, Zuriel surprised the nay-sayers quickly becoming a capable leader. He mastered the art of war, capable of developing intricate strategies for both defense and offense. In addition, he revitalized the legion's command structure, bringing in more thaumaturges, sorcerors and Dragon-Blooded officers. The most innovative development was his commissioning of twenty airships, dirigibles of Second Age construction similar to those of the Haslanti. The ships, named after notable Cathak scions, serve as troop transports and bombers allowing the legion to project their power anywhere in the satrapy in mere hours. Of all the units in his service, perhaps the oddest one is Karal Telimar's Dragonmaw Gunzosha Squad, a talon of top notch Gunzosha troops--likely attached to him given his good relations with Gens Karal through Dragonlord-Ambassador Karal Aval.  Recently he was the prime force involved in repelling the Trakar barbarians along with their Firen and Gyrak allies in a fierce battle the claimed almost four dragons of his men, though he took ten times that many men from his enemies, shattering their forces.  He has comissioned an early warning system based around a clock tower in Greyfalls and sentry posts scattered throughout the Satrapy to help aid repel any further incursions.  The Fair Folk invasion of RY 770 led by the Duke Chanis and the Silver Clouds court was the first to test the defenses.  Zuriel, along with others' help destroyed the invasion force, personally killing Duke Chanis and fracturing the Silver Clouds Court.  He was transferred to Chiaroscuro and he took with him the seeds for another legion and created the 25th Imperial Legion, of which he is the Strategos.  The Realm Civil War once again requires of Zuriel's strategic mastery and even though Chiaroscuro is besieged by the Ledaal-Peleps-Ragara Alliance, he managed to repel the initial attack which should have taken the entire city at once.  In the end the siege was repelled with few casualties to Zuriel's side while crippling his opposition.  Now Zuriel controls the two most powerful manses in Chiaroscuro, the war manse of the city and the Imperial Garrison--an impenetrable fortress of steel.

Family Man

The fire aspect was quick to marry. His first wife was Cynis Belar Calixte, an elegant wood aspect of impeccable breeding. However, once she was revealed to be an Anathema sympathizer the marriage was quickly annuled and she was turned into a stone statue. Although his official marriage was short, he has been incredibly fecund, siring exactly thirteen girls and eleven boys, two of his daughters coming from his union with Calixte. He does not reveal the mother's name of the other children, though through sorcerous means they are all from him and Calixte. As of late, he is wed to the Head Physician of the Resplendant Palace of Healing: Ledaal Kyrie. Not being one to waste time, Kyrie has already birthed triplets and is expecting yet another by Season of Earth RY 772.  Though the exact location of all but three of children is unknown to all but him and Cainan, he still worries about their safety during these trying times of war.  The triplets are currently with him in Chiaroscuro, under the watchful eye of Zuriel's private security teams.

Industrial Tycoon

An incredibly wealthy Dynast, Zuriel uses most of his riches to invest in local industries. He alone is responsible for revitalizing the Province of Lumaba, converting it to a prosperous cattle industry--including financing the building of the city of Bastion. His jade is also embroiled in building up the Saltwater Vale and his intervention was pivotal in revealing to Gilded Rose her true past as V'neef Pasyra as well as aiding House V'neef in taking her back into their fold. At the same time, he financed the refurbishing of the Marble Palisades for V'neef Tsure, a master artificer of constructs--finally bringing the rogue Dynast back into the Realm. Frequently, his jade is found hosting elaborate fundraisers in Cathak Palace, with the proceeds going directly to the Immaculate Order's coffers. Within Greyfalls, there is nary a business opportunity that does not involve Zuriel's jade in some form or another. He is perhaps the second wealthiest Dynast in the satrapy.  In addition, he is heavily involved in the flying ship project that is happening in Saltwater Vale under V'neef Pasyra the Gilded Rose.  During the Season of Water of RY 770, he successfully acquired ownership of the Wood Dragon Shipyard in the Canal Gate District and the mines of the Mountain District, giving him control over the satrapy's supply of iron ore and jade.  Finding the Eastern and Western River District farms to be inefficient, he purchased all of them in hopes of revitalizing Greyfalls's food-producing land once the Fair Folk invasion ends.  Likewise, he broke the siege on the river and made trade possible again along the waterway.  The civil war has put his efforts to a halt both in the East via his proxies and in the South due to the persistent threats of the Pearl Alliance against his holdings.  Lately he's building shipyards specializing in sand ships for trade exclusively in the South, currently the sand fleet is a paltry twenty ships but it's growing steadily.  Likewise, he's started using atelier-manses to their full capacity, producing large quantities of quality steel equipment for military use as well as thaumaturgical talismans.  Moreover, he's become a capable crafter in his own right, designing a manse and designing and building artifacts.  With Tsure's new Breath of Autocthon automata he hopes to help foster even greater industry by financing cogtech creations of great power and scope.  He's slowly developing the unused geomancy to increase economical output in the region.  Finally, he's formed a trade alliance with Gem, giving him exclusive rights to trade with them.  Zuriel has become the financial giant of the Southern direction, having his paws in industry, finance, and trade of every kind.  Secretly, his dream is to develop industry to a point where farming is no longer labour intensive and thus freeing up the work force to pursue other venues of craftsmanship.

Politician

Lately, Zuriel has become a more political figure.  He spearheaded the conversion attempt in Trakar, comissioned a full-fledged temple and nominated Cathak Nerus as Vartabed who readily accepted the position.  Although the attempt met with hardships, namely the intercession of Minus the Bear, it generated some clout for the Strategos.  When Peleps Deled proposed to institute what appeared to Zuriel as martial law, he was the only high-profile Dynast to firmly stand against him in favour of a more lenient approach.  He single-handedly kept the council from rioting when the vote was to take place.  As always, he maintains a presence in the Deliberative even from far away.  His reach to the Blessed Isle is quite impressive and his actions and clout has caught the attention of many politicians.  He recently went back to the Isle to give his yearly speech to the Deliberative and to enjoy a well-deserved leave of absence in the fabulous Imperial City.  However, word got to him of the dire state of Greyfalls and the sorry organization of his beloved 23rd Imperial Legion.  Putting duty before pleasure, he cuts his vacation short and returns to Greyfalls aboard his airship, the HMS Dauntless.  However, he was pulled out of military duty due to family obligations and is now headed to Chiaroscuro as the new Imperial Satrap.  Taking a vast amount of materiel and personnel, Zuriel has turned Chiaroscuro into a more Realm-friendly Satrapy.  Granted, with the Civil War erupting all around Creation, his work may be undone.  Military might may have to take the place of diplomacy in these times.  Indeed, the Delzahn Horde itself submitted to him, giving him their loyalty which he graciously accepted and now holds unquestioned control over Chiaroscuro.  In a similar fashion, the Varang City-States succumbed under the might of Zuriel's war machine and realpolitik.  The unlikely alliance forged by Cathak Zuriel between Chiaroscuro and Varangia have made them cease fighting each other and freed up resources to help them be more productive.  As the civil war progresses, he's been feeling his resposibilities spreading him thin throughout his lands.  However, he's managed to broker peace with Lookshy, giving him some respite from their powerful Sky Fleet.

Cselenite Pact

As a strategy to help the city out during the siege, Zuriel cooked up a scheme to make a Cselenite Pact with the local elemental courts.  Following proper protocol and demonstrating extreme respect to the elementals, Zuriel managed to gain an audience with the heads of the elemental courts.  The meeting is led by a powerful Fire Elemental speaking on behalf of the court with Earth and Wood elementals showing up too.  Although it is short and to the point, the meeting is a success and Zuriel manages to broker a Cselenite Pact.  While a Cselenite Pact requires elementals to do anything within reason for the Exalt, Zuriel has assured them that he will not use them as foot soldiers in the war.  Instead, he is using them to create a supernatural trade network that reaches from the Isle all the way to Gem as well as his own holdings.  The Pact also serves a second purpose: to prevent the enemy from having the elemental courts on their side.

Servitors of Zuriel

Note: Zuriel is crafting a Manta-Class Transport and for the month of January has accrued 53 successes out of 250.