Gan Ning

[Gan Ning]

"Mengde has Zhang Liao, and I have Xingba!"

Name: Gan Ning, styled Xingba (Gan Ning of the Bells)
Age: 32 (b. 175)
Gender: Male
Style: Canon
Title: Grand Admiral of Wu, Lord of the River
Rank: Officer (rank 1)

Residence: Jian Ye

Personality:

Arrogant, vain, boastful, and loves a good drink. As with many great men of the age (or those that thought themselves great, in any case), Gan Ning thinks very, very highly of his skills, and has little problem telling anyone who will listen about it. To further exacerbate his act, he is a notorious and rightly feared pirate who has yet to be caught (although some say this has more to do with luck than skill, owing to the Sun family's focus on the south).

Appearance:

Gan Ning

Of average height, maybe 5'9" tall, with a muscular build and dark skin. Xingba is heavily tattooed and has several scars, mostly on his legs. He keeps his dark brown hair fairly long but tied back by a red silk band. Ning is constantly seen with a 5 o'clock shadow and a cocky half-grin beneath bright blue eyes.

Apparel/Armour:

Apparel: Generally in everyday comings and goings, Gan can be expected to wear some loose-fitting brown pants and shoes (sometimes), but doesn't bother with a shirt as he's usually not expecting to deal with anyone outside his pirate crew.

However, should he be dealing with someone outside of his crew (that he isn't trying to strongarm or otherwise intimidate), he will don a red silk shirt that fits loose around his neck, but snugly around his waist and wrists (after all, you never know when a good fight is going to break out, do you?).

Armor: When battle is about to break out, Gan throws on a simple padded shirt to help cushion blows he might take and keep him from sweating up a storm as he is mercilessly mowing down enemies, and a hardened leather breastplate dyed red that covers his back, chest, and the tops of his shoulders. To keep his mobility unfettered, he only adds hard leather shinguards on his legs and a pair of leather guards to his forearms.

Weapon(s):

Xingba uses a Ji Spear (lvl 3) as his primary weapon, with a shortsword (lvl 1) as his backup weapon.

History:

As a youth, Gan served under the warlord Liu Yan but revolted when the latter died. After his rebellion failed, he led a band of bandits carrying bows and crossbows to wander the lands. They wore bells about their waists and bone ornaments in their hair as a mark, causing commoners to either run or hide when they heard the ring of bells.

He kept looting, robbing and killing until he decided to pursue scholarly arts. After reading some literary texts by different philosophers, Gan sought the warlord Liu Biao's patronage, but was rejected for his background.

He has done little since then, unsure of who might trust a pirate, especially one as loud and boisterous as himself, and double especially one that comes with the kind of foul-mouthed (though quickly becoming literate thanks to Gan's efforts) ruffians that Gan has taken in under his own wing.

Current Information:

Gold: 87

Reputation: 150

Entourage: N/A

[Li Wang]

Approved, welcome to the site

[Gan Ning]

"Use your brain, boy! What do you think I've been training you for?" -Kong Suo, to Gan Ning

Name: Kong Suo, styled Liangde (The Gentleman Pirate)
Age: 36 (b. 171)
Gender: Male
Style: Created

Residence: Jian Ye

Personality:

Calm, well-spoken, well-dressed, and well-read. He is, personality-wise, almost diametrically opposed to Gan Ning, although the two have been friends for decades. He takes decisive action, but not without giving thought to the consequences of his actions. He is known as the Gentleman Pirate for good reason, as he treats his prisoners and targets quite well, given the usual circumstances of their meeting.

Appearance:

Kong Suo

Suo is rather tall, standing 6'3", and incredibly youthful looking, especially given his chosen profession. His face is smooth and he maintains a clean-shaven countenance, with piercing green eyes and black hair that cascades down his back for nearly a foot and a half. Physically more powerful than his friend Gan Ning.

Apparel/Armour:

Apparel: Daily wear is a long silk robe, dyed blue, with embroidery on the back depicting a flight of cranes.

Armor: When going into battle, Kong Suo dons a suit of medium-weight plate armor, as well as a plumed helmet, all fashioned in the motif of a dragon. He is more heavily armored than Ning, though not too much slower, owing to his greater strength.

Weapon(s):

lvl. 1 Shortsword

History:

Born to a branch of the Kong family who claimed descent from Kong Fuzi, a famed scholar of ancient times, Suo spent most of his childhood learning the scholarly arts in Bei Hai. His father was a great blacksmith in the city, but also an unrepentant drunk, and died late in Suo's teenage years while working in the forge and drinking at the same time.

For a while, Suo was able to stay and finish his own scholarly pursuits thanks to the charity of family, but eventually even that ran out and Suo was forced to find his own way in the world. He was wandering in the direction of the Imperial Capital, the idea in his head to join the Imperial bureaucracy, when he happened upon a young Gan Ning. Ning was looting and killing his way across the countryside, and would have killed Suo too, if Suo had had anything worth stealing on him.

Luckily for both, he did not, and instead offered to be Gan Ning's teacher and mentor in exchange for keeping his head right where it was. Ning agreed, and the two became fast friends. Realizing that there was great money to be made in piracy in those days, Suo quickly joined Ning in his journeys. It was he who convinced Xingba to seek out employment with an enlightened lord, and even after being snubbed, has continued to argue for more stable employment.