Mǎ Huóyuè

Weapon(s): 

• Jùn - His polearm/spear. Has a rope on the end to throw and be able to pull it back.
• and always a spare rope with a metal gripper, just in case

Powers/Skills:

• Fights close combat with his polearm
• Due to his history in the circus, he has a good flexibility to balance, jump, spin, climb, and tightrope. He can also throw rope, which he often uses to climb or scale heights. (and also wrangle animals, and…. people)

Appearance:

• Scars cover his back and his legs, due to whippings and beatings from the past. Is usually self conscious about this and will bathe and change alone, sometimes late at night when no one is awake.
• long messy, wavy hair that falls around his chest. Tied up in a ponytail in the back. 
• loose blue/purple hanfu, black pants underneath. Regularly wears earrings, rings,a necklace, and a white fur collar.

Personality:

To the average onlooker, most would assume that Huoyue is a bumbling buffoon and a clown of a teacher. Huoyue can normally be found smiling and teasing others, and likes to have the last laugh in any given situation. He is sometimes jokingly referred to by others, either those close to him or gossipers, as “huobao”, the clown, rather than his actual name. Although he's just as the rumors suggest—a lackadaisical joker, he has a deeply thoughtful heart that his disciples seem to treasure. He does, however, hide a mysterious side, as if there's suffering and regret that lurks behind his smile, and is constantly trying to fill a void that is never satisfied.

Huoyue is a naturally introverted person, but over the years he's been able to put on a facade of extroversion and confident charisma. This causes him to have days where he's depleted all his social battery and would rather hole up in his room rather than entertain guests. Regardless of his inner desires to be alone, he's always been good humored and can naturally carry a conversation with ease. He can also be materialistic and likes to buy new things, mostly to make himself feel better. He tends to collect too many possessions that he can't handle, then becomes overwhelmed by the idea of having to organize his living space.

Backstory:

Huoyue rarely speaks of his past, although if anyone cares to divulge, it's rather easy to inquire. Most of the city knows about his history and how his sect came to be, and some would rather eat rocks rather than enlist their children in the hands of this infamous clown of a shizun. His disciples, however, know better than to ask their shizun about his life before the sect, as it tends to be the only time his mood sours and his smile becomes stiff.

Huoyue's past begins rather normally—he was born, the youngest of three, (one eldest brother and one older sister) into an easygoing and affluent life of scholars. His father held a high position as one of the emperor's close scholar-officials. Naturally, his father figured his sons would eventually follow in his path, so growing up, Huoyue was forced to memorize books, recite poems, and participate in political discussions. Unlike his elder brother, Huoyue always had trouble reading and became especially self conscious when it came to his studies—causing him to lose his patience, and oftentimes beat him when his studies were lacking. Huoyue grew to become numb to his failures and eventually just blocked a lot of information out—and to this day is still bad at remembering sacred texts and epics. In his youth, Huoyue grew to become a delinquent and would often get into fights with some of the children of political officials and other neighbors. Once his father caught word, he decided it was time to send him away.

By a twist of fate, Huoyue was assessed by a doctor who was shocked to find that the boy had an unusually strong cultivation base, and urged the boy’s father to consider sending him to a sect as soon as possible. At the age of 12, Huoyue was sent to live at the Tiger's Claw School—a prestigious martial arts school that teaches only the most promising to cultivate their powers. His father figured, since he has no use other than his fists, he might as well be worth something. Huoyue, at first, was very excited to make his family proud, but that confidence dissipated as soon as he got into the school. Although he learned nearly everything he knows now from the Tiger’s Claw School, he doesn’t look back fondly on his old alma mater. Huoyue doesn't talk much about what he experienced in his years from 12-17, and he usually pretends he doesn't remember those days, but truthfully, his training was rough and he was beaten often, so badly that he was often on the verge of death. One snowy night at the age of 17, he ran away from the school for good and decided to live life on his own, and vowed to live a life outside of fighting.

Life was hard on the streets, but Huoyue enjoyed a simple life and traveled through many villages in the nation. At some point, however, he needed a job, and by chance became a street clown. Along with an old man and his son, he performed acrobatic acts and put on plays for village people, and they named themselves the “Wild Horse Show”. Huoyue soon found out, however, that life for village folk was not all fun and games. There was much corruption, and many people in desperate need of protection. Although he vowed never to fight again, he ended up teaching the old man's son how to fight, and one thing led to another—he ended up banding with other fighters and they carried out vigilante justice while disguised as clowns. Through these acts of justice, this is how the Wild Horse sect begins, although in those first years, Wild Horse was more of a gang than a sect. With the rest of the money Huoyue had, he bought an abandoned stable in a secluded valley, an older farming town, and set up his own sect.

Meanwhile, the palace heard news of the Song family's son who became a destitute street clown, who also used his cultivation abilities to take the military's duties into his own hands. Not only that, he used cultivation against the common people–something he’d vowed against doing before he learned his abilities. After disgracing his family name and the Tiger’s Claw School, his father was forced to renounce his son in order to save face to the emperor. Still, the act did not have very much of an effect, as his father was soon demoted in position and forced to carry out a menial bookkeeping job.

Although the Wild Horse Sect still attracts negative attention, many less fortunate residents do rely on the sect for aid. This tends to bring in a lot of money for Huoyue, certainly not as much as if he were to follow in his father's footsteps and become a tutor of the prince—but definitely enough for an indulgent life. Every year he sends money to his family who have since then been demoted in ranks, but his money is always turned away. As much as he would like to just turn his back and throw in the towel—he does have one sister still living with the family, and due to the circumstances of dragging down his family name, his sister has lost all her marriage candidates. He still has hopes of making things right with his family, but it seems there's too much to do now that he's a sect leader. Truthfully, he became a leader only to teach a few people how to defend themselves, but has now been tasked with a huge responsibility that’s been suffocating for him to keep up with. Either way, it's way too late for him to back out now—he might as well put on a smile and ride it all out until his death.

Other:

• Loves horses – the wild horse village is never lacking in horses, especially since the sect is built around an abandoned stable.
• Flashy—likes jewelry and gaudy fabrics. Often has new jewelry because he loses them. He also doesn’t have much of a sense of style, and will put outfits and colors together on a whim. 
• Difficulties in discipline—he has a hard time figuring out punishments, and tends to threaten and never follow through.
• Sucker for buying useless knick knacks, and he especially falls into traps of salesmen on the streets. Likes to indulge on things that give him quick bursts of happiness.
• Has incurable migraines – He's tried every single doctor in the city, nobody can figure out what the cause of his migraines are. At this point, most physicians just believe it's all in his head. Will oftentimes take naps or use his migraines as an excuse to break away early.