Bái Rèn

Personality:

Bái Rèn's personality seems to mainly stem from Dan Heng when meeting him for the first time. He appears cold and reserved even to the point of being described as arrogant and looking down on others.

But once you get to know him he's very extroverted and to some point a bubbly personality. He is soft-spoken and cares dearly for his friends and the Vidyadhara.

However, don't get into his bad books or Bái Rèn will show a side to him that only his closest witnessed before. Like his father Yingxing, he can be relentless in pursuing an enemy that has harmed his friends.

Weapons:

Storm Bringer

Like his father Dan Heng, he wields a spear named Storm Bringer. This spear is made similarly to Cloud Piercer, but its tip is forged slimmer and doesn't have a Ying-Yang ball in the middle. Instead, a red band with flowing ends is tied to it. The spear is forged in a teal-blue metal and is heavier than a regular Cloud Knight spear.

Death Lily

Bái Rèn also owns a red-bladed double-edged sword named Death Lily. This sword is also second nature to him just like wielding his spear. The handle is adorned with a jade-colored band and a dragon carved into the blade itself.

Weapon usage

As he is a multi-wielder of two different weapons he is adapted to quickly change his fighting style mid-battle. Depending on what he needs he can switch from fighting with his spear (middle to long range) to his sword (close range) within seconds.

Both his spear and blade skills are on par with his parents.

Abilities:

Like all Vidyadhara Bái Rèn is versatile in Cloudhymn magic and has mastered it to a high extent that it's comparable to the mastery of Dan Feng, his father's previous incarnation.

Invisibility: Bái Rèn mainly uses this Cloudhymn to conceal himself during stealth missions to become entirely invisible to the naked eye.
Healing: Unlike his father Dan Heng, he can use healing magic to an extent similar to Bailu. When people against the mara-struck get critically hurt he often assists with his own Cloudhymn healing to prevent deaths.

Mara-struck control

This is a unique ability that has never been seen before. Bái Rèn is capable of controlling mara-stricken by just moving his hand and placing his fingers on a mara-stricken forehead (similar to the Vidyadhara custom of greeting each other) and bringing them under his control. Upon doing so a red Abundance Mark appears on their forehead similar to the birthmark he carries on his forehead. The controlled mara-stricken will fight for him even against their people (Disciples of Sanctis Medicus). After they've done their deed, with the snap of his finger the mara-stricken are released and will perish the same instant.

(Prefers to not use this ability unless necessary)

Sensing & locating mara-struck

Bái Rèn also can sense if someone is mara-stricken or about to become mara-struck. This usually happens due to body contact or looking at them for a longer time.

Overall

Bái Rèn combines a lot of his father's looks. He's nearly as tall as his father Yingxing, standing at 186 centimeters with an average build. He does have a few more muscles compared to Dan Heng but still retains a relatively slender figure, which is typical even for a male Vidyadhara. He sports far longer hair than his father's and tends to either wear it open or tie it at the end with a golden band.

As a Vidyadhara like his father Dan Heng and Bailu, he sports the typical High Elder horns and a constantly visible tail.

Eyes

Among the Vidyadhara High Elders, Bái Rèn's eyes are outstanding regarding coloration. Like the eyes of his father Dan Heng, his irises are teal to ocean blue, depending on how the light is hitting his eyes. His pupil on the other hand was something he inherited from Yingxing - they are of the same shape and the same striking red color, giving his gaze an almost predatory look. He also possesses fangs.

Hair Color

Bái Rèn's hair is of a dark navy blue color and has a very dark red under-dye which is similar to his father's Yingxing's dyed tips. His tips are sporting a dark teal ombré coloration he inherited from his father Dan Heng. Unlike his father's though he has his long hair cut straight at the tips, the only messy part being his bangs which are similar to Dan Heng's.

Horns & Tail

Like Bailu and his father Dan Heng as a future High Elder Bái Rèn was born with dragon horns crowning his head and a tail. His horns are far longer than his father's and sport an extra spike on a forward-pointing spike. His tail is as long as his father's but just as substantial as Bailu's, he even used it in fights to his advantage. Unlike his father or Bailu his horns and tail are in a deep Bordeaux color, mainly to be believed he inherited that coloration from Yingxing.

Accessories and Jewelry

Bái Rèn owns a few accessories and jewelry that once again seem to combine his father's tastes in him. On his right ear, he wears an earring in the form of a jade dragon, which is connected with a chain and clip to the tip of his right ear. While on the left ear, he wears a tasseled earring that is sporting a gradient color from blue to red. He also wears a necklace in the shape of a small dagger around his neck, which is made out of light-colored jade.

Make-up

Fascinated by the old Japanese and Chinese books he read, the young Vidyadhara started to use eye makeup similarly. While he used a bright red to paint his upper lids he combined it with a blue along the outside of his eyes down to the lower lid, where the colors met and they blur together. He takes extra care to apply it each morning himself.

Clothing & Armor

His clothing contains darker colors, a taste he seemed to have picked up from Yingxing. Bái Rèn wears a dark gray, nearly black Kimono, which only has the sleeve placed over his left arm, while the right arm is bare. The Kimono sports red spider lilies embroidered on it. He wears a fingerless long glove on his left arm, which is mainly covered by the sleeve of the Kimono. While his right arm is covered by a Vidyadhara-crafted bracer of a similar fashion to the ones his fathers share. Under the kimono, he wears a dark red top that has his back free and connects to his neck. Bái Rèn wears some black Hakama pants, with the ends being covered by shoes similar to Dan Heng, though they have more red features on them.

Over his chest, he wears a breast blade that protects him from a good variation of weapons, this armor piece was specifically made for him by a Vidyadhara craftsman due to some injuries he sustained because he fought recklessly. Around his waist, he wears an obi in a flowing sash way, mostly loosely tied around the armor.

Tattoo and birthmark

Once he was close to reaching his coming-of-age ceremony he asked his fathers beforehand if he'd be allowed to get a tattoo. They agreed as long as he would get something with meaning. So, he went to the most specialist tattoo artist on the Luofu and got a blue dragon (the same as what Dan Heng's summoned dragons look like) along with a batch of red spider lilies around it. The tattoo is placed on his right arm which is uncovered by clothing and extends a little over his free shoulder blade. It's in very vibrant colors.

On his forehead, he sports a small mark in the form of the leaves of Abundance. He was born with this. Most people say it's a sign of his constant mara-stricken condition, though this mark is hidden below his bangs and only a few selected people know of it.

Bái Rèn was born in the year 2170 as the biological son of the Vidyadhara High Elder Dan Heng and Furnace Master Yingxing. He also was the first Vidyadhara naturally conceived and born after the long-life species was freed from its endless circle of rebirth.

During the time of his gestation, nobody would have thought of it being possible that Yingxing's mara-struck condition could be transmitted to the developing fetus within Dan Heng's womb. However, after a regular check-up and the fact that Dan Heng had reached the stabilized phase, within Dan Heng's blood, the mara-struck condition was detected. Even after multiple different tests it always had the same outcome. With further testing of the fruit water they had taken it was found that the unborn baby was the one mara-struck.

When the Preceptor Elder heard of this they asked Bailu to contact his fathers to come to the Alchemy Commission right away. Not only did they blame Yingxing for the baby's mara-struck condition but also in a private conversation with Dan Heng suggested the abortion of the child as it without a doubt would become an abomination of the Plague Author. It went as far as the Preceptors giving Dan Heng pills that would kill the baby off right away.

His father even considered abortion after he was pressured by the Preceptors for half an hour. Bailu and Yingxing afterward were able to convince the High Elder by telling Dan Heng not to listen to the Preceptors. Bailu even mentioned that even if they would have another child the chance of it also being mara-struck was quite high. Thanks to them, Bái Rén exists today.

Bái Rèn was born during the change of dawn to night after a total of 72 hours of his father Dan Heng being in labor. The first natural-born Vidyadhara was celebrated for the next 24 hours by the Luofu Vidyadhara. Words of his birth had spread quickly and even over the count of days, the other Vidyadhara High Elders came to visit the Xianzhou Luofu to give their congratulations.

His childhood was not an easy one though. Even after the old Preceptors had been replaced by newly elected ones, they would try to spread fear of the future Imbibitor Lunae in the form of telling the information of him being a born mara-struck. During his rites and tests among other young Vidyadhara, he needed to prove himself more often than not triple as hard, even though he was an exceptionally good student in spearman-ship, swordsman-ship, and Cloudhymn Magic.

The Preceptors were ultimately silenced by the Ten-Lords Commission by banishing them to other Xianzhou Ships. During the same time, Bái Rèn became part of the newly formed High-Cloud Quintet, led by the Luofu Cloud Knights Lieutenant Yanqing. There he met his current friends and love interest.

The new High-Cloud Quintet was able to break apart and destroy a lot of Disciples of Sanctis Medicus operations. Making names for themselves. Bái Rèn used his ability to control the mara-struck and turn them against their comrades often, but usually was reluctant and only did so when there was no other way to dispatch the operation.