IC Information :: Scorched application
Out of Character Information
player name: Ri
player livejournal: marika_ikeda
playing here: Roy, Sai, Ichigo
where did you find us? rpsecrets, long ago
are you 16 years of age or older?: Yep, about 2 months shy of twice that.
In Character Information
character name: Shang Xiang Sun (Western style), Sun Shang Xiang (Eastern style)
Fandom: Red Cliff (International Version)
Timeline: in the midst of the final battle, before she meets up with Pit again.
character's age: approximately 19
powers, skills, pets and equipment: Very much a tomboy, Shang Xiang is proficient with martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, as well as the sword and bow, though her preferred weapon is the bow. She’s also depicted as something of an animal whisperer, able to convince a horse that its rider was not worthy and thus causing the horse to rear up and roll, dismounting the rider and refusing to get up; she also is able to call the pigeons used by Zhuge Liang to send messages without having to lure them in. Shang Xiang is skilled with acupuncture, and uses (or abuses) the pressure points of individuals as she sees fit to take someone down or bring someone around who was knocked unconscious.
She's coming in from the final battle, so she'll be dressed like this, only dirtier.
As for equipment, she'll have her sword, her armor, and her cloak.
canon history: I’m both linking (movie synopsis) and writing out things, because she gives her background in the movie, but none of it is in the synopsis. Also, it’s easier to use the Eastern style for the names in writing this so that I remember who’s who, so her brother will be referred to as Sun Quan instead of Quan Sun, etc.
Link:Movie wiki
Written out: Shang Xiang is the daughter of the late Sun Jian, the man who began the conquest of the Southern lands, the sister of the late Sun Ce, who united the Southern lands under the banner of Wu, and the sister of Sun Quan, the “Duke of Wu” who has no major accomplishments to his name and is thus called a coward by other warlords. Like her brothers, she was trained extensively in martial arts and with weaponry such as the sword and bow. This led to her being seen as a tomboy whom her family despaired of ever finding a suitable marriage for. Not even her hand-maidens were free of her tomboy influence, as each and every one of them were trained to be just as skilled in combat.
Because her entire life has been lived within the palace, she doesn’t have as much of a worldly knowledge as her brother, but she doesn’t let that stop her from wanting to go out and explore her homelands. On rare occasions, she would accompany her brothers on hunting parties... but these weren’t hunts for deer or rabbits. In fact, the game of choice were tigers, because it meant the hunter had to be able to outwit their prey and thus sharpened their senses. It also meant that one had to be able to stare death in the face without flinching because that fearlessness was what it was to be a son or daughter of Sun Jian, the “Tiger of Jiangdong”.
Unlike the men of her time, though, Shang Xiang has never seen war. This all changed the day Zhuge Liang appeared in the court of Sun Quan in order to garner aid to stand against the warlord Cao Cao who had usurped the power of the Emperor and was intent on taking the Southern lands for his own, thus eliminating all rival warlords.
After the alliance between Sun Quan and Zhuge Liang’s Lord, Liu Bei was established, and the two allied forces set out for Chi Bi (Red Cliff) where Wu strategist and Viceroy Zhou Yu had his forces stationed, it was discovered that not even her brother’s position nor the impending battle would keep Shang Xiang from wanting to be involved. She followed the men, and even proved herself not just any girl when she ‘convinced’ Lu Su’s horse that he was a scoundrel and unworthy to ride. Even so, the men were quick to move without her... but still she followed after them.
With the help of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, Shang Xiang and her hand-maidens were instrumental in the first assault against the forces of Cao Cao’s superior number, launching a sneak attack on their supply line while mounted on swift horses. Shang Xiang’s arrow killed the lookout, then the women rushed away under heavy pursuit, leading Cao Cao’s forces into Zhuge Liang’s ‘outdated’ tortoise defense. This crushed Cao Cao’s ground force where the vast majority of his strength had lain, and forced him into naval warfare in which both he and his troops were incredibly unskilled in.
Later, during the victory party, Quan attempts to work her into an arranged marriage to Liu Bei, which she not only refuses, but takes a stab to his neck with her hand, locking his acupuncture points and knocking him out cold for some time. She then leaves the party to be found feeding Zhuge Liang’s pigeons. She tells him that she has no desire to take part in an arranged marriage and that she doesn’t like how women are treated as little more than pawns for the men to pass around at will. They speak a bit longer, and hatch a plan that will send her into the enemy camp as a spy (in a move a la Mulan), letting nobody save for the two of them in on it.
During her time among Cao Cao’s forces, she discovers that an outbreak of typhoid has stricken the army, crippling their force as they aren’t used to the Southern lands and do not have the same immunities that the Southerners do, and befriends a boy by the name of Sun Shucai to whom she gives the nickname “Pit” after he tells her that his mom says he’s like a bottomless stomach. To avoid being found out as a spy, she adopts the nickname “Piggy” saying it’s what her mom calls her due to her size. Unbeknownst to him, Pit ends up helping her draw up a map of Cao Cao’s encampment during their game of “Ride High”. Right before Cao Cao’s army begins their move, however, she is found out as a spy and is chased by several other soldiers, when Pit comes to her rescue. He doesn’t believe that she could be a traitor, though, and she tells him she has to go home because her mother is ill, but not before advising that he go home as well, which he says he can’t do. They say their goodbyes and promise to meet up after everything is over, then Pit defends her and holds off her pursuers while she makes her escape back to Chi Bi.
Shang Xiang returns to Chi Bi to find them preparing for war and working on strategy, but without knowing the enemy’s positions, they have no way to position their troops. She and her maids enter and after a scolding by Quan, she starts to convey what she’s learned and disrobes with the help of Xiao Qiao, revealing a large cloth tied around her waist which she unties and has Xiao Qiao pull while she spins. The cloth is the map of Cao Cao’s encampment that Pit unknowingly helped her make. As she launches into her explanation of the division of forces, Xiao Qiao attempts to cover her as she is a woman in a room full of men, but she brushes her aside -she is just as much a soldier as the men and by refusing to cover herself, shows that what she has learned and how it can be used is more important than modesty. Quan finally wraps his own outer garment around her, with an apology for scolding her (and thus underestimating her ability) that was a long time coming.
With the information provided by her, the forces of Wu prepare for war without Liu Bei’s aid as he had ‘defected’ in fear of a typhoid outbreak among the several thousand peasants that were in his care... and she has absolutely no real say or input in it because she’s never experienced war and really doesn’t have anything to add.
And then the naval battle happens, in which Wu launches a successful fire attack around 1am thanks to Zhuge Liang’s knowledge of the weather patterns and “prediction” that the northwest wind would give way to a southeastern one. Cao Cao’s navy is decimated.
And then the final ground attack takes place, with the combined might of Liu Bei’s forces (the defection was a feint to throw off Cao Cao’s eye and believe Wu to be alone in the battle) and the Wu forces. The barricades are breached and the gates brought down under heavy firebombing, and the army marches inside. As the sun rises over the Southern lands, the fighting continues and as Shang Xiang, encased in a mass of handmaids armed with massive shields to create a walled block, heads toward the front, a voice calls out that she recognizes at Pit...
...and then the battlefield is gone, the smoke, clash of metal, shouts, and screams of men giving way to mist.
personality: There is many a time when looks can be deceiving, and in the case of Wu princess, Shang Xiang, truer words have never been spoken. Shang Xiang is (to steal the words from Tamora Pierce) the princess “who rides like a man”. As Zhou Yu told Zhuge Liang, she’s a tomboy who enjoys fighting and has her maids outfitted for combat, so who would ever dare marry her? She doesn’t conform to the normal roles of women, a fact which she herself states in that she refuses the arranged marriage to Liu Bei and doesn’t like the way women are treated in her society.
Shang Xiang enjoys a challenge. Whether it’s hunting tigers in the wilderness of the Southern lands, daring a man to set foot in her quarters with a hundred fully-armed maids standing guard, or defying all social norms and risking her life for her homeland and people, she is one to throw herself into the thick of things and one can guarantee she’ll do her best to stir up trouble. Sometimes her actions can come off as a little childish, especially in that she is a little bit of a troublemaker at times, and if she gets upset, she’s quick to resort to using her knowledge of acupuncture to drop the person who offended her -so long that she can get them to come close enough and be unguarded.
She isn’t, however, so blind that she can’t see when to defer to those with more knowledge and experience, looking to them for aid and order whenever necessary... unless, of course, she really doesn’t agree with what’s asked of her. Headstrong though she is, she’s quite loyal to those she calls friend, and cares deeply for others. Her friendship with Pit shows she’s learned that even though someone may fight for the opposing side, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person and that one’s reasons for fighting are not always obvious. While as a princess, she hasn’t really known much hardship, her time in Cao Cao’s encampment as one of the guys taught her hard lessons about life and death (she saw firsthand the typhoid epidemic), as well as just how little is relayed by the commanders to the men beneath them.
The Battle of Chi Bi was her first experience with the horrors of war, and it’s left a strong impression on her. As a member of the Sun family, she, like her brothers and father, would lay down her life and fight alongside those who follow her, and as the Lady of Wu, she would go to great lengths to ensure the safety of her people.
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Shang Xiang is from one of the incredibly bloody points in China’s history, after a longstanding dynasty has fallen and scattered only to be picked up by warlords vying for power. The concept of warfare, of people who don’t like others due to being “outsiders”, and of the differing levels of power and skill among the populace wouldn’t be new to her. She’d probably really enjoy getting to hunt Anatole’s wildlife, and she’d love to be around more women who felt that their value went beyond what they could be for a man.
...though, she might need a little help in navigating her way around the Forge. Technology in her world just hit the “rapid fire crossbow” that could fire a whole 10 shots without needing to reload. She’s a little behind the times.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:
[Voice]
Pit?
[There’s a long pause, footsteps and the scraping of leather and metal against wood punctuating the silence. The clatter of a chair being knocked over as the room’s occupant stumbles, the visions of what she had left behind fading and giving way to the interior of the room... which is definitely not where she should be.]
What..? No!
[Metal slides free, the sound ringing over the Forge. A sword drawn. Her voice drops low, as if hunting something.]
There was never any mention of sorcerers among his ranks, but if I can find them, then the illusions should end.
Now... where are you hiding, Sorcerer?
[She falls silent, the only sounds that of slow footsteps and creaking floorboards... and eventually the feed times out.]
Third Person Sample: The fire attacks had seen her shut inside a coffin of iron and flesh, the large shields spanning two wide and several deep, cutting off attack from all sides and above, and moving slowly toward the fallen barricade. The clash of steel, the scent of smoke, oil, and burnt flesh, the sounds of screams, shouts and moans of the dying filled the air as the ground vibrated with the rush of bodies -both human and horse- around the little iron cage. Through the gaps between the shields, Shang Xiang could see the fighting raging around them, but as she slunk down the row between her maids, a voice caught her attention, shouting to rally his troops to protect the Prime Minister.
“Pit?”
Her voice was drowned out by the sounds from the battlefield, so she made up her mind to go to her friend, but as she pushed her way through the shields, stumbling slightly as her foot connected with the body of a fallen soldier, the smoke from the raging fires swallowed everything up...
...and gave way to the interior of a room. The body she had stumbled over was a wooden chair. The smoke on the edges of her vision, a mist that crept in through the windows, shrouding the room in a haze. The scent of smoke, oil, and burnt bodies faded to a musty smell, like a room that hadn’t been aired out in some time, tinged with the salty scent of the sea carried on the breeze.
“What..? No!”
Gone were the armies of Wu, of Wei, and of Liu Bei. Gone were the burning ships and oil-soaked earth, engulfed in flames from the night assault on the barricades. Gone was the beautiful expanse of the Southlands. It couldn’t have been real. There was no way it was possible! It had to be a trick, an illusion of some sort...
Her sword slid free, held at the ready and with the steady hand of one used to the hunt. Her voice dropped to a low whisper, one reserved for giving orders and location when she accompanied her brother on hunts. “There was never any mention of sorcerers among his ranks, but if I can find them, then the illusions should end. Now... where are you hiding, Sorcerer?”
The room was foreign to her, with trappings and enclosures that made little sense in their location and style, and as she moved across the floor, her body low yet ready to strike, she was beginning to get the feeling that she wasn’t alone.
After scouring the entirety of the room, she began to examine it at face value, picking things up, opening cabinets, poking at what looked like switches of some sort on the walls. Who among Cao Cao’s troops would have been capable of creating such a realistic illusion? One that was could manipulate the senses to such a degree that even the chill from the open window could be felt?
...chill?
She made her way to the window, her earlier feeling turning to fear, and stared wide eyed at the expanse of white and mist and a town that looked like nothing she had ever seen before, whether in dreams or in stories from others traveling through the Southlands. Suddenly, the armor and few layers of clothing she had been wearing were not so warm. She would have to find who was behind this, and fast, before she wound up succumbing to the cold
Anything else? If you like long movies, and bloody ones and war ones and political ones and Romance of the Three Kingdoms and John Woo, I recommend this movie. ...and I say "long" because Shang Xiang's part was all but cut out of the US version, so she's only really in the 288-minute unrated International Version.