Ravi Dattavalaram
Dreams-the-Unpromised

Jvaala of the Makara
Lantern of the Night Wind
Grisma of the Emerald Heaven
Steel Minister of Human Benevolence
Blazing Dragon of the Court of Bamboo Talons

Description


Homid: ~Who will speak for the innocents? This handsome, urbane Indian steps forward. Ravi Dattavalaram appears to be in his late 20s or early 30s and commands a sturdy build. He favors bold and stylish suits. He keeps his black hair styled short on his head, but permits for a thin layer of facial hair on his chiseled, appealing features. Ravi's light brown skin bears no blemishes save a burnt scar on his left palm. Able-bodied but languid in stride, he offers a cool and winsome smile to all his ardent, brown-eyed gaze falls upon. All style and good looks aside, Ravi comes across as noble, even royal. Perhaps he members one of those high Hindu castes? He carries himself with quiet dignity and a tenacious passion that seems ready to nearly burst with his every action.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Style 1; Pure Breed 4; Glory 4, Virtue 7, Wisdom 4

Archid: ~That energy bursts into terrifying shape when Ravi adopts his draconian form. His mass surpasses a ton and his body length is about twenty feet from tail to heads. That's right, heads. Ravi sprouts two heads that are extended on long necks that sprout from where the creature's back meets its chest. Quadrupedal, four tree trunk-like legs stand solidly on the earth, each exacting three axe-like claws. The two-headed hydra maintains balance easily with a long, serpentine tail that encompasses eight feet of body length alone. Small, wave-shaped crests flow up the Water Monster's tail, back, and both necks. Atop Ravi's crocodilian heads, the crests climax as great, crystalline shapes curved like a wave. Four slit and hungry eyes peer out from under this diamond-hard crests of Makara royalty. The beast boasts two maws full of sharp, jagged teeth. With the flexible, snake-like winding of Ravi's dual necks, it's obvious how quickly he can rend enemies to bits with those extra teeth. His entire body is scaled and riveted in deep olive green leathery armor, tough and impenetrable-seeming. Black brime glistens between the scales, betraying the Water Monster's amphibious origins. He is a king come to collect his dues in retributive blood and flesh.~

OOC: Appearance 0; Pure Breed 4; Royal Crest; Delirium; Glory 4, Virtue 7, Wisdom 4

Suchid: ~In his aquatic reptilian form, Ravi shares the Varna of the fierce and aggressive mugger crocodile. This large beast is covered in bony green scales and leathery plates. He is squat to the ground on all four clawed legs. A broad tail sways as he plods forward with a lazy step that belies his potential speed. Cold eyes show none of the compassion he wears in his natural form. And with that broad snout filled with jagged, flesh-rending teeth, compassion should not be expected from an animal that has evolved little over the eons -- an animal that hasn't needed to evolve.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Pure Breed 4; Glory 4, Virtue 7, Wisdom 4

"Vapid and empty are the dreams of war-mongers."

History


Sun & Moon

The summer of 1970 witnessed the birth of Trueborn twins. This incredibly rare phenomenon was made even more unusual by the fact that one son was Mokolé and the other a well-bred Kinfolk of the Nagah. Of course, the father, Sanat Onkar, was Vritra Nagah though only Kinfolk. The mother, Lalita Matsya, or "Surya's Breath", was Makara. Both belonged to one of the few hengeyokai Beast-Courts of India. The Court of Autumn Eyes was located not far from Delhi on an island in the river.

Actually, the Dattavalaram boys' parents bred well. They consulted a brood kenner in the Court before mating. Even their caste matched them well, for they were both Ksayirah. Their love united their growing family and Jilal and Ravi were raised together. The river island home of their Court was a wilderness preservation, and afforded a beautiful environment for the twins to grow up in and explore.

Both boys loved the great outdoors. Jilal proved the more athletic of the two, but Ravi had a good-natured charm about him the quieter and more reserved Nagah boy did not. Jilal's quietude misled some of the courtiers into thinking he was the wiser of the two. Ravi was more curious than Jilal ever was. But their parents made sure both received an equal education. They were bright boys and learned general academics quite well. They even received diplomas approved by the government through take-home tutor tests.

Their parents instilled a strong sense of religious value in the twins, too. Ethics regarding dharma and Gaia (or Gaiadharma) were nailed home to both boys. Surya's Breath made sure Ravi understood what would be expected of Makara with their Memory while Sanat insured Jilal understood the moral implications of Nagah judgment and assassination. They learned about the hengeyokai Mandates and what would be involved with daily life in a Beast-Court. Finally, their parents and other courtiers taught the boys had to defend themselves, how to fight, and how to kill.

To temper these lessons, the twins were often brought to town to socialize with other youths their age, typically during Hindu festivals. Ravi made pals more easily; both boys had girlfriends in their adolescence. Though the twins competed over many things, including girls, they always had a special link many expected identical twins would have. They were always aware of each other's feelings and could readily second-guess the other.

While astrological divination and primal instinct indicated the twins would both shed their human facades, there wasn't 100% certainty until they began to manifest certain behaviors in their pubescence. Ravi confided dreams and memories of lives that were not his but of folk from all over Asia. They were strange and mixed-up sensations he couldn't yet concentrate on, but that was surely a good sign of his breeding. On top of it all, Ravi was as quick a healer as Jilal. Jilal likewise had disturbing memories that weren't quite his own, but his were far more limited, and apparently limited only to his family ancestors. More disturbing still was Jilal's frightening urge to sometimes just kill. Small animals he sometimes encountered would be caught and killed with a quick jerk of the neck. It bothered his brother, but their father reassured Ravi that Jilal wasn't a psycho (no more than any other hengeyokai, at any rate!). And both twins demonstrated such regal bearing that their changing ancestry was visible even then, and excused them from many of these minor mishaps.

Midsummer Furnace

Only a month after the twins' eighteenth birthday, the prophesied event occurred. The twins underwent their Change almost simultaneously, in fact. No doubt this was due to the empathic rapport the boys shared. The two were swimming in the river, competing in a race for fun. Jilal was ahead...until an undertow caught the youth and dragged him under. Ravi almost panicked but realized what happened and dove deeper to try and save him. It was a desperate struggle, for Ravi wasn't old enough to drag his semi-conscious brother out of the currents. At that moment, Ravi had a premonition of the future: and a dim future it would be without his brother! Panic became fury, as Ravi's Beast Within clawed its way out and Raged against that doom. He assumed his terrifying Dream-form right there, the Archid Water Monster snatching Jilal out of the currents. Jilal struggled in his brother's two-headed grasp at first, terrified of this beast.

All that struggling attracted a predator, however. A mugger crocodile native to those waters swam up and attacked Jilal despite the much larger reptilian beast holding him. Ravi managed to tug Jilal out of the crocodile's jaws, but the reptile was persistent. Already on edge, Jilal joined his brother in shedding human form. But instead of filled with desperate fury, Jilal felt calmer and more certain than ever before. With this dead calm pervading his spirit, he let that killing urge loose again. Suddenly, the crocodile was trying to bite an Azhi Dahaka wereserpent. And it was the crocodile that was bitten, Jilal's deadly fangs slaying the animal outright.

The twins returned to the island and their Dragon Nest home still in the war-forms. As they approached their courtiers, Regent Nagrai Kolar, also known as "Hails Rain", welcomed them joyously. Their mother aided them in returning to their human shapes. Nagrai handed them little badges made of flint, indicating their Stone Ranks. They would have to spend some time adjusting to their new lives before they would be accepted as full adults. The twins' mother took Ravi under wing while Jilal served under one of the older Nagah at the Court, Venkatakrishnan.

For a year, they studied and trained. Both boys learned the nuances of changing forms. Ravi learned he could become a mugger crocodile while Jilal's serpent heritage was that of a deadly banded krait. They were instructed in hengeyokai secrets they were previously denied. This included various rituals of the Courts as well as duties under the Emerald Mother. Ravi learned how to tap his Mnesis and glean wisdom from those Memories. Jilal meanwhile learned more about the true nature of the Nagah's duties. He hoped he would never have to "judge" his brother for anything. Venkatakrishnan evenly replied that should Ravi ever step that far out of line (not that the good-natured Makara likely ever would, but anything was possible!), he would be judged by the Nagah. But Jilal would not have to perform the execution himself.

In a little over six months, the twins were both prepared for the tests of the Great Burden. Firstly, both had to recite the Mandates of the Emerald Mother. Next, Ravi had to relay the Duties of the Mokolé and Jilal speak of the Duties of the Nagah. Thirdly, they had to work together on a project: it was their task to purge the nearby river of all corrupting elements. That included pollutants, litterers, and even Yomispawn. Ravi handled the spiritual cleansing of the area while Jilal worked on frightening away litterers. Through the Dragon Nest, they entered the Mirror Lands and scoured the spirit world for Banes. The few they encountered were pounced together. The boys demonstrated fantastic teamwork in their assaults. Altogether, the assignment took three weeks to complete. When they were done, Nagrai and all the Court of Autumn Eyes welcomed the new hengeyokai with the wooden badges of their first true Rank. Due their similar ancestral memories of war and their hunger to bring peace, they were given reflecting deed names. Jilal was entitled Delivers-the-Unpromised, while Ravi became Dreams-the-Unpromised.

Deep Breath

The next seven years split the brothers apart. Ravi began to attend New Delhi University; the Court paid his way. With his persuasive abilities, Ravi knew he could become a great help to society beyond the Beast-Courts. Ravi studied public relations primarily, with law and philosophy as intended minors. He didn't neglect his duties in the Court, however, and had little leisure time as a result. He studied hard at what it meant to be Makara and what tasks the Emerald Mother intended for him in particular.

So Ravi began to delve into the Mnesis in search of specific memories. He wanted to know more about the wars fought in the name of religion, for this perturbed him deeply. The bloodshed he visualized through the Mnesis was horrifying. Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and Sikhs were constantly at each other's throats over the years. And those religions all pleaded messages of peace and non-violence! The extremists of all these religions were close-minded fanatics. Ravi suspected, however, that the laws of the land helped breed them. Too strict rules and harsh enforcement tended to forge certain mentalities of intolerance.

Combining the wisdom he fished from Mnesis and the knowledge college passed on, Ravi easily graduated by 1996. He had a Bachelor's in public relations and a double Associate's in law and philosophy, as planned. Now he had to think of a useful application of his degrees and Makara powers. While Nagrai and his mother wanted him to serve out of the Court, he yearned for some time away from home. So Ravi eyed the Indian government and its various agencies.

Serpent & Dragon

And Ravi applied to RAW -- Research & Analysis Wing, which was India's equivalent to the CIA. With his education and sterling interview, the agency accepted and trained the young man. Curiously, or perhaps purposely, Ravi and Jilal ended up working on similar problems that the government faced. While Jilal served in a more paramilitary function, Ravi was the quintessential spy. Northern terrorists from groups like the Tablighi Jamaat and Al-Qaida, as well as separatists like Punjab Sikhs and Jammu-Kashmir jihadi's, all threatened the security of India. And more to Ravi's concern, they represented a dangerous face of humanity that had to be restrained. While they were excellent long-term solutions Ravi could suggest the Indian government put into play, in the short-term these sorts of crusaders were beyond reason and simply had to be reined in.

The Makara aided these endeavors through psychological warfare and public relations cover-up. Though he was a capable fighter, especially since he could terrify human enemies into catatonic quiescence by assuming his Archid form, this was not his duty. Furthermore, Ravi and Jilal's missions often brought them together. Their excellent teamwork was put to good use during these dangerous years. Ravi often had to cover-up the bloody messes Jilal sometimes left, since the Nagah was a little...trigger happy. The twins even masqueraded as one another sometimes to throw off terrorist enemies' own spies.

The twins encountered shen rarely, however. Ravi suspected that supernatural enemies manipulated some of the terrorists they dealt with, but figured most zealots needed no magical persuasion to commit mass murder. Fortunately, the few times the brothers clashed with other supernaturals, they were nearby one another. One such battle involved a vampire of the Kuei-jin who backed the Kashmir separatists for the commercial opportunities it offered. This leech had little idea what he was dealing with, but he was an overconfident demon who imagined himself a god...and thought he was only handling a couple spies. He summoned magical fire to immolate the better armed Nagah, but Ravi brashly snuffed it out with his bare hands while Jilal blew the vampire's kneecaps out. Together they finished the injured vampire off even as it bared its fangs and tried to frighten them away. But the vampire's last moments were the ones filled with terror, as the twins assumed their true forms and shredded his undead form. Among both men and hengeyokai were acquiring a reputation for their level-headedness, honor, and the ferocious passion with which they attacked their duties.

All the same, the Dattavalaram brothers (the alias surname with which they both assumed) were starting to become a hindrance. Their faces were becoming too high profile for the secretive work they had to perform. After "9/11" and the worldwide crackdown on terrorism, the twins requested permission from both Court and their human employers to hunt down Osama bin-Laden themselves. However, their requests were denied by all agencies involved. Their rising profiles disabled their effective intelligence-gathering and mission execution. And more importantly to the hengeyokai, the Court of Autumn Eyes was annoyed with their distance from the social and spiritual needs of hengeyokai life. The pair served out the remainder of their contracts to the government, and then retreated to the Beast-Court.

Redeployment

In late 2004, the brothers were commanded to go to a new Beast-Court...in America! The Court of Bamboo Talons in Kansas City's Little Asia district already hosted one immigrant from the Court of Autumn Eyes: Dalal Ghanam, a fellow Makara. Ravi was to be sent there so he would have to sever all connections to the intelligence community of India. This way, he would be forced to focus on his duties as Mokolé. Before the brothers left India, they challenged for the next Rank. While they were remiss in their duties, they had still racked up enough heroic deeds to be recognized as Iron hengeyokai.

Instead, Nagrai dispatched Ravi and Jilal both to the Himalayan Mountains. In the high and freezing peaks, they were to meditate and fast for one week. They had to consider the Mandates more seriously and return to the Beast-Court with greater focus before a challenge was considered. This one week was the longest period of time either had suffered, for the environment was harsh and unforgiving. It drew the pair closer even as it enhanced their minds to realization of the spiritual lives they too long avoided.

When they came down from the mountains and returned to Court, they were in for a shock. Nagrai congratulated them: the retreat had been their Rank challenge! They were promoted to the second Rank and both awarded knowledge of a couple more spirit Gifts. Surya's Breath presented her Makara son with a fetish she wove for him as a parting present. Then it was time to go. The Dattavalarams said good-bye to their proud parents and Courtly comrades. Ravi settled into Little Asia quickly enough, possessing the cultural savvy to blend right in. He was hired as a professor at the College of Asian Studies, where he taught philosophy and law. Ravi was eager to expand his knowledge of hengeyokai ways while helping people bridge the gaps between their religious differences. And what better place to do this than in the melting pot of America?



Mnesis


For Ravi, Mnesis is all about perspective. He has profound visions that come when he concentrates and in his sleep. His focus in Mnesis tends to especially lie with wars of the past: all the conflicts based on religion and belief, clashing with blood and hate. Hindus versus Buddhists or Sikhs and Christians versus Muslims inspired hundreds of wars throughout the ages. He could remember three or four thousand years ago, and it was always that way among men. Ravi remembers fighting in some of those wars, as a Hindi or Buddhist or Sikh. He even recalls drinking the blood and gore of men murdered in the name of religion as a crocodile-born Water Monster in the Ganges. The Grisma's special concern in these blind crusades helps him keep perspective in modern times and the constant clashes of beliefs. Nowadays, the underdogs were known as "terrorists". And terror was indeed their strategy, but they weren't the only ones who used terror. All sides were responsible. And Ravi feels the bile of disgust rise inside him, inspiring Rage he knew was useless to stop these wars and would only worsen them. So with the wisdom of his Mnesis, Ravi wants to maintain peace and harmony for everyone.



Fetishes


Beggar's Mantle
Level: 3
Gnosis: 7
Origin: This fetish was crafted for Ravi as a parting gift from the Court of Autumn Eyes as a reward for his peace-seeking and avoidance of unnecessary combat. It holds the willing spirit of a Snake, a krait specifically.
Description: This fetish appears to be a gentleman's stole of some six feet length. But instead of crafted of silk, it is made of wool rags and delicate skin sheddings from a (krait) snake, carefully woven together. It is quite fragile and while Ravi has it dedicated to himself, he usually keeps it in a long, brass case.
Effects: 1) become completely invisible to all creatures of Yomi (does not work in Archid)
Activation: The stole is gently wrapped twice around the neck and shoulders like a scarf.



Battle Scars


Class: Deep
Description: A patch of burnt scar tissue spanning the width of his palm
Location: Palm of his left hand
Origin: Snuffed out a magical torch with his bare hand
Effects: Aches when it's humid or the weather is about to change; hand lacks real flexibility



Brothers



Ravi and Jilal are twin brothers. Ravi is the older of the two by about a minute and a half. Ravi loves his "little brother", but he never condescends. He always shows Jilal full respect. Together, they have a quiet camaraderie that almost suggests they're not overly fond. But in truth, their solemn mutual respect is so profound that the silence conveys their deep emotions for each other.

Furthermore, their connection is quite strong. They demonstrate all the superstitious beliefs about twins: they can feel each other's sentiments, finish each other's sentences, and second-guess each other's plans. The two are so inextricably bound to each other in fact that they cannot really be bound to others, not physically at any rate. This is a fact they have not much tested in their few encounters with Kin-jin, for neither of them have been captured and subjected to the Blood Bond. While wholly bound to each other, the twins' lives are not dependent. If one dies, the other will not suddenly keel over. The psychological effects of one's death, on the other hand, could birth a terrible Rage...



Significant Other


The Diwali festival in late 2004 brought Ravi and Rakhi Jijotiya into acquaintance. Ravi only recently arrived to Little Asia of Kansas City, as had Rakhi. Their friendliness soon blossomed into a fiery romance once Ravi discovered the mystick's Makara heritage. And not long after he took her back to Yamahasu, Jilal discovered them. To the twin brothers' delighted surprise, Rakhi was more than willing to share herself with both men, since she was, after all, also Kin to the Vritra Nagah! Ravi didn't mind sharing the romance with his brother either, provided Jilal remembered that she was kin both to the Water Monsters, and it would be his children she produces first! For now, however, the trio only explore and enjoy their romance. Ravi and Rakhi are not prepared to mate just yet. Even after discovering that the twins were Rakhi's half-brothers did not deter their romance. Too much was at stake and too much love was shared.

Rakhi

Weakness
Bottled Rage


Ravi does not deny his inner fury. But he does actively seek to avoid situations where its power will be tapped. Because of that, his Rage can overflow and subject him to maddening horror. Ravi must learn to balance the Beast Within and not deny it.

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

Not only is Ravi humane as hengeyokai go, but he is spirit-savvy enough to challenge Yomispawn on their own territory. So this Makara will not easily fall to corruption at all.



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