Zhou Yanshan

The Fire Spirit of Lulin, the Master of Lulin Manor. Also known as the Yanhuo Demon or Yanhuo Immortal. Depends how people are feeling about the crops.

• Six feet tall
• Pale but not sickly, immortal pale (TM)
• Does spend a lot of time indoors and in-caves and whatnot
• Looks about mid-30s, is actually 112
• Coal black eyes with flecks of gold, aka Molten Fire and Coals and Terror
• Sharp strong eyebrows, resting bitchface
• Long black hair sweeping down to his knees, styled in a topknot with a silver lotus crown and a white jade hairpin carved in the shape of a deer antler
• Wears a light grey daopao with a dark green collar, embroidered with an absurdly detailed scene of willows, cranes and deer, frolicking or something

• A massive pain in the ass to deal with
• Brilliant, unpredictable, irreverent, commands deep respect and deep frustration from everyone around him
• Loves knickknacks and souvenirs, gets offended when treats are not given
• LOVES a big fuckoff statue depicting weird tableaus, that's his shit
• Projects nonchalance, is not nonchalant
• Mean by design, more than a little petty, but not cruel
• Adopts strays
• Loves poetry, can't sing for shit

• Fire based cultivator, strongest of his generation
• Nascent Soul abilities and all that entails - in this case near-immortality, hasn't aged a damn day since he turned 32
• Specialises in the sword but has had plenty of time to dabble, pretty adept at just about any weapon under the sun
• A scientific mind, actually knows quite a bit about alchemy
• Wields Huihuang (辉煌), a sword infused with (allegedly) sunfire. The hilt and sheath are both decorated with silver filigree. A small jade pei is tied at the end, carved with the word “empty”
• Also wields a flywhisk, the creatively named Deer Antler Whisk (鹿角尘) which represents the master of Lulin Manor, passed down through generations

• Born Zhou Yu, to a county magistrate and a former soldier, but neither of his parents knew what to do with him
• Brilliant from a young age, sharp and quick-witted but impossible to control, natural head for books but a personality that didn't quite agree with it
• Sent to Lulin Manor to be tested for potential and was eventually taken in under his master, Lu Xiaotian, then head of the sect
• Became head disciple at age 12
• Studied at Lingzhu Academy as a young man, one of the leading members of a guerilla experimental research group looking to push the limits of golden core formation (and restoration), eventually turning into a project that involved the merging of cultivators and their weapons
• This research ultimately lead to the creation of an entity called the Luji (炉基 or Furnace Foundation), a fusion of man (in this case, Jin Xuanran) and blade (Huangxiao, the twin to Zhou Yanshan's own Huihuang)
• Because obviously this didn't end up going very well, Zhou Yanshan along with some of the other students decided to put an end to the experiments, creating a schism
• Those that wanted to continue the experiments fought back, lead by a man named Shangguan Liang. The details here are partially lost to history. A fire broke out at Lingzhu Academy, resulting in heavy casualties.
• In the aftermath of the fire, Zhou Yanshan and a handful of others sealed the Luji beneath the academy, binding themselves to the Keeper's Pact, preventing them from revealing the details of the experiments to outsiders, binding their qi, creating the wards that surround the Luji's chamber.
• 60 years pass without much incident, in the intervening time Zhou Yanshan became the leader of Lulin Manor
• The seal is breached in a second fire at Lingzhu. The Luji is tampered with. A man is killed. The remaining pact keepers reconvene at Baiwu Valley and start a months-long process to renew the wards and improve the Pact
• A few things happen related to a mid-level cultivator and part-time crook named Lin Donghua coming across a strange child being kept in captivity
• The missing parts of the Luji are not recovered, traced, or even seen again until an unremarkable sword is found embedded in the body of a young groom in a village at the foot of Mount Lulin
• Zhou Yanshan sends the young man's widow, possessed by a sword spirit, and two of his disciples, to seek help in Baihua City, knowing that the person they seek can't actually tell them anything
• What is he up to what's he doin'

• Hu Xiao Hui (湖小灰): Fifth disciple, calls him Hui'er. Has high hopes for him. Likes to give him little tasks. Setting him up for something big.
• Bai Jingmei (白静梅): Third disciple, who tried to cut off his ear when they first met for bothering her father's horses. Calls her Meimei sometimes to be annoying, Gu'er when he's feeling sappy.
• Yao Ziyang (姚子阳): Second disciple, who he thinks is pretty funny and the best one to throw into messy situations because of how he reacts. Very conscious of the kid's divided duties. A'Liang.
• Luo Cuilian (罗翠莲): Seventh disciple, his terrible/amazing little literal princess. Lian'er.
• Zhou Minyi (周敏仪): Fourth disciple, formally his son, though apparently conceived while he was in seclusion for 13 years. Ruirui, Xiao Rui.
• Zhang Jianhan (张剑寒): Sixth disciple, a font of potential in a chaotic ball. Purchased from a teahouse. Lao Liu, Han'ge.
• The Mysterious and Unnamed First Disciple: Some regrets.
• Ren Ruiyi (任瑞圯): Former schoolmate, Pact Keeper, former friend. Boring. Calls him Xiao Ren.
• Yun Lanjing (云岚镜): Former schoolmate, Pact Keeper. It's actually kind of hard to keep in touch with someone when they fuck off to the imperial harem, so they don't really get to talk more than once every decade. Trusts her more than most.
• Lin Donghua (林栋华): Pact Keeper. Really useful. A fun hang, too. Too bad they don't get to talk much. They really need to discuss those boys of his.
• Ning Shuiyao (宁水瑶): The master of Baiwu Valley, currently missing. Former schoolmate and Pact Keeper. His only true friend left in the world and only person he considers to be as clever as he is.
• Su Chenyi (苏辰逸): The little punk ass who Ning Shuiyao raised. A pig who needs to get out of his cabbages. Useful though.