Chung Zhu

Chung Zhu is a priest of Zarn whose duties often have him traveling outside of Xian. He is well-versed in many of the local languages and customs. He travels without the benefits of guide or guardian, for his purity is above reproach.

Zhu grew up in a Gogen, small village outside of Pe-de-dsong. Pe-de-dsong is where the holiest warriors of Zarn are trained for battle and Zhu went to the city whenever he could. Therefore, it came has no surprise to his family when he entered the priesthood with the intent of becoming a holy warrior when he reached his eighth birthday. For the next fifteen years Zhu withstood terrible treatments and punishment designed to hardened his body against attack and strengthen his soul against corruption. Less than half of the men that seek to become warpriests even get through the initial training. However, Zhu was strong and eventually rose to a position of authority.

Thus it was a surprise to his family when Zhu did not leave with the other war-priests to the northern border with the elves. What nobody but Zhu and a few others knew was that he was selected to go out among the human fallen to the east and preach to them about the evils of their life and the purity that can be found in Zarn. He was chosen for this very important mission because he faith was pure, his conviction strong, and his body ready to defend his beliefs. This was an position for a very special person and Zhu will not fail.

Zhu has been among the outsiders for more than 20 years and he is still learning new things. He has become an avid scholar on their society and the false religion propped up by corrupt government and elven spies. Because he can look at the world on a long term scale he sees the elven hand where others only see fate. Still, after all of this time his faith has never wavered — in fact it grows stronger each year.

Zhu typically dresses in the long black overcoat with gold front buttons that is worn by the priest of Zarn. He also has the headpiece and collar that mark him as a holy warrior of Zarn. While other priests of Zarn that work inside the enemy have two or more bodyguards from the Hand of Zarn, Zhu laughs at those who fear the barbarians. He is a warrior trained the the arts of combat and will not fall prey to any drunk barbarian.

When not advertising his status as a priest of Zarn, Zhu favors leather shoes, black hose, black doublet, and a gray wool shirt. In colder weather he will add a dark gray hood and cloak. This allows him to move amoung the outsiders without drawing attention that he is a priest of Zarn. While his Xianese appearance is still more than enough to draw attention, at least it doesn't have the same effect as his priestly jacket.

Because Zhu often travels in the barbarian lands he may encounter the PCs in just about any large city. Inside of these cities he works to construct a shrine to Zarn so that his hand will grant the people of the city a new life when they are destroyed for their evils. However, he has also lived amoung the barbarians so much that he cannot reconcile their mass destruction by Zarn just because they were led astray by the elves and their demon servants. Just like Zarn says their is a place in paradise for the doomed dwarves, so should there be a place in the afterlife for the humans than never knew better.

So, the PCs could easily find him preaching on a streetcorner or enlisting their help to for a difficult job. These should all provide him with a lever to work on the humans in any group and convince them of the evil of any non-humans that are their friends. He can be very convincing especially to those attracted to the promise of wealth.