Sima, the Dark One
The Justice of the Tanzhe, from the West.
First appears in Stars and Stones
A man of shockingly dark skin, and definitely not a local. He’s here as he wishes to petition the governor to name him Justicar of the Tanzhe Plains. People aren’t really sure what that is, and his explanation doesn’t help much, since it’s a quite detailed discussion of the mediation of power and justice between various levels of the self-governed polity…or some such. When asked about his references, he will only tell Kasumi privately. She claims his references didn’t really help much, though he swears he is not a Southern Barbarian, but he kept using words like maharajah and other southernish sounding words, so she isn’t absolutely sure.
From Looking for People in All The Wrong Places
Merit and Xiao Fa confer, and Xiao Fa has deduced that two thirds of his shticks are ineffective if he is not part of the authority of the law enforcement of the land. Judge Character says that he is driven for justice. Merit thinks that he would be a good fit for as long as he lasts, which would not be for all that long. His aspect is "Sword of Justice", more the former than the latter.
From The Hills Are Alive
He offers a thousand pardons, but he was hoping that Xiao Fa had come to some conclusions as to whether to hire him as Justicar of the Tanzhe. Xiao Fa declares that he would love to. Sima is most pleased - is there a symbol of the office? Not at this time. Is there an official oath? Also not at this time - Merit suggests that he go away and write an oath, and then come back and take it. Sima bows, and departs.
Sima returns, having composed an Oath.
'In days of peace, in nights of war,
Obey the law forever more.
Misconduct must be answered for -
Swear I to serve your rule and lore.
(Lijuan designs a symbol of office, which is edited by Xiao Fa and sculpted by Shen Ji. There is discussion of a throne of skulls.)
Master Zhou trains with Sima, and determines that he is particularly adept with the sword, and is specialized in "Law enforcement". His aspect isn't really an aspect, but is a combination of Law and Darkness, and he is only very recently (when appointed Justicar) close to his maximum potential, which is a combination of level 3 and level 7.
His exact powers are obscured - for example, he would likely only have Cleave if his enemy has allies in nearby hexes. That's deliberately shrouded in darkness and is a particular specialization of NPCs Can Cheat - there is a sense in which Master Zhou has shone a light on that little bit of his abilities, and now the Cleave / not Cleave dichotomy is nailed down and less flexible.
Further questioning about where Sima comes from yields the answer of "from the western desert beyond the strait" but no one is so well traveled as to know where that is.
