➤ Player
Name: Maggie
Contact: roseburst / Maggie#0451
Other characters ingame: Edward Elric
Invited by: It was Yaywon originally but now I'm in your base

➤ Character
Name: Xiao (Alatus)
Canon: Genshin Impact
Canon Point: Pre Archon quests as preferred!
Age: He appears to be a teenager, but he's over 2000 years old.

History: Timeline, Xiao's wiki page, and (spoilers) data-mined Story & Quotes.

Basic summary: back during the Archon wars when many gods walked the earth and battled one another, Xiao was forced to serve an evil god as their dog of war. He was made to do many things he did not wish to, and was even forced to eat dreams. He was freed during that war by Rex Lapis, and as a result entered into a contract with the god as one of the five Yaksha of the Adepti protecting Liyue. Of those five, Xiao is the only one remaining. He continues to fight the remnants of the evil gods Rex Lapis and the Adepti killed in those wars to this day. While Xiao tries his best to not interact with the humans of Liyue more than necessary (he's not a people person) he's one of the small handful of Adepti who actually still comes down from Jueyun Karst to wander around and do things and occasionally speak to people, lurking around Wangshu Inn in particular - though his reasons for traveling Liyue relate entirely to his task more than any desire to socialize.

Personality:

STRENGTHS
• Dedicated. Xiao has spent thousands of years dedicated to the same task of protecting Liyue, and seems inclined to spend thousands more doing the same exact thing. He never deviates from or shirks his task, and is by far the easiest of the Adepti to locate and speak with about Rex Lapis and his "death", although Xiao admittedly just fucking leaves to follow up on matters himself when he's done with the conversation even though the Traveler and Paimon aren't quite finished with him. While some of the Adepti removed themselves ever further from humanity, Xiao works alongside it in tandem - separate, but continuously doing what is expected of him without the need for people to ask him for help overmuch.

• Caring. Not in the way most people would consider someone to be caring, mind. Xiao isn't warm and he won't be overtly kind to you. But he does seem to be dedicated to his task of protecting the humans of Liyue, and he even makes an effort to try to help Ganyu when she becomes despondent and confused about her role, albeit in his own...Xiao-ish way. He's not caring to everyone, but Xiao does have multiple lines about being willing to protect others and offering to kill for those who cannot. He's spent thousands of years hunting demons for the sake of Liyue - that isn't entirely driven only by duty. While he doesn't understand those he protects and he doesn't totally get the other Adepti, Xiao does still have an interest in them no matter how much he'd deny that and he does pay attention to those who stay in his line of sight.

• Practical. While he doesn't really deal with Mora - or any of the problems that come with not having it - Xiao seems to be fairly practical all around. He doesn't let things like the weather or time passing bother him and simply moves from task to task to task. He lives a fairly frugal life with few possessions and doesn't seem to desire for much - or at least isn't willing to speak about what desires he has, preferring to keep them close to his chest. You can at least rely on Xiao not to overreact to things or to be overly reckless, although you can't rely on him for good conversation or like, social skills.

• Calm. Again, he's cool-headed. He can absolutely be curt and doesn't seem to have the best social skills in terms of like...not ditching conversations at will, but Xiao doesn't go out of his way to hurt others and he doesn't seem to lose his temper much at all. He's noted by the Wangshu Inn owners to love "peace and quiet" and they seem fond of having him around despite his demeanor. He causes no trouble for others when he can help it, preferring to keep to himself and think things over on his own.

WEAKNESSES
• Inhuman. This isn't to say Xiao is evil or that his morals aren't good, but he lives on a scale of millenia, not years, and doesn't seem to interact with humans as much as, say, Ganyu. He dismisses many things that come naturally to mortals as "weird human things" and seems to look down on them in a way that doesn't seem malicious but is more - he's been around a long, long time and most humans are short-lived and strange and chatty, and he doesn't understand them because despite protecting them from the shadows for eons he has not lived among them like Ganyu (who has human blood to help her out) and he hasn't really observed them to the degree of Rex Lapis (who despite that doesn't totally Get the humanity thing either). Humanity is like a foreign language in which Xiao has a failing grade. He even admits he can't really understand human emotions, although he clearly does have emotions of his own - he's just not really in touch even with those.

• Distant. Xiao seems to hold himself apart even from the other Adepti to a degree, despite coming when called and being willing to assist them without (much) complaining. It's partly due to believing his battle is his own burden only and partly to just not being particularly social or certain how to interact with people. While he does pretty much nothing but fight, Xiao doesn't seem to get any joy from fighting. He just considers himself to be a weapon, and he sees everything he does as a way of atoning for the things he has done in his past. He's hard to get to know because he's just not really fond of people in general, despite not seeming to hate people - maybe it's the talking he minds most. He's even tried to foist people (specifically humans he thinks are irritating) off on others...sorry, Ganyu.

• Terse/harsh. If you're looking for a people person you haven't found one. Xiao doesn't mince words and he doesn't seem to like to use too many more than he has to at times. He's to the point and can and will just Leave once he's done with a conversation even if the other person isn't done with said conversation. It can make him hard to get to know and hard to get along with, although those who do know him best seem to be capable of getting along with him despite this trait.

• Negative. While Xiao isn't the sort of negative where he will tear down every plan you make and bemoan everything, he does seem to brood very deeply on his past and his current work, and gets wrapped up in his own negative emotions. He never seems to let this stop him from keeping on, but it's definitely worth noting that he's got a cynical bent to his thinking. There was a time he was naïve and innocent, but that was a very, very long time ago.

GREATEST MOTIVATIONS
He's still under contract to Liyue and Rex Lapis, and Xiao will continue that duty until relieved of it (and...probably beyond that). He seems to feel that it is both gratitude and atoning for his sins under the rule of that evil god.

MUNDANE/TRIVIAL INTERESTS
Xiao doesn't seem to have many hobbies or interests outside of his duty in general. He is fond of almond tofu and apparently appreciates music and would like to dance someday without it being a huge fighting Thing, but otherwise his interests include Personal Space and Not Socializing. Training is an interest, sort of, but it's really more his job and duty so it's not really something he does for fun. He actually doesn't really get the purpose of mundane/trivial interests and expresses in voicelines that he wonders why the hell Zhongli spends all day playing with birds, antiques, and flowers.

SETTING
He lives in Teyvat so there won't really be any difficulty adjusting to that. As to interacting with new people...eh. He'll be stand-offish, but Xiao operates under a certain Archon's contract and that involves protecting Liyue's people and anyone else that person deems worthy of a charm to acknowledge that (...or just saying so). He wouldn't go out of his way to attack humans even without that, anyway. Xiao is pretty goal-oriented, so he's going to at least work on figuring out what the hell is up even if he'll be sort of aggravated at having to talk to so many people. Let him LIVE, maybe.

Abilities:

• Xiao possesses the power of an Adepti. He isn't human and basically won't die unless killed and doesn't seem to age - the downside of this is that apparently human medicine has zero effect on him. He can also presumably shapeshift like the other Adepti but does not choose to do so at any point in the game thus far, sticking to his edgy teenager aesthetic. Adepti have a variety of other powers that are only touched upon in game, including sub-space creation, sigils, etc - Xiao presumably has some knowledge of these things but does not seem to be an expert or particularly interested in them. You probably want Cloud Shaper instead for that (though he can make a mean battle trial...but that's like, all he's shown to do). The only reference he makes to ever making any sort of Adepti thing besides a battle trial is an "Adepti amulet" he gives the traveler on their birthday in his voicelines. Not as a PRESENT, mind. Just...an amulet.

• Xiao is absolutely a combat expert. He's strong and blindingly fast in battle, and some of that can absolutely be attributed to his status as an Adepti although some of it is also 2000+ years of nonstop battle experience and training.

• He's an anemo vision holder who uses a polearm. His attacks are based around lunging and plunging and his kit is pretty straightforward. When he dons his mask and gets Serious, however, his health will continuously drain - though the trade-off is a boost to his stats and attack and changing things to anemo damage. Like other vision users, he does have a degree of elemental sight as well.

• Assorted miscellany: he's better at climbing than most people, apparently can play the flute, and is very good at abrupt arrivals and departures. Also, he can somehow consume dreams and presumably nightmares. Dreams apparently taste similar to Almond Tofu.

Inventory: His clothes, his mask, and I'm assuming the Primordial Jade-Winged Spear because look, he has it in his official art and he deserves a nice spear in game that I'll never be able to get in Genshin for real. He also has accommodations at the Wangshu Inn, but that's not really on his person, it's just...in Teyvat.

I have read through the FAQ and understand that my character may be required to participate in plot events: Yes.