Name (current): Sage Tanaka

Original name: Kaito Tanaka

Known as: The Samurai, The Ronin, The Sage

Height: 6'4"

Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan

Year of Birth: 1337

Year of first death/rebirth: 1364

Race: Human Immortal (See also here)

Current occupation: Metallurgist (centuries of sword-fight encounters, encouraged him to study how to make better swords)


Weapons:

-Katana (forged using 9260 spring steel, as opposed to traditional Tamahagane)
-Tanto x2 (one concealed in each coat sleeve, left is lined with silver, the other with iron)



Abilities:


Immortality - cannot be killed by any means, save decapitation.

Quickening - The Quickening is the lifeforce of an immortal, and can only be taken by removing his head. It should be noted that because of The Quickening, Vampires gain no sustenance from drinking the blood of an immortal, and cannot kill him by doing so. The blood is worthless to them. Nor can an immortal be Embraced and become a Vampire or werewolf.


*  Sense Quickening: can sense another immortal nearby. No specific information on the immortal's identity or powers is given, nor is the location of the immortal known, merely that the immortal is near. This includes any form of immortal, be it highlander, vampire or werewolf.
Sense Quickening also allows the immortal to sense a Node ("holy ground") or an area charged with energy, be it magical or spiritual.


*  Empower Weapon: the clash of swords during a battle between two immortals is accompanied by electrical discharge. Using their Quickening, immortals can infuse their weapon with raw power, causing them to do more damage, and also causing the discharges shown. An immortal can empower any edged melee weapon in this way (axe, sword, knife). This also enhances the durability of their weapons.


*  Empower Self: Using his Quickening, an immortal may increase his physical attributes to a measure above the extent of a normal human. As immortals do not need food or rest, they can in theory apply their physical being forever (note that immortals do need to dream for psychological reasons). This requires great concentration.


*  Channel Quickening: There are other aspects of the Quickening that allow some Immortals to access and control unique powers. Nakano was able to cast illusions while Connor could hear and influence the minds of others.
Some Immortals are said to have abilities like healing, telekinesis or super-speed.
Not all Immortals learn to channel the Quickening into a signature ability and those who do can lose theirs either from lack of use or by having it overwritten by a Quickening they have gained from killing another Immortal.
Likewise an Immortal can gain the unique ability of another in the same way. (eg: Kane gained Nakano's illusion power)
Sage can channel his Quickening to perform moderate acts of telekinesis, using concentration.


The Last:

The "Sense Quickening" power is related to another power, which has been dubbed the "Last". The massive amount of Quickening present in an immortal means that they are able to "tune in" to their surroundings, and to the life forces around them, effectively giving them a sixth sense, similar to the "Danger Sense" gift in some Vampires. (This manifests itself in many ways. In the film, the examples we saw included MacLeod and Ramirez "tuning in" to the stag's life force on the sea shore, Kurgan's ability to guess Connor's name, even though he had never seen him before, Connor's knowledge that someone (Brenda) was following him. It is not like a jedi danger sense ability and can be very unreliable).


Weaknesses:

-  Immortals are easy to detect by other beings as their quickening is not easily concealed from those attuned to such energies. Most vampires and werewolves can identify an immortal by scent alone. Some call it the scent of an old blood. Others can simply detect their quickening, which cannot be hidden by any means.

-  An immortal cannot fight on holy ground. This includes anything made sacred. Doing so causes the deity of that ground to lash out at said immortal. This includes when being attacked by non immortals. An immortal can defend themselves or flee combat but not take any offensive action against attackers if on holy ground. It is believed that one battle with two immortals took place at Pompeii in 79 A. D

-  Immortals can't have children. It is not known if a pre-Immortal can have children nor if Immortality is hereditary from pre-Immortals. Although some Immortals are known to be related, even if distantly (as all Immortals are born as mortals from mortal parents). Connor and Duncan MacLeod were first thought to be related but it is later revealed that Duncan was a foundling, taken to replace a stillborn baby. This lead to the rumour that all Immortals were foundlings but Connor was never said to be one.


-  Limited physicality: compared to beings like vampires, werewolves and the like, immortals are at a physical disadvantage, in terms of strength and speed, even when using Empower Self, which only puts them above peak human. This doesn't mean immortals are helpless, as they also lack weaknesses against sunlight and silver, but an immortal is best served not seeking direct combat against such beings.


-  Hunted: Immortals are hunted by members of their own kind, specifically, those who desire to claim The Prize, or simply crave collecting Quickenings. As they can sense each when in range, an Immortal's existence is rarely a safe one.
But in addition to this, there is an organisation called The Hunters, who are an offshoot of the Watchers, originally led by James Horton, with the stated goal of killing all Immortals.
Their most famous victim was Darius. Their motivation varies from one member to another; Horton was afraid the victor of The Prize would control the world, which he believed should belong to "humans", while some other Hunters wanted to become Immortals themselves (though this probably wasn't possible), others just hunted them for pleasure, mainly due to their beliefs.



History:

Tanaka Kaito grew up during the the Ashikaga period. He was trained and lived as a samurai and married at the age of 19.
At 27 he returned home to find his wife murdered by members of a rival clan.
Kaito wasted no words and sought vengeance. In the rage that followed, he downed some of the killers but was eventually overwhelmed. The surviving opponents stabbed Kaito multiple times before dragging him o a cliff side, throwing him to the sea below.
Upon entering the waters he soon died, but was eventually reborn. His body healed from the wounds as he drew breath in the ocean for the first time. He swam to another village but his newfound immortality would often have people branding him a demon or a cursed being.
Over the years he wandered across most of Japan and eventually left shortly before the Meiji period, to travel the world and seek answers to explain the nature of his existence, avoiding conflict with other immortals where possible, only ever claiming Quickenings in self defence.

His encounters with those he's either been allied with, or fought but not killed, have come to know him as The Samurai or Ronin.



Misc:

Immortals gain power from killing other immortals (of their own kind, they benefit nothing from killing vampires and werewolves) and thus when faced with another immortal, they must either find a way to become friends or fight to the death.

Also immortals can only fight each other in one on one combat. When two or more immortals participate in killing another, they actually lose a portion of their quickening which is said to be absorbed by The Last. (conversely, if a non immortal aids an immortal or kills an immortal alone, a second nearby immortal will still gain the quickening of the one who fell).

Immortals heal without scar except for wounds on their neck and head.

There is a rare phenomena known as a "Dark Quickening," where a build up of quickenings from evil Immortals can overwhelm even the best of Immortals and lead to a Dark Quickening. The Dark Quickening draws out the darker elements of an Immortal's psyche until they are evil themselves.
Likewise there is the "Light Quickening." The Immortal monk Darius was introduced as an ancient warlord who led an army across Europe. When he reached the gates of Paris, Darius encountered an Immortal holy man who tried to protect the city. When Darius beheaded the holy man, his purer essence overwhelmed Darius and caused him to disband his army and spend the next thousand years living in peace on holy ground.

Immortals don't go around in groups, for very obvious reasons. Therefore, there will normally only be a single immortal player character in a Chronicle, and the other PCs will presumably be one of the other character types detailed in the Storyteller games released so far - Kindred, Garou, Mage or Wraith. This brings up the interesting topic of what the other characters actually know about the immortal character. Given that immortals are probably the rarest of all the supernatural beings (excepting Mummies), it's reasonable to assume that it's not exactly common knowledge that these guys are immortal, and can only be killed if their head is chopped off. If assessed using supernatural powers, an immortal's aura will look very similar to a Mage's, or perhaps a Changeling's - They store within them a large well of power, not unlike Quintessence. However, it will soon become obvious that an immortal cannot manipulate magick, nor does he possess powers like that of a Faerie. Normally, an immortal won't reveal his true nature to people, without a very good reason, and it is very unlikely that he will reveal the method by which he can be killed.

During their extended lifetimes, immortals are likely to amass huge amounts of wealth. However, like Vampires, immortals must maintain a masquerade - the illusion that there is nothing strange about them. This can be difficult, and can involve having to leave worldly assets behind. In the film, Connor used to leave his goods to children who had died whilst very young, and "die", only to return after a suitable interval to assume the identity of the dead person and claim their inheritance. This is probably the best way of ensuring that an immortal doesn't have to give up whatever worldly possessions he has earned when he has to move on, in order to prevent his true nature being discovered. Doubtless, there are immortals who travel around quite a bit, but it's likely that, after several centuries of travelling, an immortal may wish to stay in one place for a while.

Obviously, if an immortal has settled down in one place, they will need to have some way of paying for their lifestyle on a day to day basis. Duncan, for instance, has extensive stock holdings, but he is also an antique dealer, as Connor was. What better job for a man who was alive when many antiques were new? Other professions which require a knowledge of the past may also attract immortals, like a history professor, for instance. Who better to describe the Civil War than someone who was actually there? Immortals' supernatural abilities mean that they are practically perfect as soldiers, or something similar. What could be better than a soldier who isn't just simply unafraid of dying, but is actually unable to die? Most immortals will no doubt have been involved in some sort of conflict at some point in their lives, unless they actively avoided it.

Were an immortal's secret to become known, the results could be potentially disastrous. Imagine what would happen were a company such as Development Neogenetics Amalgamated or Pentex Inc. to discover that immortals exist - they would stop at nothing in an attempt to discover the secret of immortality. Therefore, an immortal character must be careful to guard his secret, and maintain the facade of normality.