Bakuzan Burlycloud

'''[[File:Bakuzan_-normal_ver.-|thumb|350px|Bakuzan in her casual Tillers farming gear.

art by @audioerf!]]Bakuzan Burlycloud, youngest of the Burlycloud family of Stoneplow, last and only heiress to the Fertile Lands Nearest the Serpent's Spine, Kegsmasher for Hire, Tillers Council Sub-Member, Apprentice of the Ways, of Stormwind'''...

... pauses to inhale ...

is an Alliance-aligned Mainland Pandaren from Stoneplow in the Valley of the Four Winds. She's mostly known for be-bopping around the Cathedral Square and keeping a Watchful eye on the goings-on that occur. Motor-mouthed and blunt, Baku has no qualms hiding her dreams of overcoming her race's perceived shortcomings and achieving her goal of becoming a Full-Fledged Stormwind Guard.

After the events of Patch 6.2, Baku can be found either harvesting Draenic Seeds in Tanaan's jungles for bartering for more farm equipment; sitting atop light posts in the Cathedral District, or running pointless errands for the Humans of Stormwind.

At a Glance
Baku has a well-built frame, hidden under deceiving layers of fur and leather, as is expected for a Pandaren in her station; she doesn't have ridiculous Herculean strength, but she's lifted a few barrels in her time, so chucking around Human-sized miscreants isn't difficult for her at all. She's covered in a light layer of said coarse fur, the rich brown color of the soil she works in; has a slight paunch from insisting on trying every sort of food she can get her paws on ('for research!'). Her squished adorable pandaren face has large but nonobtrusive fuzzy eyebrows. She has wispy black and white hair on her head, pinned up strategically out of the way, adorned with well-worn but cared-for ornaments; it's almost always cropped short and in some sort of bun or pigtails. She recently had the Tillers Council insignia branded on her right shoulder; ink tattoos don't really show up that well on Pandaren. Callouses on her hands show when they aren't covered with her normal thick leather gloves. Baku almost always has an eyepatch covering her right eye, but doesn't seem to need to compensate for lack of vision in it, and will take it off when the situation dictates. When she's in darkness there seems to be a soft orange glow radiating from underneath it...

When she's not on duty, patrolling in her Stormwind City Watch uniform, Bakuzan is often found wearing loosely-fitting light leather armor, riveted and tanned to withstand the rigors of Tiller-work. Carries strapped to her back a medium-sized brew keg emblazoned with ornate carvings. It looks to be very old and incredibly durable, and is often filled with Jade Witch Brew, her personal favorite. Her good eye is constantly darting around, both wary and excited of her surroundings. Has numerous tiny bottles and pouches strapped to one of two belts she always wears, filled with esoteric brew ingredients, poison cures, seeds and Valley soil.

She smells faintly of fresh-cut oak, chamomile and cut grass at all times. She speaks with a clear-cut Valley of the Four Winds slur that intensifies based on mood or inebriation, and is often a point of ridicule or note by those listening to her speaking.

Personality Traits
Inquisitive. Loudmouthed. Borderline hedonistic with food and drink. Always finds a way to work snacks into a situation, especially to provoke or defuse. Is normally found eating some sort of Azerothian junk food. Easily embarrassed, but just as easily recovers. Defensive of those with which she forms a bond; always willing to be the first one to greet a stranger with a snack or a welcoming smile (yet the hand of friendship can just as easily curl up into a fist of animosity). Fidgets quite a bit; hates staying in one place for too long. Often jumps into conversations concerning topics of which she has faint knowledge. Avoidant and defensive about her eyepatch. Eager to learn about her new surroundings; constantly questioning others about their histories or appearances, often without regard for tact. Prone to exaggeration and over-embellishment.

Pandaren are infamous for their neutrality, but if given the order to choose between their two traditional philosophies Bakuzan would - even with her Alliance favoritism - choose the Huojin way of life. To Baku, apathy is the worst injustice one can do; sitting around and daydreaming your life away while waiting for your fields to till themselves is inane and insulting.

General History
Pandaren are known for their generosity, but the Burlycloud family is not. Warring brothers divided their land between growing hops and barley or tobacco - relatively unused before the Mists parted - and their infighting had driven a lot of the ancestors of other Pandaren away in disgust. She'd mostly kept to herself at the insistence of her family's stubborn hatred, so she wouldn't know many Pandaren family names offhandedly. Eventually, the Burlycloud infighting drove their line to near starvation in their isolation.

When the Mists parted and the Mantid swarmed the Serpent's Spine at the insane Empress Shek'zeer's command, the rural village of Stoneplow was the first and last line of defense for the Valley. The nearby Shado-Pan moved quickly to evacuate its residents, but Bakuzan's family were both too close to the initial crack in the Wall and much too stubborn to leave their precious farmland. Bakuzan herself paid a heavy price for this; in the midst of the chaos her mother was attacked and carried off by a Mantid footsoldier. Baku was defenseless to help - she grabbed onto the Mantid's leg and tried to free her mother, but was heavily injured in the attempt. The foul creature swung down at her with one of its kyparite weapons and struck her in the face, knocking her hard back down to the ground from the small altitude they'd reached. Bakuzan blacked out, and when she woke up, she was in Halfhill with no recollection of how she arrived there. Her wounds eventually healed, but her eye had been irreparably damaged - for all appearances and purposes, it was encased in Mantid amber. Bakuzan was instructed to stay in Halfhill until the Mantid were cleared out, and was eventually hired on as a farmhand for the Tillers to earn her keep when it became clear to the Mudclaws that such a thing wasn't going to happen. Eventually seeing a way out of what she considered a bleak future in an imminent marriage to an arranged husband through the timely arrival of a travelling Alliance merchant ship, Bakuzan stowed away and ended up alone in Stormwind's massive harbor. Enamored by the welcoming people of this new land and her willingness to do what is right by Pandaria and her mother, she joined with the races of the Alliance.

Bakuzan carries her guilt over not being able to rescue her mother very close to her chest and rarely speaks of the events to anyone but her closest companions. She keeps the eyepatch over her eye out of shame, mostly to ward off any questions about it.

Baku made a name for herself upon arriving in Stormwind working as a 'meatshield for hire'; years spent building her hardiness up on the farm has toughened her skin and strengthened her muscles, and she takes great pleasure in using her abilities to earn a few coins for a round of brews. She is not a famous adventurer, or a respected commander, or even a well traveled explorer; just the right person at the right time for when she was needed to be there. Bakuzan has since returned to her oft-rejected roots, and spends most of her time either working on her humble farm growing cabbages and witchberries in the Heartland of the Valley of Four Winds, hovering around Stormwind harassing the citizenry, or training in finer points of the Pandaren culinary arts with the denizens of Halfhill. After first-hand witnessing the horrors of orc savagery in Draenor, she doesn't seem too keen on adventuring anymore, but after observing the splendor that is the Stormwind Guard on the job, Bakuzan has become committed to becoming one herself - at almost any cost...

Bakuzan Burlycloud and the Strange Case of the Kyparite Eyeball
Baku did not walk away unscathed from the initial swarm on Stoneplow - she sustained injuries to her face when she was struck by a Kyparite weapon, wielded by a Mantid footsoldier, as it was carrying off Baku's mother. The physical damages all but healed, except, strangely, her eye. For all intents and purposes, it appears as though it's been replaced with a Kyparite replica. Bakuzan's right eye is a point of contention among her own kind and a curiosity for people who don't know her history. She often keeps it hidden behind an array of eyepatches; mainly to ward off questions or revulsion. When looking at Baku from a distance, it almost looks like she's been socked in the face, and it's swollen up orange-red; upon further inspection, it's actually as though her eye has been completely replaced with a false glass mock-up, carved out of Mantid amber. She can see out of it, almost better than her 'normal' left eye, and it doesn't seem to have done any long-term physical damage. In the worst case scenario, it's been speculated that it could eventually spread to fossilize her entire body permanently, but she'll never know for sure -- and who knows the properties of Amber other than the Mantid? Shame that the Alliance and Horde Pandarian campaign seems to have killed off a good portion of the intelligent Amber-shapers that could give her the answers she needs...

Very rarely, when she's heavily injured (either physically or emotionally) enough, the Kyparite in her eye flows out in a hard shell around her to shield her from further damage. It's a completely unconscious action, engaged only by her present state; she cannot just 'will' it to come out of her eye. (( If you've seen the show, compare it to Steven's Rose Quartz Bubble from Steven Universe. Otherwise, keep in mind the range of a Discipline Priest's PW:S: limited, but strong enough to shield when needed. )) The organic crystalline material is unique in that it doesn't make Baku invulnerable, but only materializes as a last-resort option if she's getting banged up pretty badly. It's certainly not indestructible, and has no healing qualities that true Mantid Amber fossilization would have, like in combat with a Paragon.

Homebound?
Bakuzan has not yet been back to Stoneplow. She is unaware of the condition her family farm is in. She refuses to go back, afraid of what she might find; either her hate-filled family survived and is thriving without her, her awful arranged-marriage husband skulking around the Burlycloud farmland, trying to find her - or the charred ashes of what used to be her childhood home, swarming with Mantid.

Romance / Relationships
Baku is what would be known as 'grey-demisexual', meaning that she is very rarely physically attracted to anybody. Barring that, she very seldom develops romantic feelings for anyone that she hasn't been in close emotional contact with for a very long time. She has plenty of motherly-sisterly-friendly love to give, just not in a partner-type way. This doesn't mean she's not open to playful flirting, emotional connections and romantic/caring actions, but any physical actions outside of hugging, hand-holding or casual friend-schmoozing are normally a big no-no for Baku and she will often react very violently - either physically or verbally - as a response. Baku has no issue with simply leaving the scene if someone looks like they're interested in her.

Bakuzan unfortunately does have an arranged-marriage fiancee, Shunryu Shinebarrel, that absolutely repulses her. So far she hasn't run into him in Stormwind or Halfhill. If that were to happen, the reality of the damage to Stoneplow might actually catch up to her, and who knows what would happen then... ?

Otherwise, Baku has made several close friends during her adventures in Stormwind, such as Sarareith Daggerfall. Baku's generally friendly to everyone she meets during her outings; far from any prejudice or favored races, Baku is more than willing to show around new visitors to Stormwind, or intervene when she deems it necessary when someone might be in trouble (or rarely, is the source of the trouble). Due to her rough-and-tumble, flighty and oft-obsessive demeanor, Baku's on first name basis with many of Stormwind's inhabitants and visitors - for good or for worse. Many take her bitey attitudes, blunt abrasiveness and casual approach to her Stormwind Guard dream with a tinge of derision. It's alright, though; one of these days Baku will be the one rescuing them from the odd pickpocket or ne'er'do'well in Stormwind's dingy back streets.

Or so she likes to dream...

Weapons and Combat
Despite the casual assumptions she gets thanks to her species, Bakuzan is not a traditional monk; she has no patience for their renowned meditation techniques or spirituality. She spent her childhood on a farm lifting heavy barrels, eating sparsely and fighting off virmen and other pests. At best, her fighting style can be boiled down to a stubborn refusal to die and the traditional Pandaren method of 'drink until it doesn't hurt anymore'. She rarely brute-forces her opponents out; instead, she toughs it out until she's worn them down. She doesn't mind picking a fight, and won't hesitate to physically start one when provoked enough. Baku made off with an old brew keg as a souvenir while helping Chen Stormstout; she grabbed it when he was distracted trying to prove himself to his Uncle Gao at the Brewery. It's made of old, tough Jade Forest-oriented wood and is durable with hard metal bands holding it together. She carries it strapped to her back by way of a self-made harness and often uses it in combat. Anytime you 'see' her throwing a keg, it's this one! She yoyos it back towards her with the decorative ribbon bands tied around the metal holding it together. Very tactical and practical. She often pairs this keg with a set of antique steins used as close-contact bludgeons, 'borrowed' from a bar in Ironforge. She hasn't been back, either to return them or pay her long-overdue tab. She likely won't be.

Unfortunately, the Alliance doesn't see eye-to-eye with Bakuzan on what constitutes as a weapon in this day and age, and 'bashing orcs upside th'head' with beer steins is not seen as an effective means of combat. After minutes of frustrated debate with the Tanaan Jungle recruiter in Stormshield, Bakuzan exasperatedly lifted a Draenic war staff from their encampment, waggling it in the equally exasperated recruiter's face. After its existence as a 'borrowed' item finally granted her admittance onto a boat headed towards the Iron Front, she likely won't be bringing this back, either.

Due to her upbringing in the Valley and subsequent work as a farmhand, Bakuzan is attuned to the natural energies that flow from both the Mists and the magical Valley soil. Thanks to this, she has a special way with plants; more than just a green-thumb, she can 'understand' them, in a way; both to accelerate growth and to shroud herself in a camoflauge-type covering of native Azerothian plant life. This is nowhere near the range of talents a Druidic student would have; she mostly uses it to show off to a dinner audience, or conversely, hide when absolutely necessary. Baku additionally has limited healing capabilities from these techniques, and her resistance to and awareness of poisons and disease are greatly heightened. We're talking elephant tranquilizer dose sizes of poison to affect her. This is a Pandaren; they routinely drink until they can't stand up, and that's just the non-Tiller-oriented; since she's accustomed to being around brews, pesticides and fertilizers, you'll have to try pretty hard to knock Bakuzan on her ass. Baku is not above throwing dirt or brew in someone's eyes. She's not a clean fighter, especially when she gets desperate. Even if she's blinded in some way, her Kyparite eye allows her at least blurred vision.

Depending on her intoxication at times when she's riled up, Bakuzan can either calmly walk away from a fight, OR, at the other end of the spectrum, have to be forcibly pulled away from her opponent/knocked out cold to stop her rampaging. Pride is her biggest downfall; when provoked she puts more into showmanship and bravado than any actual combat, and due to lack of decent experience odds are she'll trip or knock herself out first when sober. Despite said bravado and swaggering when provoked, Bakuzan will never kill or seriously injure anyone she's in a fight with unless it's absolutely necessary for her own survival. She talks a mean game but will absolutely not perform a killing blow unless she's backed into a corner or is too drunk to notice her circumstances.

Musical Influences
Keep these in mind if you're actively interacting with Bakuzan; they help set the mood in context!
 * - Viva Happy - Mitchie M [ general theme ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiUjG9fF3zw
 * - Monokuma-Sensei's Lesson (Dangan Ronpa OST) [ drunken theme ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdPZ9yJvsM
 * - Sly Cooper & The Thievius Raccoonus - Piranha Lake [ brawling theme ]

http://tinyurl.com/piranhalake
 * - Happy Boy - Harrison - [ infatuation theme ]

https://soundcloud.com/harrison_music/happy-boy
 * - Pepper Steak (OFF Soundtrack) [ Stormwind Guard patrol theme ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81DlvZkxGE
 * - HANGOVER - PSY feat. Snoop Dogg - [ after drinking SCW coffee... ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMNOlYcpHg