At the base of the Red Toothed Mountain, that misshapen peak in the East, there is a trail that the peasants of the land say only fools and madmen travel. A winding, treacherous thing, those who walk the path must tread carefully, wary not only of the ground beneath their feet, but the mountain lions that hunt there.
The path terminates in a rock cut monastery near the peak. There, the kindliest looking old man they have ever seen greets them and invites them in for tea, referring to himself only as "This Old Sage" or "This Elder." A wizened, hunched over thing, he appears harmless, rambling on about seemingly inane things as he prepares the tea. Inevitably, however, the conversation takes a strange turn. The old man draws the visitor's greatest resentments and hatreds out, deducing names and events he should have no chance of guessing in such detail. By the time the tea cools, he offers them a chance to join his monastery and become one of his disciples, promising them martial mastery and the prospect of vengeance.
Those who accept soon learn of the old man's true nature, for he is not a man, but a demon from Malfeas. A battle-scarred Erymanthus of exceeding age and power, he wears the shape of the old man like an abbot's robe. Unlike his hulking brethren, in his true form the Old Sage of The Red Toothed Mountain is thin, trading bulk for predatory leanness. Where most Erymanthoi lack anything resembling subtlety or restraint, the Old Sage is judicious with his actions and wise from centuries of ascetic life. Summoned and bound ages ago as a battle slave, he outlived his master's ill fated campaigns, and remained in Creation as a mercenary. Over the years, he learned to change his form, he learned to see the beasts that dwell within men, and most importantly, he learned the Martial Arts that he now teaches his disciples. After years of battle, he retired to the Red Toothed Mountain to cultivate his own essence, master his instincts, and to pass on his teachings.
The Old Sage is not necessarily malicious, but he is a harsh and pitiless master. Teaching both Monkey and Tiger Style, he runs his disciples ragged, using the cruel mountain itself as a tool of teaching. They spend their days training on the slopes and their nights meditating in cold cells bored into the very rock. His students are either tempered by this training, or broken by it. The daily routine is punctuated only by the demon sifu's lectures, tea ceremonies, and pranks. His sense of humor is wicked just as often as it is good-natured, and all of his students are subject to his acerbic wit and jokes at their expense, a practice which he views as instructional.
Those who survive the demon sifu's monastery atop the Red Toothed Mountain emerge as living weapons. They go on to become peerless, ruthless fighters, as their master was, returning to the mountain occasionally for tea and filial courtesy. Some make good on the vendettas that drove them to the monastery, becoming terrifying avengers, others simply wander as warriors, having subsumed their rage under layers of iron discipline. The Old Sage cares little for whether his disciples go on to become saints or devils, only that they take his teachings on the fist arts to heart.
Many wandering heroes, skilled monks, and other martial sects have tried to expunge the Old Sage from the Red Toothed Mountain, motivated by vengeance for the deeds of its more infamous disciples or by his very nature as a demon. The demon sifu has survived them all, dashing them across the mountainside.
Details: Aside from the powers of a regular Blood Ape, the Old Sage has access to charms from both Celestial Monkey and Tiger Style (though not necessarily the entire charm trees), in addition to a number of charms relating to ferreting out resentments, asceticism, and minor mischief. He can change his shape between his natural form and that of an old man, but cannot adopt any forms other than those. He has memories of centuries of warfare in Creation and Malfeas as well as knowledge regarding various martial arts and their practice, making him a surprisingly good mentor for a martial character. His tea is bitter but with a satisfying aftertaste.
- The Old Sage rarely leaves his mountain, preferring to dwell within his monastery or upon the slopes. Even when his disciples cannot find him, he is more often than not merely in the vicinity of the mountain, meditating while dematerialized or preying upon the local wildcats. The last time he left his hermitage in truth was during the War of the Sixteen Lilies, when he gained the favor of the Goddess of the Gellir River and the hatred of her child, Zanfali the Reed-Cutting Blade.
- One of the Sage's senior disciples returned to the mountain and left in a huff, the demon sifu hurling his tea cup at him as he made his way down the peak. The junior disciples wonder just what the reason for his falling out with the master was. One claims to have seen the senior disciple clutching a small ruby-eyed idol, resembling a caricature of their master.
- A victim of one of the Sage's senior disciples has arrived at the monastery, loudly swearing vengeance upon the warrior who slew their family. Amused, the Old Sage has taken them as a junior disciple, stating openly that they are free to challenge the target of their vendetta to a fight to the death whenever they return to the monastery. Until then, they suffer the same brutal regime as the rest of his students.
- Though spartan by the standards of other martial sects, the Red Toothed Mountain contains a number of scrolls on occult and martial techniques, some of which are quite rare and valuable. Disciples are free to peruse the Sage's library when they are not training(which is rare), but the demon sifu has mixed a number of false texts in with the true ones, as a joke.
- A number of small goat herding communities at the mountain's base leave out food and supplies for the Red Toothed Monastery, and in return the Sage's disciples occasionally venture out to slay bandits and dangerous beasts.
- In late summer, the fruits that grow upon the Red-Toothed Mountain's stunted trees ripen, and the Old Sage enters a state of genuine euphoria. The fruits are sour to human palates, but to one who was born in the demon city, they taste of the sweetest nectar. In an uncharacteristically outgoing and charitable mood, he ventures down the mountain and performs miracles for those he meets.
