IM BAEKHO (for ilhwa)

Im Baekho

NOT AN NPC

House of the Birch Tree

INTRODUCTION

BASIC INFO

FULL NAME: Im Baekho
AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: 55 & March 24th, 1815
CLASS: Sangmin
TITLE: Lord Im, Sir
OCCUPATION: Merchant (secretly geomancer)
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
BIRTHPLACE: Gangwon, Kingdom of Joseon
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Im Residence in Hanseong
R/S STATUS: Widowed
LOVER: --

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: Jung Woosung
Height: 6'2
Build: Athletic, ectomorphic
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Attire: 1, 2, 3

TRIVIA

Founding father of “A Better Joseon”, formerly known as Hwaomun Society
Has an extremely high alcohol tolerance, grateful for the location move to Sook. Though in dire moments, he keeps his alcohol consumption low, lest secrets were to come out by his recklessness
Adoptive father of Seohyang
Lorem ipsum

BACKGROUND

In the advent of spring, flowers bloomed under the blazing sun. Snow plastered on the ground melted to make way for the grass to breathe, as a young infant with ruddy cheeks lay in Lady Im’s arms, on the vibrant day of March 24th, in the year of 1815. Despite being part of the Sangmin class, his parents secured the privilege of comfort, having rice cooked properly and in a clean bowl.

Churihyang, the daphne odora, was always dear to him. Baekho’s first word, as his father and mother one day showed him the berries it produced one day, after a fruitful day of trade. Trade in their time was more optimal compared to the present. Though the churihyang was not one to grow fruits often, fecund air suffused in the atmosphere in its bloom. Somehow, it ignited a flame within the young child to pursue his own path, to be a trailblaze, in this cutthroat world, even if rewards that he sought may not come to him easily or sparsely.

Like many of his friends, he worked a number of odd jobs: farmhand, paper mill, and self-employed town yeller. Though the jobs were dull, amidst the ennui, he went on excursions around his village, to the chagrin of his sister, who always dreamed of working in the palace and its refined ways. Food stalls, inns, taehouses, and seodangs, marked with his footsteps. In one of his trips, at the young age of 15, he stumbled upon a beautiful woman, her hair wound up by a wooden binyeo. Upon meeting her, he discovered her name was Yoon Nalbi, a woman from Jindo. Hailing from the House of the Bluebells, to her, she was his flower. Though, instead of keeping her rooted to the ground, he preferred to carry her to the boundless heights of his love, and that was what he did until her untimely death.

Whilst wasting his time away at menial jobs, he also found documents of pungsu/feng shui. Fingers dragged along the spines, or the bundles of parchment, at his perusal. Confusing, convoluted, at first, over time he gained a heightened sense of awareness of his surroundings, and his need to restore “balance” to the world. Suddenly, it triggered the need to carve a new path for himself.

Although he fancied geomancy, he also knew he needed to have more security in his life. At the age of 19, after much study, he took the gwageo and achieved decent results. But his class constructed barriers between him and the yangban kids who grew up to be government officials, while he was at cross roads. After much contemplation, he realized the path he needed to tread was in front of him the entire time. Approaching it, he met a man named Sagong Ryul, a young man from Yeongwol, not much older than himself, in a textile warehouse.

Showing him the ropes, Baekho found his intuition and sense of adventure harnessed properly. In just a couple of weeks, he made profit from mere ragtags of clothing and shoes. Soon, he discovered that belying the rounded, friendly facade was a cunning revolutionary leader. As he walked into the warehouse one day, he was surrounded by other people, interlocutors of Ryul. Unbeknownst to his knowledge, he was swept by the hopes, desires, wishes of the people struggling under the caste system. Gradually, he immersed himself in the Hwaomun Society and congregated with the peoples weekly.

Concerns about the social season and the concept of “debuting” slipped his mind as he wedded Yoon Nalbi, after being within the purview of her father, the patriarch of the Yoons. As soon as she was with child, Baekho and Nalbi carried out nuptials to conceal her pregnancy before marriage. Within a short period of time, the young couple had three children of their own: Juhyang, Soohyang, Insoo.

His biological daughters followed the path of his sister, Jiho, while [y/n] followed in step in his path of being a merchant. Or rather, he shipped him out to sea the minute he turned seven years old, feeling an adventure is the perfect birthday gift. But gains were always offset by losses, as he heard about the passing of his father six years prior. In 1837, he went to Qing via carriage and boat to reunite with Sagong Ryul at the Blue Dragon temple. Tension bled through the other’s face as he eventually revealed he was on the run from authorities for his “illegal organization”

Staying in the inn with Ryul owned by a derelict old woman, they shared trade secrets from menial ones (regarding the sturdiest textile materials) up to pungsu memorabilia relating to the imagery of the five elements. Ever since, his pocket was always occupied with the compass given to him. In the same year, he decided to bury his father, in Inje, Gangwon, believing it was an auspicious place. believing it will give good fortune for his wife and children, along with descendents down the line.

The years of 1838-1839 proved to be a pivotal point as he became one of the leaders of Hwaomun Society, even with the risk of being chased by government officials. But he had faith in the geomantic map he crafted of the village, for many years, using it to keep track of families to donate and divest funds to. However, no matter how strategic one is, life always has its surprises kept at bay. The death of his friends, the Sagongs in 1852, and finding their daughter left behind in the snow at the age of 7. Baekho named her Seohyang, who became an aspiring physician, to Jiho’s disdain. Baekho rose to leadership and renamed the society to “A Better Joseon” within the years of 1852 and 1853. Three years later, Nalbi succumbed to her ailment, his adoptive daughter finding her on the floor after only living with her for a few years.

Subsequently, Juhyang died 5 years later, just as Seohyang fully came to her own as a physician. Whispers in the village surround him, calling her the “Grim Reaper”, which he rarely paid heed to unless she came running into her arms, crying about the hurtful words thrown in her way. But he assured her that the talk will cease once Seohyang becomes a marriageable young woman and a gifted healer.

As unfortunate as his life was, he closed his heart from other women and focused his efforts on securing a better life for his children, and to support them in their endeavors, including ones related to marriage.

PERSONALITY

MBTI PERSONALITY: INFJ — The Advocate
ENNEAGRAM: 1w2 — The Activist
TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic-Phleghmatic
MORAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral

POSITIVE: compassionate, protective
NEGATIVE: stubborn, rigid
LIKES: reading/studying, gardening, the texture of textiles, unconventional belief systems/practices
DISLIKES: strict Confucianist ideals, unfairness

At a young age, Baekho always had good intuition. He was well read, in both books and people. Knowing what makes people tick, he can figure out what unnerves them or invigorates them mostly by just first impressions. Appearing shrewd and closed off to others, a softer, more tender side usually is reserved for the most vulnerable of the population, his organization members, and his wife and children. .

With his intuition, he stepped up to his destined role of being a visionary. Clandestinely, he provides his funds from a wide range of markets to assist struggling families in making sure their basic needs are met. In private and in public, he leads by the principle: Though he is kind, he is far from a pushover. In fact, he is stalwart in his faith towards the methods of geomancy, even faced against its biggest opponents: “rational” neo-Confucianists.

AFFILIATION

NAME OF AFFILIATION: A BETTER JOSEON
TYPE OF AFFILIATION: Private, a secret organisation
MEMBERS: Im Baekho (founding member, head, npc) ♚, Chae Seongyeom, Im Insoo, Ryu Juyeon, Seo Eunjeong, Ryu Yeonhwa, Choi Saemi, Chae Seonhye, NPCs members.
LOCATION: Im Warehouse (a warehouse where the Ims stores their merchandise and ginsengs at the outskirts, nearby Im residence), Sook.
OPENING HOURS: meetings are scheduled when needed.

Working within the shadows are a group of silent rebels, consisting of different classes and walks of life, who advocate for the less fortunate, women, and lower classes. One of their main goals is to abolish the class system and wishes to bring forward the motion of equal chances for men and women. Previously known as Hwaomun Society, the organisation also quietly lent a hand to the lower classes with their taxes and supporting other movements that could better Joseon. Members are recruited by the head or other members and discussed within the group (usually the head and elder members) before officially recruited. Current organisation under the umbrella of A Better Joseon is Butkkot, led by Ryu Juyeon.

FAMILY SEAL

HOUSE OF THE BIRCH TREE

STATUS: Sangmin
CLAIM TO FAME: Lorem ipsum
CITY OF ORIGIN: Lorem ipsum

a sangmin clan of merchants and traders based in inje, gangwon. mostly known to trade ginsengs to neighbouring lands' merchants. the ims are known to be one of the richest merchants though there remain rumours of how it came to be; mainly smuggling ginsengs and selling them for higher prices. on the sidenote, the ladies of im are also known to be quite loyal to the royals (and unmarriagable) due to the fact that they are or were common palace ladies. the current head of the house is im baekho, leader of merchants in inje.

YOON NALBI

Wife, mother to his kids †

IM JIHO

Sister, de-facto leader of the household in his absence

IM JUHYANG

biological daughter (npc) †

IM SOOHYANG

biological daughter (npc)

IM YONGJUN

biological son

IM SEOHYANG

Adoptive daughter

CHAE SEONGYEOM

RELATION: Lorem ipsum

STATUS: Lorem ipsum

TIME: 99 Years