Sian The

[Sian The]

SIAN THE Name: Sian The Race: Human Age: 18 Birthday: Winter 35, 493 AV Physical Description Sian The (pronounced Shawn Tay) is a tall, lanky young man, standing 6’1” and weighing around 155 pounds. Due to his extensive combat training, he has an athletic, muscular physique, though of the lean, wiry kind. He has dark hair, which he keeps slightly longer than shoulder length, and which is typically pulled back out of his face. His eyes are dark brown, almond shaped and set at a slightly oblique angle. His skin is a golden brown shade when he gets out in the sun a lot, but will pale to the color of ivory when he has to stay indoors for long periods of time. His usual clothing style would be loose, baggy white trousers, suitable for ease of movement during training or combat. A light blue robe, with a white sash with two blue stripes denotes his status as an acolyte of the Shinya. Black shoes, heavy black over socks and flexible leg bindings complete this informal uniform. When not required to be on duty, Sian might opt for a simple tunic, breeches and boots. But whatever he wears, it must serve the functional purpose of allowing for combat without restricting his movement. Character Concept Sian The is an acolyte of the Shinya, the elite guardians of Zintila and her city, Lhavit. He’s a very serious minded individual, who is quite focused on his training and his duties. He is devoted especially to Zintila, the lady of the stars, and is somewhat fanatical in his devotion. Sian is a fairly humble person, modest, quiet, but still with a good deal of self-confidence when it comes to his role as a protector. His fighting style is methodical and efficient, as opposed to flashy and brilliant. But he gets the job done quite effectively, despite his lack of showmanship. He wouldn’t really stand out in a crowd, unless he found himself having to fight. Then he might seem a bit more explosive and eye catching. In his personal life, he is most attached to his order, having been taken in as an initiate at the age of nine. But he is very close also to his one sibling, his older sister Jael, who is the only other surviving member of his immediate family. The only real family life he has is when he visits her and his little nephew, of whom he is also very fond. Character History Sian was born the second oldest child of a family of Lhavit. His father was a tailor, and his mother a seamstress. They ran a successful shop in the city, and made a comfortable living. His early years were pleasant enough, growing up in the rooms behind his family’s shop, playing with his older sister, Jael, and then with younger brother, Song, and finally, his baby brother, Lee. Life was good until a summer fever pounced on the little family, and within a matter of weeks carried away both his parents and his two younger brothers. Sian was eight at the time, and Jael was twelve. The two grief stricken children were shuffled off to live with an aunt, who only grudgingly made room for them in her small house. The aunt found that Jael’s already nimble fingers could be put to use to make a few coins to pay for her keep. But the boy was too young, and had not been taught any real skills. He seemed to show an aptitude for the martial arts, though, and the woman was able to get him accepted as initiate with the Shinya when he turned nine. Off Sian went, now separated from the only family he had left, Jael. He did well at his training, though, and indeed he had some natural skill for combat of differing types. He became proficient at unarmed combat of a martial arts style and also with an iron staff. Of course, a required part of Shinya training involves learning projection, and so he trained in that form of magic as well. Overall, he has progressed as would be expected and may soon enough be called upon to undergo his Awakening. Throughout his nine years of training, Sian has remained close with his sister. Jael married three years ago and had a baby boy a year later. Sadly, her husband, a traveling merchant, went off with a trade caravan a year later and has not been heard from since. It may be that he has perished in the wild untamed lands of Kalea. Sian has spent as much time with his sister and little nephew as he can, and has made a vow to Zintila that he will protect them in any way that he can, should the need arise. NPC: Jael : Name: Jael Race: human Age: 22 Occupation: Seamstress Location: usual - Lhavit; current - Kalinor Jael was born in the summer of 490 AV, in Lhavit, eldest child to a couple who ran a tailoring shop. She was much loved by her parents, and was a happy, pretty, sweet child with a lovely smile. Her childhood passed in a fairly ordinary way, playing in her parents’ shop which fronted their little home in the city of the sky. When she was four, she was joined by her little brother Sian The, and then after him came two more boys, Song The and Lee The - all very much loved and well cared for by their parents, who made a decent but modest living. Jael, being the only girl and the eldest, naturally assumed some of the childcare duties and household tasks for her mother, beginning at a quite young age. She was a good, tractable child and had a quiet maturity about her even then. She was responsible, dutiful and obedient, and she made her little brothers toe the line as well. But she loved them very much too, and they looked up to her as a sort of surrogate mother while their parents were busy in the shop. This isn’t to say that Jael was dour or serious minded. She was as playful as most children are, and always quick to laugh and tease and smile with her brothers. She was a very pretty child too, and the absolute apple of her father’s eye. It was a good thing she was well behaved for he would never have had the heart to scold her over much. Her mother was a bit firmer, for she knew that Jael’s sweet looks would only land her in trouble of the worst sort, if she wasn’t kept a close eye on. So her mother tried hard to downplay any importance beauty might have and instead emphasized that Jael must be modest and smart and skilled in order to find a good man to marry one day. All this took a horrible turn for the worse when Jael was twelve. The entire family came down with a virulent summer fever, though Jael and Sian The seemed to shake it off more quickly and easily than the others. Her father was the first to go, and Jael was devastated for they had been so very close. Then her two younger brothers were taken, and that’s when Jael’s mother told her not to weep any more, for crying would change nothing. Her mother clutched her young hands with hot, dry, withered ones and gripped them tightly, commanding Jael to watch over Sian, no matter what – that was her duty now, for there would be no-one else. They would only have each other. The woman passed soon after, and Jael did not cry. Tears would not bring her family back. Instead she hugged Sian The tightly about the shoulders as he wept, and promised him that she would not leave him. There was no other place to go but to her father’s old auntie’s house. She was a childless widow, and really did not want the children – and would not have taken them in if were not for Jael’s skilled fingers. The girl was brilliant with a needle, and the old woman put her to work taking in sewing and embroidery and mending. When the old aunt muttered about having to feed Sian as well as Jael, the girl returned her dark looks with ones of her own. A face that had rarely been anything other than sunny was now often clouded over with worry and annoyance. Towards Sian, Jael tried her best to still be happy. She was always kind, caring and very loving, stepping into the role of mothering him quite easily. But she was now a much sadder and stoic girl, with few smiles for anyone but her brother. Her aunt worked her hard and kept her hidden away in the tiny home. It was Jael who forced herself to push for Sian to become an intiate with the Shinya. What other future could the boy hope for? And though it meant separation for them both, and assured loneliness for her, Jael kept at her auntie to take Sian The for an assessment. The old woman did so, giving the impression it had been her idea all along. The boy was accepted and off he went to live with the other initiates. Jael was thirteen and for most of her teen years she barely left the house, except on those rare occasions when there was some function that she could attend and visit with her brother. Her auntie was pleased with this – the more the girl was home the more work she could do and the less trouble she could get into. But when Jael was eighteen, she was in the market one day, buying some silk thread. She happened to look up and a young man was watching her. He was easy to spot – he was very tall and well built and had hair the color of flaming gold. His blue eyes watched her as she made her purchases, and she felt so odd. No man had ever lookd at her before, let alone like that. Before she could slip away, he had crossed to approach her and introduced himself. He said his name was Halleck, a merchant from Zeltiva. Jael must have lost her head, or been in a dream state, for she spoke with him for a while and then allowed him to buy her cup of tea, which she drank while she sat with him and talked for many long hours, and many cups of tea. He was so funny! And he told the best stories – all about his travels and all that he had seen. He’d been all over Mizahar, and he’d seen the most amazing sights, and had the most wonderful, or scary, or bizarre experiences. She sat and listened, mesmerized. And then it grew late, and that first time, he let her go home to her auntie unaccompanied. The next day, though, she could not resist. He had a stall at the market and she went back and they spoke some more. And she returned day after day, for more than a week. And then – crisis! He was making ready to leave, for he was constantly travelling, and he hadn’t planned to stay long in Lhavit. One look at her crestfallen face though, and he made her a promise. He’d be back – in three months time. Three months! It seemed like forever! But sure enough, Halleck came back, just as he had promised. And this time, he stayed, for six months! She saw him every day. She introduced him to her brother, and he was very kind to Sian. Halleck began to come to her house, despite her auntie’s sour looks. He just laughed at the old, miserable thing. Halleck laughed a lot, and with him, Jael learned how to laugh again too. Halleck told her every day how pretty she was, and though she didn’t quite believe him, it really made her feel good to know that he thought so. Halleck kissed her, finally, and she kissed him back, and soon they became lovers, and then he asked her to marry him, and she said yes. When Jael was nineteen she married Halleck in a small ceremony and she moved into the house he had bought – for her. He still had to travel about, to earn a living for them both, though Jael began her own seamstress shop as well. Within a short time, she was pregnant. Within a year of their marriage, she gave birth to a son, Jiu, with dark eyes and hair like his mother. They were so happy. So very, very happy. But life is cruel. Right after Jiu’s first birthday, Halleck left Lhavit on a trade run that was to last three months. Three months went by and no Halleck. Four months, five, and none of his party had been seen or heard from anywhere. Letters were sent and still – nothing. A year passed – a year in which Jael refused to cry, for tears, she knew, would not bring Halleck home to her. Once she had to be strong for Sian The. Now she had to be strong for Jiu. She would wait, she decided. She would wait for Halleck to return, and if he never came home, she would not remarry or have any more children. The piece of Halleck that was Jiu was enough. It would have to be enough. In late winter, 511 AV, Jael was on her way to a fitting for a customer who lived outside of the city, on a farm, down the mountain. She had left Jiu with his nursemaid, and she was expected back by nightfall. She never arrived at the farm. She disappeared and has not been seen since. There were rumors floating about that several Symenestra might have been seen in the area of late. Skills: Sewing – 10 Embroidery – 10 Clothing design - 10 Possessions 1 Set of Clothing -Simple Shirt -Simple Pants -Simple Undergarments -Simple Cloak/coat -Simple Boots 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: -Comb (Skyglass) -Brush (Skyglass) -Soap -Razor -Balanced Rations (1 Week’s Worth) -1 eating knife -Flint & Steel Heirloom: Iron staff - gifted to him when he became an acolyte, by the acolyte that was his mentor when he was an initiate 100 Kina Housing: A sparsely furnished room shared with several other acolytes in the Shinyama pavillion Ledger Purchase Cost Total Starting +100 Kina 100 Kina Skills, Lores, Magics, Gnosis, Languages Skills : Skill EXP Total Proficiency Unarmed combat 15 RB, 10 SP 25 Novice Weapon - iron staff 20 SP , 1 XP 21 Novice Projection 20 SP 20 Novice Meditation 2 XP 2 Novice Observation 2,2,3 XP 7 Novice Interrogation 2 XP 2 Novice Persuasion 2 XP 2 Novice Wilderness Survival 5 XP 5 Novice Land Navigation 5 XP 5 Novice Cooking 1XP 1 Novice Hunting 1 XP 1 Novice Climbing 3 XP 3 Novice Mountaineering 3 XP 3 Novice Weapon - Crossbow 1 XP 1 Novice Weapon - Sword 2 XP 2 Novice Medicine 2 XP 2 Novice Weapon - Longbow 1 XP 1 Novice Languages: Fluent Language: Common Basic Language: n/a Poor Language: n/a Lores : Lore of Lhavit Streetplan Lore of Religion: Zintila Kalinor is safe Acquaintance: Mara The Place of Purging Symenestra Food Avanthal A Life for a Life Geography of the Unforgiving Starting a Fire Using Ropes to get across Ice covered Streams Avoiding Rock Slides Avoiding Avalanches Finding the best Path to travel How the Djed Storm changed the Unforgiving and its Creatures Dangers of the Unforgiving Finding Shelter Setting up a Camp Killing as an Act of Mercy You don’t travel at Night Finding and Preparing a Resting Place for the Night Keeping Watch Fighting at Night Thread List : Spring 512 AV See me. Feel me. Touch me. Heal me. Spring 32: Having survived the Djed Storm, Sian The finally makes it to Kalinor and is taken in by the Symenestra. His many injuries are treated by a young healer by the name of Mara [complete] Lazarus rising Spring 36: Sian wakes to an exhausted Mara [complete] Lady, have mercy . . . Spring1 - 32: Sian's experience of the Djed storm and his journey to Kalinor [complete] Different colors made of tears Spring 41: Mara finds Jael in The Nest [complete] Business and pleasure Spring 42: Sian urges Mara to act in the only way possible that might save Jael from a fatal pregnancy [incomplete]