Family
Jorin can be defined very easily by looking at his relationship with his parents. His father is a very heavy influence on him, and although he would never admit it, he desperately wants the man's approval.
Jorin's father is a mathematician; perhaps one of the finest in Mizahar. More importantly, his father is highly intelligent and, Jorin perhaps feels that he does not live up to his father's level. To put in simpler terms; Jorin can only see one move ahead on a chess board. His father can see ten.
Jorin is by no means stupid. In fact, he may be rather above-average in intelligence, and he has certainly got a head for figures. But it is true that he is not nearly the mathematician his father is, and he secretly harbors the belief that his father is disappointed in him. Disappointed that his son has not exceeded him in ability or achievement.
This is probably not true, but it doesn't change how Jorin feels. And although Jorin does not allow this to hold him down (he is a very stubborn man in many ways), it does mean that he will be chasing this goal his entire life, and very probably never achieve it. Because the truth is he isn't as intelligent as his father, and won't be. Genius is rare, and he doesn't have it.
On the other hand, Jorin's mother couldn't be more different. She was an artist; a painter, a poet, someone who appreciated beauty in all things and she tried very hard to pass it down to her son, who greatly appreciated it. She was gentle and kind, a sharp contrast to his father's distance and gruffness. And she always encouraged Jorin, who did not hear a word of encouragement from his father; merely admonitions to not stop and keep going.
His mother was, perhaps, the root of Jorin's love of poetry and art, and the reason he was so intrigued with the Traveling Thespians acting troupe. She was the one who gave him his favorite phrases; namely that "beauty is everywhere, you only need to look" and "art is not about what you do, art is about who you are". Jorin whole-heartedly believes these things, and because of that he tries to see the best in everything, and everyone.
In a sense, Jorin is intimidated by his mother, as well. She was such a stupendous artist, he did not believe his own art could possibly compare. While she was a fantastic artist, it is true, it is perhaps not as amazing as Jorin remembered; but of course, his memory would be colored by the emotions he had for his mother. In his mind, her art was artistic perfection; something he could only strive for but never achieve. In that sense, even if he did produce a work comparable to his mother's, he would refuse to accept it as such.
Fears
Jorin, first and foremost, fears inadequacy. It is because he feels inadequate in so many things that he tries so hard and tends to pull himself in a hundred different directions. He wants to be an artist! A mathematician! A poet! An actor! But Jorin also has a philosophical view on life; the things that might typically frighten others, such as loss, or death, are not as frightening to Jorin because of his unique view on life: that it is a play he is acting in; and that he should act his best because it was the only curtain he would have.
Jorin tends to take loss better than most. It is because he believes that things remembered are never truly lost. Losing a loved one would undoubtedly be extremely traumatic for him; but after the initial period of mourning he would simply preserve what keepsakes he could find of that person, weave a poem or three for them, and keep them in his memory for as long as he was alive. In that way, he feels he would also be keeping them alive, or a piece of them anyway, and it gives him comfort and allows him to carry on.
Similarly, Jorin has little patience for those who wallow in the past. He believes that if you spend all your time looking over your shoulder, you can't see where you are going. Things that have happened, have happened. No amount of crying would change that, so he sees absolutely no benefit for weeping angst. As Jorin would say, "Show me how crying would change the past, and I will cry my heart out." For Jorin, the best thing to do is to remember what is best, learn from what was worst, and move on to a brighter future.
Love
Jorin's thoughts on love rather echo his parents. That is to say, how was it possible that a stolid, logical mathematician would fall in love with an artistic painter? Also, Jorin spent many years reading and watching plays where all sorts of love ran their course across the stage. To him, love has never made sense, never followed logic. Unable to use the mathematics his father gave him to solve this problem, Jorin has stopped trying to. He doesn't bother asking why, he just follows his heart in these sorts of matters.
It is true that doing so has led him down some dead-ends in the past, but he merely chalks them up to learning experiences. As far as he is concerned, something as important as love should be taken seriously; if you feel strongly about someone, then you feel strongly about them. For Jorin, ignoring emotions was rather like ignoring a cut. It just made things worse for no reason at all.
Anger, Fighting, and Magic
Jorin has never been, nor ever will be a big fan of violence. That said he will defend himself if need-be, but ideally he prefers not having to fight at all. If driven to defend himself, Jorin will try to cause as little harm to his opponent as he can, which was why he chose the Quarterstaff as his weapon of choice. It had no sharp edges, no pointy bits, nothing that could be termed deliberately aggressive.
In a similar vein, Jorin would never, ever wish to learn any magic that was overtly aggressive, such as Reimancy. While it is true that one could use Reimancy for art, Jorin would also see its potential for combat and be uncomfortable with it. Similarly, he'd not be particularly interested in any of the aggressive magics such as Flux, Morphing, Voiding, or Projection.
Of the defensive ones, Jorin is most likely to appreciate Auristics. As a child, his mother had often told him to "see beyond sight", and to "see the beauty behind what is immediately visible". It was an important skill to have as an artist, and he would be intrigued to see if perhaps he could do something similar with Auristics. One thing Jorin would dearly love to do is to sketch or paint something's aura. He would not see Auristics in any other way than a method by which to improve his art; it would not occur to him to use it to, for example, pick out other mages for one purpose or the other.
Jorin would also be interested in Shielding, if only because shields have been described in the Lore as "beautiful to those who can see them". Jorin is, of course, fascinated by beauty (which he sees everywhere), so he would certainly be quite interested in a magic that allowed him to see shields and their iridescent wonder. As far as Jorin is concerned, a magic as defensive as Shielding would also perfectly suit him, since it explicitly cannot be used aggressively. That would suit Jorin just fine.
Ideally, Jorin would love to learn these two magics. Like everything else he does, he would want to push the limits of what he can achieve with both; not because he wishes to become a master or because he wishes to flaunt power, but because one of the few things both his parents taught him was that anything worth doing was worth doing well. His father insisted that if he started a mathematics problem, he should finish it. His mother would gently push him to finish any painting, no matter how crude, or any poem, no matter how disjointed. They always wanted him to finish what he started.
Dislikes, Hatreds
There is only one type of person that Jorin would truly hate. And when I say hate I mean truly loathe, cannot stand, would instantly have an intensely negative reaction to. And that would be traitors.
Jorin is a man who very much believes in trust. It is not to say he trusts easily, but he doesn't distrust easily either. However, once someone breaks his trust it is gone forever, and in his mind that person is someone whom he will never associate with ever again. Jorin is not one to get his feathers ruffled over someone rude; as an actor, harsh critics were a fact of life and you either got a thick skin or you got out of the business.
But being insulted is one thing. Being betrayed is another. At current time he has never been betrayed in this fashion, but if it did his heart would revolt at it.
For this reason, Jorin would never cheat on a spouse. For him, love is perhaps the most sacred trust there is; to cheat on someone who loved you would be the worst kind of betrayal. Given his negative reaction to treason in general, that sort of treachery would never even occur to him.
Jorin does not like arrogance, although he can deal with it. It certainly is grating on his nerves; Jorin believes that true masters don't need to pound their chests. And while he is not bothered by rudeness (he has yet to meet in his lifetime a critic who wasn't rude), he doesn't exactly find it pleasant either.
Weaknesses
Jorin can be stubborn. Very, very stubborn. For all that is good about him, he really does hate being told what to do. Anyone looking to persuade him is better off trying to lead him with kind words, and logical reasoning, than to simply order him about. The more someone attempts to just shanghai him into doing something, the more Jorin would resist. And his stubborn pride does on more than one occasion get him into trouble; it was why he never returned to the troupe when he was kicked out. His pride couldn't take the admission he had been wrong.
Jorin also tends to be overly forgiving. He believes in Tit for Tat; he will always be trusting and friendly at the onset, and only when you harm him will he retaliate. But he is also quick to forgive. Someone who knew this about him could lead him on, even without his knowledge.
In a frequently dangerous Mizahar, Jorin is a very non-aggressive man. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work in a land that has Glassbeaks and bears that want to eat your face. Jorin will only fight if he absolutely must, and he will try literally everything he can to avoid killing. To the extent; if a bandit tried to kill Jorin, and he managed to knock the man out, he would try to get the bandit medical attention.
Jorin understands that hunting necessitates the taking of an animal's life. He is not necessarily opposed to this, but hunters might find it strange and perhaps amusing that he would say a short prayer over any animal he kills (note that Jorin does not currently have any skill in hunting. This is a hypothetical situation). He would likely say,
"Your soul rejoins the great cycle. Your body remains behind, to provide me sustenance. I thank you, brother/sister, for your sacrifice."
before the final blow that killed the prey he was hunting. In addition, Jorin would be sure to make as much use out of his kill as possible, out of respect for the animal whose life he had taken. An old-fashioned and quaint idea, perhaps, but then Jorin can be surprisingly old-fashioned about certain things.
Jorin can be defined very easily by looking at his relationship with his parents. His father is a very heavy influence on him, and although he would never admit it, he desperately wants the man's approval.
Jorin's father is a mathematician; perhaps one of the finest in Mizahar. More importantly, his father is highly intelligent and, Jorin perhaps feels that he does not live up to his father's level. To put in simpler terms; Jorin can only see one move ahead on a chess board. His father can see ten.
Jorin is by no means stupid. In fact, he may be rather above-average in intelligence, and he has certainly got a head for figures. But it is true that he is not nearly the mathematician his father is, and he secretly harbors the belief that his father is disappointed in him. Disappointed that his son has not exceeded him in ability or achievement.
This is probably not true, but it doesn't change how Jorin feels. And although Jorin does not allow this to hold him down (he is a very stubborn man in many ways), it does mean that he will be chasing this goal his entire life, and very probably never achieve it. Because the truth is he isn't as intelligent as his father, and won't be. Genius is rare, and he doesn't have it.
On the other hand, Jorin's mother couldn't be more different. She was an artist; a painter, a poet, someone who appreciated beauty in all things and she tried very hard to pass it down to her son, who greatly appreciated it. She was gentle and kind, a sharp contrast to his father's distance and gruffness. And she always encouraged Jorin, who did not hear a word of encouragement from his father; merely admonitions to not stop and keep going.
His mother was, perhaps, the root of Jorin's love of poetry and art, and the reason he was so intrigued with the Traveling Thespians acting troupe. She was the one who gave him his favorite phrases; namely that "beauty is everywhere, you only need to look" and "art is not about what you do, art is about who you are". Jorin whole-heartedly believes these things, and because of that he tries to see the best in everything, and everyone.
In a sense, Jorin is intimidated by his mother, as well. She was such a stupendous artist, he did not believe his own art could possibly compare. While she was a fantastic artist, it is true, it is perhaps not as amazing as Jorin remembered; but of course, his memory would be colored by the emotions he had for his mother. In his mind, her art was artistic perfection; something he could only strive for but never achieve. In that sense, even if he did produce a work comparable to his mother's, he would refuse to accept it as such.
Fears
Jorin, first and foremost, fears inadequacy. It is because he feels inadequate in so many things that he tries so hard and tends to pull himself in a hundred different directions. He wants to be an artist! A mathematician! A poet! An actor! But Jorin also has a philosophical view on life; the things that might typically frighten others, such as loss, or death, are not as frightening to Jorin because of his unique view on life: that it is a play he is acting in; and that he should act his best because it was the only curtain he would have.
Jorin tends to take loss better than most. It is because he believes that things remembered are never truly lost. Losing a loved one would undoubtedly be extremely traumatic for him; but after the initial period of mourning he would simply preserve what keepsakes he could find of that person, weave a poem or three for them, and keep them in his memory for as long as he was alive. In that way, he feels he would also be keeping them alive, or a piece of them anyway, and it gives him comfort and allows him to carry on.
Similarly, Jorin has little patience for those who wallow in the past. He believes that if you spend all your time looking over your shoulder, you can't see where you are going. Things that have happened, have happened. No amount of crying would change that, so he sees absolutely no benefit for weeping angst. As Jorin would say, "Show me how crying would change the past, and I will cry my heart out." For Jorin, the best thing to do is to remember what is best, learn from what was worst, and move on to a brighter future.
Love
Jorin's thoughts on love rather echo his parents. That is to say, how was it possible that a stolid, logical mathematician would fall in love with an artistic painter? Also, Jorin spent many years reading and watching plays where all sorts of love ran their course across the stage. To him, love has never made sense, never followed logic. Unable to use the mathematics his father gave him to solve this problem, Jorin has stopped trying to. He doesn't bother asking why, he just follows his heart in these sorts of matters.
It is true that doing so has led him down some dead-ends in the past, but he merely chalks them up to learning experiences. As far as he is concerned, something as important as love should be taken seriously; if you feel strongly about someone, then you feel strongly about them. For Jorin, ignoring emotions was rather like ignoring a cut. It just made things worse for no reason at all.
Anger, Fighting, and Magic
Jorin has never been, nor ever will be a big fan of violence. That said he will defend himself if need-be, but ideally he prefers not having to fight at all. If driven to defend himself, Jorin will try to cause as little harm to his opponent as he can, which was why he chose the Quarterstaff as his weapon of choice. It had no sharp edges, no pointy bits, nothing that could be termed deliberately aggressive.
In a similar vein, Jorin would never, ever wish to learn any magic that was overtly aggressive, such as Reimancy. While it is true that one could use Reimancy for art, Jorin would also see its potential for combat and be uncomfortable with it. Similarly, he'd not be particularly interested in any of the aggressive magics such as Flux, Morphing, Voiding, or Projection.
Of the defensive ones, Jorin is most likely to appreciate Auristics. As a child, his mother had often told him to "see beyond sight", and to "see the beauty behind what is immediately visible". It was an important skill to have as an artist, and he would be intrigued to see if perhaps he could do something similar with Auristics. One thing Jorin would dearly love to do is to sketch or paint something's aura. He would not see Auristics in any other way than a method by which to improve his art; it would not occur to him to use it to, for example, pick out other mages for one purpose or the other.
Jorin would also be interested in Shielding, if only because shields have been described in the Lore as "beautiful to those who can see them". Jorin is, of course, fascinated by beauty (which he sees everywhere), so he would certainly be quite interested in a magic that allowed him to see shields and their iridescent wonder. As far as Jorin is concerned, a magic as defensive as Shielding would also perfectly suit him, since it explicitly cannot be used aggressively. That would suit Jorin just fine.
Ideally, Jorin would love to learn these two magics. Like everything else he does, he would want to push the limits of what he can achieve with both; not because he wishes to become a master or because he wishes to flaunt power, but because one of the few things both his parents taught him was that anything worth doing was worth doing well. His father insisted that if he started a mathematics problem, he should finish it. His mother would gently push him to finish any painting, no matter how crude, or any poem, no matter how disjointed. They always wanted him to finish what he started.
Dislikes, Hatreds
There is only one type of person that Jorin would truly hate. And when I say hate I mean truly loathe, cannot stand, would instantly have an intensely negative reaction to. And that would be traitors.
Jorin is a man who very much believes in trust. It is not to say he trusts easily, but he doesn't distrust easily either. However, once someone breaks his trust it is gone forever, and in his mind that person is someone whom he will never associate with ever again. Jorin is not one to get his feathers ruffled over someone rude; as an actor, harsh critics were a fact of life and you either got a thick skin or you got out of the business.
But being insulted is one thing. Being betrayed is another. At current time he has never been betrayed in this fashion, but if it did his heart would revolt at it.
For this reason, Jorin would never cheat on a spouse. For him, love is perhaps the most sacred trust there is; to cheat on someone who loved you would be the worst kind of betrayal. Given his negative reaction to treason in general, that sort of treachery would never even occur to him.
Jorin does not like arrogance, although he can deal with it. It certainly is grating on his nerves; Jorin believes that true masters don't need to pound their chests. And while he is not bothered by rudeness (he has yet to meet in his lifetime a critic who wasn't rude), he doesn't exactly find it pleasant either.
Weaknesses
Jorin can be stubborn. Very, very stubborn. For all that is good about him, he really does hate being told what to do. Anyone looking to persuade him is better off trying to lead him with kind words, and logical reasoning, than to simply order him about. The more someone attempts to just shanghai him into doing something, the more Jorin would resist. And his stubborn pride does on more than one occasion get him into trouble; it was why he never returned to the troupe when he was kicked out. His pride couldn't take the admission he had been wrong.
Jorin also tends to be overly forgiving. He believes in Tit for Tat; he will always be trusting and friendly at the onset, and only when you harm him will he retaliate. But he is also quick to forgive. Someone who knew this about him could lead him on, even without his knowledge.
In a frequently dangerous Mizahar, Jorin is a very non-aggressive man. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work in a land that has Glassbeaks and bears that want to eat your face. Jorin will only fight if he absolutely must, and he will try literally everything he can to avoid killing. To the extent; if a bandit tried to kill Jorin, and he managed to knock the man out, he would try to get the bandit medical attention.
Jorin understands that hunting necessitates the taking of an animal's life. He is not necessarily opposed to this, but hunters might find it strange and perhaps amusing that he would say a short prayer over any animal he kills (note that Jorin does not currently have any skill in hunting. This is a hypothetical situation). He would likely say,
"Your soul rejoins the great cycle. Your body remains behind, to provide me sustenance. I thank you, brother/sister, for your sacrifice."
before the final blow that killed the prey he was hunting. In addition, Jorin would be sure to make as much use out of his kill as possible, out of respect for the animal whose life he had taken. An old-fashioned and quaint idea, perhaps, but then Jorin can be surprisingly old-fashioned about certain things.
