Omid Shepsen

by **Omid Shepsen** on March 1st, 2013, 2:48 am

Omid Guldokht Shepsen

Appearance

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Birthday: 42, Spring, 493.
Birthplace: Southern Nyka

Appearance: Omid has dark brown hair, which he typically keeps cropped close to his skull. If he forgets to cut it, it soon grows into heavy, unmanageable curls. He thinks they look very stupid, thus the haircut. Whether or not he remembers to cut his hair, it does little to disguise his knobby features and long, knife-like nose. His eyes, meanwhile, are dark brown, nearly black, set back and heavily lidded in a manner that suggests a very melancholy nature. Though his coloration matches the Nyka stereotype to the dot, Omid is quite short, only 5'6", and of a slender (one might say bony) build. He's stronger than he looks, but then, that's not saying much considering his looks.

Though he bears no noticeable scars, Omid does have a small tattoo on his right wrist. It's meant to be a red string, much as his mother used to tie around his wrist to ward off Blight, but the artist was a novice whose limited skill allowed the red ink to blur and fade. Most assume the mark is a scar or blemish, rather than a proper tattoo.

Character Concept

Character Concept

Goal 1: Serve Qalaya
Goal 2: Finish Professor's Annals of Mizahar
Goal 3: Recover lost printing technology

"It can't be natural, bein' alive. Otherwise everythin' wouldn'a be tryin' to kill you."
--Omid, Age 11

Life in Mizahar and in Nyka in particular, is rarely easy and for the Shepsen family it seemed tragedy never stayed away for long. Out of a grand total of fourteen children, Omid remains the only living offspring of Etienne and and Ava Shepsen. He grew used to death early on, but that does not mean he wants to die--quite the opposite. It does mean Omid falls into paranoia more easily than most, and though he enjoys company, he has trouble making lasting friendships. Like many Nykans, Omid typically acts quickly, almost impulsively, and never expects to have time to think things over.

". . . by Qalaya, Izurdin, Kelwyn, Cheva . . . am I missing anyone? Oh, and Skerr of the Bountiful Wheat, and Kenabelle Wright, of course. Hear my prayer, let it be so."
--Omid, Age 18

While Omid takes the world as his antagonist, he trusts wholeheartedly in the wisdom and well-meaning of the higher powers. These include the usual deities of course, but Omid makes a special extension to historical figures, nameless spirits and contemporary leaders, among others. He tends to assume all the best of his betters, as long as he never comes into contact with them.

"A debt is a debt is a debt that must be paid."
--Omid, Age 14

Omid's father, Etienne, was a very clear cut man. Right and wrong never found a middle ground in his mind. Of course, when 'right' merely consists of paying your debts in a timely fashion and fessing up when asked, the black-and-white moral system becomes much easier to see. Omid's moral vision is more complicated, with a lot more 'maybe's, 'but's and 'what if's, but it rests on the same foundation. When he incurs a debt, no matter what kind or how heavy, Omid finds a way to pay it. When asked a point-blank question, he tells the truth (though he's a master of partial-truths, so his acquaintances quickly learn to be specific).

"What I owe Qalaya can not be easily repaid, nor lightly pardoned."
--Omid, Age 19

Though originally dedicated to Qalaya against his will, he now believes he owes her a life-debt. As such, he no longer sees his life as his own, but something which he has sacrificed to the goddess. Aware that there once existed a great machine or possibly a powerful spell by which many books could be created all at once, Omid hopes to recover the lost art of printing as a service to Qalaya which might equal his life-debt. Meanwhile, he considers it his duty to record life and preserve knowledge.

Character History

"It's not the story you want to tell, but it's the only one that's true."
--Omid, Age 16

[OOC Note: This is really long. If you want a basic grasp of Omid's life, scoot to the bottom of the tab, where I've come up with a handy-dandy time-line for my/your reference.]

Omid was born to Etienne and Ava Shepsen in the Spring of 493. As sickly as their previous five children, his parents worried over him almost incessantly for the first few years of his life. Every cough, runny nose and scraped knee deserved immediate medical attention, which might have amused their neighbors if his siblings had not died one after the other with little variation.

When Omid was three, Amable was born, and his parents rejoiced in this robust son. Omid too, though still too young to fully understand the situations, spent many hours playing with his little brother and loved him as much as a jealous toddler can. That fall, Amable died in the night. Omid cried viciously as they laid his younger brother in the grave, insisting that the child was only asleep and would wake soon. His mother was all ready pregnant with their next child.

Gula was born the following Summer, a beautiful baby girl with dark, downy curls and big black eyes. Omid loved her immediately and protectively, though he had only just turned four. The pair became a common sight in the streets of Southern Nyka, begging scraps and carvings off the old men who sunned themselves on the cobbled path. Occasionally, their parents called on them to gather wool from the sheep or sit in many long, frustrating hours carding the thick fuzz while their mother wove. In these years, Omid barely noticed his mother's several unsuccessful pregnancies, except during those brief, triumphant moments while their siblings lived.

When Omid was seven and Gula was only three, the little girl disappeared in the night, taken by whatever malignant spirits haunt those sunny streets. After that, Omid ignored his mother's struggles and brief victories completely. He'd cried, he decided, for the last time; after Gula, no one else was worth it.

Only a year later, Ava Shepsen died in childbirth, leaving Omid alone with his sorrow-strained father. The two lived almost an entire year without speaking a word to one another, and more than once his mother's parents offered to take the child out of the way. Finally, Etienne came to himself, at least enough to realize he had a son to love and care for. So father and son lived happily for some time--Etienne took the sheep out to pasture with the other men at dawn, leaving Omid with his sanctioned meal and the not-unpleasant task of turning their wool into weaving. His small hands and deft fingers worked quickly, and though he finished in good time, he enjoyed devoting the short hours to his memory of his mother and Gula. Afterwards, he'd typically have time to join his peers at play or take lessons with the elders until his father returned at sundown to share their evening meal together.

When Omid was thirteen, his father had made up his mind many years ago to find a way to ensure his son's escape. Though he had once loved his city, the intervening years had poisoned his attitude towards Nyka, and he now saw only its dangers and corruptions. Several times, when strangers came passing through, Etienne would seek them out, hoping to find somebody who would take his son as an apprentice and teach him a valuable craft. When he did find someone, he did so entirely by accident. Walking in the street one evening, he met a solemn and wealthy-looking foreigner searching for some place to stay the night. They talked and got along well, despite the vast gulf between their understandings. Etienne took the man to be a monk, or the equivalent thereof, and eagerly invited him into their home. There he learned the man was a professor, a scholar, though both words meant little to his ear. With each word prized from the stranger's mouth, Etienne became more and more convinced that he must convince him to take Omid on, and after dinner the shepherd slipped away to find a Monk of Laat.

Omid thought little of the scholar, sneering at his delicate mannerisms and wondering at his father's reverence. Thinking to trade something with the stranger, perhaps looking for some exotic sweet or bauble, he brought out some of his weaving, the stuff nobody would buy. Immediately he caught the scholar's interest with the bright color and geometric, if somewhat clumsy patterns. So Omid reluctantly (and still looking to make a profit) explained that this encoded his love for Gula, or that described the passing of the seasons: the cloth was, in fact, a sort of diary, which interested the scholar very much indeed.

Soon Etienne returned, monk in tow, and announced that the disciple of Laat would gladly pay 620 L for his herd and household, giving the money over to the Professor in exchange for taking Omid as his apprentice. Omid, naturally, was aghast at this proposal and protested mightily. However, his father merely silenced him with a look and expressed his delight as the Professor reluctantly agreed, hard-pressed by the greedy monk. Etienne assured his son that he would not suffer much, but go to work for his late wife's family, whose business of tanning and dying would better suit his haggard bones anyway. Moreover, Omid must not shirk his new duties: as Etienne had put such-and-such an effort into raising him, he must repay him by always working hard and giving his obedience to the Professor. That morning, they made their goodbyes. Of all his possessions, Omid took the clothes off his back, a few packets of rough wool, and his child-loom, a small and portable device he had not used in the years since his mother's death.

Naturally the Professor didn't quite see the "apprenticeship" the same way Etienne had. Rather, he felt cornered into the deal and justified accepting it by reasoning that he might be doing a good deed. He was engaged in what had become a life-long study of Mizahar's past and present people, which required a great deal more "roughing it" than he'd initially expected. Omid soon became his most valued assistant--he acculturated quickly to the various groups they contacted, picking up friends and language at a pace the Professor marveled at. Now and again, the Professor would suffer from a pang of guilt, sit the boy down and attempt to instruct Omid in whatever he thought suitable for him at the time, which might be literally anything, but usually concerned history in some way. For three years, the unlikely pair criss-crossed the land like this, pausing only to attend important board meetings at the Zeltiva University. The Professor was well respected among the College of Scholars at least, and his mission was deemed noble, if somewhat ludicrous and highly dangerous. Much of the money simply went to hiring guides and guards, besides paying bribes, buying goodwill and finally, securing food and lodgings.

When Omid was only barely fifteen, he fell seriously ill. Traveling precariously in fits and bursts as the boy gained and lost ground against the fever, they returned to Zeltiva where the Blight struck soon after their arrival. As the few available healers failed to do more than relieve Omid's worst symptoms, the Professor engaged some of his colleagues in scouring the library for clues to the obscure disease. Omid remembers little of these twenty-some days of his life, except for the face of a wise and determined lady, the crackle of parchment, some corrupted glimpses of an ancient tome and a strange confidence that entirely countermanded his usual paranoia. Later, he always attributed his recovery to Qalaya, claiming he owed her a life-debt.

When Omid turned sixteen, the Professor decided to enroll him in the University, mostly because the Professor wanted more time to pursue his own studies. Upset but intrigued, Omid chose to study writing with Professor Ries for two seasons, then took three seasons off to accompany the Professor on one of his Outings. Returning in the Summer of his seventeenth year, Omid chose to enroll for a season in Biology, which he failed miserably, partly due to a certain time-consuming fascination with a visiting student. After she left, he hit something of a roadblock in his studies, and spent that Fall and Winter helping out in the library. Spring saw him gainfully employed in stalking the Anthropology professor, though he did not choose to enroll in (his/her) class until that Fall. The Professor encouraged the boy's interest in this field of study, since he had not shown much interest in academics since failing Biology. Unfortunately, that Winter the Professor became quite ill, and without any other "relative" to attend him, Omid spent many chilly afternoons sitting at home with his "master". He seemed on the path to recovery, when the Blight struck. The Professor passed away suddenly in the night, whereon Omid realized he had very little money and no place to stay. He determined to solve these problems in the short term by enrolling in the University's History Studies and looking for a job.

Character Timeline :

Skills

Skill	EXP	Total	Proficiency
Copying	10	10	Novice
Brawling	10	10	Novice
Writing	30	30	Competent
Weaving	4	4	Novice
Negotiation	1	1	Novice

Language

Fluent Language: Common.
Basic Language: Vani.
Poor Language: Jamourian.

Lores

Lores

Lore of Religion: Qalaya
Lore of History: Post-Valterrian
Lore of Weaving: Don't Let it Bunch
Lore of Weaving: Like You Handle a Lamb
Mother and Child, Weaving Together
Lore of Weaving: How to "Switch"
Memories in a Dusty Wooden Frame

Possessions

Possessions

1 Set of Clothing
-Simple Shirt
-Simple Pants
-Simple Undergarments
-Simple Cloak or Coat
-Simple Boots
1 Waterskin
1 Backpack which contains:
-Comb (Wood)
-Brush (Wood)
-Soap
-Razor
-Balanced Rations (1 Week's worth)
-1 eating knife
-Flint & Steel
100 Gold Mizas

Heirloom:the Professor's Notes (Book, Common10gm; Map, City2gm; Map, Regional10gm)
Child's Loom (Loom5gm)
__

Housing

Housing

Location: Zeltiva University

House: As a student of the University, Omid pays 60 GM a season to take classes and pay for room and board.

Ledger

Purchase	Cost	Total
Starting	+100 gm	100 gm
History	-60 gm	30 gm

Thread List
At Your Mother's Knee: http://www.mizahar.com/forums/topic31810.html
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IdeasIf you'd like to thread any of these with me, please shoot me a PM!

In the Future :

In Memory :

Omid Shepsen

Omid Shepsen

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