Name: Shen
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Craft: Smithcraft (Masonry specialty)
Rank: Journeyman Equivalent

History:
Shen is the second of three boys, child of Lilia, a tailor and Jace. His parents, by the standards of Ghenza, are good, hardworking people. They don't cause trouble, don't slack off, and they like to lend a hand. Lilia, in particular is a bit of a busybody, while Jace is known as a man of few words.

As parents, Lilia tends toward the high-strung. Generally sweet, and very devoted to her children, she has a fast and unexpected temper. Jace, on the other hand, is emotionally distant. He loves his wife, believes in hard work, and expects no more of anyone else than he gives himself. But he gives a lot.

Shen's older brother is a carbon copy of their father. And his younger sibling, though only 12, is shaping up to be the same. Shen, meanwhile takes after his mother. While Jace is broad, muscular and short, Shen is tall, awkward, and fragile.

As such, he's not nearly so good at masonry as his older sibling and will likely be surpassed by his younger brother. It isn't that he doesn't try, he's a devoted worker and too much of a stubborn perfectionist to do shoddy work. Because of his physical shortcomings, Shen is extremely well versed in theory. From an intellectual point of view, he's an expert at masonry, it's only in the practice of hauling and building that he falls short.

Shen has, for much of his life, existed in the shadow of his older brother, Dray. It's difficult to say whether this is more circumstance or choice. Certainly, he is less capable than his brother, but more to the point, he worships him and would never deliberately surpass them. Even in those areas where he could (raw intelligence and craft knowledge) he tends to keep his mouth shut in favor of letting his brother shine. However, his brother has married in the past turn and moved out of the family household. Without him, Shen has been left a bit shiftless and confused, not sure who he is when he's not being Dray's little brother.


Appearance: Shen is a twig. The boy is always ravenous and will eat whatever is presented but he burns right through it. He's not completely without muscles, he works hard enough to build them, but they're lean, more definition than bulk. This isn't to say that he's some tall, slender hunk. Yes, he's tall, but he's underweight. Maybe when he hits his late twenties and his metabolism slows down he'll gain some mass but for the time being he's doomed to look like a stick figure in motion.

Shen has a narrow face with a nose that's just a little too long to not be worth noticing. He's been teased for it in the past for it, enough so that he's rather self-conscious about it. His eyes are a mild hazel with dark, rather heavy brows. He has black hair, and that hair is curly and just a bit coarse. He keeps it short and so avoids the stress of dealing with those curls. His lips are thin but his smile, when he smiles, is wide.

Personality: Shen has almost endless faith in his own capacity for failure. He is, in his own opinion, a constant disappointment. Not only aware of his own short comings but hyper-self-critical it's rare that he gives himself a break. It's not that the world kicks him around, he's had an alright life. Instead, he kicks himself around. As such, he can be a pretty negative person to hang around.

Generally a kind person, Shen is always happy to lend a hand, but in this, as in everything, his negativity tends to get in the way. Instead of, "Hi, can I help you with that." its, "I could help you if you want, but I'll probably just make it worse." Forgiving of others but a perfectionist when it comes to his own work he rarely completes anything up to his own standards. As a result, he rarely completes anything, period. He'll want to keep working on it, keep tweaking it, keep perfecting it. It takes an outside force to get him to move on.

Shen is usually friendly and tends to be particularly drawn to those mired in depression or negativity. Yet, despite his own inward pessimism, Shen plays the optimist when others are hurt. He does his best to cheer them up because he has almost as much faith in others ability to succeed as he does in his own ability to fail. As he tries to have a good opinion of everyone, he tends to get uncomfortable when others speak against those not present. He is not, however, the sort to defend the wronged party unless they're a particularly close friend. He's more likely to find somewhere else to be until the subject changes.

Raised with Lilia for a mother, Shen learned early to judge the moods of others and try to keep things as calm as possible. He's generally a peacemaker who avoids taking sides on issues. He dislikes conflict and is likely to change the subject as quickly as possible if tempers seem to be rising. He has barely any temper of his own, more likely to simply retreat and brood than lash out.

Not taking sides evolved, over time, to a frustrating indecisiveness. Shen always tries to see every side of every issue even those that don't deserve such exhaustive consideration. He's not just wishy-washy, he's downright paralyzed by indecision. He defers on every issue even simple ones like what to eat. Left to his own devices he'll spend hours debating between two shirts or two leisure activities. While he might someday do well in a support position, this trait means that Shen will never make a good leader. He's simply incapable of taking charge.

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