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name: Zheng Jingao, or Jingao Zheng, in the Sunderlander tradition (Zheng is his family name).
--nicknames: He's called Zheng - it's a short enough name, isn't it?

age: [eaten by Gaia user Melancholies] - a fortunate number, he thinks.

appearance: You wouldn't think it from the way he acts, but Zheng has a carefully maintained appearance. An immigrant, he wears a long braided queue with his forehead shaven (it's armor, and also he travels back to Zhongguo often enough that it matters he keep it this way), and he dresses in fine velvets and silks. He has a small nose, fine (if sometimes pale) skin, and sharp black eyes. His hands are soft to the touch, but generally stained strange colors. He's more than a little pudgy.

occupation: Zheng is an apothecary-c**-doctor of sorts, marketing potions and herbs as well as advising customers on what to do with their lives. He's set up shop in Palisade, and word has it that he might be able to deal in other...less strictly salutary items, too (wink wink, nudge nudge).

history: He's a wealthy son of a wealthy merchant...

Well, we've all heard that story. It's fairly true, as far as Zheng goes. He studied medicine because it's fascinating and because he was the sort of man who could afford it, and he traveled to Sunderland both to make a profit and to see how Sunderlanders' traditions of medicine are different from his own (he doesn't look very favorably upon them, although he's quite intrigued by the ways of hedgewitches). He set up shop in Palisade three years ago, about half a year after arriving in Sunderland - there are many good things to be said about having a large supply of starting capital. And, he'd have you think, he's prospered ever since.

Okay, all right, yes, it took a bit of networking first. And work. And presentation of his original research; he's quite an intelligent man, you know! And really having money is lovely (so lovely!) but knowledge is better - because it helps you get even more money.

But, well. Here he is. What's this about spirit guardians, eh?

personality: People who call Zheng a businessman are wrong. He has an accountant for that, he jokes. What he deals with is the body. He's maybe a little too fascinated with the way the body responds to different stimuli, but it's for good cause, he thinks! He thinks the world needs to know. Doesn't it? Humans are sentient creatures, and extremely important to the survival of the world and the preservation of civilization! Knowledge of the human anatomy and its interactions with the world around it are imperative to continue the species in perpetuity. Never mind, of course, that he might have to go strange places to obtain that knowledge...

He's a disorganized, carefree man, often clumsy and obtuse in his communications - far from his sinister, plotting guardian. That doesn't mean he's unintelligent, however; he simply prefers to reserve that intelligence for things like memorizing facts and learning about the wonders of the body. He's very well-versed in those topics - he's probably one of the best around, actually. He loves anatomy, the study of herbs, and even enjoys plain old epidemiology. He's just not really a people person - well, he enjoys their company.

See, Zheng is known for laughing loudly and flamboyantly, and he certainly seems to enjoy flaunting his wealth with clothes constructed from fine, richly-colored textiles. He's a man of few hobbies, he explains, and one of those hobbies just so happens to be fashion, and okay, gossip, too (you meet the most interesting customers that way!). He's just not people smart. He's strangely oblivious to others' motives, and while he knows they all seek things, he's not so concerned about what those things might be. And he's more than a bit insensitive to others' fears and misfortunes; they do understand that it's all for the greater good, right? He's serviceable company, though; good at laughing long and loud and ostentatiously at his contacts' jokes. In a lot of cases he's the necessary evil of every social circle; he is, after all, incredibly discreet in addition to very, very smart.

He's also a little more altruistic than one would take him for; although money can probably buy anything from Zheng, he's been known to take on difficult cases in exchange for simple pouches of herbs that take more time to gather than exceptional skill or deep pockets. He claims, though, that it's because the pursuit of knowledge and more data is the goal of his work, and that his firm belief is that knowledge should be used to benefit the human race - and that means that his knowledge needs to be used. Of course, he'll add hastily, that doesn't mean that one should forego payment entirely - only more money can fund his pursuit of further knowledge.