Zan Xi

[Zan Xi]

"Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate."
- Sun Tzu

Name: Zan Xi "Shadow of Yun Nan"
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Style: Original

Residence: Yun Nan

Personality:

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
-Sun Tzu

Zan Xi is a thinker, he always has been and he always will be. Though he is not a genius by any means, he uses what mental power he has to its maximum potential. It was his mind that allowed him to become different than the 'savages' from which he was descended.

Being slightly reserved, he prefers the presence of few over many, and enjoys being by himself a lot of the time. When possible, he prefers not to be the center of attention. Rather, he prefers to be able to blend in with the nearest shadow and disappear, which is appropriate when one considers his title. However, he also feels comfortable in crowds, so long as he can 'blend in' and is not the center of the focus of everyone around him.

Whenever he can get spare time, Zan Xi enjoys to read and to train, often at the same time. Besides for these, the Shadow of Yun Nan enjoys to practice his 'craft.' In plainer terms, Zan Xi enjoys to steal, he enjoys pillaging, and he enjoys other ways of making money quickly and easily.

Two of his greatest strengths are also two of his greatest weaknesses. Zan Xi has an undying curiosity and also has an unquenchable thirst for power; power in the form of money, influence, and most of all reputation. Zan Xi is also cunning, clever, and almost never goes into a situation without a plan.

The Shadow seems to enjoy manipulation to some degree, although he hates when it is used against him. This undoubtedly stems from his pride in himself and his pride in his capabilities as both a warrior and as a manipulator.

He is respectful to people of higher authority than him (at least to their faces) and also respects those who he deems to be beneath him, believing wholeheartedly that if one wants to have friends in powerful positions in the future, he should be kind to them while their still weak.

Appearance:

You have to believe in yourself.
-Sun Tzu

To describe his skin color, Zan has skin the color of lighter milk chocolate. That is, it is a much lighter shade of the color brown. This is a result of not only genetics, but the fact that he is always training, reading, playing, and otherwise doing everything under the sun. In terms of skin color, he appears just as one might expect a man descended from the Nanman to appear. But his eyes and his hair make his appearance seem slightly surreal in comparison to his brethren.

The warrior has red eyes, almost crimson, like the moon as it goes through a lunar eclipse. He also has silver-white hair that he likes to keep long and unkempt, sometimes down to the middle of his back, and on occasion, in a ponytail. His bangs can sometimes cover his eyes if he is not careful, though he does not truly mind. His hair grows back quickly if he cuts it, so sometimes he does cut it just to test out his appearance.

Over the bottom part of his face, he wears a black mask that connects with his black shirt. Although no one knows why, Zan Xi claims that it serves no particular purpose beyond giving him a mysterious quality. However, the mask does serve a particular purpose on occasion. It keeps others from being able to read his lips. After all, how can you read what you cannot see?

Upon the right side of his face, somewhat covered by his mask on occasion, there is a mark. As it was told to Zan Xi, it is the mark of the Nanman tribe that he is descended from, worn by all of the descendants of that particular tribe.



Apparel/Armour:

Invincibility lies in the defence...
-Part I of a quote by Sun Tzu

Zan Xi wears armor that is befitting of what he typically can be seen to do; in other words, he wears relatively light armor and wears relatively little of it in comparison to others who have chosen to don protection and wield swords. That being said, Zan Xi's chosen armor is made from materials that are as light as possible while still being able to afford moderate amounts of protection. This armor covers his forearms, his ankles, his torso area, his biceps, and his shoulders, as well as having sections meant to protect his feet.

Over these pieces of armor placed on various sections of his body without really connected to one another, Zan Xi wears a pitch black cloak that has a hood that he commonly wears up. This hides his hair, and casts a shadow over his face, normally hiding his facial features. The bottom of the cloak is ripped thoroughly, displaying the fact that the Shadow travels often and has seen at least a few battles in his moderate time of traveling.



Weapon(s):

The possibility of victory in the attack.
-Part 2 of a quote made by Sun Tzu

The Blades of Nanman -

A pair of long, heavily-curved, black Chinese scimitars with silver edges. Their cross guards are rectangles, with the corners cut off, decorated by a pattern of cherry petals and lines, and each sports a dark-blue handle, with long red tassels dangling from the ends of the hilts. The one that is wielded in the dominant hand is slightly longer, wider, and heavier than the one meant to be used by the recessive hand. This sword is used for 'power' while the other is primarily used for 'speed.' These swords are of fine make and have been passed down through the family for generations, being untarnished and still undeniably sharp upon reaching Zan Xi's hands, a testament to their durability and a hint at their true value. As their combined name suggests, these swords have an origin in the Nanman lands, though the exact story of their origin, as well as the name of the man who made them are both lost to the ages.

Daggers -

In addition to his twin scimitars, Zan Xi uses and is proficient with daggers. He keeps two out in the open, strapped to his legs at all times. These are meant to be used for melee combat and for stealth purposes. However, he also has at least ten far smaller daggers, more adequately referred to as 'throwing knives', on his person at all times, hidden in various places amongst his clothing. These, though not suitable for close-range combat, are useful for the purpose of making medium to long range kills when a bow would be too conspicuous, or otherwise unsuitable for the situation.

History:

Zan Xi, the Shadow of Yun Nan, was born on the fifteenth of April to a family that resided within Yun Nan, the most southwestern territory of China. Though he was born with the traditional light brown skin of a descendant of the Nanman, Zan Xi was born with white hair adorning his head and when he opened his eyes it was seen that they were red. His parents were amazed at this, taking it as a sign from Heaven that their child was destined for some form of greatness some day.

As the baby grew and matured into boyhood, it was seen by his family and his friends that above all else, he was a curious child. Virtually every action was done in order to answer some question, and if he could not reach the answer by himself, he would find someone else to reach it for him. As he became older, the boy began to become more athletic, particularly where agility was concerned. He was seen to be light on his feet and good with his hands, being highly acrobatic and an excellent martial artist, focusing on speed and dexterity rather than on strength. However, in the darkness of the night, this same boy used his agility in a thoroughly different way.

Soon, the boy began to approach the age of manhood, and the time was fast approaching for him to choose what he wished to do with his life. There was perhaps an opportunity for him in military life, or he could join politics, though that route seemed less than desirable. There were many other opportunities, but none seemed to call out to the near adult. The closest thing was life in the military, but he did not want to simply choose to serve the Kingdom of Shu. Rather, he wanted to travel first, see the other two Kingdoms, and perhaps experience some things before he devoted his life to any Lord or King.

And thus, when he became a man in his father's eyes, he packed his supplies, donned his family's armor adorned with his favorite cloak, equipped his favored daggers and prepared himself to leave. Before he could however, his father offered him one last gift from the family. The Blades of Nanman, passed down through the family for generations. For many years he had trained with these swords, patiently awaiting the day that he should receive them. He was no stranger in their use. Accepting them with gratitude, Zan Xi left his home and began his journey.

It has been some time since his journey's beginning, and along the way Zan Xi earned the moniker 'Shadow of Yun Nan,' though the exact story of how this occurred is a secret known to only four individuals at the moment. Though he still has not attached himself to any of the Three Kingdoms, the Shadow has become something of a successful mercenary in his own right, being willing to do what others found themselves less able or completely unwilling to do...for a price.

Statistics:

Strength - 6
Perception - 8
Endurance - 6
Charisma - 5
Intelligence - 6
Agility - 10
Luck - 4

Gold: Two-hundred {200}

Alignment: Zero {0}

Reputation: Fifty {50}

Entourage Units: N/A

Personal Army: N/A

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[Zan Xi]

I think that I'm done.

[Adam]

Approved