Post by Thaddeus on Dec 3, 2014 1:10:26 GMT -5
Name: Shan Sien
Race: Gossam
Age: 41 years old
Height: 4'1"
Weight: 95lb
Birth place: Amita Mai
Appearance:
Shan is rarely seen in public without his cane, the tell-tale 1-2-3 of his feet and the cane clacking along the ground almost heralding his arrival, not that he requires the cane; it is merely another one of the Gossam’s affectations and vanities. His whole appearance bespeaks the cultivation and care he puts into it, so much so that even at over forty years of age he is regarded by others as particularly handsome – at least by Gossam standards.
His blue skin is only slightly mottled and his bald head still curves elegantly upward. His black eyes stare out at the world with a distinctive look of amusement, like a man telling a joke who hasn’t reached the punchline yet but knows his listeners will laugh and laugh.
He rarely wears bright colours preferring light browns, worn gold, bronze, or if he feels like adding a flourish of colour mauve of some description. Despite his well-known vanity he does not allow looks to get in the way of practicalities, he may be vain but he is not the sort of man to wear a dinner suit out for a stroll on the beach.
A consummate public speaker every move he makes is carefully and artfully executed, punctuating anything he is saying with the perfect dramatic air. From the leisurely and unhurried pace of his walking to the way he will link arms with a close friend (or someone useful to him) everything is cultivated and graceful.
Personality: Shan is a difficult and divisive public figure on Amita Mai, and depending on your opinion of him he is either an ambitious and vain self-interested demagogue or an enlightened and principled leader. Shan has often commented on these competing assessments of him publicly retorting, “Why can’t a man be both?”
Shan is assuredly ambitious and desires to continue his position of pre-eminence in the Grand Boulai of the People of Amita Mai like a sick man desires a cure. However he does not separate his private interest from the public interest, to him they are one and the same. Of course whether people would agree with what he would call the public interest is another question.
He is vain and it is so astoundingly obvious that he could not hide it even if he wanted to. However the vanity is not directed at wooing partners or any other what he would call shallow ambition, but rather at persuading the millions of the democracy of Amita Mai. Considering his twenty years of public life spent at the very pinnacle of the peak of orators and leaders it would seem he is correct that vanity can be useful.
He is also known as a remarkably intelligent individual whose laws and policies have never lead Amita Mai astray, and also being ironclad and impossible to circumvent or strike down. Certainly this is true but Shan’s mind is infinitely mobile and serpentine, and his genius is perhaps matched only by his cunning. As a mass the people may trust his advice, but individually there are few people who would.
A prolific author who has published a hundred speeches and many more notes, essays, and even two full length books Shan’s personality has been searched for in his writings as well as his actions. And the one thing all commentators have noted in Shan’s writing is a vision for Amita Mai that is not purely pragmatic. Indeed it is openly idealistic, and this idealism clashes with Shan’s ambition frequently. Every speech, every policy, every action of his public life is a battle between his demons and better angels.
Occupation: Citizen (Well-known orator and legislator in the direct democracy of Amita Mai)
Rank: Laukum of the Grand Boulai of the People of Amita Mai (Representative of the planet to all foreign and external governments, businesses, organisations, etc.)
Skills: Orator, & knowledge of Amita Mai legal systems.
Ships/Vehicles: N/A
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 8
Speed: 4
Leadership: 8
Unarmed: 1
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 2
Bio:
The Sien family had earned a name for itself by producing not only the first astronaut of Amita Mai, but also for its members more than any other family consistently choosing to take to the stars. On every space mission of importance in Amita Mai’s history there was a Sien. The family claimed to be descended from a famous Admiral Sien of the Great War, of course such a claim was most likely false but the family did live up to a reputation of endeavour. Shan’s father Lin Sien oversaw the construction of many of Amita Mai’s space stations, and his mother Ma Sien was the first director of the colony on the largest of Tur’s moons.
Shan was born in the thirtieth year of his parent’s marriage, and as was the law on Amita Mai he was handed over to the state to be raised.
Shan’s earliest memories are those of the state run hatchery where newly born and young Gossams were housed and cared for. He can remember learning to walk, simple games with blocks, flash cards of the alphabet and little else.
He was a cheerful child and always looking to play with others, the carers at the hatchery often had to try very hard to make Shan go to bed or have a nap as he more than others would rather play or talk. Shan remembers distinctly sitting alongside his fellows in the hatchery and teaching them to read and write, or simply reading them a story.
His parents would occasionally visit and Shan could remember vaguely talking to them during the visits, or seeing them talk to the carers about he knew not what then – now of course he understood they were talking about how he was developing. Their visits were never more frequent than any other parents; his parents were not the sort to believe that they could do better than the state in raising a good person.
Education in Amita Mai centred on the notion of creating good individuals above all else, it was a fundamentally political undertaking and with a political vision in mind. Of course all education is of this sort, Amita Mai is unique only in as much as it acknowledges its political vision rather than pretending to some sort of neutrality. Having learnt to read and write earlier than most of his piers Shan entered into the wider curriculum.
Broadly speaking the curriculum centred around two subjects: Philosophy, and Physical Education. One must begin by seeking wisdom and having found it one required the ability to exercise it, this was the maxim of Amita Mai education. Shan excelled in it, adoring the challenge and the communal nature of the education.
As he grew Shan surrounded himself with a group of friends, but his carers and tutors were concerned as the relationship was not the one of equality that the society of Amita Mai strove for. Rather it was one of domination, the young Shan easily manipulating and controlling others, of course his friends did not see it that way and believed they were his equals – like any friend. Shan would debate his tutors and carers over the matter whenever he was pulled aside, saying that he was making them happy and knew what they wanted so what did it matter if he manipulated things to achieve those ends?
So begun the lengthy deepening of Shan’s philosophic understanding, he was increasingly pulled aside and given private lessons as it was realised that his abilities far outstripped his peers. Shan remembers all the debates and discussions, the excitement of encountering new and conflicting ideas, the challenge to his own established notions, and the thrill of triumphing not from physical strength but rather from a powerful argument.
While others his age were beginning to notice the objects of their sexual interest and began to engage in the vain physical posturing of early adolescents; Shan meanwhile immersed himself in the great philosophers and poets of Amita Mai. With every idea he came across the more ambitious he became, he saw wrongs everywhere and moreover saw how to fix them. Every fight he averted among his peers, every person he convinced, all of it was so thrilling and made him even more driven to succeed.
RP Sample:
Race: Gossam
Age: 41 years old
Height: 4'1"
Weight: 95lb
Birth place: Amita Mai
Appearance:
His blue skin is only slightly mottled and his bald head still curves elegantly upward. His black eyes stare out at the world with a distinctive look of amusement, like a man telling a joke who hasn’t reached the punchline yet but knows his listeners will laugh and laugh.
He rarely wears bright colours preferring light browns, worn gold, bronze, or if he feels like adding a flourish of colour mauve of some description. Despite his well-known vanity he does not allow looks to get in the way of practicalities, he may be vain but he is not the sort of man to wear a dinner suit out for a stroll on the beach.
A consummate public speaker every move he makes is carefully and artfully executed, punctuating anything he is saying with the perfect dramatic air. From the leisurely and unhurried pace of his walking to the way he will link arms with a close friend (or someone useful to him) everything is cultivated and graceful.
Personality: Shan is a difficult and divisive public figure on Amita Mai, and depending on your opinion of him he is either an ambitious and vain self-interested demagogue or an enlightened and principled leader. Shan has often commented on these competing assessments of him publicly retorting, “Why can’t a man be both?”
Shan is assuredly ambitious and desires to continue his position of pre-eminence in the Grand Boulai of the People of Amita Mai like a sick man desires a cure. However he does not separate his private interest from the public interest, to him they are one and the same. Of course whether people would agree with what he would call the public interest is another question.
He is vain and it is so astoundingly obvious that he could not hide it even if he wanted to. However the vanity is not directed at wooing partners or any other what he would call shallow ambition, but rather at persuading the millions of the democracy of Amita Mai. Considering his twenty years of public life spent at the very pinnacle of the peak of orators and leaders it would seem he is correct that vanity can be useful.
He is also known as a remarkably intelligent individual whose laws and policies have never lead Amita Mai astray, and also being ironclad and impossible to circumvent or strike down. Certainly this is true but Shan’s mind is infinitely mobile and serpentine, and his genius is perhaps matched only by his cunning. As a mass the people may trust his advice, but individually there are few people who would.
A prolific author who has published a hundred speeches and many more notes, essays, and even two full length books Shan’s personality has been searched for in his writings as well as his actions. And the one thing all commentators have noted in Shan’s writing is a vision for Amita Mai that is not purely pragmatic. Indeed it is openly idealistic, and this idealism clashes with Shan’s ambition frequently. Every speech, every policy, every action of his public life is a battle between his demons and better angels.
Occupation: Citizen (Well-known orator and legislator in the direct democracy of Amita Mai)
Rank: Laukum of the Grand Boulai of the People of Amita Mai (Representative of the planet to all foreign and external governments, businesses, organisations, etc.)
Skills: Orator, & knowledge of Amita Mai legal systems.
Ships/Vehicles: N/A
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 4
Intelligence: 8
Speed: 4
Leadership: 8
Unarmed: 1
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 2
Bio:
Family
The Sien family had earned a name for itself by producing not only the first astronaut of Amita Mai, but also for its members more than any other family consistently choosing to take to the stars. On every space mission of importance in Amita Mai’s history there was a Sien. The family claimed to be descended from a famous Admiral Sien of the Great War, of course such a claim was most likely false but the family did live up to a reputation of endeavour. Shan’s father Lin Sien oversaw the construction of many of Amita Mai’s space stations, and his mother Ma Sien was the first director of the colony on the largest of Tur’s moons.
Shan was born in the thirtieth year of his parent’s marriage, and as was the law on Amita Mai he was handed over to the state to be raised.
Early years, 1 - 5
Shan’s earliest memories are those of the state run hatchery where newly born and young Gossams were housed and cared for. He can remember learning to walk, simple games with blocks, flash cards of the alphabet and little else.
He was a cheerful child and always looking to play with others, the carers at the hatchery often had to try very hard to make Shan go to bed or have a nap as he more than others would rather play or talk. Shan remembers distinctly sitting alongside his fellows in the hatchery and teaching them to read and write, or simply reading them a story.
His parents would occasionally visit and Shan could remember vaguely talking to them during the visits, or seeing them talk to the carers about he knew not what then – now of course he understood they were talking about how he was developing. Their visits were never more frequent than any other parents; his parents were not the sort to believe that they could do better than the state in raising a good person.
Education in Amita Mai centred on the notion of creating good individuals above all else, it was a fundamentally political undertaking and with a political vision in mind. Of course all education is of this sort, Amita Mai is unique only in as much as it acknowledges its political vision rather than pretending to some sort of neutrality. Having learnt to read and write earlier than most of his piers Shan entered into the wider curriculum.
Broadly speaking the curriculum centred around two subjects: Philosophy, and Physical Education. One must begin by seeking wisdom and having found it one required the ability to exercise it, this was the maxim of Amita Mai education. Shan excelled in it, adoring the challenge and the communal nature of the education.
Childhood, 6 – 12
As he grew Shan surrounded himself with a group of friends, but his carers and tutors were concerned as the relationship was not the one of equality that the society of Amita Mai strove for. Rather it was one of domination, the young Shan easily manipulating and controlling others, of course his friends did not see it that way and believed they were his equals – like any friend. Shan would debate his tutors and carers over the matter whenever he was pulled aside, saying that he was making them happy and knew what they wanted so what did it matter if he manipulated things to achieve those ends?
So begun the lengthy deepening of Shan’s philosophic understanding, he was increasingly pulled aside and given private lessons as it was realised that his abilities far outstripped his peers. Shan remembers all the debates and discussions, the excitement of encountering new and conflicting ideas, the challenge to his own established notions, and the thrill of triumphing not from physical strength but rather from a powerful argument.
While others his age were beginning to notice the objects of their sexual interest and began to engage in the vain physical posturing of early adolescents; Shan meanwhile immersed himself in the great philosophers and poets of Amita Mai. With every idea he came across the more ambitious he became, he saw wrongs everywhere and moreover saw how to fix them. Every fight he averted among his peers, every person he convinced, all of it was so thrilling and made him even more driven to succeed.
Youth, 12 – 15
Civic service, 16 – 17
Beginnings, 18 – 20
Spotlight, 21 – 24
Setback, 25 – 26
Revival, 27 – 29
At the top, 30 – 37
The galaxy arrives, 37 – 41
RP Sample:
