qillin Sī jīn [Ready]

[Windwright]

Roleplay Type:

Name: Sī jīn (code name, only a very limited number know her real name)

Sex: F

Age: Mare

Species: Qillin

Eye colour: Violet

Coat: Pearly pink, with opalescent scales and horns

Mane/Tail: Plum blossom in colour, the mane is kept in tight buns behind each ear built around her horns to mostly conceal them. Her tail is braided, with an empty bell on the bow holding it tied at the tip.

Physique: Slender, lithe, and athletic

Residence: Two feet behind and three feet to the right of Lian.

Occupation: Publically, she's Lian's handmaiden and majordomo, however she is duty bound to protect the prince at all costs.

Cutie Mark: A pair of folding fans held together like a clam shell, with a pearl on the lower fan. Close (ahem) inspection after a bath might reveal that the fans are made of metal, not paper, and the pearl is gone...

Unique Traits: Her Breath allows her to briefly become the wind. She also owns a Long Pearl granting her access to a chest of items kept back in the Imperial Palace without those items needing to traverse any of the intervening space.

Font: Indigo

History:

Born in what was ostensibly a fishing village in Neighpon, the filly who would grow into Si Jin was trained from a young age in the family business. Assassination. For generations, the Chiyo clan had produced ninja with a talent for courtly mannerisms and appearance, often disguised as courtesans, geisha, and concubines. Following the unification of Neighpon the clan instead lent its services as clandestine bodyguards. Their daughters were highly trained in both combat and courtesy, death and diplomacy, style and subterfuge.

Among her generation, Chiyo Hitomi was already near the head of her class when she manifested her Breath for the first time. The elders of the clan decided that her Breath, which allowed her to cover great distances silently, would lend itself well to the Clans purpose. And so Hitomi began an intense regimen of training to harden her resolve, tighten her reflexes, and push her to the brink of qillin endurance, agility, and accuracy. After six years, a suitable client was found, and Hitomi was given the code name Si Jin, silk scarf.

The client was a potential bride for one of the Shogun's sons from Long Guo, named Yu Yue. Si Jin accompanied both the Imperial twins for quite some time, as they were nearly always together, and grew quite close to Lian, or as close as one in her position could afford to get to one in his. But Destiny has an odd sense of humor, and a taste for tragedy in Jin's estimation, as during Yu's sojourn in the monastery the days of Yue's quiet contemplations, and Si Jin watching Lian with the moon in her eyes, were cut short by an Imperial summons.

Si Jin followed Yue back to the palace, as her duty required, but swiftly found herself redirected to Lian's apartments instead of the princess's. The High Censor quickly, and quietly, informed the bodyguard of the changing circumstances. She was to supplement the Prince's retinue of guards until more suitable arrangements and excuses could be made. After all, it would be inappropriate for a foreign assassin to be so close to the Empress.

After several tense days, there was an Incident, and any pretense Lian might've had about Si Jin being the simple hoofmaiden from a tiny village were well and truly buried. However, the newly crowned Empress herself cast a shining ray of light into the dark days after the coronation, when she, the Chancellor, and the High Censor spoke to her in private to confide that her services were being retained out of respect for and in recognition of her skills. Not for Yu Yue herself, but for Lian. After all, it would be far too easy to cause the Empress grief through her beloved brother.

Character Personality: In court, she's unobtrusively helpful, anticipating Lian's needs and seeing to it he has everything he needs on a moment's notice. In public she's demure arm candy, easy on the eyes and ears and quick to provide anything Lian desires. In private she's polite and friendly, entertaining Lian's guests with grace and poise. In secret she's a steel-nerved assassin, personally ensuring there is no threat to the beloved brother of the Empress. In truth she's a hopeless romantic with the dignity and honor of a thousand years of lineage firmly on her shoulders.

Character Summary:

Smooth silk over sharp steel, a cultured pearl with a deadly core, the mare called Si Jin is the ornament decorating the Prince's right hoof, its gorgeous petals concealing deadly thorns until they are needed.

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Very nicely done!