Description

Age: 26

Gander: Male

Height: 5'7

Weight: 150 lbs

Eye Color: Green

Hair: His head is kept shaven for faith but in truth it is black.

Distinguishing Features: A scar approximately one inch wide running from the top right side of his forehead down at an angle, over his left eyebrow and eye, and ending at the top of his jaw right under the left ear.
One 1' diameter wide circle separated by a curving line with a smaller circle in either half. One side is colored white and the other black while the corresponding inner circles are inverted in their color.

Personality

Shingen's dichotomous nature is best shown by the symbol tattooed on his back, and throughout his life the best traits have somehow combined with their opposing forces to create a conflagration of ideals and beliefs within the young monk. While learning patience and calculating from monastic pursuits his youth and vigor often bring about an impetuous and sometimes ignorant characteristic, and the only thing off-setting a rather youthful tempestuousness are the values of tolerance and benevolence that have been taught to him. The young monk is rather quick-witted and intellegent, but sometimes he fails to see the bigger picture or think of an alternative idea that seems almost child-like at times, and rather frustrating at others, but everything he does is accomplished with only the most pure of intentions. His training in both the martial arts and monastic duties have made him a loyal and zealous follower of the faith, and nothing will stop him from brining the fading order back to life, and he hopes that the wisdom of their beliefs may be spread throughout the land.

Equipment

Shingen's clothing is mainly comprised of blue and white kimonos that he wears everyday with a decorated scarf used to cover head and face when outside the monastery. There are two belts around his midsection, a smaller one made from cloth used to hold his kimonos in place and a larger one made from leather utilized in a fashion to hold his weaponry in place. On his feet are knee-high socks with the big toe separated from the other four so as to allow for his four to six inch clogs for outdoor wear or a pair of straw sandals for hsi time in the monastery. His neck is also adorned with a large array of prayer beads with which he is accustomed to halt and pray for any circumstance.

He is most commonly seen carrying a naginata and wakizashi, but he can also be found wielding dual two-foot long ararebo.

History

Shingen had been born in Japan as a child, but his family had moved to Bay City when he was only three years old due to a large migration of Reykyon followers to one of the few surviving monasteries left after a brutal civil war erupted and the religion was banished from the country. Unfortunately the natives of their new home were showing their displeasure at this turn of events and many would not hire them, and this series of events had forever changed Shingen's life. Before they had fled Japan the Kamakuras had been a prestigious aristocratic family to whom Shingen was the heir, but now penniless and starving his parents did what they thought best by leaving both Shingen and his twin Hidetada at the monastery's doorsteps to live the life of warrior monks. Despite less than desirable living conditions from a child's perspective the boys lived a much better life than had they stayed with their parents, and during the next several years the monks' numbers swelled with the influx of children being dedicated to Reykyon, yet not all have stayed faithful in the 23 years since. Many chose to leave the order after time had gone by and life had become easier for the refugees. Shingen and Hidetada were not to be included in this group but have stayed faithful and proven zealous in their practise and beliefs, and so the much more so that in recent years they have led a rather vigrous movement to restore the Reykyon faith as the powerful institution it once had been. The two have since then risen to the highest level in their monastery and show no hesitation at helping the people of Bay City.

The monastery itself is located in District 4 with the families, but the monks are known to travel throughout the entire city to give alms and provide religious services to those who cannot afford to travel to District 4. While not trying to police the citizenry the presence of the monks has been known to allow tensions to subside while keeping criminal activity to a minimum.