Name: Reku “Toad” Shinga
Age: 30
Race: Human
Height: 5'6"
Physical Description:
You want testosterone? Toad got testosterone. Lots of it. Because that's all he has. Good looks were never in the cards for Reku Shinga: he was an ugly baby (arguably the only time people were nice enough to try to lie about his looks, though that was more for his beleaguered mother than his own self-confidence, being that he was a baby and all), an ugly child, an ugly teenager, and now an ugly man. His mouth is too wide for his face, his nose too small, and his eyes squinty enough to disappear when he laughs or grins too hard. His oily black hair and patchy facial hair don't really help matters much (though the pseudo-beard does help balance out the width of his mouth, if only a little). Still, he's a cheerful lout with an engaging smile and easygoing brown eyes. It's his demeanor that kept him going through his teenage years -- despite never having a lady friend in the romance department, he was always top notch at making solid friends. True, some may claim that the only reason he has such good friends is that no one feels threatened by him (he is slim, and not the tallest man around), but who cares! He's not a bad sort.
Toad is particular about cleanliness and neatness, though not to the point of becoming obsessive. Despite his oily hair, it is kept trimmed and out of the way when he is on duty. His beard is tidy, his clothing clean, his uniform perfect, his weapons obviously well taken care of.
Possessions:
- Truncheon - made of steel, lacquered with the colors of the Guard and a leather-wrapped grip.
- Rondel dagger - steel, leather-wrapped grip, leather scabbard with metal chapes at tip. Scabbard is fur-lined for extra silence on the draw.
- A few utility knives and a backup dagger.
- Calligraphy pen. A prized possession, given to Toad by his grandfather.
- So much clothing. This is what happens when your family makes cloth.
Fighting Ability
Toad is of average skill with his dagger, competent enough for a guardsman while still trending towards mediocrity. Fighting is always a last resort for Toad, though when necessary he'll brandish his truncheon first and dagger second. His diminutive build means he's not likely to be intimidating anyone any time soon -- he uses his affability more often than not. He'd be unlikely to survive more than three attackers, and his best bet for more than one attacker (if he was alone) would be to gain enough space to flee.
Sneaky McSneakerson
Toad is at his best when he's focusing on avoiding confrontation -- or being seen at all, if necessary. While he would be terrible at long stints of sneaking around, he is an expert at getting places unseen. It's particularly useful in order to avoid situations where he might be required to fight.
Disguise
While Toad is too distinctive to truly disguise himself, he knows many tricks to keep himself from being too noticeable. He's able to blend well with any crowd, and so long as no one is paying too much attention to him he'll be able to pass for someone else. He usually has an easier time working with people of average looks, and his skills have been used in the past to aid in Loyalist matters.
Knowledge of Law and Politics
Toad's nature has lead him to being more useful in matters that are removed, generally speaking, from violence. As a result he has spent countless hours getting to know Marn's laws and codes backwards and forwards, and getting to know the people who help shape these things. He is well aware of who does what in Marn's government, and who he should avoid pissing off. Conversely, he usually has a finger on the pulse of who can be used to further his own investigations, and which rivalries can be tugged at for future use.
Investigative Ability
Toad's attention to details and his natural ability to think problems through (as well as his curiosity) have lead to a successful stint as one of the Loyalists. He knows which questions to ask, and of whom, and has a manner that allows him to gather information necessary to closing out cases. He is able to form patterns fairly easy -- usually through discussing his evidence with his peers (it's said that Toad wouldn't be able to function without having someone's ear) -- which is part of why he has been so readily accepted as a Loyalist.
Social Butterfly
Toad has been around the block. He is easy-going, cheerful, and hard to get a rise out of. He is able to suit his mannerisms to the situation, showing exemplary manners or blending in with crudity as needed. As a result, he is known by people in all social spheres, and has several reliable sources of information. He can count on many for favors, having given out more than his fair share. He's a likable person, and more than able to carry a conversation if needed.
Weaknesses and Flaws:
Build
Toad is below the average size of men in Marn. He's slim, has a hard time putting muscle on, and try as he may he's just not cut out for fighting. While he has adapted and made use of his size for stealth, the fact of the matter is that he will never be physically impressive or tough, and that's not a good thing as a guard.
Ugliness
He stands out, and not in a good way. While Toad has generally overcome his ugliness through his cheerfulness and social ease, people still tend to react better towards those who are good looking over those who are not. Toad has to work to put people at ease, and while he doesn't mind this, it can be frustrating and tiring.
Immigrant Family
The Shinga family has been around for enough generations to smooth out the worst of Marn's hostility towards outsiders, but his distinctive Tian Xia look (he does tend to dress traditionally on his off hours) has lead to some altercations. He tends to be easily dismissed by superiors when it comes to guard work, and there are some who simply dislike him on principle. Synevive or descendant family members have outright sent him away in the past when it has come to speaking to them on official terms, leading Toad to often need a partner just for the sake of doing his job, much less safety.
Little Influence
In line with the above, when it comes to power within the Guard itself Toad has very little. Though he's made Constable I in rank, there are several guardsman below him in rank who hold more weight and sway. As Toad has found out time and time again, being well-liked does not translate to wielding influence in anything more than a social sense. Should he attempt to throw his weight around he will typically be met with condescension. Toad looks like an outsider, is from a family that is obviously immigrant (even if old) and holds to mannerisms and traditions that are obviously from outside of Marn.
Socially Needy
Having come from a large, noisy, social family, Toad does not do well with being alone for long periods of time. He's a talker who has no appreciation whatsoever for silence or self-contemplation. He gets bored easily when left alone, and tends to feel lonely without someone to interact with.
Dislike of Confrontation
While Toad is more than willing to cheerfully argue with others, when it comes to genuine anger he instinctively moves to resolve matters rather than let them stay. Serenity and peace are his lodestones, perhaps why he is so fascinated by Ferric. Even though he does get enjoyment watching people react to negative stimulus, he is also compelled to defuse tense situations. This can and has made it difficult to interrogate those under arrest in his own investigations, sometimes forcing him to appeal to other Loyalists for aid or to go out of his way to collect evidence or testimony.
He will never respect men like Ferric, but he does enjoy their company -- much to his own bemusement.
Ruffled Feathers
Toad's investigative works has made him the target of dislike by several clerks and, in particular, the Magistrate of the Business District. While people enjoy talking to him, his success as a Loyalist means that getting useful information out of people requires him to work for it -- if he isn't stonewalled entirely.
History:
Several generations ago, Toad's family migrated to Marn from Tian Xia. Though they are not precisely synevive (or, at least, not outwardly known as such, though there are some rumors of an outlier ancestor who arrived in Marn well before Toad's direct ancestors), the Shinga family is relatively well known as an older family whose members have kept to themselves while contributing to the betterment of the community and city. They were a family who prided themselves on tradition and etiquette, holding strong to their Tian Xia roots while acclimating to the city. As a result, nearly all of the Shinga family learn calligraphy, and keep to the profession of sericulture. They make several grades of silk for the city of Marn, cutting out some of the trade from Tian Xia by being able to offer exceptional craftsmanship for a lower cost.
The family is extended enough that they have control of the silk process from their particular strain of silkworm eggs all the way to the dyeing, block printing and hand painting of the finished silk. Though they do contract out for certain patterns and colors, the vast majority of work is kept within the family -- while they are not the world's most premier silk-makers, they do have some secrets that allow them to export some of their work to both Tian Xia and Eyropa. The whole family is expected to participate -- and the overwhelming majority do, even if they have careers outside of the family business -- but very few know some of the secrets regarding silkworm production and dye production.
Toad, for his part, began learning the art of silk production at a young age, as most Shinga children do. They are typically given chores assisting adults in harvesting mulberry leaves, feeding the hatched silkworms, stoving the chrysalises, and reeling the filament. However, around the age of puberty the Shinga children would start being taught the intricacies of silk worm farming and subsequent weaving and production of silk cloth. The majority of this occurred in the main Shinga family home, a small estate set off the beaten path in the south of Shim. There is a main building for the current head of the family, and several smaller one-room homes for the extended family, as well as the silk worm houses. They have a white mulberry farm, together with a dug out fish pond (a half-acre in size) for disposal of silk worm waste and mulberry leaf castoffs.
Toad was born to one of the branches of the Shinga family who lived in Marn, dedicated to taking the packaged books of sillk skeins and processing them into woven cloth, which is then dyed and patterned as necessary. When he reached puberty he spent of his time in the Shinga warehouse in the Industrial District learning how to properly weave silk yarn into cloth, and also some of the rarer versions of silk pattern-weaving, which was primarily a custom-order technique due to how expensive the finished product was. The rest of his time he invariably spent between the Shinga Marn residency, the Shinga cloth store, and the farm in Shinga. The Shinga family believed that the Marn school was unnecessary for their children, preferring to have the elders teach reading, writing, calligraphy, mathematics, history and of their family.
Diligence and patience were required. Toad was not a quiet boy, nor was he docile. While he could follow rules, he found that he could simply not sit still at the loom for hours without getting bored and fidgeting, nor could he attend lessons easily. He wanted to move and think. He most enjoyed learning at Elder OMGNEEDANAME's knees, because that venerable uncle was wise enough to allow him to play between lessons. He challenged the young Toad's mind, and placed in him a seed that would, years later, cause him to aim for the title of Loyalist within Marn's guard.
Even at that young age, Toad's affability was fairly remarkable. Though boisterous, he could be reasoned with. He skipped the temper tantrums of childhood and much of teenage rebellion that plagued his siblings and cousins. As a result, he spent much time listening to his elders, and to the various customers he ran their cloth to. He was a spirited conversationalist, and though his ideas were often laughed off or fondly dismissed, he rarely took offense or became dispirited by the gentle rebukes. It wasn't until he started delivering to a pastor who catered to the upper middle-class part of the Residential District, and had a congregation there, that he found someone willing to both listen to him and treat him as if he had the intellectual capacity of an adult. This was something that made Toad feel important and appreciated, and to a teenager who was widely and openly described as ugly, and who had dealt with plenty of teasing and bullying, it was addicting.
He found himself visiting the man during his free time, and eventually their talks turned to the spiritual side of life, and the truth regarding Puradynism. The Shinga family tended towards magic sympathy, though they were most often neutral and sensitive towards Marn's views and had officially adopted them as their own. None of them were Puradynes. Toad became the first Puradyne within the Shinga family at the age of seventeen, backed by a proud Pastor Theo and the open welcome of his congregation. There, Toad found more adults who accepted him and his ideas and personality, and at the tail end of his home-schooled education he found this new social life exciting and engaging.
He began to branch out from his family, engaging in hobbies with various individuals from his congregation. He worked a small volunteer position at the theater doing various odds and ends, and eventually found himself spending the most time with a middle-aged woman who crafted and mixed different types of paints and powders, working with fine pigments to create stage makeups. He was of particular interest to the various costumers who were employed, and eventually became a sort of liaison between them and his family in order to produce custom cloth for some of their more upscale productions. It was solely because of this that he was allowed to wander as was his wont, taking up with various artisans to give succor to his ever-questing mind. So long as he was bringing in customers, his family elders decided, and paid his respects to his family, what did it matter that the boy was a little unusual? Besides, he wasn't likely to find himself a wife and settle any time soon, not with that face.
It was through his Puradyne community that the path of a guardsman opened up before him. One of the elderly men in the congregation had retired as a sergeant within the Guard, and though he acquired a more able-bodied instructor in swordsmanship for Toad, though that route was soon abandoned. Instead, it was determined that Toad's speed and slight shape would do him better with daggers in mind, and a truncheon as a backup weapon. Toad was told that his body was too slight and his strength too weak to properly train in swordsmanship when his boyhood was so long behind him. The implication was that any number of toughs would simply outmuscle him; he was better off working from unexpected angles than direct confrontations. Toad was small for a man in Marn, and it would be better for him to make of his size an advantage rather than try to be something he wasn't. As a child of silk-farmers and weavers, it was a given that he was not prepared to be a guardsman. He had no experience with fighting of any sort. Still, his inquisitive mind and his willingness to work hard did him well. At the age of twenty he had passed the mandatory training and won for himself a position in the guard. In the meantime, he continued lessons in fighting with his dagger and in the use of his truncheon, along with law theory and some socially upwards gatherings where politics were discussed -- these lessons paid for the affectionate elderly man, in exchange for listening to him "get on" over supper twice a week.
His family was cautiously proud of him, though there were some rumblings that he would not do them proud until and unless he rose in the ranks to something "worthy," where that was never quite defined and always used more as a goad than a goal. Still, they supported him (so long as he spent his days off helping with various odds and ends, and gave three-quarters of his pay over to his father; he would not leave his household until he married, and even then he would be given his own small home within the Shinga properties, and then expected to have many children who would be brought up in the silk-making tradition), and that was more than enough for Toad.
Eventually his ability to ferret out details and make connections -- in addition to his rather unimposing form as a patrolman -- lead his elderly sponsor to make some discrete suggestions that Toad be moved into the Loyalist ranks. He'd been in the guard seven years by then, and the move also earned him a rise in rank to Constable I; this more a measure of connections than actual responsibility.
He eventually gravitated towards Braken and Ferric -- the former out of unexpected camaraderie, and the latter from a devilish enjoyment of the other man's antics and genuine curiosity about him -- and soon began to move in the same circles as they. While he would never be quite so manipulative as Ferric, he maintained enough awareness to stay out of the other man's line of fire while curbing its edge, thus saving himself too much trouble and allowing him to remain within Ferric's social circle.
At present he has been pulled off an investigation into suspected money laundering within the Ministry of Finance and instead pushed towards investigating into Paragon parallel to Ferric and Braken. His job is to follow the flow of money and supplies, tracking back various stashes of goods they've uncovered, and hopefully sniffing out some of the movers along the way. It's a job Toad has latched onto with his typical eagerness for seeking the unknown.
