Sima Qian - 司馬遷
"All men have six faces and three hearts. A false heart in their mouths, which they show to the whole world; another heart in their chests, which only relatives and friends know; and finally, a real heart, which no one knows, hidden.”
"In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. When wielding a sword, you must never be tense, for that will break the bond between the sword and your spirit."
Age: 26
Race: Doman Hyur
Gender: Male (He/Him)
Orientation: Heterosexual
Alignment: Neutral Good
Voice claim: Accented Cinema
Theme Song: ♫ 男兒當自強 - A Man Must Better Himself
TV TROPES
The Incorruptible
Minored in Ass-kicking
Badass Bookworm
Tranquil Fury
Occupation: Born to an old Samurai family, Sima is a member of the Doman gentry, and currently serves as a minister of the upper fourth rank in the Doman ministry of works, where he oversees various medium-sized government building & infrastructure projects. However, his serpentine tattoos and many scars eschew the appearance of your typical civil beuracrat. Perhaps there is more to him than meets the eye...
Temperament: Humble, unassuming and bookish. Sima embodies humility, mindfulness, restraint, and tranquility. Yet, despite his near endless patience and temperance, an undercurrent of darkness lies deep inside him, submerged beneath the demeanor of the virtuous scholar-gentleman.
Religious beliefs: While Sima pays obescience to the manyfold Gods and spirits of Yanxia, he believes the salvation of society lies not in the worship of gods, but in key values like filial piety, righteousness, and ritual propriety. He advocates for the importance of education, self-cultivation, and governance by virtuous leaders to create an orderly, harmonious society.
Hobbies: Sima is a passionate chef, and is self taught in the eight great cuisines of Yanxia.
Quirks/eccentricities: Sima strives to uphold the ideals of the junzi, the oriental gentleman-scholar. Keeping his true self buried beneath a veil of manners and maze of rituals, he carries himself through good posture, courtly language, courtly ritual, and excessive modesty.
Likes: History, philosophy, and other scholarly pursuits. Tradition, order and duty, and martial arts (but only as a means to cultivate discipline and seek self-improvement, not to dominate over overs).
Dislikes: Arrogant or boastful personalities, cruelty and selfishness, drugs, alcohol and any other form of excess, and dairy products (as he is highly lactose intolerant).
Strengths: Writing, reading, researching, martial arts.
Weaknesses: Magic, manual 'peasant' labour, emotional intimacy.
Occupation: Doman Gentry, Samurai Caste, Government Beuracrat in the Ministry of Works.
Markings: Sima has a stripe of snake-scale tattoos running over his eyes. He also has the Doman logogram '鄭' carved into his right palm.
Skills: Born into the ossified privileges of Doma's Samurai caste, Sima was both educated and taught to fight in a manner befitting his station. He excels at scholarship, administration, and, when necessary, killing.
Languages: Doman, Hingan, Garlean, Eorzean, Old Auri.
Long ago, the Sima Clan were highly respected vassals of the Kingdom of Doma. Holding lands in the north of the country, the stalwart Lords of Sima often held the line against Xaelic raiders from the steppe. Over the centuries, a series of weak Lords saw the Sima clan slowly began losing its lands and influence. By the time the Garleans occupied Doma, the Sima family had already become a shadow of its former self.Qian, heir to the Lordship of the Sima Clan, was born the same year the Garleans conquered Doma. By that time, all that was left of Sima lands was the small town of Liangkiau and some outlying villages. These lands were ruled by Qian's father, Sima Tan, who answered to the local Garlean governor. As the son of the local lord, young Qian was afforded a relatively privileged upbringing. He was given a proper education which included both a Garlean and Doman curriculum, learning Imperial language and law, but also educated in the eastern arts and literary classics traditionally associated with the Yanxian gentry.As a child, Qian developed an insatiable curiosity for Doman histories, legends, and rituals which the Garleans had banned from public spaces. Soon, he took charge of secretly keeping the ancient Doman customs alive in his village, overseeing clandestine rituals under the Garleans' noses. Rumours of Qian's acts of cultural dissent soon spread, and he became the target of the local Garlean governor as a result. Yet, as the son of a local notable, getting rid of Qian was not as simple as having him unceremoniously executed. Thus, the Garlean governor conspired to have him conscripted into the Imperial army, no doubt in the hope he would go off and die as cannon fodder in some foreign land. This never came to pass, as Qian's father utilized his extensive family connections to smuggle his son out of Doma and secure him a berth within the Sekiseigumi of Kugane.In Hingashi's entrepot, Qian trained to be a Samurai among the Sekigesumi, becoming a decent swordsman and martial artist in the process. Soon, the young heir heard word of rebellion fomenting back in Doma. In defiance of his Samurai superiors denying him leave from his post as a Sekiseigumi, Qian rushed back to his home. He was too late. Doma was aflame, Liangkiau had been raised by an Imperial cohort, and his parents were dead.With his humble swordsmanship no match for Garlean magitek, Qian was forced to smuggle himself out of his own country. He went the route many other Doman refugees did: to Eorzea. For a time, he lived a life of exile in Ul'dah, where he found work as a journalist for a local newspaper.Upon Doma's liberation, Sima returned to his home country. He settled in the town of Wansui, a lawless slum where Triad gangs rule the streets. There, he seeks to make up for his failure to defend his family and ancestral lands by bettering the lives of the coolies [indentured labourers], trafficked women and drug addicts exploited under criminal rule. Initially he did this by founding his own newspaper, the Torii Times, which he used as a means to give voice to the forgotten underclasses of society. He has since been hired by the Doman government to serve as a minister of infrastructure, a position he hopes to use to continue his mission to improve the lives of those living in the squalor of the Wansui slums.
Art by Oguz, Yagiz & Murat - animators at Kings and Generals youtube channel.
I am a 21+ player and require my partners to at least be 18+, with a preference for 21+.
Although I am open to one-off encounters, I generally prefer roleplay which leads to long-term connections.
Sima's story is one that includes dark and mature themes, please be aware that you may be ambiently exposed to these themes if you interact with him.
I am okay with lore-bending, but not lore-breaking. For example, my take on Doman culture is different, but still adjacent to, the Doma depicted in Stormblood. [In that I draw more from IRL Chinese and Taiwanese cultural influences, rather than Japanese].
I prefer down to earth characters. Essentially, everyday people living their lives in the world. Characters who are unique, powerful or dangerous are fine. Just as long as its not at the level of WoL/Voidsent Gods/Ascians/Immortal Auspices/etc.
Feel free to add me on discord: laowai
The Incorruptible Minister - Wansui is a town of sin. It is an open secret that the local government is in the pocket of the Triads. However, word has spread that one minister, Sima Qian, refuses to take a single bribe, spurns all of Wansui's seductive temptations, and remains true to his moral virtues. Bets have been made about how long this foolishly principled young beuracrat will last before he's offed by the mob...
Robes of a Gentry, Scales of a Snake - Sima dresses and behaves like a well bred, highborn Samurai minister of Doma. Yet he bares a stripe of snake-scale tattoos across his eyes. Such tattoos are marks of criminality in the far east. The mark of a lowlife. How did such a seemingly upstanding, incorruptible civil servant acquire such an ignominious mark?
The Torii Times - Until recently, Sima was a well known crime reporter working in the lawless, gang-run town of Wansui, where his unfiltered journalism made him the enemy of many powerful actors in the Doman triads. If you're a member of the criminal underworld, perhaps you've heard of this troublesome whistleblower.
Love is the Death of Duty - Perhaps you've heard of a certain young Samurai who fled his post in Kugane to return home to his native Doma to fight in Kaien's futile rebellion. Samurai do not take desertion lightly, and word is the Sekigeisumi has a reward out for his capture...