Shinlai Adoption Tryout #7: Adameo Trigalia

....This report concerns the Shinlai known as Amadeo Trigalia AKA Armand. When asked directly about his past and current affairs, he responded with vague answers and skillfully redirected the conversation to other matters. Although he seems pleasant enough, we were not able to get much relevant information from him. We were only able to gather a bit of intel after speaking directly to the clan leader. We even managed to gain access to Armand’s home where the above document was discovered. It is believed to have been created by his human companion and was one of the few texts that was not written in an illegible kind of shorthand. All information currently obtained is covered in the report below….

B A S I C     I N F O R M A T I O N:

Name: Amadeo Trigalia
Alias: Armand (most commonly called by this name)
Species: Shinlai
Gender: Male
Age: 28 (young adult)
Birth Season: Autumn
Element: Fire
Allegiance: Darkblood
Mate: Not Interested
Occupation: Observer of Life / Spy / Metalsmith
Height: 11’3’’ at top of head. Appears shorter because he is always slouching.
Length: 29’ to tip of tail
Weight: 7,200 lbs
Body Type: Lean, Slightly effeminate
Classification: Rare. Silky fur with weeping tail. He used to have long silky fur down his legs but it became a pain when he started using wraps on his missions so he keeps it trimmed short.  

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H I S T O R Y:

Age 0-11
Armand seems to have had a fairly normal childhood. He didn’t speak until quite late, which caused some worry, but he was apparently just busy observing and had a fairly developed understanding of the language when he decided to speak. He wasn’t terribly social and preferred to remain on the edges of gatherings, talking instead to his bird friends.
Age 12
He tasted an orange for the first time while at a large celebration that was welcoming some new members to the clan. He immediately went into shock because of an intense allergic reaction. Luckily, their clan was home to a very experienced healer who was able to save Armand in time. Even though the immediate danger had passed, he was left very weak and home bound for weeks. He may have, in fact, remained hidden for so long out of embarrassment for being brought to his knees by such a small, silly thing. The experience did, however, do some damage to his throat which made it difficult for him to speak for long periods of time and seemed to give his voice a lower, raspy quality.
Age 15
Over the next few years, he remained more or less distant from his peers’ social happenings but was always on the edges, observing. By the time he was fifteen, the orange incident had been more or less forgotten by everyone else. He was amused by the awkwardness of his peers at this age and decided to conduct an experiment of sorts. He emerged from the shadows, in a manner of speaking, and made his presence more known to his peers. He had been observing the adults and some of his more social savvy peers and began chatting up, well, pretty much everyone. He seemed mysterious, charming, and insightful. He gathered a fan club almost overnight. Although he enjoyed his new found popularity for a while, he eventually grew tired of the constant attention. He learned how to weave stories to redirect their attentions, while still seeming polite and charming. All the while, the clan leader had been watching him and taking notes on his growing skills.
Age 16
When he was sixteen, his element emerged when he was surprised by his old enemy, the orange. His parents had been very careful to warn him again any exposure to citrus fruits but some had been unknowingly brought into town by a traveling merchant. When presented with the fruit, his mind went immediately back to his first agonizing encounter and his emotions spiked. Almost simultaneously, the merchant’s cart of goods, including the oranges, burst into flames.  He had discovered his element. The form his element took was expected, as his father was also a fire ‘Lai but Armand was neither overly excited nor disappointed over the form of his gift. Mastering his element immediately became his new project. The obvious path led to working with his father to learn the trade of metalsmithing.
Age 18
He became proficient in the basic wielding of his element quite quickly and was masked but the age of eighteen. Soon afterward, the clan leader approached him about becoming more active in the Darkblood revolution and acting as a spy to gather intel for their clan. Armand was resistant at first, not really desiring to become tied to the war, but he was convinced by the lure of exploration and new discoveries.
Age 20
When he was twenty, he came home from one of his missions with a human child in tow. He dubbed the child Milo (a name he had observed a human using for one of their dogs) and was scarcely seen without him for the next several years. At this point, he also decided to move out of his family home and create a new lair for himself on the edge of their territory.
Age 21-Present
Since then, he has worked with Milo to build a library of his knowledge and observations on the Shinlai race. He has also set up his own forge independent from his father’s. He continues to go on missions at the clan leader’s request and is sometimes away for months at a time.  However, he always returns with interesting stories and souvenirs, almost always including a new mask. The other ‘Lai in his clan think kindly of him, if a bit odd. He still has a charming, poetic tongue when he does decide to speak and there are a few ‘Lai who still try to get closer to him.  As of now, he doesn’t seem terribly interested in choosing a mate and spends most of his free time with Milo or his bird friends.

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D E T A I L S:

Allegiance:
He was raised in a Darkblood clan. Upon study of his own skills and other Shinlai in general, he believes that Shinlai are in control of their own creation and fate. However, he does not preach his opinions openly, choosing instead to document his findings in his library. He is not at all invested in the Darkblood revolution or the idea of war and only reluctantly fulfills his role as spy. His clan members, in general, are quite bold in their attacks but he tries to keep himself removed from it as much as possible.

Defense:
The only way to catch him off guard is to threaten him with citrus, but be warned, he may set you on fire. Prefers a battle of wits to a physical battle and will try to confuse his opponent into backing down. Despite his size, he is not a terribly skilled fighter. He can use his element as a defensive weapon in order to get away.

Dislikes:
Citrus fruit. He is dangerously allergic to citrus. While his reaction to it isn’t fatal, it is not something he ever wants to repeat. Because of this experience, he now immediately burns any citrus tree he comes across. He uses his skills with rebirth to help foster a different plant in its place but his actions still tend to anger the clans he visits. He usually just pleads insanity and wonders off the way he came. He also dislikes being labeled or told he is incapable of doing something. He almost always takes this as a challenge and goes off to obsess over it until he feels confident in his abilities.

Element:
Armand’s element is fire. He took up the family business of metalsmithing almost immediately after discovering his element and was very adamant in leaning to understand and master it. One of his many projects, along with continuing to master his own element, is to emulate the other elements. He is curious about the other elements in general but also wants to use these “tricks” to give himself new personalities on his missions. His most recent study is very subtly manipulating ice with heat in order to shape it and make it appear as though he may be in control of the water within. He enjoys creating ice sculptures in this manner and often makes them for special events in the community.  

Family:
He is an only child. Both parents are still living in his home clan and he visits them when he is in town. While he is polite and friendly, he has grown away from them and is not particularly attached. He took up his father’s metalsmithing work soon after he received his mask. All of their masks and armor were fairly generic in form and were passed on to Shinlai with other elemental powers for greater detailing. Since taking on Milo and starting his own workshop, Armand’s pieces have gotten much more intricate and ornate, outshining anything his father ever created.

Home:
Armand was born and raised in Aldhollow. He lives in a rather large cave a ways removed from the actual clan settlement. His metalsmithing workshop is contained in a near offshoot of the cave. Milo keeps watch over his home and continues his metalsmithing work while he is away on missions. His walls are lined with all of the masks he has collected or created over the years. He also has a number of cages and perches set up for his bird friends, who often come to rest near the mouth of the cave.

Likes:
He loves birds. LOVES them. He can often be seen with them perched on his horns and gets a bit giddy when playing with them sometimes. He likes understanding things, humans, Shinlai, pretty much everything, and adding it all to his library. He like designing and creating, be it masks, armor, or a new character to portray on his missions. He is quite fond of Milo, though he will never admit it publicly.

Mask:
His initial mask, made by his father, was made of metal and very themed towards his element. He was never terribly fond of it because of how it labeled him. Milo created his current mask out of a large mother of pearl shell to his specifications. While it looks a solid white from far away, it has a very opalescent quality and reflects colors when looked at closely. He loves the chameleon effect this creates and the anonymity a seemingly plain mask gives him. In general, he is quite obsessed with the idea of masks and how they reflect personalities or create labels. He likes to try to collect a mask from every clan he visits and is fascinated to see how each group interprets him and reflects that in the mask. While he often creates elaborate stories as to why he needs a new mask, he has been known to wonder into clans without any mask at all. This almost always guarantees he will leave with a new one. The masks line his walls at home and some of the other ‘Lai think he is a bit odd for this obsession. He doesn’t seem bothered by their opinions. He also takes inspiration from his collection and the varying groups they reflect to create new designs for the masks in his shop. 

Milo:
One day, Armand came home from a mission with a young human child in tow. It is unsure if he saved the child or if he spirited him away from his home for the sake of observation. The clan leader was not pleased with this new addition but Armand spun a convincing argument and promised he could train the human to serve their clan. It is possible that one of the reasons why Armand agrees to continue acting as spy is so Milo can stay with the clan. Although Armand seemed to mainly just observe the child with a scientific interest, Milo developed a strong bond with the Shinlai. Now at the age of 16, he has been with the tribe for eight years and is completely devoted to Armand. Armand seems to have lost interest in him and treats him more as a pet than anything when in public. He will, however, fiercely defend Milo if another ‘Lai threatens him and it’s rumored that they are actually very close. Milo picked up the trade of smithing while living with Armand and creates very elaborate metal armor and masks for the clan while Armand is away. Milo also creates the pigment based beads that Armand uses on his missions and is the only one who knows how to translate Armand’s shorthand. He helps Armand transpose all of his observations and binds them into books. He is always seen wearing a mask when in public and no one is really sure what he actually looks like these days. It is also known that Armand named him Milo and it is unsure if his real name has been lost or if Milo is just keeping it secret.

Occupation:
Spy. Metalsmith creating armor and masks. Observer of life.
He is sent out to spy on other tribes to further his clan’s position in the Darkblood revolution, which he does reluctantly. He is not really committed to the war and mostly agrees to it so that he can observe the customs of other ‘Lai and add to his mask collection. He likes to portray different characters when he goes on a mission, often posing as a war-ravaged veteran. His posture has suffered a bit because of this constant act. His bandages, general silence, and sometimes erratic behavior also tend to support this created character. When he returns home, he can be found scribbling observational notes to add to his library or helping Milo create intricately designed masks and armor in his forge.  

Personality:
Quiet, contemplative, mysterious, poetic, charming, aloof. He is good at picking up small details and reading other ‘Lai. Also skilled at acting and influencing others. He likes observing and understanding but doesn’t get attached to anyone. If he finds a certain ‘Lai particularly interesting, he may follow them around and get a little creepy with his obsession but he inevitably gets bored and moves on. Always polite, if detached. Everyone generally likes him. When on missions, his personality can seem to change greatly as he portrays different characters.

Tools of his trade:
He ALWAYS has bandages on him, which he uses to note his observations and “important” military information. He also keeps stocks of beads formed out of compressed pigments on his horns. He only needs to crush them and add liquid to make them into an ink-like substance. Most often, he uses red pigments so that the writing may be mistaken as bloody wounds if they show through the linen wraps. He generally writes with his fore-claws, which he keeps quite long. Because it is a bit difficult to write with his big paws, he has developed his own form of shorthand which only Milo knows how to translate. If one looks closely, they might notice that his fore-claws are stained slightly different colors because of the different pigments he uses. He is determined to someday be able to write properly with a quill pen and often has them tied in his mane or tail.  



Shinlai are a closed species © AlanaRoseheart
Design © nyface
Character © Me