Mei Xiulan

[Mei Xiulan]

Mei Xiulan

n/a	Chinese	20
5' 3''	108 lbs	n/a
Female	Bisexual	Bard

Appearance

Mei doesn’t present herself in finery, she frequents travel-worn clothes, presenting herself as a worldly person rather than one of flash and fantasy. She tends to dress in the colourful hues of purple, and favours oddments of craft jewelry, particularly prayer beads. These attributes along with her manner of outfit, a lute and two long knives on her back often marks her as a recognisable person in her profession.

A rustic and common girl, a gypsy of sorts. Mei can come off as an ignorant and aloof personality on a first impression, but she’s a learned young woman with many varying experiences to her credit with a clever mind and wit for philosophical thinking.

People tend to think she’s a mute of some sort, she doesn’t sing as much as she used to, and her voiceless performances lend support to that rumour.

It’s no secret she’s a pretty young woman, and being well-travelled and conditioned is cut from a tougher cloth than most others of her age and gender.

personality

Strengths : Adventurous, Philosophical, Diplomatic, Magnanimous, Affectionate
Weaknesses : Impulsive, Vengeful, Trusting, Introverted, Disconnected

A musical and dancing entertainer with a big heart. A competent self-trained fighter with a pseudo-wushu style. Mei is a lone wolf in this world, the only friends she knew having split to make better individual business for themselves, a wanderer and a person of the world. She thinks herself a smart person, someone creatively attune with the ways and natural workings of the world; a philosopher.

Having travelled all her life, Mei has an adventurer’s spirit and wants to see the world, always moving from place to place she’s rarely in the same place twice. Despite living her dream lifestyle of moving around and witnessing the natural beauty of her country from east to west and north to south, there is a nagging part of her that secretly longs to find the best place to settle down. Her little piece of heaven on earth.

Mei’s social demeanor is not one of confidence despite assumptions based on her profession, Mei is hesitant to approach new people and now of all times they tend to intimidate her more so, knowing that war is gripping the country. She has taken a step back from being an entertainer and doesn’t work the bigger venues, instead favouring the small and homely establishments where she isn’t as liable to get stabbed over a couple of coins in a crowd.

Having a dancing and performance background with her old troupe, Mei is rather athletic and agile, which has assisted her in developing her skill with knives and the undisciplined wushu style she uses to defend herself while traversing from town to town.

history

Born of the city of Nanyang in Henan to a courtesan of some high lord she was told, she never knew either of her parents. Growing up an orphan and taken along with a group of travelling entertainers from Yizhou, the road was all she knew. She spent most of her early years moving around a lot, doing nothing particularly noteworthy.

Her childhood years are shrouded in mystery and intrigue, she never talks about such times much; she was not even given a name until she was four years old. What she does tell though, is that she began playing musical instruments and performing with her travelling troupe on the stage. They taught her how to play the Guqin zither, the Erhu huqin, the Konghou harp, the Liuqin lute and the bamboo flute over the course of nine years. It was an interesting time for her, to be focussed on just the one thing - musical passion, she learned quick. By fifteen, she was a beautiful young girl with an agile body, who could both sing and dance, but she shied away from the limelight of performance.

When she turned seventeen she was a good enough performer to make it on her own - or so the troupe told her. Joy is essential in life they always said, and it was their job to provide what joy they could to all. She retained only her erhu and a flute, was set with clothes and provisions and sent on her way to do her duty.

The troupe split in every which direction, some went back to Yizhou, to Youzhou, some to Jingzhou, some to Yangzhou, even Jiaozhou. Mei went to Jizhou, not so mighty a distance from where she was, in Xuzhou. She visited Pei, Dongjun, Puyang and Ye, playing her songs, and entertaining at inns, trying hard to get over her shy nature under solo conditions. She made plenty of coin to cover her expenses, but she could scarcely support any passions or impulse purchases. A pretty young woman, she found trouble many times in the inns she visited at the mercy of the lusts of drunks. It wasn’t long before she threw all her coin into protection, becoming known as the young entertainer who carried an erhu and two short swords. Quickly a trail of suspicion and untold history followed her wherever she travelled.

The charm of the north wore off, and Mei found herself longing for the south and the west, she wanted to see the Yangtze and the riverlands of Wu, the rich countryside of Shu and the prosperous mountains ranges of Ba.

She returned to the place she called her birth home after word came north that the Battle of Red Cliff had ended. Nanyang life seemed normal, albeit hushed. Their close proximity to the conflict had spawned tales of both valor and despair. The names of the local Zhuge Liang and his lord Liu Bei were heard frequently. A curiosity grew in her, and Mei soon crossed the river into Jingzhou, thinking to distance herself from the border troubles and see the more peaceful and beautiful western territories, while maybe having the chance to catch a glimpse of these famous war leaders.

[Lexi]

Approved, ill sort your user group out soon.