nine dragons

Name: Huo "Ellis" Shen

Age: 30

Gender: Male

Type: Select One

Appearance:

He's got a certain swagger, a tilt to his grin that reeks of arrogance, a flippant air in every look and gesture that speaks of assumed superiority. Ellis earns some of it, for sure, with his heart-stopping good looks. He's the sort of man that the phrase 'pretty boy' was coined for, with silky black hair, angular features, warm and inviting eyes, and a smile that can kill from thirty paces. His physique is immaculate; taut and lean, muscled to a point that he may have well been sculpted from stone. Of course a fair share of it's an act, but it's so fully presented that there's little reason to doubt it. Ellis is a man in love with fashion, favoring tailored suits whenever he's out of Chinatown, and even his dressed down days are made up of high-cost shirts and suitpants that he wears like they were about to be thrown away. In Chinatown he plays a more cautious role, favoring worn shirts and slacks that scream 'hand me down'. Under the expensive suits or peasant's clothes, Ellis bears scars that are few but graphic where present; gun shots, knife wounds, and a few burns. His back, shoulders, and upper arms are adorned with a sweeping mural of nine Japanese dragons curling from a void to crawl across his skin.

Personality:

Depending on the instance he's caught in, Ellis is one of two very different people. Almost any time he's seen or spoken to, the man doesn't seem to have a care in the world. He presents himself as a party boy; never short on a smile, never depressed or downtrodden, nearly alienating with how far-removed he seems from the problems of ordinary people. This Ellis is quick with a joke or a compliment, eager to smooth away someone else's issues for at least a few minutes of levity.

The one percent of the time that he's not the life of the party? Ellis is terrifying. He seems to be possessed by an ice cold logic, one that leaves no room for sentiment or emotion. He doesn't hesitate or flinch, ignores most arguments regardless of the topic, and the only emotion he shows is anger.

Sexuality:

Bisexual, favoring women

City History:

Before the Konovich Syndicate and it's associates descended on Eidolon City, in a time when the only prominent criminals in town were the DiGiovanni, Ellis came from one of a thousand similar families who swarmed into Eidolon for refuge and a new life. The youngest of seven children, Ellis was born on the boat from China, named after the island where his family received citizenship.

He was still a boy when the first murmurs of the Lotus came to his home, when his father's eyes grew dark and his brothers were rarely home. There were strange rumors flying around; these new men were supported by Russians, they were brutal mobsters, they were bringing in literal boatloads of women, setting up brothels. Ellis's father wouldn't stand for it, and war came to the simple people who tried to fight back. It was a small war, and even if the body count had been higher? Much of Eidolon City simply didn't acknowledge their part of town, except to steer clear of it.

Ellis never saw the end of it, his father packed him on a plane the night after two of his brothers died against the Konovich's finest killers. Ellis was a messenger, he was bound for China with notes begging for help from more honorable types of criminals back in China. The message arrived too late, of course, and instead of delivering it, Ellis received one of his own. His family was dead, save for one older brother and his youngest sister who had both been assimilated into the Lotus, and these cruel men wouldn't send him back just to die.

He lost his childhood without a word or a tear, realizing that these vicious men who'd decided to keep him safe could teach him, prepare him for revenge, and Ellis embraced that idea wholeheartedly. Years slipped by like water for him as Ellis was taught, molded, stripped of the compassion he might still have. The burn for vengeance drove him into ways of war, and with time Ellis became a pinnacle of it whether armed or unarmed. He traveled Asia in a bloody tour, learning what he could, killing who he had to, and making a name for himself. 'Nine Dragons', they called him, a name drawn from the Japanese ganglord who personally oversaw Ellis's tattooing after Ellis had wiped out the man's rivals.

'Nine Dragons' the killer, feared from Taiwan to Laos, shocked them all when he denied their offer of power. Only a few days before he was slated to inherit his own gang, Ellis raided a stronghold belonging to his own people, absconding with close to a million dollars of mixed currency. Some of it went to chartering an unmarked flight out of the country, some more went to converting the foreign bills into American cash, and the rest? Ellis had a new life to finance, a one man war to wage on every criminal body that's still thriving in Eidolon City.

It's been a year, and he's had a slow start, but deliberately so. Ellis has a handful of kills to his name here, Lotus soldiers who are bringing him closer to his goals bullet by bullet. He spends his days between his feigned lives, switching between socialite, pauper, and vigilante.

Special Skills and Abilities:

Ellis is fluent in both major Chinese dialects and Japanese, with passable Vietnamese and English. While he's not a master of any given martial style, he's well versed in several of them both unarmed and with a melee tool. And as for guns? If it's got a bullet in it, Ellis can do bad things with it almost reflexively.

Weaknesses:

Hedonist - When he's hunting or killing, Ellis is numb, and he likes that feeling. It keeps him stable, focused on what he needs to do. When he's not in the middle of a fight? He needs to drown out the things he's seen and done, and Ellis has no personal favorite there. Drink, drugs, women, gambling, even deliberately injuring himself; Ellis is addicted to forcing himself to feel something.

Illiterate - He can read Chinese fine, and even some of the Japanese characters, but written English never quite made it into Ellis's 'Murder 101' curriculum.

Infamous - No one in Eidolon City knows what Nine Dragons looks like, but plenty of people in Chinatown (and a few beyond) have heard the name. They know there's a bounty on the elusive killer's head, too. Several, in fact. Ellis's using his anonymity while he can, but if he leaves a survivor who can identify him? He knows there'll be a LOT of interested people hanging around his residence.

Questing - Somewhere in this city, Ellis has siblings. In his darkest moments, he believes they're dead, but even when one of those moods strikes he still has a gleam of hope inside of him. Ellis still tries to locate his brother and sister without blowing his cover, a feat which is going to be trickier the more often he attempts it. Drop the Shen name once, and you're just curious. Four or five times? Others become curious about you.

Obsessed - By rights, his vendetta should extend only to the Jade Lotus, maybe to the Konoviches for supporting them. In Ellis's mind? Every soldier, lieutenant, and numbers runner in either side is in his sights now. They're all to blame, they all contributed to his family's downfall, and they're all going to die. He refuses to consider just how absurd this one man war is, because if he did he might just talk himself out of it.

Strengths:

Ambidextrous - Part of his martial training was spent ensuring that every limb on the man could work efficiently, meaning that Ellis has masterful use of his off-hand.

Anonymous - There's a lot of people living in Chinatown, and sometimes the stereotype of all of them looking alike extends to their own ranks. Ellis's good at being a face in the crowd, and he's aware enough to own less expensive clothing just in case he ever needs to dress the part of a common citizen.

Family or Connections:

One older brother and younger sister, whereabouts of both unknown, both believed to be working for the Jade Lotus

Residence:

Ellis has put down a cash advance on three rooms at the Sunny Shores Motel, though he only uses the middle one. The other two are buffers for the day that he's discovered, and he's made a point to have one of the empty rooms listed as 'his'.

Career:

Freelance killer

PB: your pick!