Ren Yexiang's page

Ren arrived in Willowshore at the age of 4 with her father Bao. Bao, an imperial soldier, volunteered for transfer to Willowshore after his wife's death from an illness. He wanted a fresh start somewhere so he and Ren could put the sad memories behind them. For the most part Bao's decision accomplished what he wanted. Both he and Ren were content in Willowshore. Ren hardly even remembered Changdo, where she was born.

Although Ren and her father were both comfortable in Willowshore, this did not mean they were well integrated into the community at large. Imperial Lung Wa’s rule in Willowshore was not particularly benign in many ways, and there was friction between outsiders who served the empire and many community members. It was also typical for those who served and enforced Lung Wa’s interests to set themselves apart from and above the rest of the community.

When Imperial Lung Wa collapsed, Ren and Bao were among the small minority of those who had come from elsewhere to remain in Willowshore. For Ren the town was home, and for Bao there was nothing to go back to anywhere else. Willowshore did avoid the worst of the destruction and violence that fell upon the lands of the former empire, but only most of it. Bao was killed when the reduced garrison, now the town watch, fought and repulsed a bandit incursion.

Ren remained in the small cottage where she and her father had lived, empty space was abundant in Willowshore after the sudden shrinking of its population. But Ren no longer had an income to survive on. While her father had taught Ren how to defend herself, she knew no trade or craft. Aged 16 at the time, short, and with a slight build, the town watch had no use for her. With shops and businesses closing down, there were more people in need of work than there were jobs in Willowshore. The first year after Lung Wa’s collapse were tough for almost everyone in the town, but without resorting to theft occasionally Ren might have starved. Ren did not like thievery, and mostly stole food. She was bothered by taking from people she knew or at least recognized easily, which was almost everyone in a town the size of Willowshore. Ren also knew it was very dangerous in a place so small and with so little anonymity. Fortunately for her, she turned out to be quite good at theft, being small, nimble, and and wise enough to avoid reckless behavior.

Ren also never stopped looking for work, or rejected any reasonable employment she was offered. Ren proved to be conscientious, hard working, and adaptable in new situations. As Willowshore started to find a new equilibrium with time, she was able to get by well enough as a day laborer. Most of her jobs only for a few days, when the person who normally does it is sick or because an extra pairs of hands are needed at certain times. Ren has sold vegetables, helped repair houses and buildings, worked during harvest times, and many other things besides. The job that has worked out best of all for her was assisting the lawyer Luo Xi Yang. It began as a one day a week gig assisting Luo with basic legal research, note taking, and other basic administrative tasks. But, the relationship became romantic four months ago. Ren has now moved in with Luo.

Two years into the transformed Willowshore Ren feels good about where she’s at. She may not have found her niche yet, but her relationships Willowshore residents have improved. She’s in love, at least she’s pretty sure she is. She’s getting by alright otherwise as well. Mostly she’s looking to the future with optimism.

Height: 5'1" | Weight: 105 | Hair: Black | Eyes: Dark Brown

Appearance

1. Ren is a bit undersized compared to the average human woman in both height and build.

2. Ren’s hair is straight and mid-back length. She usually wears it braided or up in some way so it isn’t a hinderance while she works.

3. Ren is almost always dressed in basic, utilitarian clothes. She doesn’t have money to spend on clothing so when she does buy something she chooses things that are durable, and allow easy moment.

4. While Ren is attractive, she certainly isn’t in the running for town beauty. That said, her presentation and body language suggest someone who is open and confident with other people. She seems approachable.

5. While Ren’s father trained her well with weapons, he was a large and very strong man. Ren has modified what she learned from him into a faster, more nimble style of fighting to better play to her positives and avoid reliance on her deficits.

Personality

1. While Ren’s earlier life, both family and social circles, would suggest she sympathizes with the Northridge faction in Willowshore, this isn’t true. Her sympathies actually lie more with the Southbank faction. What she saw after Lung Wa’s disintegration was mostly those people associated with the empire running away and abandoning the town after they had shaped it to their desires. When the chips were down, with notable exceptions including her father, those who were in Willowshore in service to Lung Wa or their personal interests could not be counted on. Since Ren only knows Willowshore, her loyalties lie there exclusively. She agrees with the Southbank faction that Willowshore must be made self-sufficient and resilient

2. On the other hand, Ren is not a xenophobe or isolationist like some Southbank partisans. As long as the balance of power remains in Willowshore’s hands, opening the town to the outside doesn’t have to be a bad thing. She also actually lives in Northridge, and Luo Xi Yang is an outsider. Ren is also not enmeshed in Willowshore’s traditions in the way that most of those on the Southshore side are. Obviously, Ren feels considerable ambivalence about the town’s political fractures. Her solution is to avoid talking about the subject if at all possible.

3. Ren is outgoing, friendly, and upbeat by Willowshore standards. Adaptability is one of her strengths. She doesn’t spend time perseverating over failures or bad luck. This is why she was able to build her way out of the situation she found herself in after the death of her father. Nobody was coming to her to help, so she had to go out to them and reintroduce herself to the community as someone who would work hard, and who could be trusted and relied upon.

4. Ren worships Daikitsu, which is not a family tradition. She began in her early teens partially as an effort to fit in better, and partially because Daikitsu aligned best with her general attitudes and outlook. While she was not pious about her religion at first, Ren started to take it more seriously within the past couple of years. Ren is good friends with Ba-Ming Ouh, the cleric who acts as caretaker for The Nine Ear Shrine. They are close to each other in age, and both of them like a bit more reverence for nature in their religion than is strictly mainstream.

5. Ren and Luo Xi Yang are aware that their family names are weirdly close to identical if the X and Y in either of them are transposed. It’s an inside joke about fate for them.