Persona Profile: Shassene

Writer: Iluva

Name: Shassene
Pronunciation: Shah - seen
Age: 43
Birthday: m13 d9
Rank: Hallsecond
Location: Printer Hall, Emerald Falls Hold
Craft: Printer
Craft Rank: Master
Speciality: Illustration

Physical Description of Persona:
A tall, willowy woman, Shassene is an odd sight to behold. At 5’10” she’s rail thin and if she has curves they are either lost in the combination of long sweeping skirts, shawls, and lace overlays, or merely hinted in just the right places. Jewelry appears in layers upon layers of necklaces, anklets, bracelets and rings in a mosaic of metals, precious and plain stones, wooden beads and clasps. A rare and unique find at a Gather makes her entire month. Shassene exists in a permanent state of playful disarray -- pleasure, whether it be to the body, to the eye, the heart, the mind, has made its home in her. The odd time she's sleek and tidy there's every reason to believe Something Serious is about to happen.

Like a vibrant Southern jungle, there is nothing polished or pronounced here. Instead, Shassene radiates a deep earthiness, poised, graceful, ethereal. Her waist length curls were once a rich coppery brown, but have since blasted into a bright flaming red in the Southern sun. She wears it primarily piled at the base of her neck or half pulled back, with any number of small braids escaping from somewhere within like supple vines. With or without heat and with or without her intervention it likes to frizz. A row of earrings staple each ear and a stylus tucks neatly behind one, or both of them, and occasionally there's another forgotten somewhere in her hair.

Her eyes are a piercing green, her laugh is a song, a delicate, dancing thing in the air. Pale skin has been burned to a darkly permanent tan and sports more freckles than ever these days. And of course, her hands -- such long, delicate instruments. They grip a stylus as an empirical extension of her being, and, aside from her firelizards, they are her most valuable possessions.

Emotional Description of Persona:
This woman is infuriatingly good-humored and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Life is full of charm and magic and wonder and Shassene's never needed convincing of that. She’s a devout acolyte of warmth and positivity. The sincerity of her belief is as public as it is private, as overt as it is subdued. There’s nothing forced about her - she simply flows in the same gentle current wherever she goes, a child of nature, neither easily riled, nor prone to stress or worry.

Quite simply she is a steady, serene individual. Uniquely governed by the pleasure of her senses and artistic instincts, the joy of creation sparkling in all she does. It’s not quite rose-colored glasses - more a stubborn refusal to allow trivialities to taint her outlook on an otherwise splendid journey. Aside from a few injustices she could live without, most things just roll right off her back and it's a rare thing indeed to hear her complain.

As a teacher, Shassene’s eccentric, eclectic, extroverted personality is readily apparent. Apprentices are greeted with all the love of a mother, all the mirth of a sister, and all the strict discipline of a creative - if provocative - mentor. The past few Turns have built her a reputation for being soft with hard cases and rather strict with everyone else. Her touch is an ever-gentle one, though, her words crafted with plenty of encouragement. The goal is to bring out the best in them, and their work. She much prefers to focus on areas of improvement rather than punishing perceived faults. Unsurprisingly, she’s quick to laugh with all the gentle grace of a fine lady and all the rough savviness of a sailor. That being said, beneath the soft fabrics and kind words is a woman of ice, shrewd and calculating when it suits her, and her gentleness has never stopped her from unveiling the rather hard and serious line her softer qualities drape around in all their whimsical splendour. While she could do with some practice in raising her voice, it's still a little startling to see the shift to no-nonsense when push comes to shove.

And that's because personal discipline has made her quietly bold. She is ravenously curious. Her willingness to seek truth in all its forms has never steered her wrong - though it can paint her as erratic and a bit spacey, nosy and unyielding. Shassene subscribes to existence for the sole purpose of capturing and stirring emotions, challenging assumptions. Causing a _reaction_. It’s an itch she adores scratching. After all, what good are the feelings and thoughts of the world if they are covered up and left unfelt? What a waste of some of life’s most beautiful materials and messages, what a story just waiting to be told, to be given purchase and purpose on a page.

History of Persona:
Shassene emerged from the North, a Harper's daughter who always wanted to see the world. She was born the second child of five to a colorful and eclectic melting pot of Harpers, Traders and Weavers somewhere outside of Igen, and by the time she was old enough to apprentice she’d lived on every corner of the Continent, from the bitter cold mountains of High Reaches to the sweltering tropics of Nerat and back again.

Her childhood was a markedly happy one - a gift, really. She and her siblings were encouraged to explore and express themselves and given equal opportunity to voice feelings as well as opinions. Her mother taught them the basics of her craft, her father all the nuances of his.

In her youth Shassene was a quiet, bookish girl, relatively content in her bubble, so it was a surprise to everyone (including herself) when she emerged from that happy chrysalis of familial love serenely confident, fiercely focused. Illustration quickly became her reason for living and Shassene always intended to live fully, deeply, fearlessly. She found her path and never looked back.

Her Journeyman knots came with ease, but her intense love of her work unintentionally spurned her love life from truly taking root. She loves easily, quickly, but fleetingly. A woman entirely guided by the whims of the senses isn't exactly good marriage material, and while she’s had many friends turned lovers, and some lovers turned friends, she has unwittingly broken a few hearts along the way and there'll probably be more to come.

She was content enough taking positions throughout the North for most of her youth. In fact, she never really thought about the Southern Continent at all until enough visiting crafters started answering her usual barrage of questions.

The bizarre idea of women’s ambitions being circumvented for childrearing was more than enough to stoke her fire, and eventually, like all things, she had to see this warm, strange, vast land for herself. That was all she needed to turn visiting, into staying. Thoughts of the North dwindled as she made many friends - and, occasionally, enemies - in her travels, though eventually Shassene settled in comfortably at the southern Harper Hall.

At least until the fire tore through.

Then it was Dolphin Cove for the next few Turns, and boy did Weyrlife agree with her. She earned her long-awaited Master’s knots here, as well as gained two firelizards, and met, fell in love, and then amicably parted ways with a Journeyman Harper.

By the time the Printer Hall was rebuilt in Turn 11, both her personal and professional reputations coded as daring and a bit strange. Shassene's portfolio boasts material from intriguing to salacious to downright shocking, even to some Weyr standards, and as the go-to person for anything that crosses boundaries, genres, and expectations, she’s always seeking to incite the movement of feelings the way only art can.

Master Aleriand must have recognized that, saw how she shone with purpose and absolute awareness of her calling, or perhaps he simply sought to ruffle feathers at Emerald Falls, when he offered a slightly stunned Shassene the position of Hallsecond.

For a place that only ever existed in tall tales, rumors and troubles growing up, life here in the South has been undeniably good to her. Surely there's only more marvel and splendor to come.

Family and Friends
Kilshas, 68, Journeyman Harper (father)
Phaelene, 67, Journeywoman Weaver (mother)
Killene, 46, Journeywoman Harper (sister)
Phaelas, 41, Deck Hand (brother)
Elensha, 37, Journeywoman Weaver (sister)
Shaphael, 35, Steward (brother)
Etyrion, 47, Journeyman Harper (ex-lover)

Pets

Rylus, Brown Firelizard: aged 5, hatched m12 d1
Rylus is a fine boy, mostly. Shassene treats and relies on him as her right-hand man, which definitely adds a sense of importance to an already haughty demeanour. He is thankfully very well-behaved, loyal to a fault, and honestly a bit of a nuisance when there’s something he wants done or thinks it should be done sooner, differently, better, _yesterday_.

He's a large, sleek lizard the color of tree bark, kept practically sparkling by his lady. More training has gone into him than Mirit, whom he oscillates between watching over and competing with, and it really really shows. He's helpful and good-natured, but his biddability lies more in being an outgoing errand boy who relishes his rewards rather than any true desire to ‘help’. It's likely only because he actually listens that others tolerate him.

Mirit, Blue Firelizard: aged 5, hatched m12 d1
As the 'baby', Mirit is given a lot of leeway. Bold and spoiled, he’s always looking for something fun to get into and expects affection like he does his meals - very, very regularly. Unsurprisingly, he is also the one who receives the most scoldings and admonishments, the most frustration (however fleeting), and isn’t known for his productivity or go-getter attitude the way Rylus is. He’s incredibly lazy and understands neither hustle nor bustle.

Overall he’s a gentle, curious, sweet-natured lizard who enjoys the little things in life and occasionally makes a mess of the big things. Most of Mirit’s time is spent curled on Shassene’s shoulder demanding things and he’ll spend all day in her arms if she lets him. While a little on the pudgy side, he’ll unashamedly gorge himself on someone else’s food if left unattended. His little sky-blue hide almost bulges at its seams whenever he gets lucky, and where others groan to see him nearby, Shassene just hasn’t got the heart to stay mad at him.

Approved: June 30th 2024
Last updated: June 30th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Persona Profile: Shassene

Pets