Born: 15 March 1916 E-10
Heritage: Bronzeblood, Ialuan, Herrenic
Origins: Shiren’x (“shy-rence”) Paloran grew up knowing he wasn’t worth anything unless he could provide a vital service for his mother. He was a bargaining chip, a justification for murder, a conveniently dependent entity. It clicked for him when he was about twelve, when his mother killed his father in cold blood, took control of the Envarian Republic Convention, and began dismantling the province from the inside out. He watched his world crumble twice: first when his father died, and then slowly, as his mother tried to kill his province, too.
Shire did not become a different person when he met Evansen Stark, Finlay Heran, and Thelia Sparkes during the Enzian Civil War of the 1930s. He witnessed people changing, loving, becoming other things. He became fast friends with Thelia and Markis in the aftermath. But he had grown into himself long before then, when he first saw his own eyes in his mother’s bloodied sword.
His fate was signed long before anyone could come around to change it.
Fun Facts:
- Never learned to accept genuine offers of help, and has a hard time conceptualizing and understanding empathy (even though he himself feels it very strongly).
- Absolutely adores dogs of all kinds. Enjoys sitting on the floor of the kennels at Mercai and giving all of the K9 units his affection.
- Ends up with several Hellhound therapy dogs of his own, courtesy of Al’s program.
- Secretly really likes libraries and research, and might have gone to Zitra’laa to become an archivist in another life. (Would have been part of Markis Sparkes and Carino Aviligne’s group.)
- Disaster gay.
- Retrofitted his father’s armor without his mother’s knowledge (with the help of Evansen Stark and Finlay Heran). Wears it as his primary kit for decades, until he starts to accept his fate as a leader of Envari and… changes things.
- Typically reserved and somewhat quiet.
- Has an unfortunate habit of befriending very dangerous people. (Ev, Aviera Lance, Star Squad, a disgraced Death Mage, a botantical bio-terrorist…)
- See the reference sheet above for more!
Shire makes me sad. When I revised his character years ago, I wrote him to be a foil to Fin; someone who dealt with similar (but different, more violent) situations growing up and was forced to take on roles he never should have been given. He is presented (multiple times) with the choice to make the same choice as Fin: to move past what his mother did to him, and become his own person – someone better than her altogether.
In the end… he doesn’t take any of those chances.