Jinn Shen

Jinn Shen is an experienced Shado-Pan Blackguard who, like all Shado-Pan, has served the order since childhood. Years of deadly training and fighting the Sha have hardened him into a cold individual. Jinn Shen is remarkable for his unorthodox style of fighting; while most Shado-Pan prefer to fight in light leathers with a focus on unarmed combat, Jinn Shen's past in Niuzao Temple has left him favoring heavy plate and a focus on using his blade while in combat. 
He eventually became one of the founding members of the Quanying Vanguard, and continues to serve it to this day. 
==Early Life==
===Niuzao Temple===
Jinn Shen was born in the Townlong Steppes, at Niuzao Temple, thirty one years before the Alliance and Horde forces shipwrecked in the Jade Forest. His mother was a servant at the Temple, while his father was an enigmatic Shado-Pan who Jinn Shen never met.
Jinn's mother convinced the masters of Niuzao Temple to take her son in for training. Henceforth, Jinn spent his childhood training in the way of the Black Ox. Jinn Shen aspired to one day join the Shado-Pan, to discover the identity of his father and to finally meet him. As such, most of his childhood was dedicated to his martial training in Niuzao Temple, while also lending a hand to his mother when not busy. The way of the Black Ox emphasized endurance, strength, and persistence; these virtues would be instilled in Jinn over his years of training, and effect how he would conduct himself in the years to come.
===Joining the Shado-Pan===
When Jinn Shen was twelve, the Shado-Pan recruiters came to Niuzao Temple. He was deemed as an acceptable recruit due to his years of training at the Temple. After travelling to the Shado-Pan monastery in the mountains of Kun-Lai Summit, Jinn Shen and other Shado-Pan hopefuls were warned of the dangers of the trial they would soon undertake: the Trial of Red Blossoms. The Trial could potentially be deadly, and all of the young trainees were offered a chance to turn back without any shame. 
Jinn stayed, as a follower of the Black Ox would never back down. Some backed down. The trials were much the same; Jinn survived, though some did not. The near-death experiences were bound to change anyone, even one who spent their childhood training at Niuzao Temple. Jinn was further hardened by the Trial, though had finally achieved his life goal as he entered the Shado-Pan. 
After settling in to his new life, Jinn's first action was to seek out the Shado-Pan record keepers. He questioned them about his father, and surprisingly enough, no traces were found of him. Jinn did not doubt the Shado-Pan, who he thought to be infallible. Did his mother lie to him? Was it a farce to get him to work harder? Shado-Pan are discouraged from visiting their past families or having emotional bonds. It makes them more vulnerable to the Sha. With that prospect, it seemed as though he may never know. Regardless, there is no turning back from the Shado-Pan upon entry. Whether his father was among their ranks or not, he was there to stay.
===Growing Up===
The next six or so years of Jinn Shen's life were spent with martial training and emotional discipline. The Sha feed on negative emotions, and even positive emotions can twist into negative ones. As such, the best defense against the Sha is to deny -all- emotion. This value was instilled in Jinn's mind, along with the other trainees. One of Jinn's few "friends" throughout the ordeal was Li-fen, a local from Kun-Lai who aspired to join the Shado-Pan much like Jinn. Li-fen was two years older, though the two got along quite well. Jinn admired her, and a companion made the harsh Shado-Pan training much easier. While much more of a professional relationship, Jinn also looked up to Ho Jiang, an Omnia monk that trained him for a time. Ho Jiang was kinder compared to most Shado-Masters, so Jinn Shen naturally spoke to him quite often, with the former usually imparting the typical wisdom of an aged pandaren onto the latter. 
Jinn naturally decided to join the Blackguard discipline. The front line fighters and warriors of the Shado-Pan, the Blackguards best instilled the values of Niuzao, both in combat and philosophically. Jinn had grown up to be a rather bulky Pandaren, thick with muscle and taller than most of his kind. He would have made for a poor Wu Kao assassin, and he had no interest in the Omnia and their magical ways. Li-fen joined the Wu Kao, so the two parted ways and hoped to meet each other again while defending Pandaria. 
Not long after, Jinn Shen finally put away the white scarf of a Shado-Pan acolyte as he was awarded the crimson scarf of a full-fledged Shado-Pan. He had now achieved his childhood ambition, and it was time to serve Pandaria.
==The Mists==
===Early Service===
Jinn Shen's first days as a full Shado-Pan were fairly calm. With his Blackguard comrades, he dealt with the everyday threats of Pandaria directly. Hozen troubling the Tillers were driven away, the walls were watched any mantid, and any encroaching yaungol were swiftly dealt with. There were cases of minor Sha manifestations, but nothing noteworthy. 
While many of the Blackguards favored blades like Jinn Shen, not many had an appreciation for armor to the extent he did. Whenever he and his fellow Shado-Pan would time in a village, Jinn would commission the local blacksmith to make him a single piece of armor before he left. After over a year of this practice, Jinn finally had a full suit of plate armor. Persistence is the main virtue of the Black Ox; he did not see the process as tedious, but rather enlightening. Fellow Shado-Pan who formerly ridiculed Jinn regarded him with respect, even if they felt his choice of attire was bulky and clumsy. 
===Joining the Quanying===
Jinn's duties mostly consisted of watching the wall. Though one morning, he received a message from his old master, Ho Jiang. A new organization, dedicated to solving various threats around Pandaria through camaraderie and cooperation between all disciplines, and Ho Jiang wished for his old student to become one of the founding members. It was to be called the Quanying Vanguard. 
Of course, this was a great honor that Jinn eagerly accepted. His first two years in the Quanying were calm, and he was eventually assigned a group of trainees, ones who had nearly earned their scarves, to assess and guide them on a mission.
The trainees were to investigate and deal with a minor Sha manifestation under Jinn Shen's guidance, though not all would go well . . . .
Category:Pandaren
Category:Quanying Vanguard
Category:Shado-Pan
Category:Monk
Category:Neutral
Category:Back story