Shenze

## Shenze Maignes

Shenze Maignes, ever the eccentric, pictured with his most comfortable clothes and rapier.

## Character Information

### Aliases

* Shenzer
* Shenzy
* Art Major (Mars)
* College Boy (Also Mars)

### Known Languages

Common, Deep Speech, Elvish, Goblin, Undercommon

### Notable Info

Learned swordfighting exclusively from play rehearsal. It's largely just for show, he has a hard time swinging an actual metal rapier for a while, anyways...

## Biographical Information

### Affiliation

* University of Ilye Thalor, Sigozasia
* Group 16-42

### Occupation

* Traveling Performer
* Prisoner to the Land of Holding

### Allies

* Group 16-42
* Bilhah

### Friends

* Brak
* Icarus
* Migwéwen 'Leo'
* Tumeda
* Mars

### Places

* Dephephios, Sigozasia
* Ilye Thalor, Sigozasia
* Ozymandias' Game, Land of Holding

### Birthplace

Small village north of Dephephios, Sigozasia

## Appearances

### Debut

08/07/2021 - Aethrad Applebee's Oneshot01/01/2022 - Ozymandias' Game

## Shenze Maignes, the Eternal Elegy // Descant of Duality

> *"Okay, so maybe I made a lot of bad decisions—it barely cost us anything. Just an organ or two, a soul, and 700 gold pieces. It was completely worth it, though, look at my nails!"* - Shenze, after having a long day of being the most high maintenance member of the party
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### Background

Shenze Maignes hails from a tiny village in the northwestern region of Sigozasia, having been brought up by his parents but unable to find adequate schooling. He and his family, with hope for his intellect and future, were able to find him a spot in the somewhat-illustrious University of Ilye Thalor, far away from his hometown. Shenze, even for being undecided on his major, began his pursuit of knowledge- but things took a turn when he came across a mysterious tome underneath the shelves of the library gathering dust. It told of ways to achieve eternal life, written in several languages and even more dialects, almost like it was passed down from person to person recounting their life. This began his obsession with the idea of immortality, however implausible, it gave him a motive to *actually* stay in the university and (hopefully) not disappoint his parents.

Time passed, the ambition for immortality didn't prove important, and his marks began to slip. With seemingly nowhere to go and feeling hopeless in his studies, Shenze picked up poetry and theatre, which quickly caught wind throughout the university. He was admired as a poet, actor, and surprisingly a swordsman (he learned some techniques in preparation for his lead role in the spring play) earning him the confidence and ambition he'd always yearned for. In addition to his acting, he was urged to learn the flute, and since then he's written arias and melodies with hopes of inspiration and confidence. But even then in his showmanship did his thirst for recognition and fulfillment grew, as well as his want for more knowledge, and the things he may very well never have.

At the end of his senior year, Shenze had passed every class by the skin of his teeth—except Band and Theatre Arts, with heaps of extra credit, of course—and now travels here and there, armed with his flute and rapier, to bring his stage presence, skills in theatrics, and of course, his desire for admiration to the common-folk across Alterum. Back in the school, though, he returned the book to its place underneath the shelves, not before tearing out a couple pages he thought might prove useful someday, keeping them folded in his left coat pocket, just before his graduation. Now, upon one of his travels to trumpet his ballads to the masses—this time, his first gig outside of Sigozasia—was precisely where he was taken into Ozymandias' Game.

Nowadays, Shenze wonders about a lot of things, including but not limited to where he is, who Ozymandias is, who all of his fellow game-mates are, and why he even got taken into it in the first place. His motivations run deep, though, and the Land of Holding seems like an adequate enough sandbox for his plans to take root and grow to fruition. The Land of Holding and Ozymandias' Game have proven time and time again to be unforgiving, and the odds will continue to be out of his favor until he's able to tip the scales. For his answers are to be found, soon, later, or even never at all... and maybe along the way, some other truths will be revealed.

> *"You think that's not what I was trying to do?"* - Shenze, in a conversation with Jim
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### Appearance

Looks can be decieving. Shenze is a short half-elf, with pale blue eyes and straight black hair that falls just past the nape of his neck. He also has slightly pointed ears, the right with a healed scar from a piercing, urged by a friend of his during his sophomore year. He wears a pale green shirt and a pair of dark green pants with patches on the knees, under which is a set of dark green socks that reach just under his knees. Over the shirt he wears a thick, brown wool coat that reaches down to his mid calf, rolled up to his elbows and adorned with a tiny feather pin. His coat is secured with a set of belts with brass buckles, one strung over his shoulder and two around his waist. He also wears a pair of dark red gloves with lighter red palms, flared out slightly past his wrists, and a loose pair of laced boots. As his mask, he wears a red ribbon tied in a bow around his neck, as well as the Amulet of Duality. To top it all off, he wears a brown, wizard's-style hat accompanied with a beige fabric band and a light gray feather tucked into the band, and not to forget his pair of circular glasses.

### Feats

This bard may be short, puny, pale, a total nerd, and definitely of zero help when doing labor like lifting things, but his magical prowess is not to be underestimated. Shenze possesses the power of Grammarium, in which he can swap one letter from a utility spell or cantrip for it to provide other effects. Some such examples of this ability being *Chuck Door* and *Mage Band,* two of which are definitely fun and, hopefully, practical. As well as this, Shenze has his fair share of talents- including but not limited to; succeeding at every charisma check imaginable, rolling for ungodly amounts of Shame, and continually costing the party lots of money due to his bad habits of being shit at blackjack and bartering his organs for magic items.

### Equipment

#### *Amulet of Duality*

The *Amulet of Duality* is a wondrous amulet possessed by Shenze, which he got after he had a lethal imbalance of Demise in his system and was put in a coma. The *Amulet* eases the imbalance with the ability to swap between Hope or Demise imbuing him, Hope granting him defensive and restorative properties and Demise with offensive and damage-dealing effects. As well as these, the *Amulet* also possesses the power of Aether—a high-risk high-reward ability he got from a strange ring in a jewelry store that allows him to shoot an incredibly powerful beam that vaporizes what it comes in contact with, but at a cost of being incredibly dangerous to Shenze's body and sanity.

#### *Check Door / Door Checker*

The pinnacle of Shenze's studious abilities, he has created a special, custom cantrip named *Check Door* imbued into a small wand called the *Door Checker.* It affirms to Shenze if anything it touches is, in fact, a door, and it works on gates as well to verify if they are indeed doors, too.

#### *Cloak of Elvenkind*

The *Cloak of Elvenkind* is a beautiful green cloak, given to Shenze in a trade for his appendix with the Bug Man. It gives the wearer greatly increased stealth abilities, as well as disadvantages to perception checks made to try and see the wearer.

#### *Hat of Vermin*

With the *Hat of Vermin*, Shenze can speak the command word *'Poopity Scoopity'* and summon either a bat, frog, or rat.