An Ling, Shen| Sexta Fracción

Alias: Ivory Sorrow
Age: 688, Appears to be 28
Allied: El Renacimiento, primarily to his master, Espada Sexta
Difficulty: Hard

Appearance: Pale ashen skin, that's the first thing anybody that sees the Arrancar will note. His completely chilled complexion and small form a stark contrast from the masses of muscle or power that many of his fellow Arrancar call a body. His lithe stature and silken skin belie the imposing form hidden underneath the surface, the form of a warrior. His body is not but muscle, toned and sharpened through many many years of brutal combat and constant training. Riddled with scars and marks of victory. Standing at 6'3'' and only weighing just under 150 pounds, his size has never been imposing to anyone, requiring his stature to make up for it. Possessing broad shoulders and a wide torso, he stands tall and proud, his stature meant to impose the will and fear that his body alone cannot. His face is long, gaunt, his eyes colored a pale violet and his silvery white hair reaches down to his chin, often masking half his face from view. The remains of his hollow mask are rigid protrusions, lining his spine, and a single thin pauldron on his left arm.

His attire usually consists of two outfits. One is his "formal" attire, white underclothes, usually form fitting, covered by his haori. Only wearing this traditional Arrancar "uniform" while accompanying his master along on "official" dealings with the Espada or the God King himself. The majority of his time he'll wear his usual "casual" attire, for what's more casual than a battle? Consisting of form fitting black leggings, covered with thick metal boots, leg, and knee guards. A loose fitting grey undershirt covered by his breastplate. And his long white jacket, with purple linings and sharp metal pauldrons covering his shoulders. The jagged, darkened form of his attire meant to instill a sense of fear and trepidation into his enemy.

Personality: Loyalty. The most important thing in Shen's entire existence, is loyalty. To his master, his loyalty and will to fight for him is completely unquestioned. Driven to his masters goals, his masters ends, his masters will. Shen serves without question the man who gave his empty existence meaning and hope again. Diligent to a fault, he will go to any lengths to see his master or those carrying his masters will to be done. His life has been defined by battle, as has his afterlife, courage and honor have given him a sense of uniqueness amongst the chaos and depravity many of his fellow Arrancar partake in.

Though he follows and serves without question, that is not to say he is a lap dog incapable of thought or judgement on his own. He'll often interject on matters with his own opinion, seeking to find a strategic, simple solution to most problems. He will, on the rare occasion it is warranted, even speak back against the one he serves if he sees his planned course of action resulting in a potential injury or his death. Though he would never directly dare to question his wisdom or course of action as being the right one. Calm in his usual demeanor, he speaks in an almost flat, reassuring voice that emphasizes rationality and a cool head in a place where such things are as rare as gold to the world of the living. However, once in battle, the calm that defines him becomes even more emphasized, his goal becomes singular, his objective, simple. To kill his opponent. Only allowing himself to be consumed by anger and rage once in his time as an Arrancar and resulting in someone he cared for being destroyed, he has vowed to never allow such emotion cloud his judgement in battle again.

History: Born into a life of luxury, in the early 15th century on the western edge of the Huang He river basin. Shen was the eldest son of a noble family of the early Ming Dynasty. Far removed from the golden throne, he was raised in a life of opulence and excessive living. His father drowning himself in wine and concubines, renown for his decadence's in an era where such things ran rampant. Shen was disgusted by the malaise and apathy that defined the life of the Ming court. Fascinated with the warriors and great kings that lined his ancestry, he sought to become a grand warrior from an early age. Demanding to be trained in everything and anything, he shirked the duties of court life that his position demanded and instead focused on pursuits deemed beneath his station. Horse riding, fletching, martial arts, and swordsmanship. His utter devotion to honing his skill in battle also drove him to educate himself in the histories of the great generals of old. Qin Shi Huangdi, Xiang Yu, Gaozu and Sun Tzu. He was obsessed with the legends of his ancestors, consumed now with the burning passion to become one who's name is uttered along side theirs in similar reverence. And so when he was 15 years old he ventured off with a small band of men loyal to the charismatic young noble to forge his own name, driven by the mandate of heaven itself.

For ten years he'd rage across the land, a brutal and efficient bandit lord, harrowing the imperial army with his devious tactics and penchant for sheer brutality on the battlefield, known for impressing those who would fight into his force and slaughtering those that refused. He sought to reform the land, destroy the corruption that reigned over his people and to conquer the world under his name. He won many skirmishes, his fury and hatred for the world he abandoned growing more and more as he saw how the world around him had suffered so. He'd become feared along the river valley, and gathered a force that he believed was ready to begin the war he'd always sought. But wits and terror alone were never a match for the full bore of an empire. Shen awoke to crimson flames and screaming on the eve of their first campaign. His "army" slaughtered like dogs before they even had a chance to fight. His own death ignominious at best, struck down by a stray arrow to the heart, denied the mandate of heaven he so sought.

Unable to accept his death, his failure, being denied that which he sought most. Madness took hold of his mind. Shen wandered the land, screaming at the fool humans that didn't even take note of his presence, still deluded into believing that he was destined to unite the land under his name. Months passed, and no shinigami came to cleanse his soul, his chain shrunk more and more, anger building and building until eventually his being was consumed by hollowfication. Time stopped holding meaning to him at that point. For he wasn't even a man any longer, just a beast, consumed by an insatiable hunger and the id fueled desire to continue living. For centuries he fed on the souls of those that lingered as he did, or on other hollows in a mad dash to gain more and more power.

Managing to group together with many others and form a Gillian, his personality would take the fore, consuming every other soul within the mass until he alone stood, Adjuchas at last. Little thought was given to his ancient life, he treated it more like a dream than something that could have conceivably happened. His primal instincts ruled him, inhibitions and the cool rational that had defined him as a human long since gone. His power now considerable, he once again thought himself unassailable. This assumption would be proved wrong. Several other Adjuchas had cornered him, taunting him, slashing and striking him with everything they had, determined to end his life and steal what power he held within him as their own. Beaten down and broken, Shen had accepted his all but inevitable death until, in a flash of Cerulean, his assailants were killed nearly instantly. With the little strength he had left, he lifted his head and gazed at the form that saved his life. Arrancar. His new master, Espada Sexta, Ao, Lán Shī. Determined to regain his mind and stand with the man who had saved his life, on equal ground, Shen recovered from his wounds and grew stronger and stronger still, slaughtering anything that got in his way. Imbued now with purpose, a reason to grow as strong as he could. Until one fateful day, when he removed his hollow mask, reverting to the form he'd had as a human, oh so long ago.

Now, he stood along side his master, his ever faithful sword and shield, driven to grow stronger and stronger still, so that one day he would stand on equal footing with he who he served, and prove that his life was worth sparing.

OOC: Hachi
Sengoku Basara - Mitsunari Ishida by Shen-An Ling