Stanley Chao
People
StanStanleyChao

Almond eyes, black-silk hair, pale face, thin lips, delicate features that bordered on beautiful. Stan has a lithe, effeminate body. A dancer's body.

Stan was born to a middling, grain mercantile family in the port city of Chuazuan, Sutan. By the age of three, Stan demonstrated a troubling trait, the nascent ability to shape graescence. While having a trait is often considered a great boon, Stan's ability to shape graescence was so powerful his parents feared for his life. Faced with the choice of turning their three-year-old son to the Inquisitors, or hiding, they chose to hide.

Sacrificing most of their mercantile business, they moved to a small town a few hundred leagues inland in the hopes of raising their child in obscurity.

Unfortunately, Stan's ability grew beyond their wildest dreams. Worse, no amount of bribes or threats would deter the child from "playing" with his abilities. The family became increasingly reclusive, hiding Stan from their neighbors.

When his sister was born (blessedly normal), their parents tried to stem the rumors by appearing with his sister instead. This backfired, making people even more certain there was something wrong with the elder child.

They moved again to an even smaller town. Sacrificing the small gains they'd made with their business to protect Stan. Having lost virtually all her connections, Stan's mother struggled to restart her mercantile. San's dad started hunting for pelts, which he'd sell through a small storefront his Stan's mother managed.

For a while, a new normal was established. Both Stan and his sister were kept out of sight and their parents kept their social circle as small as possible. The parents traded off teaching them letters, math, and business.

When Stan was eleven, a traveling troupe came through town. His father took both Stan and his sister to see. Stan immediately declared that this was what he wanted to do, something his father actively encouraged. His mother…wasn't so sure. But Stan had stopped playing with his 'shapes' in favor of trying to do backflips, so she reluctantly endorsed the effort.

Later that year, Stan and his little sister were 'introduced' into society once he demonstrated enough self-control to not reveal his gift. There were a few raised brows at this, given most didn't know the couple even had children. But the Chao family was not of any social importance, and both children were educated and well-adjusted enough that any concerns for their well being petered out quickly.

The next several years passed without issue. Stan began made friends and kept his ability secret. His mother was able to expand her business beyond her husband's pelts, acquiring other local sources and eventually opening a small tannery that eventually employed half a dozen locals.

However, once in his teens, Stan began to experiment behind his parent's back. He'd developed a rather athletic build, but he quickly learned to augment his moves with cleverly placed crystal that no one would notice. And no one did. Stan became known for his athleticism and flips, along with an almost unnatural ability to move through the air.

A critical moment came when he was seventeen. His little sister, fourteen at the time and already considered quite intelligent. She had…embarrassed one of the other girls from an affluent family by correcting her math at school. The girl cornered Stan's sister to 'correct the problem' when Stan arrived. Exchanged words quickly escalated into exchanged fists. Stan was outnumbered, and while he was distracted, two other kids went at his sister with sticks in hand.

Fear drove his talent into his fists. Instead of blunt trauma, deep lacerations began to appear on the boys Stan hit. The fight stopped when Stan punched a kid in the face, slicing him through his cheek bone and forever disfiguring him. Seeing this, the others fled.

Stan and his sister were close. They tried to cover up what happened, never telling their parents, naively hoping the problem would go away. The boy lived, but his parents immediately (and quietly) sent for the Inquisitors.

By the time Stan's parents realized what had happened, it was too late. The Inquisitors had arrived to investigate. They hadn't even had time to start packing.

Stan ran and the Inquisitors followed. They've been following him ever since.


Stan is an odd mix of extroversion and introversion. He's perfectly at home in the spotlight, soaking in the adoration of an audience. Yet, at the same time, he feels distinctly uncomfortable in crowds that aren't an audience, preferring to connect with a small number of trusted friends rather than play the socialite.

An odd quirk of his personality is how quickly he adapted to being "on the run". There's something about the solitude that he loves.

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