Simon Ginneke

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Simon Ginneke is the Imperial Thaumaturgist of the Empire of Seven Isles, advising the Caesar on thaumaturgical (magical) affairs. He nominally reports to the Caesar, when there is one, and no one else.

Background

Simon has held the position of Imperial Thaumaturgist for several yahren now, and has proved competent and enthusiastic at this task. Prior to this, he has held a number of roles within the government as a magician, and has dedicated a great portion of his life to study, and to the advancement of his career - though he would not see his career as the issue - not being particularly ambitious. It has more been a case of renewed challenges for his boundless energy and shrewd mind. He has never married.

Simon specializes in his own custom form of shapechanging that works more like instant reincarnation: his brand of the magic does not disguise him as his target animal, but literally converts him into it, making him shockingly difficult to detect or counter. However, extended periods spent as one animal or another tends to infect him with their behaviors or methods for some time afterwards, and he always runs the risk of remaining as his target animal indefinitely (until he remembers to be human again).

In addition to his extraordinary shape changing, Simon has long since bound to himself a spirit ally of great significance. Simon's Aetheric Crow is not a spirit or a ghost, but a very extraordinary spell of great cunning that took the shape of a crow in the Aether. Through this form he can communicate directly, usually with his assistant, Yasmin (who he also created). The Aetheric Crow enjoys it's own "life" now, one tied to the Aether, and as such it can usually be seen perched upon Yasmin's shoulder, whispering in her ear. It speaks Simon's mind, and anything it sees or hears becomes known to Simon.

Physical Description

Simon, a human, is slim to the point of skinny - almost, it seems, because his apparently boundless energy fidgets any weight right off him - and not a man given to physical exercise as such, he has no great muscle to him. He frequently smiles, his bright blue eyes twinkling with amusement as he does so. His hair is neat, black, and tied behind his head in a short tail, and he keeps a small neat beard around his mouth and chin, keeping the sides of his jaw clean-shaven. He usually dresses neatly and plainly - he has no great love of fancy adornments, which he views as rather unnecessary - but has little interest in fashion and little taste in clothes - so he sometimes appears a bit dated and out-of-touch in his dress. He has long-fingered slim hands, which he tends to wave around as he speaks and are frequently ink-stained, and his fingernails are bitten to the quick - one of the outlets of his constant energy.

Personality

Simon is an enthusiastic man - that might be the best way to describe him. He exudes happy energy and interest, and loves to be occupied with some task or another. His mind is quick, and logical, and he puts great value on learning, but it can be very one-tracked - once distracted, he'll seem to forget what it was he was doing before, but when focused, he will doggedly pursue a task until it is fulfilled. He often seems to view situations as an interesting puzzle to be solved, dedicating his full attention to the problem with a rather intense determination, and may forget to take into account the more mundane aspects of life, such as remembering to meet a friend for supper at a certain time, or remembering to sleep at night and not to just stay up reading or working on a particular problem.

He's not a man concerned much with fashion, or with popular society - despite the position he commands within it he has little patience for mundane but polite conversation with the right sort of people, especially when there are more important things to be done. He's generally extremely cheerful, but one of the few things that irritates him is pointless wasting of time or money - he always has his mind set on "higher matters" - and therefore is not particularly practical either, apart from in aspects of his work which he views as a highly important responsibility and takes extremely seriously. Perhaps one of the reasons he has not married is that he'd be an immense trial to any wife sorry enough to capture his attention for any span. His cheerfulness mainly stems from an unshakeable sense of humour, which serves him well in the more unpleasant aspects of his job. He is a playful character, and has a penchant for shapeshifting above most other types of magic.

This might make him seem a little... impractical. Not particularly organised - but this would be far from the truth. He runs Imperial Magi with a rather direct sort of cunning, his sharp mind suited to it as he views the whole thing as a large and rather complex puzzle he must continually pay attention to. Perhaps part of the reason for his impracticality in other matters is that he is a man truly "married" to his job - it consumes practically all of his time, and he allows it to happily - and when it does not, he is usually entertaining thoughts along the same lines and may seem restless in otherwise relaxed company.

He is a strong advocate of the University of Magic in public, but in private (like most magi) he is neither concerned nor attentive of any social institution.