[hider=Lü Ziya][color=gray][center][h1]|Lü Ziya|[/h1]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/OORiLpG.jpg[/img]

Imagine for a second that you've peeled away the layer of mystery that covers the features of the Oriental boy known simply as Lü Ziya. Are you doing so? Good. Because the first thing that greets your vision is a bright, warm grin, a smile that seems utterly comfortable upon his face. There is nothing particularly unique or strange about the boy's looks; his appearance is very much like the traditional ethnic Han - eager, chocolate-brown eyes, bushy eyebrows, tall nose and medium skin, lightly tanned by the Nevada sun. His skin is dimpled, and his cheekbones, though not particularly prominent, are high enough to add a certain flair to his appearance. With his slightly triangular yet defined jawline and soft cheeks, it would not be unreasonable to describe Ziya as possessing a modicum of attractiveness, but it is far more accurate to state that the Chinese boy's features lend themselves towards a more ... pleasant, unassuming type of aura, one that is more friendly than attractive.[/center]

[color=7ea7d8]Name:[/color]
[indent]Lü Ziya[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Gender:[/color]
[indent]Male[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Age:[/color]
[indent]15[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Year:[/color]
[indent]5th[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Blood:[/color]
[indent]"Half-Blood"[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]House:[/color]
[indent]Warren[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Pet:[/color]
[indent]
Nügua the Puffin
[img]http://i.imgur.com/rA9JYJ0.jpg[/img][/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Electives:[/color]
[indent]Care of Magical Creatures
Divination
Study of Ancient Runes[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Clubs:[/color]
[indent]Duelling Club
Astronomy Club[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Boggart:[/color]
[indent]Lü Ziya's greatest fear is, as expected of such a great young teenager, in actuality a creature born from his own imagination, and so it is a sickly, eldritch mushroom creature that is the form his Boggart takes upon. With sterling silver eyes, perfect replicas of ancient coinage, and towering above even the tallest of men, it is a lumbering, fungal foetus that looks to corrupt, its decaying mass ready to devour all.[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Patronus:[/color]
[indent]Varanus komodoensis[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Amortentia:[/color]
[indent]The smell of freshly smelted copper and iron combined with the scent of a factory deep in the throes of industry.[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Wand:[/color]
[indent]Redwood; Dragon heartstring; Unyielding; 11 inches[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Strengths:[/color]
[indent]Skilled orator, fountain of knowledge, enthusiastic and easily adaptable learner.[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Weaknesses:[/color]
[indent]Lack of tact, obscured vision due to headwear, inability to accept positions contrary to his own, low stamina.[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Personality:[/color]
[indent]The young teenager known as Lü Ziya is quite an eccentric fellow, one that seems to work on an independent wavelength from his fellow, less politically-motivated fifteen year olds. He seems a communistic society as the epitome of all political aspirations, and it is obvious from conversations with him that the pursuit of such a goal in the magical world is a major aspect of his person. He is a skilled orator, though the presence of the mask upon his face and lack of visible eyes due to his large hat are detrimental to his attempts at conveying his messages, with the muffled, lightly accented words seemingly comical to those who listen. Life is a source of passion for him, and he will take to all that he does with vigour and energy, although it can be rather overwhelming to others at times. His manner of speech is quite formal, and he will always try his best to treat everyone with respect.[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Likes:[/color]
[indent]Sleeping; Cartoons; Learning new things; History; Dengism; Four Classics; Century Eggs[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Dislikes:[/color]
[indent]The Bourgeois; Inefficiency; Opposing opinions; Mushrooms; Neo-Feudalistic Plutocracies[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Fears:[/color]
[indent]The unknown; Dying; Failure[/indent]

[color=7ea7d8]Biography:[/color]
[indent]In the mid-1800s, a lesser branch of the Chinese Lü family, a magical clan that claimed descent from the ancient military strategist and sage Taigong Wang (though supposedly separate from the House of Jiang, rulers of the Qi state), crossed the great Pacific Ocean for California, leaving their homes and loved ones to seek new fortunes in what was known as the Gold Mountain. Though the wizards and witches of the family would first suffer discrimination from the established white settlers like many of their fellow Chinese brethren, they were lucky enough to achieve success in the goldfields (though it was possible that magic may have been involved), and soon became semi-respected members of the East Coast's magical authorities, even after they were subsumed into the great American Association. While they were still in frequent contact with the upper branch back in Qing China, this side of the Lü family began to identify more as Americans as the years went by, becoming a mix of the disparate cultures of their motherland and their new homes.

This was the foundation of Lü Ziya's beginnings.

Following the victory of the Chinese Communist Party over Jiang Jieshi's Guomingdang in 1949, the members of the upper branch that had survived the horrific magical shadow wars that ran alongside the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars as well as the Chinese Civil War were left in a destitute state. Their fortunes, located in their native Shandong province, had been destroyed during the Japanese occupation, when General Yasuji Okamura implemented his scorched earth policies to deal with the Chinese resistance, and despite prominently supporting the CCP, failed to regain their wealth after Jiang Jieshi's Republic was forced to Taiwan. The next few decades were hard for the family to bear, and the economic development enjoyed by Shandong following Deng Xiaoping's rise to power, while definitely improving their situation, failed to return them to former greatness. So in a snap decision, Ziya's grandfather, Lü Yongpei, moved his part of the upper branch over to the States, where they hoped that the lesser branch would accept them.

And they did.

By the time Lü Ziya was born, the first child of the magical Lü Zifeng and his long-time Muggle girlfriend, Hua Peixing, his family had joined the middle class of America, though backed with the support of the firmly entrenched lesser branch. It was quite a simple life for him in his youth, with the only strange happenings being his bouts of accidental magic. Then he turned eleven, when he was accepted into Salem despite his family's wishes to send him back to China for his wizardry studies. Still, he went to the closer American institute without too much disagreement, taking to the school like a fish did water.

He has spent the last few years enjoying his time at Salem, and wishes to continue in such a manner.[/indent][/color][/hider]