This is Jenay, a character I'm submitting to the Dark Warrior Casting Call. I'm aware of the various perspective and proportion issues with the sketch, but I'm pleased with him anyway. Here's his bio, if you happen to be interested.

Jenay is a spy and a sniper because he's good at getting into places unnoticed, and he's got the patience to wait for the right moment to take his shot. Given the choice, he will pick a lightweight, long-range rifle that can be easily broken down and carried about without looking like what it is. Jenay isn't much for hand to hand, in temperament or in physical ability. He might carry a switchblade or pistol for self-defense, but he'd only use them if backed into a corner. He is a reasonably strong channeler of blue eco, and can handle green eco to a lesser extent. He doesn't like the feeling of eco in his body, saying that it makes his skin crawl from the inside. He resorts to eco only if cornered.

He's not a large man, five feet, five inches tall and lightly built. He's not too certain of when he was born, but when he was arrested, his age was estimated at twenty-two, making him about twenty-eight now. His skin is light and prone to sunburn. His hair is dark brown and a little past shoulder length, and in most situations, he wears it tied back in a ponytail. Any suggestions that he cut his hair will be met with a hostile stare. His eyes are a mid-gray shade in most lights. He has one significant identifying mark—his tattoo. It's not something he reveals willingly or talks about casually. But his prison records have photographs of a slightly-stylized image of an elaborate Celtic-style rope knot centered on his lower spine, with the ends of the rope wrapping around his sides just above his hips and then folding loosely right-end-over-left below his abdominal muscles. There are also scars on his wrists and ankles from the restraints used in the Dark Warrior program, but Jenay's hardly the only one with those scars.

Jenay doesn't talk about his pre-Dark-Warrior life much. At one point or another, he spent a lot of time on ships, and his tattoo probably dates from that time in his life. He was arrested in the harbor district, for reasons that are obscure. Where he was born and who his parents were is anyone's guess—it's possible that Jenay himself doesn't know, and that's why he doesn't say much about it. His fair skin and the planes of his face rule a few places out, but he could be from almost anywhere.

Jenay never says two words if one will do, or one word when a glance will get his point across. His voice falls somewhere in the mid-tenor range, and he usually pitches it to reach only one or two sets of ears. While he is capable of holding a normal conversation, he's content to sit back and let someone else do most of the talking. He tends to get overwhelmed and look for a retreat if faced with more than three or four strangers in the same room.

Strangely, when working, Jenay likes to have a headset communicator live in his right ear. He'll just keep a channel open and listen to any human voice available, whether that be Grue relaying mission-specific data to him or the late-night radio commentator wondering whether or not alien life really exists. He'll turn it down, but not off, to listen in on a target's conversations with his left ear. If asked, he'll tell a civilian he's a little hard of hearing, but the truth of it is that while the physical presence of others makes him uneasy, being able to hear them is essential to his sanity. Jenay was imprisoned in a cell block where prisoners couldn't see each other, but they could talk to each other. Silence only fell on the prison cells when the guards were coming to grab someone, and after six years, Jenay's mind interprets silence as danger. He's jumpy about being approached or touched for much the same reason—for years, the only people who touched him were people torturing him.

Eco experimentation produced some very peculiar side effects in Jenay's case. After the failed experiment that left Grue blind, Erol tried a variation of the technique, injecting eco and other substances straight into Jenay's eyes. The experiment was a partial success—Jenay's night vision did improve, to the point of being able to pick out moving figures on a moonless night at about half again the distance an ordinary human can. However, the needles that injected the eco damaged some of the muscles and nerves responsible for controlling Jenay's pupils—his pupils can't contract fully in bright light. He's all right in low-to-mid-level indoor lighting, and outside at dusk or during the night, but if faced with bright indoor light or sunlight, he wears tinted goggles to cut the glare. If one immobilizes Jenay's head and shines a bright light in his eyes, they'll reflect silvery-blue—this is the residue of the assorted metals and eco lodged in the tissue. It's also very inconvenient for Jenay, when he's trying to sneak around unnoticed in the dark.

His wiry build and a lack of acrophobia mean that Jenay can and does climb very well. He's flexible, strong, and careful enough to find his way up buildings, rocks, trees, and even frozen waterfalls. He'll gladly make use of climbing gear if it's available, and sigh and make do without if it's not. In his spying, he takes advantage of the fact that city dwellers rarely look up. Jenay's also a pretty good cat burglar. He can pick mechanical locks and work his way past computerized ones with a little planning ahead and help from Grue and VIN.

Sexually, Jenay's more or less straight, though it would be more accurate to say he's less wary of women than he is of men. He will follow women with his eyes, and might even respond to mild flirting, but will go no further without considerable, patient persistence by the other party. A male attempting to flirt with Jenay will get that unwavering, expressionless stare he uses to make people back off. If said male persists, Jenay will excuse himself—or make a cutting remark just loudly enough to be noticed by others within five feet. In prison, he was a sorry sight, not likely to attract anyone, but now that he's regained some weight and is bathing regularly, he's beginning to draw admiring looks. Certain women (including me) itch to run their fingers through his hair. Anyone who manages to get him to hold still for it will find that Jenay's skin is both softer and more sensitive than that of most adults—which is why he will pick clothes with soft linings and long sleeves, given a choice. Whether the sensitivity is another weird eco side effect or just the way he was born is anyone's guess. If someone could get past Jenay's reluctance to be touched, she would find him a responsive lover.

Trivia:
Jenay:
--has some control of his ears, and will rotate and angle the left one up a little to indicate that he's listening.
--prefers rum or scotch over beer, and will nurse a single tumbler for hours.
--is no good on a jet-board despite having an excellent sense of balance.
--is a decent sketch artist.
--Hint for potential lovers—start at the tips of the ears and work inward and down. When he starts purring, he's yours.