Shay

"I'm a druid. In my bones and in my blood," he chuckles. "People think I must be from the wilds and mountains, but I'm not. I was born here and raised here and this is where my roots are."

Childhood
Shay was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Nicholas and Andrea Courin just minutes before the dawn of Halloween. He comes from a long line of strong druids on the Courin side (with one monk several generations back) and mixed line of druids and magi on the Pendle side. It was obvious from birth that he would be an incredibly strong druid (despite how many in his family weren't), but it was still surprising when he showed signs of magic near his 5th birthday. Though his parents were delighted, they were also at a loss for how to interact with him as his druid magic continued to strengthen.


 * “Well, despite being surrounded by druids, no one really understood me. Not that my parents didn’t love and support me the best they could, but [...] I made life difficult. I didn’t have much interest in television or arcade games or things like that. [...] My father liked to mess around with electronics, so his hobbies weren’t accessible to me. My mother did teach me to sew. But I wasn’t a fun child for them."

Shay discovered his aptitude and love of potions when he was six - his grandfather had to babysit him unexpectedly and he had Shay help him brew a potion. After it finished, his grandfather realized that Shay's crude help had made the potion stronger than anything he'd ever brewed. After that he began to work with his grandfather on a regular basis, learning potions and brewing.

In 1993, April, his mother filed for divorce from Nicholas and she packed up Shay and moved back in with her parents. Shay had always had a polite relationship with his maternal grandparents, but he had never gotten close to them and he found it hard suddenly living in their home. He missed his school and his friends, he saw his father sparingly, and was expected to learn the correct and proper ways to behave. He took comfort in potions, brewing with his grandfather, and avoided his grandparents as often as possible. He avoided all of his grandparents social parties for as long as he could, but December of 1993 his grandmother pinned him down.

At the party, Shay met Cam and Jack for the first time, and Jack took a keen interest in befriending him despite Shay's attempts to thwart him. While secretly warmed by Jack's attempts, Shay was determined to be as gloomy and friendless as possible to convince his mother to move out, even though Shay did love the gardens and forest, wild beasties (black bears and raccoons proved especially fond of him) and horses, the high quality druid food.

In February 1994 Shay learned that his father was involved with a woman about to have his child. Despite it being weird, Shay immediately fell in love with the noisy, weird little package of infant. Around the same time, Andrea had had enough of her mother and she'd moved them away from the estate and into an apartment in the city again. Shay was able to return to his school and his friends.

When Shay saw Jack for the last time at the New Year's party, he gave Jack a powerfully enchanted druid necklace that he had made and kissed him before running off.

A year after Sammi's birth, her mother walked out of her life, leaving Nicholas to care for the one year old by himself. Sebastian immediately helped in whatever way he could, and through Shay Andrea also ended up pitching in to help. What started as getting along for Shay's benefit slowly turned into friendship, and within a year (February 1997) Nicholas and Andrea began to carefully explore dating again.

At the beginning of 1998, Nicholas proposed to Andrea again. They found a nice three bedroom house in a typical suburban neighborhood. In June of 1998, Nicholas and Andrea remarried - to the eternal delight of Sammi, the weariness of Andrea's mother and the happiness of Shay. In January of 1999, Andrea adopts Sammi as her own daughter, warming things some with Eileen, and generally taking pressure off of Shay to be more 'normal'.

Education & Training
General Education

Magical Education

 * (See full magical education timeline)


 * November 1993: Shay's potion application is accepted and he's granted his Potion Brewer Right to Brew certificate
 * January 1994: Shay's crafting application is accepted and he's granted his Combined Enchantments Right to Craft certificate
 * May 1995: Shay granted his Potion Brewer License
 * December 1993: Sebastian submits Shay's application for Combined Enchantments
 * January 1994: Shay starts logging potions first of the month; end of the month he's granted his Combined Enchantments Right to Craft certificate.
 * May 1995: Shay granted his Potions Brewer License
 * April 1997: Shay granted his Combined Enchantment Maker License
 * August 1997: Shay granted his Potions Journeyman License
 * July 1998: Shay's name included on a peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * August 1998: Shay's name included on another peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * December 1998: Shay's named included on a third peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * February 1999: Shay is first author on a peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * March 1999: Shay's named included on a peer reviewed foci object journal article
 * April 1999: Shay is first author on his second and third peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * June 1999: Shay is sole author on a peer reviewed potion's journal article; Shay also submits his first modified potion to the Potions Board for review and approval
 * Summer 1999: Shay publishes additional articles with several well respected Potions Masters; Shay submits two more modified potions to the Potions Board for review and approval; Additionally, Shay's name included on two more peer reviewed foci object journal articles
 * January 2000: Shay is sole author on a peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * February 2000: June 1999 article reprinted in a Potions Quarterly magazine highlighting Future Leaders in the Field
 * April 2000: Shay is sole author on a peer reviewed foci maker journal article
 * May 2000: Shay is first author on a peer reviewed potion's journal article
 * July 2000: Shay submits a significantly modified potion to the Potions Board for review and approval
 * Summer 2000: Shay published additional articles with several well respected Potions Masters; Shay submits his first original potion to the Potions Board for review and approval; Additionally, Shay is first author on two more peer reviewed foci object journal articles and is sole author on one peer reviewed foci object journal article; Shay submits a thesis paper on intermarried foci objects
 * August 2000: Shay granted his Combined Enchantment Crafter License
 * September 2000: Shay granted his Potion Adept License
 * September 2000: Shay granted his Potion Adept License

Magic
A powerful druid, he has a negative effect on most technology.

He will eventually have five animal forms. He almost exclusively uses his hands to channel his magic, though he does have foci objects.
 * Leopard (age 10)
 * American Black Bear (age 13)
 * Norwegian Forest Cat (age 15)
 * Raccoon (age 19)
 * Gyrfalcon (age 25)
 * Glove: made of silk, it's woven with silver threading. There's an outline of a leaf in silver thread on the back with tiny gems inside the leaf forming multicolor veins. There are copper tendrils, like curling vines, coming off of the base of the leaf that wrap around the fingers and nestle against the center of the palm.
 * Staff: made of dark wood, it's gnarled and looks very old. It's wrapped in enchanted living vibrant green vines.
 * The glove and staff are used together to bless large pieces of land.

Age 15
His orange brown blonde hair is evenly cut to his shoulders. He keeps some locks plain braided, some braided with leather cord, some with strings of beads and feathers. He has green and blue layers of highlights in his hair.

Despite being in his mid-teens, he's still lean, sharp, and surprisingly well muscled.

Piercings: one in the right ear lobe and one in the upper shell of the left ear.

Piercings And Tattoos

 * Age 16: #2 in right ear lobe and #2 in upper left shell
 * Age 17: #3 in right ear lobe and #3 in middle of left shell
 * Age 18: Tongue ring
 * Age 19: Tattoo: on back, over heart
 * Sacred Tattoo as example of design. The flora in the circle is more vivid, wild looking, overflowing with life, look like about to spill into reality. In center - leopard paw print with claws dangerously extended?
 * Age 22: Tattoo: on right upper arm/lower shoulder
 * Gorgeous, bright full moon, wrapped in very detailed vines, all of it on a background of blue violet that looks like it was just brushed there with a paintbrush
 * "I made the ink myself," he chuckles. "Because my magic went into the ink, because my magic bleeds into everything I make, there was a small side effect. When I'm in a good mood and I'm healthy, the moon is brighter and the background is clearer, but when I'm upset or sick or something like that, the moon darkens and the background looks a little murky."

History
Woo...

Family and Friends

 * FamilyShay_Family_Tree.gif
 * The Pendles (maternal grandparents)
 * Sebastian (paternal grandfather)
 * Nicholas and Andrea (parents)
 * Carver and Ella Courin (Uncle and Aunt)
 * Orien Courin (cousin)
 * Friends