Description: Ewen is a slender man of middling height with deep-set eyes that blink infrequently and gaze intensely from a round, soft-featured face. He is typically composed, his posture straight and shoulders relaxed, but he has a sometimes unsettling habit of staring overlong at anyone or anything that interests him, almost in an accusatory fashion. When contemplative, he stares instead into the middle distance, and in those less intense moments his otherwise inscrutable features seem kindly. His clothing is high-quality but old and a bit behind the trends, dark and fairly formal, and the material is scuffed from wear but well-tended. His speech belies his eyes' intensity: he is polite, almost never raises his voice, and often pauses to choose his words carefully and deliberately, especially when asking a sensitive question.

Personality: Ewen is serious, polite, methodical, and slow to act. He is a very good listener and tends to ask numerous questions rather than speak about himself, but he never hides his opinions or intentions when asked. Thus, while he can be subtle, he is rarely manipulative outside of the courtroom. He is unwilling to leap to judgment about anyone or anything, which sometimes may seem to betray a lack of moral clarity. But he is fundamentally trustworthy, in part because unlike most of his fellows, he has little ambition except to better understand himself and his purpose in living. He is most interested in people who seem very passionate about their goals or ideals and, when it would not be rude, he likes to subject them to rigorous questioning. He has no desire to toy with people or puncture their dreams. Instead, he sincerely hopes to find someone who inspires him to become more like that -- possessed of unshakable faith in the meaningfulness of striving -- without giving up his rigorous questioning. Whatever else, Ewen is not a nihilist and has never truly doubted that life matters. He accepts that it does; he simply wants to know why.

Background: Ewen's journey to self-discovery began with a personal tragedy: the loss of his parents. Successful merchants from the southern city of Lenosia, they were a loving family and well-off, encouraging and supporting him in his education. Ewen never doubted, even as he came of age, that making his parents proud would be his life goal, and he excelled in legal studies motivated by the knowledge that a career as a lawyer would bring his family honor and prestige. But he had only been practicing as a defense attorney in Lenosia for a few short years before a freak accident sent his parents' wagon crashing into a ravine. All at once Ewen was faced with an existential crisis. Without his parents' eyes on him, what did he value and what purpose was there in his existence? For perhaps the first time, his penetrating insight turned decisively inward. He concluded that behind his passion to please his family had been a dark truth: that he had been afraid to think for himself or consider what else he could become with his talents. This realization of the darkness within him, and of the willful ignorance upon which his previous convictions were based, turned him to interest in the Mirrormasks and devoted study of the teachings of the Thirteenth. Having inherited his family's comfortable wealth, he has traveled to the capitol city of Arx to decide if he will try to become an official disciple of the Thirteenth. In the meantime, he broods on his purpose and mingles freely with all, commoner or noble alike, and he still practices his trade, willing to defend the accused for little or no pay (though he picks his clients more carefully than before). He is no hero and he is not particularly righteous, being willing to countenance the self-justifications of those whom others might find monstrous. But his relentless questioning has given rise to a deep sort of personal integrity, and he will face danger if it means learning what he's truly made of.