Shi-Mon is a somewhat typical Asiatic-looking man obviously from somewhere in the mystic lands of far Cathay. His age is somewhat difficult to gage: he could be twenty or forty or even older - he seems to be able to change his look with a change of expression.
He is, like many of his race, of slightly smallish build, about five and a half feet tall, yellow-complexioned, and is, when you first meet him, wearing the simple rags of a working merchant sailor.
He doesn't say much at first, but can become friendly and talkative if you can get him to open up. If so, he will readily tell you that he is a traveling monk, trained since childhood in the mystic arts, and now as is their wont, traveling the world either as an honorable beggar or more often as a simple servant or working laborer.