This actually helps a ton, I think I need to identify some areas on him to figure it out but I have a direction to study now. Ty! I may actually bump this if I'm still stuck later on, just piecing together his personality and working out the dents.
EDIT: So after a LOT of reading and analysis of the character that I apparently skipped over when I thought of him initially... I started answering a few of the questions brought by the links above thanks to Ruran and Nero. Finally stopped when I started getting a headache about concluding how to fix the main issue.
To start, lemme just say to Nero, don't change the following article because it gave me such an epiphany I've never had with a character.
"And here’s the key about it: ask how the solitude affects the character. Do NOT ask how the circumstances that lead to their solitude affects the character. There is a very clear difference."
I realized I hadn't asked either of these and just jumped head first into it figuring that's just how it should be. The circumstances that lead to his silent/neutral personality is due to feeling lied to up to that point through his entire life by being revealed a truth about his religion/tribe(that he was very loyal to and kept dearly to him). How would the solitude affect the character currently however... The truth is, it doesn't. He's been nearly reborn in his perspective of life and newfound powers, he looks at everyone with curiosity but also hesitation and doubt. He was lied to and fallen for a belief he now perceives as fake, he wouldn't be like to trust someone or anyone so easily with how recent he was changed. In other words, the REASON he doesn't talk and he's so neutral, is because he's scared deep down to trust again, it already broke him before... What would happen if it all happened again in this state? At the same time, by ditching everything he's known up to now, he's looking at everything from a safe and pragmatic distance. He's no longer letting anything cloud his perception with beliefs or what he would call "false interpretations" to take on life from this point on. This is what leads to his neutral personality, so that he doesn't see good/bad/order/chaos. He's wanting to be quiet as to not be a variable to what reality's natural order is going about(aka, a person orders a drink, the bartender gives them poison instead, what will the person do?) His new persona is trying to find new meaning and reason to exist.
The problem with that last part though is that it feels conflicting with his personality a bit. You'd think a normally curious person would be at least more interested in activities or anything that's going on, especially if it meant to learn more about the world around them. In Nashan's case, he has some perspective to the world's more petty side and doesn't want any part of that since it's burned him several times before in his past. So his inner conflict of not trusting anyone, being confused as to what his purpose in life is now, who to believe or what to do with himself, and this "spectator" perspective he's taken, has lead him to hold no bias(neutral) and be quiet to himself(as not to conflict with natural life and it's continuity). While all of this fits... It still leaves me with the "how do I promote that forward into involving more characters than just himself" issue.
Also taking into consideration what Nero said "Just because your character is quiet and reserved doesn't mean they never make contact with others." This is true, he wouldn't be quiet if he truly needed something or a moment calls for it. However, beyond maybe asking for a drink or something.. the character simply wouldn't ask much of others and would trust his own instincts more than most. So I still end up having little to work with, but have opened up more potential at the very least. He's definitely an introvert but still confident of himself now that he's shut out everything/everyone else to himself with powers from the soul crystal.... So being reserved is still there, but he still wouldn't quite make small talk with anyone unless he needed to which goes into my next paragraph.
"Everyone needs something, whether it's supplies or healing or work—or more complex, like the need to protect, redeem, hide, or feel fulfilled." This one had me thinking a while after I figured out the above (and other things I probably haven't mentioned because this is already long enough). If anything, he's looking to feel fulfilled as said. Questions like "why do I exist now" or "what of others who believe in faith so false as my own" would ring through his head I imagine. So I'm closing in on the idea of what he needs/wants at least but it's conflicting with the former of his personality. Let's say he wants to be a self righteous warrior now, destroying/killing/proving to believers their gods aren't real or they will only bring them false hope(I feel like I'm doing MSQ again) so that he can feel fulfilled that no one else suffers the same fate he has. Maybe he believes his own truth is beyond the comprehension of others, and freeing people of those false beliefs is what makes him feel whole now? Let's pretend we went with that... doesn't that go against his non-biased personality that he has? To involve himself in the things he's trying to learn from, on "how to be" would break that analytical side of his neutral/stoic personality.
So for now, the only loophole for him being involved more in RP is by having another person as a hook. Being their bodyguard just as a means to learn about the world while still only being just a figurative(and literal?) shield for someone's physical being. Not particularly siding with them, but rather serving his own curiosity by keeping them alive throughout their own endeavors. That way, as good or evil the person may be, he can forge his own beliefs as the characters evolve more. The problem with this currently is that it's too reliant on having a long term RP partner.
Alone... I don't know how exactly to handle him for any type of RP alone. The most I've done with him was typing out inner thoughts (like that one link mentioned, though I find it can lead to confusion or some form of abuse when I do it, so I try to stray from it when I can) and attended a song/dance play event out of curiosity. If I rely on the concept of typing out thoughts alone, I feel like people may mistake that as actual actions/happenings to use rather than just interpretation from it.
tl;dr: I've identified his reasons for how he is and why he would be now, but haven't quite identified a viable solution to the reliance on others to walk up to him for RP engagements. I think I just need to think of more hooks to use as an excuse to engage in more casual RP or really need that bodyguard thing I mentioned. If anyone else has any tips beyond this, I welcome it @.@. Or anything I may've glossed over that you could suggest for him too. I'm going to be away somewhere for a long time of the day tomorrow and would love anything that'll get me brainstorming to resolve this. Already looking into some books at my library and watching some mentioned examples in the thread already. To anyone that actually read all this, you deserve a gold star.
EDIT: So after a LOT of reading and analysis of the character that I apparently skipped over when I thought of him initially... I started answering a few of the questions brought by the links above thanks to Ruran and Nero. Finally stopped when I started getting a headache about concluding how to fix the main issue.
To start, lemme just say to Nero, don't change the following article because it gave me such an epiphany I've never had with a character.
"And here’s the key about it: ask how the solitude affects the character. Do NOT ask how the circumstances that lead to their solitude affects the character. There is a very clear difference."
I realized I hadn't asked either of these and just jumped head first into it figuring that's just how it should be. The circumstances that lead to his silent/neutral personality is due to feeling lied to up to that point through his entire life by being revealed a truth about his religion/tribe(that he was very loyal to and kept dearly to him). How would the solitude affect the character currently however... The truth is, it doesn't. He's been nearly reborn in his perspective of life and newfound powers, he looks at everyone with curiosity but also hesitation and doubt. He was lied to and fallen for a belief he now perceives as fake, he wouldn't be like to trust someone or anyone so easily with how recent he was changed. In other words, the REASON he doesn't talk and he's so neutral, is because he's scared deep down to trust again, it already broke him before... What would happen if it all happened again in this state? At the same time, by ditching everything he's known up to now, he's looking at everything from a safe and pragmatic distance. He's no longer letting anything cloud his perception with beliefs or what he would call "false interpretations" to take on life from this point on. This is what leads to his neutral personality, so that he doesn't see good/bad/order/chaos. He's wanting to be quiet as to not be a variable to what reality's natural order is going about(aka, a person orders a drink, the bartender gives them poison instead, what will the person do?) His new persona is trying to find new meaning and reason to exist.
The problem with that last part though is that it feels conflicting with his personality a bit. You'd think a normally curious person would be at least more interested in activities or anything that's going on, especially if it meant to learn more about the world around them. In Nashan's case, he has some perspective to the world's more petty side and doesn't want any part of that since it's burned him several times before in his past. So his inner conflict of not trusting anyone, being confused as to what his purpose in life is now, who to believe or what to do with himself, and this "spectator" perspective he's taken, has lead him to hold no bias(neutral) and be quiet to himself(as not to conflict with natural life and it's continuity). While all of this fits... It still leaves me with the "how do I promote that forward into involving more characters than just himself" issue.
Also taking into consideration what Nero said "Just because your character is quiet and reserved doesn't mean they never make contact with others." This is true, he wouldn't be quiet if he truly needed something or a moment calls for it. However, beyond maybe asking for a drink or something.. the character simply wouldn't ask much of others and would trust his own instincts more than most. So I still end up having little to work with, but have opened up more potential at the very least. He's definitely an introvert but still confident of himself now that he's shut out everything/everyone else to himself with powers from the soul crystal.... So being reserved is still there, but he still wouldn't quite make small talk with anyone unless he needed to which goes into my next paragraph.
"Everyone needs something, whether it's supplies or healing or work—or more complex, like the need to protect, redeem, hide, or feel fulfilled." This one had me thinking a while after I figured out the above (and other things I probably haven't mentioned because this is already long enough). If anything, he's looking to feel fulfilled as said. Questions like "why do I exist now" or "what of others who believe in faith so false as my own" would ring through his head I imagine. So I'm closing in on the idea of what he needs/wants at least but it's conflicting with the former of his personality. Let's say he wants to be a self righteous warrior now, destroying/killing/proving to believers their gods aren't real or they will only bring them false hope(I feel like I'm doing MSQ again) so that he can feel fulfilled that no one else suffers the same fate he has. Maybe he believes his own truth is beyond the comprehension of others, and freeing people of those false beliefs is what makes him feel whole now? Let's pretend we went with that... doesn't that go against his non-biased personality that he has? To involve himself in the things he's trying to learn from, on "how to be" would break that analytical side of his neutral/stoic personality.
So for now, the only loophole for him being involved more in RP is by having another person as a hook. Being their bodyguard just as a means to learn about the world while still only being just a figurative(and literal?) shield for someone's physical being. Not particularly siding with them, but rather serving his own curiosity by keeping them alive throughout their own endeavors. That way, as good or evil the person may be, he can forge his own beliefs as the characters evolve more. The problem with this currently is that it's too reliant on having a long term RP partner.
Alone... I don't know how exactly to handle him for any type of RP alone. The most I've done with him was typing out inner thoughts (like that one link mentioned, though I find it can lead to confusion or some form of abuse when I do it, so I try to stray from it when I can) and attended a song/dance play event out of curiosity. If I rely on the concept of typing out thoughts alone, I feel like people may mistake that as actual actions/happenings to use rather than just interpretation from it.
tl;dr: I've identified his reasons for how he is and why he would be now, but haven't quite identified a viable solution to the reliance on others to walk up to him for RP engagements. I think I just need to think of more hooks to use as an excuse to engage in more casual RP or really need that bodyguard thing I mentioned. If anyone else has any tips beyond this, I welcome it @.@. Or anything I may've glossed over that you could suggest for him too. I'm going to be away somewhere for a long time of the day tomorrow and would love anything that'll get me brainstorming to resolve this. Already looking into some books at my library and watching some mentioned examples in the thread already. To anyone that actually read all this, you deserve a gold star.