A Character Background

Malik Sudani

Description:
You are a large man, with a broad chest and thick arms covered in scars. Your skin is black, almost blue in its darkness, and you have black eyes. Your head is shaven, and across your brow are the four branded stars that signify you are a warrior of your tribe. In dress, you prefer to wear a light silk sirwal (pants), sandals, a hippopotamus leather baldric, and a silk sash, in the evenings you throw on a heavy wool bisht (cloak) against the cold. Whenever possible, you leave your massive chest exposed to frighten and intimidate.

Story:

You were born amongst the Dembe people from the land across the Great Erg. Shortly after you became a man, your village was raided by slavers and you were captured. Many died on the march across the burning sands of the Great Erg, and you are now the last of your village. Sold into the arena, you fought as a gladiator for ten years before winning your freedom.
Today you work as hired muscle, sometimes a body guard, sometimes a thug. Over the past few years you have been involved in several misadventures with other freelance individuals such as yourself, sometimes even defying the Black Hand to carry out freelance burglaries. One of the people you often work with, and a good friend as well, is Faoud ibn Samir, a jack of all trades and foppish dandy. He may be irritating, but he is loyal and good in a fight, plus he has picked up some useful tricks.
Although lost forever from your homeland, you maintain many of the beliefs of your tribe. Very superstitious, you fear and distrust magic, even the minor tricks that Faoud performs. You don’t worship any gods other than the ancestor orisha of your people. But also do not anger any gods either.
Last night Faoud came to your apartment very distressed, it seems that whichever courtly lady he was trying to seduce has disappeared, and he has no idea what happened to her. You both stayed up late into the night at the Sign of the Happy Manticore, and are now returning to your apartment to sleep it off. Hopefully your woman, a free woman named Leena, won’t be too angry.
After the incident of the Cult of Tsagotha, you have found yourself out of work, your woman has left you and is now under protection in the palace, and you have spent most of your savings rescuing her. After helping Hiram root out the cultists in his household, you discovered that Jumba survived the gang war and came out as the leading underworld figure in Buhtan. With Jumba’s assassins closing in, you have decided to heed the call of your homeland, a call that will lead you across the sands…

Contacts:
Hiram ibn Abubakkar, your former owner. You don’t bear him any ill will, and he may aid you if he can.
The Slayer’s Guild, you have worked for them in the past as extra muscle
The Thieves’ Guild, you have worked for them in the past as extra muscle
Abdul-Bari ibn Umar, owner of The Prancing Ape
Jumba, a former gladiator and now underworld figure

About the Setting:
The Caliphate is a vast empire stretching from the Great Escarpment in the north to the Great Erg in the south. It is the center of trade for the continent of Alateff. The empire is rules by a hereditary monarch, currently Kahfir XI, of the house of Amara. The climate is warm with cool nights and little rain. Social structure is based around class, and the various classes (slave, freedman, freeman, noble) are forbidden to marry. Most citizens are human, though the D’Kala (lizardmen) and Sha’ir (Halflings) are often found in their own quarters of the cities. Outside the cities, the terrain ranges from tropical savanna in the north to arid plains and hills in the south. Tribes of nomads wander these areas, most notably the Hatari (wild elves).
Magic is rare and usually used for evil, thus most people fear any who use it. That said, most nobles employ a wizard or two for various purposes. People are also wary of any non-humans, especially hatari. Magic rarely can be bought or sold, but alchemy is very common, for the right price.