Character Background #5

Kassar the Hatari

Qoute: “I don’t know who did this, but I know who would and could.”

Description:
Short and slight of build, your lack of facial hair, fine features, and pointed ears make you stand out in a crowd. You have very dark olive skin, black eyes, and blond hair. You dress as any other citizen, wearing cotton undergarments and a light cotton bishat (cloak).

Story:
You are not really an elf, but are the closest most will ever get to seeing a real elf. Your mother was the daughter of a goat herd in the eastern hills. One day she surprised a hatari raiding party, and was captured. Although a captive, she was treated very well, and eventually fell in love with one of the raiders, a love that seemed to be returned. After traveling with them for a year, she was dropped off back with her goatherd and left behind. You are the result of that dalliance, and have no idea where your real father is, save that his name is Kelvanirv.
Shamed by her capture and subsequent pregnancy, your mother fled the simple rural village she grew up in to seek anonymity in Buhtan, the capital city. Working as a washer woman (and occasional prostitute) for the wealthy, she eked out a meager existence for you and the brood of illegitimate half-siblings she produced. You grew up on the streets, learning the ways of the city and its dark underbelly. As the years lengthened for everyone else, you seemed to never age, and eventually saw your mother buried and your siblings grown with families of their own.
You have turned your hard earned knowledge of the streets to good use, becoming a finder of lost things and a fixer of problems. People of all sorts come to you, and pay you, to solve their problems. This is a life you greatly enjoy, one that allows you to move from the gleaming halls of the nobility to the dankest brothel in the slums. In these adventures, you have worked with many people, but especially the huge Malik Sudani and the foppish Faoud ibn Samir. Last night Faoud came to you with a problem of his own, and a great weight of despair pressing down his usually vibrant soul. His latest infatuation has been kidnapped, and he has no idea where to find her. You, Malik, and Faoud went out to have a few drinks and formulate a plan. That was several hours, and much wine ago, and now you stumble back to Malik’s apartment to sober up and search for the missing girl.
The fame gained from helping destroy the Cult of Tsagotha has been very bad for business. Yes, more clients flock to your door hoping you can solve their problems, yet you are recognized wherever you go. With Jumba’s recent victory over the Thieves’ and Slayer’s guilds, Buhtan has become too hot for you. Since Malik and faoud have decided to join a caravan heading south across the Great Erg, you have chosen to accompany them across the sands…

Contacts:
The Thieves’ Guild
Royal City Watchmen, the dreaded Scarlet Lions
The Beggar’s guild, they’re everywhere and see everything


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.