Aaliyah El-Amin's page

Aaliya el-Amin was not born to high standards, instead the daughter of one of Katapesh's high merchant princes and his slave. Her early years were filled with household toil, for while she was legally free she, along with her brother and sister, were not truly allowed freedom in their father's household. As Aaliyah grew older she was eventually trained as a dancer, singer, and entertainment, while her older sibling wasn't deemed talented enough to waste money on such matters.

When her mother died, Aaliya and her siblings discovered a nasty loophole in Katapesh's laws when her father disowned them, then immediately claimed them as slaves rather than blood. Sold off as a lot, Aaliyah quickly found her siblings' well-being held hostage to her good behavior by her new owner (A situation that was also reversed, leading to undeserved punishments.) As an additional measure to help prevent problems, she was introduced to pesh milk just as she was blossoming into womanhood.

But her performances before the elite proved an entertaining enough distraction at various functions that she was eventually allowed some freedom, whereupon she used it to seek escape in the various pleasure dens of the city with her meagre allowance - a place that one as weak as she really should not have been, but nevertheless chose to go as the tiny amount of defiance allowed to her.

When these two lives intersected for the first and only time, disaster struck. Seeking repayment for a debt not owed, men broke into her master's home seeking her, and began to kill anyone they found. Guards awoke, battles were fought...and a scimitar fell to Aaliya's feet just as blades were about to fall on what remained of her family.

At that moment, something changed in Aaliyah's world. Her pesh-induced stupor was penetrated by a serene feeling of enlightenment and clarity. These men around her, the slaver who would beat others to control one, the thugs who would slaughter a household for the sake of a handful of gold. Every one was beyond redemption by the word. Only the sword could truly give them the just reward for the lives they had chosen to lead.

People in the street suddenly heard screams in the voices of angels and men, screaming in fear of cleansing flame and death.

The next day, the authorities found a sobbing girl, covered in blood admist the carnage. Everyone who had held a weapon that night was dead around her, most with a neat slash across a vital spot from a single rusty scimitar, alight with a flame that neither burned nor spread. She put up no resistance when the weapon was taken from her hand, and the flame went out. All testing showed it to be nothing more than a scimitar on the edge of being discarded. And strangest of all, she sat in the eye of an ankh of her victim's blood.

It should have ended there, but for a stray word at a temple of Saerenrae about the incident. For there is a price for everything in Katapesh, and that includes the freedom of a slave who murdered a score of freepersons in the span of a single evening. While there may have been those whose friends were harmed by Aaliyah's actions, the temple took them on, believing this girl may have been destined for great things. Every day in her cell, they brought to her holy texts and attempted to teach her of their goddess. She heard their owrds, and believed she had understood, but every so often she would say something in the words of angels that seemed nonsensical.

Finally, the various negotiations came to an end. Aaliyah could not be simply freed, so instead she was sentenced to journey north. The Pactmasters had devised a particularly ingenious punishment to satisfy all concerned parties - she was to make her way to Mendev, to fight in the Crusades for no less than ten years. There was to be no escort, no way of enforcing the edict. Effectively exile...she was, after all, free to simply ignore it and go where she wished...

...and yet, there was perhaps a destiny involved. Saerenrae had inspired magic from within her soul to come forth, shaped it. It wasn't the truly divine gifts of Her priests, but...perhaps she was meant to do something with it.

"...wait, no one told you I was coming....Yeah, I guess that makes sense. No one really thought I'd be this dumb. Thought I'd just get off the ship and disappear. Why not? Well, I don't really have any other ideas for where to go, do I? ... Does it really matter? I have a sword, and the blessings of my goddess. Does it matter if I'm going to die? .... I suppose that's a point. Well, when I start to get ready for a fight, I start to see the way I should move, the path of the weapon and then...people die. My magic isn't from the goddess, but she gave it to me as part of her gift...so that not all I do is destruction. But it's obvious what She intended for me is to be part of the sword of Her faith, and I can do that here. Yes, I can cast simple healing spells....all right. I'll go grab a bunk."

Aaliyah is primarily a Melancholic/Phlegmatic type, with shades of the Dark Magical Girl archetype to her (Although without much of the flamboyance the genre conventions involved would entail.) With a Sugar and Ice personality, the 'ice' being predominant most of the time, she might seem like she would be prone to being an Ineffectual Loner but she does understand the need to work in groups and will do so without much hesitation. Very definitely The Atoner for her actions the first time she achieved her battle trance. She has aspects to her abilities of the Oracle and Inquisitor classes, and even speaks in tongues under stress. While her pesh addiction may make the battle trances seem Addiction Powered, the truth of the matter is that she really doesn't need it.

Aalyiah, at five and a half feet tall, is average in height for a Kellish woman. Her skin is dusky from a long journey, hair long and tied back in a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes. Her clothing consists of a long, heavy cotton robe cut in the style of the desert nomads, hiding a frame that is lithe while still being feminine. With dark, mysterious eyes that seem as cold as the frozen north someone like her would live the farthest from, she seems almost an odd figure to be holding onto the silver and gold holy symbol of Saerenrae now in her posession. At her side she has a scimitar, well-worn by age that hasn't seen the best of maintenance lately, as if it had been given to her while she only barely knew how to care for it. When traveling, she has a simple pack slung over her back.

During combat, Aaliyah should take these actions in rough order of priority, as circumstances permit.

1) If she has spells available and a party member or innocent bystander is down, she'll use Cure Light Wounds to try to stop them from bleeding out - be aware that her heal skill is poor enough that she may do this even if the unconscious character is out of danger

2) If caught in difficult terrain, use Feather Step to negate.

3) Move to flank, using Acrobatics to avoid AoOs.

4) If facing an opponent in medium or heavy armor, or of large or larger size, begin a Battle Dance to Inspire Courage (Self only, +2 bonuses).

5) Attack, using Arcane Strike as a swift action. This creates the illusion of a flaming weapon from the background.