Rubani Madu's page

About Rubani Madu

Appearance:

Being a half-elf Rubani Madu is a fair bit older than he looks. With his youthful features he barely looks like he's out of his teens, but he is in fact approaching 30 years of age. His ethnicity on the other hand is perfectly obvious, with the dark skin and somewhat sharp features of the Garundi. Slightly shorter than other half-elves Rubani stands some 5'10'' tall. Other than his thin frame and pointed ears the only other sign of his ancestry are his eyes; under the right light they reveal themselves to be amber, almost solid gold. Rubani considers himself lucky in this regard. He wouldn't be able to stand having some really garish elven eye color.
Rubani normally wears his cleric vestments, clearly marking him as a follower of Pharasma.

Personality:

The young half-elf is in part defined by contradictions. Although he is an inquisitive soul with an appetite for life, he also strives to follow the stoic philosophy that comes with the teachings of Pharasma. When these clash Rubani tends to sacrifice his own wishes, putting his faith above his own ambition. Heck, there are actually few things that he prioritizes lower than his wants; as a cleric Rubani is quick to help others, always putting the needs of his fellow man above his own.
However, the other great contradiction in the life of Rubani Madu stems from exactly that: "his fellow man".
Like so many other half-elves Rubani has never quite felt like he fit in. Although he has encountered few who are openly hostile to his kind, Rubani is no stranger to casual racism. His feelings of separation from his own countrymen are compounded by a certain pride in his nation. He is proud to be part of a strong and (finally) independent nation, especially one with such a rich history. However, his disillusion with Osirion as it is today has led to a great reverence of the Osirion that was, Ancient Osirion. In that long gone society Rubani sees an idealized utopia, one that he regrets he was born too late to experience.

Background:

Rubani was born a bastard of an elven mother and human father in a tiny settlement in western Osirion near the Barrier Wall, the mighty mountain range that separates the Mwangi Expanse from northern Garund. Life in the desert was harsh, as his mother could attest to. A native Mwangi elf, she was ill suited for life among the sand dunes and left Rubani and his father before the boy was a year old.
The kid grew up alright though. His father was as loving a parent as anyone could wish for, and Rubani himself proved to have a good head on his shoulders as he grew older, although he had inherited some of the frailty of the elven race, one of their few faults. This was, however, particularly disadvantageous as the settlement was built around a small ore of silver with the express purpose of mining it, and Rubani's father, a lowly miner, could use an extra pair of strong arms.

Nevertheless, Rubani helped out at home how ever he could as he grew older, but couldn't fail to notice how his father, not a young man even when his son was born, grew increasingly more haggard and worn with the years of hard work. The slow maturation of a half-elf son no doubt didn't help. What did help was a house guest they took in when Rubani was 19. The guest was a wandering cleric of Pharasma. She had acted as midwife to a birth in the settlement and Rubani's father, a hospitable soul, had offered her a roof over her head and daily meals before she had to leave again. Rubani took a liking to her instantly, especially when she proved very willing to teach the inquisitive youngster about the art of healing. She in turn was pleased to find that Rubani showed a certain innate understanding of the esoteric. Those were good days.

Alas, all good things must end and soon Rubani's life came crashing down. More specifically the roof of the mine came crashing down on his father; the silver mine suffered a cave-in. Most of the male population of the settlement died that day, and simply retrieving the corpses proved nigh impossible. Dedicated to the Lady of Graves and seeing no other option the cleric offered to consecrate the entire area, making the collapsed silver mine the sanctioned burial ground of the miners. The bereaved could never fully express their appreciation.
Rubani too was glad that his father's soul might find some peace, even in his sudden death, with the help of the cleric, but as he watched the long and elaborate ritual he was struck by the dignity of it all. The cleric's words were comforting and her tone so reverent that one would think it a burial for a pharaoh. The lowly old miner had never been treated with such respect in his life as he received in death.

The rest is history. Enamored with the cleric and her faith Rubani asked if he could be allowed to travel along with her, and she was happy to take him under her wing. The last he heard of the settlement it had been abandoned. Several years later Rubani was himself a wandering cleric of Pharasma, earning a meager living as a midwife, healer and mortician wherever needed. At one point he fell in with a gruff adventuring party, little more than a band of mercenaries. With a few capers under his belt he left the band when their designs started centering around grave robbing, a potentially lucrative endeavor in Osirion. As an agent of the Mother of Souls Rubani would have no part in it.
Today he finds himself in Wati, having undertaken something of a pilgrimage to see the city Pharasma's clergy had been so instrumental in saving, and to visit the Grand Mausoleum erected in the goddess' honor. Having arrived there however, he couldn't help but hear about the lottery. A random draw to admit people into Wati's fabled tombs? Where potentially unscrupulous foreigners could disturb hundred year old graves? Perhaps he should enter this draw himself... couldn't hurt. Better him than some treasure seeking Taldan.