Character Avatar: Leila Bekhti
Character Name: Na'ima Vigny
Age: 30
Height: 5'3
Rank/Title: Marquise
Race: D'Angeline/Akkadian
Country/Province: Namarre/TdA
Townhome Request: TBD
Country Home Request: TBD
Player: Merle
Appearance/Personality: Small and slight, Na'ima is not physically formidable, but she commands attention nonetheless. She is an arresting woman, her features an exquisite blend of D'Angeline and Akkadian. Angular bone structure gives her beauty a fine edge, flawless skin a middling-dark shade of olive tan calls to mind the desert sun. There is a strength of will writ in her bearing, and cleverness shines from those chocolate with a hint of cinnamon eyes.
The marquise is fiercely independent, having a greater appreciation of her freedoms than most D'Angeline noblewomen due to her heritage and family history. She does not want to belong to anyone, and has avoided marriage or any serious partnership for the most part, though Na'ima does realise that she will one day need to marry - or at the very least find someone suitable with which to produce heirs.
She is shrewd, confident, and entirely capable on her own, but that isn't to say that Na'ima is uncaring or never gets close to anyone. Her friends and family are very important to her, and pragmatic as she is, it isn't unheard of for the lady to let her hair down. It is simply that she enjoys her autonomy too much to be tied down. But as long as the choice is hers to make, she'll make it... eventually.
History: Na'ima's great-grandfather came to Terre d'Ange as a part of the L'Envers alliance with Khebbel-im-Akkad - a stern, quiet man who never quite acclimatised to D'Angeline custom. One way he did integrate was in eventually finding a wife, though he chose one that appeased his rigid values. Barely more than a girl, she was meek and obedient to the older man, which suited him well.
The same could not be said of their youngest child and only daughter, Maha. She was willful and rebellious, full of spirit. Her father disapproved, but was lenient... after a fashion. That is until he found out that she had gone to the Night Court. In Mahir's eyes, his daughter was sullied, had shamed herself in the worst way imaginable. So, he sent her back to Khebbel-im-Akkad, arranging her marriage to a man who was willing to overlook her indiscretion for the prize of a bride with D'Angeline blood.
Eventually Maha lost nearly all of that youthful fire, but she did not want the same for her daughter. Basma was not the unruly child that she had been, but still Maha did not want to see her languishing in the women's quarters unable to truly live her life. So, she encouraged the young woman to wed a D'Angeline nobleman who'd come to fancy her. A Namarrese Marquis with ties to the L'Envers household, and through them the mighty House of Ur, the Shamabarsin family that now shared their blood. Which was what brought him to Akkadian shores.
Thus it was that Basma came to Terre d'Ange, homeland of her mother's mother. It was liberating, terrifying, and overwhelming to her after the seclusion and restrictions she had known all her life. Maha had tried to make sure that her daughter was educated and informed of worldly matters insofar as she was able, but she was still sheltered, naive.
Fortunately, Blessed Elua smiled on this wayward daughter, and Basma's marriage turned out to be a true love match. Quentin Vigny was kind and patient, helping his wife not only adjust but encouraging her to stretch her wings. Still, even with these newfound freedoms it was not always easy for her to shrug off her upbringing. A point of some small amount of contention when it came to raising their own child. They called her Na'ima. An Akkadian name, but one that put Basma in mind of Naamah, whose scion she had wed. A reminder of her old home and new.
She was doted on, adored, and despite Basma's occasional misgivings, brought up in fairly typical D'Angeline fashion. Given leave to explore, to learn, to make her own decisions and blossom into the woman she was meant to become. Which, as it happened, was quite like her grandmother Maha. Only, where Maha's father had disapproved, Quentin was proud of his daughter. He loved and supported Na'ima without reservation.
They were very close. Which made it all the harder when Quentin was killed in the conflict with the Carthaginians. Basma and Na'ima both were devastated, but the latter endured her grief with more fortitude. She took over her father's titles and estates, settling into the role of Marquise with natural ease.
