Character Avatar: Toni Mahfud
Player: Merle
Character Name: Zaahir Najm or Zaahir D'Aramitz
Age: 28
Birthday: tbd
Height: 6'5
Rank/Title: lord/nobleman
Race: D'Angeline/Akkadian
Country/Province: Khebbel-im-Akkad (Tyre)/TdA (City of Elua)/Wherever his feet carry him
Townhome Request:
Country Home Request:
Appearance/Personality: Standing a good deal taller than most, Zaahir is almost always a notable presence in the crowd for one reason or another. For several more oft than not. Despite the height, he isn't a bulky mountain of a man, but he certainly isn't willowy, either. Far from it. His build is proportionate for his frame, fit and athletic due to an active lifestyle of travel, adventuring, martial exploits from brawling to pitched battle, and whatever other escapades he can get into.
His looks mostly reflect his Akkadian heritage; From the cast of his countenance to the lines of his bone structure, clean and angular. But each feature is flawlessly sculpted, sharpened and refined by the clear stamp of that infamously devastating D'Angeline beauty. One can see it in the startling grey-green of his eyes. Or the smoothness and sheen of tawny olive skin that deepens to sun-kissed bronze beneath the bright face of Shamash. In the perfect bow of his lips, curved into a charming, carelessly bewitching smile.
Blacker than a raven's wing, Zaahir's hair is kept long on top and shorter beneath. For all their charm, he usually takes care to smooth the natural waves of his locks - which might even be given to loose curls if ever left to grow longer. Unlike many other Akkadians, he doesn't favor a full beard, nor does he care for the effort of maintaining the bare face that is more common amongst D'Angelines, but keeps the stubble that persistently graces his shapely jaw trimmed and neat.
A child of two very different worlds, there were a lot of conflicting ideologies in Zaahir's upbringing. He spent much of his youth confused and wavering, feeling as if he didn't fully belong no matter which land he was in, always trying to figure out his own viewpoints. Given that, he's become a very self-reliant, but restless, man.
Zaahir is confident, gregarious, and easy-going in general, but can be fierce when his ire is provoked. Fortunately, he's not easily angered, and even when he is, rarely stays cross for long. His passions follow the same vein, if much more easily ignited. Swift and intense, then gone in a flash. There have been some few heady romances in his past, and as many and more broken hearts.
To the deep chagrin of his mother and the rest of his Akkadian kin, Zaahir seems to have inherited a distinctly D'Angeline spirit, and has few qualms about following his desires wherever they may lead him. A great risk in a society such as theirs. Of course, many of his family and countrymen disapprove of (or outright reject) him for the circumstances of his birth, anyway, so he cares little for their opinions or restrictions.
Additional Information
Marital Status: Single
Known Languages: Akkadian, D'Angeline, Caerdicci, Hellene
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths: Passionate, friendly, tries to be open minded
Weaknesses: Impulsive, restless, careless with the feelings of others, vain
Family Members/Important NPCs:
Father: Amaury D'Aramitz
Mother: Ghada Najm
Stepfather: Hasan Najm
Siblings: Many
History: To say that Zaahir was unplanned, and entirely unexpected, would be a monumental understatement.
Hasan Najm, an Akkadian merchant prince and distant relative of the Khalif's current vizier, had been playing host to a delegation of D'Angeline merchants and dignitaries, as their household was known to be more relaxed and open to foreign custom. Amongst the guests, a nobleman named Amaury D'Aramitz. A younger son, attempting to make his own fortunes as a clerk and liaison in matters of trade.
As is the Akkadian way, the women were kept strictly separated, their virtue zealously guarded, but Hasan's wife Ghada was curious. She'd learned somewhat of D'Angeline culture and sensibilities, and yearned to know more than what she could glean from books and gossip. When she could, she would slip away to spy on them with wide-eyed wonder. They were beautiful beyond anything she could have imagined, and the few women that had come mingled and spoke freely among the men.
On one such foray, she was caught out. Not by her husband, nor any of the eunuch guards, but by one of the visitors. Amaury. Handsome and charming, speaking to her as an equal. She was fascinated. Flattered by his attention, delighted by the way he spoke to her, eager to hear of the world outside Khebbel-im-Akkad, and entirely dazzled by what was to her eyes unearthly beauty.
What followed was a series of tentative and secret encounters. Not so chance run-ins, carefully arranged rendezvous that allowed for fleeting conversations. Snatched moments. Forming a clandestine rapport that soon turned into an even more illicit affair.
A wife and children awaited Amaury in Terre d'Ange, but they were far away, and he was D'Angeline, pursuing such things with easy sensuality and a light heart. Ghada simply craved connection, excitement, a reprieve from the idleness and tedium that made up the majority of her cloistered life. She knew it wasn't meant to last, they both did, and when it was time for the delegation to leave, they parted amicably.
Unfortunately, neither knew that Amaury's seed had quickened within Ghada, and she was carrying his child.
She knew. As soon as Ghada realised she was pregnant, she knew it was not Hasan's. He had been busy with the business and politics of foreign trade, and had other wives to please him. She feared that he would know, too, and feared what he would do... but he was oblivious, and welcomed the news of another possible son. For her part, Ghada simply prayed that her child would look enough like her to pass off as her husband's get.
For the first few years of Zaahir's life, that is exactly what happened. His eyes were marked as unusual, and he was certainly a very comely child, but Ghada's were pale enough to claim it as some fluke of her bloodline that he didn't share his supposed father's dark gaze, and his appearance otherwise transient in the way of children. If he didn't look like Hasan, he didn't particularly look like anyone yet, and if he was an unusually beautiful child, it was easily marked down as a parent's pride or the charm of youth.
The facade could not hold forever.
As the years went on, Hasan's suspicions grew. His son's features looked less like his with each passing day, but they were not unfamiliar. Oh, no. Amongst others, D'Angelines came and went, uncommon but not so rare that it was impossible to see the bright shadow of their lineage on Zaahir's face. If not the mark of anyone in particular. If that were the case, things might have turned out differently.
Hasan's fury was white-hot and terrifying, but in the end he was merciful - after a fashion. While some might have slain a traitorous wife and her bastard spawn out of hand, he didn't, though Ghada wore the marks of his anger for a long time to come. Perhaps he had some sort of twisted affection for her, for the child, or mayhap there was a tendril of pity in his heart. Perhaps. Most likely, the decision was made solely out of practicality. He had proudly claimed Zaahir as his son for over a decade, and stood much to lose if it were revealed that he had been duped into raising another man's whelp. His reputation would suffer, and who knows what fortunes or treaties might slip through his fingers.
While he would not publicly dispute his claim, neither did he wish to house Zaahir under his roof. Under the premise of educating him in trade matters and making him more worldly, the boy -still as shocked as anyone about the revelation of his illegitimate parentage- was sent to Terre d'Ange to live with his true father.
Ghada might have told Amaury about their child sooner, had she not feared discovery, but as it was, he learned of Zaahir's existence when the boy stood before him. There, amongst his father's family, he was still a bastard, an outsider, but at least a more tolerated one. His stepmother and siblings were kind, if not immediately affectionate, and helped him acclimatize to his new home. While his father did the best he could by his son, making sure that he had all his needs met, that he was well educated, and prepared for a life amongst his peers.
So it was that Zaahir came of age in Terre d'Ange, taking to their ways like a duck to water. The language slid from his tongue as easily as courtesies and flirtation, and he followed the whims of his passions with every bit as much enthusiasm as a native born D'Angeline. He was in and out of love affairs as often as petty feuds. It was a glorious time in his life, one he cherishes, yet there was a part of him that ever felt like he didn't belong.
Though the family was noble, their wealth was not limitless, and as Zaahir got older, he had to figure out how to make his own way. He didn't share his father's affinity for trade and clerical work, but had found no specific calling elsewhere, so tried his hand at it for awhile. Swiftly growing bored with it, and longing for something adventurous to do with his life, Zaahir made the brash decision to return to Khebbel-im-Akkad for a time.
There he reunited tearfully with his mother. Hasan wasn't happy to see Zaahir, but he allowed that much, if only to keep up the facade. In his absence, Zaahir's brothers had taken a more central focus, as well as other wives. Ghada was not free, nor was she particularly mistreated, but Zaahir tried to convince her to go to Terre d'Ange. To no avail.
Finding no inspiration or succor in his stepfather's household, the brash young man made yet another hasty decision. He joined the military. It was fine... for a time. He enjoyed the strenuous training, the pure physicality of it, but he had no taste for the notorious brutality of his Akkadian brethren. One day, on an excursion far afield, he simply... did not return with them. Khebbel-im-Akkad, he had decided, was not where he belonged.
For a time, he wandered wherever his feet (or horse or camel or ship) took him. Perhaps at first looking for a place to settle, but after awhile, simply because he enjoyed it. The movement, the cultures, the unpredictable situations he found himself in. He spent time in Ephesium and the Umaiyyat, spent a year or more in Iskandria, learning Hellene and idling away his time with whoever he could persuade to let him into their bed. When he got bored of that he went to Kriti, putting his new language skills to good use. After that, Caerdicca Unitas offered many interesting experiences and fond memories. But in the end, he's found himself wandering back to Terre d'Ange, like Elua finding home again, though who is to say how long he will linger. Or what new adventures he might find.
Approved by Janet, 14th April 2019
