Return to the Therra PC Backgrounds Page

By Steve Gorman

As a child I studied the ways of the ultimate warriors and protectors of my people, the Dervishes. A nomadic people, my tribe, my family, survived by hauling goods from Xydlont and Hamasha. We controlled two of the key oases along the trade route and therefore we held great power in the region. Our leader was a great man and a legendary Dervish, Ali Abzeed. My father was his closest friend and led our people's council.

I was honored beyond words when Ali Abzeed took me as his first and only student. My mother cried tears of joy into the sands; my rivals gnashed their teeth and I never saw my father stand taller nor more proud. I was taken into our leaders home and raised as a son. He had only his daughter whom he cherished above all else and she was allowed to train with me as an equal, something unheard of in the desert tribes except my own.

The Wylag Desert is a brutal place and most tribes treat their women as chattel, but Ali Abzeed treated them as equals. Many tribes used this as a reason to hate us but I suspect greed and envy were more the motive. Our tribe thrived beyond all our neighbors and we became a unifiying force among all the tribes as they began to adopt our customs and trade practices. Only the Caliph of all the desert people held more power. And the Caliph was very firmly against Abzeed's customs and the treatment of women as equals

On the day of my 15th birthday my family's life was shattered when Angaralok the Blue (dragon) struck. The terrible beast razed our village at our primary oasis and destroyed a caravan resting there. We drove it off eventually but we were devastated. The very next day in something that can not be considered a coincidence, the Caliph arrived with his tribal warriors and those of several other lesser tribes.

The Caliph's arrogant son surprised everyone by demanding single combat against Abzeed. It was a laughable contest; the boy was a second rate wu-jen, or so we all thought. Abzeed accepted since it would allow him to turn away the Caliph's forces until another day. As they began to discuss the rules of the combat the treacherous wizard threw three daggers. Not at Abzeed, but at his daughter Alia did he hurl them. As Abzeed moved to protect Alia, the wizard read the final word of a fell scroll of great power, instantly summoning some sort of demon which slew Abzeed from behind. With his dying breath Abzeed threw me his scimitar and looked to his family and said, "Protect them."

Abuela, Abzeed's wife, was also trained in the way and instantly killed the wizard. The irate Caliph ordered his bowmen to open fire. As Abuela hit the ground the Caliph ordered the bowmen to finish the last of Abzeed's line, Alia, a worthless waste of water as a lone girl. I had to act the one way the Caliph would understand. I claimed Alia as my property, my wife. In accordance with the old ways we were to be wed within two moons. The Caliph however did not subscribe to the old ways. I had to take her immediately or she was to be dealt with as any man in the camp saw fit.

Until then, I could not imagine such shame as I dragged my best friend and the daughter of my mentor past my horrified family, the bodies of her dead parents and howling desert warriors. I whispered my apologizes to Alia but she only sobbed hysterically beyond all reason. Afterwards the Caliph's priest inspected Alia and confirmed that she was no longer a virgin and then the Caliph ordered my tribe off to our secondary oasis.

I was banished from the tribe when we returned home. As leader of the council, it fell to my father to exile me. Neither my parents or Alia would speak to me. I joined a caravan and served as the bodyguard of a powerful wu-jen for a year in exchange for passage far from the pain I had caused. So here I sit in this icy cold citadel filled with dwarves, looking for ways to improve my fighting skills since I have no other purpose. Perhaps I can become an adventurer and one day return and slay the Caliph and the blue dragon. But what adventuring company would accept me, a betrayer of my people, my family, my mentor and best friend? Surely even the lowest vermin in all world would shun me.

I do dream of a time when I can help my tribe, my former tribe, return to the ways of Abzeed. In those dreams I meet Alia and she has taken up her father's mantle and leads the tribe in spite of the Caliph. However the dream always ends with Alia gutting me with her father's scimitar which I now carry.

Return to the Therra PC Backgrounds Page