Ahmal ibn Rawaid
Sobriquet:
Appearance: A careworn man in his mid-thirties, Ahmal could pass for someone twice his age at times. He stands 5'9" tall, capped with curly black hair flecked with hints of gray. His deep-set eyes, when not obscured by shadow, are almost the black of his pupils. He is equally comfortable wearing western garb, his native Arabic dress, and military camouflage and body armor. He usually wears tech-glasses, with the external tint turned up enough to hide his eyes.
Behavior: Ahmal is usually a soft-spoken man, careful not to judge, or at least expose his inner dialogue to the outside world. When called on to make a judgment, he often imposes harsh punishments for relatively minor infractions: Hard experience has taught him that mercenaries and ghouls will simply laugh off any justice that does not truly sting, and be all the quicker to err again.
History: Born days before the Towers in New York came down, Ahmal never knew athe earlier age of his homeland: His people were at war, and have been at war ever since. They are at war with invaders, with the world, with their beliefs, and most of all, with themselves. At the tender age of 9, he was all-but-kidnapped to help fight that war. One of his school teachers decided that impoverished Rawaid would not miss his bright young and easily impressionable son.
Ahmal's new family taught him much: They taught him how to shoot a gun, how to recite phrases from the Quran, how to pass unnoticed among adults, and how to win their sympathy. Unfortunately, he had already learned to read, and had a voracious appetite for the wisdom he found in the only reading material available: the holy book of Islam. As he was being prepared to become a martyr, he began to think too much. It bothered him that his mentors cared more about teaching Islam than about living by it. He was beaten more than once for quoting the wrong verses of the Quran. The final straw came when he learned that he was to carry a bomb into a Saudi government building rather than striking at what he saw as the true infidel. As soon as he was out of sight of his handlers, fourteen year old Ahmal removed the radio receiver from the detonator, headed down a side street, and went home.
Soon, members of his family started turning up dead, and he knew he had to get out of town. His father claimed that he had been killed to redeem the family's honor, and put him on a ship to Tanzania. <to be continued>
