Aminah Jubair - Azhorhrian Mindsoother

[On 8/12/06 I corrected in yellow

Name
Aminah Jubair (Ami for short)

Gender
Female

Age
18yrs

Race
Human

Tribe
Azhorhrian

Occupation
As a traveller Ami needs money and will do any job she can get paid/fed for. Spiritual healing/guidance are most frequently asked for but she is more practiced at soothing the feelings of animals than humans as yet. With her little herbal knowledge she can pass as a vet, helping cows through difficult labour or calming a vicious mare before breeding.

Title
Muddled Mindsoother

Detailed Description
Overview (optional)
Even at first glace Aminah is obviously Azhorhrian - swathed in long silver cloth so that only her intense copper eyes show. She carries a long dagger at her waist, just visible in a fold of material and seems small and very young, slightly nervous of you.

Physical Appearance
Ami has the strong, slim frame of someone who has to look after themselves. She is smaller than average, roughly one ped two fores in height and one pygge two hebs in weight. True to her childhood beliefs she hides most of her body from the eyes of others, leaving her naturally olive skin quite pale apart from her hands and the top half of her face. Her dark, almost black hair is slightly wavy especially around the front and creates a large bulge at the back of her head when she ties it up.

Large eyes, the typical copper colour of her people and framed by thick lashes are her best feature and they give her an exotic, slightly vulnerable air. In a crowd she will do her best to be unnoticed as she dislikes being stared at, getting more confident and relaxed with a smaller group. Her voice is smooth and friendly with a slight foreign accent, and when she uses her gift of mind soothing it becomes more solid, deeper.

Clothes
Because of her religion and the traditions she was brought up to know, Ami covers her body from ankle to wrist, allowing only her eyes, hands and feet to show. However, instead of traditional long flowing robes she sports a more practical long-sleeved shirt and loose-fitting trousers. These allow her to ride and defend herself more easily, more important for a traveller that tradition. The cloth is thin but opaque and unlike the stark black or white of her people hers are often silver-grey, a middle-shade between the two. A scarf of the same material covers her hair and the lower part of her face.

Ami’s shoes are open-toed leather sandals, rather old and worn and well-fitting, and she wears three copper bangles, two on her left wrist and one on her ankle. They are decorated with a simple ridge which twists uniformly around each one, and the colour matches the bright richness of her eyes.

Personality
Kindness and sensitivity come with being an Eyashene, but Ami also is a little afraid of her power. She is very young and inexperienced and the thought of coping with other people’s emotions when she has only recently started to understand her own scares her. Her own worries and fears coupled with the various emotions she picks up from around her can make her reactions unpredictable. Often Ami herself doesn't know how she will act. When she becomes too bombarded she can seem confused and a little distant, not quite able to concentrate on the conversation she herself is having.

Aminah is friendly, if a little shy towards strangers but takes time to form real friendships and to really be able to trust people. Her mood depends greatly on the people around her; she is relaxed when they are happy, often disturbed or distracted when they are not. The only being she feels she understands is her horse, Jadwa, and when she is feeling particularly lost or alone she will sit or sleep in the stable with her.

Strengths and Weaknesses
a) Strengths
- Ami is an Eyashene, meaning she can sense and sometimes influence the feelings of others. (The article on Eyashene is in the magic section of the main site. Click on the magic book icon, then scroll down to "Eyash. Moodsoothers". It's at the bottom of the "E"s)Peoples actions rarely surprise her, giving the young girl an edge in most conversations. Though the majority of her experience is with her people’s horses so far, she has the potential to develop this skill further.

- Living in a desert has made Ami self-reliant and adaptable. She can defend herself with a dagger reasonably well, hunt and trap game to provide for herself, though fishing is beyond her, and knows some basic medicines and first aid for both humans and horses. She is pretty strong for a woman from having to deal with unruly horses and is lithe, well-muscled and fit

- Though in no way a stunning beauty, Ami’s gorgeous copper eyes and olive skin make her an attractive young woman and she is intelligent enough to use this to her advantage.

- The snatches of emotions she can pick up from an attacker gives Ami an advantage in a fight. She might sense their triumph as they spot an opening in her defence, or their fear as she moves a certain way. It can make her reactions slightly faster than normal, but is not always reliable, and the amount she can pick up depends a lot on the individual’s personality and race.

b) Weaknesses
- Although she is intelligent, Ami knows little or nothing about the world she has gone into, from religion and culture to what this new land looks like. The people, dialect, plants, food and animals are all new and strange to her. "Formal" magic is also something she has rarely come across, something she has little idea how to face.

- Ami can sense the emotions of others, but she cannot read minds or completely predict what a person will do. She might feel the boiling anger of a warrior and fear him, not knowing he is struggling to contain it. She finds it hard to distinguish between good and bad, as she can see the conflicting emotions within someone, but not know which side is winning. This extends to battles and other conflicts. She can’t really tell which side is right as they all just seem angry to her. It can leave her confused and not really knowing which way to turn.

- She finds it hard to trust people, partly because she was brought up to look down on anyone not Azhorhrian, but also because of her gift. Unless someone is completely honest about what they are thinking, Ami can often sense their worry that she will find out what they are hiding, especially if they know she is an Eyashene. As she can’t tell what it is they’re hiding, she can’t trust them and finds it hard to turn simple acquaintances into friends.

History

Ami was born a to the Ash-sharia, one of the five Azhorhrian tribes living in the Ysthalinth Desert on the continent of Aeruillin. Her father was a blacksmith, a relatively low-status job, but he was good at his work and though they were not well-respected they could afford nice clothes and several horses. Unlike the rest of Aeruillin the Azhorhrian worship one single, nameless goddess and the child soon picked up their pitying scorn for other "unenlightened" people, thinking her people were somehow different, better.

Her mother practiced a little herbal medicine for both horses and humans and taught Ami from a young age, thinking that when she married her daughter would then be able to earn a little money of her own. As a child she lapped up the knowledge, enjoying the feeling of knowing something others didn't, like most young people. The rest of the time she spent playing with her two brothers, one older and one younger, or helping her parents with whatever needed doing. Children, especially girls, were expected to help with every task in preparation for running their own homes and so she learnt to cook and clean, to make clothes and mend them, to care for the horses and to hunt the small desert animals.

She learnt to fight too, like her brothers, and to ride the Azhorhrian horses. Sometimes Ami showed an almost uncanny ability to control them - frightened, barely tamed stock horses felt calmed and grew quiet under her touch. They often followed her easier and struggled less in her hands, and sometimes she would hold them while her father shod them or they where treated by her mother. However this skill was unreliable and varied from seeming almost magic to simply the skill of someone who knows horses very well. The particular horse, Ami's mood, the weather and even the feelings of people around her could have an effect on it, and no-one else really considered it more than a natural talent with horses.

Throughout her early teens Ami's skill grew and the girl began to recognise it as something unusual that only she could do; a gift. Her first attempts to consciously use it were private as she was unsure how to use the power or even if it really existed. Stepping towards a frightened beast, she would try to exude an aura of calm, slowing her breathing and relaxing herself in a sort of meditation. It was still unreliable and very dependant on her mood; sometimes she just couldn't calm herself enough, or the horse's fear would spread to her instead.

Once, in the midst of a bubbling rage Ami ran out into the yard, only to be attacked by an old, extremely docile mare her mother used as a pack horse. The animal swung around at her, full of Ami's own bubbling anger and kicked her shoulder so hard the girl was thrown against the wall unconscious. Thankfully the mare was tied up, and could not reach Aminah, as she took several minutes to calm down enough for anyone to go near. They were never really sure if it was Ami's influence or simply a startled horse.

When she was 16 Ami's father took her to the annual horse fair with him. He took blacksmiths tools and set up a temporary stall there, taking advantage of the huge gathering to earn some extra money and catch up with men he hadn't seen for months. Ami took her new mare, Jadwa, a present from her father for her 16th birthday. She was excited about meeting these new people, wondering what they would look like and how differently they would act.

To her surprise they weren't that different. Their clothes were tunics and robes like hers, their faces tanned like hers, and their feelings, thoughts and desires, something she was beginning to pick up with more clarity, were similar too. They smelt funny and ate some really disgusting-looking stuff, but other than that she could find no reason to look down on them, as the rest of her proud tribe seemed to. Even her father seemed to pity them. To her they seemed happy enough and perhaps more honest, less greedy than the hard-bargaining horse sellers. Ami began to wonder whether her tribe were really so superior.

She said nothing to her family but began to turn her attention from horses to humans. She watched her brothers as they practiced sword fighting, tuning herself into their emotions and studying them. Ami found that when she fought with them she sometimes could tell when they were faking or striking for real, making her seem to react very quickly. Her brothers were not happy with her new skills, like most of the Azhorhrians. A practical, warrior tribe at heart they saw her as strange, uncanny, disliking the feeling that she could somehow see inside them, to a part which they felt should remain private. They avoided her more and more.

Trying to escape from home life, Ami travelled to Shan’Zarathan again for the next horse fair, this time going further into the city on her own, wandering and exploring and watching the people. It was in a tavern near the centre, almost as far away from the horse fair as she could get that she met the trader. He was an older man, around 50, with a short stubbly beard and dark black eyes. He had spent all his life travelling around, buying and selling precious jewels in all parts of Caelereth, speaking to every type of people and hearing all the stories they speak of.

Ami knew as soon as she entered the room that he was in pain. It screamed out to her, burnt into her consciousness as if it was her body not his. The reason was obvious; he carried a large oak crutch and sat awkwardly, stretching his right foot out as far as the tall-backed chair would let him. Almost on automatic she fetched two stools from the fire and placed the first in front of him like a footstool before sitting down beside him. She didn't talk but instead laid her hand on his and began the soothing, quietening routine she'd used on hundreds of her mothers equine patients. As the girl finished and started to come out of the semi-trace he opened his eyes, fixing them onto hers.

"How long have you been an Eyashene?" he asked, his voice deep and slightly gruffled.

Ami had never thought there might be others who shared her gift and listened, half embarrassed, half intrigued, to what he told her. There were others, he said, though not many and not that well known. She should find one, learn more. She was good, but would never get any better without help, training. They talked a little longer and then she left, thoughtful and slightly afraid of the suggestions. How could she leave her tribe? Would they even allow her to come back if she did?

Over the next few months Ami tried to practice her skills on people, struggling to prove to herself that her help of the old trader had not been a one-off. She grew more and more detached from the group as to them she became stranger and stranger. The horses at least welcomed her presence, especially her own horse Jadwa. Taking any excuse, collecting herbs for her mother or fetching something one of her brothers wanted from another herder she would ride out, and normally not return until nightfall. Whenever her mother could she would urge Ami to give up the weird ways. They were unnecessary she said, all Ami needed was to spend more time among the young people, stop messing around. Then she would find a husband and settle down, become a mother herself. If she carried on she would be left a sad old, lonely woman, nothing else. She just had to stop.

Ami knew it wasn't that simple. She wanted to learn more, become better, not give up the one thing that made her special. The young girl didn't want to settle down either. Her people were becoming stranger and stranger to her the more she watched them, and the more she looked the less she liked. From a very young age boys and some girls too were taught to fight. She herself could use a dagger pretty well herself, it was something normal, unremarkable, everyday. Being able to kill someone, being skilled at it and proud of the fact was normal. It was only when you thought about it that you realised how wrong it was. Sure, hunting was necessary, but they didn't just learn hunting skills. When two young men practiced together they were training themselves to kill people, men, others of their own species, their own language who had probably once been part of the same tribe.

It got to the stage where every time she saw a sparring couple she would feel sick, unable to stop herself from imagining them killing one another. It added to her wish to get away from them and the trader's suggestion became more and more attractive. Deep down she knew she should go and find some way of using her gift but she terrified. If she went Ami did not know if she would be allowed back into the tribe, or even to see her parents. Everything she knew was in the desert - how would she cope? But then if she didn't go would she always have to live among these warlike people? Would her dislike of them grow greater? Would she ever be able to find someone she could love and settle down, have children, raise them as fighters? She didn't think so. If Ami went could she find some way to help her people, increase her power enough to calm a nation? Aminah didn't know. She didn't even know how her gift worked or how much it could be trained. The other people who had it, Eyashene the trader had called them, knew nothing about or even what they were like. He had said they could help her though, and he had seemed pretty certain. Surely somewhere there was someone who could. She would never find them if she stayed. But what if they never let her come back? The arguments raced across her consciousness, but she could still not pluck up the courage to leave completely.

It came to her third horse fair and still Aminah hadn't left. The girl was eighteen as she and her father reached the city once more. Trying to find some advice on what to do the teenager went to the tavern she had met the trader in, but he was not there. Every evening before dinner she went back, attracting stares and comments from the locals, but he did not return. On the last night of their stay Ami went dejectedly back to her father’s camp and found him waiting for her. Passing her a plate of goat meat covered in a thick reddish sauce he said something she had never in three blue moons expected him to say.

"Go" he ordered gently "Here you are not happy. You will never be content as a wife. Go. A bag is packed for you with food and money for the journey. Take a boat and go to Sarvonia. Many different people live there, maybe one will help you. Go, just promise me one day you'll come back."

His voice was soft and ruffled with sadness plus a little hope and pride. She flung her arms around him, sobbing into his black robes. A mixture of relief and fear was overwhelmed by a rush of love for him, of his acceptance.

"Tell mother I’m sorry" she said simply, then saddled up Jadwa, hugged him again and left.

Weapons
Ami carries a weapon left to her by her mother who was given it as a wedding present, a Kris - a beautifully crafted dagger. The blade is about three quarters of a fore long and wavy, snaking its way from a carved ivory handle to a needle-sharp point. It’s long enough to provide decent protection from a sword, yet small enough to go unnoticed beneath her robes, and more fitting for a woman than a sword.

Belongings
A small horse-hide bag with the hair left on contains the rest of her belongings; some spare clothes; a food knife, which doubles as a second dagger; fire-lighting equipment; a frying pan; a water bottle (also hide); some dried fruit and a little money.

Familiars
Aminah owns a six-year old Azhorhrian mare named Jadwa (meaning gift). She was Ami’s favourite and fastest horse when she lived among her people and so when the young woman left, she took her with her. The horse is black with a tiny patch of white in the centre of her muzzle and a stripe of white in her mane about one and a half palmspans from her withers. Typical of her breed she is pretty intelligent but trusts only those she knows very well and anyone else is often bitten or kicked. Ami and Jadwa share a special bond as they have been together for a number of years. Ami's gift is more reliable when used on Jadwa as she knows the horse so well, but they can often calm each other down just by being together. Ami normally finds the horse's uncomplicated emotions soothing and to Jadwa her owner is the source of food and safety.

Edited by: Kalina Merenwen at: 9/7/06 7:20