Aisha min Iram (Ah-yee-sha min eh-ram)
Aisha Min Iram (a.k.a. The Shield of Ahes)
Physical Description
Body Features
Aisha has smooth caramel skin until her waist, where her orange-scaled fishtail begins. Her tail spreads out in a wide half-circle shape with a central spine dividing two fins.
Facial Features
Aisha has a heart-shaped face with pleasant features, with orange fin-like ears with yellow webbing. Her light brown hair is worn in long dreadlocks past her shoulders.
Apparel & Accessories
Aisha typically wears loose, flowing silks of orange byssus and alchemically treated golden crystalsilk. She often dresses in the light and breezy fashions of Ubar when not wearing her armor, a simple breastplate and pauldron combination.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Aisha was born to a family of spice merchants in the urban oasis of Iram of the Pillars. In the market, Aisha watched the Caliph's guards drilling from a spot overlooking the sunken courtyard. She soon found an opening when invited by some bored soldiers to drill with them, proving adept at sword and bow, handily defeating all the other new recruits. With her parents permission, she joined the city guard and received formal training.
After becoming a full member of the watch, she grew bored with the mundane patrols against pickpockets and the palace intrigue of Iram, and set out to see the world, becoming a caravan guard, then attaching herself to a sequence of merchants and warlords. Here, she found more of the same as the city. For every brigand she apprehended, two more would dine at her masters table. Ghul, rogue Djinn and other creatures attacked caravans and villages with reckless abandon, ignored by the wealthy in their brick-walled oasis fortresses. Sickened by the corruption of Ubar, she left for Pharos.
Joining the Urzh Kroashent
While en route to Pharos, Aisha reached the port of Ocina, in the Kingdoms of Outremer, held by Tolosa at the time. Outside the city walls, she witnessed an attack by a pack of Ghul on an outlying settlement. While the soldiers of both her Ubarite caravan and the Tolosan watch fled, she watched as the white clad Knights of the Crossroads road in, armor shining in the desert sun, defeating the ghul and rescuing any, regardless of their faith. Impressed, Aisha traveled with the knights back to Ocina, and, after er contract in Pharos was complete, returned to join the Order. In need of good fighters and unwilling to let such an opportunity slip by, the knights welcomed her with open arms. Aisha quickly found a home in the Red Commandery, seeking a direct combat role rather than an administrative or logistical one. Her heritage made her an ideal candidate to assist in the oversight of Outremer and the Mor Kreizdouar. She was assigned to the island fortress of Maleth, directing her efforts against the pirate fleets of Slaver's Coast and the engulfers that swam the waters of the sea.Meeting Kathalia
On Maleth, Aisha received word of an Akitainian pirate ship, the Errant Knife attacking ships crossing The Gates of Ruin, a crucial channel connecting the inland sea with the Mor Bras. She set out in a windship, finding the vessel floundering in a Wyldstorm. As her own vessel moved in, she was shocked to see fighting on the deck as a slave revolt seized control of the Errant Knife. By the time she had boarded the vessel, the pirates had already surrendered. Aisha was brought before the new "kabiten" and leader of the revolt, a kidnapped Lethan noblewoman with fiery red hair named Kathalia Bisclavret. Impressed by the girl's skill, Aisha tasked her with sailing the Errant Knife into Aleth. The pair made their way across the sea, battling monsters stirred up by the magical storm. When they entered the Grand Harbor of Maleth, Aisha offered Kathalia the chance to join the Order. Kathalia jumped at the chance without hesitation. The Lethan warrior excelled, rising through the ranks quickly to become and under-marshal of her own division, taking part in operations along Slaver's Coast. The admiration and infatuation between the two blossomed into a friendship and then a romantic relationship, and the pair shared an apartment overlooking Triq Il-Merkanti, the main road through the harbor town of Marsa. When a war arose between Outremer and Ubar, the Red, White, Yellow and Green Commanderies of the Order were mobilized, joining with the military powers of Kornôgel and Outremer. Aisha was reluctant to besiege her home, but accompanied the Order to attempt to moderate the attacker's approach. She refused to fight, and was placed in charge of overseeing medical operations. A force of Ghul and Shaitan Djinn, drawn to the chaos, appeared from the Shifting Sands, attacking both sides. Aisha was instrumental in securing a truce between the Order and the City, and the unified force managed to turn back the unworldly threat. In the camp, Aisha was celebrated as a hero, but grumblings among the commanders of the other armies, seeing the jeweled city snatched from their grasp, spelled the beginnings of doom for the Order.
The Black Crown Affair
The outcome of the Siege of Iram and a growing schism within The Southern Church allowed the political enemies of the Order, jealous of its wealth and autonomy, to begin plotting against it. Primary among these was King Philippe Le Bel, of Gallia. Phillipe was deeply indebted to the Order as a result of the War of the Golden Spurs, a disastrously expensive campaign in the Cloth Cities and his treasury was all but empty. The Order had operated free of royal control and taxation, a powerful entity rivaling the Gallian state within its borders. Having secured, by force and politics, the allegiance of a weakened Patriarch in Avinhon, and several other leaders, a plan was set in motion. Philippe held a banquet for the visiting Grand Master and Order leadership returning from Iram in Per-Ys, where the Order was based. Aisha and Kathalia, heroes of the battle, both accompanied him as honor guard. As the King moved to raise a toast, his trap was sprung, soldiers flowing into the building to arrest the guests. Sealed envelopes across Bedouar were opened, resulting in similar actions by royal agents and ecclesiastic forces, seizing control of Order assets, arresting or killing members in a carefully orchestrated purge. Sham trials were held, accusing the Knights of a series of crimes ranging from embezzlement and extortion to idolatry and devil-worship. The Order was excommunicated and declared outlaws, the leadership burned at the stake, all legal defenses prohibited by Royal and Patriarchal writ. Within a few weeks, the most powerful organization in Bedouar was destroyed, its survivors scattered. Kathalia and Aisha had slipped out of the banquet and the royal complex together prior to the toast, but found themselves the target of patrols of Phillipe's men. They fled to the Chat Noir, a Paolig clowder in the Montsang District, where they hid for three days, slowly learning what had unfolded. At Kathalia's insistence, they hijacked a prison wagon carrying their unit and fled Westward towards Letha. Hounded at every turn, they had become outlaws, the stress of the ordeal weighing heavily on Kathalia. Driven to desperation, the pair stole a boat, hoping to sail around The Armorican Peninsula to find refuge with Kathalia's Father. They would never reach their destination. Despite Aisha's best efforts, Kathalia spiraled into depression and self doubt, the death of her squire Disheol sending her into a dark place. She locked herself in the kabiten's cabin, where dark whispers began to offer her power to change her fate. Kathalia and Aisha's relationship strained to the breaking point. Aisha learned of the dark forces surrounding Kathalia from Ahes Dahut, but, as a Royal fleet closed in on the floundering ship, she was too late. Kathalia had given in to the darkness and unleashed her rage in a brutal attack, unaware of friend or foe. As Aisha rushed to her, Kathalia stabbed her in the gut, leaving Aisha to stumble overboard into the churning sea. Ahes came to her rescue, but only The Oceansong would save her life. Aisha was transformed into a Marie-Morgane as the ships burned on the surface.Daughter of Ys
Kathalia's betrayal and the entire stress of The Black Crown Affair, caused Aisha to fall into a depression, living in the transitionary caverns of the Wade outside of Ys-Beneath-the-Waves. Bitter and angry, Aisha lashed out at those around her, and plotted her revenge on the woman who betrayed her. As she acclimated, she took solace in the simplicity of her combat forms. Impressing the others, Aisha found new purpose as the leader of the Beg-Sabrenn, the military forces of the Beacon City, a relief to the prior leader, Yannic Corentin, who gleefully took the demotion and the battles that came with it.Sexuality
Aisha is a lesbian, exclusively preferring the romantic company of other women.
Employment
Aisha is the leader of the Beg-Sabrenn, the military force of Ys-Beneath-the-Waves, tasked with defending the city and conducting raids on the surface. Aisha has excelled at this task, with drilling and administrative reorganization that brought the ragtag army of Viking Yannic Corentin into a more modern age.
During her leadership, Aisha has led the Marie-Morgane to fortify and totally secure the three Hills, and make unprecedented pushes into the lower wards and even the seawalls. She has conducted effective surface raids against surface vessels, storm-tossed coastal settlements and even the most direct incursions into the rivers since the Odet Raids. Aisha has received the moniker of the "Scourge of the Sky Thieves", being the first of the Marie-Morgane to successfully down a Windship, long considered an impossible feat.
Mental Trauma
The Black Crown Affair and Kathalia's betrayal are still raw wounds for Aisha, and cause her a great deal of mental trauma, including periods of moodiness, flashbacks and nightmares.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Aisha is driven by a strong sense of social and personal justice. Her fight against corruption that brought her to fight pirates and slavers with the Urzh Kroashent has found a home in the like-minded Marie-Morgane, whom she leads into battle.
Social
Religious Views
Aisha is, and has remained, a dedicated follower of Kanisat Alaliha, the primary religion of Ubar. She maintained her faith and practice throughout her time with both the Urzh Kroashent and the Marie-Morgane. One of the exceptionally small population of Marie-Morgane living in Ys who follow the Silver Goddess, she keeps her faith simply and privately. Aisha does not consider herself particularly devout, holy or knowledgeable about the complex workings of Kanisat Alaliha's theology or dogma, but her fame and notoriety among the Marie-Morgane has resulted in her becoming an unintentional anchor point for the small community of other followers from the Southern Continent, largely freed slaves and uneducated sailors, seeking some connection to their past lives and faith.
Aisha's reputation as an educated follower of Kanisat Alaliha, has also made her a favourite of the self-styled "Perfect of Ys", the cleric Ailinor, who has made herself a frequent guest of Aisha's little house, eager to engage with theological and philosophical discussions and debates with Aisha, Akiko and Rozenn. The actual discussions tend to be between Ailinor and the Druid, while Aisha and Akiko discuss their travels and swap recipes they've picked up on their journeys.
Social Aptitude
Aisha presents herself with control and confidence, a natural leader who can bring the best out of her subordinates. She typically takes a measured, but not harsh tone. Despite her poise, she is actually quite adventerous.
Speech
Aisha speaks in measured tones of an upper-class soldier, a result of her own wealthy upbringing and her formal language education while moving Westward across the Mor Kreizdoaur. She often uses over formal language and is often unfamiliar with slang and regional colloquialisms.
Relationships
History
Ahes allied with Aisha against the Red Knight, but failed to prevent Kathalia's corruption. When Aisha was thrown into the sea, it was Ahes who rescued the Paladin, turning her into a Marie-Morgane and forming a unique connection between the pair. After a long period of mourning and adjustment in the Wade, Aisha swore allegiance to Ahes in a modified Springtide ceremony, taking the form of a knighting ceremony. Aisha has become one of Ahes' most devoted champions.
Shared Secrets
The scent of cinnamon reminds Kathalia of Aisha
History
Along with Ailinor and Rozenn, Akiko and Aisha are members of a philosophical debate circle that regularly meets in Akiko's tea shop.
Wealth & Financial state
Aisha is used to a spartan living standard, formed from a lifetime as a traveling soldier, with only a brief dalliance with settling down while in Maleth. As a Marie-Morgane, Aisha lived in the barracks of the Beg-Sabrenn on Palace Hill until recently as she came to realize that her life of constant motion has come to an end and that Ys is her home.
To that end, she has moved in to one of the smaller derelict houses on the Garden Hill, slowly refurbishing and reconstructing it from a ruin into a home. While Aisha comes to terms with the seismic change in life circumstances and tries to determine who she is, she still has relatively few possessions, leading her visitors to note how empty her house looks. As a result, many bring her small gifts to liven the place up a bit, leading to an eclectic collection of esoterica.
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Kabiten of the Caballos Beg-Sabrenn
Scourge of the Sky-Thieves
Year of Birth
1184 SI
55 Years old
Birthplace
Iram of the Pillars
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Pronouns
She/Her
Sex
Female
Gender
Female
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
Light Brown
Hair
Dark brown, braided in dreadlocks
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Smooth Caramel
Aligned Organization
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