Faruq (فاروق)
Relationships
History
Joining Fabia and Artur was a little tough for Faruq after the first couple of years. They welcomed him and formed a close band, but they had spent 150 years together already and were the first to discover each other which automatically made Faruq a bit of a third wheel. They actually grew closer, especially Artur and Faruq as younger immortals started appearing. Though Faruq greatly welcomed the addition of Geneviève, she was much younger and from two and a half centuries later in history. The relatively quick appearance of Matas also further cemented that Faruq was now one of the older, more experienced figures as he, Fabia and Artur took on the roles of mentors. It also highlighted how much time Faruq had already spent with Artur, the immense of wealth of shared experience which suddenly gained greater value. Because Faruq and Artur are focused on different things (Artur more on combat and the everyday practical, Faruq more on the intellectual side) they compliment each other well and don't feel any rivalry. Both have a devious sense of humor, and enjoy ribbing and cheating each other during games.
History
Faruq was thrilled when they found Geneviève, since he was tired of feeling a bit like a third wheel. Geneviève was also inclined to trust him more than Fabia or Artur at first, since he's more coloured than them and she came from an environment that generally speaking had hostile relations between light and dark skinned people. Although Faruq is gentle and patient, while Geneviève has a sharp tongue and fairly brazen demeanour, they share an immensely kind nature and much of their compatibility stems from this. Faruq spans the roles of both peer and mentor to Geneviève. Since he was happy to find someone else to add to their group and she connected to him first, they quickly became fast friends. Yet the age gap was so enormous and Faruq as a result so much further along, that he was obviously part of the older generation together with Fabia and Artur.
History
Faruq wants to like Matas, especially since Matas has a good deal of interest in literature, but Matas' impatient, prickly, and rather headstrong personality mean he often ends up irritated with him. They still get along well enough, but mostly within the context of the larger group. They will swap and show each other any interesting literature they manage to get their hands on, but regularly disagree during discussions about it. Faruq thinks this is mostly still because of Matas' lack of experience and resulting perspective and feels confident that with time, Matas will start to "get it". He also really hopes Matas will calm down a bit in general as he grows older.
History
When Faruq showed up, it wasn't such a shock for Fabia as with Artur, but there was definitely a realisation of "oh, I'm probably going to end up collecting a bunch of these people". With Artur she had generally taken the lead, but it was Faruq who caused her to set herself up as the leader. It didn't take as long as with Artur, but they were still searching for a year or two before they managed to locate Faruq. Faruq had been relatively lucky with his first few time jumps, ending up in areas where there were significant Mahrim populations and his features didn't stand out. Indeed, some of the delay in finding him was caused by the caution Artur needed to employ in those environments. It was they ended up in 1200s Cologne that they were able to find him. Although Faruq had learned to manage in the previous two years, he was sufficiently lost to immediately accept the offer of help Fabia gave him. She herself stood out enough in Cologne for him to realise that frankly any help she could give him right then was valuable, quite aside from all the other factors. For her part, Fabia was impressed by how relatively well Faruq had been managing on his own so far. His obvious intellect and cunning were clear to see, but it was his kindness and patience that quickly won her affection. She had first set out to find him partly because she was curious (after all, the dreams made it impossible not to wonder about him) and partly because it meant they were now travelling to new times and she needed someone with the knowledge to navigate those. But Faruq not only showed her that there was place enough in her heart for other people, but that they would need her. Despite his intelligence, his luck in the early jumps, how well he had been coping, Faruq was still lost, confused and vulnerable especially in any time or place very different from that of his birth. So instead of setting him on his feet, gathering some information from him and going on their semi-separate ways, Fabia took Faruq under her and Artur's wings. For his part, although Fabia thinks it's some fluke of natural law, like gravity, Faruq is convinced that the universe that does not take them to the same time and place by accident, especially not since the closer they are, the more synchronised their travel is. For a brief time, he almost viewed Fabia as sent by God, she seemed like an angelic guide to his strange new life. Although he has long since realised her humanity, Faruq still has an extremely high regard for Fabia. For Fabia, Faruq's knowledge and interests opening up a entire new dimension of life for them. Although Fabia has always appreciated art, Faruq gave her tools and context to understand it better and its impacts on life and history. He had basic combat skills, but Fabia turned him into a master and he enjoys the strategic element of it, the way it has transformed his body into something he can rely on. Very different from the cheerful camaraderie of Faruq and Artur, Fabia and Faruq's relationship is quieter but a continual exchange of gifts and abilities. Especially as more immortals have joined their group, they have become the masterminds behind most of the complicated plans.
History
(WIP(Research how WWI and the Arab Revolts might have influenced her general perception of Faruq)) Katherine is simultaneously intimidated and comforted by Faruq's calm, self-possessed manner. The breadth and depth of his knowledge, combined with his intelligence and mastery of weapons impress her while his serene, earnest manner yet devious sense of humor often leave her unsure as to where she stands with him. Faruq is letting her take her time - he took the edge of his sense of humor for the first six months, careful not to startle her too much at first. He has no problem that she still needs to figure out how to approach him, but continues to try and guide her. He doesn't think it will take many years for them to figure out and is willing to wait rather than push her just yet. Faruq is eager to teach her and Katherine has so much still to learn, but he occasionally has difficulty persuading her to attend. Although from a reasonably wealthy family, in many ways her education was very narrow. She's still very inclined to immediately ask "but what good does this do?", she hasn't learned to relax into curiosity or had much opportunity to experience the advantages of a broad accumulation of knowledge. On his side, Faruq hasn't yet figured what is most likely to appeal to Katherine's interests and abilities and should therefore become their focus. Fabia often pairs Katherine with Faruq now if she has to choose between Artur and Faruq, since Katherine is still so tense and Faruq puts more emphasis on remaining relaxed and only using tension at the necessary moment, whereas Artur is more high energy.
History
Faruq, somewhat to his own shame, is thrilled by Helena's facility to pick up a new language thanks to her age. Helena doesn't yet understand why being able to pick up new languages is so interesting to Faruq, but she likes the attention and is happy to help as long as attention span lasts. Faruq enjoys Helena's cheerfulness. He is occasionally prone to melancholy, and it makes him smile to see her running around the place. Helena quite likes Faruq, the attention he gives her and most of the games he comes up with for her (although most of them are just adapted things, with a few games remembered from childhood).
Comments