Samahazai

[Goeffrey Coward]

Name: Samahazai

Age:27

Race: Shifter (Magpie)

Height: In human form, 5' 8"

Weight: In human form, 138 lbs. in appearance but actually weighs 15 lbs.

Physical Description: Samahazai is quite pale but with a mop of black hair on his head, and upon closer inspection has black-on-black eyes, that is to say, black eyes without whites. This can be hidden with magic but such conscious effort cannot be maintained for longer than an hour. His clothes are similarly either black or white, a black weatherbeaten greatcoat, heavily scuffed black riding boots, and white trousers and a white silk shirt.

He is also fond of jewelry without respect to its worth but more it's brightness. His fingers are covered with silver and bronze rings, and his neck is adorned with many chains that have numerous charms of pagan gods Samahazai has no interest in. He has several gilded armlets, bracelets, and even has anklets jangling in his boots. His nose is pierced "like a bull" as he puts it, with a platinum ringlet hanging between his nostrils.

His face is always thin, bordering on malnourished, and usually expresses the exact halfway-point between malice and childish mischeviousness. His nose is just slightly long and pointed, but otherwise his thick lashes and youthful visage are quite pleasing in a strange way. His build is similarly wasted, but simultaneously wiry, giving the impression that to strike him might be painful.

Posessions: Heaps of jewelry, a relative fortune (for a vagrant) of 100 bishani sewn into hidden seams of his clothing, a switchblade, a small "assassin's medicine cabinet" for preparing poison, his Black Book.

Powers or Strengths: The ability to change from human to magpie (or is it the other way around?) is inborn in him and nearly effortless. He can also change his appearance, although never to something significantly larger or smaller than his human form, and never for more than an hour. Samahazai needs to eat very little. He is extremely nimble and adept at escape, and is never hurt falling from great distances, but floats down like a feather. He can also use magic to break locks, and is a competant poison-brewer. His deadliest weapon, however, is his Black Book. In this book he compiles secrets of anyone of note: this is his true passion, and with it he can reduce a man to shambles. Often he does this to protect himself or occasionally to secure a particularly well-guarded trinket, political machinations have been, thus far, out of his scope.

Weaknesses: Samahazai will only ever win a fight when his opponent is asleep. He is "eccentric" in thought to an extent that he is not always suited for the civilized world. He is aloof and yet desperately lonely, which makes him emotionally vulnerable. He is easily distracted by essentially worthless baubles. Extended disguise fatigues him to the point of unconciousness.

History: Samahazai was born in the Western Empire, in what we would call Turkey, to pious parents. Their horror at his changeling nature caused them to denounce him as a doppleganger left by evil spirits. This had a profound effect on the boy,and ever since he has not thought of himself as a human being. His early resentment toward all other humans led to his creation of the Black Book. Using his power of disguise he revealed all of his fellow villagers' secrets under the mask of their own friends. Eventually the village tore itself apart, and Samahazai had no choice but to move on. He has continued moving, from village to village, sowing chaos and taking what he wants, but still discontent. Now he enters the territory of Thar Shaddin, and the largest city he has ever seen.