Najjda Bantu

Najjda Bantu was the Celestial Chorus' representative to the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions prior to the War in Heaven and the Avatar Storm.

Biography
As a child, Najjda learned the ways of Bau-Hatt, the sun goddess who made crops prosper and healed the sick. When the turbaned killers came, she prayed to Bau-Hatt to spare her village. Those prayers went unheeded, and Najjda was taken as a slave to Port Royal, Jamaica. There, she served as a drudge, a tavern girl, then a housekeeper. One night, Bau-Hatt came to her and imbued her with the strength to blast her master's house to splinters. Since then, that power has grown, tended by the wise young woman Najjda has become.

In time, she journeyed to Horizon, and quickly won a place assisting the former Celestial Representative, Father deGama. She soon quit in disgust and later went on to help other slaves escape their masters. Despite her hard life, Najjda remained a caring and disciplined woman, rarely giving in to hate even under the worst conditions. Even so, she was, and remains, a capable warrior when circumstances demand war.

After the Ahl-i-Batin left the Council in the 1920s, Najjda's allies convinced her to return to Horizon. She has been a fixture on the Council ever since, and won the seat itself after deGama's death in 1944. Over 300 years old, she retains her vigor and transforms into animals to watch over her chosen people. The turmoils in her central African homeland, however, have wounded her spirit. She has brought rain and purged sicknesses on more than one occasion, but realizes that her battle cannot be won alone.

Appearance
Najjda is a West African woman, roughly 5'3" and 140 lbs.. Though centuries old, she only seems 70 or so. She wears a lip ring, a red and white beaded necklace and atching bracelet, and her gray hair pulled back in tight, beaded braids. Her full-length white robe has been dyed with red geometric patterns, and her self-confident, confrontational manner hides a wealth of empathy for the suffering.