Khadija Al-Kindi is a Banu Haqim residing in the Chicago area. Used to immediately entering the most elite circles of any city she visits, she feels that as the Ashirra and the Camarilla are coming together in alliance, she should take a role in the affairs of her new home.
Biography[]
| “ | So many of your ancients have made their way to the Middle East, to my homeland. It’s only sensible for the Ashirra to send a representative in return. | ” |
Mortal Days[]
Born an orphan on the streets of Baghdad in the early decades of the 19th century , Khadija started life as a beggar. She thrived because of her quick fingers and innocent face, graduating to running errands and acting as a lookout for criminals. By the time she was 12, she was part of a smuggling ring, eventually coming to live in Alexandria, Egypt.
After she entered undeath, Khadija reflected on the fact that so many Kindred had a similar background. They had lifted themselves from poverty and created masks of respectability to live among the well-to-do. The skills acquired during such a life were extremely useful in surviving the first years of undeath.
In Khadija’s case, the establishment of the British colonial system in the Egypt modernized by Mohammad Ali provided many opportunities to those capable of self-invention. She married three times, each husband lost to the vagaries of a criminal lifestyle. She had five children, three of whom made it to adulthood. All the while, she worked to run a clandestine trade network moving contraband across the Mediterranean.
In her later years, Khadija settled down in Alexandria under a new identity as a member of the Egyptian elite, facilitated by her third husband, a British colonial officer. She’d worked hard to create a good life and intended to enjoy it.
Kindred Nights[]
Khadija was in her late 50s at the time of her Embrace. Her sire was a fairly recent Embrace himself and brought her into the night for love. He saw that she was on the cusp of old age and wanted her to live forever, the Hunger be damned.
As these stories so often go, the relationship between sire and childe didn’t last much longer than it took for Khadija to acclimatize to her new condition. After she realized that counting from human birth, her sire was younger than she was, she abandoned him and set out to create an unlife for herself in the Ashirra courts of the Middle East.
As the 20th century progressed, Khadija served in various roles in different courts of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Her preference was the role of an emissary or a representative, because it allowed her to travel and participate in the making of history.
In the long term, the Embrace made Khadija’s journey from street urchin to privileged elite complete. Being undead removed the last barriers set before her, those created by living in a conservative society as a woman. As a supernatural creature of the night, she had the power of the blood to assert her will and in Ashirra society, most understood long ago that discounting Kindred because of their gender was the youthful folly of those still clinging to their human lives.
Tonight, Khadija is a favored emissary of the Ashirra with access to the immense financial backing of the sect. She’s able to travel despite the threat of the Second Inquisition because of her access to the travel infrastructure of the ultra-rich. When she arrives in Chicago on the private plane of a member of Dubai’s ruling family, no customs officer will check her travel coffin.
Appearence[]
Khadija is a weathered, hard woman in her late fifties, with a demeanor that suggests everything will be perfectly pleasant—as long as things happen exactly as she wants them to. Despite her decades of luxurious life, the mark of a hard existence can still be seen in the lines of her face. There is nothing soft about her. Khadija dresses like a wealthy older woman of the international moneyed set. She prefers simplicity and neutral colors with minimal jewelry. At a glance, she could be mistaken for a member of the exiled court of the Shah of Iran.
Character Sheet[]
Backgrounds Sheet[]
Reginald Ashton (Resources 2, Retainer 2). Reginald Ashton, Khadija’s third husband from her mortal days, still serves her as a ghoul, although their marital relationship faded away a century ago. He’s a 19th-century British diplomat who will die of old age the second his source of vitae dries up. Driven to exhaustion by the endless humiliations of being a blood junkie, he’s quietly looking for an exit despite the Blood Bond.
Shumaila Hamidi (Contacts 1). Hamidi is a cellist and a rising star in the Chicago classical music scene. Khadija saw her perform at a reception held by the office of the mayor of Chicago and latched onto her somewhat arbitrarily. She’s showered Hamidi with gifts and sought to establish a connection with her, but her efforts falter because Hamidi thinks she’s a creep.
References[]
- VTM: Chicago by Night 5th Edition, p. 80-82
