Tarique is a powerful Sihr sorcerer who founded the Hajj bloodline. In contrast to other Nosferatu, he wears his disfigurements openly and proudly, seeing them as marks of Allah's wrath.
Biography[]
His lineage is uncertain, but he may have been sired by the Matriarch.
Before his rise, Tarique was a Spanish Kindred converted to Islam during its Golden Age. Enamored with the "untouchable" city of Mecca, which was utterly warded against Kindred by the mystic barrier known as the Keening, Tarique ventured to the Arabian Peninsula to gaze upon the holiest of Muslim sites.
It was on the fringes of the Keening that Tarique met his future ally and friend, the Tunisian Gangrel named Zayyat. The two became involved with trying to apprehend Samir, a Malkavian from Al Ussa's brood responsible for fooling the Qarmatians (a heretical Islamic sect) into stealing the sacred Black Stone set within the walls of the Kaaba. The theft silenced the Keening for two decades. During this 20-year-long quiet period, Tarique, with the help of Zayyat, fortified Mecca before any other Ashirra could lay claim to the city, and he began to pray for Allah's guidance. It is rumored that through the help of an Ahl-i-Batin, Tarique created a ritual that lessened the severity of the Keening (outside Mecca and Medina) after the Black Stone was returned. Tarique claimed that henceforth he and his progeny would become Hajj, religious guardians of Islam and stewards of Mecca.
Tarique fought during the crusades against the Western invaders, but soon withdrew from mortal politics after watching the Mongol invasion and the division of Muslims in various sects and confessions, instead focusing on protecting the holy sites. As the centuries passed, Tarique was plagued by nightmares of something ancient reawakening within the heartland of Arabia. Further complications arose in the form of a rapid expansion of European colonialism during the last half of the 19th century.
Tarique realized that the only way to protect the twin holy cities from outside corruption was to build a nation to defend Islam. He, with the help of various other Ashirra elders, lend aid to the Sauds, who later formed the nation that would bear their name: Saudi Arabia. Tarique has again focused on protecting the holy sites, preparing for the unknown threat that he sees in his dreams.
Character Sheet[]