Moniker: Al-Sahira (the Witch)
Age: 28
Height: 5'5
Origin: Anauroch
Ethnicity: Bedine
Deity: Selune (She refers to her as 'Elah')
Other Details:
Alignment: True Neutral
Class: Bard/Rogue
Occupation: Sword-for-Hire, Lockpicker, Vagrant
Personality:
Background:A woman of few words. She rarely starts conversation, and ends them quickly and to the point as possible. Has a cold and distant temperament, and prefers keeping people at arm's reach. In the same vein, she is slow to trust, and slower still to make friends. She is averse to idealism, but at the same time, hates tradition she deems backwards - her overall views are somewhat nihilistic in nature. She deeply distrusts magic from others, moreso if they are men - she doesn't allow the other sex to even touch her. Her veil is a fixture on her face: attempting to mess with this (as well as her aversion to male touch) would be a surefire way to provoke a violent reaction from her.
Being born in the sands of the great Anauroch desert, struggling for survival was a fact of life for the young Akasha. Between the constant clashes with the Zhentarim, the beast tribes, and even fellow Bedine, her tribe fought constant battles on multiple fronts. Good fortune meant being able to stay in one place for a week or so - often enough they would be sent running, sometimes not even able to bury the ones who stayed to allow their escape. This very act was what eventually claimed the life of her husband, as they ran away from an invasion of Gnolls. Her daughter followed soon after, withering in her arms as the tribe suffered one of their worst droughts at one time.
The vicious cycle drained the tribe of able-bodied men over the years, and despite the Bedine woman's traditional role in their society, their tribe was forced to train their wives and daughters in the ways of war, Akasha included. But even then, it was a struggle strewn with constant defeats and very few victories in between - the young woman knew that they were headed towards oblivion if they stayed the course.
She eventually finds the solution among an outcast's belongings: scrolls and books, telling of an arcane art that draws power from the very hearts of men. It wasn't a brand of magic based on study, but on instinct and a spark of the Art not available to most. Fortunately, Akasha found that exact talent in her, and would secretly train herself in the ways of bardic magic.
But alas, what she thought to be her tribe's salvation turned to be her undoing. She was caught practicing magic, and brought before the sheik and the elders, her justifications fell on deaf ears. Without a second thought, the Bedine lost what little ties she has left of anyone and anything, turning her into the wanderer she is arriving at Baldur's Gate.