Miriam El-Suufi
Born: 1975, in Luxor.
Miriam was raised by moderately religious parents and
married to a
distant cousin, Namir, shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Miriam
was an
obedient girl who loved her family, so she took the arranged marriage
in stride.
Despite
Namir’s prospects in business, he made some bad decisions and he and
Miriam
were in financial difficulty within two years of their marriage. Stress
between
them was further aggravated by their lack of children. During this
period of
stress, Namir consoled himself with religion and, within a short time,
went from
being a reasonably moderate practitioner of Islam to a dedicated
conservative.
The spiritual grounding he obtained with his newly-found religious
fervor gave
him the confidence he needed to reverse his bad fortune and he began to
prosper.
However, the
strictly
constrained life that Namir demanded Miriam heed was stifling to her.
As
Namir’s personal and spiritual fortunes grew, his marriage became even
more
strained and eventually collapsed. Namir arbitrarily put Miriam aside
during
their fifth year of marriage, claiming that she was insufficiently
religious and
barren, to boot.
Although Miriam
received
her dowry back from Namir, as tradition demanded, he refused to pay her
the
usual alimony that would support her until remarriage. Miriam’s family
had
moved to Cairo, seeking better work and they were reluctant to accept
her,
believing that her apparent infertility would make it impossible to
find her a
second husband. Miriam was left at a loose – and vulnerable – end in
Luxor.
Handled carefully, Miriam’s dowry would support her for a few months,
but she
didn’t know where to turn next.
Finally,
fate
smiled upon Miriam and she was stumbled across – literally – by Yemena,
a
member of the Cult of Isis who had recently arrived in Luxor. The pair
became
acquainted and Yemena offered Miriam an escape from her precarious
situation. As
an adherent of the netjer, Yemena didn’t believe in coincidence
and she
knew that Miriam had been placed in her path for a reason.
Miriam was
introduced to
the Cult of Isis in early 1998 and quickly became a part of the
mystical
organization. For the past year, the cult had been receiving signs that
Osiris
was about to break his long silence and that something drastic
was about
to happen in the Du’at. No-one even conceived the horrific destruction
when it
occurred on the eve of the millennium and the cult mourned the loss of
the
Du’at’s stronghold and denizens.
But now Osiris
spoke
again, telling the slowly reviving cult that they had new duties to
perform with
the creation of a new Spell of Life. This sense of purpose invigorated
everyone
and saved them from despair – Miriam included.
It was realized
that
Miriam had a latent – and slight – talent for prophecy, usually in the
form
of precognitive dreams, or sometimes a brief vision. These visions were
often
difficult to interpret, as they always called up heavy symbolism or
strange
metaphor but, once interpreted it became apparent that Miriam was
sensing the
presence of newly arisen tem-akh in need of assistance. Several amulets
were
crafted to help focus and refine Miriam’s talent. By far, the most
important
item she possesses is a pendulum of ancient faience that can help
pinpoint the
physical location of the stranded hajjrite (details below).
Miriam underwent a crash course in
languages, cultural studies and divination as she realized that her new
duties
would take her across the world. In order to obtain funding for this
travel, she
has made an arrangement with the Ashukhi Corporation, who are happy to
assist
her, providing they are kept fully informed as to her activity. A
year’s
intense study and some carefully-placed publications has created a
slight
reputation for Miriam as a lecturer on ancient Egyptian theology, and
that is
the core of her ‘cover’ as she moves across the globe.
Given that her
strongest
second language is English – with French far behind – Miriam’s
activities
are most often contained to North America, Australia and Britain.
Should she
receive directions telling her to go elsewhere, she will arrange to
travel with
a fellow Cultist or employee of Ashukhi who can assist her.
So far, she has located and
assisted three newly-arisen tem-akh and brought them back to
the Web of
Faith. The Cult of Isis has been rather disappointed that only one of
those
three has chosen to remain within their ranks – although they certainly
didn’t miss the Sefekhi – but they realize that any success is
something to
celebrate.
As time passes, Miriam is building
up a small but significant network of contacts within Egyptology
academia. Given
the confusion that often overcomes newly arisen tem-akh, they
are often
drawn to significant Egyptological collections – although precisely how
they
know where they are going baffles Miriam profoundly. So, Miriam keeps
in touch
with the curators of those collections (most notably in Chicago,
London, New
York City and San Jose) with a standing request that they should call
her if
some particularly unusual – or violent – visitors come to town. Miriam
believes – and hopes – that over time, such networking will be a more
direct
way of locating the lost tem-akh, rather than relying on her
often cloudy
visions.
A key thing with this
character is that she is an ordinary human. She has no special
abilities, beyond
her rather unexpected and uncontrolled one of prophecy,
and even that is strictly limited to matters concerning
the Amenti. As a
human in the World of Darkness, Miriam is extremely fragile, but also
very
humane and culturally flexible.
Miriam is
extremely
dedicated to the Cult of Isis – although she shies away from
fanaticism. The
maternal, protective philosophy of the Cult suits Miriam down to the
ground,
although it doesn’t quite make up for her lack of a one-on-one
emotional
relationship and family. While she doesn’t miss Namir at all, she can’t
help
feeling incomplete without a family to call her own – beyond the family
of the
Cult itself, that is.
Approximately a year ago,
Miriam encountered one of the garou, a Silent Strider named
Kumla
Storyseeker. A newly arisen tem-akh in Chicago that Miriam was
following
had been mistaken for a lost cub by Kumla. Fortunately, the confusion
was
quickly cleared up and Kumla – living up to her name of Storyseeker –
eagerly listened to anything Miriam was willing to say about her order
and her
tasks. In return of which, Kumla told Miriam a little about her own
kind, and
both of them parted ways very satisfied by their encounter. Miriam
still has
Kumla’s phone number somewhere, but – given
the transitory ways of both herself and the Silent
Striders – she
doubts she will ever cross Kumla’s path again.
Special Notes
Prophecy – this
is entirely under the GM’s
control and should be used sparingly. Most often, a vision will come to
her in a
dream. Imagine Cordelia’s “visions” in Angel, but add a layer
of
heavy symbolism and magickal weirdness, which makes them that much
harder to
interpret. A sign can range from the sight of Horus pointing north with
a staff
of alder in his hands, to a range of hills with a river of blood
running between
them. Deciphering the symbols in these visions requires a roll of
Perception
plus Enigmas, usual difficulty of eight.
If
the
GM wishes to be mean, feel free to hit Miriam with the ‘blinding
headache’
flaw right out of Angel, too – or some other side-effect of prophecy.
So-called
‘mind altering’ drugs may enhance the effects of prophecy or provoke
visions, but that is left entirely to the GM. Miriam has not
experimented with
such things, although one of the more senior priests (who hails from a
background of African shamanism) is thinking of suggesting it to her…
The Pendulum
of Thoth - this is an amulet crafted
by one of the Amenti who realized
his duty to help find his lost brethren. It is a pendulum of ancient
faience dangling from a cord of flax. It
is used in the classical divinatory way by being swung over a map of
any scale.
It requires a skilled interpreter to sense the subtle changes in the
pendulum’s arc to determine to where it is being drawn. Generally, the
smaller
the scale of the map (a city map, rather than a country-wide one, for
example)
the greater the pendulum’s wobble and the easier it is to interpret.
The amulet has
one health
level and if it should be destroyed, it cannot be repaired. To use, the
wielder
must be entirely focused on the task (heavily modify difficulty for
distractions) and, of course, have a map to hand for casting. Even a
crude
hand-drawn map will suffice, although interpretation will be more
difficult.
Roll Perception plus Fortune-telling, difficulty determined by the
scale of the
map. A world map/atlas would be difficulty ten. A finely detailed map
of a small
town, or an architect’s map of a few city blocks would be difficulty
seven, or
less. A botch will send the wielder off in the wrong direction entirely.
Character Stats
Mental Attributes are
primary, as are Knowledges, followed
by Social Attributes and Skills. Strong background in Contacts –
although they
are all of the same stripe: Egyptologists and curators of collections
of Ancient
Egyptian Artifacts.
Moderate Resources –
her income is provided entirely by
the Ashukhi Corporation, particularly once she has identified a newly
arisen tem-akh
to be brought to the Web of Faith. Otherwise, she has enough to cover
rental
cars and a modest hotel when she travels. Sometimes she will sell
articles to
historical and academic journals – always on the subject of Kemetic
theology.
Very high Willpower – 8
or 9. She needs that to cope with
the sight of the walking corpse that is the tem-akh before it
undergoes
the Spell of Life.
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