Akmal Nassim was born and raised in Niswan, the capital of the Kingdom of Jalmeray. His family owned a small fleet of merchant vessels and from a very early age he was travelling the Inner Sea, learning the business of trade and developing a desire to see (and a taste for) the world far beyond Casmaron. As an adult, he took a job as a trade manager with the Maalolan Trading Company which manages routes much farther north than his family’s business, reaching up into Avistan. Within a few years he was put in charge of the Varisian accounts, and was spending significant time in Korvosa and Magnimar. It was in the former in 4688 that Akmal met his wife, Denea Borellan, a fiercely outspoken and independent Varisian woman and scholar of Chelaxian descent. They were married within a year and not soon after were pregnant with their first and only child, Kali, who was born in the spring of 4690.
For the first few years, the Nassim family maintained residences in both Korvosa and Niswan, traveling frequently as was necessary for Akmal’s work, and Denea used this opportunity to provide much needed research for a Varisian gazatteer on the Inner Sea. In 4694, however, Kali was taken extremely ill during an overland journey with symptoms closely resembling malaria. In an unfortunate accident the bag of holding carrying the medical supplies and potions was pierced and its contents were lost, and it was several days before she could be taken to a suitable cleric for healing. Though the disease was cured, it was not in time to prevent a lasting toll and her growth would be stunted in the years ahead.
After this scare, Denea convinced her husband that a life of frequent travel without a single place to call home was not the best way to raise their daughter. With Denea’s influence and connections in Korvosa, combined with a modest down payment taken from their own savings, Akmal left the Maalolan Trading Company in 4695 to form Nassim Goods with his wife, with the intent of extending the trade of Casmaron goods further north in Varisia as well as bringing a greater share of them to markets in Magnimar. In 4696 they were ready to own their warehouses rather than lease, but Magnimar real estate was too expensive and they turned to the growing community of Sandpoint up the coast where they settled in the fall. Despite this change there would still be travel in their lives, only less of it.
While Kali’s parents had few issues with life in a smaller city as a mixed couple–Akmal had long developed a tolerance for intolerance, and as a Chelaxian Denea did not care what other people thought–Kali herself did not adjust well. She was shorter and slighter than other children her age and even those one or two years younger, her skin much darker than “normal” despite being light for a Vudrani, her accent noticeable even if mild and she did not participate in many games or physical activities with others. This and her growing social awkwardness made her a frequent target for harassment.
Despite being a little withdrawn and introverted, Kali did make several friends and in particular grew close to Ameiko Kaijitsu. As one of the few obvious foreigners in Sandpoint that was close in age Ameiko was arguably the most understanding of Kali’s situation and certainly the most influential. She was also, from Kali’s perspective, everything that Kali was not: confident, strong, attractive, popular and streetwise. When the childhood harassment turned into bullying and violence in her teenage years, it was Ameiko that taught Kali how to watch out for herself, be aware of her surroundings and even to defend herself using her small size to her advantage.
Akmal and Denea were not blind to Kali’s problems. While the extent and magnitude of the bullying was not known, they were aware it was happening and of course could see she was struggling with the other children. Denea did what she could as a mother, but recognized that Kali was reaching an age where too much parental involvement would make matters worse rather than better. There was also a part of her that believed if Kali sorted this out on her own she would be much stronger for it. She would provide Kali with support, for certain, but she would not solve her daughter’s problems for her. Akmal, for his part, tried to teach her some basic defensive skills with a small khopesh, a traditional weapon in Jalmerav, but she did not have the physical strength to wield it properly. Even with smaller blades, when she could manage them she was still easily overpowered. In the end, she learned to shoot a small crossbow–even a standard bow and arrow proved too much for her–despite the fact that it was far from practical as a weapon of self defense. It was, however, better than nothing and when she turned out to be a good shot it seemed to provide a boost to her confidence. Both parents were also reelieved to see that some of her friends, Ameiko in particular, seemed to watch out for her since they clearly could not do so 24 hours a day.
If they knew everything about her later years they would have been more alarmed. Kali, however, was determined to keep as much of it from her parents as she could. The first time she was really hurt was when one of the Theern twins “taught her a lesson” about her place in the world as a dark-skinned foreigner girl, a lesson which ended with a split lip and a deep cut over her eye when her face was slammed to the ground. Kali was so horrified when the Cathedral priest that healed her insisted on talking to her parents that she falsely confessed to starting the fight by baiting the boy and then shoving him. She was ashamed thrice over: once for being so easily beaten, a second time for being forced to air it publicly and a third for lying to cover it all up. That was the last time she turned to the Cathedral. From that point on she relied on Ameiko’s talent for “finding” potions, or visits to Koya if she was at home. Koya was no fool and would consistently lecture her about the importance of talking to her parents, but she could also be trusted to leave it at that. Over time, and with Ameiko’s help, there was less she had to hide but it felt like an eternity getting there.
Just before Kali’s 12th birthday in 4702, Ameiko came to her one evening looking distraught and clearly very, very angry. She explained that she had just had a fight with her brother (Kali had been in Sandpoint long enough to know this history, and knew just enough from her relationship with Ameiko to separate fact from rumor). She did not say what it was about—close as they were, Ameiko rarely talked about her family—or what had transpired, only that she was “finished with Sandpoint and her family” and was making plans to leave. Kali erringly thought this was just bluff and bluster from her friend, and was thoroughly shocked when she learned that Ameiko had run away from home two days later. Ameiko had been her rock, and now Kali felt adrift.
A few months later, Ameiko’s mother died in a freak accident. The details of this were sketchy and rumors abounded but the consensus among the residents of Sandpoint was that she had fallen and broken her neck. Word had gotten to Ameiko, though, and she returned to Sandpoint to attend the funeral. They were out of earshot when the fight between she and her brother started so Kali did not hear what was said, but it was very clear that several years’ worth of family discord had come to a head. Tsuto stormed away. This time, he left town for good, and Ameiko felt trapped: with no other family, someone had to stay home and help care for her father.
As their friendship grew, Kali became acutely aware of how unhappy Ameiko was becoming at home around her father, and was not surprised the night in 4705 when Ameiko announced that she was leaving Sandpoint. Again. Kali knew now to take Ameiko seriously when she spoke like this, and even more so not to try and talk her out of a decision she has so clearly made, but she was still surprised by the circumstances: she and the brothers Alder and Sandru Vhiski had signed on with a small group of adventurers, “looking for fame and fortune” as the saying went, and simply…vanished.
A few years previous losing her friend so suddenly had been devastating, but now? Kali instead stopped to examine her own life. It would not be long before she would officially be an adult. What exactly did that mean? She always identified as Vudrani. She looked Vudrani, felt Vudrani and, frankly, admired her father’s ethnic roots more than her mother’s (not that she did not love her mother, of course, it was just that Cheliax had a foul reputation, and that reputation was in her opinion one that was well-deserved). The problem was that she did not act Vudrani, nor could she see herself living in her father’s homeland. They had visited many times over the years but her Varisian upbringing, combined with her mother’s spirited nature and influence, meant that she could never, ever accept the backwards, misogynist caste system so pervasive in that society. She could be proud of her heritage, yes, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be a part of its present. So her future would have to be here, in Varisia, even though she didn’t really fit in here, either.
She could, of course, work in the family business and her parents would be overjoyed to have her there. She knew enough of how it operated that she could easily learn the business of business on the job, and she absolutely loved the mix of cultures and the travel, except…except, her parents didn’t really travel much any more. They were running the business, not managing or negotiating trades themselves, and it seemed that there was more administration and less travel every year. She increasingly saw Nassim Goods as an anchor weighing her down to Sandpoint for years to come.
Yet, her life seemed to be defaulting in this direction. Early on, her dad taught her to speak Elvish because, like the common tongue, it was widely known and thus very useful in foreign cultures, particularly where common was either not known or simply not spoken because it was seen as demeaning. That merchants specifically valued Elvish as a language was no secret to anyone. Her mother taught her Thassilonian because “that’s what educated, civilized people do”, but Kali knew mom cultivated a niche within Nassim Goods dealing in Thassilonian historical artifacts. Even the family’s personal travel always involved business of some sort, and when she was old enough and mature enough to be included that just became the new routine. It was like they were grooming her to run it, consciously or not, and the older she got and more aware of it she became the less she wanted to be a part of it. But what else was there?
The answer to her question came, as answers often did, from Ameiko: like her friend she needed to carve her own path, and do it on her own terms (later, she would recognize the Chelaxian in this epiphany as well). For as long as she could remember she had let her physical limitations dictate her life, and she had consistently made decisions based on what she couldn’t do. That was backwards. What she could do was something where her physical limits were largely irrelevant, and the next morning she informed her parents that she wanted to study magic.
They were enthusiastic about this change in direction. To Denea, it was not so much a change as it was…well…a direction of any sort, something Kali’s life had been lacking to date. To Akmal, it meant that he could stop worrying about his daughter’s safety. Or at least, he would be able to stop worrying at some point in the near future. And to both, it meant their daughter would be developing skills and talents they could both be proud of. It was not just a challenging and potentially rewarding path, but also a distinguished one. Within a few weeks, her parents were researching schools in Magnimar and found several options for her once she turned eighteen.
Kali was surprised yet again when Ameiko returned the following year. This time, however, their reunion was much, much different: Kali noticed a distance that wasn’t there before. Ameiko had always been guarded about her personal life, particularly where it concerned her family, but this was much different. She did not want to talk about herself and she did not want to talk about what had happened during her time away from Sandpoint or any of her adventures at all. Kali knew better than to press her on the subjects: clearly Ameiko needed some time, and she would talk about these things when she was ready. Except “ready” never came. Instead, Ameiko abruptly purchased an inn with some of the money she had acquired over the past year, ran it personally as her full-time business, all but disowned her father and became even more guarded about her personal life than ever. She was still happy to have Kali as a friend, but it was clear that “close friend” was no longer on the table. Not for Kali and, as near as Kali could tell, not for anyone else, either.
While Kali was preparing for her new studies and getting more excited about her future, Akmal was growing more concerned about his family’s. Sandpoint had seemed to be a wise business decision nearly a decade before but it was starting to look less so now. It was still cheaper to own and operate out of the warehouses and ports here than in Magnimar, even including the caravan transport and insurance charges, but Sandpoint itself seemed to have settled under a dark cloud that nothing could burn away. During the Late Unpleasantness, one of his warehouse workers fell victim to The Chopper leaving behind an uneducated and illiterate wife to raise their three young children. His foreman was killed in the great fire that consumed many of the buildings around the Cathedral. The strange stories told about the young lady Nualia, whom he had seen in town but did not personally know, quickly developed a more sinister tone when it was learned that she had perished in the fire as well but that her remains were nowhere to be found.
In the following years, the occasional goblin nuisance had become frequent enough that it was now an accepted part of life in town. Kali, who had grown up surrounded by all of this oddness, did not bat an eye at ancient magics, goblin raids and rumors of worse, but Akmal and Denea had seen more than enough of the world to know that the pattern of events taking shape in Sandpoint was far from normal. When goblins raided the city on the night of the Swallowtail festival in 4707, two more employees were killed along with some members of their families, and several buildings in town were damaged. That was followed by bizarre murders at the sawmill, and Akmal started to worry about not just about his family’s future but also their collective safety.
Normally, Akmal would dismiss such concerns. He grew up around blades and was capable enough with the khopesh that he was still alive and sporting only a couple of minor scars. And Denea? She and her parents may have been born in Varisia, but they were Chelaxian through and through. He had yet to meet a Chelaxian woman that was uncomfortable around a sword, and Denea’s only hesitation with one would be whether to run it through your left eye or your right. But it was one thing to discourage ambitious thieves, fend off drunken would-be “suitors” and pound the occasional violent thug, and yet another entirely to face a small army of invading…creatures. When giants attacked the town the following year with the help of an enormous dragon, setting much of the town on fire along with many of its residents, Akmal had had enough. Shortly before Kali began her studies in Magnimar, he relocated both his business and his family there as well.
For Kali, life in Magnimar was exhilirating after living so many years in a small city, but she did recognize that it also was more dangerous: she was still a short, young woman with a very slight frame and exotic appearance only now she was of age, and that potentially made her a beacon for every kind of unsavory element that Magnimar had to offer, and Magnimar had a lot to offer. But Ameiko had taught her well: the secrets to survival as a woman were to always be vigilant and, most importantly, to not look like a victim.
The former was easy as it had been literally beaten into her when she was young, but the latter took some careful work on her clothing and overall appearance. For the finishing touch on her new city look, she sold the small khopesh her father had given her years ago…and replaced it with a much, much larger one custom made with a particularly wicked blade. At over two feet in length it looked ridiculously large strapped to her 5’6″ body, but it also looked exceptionally lethal. It didn’t matter that Kali could only posture with it (and just barely, that): it served its purpose as a deterrent and over the next year she never once had to do more than draw it—which is good, because if she actually had to swing the stupid thing the ruse would have been over. In her updated attire she couldn’t quite wander the city with impunity, but she was not restricted to daylight hours in only the safest, most sanitized parts of it, either.
In 4712, as her apprenticeship was coming to an end, she received a letter from Ameiko asking her to come to Sandpoint for a visit. “Think of it as a graduation trip,” she wrote. Kali didn’t have to do so for very long before making the decision to go. Dad would fret, as dad always did, especially since it was Sandpoint (no matter that it had been quiet there for four whole years) but that couldn’t be helped. This was her decision to make, and she missed her friend.
