Name: Hassan Qureshi
Age: 21
Height/Weight: 6’4”, 195 lbs.
Race: T’sarae
Appearance: Hassan is tall and thin, as well-muscled as an Inquisitor should be but with an emphasis towards lean mass. His skin is tanned (moreso than in the image – good art of non-white steampunk characters is hard to find), befitting his heritage, and his black hair and beard are kept closely trimmed. His face is almost never without its characteristic smirk, his eyes always glinting as though at some joke he hasn’t told yet.
As far as clothing is concerned, Varyan inquisitors wear a black form-fitting coat, with light armour covering the shoulders and chest. Smaller armoured pieces are worn over the wrists and boots. There is subtle red stitching lining the cuffs and outer flaps of the Inquisitor's black coat. Lastly, the symbol of Lord Varya, a red phoenix, adorns the breastplate. Males and females wear the same uniform.
Personality: From an outside perspective, Hassan is best described as a bit of a goofball – he’s quick-witted and friendly, always cracking a joke for his friends or playing a prank on those who annoy him. He’s almost incapable of taking anything seriously, a tendency that caused him a great deal of trouble in the Red Seminary. He exudes an aura of casualness and ease in almost any situation, and he has a confidence in his own abilities that borders on an ego problem. He prefers not to trouble himself with matters of deep religious thought, paying adequate respect to his god with no particular devotion or zeal, though that has not stopped him half-jokingly titling himself ‘The Word of God’.
Of course, all of that is something of a veneer. Underneath it, Hassan is a troubled person, deeply frightened of his own coldness and desperate to be the master of his own destiny. His casualness is born from a feeling that he is in control of any situation he enters into, and nothing makes him more unsettled than feeling that control taken away. He fears his fellow ether-manipulators due to his lack of power over them, yet at the same time he feels desperately a need for their companionship and approval due to his severe difficulty empathizing with anyone else – he relies on his powers totally in any interaction with anyone who can be affected by them in a way that makes it very difficult for him to have inter-personal relationships, which of course has resulted in him largely avoiding such interactions when possible. He’s funny, he’s charming, he’s always thinking, and yet he has a lot of trouble interfacing with a world that will not simply Do As He Says, and he knows it.
Background: Hassan was born the only son of two naturalized T’saraeni, scientists who had risen far in the government of Varya through their contributions to military technology – it was his father that designed the modern iteration of tanks used by the Varyan military, the armored backbone of the nation’s warmachine.
It was only natural that his etheric abilities would be noticed before long, with his family’s close proximity to the seat of power – especially because, as a child, the young Hassan quickly found himself with more power than he could handle. Upon the first manifestation of his abilities, he spent about half a day tyrannizing the Varyan palace’s kitchen staff before a squad of priests broke down the barricade he had ordered put up and pulled the child kicking and screaming away from his pile of pastries. From that moment on, he was identified as a great asset to the priesthood and taught to master his gifts in the Red Seminary, despite his attitude problems.
Hassan has long since lost count of the amount of times he nearly died during training, for a bewildering variety of reasons. Eventually, he learned to be compliant with his instructors, if not exactly a model student, and persevered through the training thanks to his cunning, his reflexes, and, of course, his powers.
Talents/Ethereal Abilities:
The Word: Hassan can imbue his voice with etheric energy in a way that affects the mind of anyone who hears it. Commands must be obeyed, from the simple such as ‘sit down’, to the complex such as ‘lead us to your hideout, unlock the door, and don’t tell anyone we’re coming’ – though of course instructions with multiple steps or which will need to last a long time eat up his ether reserves fast, so on the whole he greatly prefers being concise. Questions must be answered immediately and honestly to the best of the answerer’s ability. This power is inelegant, however, and as a result it’s quite easy for anyone skilled in etheric manipulation to counter it – oftentimes, they won’t even realize that they’re doing it.
Infiltrator: For the most part, Hassan relies heavily on his powers in the line of duty – however, he has also received a good deal of training in the arts of stealth over the course of the Red Seminary, from how to quietly enter a fortified location to slipping through a city street or a dark night without being seen. In combat, he prefers to use either his compact officer’s pistol or one of the several short knives he keeps on his person, though he absolutely detests fighting fair and will try to gain an advantage by any means necessary.
Personal Seal: A yellow symbol from the ancient T’saeran language on a white background:
قول, meaning ‘word’.
Character Relationships: Once the cast is chosen, we're going to collaborate on creating the shared histories between the different people of our group. Your characters can be anything from friends, enemies, lovers, ect. Remember, you've all spent your time years training in the Red Seminary together and have suffered and bled throughout your time there, so your relationships must be forged of your experiences during that time together.
