Khaled Mahlajai
Hidden: show
Birth Place & Date: Calimport, 16 Deepwinter 1318 DR
Home Regions Prior to Arriving in Baldur's Gate: Moonsea (1348-current)
Appearance:
Race: Human
Age: 32
Height 6'1"
Weight/Build: Lean and muscular, built for speed and combat without excess bulk
Eyes: Emerald-Green
Hair: Jet black and long, braided into many tight, small braids to either hang free or be further tied behind his head and out of the way. Facial hair is dark, short, and well-kept.
Skin: Tan and free of any major scars, blemishes, or deformities.
Scent: Generally smells like Highwater Ale (his favorite drink) and a hint of burnt lamp oil.
Health & Hygiene: Good health; as clean as possible under the circumstances - bathing daily when in a city, town, or near a river.
Accent: Calimshan, with just a slight hint of the gruffness of the Moonsea region
Piercings: Several small studs and narrow loops of gold and silver along both ears; a small golden stud through his left nostril; a narrow silver stud through his right eyebrow; a single silver stud in his tongue. Each piercing is decorative and for vanity purposes, small enough to not be a hazard in combat, the jewelry of high-quality.
Personality Profile:
Deity: Tempus and Tymora in more or less equal measures; Sharess, Helm, and Talos in lesser degrees in private.
Initial Alignment: Neutral Evil
Profession: Mercenary
Base Class & Proposed Development: Fighter, Dervish, Warrior of Darkness
Weapon of Choice: Scimitar
Habits/Hobbies:
Like any typical soldier or mercenary, Khaled enjoys the usual tavern entertainment: drinking, games of cards and dice, and general rowdiness. He enjoys dancing (with proper music and lack of sobriety) though cannot carry a tune or play an instrument himself. He favors busy, lively taverns with like-minded individuals over seedy holes-in-the-wall or stuffy upper-class inns. He has a particular aversion to brothels but doesn't ever explain why if pressed for details.
Khaled also enjoys reading, a trait not generally seen in the gruff mercenary circles. In his travels, Khaled always tries to snag a copy of new books and any local papers, pamphlets, or other publications so he has something to read in his down-time.
Strengths:
Independent, self-sufficient, cautious, will remain loyal to close friends and honor promises with them.
Weaknesses:
Vanity, greed, jealousy, easily tempted by hedonistic pleasures of most kinds, callous toward strangers, holds grudges.
Goals:
- Find work in Baldur's Gate, either as a mercenary or as a guard, for one of the factions or groups in the city.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
- Khaled worked as a mercenary in both the Calimshan region and the Moonsea regions.
- During his time in the Moonsea area, Khaled had frequent contact with members of the Zhentarim, as well as Banites. For the sake of staying alive and making money, he preferred to maintain a professional and respectful attitude toward them.
Background:
Born in Calimport to young parents who struggled financially to provide for themselves and their child, Khaled learned from an early age what it was like to go without. Growing up, he took odd jobs whenever and wherever he could; from the most menial tasks like scrubbing floors to demeaning jobs like hauling waste. As he grew older and stronger, he moved on to take jobs guarding merchant's wares. Normally he just stood around and looked tough while keeping an eye out for those who might try a five-fingered discount, but now and then his duties involved substantially more bodily harm.
The constant show of riches and luxury around him grated on Khaled's nerves. He was paid a fair and standard rate for his work, but it was nothing compared to the wealth the city's elite bragged of and gloated about. He began to horde his money, saving up for finer weapons and armor, glittering jewelry and trinkets, and any other sign of wealth he could think of. A slow and possibly pointless task for someone who was nothing more than a merchant's stall guard.
Khaled grew impatient and irritated with Calimport, but more specifically impatient with how little money he was earning and how he had no opportunity to make a name for himself. An opportunity presented itself when a local merchant put out a call for guards willing to work with a long-distance trade caravan whose ultimate goal was Zhentil Keep in the Moonsea region. Excited at the opportunity (and the pay), Khaled signed up immediately.
The trip proved to be a great financial boon to Khaled - easy pay for relatively little dangerous work in the end. The Moonsea region, cold and frigid like noting he had experienced before, seemed like a place right out of stories he'd read as a child. He ended up staying in the area for a time until wanderlust (and profit-lust) took over him again. Lining up a short-term job as a guard with another trade caravan, Khaled headed to Baldur's Gate in search of his next thrill and sum of gold.