Mahmoud Ali-Hasim

Mahmoud Ali-Hasim is a character in 7th Sea: The Search for Salvation, played by Yuri.

Biography

Mahmoud is a tall, broad-shouldered, dashing young man with the lean, muscled frame and effortless grace of an athlete. He is relatively dark skinned, with a full, close cropped black beard, a gleaming bald pate, and honey colored eyes. Day to day he wears clothes considered fashionable in Vodacce, but when wooing a wealthy lady or hobnobbing with local nobility he wears ornate Crescent garb consisting of robes, loose trousers, and highly polished boots. He accents his wardrobe with colorful sashes, head gear, and jewelry in an effort to play the exotic foreigner and put people off their guard.

He is extremely passionate about three things; coffee, women, and his homeland and has very strong opinions about all three subjects. His dedication to coffee and its proper preparation and enjoyment borders on fanatical, and he travels everywhere with his coffee pot, proper beans, and a small silver coffee service with which to entertain his friends. He is also an inveterate rake and infamous whoremonger who leaves a string of dewy-eyed admiring women and furious husbands, fathers, brothers, and uncles wherever he goes. When speaking of home, he has a tendency to go on at length about the wonders of the Crescent Empire and about the fact that in the West "the food is bland, the music is dull, the women are plain, the art is unsophisticated", and the undisputed fact that everything is better back home.

Mahmoud's Kaffe Kooler

Mahmoud carries a flat disc with him in his things, and very often on his person, wrapped in furs. The disc is approximately five inches in diameter and two inches thick. It's clad entirely in copper with etchings chased in silver and brass upon one side, indicating the 'top'. The carvings represent the kaffe ritual itself, showing two figures preparing and enjoying a hot cup, with expertly sculpted beans, leaves and branches around the scene.

The round disc is surprisingly light indicating that it's not solid metal. The disc always bears a chill, cold enough that it bears a light sheen of condensation and will always frost up in wetter climates. The chill makes the disc uncomfortable to hold in a handful of seconds and quickly becomes painful if not released. The chill has no discernible origin and is always present.

Twenty Questions

• 1. What country is your Hero from? Mahmoud hails from the Crescent Empire, where he was born and raised in relative luxury in the grand city of Iskandar.

• 2. How would you physically describe your Hero? Mahmoud is a tall, broad-shouldered, dashing young man with the lean, muscled frame and effortless grace of an athlete. He is relatively dark skinned, with a full, close cropped black beard, a gleaming bald pate, and honey colored eyes. Day to day he wears clothes considered fashionable in Vodacce, but when wooing a wealthy lady or hobnobbing with local nobility he wears ornate Crescent garb consisting of robes, loose trousers, and highly polished boots and accents his wardrobe with colorful sashes and jewelry in an effort to play the exotic foreigner and put people off their guard.

• 3. Does your Hero have recurring mannerisms? Mahmoud is extremely passionate about three things; coffee, women, and his homeland and has very strong opinions about all three subjects. He is an inveterate rake who leaves a string of dewy-eyed admiring women and furious husbands, fathers, brothers, and uncles wherever he goes. He also has a tendency to speak of the wonders of the Crescent Empire and can and does complain at length how everything is better back home.

• 4. What is your Hero’s main motivation? Mahmoud is driven by a lust for life and a desire to see the world and experience all it has to offer.

• 5. What is your Hero’s greatest strength? Greatest weakness? Mahmoud's greatest strength is perhaps his prodigious good nature and the ease with which he makes friends. Charming and affable, he is rarely without a smile on his face and is quick with a witty remark or anecdote and is a strong asset in social situations. His greatest weakness is his ardent nature which drives him to recklessly and constantly pursue women, often times to the detriment of himself and others.

• 8. What is your Hero’s single greatest fear? Mahmoud is terrified of being constrained, both literally and metaphorically. He would no more willingly enter a dark cave or allow himself to be bound as he would return to Iskandar to be wed and chained to a counting desk for the rest of his life.

• 9. What are your Hero’s highest ambitions? His greatest love? Mahmoud thinks little about the future, and even less about the past. He lives firmly in the present, both by necessity and inclination. He wants little more out of life than pleasure and adventure.

• 10. What is your Hero’s opinion of his country? Mahmoud dearly loves his homeland, and will take any opportunity to wax poetic about its beautiful lands, ample riches, beautiful women, and unrivaled culture.

• 11. Does your Hero have any prejudices? Aside from some lingering tribal prejudices and his distaste for sorcerers, Mahmoud finds that he has no time or energy for prejudice.

• 12. Where do your Hero’s loyalties lie? Mahmoud is loyal to himself first and foremost, and to his friends a close second.

• 13. Is your Hero in love? Is he married or betrothed? While he claims to be unattached to love all women equally and unconditionally, Mahmoud is, in fact, betrothed to the daughter of a powerful and wealthy merchant house from Iskandar. This was an arranged marriage however, and he is in no hurry to return to his home city and be wed to a homely girl that he barely knows.

• 14. What about your Hero’s family? Ibrahim ag Alhabib, which is Mahmoud's real name, was born into a wealthy family of gem merchants in the city of Iskandar. The eldest of ten children, the rest of whom are girls, Mahmoud was raised in the lap of luxury in a sprawling, well furnished and comfortable manor in the Merchants' District. Groomed from a young age to join the family business, he was a constant trial to his parents, Samir and Nuri. He ever took his studies in business or gemology seriously, preferring instead to study fencing and pursue the young and beautiful daughters of his father's business associates.

• 15. How would your Hero’s parents describe him? Mahmoud's parents are bitterly disappointed in their son. The act of running out on his arranged marriage and absconding with the dowry has brought nothing but shame to his family, and has damaged his father's business interests in very real and potentially crippling ways. He is not spoken of directly in the house, his father never mentions his name, and his mother silently weeps in her chambers every night over her wayward son.

• 16. Is your Hero a gentleman or gentlewoman? Mahmoud is better described with words like rake, cad, and bounder than by the word gentleman. He is trustworthy, however, and considers his word bond for the most part.

• 17. How religious is your Hero? What sect of the Church does he follow? Despite his unchecked hedonism and whoremongery, Mahmoud is a deeply spiritual and devout young man. He maintains the strict regimen of prayer, charity, and cleanliness even in the wilds of of Vodacce, is never without his prayer mat and copy of his holy book, and hopes one day to travel to the sacred mountain and become a haci.

• 18. Is your Hero a member of a guild, gentleman’s club, or secret society? No

• 19. What does your Hero think of Sorcery? Mahmoud cares little for sorcery and sorcerers. He is secure in his faith, his skills, and his natural gifts and sees those who dabble in sorcery as fundamentally flawed, weaklings who can't survive in the world without the crutch of their foul magics.

• 20. If you could, what advice would you give your Hero? Keep your goddamned trousers on.

Character Sheet

Brawn	Finesse	Resolve	Wits	Panache
2	3	2	3	3

Nationality: Crescent - Jadur-rihad
Drama: 2	Wounds: 0
Arcana: Lecherous	Reputation: -20	Dice: 2

Sorcery

None

Advantages

• Appearance 5
• Crescent Accent (Erivan)
• Dangerous Beauty
• Inheritance 4
• Scoundrel
• Zodiac Sign (Altar-Horse)
• Free Raise on Charm Tests

Skills

Civilian Skills

• Athlete
  • Climbing 2
  • Footwork 2
  • Sprinting 2
  • Throwing 1
• Courtier
  • Dancing 1
  • Etiquette 2
  • Fashion 1
  • Oratory 1
  • Seduction 2
  • Sincerity 1
• Merchant
  • Jeweler 1
  • Appraise 1
  • Haggle 1
• Rider
  • Riding 1
• Streetwise
  • Socializing 3
  • Street Navigation 1

Martial Skills

• Fencing
  • Attack 3
  • Parry 2
• Firearms
  • Attack 2
• Dirty Fighting
  • Attack 2
  • Improvised 1

Languages

• Jadur-baraji S/R/W
• Tikaret-baraji S/R/W
• Vodacce S