Haqim

Abdalkutba was born in Aila on the Red Sea coast, sometime near the close of the first century A.D. He was the son of a spice merchant, but proved too much the dreamer for that line of work. He loved the traveling aspect of his father’s career, but wasn’t nearly so keen on the actual spice-selling aspect. Upon refusing his arranged marriage — to the daughter of another spice dealer whose enterprises he would then have had to administrate along with his own — he was all but disowned by his family, and so apprenticed himself to an astrologer in town at the relatively late age of 19. This astrologer, skilled though he was, concerned himself mainly with setting propitious dates for the sailing of trade ships and the departure of caravans. Abdalkutba quickly outstripped his teacher’s abilities and interests. Abdalkutba then struck out on his own, making a number of turns down a number of extremely questionable scholarly corridors. An Assamite vizier he approached was impressed with his temerity; realizing that left to his own devices the lad might eventually come to a bad end indeed, he decided to take Abdalkutba under wing. Abdalkutba inherited the quest for Golconda from his (to be honest) far wiser sire. Even as a neonate he was quite sincere about it, but he has always treated it more as a secret to be delved than a peace to enjoy. Certainly he has spent more of his undead years chasing Golconda lore than absorbing it. Abdalkutba passed a few centuries in the company of his Blood and under the thumb of his sire. Soon enough, however, his restlessness drove him to travel. Although he never converted to Islam, he took full advantage of Islam’s expansion. Throughout its era of earthly glory he assumed many names and guises. Sometimes he was the sand-roughened Bedouin, sometimes the cultured wise man of Baghdad. Sometimes he was Aladdin and sometimes the genie. He regularly shucked off old identities for new ones much as the snake changed its skin, and with self-evident pleasure. He was as outraged as any Assamite by the curse the Tremere laid at Thorns, but while he connived against the Usurpers on his own, the Mountain never quite managed to coax him into accepting what it considered his due post and duty. This and his continuing refusal to accept Allah eventually alienated him from the clan. (Now that paganism has once again reared its ancient, scar-tracked head within the Eagle’s Nest, it’s possible that Abdalkutba would be more gallantly received there, but the likelihood of his ever going back — even should he somehow escape the Pact — is not high.) Before long, Abdalkutba had become Inconnu, almost by default. The quasi-sect’s neutral stance suited him far better than did the passion of Alamut: The ever-changing feuds and allegiances of the world were always getting in the way of truly important pursuits. Getting into the Pact: Abdalkutba walked into the Pact with eyes wider open than most. From the very beginning, he had suspicions, supported by exploratory horoscopes, about the “guardian spirit” that Cret planned to conjure in order to seal and keep the Pact. Two things convinced him to go forward regardless. For one, his charts clearly showed that the Twelve had the potential to become a great beacon of light; surely he could not permit the filthy Tremere to remove such hope from the world. For another, he was extremely curious about the spirit itself. He correctly guessed it to be a being that had been present at the very dawn of Creation, a being that had seen Dushara (the Nabataean great god) face to face. He questioned Cret about what it was, what its name was and where it came from with very little success. Since Then: Where Abdalkutba most seriously overestimated himself was in his belief that he could stand being shut up for this long. He thought he’d long since spent his old wanderlust, but he finds that the longer he remains in the castle the worse his cabin fever gets. Sometimes he manages to distract himself with internal intrigues, sometimes with vicarious adventures lived through his proxies. Sometimes he even takes another stab at Golconda for a decade or two. But none of this can substitute for the wide world. Relations with Others: Abdalkutba was originally on good terms with Eshmunamash, but they have since split, rancorously, on the issue of Nikanuuranu. While Abdalkutba doesn’t trust Nikanuuranu, he honors its past greatness and pities its terrible fall. Over the centuries, they have had some fascinating conversations. Unfortunately, his rapport with it now eclipses his rapport with the group he theoretically entered the Pact to save. Abdalkutba nominally remains one of CHAPTER THREE: MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES 61 Cret’s partisans, but privately gave up on the stiffnecked and deluded Ventrue a long time ago. Even before Mahtiel fell into torpor, Abdalkutba found her aura of tragedy nearly as intriguing as Nikanuuranu’s. Unfortunately, she didn’t return his interest, and repeatedly refused his offers to cast her stars. Several times over the past centuries, he has deliberately tried to rouse her either mentally or physically, but never with the intended result. Abdalkutba admires Danika’s strength but her horoscope has never been well-aspected, and he now fears that her ill stars will triumph not only over her but also over any who choose to side with her. Bufo’s extracurricular activities he watches with great curiosity; but he knows that if he actually spoke to Bufo about them then they’d stop, thus depriving him of one of his few reliable diversions. One night long ago Abdalkutba broached with Pentweret the taboo subject of escaping the Pact. That discussion went very badly indeed. Pentweret, true to form, tested how much “truth” Abdalkutba was willing to face and judged him as lacking. For his part, Abdalkutba resented Pentweret’s assuming a tutorial air when he’d approached him as an equal. Each came away convinced that the other would betray anyone in order to escape. That wasn’t true at the time, but by now it might well be. They no longer converse, except on superficial topics, and when either sees a chance to humiliate the other before the rest of the Twelve, he generally takes it. Outside Influence: Abdalkutba plies what influence he has (through both written correspondence and Auspex) chiefly to sate his voyeurism. He’s become a voracious collector of souvenirs, from the trivial to the blasphemous, and is certainly not above manipulating young Golconda-seekers or clueless fida’i into making extremely dangerous journeys on his behalf. In this pursuit, he plays the role of Mysterious Elder to the hilt, strongly implying that the course of Gehenna might well hinge on the outcome of the quest, when in fact he simply wants to hear what it was like afterward. He has even taken a fatal (for others) interest in the creatures called Cathayans. Among other Inconnu, Abdalkutba has always had a somewhat dilettantish reputation and can’t command nearly the amount of respect that Cret or Eshmunamash can. But younger seekers rarely become aware of this fact before it’s too late, as Inconnu are generally anything but gossips. The Deal: Nikanuuranu hardly needs a Deal per se with Abdalkutba. All it really has to do is keep telling him stories about the Dawn of Creation. However, this gets tiring, not to mention painful, so it has persuaded the vizier to accept a more concrete gift. None of the curses currently set in abeyance over Abdalkutba’s head will actually go off even if the triggering conditions are met. This doesn’t free him from the restrictions of the Pact itself (he still can’t harm or kill the others with impunity), and in all honesty, he’s never yet figured out a real use for this loophole. Nevertheless, it pleases him to have it.