Well-muscled, fairly handsome, and often clad in the classic crimson colors adopted by the pyromancers of Al-Ador.  Zaiden has blue eyes, an unusual feature for people of the desert.  There is an ineffable aura of risk and danger about him, which may delight or deter people depending on their own proclivities.  He often wears or carries a rectangular box of tiles with symbols that denote his affiliation to the ruling family of Al-Ador, his training as a Pyromancer, and his position as a Diplomatic envoy.

The peoples of the desert are considered barbaric and primitive to most Bryddians, and they are already viewed with suspicion thanks to the War of the Dune Bandits some 50 years ago.  

Among people who know him, Zaiden is considered to be clever, handsome, and strong.  But everyone who knows him also knows he is an instrument of his grandfather's will, and his ultimate purpose is to create the conditions and alliances that serve the Raj.  

+ Courtesan Training - While not a courtesan himself, Zaiden has been trained as one.  He can sing, dance, play musical instruments, recite poetry, engage in flirtatious banter, and is trained in romantic techniques necessary for the pleasure of both women and men.

+ Noble Training - Zaiden is trained in Courtly etiquette, the noble pursuits of Falconry and Hunting, and riding horses and camels.

+ Self-Defense Training - Zaiden has been trained in the art of 'Dervish Dancing,' a method of fighting developed by the religious leaders of the nomadic tribes which cross the Dune Sea.  The art is 75% defensive and 25% offensive.  A handful of strikes and kicks complement the main point of the martial art: To use whirling motions and circular movements to deflect and redirect incoming attacks.  This extends to the deflection of arrows, although such things are an uncertain prospect for Zaiden.  He has been trained to competence, but not ultimate mastery of the art.  Dervish Dancing training is often held by nobles and important persons of the Dune Sea, to allow them to survive assassination attempts until their guards can come to their aid.  It is said that their guards might also practice this art, but with a heavier emphasis on attacks and weapons-use.

++ Magical Training - Zaiden has been trained in magic his whole life.  His specialty is pyromancy, but he was given a broad magical education so that he could understand the nature of magic used by potential foes.

- Melee Weapons Use - While Dervish Dancing can include the use of arms, Zaiden's self-defense training focused on unarmed defense, and so he has poor skills with daggers, swords, and other melee weapons.

- Mounted Combat - While Zaiden is an accomplished rider, he has no experience in mounted combat on a field of battle.  He will never win a joust, and does not even bother with such sports.

- Sinister Aspect - The touch of shadow upon Zaiden gives him a subtle sinister aspect, which is like an invisible but emotionally perceptible glow upon his person at all times.  Depending on the personality of the person dealing with him, this may not be a bad thing.  Some women (and men) enjoy a 'bad boy.'  In diplomacy, it may make him seem dangerous, which can also be useful.  However, it is even more often a detriment.  Entities with supernatural senses might detect the touch of shadow upon him.  Even for normal people, it can be hard to grow to trust him. True friendships are slow to form. 

Zaiden is not inhuman, and so he is sometimes saddened by the challenge of forming true relationships.  He is most often forced to rely on greed and self-interest, or even fear, as tools to 'get at' people in diplomatic endeavors.  Honest agoodwill is hard to inspire, and treasured when it can be achieved.

Pyromancy:  The talents of a pyromancer are to summon fire, control fire, or extinguish fire. 

Fire summoned into being begins in the hands or mouth of the pyromancer, no more than the size and intensity of a torch flame.  It can be thrown, or blown out, with the bolt of flame having the distance of flight, and impact force, of a softball.  The flame could be set or thrown upon a flammable object to begin consuming it. 

From there, it can be inspired to grow at the pace that natural fire can grow, spreading in directions the pyromancer might wish, or avoiding areas the pyromancer desires it to avoid.  Its intensity might be gradually increased, as though an invisible bellows were blowing greater life upon it.  Or a fire already burning can be extinguished.  A burning house could be gradually brought away from combustion.  A torch could be snuffed out with a thought.  A lantern put out with a gesture.  A bonfire could be shrunk and darkened down to mere embers in the space of moments.  All within the limits of sight, or if the pyromancer is blind, within the space in which they can sense the heat of a fire upon their skin. 

Normal fire will not burn a pyromancer, nor their immediate clothing or effects, unless they desire it to be so.  Hot conditions will not cause them to wither, not even at high noon during a desert summer.  Additionally, they can bring a warmth within themselves to stave off Winter's chill.  They are often warm to the touch, as though running a constant fever, albeit without ill effects.  Illnesses that can be burned away by a fever will never harm them, and so infection from wounding is quite rare, along with most diseases.

Soulfire:  This is the unique talent of the twins.  Once per day, they can ignite a fire in a person's spirit.  A lust, or an anger.  This inner flame must be built upon kindling that already exists.  An extant emotion of anger or ardor can be amplified… or alternatively, put out.   The duration is limited to the span of an hour, though this can be enough for a liaison, or a fight, or the cooling of tensions in the midst of an argument. Genuine emotions may legitimately spring from this spark once the magic is done.  Or they might not.  The magic only creates a period of increase or decrease in these emotions.  Life's events and individual personalities do the rest.  It should be noted that a stoking of ardor does not guarantee a romantic interlude.  An increase of anger does not guarantee a fight.  Nor does a decrease in anger render a person helpless if assaulted, or less able to fight.  As always with players, the effect is no more and no less than they allow.

Once per day, the pyromancer twins can use this power on a fire-breathing creature like Dragons, whose abilities are entwined with their very soul.  Most notably, they can use this power to put out their flame.  The exact physical mechanism by which this works is less important than the dousing of fire in the Dragon's spirit.  Dragon fire that is not suppressed will otherwise burn Pyromancers due to its unnatural intensity, even despite the usual pyromantic protection from flame.  So once this ability is expended, the twins are quite vulnerable to such attacks.  Never mind the teeth and claws of such formidable beasts... and the rage of their riders.  This power does not impact any other ability of a dragon other than breathing fire.

Zaiden was born a twin to his sister Zara bint Mazul.  They were the grand-children of the Raj of Al-Ador, already a prestigious and fortunate birth.  But their birth was even more important, as it was part of a larger plan of revenge that had been hatched nearly fifty years prior.

Zaiden’s father was a normal human man, the son of the Raj, Azak ibn Demos.  But his mother was a creature of darkness and shadow given human form.  Mazul, a woman with no lineage, ‘gifted’ to the Raj as a bride for his son.  Part of a plot that would take decades to come to fruition.

But from the time of their birth, it was known that Zaiden and Zara were the lynchpins of the Raj’s vengeance.  

Each of the Raj’s seven sons was gifted such a bride- a corrupted soul in service to darkness.  And each of those brides birthed shadow-touched humans with the gift of magic.  A rare quality for humankind, but a corruption well within the purview of darkness.  The Raj’s grandchildren were pyromancers- magicians with power over fire.  

Coming to be known as the Pyromancers of Al-Ador, the gifted grandchildren of the Raj had the remarkable ability to summon or dismiss fire at will while being untouched by its destructive power.  

But for Zaiden and Zara, the ability went one step further.  Among all the pyromancers birthed into the lineage of the Raj, they alone took the ability to its most alarming extent.  They were not limited to the fires of the world, but could reach into the very fires of the heart and soul.  

This was their special gift, and theirs alone.  Limited to one use per day, and to just the two of them, it could never be used to win great battles against dragonkind.  Even so, the investment of the forces of Darkness was monumental in bringing it into being.  The false hope that dragons could be rendered impotent was the very tool the Raj hoped to use to bring about the doom of Brydd.

From the time their talent was identified, Zaiden and Zara received the finest education.  They were taught to read and write and speak both the dialects of the desert and the languages of neighboring Brydd.  They were taught the arts of diplomacy and deceit.  Methods of seduction and romantic influence.  The unique martial-art of the desert people, called the Dervish Dance, was drilled into them.  They were trained in Falconry, and taught to hunt.  They were shown etiquette and even the arts of entertainment- song and dance, the playing of musical instruments and the recital of poetry.  None of these talents were achieved at ultimate levels of mastery, but they were sufficient for entry into noble society.

The true talent of the twins was in their magic.  This was the tool they’d use to deceive their enemies and lay them low.

History of Draavos as it Pertains to this Character

Draavos.  To those in the West, it is the land of the Dune Sea, where the Dune Bandits dwell.  Nomadic, listless barbarians ruled by petty Kings.  Kings who once had the audacity to attempt an invasion of Brydd.  Kings who soon learned the power of a true Kingdom and the powerful leader who controlled it.

But the people of Brydd do not know the story of Draavos.  Fifty years ago, they attempted to alleviate their ignorance.  A Lordling of House Mindolin came across the mountains on a diplomatic and trade mission.  It could have been a lucrative cultural exchange and a step towards greater understanding.

The Lordling came to the great city of Al-Ador, a walled pearl in the harsh desert, situated beside the Hot Oasis of Draavos.   There, springs of water flowed ever-forth, bringing life to the dry desert sands.  There, the mighty Raj Demos ibn Fallad ruled a towering city-state of two-hundred-thousand people.  Al-Ador, a center of ancient culture and noble traditions older than the Bryddian Kingdom.  Al-Ador, home of the most beautiful women in all of the human occupied lands.

The Lordling of Mindolin found delight in one such woman.  One of the Raj’s own daughters.  But he was refused the match, and took matters into his own hands.  He stole Beistra bint Neimas from the city and fled back to the Mindolin lands with his prize.

He had not yet gained a proper understanding of the ‘Petty’ Kings of Draavos.  These Kings had vied for power and waged war for countless generations, but they had a common culture.  The stealing of a father’s daughter was among the most heinous insults possible, and the city-states normally at odds came together in a mighty roar for vengeance at the foreign insult.

This was the cause of the Invasion of the Dune Bandits, as the Bryddians called it.  The people of Draavos had seldom been united in war, and it was terrible to see what they wrought.  Many thousands of Bryddians died, and the Kingdom was afeared of this unexpected foe.   But the supply-lines were long.  The arms and tactics of the Bryddians were unfamiliar.  And the strong personalities of the Draavosian Kings began to create fissures in the temporary war alliance.

In the end, the invasion failed.  The Draavosians were cast back into the sands.  The Raj Demos ibn Fallad never saw his stolen daughter again, and never even received word that she still breathed the air of Aereth.  The invasion ended in complete failure and humiliation.

Fresh from his shameful retreat back to the city of Al-Ador, the Raj Demos ibn Fallad was approached by powerful agents of Darkness and Shadow.  They offered him the means to get revenge upon his enemies.  They offered him the means to expand his influence.  They offered him everything he wanted.  All he had to do was agree to the terms of the deal, and give specially selected brides to his seven sons.

Seven sons each bore several children of their own.  Each of these children were shadow-touched with the taint of their corrupted mothers.  Each of these children were trained in forbidden arts of dark magic, violating the proper order of nature.  The polluted roots of their power extended into domains that were not their own.  The Shadow had begun to drink the Light, and twist that Light to serve its own purposes.

The seventh son’s wife had seven births.  Her final birth was of twins.  These twins were the most powerful of them all.  They were the living keys that would unlock the secret to destroying Brydd, for they were the only ones who could offer the King of Brydd what he wanted most…

Lineage of the Raj of Al-Ador

 Raj’s Father -             Fallad ibn Jota, Previous Raj of Al-Ador     

 Raj’s Mother -            Kalara bint Batria 

   Offspring (brothers and sisters) -         

                             Dorun ibn Fallad (deceased)   

                             Demos ibn Fallad (the Raj)  – Married to Neimas bint Ta-Veta

                             Indara bint Batria

Raj’s Progeny: 

Sons - Omar ibn Demos   Daughters - Beistra Bint Neimas (Deceased)

           Adan ibn Demos   Laza Bint Neimas (Married to a Raj)

           Hassan ibn Demos

           Abdul ibn Demos

           Malik ibn Demos

           Hamid ibn Demos

           Azak ibn Demos

_____________________________________

The Progeny of Azak ibn Demos and his wife Mazul

Akeem ibn Azak

Kareem ibn Azak

Salman ibn Azak

Hafeez ibn Azak

Amir ibn Azak

Nasir ibn Azak

Zaiden ibn Azak  — Twin Sister Zara bint Mazul

The Ultimate Plot of the Dark One and the Raj

The nefarious plot is as simple as it is genius.   Brydd has always lived in the shadow of dragons, with naught but a mercenary company to defend them against the predations of Gael should that nation ever become hostile.  

As the forces of Darkness strive to move the nations into conflict, weakening them all for the coming of the Shadow Lord, the Twins have this part to play:  They will convince the King of Brydd that their people can extinguish dragons, nullifying their advantage, making a war against Gael a winnable prospect.  They will offer their people to Brydd to accomplish this strategic coup, even proposing formal alliances and marriages or any other thing necessary.

It is a lie.  There are many Pyromancers in Al-Ador.  But only the Twins can extinguish dragon-fire, and then only once per day.  This limitation, carefully hidden, will be invisible to the King of Brydd.  He will be emboldened to think he has access to a game-changing resource.

And then, once war begins, the Pyromancers will instead aid the dragons in their roasting of Brydd.  They will amplify the scorching of the dragonfire, the fiery razing of cities.  The Kingdom will fall under a cloud of ash.  And at long last, the Raj will have his vengeance.

That is the plan… but of course, the Light always casts its glow upon the machinations of Shadow, and it remains to be seen whether this plot can yet be foiled by chance, by choice, or even by the challenge of heroes yet to be revealed.