Role

Chapter 6

Kaazra Shaheen was the second-born child of Urvana, a priestess of the Red
Sands. Her father, Akbar, has been largely absent in her life and is a tribal
hunter who lives in the nomadic village at the end of the Caravan Road. She
spent her early childhood in the temple of the sands with her mother and her
older brother, Routzar. Her early years were quite happy and peaceful, but
everything changed when Routzar came of age. Her beloved brother died upon
the horns of a duskhorn during the tribal rite of manhood at the tender age
of 13. It was Kaazras first major trauma and it left a wound that would stay
with her forever.

All her life Kaazra had been taught that anything was possible if one had an
orderly and patient mind. The loss of her brother cut her deeply and so she
began to search, if not for a way to bring her brother back then at least a
way to overcome the pain of his death. It was barely a month after Routzar's
death that Kaazra unwittingly stumbled upon a curious object that would
eventually lead her down a treacherous path. A path that when discovered
would rekindle false hope for Routzar, but a hope that she would cling to for
many years to come.

On the day of the Moon, 20 days after Routzars funeral rites, and beneath
the gaze of the setting sun, Kaazra snuck into the elder's tent and after
some searching found a most curious tome. The leather-bound grimoire seemed
to call out to her and she took it from the shelf without thought or
consideration. The black leather of the cover was covered with ancient glyphs
beneath a worn mosaic of an asp, another ominous sign ignored. Taking the
book was and has been the most impulsive action in her life and it changed
her forever.

Upon her return home she memorized the glyphs upon the cover and hid the book
beneath her bed. The book would keep until she found a way to decipher it.
The ramifications of her theft hit her now that she had the grimoire, and
after careful consideration Kaazra did not dare to return it. Time passed,
the days turned into months, and the months into years. Lessons of etiquette,
reading, and writing were replaced by histories, magic, and priesthood. The
arcane fascinated Kaazra and she was the most gifted magical student in the
temple.

Time and her mother eased the pain of her brother's passing and while the
book passed out of thought it was never forgotten.