Leila "Querti-ab-ma" Tisa
Ishmaelite
Face of Dawn
Description
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 130 lb.
Ethnicity: Black
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Long braided black
Clothing: White and brown ethnic
Comportment/Cadence: Welcoming
Distinctions: Incredibly gorgeous African woman with an easy smile and painstaking attention to self-presentation in her attire, jewelry, and make-up
Supernatural Qualities: Her divine beauty shines right through the fog of her larger-than-life demeanor
Accoutrements: Moderate jewelry
Traits: Appearance 7 (bewitching); Arcane 1
"I hope you like it; I made it especially for you."
History
Date of Birth: September 30th, 743 BCE
Home: Memphis, Egypt (25th Dynasty)
Family: Garai and Femi (parents), Sent (younger brother), Aswad (younger brother)
First Death: External Supernatural Trigger (her family served as artisans during the rule of Pharaoh Shabaka, who loved the "old ways", and she took up her father's trade as a skilled jeweler; her work caught the eye of the Shemsu-Heru, who lured her before Horus, who offered the Spell of Life after she demonstrated not only her art but her easy grasp of etching arcane glyphs; recognizing the good she could do not just for her family and people but all the world, she agreed, undergoing a painless drug-induced execution and the ritual itself, in which she caught her first glimpse of the Underworld—and it terrified her; the coma-stricken Osiris didn't help her opinion), 721 BCE
Mentor: Teti-hor-noub
The Test: Trial by Knowledge (learned the key to restoring her own Ba while dead was to remain positive, upbeat, helpful, and generous, which she already was, and was glad to escape even the Far Shores back to "life", where she learned the codes of the Shemsu-Heru)
Comrades: Renentii Arsino, Tutrasui Sinuhe, Karo-amat Raad, Ta-Ki-Uata Bak, Seb-ur-Ubaid
Key Event #1: War (she wanted to help Horus and the other Reborn, but soon found their enemies—the Followers of Set and their demon allies—so despicably monstrous that she could barely stomach it; she served Horus loyally for many years nonetheless, providing protective jewels and talismans to his armies)
Key Event #2: Personal Tragedy (she discovered and could not help but express a hatred and fear of the death cyrcles of her immortal existence, creating an early rift with Horus as she avoided their ghostly allies and connections, including Osiris, as much as possible; she would always do as many good deeds as quickly as possible to recharge her Ba and return to life)
Key Event #3: Treachery (eventually, the fanaticism of the Shemsu-Heru contra the horrors of the Setites drove Leila away from Horus altogether, long before Ptolemaic Egypt)
Key Event #4: Treachery (fled Egypt into Libya, and then further into Sudan to her people's homeland, where she lived privately and quietly for centuries, mastering her art)
Key Event #5: War (but the Shemsu-Heru, under Horus's direction, bitterly hunted her down to punish her for her "betrayal"; she fled deeper into Africa to escape their wrath and possible soul-annihilation)
Key Event #6: War (the Shemsu-Heru nevertheless caught Leila and dragged her back to Thebes for judgment; in exchange for her life and liberty, she pledged to create amulets and talismans for Horus and his allies as a kind of press-ganged arcane quartermaster; however, the brilliant talisman-forger effectively "earmarked" every creation she made to serve as a "homing device" that would allow her to clairvoyantly determine where its wearers currently stood, for potential future blackmail purposes)
Key Event #7: Personal Tragedy (against her will, for the next few centuries, she remained in Egypt servicing Horus and his cruel crusade against Set, a quasi-prisoner forced to perpetually make talismans; to sugar up the deal, Horus promised to provide batteries of soul-energy to Leila that would faciliate her life-death cycles, empower her Ba, and help her escape the Underworld all the sooner between lives)
Key Event #8: War (with her issue with Horus "settled", now the Setites took aim at Leila as Horus's prized jewelcrafter; she found herself constantly on defense and taking extra steps to protect herself, especially from Setite vampires)
Key Event #9: War (Leila reached out to Horus's non-mummy friends like the Bubasti and Cult of Isis, aiding them in return for their own help, such as keeping the Setites at bay or at least hiding her khat in a decent tomb while cycling between lives, and so she passed the Ptolemaic era; at least during this era, she mastered and crafted a talisman that could protect herself from total soul annihilation at the hands of Horus)
Key Event #10: Treachery (finally, she swallowed her fear and distaste for death and the Underworld; she used a death cycle to slip from under Horus's nose and escape Egypt, fleeing to Rome for protection from the Kindred who despised the Setites almost as much as Horus did; in exchange for their protection in this "capital of civilization", she could not tell them the secrets of the Spell of Life, for she did not know; but she did provide intelligence on the actual locations of Horus and his friends, derived from the talismans she crafted for them under coercive force)
Key Event #11: Awe & Wonder (with this deal with the Ventrue-dominant Kindred of Rome, she finally began to enjoy her immortal life, and while she set up a jewelry shop in the great city, she was truly free for the first time, for all those who hated and hunted her were finally being hunted and hated in turn)
Key Event #12: War (during the various sacks of Rome, she defended the secrets of her talisman-making from the invaders, even if at the cost of her current life)
Key Event #13: Treachery (during the last sack of Rome in 410 AD, which began the Dark Ages, she disappeared from Rome and fled east to Constantinople, hopeful to continue her "protected" lifestyle)
Key Event #14: Treachery (her time in Constantinople proved similar to her long life in Rome, and she kept up the deal she always had with the ruling Kindred, which served to keep Horus and the Setites off her back)
Key Event #15: War (Leila came to actually appreciate and love her Constantine friends and allies, and pledged to aid them against foreign invaders, providing their supernatural champions, Kindred and otherwise, talismans to aid their defense)
Key Event #16: Personal Tragedy (but all good things come to an end, and when she died during the Black Plague, she found her Ba swept up by the Second Great Maestrom, cut off from all whom and what she loved)
Key Event #17: Personal Tragedy (by then, Leila had lost interest in continuous life and was ready to give up, so she gave herself to the Maelstrom, all but inviting the Withering in the hopes of annihilation)
Key Event #18: Awe & Wonder (but she survived even that, though when her soul revived many, many years later, now in the 20th-century, she found herself stripped of all the old fancies, and now cared only for the beauty of the stones she carved for her ageless art)
Key Event #19: Awe & Wonder (she wandered Europe, north Africa, and western Asia for years, dodging human conflicts while trying to restore her full memories; rare encounters with other Ishmaelites helped stimulate that remembered past)
Key Event #20: Awe & Wonder (marveling at the flashy wealth and corresponding trends of the New World "nouveau riche", Leila moved to the New World and set herself among with select connections, known only as a talisman-maker for a rare blessed few)
Transition: Shift in Purpose (enamored now only by her ancient art, for which she was first selected as Reborn all those ages ago, little about the Jyhad or conflict between Horus and Set now concerned her; she did enjoy crafting potent wards for her friends, however...)
Magical Artifacts
Ouroboros of Thoth
Appearance: A bronze brace plated with gold leaf and studded with tiny diamonds in intricate patterns, worn about the neck.
Origin: Creation
Effects: Significantly improve Intelligence.
Activation: Simply wear it.
Tiara of Hathor
Appearance: A slender golden crown set with a star sapphire.
Origin: Creation
Effects: Significantly improve Appearance.
Activation: Simply wear it.
Significant Others
Names: Renentii Arsino, Karo-amat Raad, Ta-Ki-Uata Bak; 2007
Nature: Companionship
Renentii
Karo-amat
Ta-Ki-Uata
Weakness
A Part Apart
Leila prizes her independence even while aiding her friends who continue Horus's crusade. This puts a bull's eye on her back for all of their shared enemies, with fewer allies and support to rely on.
Likelihood of Corruption
Low.
Her distaste for and avoidance of death, and her generous and helpful personality, helps her stay balanced in ma'at and unlikely to ever fall prey to the worst aspects of the khaibit.
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