Bashir
Angel of Ikhwan

by
J. Michael Neal

Corporeal Forces 6Strength 12Agility 12
Ethereal Forces 5Intelligence 9Precision 11
Celestial Forces 6Will 12Perception 12

Vessel: Human/3, Charisma +2 (Ibraham al-Bakr); Human/6, Charisma +2 (Rabble Rouser)

Role: Ibrahim al-Bakr, Scholar/Preacher in Cairo (Level/4, Status/4); Street Rabble Rouser, Underground Guerrilla (Level/1, Status/1).

Skills: Chemistry/2, climbing/3, Detect Lies/3, Electronics/2, Engineering/1, Fighting/6, Large Weapon (Scimitar/4), Ranged Weapon (Pistol/3, Rifle/4, Light Mortar/3), Emote/4, Running/4, Savoir-Faire/2, Survival (Desert/4), Tactics/4, Knowldege (Sharia/5), Area Knowledge (Egypt/5, Pakistan/3), Language (Arabic/5, Urdu/4, English/2)

Songs: Attraction (Corporeal/3, Celestial/3), Form (Corporeal/4), Healing (Corporeal/4, Celestial/2), Light (Corporeal/2, Celestial/3), Numinous Corpus (Claws/3, Wings/4), Shields (Corporeal/3, Celestial/1), Thunder/5

Attunements: Elohite of Faith, Ofanite of Faith, Malakite of Faith, Master of Inner Strength, Wrath of Allah, Faith Can Move Mountains

Artifacts: Holy AK-47/4, 6 Holy Bullets, Body Bag/6

Discord: Angry/2

Bashir was one of the first angels Khalid created after he became an Archangel. He tested the faith of the early Muslims by presenting them with challenges that could only be soved by working together. One could question his success, given the political fragmentation that overtook it in the second century after the death of the prophet, but that was a task that was beyond the capability of any celestial. This task also made him one of the most devotedly Islamic of all of Khalid's followers. Once he became convinced that it was objectively true, his Elohite nature brooked no challenges to its authority.

His goal was always unity and the military strength that it would provide. The seminal events in his existence were the Crusades; the fragmentary and ineffective responses to the Christian conquest of Jerusalem forever convinced him that the ability to fight off invaders was the paramount concern. He approved of the Turkic invaders from the East and aided Salah al-Din in his successful campaigns to retake Jerusalem. He was made the Angel of Ikhwan (Brotherhood) for his efforts at uniting Islam.

Over the succeeding centuries, Bashir not only pressed forward the Ottoman advance into Europe, but he helped to convert many of the Mongol tribesmen that swept out of Central Asia in the 13th Century. He also approved of the reactionary intellectual trends that came to dominate the Islamic world. A stable doctrine insulated from appraisal by decentralized authorities would prevent factionalization. Continuity was more important than underlying correctness; he would not have been amused by anyone pointing out the similarity between this attitude and the one he condemned in Laurence's followers.

One of those who pointed this out was ir-Rahman. Bashir has opposed her from the moment she gained prominence. He sees the dominance that the Christian West gained over Islamic peoples in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as being a direct result of those who weakened central authority.

At the same time, these events forced him to become a reformer in his own way. He was most influenced by the Wahabbis in the Arabian peninsula. since, he has promoted their very strict interpretation of Islamic traditions. He was present at the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the middle of the 19th century. He was not responsible for the choice of his Word as part of the group's name, but he takes great pride in it nonetheless.

In recent years, Bashir has been at the forefront of the movement to rid Islamic lands of western influence. This extends to hostility to the secular regimes that rule much of this territory. In his role as Ibrahim al-Bakr, he is connected to the scholars at the Al-Azra mosque in Cairo and is part of the most hardline faction there. He also has connections to numerous underground Islamist orgainzations, some violent and others not. It should be noted that a large portion of his time is spent aiding the charity organizations that form another, perhpas more important, arm of the Islamist movement.

He looks on in approval at the growing strength of movements as wide ranging as the FIS in Algeria, the Welfare Party in Turkey and the increasing Islamization of Pakistan. His attitude can be judged by his feeling that the Taliban in Afghanistan go too far, but that they are far preferable to any of the alternatives.

His relationship to his Superior is complicated. It was Khalid's faith that infused him with the determination that he shows, and he still believes in Khalid as the promoter of Islam. But it seems that the Archangel has come under the sway of those who weaken the Faith from within and is too eager to compromise with those on the outside. Bashir himself is rarely at khalid's camp, but important followers who agree with him are always poresent and trying to win Khalid over to their views.

If the player characters spend time there, Bashir will undoubtedly hear of it. If it seems that they are somehow important, he will arrive on some pretext to assess them for himself. He is not above taking violent action to thwart them if the considers their presence a danger to Khalid or if they openly oppose his views.

If Khalid Falls: Bashir will follow shortly thereafter. He will take this as the final sign that Heaven has been conquered by perfidy. At the same time, his ambibalence towards Khalid will turn into disgust at his weakness. He will not become a Servitor of a Fallen Khalid. In fact, he is a candidate to take over the position of Demon of Fanaticism as presented in The Final Trumpet. While he probably wouldn't be made a Prince immediately, he is powerful enough and determined enough to make it to that level before long.


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