Scion of House al-Rabi — the Modernist house of Uryula — and one of Uncle’s Men. Colin’s character.
What We Know
- Estelle contacts him in dreams — masked, under a sky of invented stars, greeting him by name. She found him by divining who had entered a sanctum, then divining the name. He is her sole point of contact, and initially declined to engage, worried about heresy. (S5) See The Six Voices.
- He is holding an orrery she handed him in a dream — about a foot across, assorted metals, in his hands when he woke. (S5) Examined on the voyage home (S6): not magic, not evil, 5–10 lbs, with a tripod stand; likely Clan Grum dwarven work, only 10–20 years old, used and maintained; built from mixed metals to hold precision across temperatures; some of its bodies align to known stars. The party recorded its initial settings before touching anything, and bought maintenance supplies in the capital.
- He killed and wounded scores of rioters outside the Ulpia estate with electrical blasts, starting with the men bringing a battering ram to the door. Then he fought them room to room when they came in the windows. (S6) See The Riot at the Ulpia Estate.
- Uncle’s Men read his dream contact as tradecraft, not haunting — Ismad called it “fairly standard agent-to-agent communications” and told him to play along, avoid recruitment, and try mildly to recruit her. Uncle and Maajid suspect she is Phoenix. Farraj is now, functionally, running an agent in his sleep on his employer’s instructions. (S6)
- The party now briefs him on questions to ask and topics to avoid before he goes to sleep, which is a strange thing to be able to write about a man. Tried inventing and naming constellations at Estelle’s imaginary sky. (S5)
- Effective at street-level intelligence: working the expat quarter in disguise, he came back with the gang-violence picture, the mood on Father Ignacio, and the state of Averoigne — plague, weak crown, deep debt. (S5)
- From a minor cadet branch of House al-Rabi, not the main house. (GM) His father Ihab is a cadet-branch Ihab, not the Emir of Uryula — same name, different man.
- Social operator: politely listens and gleans which way the wind blows (S2); works the party circuit; being approached by several eligible women. (S2)
- Sharp eyes: spotted the hidden crossbowman at the smuggler drop-off. (S1)
- Not just a courtier: electrocuted a thug in the Halwa market ambush — he has lightning at his disposal. (S4)
- A steady sailor; unbothered by the storm that flattened Haroun and Gnaeus. (S4)
- Appreciates art — bought a cat painting from Master Zumini. (S3)
Relationships
- Estelle — the masked woman in his dreams; she chose him, and he can’t decline the appointments. (S5)
- Rasia al-Rabi — distant cousin; attending lady to Princess Ensah. (S3)
- Master Zumini — painter acquaintance. (S3)
- Master Jahir — chatted at Ensah’s first gathering; pointed the party to Master Najlad. (S3)
Speculation
Scores of dead Hazadi commoners, killed by lightning, by a scion of House al-Rabi, in the capital, in front of a crowd. Defending a Great House against a mob with a battering ram is lawful. It is also the single most public thing anyone in this party has ever done with magic, in a summer when the street is already looking for someone to blame. Nobody has touched the aftermath yet. See The Riot at the Ulpia Estate.