Elham al Saleem

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Female human cleric of Sarenrae 3/fighter 3

Before Combat: Elham prepares for battle by casting aid, bless weapon, and shield of faith.

During Combat: Elham avoids using spells in combat because she knows her casting is easily disrupted. If given space and a moment to breathe, she may cast helpful spells on herself or heal an ally.

Morale: Elham normally retreats at 20 hit points or fewer but fights to the death to protect followers of Sarenrae or when fighting evil undead, outsiders, or other enemies of the faith.

Feats With her Dervish Dance feat, when Elham uses her scimitar with one hand, she may use her Dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls instead of her Strength modifier. See page 23 of Pathfinder Chronicles: Qadira, Gateway to the East.

When she first heard The Birth of Light and Truth, the woman who would eventually become Elham al Saleem was nothing short of a brutal mercenary, killing so she could live a life of hedonistic luxury. Yet for some reason, the words spoken from the book by a street preacher made her stop and listen. All that night, she could not sleep. She was haunted again and again by dreams of a black raven attacking a dove, and the dove ripping out the raven’s eyes. The vision gave her no rest. She went to the temple of Sarenrae the next morning and sat all day with the priests. They told her she was one of the chosen, blessed by visions from the goddess. At first, she rejected their words, but when she tried to sleep the next night, the visions grew stronger. After three nights without rest, she returned to the temple. She bowed before the altar and asked the goddess to let her be. Instead, the goddess told her to leave behind the woman she was and accept a new name and life.

Now, Elham’s prayers to the goddess are not silent whispers but sermons she writes and delivers in the chapels. The priests call her “the goddess’s warrior-poet.” When she speaks, the chapel’s darkest corners fill with light. At first, many priests spoke against her songs, saying they spoke of the goddess in a “familiar manner” and sounded more like ballads to a lover than reverential hymns, but none could deny her dedication to the goddess—it was plain in her voice and in her deeds. No enemy of the goddess survived her sword, and no follower of the goddess was blind to Elham’s love for her.

Looking in the mirror, she cannot see the person who once begged the goddess for peace. She turned away from her life of wickedness and wantonness and left it behind with her past. At least, that’s what she says out loud. Yet in recent months, her visions have darkened. She still sees the raven and the dove, but these days, the raven plucks out the dove’s eyes. When she goes to the altar, the goddess is silent; no soft, sweet voice calls to her, giving her the peace she so desires. But her will and faith are strong. The goddess saved her once from an empty life, and she knows she is being tested. A great darkness lies ahead of her, and her old instincts of survival and selfprotection are much stronger than she would care to admit.

Boon: If Elham believes an ally’s cause serves the interest of the goddess, she is willing to lay down her life for it—at least, that is what she tells herself. In addition to her many contacts in the church of Sarenrae, she knows a few cutthroat mercenaries who are still active and may have some influence among them.

Source: NPC Guide, p. 25