Karim-Amal Hanania
The Basics
Name: Karim-Amal Hanania
Gender: Female (She/Her)
Age: 35
Race: Human: Knight of the Cross
The Physical
Physical Description: Karim is tall for her gender, around five feet and ten inches. She is also very fit. She is not heavily muscled, but is more toned and lithe, made of sinew and muscles used to hard living, rather than those of a body builder. Her skin is pale brown, and her head is close shaven, leaving only a little covering of black hair. Her eyes are a deep brown, and her face somewhat angular. She has a strong accent, something Middle Eastern, but her English is very good. She walks with purpose, and her motions are those of someone who is confident in their actions.
Alternate Form: N/A
Talents & Weaknesses
Skills: Karim is a skilled combatant with most firearms, in hand to hand combat, and holds a black belt in Krav Maga. She is also a skilled swordswoman, although her style is peculiar, being a mixture of different techniques from all sorts of different sources. She speaks several languages fluently, including Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, and English, and has enough knowledge to make herself understood in Spanish, French, and Afrikaans. She has skilled knowledge of first aid. She is also something of an athlete, and in particular a long distance runner.
Powers: All Karim's powers extend directly from her Faith. They include:
- The ability to be in the right place at the right time, apparently by coincidence, but in actuality directed by Divine Purpose, although it is entirely subconscious and she has no control over this power.
- The ability to call upon the Divine to heal, to a limited degree. She can use this to help speed the healing of minor wounds in herself or others, or to numb the pain from injuries for a brief period.
- Her presence can radically reinforce a Threshold, and she can pray for Divine Intervention to protect a specific location to protect those within. Whether or not that is successful is in the hands of the Divine, of course.
- She can pray for assistance in such a way that the Divine guides her in a given task. Again, whether or not this succeeds is beyond her control, but it might assist her in tracking someone, doing research, or other tasks specifically done to assist in the fight against evil. It will not work for any task that is not done with this goal in mind.
- Evil creatures find being in her presence extremely uncomfortable, and those of a particularly evil nature, such as a Denarian, Black Court Vampire, and so forth, may find being near her even physically or mentally painful. She can actively invoke this power, and in doing so radiates a bright, holy light, that causes the wicked and monstrous to be repelled, or to take damage if they remain in the light.
- Amoracchius. Karim wields this fabled sword of divine love. Aside from being a superbly crafted weapon, it is endowed with the holy power of God, and as such can harm almost any creature that is remotely evil or monstrous, even if conventional weapons would not hurt them. While it is being used for Good, or for the Divine Purpose, it can potentially defeat any foe - provided the one wielding it is competent enough. When used against such a purpose, the sword could potentially be broken or tainted, until rededicated by a practitioner of sufficient Faith. The sword is also a Holy Relic, and as such can repel evil in a manner akin to other relics, such as crosses, or holy water.
Vulnerabilities: After so many years in combat, Karim has not emerged unscathed. While she does have various scars from wounds taken in battle, she also has PTSD. When working on the Divine Purpose, this does not tend to manifest, but at other times, she has nightmares, episodes of paranoia, and in particular very loud and sudden noises can make her react negatively or aggressively. She is also listed as a terrorist in Syria, and in those countries who are their allies.
Under The Hood
Personality: Karim is someone who takes her work very seriously, and who is, fairly obviously, a devout believer in Allah. However, she is not doctrinaire or fundamentalist, especially since almost all the extreme doctrine she has encountered has been proven to be comprehensively wrong by her own lived experience. This has left her surprisingly open minded and tolerant of those who do not accept her beliefs, provided they are not proactively working against her. She has no tolerance for evil, but is extremely sympathetic towards certain forms of crime, especially those committed out of a desperate need to survive in a cruel, unforgiving world. She is a sympathetic and empathic woman, for all her violent life experience, and gives generously to others whatever she may have of her own. She does seems a little distant and aloof, which some may think of as arrogance, but in reality it is a survival mechanism. By not getting too close to others, or relying on them too much, she keeps them a little further away from the danger that is the centre or her life. She also has a very deadpan sense of humour. It can be difficult to notice it at first, but there is a degree of self-deprecation or absurdity to her pronouncements from time to time. But as she has always believed, if you can no longer laugh, then what is the point of anything? She has a particular fondness for Western foods such as pizza and burgers, and is especially fond of whisky
Backstory: For some reason, people looking into the history of this Knight find it hard to pin down very much of interest. Basic information, such as her having Syrian nationality, having been married at some point, and being declared a terrorist by Syria... that's all fairly easy to come by. Everything else seems to be missing, and leads turn up with dead ends. Almost as if someone, or something, has miraculously obfuscated her details to make locating her difficult.
To those more clued in on the ParaNet, or with contacts who look into this sort of thing, it seems that this Knight of the Cross first appeared on the scene several months ago. Since then she has popped up in various parts of the world, dealt with whatever took her there, then vanished again. That's pretty much normal for a Knight these days. There's an awful lot of planet, and a rapidly increasing amount of monster. While humans might be in monster/witch hunt fever, tracking down and defeating the agencies of evil is her actual job. Apparently she takes it very seriously indeed.
The other fact that seems to be pretty well known is that this Knight is a Muslim. It makes some sense. After all, Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God. They may disagree on some of the mechanics, but God is God, and who are we to question His choices?