Malika Salem

Malika Salem

Malika grew up on the Teufeldorf fisherman's wharf, in the Old Harbour. A paradoxically delicate tomboy, she was smaller and weaker than the other children her age. Fierce willpower coupled with wit and wisdom allowed her to survive. Her father was taken by the sea when she was just seven. Some said he went to be with the Gyre, but her mother said "He was just bein' a damn fool goin' out in such a squall!" Malika and her siblings took on more responsibility in the family fishing business and the family scraped by. One of Malika's jobs was to cut the heads off the fish so her mother could scale, bone and fillet them. There was a knife for this job, but she preferred using her father's hand axe, a tool she kept with her always, mostly to remember him, but also because she really liked that axe.

Malika was fascinated by life, in all its various forms. She had a "pet" crab that had a home in the sandy shallows near the docks, stray cats and dogs were always fed various fish parts that she scrounged from the cutting room. Hurt animals were always taken in, nursed back to health, and released into the wild - or not, depending on how attached she got. There were other pets, of course: snakes, crickets, mice, rats, rabbits, eels, raccoons, and once a badger. She didn't always save them. Life on the docks is a knife's-edge business, and you can't save every life. In those cases, so that something good or useful might come, and in order to learn, a sacrifice must be made.

And Malika loved to learn.

She carried her father's hand axe with her everywhere, both for protection and because you never know when you might want to show off by hitting a bulls-eye at 20 paces. The wharf rats gave her the nickname "Mali Hatchet" despite her protests that it was really not a hatchet. She occasionally fought the children who called her such names, but given her size and strength... and the fact that she usually tried to fight the biggest kid, she got beaten up a lot. Her nursing skills were useful in hiding the bruises and scrapes from her mother, who wanted her youngest child to be - unlike the mother - a proper young lady who might catch the eye of some rich merchant.

As Malika grew older, she shot up in height, though still slender and not very strong. She began to see the wisdom of avoiding fights, which pleased her mother, and instead turned on a newfound charm to get her way. Her mother now took her into the city to deliver fish, because she could bring a better price. Sometimes she would send Malika to nicer parts of the city alone, in hopes something might happen with a merchant. Indeed, something did. Malika discovered the Dusk House at the end of Poe Close. A dark alleyway shrouded a magical doorway that beckoned to her with its ancient engravings and creaking hinges.

Following a crone inside, she cautiously entered, not knowing what might be hidden within. She found a second home. Malika came to understand the Dusk House found initiates for the Temple of Shadows. After her first donation to the coffers, she noticed that the returning fishing boats were heavier, her mother's health improved, and she was getting better prices. When she skipped a tithe, her dog went missing. Double the pennies next time and the dog came back.

Her mother thought she must be seeing a man, and was doubly disappointed when Malika told her the truth. "Temple of Shadows is not a good place! Ela is not good!" she shouted, then forbade Malika from going to the temple. But of course, Malika couldn't stop - her family's fortunes depended on her devotion. For a while, she lied to hide her secret, but her mother is no fool, and finally gave her an ultimatum. Malika sadly left her family home and went to the temple, hoping to become a priest.