Kasimir Nevaren
History
Kasimir was eighteen when he stole his father’s armour and fled his family home in Ebou Dar, seeking adventure and freedom. However the plan went awry when he was apprehended in Bandar Eban and held on suspicion of being a Seanchan spy. Kas protested his innocence loudly, but remained in custody until Aes Sedai could be summoned from the White Tower to interrogate him.
Unbeknownst to him, his identity had already been discovered by a Sitter of the Brown Ajah, Brenna Celet, who had been assisting the Ajah’s newest sister, Malaika Niele, to investigate the past she did not remember in exchange for first-hand testimony of her memories as damane. Brenna arranged for Maiaka to be a part of the visiting contingent, but did not reveal that the young man in custody was in fact Malaika’s nephew.
“Blood and bloody ashes! Damn the Dark One. Damn the Creator! I’m no spy, I swear it. Bloody witches! Can’t you just read my mind or something? What use is the bloody power is you can’t even see I’m telling the truth?!” Despite his bravado, there was fear in his voice, and a deep desperation. His dark eyes were wide, glazed, and she noticed that beneath the bindings of his hands his fingers were trembling. A mop of onyx hair distorted his features (and hid some of the bruising to his right cheek) but despite the small tuft of hair beneath his lip it was suddenly clear that he was very young. Old enough to be a soldier, certainly – the Empire recruited young – but something did not sit right. He did not look Seanchan, not to her.
“This armour cannot be his – it looks older than he does, sisters.” Malaika stood and wished she had the Brown shawl to wrap tightly about her shoulders; the comfort should have been appreciated, but she made do with an expression as close to unruffled serenity as she could fathom.
“He is Ebou Dari,” Ke’sera agreed rather casually. Perhaps disappointed. “At least in part. An easy mistake to make, and the Domani have been flighty since the Seanchan invasion.”
“Yes, YES!” He tilted his head back, eyes heavenward. “How many times must I say it? This is all a mistake, a stupid bloody mistake! A trip around Tarabon, then on to Arad Doman – a tour of the world’s finest women. I’m not a bloody spy!”
As his head tipped back, Malaika caught sight of the moist sheen of tears on his cheeks. No Seanchan spy. She glanced at Eithne, still apparently preoccupied with her book, and then at Ke’sera, as if seeking permission to speak – to interrogate the man herself. The gray inclined her head, for which Malaika was infinitely glad.
“Where did you come by this armour?” she asked.“My father,” he insisted. “Blood and bloody ashes, if I’d thought it was going to land me in this much trouble…Light! Even Domani women aren’t worth it!”
Malaika Sedai, The Seanchan Spy
After being unceremoniously trussed up and returned to his family, Kas witnessed a strange altercation between the young Brown sister and his father when the Aes Sedai mysteriously returned to their house after dark. It came to sudden violence that Kas was too dumbfounded to stop. When afterwards no answers were forthcoming, he left home once again; this time headed for Tar Valon and the White Tower itself. Despite a chaotic entrance to the Shining City, Kasimir was finally able to pose his questions to Malaika herself, and discovered to his surprise that she was his aunt.
He remained at the White Tower for some months, and grew closer with the strange Aes Sedai his father had never talked about or acknowledged. If he was often in some trouble or other, it could not be said that he was not also a lovable rogue.
Despite being brought up to regard the Aes Sedai as witches (or perhaps because of it) he began to dream up quiet plans of enrolling in the warder training programme, but his ambitions were foiled when his mother wrote Malaika and news that his father was sick.
Kasimir found himself back home once again. By now his family was in financial turmoil, and out of duty and honour Kas stayed to help as best he could. But the months that passed only proved to him how little he desired an ordinary life; a wife, a family, a steady job.
Jazhara leaned forward, her gaze uncomfortably intense. “You are so like our father, Kas, and you just can’t see it.”
Kasimir frowned, but kept his lips sealed. He would not rise to that bait, to that dark presence on the horizon that threatened to ruin such a pleasant afternoon. He hoped the sudden sourness of his expression would dissuade his sister from pursuing the topic, but either she was ignorant or chose to ignore. “Do you think papi would have chosen to settle in Ebou Dar, to take a wife and have children, if not for his leg?”
“Zara…”
“Think of the way he speaks of Seanchan – of glory and honour–”
“–don’t spoil the afternoon, Zar.”
“No, listen, Kas. You two are so similar, and if you’re not careful, you’re going to end up as bitter as him because of past regrets and stupid mistakes. Settle your affairs here and find your purpose. If it’s not a family you want, what is it you do want?”
Kasimir, Full Circle
Eventually Kas rallied the courage to confront his father once more, and this time he finally offered answers — of a sort. Much to Kasimir’s chagrin, Chakai lamented how similar they were in spirit, and finally shared the truth of how and why he had lost his leg and his place in the Empire. Ebou Dar was exile. In return for this confession, his father asked that he not return to Tar Valon. That if he must leave to find his fortunate, it be anywhere but there.
But Kas had no intention to go back there. Malaika’s betrayal stung, and Kasimir planned to take his skills elsewhere.
Personality, Appearance & Skills
Kas is often mistaken for Seanchan, though one does not have to look too close to realise he is actually one of the many half-breeds sired since the invasion of Altara. His skin is tan, his eyes tilted, and his dark hair often messy. He is exceptionally skilled with knives, having made a name for himself in the Rahad, and has the lithe body to match. He is proud of how few scars he has.
He has entirely Altaran concepts of honour and can be prickly defending it, though he is learning how well this goes down outside of his native home. Fortunately he has the skills to back up the claim. Otherwise Kas is larger than life, a happy and outrageous flirt, and quick to grin and laugh. He gambles and drinks, has a good heart, and is often in trouble (but equally good at getting out of it).
He has a complicated relationship with his father, who he has always longed for approval from, but is actually quite fearful of. Chakai was a militant father when Kas was growing up. As a boy he was desperate to connect, and wanted to know about his heritage. But Chakai shut his children out. It has bred a lot of resentment. Ironically enough, Kasimir greatly resembles his father at that age.
Family
- Chakai Nevaren (father)
- Sharain Nevaren (mother)
- Malaika (aunt)
- Kataria Mubrel (older sister)
- Jahzara Nevaren (younger sister)
- Tavrin Mubrel (nephew)
- Shiana Mubrel (neice)
Future
There were drifting rumours of an army building under the banner of Murandy’s King, which was the intrigue to an otherwise questionable mercenary detail. There was adventure, or at least a hat to try on and see if it fit. By all accounts, Murandy was not the most fragrant of places, but Kasimir had forged a career of the Rahad. Thieves, sell-swords and vagabonds did not scare him, though Kethel’s frizzy grey-haired head had rocked back in laughter when Kas had told him that. “The Rahad is Lugard’s beautiful, sophisticated young sister,” he’d said, spitting tabac-brown spit onto the ground.
Kasimir, Full Circle
After leaving home once more, this time with no intent to return, Kas ended up as hired protection on a frankly very shady merchant wagon headed to Lugard. Kethel insisted he had buyers lined up for his goods, but as it transpired his contact had been murdered before they arrived. Kasimir spent a very long week “enjoying” Lugard’s interesting take on hospitality while Kethel tried to make the best of their predicament. As it turned out, the goods in question were weapons for a war. Kas demonstrated their worth, and the deal was apparently made, but when Kethel finally presented him with payment, it was not the coin that he had been promised but a contract.
Headhunted for his prowess, Kas found himself working security for House Marucci. Soon after that he foiled an assassination attempt on Dmitry do’Bourdeau a’Marucci, by a Gray Man no less, and encountered a woman he had no idea at the time was Aes Sedai but had been injured in the process. It seemed Marucci was the key to disrupting the Murandy king’s impending bargain with the Seanchan, gifting him the status of High Blood nobility. This being the prospect that had the Houses all at war with one another.
However, King Roedran made the deal, ultimately ushering the Seanchan into Murandy. Kasimir has remained in the city, curious of his father’s people and the beasts they command, and still loyal to Dmitry, utterly unknowing that he is in the employ of one of the Forsaken.
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