The Characters

Nuri Usiku

The Seventh Usiku. The Arcane Anomaly

Character Introduction

Nuri Usiku is a recently 18 year old young man. His somber face belies his social personality much like how his family's love for each other contrasts their violent criminal dealings. We follow him as he comes of age through this journey of revenge in arc 1 The Storms Omen. But this arc is not the end, it is simply a shedding of skin, and a showing that Nuri is already more than what his current life can handle.

Personality

Nuri is a very social person. He enjoys meeting new people and absorbing new stories, and it shows in his kindness and openness. By default, Nuri will help anyone who asks, but he never calls it a favor unless they helped him first. Everyone else gets a price, usually small and usually fair, though not always. But do not mistake this kindness for weakness. Nuri is still a member of the Usiku Syndicate; he is more than capable and willing to do what he must to achieve his goals, though he tries to do so with as few casualties as possible. And as much as he hides it, even from himself, he feels a quiet satisfaction in the combat his family’s line of work has pushed him toward.

The Usiku Syndicate

The Usiku Syndicate is a black market merchant guild focused on the transportation and protection of illegal assets. They're run by Nuri's eldest sister Hawa Usiku, who started it up as an expansion of their adoptive father Hamisi's smaller black market courier business. One asset they refuse to deal in however is Iblis, a drug that's begun spreading through the lower areas of Enzi, they aren't blind to the pain they're allowing with what they trade in, however Hawa simply couldn't deal in Iblis especially not after seeing its more supernatural effects.

The Family Itself

Two adoptive parents, seven children under them, each set of two with a different father, and Nuri is the only boy as well as the only one lacking a duo.

The Siblings:

1. Hawa - The head, Hawa is the face of the family and the person that all major decisions are run by first. Characterized by her immense stature which complements her stern and stable personality, she stands as a pillar of strength for her family to look towards, and an ideal her siblings emulate in their own ways. She's apathetic and suspicious of the wider world but trusts that her siblings have been raised with good discernment.

2. Amara - The scholar, Amara lives relatively separate from the family's dealings despite her younger years of fighting alongside Hawa to establish it. She lives with her husband over in the forests of Kush where they run a simple produce shop in the nearby market... which also acts as a front for illegal transports. She shares Hawa's stature as they share a father though hers has softened with her peaceful lifestyle, within which she keeps her mind sharp as she studies the world.

3. Tumaini - The enforcer, Tumaini is quite nomadic as she travels between their control points making sure the people under them aren't sullying the good name of the Usikus and that deals are being properly fulfilled. What she lacks in stature she makes up for in agility and finesse, with a lean build and hair cut short to lower the risk of being grabbed, and her skill with her beloved pistol Hound is known throughout the underworld.

4. Chidi - The broker, Chidi travels alongside Tumaini often as she carries the silver tongue her twin lacks. She carries herself with a no-nonsense attitude but also a kindness that allows her to both comfort and unsettle those she converses with, this shown directly in her clothing as despite her formal clothing she always likes a nice pop of color to draw the eye.

5. Imani - The wanderer, Imani carries out the most important and most difficult deliveries for the syndicate, and she's damn good at it. Though she does it for the adventure, she doesn't much care for what resides in the packages themselves. She's one of the shorter members, mirroring her own twin Zola, however unlike her she has a much more aloof and calm demeanor.

6. Zola - The heir, Zola is Hawa’s apprentice and secretary, with dreams of creating her own more legitimate branch of the syndicate. Her bold and fiery personality is an externalization of the bright future she plans on fighting tooth and nail for. Nuri’s nickname for her, “the frost to his flame,” is ironic now, but growing up, Zola, despite being only two years older, insisted on being his teacher, helping the wild infant that was Nuri get accustomed to their life. 

7. Nuri - The anomaly, Nuri as the youngest has no defined role within, mainly just doing odd jobs that Hawa can find for him, he's always desired something more, something greater, and that is power. Though he has no idea what he even plans on doing with it.

They all share a biological mother, a woman they've only heard stories of from their adoptive parents Zahara and Hamisi, a woman that Nuri shares an exact resemblance to in the visage of his face.

The Parents:

• Zahara - The mother, Zahara has lived through many trials, having escaped her family’s household after being cast aside for being infertile, she eventually found the woman who'd come to birth these children, Rehema. Nowadays, however, Zahara lives a life of love and peace beside her husband Hamisi, her hair grown long and braided, a symbol of the life she's lived and the past she will forever carry with her. She's a mischievous woman, not allowing her age to dull the spark in her life, nor the energy of her laugh.

• Hamisi - The father, Hamisi too has lived through his fair share of trials, growing up an orphan he turned to crime for money. After repeated failures to produce anything of value he instead turned to transportation, and that's where he struck gold. But gold was nothing to him once he laid eyes upon Zahara. He’s been integral to the growth of the syndicate, and so who else to target when in need of information on Hawa? But he refused to talk, and for that refusal his voice was taken from him. He never spoke another word. And despite it all, he’d do it again. The scar on his throat, that accursed scar, is to him just another sign of his love and dedication to his daughter’s dream. 

More Coming soon... Very soon.