Saladin

Again, absolutely great work from .This time it's for the House of Saladin, known throughout the desert realms as the premiere assassin and rogue guild. Here's the background story on their leader.

Before the Holy Wars erupted in ancient Jerusalem, The House of Salud was the première distributor of Black Market items and known throughout the entire desert realm to have the most deadly assassins and most skillful rogues in their employ. It wasn’t until the arrival of the Templar Knights that the leader of the guild, Adhan ibn Salud, had been brutally defeated by the Knights and his body found broken and lifeless. Shock and fear of these religious zealots ran thru the rest of the guild leaders. The best of them had been taken out without as much as a thought. With the constant attacks and invasions of the religious Infidels, the remaining leaders felt that there was no other choice but to align themselves with the leader of the Saracen Army, the great Saladin himself. Saladin had accepted this alliance as a necessary evil, seeing their talents and skills as an advantage against these self righteous Crusaders. Just before the final Battle of Hattin was to take place, the Templar Knights had arranged a private meeting between Richard the Lion Hearted and Saladin himself. King Richard wanted to end this war without spilling anymore innocent blood. Saladin accepted his offer and wanted just the same. So with no interference from the Templar Knights or the Assassins of Saladin the two great leaders met at midday, when the sun was at its peak, withdrew their swords, and began. King Richard knew of Saladin’s level of skill as a swordsman and used no shield as it would be more of a hindrance to him. As he knelt down and prayed to God for protection, the Templar Runes on his sword began to glow and a divine light emanated from the King’s Armor. Unimpressed Saladin unfurled his prayer mat and kneeled and began his prayers also and just like the King there was a divine light that surrounded him. Both combatants knew they would only get one chance to end this war. The differences in their fighting styles were clearly evident. The Great Saladin drew his magnificent sword and began to slowly circle the Knight. King Richard was still on one knee with his eyes closed and did not move at all. Saladin began to whisper a prayer and like a desert mirage, multiple images of himself surrounded the kneeling King. In the distance, the shriek of a desert Hawk sounded as the hot, arid winds began to gently make its way across the sand dunes. For an instant, time froze and nothing moved, even the gentle breeze that crept across the desert floor stopped. In that precise moment a single sound of Saracen metal landing on English crafted steel could be heard. The movements of both combatants were so quick that neither Templar nor Assassin saw them move. King Richard was still on one knee with his shield arm raised above his head as if he still had a shield on and was blocking out the midday sun. The edge of Saladin’s sword was so razor sharp that it had penetrated thru the thick English steel and nearly reached to the bone of King Richards’s upheld arm. What held him back from finishing the blow was the finely crafted English sword that the King was holding in his other hand. With his sword buried all the way to the hilt, deep in Saladin’s chest, King Richard knew the war was over. The runes on his sword flared to life and began to glow a bright blue hue as the blood of the Saracen King flowed freely down its blade. With that, King Richard pulled his blade from Saladin’s chest and the Desert King fell to his knees. King Richard said a final prayer over the Saracen Lord and walked away.
Saladin was in shock and felt that Allah had abandoned him in his time of need. He could not understand his loss to this invading infidel. His servants took Saladin to his sanctum where his healers worked feverishly to undo the damage the English King had done. When it came to a point that his healers could do no more, Saladin wished to be alone with his thoughts. He could not come to terms that his God had forsaken him, after all, was he not chosen by God to lead his people? Had he not been faithful and followed all the testaments that were laid out for him? Is this how he is rewarded? The seeds of doubt and fear were firmly planted in his mind and he felt he had no wear else to turn. It was at this point a figure stepped out from the shadows. At first he thought it was one of his healers that returned, but he did not recognize the face. The man introduced himself as Judas and offered Saladin a chance to redeem himself and his people. In his hand he held a silver chalice, and the stranger had said that in order for him to carry out his destiny, he must turn his back on his beliefs and drink from the chalice that would give him true everlasting life. With no other choice that he could see Saladin drank from the cup…
When morning came the next day rumours of the Battle of Hattin had spread throughout the entire realm that Saladin had routed the English Knights and even defeated his rival, King Richard. It was said that it took only one night for the Saracens to defeat the infidels and that Saladin had fought as if possessed by demon…