You knock on Zebeebah's door with trepidation (luckily for you it is a good day). The constellation of Al-Jabbar (The Giant/Orion) set into the door with small stones glints back at you. The door opens slightly and two blue eyes edged exotically in kohl glance up at you, and sparkle in recognition. The door opens widely and a smiling woman inclines her head to the side and equires "How may I help you?"
Zeebebah was born in Tyre in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1195, two years after the defeat of King Richard I by Salah al-Adin in the 3rd Crusade. Her parents had met in Damascus during the European occupation there, and had retreated to Tyre as the Latin Kingdom shrunk. Her mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant family with royal connections, and her father was a Magus, of House Guernicus, who had come to the Holy Land to study in a covenant in Damascus. After having four sons, none of whom had the Gift, both parents were pleased at the arrival of Zebeebah, who had the Gift, and who was their only daughter.
Zebeebah had a hard time growing up in a European-dominated city being half Arabic and half French. This caused her to develop at a young age the ability to charm people with her voice and manners, or to stealthily avoid those whom she could not charm. She was raised a Sunni Muslim, and resided in the covenant with her family. She studied under the tutelage of her father at the Convenant of Tyre. When she first started to use her Gift, her parents noticed that she developed wide mood swings. She would go from being happy, confident, studious and energetic to depressed, unable to concentrate and tired. Initially the timing of the mood swings was variable, but as she got older they developed a daily regularity, so that one day she would be happy and the next sad (rapid-cycling bipolar disorder). To cope with this she would often work long hours on her up days and sleep for longer on her down days. Her Gift also waxed and waned with her mood swings (cyclic magic positive and negative). She was subtle and inventive with her casting, and showed an aptitude with languages, probably due to the variety of languages that she was exposed to as a child.
At the age of 20, Zebeebah decided that she wanted to have a child and so had a brief affair with a member of House Flambeau who was visiting the Covenant. In 1215, she gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Arwa al-Alliya bint Sahla al-Tyre (Arwa the Sublime). Arwa also had the Gift (dependent).
Zebeebah has a tendency to consider her life as perhaps more grandiose than it really is, occasionally exaggerating events in her life and those of people whom she interacts with. Often this merely adds to her charm, and her manners towards others are usually complimentary. The downside is that she may occasionally act rashly, and with not too much thought for her personal wellbeing.
When Zebeebah was invited to join the covenant Fontis Niger, near Carcassonne in Southern France, she did not hesitate to accept. One factor was that Zebeebah felt that the Cathar people who were present in this area at the time, would be quite understanding of her own religion and skin tone. Furthermore, she wished to explore her French heritage and to see the country of her father’s birth.
Zebeebah stands approx 5 foot tall, with swarthy skin, black hair and striking blue eyes rimmed in kohl. Around the covenant she usually dresses in pale-coloured robes with a matching veil to cover her hair. However, when leaving the covenant she favours local garb.