Biography: 

Borga Din was born Syud Remajee, amongst the wild nomads of deepest Kali, where the sun bakes by day and the land freezes at night. Endless sand is broken only by meagre oases, which reluctantly yield their fruit and water to those strong enough to take it. When the winds blow at all, they are savage; whipping up skin-flaying maelstroms of granules to blind and choke their victims before burying them. The gleaming white bones of those unlucky enough to be caught are uncovered from time to time, as the vast desert constantly shifts, changing it's skin. The way of the Horse Tribes is simple - keep moving and survive. Death awaits the slightest mistake in a land where even the fit die young.

Young Remajee belonged to the Juba Tribe, a proud line of warriors. But the Juba are no more. The last scion of those fierce and noble people is Borga Din, the Terrible, the Savage, the Warlord of Merchants. Reaver, Barbarian, Slayer of Children and Slaves, it is said that he is bigger than a Troll, and twice as strong. He cracks men's bones with his teeth, and leaves a pile of skulls at each village he passes through, the remains of babies, his favourite delicacy. Few who have seen him have lived, and only demons do commerce with him and his silladars. Blood is his drink, human flesh his food. His horsemen are devils who share in his orgies of death and he keeps them strong by offering them cannibalistic fare. When his standard appears on the horizon, and the dust clouds of his caravan rise like a war cloud over the dunes, women and children run screaming for their baked-clay huts, while the men shake with fear and bar the doors and windows shut. The babes are hidden beneath reed mats and the wives dirty their faces and blacken their eyes to make themselves ugly, for the silladars are known too for their voracious and beastly ways, and no woman thus abused is ever left alive - except those taken for slaves.

In fact, Borga Din is a sensible, cunning merchant. Fierce in combat, but trustworthy and a good leader of men. The legendary horror attached to his name is a product of his own rumours. The desert is inhospitable and many caravans must travel with large bodies of troops to handle raiders or monstrous attacks. Din's bodyguard is light, but effective, comprised of a company of elite silladar horse mercenaries, fiercely loyal but small in number. Bandits are loath to descend upon one whom they regard as their superior in savagery, and those who have tried were easily beaten after initial losses, their morale suffering from Borga Din's widespread tales. Unfortunately, this also means that the merchant relies heavily on just a few purveyors, since many will not deal with him. Average citizens run from him and many others would kill him gladly given half a chance. His reputation extends beyond the desert to the Black Forest, where his myth lives in the whispered voices of parents trying to scare their children to bed. "Borga Din is coming, and if you're not in bed, he'll surely eat you!"

At the age of six, the Juba were betrayed and slaughtered by a mad sultan, the Tippoo of Kahmednugra. The reason was simple - he coveted Syud's older sister but was denied her by her father, so he took his revenge by luring the tribe within sight of his walls, using promises of gold and tools in exchange for a few prime horses. The Tippoo watched from his citadel ramparts in the blood red of the Kali dawn as proud warriors and their families were slaughtered upon rising. His Mahratta troops, having the advantage of surprise and outnumbering their enemy ten to one, descended upon the Juba camp with ruthless efficiency, sparing no one. No one, that is, except young Syud. A master horseman by the age of six, his mother threw him aback the fastest mare in the camp and he rode like the desert wind, far, far away into the deep northern sands. He wandered, lost and sick in his soul, managing to keep himself and his steed alive for years. He attached himself to a merchant caravan when he was eight and learned the trade from a wicked master, Appa Koresh. He killed Appa four years later, for beating a slave girl to death. At twelve, he was impressive in his swordsmanship and already savvy as a trader, so he was left alone and became Jemadar of the merchant train. The men followed him easily enough and after a few more years he broke off to choose his own destiny. Syud had a hunger for riches and power, but always with the ultimate goal in mind - to destroy the Tippoo who had killed his family. If he could become rich enough, he could afford an army, and that army he would march up to the walls of Kahmednugra to pound it's walls into dust.

So young Syud became Borga Din. He brought a slave girl with him when he left, Aruna, of the Kunwar Tribe. He freed her and she became his right hand, his advisor, his chief warrior, and his lover. Borga's first caravan was treacherously attacked by a village of humanoids as they passed through, but the attack was reversed and became a slaughter. It was Din's first lesson in controlling blood lust amongst his silladars and it made him sick. But it also spawned the legend of his battle madness and viciousness, which he quickly saw would be profitable to propagate. His merchant train since has travelled the wastes, from the bleached towers of Singephatam to the north to the mottled villages of Morgodaon and Dregordaon to the south. His caravan has sought spices in Kysor to the east, and has seen the salty shores of the Bone Sea where the gilded domes of Jabbidan blaze in the Kali sun. His prospects have made him rich. He has sold concubines to rajahs and maharajahs, sultans have bought his silks, and he has been approached by traders in the west - but he ignores those last, for never will his caravan grace the bloody walls of the Black City of the Mahrattas, Kahmednugra, unless with ten thousand men ready to do war.

Business, however, has begun to suffer. As his old contacts move on or go the way of the desert, new ones are scarce in the face of his legendry. Borga Din has spoken to white men in the eastern provinces, merchants with cured leathers supple and fine, strong bright steel for spears and even armour. These things Din knows he must have, and if he can make money while building a store of weapons for his future horde, why not? The time to pass on the reins is nigh. He has decided to strike east, for the fabled lands where it rains for more than an hour at a time, and grass grows for miles. His Jemadar, Aruna, will lead the company while he scouts for trading partners. He has been told that the lands east are dark and grim, where beasts roam the forests and plains, and Trolls loom in the dark valleys and forests. But he must go, for the blood of his family rests upon it, this he knows.

Personality Description:

As mentioned above, the trader is a savvy man, humorous and quick of wit. Borga Din does not relish fighting, but is confident in his abilities when it comes to battle. Some find his sense of humour too incongruous, especially those unused to the ways of the desert and its Tribes, and he may be inappropriate at times in his speech. Men like him. He is a born leader, his presence instills confidence and people believe that he knows what he is doing, even when he does not. Unfortunately, Din does not seem to realize this. He inwardly berates himself on a daily basis for not having stopped his troops that day in the Godu. The screams of his silladars as they killed, the cries of the dying, these haunt him. Often Din finds failure in victory and will purposely put himself at a disadvantage to appease his self-derision. The merchant thus satisfies his honour - after his victory at the Godu, Din forbade his troops to plunder the village; instead they buried the corpses and Borga Din left his best suit of armour and his most prized sword in one of the mounds. 

Din is honest and forthright, as far as he can be as a merchant at least, but sometimes the lure of riches flows in his blood... Far and wide has the Merchant Warlord travelled, and many a song or story has he heard, even from as far away as the dark lands to which he now travels. He is not adverse to sharing his lore, indeed, he has always welcomed any chance to read a manuscript or tell a tale around the campfire. He may not partake of the flesh of pigs or cows.

Physical Description:

Borga Din has different guises. At any time, he is a roguish, dark-skinned man, quick of wit and keen of eye. About five foot nine, fit of build, the thirty-three year-old is commanding and used to being obeyed. When entertaining the Maharajah of Kysor in his silk tent, he wears the finest robes over which a golden mesh of finely interwoven rings covers his neck and torso. Rubied strands hang from his forehead and gemmed buckles grace his sandals. When travelling alone, however, he sports a plain steel tunic of fine chain mail, belted with black leather, all under dun-coloured robes. A razor sharp scimitar belongs at his side in a finely made and well oiled scabbard.  On his head is a spired helmet, evident in its repaired nicks and scratches of constant use. Small gold rings adorn his fingers, with only the tiniest emeralds and onyx fittings, while a money pouch on his belt is packed tight with wadding to prevent it from chinking when it shouldn't. His sense of humour shows in the crow's feet around his laughing eyes, but those same eyes can be as hard as flint when necessary. 

His horse, Nunaber, is a noble dun stallion, small but fleet and rippling with muscle. Light barding of leather covers the white star on his head, while the his flanks are unprotected except by the high-backed saddle. A ten foot lance rests in it's saddle scabbard, easily within reach should danger approach, while an exotic horned bow rests on it's scabbard slung over Nunaber's back, next to a quiver of arrows.  A small carven figure sits in the pommel of the saddle, the image of Mara, the Juba's protector and Goddess of Horses.