Asad Hanif

Early Life
He was born in the city of Al’radaahim learning to ride and fight from an early age under the care of an uncle, along with his brother Musad. His parents had been killed in a sandstorm and so he never knew them but he did inherit his recently forged sword, his brother receiving the knife that had been passed down the family line for generations. He was taught very early in his life about the battle of Tallarn leading him to an intense hatred of Chaos and everyone who followed the ways of the ruinous powers despite his lack of devotion to the Imperial Cult, close to out and out atheism, though he went through the motions of faith well enough that only those who knew him best would ever suspect. He initally did not served in the Desert Raiders, instead becoming a PDF office who took to his job with the fervor and loyalty expected from most Tallarn.

Guard Service
His greatest triumph came when he single handedly fought and destroyed a Chaos Cult planning a campaign of suicide bombings that would destroy the city of Al’raadahim. This earned him a promotion upon which he took command of his own squad. He led them all to volunteer for the Imperial Guard upon the death of his older brother. He requested an assignment where he could fight Chaos but found himself hopelessly outclassed. Despite that he and his men continued to fight, learning and improving with each encounter. Like his brother he died in battle, charging head on into an enemy formation that outnumbered him 15 to 1. Witnesses to this act of suicidal courage reported that he killed 10 of the cultists, 5 of them after he was already wounded. His last words were a request for his men to care for his horse once he was gone. He was buried with his family in Al’Radaahim.

Abilities and Traits
Less than devout, almost an atheist he nonetheless did his job, seeing that if he could benefit the Imperium in some small way then he would. Despite his lack of religious fervor he did see the evil inherent in Chaos and sought to destroy them wherever and whenever he could, he had a grim almost fatalistic nature. He knew he would one day die and when the time came nothing would change it, leading him to sometimes insane risks, hoping that at the last his death would mean something.

Equipment
•	Ibitsam-not quite a piece of equipment, he saw his horse, a black stallion descended from the Arabian horses of Ancient Terra as family caring for him as he would for the child he never had. •	Lascarbine- not unlike his Bedouin ancestors on Terra he was more than capable of firing from the saddle, hitting his target 9 times out of 10. His was decorated with brass tacks arranged in decorative patterns •	His father’s sword • •	Curved knife •	Desert Raider uniform

Friends and Allies
Misfar Wali- a lifelong friend and confidant who later followed him into the PDF and later the Desert Raiders. They became as close as brothers when Musad left to join the Imperial Guard. When Hanif died all he owned went to Wali. He died many years later and was buried next to his friend.

By
“Long live the Fighters!”

“Forward, Always forward, if you find yourself fighting on the defensive you have already lost.”

“I am Asad Hanif. If you do not know me then you soon will. Should you survive this tell them who beat you and left you broken.”

About
“He was always brave, but also rash and at times very, very stupid. I will never know why he died the way he did. I think his brother’s death broke him, when Musad died I think a part of him wanted to die as well…"

-Misfar Wali

Trivia
In my mind Tallarn is a sort of idealized version of the Arab world where the people are all noble, courageous and wise. In the Middle Ages the Arab world was a refuge for knowledge and religious freedom(sometimes, not all Arab rulers were that progressive) I wanted to do a character with some of those ideals, an Arab who unlike the sort that the Middle East is known for these days, is not just interested in violence and forcing radical ideas on others.