Safiye Hanim
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Fullname: Safiye Hanim
Played by: Shohreh Aghdashloo
Gender: Female
Age: Early sixties
Birthdate: Uncertain
Class: Foreigner
House: Other
Occupation: Ephesian Agent
Province: Eisande, now
Country: Ephesium
Parents: Dead
Siblings: Dead
Marital Status: Widow
Children: None

Known Information

In the spring of 1309 an embassy from Ephesium arrived in Terre d'Ange, headed by the rather handsome thirtysomething Prince Isfendiyar and his distinguished though reclusive mother, Süheyla Iqbal.

They brought with them an enormous retinue and what seemed all the riches of the East: gifts of cloth and jewels and spices and exotic animals for House Courcel and its vassals, tokens of an esteem they hoped to inspire in return. Süheyla Iqbal remained cloistered within her own apartments but Prince Isfendiyar was quite the social butterfly, making friends and influencing people via his wholehearted appreciation of d’Angeline customs. He was noted for the genuine respect with which he treated d'Angeline ladies in particular, unlike so many from his part of the world — he was regarded as the enlightened kind of foreigner, the kind we like to party with, even the kind we could sign treaties with.

Amongst their attendants was an older lady-in-waiting close to them both, who possessed already the rudiments of the d'Angeline tongue and became fluent swiftly enough that she served often as a translator and intermediary. "Lady Sophia", as she was known in the City of Elua and the court of the Courcels, struggled sometimes with d'Angeline culture as any sheltered Ephesian lady was bound to do, but she scarcely ever refused an invitation to a d'Angeline house or a d'Angeline amusement. Once, among a group of her younger countrymen who were guests of royalty, she even attended a debut auction at Cereus House. She garnered a reputation for being unusually thoughtful and open-minded, and for making just about the best coffee in the world.

Tidings of the Sultan's ill health brought the embassy to an abrupt conclusion, and the prince and his entourage sailed away again to Constantinopolis in the spring of 1311.

There is now in Marsilikos a Madame Safiye Hanim, the proprietress of an Ephesian coffee-house in the Grand Plaza. To those who have paid their court in Elua in the last two years and socialised with the Ephesian visitors, she's obviously the same person.

Background

Inspiration

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Contacts

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Logs

(1312-06-22) New Paths Converge
Summary: La Perle Noire is ever the scene of meetings, partings, unexpected but fortuitous...


(1312-05-21) I Used To Sing
Summary: Taking coffee at La Perle Noire, Azalaïs L’Envers unwittingly draws attention to herself ...


(1311-11-20) A Word For Cowardice
Summary: Once again Hugo takes Safiye out on a little expedition, to teach her more of the...


(1311-10-27) Repertoire
Summary: Safiye takes on a new singer to entertain at La Perle Noire, though after his first...


(1311-10-27) Not Perfect
Summary: One evening at La Perle Noire, the proprietress is auditioning a new singer when a...


(1311-10-15) Beneath Fortunate Stars
Summary: A rainy afternoon at La Perle Noire sees a chance meeting of fortune-telling enthusiasts ...


(1311-09-22) The Coat's Just A Symbol
Summary: Hugo very kindly shows a foreign agent around the royal naval dockyard and answers her many...


(1311-09-16) Ways That Men Hardly Can
Summary: The Illyrian delegation accepts the hospitality of the unofficial Ephesian representative,...


(1311-09-15) Here Everything Is Gentler
Summary: Étienne d’Arguil comes to La Perle Noire in search of good coffee and good company, and...


(1311-09-13) The Gentlest Quid Pro Quo
Summary: Towards the end of the feast celebrating the opening of the Great Exhibition in Marsilikos,...


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