Boons and Banes are based on age. The older you are the more life has affected you.
Zohra is 23, so the Rules say we must roll 3 Boons and Banes and we have the option to roll 1 more. The roll is a d100 on a large table.
First roll is 89: Exemplary Student (Boon) - This allows us to learn from others better (when they use the Teach skill), and reduced the time to learn new spells.
Second roll is 63: Secret: Condemned to Death (Bane) - This means we carry a secret that, if revealed, would be punished by death. Perhaps we are a demon worshiper or have committed some crime. It is opened ended and allows us to choose.
Third roll is 8: Enhanced Appearance - This is a variable Boon, meaning that if we used the point buy system we could add 1-4 points to our Appearance. Since we are rolling, I will roll 1d4 to decide how much better looking Zohra is. I rolled a 4, so her Appearance goes from 22 to 26. Wow. Zohra now has "nearly inhuman beauty." It will be difficult for her to pass though a crowd unnoticed. And her Seduction skill also goes up by 4% to 41%.
At this point, we need to decide whether we will roll the last one, which is optional. Hell yes.
Fourth roll is 25: Kleptomania (Bane) - Okay then! Zohra has a disorder that causes her to steal uncontrollably, without concern of getting caught. Crazy. This Bane also raises Sleight of Hand by 15% to 45%.
Zohra the slave is really taking shape. She is smart and insanely beautiful, but has some terrible secret that would result in her life being forfeit if discovered. At the same time, she pushes her luck by stealing anything that isn't nailed down. Besides, she's a widow, so it's easy to imagine that she may have been sold by her master to a friend who, entranced by her beauty, married her despite her low status. Perhaps her terrible secret is that she used her plant knowledge to poison her husband.
A few more things to tidy up before she's ready.
Spells
Based on her Magical Knowledge of 75% Zohra gets 1d6 spells to start.
The roll is a 4. Aquelarre has a lot of spells, more than 200. They range from vis (level/power) 1 to 7. You can select spells of any vis. However, casting a spell requires a roll of 1d100 below your Irrationality. There are various modifiers that come into play, not the least of which is the spell's vis. A spell of vis 2 incurs a -15% casting penalty. Vis 6, -100%. So clearly a new character should stick to low level spells.
I will just skim through the Rules and pick the first 4 that seem to fit Zohra's past.
Release the Slave - This is an amulet-based spell that causes all mundane bindings and restraints to fall from the target. The spell description sets out how to make the amulet (it requires a sheet of gold, silver wire, and corundum). However, when selecting initial amulet spells, we start with one of the amulets.
Search Lamp - Another amulet. It's a lamp filled with human fat! (instead of oil). We use a piece of cloth from the shroud of a dead person to light the lamp and speak three times the name of the object we seek. The lamp's brightness will then increase as we near the object.
Healing Balm - Zohra is a healer after all! This is an unguent that we can apply to regain 1d3 Life Points (once per day per person). We start the game with 2d6 doses. I rolled an 8.
Surgat's Gift - This is an amulet in the form of a small purse with some small pieces of charcoal inside. When you pull a piece of charcoal from purse (and say the magic words), the charcoal turns into a gold coin. But there's a catch. The next day, as soon as the first cock crow is heard, the coin turns into a burning coal.
Equipment
We are allowed to spend starting funds on equipment. Starting funds can be quite high (for example, if noble) or very low. A Curandera (healer) starts with money based on her Healing skill. However, as a slave can only start with 50 maravedíes and must spend it all.
Zohra's Gear:
Gumia (Moroccan dagger with curved blade and bone handle)
Bag
Wine skin
Tinderbox
Smoked meat (1 lb)
She also has a dog.