The 23rd Scroll: Falling From The Sky

[Gamemaster]

Night of Wonders
The story of Jameel Rahman ibn Rasheed and his strange ride.
--
It was in the course of my travels... "that I came across a tall old man, accompanied by ten young men, all handsome, and all blind of the right eye.
Now in its way, the spectacle of ten men walking together, all blind of the right eye, is as uncommon as that of a copper castle, and I was turning over in my mind what could be the meaning of the strange fact, when they greeted me warmly, and inquired what had brought me there.
I replied that my story was somewhat long, but that if they would take the trouble to sit down, I should be happy to tell it them.
When I had finished, the young men begged that I would go with them to the castle, and I joyfully accepted their offer."
They treated me with great hospitality and had only one request: that I not question them regarding their missing eyes or their rituals. We passed a night most pleasant, but strange, for at the end of it they smeared ashes and coal dust over the whole of their faces and weeping beat their breasts, crying, "This is the fruit of idleness, and of our wicked lives."
"All this while I had refrained from questions, though my curiosity almost seemed to burn a hole in me, but the following day, when we went out to walk, I said to them, 'Gentlemen, I must disobey your wishes, for I can keep silence no more. Whatever befalls me I cannot forbear asking, 'Why you daub your faces with black, and how it is you are all blind of one eye?'"
Many times I asked, many times they replied, "that I should do well to hold my peace."
Finally, after much insistence: "'It is for your own sake,' replied one of the young men, 'that we have not granted your request, and to preserve you from our unfortunate fate. If, however, you wish to share our destiny we will delay no longer."
"On hearing my determination my ten hosts then took a sheep and killed it, and handed me a knife, which they said I should by - and-by find useful. 'We must sew you into this sheep-skin,' said they, 'and then leave you. A fowl of monstrous size, called a roc, will appear in the air, taking you to be a sheep. He will snatch you up and carry you into the sky, but be not alarmed, for he will bring you safely down and lay you on the top of a mountain. When you are on the ground cut the skin with the knife and throw it off. As soon as the roc sees you he will fly away from fear, but you must walk on till you come to a castle covered with plates of gold, studded with jewels. Enter boldly at the gate, which always stands open, but do not ask us to tell you what we saw or what befell us there, for that you will learn for yourself. This only we may say, that it cost us each our right eye, and has imposed upon us our nightly penance.
"After the young gentlemen had been at the trouble of sewing the sheep-skin on me they left me, and retired to the hall. In a few minutes the roc appeared, and bore me off to the top of the mountain in his huge claws as lightly as if I had been a feather, for this great white bird is so strong that he has been known to carry even an elephant to his nest in the hills.
The moment my feet touched the ground I took out my knife and cut the threads that bound me, and the sight of me in my proper clothes so alarmed the roc that he spread his wings and flew away. Then I set out to seek the castle.

[Gamemaster]

I found it after wandering about for half a day, and never could I have imagined anything so glorious. The gate led into a square court, into which opened a hundred doors, ninety-nine of them being of rare woods and one of gold. Through each of these doors I caught glimpses of splendid gardens or of rich storehouses.
Entering one of the doors which was standing open I found myself in a vast hall where forty young ladies, magnificently dressed, and of perfect beauty, were reclining. As soon as they saw me they rose and uttered words of welcome, and even forced me to take possession of a seat that was higher than their own, though my proper place was at their feet. Not content with this, one brought me splendid garments, while another filled a basin with scented water and poured it over my hands, and the rest busied themselves with preparing refreshments. After I had eaten and drunk of the most delicate food and rarest wines, the ladies crowded round me and begged me to tell them all my adventures.
By the time I had finished night had fallen, and the ladies lighted up the castle with such a prodigious quantity of tapers that even day could hardly have been brighter. We then sat down to a supper of dried fruits and sweetmeats, after which some sang and others danced. I was so well amused that I did not notice how the time was passing, but at length one of the ladies approached and informed me it was midnight, and that, as I must be tired, she would conduct me to the room that had been prepared for me.
Then, bidding me good-night, I was left to sleep.
I spent the next thirty-nine days in much the same way as the first, but at the close of that time the ladies appeared (as was their custom) in my room one morning to inquire how I had slept, and instead of looking cheerful and smiling they were in floods of tears. "Prince," said they, "we must leave you, and never was it so hard to part from any of our friends. Most likely we shall never see you again, but if you have sufficient self-command perhaps we may yet look forward to a meeting."
"Ladies," I replied, "what is the meaning of these strange words-- I pray you to tell me?"
"Know then," answered one of them, "that we are all princesses-- each a king's daughter. We live in this castle together, in the way that you have seen, but at the end of every year secret duties call us away for the space of forty days. The time has now come; but before we depart, we will leave you our keys, so that you may not lack entertainment during our absence. But one thing we would ask of you. The Golden Door, alone, forbear to open, as you value your own peace, and the happiness of your life. That door once unlocked, we must bid you farewell for ever."
Weeping, I assured them of my prudence, and after embracing me tenderly, they went their ways.
Every day I opened two or three fresh doors, each of which contained behind it so many curious things that I had no chance of feeling dull, much as I regretted the absence of the ladies. Sometimes it was an orchard, whose fruit far exceeded in bigness any that grew in my father's garden. Sometimes it was a court planted with roses, jessamine, daffodils, hyacinths and anemones, and a thousand other flowers of which I did not know the names. Or again, it would be an aviary, fitted with all kinds of singing birds, or a treasury heaped up with precious stones; but whatever I might see, all was perfect of its own sort.
Thirty-nine days passed away more rapidly than I could have conceived possible, and the following morning the princesses were to return to the castle. But alas! I had explored every corner, save only the room that was shut in by the Golden Door, and I had no longer anything to amuse myself with. I stood before the forbidden place for some time, gazing at its beauty; then a happy inspiration struck me, that because I unlocked the door it was not necessary that I should enter the chamber. It would be enough for me to stand outside and view whatever hidden wonders might be therein.

[Gamemaster]

Thus arguing against my own conscience, I turned the key, when a smell rushed out that, pleasant though it was, overcame me completely, and I fell fainting across the threshold. Instead of being warned by this accident, directly I came to myself I went for a few moments into the air to shake of the effects of the perfume, and then entered boldly. I found myself in a large, vaulted room, lighted by tapers, scented with aloes and ambergris, standing in golden candle-sticks, whilst gold and silver lamps hung from the ceiling.
Though objects of rare workmanship lay heaped around me, I paid them scant attention, so much was I struck by a great black horse which stood in one corner, the handsomest and best-shaped animal I had ever seen. His saddle and bridle were of massive gold, curiously wrought; one side of his trough was filled with clean barley and sesame, and the other with rose water. I led the animal into the open air, and then jumped on his back, shaking the reins as I did so, but as he never stirred, I touched him lightly with a switch I had picked up in his stable. No sooner did he feel the stroke, than he spread his wings (which I had not perceived before), and flew up with me straight into the sky. When he had reached a prodigious height, he next darted back to earth...
--
taken from: www.readprint.com/chapter-6467/Andrew-Lang
Depending on who told the tale, it was either the wail of fear or the great flapping of wings they first heard. Whichever was correct, it came of a sudden from the night sky above.
A short way off from the party, a magnificent black stallion with wings that swept the sky in mighty strokes, swooped down and violently shook off its rider, casting him to the ground.
As the unfortunate man sat stunned and shaken, the stallion flicked its tail with the force of a whip, the retort a cracking as lightning. Where it not for fate smiling upon him, the man would have lost an eye; fortunately he was left with only a welt across the face that he would carry for days.
With that the winged stallion snorted and leapt into the sky, quickly fading into the night.
"Oh my liver!" Waleed said exasperated. "This day has been far too strange to explain. I think it would be expedient of us to leave this area and perhaps leave a sign stating the danger of this pass." Waleed looked at the new stranger and then back at the pass. "We live in interesting times, yes indeed."
"By Fate!" Amir al-Ahmar exclaims, lowering his bow which he had hastily drawn. "Do naught but gods and spirits dwell in these mountains? I'll be glad again for the simple company of men and camels!"
'Keesha here' smiles glad some degree of civility is still around here., not being used to hanging around in the desert like this. 'Don’t ask me how I got there, as I have no idea. I simply woke up and instead of my comfortable bedroom found myself tied up and awakened by the things we have all seen'
Checks her clothing and makes sure her possessions didn’t get ruined while escaping
'I don’t mind accompanying you for a while, after all.. its not as if I can go anywhere from here on my own.. but you should certainly not mind telling me what are you after right?"
'Talk about strange happenings' as she moves to the side and tries to concentrate on the sight they saw in the palace, trying to remember the different signs and drawings there and comparing them with some of the notes on her books
She is immersed in her studies...
... As she hears a sound in the sky..
'Eakon! How did you get here!' And smiles watching her loyal hawk coming down the sky. After a minute or two smiles, remembering the spell that was cast on him by her former teacher... 'that old guy's trick worked after all hmm?'
Rejoiced to be in company of a friend in the middle of all strangers she pets his head, while pondering on the facts and things she researched on her book ...
Turin hastened over to assist the newcomer to his feet. "This will surely make for a poem of wonderous stature," Turin said, offering his hand to Amir Jameel. "I am Turin, personal aide of Khafaz ibn Dahz." This he said with a touch of reverence.
The man extending his hand to Amir Jameel was homely and in his thirties. A childhood disease had left him completely hairless; his bulbous nose was twice too big for his round head, and his droopy eyes and huge ears give him a comical, even ridiculous appearance.

[Gamemaster]

Siezed by sudden inspiration, Turin waxed poetic:

Falling from the sky,
Falling from the sky!
Oh my eyes decieve me
Please pinch or squeeze me,
Because in my bed I must now lie
Asleep and dreaming of heroes
Falling from the sky.