Introduction & Sagas

Ahlan wa sahlan! Welcome to The Cradle and the Crescent, the guide to the Mythic Middle East for Ars Magica Fifth Edition. This book explores a part of the Mythic world beyond the control of the Order of Hermes, including the lands known in the modern day as the "cradle of civilization," from which our earliest records of human civilization stem — the lands to the east of the Hermetic Tribunal of the Levant, lands known in Europe only through occasional accounts of pilgrims and other travelers, supplemented by a multitude of (at times wild) rumors and speculations.

In this book we present this region as a setting for Ars Magica sagas. We describe the geography and history of the area, including in particular many of its mystical sites and supernatural denizens. We also give particular attention to Mythic Middle Eastern magic, the jinn, Mythic Zoroastrianism, and the Suhhar Sulayman that is also known as the Order of Suleiman.