Ideas for Inquisitive Magi

In Mythic Europe, the stories of 1,001 Nights contain a mixture of truth, half-truths, and total fabrications. Few collections tell the tales the same way, misleading readers with conflicting particulars to the stories. Magi might seek out these tales before an expedition to the City of Brass. Collections can be found in the libraries of Andalusia and other Iberian cities, but are rare in other parts of Mythic Europe. A few copies might exist in Hermetic circles. The Merinita-based Keepers of the Thousand Tales believes that re-enacting stories promotes the immortality of faeries associated with the tales,(Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 81). In this case, what this has actually done is create and perpetuate faerie copies of the Magic jinn and 'afrit.

Libraries with a small or incomplete collection may exclude the City of Brass story, but larger collections contain the tale. Most texts are in Arabic, requiring a score of 4 in Arabic to study. Latin copies are rare, and a magus who owns one will certainly demand favors for its use. Each text of collected tales counts as a tractatus on Faerie Lore, Infernal Lore, or Magic Lore, with particular reference to the jinn and other supernatural aspects of Islamic folklore. An encyclopedia collecting all of these tales would contain fifteen tractatus, but no such book presently exists in Mythic Europe.

The moral of the City of Brass story is simple: man's creations must eventually fall and only God is eternal. There is a deeper theme within the tale. Medieval Arabic writers knew that the Sahara was expanding, slowly overtaking and swallowing cities and small kingdoms and growing in heat and intensity. The history of both the marble palace and City of Brass reminds readers of this ever growing threat.