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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Isida Kep'Tukari" data-source="post: 1659652" data-attributes="member: 4441">"He is called Mansur a'Majid, the Divinely Protected Glorious Prince.  He is royalty, the ruler of a great nation from far beyond the mountains, and comes with offers of alliance and great wealth.  Ala'Kamal will gain the greatest prestige by securing a treaty with him, and you will be the one to set him at ease.  If Mansur a'Majid asks for you, the sultan asked me to ask you, will you go with him?  He trusts your charms, Jewel, to soften any hard edges this prince may have," Rashida says, as she selects one of Samira's most flattering dancing outfits, one in gold, bronze, amber, and deep red, along with a great deal of her finest jewelry.  "Ala'Kamal has asked for the Dance of Two Blades, do your best child!" Rashida offers, expertly applying make-up to enhance Samira's already radiant features.  Khol extended her eyes, red ocher powder brought a becoming flush to her face, gold dust made her sparkle even in dim light.  "Go Samira, they will be waiting for you!"*Going to the sultan's audiance chamber, Samira can see it has been decorated within an inch of its life.  Gold silk drapes soar from the ceiling, magical lights illuminate the colored glass windows, dozens of other skilled harem girls from the noble's harem serve the drinks and feed food to the men in Mansur a'Majid's train.  He seems to have no women with him, but he may simply have them under guard in the guest quarters, as viewing one's wife in public is a personal decision.**Peacocks are arranged about the periphery of the room, trained to keep their magificent tails spread, and acrobats and belly dancers of moderate skill give something for the guests to look at while the main entertainment prepares herself.  Adara, the sulteena, virginal sister of Ala'Mahir, sat by the sultan's side, dressed in exotic blue silks; swathed from head to toe in them.  She was purely a political bride, but Ala'Kamal was expected to produce an heir from her at some point.  Apparently she had yet to interest him fully for that duty.**The musicians caught sight of Samira behind the curtains, and on her signal struck up a sensuous tune.  Whirling into action with grace and beauty unknown elsewhere in the Six Cities, the Radiant Jewel of Ala'Kamal dazzled all with her talent and loveliness.  The two featherblades whirled through the incense and perfume-scented air, and the light glittered off of her gold-dusted skin.  The dance done, not a single eye in the room was not following her every move.  Pleased smiles and a raising of cups showed their pleasure, as did a smile from the sultan and a crook of his finger to have her sit on a cushion next to him.  The sulteena sat on the other side, a symbol of power and prestige... and not much else.  No one spoke to her, her conduct was the sultan's to conduct at all times.  Perhaps even more than a harem girl, she lacked any kind of freedom.**Ala'Kamal placed his Jewel between himself and Mansur a'Majid, signalling for a servant to bring her a cup of fine date wine.  With a brilliant smile, he gestured to his guest.*"Is she not the finest Jewel of all the sands?" he said broadly, with a tone that booked no argument.  Mansur a'Majid nodded and regarded her with a pleased eye."I have never seen a woman so lovely, sultan, surely you and your city is blessed by the gods," he said graciously.  "Would you permit me the company of your Jewel for an hour or two, so that I might learn the extent of the sultan's blessing?"*With an elegant, jewel-encrusted hand, Ala'Kamal allowed him, and Samira, that freedom.  She was now free to speak to him, as well as to pleasure him, if he should wish.*"Such a fine dance, and with such wonderful weapons.  It is said that these dances could be put to very deadly use, if the dancer were threatened.  Is there any truth to these rumors?" Mansur said languidly, lounging on his cushions like a contented cat.~~~  "I am Nu'man, Abdul-Hadid, bearer of Seif al Din.  And I am here to raise you from this meaningless, wandering existance you have condemned yourself to.  You were born with the blood of princes and sultans in your veins, you have slain a rakshasa, had your very sword come alive in your hand, and still you would rather hide yourself away in the desert.  Come with me, for I come to show you your true path in life."~~~  "I am Rayhan, little one, and I am in need of one such as you.  Your skills are renown, even in the wilds of the desert, and I have sought you out to ask for your aid," he says with a broad smile.~~~  *Wajih smiles becomingly at Shalah, and seems to take on the slightly glassy-eyed look of one under her spell.  Rising to take her to his chamber, he holds her close.  As they pass through the archway to the back of the house, there's a sensation of falling, a brief, intense feeling of cold, and a moment of absolute blackness.**When it passes, Shalah finds herself in a room that is no part of Dharr's home!  Astoundingly decadent, and decorated in even finer materials than the sultan's harem, with gold floors, walls of ruby and diamond, hundreds of silk pillows, a low table covered with bowls of fruit so numerous it must have cost a large fortune...*"Relax, my dear, and ask of me what you will.  Would you care for a persimmon?" Wajih asks casually, sitting down and plucking up a reddish fruit and beginning to peal it as if he didn't have a care in the world.~~~  *Jibril's enhanced sight only saw what his mundane eyes saw, though her eyes seemed a bit more luminous.*"I am Badra, and your name is known to me as are all the events of your life.  Your arrogance, the death of those beneath you, the death of your children, your own aimless wanderings, they are all as clear to me as my own name.  You were born to serve, and I call you to a higher purpose than what you have wasted your life on before this.  I call you to serve the heirs to the Burning Thones, to keep them safe during their trials, to guard them against those who would not see the return of the true rulers of Keldev.  Do you accept this task, Windwalker?"~~~  *Tariq cannot remember ever meeting this man, which makes his presence all the more mysterious.*"I am Hamzah, the Lion of the Desert, a man of not inconsiderable wealth and power.  You have never heard of me, nor will you find anyone who has.  Despite this, I offer you something that no one else would be able to; a way to find your father, and a way to gain power and prestige enough so that you would never have to wander again.  This power does not come without price, but this offer only comes once," Hamzah says, taking a step back out of the glare of the light.  For a brief moment it looked as if his eyes glowed with golden light, but then it was gone again, a mere trick of the light."Do you wish this chance?" he says, holding out a massive palm branded with a pecular mark.</blockquote>

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