Chronology: The Usurpation of Al-Hanif

Indeed!!!

And although our heroes' part in this tales begins on the 7th of Saris, it is really rooted in the events of a misty dawn in Huzuz, the City of Delights, not so long ago. The sun had not yet risen, yet the sweltering smog had already dampened the golden domes of city in a pinkish haze. The muezzins of the city's many mosques dispute the first thought of the city's denizens with their homologues from rival faiths. Fate this morning draws its keen eye towards the Museum of Unenlightened Atrocities, where the night vigils warily cross the blinding sunbeams inundating the museum's main hall from the easternmost windows. Alas! For they do not notice in the recesses of the darkest corner of the room, the  slitted ocular globes of the Cat-Eyed Lurker, He-Of-Dirty-Paws, now riveted towards its prey, in this case, the Eyes of the Leech, a cruel apparatus from a thankfully far-gone barbaric age, and though its thief is fell, his master is even more dire, as will our heroes learn in the tale that also goes under the title of:

In the Clutches of Jafar Al-Hanif!!!

In the morning of the 7th of Saris, our heroes' airship is hurtling at great speeds towards the Genie's Anvil, and the Pit of the Ghul, where they hope to find the accursed city of Moradask. On the bridge, Ramani is proudly captaining the vessel while his comrades tend to their leisurely duties, when an object hits the ship head-on! Fearful of further damage, Ramani immediately lands the ship, and the Seekers of the City of Brass, with the demonic lore master Ishuk in tow, enters once again the surrounding desert to investigate the cause of their delay.

They find buried in a dune a dank and wretched creature reminiscent of Farooq in size and shape, if nothing else, on whom Ashira quickly takes pity. The creature, who identifies himself with difficulty as "Barack", claims himself an emissary from the Church of Jahuar with an important missive for Farooq. The roguish priest is weary of the interloper, for it is naught other than a Dung Gnome, a squalid servitor race of lesser beings from his home city of Gana. The Dung Gnome comes bearing a message beaconing Farooq back to Gana at once. Indeed, his heretic cousin, the mad social revolutionary Farooq Al-Jahuar has, according to the Church, succeeded in creating with his followers a worker's utopia bereft of the blessings of currency in the desert outside of town. The Church wants Farooq to reign him in, before they send in the Holy Slayers to exterminate this blasphemy. And so, without further ado, Farooq excuses himself for a while to fly with Barack on the magic carpet that brought him thence, home to Gana in time to prevent a massacre. Pressed for time, the Company must carry on.

Soon after their ship takes once again to the air, its is assaulted by a monstrous sandstorm, black and terrible. While Ashira works with the crew to secure hull breaches, Ramani skillfully crashes the craft in a sand dune, avoiding the worst. Our heroes arise from the commotion lost, and bewildered, for the storm is no where in sight. At once, Ramani tests the engines, and when they fail to answer, he puts the crew to work in digging out the craft, while the Sha'ir instincts of Saladin Min Zann tell him sorcery of this magnitude could be nothing other than genie work. Indeed, no sooner does he exit the ship that he hears his stray familiar Alyiah beaconing him. Scouring the horizon for the wayward gen, or a source, at least, of the summons to Saladin, the seeress Ashira pinpoints its origins to a miniature version of the storm on the horizon. Saladin calls to it, but in vain, as he is taunted by the genie that crashed his ship. Faced with peril, Ramani recalls Saladin to help with the craft's restoration, while Ishuk and Ashira press the issue. The Whisperer on the Wind calls to them still, taunting them to follow him, bringing deeper and deeper in the desert until, even with Ashira's eyes, there is no discernible way for them to return to their companions. Refusing to be bested by a genie, of all things, Ishuk uses the portal on the ship to elude the genie's grasp and return himself and the seeress to safety. Feeling in their hearts that their captor will never let the ship free, even if it wasn't buried in sand, our heroes decide to brave the trap and the desert, and to venture forth to meet him.

For a whole day, the genie leads them on thus, until at last, they stop at night to rest. On Saladin's watch, trouble occurs, for he sees upon the dunes Alyiah, suffering, calling to him, pleading her former master for release from her woes. Indeed, when he comes up the dune to save, Saladin comes face-to-snout with He-Of-Dirty-Paws, who led a hunting party to claim the heroes in the night. A terrible battle ensues, with their foes working in terrifying concert and terrible efficiency.

First, as a vastly superior force in numbers, the Riders in the Dark isolate Ashira, and attempt in vain to rob her of her Sight using the Eyes of the Leech. Then, Ramani is covered in accursed beetles that gnaw away at the items of genie work he bears, and Ishuk stabbed with a demon-bane blade, leaving Saladin, deprived of his gen, to fend off for himself and his allies. Although their losses are terrible, the assailants succeed in felling some in the company and attempt to flee once they claim her Sacred Ring from Ashira and behold! On this the Seeress unleashed a vengeful wrath and cursed her enemies, and refused to yield. And her friend were bolstered by her anger, and all their enemies, slain.

At once, Saladin is reunited with Alyiah, and bid her to tell her tale. She was intercepted on her mission for the Dark Root, as bidden previously by her master, by a Sha'ir of great and terrible power, the master of the evil Djinn that stranded the companions in the desert. She fears her tormentor was none other than (Aziz) Al-Hanif himself, returned! come back to claim the heroes' mission as his own, but whereas they would defeat Efreet and bind him to the City of Brass, Al-Hanif would claim the Fiery Throne for himself!

And so, faced with the prospect of an enemy with an intimate knowledge of their persons and designs, the Companions decide to follow the mounts of the raiding party they decimated home (for unlike camels, they were not creatures of the desert) with the intent to find Al-Hanif and put an end to his evil, but they found him not.

Instead, on the morning of the 8th of Saris, they found where he had made his dwelling, in a long-abandoned Mamluk fort of old, dedicated to Vataqal, but the Sha'ir himself has fled, and in a hurry, for they also find there the tools with which he had planned to remake Ramani's garb in his own design. With these, under the watchful eye of Saladin and the weary eye of the demon Ishuk, Ramani set about crafting again all that he had lost. Meanwhile, the seeress Ashira's eyes and mind drifted in the sands of time, and therein, she sought counsel. She learned that their quarry was not Aziz Al-Hanif, but a descendant, a usurper, still of terrible, if lesser power, allegedly Jafar Al-Hanif. And upon this, their ship came down from the sky to claim them again.

Farooq, they found also, nearby, in tears, sitting on a flying carpet behind the Dung Gnome, at the very spot they had left them. It turns out that Barack, in his immense stupidity, had forgotten the magic word that would activate the carpet and whisk them to the rescue of Farooq Al-Jahuar and his followers before they were all slaughtered. But, for nearly two days, the Dung Gnome had been unable to remember what it was. Only at last it was too late, and Farooq's companions had come to claim him, did Barack remember and the carpet flew away on its own. But once again, Ashira took pity on him, and he would remain with the crew to plague them with his stupidity, and his stench, for many more a tale.