Sultana Sharzad – Scheherazade from 1,001 Arabian Nights
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Sultana_Sharzad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia:The_Sands_of_Time(film)
https://princeofpersia.fandom.com/wiki/Prince_of_Persia:_Before_The_Sandstorm
https://princeofpersia.fandom.com/wiki/Sharzad
Sultana Sharzad is the wife of the King of Thieves in Aggrobah, Mirage. When her husband fled the city she was left to clean up the mess. The Sultana loans your wizard her House Djinni, Istar. The Sultana becomes one your wizard’s staunchest allies in bringing peace and restoring order to Mirage.
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition (c. 1706–1721), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment.
The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and North Africa. Some tales trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian, and Mesopotamian literature. Most tales, however, were originally folk stories from the Abbasid and Mamluk eras.
Some of the stories commonly associated with the Arabian Nights — particularly “Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” — were not part of the collection in the original Arabic versions, but were instead added to the collection by French translator Antoine Galland after he heard them from Syrian writer Hanna Diyab during the latter’s visit to Paris. Other stories, such as “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor”, had an independent existence before being added to the collection.
The story goes that the monarch Shahryar, on discovering that his first wife was unfaithful to him, resolved to marry a new virgin every day and to have her beheaded the next morning before she could dishonor him. Eventually, the vizier could find no more virgins of noble blood and, against her father’s wishes, Scheherazade volunteered to marry the king.
Sir Richard Burton’s translation of The Nights describes Scheherazade in this way: Scheherazade had perused the books, annals, and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples, and instances of bygone men and things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied philosophy and the sciences, arts, and accomplishments; and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred.
Once in the king’s chambers, Scheherazade asked if she might bid one last farewell to her beloved younger sister, Dunyazad, who had secretly been prepared to ask Scheherazade to tell a story during the long night. The king lay awake and listened with awe as Scheherazade told her first story. The night passed by, and Scheherazade stopped in the middle. The king asked her to finish, but Scheherazade said there was no time, as dawn was breaking. So the king spared her life for one day so she could finish the story the next night. The following night Scheherazade finished the story and then began a second, more exciting tale, which she again stopped halfway through at dawn. Again, the king spared her life for one more day so that she could finish the second story.
Thus the king kept Scheherazade alive day by day, as he eagerly anticipated the conclusion of each previous night’s story. At the end of 1,001 nights, and 1,000 stories, Scheherazade finally told the king that she had no more tales to tell him and asked to be able to say goodbye to the three sons she had given him during those years. During the preceding 1,001 nights, however, the king had fallen in love with Scheherazade. He spared her life and made her his queen.
Ashley D. found this connection to the Prince of Persia film.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 American action fantasy film directed by Mike Newell from a screenplay by Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard, based on the video game series Prince of Persia created by Jordan Mechner. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina. It is an adaptation of the 2003 video game of the same name published by Ubisoft. Elements from its sequels Warrior Within and The Two Thrones are also incorporated.
Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm is a graphic novel anthology prequel setting up the characters and world of the movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is written by Jordan Mechner and was published by Disney Press in April 13, 2010.
Sharzad is a character that appears in Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm. She is a young woman from the kingdom of Persia. Sharzad was once accused of stealing some of the kings’ treasure and brought before Kazi with her sister, Dinarzad. Sharzad told the story of young Asoka and Tamina from Alamut. Sharzad was judged to be innocent bystander caught up with the criminal schemes, and was allowed to leave freely.
The current list of all the (known) Mirage references can be found here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Sultana Sharzad image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment
The Arabian Nights book cover is borrowed from Rokuten Kobo and is copyright by Mobile References
Scheherazade images are borrowed from Wikipedia and are in the public domain
Sharzad image is copyright Walt Disney
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
Vulcan Stev's Database 