The Forty Thieves Incident

The Forty Thieves Incident, also known as the Battle of Ballah, or the May 29th War, was an event in which the Red Caravan, led by Ali Baba and assisted by the archdjinn Farouz, engaged in armed clashes with the Band of the Forty Thieves throughout the city of Ballah, on the planet Shintarra. The entire incident is recounted in a legendary collection of folktales called *Shintarran Nights*.

## Prelude

The people of Ballah had long been terrorized by the Band of the Forty Thieves, a group of bandits that had taken over their city. As such, the lord of the city put out a call for help, sending messengers to the oasis headquarters of the famed Red Caravan in the Great Cresca Desert. The leader of the Caravan, Ali Baba, decided to lend his aid to the citizens of Ballah, and the mercenaries started their trek across the Great Cresca on May 25th. Along the way, at another oasis, Ali Baba found a lamp floating in the water; he rubbed it, and, in hopes of finding a djinn inside, requested the resident entity's assistance. Hearing these supplications, out came the archdjinn Farouz, who, after a long discussion, agreed to join Ali Baba on his journey. The rest of the journey over the desert was completed by flying carpet, courtesy of the archdjinn.

Upon arrival in Ballah on May 28th, the Caravan, on the advice of their strategist, Ibn Ahmad, hid in the shadows for a night to observe the Forty Thieves in action and get the lay of the land. They saw everything from looting to murder to rape, and wanted to act immediately to prevent any more atrocities, but Ibn Ahmad wisely counseled them to stay back, as they did not yet know the territory. They spent the daytime hours of May 29th planning their assault, resolving to break into four teams of three to fight the bandits, one team in each quarter of the city. The operation commenced at 9:00 PM on May 29th.

## Battle at Mahaja

At 9:34 PM, the northeast team, consisting of the stealth specialist Lukhan, the healer Hamza, and the psychic Saluf, engaged a group of enemies, including two mages, at Mahaja in Old Ballah. Eyewitnesses, watching from windows, reported that this battle was over within two minutes, as Lukhan slit the throats of both of the mages before Saluf telekinetically hurled the rest of the enemies into the middle of a nearby river.

## Battle at the Great Minaret

At 10:59 PM, the southeast team, consisting of the strategist Ibn Ahmad, the artillerist Vikrit, and the master swordsman Qasim, engaged a somewhat smaller group of enemies at the Great Minaret. This battle, like the others, was supposedly over within minutes, with most thieves retreating and scrambling for cover, or killed by shots from Vikrit's artillery.

## Battle of Khayyam

In the southwestern Khayyam district, the Crimson Death (the Red Caravan's most bloodthirsty members) -- the half-dragon Surtas, the spatial mage Abu Malik, and the assassin Waleed -- engaged the Forty Thieves' small elite detachment at 12:17 AM in a 3-on-3 battle. This confrontation lasted roughly 20 minutes, and ended when Abu Malik tore a hole in space under the enemies, simply sucking them right out of existence.

## Battle at the Old Pont

At 1:44 AM, the northwest team, consisting of the shadow mage Jahani, the half-minotaur Mustafa, and the pyromancer Calaf, engaged the small team sent to that quarter, which was the least heavily defended of the four. Again, this battle was over very quickly, though a few dozen homes were destroyed and a full three streets rendered completely unusable.

## Battle at Sesame Cavern

Finally, after the other detachments reported back, at about 2:00 AM, Ali Baba, Farouz, and the rest of the Caravan went to deal with the leader of the bandits at their hideout in Sesame Cavern, on the outskirts of the city. They had previously faintly heard the bandits open the magic barrier protecting the cavern's mouth with a password, but as no one had heard the password clearly, and none of their guesses seemed to work, the exasperated archdjinn just punched a hole in the wall, which the Caravan entered through. A fierce battle ensued against the remaining bandits and their leader, Atif al-Eret, and at one point the bandits even seemed to have the upper hand. However, that ended when Farouz unleashed one of his signature moves, Storm of Swords, and basically killed all the bandits in one fell swoop by having scimitars rain down on them from above.