Throne of Storms

The highly magical carriage used by King Selukyal to move about his realm, the Throne of Storms was pulled by six powerful djinn. According to recorded history and legend, the carriage was made of cedar and covered with gold. Three djinn bore the carriage on the right and three djinn bore it on the left. Despite its name, the vehicle was indeed a carriage and not a true throne. During the reign of Caphicain the Gaudy, the djinn escaped from the power of their servitude and the carriage became lost from history. It is thought that a later ruler when the treasury was at is limit had the gold stripped and minted to coinage in desperation to prop up the finances of the kingdom. Here follows the narrative from the Kaphrimmoth that introduces the Throne of Storms to recorded history:

“And in the year when King Selukyal did cast back the bastards of the desert [orcs] and did make captives of their high ones and did send back his mighty men unto their wives and little ones, the King secluded himself from the company of his house and the company of the houses of his wives and concubines and did go up into the Mountain of Usulamon. In the Mountain of Usulamon did King Selukyal cloister himself, setting Caphicain next to the throne in his absence to minister his kingdom. And King Selukyal in his secrecy did wail and moan after the manner of the priests of Omre and the magi of Leh-Shelekhumbis. There he summoned the men of the djinn. Six mighty men of the djinn did he summon and he swore to them and obliged them by his enchantments to swear to him, King Selukyal, and they did become subject to him for all the days of his reign.

And King Selukyal called the mightiest of the djinn after their secret names and brandished his rod at them and promised them renown with his sceptre. And he commanded the six to bear him in his litter back to his high house at Tishereth. And they did stand in reverence around the house and the men and women and children of the house did reckon the djinn with awe and terror. All these days did King Selukyal rest from his enchantments nor did he come unto his wives and concubines. But he commanded also the vizier Caphicain to order his artificers that they should build a carriage of cedar and gold. And the craftsmen did put gold on all the sides thereof and on the bottom and also on the roof thereof. Rubies and sapphires and emeralds did they set into the gold.

And the days of the fast and the separation of King Selukyal were accomplished. And he commanded Caphicain to cause the chiefs of his mighty ones and his princes and his eunuchs and his wives and his concubines to come before the porch of his high house. The craftsmen and the chiefs of the king did Caphicain cause that they should bring the carriage before the porch.

And when the wise men of the house inquired of their king for the wheels and for the horses to drive the carriage, King Selukyal rebuked them with soft words for lack of consideration and he said, ‘Behold, the wheels of my servants, the djinn.’ And then they understood, the wise men and also all those in the house of the king, that the king would use the six to bear his carriage and they did awe greatly and the renown of Selukyal grew throughout his kingdom and also in the kingdoms round about and even to the ends of Elántuventh and Omre so that there was no man who did not know that the djinn and the air and the water and the earth and the fire were subject to King Selukyal. And King Selukyal did give his litter unto his vizier, Caphicain, but kept the carriage for himself and his wives and his sons whom he favored.

And King Selukyal commanded the vizier Caphicain to bind the six, the mighty djinn, that they abode continually with the carriage, to bear it up, to protect the king, to cause it to rise, to cause it to lower, all at the king’s command.

And Lekuyeh, son of the priest, said to the King, ‘It is not a carriage, great one, but it is a throne and the storms do bear it up.’ And from that time forth the men of the king’s house and the men of all Jerushabla called the king’s carriage the throne of storms. And when they saw a storm form in the distance, the laborer in the corn would say to his fellow, ‘It is perchance the King of Jerushabla visiting his people.’”

– The Book of the First Kingship

See Also

• Kaphrimmoth
• King Selukyal I of Jerushabla