Amalthea McMahon & Lunatic Jewell - Hand-Maidens

Name: Junah (Amalthea McMahon)
Name: Badriyah (Lunatic Jewell)

Role: Prince Omar-Tighri Sharif's Hand-Maidens

Badriyah and Junah were born in the fair city of Qasr al Jinn. They were the only children of Roxana and Izz al Din Ibn Khalil, the royal Blacksmith who was lucky enough to earn the love of a harem dancer.

Roxana came from a northern country, far behind the big sea where white water falls from the sky and where huge forests hide the sun.
To Amalthea she offered her beauty and grace, whilst Luna was gifted with the temper and the stubbornness of her father. He used to tell her, with a smile on his face "Ya nour el Ayn" when she came home in the evening, having spent the day running in the fields with the goats and rolling in the mud instead of dancing or playing music like her younger sister.

The name she was given is "Badriyah" since it was the full moon that smiled down on her when she opened for the first time her eyes , but "Luna" she was called by her family and friends.
Amalthea, the cadet, was named "Junah", the sun, having a warm and kind personality, nourishing every soul on earth with her tender touch and loving eye.

Even though they were not rich, they enjoyed their life and were a loving and happy family, the father respected for his will and wisdom, the mother for her kindness and beauty. The years passed and the girls grew up, educated by their Jadd Nasser-Eddine Hodja, a former scribe, who teached them about what mankind achieved throughout the decades, manners and different languages. The girls grew up to become each in her very own way an infatuating beauty.
Junah (Amalthea) was the silent and thoughtful power in this constellation whilst Badriyah (Luna) represented the driving force and eternal troublemaker, trusting none than her sister and her own instinctive intelligence.

Roxana, their mother, never overcome the fact of having left her country. Once in the while she heard the stories the caravans brought with them, telling about war and a disease called the "Black Death", killing hundreds of people in only a few days. She became desperate by the idea that her family back home could have been killed and being obsessed by those dark thoughts, she lost her mind and started talking to the loved ones she had to leave behind years ago. A strong fever got grip of her fragile body. Izz al Din spent all his money on physicians, searching in areas beyond the desert to find the one that could stop Allah's will and save his beloved wife. But it was too late for Roxana, she passed away, in a state where she was unable to recognize her children and husband.

Izz al Din was powerless against the grief and unable to take care anymore of his daughters, his friends meant well and told him to marry only a few months after Roxana's death a widow called Muyassar Ibnt Abdul-Razzaq. She was a mighty woman with a strong character and took over the household instantly. Izz al Din was blinded by his sorrow and did not see what happened in his back. Muyassar had two grown-up sons, mean and opportunist like herself. She wanted to force Badriyah and Junah into a marriage with them in order to make sure that her wealth wouldn't be spent elsewhere.

Even though the sisters were to be found permanently arguing from the moment on they spoke their first word, this was the moment where they agreed. They had to run away, somewhere, far. Badriyah came up with the thought to go and find that family their mother spoke about, but the girls didn't even know where that famous country was.

So they run away, in the middle of the night, carrying with them only what they were teached by their Jadd, the love they received from their parents and the will to find better than having to cook, clean and surrender every evening to a man that bears the character of a pig and the smell of a dead camel.

They headed through the desert towards the coast, hoping to find a ship that will bring them to the other side of the Sea. After a long and dangerous journey they arrived at Ireem Zhat al Imad, Ireem of the Pillars, the great city and had to figure out that it recquired more than only their smiles and skills to get them where they wanted to be.
They saw the people of Ireem as guilty of many significant sins, committing economic crimes, blasphemy and bloodshed. But Junah and Badriyah had no choice, they would have to enter Ireem in order to find a way to earn some money, other than being sold as Slaves.

Once at the Harbour they heard people talking about the arrival of a certain Prince Omar-Tighri Sharif, Son of the great Sultan Q-Adir Ebrahim from a Kingdom to the North of Ireem, who was about to enter an arranged wedding with the local Princess Sarai Nahara. The Sisters thought that maybe their education and knowledge about foreign cultures could help them in order to obtain a position at the Royal court ...

Standing in front of the gates, Badriyah turns to the beloved Akht, holding her hand, whispering "Matha tureedeen? You are Sunlight and I, Moon, joined by the gods of fortune midnight and high noon" as they pass the gate, handing themselves over to "Kismet", their unknown Destiny.