Major Charactres: Sinbad, Doubar, Maeve, Rongar, Dermott, Firouz, Omar’s Two Assistants, Omar, Cyclops, Young Sinbad, Young Doubar, Lea, Young Harun al-Disar
Minor Charactres: Horsemen, Villagers, Harun al-Disar’s Son, Harun al-Disar’s Wife, Harun al-Disar’s Two Cronies
(A couple of horsemen are racing through the trees on an island; something is after them)
(The crew is on the Nomad, nearing the island)
Doubar: Hold the North. South Southwest!
(The horsemen are trying to outrun something)
(The crew is on the Nomad; Sinbad and Firouz are looking at a map)
Sinbad: I saw the boat on this piece of coastline. (points at map)
(Sinbad and Firouz look up at the island and see nothing)
(The horsemen are still trying to outrun something)
(The crew just pulled the longboat onto shore)
Firouz: Here. Try the magniscope. I didn’t see anything, though.
Sinbad: I’m sure this is where that ship ran aground last night.
Firouz: There’s no sign of any wreckage.
Sinbad: I know. That’s what puzzles me.
Maeve: Well, it was very dark, and cloudy. Maybe it’s just a trick of the night sky.
Sinbad: I saw what I saw.
Maeve: Well Doubar didn’t see anything! Did you Doubar?
Doubar: No, but that doesn’t mean anything.
Maeve: But in your experience.
Doubar: Sinbad might be younger than me, but he has had a lot more seafaring experience. He first went to sea at twelve. Captained his first ship at fifteen. If he says he saw a ship run aground, believe it. Come on, let’s look for survivors.
Maeve: (to Dermott) Oh, you men. You’re all so stubborn.
(Dermott flies off)
Firouz: Sinbad! Over here!
(Sinbad runs to Firouz)
Sinbad: What is it? (pauses) Looks like kindling.
Firouz: I know, but it’s got different coloured paints on it. It’s been splintered off something big. Something with decorations.
Sinbad: Something like a ship.
Firouz: Yes.
Maeve: Really, you two. You’re making no sense. Look how far the pieces are spread around. They probably washed ashore during the night.
Doubar: Little brother!
(Sinbad goes to him)
Doubar: Unless I miss my guess, this is what’s left of a main sail.
Sinbad: Never seen a sail shredded like this before. Not even in the strongest of storms.
Doubar: The wood. It’s been pulverized!
Sinbad: And this mark on them.
Doubar: An insignia of some sort.
(Sinbad puts the two pieces together)
Sinbad: Oh, no. It’s the royal insignia of Omar of Basra! It’s as if the boat was lifted out of—
Firouz: I suppose this whole thing could have been caused by a dry waterspout. But the wreckage seems to have resulted in the ship being torn apart. Not a crash. It’s all quite curious, really.
(Dermott chirps)
Maeve: Dermott’s found something!
(The crew heads over to where Dermott is sitting on a treasure)
Doubar: Must be a King’s ransom in there!
Sinbad: We can rule out foul play, then. No pirate would ever pass up such a fortune.
Maeve: Sinbad, look!
(A horseman is coming their way, barely hanging onto the horse)
Maeve: I’ll get him! (runs to the horse and stops it)
(Rongar pulls the man from the horse)
Firouz: Let me see him. His helmet’s stuck.
(The horseman wakes up)
Firouz: It’s all right. You’ll be fine. It’s going to be all right.
Sinbad: His helmet’s been caved in.
Doubar: Isn’t there anything we can do for him?
(The man screams, then shuts his eyes)
Sinbad: He’s beyond our help now.
Maeve: What could have done this to him?
Sinbad: Something I don’t want to think about.
Doubar: That tattoo on his chest. A cult?
Firouz: It’s not a tattoo, Doubar.
Doubar: What is it, then?
Firouz: I believe it’s a thumbprint.
(A roar is heard)
(Opening Credits)
(The crew had just buried the horseman)
Sinbad: Rest in peace, brave warrior. May you be granted happiness in the next world.
Doubar: Whatever you’re thinking of doing, I’m with you, brother.
Sinbad: I have to find out what happened to Omar. After all the trouble I brought to his kingdom, I owe him that much.
Firouz: Surely no one could have survived a shipwreck, or whatever, at this magnitude.
Doubar: That soldier did.
Sinbad: Besides, all that wreckage on the shoreline doesn’t add up to an entire ship.
Maeve: Meaning what?
Sinbad: Meaning that something picked up the rest of the ship, and took it in there. (points inland)
Firouz: Interesting concept, but physically impossible!
Maeve: Firouz is right. It would take something as big as an elephant to carry a whole ship.
Sinbad: No. Something bigger.
Doubar: Those men on board. The horror!
Sinbad: Omar was called the Savage Sultan for a reason. He’s strong, resilient. He may still be alive. It’s my duty as his honoured friend (holds up medallion he wears) to find him and bring him home.
Doubar: And if he’s dead?
Sinbad: Then we give him a burial befitting a man of his great stature.
Firouz: Noble sentiment, Sinbad.
Sinbad: Rongar? Get the crossbows from the longboat. We may need extra weaponry.
Firouz: I brought my skyhook canvas.
Sinbad: Fetch them as well.
Firouz: I’ve been waiting a week to try them. How exciting!
(Rongar and Firouz go to the longboat)
Sinbad: Maybe you should keep Dermott close by, Maeve. Until we know what kind of predators are lurking out there.
Maeve: (walks over to Dermott, who’s sitting on a branch) don’t worry, my sweet. You’ll get a chance to stretch your wings when we return.
(The crew is walking along the island)
Doubar: Look at that.
Sinbad: It’s been uprooted.
Firouz: Probably the storm…or whatever caused the ship to be grounded.
Doubar: And carried inland.
Firouz: Exactly. A waterspout, or cyclone, or—
(They hear loud bells in the distance)
Doubar: Not the most festive bells I’ve ever heard.
Sinbad: Sounded like a funeral in progress.
Doubar: As long as it’s not ours.
(They keep walking)
(They hear the bells ring again; Dermott flies off; Rongar falls into a bed of quicksand)
Maeve: Dermott!
(The rest of the crew notices Rongar)
Sinbad: Doubar!
Firouz: Hurry, Sinbad. It’s a quakmar.
Maeve: We call it a bog where I come from.
Sinbad: Bog?
Firouz: Yes, bog. Or quicksand. The more you struggle, the faster you sink!
Sinbad: Stay calm, good friend.
Firouz: It’s a loose bed of sand mixed with water. Its soft, shifting mass yields to pressure, so that anything that rests on its surface, the tremors make it even worse!
Sinbad: Don’t struggle, Rongar! We’ll get you out of there in no time! (looks over at the others) Won’t we?
Firouz: Theoretically, if we make Rongar buoyant, he has a better chance for survival!
Sinbad: (taking off sash around his waste) Rongar, don’t move until I throw my sash to you. When you get it, grab it! And hold your breath, as if you were swimming. Try to get your body in a horizontal position. Understand?
(Rongar nods)
Sinbad: (throws sash but misses) This one’s for real. (throws it again and misses again) You know what they say, third time’s a charm. (throws again and misses again)
(Rongar goes under)
Sinbad: Firouz!
Firouz: Sinbad!
(Firouz takes off his medallion and ties it onto Sinbad’s sash)
(Sinbad throws the sash, and Rongar grabs onto it; Sinbad struggles to pull him up; Doubar grabs Sinbad and helps; the others also grab onto the sash and pull Rongar out)
Firouz: That was positively inspiring, Doubar. You managed to—
Doubar: Firouz, whatever scientific principles I applied, I learned from you.
Firouz: Why, thank you. (leaves)
(Doubar sprays water over Rongar, trying to wash off all the sand)
Doubar: I figure that saved us about five minutes of mumbo jumbo.
(The crew is walking along)
Maeve: Dermott!
Sinbad: Dermott will be all right. He’s safer up there.
Maeve: I don’t like him being alone.
Sinbad: He’ll be able to avoid whatever trouble there is, using his special skill, flight.
Maeve: I suppose you’re right.
Sinbad: I only wish we had that skill, right now. One more earthquake like that—
(Rongar taps Sinbad on the shoulder; the crew runs after Rongar, through some woods; they see another bed of quicksand, and see a boat sinking)
Sinbad: I think we found what happened to the rest of Omar’s ship.
Maeve: How did that ship get to the middle of the island?
Sinbad: Hopefully the sailors on board escaped.
Doubar: Escaped to where?
(They hear the bell again)
Sinbad: I think we’re about to find out.
(They leave)
(The crew walks around some bushes, when they hear some shouts; they draw their swords, when Omar’s assistants run out of the bushes)
Assistant #1: Captain Sinbad! Heavens be praised!
Assistant #2: Be praised to the utmost!
Sinbad: What happened?
Assistant #1: We were attacked by a monster.
Assistant #2: A most hideous monster.
Assistant #1: It was as big as a palace.
Assistant #2: Two palaces.
Sinbad: What did this monster look like?
Assistant #1: Oh, it all happened so fast.
Assistant #2: Too fast to see…from below deck.
Doubar: What were you doing below deck?
Assistant #1: Retreating.
Assistant #2: It’s a military maneuver, you know.
Sinbad: What of Omar?
Assistant #1: It got him.
Assistant #2: We heard him yelling as it carried him away.
Sinbad: Did you see where this thing took him?
Assistant #1: Somewhere in there.
(They pointed in different directions)
Assistant #2: Well, we couldn’t really tell where. The ground was obscuring our view.
Doubar: While practicing your military maneuvers.
Assistant #1: Precisely.
Assistant #2: Quite.
Doubar: Of all the—
Sinbad: Doubar!
Doubar: These men ran away, Sinbad. Plain and simple. They deserted their Sultan at the first sign of trouble. Some loyalty. Bah!
Assistant #1: We will help in whatever way we can, to search for our Sultan.
Assistant #2: We will, we will endure any hardship and all suffering.
Sinbad: We’ll accept your offer.
(The bell is heard again, the two assistants run off, Doubar catches them)
Doubar: Let’s teach you a new military maneuver. Defense.
(The bell rings again, and the two assistants run off, in the opposite direction this time)
Sinbad: This way!
(They go after the assistants)
Sinbad: Come on! Be careful! There’s more quicksand down here!
(They run down a hill; a huge goat soon appears)
Doubar: It’s bigger than our ship!
Sinbad: And that’s not our monster.
Maeve: What do you mean?
Sinbad: Whatever crafted that bell and hung it around that animal’s neck. That’s our monster.
Sinbad: Looks like we’ll have to make a run for it!
Assistant #1: Our military maneuver.
Assistant #2: Excellent.
Firouz: Sinbad, we’ll never be able to outrun it! If that thing chases us, we’ll be crushed beneath its hooves!
Sinbad: Well, we just can’t stay put! We’re surrounded by quicksand! The only exit is that way! That won’t hold under that thing’s weight much longer!
Firouz: Aside from that, the danger’s minimal. Rams are herbivores.
Doubar: I hardly call being crushed under a landslide minimal!
Maeve: I can use one of my fireballs to singe its hide.
Sinbad: No! Too risky! If the ram panics, we’ll all be buried alive!
Doubar: Can we ram through it?
Firouz: Even a man of your strength couldn’t budge it, Doubar.
(Dermott flies up to the ram)
Maeve: Dermott!
Doubar: Come on, Dermott! One more pass!
(Dermott gets too close to the ram and disappears)
Maeve: No! (gets up)
Sinbad: Maeve, no! (he tries to get up, but slips on the hill)
(Maeve uses one of her fireballs to scare off the ram)
Sinbad: Yes!
(The ram turns and walks off)
(Maeve puts her gauntlet on and Dermott flies down to it; Sinbad walks up to them)
Maeve: (to Dermott) I was worried about you.
Sinbad: And I was worried about you, Maeve. And you never cease to amaze me.
Maeve: The feeling’s mutual.
(Sinbad scratches Dermott’s chest)