World of the Arabian Nights

The World of the Arabian Nights is the main setting in Sonic and the Secret Rings. It is an alternative reality that exists within the storybook of the Arabian Nights and is made from the stories written in it. As such, this world and the living beings that resides there reflects the book's stories and characters. The world of the Arabian Nights is internally supported by the seven World Rings which bind the different stories together to form this world.

In Sonic and the Secret Rings, the world of the Arabian Nights faced imminent destruction when an evil genie called the Erazor Djinn began running rampant within the world of the Arabian Nights, with the purpose of carving up its stories to make himself more powerful and then break into the real world. Shahra, the Genie of the Ring therefore sought out Sonic the Hedgehog, who was foretold in legends, to help stop Erazor before their world would be lost forever. After hearing the troubles going on, Sonic agreed to help the young genie and entered the world of the Arabian Nights to set things right.

Eventually, after many trials and battles, Sonic managed to beat Erazor Djinn by sealing the evil being away in his own lamp, and restored the world and its stories to their original state, thus saving the Arabian Nights.

Setting
As the world of the Arabian Nights is composed of the stories written in the Arabian Nights storybook, this world's locations and settings resembles those found in medieval Arabia, while the world's history and recordings itself resembles the stories written in the storybook.

Many of the residents in this world resemble the characters found in the stories of the Arabian Nights, such as Ali Baba, Sinbad and King Shahryar, and has similar backgrounds. It also features dinosaurs as wild animal life and even supernatural beings from Arabian culture such as genies, spirits, monsters and living deaths, which are actually pretty common.

Locations

 * Lost Prologue
 * Sand Oasis
 * Dinosaur Jungle
 * Evil Foundry
 * Levitated Ruin
 * Pirate Storm
 * Skeleton Dome
 * Night Palace

Origins
Not much is known about the early history of the world of the Arabian Nights. According to Shahra, the Arabian Nights were created by King Shahryar, presumably at the time when the Arabian Nights' storybook were just created and gave birth to the initially stages of this world. While the inhabitants born in the world of the Arabian Nights are sentient beings and can make their own choice, some of them have certain parts of their life determined beforehand, since the stories involving them had been written so.

Early History
In the ancient past of the world of the Arabian Nights, there once existed a kingdom. The only known thing that has been left behind by this kingdom is a fortress that since then has become a relic.

Over time, an traveler named Sinbad the Sailor had many incredible adventures in the world and the Arabian Nights, with his exploits and accomplishments making him a living legend throughout his world. Also, at some point, King Solomon managed to seal many evil spirits away.

Long before the events of Sonic and the Secret Rings, the Erazor Djinn appeared and committed many malicious misdeeds throughout the world of the Arabian Nights. He was eventually punished and sealed away in a Magic Lamp, where he would remain until he had granted the wishes of a thousand people. At some point, Erazor and Shahra developed an unspecified, but strong relationship.

Erazor Djiin's Reign of Terror
Eventually, Erazor Djinn had served his sentence and was freed from his lamp. However, despite having atoned for his past actions, Erazor had gained a renewed hatred for people and the creator of his story for giving him this fate. No longer able to handle staying in the storybook world, Erazor began taking over the world of Arabian Nights by carving up the words that supported the stories and twisting them into spirits that followed his command. His plan was when to seize the power of the Arabian Nights' storybook by absorbing its words and finding the seven World Rings to take complete control of his world, and eventually make his way into Sonic's world.

As the result of Erazor absorbing the Arabian Nights' stories, the written text in the Arabian Nights storybooks slowly began to vanish. The effects was even more devastating on the world of the Arabian Night which caused the world itself to vanish: if Erazor Djinn accomplished his mission, the world of the Arabian Nights would cease to exist, and its stories would be silenced forever.

While absorbing the storybook, Erazor Djinn launched a series of attacks on the world of the Arabian Nights as well. Erazor's evil spirits began terrorizing the people and when they arrived at King Shahryar's palace, they scared everyone away and forced the king into hiding. At some point, Erazor himself resurrected the forty thieves as spirits and used them to attack King Solomon by literally breaking the king into pieces, while Erazor released the other evil spirits King Solomon had sealed and forced them to serve him. Also, while fighting some pirates, Sinbad was attacked by the Rukh and imprisoned.

The Legend of the Blue Hedgehog
As the fate of the world of the Arabian Nights looked bleak, Shahra learned from the newest stories added to the Arabian Nights that a "Legendary Blue Hedgehog" from another world could come to stop the Erazor Djinn. Shahra then left the world of the Arabian Nights and began searching for this hedgehog.

Her search eventually took her to the real world, where she found Sonic the Hedgehog and was convinced that he was the chosen one. After waking Sonic from his nap in his home when he found her ring, Shahra told him about the Erazor Djinn and the threat he posed to both their worlds and the Arabian Nights' storybook, and asked for his help since he was the legendary blue hedgehog. Sonic gladly accepted the challenge and thus became Shahra's new master, allowing him to wish himself and Shahra into the world of the Arabian Nights.

While Sonic traveled through the entrance to the world of the Arabian Nights, Erazor attacked Sonic. Erazor demanded that Shahra brought him the seven World Rings, but she refused. Erazor then tried to shoot Shahra with a flaming arrow, but Sonic took the blow. Erazor then told Sonic that he would remove the curse if Sonic brought the seven World Rings, but if he failed, the arrow would burn until it eventually extinguished, along with Sonic's life force. Erazor then revealed that he would take the life of King Shahryar before leaving. With his life on the line, Sonic set off into the world of Arabian Nights to save the king, while locating the seven World Rings. Shahra then stayed by Sonic on his journey, feeling guilty for getting him involved.

Arriving in Sand Oasis to find the King Shahryar, Sonic and Shahra quickly found the king, but Sonic thought he was Eggman and that he was behind this. However, Shahra stopped Sonic, and after a short talk, King Shahryar was swooped up by a "pterosaur" commanded by Erazor, which Sonic grudgingly saved him from. In the meantime, Sonic saved Ali Baba, who he mistook forTails, and earned him as his ally. On his way, Sonic defeated the Sand Scorpion, which was sent by Erazor, and found the yellow World Rings. After picking up the World Ring from the remains of the monster, Shahra revealed that whoever gathered up all the World Rings would be offered as a sacrifice to open a gateway between worlds.

On their way to the Evil Foundry where Erazor was heading, Sonic and Shahra found the green World Ring, where Sonic asked Shahra if she could remove the Flame of Judgment curse, but Shahra told him sadly that she could not. Sonic then told her not to worry and they continued on. Once at the Evil Foundry Sonic confronted Erazor, who summoned the Ifrit Golem, a gargantuan fire spirit to burn the black pages in the Arabian Nights' storybook. However, Sonic was unable to defeat the Ifrit due to his curse, forcing him and Shahra to escaped

Desperate to defeat the Ifrit, Sonic and Shahra asked Ali Baba for advice, and he suggested that they should find Sinbad. After learning where Sinbad was held captured, Sonic and Shahra went to Levitated Ruin and freed a trapped Sinbad, who Sonic mistook for Knuckles. As Sonic and Shahra asked him how they could stop the Ifrit, Sinbad suggested they could "splash some water on him" with the Water Blue Ring, a World Ring Sinbad used to control storms before it was stolen by pirates. Sonic and Shahra therefore headed for Pirate Storm to confront the pirates and take back the Water Blue Ring.

On the way to the pirates, Sonic and Shahra found the Blue World Ring, where Shahra gave Sonic a mysterious relic which would be their last hope of stopping Erazor. Once at Pirate Storm, Sonic confronted Captain Bemoth and acquiring the Water Blue World Ring. The pair then returned to the Evil Foundry to defeat the Ifrit. Using the Water Blue World Ring, Sonic managed to weaken the Ifrit Golem and enable him to defeat it. As the Ifrit Golem fell in defeat however, it released a time bomb. Luckily, Sonic and Shahra got the bomb outside where it exploded safely and revealed the Red World Ring. As Sonic picked the ring up, he realized the seven World Rings contained various emotions.

Sonic and Shahra then went to the Skeleton Dome to meet King Solomon and get some answers about the evil spirits, but once they arrived, they saw that the king had been reduced to a skull by Erazor Djinn. As the king asked for help, Sonic agreed to confront the resurrected forty thieves and get the king's body back. In the meantime, Sonic and Shahra found the White World Ring.

After being reassembled, King Solomon told Sonic that he had to face Erazor in his lair, which he could enter with the White World Ring, and revealed that Erazor used to be the Genie of the Lamp and that they could use his lamb to seal Erazor away forever, if they found it. King Solomon stilled feared they could not restore world of the Arabian Nights from Erazor's damage, but Sonic told the king to leave it to him.

Eventually, Sonic and Shahra entered Erazor's stronghold, the Night Palace, where they found the Purple World Ring. There, Sonic questioned Shahra about her relationship with Erazor, but she was only comfortable revealing Erazor's past. Eventually, Sonic found and confronted Erazor Djinn in battle and defeated him, but Erazor escaped through a door and locked it. Upon seeing the lock, however, Sonic and Shahra saw that it could be opened with the seven World Rings.

The Battle for the Arabian Nights
Using the seven World Rings, Sonic opened the door to Erazor and tried to make him remove his curse. Instead, Erazor convinced Shahra to give him the seven World Rings they had. Shahra complied, revealing she wanted to be back with him, but Sonic used Shahra's ring to command her to do what she "feels is right", causing her mind to crack at her two different choices. Erazor then took the World Rings himself and tried to sacrifice Sonic to gain their full power and take complete control of the world of the Arabian Night. However, Shahra blocked Erazor's blade and was struck down. As Shahra died in his arms, Sonic made one final wish for Shahra to grant - asking her to "not die, and to go back to the way you were". Although she did not have the power to grant the wish, the relic she gave to Sonic returned to its original state, Erazor's Lamp. Erazor then tried to absorb the power of the seven World Rings, but because Sonic was still alive, he instead transformed into Alf Layla wa-Layla. Reacting to Sonic's emotions, three of the World Rings infused with Sonic, causing him to transform into Darkspine Sonic.

After a vicious battle, Darkspine Sonic defeated Alf Layla wa-Layla, and they both returned to normal. Sonic, now controlling Erazor with his lamp, ordered Erazor to grant him his three wishes; bring Shahra back to life, return the world of the Arabian Nights and the storybook back to normal, and Erazor to be trapped within his lamp until the end of time. Having no choice despite refusing, Erazor granted all Sonic's wishes. After bringing back Shahra and restoring the world of Arabian Nights to its former glory, Erazor was then sucked into his lamp forever, while yelled for Shahra's help and cursing Sonic. Shahra, though back to life, was still overcome with grief from Erazor's fate and her betrayal. Sonic therefore wished for mountains of handkerchiefs so she could cry for as long as she needed to.

Aftermath
With the world of the Arabian Nights now safe, Sonic and Shahra returned to the Evil Foundry where Sonic threw Erazor's lamp into the lava, insuring that Erazor could never harm the storybook world ever again. After that Sonic had many more adventures in the world of the Arabian Nights, some with Ali Baba and Sinbad, as he searched for a way back to his own world. Then, when it was time for Sonic to leave the world of the Arabian Nights, he bid a touching farewell to Shahra.

With the Arabian Nights and the world it had created now at peace, the story about "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" found in the Arabian Nights' storybook, was changed into "Sonic and the Secret Rings", as the world of the Arabian Nights recognized Sonic's participation in its stories.