In the days of Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan it was said that an unarmed woman could walk the silk road carrying a
bag of gold unharmed.
So it was that a woman in travelling robes that covered her from head to toe and wearing a heavy veil walked into a
roadside inn. Naming herself the Princess Aouda she demanded the best room and a supply of parchment,ink and quills.
After handing her the writing materials the innkeeper showed her to a room and walking to a fire pit full of rocks
informed her that the rocks were heated by one of the three eternal flames of Alexander the Great. Walking towards
the pit to look the Princess Aouda tripped on her robes but before she fell the innkeepercaught her by her hands and
stopped her from falling. Embarrassed at touching a great lady the innkeeper hurriedly left.
By the following afternoon worried that she had not emerged from her room the innkeeper knocked on her door and
hearing no reply entered. There he saw the robes on the floor by the fire pit and covering the rocks in the fire pit
ash in the shape of a human. On a small table a sheet of parchment had been written on. After reading the words on
the parchment he left the room and in the stables outside hung himself.
Why? What happened?
As usual you may ask questions which may be answered with a yes or no but I reserve the right to make other comments

 

Haha! That smells like a wildcard for making us feel completely stupid again with your replies, Lock!
Curses foiled again Snoopy
Anyway, please be gentle on this one: did the innkeeper really hung himself, or was he found hung and presumed he did that himself. Or do we have to find that out ourselves also? And if he did that himself, (Sorry, just thinking about the horses... what a shock!)
"did the innkeeper really hung himself": Yes
"is it important for solving this riddle that he did it in the stables?" No, he just thought it was the best place to make an ass of himself!
"thinking about the horses" Well at least they didn't nag him to death

1- is she real?existentialism already. It is not relevant to the riddle
2- is it related to Around the World in 80 Days? My minds in a Fogg.... No, a bit of misdirection on my part

I'm starting to see a system in your replies, Lockx. It all has to do with your dog. If your four-legged friend killed a duck from your neighbours, you have to pay, you're pissed and we - riddle contesters of the mobile table - have to bleed... We get a dry YES or NO. Period. If your dog chases a fog away, saving your other neighbour's poultry house population from complete extension, you get invited for dinner, you get drunk and become lyrical in your replies towards us. Those are the replies we cherish... Then one day your dog saves the mayor's grandchild from drowning in the city fountain... and you get decorated. Those are the moment your replies become poetic. We hope he doesn't do that to much.
hey be nice to my dog it is his 4th. birthday today
Now, I hope nothing happened that makes you start kissing the 'girlie' - yes, I read that - when answering this question: were the lady and the innkeeper related to each other?No, a princess related to a common inkeeper? As much chance as Belgium qualifying

Watch it! While you are reading this, your dog might be taking your internet connection cable for his breakfast...
He did that as a puppy in a friend's offices, took out the whole network I had to re wire & re configure the whole lot.

Did the woman in traveling robes actually die?
yes but unfortunately when they swept up her remains to bury they didn't know her name so the gravestone was marked "Cinders"

Is this riddle related to the poem about Xanadu?

I haven't been on this site in a while and came back to see a lot of riddles here.
Welcome back Petaminx, no it isn't , neither does it relate to dave dee dozy beaky,mick &tich
Riddles are now a feature here. If you would like to submit a guest riddle then send it with the answer to: Sherlockx

Hihi... So scary you'll have to solve it on your own, Sherlocx dear?
Never a problem
Ads btw, you wrote: ...they didn't know her name so the gravestone was marked "Cinders", but... didn't you wrote earlier: Naming herself the Princess Aouda?
But she only told the Innkeeper who hung himself.
Then here comes the question of the Belgian riddle solving team: was the sheet of parchment been written on by the Princess?Yes

And one for you, while in your shelter:

She came like a thief in the night,
- didn't ask if it was all right -
her beauty just blow me away,
I didn't ask Katia to stay...
I'll sing you a song, a good song of the sea
With a way, hey, blow the man down
And trust that you'll join in the chorus with me
Give me some time to blow the man down

Was something found in the room?
Only what has already been revealed in the original riddle and answers,nothing else of relevance.Unless you count the canttellya

I think the woman was Muslim or something, and there was some sorta rule for women not allowed to touch men who they aren't married with or something. The woman might've done something bad so she had to kill herself, and then left a message to the innkeeper (who is male) which made the innkeeper ashamed and followed some rule in the Shariah that the women wrote in the parchment and hung himself.

I just guessed a possible answer, but I don't know much about the rules in religion because I'm atheist.
Nice try Petaminx, but....it is nothing to do with religion

Remembering the previous riddle ' the Sunday paper' - from which I still don't know what the title had to do with the riddle - I do recall the story happened in history.

My question: does this 'Xanadu' riddle also have an historical past?Probably, I have no doubt that this scenario has happened.

Then another question, which could sound stupid - but hey! somebody has to be the most stupid, so others might at least think they are smarter - here it is: could the innkeeper actually read?Oh yes, When you travel to remote parts you will find inkeepers to be most inquisitive and well read, not at all stupid
Say Zacharie "How do you keep a Belgian busy?"
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.
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"Put him in a round room and say there are chips(frites) in the corner."
Just teasing Zacharie I love you really.
I'm going to suffer for that aren't I

Does the one of the three eternal flames of Alexander the Great have any importance in solving this riddle? I can't seem to search on google to find the location of the three eternal flames of Alexander the Great, which was what I hoped that would help me locate where the hotel or inn was. Also, I think that there might've been something special about the eternal flame of Alexander the Great which is probably why the woman killed herself.
No nothing to do with the flames at all.But as a matter of interest Alexander extinguished one of them himself in honour of his friend who died and no I am not telling you where the other 2 are.

Did the note say something along the lines of that the innkeeper violated what Genghis Khan said, and that the innkeeper should be tortured to death for his offense. So after reading the note the innkeeper hung himself so that he would have to be tortured?
Nice try but No Sx

^@above I'm not sure if that's likely unless Princess Aouda is related or has some kind of special relationship with Genghis Khan.
Was there a poem or song on the parchment?Nope Sx

Maybe analyzing the sentences will help.

In the days of Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan it was said that an unarmed woman could walk the silk road carrying a
bag of gold unharmed (that probably refers to Princess Aouda, so she probably walked the silk road with a bag of gold and was unharmed).
So it was that a woman in travelling robes that covered her from head to toe and wearing a heavy veil walked into a
roadside inn (maybe middle eastern woman).
Naming herself the Princess Aouda demanded the best room (I don't understand why) and a supply of parchment, ink, and quills (maybe she planned on writing something on a piece of parchment).
After handing her the writing materials the innkeeper showed her to a room and walking to a fire pit full of rocks
informed her that the rocks were heated by one of the three eternal flames of Alexander the Great (maybe the inn is near one of the three eternal flames of Alexander the Great).
Walking towards the pit to look (she could have died there...maybe she died because she shouldn't have been saved because life should go the way life goes, no one should interfere) the Princess Aouda tripped on her robes but before she fell the innkeepercaught her by her hands and stopped her from falling (also maybe the innkeeper was too low of a class so the princess had to die or face some punishment).
Embarrassed at touching a great lady the innkeeper hurriedly left (maybe breaks some law).
By the following afternoon worried that she had not emerged from her room the innkeeper knocked on her door and
hearing no reply entered (i don't think it's important).
There he saw the robes on the floor by the fire pit and covering the rocks in the fire pit
ash in the shape of a human (Why didn't the robes get burned, or did they?).Because they were near the fire pit not in it but the question is irrelevant to the riddle Sx
On a small table a sheet of parchment had been written on (not much importance).
After reading the words on the parchment he left the room and in the stables outside hung himself (some mysterious reason...is it related to any kind of law or rule which was why the innkeeper hung himself?).No is the answer yet again Sx

Blue is the questions...maybe I should choose another color

'ash in the shape of a human': any way to be sure it was the princess' remains?The people who buried the ashes were certain it was the same woman who had arrived the previous day otherwise they would have put the ashes in a jar and kept them for gritting the paths when snow arrived before the end of October.It was her remains burnt to ashes , she had not been teleported out by aliens. Sx

And why do I wish it was YOU who read that note, Locx?
Are you telling me I need to be well hung?Shame on you Zacharie

Tell me, is there voodoo involved in this riddle?
Nope, nor shamanism,black magic or even yellow magic