I am doing research for a fictional book centered on a Marco Polo style trip along the silk road from Western Europe to China.
This is a fantasy book with a sort of "Everything is Real" trope as it's central world premise. So I want folklore. And I want folklore from a lot of areas. North Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Mongolia, European.
This is taking place around the 6th and 7th crusades, although I am not particularly interested in modern folklore about the crusades, Illuminati, etc.
I am particular interested in stories about humans with magical abilities, and monsters. Court wizards, elves, shamans, and Asian martial arts all fit.
I know this is a lot of information, and don't expect any one person to be able to recommend too much, but anything you can let me know about I will be happy to read.
P.S. If it's available in audiobook format it's worth triple points. Thanks!
The Arabian Nights would be a good start. The stories are generally set in what we'd now call the Greater Middle East.
You could also look at Shahnameh by Firdausi, a sort of Iliad of the Persianate world.
Another Arabian Nightesque book is Tilism-e-Hoshruba, or An Enchantment of the Senses. This one has s lot of magic, witchcraft, etc.
If you want a history of Central Asia, two good books I'd recommend are, The Lost Enlightenment by Fredrick Star, and The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan.