To tell the tale of the heroes of Persia
the stories, of the adventurers who rode across the desert sands,
We must begin
in a darker place.
*evil laughs*
*coughs*
Sorry something in my throat
*intro music*
In ancient days
There was a king among the Arabs
known as Merdas
and he was kind
and just.
He possessed
Thousands of cows and sheeps and horses
and gave milk freely to anyone who needed it.
And this king had a son.
A son he doted on.
But as is often the case,
this beloved son did not inherit the kindness of his father.
This young man was named Zahhak
and though brave
he was turbulent with a dark disposition.
Then, one day he met a man
named Iblis,
and they became fast friends.
Eventually,
Iblis said to Zahhak,
"There is something you must know.
But first
you must swear to tell no one."
And despite him sounding like a straight-to-VHS Disney villain,
Zahhak swore.
Iblis then said with a grin,
"Your father is all that stands in the way
of ruling
the world.
Rid yourself of him
and the world will be yours."
But Zahhak
still had some shred of virtue
and so he initially objected to the idea of spilling his father's blood.
Iblis was persistent though,
and eventually his sultry voice
convinced Zahhak,
who then asked him how the deeds should be done.
Elated,
Iblis told him he would take care of everything
so before dawn
he dug a pit
deep and wide
along the orchard path
where Merdas' would walk every morning
and when murder fell in the pit
Iblis filled it with soil
and walked away
Zahhak then took the reins of power.
He was king now
Lord in his land
Then one day a cook showed up and offered his services
the king took him on
For he said he knew many dishes the King had never tried
and for the first time the flesh of animals
Became a regular part of meals
and Zahhak the king dined on this flesh
and was delighted
he offered the man a boon
any requests he might make
The cook asked only one thing
that the king let him kiss him on the shoulders
as if they were dear friends
now personally
I would be suspicious of anyone that was like
the one thing
I want in this world
is to kiss your shoulders
But hey
takes all kinds, am I right ?
Zahhak on the other hand
wasn't suspicious at all
and so granted this request
so the cook came up and kissed his shoulders
and as he did
a wonder and horror
such as one had never seen before occurred
To great serpents
rose out of the shoulders of the king where the chef's had kissed him
Flailing in horror.
He grabbed his sword
and struck off the heads of the snakes
But they simply
grew again from his shoulders
and in this confusion
the chef who had all along been Iblis in disguise
vanished
The Kings summoned all of his doctors and healers
to give him some kind of remedy
but each cure that was offered
failed
at last there appeared a doctor who was known to no-one
who said
these snakes were fated to appear
Do not cut them back
You must instead
placate them by allowing them to feed
Feed only
on human brains
In time
they will surely die from this food
And yeah, this wise doctor was of course Iblis
for a thousand years after this
Zahhak reigned as
undisputed master of the world
and each night
two young men were brought to the palace and killed
their brains
Made into a meal
for the snakes
in this time of darkness
Demons, flourished
and wicked magicians
held sway
But one night
Zahhak had a dream
he of three warriors
who smote him with the mace
That's head was the shape of an ox
so he summoned the sages of the land
to tell him the meaning of this dream
the bravest among them
came forward and said
We are all born to die.
Those who live must pass
So it is with Kings
as with peasants
your time
is coming to an end
There is a man named Farah Doon
who will slay you with an ox headed mace
and take your throne
Somehow still unaware of his own evil
Zahhak asked the sage
but
why would this man hate me so much and
The sage replied
his father will die at your hand
and he will be given succor by a magical cow
This cow you too will kill
for these things
shall he hate you
Zahhak
fell from his throne at the news
and fainted
the sages all fled while the getting was good
And when' Zahhak woke
he ordered that Farah Doon
and his parents be hunted across the land
Nothing, like leaning into a prophecy hard I guess
Far away
Fara Doon was born as was the rainbow-colored cow
That would one day give him succor
Soon though
word of Zahhak's hunt came even to their part of the world
and Fara Doon's father fled
only to be caught and slain by Zahhak
So his mother entrusted Fara Doon to a local grove keeper
and owner of the magical cow
who would raise him for years
Feeding him off the magical cow's milk
until there - he had to flee
for Zahhak
had at last discovered
where he was hiding
Not finding the boy
aha checked off prophetic box number two
and slew the cow
but fear of this missing boy now possessed his mind and
Zahhak actions became more brooding
at last
sitting on his ivory throne with his turquoise crown upon his head
He gathered the wise and the good of his realm
and said to them.
I have an enemy in the shadows
I must protect myself against at all cost.
I must increase the size of my army
I will add to it demons
as well as men and the two shall serve together
I must do this immediately,
then you all shall approve
and you will sign this statement
saying that I have done nothing but sown the seeds of righteousness
So that none will object to this act.
Okay,
cool.
Cool.
COOL
but one among those assembled before him
a humble blacksmith shouted
you are not just
My son's brains have gone to feed your serpents
You are not a king
but a monster
and when the king
ordered him to sign the statement
Instead he tore it up
and stalked out of the palace
Zahhak sat there stunned as
Zahhak pondered his own evil at last coming to realize
what he had become
the blacksmith
marched to the town square and
Mounted his blacksmith apron upon a spear
to serve as a standard for the army
he would raise to liberate, Persia and
For centuries this would serve as the banner of Persia
and each Great King that came to the throne
would add jewels to this simple
blacksmith's apron
the people followed this banner to the mountain where Farah Doon fled and
The blacksmith
cast him a mace with an ox head
then together
They set out to rally the people to take vengeance upon Zahhak
Zahhak himself fled towards India
slaughtering thousands for the sake of his dark rites
But Farah Doon seized Zahhak's capital, his treasury and his harem forcing him to return
but when Kings Zahhak did return to his capital the whole city took arms against him even
Civilians out of hatred for his reign threw bricks and roof tiles at his men
so Zahhak took a different approach and
infiltrated the castle himself, but when he was inside he spied Farah Doon with his favorite consort and
Jealousy overtook him. He unsheathed his dagger and went not to slay Farah Doon, but the woman he was with
Farah Doon
Though lept forward and sent his ox headed mace crashing down like an earthquake upon Zahhak's head
but then a strange thing occurred an angelic figure descended and told Farah Doon not to slay Zahhak a
Different fate was to meet him
He would be imprisoned under a mountain, chained, bound, nails piercing his body, but alive for all time.
So with that, the Arab people were free and great dynasties could be established.
But somewhere in the darkness, Zahhak still waits.