Post by Catsmate on Nov 29, 2021 22:52:38 GMT
Actually it was a toss-up between The Mysteries of the Worm and The Lair of the Worm for a title. We were re-watching the excellent The Lair of the White Worm1, which reminded me of some old notes regarding a mysterious worm.
The Mysteries of the Worm
The story starts long, long ago and far, far, away2. Once upon a time, in the town of Kajaran , there was a man named Haftvād, who had seven sons and one daughter.
The unnamed daughter was a spinner and one day, while she was taking a break from spinning cotton, she and her friends were out on the mountainside. There she found an apple on the ground with a worm in it. For some reason (mind control?) she decided that the worm was good luck, and kept it in her spindle case.That day, she spun twice as much yarn as before.
She found that the more she fed the worm, the larger it grew, and the more cotton she could spin, making Haftvād richer and richer. That's when she pretty much disappears from the story.
So Haftvād takes great care of the worm feeding it well on milk and honey (or blood and meat, accounts differ) and providing it with a luxurious chest to live in. Eventually Haftvād and his sons used their money and it's consequent influence to take over their town. The have fortress built on the mountain, which attracted soldiers from as far away as India. The worm grows to the size of an elephant, and Haftvād built it a special cistern underneath the fortress.
Ardashir (who is the hero of the story don't forget) is displeased when he hears of Hafvād's growing power, and so he sends an army against him to kill Haftvād and his family, take their stuff and incorporate Kajaran into his nascent empire.
He expects an easy victory but his army is routed by Haftvād's forces
So Ardashir, in the manner of the hero-king in the epics, resolves to go to battle himself against Haftvād.
Once again Ardashir's forces are defeated by those of Haftvād; one of Haftvad's sons outflanks him and trapped the Persian army. So the king retreats, with the remnants of his army, to a salt lake, when they camp.
Things are bad; morale is low, their supply lines are cut off and they're running short of food, Haftvād's troops are harassing them and Ardashir's troubles are worsened by news that his palace at home has been pillaged by an enemy in his absence. Ooops.
So while Ardashir and his commanders confer over a meal, an arrow flies through the darkness and embeds itself in the meat (lamb) that they are eating. On it is an inscription (or lied message) telling them that no one can achieve victory against Haftvād's worm.
Here the versions of the story differ. Mainly it's said that either Ardashir goes off on his own, sending his army back to secure his lands and palace, or his army falls apart. Either way he's on his own when he takes shelter with two people. These are either two brothers, named Burzak and Burzatur, or two unnamed strangers whom he meets travelling.
The two men4, seem rather knowledgeable about Haftvād and his Army of the Worm. They tell Ardashir that the Worm was actually a manifestation of Ahriman and they volunteer to help him destroy it.
The brothers plan was the fairly classic "infiltrate the enemy fortress" so beloved of the Second Doctor. Ardashir would disguise himself as a merchant and, accompanied by the two brothers, go to the Fortress of the Worm, where they'd ask permission to worship the Worm.
Using a combination of "idolatrous piety" (i.e. Fast Talk and a few SPs) and the ever popular strong wine, Ardashir was indeed permitted to see and feed the Worm. Distracting the guards the trio melt lead (or possibly bronze) in a bowl and when the Worm opened its mouth for its milk (or blood) they throw the molten metal down the creature's gullet.
The Worm exploded with a loud noise (and presumably lots of messy worm guts). Or possibly it split in two.
Ardashir took advantage of the confusion and destruction to signal his waiting men and seized the fortress with the traditional great slaughter.
With the Worm dead, Haftvad's army was no longer invincible, and Ardashir destroyed his followers (described in many accounts as "idolaters". He built his own fortress on the cleansed site and marched on to Ctesiphon, where he duly proclaimed himself King of Kings and created the Sassanid dynasty which becomes really important to human history.
It's a great story, ripe for a Netflix/Prime bidding war for the right. And there are some elements of history in it too.
The story comes down to us from, as mentioned above, Shah-nameh, the Persian national epic. This was written around 1010CE by the a poet named Ferdowsi (or Firdausi). He'd gotten it from the Karnamag-i-Ardashir, the "Book of Deeds of Ardashir", which was written far earlier, some time between 530 and 650CE. The historian Tabari (writing around 915CE) does mention the Army of the Worm, though rather obliquely.
There's also an account of Ardashir killing "a queen who was worshipped as a divine being" (and stealing her treasure) at Kujaran (now a city in Iraq) where the some accounts puts the Fortress of the Worm.
Certainly Ardashir was a real person; he definitely became King of Persia in 208CE, overthrew the Parthian Empire in 224CE, fought a brief war with the Kurds and became Ardashir I, the first Emperor of the Sassanid Dynasty in 226CE, re-founding the Persian Empire.
Which neatly gives us a fairly precise date; the Army of the Worm incident happened in 225-6CE.
Scholars of Persian history say that the story is based on a campaign against a pirate or bandit chieftain, perhaps one linked to a Naga snake-cult (spilling over from neighboring India). Alternatively some believe it refers to the final campaign against a Parthian lord in the mountains somewhere. Others have suggested it's about a war against a rebel Persian nobleman named Gochihr (which means "comet", i.e. a tailed, serpent- or worm-like, star). But frankly that seems a bit of a stretch.
Then there are those who speculate that the combination of worm and wealth from textiles refers to silk. Maybe a lord started successful silk cultivation and used the money from this to challenge Ardashir.
Then there's the question of where exactly the Fortress of the Worm was located. The options are
Game Use.
The story is a wonderful skeleton for a historical scenario with supernatural/science-fiction elements. The GM will need to decide certain matters:
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
1. It's got everything. Mystery, sex, romance, cat-fights, weird goings-on in the countryside, Peter Capald in a kilt....
2. Unless you're in Iran or Armenia of course, in which case it's local history.
3. Probably the one that’s now in the south of Armenia. Though there are other opinions.
4. Who might not be male, or even human. Certainly Ardashir would probably want to avoid having his victory tainted with suggestions of witchcraft or unnatural powera.
5. Destroyed in the earthquake of 26DEC2003, which neatly sets up the "Son of the Worm" sequel. The province of Kerman is seismically unstable.
6. One of Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stories, where a time traveller accidentally becomes Cyrus the Great, against his will.
The Mysteries of the Worm
The story starts long, long ago and far, far, away2. Once upon a time, in the town of Kajaran , there was a man named Haftvād, who had seven sons and one daughter.
- Haftvād is a real legendary(?) character whose story appears alongside accounts of the rise of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia, in the third century CE. Haftvād is mentioned in various sources, most notably the Shahnameh.
- The Shahnameh is a really long (around one hundred thousand lines), epic poem written ~977-1010CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. It tells the mythical and historical past (the two are intertwined) of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century).
- Oh and the seven sons don't really appear. Not that the daughter is even named either.
The unnamed daughter was a spinner and one day, while she was taking a break from spinning cotton, she and her friends were out on the mountainside. There she found an apple on the ground with a worm in it. For some reason (mind control?) she decided that the worm was good luck, and kept it in her spindle case.That day, she spun twice as much yarn as before.
She found that the more she fed the worm, the larger it grew, and the more cotton she could spin, making Haftvād richer and richer. That's when she pretty much disappears from the story.
So Haftvād takes great care of the worm feeding it well on milk and honey (or blood and meat, accounts differ) and providing it with a luxurious chest to live in. Eventually Haftvād and his sons used their money and it's consequent influence to take over their town. The have fortress built on the mountain, which attracted soldiers from as far away as India. The worm grows to the size of an elephant, and Haftvād built it a special cistern underneath the fortress.
- Rather like The Lair of the White Worm, in fact.
Ardashir (who is the hero of the story don't forget) is displeased when he hears of Hafvād's growing power, and so he sends an army against him to kill Haftvād and his family, take their stuff and incorporate Kajaran into his nascent empire.
He expects an easy victory but his army is routed by Haftvād's forces
So Ardashir, in the manner of the hero-king in the epics, resolves to go to battle himself against Haftvād.
Once again Ardashir's forces are defeated by those of Haftvād; one of Haftvad's sons outflanks him and trapped the Persian army. So the king retreats, with the remnants of his army, to a salt lake, when they camp.
Things are bad; morale is low, their supply lines are cut off and they're running short of food, Haftvād's troops are harassing them and Ardashir's troubles are worsened by news that his palace at home has been pillaged by an enemy in his absence. Ooops.
So while Ardashir and his commanders confer over a meal, an arrow flies through the darkness and embeds itself in the meat (lamb) that they are eating. On it is an inscription (or lied message) telling them that no one can achieve victory against Haftvād's worm.
- A fairly classic device, straight out of a hundred fantasy novels. However this was written a thousand years before A Sea of Ice and Fire.
Here the versions of the story differ. Mainly it's said that either Ardashir goes off on his own, sending his army back to secure his lands and palace, or his army falls apart. Either way he's on his own when he takes shelter with two people. These are either two brothers, named Burzak and Burzatur, or two unnamed strangers whom he meets travelling.
- Two strangers met while travelling? Hmm......
The two men4, seem rather knowledgeable about Haftvād and his Army of the Worm. They tell Ardashir that the Worm was actually a manifestation of Ahriman and they volunteer to help him destroy it.
- Why they waited for Ardashir to arrive isn't mentioned.
- Ahriman is the principal evil spirit in Iranian Mythology, appearing in Zoroastrianism and Zorvanism. He is the Lord of Darkness and Chaos, and is source of human confusion, disappointment, and strife. He appears in some forms of Christianity too.
The brothers plan was the fairly classic "infiltrate the enemy fortress" so beloved of the Second Doctor. Ardashir would disguise himself as a merchant and, accompanied by the two brothers, go to the Fortress of the Worm, where they'd ask permission to worship the Worm.
Using a combination of "idolatrous piety" (i.e. Fast Talk and a few SPs) and the ever popular strong wine, Ardashir was indeed permitted to see and feed the Worm. Distracting the guards the trio melt lead (or possibly bronze) in a bowl and when the Worm opened its mouth for its milk (or blood) they throw the molten metal down the creature's gullet.
The Worm exploded with a loud noise (and presumably lots of messy worm guts). Or possibly it split in two.
Ardashir took advantage of the confusion and destruction to signal his waiting men and seized the fortress with the traditional great slaughter.
With the Worm dead, Haftvad's army was no longer invincible, and Ardashir destroyed his followers (described in many accounts as "idolaters". He built his own fortress on the cleansed site and marched on to Ctesiphon, where he duly proclaimed himself King of Kings and created the Sassanid dynasty which becomes really important to human history.
It's a great story, ripe for a Netflix/Prime bidding war for the right. And there are some elements of history in it too.
The story comes down to us from, as mentioned above, Shah-nameh, the Persian national epic. This was written around 1010CE by the a poet named Ferdowsi (or Firdausi). He'd gotten it from the Karnamag-i-Ardashir, the "Book of Deeds of Ardashir", which was written far earlier, some time between 530 and 650CE. The historian Tabari (writing around 915CE) does mention the Army of the Worm, though rather obliquely.
There's also an account of Ardashir killing "a queen who was worshipped as a divine being" (and stealing her treasure) at Kujaran (now a city in Iraq) where the some accounts puts the Fortress of the Worm.
Certainly Ardashir was a real person; he definitely became King of Persia in 208CE, overthrew the Parthian Empire in 224CE, fought a brief war with the Kurds and became Ardashir I, the first Emperor of the Sassanid Dynasty in 226CE, re-founding the Persian Empire.
Which neatly gives us a fairly precise date; the Army of the Worm incident happened in 225-6CE.
Scholars of Persian history say that the story is based on a campaign against a pirate or bandit chieftain, perhaps one linked to a Naga snake-cult (spilling over from neighboring India). Alternatively some believe it refers to the final campaign against a Parthian lord in the mountains somewhere. Others have suggested it's about a war against a rebel Persian nobleman named Gochihr (which means "comet", i.e. a tailed, serpent- or worm-like, star). But frankly that seems a bit of a stretch.
Then there are those who speculate that the combination of worm and wealth from textiles refers to silk. Maybe a lord started successful silk cultivation and used the money from this to challenge Ardashir.
Then there's the question of where exactly the Fortress of the Worm was located. The options are
- Somewhere along the coast of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. This account has Haftvād's allies arriving by sea, not really an option in the mountains.
- Gular, well inland in the province of Khorasan very near the Afghan border.
- Khojar in Kurdistan
- Kerman, now an inland province of south=eastern Iran. However this region did once have a stretch of coast east of the Straits of Hormuz.
- Part of the city Bam5, in Kerman, once called Kurzan. Marco Polo wrote of the needlework of the women of Kerman, and the carpets are still renowned today. Oh and 'kerm' means worm in Persian.....
Game Use.
The story is a wonderful skeleton for a historical scenario with supernatural/science-fiction elements. The GM will need to decide certain matters:
- Where is the action set? This will probably mean a spot of research into Middle Eastern history.
- Where did the worm come from? Outer space? Another dimension? Emergency backup left over from the Timewyrm?
- What mysterious powers does the worm grant? Are Haftvād and his sons enhanced in some manner, able to influence the minds of others perhaps?
- How to introduce and blend Ardashir into the scenario. Remember he needs to succeed and start a rather important historical dynasty (or someone needs to anyway, remember Brave to be a King?6).
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
1. It's got everything. Mystery, sex, romance, cat-fights, weird goings-on in the countryside, Peter Capald in a kilt....
2. Unless you're in Iran or Armenia of course, in which case it's local history.
3. Probably the one that’s now in the south of Armenia. Though there are other opinions.
4. Who might not be male, or even human. Certainly Ardashir would probably want to avoid having his victory tainted with suggestions of witchcraft or unnatural powera.
5. Destroyed in the earthquake of 26DEC2003, which neatly sets up the "Son of the Worm" sequel. The province of Kerman is seismically unstable.
6. One of Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stories, where a time traveller accidentally becomes Cyrus the Great, against his will.