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.
