Jibal

Named "the mountains" (al-jibal) by the Arabs, this province is dominated by the Zagros mountains which run northwest to southeast along its southern quarter. Its four great cities (Hamadan, Isfahan, Kirmanshah, and Qazvin) have all at one time been home to one or more of Persia's dynasties or conquerors, and their fortunes have waxed and waned; but at all times the largest city Isfahan has flourished. South of Hamadan is the emirate of Luristan, the home of the Lurs, a semi-nomadic people who herd goats in the foothills of the Zagros mountains.

The chief road through Jibal — called the Khurasan Road — passes from Baghdad to Kirmanshah, then Hamadan, and Rayy before heading into Qumis through the Caspian Gates. Jibal is one of the most densely populated of Persia's provinces, and has a correspondingly high number of sahirs. It is common to see a sahir carried aloft on a jinni-made whirlwind, or riding one of Isfahan's famous flying carpets, speeding to some important engagement.

Arising in the Zagros Mountains to the west of Isfahan, the Zayandah River passes through the city and flows into the swamp of Gav-Khanah on the borders of the Dashti Kavir. Here the river sinks underground and emerges 90 leagues away in Kirman, where it eventually reaches the sea.

This, the biggest of Jibal's cities, lies on the northern bank of the Zayandah River. It is actually a twinned city: to the east is Jay, surrounded by a wall with a hundred towers, and to the west is Al-Yahudiyah, the "town of the Jews," who have dwelt here since the time of Nebuchadnezzar. The noted physician Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) lived and taught here. Isfahan exports silk and cotton, as well as saffron and all kinds of fruit, but it is for its carpets — the famed Persian rug — that Isfahan is best known.

The "Vulture Hills" and "Black Hills" are the highest points on the plain of Persia: black, evil-looking mountains, and famous hiding-places for robbers. Between the two mountain ranges is the caravanserai of Dayr al-Jiss, where, by order of the Sultan, four great tanks are kept full of water to supply travelers crossing the Dasht-i Kavir.

This is the seat of the semi-independent province of Kurdistan, which was created in about 1150 by Sultan San-

jar for his nephew. Kirmanshah boasts a great mosque and a sumptuous palace. About a day's march east of Kirmanshah are the sculptures of Bustam, carved into the black rock of the mountainside. These depict King Darius receiving tribute from his subject kings, and the much later sculptures of King Khursaw Parviz and Queen Shirin, whose story is well known — Shirin was loved by the sculptor Farhad, who killed himself in despair for his love of her.

Kanguvar

Kanguvar, called Kasr-al Lusus, the Robber's Castle, by the Arabs, lies near to the road heading east from Kirmanshah; it is so named because of the larcenous activities of its inhabitants. Travelers are well-advised to count their fingers and toes after passing through Kanguvar.

Perhaps the second most holy place to Islam in Persia after Mashhad, Qum bears a shrine to the Fatima, sister of Imam Reza (see Mashhad, later). Buried with her are the three daughters of the ninth imam. Reza once told the faithful that a pilgrimage to his sister's tomb would assure entrance to Paradise.

A few miles east of Qum is the mosque of Jam Karan. In 986 Hassan ibn Muthih was visited by the Imam of the Ages and the prophet al-Khidr, and told to build a mosque on the sacred ground of Jam Karan. The mosque built at his direction is virtually unequaled in Persia in terms of architecture and embellishment. The mosque has a Dominion aura of 7.

The city of Rayy is strongly fortified, and has five gates over the five roads that radiate from here — to Hamadan, Qazvin, Mazandaran, Khurasan, and Qum. The inner city, containing the mosque and the houses of the bureaucrats, is surrounded by a ditch. The outer city surrounds and overlooks the inner city, and has a prominent fruit market selling melons, peaches, apricots, and so forth. It also exports bluedyed cotton, particularly as striped cloth, and hardwood taken from the Mazandaran forests.

On a nearby mountain there is a shrine dedicated to Shahr Banu, a Sasanid princess and mother of the fourth Shi'i imam. Legend has it that the princess was swallowed by the mountain rather than allowing her enemies to kill her. For centuries before there had been a shrine here dedicated to Anahita, the Mazdean yazata of water and fertility. The spring at the shrine is a source of Aquam vis, if the water is collected when Venus is in the sky.

The people of Savah are camel-drivers and herders, but the great mosque of Savah contains a magical library unequaled in Persia. Attached to the town's mosque is a hospital and a tall domed tower, which houses the library on its lower floors and an observatory at its top. The tower is staffed by Savah's House of Wisdom, all of whom are members of the Ashab al-Najm (see Chapter 3: Order of Suleiman). The observatory of Savah is world-renowned, containing innumerable star maps ranging from ancient Babylonia to the current day, and the state-of-the-art in astronomical instruments. In addition to having a Magic aura of 5, the observatory grants a +3 bonus to any astrology rolls, including use of Solomonic Astrology.

The current Asala of the Ashab al-Najm hails from Savah, a wizened old man named Meriq al-Asala al-Qalani al-Safar al-Najm. He is mostly known for wearing a strange hat that looks like it is inside-out, and joking that his hat does not sit on his head, but rather that his head sits on his hat. After the previous Asala left in 1186 (see Chapter 7: Mythic Mesopotamia, Nasibin), Meriq stepped forward to represent the family, to general acceptance by the

other astrologer-viziers at the Majlis, who consulted the heavens. Many of them now think he does not take the responsibility seriously enough, but do not feel they should ask him to step down. He does not have The Gift, but is nonetheless a gifted communicator and has written many excellent books on Artes Liberales and Solomonic Astrology, among other subjects.

The "Throne of Solomon" is located in a semi-circular valley in the mountains of Jibal. At the summit of a small, flat-topped hill is a small but deep lake fed by an underwater spring. On its shores is a remarkably well-preserved Mazdean fire temple, whose walls are co-terminal with a terrestrial Divine regio of aura 8. The regio is the resting place of Adur Gushnasp, one of the three Royal Fires of Zoroastrian belief (see Mount Kavarvand earlier for more details of the Royal Fires). Adur Gushnasp is particularly attuned to warriors and nobles, and a weapon made in a forge lit from Adur Gushnap and quenched in the waters of the lake receives a +4 bonus to invoking God's aid in battle (Realms of Power: The Divine, page 41) whenever the warrior for whom it was made uses that weapon. This bonus lasts for a number of years equal to the wielder's Theology: Mazdean Ability. The weapon loses all power permanently if used by another.