The travels of Maester Yandel from Westeros to Pars
For my brothers and my nephews who are in Rose Village, Reach and to the Shashanshah Arslan and his wife Shahbanu Estelle of the Kingdom of Pars, Lusitania and Sindhura.
Every beginning has an end,
Every turn comes a way,
By Mithra and by the eternal flame,
May I see the end of the day!
Pars was a rising empire in Essos, founded during the Centuries of blood by a people who migrated from further east as well as other Andal refugees fleeing from the onslaught of the Dothraki, the first of their Shah or ruler was Jamshid the Sage King who defeated the Great Dothraki horde that destroyed Sarnor, the inhabitants of the old kingdom crowned him as Shah, the Sarnori title for king, and welcomed his people as their new nobility and so Shah Jamshid proclaimed his Kingdom of Pars and ruled for two decades before killed by the Snake King Zahhak who was so cruel that a coalition of nobles led by the relatives of Shah Jamshid particularly Khayhusraw and his brothers killed the Snake King Zahhak in a poetic twist of fate, as the evil king was so fond of snakes that it was his preferred method of execution Khayhusraw and the nobles seized him from his bed then threw him at the pit of snakes that Zahhak was so fond of, Heroic King Khayhusraw's descendants ruled Pars until the reign of King Aegon the Unworthy in an event that was called the years of woe by all the subjects of Pars as it was that time Pars was conquered and almost brought to heel by its neighbor, Lusitania. The Royal family of Pars has been plagued with many intrigues and conspiracies, during the reign of Baelor the Blessed in Westeros Pars was conquered by Lusitania, a successor to the Valyrian Freehold of Essaria and a gateway to the ports of Essos and Westeros, it was during those tumultuous times that saw to the rise of a great young king in which this journal shall dedicate itself to: the current Shashanshah of Pars, Lusitania, and Sindhura Arslan first of his name.
It was also in this time that me and my colleagues fresh out of the Citadel in Westeros decided to go to Essos to research about the great golden road that enriched Pars, when we arrived at Braavos we were surprised to have heard that Pars was conquered by Lusitania, after some months of travelling further east we have then heard rumors that Pars had liberated themselves and had completely annexed Lusitania, we wasted no time and decided to go to Pars by the Dothraki sea which was being contested by Pars and the Dothraki Khals themselves before, although I doubt the Dothraki would try another scheme of trying to conquer the Sarnori successor state particularly because of their history, at the edge of the Dothraki sea we were met by the fine cavalry that Pars had boast of every man atop the horse had scale and lamellar armor, these were the Clibanarii, great heavy cavalry that defeated the Dothraki hordes led by Khal Barbo after the liberation of Pars by the Shashanshah Arslan. After presenting our papers as scholars from Westeros they escorted us to Ecbatana the center of the great golden road, at the gardens of kings in Ecbatana we were told to hold our head low and to not look upon the Shashanshah unless we were given permission by the Shashanshah himself we were led to a pavilion were the Shashansha himself was helping his infant son to stand up along with his wife, we held our head down not wanting to be rude to our host but it was such a fast event that we find ourselves feasting with the good king himself and sharing wine with his Hetairoia and Marzban.
Shashanshah - is a Parsian bastardization of the Sarnori title of Shah, the title itself meant King of kings or Emperor in a sense.
Clibanarii - heavy cavalry of the Kingdom of Pars, combining the hardiness and speed of Dothraki thoroughbred with heavy armor, lance, mace, and heavy composite bow seem to had created a great synthesis of a shock cavalry.
Hetairoia - retainers of lords and kings of Pars regardless of their status in the society.
Marzban - lords of lands granted by the King.
Arslan looked like the Targaryen Kings that we have, he was lithe and delicate of build, with a few muscles on his arms that denote that the young Shashanshah didn't shy away from the battlefield, he was handsome to say the least almost reminding me of Aegon the Unworthy when he wasn't a king yet, he had snow white hair that reminded me of the Valyrians, although we have Valyrian rulers ourselves mayhaps some of the Shashanshah's descendants had married a Valyrian noblewoman. His retainers seem to be an interesting crew themselves ex-bandits and disgraced nobles and small business merchants Shashanshah Arslan surrounds himself with what could be called as deplorables in Westeros and the Free Cities and yet they seem to have a profound loyalty to their king, some even made a rude joke of the king's wife and instead of being offended he laughed while his wife pointed a blade at the man in a humorous fashion that even me and my companions laughed too, their hospitality wasn't even lacking, food with exotic spices and fruits from Sindhura and beyond was offered to me and my colleagues and as a gesture of hospitality the Shashanshah himself sang a song for us which made us feel slightly ashamed because we were not able to return such a favor should we leave his kingdom, we were given baths and are escorted to extravagant rooms that no lords or even kings of Westeros could afford all of such made my heart ache to leave the place.
On account of the Pars military I couldn't help but describe the details in which their army is composed of, since during the time of our visit in the Shashanshah's capital an emergency court was held because of a Braavosi ambassador who is already near death and is asking to speak to the ruler of Pars to which he was quickly granted, he approached the Shashanshah praising his virtues and qualities before offering gifts from the Sealord to which the sovereign of Pars graciously accepted, the envoy presented itself as a representative of a coalition of the cities of Lorath, Pentos, and Braavos fighting against the slave states of Lys, Myr, and Volantis, it was also worth noting that it has been a long time ago since the Free Cities had been at war with each other, most of their battles now were at the negotiating table or at the sails, where every city tries to out-trade the other, it was only this time of the year (or years for lack of better term) that such an affair became bloody, Shashanshah Arslan listened to the envoy as he tells of their plight how their rivals used Westerosi mercenaries (Ironborn privateers, and Westerosi robber knights) to raid their coasts and ship lines as a way to cripple their economies, capturing women and children to be sold as slaves to their pleasure houses and courts, some of their court began to argue with the Braavosi, asking questions on who started the war and how it is almost wasteful to march the army of Pars further west to the Free Cities, regardless of whether or not by appealing to the fact that the Shashanshah despises slavery the envoy begged for him to aid them and prevent a nation to be enslaved by another.
"I plead for you not as an envoy of one sovereign to another but as a person who has seen the lives of his family and friends snuffed shortly and quickly before the reckoning of man, to aid our fight against those who would put us in chains, King of kings you who is a liberator of his people should also be a liberator of the oppressed" it was a desperate appeal as every advisers of the Shashanshah told him to not meddle in the affairs of others unless given reason to, but from looking at his blue eyes there seem to be a vibrant spark in there an eagerness of not just to help people but also to look at the outside world to discover what is beyond there, he looked at his wife then asked her what she thinks and in a way that still surprises me and my colleagues she answers in a manner that can be considered wise and good.
"Even if you have to travel a thousand farsangs for gold, glory, or fame, it is always in the nature of man to help others regardless of the distance, oh Arslan the man has traveled from afar and has faced dangers to entreat us our aid, should we not also return the favor and travel far and face dangers to give them our aid?" it was in that advice that the Shashanshah stood up then held up his sword Rukhnabahd it was a beautiful sword and it had the markings of a Valyrian steel blade, its sheath was created and encased with gold, every single Hetairoia of the King of kings began to kneel before him as he declared his decision to the envoy.
"You have come to me as a supplicant and asked for the favor of my nation, you have traveled far and wide to seek our aid, now let me return such with what we can do, from this day to the last your nation and its friends shall be considered as friends of Pars with all the privileges and rights that come with such, your enemies and your friends enemies shall also be our enemies may the great Mithra bless this oath of mine, my heirs, and my subjects" every single courtiers of the court also repeated his speech as every scribes furiously began to write the official document that was the Treaty of Liberation which became the basis of Pars to rule and influence the rich and lucrative ports of the cities of Lys, Myr, Pentos, and Volantis.
Now to the subject of their army, their army was centralized unlike armies of Westeros who had to rely on bannermen and knights to create a standing army, the military of Pars is divided into two classes the Savaran (cavalry) and the Paygan (Infantry). In their cavalry, Pars boast a balance of light and heavy cavalry, preferring mobile warfare particularly against their southern Dothraki neighbors, each cavalry division or gond savaran is led by a savarand salar or captain, a company of cavalry is called as a Clibanarii, whereas a cavalryman is called a Kataphractoi, the Savaran is commanded by a Savaran Strategoi, in their infantry Pars cannot be called lacking or insufficient it was simply said that infantry in Pars is only used to protect skirmishers or to hold out enemy infantry and cavalry, their heavy infantry is called a Zhayedan or Immortals, the most elite and specially trained infantry of Pars, ten thousand strong were they and it was said to keep up with the name the Zhayedan would often carry the bodies of their comrades and so making an impression that they didn't die, next came to the Hoplon or Shieldbearers tasked with reinforcing other infantry should the need arises then there is the Sparabara levy infantry that are cheap and untrained useful only to give cover to other advancing forces, the Pars Army size is about a hundred to a hundred and thirty thousand (including infantry, cavalry, and non-combatant necessities) and each of the companies of these troops were led by a Marzban and usually a Marzban is a lord however the status became a military office after a set of reforms by Arslan himself.
Account of Ferrego Fregar, envoy of Pars from Braavos, taken by the Maester Yandel.
I will never understand the Shashanshah's mercy to his friends and enemies, even when I'm now old and grey, I could still remember that event as if it were yesterday.
We were ambushed by a Dothraki war party after the assembly of arms in Ecbatana, Shashanshah Arslan and his personal guard the Mardan fu Mardan Daryun lead the charge to their center, it was a sight to behold as bodies were flying in the air, the Shashanshah and his retinue cut a bloody way as they followed the head of the wedge which is the Mardan fu Mardan, I received a minor wound alongside some of the Shashanshah's Zhayedan nothing that a bandage can fix, after that encounter the captured prisoners were released without even a slight punishment for attacking them only a warning that should they ever try so again there would be no quarter given the next time, I will never understand why the Shashanshah didn't make a display of their corpses so as to warn other Khals of the futility of trying to harm his army, he even invited the leaders of their war party to a feast to which the Dothraki attended there I couldn't help but observe the way the Shashanshah would listen to their reasons as to why they would attack their column, food and survival were always the reason as to why these savages would raid one another, after the night of feasting the Shashanshah greeted them farewell and then let them away with some food and necessities on the road.
When that was done he visited and tend to his wounded men, I was surprise to see as I followed the Shashanshah as an envoy and courtier of his force, him kneeling in front of a dying man, a lowly footsoldier, listening to his last words, of his wife, and of his child that haven't been born yet, Shashanshah Arslan hold his hand assured him that his family would be provided for, he asked for his name where he and his family lived, his secretary Elam son of Narsus wrote in his papers, probably to make sure that the Shashanshah would make good of his word, for the last time the man closed his eyes and a tear fell on the Shashanshah's face.
Men die in war, it was expected and yet when I saw Shashanshah Arslan's face I could tell that he doesn't see his men as numbers to be disposed of but rather like a father to his sons, every member of his court was looked upon as a family, every single soldier of his army from the gallant Kataphractoi to the lowly Sparabara was like a brother and a child, I couldn't help but be touched by the sincerity of the Shashanshah's tears as it fell to his eyes.
"Every man is valuable to him" Marzban Kishward had told me after that visit to the tents, "that is why we his men would also look after him should he grow old and grey" it wasn't a word from the man but a promise, I have decided to write a letter now to Sealord Uthero Otherys to appoint me as head of envoys to Pars just so I can look at the reign of such an extraordinary king, which is a rare thing for all the kings there is in this world and also to try and understand why such a man had mercy from both his friends and foes.
Author's note: this story was posted in Spacebattles by me as Walpole343 other than that I couldn't help it since this was just one of my ideas when I was doing my critical review essay in American Government, so I posted it on Spacebattles forum on the ASOIAF idea thread before putting it here, anyways when my semester break starts expect me to write again, cheers!
Miko 56