Gilgamesh and the Golden Palace of Za-Hadrash - The Vizier's Tale

Ubara-Tutu the Last Titan King of Sumeria, 

and Ardishir the Magnificent

An account by Rashad Al-Sulimon (Vizier to Utha Alzmed the Amir of the Hubul)

Imagine a time thirty centuries before the founding of Uruk, when Sulymon the Prophet was for a span of years Steward of the City of Brass after the downfall of the wicked Efreeti tyrant Iblis, he who had been damned and cast down to the underworld for his rebellion against the gods. The Hubul Janni ancients still held their ancestral lands in the Plane of Molten Skies; meanwhile, the titan Ubara-Tutu reigned over the prime material lands of Sumeria in which the Kingdoms of Uruk, Ur and Kish now lie, demanding fealty, tribute and worship from all who dwelled there. The humanity of this world was for the most part lacking in civilization in those days, but Ubara was also served by a race of intelligent giants who acted as his nobility and enforcers of his rule. Mankind was a virtual slave race to these powerful beings, though not always sorely treated.

Ubara’s reign had already lasted several centuries, at the time of which we speak. The titan King possessed a certain Carnelian Idol of great beauty that was a gift from the genie Caliph Ardishir Al’Aamash the Magnificent. Ardishir posed as a wise Janni ancient but was secretly a disguised Efreet hiding out on the material plane in defiance of Sulymon’s edict forbidding the four great elemental houses of geniekind from doing so.

It is said that this Carnelian Idol possessed oracular powers and would utter words of advice and answers to its possessor’s questions, and even grant wishes. But in truth it was possessed by a wicked efreeti in spirit form, a scion of Ardishir by one of his many concubines, who in turn swore fealty to Iblis the first Sultan of the City of Brass.

The whispering Carnelian Idol gradually corrupted Ubara over time and his reign changed from one of mere over-indulgent exploitation of inferior beings, into an ever crueler and more oppressive regime. Meanwhile, Ardishir had come into possession of a certain artifact created during the great war of Law and Chaos that occurred many thousands of years before even the distant age of which we speak, and ended with the defeat of the Queen of Chaos by the Wind Dukes of Aaqua at the Battle of Pesh. It was called by Jannikind the Mirror of Chinvat, though mankind named it the Mirror of Kur.

This mirror was one of many of its kind made by the Queen of Chaos to facilitate her conquest of the material plane. Through it, Ardishir was able to contact one of the Queen’s old allies in the Chaos War, a primordial being of darkness and evil called by the Janni, Angra Mainyu, though referred to by the humans of Sumeria as Hanbi. This foul being knew that if the mirror were used to cause sufficient death and destruction in the material world, it would facilitate his escape from his underworld prison in the depths of Pandemonium, and so he willingly supplied the aid of many evil Daevas who passed through a gateway created by the mirror into the material world to serve Ardishir’s purposes. Some of these creatures were physical in form, but others were possessing spirits who further corrupted the giantish nobility of Sumeria. The most infamous of these spirit beings were the Seven Jenni, who were eventually bested by King Gilgamesh of Uruk many years later, with otherworldly aid.

The Carnelian Idol had by now started putting into Ubara’s head the notion that he deserved far better than this dusty prime material realm of mud and animals and barely civilized humans, and that nothing less than the Mudawwarah Al Jin, the gleaming City of the Genies, was a fit habitation for a great ruler such as he, and that under him it would be returned to its former glory as it was before Iblis was cast down.

Through Hubul spies in the realm of Sumeria, Sulymon learned of the growing threat, and with the dispensation of Anumon, the god of geniekind, he visited Sumeria with his entourage and requested a personal audience with Ubara. He warned the titan King that he was aware of his plans and counseled him against the words of “false idols”.

Heedless, Ubara turned to the Carnelian Idol for counsel. The idol scornfully declared that Sulymon was nothing but a has-been and his words should hold no fear. It promised that should he go to war against Sulymon and lay siege to the City of Brass, then 10,000 Janni warriors who remained loyal to the old Sultan, Iblis, would join him in battle to take revenge on Sulymon the False Prophet.

Meanwhile, before his return to the Plane of Molten Skies, Sulymon quietly paid a further visit to a yet virtuous giant who remained uncorrupted by spirits from the Mirror of Chinvat. His name was Ziusudra and he was noted for his gentle treatment of his human vassals. Sulymon warned him that he should in secret begin the building of a fleet of vessels into which he should shepherd his flock along with many beasts of the earth when the time came to escape “the coming deluge that will sweep away the wickedness of Sumeria”. And with this cryptic remark, he departed.

But the idol was true to its word, and a great Janni host began to assemble, marching in columns from the oases of the southern desert. An army of Daevas also issued forth from the depths of Za-Hadrash, the hidden mountain fortress of the Caliph Ardishir.

Gathering a handful of fellow titans seeking glory, Ubara and his Janni and Daeva allies transported themselves to the Plane of Molten Skies and then mustered on the plains outside the City of Brass, with Ubara leading the Daevas and the Spirit of the Carnelian Idol, physically manifested at last as Dahish Al’Aamash the half-fiendish son of Ardishir, leading the Janni. But Sulymon was well prepared, and went out to meet them with a mighty host of Dao and Marids at his back, together with many Janni of the Hubul tribe. (It is said that he left his Djinn forces behind to guard the city against any attempted takeover by the Efreet, who might be sympathetic to the invader’s cause).

Ubara’s army fought hard, but was no match for the strength of the Dao, Marid and loyalist Janni forces and by the end of the day his great plans lay in ruins. He was slain by Sulymon and his titan brethren taken captive.

Sulymon was not done with the threat from Sumeria yet, however. He knew that the place was still a nest of corruption and evil with many daevas still on the loose and he knew the hand of Iblis was behind all this, pulling the strings from the underworld. So he had determined that he would cleanse Sumeria utterly and make an example of it. 

Ubara’s Janni had brought with them to the Plane of Molten Skies many Daevakind and the Law of Cosmic Balance permitted such a planar incursion to be answered in kind. Sulymon led his victorious forces to the prime material plane and the Dao reduced the buildings of Ubara’s empire to rubble; then the Marids called up the ocean waters, and drowned all in a great deluge that lasted many days. All was destroyed save Ziusudra’s fleet which had launched in readiness carrying many untainted humans to safety.

Eventually, Ziusudra’s arks reached dry land again as the waters receded.

Ziusudra decided that henceforth the humans of Sumeria should govern themselves, though he would act as their mentor and protector. He called upon the gods to choose the best leader among the survivors of the deluge to be their new King. The goddess Ishtar answered this call, and chose a devout man named Jushur. With Ziusudra’s aid, and the help of the Hubul Janni, he founded the city of Kish and built its walls. Kish was the first civilization of Sumeria to arise after the great flood, to be followed and eclipsed later on by that of Uruk.

The Law of Cosmic Balance had not permitted Sulymon’s Dao and Marid forces to remain overlong on the material plane to redress the Daeva’s planar incursion, and the task of bringing Caliph Ardishir to justice remained unfinished.

Ardishir lay low for some time before making trouble for the world of men again. But eventually, a combined force of Hubul Janni, Sumerian Giants and the ascendant Men of Kish found and assaulted the hidden Palace of Za-Hadrash.

Behind the magical wards that protected his palace, Ardishir had gathered another monstrous army of Daevas through the Mirror of Chinvat, and he now unleashed them upon his attackers. The battle was hard-fought, but unexpectedly, reinforcements from Za-Hadrash to the Caliph’s front lines dried up. Fearing that they would be bottled into the Palace if they retreated, the remaining Daeva forces on the mountainside scattered, to eventually be picked off later as they turned to banditry and mischief making.

Emerging blinking into sunlight from the mountain depths came a handful of bewildered human slaves who had escaped the palace. They said they had been freed by the Caliph’s half-human bastard son, Godratt, who later came to be known as “The Wise”. They were led by Godratt’s apprentice Sangasu. It was Godratt who had originally devised the magical wards around the palace that prevented beings from other worlds, such as the Janni or Sulymon’s forces, from entering or penetrating the palace with their magics.

Godratt had long held misgivings about his father’s enterprise, and after seeing his father call forth a Daeva more monstrous than any he had yet seen to send against his besieging foes, he decided to take drastic action and reverse the nature of the wards so that beings from other planes would be trapped within the palace.

Sangasu explained that his master had sealed himself in his sanctum and placed himself in a state of deep meditation that would suspend his life processes but maintain his concentration on the wards surrounding the palace indefinitely. Beings not native to Sumeria could still pass through the wards and enter the palace, but would not be able to leave while the barrier was in place. Conversely, any native of Sumeria would be able to leave – which is how he and his fellow escapees had left – but would not be able to enter.

Godratt had requested that any who would wish to relieve him of his burden must first locate and destroy the Mirror of Chinvat, thus ending the threat of Daeva incursion. All he could say of its whereabouts is that his father Ardishir kept it in a secure hiding place, unknown to him, though he was certain it was somewhere within the palace or its dungeons.

The Hubul mounted a number of volunteer expeditions to try to carry out Godratt’s wishes, but the Golden Palace of Za-Hadrash was boiling with hostile Daeva life that still came through the Chinvat gate of its own accord. The Janni watched helplessly through the translucent magical membrane as groups of their comrades met their end again and again in the jaws of monsters or overwhelmed by swarms of Aesma daevas. Though there were yet more Janni inspired by Godratt’s brave self-sacrifice to risk their lives for his cause, the Amir of the Hubul sadly declared that the Palace was henceforth off-limits, unwilling to see any more of his heroes march to their deaths.

As to the wicked Caliph Ardishir of Za-Hadrash, his ultimate fate was unknown. All that can be said is that he has thus far not troubled the world since, though he might yet remain a prisoner within his Golden Palace.

Godratt’s magical barrier was supplemented with additional magical wards set in place by the Amir’s Vizier to prevent ingress, and a watch set about the place. Godratt’s soul would be prayed for, until heroes came from another prime material world that would, according to a prophecy that was made at the time, be able to destroy the Mirror and relieve Godratt of his endless burden.