Pakor the Elder

Pakor (referred to as "the Elder" to distinguish him from his grandson who had the same name) was the oldest man living in Gomishan. In his youth, he had fought the Romans in the army marshalled by Shahr Baraz and talked often of their great victories taking Palestine, Egypt and Asia Minor.

When his great grandson Shahin returned from leading his first raid against encroaching Arabs, The Elder attended the private meeting between him and The Dihqan. Both praised Shahin but when he boasted that the raid was one of the greatest victories the Persians ever had, The Elder grew somber and commented that this was little more than a cattle raid.

The Elder then described his own experiences as a young man. Unlike previous tellings, he attributed the army's successes to the Banner of Kaviyan. He then described how the King of Kings Khusro treated the banner as a treasure rather than a talisman and sent it to Ctesiphon for safe-keeping and how the army suffered setbacks and reversals which lost them all they had gained. He said that the banner had been hidden in Ctesiphon and how Khusro was forced to seek it out despite prophesies that said he would be destroyed if he entered the city. However, the banner was not found and Khusro fled empty handed. The Elder also recounted with somber satisfaction how Khusro had been captured by his son and killed through slow torture. He felt this was just since Khusro failed to provide the army with what it needed. Finally, he described how the banner had not been found in subsequent generations and how it must be lost forever.