Zeinab Mirzadeh - Cecily P

Player: Cecily
Faction: Islamic States, Ayyubid
Email: zeinab_mirzadeh@crusade.chaosdeathfish.com

Zeinab Mirzadeh is a young Egyptian explorer newly arrived in Jerusalem who seems keen to explore the fabled lost Arabian cities. She is known to be a capable interpreter fluent in Arabic and Liturgical Greek.

Hit Me Harder

From ”The Lords of the Covenant”, a modern history book detailing the affairs of those who gathered at the Winter meetings.

Katerina Vsevoloda was last seen wandering down to a crossroads at around 11.15 pm, carrying lots of books on the summoning of demons together with a large statue of the Virgin Mary. Her aim, as far as those who found the smoking circle and the small pile of ash could tell from the loose pages scattered far and wide, was to contact the demon Malacoda and to give him another body on this earth by turning the statue of the Virgin Mary into a living body (as she did for Anubis). The statue was not found by those who discovered the terrifying scene and what ultimately happened to Katerina Vsevoloda, or to whatever hellish creature she managed to contact, if any, remained a mystery to the good peasants of Vladimir-Suzdal.

—

Translated from a poorly-spelt entry in An Daeomonologie Horrifick, a pulp half-fiction half-fact treatise from the late 16th century.

The Demon Malacoda is one of the most truly terrifying creatures of the abyss, a horrifying monster who ravages sheep and takes young women from their households to use as his playthings. His master, an Arabic man by the name of Mirzadeh, kept the demon bound to his will in a great iron-bound book and would release him to enact his maleficent way on innocent villages as it amused him. One day he broke free of his master by eating him - only his boots remaining - and then left for the lower planes there to enjoy his freedom by feasting upon the souls of the damned.

One of the tales most often related about Malacoda is the rain of fire he cast down upon a hospital in Alexandria. Those who saw the scene tell of a great black beast calling burning rain from the heavens which melted through the rock of the hospital like it was butter. It cackled madly and fled the scene, and thereafter in the hospital sick people would never get better and the whole area was a haven for insects and vermin and prostitutes and the scum of society.

Malacoda now has no true master, but one may summon him through use of the seven pointed star and the burning of oils whilst calling his name. I have not tried this method but I am assured it will work by a contact who has summoned him before, though you must be careful because he will fly into a furious rage and kill the one who dared to call him into this world.

—

From “Traders of the Rus: Vladimir Suzdal and its Legacy in Russian Mercantilism”, a doctoral thesis in Mediaeval History

If we trace back the origins of the trading at Vladimir Suzdal, we discover that a huge resurgence in the wealth of the region occurs in the mid to late twelfth century. Records of the time show that a daughter of king Vsevolod, one Katerina, was instrumental in creating new contacts and trade routes with foreign powers. Records have her as one of the attendees of the Peace of the Covenant around that time, so it is no surprise that these trade routes stretch far into Araby and Egypt.

A grand palace was built around that time which has been used by the Kings of Rus ever since, and it is clear that the region became more and more prosperous and opulent as time went on. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that Vladimir Suzdal's privileged position over the rest of the Rus territories was equalled, and even then it has remained a healthy centre for culture and industry, the people of the region take pride in being the “most true and great” of the Rus peoples.