The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids Read online

  THE

  PORTS AND PORTALS OF

  THE ZELAZNIDS

  Being an Historie of the Zelaznid Peoples and their Philosophies, with sundrie Remarks concerning the placement and use of Portals

  R. C.

  Pubs.

  Replicated with

  Preface and Annotations by

  Paul-Thomas Ferguson

  For Peg,

  because she asked.

  Thanks also are due to:

  Amandia Priest Daigneault, Deborah Shippy, and Teeocka McGrath Sylvester

  for their careful reading;

  my wife, Roberta,

  for her constant editing and more constant support;

  and, of course,

  H.P. Lovecraft and Roger Zelazny

  for the inspiration.

  Dark Highlands Productions

  Rock Island, Illinois, United States

  © 2009 by Paul-Thomas Ferguson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual arcane texts is a result of the author’s skill and the reader’s fancy. Then again, it is possible that the author has, while in a fevered dream-state, channeled the contents of an actual mystical tome. In the unlikely event that this is the case, the author bears no responsibility for whatever psychological or spiritual damage from which the reader might suffer as a result of opening this volume. So… best of luck!

  CONTENTS

  Preface to the Annotated Edition. . . . . . vii

  The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids

  Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

  Introduction: The Valley of Hope . . . . . . . . 5

  Part I - The Origins of the Zelaznids

  1 – The Children of the Sun . . . . . . . . . . 7

  2 – The Teachings of Zelaznu . . . . . . . 17

  3 – The Coming of Qutughai . . . . . . . . 35

  4 – The al-Hazredi Dynastie . . . . . . . . 52

  5 – The Enlightened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

  Part II - The Placement of Ports

  6 – The Universe of Ports . . . . . . . . . . 92

  7 – The Ancient World . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

  8 – The Dark Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

  9 – The Age of Machines . . . . . . . . . . 123

  10 – The Enlightened . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

  Part III - The Function of Portals

  11 – The Heart of the Faithful . . . . . . 138

  12 – The Locating of Portals . . . . . . . 144

  13 – The Usage of Portals . . . . . . . . . 148

  14 – The Danger of Portals . . . . . . . . 155

  15 – The Enlightened. . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

  Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

  ~ vi ~

  Preface to the Annotated Edition

  Introduction

  This edition of The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids comes as a result of interest generated by the publication of my novel, A Life in Chiaroscuro (Dark Highlands, 2008). Numerous readers have asked if the former volume, which featured so prominently in the latter work, is an actual book and, if so, where they might obtain it. Indeed, there is such a book, but the only known copy is part of the Arcane Manuscripts Collection in the Metaphysics wing of the library at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. Moreover, access to this collection is quite restricted.

  However, as queries about Ports and Portals accumulated, taking up an increasingly large percentage of my incoming correspondence, I began to wonder what it would take to make the extraordinary Zelaznid tome available to the public. Without question, there were barriers to doing so.

  The Arcane Manuscripts Collection at Miskatonic University was established in order to collect, preserve, and safeguard volumes of ancient lore deemed too dangerous to be entrusted to an ignorant public. I say ‘ignorant’ not to cast any aspersions, but because this term is often utilized by curative and archival personnel when discussing those who are unaware of the potential dangers inherent in the casual perusal of such works; it is not a reference to those who have a general lack of education or who suffer from common idiocy.

  Miskatonic University is the protector of a great many unusual volumes, some of which – De Vermis Mysteriis, The Book of Eibon, and The Necronomicon among them – are best kept behind lock and key for the sake of mankind. In the case of The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids, however, two essential facts occurred to me: 1) the book presents no particular danger; for, unlike the previously mentioned tomes, it does not contain the sort of incantations, invocations, or other rituals that have troubled researchers through the centuries; in fact, Ports and Portals is little more than a recitation of the historical background and mystical views of an obscure Middle Eastern tribe; 2) any danger, if such existed, would come as a result of delving too deeply into, not this, but rather the second Zelaznid volume, no sign of which has been seen in nearly a century.

  I brought these facts to the attention of Dr. Jonas Ward, director of the Arcane Manuscripts Collection. He was not, at first, moved by my arguments, it being the natural inclination of archivists to restrict rather than grant access to the materials within their keeping. In a fit of pique, I did not aid when I noted that troubles linked to the misuse of esoteric books stemmed, more oft than not, from their utilization at the hands of authorized and overly-educated scholars rather than the public at large – arguing, essentially, that such volumes are far more dangerous in the hands of a metaphysician than a mechanic.

  This line of thought might have resulted in my swift ejection from the Metaphysics wing of the library, if not for the timely intervention of Professor Emeritus Alejandro Salaverria, one of the world’s foremost experts on obscure and dead languages. Overhearing my conversation with Dr. Ward, Salaverria confirmed my supposition that The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids was not inherently dangerous and therefore should be considered a candidate for publication and release.

  Dr. Ward argued that – dangerous or not – publication of the work would create an undue interest in the second Zelaznid volume, thereby increasing the likelihood that someone would stumble across the lost work and use it improperly. Professor Salaverria retorted by asking Ward if, in his opinion, the Roman Catholic Church had – by spending centuries campaigning against Satan – created an undue interest in sin. Salaverria further reminded Ward that the second Zelaznid volume – if indeed it had ever existed – had not been verifiably seen in recent human memory. This essentially ended the conversation and the argument.

  With Mr. Ward’s reluctant assistance, I received permission to prepare a new edition of The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids, as long as both Ward and Salaverria approved of the final product. The professor has now given his blessing and we believe that Ward would have done the same had he not vanished mysteriously from the library in early May. We dedicate this volume to Dr. Jonas Ward, wherever he might be.

  An Explanation of Method

  Once it was decided that The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids would be returned to the public sphere, we next needed to determine what form it would take. Ward suggested a completely new edition, wherein we might use a modern typeface and edit out typographical and historical errors made by the original author(s), thus improving the clarity and accuracy of the work. Salaverria and I rejected this proposal.

  Archaic ling
uistic patterns and folkways cannot and should not be restrained by modern cultural preferences and mores. In addition, the historical ‘mistakes’ of which the authors of Ports and Portals seem guilty might in reality be the product of a unique societal framework of which we are simply unaware, one which is narrowly defined according to these very errors or misunderstandings. We could not in good conscience start fact-checking the collective cultural matrix of the Zelaznid people. As such, we decided to present the work more or less intact, maintaining its original linguistic form and adhering to the ideas contained within its pages as much as possible.

  In order to give proper respect to the original material, we decided that it would be optimal to replicate The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids, maintaining a semblance of the original typeface, and changing the page layout only insofar as it became necessary while accommodating explanatory footnotes. Through annotations, in accordance with Dr. Ward’s concerns, we could then address various inconsistencies (without necessarily correcting them) and expand upon some of the more obscure references found within the volume, as well as provide additional historical and bibliographical information.

  The reader should note that the footnotes have been formatted differently from the body of the work so that they are easily distinguishable from the Zelaznid text. Page numbers, absent from Ports and Portals, have likewise been added to ease the reading process.

  Whenever possible, I have let the authors of The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids speak for themselves. As annotator, I have avoided questioning either the motives or the sanity of this relatively unknown people, largely confining myself to providing additional information rather than correcting facts, except where a preponderance of historical evidence has dictated otherwise. Where the Zelaznid text gives an archaic name for a location that we have subsequently identified through our research, I have noted the more popular or modern name. Where there is uncertainty as to the location of a place mentioned in the tome, I have been careful to indicate where we have made assumptions that stretch beyond the realm of historical fact.

  A Note on the Research Team

  Ancillary pieces of information presented in the footnotes are the result of research I conducted along with Professor Salaverria and Dr. Ward, assisted by several Miskatonic University graduate students. Of this latter group, I would particularly like to acknowledge the efforts of R. Barton, J. Blanco, and C. Clark – our capable research assistants – as well as those who survived HST 459 (Advanced Philology and Textual Criticism) this spring.

  With me as project leader, and Salaverria directing the students, we conducted several months of research and analysis, dissecting every line of Ports and Portals, and assigning each unit of the text to separate five-member groups. The students did yeoman work and Salaverria and I supplemented their analyses with material gleaned from our own extensive research.

  In order to ensure coverage of the material and its analytical subcategories, each group contained at least one student versed in: Arabic, Middle Eastern history, pre-Islamic religion, and medieval technology. I served as the final judge of historical and religious material while Salaverria clarified all linguistic notes before their inclusion in this volume. More than anyone, Professor Salaverria assured that this manuscript took the form that it did; I would like to state my sincere gratitude for his efforts. I am also indebted to Dr. John Robert Ring of the Physics Department at Maguire University in Chicago, for his assistance in deciphering the mathematical formulae with which we had to contend.

  The History of the Original Publication

  Until the commencement of this project, most believed that The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids was a compilation of several historical sources – most likely oral accounts – rather than the work of a single author. After much research, we have concluded that this long-held belief is overly simplistic. Although the manuscript is neither signed nor dated in any formal way, several internal clues offer additional evidence pointing to specific authorship, as well as to when the work was likely written.

  Early scholars, noting a striking inconsistency in both literary quality and form within Ports and Portals, logically concluded that the volume was the work of more than one person. Part III, for example – which is, compared to the first two sections, a somewhat stunted and jumbled mess – certainly seems to be the product of several hands. However, the obvious difference in quality between this latter section and the two which precede it led our group to another conclusion: namely that, while Part III might have come from several authors, Parts I and II – being stylistically identical to each other – were likely penned by a single individual.

  In order to determine the most likely candidate for authorship of the early sections, we examined the manuscript for clues. Linguistically, we had little to go on, for an unknown translator had produced our English copy. Without having access to the original manuscript or knowing, with any certainty, what the author’s language had been, the textual linguistics gave us little useful information.

  Next we endeavored to narrow down the period of time within which the work must have been written. This proved to be a far simpler task. Although we have neither pinpointed the exact year when Ports and Portals first appeared in print, nor determined whether the Miskatonic University copy is the only version ever produced, we have made significant progress dating the manuscript. Internal references – in particular, specific allusions to the death of Napoleon Bonaparte indicate that the volume was completed after 1821. But what of the author?

  The answer came in such an unusual way that I still laugh to think of it. During a late-night work session, the girlfriend of one our graduate students – while looking over his shoulder at the first pages of the text – asked if ‘Ikhu’ was the author. We had early on abandoned this line of inquiry, for ‘Ikhu’ is not an acknowledged name in any language known to our group; and, if a pseudonym, we had not found any other reference to it in our research.

  However, in the process of explaining all of this to her, I realized what fools we had been. I recalled a few previous encounters with authors – particularly those who wished to protect their identities – who used pseudonymous abbreviations rather than either their full names or initials. In this light, I wondered if ‘Ikhu’ might be a combination of abbreviations, drawn from a given name and surname beginning with the letters ‘Ik’ and ‘Hu’, respectively. Several students began to research along these lines, resulting in the identification of an excellent candidate: the obscure Turkish poet Ikraam Huda (1789?-1827).

  Of Huda’s early life little is known. His name is almost certainly a pseudonym, for it consists of two Arabic given names that, taken together, mean ‘rightly guided honor.’ Fortunately, many of Huda’s other works have been published, for he was not entirely unknown in his own time. As such, we found plenty of material from which to derive our conclusions.

  The facts – such as we have them – are these: Ikraam Huda was born in the Caucasus region of Turkey, the son of a mid-level official who served in the administration of Selim III until the sultan was deposed (1807) and assassinated (1808). As a child Huda traveled throughout the empire with his father, learning various languages and developing an affinity for local cultures. In the final years before the death of Selim III, Huda briefly collected a government salary as a poet.

  This position might have come through the influence of his father, although it should be noted that the sultan was a renowned supporter of the arts, having already been a friend and patron to Galib Dede, a poet whose works greatly influenced Huda.[1] We can do little but speculate about the motivation of Selim III, for neither Huda’s works nor the official documents of the period bring further clarity to the issue.

  Ikraam Huda does not again appear in the historical record in an official sense until the publication of his first collection of poems, Earlie Days in the Light (1816). The following is an excerpt from “Empty Lands”, a typical poem from this volume:

  From the hand of God


  Comes the northern wind,

  To grace the herdsmen,

  Head and heart.

  From the distant hills

  Comes the child un-sinned,

  To cleanse the pure

  With ancient art.

  In Earlie Days Huda established the style for which he would become known: a combination of ethereal imagery and social commentary, most often using the common man as his subject. Both of these creative tendencies owed much to the influence of the mystical and often allegorical narrative poems (mesnevi) of Galib Dede.[2]

  Within Huda’s work there are tantalizing but inconclusive hints as to the poet’s theology. He frequently refers to God as a conscious and active entity. It would be logical to assume that the poet – a Turk whose father was in service to the sultan – was a Muslim. However, of the few Huda poems that we could find in Arabic, none mention a supreme being. As such, we cannot be sure whether the poet specifically used the term ‘Allah’ rather than ‘God’ in his works prior to translation. As such, we can only speculate about his specific religious beliefs.

  Huda’s poetry appeared in two other collections after the publication of Earlie Days in the Light. These were: Verses (1818), a compilation of two hundred poems by more than a dozen Turkish writers, to which Huda contributed twenty-eight short works; and What Remains Unseen (1828), a nearly complete collection of Huda’s poetry, published posthumously on the first anniversary of the artist’s death. In the latter volume, the works are chronological, although several items from Earlie Days are omitted without explanation.