Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred (42 page)

amascus lies like a shimmering jewel on the belly of the night when approached in the hours of early evening at the end of a long journey. Her ten thousand lamps illuminate the rooftops of her buildings and domes of her minarets, and dim the very stars in the heavens. The barking of her dogs, the soft murmur of voices from those seated in conversations at the thresholds of her houses, and the laughter arising from her taverns and inns combine to make a music of human companionship welcome to the ears of a man tired of travel. Surely no more pleasant city in which to dwell exists in the world for those who possess wealth and the willingness to dispense it liberally in consideration for services.

A class of men known as procurers thrives in this city, for there are constant comings and goings of caravans and the streets are forever filled with those newly arrived who have no knowledge of where to sleep or how to obtain their evening meal. They are as helpless as babes, but for a small fee any of the hundreds of men who adopt this trade will guide them to whatever they require and make their lives pleasant. Nothing is unobtainable in Damascus; those who thirst for wine are quenched; those who flee boredom are entertained; those who lust after women are sated. Even the more obscure desires, which might arouse revulsion in other cities, are easily accommodated in this most beautiful paragon of commercial hospitality.

A newcomer seeking the purchase of a house has many splendid dwellings from which to choose, as the constant arrivals and departures from the city insure the continuing availability of property. In the northern quarter is a quiet street called the Lane of Scholars. Both sides of this winding, paved passage, which is scarcely wide enough to permit the progress of a single ox cart, are lined with walled houses notable for the lack of pretension in their entranceways, for they are little more than rough doors without windows or other adornments set in the unbroken walls that bound the street.

The inhabitants of the Lane of Scholars are seldom seen, and the people of Damascus seek to have as little contact with them as they may, since they are reputed to be wizards engrossed behind their locked portals in the pursuit of arcane studies. Their servants, who never speak of the affairs of their masters, are seen entering the unassuming doors in the morning, carrying food and other goods in baskets from the marketplace; more rarely they are observed in the night leaving with strange bundles and returning with empty hands.

With the aid of an astute procurer the traveler newly arrived in the city, who wishes to remain for a period of years and to pursue the necromantic arts, will be offered the purchase of any one of several of these handsome dwellings that happen at that time to be available. The amenities of the houses, apart from minor variations in appearance, are quite similar. Each possesses its own rear garden of fruit trees and shaded walkways. Their windows are placed high to catch the breezes at sunset, which flow down their marbel halls and stairs and cool even the lowest chamber, and their high walls shut out the noises and foulness of the city. The houses are in three levels, and beneath them are cellars suitable for storage or activities requiring privacy.

In such a house a man skilled in the secret arts, and as a consequence having no difficulty in obtaining as many pieces of gold as he requires, can dwell in peace and luxury, and can pursue his studies unobserved by the ignorant. Everything is to be had for a price in Damascus, even the soldiers who patrol the streets at night, who may easily be induced to become deaf to the cries of pain or terror that emanate at times from the great houses by which they pass on their watches.

The procurer will make available slaves and servants accustomed to fulfilling the needs of a practitioner of the higher mysteries. It is wise to have their tongues removed, if they have not already been cut out by previous masters, to insure that anything observed within the walls of the house cannot become a matter of idle gossip. The best slaves come from tribes on the northern coast of Africa, near the Pillars of Hercules. They have no compunction in dealing with corpses or opening graves, and are of a steady and unimaginative disposition. When treated with generosity they are loyal in the fulfillment of their duties.

A traveler newly arrived at Damascus who was versed in the necromantic arts purchased one of the houses in the Lane of Scholars for a fair sum through the agency of a procurer and began to follow his studies in security and peace. Having the need to dispose of a carcass, he determined to bury it in a corner of the cellar, a course of action requiring the least effort and likely to attract the least notice. Imagine his dismay when the floor of the cellar was opened, only to reveal such a density of bones piled upon bones that no space existed in which to insert the corpse. With reluctance, he had the floor closed over again by his servants, and caused the carcass to be carried to a communal burial pit beyond the northern gate of the city.

The holy men and nobles of Damascus know of the practices conducted in the Lane of Scholars, and in general disapprove of them, yet none are bold enough to accuse the residents of this quiet lane of unlawfulness without clear and material evidence, as they are fearful of the consequences of acting alone, without the outrage and support of the crowd in the marketplace. The enemies of wizards and necromancers are reputed not to live long and happy lives. Since all those who dwell in the Lane of Scholars are wealthy, and able to buy favors where needed to continue their studies unmolested, no action is taken against them, unless so bold and manifest a crime is committed that those charged with upholding the law cannot close their eyes, even should they prefer to do so.

On these rare occasions, it becomes prudent for the resident of the street who has come under accusation to close his house and leave for a period of months until the matter can be dealt with quietly through the payment of bribes to the leaders of the city, and should these bribes prove insufficient, through the hiring of assassins to remove those who seek to bring prosecution.

An unpleasantness of this kind is quite rare, and in general those who live in the Lane of Scholars are free to pursue whatever studies they choose. The cellars are deep enough to muffle the sound of chanting and even the loudest of screams. Each man tends to his own work, and does not inquire into the work of his neighbor. Should unpleasant incidents occur within the walls of a house, cleaners may be hired through procurers who are discrete and efficient at removing all traces of the event. It may truly be written that no more satisfactory or secure place exists in all the world for the necromancer to pursue his chosen profession.

he secrets of the city of Damascus are many, for it is one of the oldest cities in this world that is the work of the hands of men. None is more coveted by other lands than the making of Damascus steel, which is both stronger and more supple than the steel of any other city. Swords forged of this steel will not break in combat, but will cut through the blades of lesser steels as though they were bronze, and will shear through the shields and armor of the foe. These blades are so greedily coveted by warriors that they command a high price in the houses of the greatest sword-makers, and even to the wealthy are difficult to obtain due to their acclaim, for no sooner is a blade forged than it is sold, sometimes before it has even had time to cool from the fire.

The weaponsmiths of Damascus guard their secrets well, knowing that every other city in the world would rejoice to be the source of such fine steel, but the secret they keep best is one that few would believe, and it is this: that Damascus steel is not created in Damascus. It is imported from the Lebanon by the sword makers of the city, and is only to be had from a small village on the coast of the sea that is the home for a clan of bold traders. Neither do they make the steel, but obtain it in the form of ingots of the size and shape of the extended hand, which are beaten into blades by the smiths of Damascus. In truth, there is no fire hot enough to melt Damascus steel in the entire city, not even in the largest forge; the most that can be done is to heat the ingots until they glow and become pliable, then to beat them and fold the steel with hammers, lapping it over itself many times and hammering it until its layers are as fine as gold leaf and join together under the influence of the fire.