We are nomads, yet not for long.

We live below the Amu-Darya River and around the grasslands of the Karakum, yet not for long.

Our neighbours are few, but not to be trusted. To the north and west, the Sauromatae wander, kin to the Skythians. Their eyes are turned to their south and west, but they might find lands to conquer in the east too. Many times have we contested with them for grazing rights and they have not forgotten our sending them flying back across the Amu-Darya. To the south and east, the Seleukid Empire stretches along our border. Our young warriors have made many forays into the lands of the southerners, returning with much loot.Even out brothers, the Dahae wait for us to show weakness, ever ready to pounce. We will lead them to victory, but trust them? Never!

If you are to take on the Seleukid Empire, and one day you will have to, you must attack when the time is right. If the Seleukids have no enemies, except you, they will send their great phalanx- armies to our lands.
If they are at war on multiple fronts however, they might not have enough soldiers to spare, so we can grab more land from them. And the Seleukid Empire is wide and the eyes of its rulers can only see so far. Their subjects do not hold fast to their vows of loyalty and this will be our chance. Revolts will flare up in its distant satrapies, some which conveniently lie near us and could be exploited to our advantage.
And rumours from the East have reached our ears, that might benefit us. The Greek satrap of Baktria lusts for a kingship of his own. And he has soldiers enough to break away from Seleukeia. Should these two ‘Successors’ fight each other we can profit. Their armies will be depleted and some of their provinces will have fewer defenders.

As a leader of the Pahlav, you will command different troops. The clans provide skilled mounted archers, and infantry levy, while the nobility among our people will provide you with heavily armoured cataphracts, trained to charge the enemy knee-to-knee. In battle, your horse archers will pepper the enemy with arrows, probing for any weak spots in their battle line for your cataphracts to charge through.

Our future is to the south, in the rich lands of Persia. Decades ago Iskander came from the west, defeating the massed host of Persia in two big battles and putting an end to the once mighty Persian Empire. The people to the south, might not look at us with favourable eyes, indeed their former kings called us Dahae, or robbers, but we share more with them, than the Greeks do. If the Seleukid Empire collapses, they might be 'persuaded' to accept a Pahlavan king who brings order, and restores the temples of their fathers, and brings honour to the teachings of the good prophet Zarathustra. Indeed, worship of Ahura-Mazda might benefit a Pahlav King, or perhaps...a Pahlav Shahanshah? Without armies, the Persians won't object.

Maybe you can be a new Kurush, a ‘Pahlavan’ Iskander. Follow in the footsteps of the conquerors. The lands to the south and east are there for the taking, you just have to know when and where to strike, if you wish to keep any spoils of war.