Chief of the Southern Zagros
Born: Unknown
Home: The southern Zagros Mountains
Known for: Mountain warfare and his dealings with the northern chiefs
First recorded in: The Lion of Shinar
The Chronicle
Kurda leads a small tribe in the southern Zagros Mountains. His father was chief before him, and the family’s authority carries enough weight to bring sixty or seventy fighters down from the high country, in search of the lost riches of Cain. An enormous man, broad through the shoulders and arms, Kurda is accustomed to long climbs on little water. When asked how he grew so large, he credits the goats. He eats a lot of them.
His grandmother came from the southern plains and taught him their tongue. She also carried the stories of the world before the Flood and warnings that many of the mountain people dismissed as madness. Kurda’s father kept her words alive within the tribe, and they remain part of Kurda’s understanding of the gods, giving him reason to listen when a plainsman speaks of omens.
Kurda came to Shinar with the warband that attacked Nimrod’s settlement. With a sharp eye for strategy, and uneasy about the earthworks, he warned the other chiefs before they committed their men. Due to the old rivalries of the Zagros tribes, they would not heed his warnings. Once the fighting turned against them, he took charge of the attempt to encircle the defenders. He almost succeeded, but his refusal to abandon that decision left him a prisoner when the others withdrew.
Kurda used his time in captivity to listen closely, collecting valuable information on Nimrod’s tribes that would save his life. He has little time for claims of rank or titles. Kurda believes endurance earns respect.
He can be merciless with a man who has overlooked the obvious, happy to bring them back down to earth.
