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- "There is nothing wrong with my methods, only the mechanism itself. It needs more subjects. More work. I certainly do not need some useless inventor meddling with the Great Work. Am I not the great and dreadful Al-Azhdaha? Maybe I should not say that out loud."
- ―Hassan, regarding his work on the Alruh, 860s.[src]-[m]
Hassan (died 860s), also known as Al-Azhdaha (English: The Dragon) or The Doctor, was a member of the Order of the Ancients in Baghdad who worked at The Great Bimaristan as a doctor in the 9th century.
Biography[]
Building the Alruh[]
By the 860s, Hassan had joined the Order of the Ancients, serving under Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa in the Abbasiyah district of Baghdad. On Fazil's instructions, Hassan began building a machine called the Alruh using ancient technology recovered from an excavation site overseen by Fazil's fellow Order leader Mas'ood Al-Ya'qoob. The machine's intended purpose was to decode the Memory Seals in Fazil's possession, but all the test subjects exposed to the Seals' contents ended up being driven insane by the experience.[1]
Following Mas'ood's death,[2] Hassan took over the excavation site, where his workers found signs of an Isu vault and recovered a Memory Seal, which was sent to Fazil at the House of Wisdom. Hassan also began taking any injured workers back to the Great Bimaristan in order to experiment on them.[1]
Discovery and death[]
Basim about to assassinate Hassan
Unable to make the Alruh function properly, Hassan eventually decided to enlist the help of the engineer Ahmad ibn Musa, a member of the Alamut Hidden Ones. Surprisingly, neither scientist was aware of the other's allegiance, but the two ended up working well together, as Ahmad helped Hassan find several artifacts needed to finish the Alruh. The doctor subsequently took them back to Great Brimaristan to repair them and informed Fazil that the Alruh's final components would be delivered to the House of Wisdom shortly.[1]
However, Hassan's operations were discovered by the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, who had been sent to investigate Ahmad's disappearance after the latter failed to contact the brotherhood for weeks. Upon learning of Ahmad's work with Hassan, Basim traveled to the Great Brimaristan and broke into the doctor's office, finding evidence of his affiliation with the Order. He then infiltrated his laboratory upstairs and assassinated him, moments before Ahmad arrived, having been summoned earlier by Hassan. After Basim revealed the doctor's true allegiance to Ahmad, both Hidden Ones agreed to keep Ahmad's work with Hassan secret.[1]
Personality and traits[]
While Basim investigated the Scriptorium, he found that Hassan held romantic feelings for his fellow Order member Zahra as he had written her a love letter, containing a line from the famous poet Arib Al-Ma'muniyya, "You are my law, You are my Order."[3]
Behind the scenes[]
Hassan's Order cryptonym, Al-Azhdaha (الأزدها), comes from the Azhdaha, which is a mythical creature in Persian mythology resembling a dragon.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
References[]