As the world-champion Rostam returned from Mazandaran, King Kay Kavus lost no time in marshaling the full martial might of Iran. The royal pavilion was pitched beyond the city gates, transforming the open plain into a boundless sea of war. An army of colossal proportions assembled; so immense was their march that the dark dust kicked up by their boots and hooves obscured the sun from the sky. Mountain, plain, and shore dissolved into a cloud of rising earth, and the ground groaned beneath the crushing weight of warhorses. Driven by fierce resolve, Kavus pressed his host forward with relentless speed, refusing even a moment's respite on the march to war.