As King Bahram Gur spent his days in endless feasts, hunting, and sports, news of his apparent negligence of border defenses spread across the known world—from India and Rome to Turkestan and China. Believing the Iranian monarch cared for nothing but pleasure and had left his frontiers unguarded, the Khaqan of China assembled a mighty army to invade Persia, while Caesar of Rome mobilized his legions. Panicked and enraged by the gathering storm, the mobads, elders, and noble commanders of Iran confronted Bahram, sternly chastising him for squandering the realm and jeopardizing the Kiānid crown. Bahram calmly replied that the Creator of the World was his protector, and that through divine favor, his sword, and his army, he would tear Iran from the claws of the wolf. Yet behind his carefree facade, the King was harboring a secret strategy known to none. Selecting thirty thousand elite warriors, Bahram appointed his wise and virtuous brother Narsi as regent over the royal throne and treasury, while he himself quietly marched his forces toward Adharbadagan.
Mistaking Bahram's northward movement for a cowardly flight, despair seized the hearts of the Iranians. Believing all was lost, the noble mobads met with Narsi and chose Homay, a pious and eloquent priest, to travel to the Khaqan with a submissive letter offering tribute and allegiance to avert total destruction. When Homay reached the Turanian camp and delivered the submission, informing the Khaqan that King Bahram had fled, the Khaqan's heart swelled with triumphant pride. Rewarding the envoy with lavish gifts, the Khaqan marched into Merv, firmly convinced he had conquered Iran without striking a single blow. Safe in Merv, the Khaqan abandoned himself to day-and-night banquets, wine, and music, setting no scouts or outposts upon the plains, entirely oblivious that the Persian falcon was secretly circling in the shadows, preparing to strike.