Mount Alumet (Persia)

Mount Alumet towers in ancient Persia, site of Ala-eddin's original lair as Ping-Cho recounts in her Hashashin legend. Jagged peaks hide the assassin leader's stronghold, where followers plotted deceptions amid hallucinogenic mists. Ping-Cho distinguishes it from the nearby Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, grounding the tale's menace in specific geography. Travelers at Tun-Huang hear this history, its distant shadows amplifying their present fears of betrayal and hidden threats.