Sayid Jaglan had been a major in the Afghani army, until the Soviet Union intervention in his country's civil war. He then left the army and led a group of Mujahideen fighters against the Soviet garrison in the town of Bulola. During the course of the fighting, Sayid Jaglan's forces received unexpected aid from a dragon which had slumbered in the mountains outside the city.

Sayid Jaglan had grown very impressed with one of his fighters, Abdul Satar Ahmedi, a native of Bulola, who'd begun life as the son of a pharmacist.