Jash Kayk

Ah yes I think it was him, it's been a while since I listened to the podcast but I remember a pretty lengthy discussion about the Parthians, thank you for letting me know. On a side note though, if you're interested in history you should check out the Hardcore History podcasts, Dan Carlin is an American radio DJ who has been studying history for years, it's a great podcast to pass the time, especially since a whole series can come to about 15 hours. They are available for free on iTunes, I would definitely recommend them.

Yeah it seems it was Valerian he was talking about, so it was the Empire. Could that Valyria also be a reference to that? A little tenuous I know, but they sound very similar.

this also happened in history, I'll need to look it up but in one of dan carlin's hardcore history podcasts he talks about someone who had molten gold poured into their eyes and ears, pretty sure it was in the series about the fall of the roman republic.