祆教（英文：Zoroastrianism），又称Mazdaism和Magianism，一种古伊朗宗教和哲学。它曾是阿契美尼德帝国和萨珊帝国的国教，但在王国风云II的时代，它几乎被伊斯兰教取代了。该宗教的非游牧制统治者需要 
逝往神灵DLC才可玩；
碧玉之龙DLC仅使得胡天派统治者可玩。
宗教机制
- 祆教是马兹达宗教组的一个有组织（+20% 宗教权威）的宗教
- 它有五个圣地，其领土全部位于波斯帝国法理内:
- 达什特斯坦：Ādur Farnbāg (Glory-given)圣火的所在地。受祭司阶层崇拜，处于三圣火中的第一位。
- 库尔德斯坦：Ādur Gushnasp (Stallion)圣火的所在地。受战士阶层崇拜，国王自己也属于此阶层。
- 内沙布尔：Ādur Burzēn-Mihr (Exalted is Mihr)圣火的所在地。受农民崇拜，处于三圣火的最末位。
- 古夫斯山：Hāmūn湖所在地，此湖被成为琐罗亚斯德保留火种的地方。在祆教的末世论中，当世界末日来临之前，少女将进入湖中，然后生下萨奥希扬特。
- 缚喝：琐罗亚斯德，在使Shah Vishtasp of Bactria皈依后，长久地定居在缚喝，并且使得此地成为其宗教的中心。
- 祆教统治者可以使用圣战宣战理由.
- 在任何开局时间它没有宗教领袖, 除非使用特殊决议, 宗教领袖可以给予准许入侵并进行大圣战。统治者也可以向他寻求离婚。
- 传教：和其他有组织宗教一样，祆教可以向原始宗教的领地派遣传教士。
- 神权政体封臣可以给予他们的领主虔诚。
- 纳妾：就像原始宗教徒，祆教统治者只能娶一个正妻，但可以有三个妾。
- 有
亚伯拉罕之子时, 祆教徒可以接受犹太教廷臣和从犹太人处借钱。 - 天葬: 祆教徒可以天葬去世的亲戚。(需要
马上领主 DLC) - 通婚：祆教徒可以与以下宗教的信徒通婚: 苯教, 佛教, 聂斯脱里派, 长生天, 卡尔马特派，尊日神教和道教。
- 血亲圣婚：祆教徒可以近亲结婚，并且给予一个对所有祆教附庸的好感加成(+5)。
- 重建波斯帝国：成为波斯皇帝的祆教统治者可以使用以下两个特殊决议：重建最高祭司和成为
(需要完全控制波斯帝国)。
拥有
修道士与密契者密修士, 马兹达宗教组的统治者可以加入赫耳墨斯学会。
恢复大祭司
波斯帝国的祆教统治者可以花费300虔诚恢复大祭司, 该信仰获得一位宗教领袖：住在伊斯法罕的穆贝旦－穆贝德。穆贝旦－穆贝德，就像其他宗教领袖一样可以准许入侵和发动大圣战，统治者还可以向他请求离婚。 跟大部分宗教不同，祆教教徒不需等到1100年才能发动大圣战，他们可以在重建最高祭司后立即发动大圣战。恢复穆贝旦－穆贝德也会建立祆教的骑士团，长生军。大圣战的目标将先是叙利亚，亚美尼亚，接着是易弗里基叶，格鲁吉亚或埃及，这是为了恢复萨珊帝国的大致疆域，并且入侵觊觎已久的罗马帝国的领地。因此，不可能在阿拉伯，河中或昔思丹发动圣战。
成为萨奥希扬特
波斯帝国的祆教统治者如果有1500虔诚并且控制波斯帝国内所有法理地产，无视最终的法理转移，可以成为萨奥希扬特。萨奥希扬特是一位被祆教徒认为是救世主的人物。统治者将获得独有的特质 ，给予+10封臣好感和+5个人实战能力。萨奥希扬特的后裔将获得特质 
，给予+5封臣好感。不像穆斯林的 
特质，萨奥希扬特后裔特质不限于男性世系。
迦辛撒答节
迦辛撒答节是祆教（和胡天派）的宗教节日，和原始宗教节日很相似，但是根据统治者的特质，会有可变化的带来多种加成/惩罚的决议。
天葬
天葬（启用马上诸王DLC）对于所有马兹达教宗教组统治者可用。如果你的一位近亲去世，执行天葬的决议将可用。你之后可以把尸体带到山上让秃鹫吃掉。接下来的事件链与朝圣事件链非常相似。
异端 
马兹达教宗教组有三个异端——胡天派，摩尼教和马兹达克派。它们与根源宗教的不同点在以下几个方面：
- 胡天派：此宗教有守护神机制，类似于印度教。他们无法收益于血亲圣婚或恢复大祭司，但可以成为萨奥希扬特。他们的守护神有：
- 戴西（+2 管理，-5% 建造花费，-1 军事）
- 纳奈雅（+2 外交，-25% 生育能力，-1 密谋）
- 班（+2 密谋，+0.5 每月威望，-1 管理）
- 维施帕卡（+1 健康，-1 外交）
- 韦勒斯拉纳（+3 军事, -1 学识）
- 祖尔万（+3 学识，-1 密谋）
- 马兹达克派：马兹达克派没有妾和血亲圣婚机制，有夏季集市决议。他们不能恢复大祭司，但可以成为萨奥希扬特。他们不会因女性统治者及女性持有神殿而受到惩罚。她们也可以被任命为指挥官或穆贝德。
- 摩尼教：摩尼教几乎是一个独立的宗教，和正统祆教非常不同。他们没有妾也不会受益于犹太人或血亲圣婚。他们有自己的宗教节日，也有自己的宗教领袖：阎默（类似于基督教的宗教领袖，总是存在）。他们也可以建立一个骑士团，如果某些标准满足。摩尼教的圣地和其他马兹达宗教组内的宗教不同。摩尼教的圣地有：
- 胡齐斯坦：先知摩尼获得第一个启示之地，也是他被巴赫拉姆一世杀害之地。
- 巴格达：摩尼指定的继承人，摩尼教的领袖，最初在
泰西封 。 - 撒马尔罕：因为巴格达的阿拔斯哈里发的迫害，大部分摩尼教徒逃至撒马尔罕，此地成为他们新的宗主教区。
- 耶路撒冷：摩尼宣称他自己是“耶稣基督的使徒”。
- 乌铎迦汉荼：摩尼第一次学习旅行的地点，他在那里学习印度教。
- 不同寻常的是，几乎所有的摩尼教圣地都是重要的 丝绸之路省份：甚至连胡齐斯坦也邻接巴士拉——另一个重要的丝绸之路省份。
- 不同寻常的是，几乎所有的摩尼教圣地都是重要的
任何开局都有摩尼教统治者可玩，而其他马兹达教仅在 
769和 867开局出现。
可玩的祆教徒
王国风云时间线开始于穆斯林征服波斯之后。因此，可玩的祆教角色很少。让事情变得更加困难的是，这些统治者中的大多数都是相对弱小的，是强国的附庸。
查理曼（769）开局
穆斯林征服波斯一个世纪后，祆教仍是那里的大部分居民的信仰，意味着省份叛乱不会成为问题，前提是玩家足够幸运并且动作迅速。但是，波斯和昔思丹大部分地区处于阿拔斯哈里发的控制下，而两个独立的穆斯林朝贡国，巴詹和塔伊德，控制着河中和呼罗珊。只有迦布罗免于穆斯林入侵，仍然被佛教和尊日神教统治者持有。大量祆教徒在阿拔斯和巴詹统治下仍然持有领地，但是，在AI手中时，他们经常很快就会皈依并且/或者被剥夺头衔。
这些祆教封臣中最强大的一人，也是769开局中唯一的公爵头衔的祆教徒是总督索克哈比 巴文德，他控制着陀拔斯单和部分大益斯坦，处于阿拔斯哈里发治下。索克哈比总共控制着8个省份，有三位附庸的马尔佐班（伯爵），尽管其中一位是他的儿子及继承人谢尔文。索克哈比年事已高，通常在几年内就会去世，可能是好事也可能是坏事，因为他和谢尔文的特质都是随机的。如果你使用虔诚重心来积累足够的虔诚使得你能够创建吉兰公国以及索取你的宣称（除非哈里发自动授予你法理封臣），很有可能创建德莱木王国。
第二强大的祆教徒是凡达得 霍尔木兹德，他作为索克哈比的封臣持有3个省份。历史上，他怂恿谢尔文 巴文德发动了对阿拔斯哈里发的叛乱。某种情况下，哈里发可能会将大益斯坦公国授予凡达得，所以如果你扮演谢文，最好是你自己创造它，这样你仍然可以创建德莱木王国。
波斯/昔思丹内的其他每一位祆教/马兹达教的马尔佐班都统治着一个省份，是哈里发或者穆斯林埃米尔的直属封臣。无需多说，他们都是极具挑战性的开局。这些除了索克哈比的角色中“最强”的一位可能是阿努什尔万，伊斯法罕的马兹达克派马尔佐班，因为他占据了波斯最富裕的省份之一。
在巴詹家族控制的土地上，情况要简单的多，这里有四位可玩的马兹达教角色。巴詹的统治者弱小而且由于拥有不同的文化和/或宗教，他的封臣大多都厌恶他。在不受周围穆斯林威胁的情况下，容易在内部通过伪造宣称吞掉巴詹。但是要记住，巴詹最初是阿拔斯的一个朝贡国，可以请求阿拔斯在战争中提供帮助。
此开局唯一的独立马兹达教角色是草原游牧角色。东大草原被强大的回鹘帝国持有，其统治者
总的来说，在这一开局有超过20个祆教/马兹达教角色可玩，尽管总体来说，他们的小领地，强大的穆斯林的存在/宗主地位，以及缺乏事件部队，使得769开局比867更难。当然，回鹘帝国是一个主要的例外。
逝往神灵（867）开局
河中和波斯北部的大部分平民仍然信仰祆教。再一次，只有一位公爵级别的统治者：万达德 凯伦，大益斯坦的总督，尽管不像769年的索克哈比 巴文德，他是独立的。万达德开局没有妻子，同盟或子女。 他有一位妹妹，法拉赫，在她30多岁的时候，她可以嫁出去，也可以用于血亲婚姻的加成。万达德开局有几千事件部队和5个省份。他也有两位封臣，都控制两个省份。有趣的是，乌斯秋尔特的酋长大流士控制着两个部落领地。
另一位位于波斯的独立祆教角色是瓦苏丹 吉斯丹，库尔德文化的吉兰马尔佐班，开局也有事件部队，但他毗邻阿拔斯，比万达德更危险。（如果扮演万达德，吉兰可以成为盟友或者加入防守圣战。最后，播密的胡天派角色，开局是强大的萨曼王朝的朝贡国。邻近的吉尔吉特马尔佐班是独立的粟特文化祆教徒。
在大益斯坦和吉兰之间是陀拔斯单的阿拉维埃米尔国，其统治者正好是先知穆罕默德的后裔。但是，阿拉维很脆弱，因为是什叶派穆斯林，向他们发动圣战不会有危险，因为他们的逊尼派邻居不会帮助他们，甚至可能自己向阿拉维发动圣战。对于万达德和瓦苏丹来说更方便的是，阿拉维有两位祆教封臣，其中一位是罗斯塔姆 巴文德。罗斯塔姆没有事件部队，但作为统治者他通常有很好的特质和高属性能力。
即使你不扮演他，他通常也会被证明是有用的；只要他不屈服于领主的皈依要求，他可能会发起叛乱，为万达德或瓦苏丹提供一个能轻易除掉烦人的埃米尔的机会。此外，如果罗斯塔姆独立——并且仍然是祆教徒——他可能会同意成为万达德的封臣。
在河中，萨曼沙阿历史上有三个祆教家族作为他的封臣——阿夫里格，阿夫欣，胡大家族。这些家族中，只有布哈拉的粟特文化的胡大仍然信仰祆教，其他两个已经皈依逊尼派穆斯林。胡大家族可以在萨曼内部轻易扩张，尝试控制丝绸之路贸易站，虽然作为阿夫欣最终转变回祆教更容易，因为你可以轻易通过征服CB控制撒马尔罕。
播密的马尔佐班和吉尔吉特的马尔佐班都是独立的马兹达教信徒。
游牧中，布尔塔斯可汗及其附庸汗王信仰摩尼教，而两位位摩尼教汗王分别是佩切涅格和黠戛斯的封臣，喀喇汗有两位摩尼教的附庸汗王。
'铁之世纪'（936）开局
德莱木，呼罗珊和河中仍然有大量信仰祆教的省份，但波斯自己几乎完全被逊尼派控制。仅有五位可玩的祆教角色（两位是齐雅尔的封臣，一位是喀喇沙尔的封臣，一位是撒拉尔的封臣，一位是萨曼的封臣）和一位秘密信仰祆教的什叶派统治者（阿拉詹的温达德），他们都是强大的穆斯林政权的小封臣。
但是有一个例外，陀拔斯单（齐雅尔）的逊尼派统治者是马尔达维季的兄弟，马尔达维季是尝试重建萨珊帝国的最后一位祆教统治者。他可以做出一个特殊决议——马尔达维季的遗产——恢复波斯的祆教。这个决议将使得他及其家族转变为祆教，获得对大部分地区的宣称以及一条血脉。但是必须在950年前做出决定。
'斯坦福桥'（1066）开局及以后
祆教仍然被波斯的部分平民所信仰，祆教廷臣可以在多个宫廷找到。在印度的西海岸也有一个信仰祆教的省份——陀曼那——有几位廷臣用于模拟帕西人的流离，但在1066年及以后那里没有可玩的祆教角色。统治者有可能转变他们的宗教，并且玩家可以使用角色设计器来创建祆教角色，或者一个祆教省份的平民可能发生叛乱。假如这些事都没有发生，无论从哪方面来看，这种信仰都是注定要失败的。
但是，三个历史上的祆教家族现在皈依了伊斯兰教——帕杜斯潘，巴文德和齐雅尔——仍然作为不断变换的波斯统治者的封臣，在陀拔斯单持有领地，并且相对容易转变宗教，尤其在早期，因为陀拔斯单省份在1066年仍然是祆教堡垒。某些历史资料也提到帕杜斯潘可能实际上在这一时期是秘密的祆教徒，为了解释这一点，他们（和齐雅尔统治者）开局有马兹达教同情者的特质。
齐雅尔在1090年后消失，但帕杜斯潘和巴文德（都是萨珊家族的分支）到游戏结束都可玩。
从1187年开始，陀拔斯单不再信仰祆教，因此，信仰的复兴对任何一个家族来说都变得更加困难。实现复兴的最好机会是1236年帕杜斯潘家族的拉希姆 加乌巴拉（什叶派）。他是大不里士总督，是伊儿汗国的封臣。他可以在皈依祆教前轻易获得仅剩的祆教省份和圣地之一。
到1337年，波斯只有三个省仍然信仰祆教，所以如果你打算这么晚来重新夺回萨珊王朝，你必须尽快行动。但是，如果启用 
死神索命，你可能获得一位马兹达教宫廷医生，所以即使所有省份都已转变宗教，恢复信仰也不是不可能。
同样，摩尼教仍然存在；位于撒马尔罕北部，被敌对穆斯林包围的垂河（炽俟可汗国）仍然是一个独立的国家。1109年以后，酋长将是聂斯脱里派信徒。蒙古人在1220年剧本之后摧毁了这个国家。但有趣的是，最后一位聂斯脱里派统治者有一个信仰摩尼教的儿子。
垂河以北，是同样信仰摩尼教的黠戛斯可汗。不像垂河，他在蒙古人的猛攻下幸存，成为了他们的附庸，尽管到1337年黠戛斯已经沦为部落酋长（艾里克酋邦），但他们在整个游戏期间都是可玩的马兹达教角色。
提示和技巧
- If you are independent, stay on the offensive! Almost anyone can declare holy war on you, but you can also do the same. Building up your power-base quickly will ensure that rulers think twice about taking your land.
- Use the terrain to your advantage. Invasions from enemies twice your size can be survived by letting attrition weaken your foes in deserts and then engaging them on river crossings or mountains with more equal numbers. Using excellent commanders also has a great influence over combat performance.
- You need money. Do not hesitate to borrow money from Jews or expel them if your survival is at stake.
- With
Rajas of India, you can switch back to Zoroastrianism if you have to convert due to holy war. You can "hide" from stronger Muslim powers this way and use the opportunity to expand at the expense of smaller realms. - In the Old Gods start when playing as Vandad, you can expand into Tarim Basin and replace Buddhist rulers there with Zoroastrians so you have other rulers to ally with or gain assistance from in holy wars.
- With patch 2.7, you can secretly remain Zoroastrian while trying to garner support for your secret cult, before openly adopting the faith and leading a large-scale rebellion against your liege.
策略
A career as a Zoroastrian ruler is usually quite challenging due to lack of potential allies and hostile neighbors. Careful use of mechanics and cynical political dealings such as temporarily converting to secure alliances can help you rise to the top. Do not be fooled by your initial event troops in Old Gods start as bigger realms can still survive your attacks as their levies replenish and you will soon find yourself outnumbered.
All this means that playing as a Zoroastrian is recommended for more experienced players. The following are some of the strategies on how to succeed as Zoroastrian.
Falsely confessing faith
With Patch 2.7, by far the easiest tactic to build a secure power base is to use ”Falsely confess faith” decision to appear as Muslim and using Conquest CB to carve yourself a realm within a large Muslim realm. Another good reason to do this is to prevent partition of your demesne due to your Gavelkind succession thanks to the Iqtâ system. The general tactics are the same for the Muslim rulers. Keep your liege happy, stock up on piety and marry your heirs with Muslim vassals outside territories you want for yourself for alliances. You may also attempt to convert others to secretly become Zoroastrian as well. As most strong Zoroastrian rulers are available within de-jure Daylam, securing the kingdom title for yourself should be top priority as it cannot be freely revoked by Iqta government.
The Assassin secret society, available on all start dates, also allows you to take advantage of this strategy even without being a vassal or a target for a holy war, while preserving your Piety. Joining this society will make your ruler convert to the Shi'a faith without the usual 250 Piety cost for changing religion, either openly or in secret. Doing so in secret will prevent your children and relatives to do the same (thus keeping your lineage Zoroastrian), and adopting it openly afterwards will allow for an use of the Conquest Casus Belli without the -2.0 Monthly Piety for attacking another Sunni Muslim, slightly increasing your expansion speed.
Assassin mechanics will also allow you to:
- Get favours from your liege or neighbours, which could then be used to force a non-aggression pact with them through marriage, for instance.
- Get temporary but precious stat boons while consuming hashish, useful to boost your levy size or diplomatic skills at the beginning
- Levy armies and fleets (if Grandmaster), which may be a critical edge over your opponents in war
- Assassinate more easily your rivals and threatening neighbours, in order to weaken their realm by setting up a regency or incompetent rulers.
- Get an opinion boost (+5/+10/+20/+30 with other members if you have the same-rank or below them/if you're 1 rank above/if you're 2 ranks above/if you're 3 ranks above), useful when other powerful neighbours or vassals joined the society
Be mindful however that Holy Wars and religious title revocation (if you're a vassal) may be used against you by all your immediate neighbours if you're Shi'a, so think carefully before your conversion.
Strongest rulers for this strategy are Sorkhab Bavandid (769), Vandad Karen (867) and Washudan Justanid (867). In all cases, it is also very possible to get enough land for a kingdom title without ever falsely confessing faith at all. For example, Bavandids in 769 can acquire enough de-jure claims to form the kingdom right from the start. After Daylam, your next priorities should be to acquire a holy site or two if you plan to slow down Zoroastrian conversion to Islam, or to take advantage of your kingly rank (if you're still a vassal under the Abbasids) to slowly incorporate neighbouring vassals in your realm and to become the most powerful ruler in Persia and fear none once you become independent.
Hiding under Samanids
This is a variant for those who want to stay Zoroastrian all the time. Start the game as Vandad Karen, attempt to invite heir to Bukhara to your court and then swear fealty to the Samanids. You can use your event troops to seize Tabaristan, Azerbaijan or Derbent before swearing fealty if you want as this gives you extra holdings to land claimants.
Note that the Samanid ruler might attack you before swearing fealty if you decide to attack other realms, but with mercenaries and event troops, you have good chance to win the war and force the Shah to pay you heavy reparations.
After swearing fealty, give the Bukhara claimant some land and press his claim on Bukhara and it becomes part of your realm. The goal now is to keep the Samanid realm weak while building up your own realm, bribing the council to stop passing laws which hinder you and fabricating claims. It will take a while for the Samanid ruler to hand out titles, but in a couple of decades, you should have some claimants for various provinces in the realm who you can get to join your court with favors. You can land these people and press their claim and get them as your vassal. After all this, they should only be happy to embrace Ahura Mazda upon your request.
After you have spent years as a Samanid vassal, you can form a faction for independence or with some luck, fabricate a claim on Khiva and seize crown this way. Another (If using Conclave) alternative is to form "Overthrow ruler" faction which will cause realm, even if liege is Muslim, to switch to elective succession. This makes securing the throne much easier.
In any case, with Khiva secure under your rule, you can focus on taking the rest of Persia.
Khorasan Gambit
This is a starting tactic where you take advantage of the Saffarid war with the Tahirids.
Start as Vandad Karen in the Old Gods start. Assign councilors, borrow money, etc. Start moving your event troops towards Dashowuz where Samanid event troops are. When your troops are in Khiva, declare war on Tahirids for Khorasan. Samanids will join them in defense, but as you have far more event troops, Samanid troops will be crushed. Keep running around Samanid lands to kill their troops and to tick up the warscore.
Meanwhile, your normal troops and mercenaries should split themselves around Khorasan to secure provinces as Saffarid troops will help with sieges and most of Tahirid troops will be handled by Saffarids too.
If everything goes according to the plan, you should end up with majority of Khorasan for yourself (enabling usurpation of duchy). After this you have one of the most valuable duchies of Persia under your control.
Afterwards you can swear fealty to Samanids and wreck them from within or you can grab one more duchy title for custom kingdom and then either swear fealty to Abbasids or stay as independent king of Khorasan.
If you invited claimant to Bukhara to your court, you now also have plenty of land where to land him and push his claim. At some stage Samanids will go to war against Nomads or Kabulistan and that is a good time to hit them.
Alternative way to take advantage of this war is the fact that Saffarids invade for Persia and after the war, Tahirids are left with rump state in Khorasan, which is easily seized with a single holy war. It is best to wait for Samanids and/or Saffarids to be busy with other wars.
Return to the Old Ways
- "With me is the Derafsh Kaviani, through which I hope to rule the nations." - Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar, to Caliph al-Mutazz
For players with the Rajas of India DLC, the easiest way to quickly build a large Zoroastrian kingdom in the Greater Persian area is to take advantage of an intrigue decision to convert to the same religion that your capital county has.
In Old Gods, start as the Saffarids or Samanids. Your capital is in a Zoroastrian province (in case of Samanids) or you can move it to one (in case of Saffarids) and you need a large amount of prestige to activate the decision to convert to Zoroastrianism. Thankfully, as a Muslim, you get plenty of decisions that increase prestige/piety and your vassals likely love you after so many Ramadans and charity work, so demanding conversion from them should be simple. Congratulations! You now control an enormous chunk of the Persian Empire along with free event troops you received at the start of the game.
You can also use this strategy in other start dates with any of the Bedouin/Turkish/Mongol ruler who controls areas in Persia. Naturally, you can also set your heir a heritage focus and let a Zoroastrian educate him, but you probably have harder time converting your vassals without the benefit of long reign bonuses and accumulated prestige.
The Karakhanid Kindler
It is very much possible to become the Saoshyant starting as the Karakhanid Khagan in 1066. Rajas of India is highly recommended for this strategy as it allows the decision to convert to local religion (Zoroastrian), or you can convert through a secret religion or education - though you will want to remain Sunni for a long time. You will start with much of the Northern de jure territory (Transoxiana and part of Daylam) and, with the passage of some time, be in a prime position to take the rest. Focus on building up your strength through maximising your manpower, population and wealth (especially on buildings that increase max population) and spend the derived manpower entirely on light cavalry and heavy cavalry horde troops in order to build a powerful horde that can effectively utilise the invasion CB.
Once the invasion CB is unlocked, it's time for action. It is better to invade the Ghaznavid Sultanate first as it is usually far weaker than the Seljuq Sultanate. You can directly hold the counties you take in the war, provided they have at least 2 buildings (as this means the county isn't a nomadic county and thus you can hold it freely without any negative clan penalties). This will further increase your gold, allowing for more heavy cavalry and levy troops. Once the Eastern flank of the Persian Empire is secure and your horde is even more powerful, it's time to invade the Seljuqs. Use the invasion CB to take as much de jure Persian land as possible. Once this is done, you should be nigh unstoppable.
After this, convert to Zoroastrianism and, if desired, move your capital to somewhere within the de jure Kingdom of Persia (for RP purposes, Esfahan is the best option - it is also a major point on the silk road). Settle down as feudal and give out as many vassal titles as needed while keeping the most desirable provinces for yourself (promote commander is useful here as it will auto-generate high martial characters of your religion and culture). You should find yourself either in ownership of 80% of de jure Persian Empire land or in a position close to it and very able to take the remaining land. Take it, form the Persian Empire and once 1,500 piety has been acquired you can take the decision to become the Saoshyant.
Should you have trouble accruing piety then consider secretly converting, founding a religious cult and then openly adopting the faith. This will grant you a character modifier giving +2 diplomacy and +2 monthly piety at the expense of a mere 250 prestige and piety.
Fury of the Clans
With their powerful CBs and military potential, nomads can easily build up a power base while slowly conquering the Persian Empire. This is particularly so in 769; a Tengri nomad can easily seize land from pagan tribals. Just be sure to have a holy site in your demesne, and you can spend piety to adopt Zoroastrianism as a secret religion before open declaration. After the High Priesthood is restored, granting a temple to the High Priest will increase MA. The High Priest can then declare Great Holy Wars, allowing you to expand without triggering defensive pacts.
Manichaeism Triumphant
As a Manichean nomad, if your realm thrives, Manichaeism can easily replace Zoroastrianism as the orthodox Mazdan religion.