Conan The Wanderer

®
DANGER BREEDS CAUTION, AND ONLY A WARY MAN LIVES LONG IN THAT
WILD COUNTRY WHERE THE HOT VENDHYAN PLAINS MEET THE CRAGS OF
THE HIMELIANS. AN HOUR’S RIDE WESTWARD OR NORTHWARD AND ONE
CROSSED THE BORDER AND WAS AMONG THE HILLS WHERE MEN LIVED BY
THE LAW OF THE KNIFE.
Conan the Wanderer is an essential guide to the ancient kingdoms of the East, a land barely explored by
Conan during his illustrious lifetime. Nowhere in the Hyborian world is such a rich and varied array of
countries, ranging from the rocky hills of Afghulistan, to the untamed steppes of Hyrkania, to the
steaming jungles of Khitai, to the opulent palaces of old Vendhya.
■ New homelands, castes, talents, ■ Secrets of ominous Mount Yimsha, home to

backgrounds, stories, and gear for wanderers. the fearsome Black Circle.
■ New character archetypes: Beggar, Court ■ Statistics for Conan the Wanderer, as he
Official, Emissary, Horse Nomad, Mystic, explores strange and ancient kingdoms far
and Vagabond. from his homeland.
■ A gazetteer covering the kingdoms to ■ Art and maps produced by new and
the East: Ghulistan, Hyrkania, Iranistan, renowned Conan artists.
Kosala, Vendhya, and mysterious Khitai.
■ Developed with leading Conan scholars, this is
■ The strange and terrible magic of the East, the place for adventure in the Far East of
where the denizens of Yag are worshipped the Hyborian Age, as Howard might have
as gods. imagined it!
Though Conan himself barely explored these lands to the East, this region presents both players and
gamemasters epic and sweeping vistas for grand, heroic adventure!
This book requires the Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of corebook to use.
MUH050383
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CONAN THE WANDERER
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction Chapter 4
CONAN THE WANDERER . . . . 2 MYTH & MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . 69

The Ancient East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Gods of the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The Way of the Wanderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Eastern Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Yag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Chapter 1
Chapter 5
CHARACTERS OF THE EAST . . . 7
Eastern Homelands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ENCOUNTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Eastern Castes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Foes and Allies of the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Eastern Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Wildlife of the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Eastern Archetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Unnatural Beings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Eastern Educations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Figures of Renown and Infamy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Eastern War Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 6
Wanderer Talents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Eastern Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 HITHER CAME CONAN . . . . . 95
Final Touches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 People of the Black Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Gear & Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 7
Chapter 2
THE WAY OF THE EAST . . . . . 99
GAZETTEER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Subtlety, Ritual, and Custom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Ghulistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Lotus Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Iranistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Journeys and Travel Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Khitai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Lone Wolves and Vagabonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Kosala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Between Wanderings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Sabatea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 8
Vendhya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 3
WANDERERS OF THE AGE . 109
Hamar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Roxelena “the Kingmaker” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Natural Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Politics, Social Events & War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Unnatural Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Adventures in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
INTRODUCTION
CONAN THE WANDERER
Slow sift the sands of Time; the yellowed leaves

Go drifting down an old and bitter wind;
Across the frozen moors the hedges stand
In tattered garments that the frost have thinned.
A thousand phantoms pluck my ragged sleeve,
Wan ghosts of souls long into darkness thrust.
Their pale lips tell lost dreams I thought mine own,
And old sick longings smite my heart to dust.
I may not even dream of jeweled dawns,
Nor sing with lips that have forgot to laugh.
I fling aside the cloak of Youth and limp
A withered man upon a broken staff.
— “The Sands of Time”, Robert E. Howard
ment by the teller. Hyrkanians are born in the saddle and a

THE ANCIENT whelp of four can shoot a target from a horse at fifty paces.
EAST Strange Vendhya knows gods of which pale men have never
heard and secrets to the universe which mystics refuse to
share. Khitai lies behind mighty walls, flanked by verdant
Anything east of the Vilayet, that great inland divide which jungle where creatures out of the antediluvian past still lurk.
cleaves the Thurian continent roughly in twain, is a mystery All fine tales for an evening around a fire, but nothing
to those who consider themselves of Hyborian stock. Even one would take as fact. Yet these places are undeniably
further south, where the pale-skinned Hyborians give way there. Every city finds a collection of goods both strange
to races older and more steeped in ancient knowledge, the and wondrous in its markets, which every man knows
east remains an enigma. Perhaps, millennia ago, the two come from some distant land. The Lotus Road is real, and
halves of the known world knew more about each other; its treasures move back and forth across the seasons of
today, few travelers make the journey between the two. the world like a dream, a hallucination which no doubt
Instead, the world relies on the word of merchants, travel- clouds accurate descriptions of distant lands. What else
ers, vagabonds, and odd wanderers who claim to have sat could explain a society whose earliest writings were set
with the horse clans of Hyrkania under the starry mantle down when Bori was not yet a gleam in the eye of man?
of night, or smoked yellow lotus in the temples of Khitai Fool’s tales, to be sure, though there are fools enough to
with saffron-robed monks who’ve forgotten more about follow them. The lure of the unknown tugs at the human
life than most men will ever know. heart, an atavistic want to explore those territories which
Largely, these stories are regarded as such — having some rouse in us both fear and envy.
basic coal of truth turned to a conflagration of embellish-
INTRODUCTION 3
seeking new wisdom in lotus dreams, the mercenary who

THE WAY OF hears of wars larger and more prosperous than any of the
THE WANDERER conflicts in the west — which, say the wanderers, are tiny in
comparison — these folk are looked at with some suspicion,
though there is some nugget of reason in their purpose.
The wanderer is no specific type. Not necessarily a trader, a But those who drift with the east-blowing wind? Who
pilgrim, nor an outcast from the land this side of the Vilayet. follow a compass mapped on their heart rather than on
Wanderers have a myriad of reasons for their travels. Some a map? Those are the mad ones. Lunatics who get their
seek a new life by choice; others have been forced from the wisdom from the moon and their information from demons
ones they knew. summoned in the night. They are not trusted, for what man
Of these, merchants are widely considered the most reli- or woman would give up a certain life for one of airy noth-
able, for the desire for profit is universal, even if it takes one ing? That is the stuff of playwrights and poets, dreamers,
across years and leagues. Those who travel by themselves, and addle-headed simpletons.
though, or in small groups, are less understood. The monk
4 INTRODUCTION
The world is harsh, to be sure, but the land is firm beneath the frozen climes in which a Vanir might feel welcome to
your feet. If you remain on the trails made by generations jungles so deep and thick that even the bravest warrior of
before you, your enemies are knowable and, sometimes, Punt would give pause.
avoided. In the east, where the sun creeps over the razor’s All these places are now ready for your own tales, if your
edge of morning each day — well, who can say? Why trade a sword and mind are sharp enough to cleave your way to
decent chance at survival for a likely enslavement by horse glory among peoples whose names you can barely utter
lords and tallow-skinned sorcerers? in your rude Western languages.
Chapter 1: Characters of the East Chapter 3: Events

There are those whose vocations of necessity sweep them That which happens beyond the Vilayet has, for at least the
across the world like dust balls along the floor. One must lifetime of anyone now living, remained unknown. It does
make coin as one may, and those travellers who head east little to affect the west, and only scheming Yezdigerd, sitting
based on legends of grand wealth are outnumbered tenfold on the peacock throne of Aghrapur, must have any cause to
by those who head west, pursuing legends of undiscovered learn of events so distant. Yet, for those who are born there,
countries and rich barbarians in virgin lands. or would travel there from afar, what happens is of great
In this chapter, we find beggars and court officials, and import. Slaves are freely traded, for example, by cultures
nobles with coin aplenty walking past those who have but which themselves keep no slaves. Hordes of cavalry may
a copper to their name. These people hail from the East, be summoned from the steppes to crush entire Turanian
producing stories and temperaments strange to Western lines, only to disappear as if conjured by the mind — only
ears. From the high civilization of Vendhya, to the crumbling the dead left behind testify to the brutal reality of such
remnants of civilizations whose cities dwarf even Tarantia, strikes. Further east, a woman rose to a power no man
those of the East carry with them mystery and knowledge has ever known. Her power was so great, it took two score
of places Hyborian folk seldom see. And, in such a rude assassins to bring her down and, even then, she was not
age as this, knowledge itself can be mistaken for sorcery. truly dead. And deep in the jungles of Khitai remain races
More than one well-meaning emissary from distant who fell to Earth from the vast gulfs of space. Their cultures
Paikang has found themselves tethered to a pole and burned are unknowable, their purpose among humanity more so.
for practicing the dark arts. An astrolabe made by a Khitan The world, west or east, turns on circumstance, and
master seaman might easily be a sigil by which demons are there are Nemedian scholars that claim the flapping of a
summoned from the House of Shades, no? butterfly’s wings in the high court of Paikang can cause
waves of change in mighty Tarantia. An Aquilonian luna-
Chapter 2: Gazetteer tic, fallen from glory, once claimed such a stirring from
Here be dragons: that is what many a map says past the the East would one day help forge a barbarian who would
eastern borders of Turan. Beyond are tribes of cannibals, seize the throne of mighty Numedides himself. Madness
fallen kingdoms, and civilizations which venerate the dead, comes from the East, prophecy, and unnatural knowledge
believing they may come back as ants in another life. Of of the stars. But it is dangerous to study such things, and
these lands, the greatest scholars seek no further knowledge, wise folk shun such knowledge.
for life is strange enough on this side of the inland sea.
Ah, but for those who have been there, or better still hail Chapter 4: Myth & Magic
from there, the map of the world expands greatly indeed. “From myth comes truth”, said a long-dead scholar in Khitai,
We move east to Iranistan, a once-mighty civilization but common folk are more firmly grounded and find little
shrunk by time and the rise of new powers. Past that wisdom in such fancy. Were one to take all the tall tales and
decaying empire lies Afghulistan, where wild hillmen yarns spun about the East, however, the resulting skein
rove unchallenged for a hundred leagues or more before would yet reveal some central truths.
they come against the forces of Vendhya, who have seen Here, learn of the World Wheel which cycles like the
more empires fall than younger peoples know exist. stars and determines the course of one’s life, whether in
Then there are horse lords, called Hyrkanians by most. one’s own flesh or that of an animal. Learn of the Yaggites,
Yet the truth is they comprise at least a half-dozen major an alien race whose wings shriveled as they were exiled to
groups who, should they have intent, could unite under this barbarous world. Learn of the sorceries they brought
single banner and break Turan like a wave against the rocks. with them, and the Khitan wizards who practice them still
Finally, we move as far east as we may and find Khitai, a today. Learn of demons dark and horrors mind-shaking
land of vast history and impossible stakes. This kingdom, if which, when the world was young and free of humankind,
indeed it can be called such, is so large that it stretches from warred over an Earth which yet had no name.
INTRODUCTION 5
All this is found herein, and more, should you be willing Chapter 7: The Ways of the East
to risk the comfort of the world you think you know and
To talk about the East as a single entity is a grievous mistake.
probe beneath the surface for deeper truths.
The resort of the small-minded and insular, who cannot
Chapter 5: Encounters imagine another being as great as they. The east is vast, and
its people vaster still, and to pretend they can be captured
From one end of the Thurian continent to the other, men
by pithy wisdom about traditions and duty utter futility.
and women are, to a fault, human. Their motives may seem
Yet they are people nonetheless. They have beliefs and
strange to one another, their customs ridiculous, and their
traditions and preferences, as any Hyborean court might.
wars inscrutable. But all are flesh and blood, possessed of
Ones that a traveler would do well to learn, if they wished
mind and spirit like any other. The creatures of the East
to die rich and old in a bed of their own, rather than young
are also of flesh, even the strange beasts called elephants
and humiliated with a Vendhyan arrow through the neck.
marshaled to war as humongous mounts. They are, ulti-
The courts of Khitai handle greater stakes and greater
mately, knowable.
wealth in a day than Koth or Corinthia have in a millenia.
But of those things which come from the outer dark,
Those who would imagine themselves great schemers
which come from planets not our own, and places human
elsewhere must beware the resources, armies, and skills
minds cannot espy and remain intact — these are stranger
of those who play for higher stakes than they have ever
in the East than any from elsewhere in the Hyborian world.
dared dream.
Take heart, though, for some horrors merely go by other
In Tarantia, one might look upon their thousand-strong
names in the mountains of Khitai. They are still the same
army and glistening armor and imagine themselves strong.
gibbering terrors which drive folk mad in the West, only to
In Vendhya, such an array would support a single wing of
disappear in black smoke when slain, like a conjurer’s trick.
a grand army.
Chapter 6: Hither Came Conan… The nomad peoples of the west imagine themselves
Conan of Cimmeria wandered about all the jeweled thrones a great scourge. Power and strong and a bane to the civi-
of the earth in his time. Only one such tale is accurately lized. The nomads of the East have burned the continent
recorded, but there are no doubt many others — some true, to the ground and driven races of man-eating monsters
others apocryphal. Here, we see Conan near the height of his to extinction.
powers. He has been thief and soldier, brigand and pirate. The East is vast. And so too are its villains, adventurers,
Now, he learns of places and people that shall prove influen- and heroes. To excel here is to prove oneself great. To fail,
tial in his eventual rise to the mighty king of the Aquilonia. to die in obscurity. Any who would make their fortune here,
Perhaps your characters can also learn the ways of Eastern foreign or local, would do well to remember this.
warfare, divination, and the secrets of lost Lemuria, about
which less is known than sunken Atlantis.
CHAPTER 1
CHARACTERS OF THE EAST
There is a strange and mystic land

East of the rising sun.
A dim sea breaks on a coral strand,
Stars lie spread on the silver sand
And sapphire rivers run;—
There is a mystic land
East of the sun.
— “Mystic”, Robert E. Howard
I
solated geographically from the Hyborian civilizations
by the Vilayet Sea and vast expanses of desert and steppe, EASTERN
the folk of the East are nonetheless no strangers in the
dreaming west. They frequently voyage westward in search HOMELANDS
of adventure, wealth, or a safety greater than the east affords,
and are thus known to the Hyborians and others of the west. ‘The East’, defined as the territory east and southeast of the
This chapter presents character creation options for those Vilayet Sea, covers a region considerably vaster than the
originating in the mysterious East. Hyborian lands, containing a hugely varied number of cul-
tures, ranging from the hill-dwelling folk of Ghulistan and
Iranistan to the inhabitants of the steaming, fog-shrouded
jungles of Khitai. To create a denizen of the East, roll 1d20
or pick a homeland from the Homeland table (right). As
with all those presented in the Conan corebook, these
homelands provide an initial talent and a native language.
HOMELAND
Roll Homeland Talent Language
1–2 Ghulistan (see page 29) Desert-born Ghuli/Afghuli
3–5 Iranistan (see page 43) Desert-born Iranistani
6–11 Hyrkania (see page 37) Of Saddle and Bow Hyrkanian
12–16 Khitai (see page 46) Savage Court Khitan
17–18 Kosala (see page 51) Cosmopolitan Kosalan
19–2 0 Vendhya (see page 57) Gilded Vendhyan
8 Chapter 1
GHULISTAN IRANISTAN (SEE PAGE 43)

Plundering in the West is oft a thing one resorts to in times The heights of your civilization passed before you were born,
most desperate. In the East, one is born to it. Where the but that does not mean they will not rise again. Once, your
sharp peaks of the blue Himelian Mountains give way to people commanded an empire larger than that of Turan,
the rough and broken hills of Afghulistan, the Afghuli tribe though it has shrunk and faded like a prune in the sun.
dwells. Legends for their ferocity, skill in the saddle, and But your people built their empire before the crude
sheer numbers, the Afghuli are the mightiest non-military Hyrkanians settled on the Vilayet. Your people mastered
force in the region. Where other tribes boast large numbers, writing and astrology long before the Hyborians could
they cannot hope to rival those of the Afghuli. No one form kingdoms. Yours is an old people who, were it not for
knows how many of these bandit hill-folk there are, as the the cycles of history, would rule. Your culture forgot more
Vendhyans can hardly take a census. Any bureaucrat so science and mathematics than those to the north can ever
assigned would return solely as a severed head. know. Your once-mighty empire may have tarnished, but
You were born in the harsh hills between civilized king- there is polish in the golden rays of tomorrow’s sun.
doms like Turan and Vendhya. By the age of five, you could
ride, and by the age of ten you made your first kill to prove KHITAI (SEE PAGE 46)
your mettle. Your land, like your will, remains forever
The most advanced culture in all the world, and not afraid
untamed. Many conquerors have tried, coming through
to let others know it: Khitai was old when the people of
the Zhaibar Pass with serried ranks and the fading rays
Bori still slumped, half-erect, worshipping animal gods
of day reflecting from plumed helms. All of them, in time,
and marveling at the stars they could not comprehend.
turned back or went on their way. You know there are many
Yours is a civilization not only at its peak, but one which
more left to rot in the sun by your long knives than exist in
dominated the East for longer than any human, demon,
their great cities today.
or god can remember. Your ways are written in custom,
Still, for all that, you have equal enmity for rival tribes.
tradition, and the stars, and you have little time for the
Blood feuds going back generations compel you to kill
superstitions of those who think ‘gods’ run the world.
Wazuli or other tribal scum. This is the way of things. This
Whether peasant or empress, you have a distinct place
is your land. This is the Law of the Knife.
in your society and your world. Would that others of lesser
nations be so fortunate. But they are not Khitan, are they?
HYRKANIA
Born to the steppes and the horse, a Hyrkanian nomad KOSALA (SEE PAGE 51)
knows only the yurt and the mantle of cold night as shelter.
Your culture is old, but much of the ways of science under-
You know only the bow and sword as methods of resolu-
stood by your ancestors is lost. Devoted to Yajur of the Seven
tion, save for the word of the great khans. Your gods are
Tongues, your people are zealots in the service of a dark
unknown to outsiders. Their gods’ wills are never revealed
god. While Kosala may be small, Yajur is not, and soon her
to you. Where other folk erect huge temples to their deities,
worship shall spread across the shining kingdoms of the
you horsemen of the steppes know that every part of the
Earth like a dark cloud. Perhaps you bring Yajur into the
frozen tundra is your god. Your god is the sky. Only a fool
world with you. Perhaps you left because you found the
would lock their god away in a musty temple.
zealotry distasteful and the opportunities for non-believers
You learned to ride and walk at the same time. You
thin, even hazardous.
killed game as soon as you could stand, felling them at
ten, twenty, then fifty paces. Now, you can hit a mark at
full gallop, be it game or human. The wind speaks to you, VENDHYA (SEE PAGE 57)
as restless and ever shifting as your soul. You have killed Your ancient culture is at the peak of the civilized world,
for food, for territory, and for revenge. The metals civilized Khitai be damned, and your country’s rich lands rival it in
kingdoms call precious mean little to you. What good is breadth and variety of inhabitants. Asura is most likely
soft gold compared to a blade made of steel or the taut your god, and he parts the veils that blur mankind from the
muscles of a good steed? truth of the world. Vendhya is a land of layered traditions,
merchant wealth, and brutal histories. You may have left
to find your destiny, to escape oppression, or simply in
pursuit of wealth. You made that choice — or it was made
for you. These uncouth Western barbarians have no need
of knowing the truth.
Characters of the East 9
ANCIENT BLOODLINES OF THE EAST

Bloodlines of the East are primarily connected to two vanished cultures: Old Kosala and Lemuria. The former faded
over time, while the latter sunk beneath the waves during the Cataclysm. Both these bloodlines are likely to infuse
the veins of characters from the East.
■ GHULISTAN: A wild hill people who resist all ■ KHITAI: The blood of Khitai carries with it the
forms of foreign domination, the Ghuli are fierce, destiny of the East, for no empire can rival
proud, and old. They have stubbornly persisted their power there. Indeed, the kingdoms of the
and thrived — if it can be called thriving — in a West would be hard pressed to find blood as
treacherous and rough environment when other fine and fated as those of Khitai. At least this is
peoples would have long since fled or attempted their belief. A Khitan failing a Personality test
to build cities. When failing a Personality test, a expresses their Lemurian bloodline suddenly,
Ghuli reacts with anger, usually assigning blame defining them starkly against the lesser lineages.
to any non-Ghuli, emotionally siding with any of A Khitan is thus gripped with a profound and
their kind, despite any past relation. easily apparent arrogance.
■ HYRKANIA: Originally of Lemurian stock, ■ KOSALA: Kosalan blood is older than can easily
Hyrkanians keep some of the barbarous nature be counted. Their civilization once mastered
of their ancient ancestors. Yet, unlike the the heights of science, a near-magical level of
Lemurians, the Hyrkanians have never known technological development which saw to their
the yoke of a master. They are free people, many every need. Most remain in new Kosala, though
in number, and feared in combat. They say that some ventured west to found the mysterious
all Hyrkanian blood flows with that of their god, green cities that dot the unmapped portions
the grim Erlik. A Hyrkanian failing a Personality of the Earth. When failing a Personality test,
test is filled with the desire to depart the scene: someone of Kosalan descent feels the crushing
not fleeing, but instead abandoning the current weight of ages descend upon them, a reminder
task and setting forth, free and unencumbered. that theirs is a land old when this continent was
Those witnessing this will see their interest newly formed.
instantly fade in whatever is at hand.
■ VENDHYA: Vendhyans view their blood as their
■ IRANISTAN: A faded but proud bloodline; fate. Such is the will of Asura and the tradition of
Iranistan mastered civilization before the people the Vendhyan people. Taking pride in one’s place
of Bori could walk upright. Their ancestry is rich is an ideal; but, long ago, there was something
in astronomy, mathematics, and the art of war. of the wild in them, as in all folk, and that strain
Failed Personality tests cause an Iranistani to of blood caused them to wander. Vendhyans
become cold and calculating, pondering how the failing Personality tests tend to fall back on the
lessons of the past might apply to the challenges roles society prescribes, deferring to those above
of the present. them and asserting dominance over those below
their station.
In all other ways, the Ancient Bloodline talent is identical to that presented in the CONAN corebook (page 17).
10 Chapter 1
parent’s tribe was either lost or is paused while you wander

EASTERN CASTES the world. What is it you seek so far away from home? Will
you bring it back with you or will you remain one of the
Due to their different cultural context compared to those souls who never returns?
castes featured in the Conan corebook, some additional
castes are provided here. These can be rolled for or selected Hereditary Scholar
as desired by the players, as permitted by the gamemaster. Caste Talents: Priest, Subject
Vendhyan characters should select their caste based on Skill Gained: Lore
those provided in Vendhyan Castes (below). You are of an elite and somewhat separated caste, brought
up within a temple, school, or even a monastery; educated
CASTE DESCRIPTIONS almost from birth, your intended destiny is to join your
brethren as a scholar, acolyte, or even a teacher. As such,
These castes are generic in nature, but may or may not apply your pursuit of the path of knowledge has led you along
to all homelands. When they are unsuitable for a specific esoteric routes, and the cloistered environment you were
homeland, the player and/or gamemaster is encouraged brought up in has become all-too-confining.
to suggest an alternative caste. The East is quite different
from the West, but the roles people play in society are much Horse Clans
the same. The gamemaster is encouraged to simply adjust Caste Talents: Survivor, Vagabond
the backstories of castes found in previous books or use Skill Gained: Animal Handling
the few new ones here. You are one of the great nomad clans or tribes that spread
over Hyrkania. You live off the land and from war and
Chieftain’s Scion
raiding. Life is spent on the move: in the saddle, bow in
Caste Talents: Sheltered, Subject hand, wind in your hair, and Erlik’s hell calling you to a
Skill Gained: Command home where, finally, you will rest. None can master you
You are the son or daughter of a chieftain, possibly with the bow or horsemanship.
Hyrkanian or Ghuli in origin. Your rightful place in your
VENDHYAN CASTES
Vendhyan Caste is ill-understood by foreigners, especially those who have received a distorted, overly-rigid
view of the system. It is a religious concept that seeks to describe and model the divisions of society, with those
within divided into both a broad caste and an ancestral job within that caste. However, this is an ideal regularly
flouted, with different kings and dynasties enforcing it to varying degrees. The tales of saints who have defied
this system are myriad, as are those of kingdoms whose founders were Shudra, Brahmin and Kshatriya who
owned cattle, and members of all castes who have gone to war.
Broadly, however, Vendhyan characters likely fall into one of the following castes.
As always, players may roll or pick their character’s caste, but in the spirit of the Great Wheel of Life, it is
recommended to roll to determine caste rather than picking. One can change many things in this world, but
the time, place, and circumstances of one’s birth are the stuff of fate.
VENDHYAN CASTE
Roll Caste Description
Priests, scholars, teachers. Equivalent to priesthood class from the
1–2 Brahmin
Conan corebook (page 20).
Nobility, court officials, generals, knights. Equivalent to the warrior caste
3–5 Kshatriya
from the Conan corebook (page 20).
Merchants and landowning farmers. Equivalent to the merchant caste
6–12 Vaishya
from the Conan corebook (page 19).
Slaves, laborers, common workers. Equivalent to the escaped serf/slave
13–20 Shudra
caste from the Conan corebook (page 19).
tales than the elders of your village ever told you. From that
EASTERN STORIES point you were enraptured. You had to see these worlds they
spoke of and partake of life outside the hills.
Based on your caste, roll 1d20 or pick a desired result.
These caste stories behave in all respects as those in the Poisoned!
Conan corebook. A rival family poisoned you, vying for the seat of the chief,
your parent. You survived when, by all rights, you should
have died. This made you wonder why. You decided you
CHIEFTAIN’S SCION needed to see something of the world before you took on
Roll Event Trait your parent’s position and, possibly, find those who tried
1–3 A Taste of Scholarship Patronage to kill you, as they were cast from Ghulistan when their
treachery was found out.
Witness to
4–6 Fought an Empire
Brutality
Visions of War
7–10 Lost in the Wild Survivor
Your dreams are plagued with images of war, but not war
11–14 Passing Entertainers Exotic Tastes like you’ve seen before. In these dreams, savages from the
15–17 Poisoned! Suspicious West clash with Hyrkanians from the East before another
18–20 Visions of War Nemesis Cataclysm rocks the world. These dreams plague you, eat
into your mind like a Hyrkanian death worm. Some ines-
A Taste of Scholarship capable fate lies at the end of this age, which you fear comes
You were taught to read in a foreign tongue by a merchant soon. If you do not see the world now, it will not be there
or prisoner of your tribe. Since then, your intellect searches to see later.
for a whetstone for honing. Was the Cataclysm an accident
or planned in the stars long in advance? You ponder such HEREDITARY SCHOLAR
things on the lonely roads of the worlds, but do not worry
about them overly much, for the span of one’s life is a brief Roll Event Trait
season. You aim to consume the experiences of many cul- 1–3 A Trip to Carcosa Cursed
tures and points of view. You are bound only to yourself and Discovery of Old
4–6 Adventurous
the road ever before you, whether visible or not. Kosalan Technology
7–10 Homunculi Nightmares
Fought an Empire
11–14 Time’s Arrow Fond Regrets
Beyond the internecine wars between Ghuli tribes, some
foreign power or another tried every so often to ‘tame’ The Witch Woman in
15–17 Cursed
the Woods
your land. They always fail, but in so doing, they drew your
attention. You proved yourself in battle against an empire’s 18–20 The Wyrm Turned Conspiracy
supposed best. Now, you want to see what other empires
offer in the way of civilization. This might be interesting,
A Trip to Carcosa
at least for a while. Besides, knowing their tactics could While investigating the pacts forged in the Outer Dark
make you a chief at home. by those who came before you, you found a tear in reality.
Through it, you gazed into another world. A woman in
Lost in the Wild yellow… a queen. A lake the color of emerald with a tint of
You were lost in the wild as child for many days. You do not corrosion under a strange moon. In the darkness, things
remember how you survived. Now, you wander, trusting you could not name whispered of gods older than time. All
some compass within or some path drawn by your god, to the secrets lay across that lake, in the city whose name you
guide you wherever it is you are supposed to be. Perhaps, somehow knew was Carcosa. You must find your way back.
you dismiss such notions of the ‘supposed’ and instead
believe in the inherent chaos of the world.
Discovery of Old Kosalan Technology
You found something imbued with magic which, upon
Passing Entertainers further research, you learned was a different kind of magic,
Caravans of foreigners come through your territory regu- based in science from Old Kosala. This opened new worlds
larly, with the permission of the council. Mostly, they sell of possibility for you. However, books could only tell you so
shiny trinkets of no use to anyone living in the hills of the much and soon you’d exhausted both archives and sages.
Himelians; but one day a harlequin show arrived, filled You had to search for more of this science based on the
with strange folk, mysterious and alluring, enacting more few clues you knew. When you find it, what will you do?
12 Chapter 1
by the experience but wanting to know more. Why didn’t

you kill her? She posed no threat, and yet your hand could
not move. Why could you not find your way back? Later, you
discovered the woman you met was a figure of myth within
your homeland. The world is full of such legends and you
will find them. You will find them and use them, because
you know — more than you know the beating of your own
heart — that she did not lie. Your skull will adorn the walls
of her hut if you do not find her before she finds you.
The Wyrm Turned

Experimenting with chemical concoctions was your life’s
work, until you ingested one of your own elixirs. What it
did was change the world for you. Up became down, the
truth behind reality was yours to see, if only for a moment.
Then the curtains closed. You haven’t been able to replicate
the chemical, but you believe it showed you a place more
real than this world. You want to go there again.
HORSE CLANS
Roll Event Trait
1–3 Born Under a Bad Sign Cursed
4–6 Clan Feud Feud
Righteous
7–10 Exiled
Disobedience
11–14 Failed Ambition Fond Regrets
15–17 Survived a Plague Survivor
Homunculi 18–20 Vision of Erlik Chosen
You master swears he created life in his laboratory. He
found the secret after a lifetime of research. Obsessed, he
Born Under a Bad Sign
spent every waking moment trying to conjure life from
The shaman warned against your birth. Your parents should
nothingness. When he did, he’d made a horror. He won’t
by all rights have killed you and sent you to the place for
speak of what he created or what happened to it. He burned
those that are of no use to Erlik. What sign it was does
all his notes. Now, you’ve become obsessed with his story.
not matter. What matters is that you grew up unwanted,
What if you, too, could conjure life from naught but mind
fodder for other children’s jokes and devoid of parental love.
and sorcery?
You were a constant reminder of Erlik’s disappointment.
Eventually you left. Whether you seek to heap glory upon
Time’s Arrow
yourself for Erlik or to avenge yourself on your people, your
You know that time flows in more than one direction. You
path takes you away from the open steppe.
know that the same stream can be entered twice. You know
that the forward momentum of age and change are illusions.
There is immortality in this knowledge, if only you could Clan Feud
codify and master it. What would you do if you had the A bitter feud between your family or your clan weighs
ability to move anywhere in time? What would you alter? heavy on your soul. Perhaps you left to ease that burden or
What would you ruin? to find a means outside your homeland to redress it. Either
way, you have killed and seen killed your own people, and
The Witch Woman in the Woods feel little the better for it. The might of your bloodline is
On one of your first wanderings, you came upon a witch in in death, true, but what good can Erlik’s warriors be in the
the woods. The old crone lived in a strange hut, decorated next Cataclysm if they fight only each other?
within with the cleaned skulls of men and women. “You
would join them,” she said, “…but not yet.” You left, jarred
Exiled ARCHETYPES
Your clan has laws and you violated them or were accused
Roll Archetype
of doing so. Whatever the reason, you were exiled and now
wander the world as a loner, apart from your people. Perhaps 1–3 Beggar
one day, you can return home, though you doubt it. Instead, 4–6 Court Official
you must find new purpose in the world, beneath the same 7–10 Emissary
blanket of stars, but on very different bedding than before. 11–14 Horse Nomad
15–17 Mystic
Failed Ambition
The warring clans needed a leader among them. You saw 18–20 Vagabond
this from an early age, but every attempt you’ve made to
create lasting truces between the clans has failed. The
warlike nature of your people is simply untamable, at least
for now. In the wider world, empires rise and flourish on
less strength than your people have before adulthood.
BEGGAR
Perhaps among the civilized folk you may learn the ways You are unseen by the folk of the cities, like a door they
of diplomacy and unite your clans into an army the likes of pass every day but never notice. You are the background of
which the world has never seen. The thundering hooves of the world, and that allows you to be the eyes and ears of
the hordes will then trample over all the jeweled mantles a network of your ilk who trade in information. Who cares
of the Earth. what the beggar hears? No court would hear a beggar
speaking about a witnessed murder. You are without
Survived a Plague caste or have been exiled from your own. As such, you are
There are many deaths your god visits upon his people, without identity. That ostensibly makes you unimportant,
but not all succumb to them. You lived through a horrific but there are many of you. You traffic in the secrets of
plague that killed many of your kin. Afterward, you were those who do matter, and from this
blessed by the death god. You have purpose in this life, or amass your own kind of power.
Erlik would have taken you as the fever swelled and the
CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise
boils spread. What is that purpose?
and +2 Skill Focus in the
Vision of Erlik Thievery skill
CAREER TALENT: Thief (CONAN
At a young age, you received a vision of Erlik. Perhaps it
corebook, page 88)
was while waking. Perhaps it was in a dream. If you did not
MANDATORY SKILLS: +1
become a shaman, this vision likely set you on the road of
Expertise and +1 Focus
the wanderer. Erlik has a destiny for you, one you cannot
to Insight, Observation,
yet decipher. Out there, in the unknown beyond Hyrkania,
Persuade, and Stealth
you are sure to find it.
ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1
Expertise and +1 Focus
EASTERN to two of the following:
ARCHETYPES Acrobatics, Linguistics,

or Survival
EQUIPMENT:
Roll 1d20 or pick one of the following archetypes for a ■ Tattered, dirty clothing
character from the East, or choose an appropriate arche-
type from the Conan corebook. All archetypes from the ■ Begging bowl with 1 Gold
corebook are well-represented in the East, from Himelian in small coinage (no
barbarians and Afghuli nomads, to Kosalan mercenaries, additional Gold
Khitan priests, and Hyrkanian archers. or valuables)
Alternatively, the gamemaster can allow an archetype ■ Bandages, walking cart,
from another sourcebook. Some archetypes may be unsuit- crutch, or other obvious
able for Eastern characters, and the player should consult sign of infirmity
with the gamemaster if the desired archetype is especially
unusual or inappropriate. Given the vastness of Khitai and ■ Rusty knife
Vendhya, and the relative variety within other homelands,
few archetypes are entirely out of place.
14 Chapter 1
COURT OFFICIAL EMISSARY

You are at home in the court of a truly civilized land, Whether born into the role or appointed as a sign of
whether within Iranistan, Khitai, Vendhya, or elsewhere, political favor (or even disfavor), you are a herald of the
accustomed to a life of relative material ease, though court of your native land, expected to represent and
one just as perilous as any battlefield. One ill-considered bear messages from your ruler to another court. You are
remark or unwitting rebuke and you may find yourself accustomed to speaking with some measure of authority,
exiled, imprisoned, or even kneeling before the imperial and demand that you be treated with respect and hospi-
headsman. Within your office, your role is to see that the tality, even if you bear ill news or your kingdoms are not
will of your ruler is obeyed and facilitated to the letter, allied. Even if accompanied with guards when traveling,
or to find someone to blame if it is not. you can defend yourself if need be.
CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus in
in the Society skill the Persuade skill
CAREER TALENT: A Modicum of Comfort (CONAN CAREER TALENT: Force of Presence (CONAN corebook,
corebook, page 82) page 76)
MANDATORY SKILLS: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to MANDATORY SKILLS: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to
Command, Linguistics, Lore, and Persuade Command, Linguistics, Observation, and Society
ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of
the following skills: Counsel, Craft, or Insight the following skills: Counsel, Melee, or Survival
EQUIPMENT: EQUIPMENT:
■ Set of courtly ■ Set of courtly garments
garments
■ Traveling clothes
■ Elaborate hat
■ Armored breastplate (Armor
denoting status
4: Torso) and helmet (Armor
■ Street clothing and 3: Head)
a simple disguise
■ Riding horse
■ Paper and
■ One-handed
writing
weapon of choice
instruments
■ Seal and ink for

your office ■ Sigil of your
ruler
■ Ceremonial one-
handed weapon
§
of choice (–1
damage, add
Improvised Quality)
HORSE NOMAD MYSTIC

You have known nothing but the steppes throughout Whether an ascetic, fakir, lama, monk, or other such holy
your life, growing up amidst a nomadic people in the vast one, you are steeped in the divine magical traditions of
panorama of sweeping plains and low hills. Perhaps you your homeland. You spend your time contemplating the
have enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence, or your tribe mysteries of your patron god or cosmology, often in a med-
may have been in savage conflict with other nomads or itative state, and you have devoted yourself to esoteric
even the folk of civilized kingdoms. The continual need spirituality as a means of understanding the divine. While
to migrate, hunt, and forage for survival is a repetitious you may know sorcery, it is but a tool to bring yourself
existence, but nonetheless it has made you an expert closer to unlocking the mysteries of existence, rather
rider and, hunter, and taught you much about the natural than a means of seeking power. Perhaps you have left a
world. Now you have, for reasons of your own, forsaken monastic existence as a means of seeking knowledge of
your tribe to see what civilization has to offer. Thus far, the world, or tragedy has thrust you into it.
you are not impressed.
CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus in
CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus in the Sorcery skill
the Animal Handling skill CAREER TALENT: True Understanding (CONAN core-
CAREER TALENT: Born in the Saddle (CONAN corebook, page 84)
book, page 59) MANDATORY SKILLS: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to
MANDATORY SKILLS: +1 Counsel, Discipline, Insight, and Lore
Expertise and +1 ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1
Focus to Athletics, Expertise and +1
Observation, Ranged Focus to two of the
Weapons, and Survival following skills:
ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1 Alchemy, Craft, or
Expertise and +1 Observation
Focus to two of EQUIPMENT:
the following ■ Simple robes
skills: Craft,
■ Prayer mat
Discipline, or
Melee ■ Sacred texts from
EQUIPMENT: your faith
■ Fine riding
■ Holy symbol of
horse
your faith
■ Riding clothes
■ Walking staff
and fur cap
■ Leather hauberk
(Armor 2: Torso/
Arms)
■ Bow (of appro-

priate type) and
4 reloads
■ One-handed
weapon of
choice
■ Water skin and

dried horse meat
for several days
16 Chapter 1
EASTERN
VAGABOND EDUCATIONS
Some travel for commerce, war, or for duty, and there
are those who travel because they must. Like leaves on
The East teaches by both the law of nature and that of
the wind, these people move by whim and chance, not
higher-minded law made by men. Herein you will find
intentional purpose. Yet in the journey, the purpose
that both paths have their merits but, when lost in the
may be revealed by the journey itself. Vagabonds know
jungles of Khitai or the hills of Ghulistan, you may wish
many things. They have seen many great peaks and low
you learned your lessons under the hot sun rather than
defiles. They have exchanged coin and love and blood
among the wind-cooled purple spires of Paikang. East or
with people of a dozen kingdoms, and they want more.
West, nature is the ultimate educator.
Wanderlust propels the vagabond who, while traveling
light, accrues an impressive collection intangible to
others — memories and experiences that they would EASTERN EDUCATION
not trade for anything. Roll Education
CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus 1–2 Apprenticed

in the Observation skill 3–4 Divine Tutelage
CAREER TALENT: Sharp Senses (CONAN corebook, 5–6 Formally Taught
page 74) 7–8 On the Back of a Horse (Hyrkanian)
MANDATORY SKILLS: +1 Expertise and
9–10 Professional Soldiering
+1 Focus to Animal Handling,
11–12 Royal Vassal
Linguistics, Lore, and Survival
ELECTIVE SKILLS: +1 Expertise and 13–14 Schooled by the Wild
+1 Focus to two of the following 15–16 Shamanic Tradition
skills: Melee, Stealth, or 17–18 The Wisdom of Elders
Thievery 19–20 Yithian Possession
EQUIPMENT:
■ Traveling clothes
■ Walking staff
APPRENTICED
Like many before you, your parent indentured you to an
■ One-handed
expert in their craft. It was not your choice, though you
weapon of choice
may have come to love it. Alternatively, you may have
■ Riding horse left that profession long behind, but you have not lost the
or pack mule skills you gained.
(your choice)
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Athletics,
Counsel, and Craft
Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to
two of the following skills: Craft, Society,
■ Wineskin and sev-
or Thievery
eral days of rations
Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills
■ Several Equipment:
conflicting maps ■ Your old tools
■ Additional 2§ Gold (minimum 1)

DIVINE TUTELAGE PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERING

Either someone from the temple or a wise person from your In mighty empires, soldiering is a full-time profession.
tribe schooled you in the ways of your culture’s god. They Elsewhere, only mercenaries fight constantly for pay. You
showed you the public face of the god, which all may see, were neither conscript nor sell-sword. You fought for your
and the secret face of the god, which only priests can know. ruler, your people, and the brothers and sisters around you.
War is your way of life.
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Persuade,
Society, and Sorcery Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Melee,
Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the Parry, and Warfare
following skills: Healing, Persuade, or Sorcery Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the fol-
Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills lowing skills: Command, Ranged Weapons, or Resistance
Equipment: Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills
■ Symbol of your god wrought of precious metal or a Equipment:
mineral (worth 10 Gold) ■ Armor and arms appropriate to a soldier of
your homeland.
FORMALLY TAUGHT
Either through the efforts of a tutor or within an academic ROYAL VASSAL
environment with other students, you learned philosophy, You were taught by royal scholars with others of your caste.
religion, math, and the history of the world (or your culture’s Perhaps, you were sent abroad to study with another cul-
version thereof). ture, even an enemy as part of mutual hostage exchange or
‘treaty’. You learned about ruling, the maneuvers of sword
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Discipline,
and society, and your own limits for remaining in a gilded
Linguistics, and Lore
tower as the world goes by.
Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the
following: Insight, Lore, or Society Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Society,
Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills Command, Melee
Equipment: Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the
■ Additional 3 § Gold (1 minimum)
■ Vellum, ink, and quill
following skills: Persuade, Linguistics, Insight, Counsel
Equipment:
ON THE BACK OF A HORSE ■ Additional 5 § Gold (minimum 1)
You are Hyrkanian, born and raised on the steppes held by

your people for centuries. You know the open steppe, the SCHOOLED IN THE WILD
ways of slaying, and how to pierce a foe’s eye at fifty paces You were separated from your parents at an all-too-early age,
with your bow. What else does one need in life? and so you largely fended for yourself. All the lessons you
learned were the harsh ones of the natural order, whether
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Animal
conservation of resources, weighing risk versus reward, or
Handling, Ranged Weapons, and Survival
survival of the fittest.
following skills: Melee, Observation, or Parry Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Animal
Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills Handling, Melee, Survival
Equipment: Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the
■ Hyrkanian bow following skills: Animal Handling, Discipline, Survival
■ One-handed sword Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills
■ Fleet riding horse Equipment:
■ Wind in your hair ■ Knife
■ Scavenged trinkets
18 Chapter 1
SHAMANIC TRADITION YITHIAN POSSESSION

Early in your life, your keen ‘sight-beyond-sight’ marked Your body was used as shell for another species traveling in
you, and thus you were sent to study the old ways of your time. The being was not of this world, or of a recognizable
people, whether active or dwindling in favor. Under that reality. You were left with curious knowledge and ideas
tutelage, you learned much of the spirit world. You heard most consider… mad. Still, you know there is a truth in the
your ancestors speak in dreams and the living world offered Outer Dark. You know you can unlock the secrets of the race
its soul to you in return for tribute. that used you and find the means to duplicate their power.
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Discipline, Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Alchemy,
Healing, Sorcery Insight, and Lore
Elective Skills: Alchemy, Insight, or Lore Elective Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to two of the
Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills following skills: Discipline, Observation, or Sorcery
Equipment: Talent: One talent associated with any of the above skills
■ Fetishes associated with your beliefs Equipment:
■ Herbs and other preparatory elements for tinctures ■ A scribbled journal of your experiences filled with
and concoctions drawings of conical things from beyond time

and space.
THE WISDOM OF ELDERS

The elders of your clan or village taught you, as they did
most children. You were schooled in things that matter, in
EASTERN WAR
things that help a person survive a world set to kill them.
You had no time for poetry or history beyond your borders.
STORIES
You needed to know how to hold a weapon, hunt, and ride For player characters that hail from the East, choose to roll
against the knife-edge of wind coming off the frozen steppe. on the table provided below or pick a desired War Story
Mandatory Skills: +1 Expertise and +1 Focus to Animal from those below. Alternatively, roll or choose from the
Handling, Resistance, and Survival equivalent table contained in the Conan corebook, as desired.
following: Lore, Melee, or Ranged Weapon
Equipment:
■ Additional 1§
■ Hyrkanian bow
Gold (minimum 1)
■ One-handed sword
WAR STORY
Roll War Story Skill Improvements
1–2 A Training Ground Prodigy +1 Expertise and Focus to Athletics and Parry
3–4 Spared by the Horse Nomads +1 Expertise and Focus to Animal Handling and Society
5–6 Escaped the Noose +1 Expertise and Focus to Resistance and Stealth
7–8 Scarred by the Black Seers +1 Expertise and Focus to Discipline and Sorcery
9–10 Apprentice of the Master Strategist +1 Expertise and Focus to Insight and Observation
11–12 Found Adrift on the Vast River +1 Expertise and Focus to Craft and Sailing
13–14 Savior of an Exiled Prince +1 Expertise and Focus to Melee and Society
Avenger of the True Servants of the

15–16 +1 Expertise and Focus to Discipline and Parry
Gods
17–18 Bearer of the War’s Grim Tidings +1 Expertise and Focus to Insight and Survival
19–20 Lived Lawless as a Hillman +1 Expertise and Focus to Animal Handling and Melee
Distracting Wings and Talons

WANDERER TALENTS Prerequisite: My Eyes Above, Animal Handling Expertise
2, Melee Expertise 1
Many skills are more prominent in the East than the West, Experience Point Cost: 400
though they stem from the same behaviors that shape
While it is unwise to do so, you can set your bird upon an
people throughout the entirety of the world, no matter
opponent. The bird can attack as normal but can also harass
what era or kingdom of origin.
the opponent, increasing the Difficulty of any attacks the
opponent might make by one step.
FALCONRY
(ANIMAL HANDLING) The Hunt
The following talents make up the Falconry talent tree, a Prerequisite: Animal Handling Expertise 1
parallel branch to the Animal Handling talent tree, that Experience Point Cost: 200
also uses that skill as its base. Though the skill is called You have trained and cared for hunting birds for many years.
Falconry, it also incorporates the use of other birds of prey When in possession of a trained bird, you may use the bird
— falcons, hawks, owls and even eagles. See Chapter 5: to gain +1d20 on Survival tests. In cultures where falconry
Encounters for writeups of eagles, falcons, and hunting is a sport of nobles, you may substitute Animal Handling
owls, while hawks are described on page 82 in Horrors of for the Society skill when dealing with other nobles.
the Hyborian Age.
A Majestic Sight
Falconry Talents Prerequisite: The Hunt, Animal Handling Expertise 2,
Society Expertise 1
THE HUNT Experience Point Cost: 200
You have learned that the sight of a bird in flight can be a
majestic thing. By training yours to display its plumage
MY EYES
MIGHTY BIRD while in flight, you can use this to garner acclaim from
ABOVE
those viewing the hunt. When at a hunt, you can use Animal
A MAJESTIC
SIGHT Handling instead of Persuade or gain favor with nobles. This
DISTRACTING is equivalent to opportunistic thievery (Conan corebook,
WINGS AND DEADLY ALLY page 136), though entirely legal and open. If a Complication
TALONS
is rolled, you have somehow incurred the disfavor of a noble.
Deadly Ally Mighty Bird

Prerequisite: Mighty Bird, Animal Handling Expertise 3, Prerequisite: The Hunt, Animal Handling Expertise 2
Melee Expertise 1 Experience Point Cost: 200
Experience Point Cost: 400
Maximum Ranks: 2 Nomads from the steppes find the falcon too small a bird to
adequately hunt with. With the Mighty Bird talent, you can
You have learned to control a hunting bird and can direct it in train an eagle to serve instead. Hunting with this bird offers
combat to attack a foe in concert with your own assault. You no additional bonuses, but allows Animal Handling to be
can roll its attack prior to taking your action and harvest any used instead of the Survival skill. If you have the Faithful
Momentum gained on that attack for the Momentum pool. Companions talent (Conan corebook, page 59), the eagle
If two ranks of this talent are purchased, the bird becomes grants an additional +1d20 to your Survival tests.
a Toughened creature (increasing its Vigor and Resolve as
appropriate). If this talent is purchased twice and the bird My Eyes Above
is already Toughened, it gains +1d20 on its melee attacks. Prerequisite: The Hunt, Animal Handling 1, Observation 1
You understand your bird is more aware than you are and
rely on this awareness. By keeping an eye on your bird, you
are hard to ambush. Any attempt to ambush you increases in
Difficulty by one step when your bird is in the air or nearby.
20 Chapter 1
GAINING A HUNTING BIRD

UNARMED TALENT TREE
Throughout Vendhya and Khitai, secret traditions of exer-
Purchasing one of the Falconry talents does not automat-
cise and movement have been codified into fighting arts,
ically grant a suitable hunting bird. If a character wishes
using the body’s strength and suppleness in place of — or
to possess an eagle, falcon, hawk, or owl to train, they
to enhance — the use of weapons. For some these traditions
must procure one. Depending on the region the character
are spiritual exercises, while for others these fighting arts
is in, finding a suitable bird requires either receiving one
are a very means of survival, particularly in regions where
as a gift, purchasing one, or trapping one.
possession of weapons is forbidden for commoners.
■ In tribal/nomadic cultures, a hunting bird is Unarmed talents count as Melee talents for purposes
usually a gift, either as a rite of passage, a where the total number of Melee talents are calculated.
gesture of respect between peers, or as a means
of achieving status or favor with another party.
OPEN HAND
The gamemaster should determine the circum-
stances by which this happens, if it can. This
is especially popular amongst Hyrkanians and BODY OF
FLOWING SMASH
Aquilonians, though the birds and circumstances WATER
are quite different. SYMPHONY
OF BLADES
■ Buying a hunting bird from a breeder is more
direct. The gamemaster should set the bird’s
Availability (usually 3, adjusted as desired) and FLASHING
CLOSED FIST
determine the price. An easy rule of thumb is STEEL
that it costs Gold equal to the sum of the bird’s
Vigor+Resolve+2 .§ Body of Flowing Water
■ If wishing to trap a wild bird to tame and train Prerequisite: Open Hand, Parry Expertise 2
it, the character must roll a Survival test with Experience Point Cost: 200
a Difficulty ranging from Daunting (D3) to Dire Maximum Ranks: 2
(D4) based on the environment and rarity of
the species. Another Animal Handing of equal So long as you are not wearing armor, you gain 1 point of
Difficulty must be made to calm and soothe the armor Soak against melee attacks. If this talent is purchased
bird once it is captured. Training it requires The twice, it affects all types of physical attacks.
Hunt talent (page 19) to know how to calm and
Closed Fist
win the bird’s trust and to teach it how to hunt
Prerequisite: Smash, Discipline Expertise 2
(and return!).
Regardless of the method by which the hunting bird was
You can cause incredible harm with a focused blow. By
procured, it costs 2 § Gold per Downtime to keep fed
and cared for, though a successful Survival or Animal
paying 1 Fortune point, you can roll damage twice on one
successful unarmed strike and choose which roll you wish
Handling roll may instead substitute 1 Momentum for
to take. Once the dice roll has been chosen, your attack
1 Gold, to a minimum of 1 Gold. This does not necessar-
gains the Vicious 1 and Intense Qualities.
ily represent actual coin spent on the animal, but the
effort and time spent providing food and shelter and Flashing Steel
maintaining its training.
Prerequisite: Symphony of Blades, Body of Flowing Water
If the Gold is not spent, all skill tests using the bird
are increased by Difficulty by one step until the next
Downtime, when another Upkeep attempt can be made. When able to benefit from the Open Hand talent, on a suc-
One additional Gold spent removes the Difficulty pen- cessful parry you can inflict 1 mental damage for every point
alty, but if the Gold is not spent, the Difficulty of tasks of Momentum spent. If attacked with a ranged weapon,
increases by an additional step, repeating as prior until you can attempt to parry, though the Difficulty increases
the bird becomes essentially unusable. by one step.
Open Hand Academy

Prerequisite: Discipline Expertise 1, Melee Expertise 1, Prerequisite: Savant
Parry Expertise 1 Experience Point Cost: 400
Through borrowed favors and the education of noble youths,
You have learned unarmed physical combat, and are able you have established an Academy of fellow philosophers.
to face steel with flesh, engaging rapidly and withdrawing Academies start with two philosophers, though you can
when you have struck. When in melee combat, so long as pay 100 additional experience points to increase the size
you are unarmed, you suffer no penalty due to Reach. of your academy by one philosopher. These philosophers
are knowledgeable academics, trained in Insight, Lore, and
Smash Persuade. They can assist in any test where they have train-
Prerequisite: Open Hand, Melee Expertise 2 ing at the rate of 1 Gold per philosopher. The philosophers
Experience Point Cost: 200 are assumed to have a TN of 12 for these tests. Academies
You can marshal your focus and deliver powerful blows. are ideal places to situate libraries, though they must be
When delivering an unarmed blow, you deal an additional purchased separately (Conan corebook, pages 141 and 143).
+1§ damage.
Ascetic
Symphony of Blades Prerequisite: Healthy Optimism, Metaphysics and Mysteries
Prerequisite: Open Hand Experience Point Cost: 400
Experience Point Cost: 200 Through constant physical training and meditation, you can
You can choose one specific weapon which, when wielded, channel your will into physical feats, using the Discipline
does not impact the use of the Open Hand talent. This talent skill for Resistance tests. With this talent, you can increase
can be purchased multiple times, once for each weapon, your Vigor to the same value as your Resolve, if it is lower.
specifying each weapon with each rank.
Healthy Optimism
Prerequisite: Know Thyself, Counsel Expertise 3
PHILOSOPHY TALENT TREE Experience Point Cost: 200
Perhaps due to the antiquity of the cultures throughout
the Near-East and East, the intellectual arts have long Philosophers are aware that the world is a shifting wheel
since turned from simple questions of faith in the gods to of events. While as subject to moments of Despair (Conan
metaphysical and existential questions about the nature corebook, page 66) as any other character, you recover
of existence. Many scholars dedicate their intellectual lives from it much faster. When you recover Vigor and Resolve
to this pursuit, whether debating arcane questions about at the end of a scene, you can remove Despair equal to your
reality itself in salons or classrooms, or by withdrawing Counsel Focus.
from society to work in seclusion on treatises read largely
Know Thyself
by their peers. On some occasions, however, their works
Prerequisite: Counsel Expertise 1, Discipline Expertise 1
spread and reach the ears of the nobility or the common
folk and can transform entire societies dramatically.
Maximum Ranks: 3
This talent tree is based on the Counsel skill for occasions
when the total number of talents associated on a skill must A philosopher is incredibly hard to convince of something
be determined. they do not already believe in. Any Persuade attempt against
you is increased in Difficulty by one step for every rank of
KNOW Know Thyself you possess.
THYSELF
Metaphysics and Mysteries
Prerequisite: Know Thyself, Discipline Focus 2, Sorcery
HEALTHY METAPHYSICS Expertise 1
SAVANT
OPTIMISM AND MYSTERIES Experience Point Cost: 200
A philosopher who has progressed into the study of meta-

physics has learned to question their thoughts and justifi-
ASCETIC ACADEMY cations. When affected by Persuade or Sorcery, on a failed
test you can spend 1 Fortune point in your next turn to force
a Persuade or Sorcery vs. Counsel test. If successful, this
allows you to ignore the result of the prior test.
22 Chapter 1
Savant is reduced to 0 Gold during Upkeep. You must follow the

Prerequisite: Know Thyself, Command Focus 2, Persuade commands of this regional leader or you will lose access
Expertise 1 to the effects of this talent.
Grand Master
Philosophers are highly sought after as tutors and advisors. Prerequisite: Circle of Masters, Temple
When in a large town or city, the Savant talent counts as if Experience Point Cost: 400
you had the Tradesman caste talent (Conan corebook, page Maximum Ranks: 3
21). In addition to this, when interacting with non-player
characters you can voluntarily and temporarily increase You can establish additional Temples for the training of
your Social Standing by +1 so that you are treated as the disciples. To do so, you must train one of your disciples
equal of a higher status non-player character. to the point they can teach others. Once the Grand Master
talent is purchased, you lose one disciple who will become
the master of their own temple in a different town at no
WISE MASTER additional cost.
At a certain level of knowledge, one is known as a ‘wise Should you wish to elevate additional disciples, the cost
master’. A true wise master, however, knows that genuine of establishing another temple is 700 experience points
wisdom lies in knowing what one does not know. To such (above and beyond the normal cost). When you establish
a person, mastery is life’s journey and it has no end but a temple, you can access it as per Circle of Masters or Secret
proceeds into the next life. Society if you possess those talents, for no cost in Fortune.
The Wise Master talent tree is based off the Discipline
skill and counts for instances when determining the total Secret Society
number of Discipline talents. Prerequisite: Circle of Masters
WISE
MASTER A wise master that has joined a secret society can find allies
in many places. Should you use the Circle of Masters talent,
you will be provided with one of your contact’s disciples. This
CIRCLE OF
TEMPLE disciple will be a capable assistant, though their ultimate
MASTERS
loyalty is not necessarily with the one possessing this talent.
Temple
GRAND SECRET
FEALTY Prerequisite: Wise Master, Counsel Expertise 3, one Holding
MASTER SOCIETY
(Conan corebook, page 295)
Circle of Masters
Prerequisite: Wise Master You can establish a Temple for the training of disciples. These
Experience Point Cost: 200 disciples will willingly undertake tasks for you, though you
must pay for their Upkeep. Temples begin with just two
A wise master often maintains a circle of letters with other
disciples, though they can be gained in the same manner
temples and masters. When visiting a town or city, you
as philosophers to an Academy (See Academy, page 21).
can pay 1 Fortune to possess such a contact in that town
Each disciple will cost 1 Gold of maintenance and Upkeep.
from this circle of other masters. While present, you can
Disciples use the same stats as a guard (Conan corebook,
confer with their colleague, who will provide +1d20 on any
page 317), though if you possess the Academy talent, your
Discipline, Insight, Lore, or Sorcery test while you are in
disciples are also philosophers.
their presence. The gamemaster is encouraged to describe
these other masters in as much detail as desired, and even Wise Master
have them visit your temple on a similar mission. Prerequisite: Open Hand, one other Martial Arts talent,
Discipline Expertise 3, Insight Expertise 2, Lore
Fealty
Expertise 2
Prerequisite: Temple
A wise master is well respected, and your skills and insights
Through promises to support the local lord you gain a
are sought by princes and generals alike. You gain the
mechanism to fund your Temple. While in possession of this
Tradesman caste talent (Conan corebook, page 21) and can
talent the cost of maintaining the temple and its disciples
use your Insight skill instead of the Persuade skill, if desired.
EASTERN NAMES
Eastern names are oft unfamiliar to the Western tongue. They are as varied as those of their Western kin, but often contain
more portent and meaning for the induvial than simple designation. The Conan corebook provides many sample names
appropriate to the region: here are more.
SAMPLE EASTERN NAMES

Homeland Male Female
Aarash, Aazar, Badeed, Farjaad, Gulrez, Abrisham, Afri, Benesh, Damsa, Gulnoor, Kaamsiha,
Ghulistan
Isaad, Jaah, Lodhi, Mirwais, Shahmeer, Yar Moska, Nageenga, Permaz, Shadleen, Yasmoon
Altan, Bourtai, Chatagai, Galdan, Kassar, Altani, Botokhui, Budan, Jaliqai, Khorijin, Ogtbish,
Hyrkania
Khaidu, Magnai, Nergul, Qadan, Uliac Saran, Targhun, Terbish, Toragana
Ashkan, Arash, Babak, Ervin, Izad, Javad, Adila, Banah, Daifa, Elhem, Fadia, Ghilyah, Haviva,
Iranistan
Mazdak, Ormazd, Shahin, Vahid, Zand Izidar, Karida, Myisha
Abahai, Cheung, Duma, Guan, Hsien, Jian, Lizhu,
Khitai Fei, Hseuh, Hua, Liling, Liu, Mei, Min, Shu, Xiao, Yueh
Tsang, Vertai, Wen
Ahen, Azarah, Bota, Canto, Fendi, Hanud, Ahna, Baiyla, Llao, Losana, Maesa, Samsi, Tanit, Tuvé,
Kosala
Qalandar, Rabaani, Wase, Zabdas Wutu, Zainab
Asha, Ashtikar, Ayush, Jatayu, Hashan, Adhira, Devya, Dulari, Esha, Gana, Kali, Mahika,
Vendhya
Madhava, Ruwan, Santosh, Suresh, Vinay Mana, Nadia, Oviya
FINAL TOUCHES PERSONAL BELONGINGS

AND GARMENTS
All who would make themselves a legend in the East carry
The following provide wanderer-specific elements to com-
with them marks of their identity, mementoes of their lives,
plete and personalize your character and can be substituted
and weapons to ensure that neither of the first two are
for those in the Conan corebook if desired.
likely to be taken from them. Below are examples of such
items, likely to be commonly found amidst the lands of the
East, whether by those who are strangers to the borders of
Vendhya, Iranistan, and Khitai or those who were born and
raised amidst their glimmering splendors. Roll 1d20 once
for each column or pick a desired result.
WEAPON AND PROVENANCE

Roll Weapon Provenance
1–2 Knife A gift from your mentor
3–4 Yuetshi Knife The weapon that slew your family
5–6 Broadsword Your share of your first raid’s bounty
7–8 Hyrkanian Bow Made of unknown metal
9–10 Tulwar Created from old farm tools
11–12 Staff …inscribed with the name of a legendary thief
13–14 Spear …a small fragment, missing from the tip
15–16 Sling …a handle with a small aperture, in which poison might once have been kept
17–18 Sabre …battered and worn but still keen
19–20 Two-handed Sword …tarnished with a blood stain which cannot be removed
24 Chapter 1
PERSONAL BELONGINGS AND GARMENTS

Roll Personal Belonging Garment
A small, beautifully shaped horse amulet of A thin, woolen jerkin, made in the traditional style of
1–2
unknown origin your village
A handheld mirror, which while crudely made, seems A wide-brimmed hat which hides the face, if tugged
3–4
never to break down slightly
A set of ivory dice whose numbers do not correspond
5–6 A coarse monk’s robe which is easy to repair
to any known numeric system
The religious icon which your mother wore and
7–8 A beggar’s rags, stained with drink and vomit
kissed before the end of each day
The eye-patch you took from the first person you
9–10 The bloody shawl of a butcher
killed
The faded cloth fragment of a tapestry, depicting a Thick, leather boots which leave unmistakable foot-
11–12
king and a god discussing the mysteries of the earth prints behind
A small, impossibly smooth stone with three hori- A grubby traveling cloak which smells of rain and
13–14
zontal lines in white, etched upon it blood
A desiccated, dried-up finger, taken from the body of
Horse-hide britches which are prone to shrinking
15–16 a great wizard and claimed to be a ward against the
slightly in poor weather conditions
evil eye
A map containing a route to a forgotten citadel, deep An executioner’s hooded cloak, with hidden pockets
17–18
within the mountains sewn in, to allow the theft of the victim’s valuables
A letter of introduction to one of the most venerated A lunghi, a Vendhyan kilt, which provides freedom of
19–20
scholars of the age movement
through exposure to the sun on the steppes. They

are generally slighter in build than Hyborians, as
well. Hyrkanians favor brightly patterned clothing of
APPEARANCE silk and cotton, with horsehide more common than
As in the West, the people of the East can often be identified cow leather.
by their modes of dress and appearance. While this is not
■ Iranistani are dark-skinned. Men often wear beards
always an accurate means of telling who hails from Vendhya
or moustaches. Women tend toward elaborate, silken
and who from Kosala — the Hyborian Age is not one in
dress, and everyone wears some symbol of their caste.
which people are afraid to chase fortune across national
Men often wear white garments with loose sleeves,
frontiers — for those who would know such things, some
clasped at the ankles. Sandals are common, though
traits are detailed below:
boots are popular for those who travel.
■ The Ghulis of Ghulistan (also called Afghulis) are a
■ Khitans share their Lemurian heritage with the
weathered, dark-skinned folk used to long days in the
Hyrkanians, and appear similar, though paler
sun. Males typically wear beards, and all tribal mem-
skinned and less tanned. Their hair is almost always
bers dress in significant colors of their tribe. Overall,
black, and their dark brown eyes have an epicanthic
their stature tends toward the squat and powerful
fold, giving them a narrow appearance. Clothing is
frames of their ancestors.
inevitably silk or linen, gorgeously patterned and dec-
■ Though there are many tribes that fall under the orated, often layered. Sandals are worn within the city,
name Hyrkanians, the majority have dark hair and and elaborate hats are fashionable within the court
brown or black eyes from their Lemurian stock, and and by public officials.
skin darker than that of the Hyborians, well-tanned
■ Kosalans show their Lemurian ancestry in slight Falconry Gear

epicanthic folds on the eyes and tan or brown skin. Falconry gear consists of a padded leather glove to be worn
They look like no one else in the East, however, and by the falconer, a hood for the bird, and a tether of some sort
carry enough variance that some could be mistaken affixed to the bird’s ankle when it must be restrained. Some
for Hyborians. variance exists between items used by a Hyrkanian nomad
and a royal falconer for a Hyborian court, for example, but
■ Vendhyans are deep, chestnut brown in skin color
they serve the same purpose. Use of these items allows the
and tend toward tallness in both the men and women.
Animal Handling skill and associated Animal Handling or
Some are relatively fair skinned, yet still darker
Falconry talents to be used without penalty: the lack of this
skinned than Hyborians. Their mode of dress evokes
gear increases all tests by one step of Difficulty.
their caste, though an outsider may not be able to
discern how. Even hairstyles and footwear give away
Tea Set
caste, at least to natives. Their garments disfavor
Tea is a way of life, almost a philosophy in and of itself
collars, and even lowly beggars wear false finery.
throughout the East — particularly Vendhya and Khitai —
Clothing and caste are inextricable in Vendhya.
though it is favored almost everywhere. A proper tea set
contains a set of intricately painted porcelain or ceramic
GEAR & EQUIPMENT cups, a kettle, a steeping pot, and other accoutrements as
desired. Use of a tea set in a social arrangement allows the
re-roll of 1d20 for any Society roll made while using it, so
Countries like Vendhya and Khitai are among the oldest
long as the value of the tea set in Gold is equivalent to the
and most civilized in the world, each with a rich and even
Social Standing of the one being served (see the Conan
decadent material culture; while to the West, the Hyborians
corebook, page 19, for more on Social Standing). If the tea
were amazed at their ability to make fire. Thus, the plethora
set is of lesser value, its presence is considered an insult
of items and equipment available to Eastern characters
to one’s status, and if it is of greater value, it is considered
is comprehensive, and the gamemaster may adjust the
ostentatious, in which case one failed d20 on the Society
Availability value of items from the Conan corebook (pages
roll counts as a Complication. Tea sets made by famed
137–144) to account for this disparity.
crafters are oft prized, and some sets may even have their
own fame or reputation. A tea set of worth usually comes
IMPROVEMENT ITEMS in a wooden case decorated according to its quality.
AND FACILITIES
Temple
Following are some unique items available in the East, which
The Wise Master talent tree (page 22) describes a temple,
may be of interest to player characters from that region, or
a type of school where martial arts are studied alongside
with a fancy for the exotic.
philosophical or spiritual disciplines. These range from
Academy basic dojos — which are little more than a training room
with accompanying side chambers, usually arranged around
Described in the Philosophy talent tree (page 21), the acad-
a central courtyard — to more elaborate and sprawling
emy is generally a place where philosophers and other
facilities with housing for students and disciples, as well as
scholars might congregate, confer with and debate one
armories, shrines, and ample stores, even gardens. However,
another, and teach a new generation of students in the arts
even the most basic temple has quarters for the wise master
academic and philosophic. Some larger academies contain
and disciples.
housing for students and faculty, while others are more
simple and stark affairs, requiring nearby accommodations.
EASTERN KITS
Skill Item Type Availability Cost Encumbrance
Counsel Academy Facility Talent 50 (or Holding) —
Animal Handling Falconry Gear Kit 3 5 1
Society Tea Set Kit 2+ 2+ 3
Discipline Temple Facility Talent 50 (or Holding) —
26 Chapter 1
in Conan the Pirate, but a particularly common type is the

TRANSPORTATION junk, which can range in scale from one to three masts
Transport in the East is like that in the West, though most (but sometimes as many as nine). All types feature fully
transport is of that most basic type, walking. Peasants and battened sails, where a series of long poles (called ‘battens’)
tradesfolk alike carry goods to market on shoulder yokes are set perpendicularly to the mast, extending the sail
or balanced on their heads, and heavier weights are born horizontally, though for some it is a fan-like arrangement.
on poles between two walkers. Junks are used for anything from transporting cargo to
The sedan chair, equivalent to a litter, is a common serving as royal pleasure barges, suitable for coastal trade
sight in civilized cities throughout Khitai and Vendhya, and extended oceanic voyages alike. The one presented
carried between two bearers. The chair itself is generally as here is an average example. The attributes above are the
rudimentary as a veritable sling suspended from a pole; it simple version, while the Junk sidebar (below) contains
may be as elaborate as a small, rectangular, boxlike, roofed the full writeup, compatible with the ship combat rules
compartment containing a comfortable seat, with curtains from Conan the Pirate.
or veils to prevent sun or unwanted scrutiny. These move Another class of junk, called the djong, is legendary
as fast as normal foot traffic and have very little storage in size, equivalent to a floating castle, much larger than
capacity, but have the notable advantage of using someone any ship put forth in the West by four or five times. These
else’s effort. Ownership of these is usually reserved for the vessels represent the pinnacle of the Khitan navies, and
nobles or wealthy, but commoners are often able to utilize each can house hundreds — even thousands — of soldiers,
them through what are essentially taxi services, so long as courtiers, workers, as well as their mounts and families.
they can pay. Rates vary but are usually less than a portion Made of teak, with two giant rudders and several levels,
of 1 Gold. Nicer ones can be rented for considerably more. djongs are relatively immune to most shipboard weapons,
Various watercraft suitable to the East include many and are constructed so stoutly that a djong can withstand
variants of those described in the Conan corebook and a collision with all but the largest vessel.
VEHICLES
Type Animals Passengers Stowage Availability Cost
Chair, Sedan — 1–2 10 1+ —/3+
Howdah 1 1+ 40 3 6+
Jong — 1,000+ 100,000+ — 500+
Junk — 20+ 100+ 4 20+
JUNK DJONG
This is a three-masted standard junk such as would be This is a massive seagoing fortress, more a mobile floating
used for trade or fishing. See pages 111–112 of Conan the castle than an actual sailing vessel. See pages 111–112 of
Pirate for a description of its Qualities. Conan the Pirate for a description of its Qualities.
ATTRIBUTES ATTRIBUTES
Sailing Range Crew (+ Passengers) Sailing Range Crew (+ Passengers)
10+ days 6+ (14+) 20+ days 200+ (800+)
Impact Damage Maneuver Impact Damage Maneuver
2§ 1 4 § —
STRESS AND SOAK STRESS AND SOAK

Soak Structure Breaks Soak Structure Breaks
2 10 3 4 60+ 10
QUALITIES AND NOTES QUALITIES AND NOTES

■ Qualities: Rugged, Ship ■ Qualities: Deep Draft, Ponderous, Rugged, Ship
The howdah is a large, sometimes-covered sedan chair or

platform worn atop an elephant’s back. Though this is far NEW QUALITY
from a rapid form of transportation, it somehow manages
PAIRED (X)
to be suitable for royalty (denoting privilege) and practical-
When used in a pair, the weapons are greatly enhanced,
ity (using the elephant’s immense strength to carry heavy
gaining access to the Quality described in the parenthesis
burdens). These can range from elaborate carved and gilt
at the value of X. For example, the antler horn knife, when
structures with silken curtains, to simple rough wooden
used in a pair, offers the Vicious 1 Quality to each weapon.
platforms with bags of rice or grain beneath for padding.
The weapons must be identical, or nearly so. The user
Elephants are described on page 81 of Chapter 5: Encounters.
cannot use two different weapons for this quality, even
War elephants, used primarily in Vendhya, are described
if each has the Paired Quality.
on pages 65–66 of Conan the Mercenary.
EASTERN ARMS AND ARMOR stiffened paper, but these are essentially heavy cloth-
While most common equipment found in the East is likewise ing, or equivalent to the padded gambeson from the
available in the West, arms and armor differ only superfi- Conan corebook.
cially, having followed the same principles of construction,
and in some cases been the inspiration, for weapons of all ■ Hyrkanians typically wear lamellar armor, as
sorts in the West. Below are unique examples of both utilized described in the Conan corebook (page 155).
by the soldiers, warriors, and clans of the East. ■ Weapons are considerably more exotic than those in
■ Khitan armor is laced brigandine, with nobles
the West, though most of the primary types — bow,
wearing mountain scale. Mountain scale is loosely blade, spear — are just as common. However, the art
analogous to Western mail, as described in the Conan of warfare is considerably more refined, and as such
corebook (page 154–157). the variety of implements of war are more highly
■ Khitans also employ unusual armor types, such varied. The following selection is but a token repre-
as those made from stiffened silk, woven reeds, or sentation of a much broader panoply.
WEAPONS OF THE EAST

Weapon Reach Damage Size Qualities Availability Cost
Antler Horn Knife 2 3 § 1H Paired (Vicious 1), Parrying 1 4
Bagh Naka
(Tiger Claws)
1 3 § 1H Hidden 1, Subtle, Vicious 1 1 5
Bichuwa, Kris 1 4 § 1H Parrying 1 5

Dao 2 3 § 1H Vicious 1 1 4
Hook Sword 2 3 § 1H
Paired (Parrying, Reach 2
or 3), Knockdown
1 4
Jian 2 4 § 1H Parrying 1 4
Krabi 2 4 § 1H Parrying 1 4
Khukri 1 3 § 1H Piercing 1 1 4
Maratha 2 4 § 1H Piercing 1, Unforgiving 1 2 5
Maru
(Horned Shield)
2 3 § 1H Shield 2 1 4
Mubuchae
(Fighting Fan)
1 2 § 1H Hidden 1, Parrying, Stun, 1 5
Urumi 2 or 3 3 § 1H
Backlash 1, Fearsome 1,
Spread 1
2 4
Wind and Fire

Wheels
1 3 § 1H Paired (Piercing 1), Parrying 1 4
28 Chapter 1
The yard-long Zhaibar knife, a characteristic weapon of ■ The maratha sword — named for the Vendhyan
that region, is described in the Conan corebook on pages culture that uses it — is a long, straight-bladed sword
145–146, and 148.The antler horn knife is a short, curved with an unusual hilt that completely encloses the fist
knife used in pairs, popular in Vendhya. and wrist of its wielder, locking the wrist in place so
that the blade is wielded as a direct extension of the
■ The famed bagh naka (tiger claws) are small hand-
arm. While worn, it provides +3 Armor Soak to the
grips from which protrude a row of long iron claws.
arm it is wielded with (soaking with any worn armor).
They are especially fearsome when used against
Due to its relative inflexibility, it adds 1 additional
bare flesh.
point to Doom when used to parry.
■ The bichuwa is a loop-hilted dagger popular in
■ The maru, or horned shield, is a small round shield
Vendhya with a long, curved blade, often thought to
with two long and spiraling horns protruding from
resemble a buffalo horn.
either side. It can be used to parry or attack with
■ The dao is a single-bladed sword common to Khitai, the horns.
often used by martial artists. It is relatively plain,
■ One of the more exotic of weapons used by Khitan
with a fairly straight blade that flares slightly at
martial artists, the mubuchae (fighting fan) is a
the point.
folding fan whose wooden slats are made of resilient
■ Hook swords are relatively unusual weapons, made birch often lined with metal slats, the edge of which
all of metal, with long blades with a severe in-curving feature razor-like blades. Some ingenious assassins
hook, a handguard resembling a crescent moon with use the mubuchae as a means of deploying throwing
points away from the user, and a long spear-like point blades, or poisons in gaseous or liquid form, opening
protruding from the base of the hilt. Used in pairs, the fan and exposing the victim to the deadly cargo
they are versatile and often overpowering. If used hidden within. Khitan alchemists are said to use
paired while attempting a Disarm Momentum spend, them to conceal small items like explosive pellets or
they provide 1 free Momentum. other caustic agents.
■ The jian is the most common relative to the dou- ■ The urumi is an extremely long and thin-bladed
ble-edged broadsword in Khitai, though with a nar- sword of extreme flexibility, used almost like a whip,
rower blade and more subtle crosspiece. This is the with the wielder forcing the blade into elaborate
standard issue weapon for most Khitan court officials and deadly contortions that can bypass shields or
or military officers. parrying weapons and strike deeply into flesh. Any
Complication with this weapon results in the blade
■ The krabi is a single-edged, gently curved sword used
tangling upon itself. Attacking with a tangled blade
in various fighting arts along the southern coast of
increase the Difficulty by one step. A Minor Action
Khitai. It is notable for its long hilt and lack of a pro-
will untangle it.
nounced crosspiece or guard.
■ Wind and fire wheels are elaborate bladed weapons
■ The kris is a long wavy-bladed dagger or shortsword,
consisting of a flat metal ring from which protrude
whose blade comes to a point. They are symbols of
several curved points and blades, with one section
status amongst the people of Vendhya and some of
of the ring wrapped as a handgrip. They are used in
the other Eastern nations, elaborately patterned and
pairs and are quite effective at parrying due to their
clasped in gold. Vendhyan mythology and folklore
larger surface area and many blades.
has these blades as sacred talismans, often with
reputed magical properties.
■ The khukri dagger has a slight bend in its wide blade

that flares out to a single-edged, leaf-shaped top with
additional weight, adding weight to blows made
with it. Though it is also pointed and can be used for
stabbing, its primary use is hacking, and a well-used
khukri can chop through an exposed wrist with ease.
It is favored throughout Kosala, Ghulistan, and even
parts of Afghulistan.
CHAPTER 2
GAZETTEER
The king of Vendhya was dying. Through the hot, stifling

night the temple gongs boomed and the conchs roared. Their
clamor was a faint echo in the gold-domed chamber where
Bunda Chand struggled on the velvet-cushioned dais.
— “The People of the Black Circle”
O
f that other half of the Thurian Continent, those of
the West know little. Stories are heaped about the
A HISTORY OF GHULISTAN
East like glory upon warriors and lies upon thieves. Ghulistan has been at war for longer than there has been
Extracting truth from this heady brew of fabulism and reality written word to record it. Whether against each other or
is not always easy, but some have trod rough paths through foreign invaders, the broken hills of this land have never
the wilderness of this knowledge and returned to share it. known peace. The indomitable tribal culture of Ghulistan,
What follows is a collection of their learnings and coupled with the unforgiving terrain, makes it all but uncon-
wisdom. Some is taken from primary sources, where pos- querable. Even the great generals of dim antiquity failed
sible, while other bits are legends even to natives of the to best the hillfolk for long. The blood of soldiers whose
region. This is not an age fully mapped in topography or kingdoms are long forgotten fertilize the ragged scrub of
mind. There are ever more mysteries beyond the next hill, plants that dot the uneven terrain.
over yonder mountain, and within that blackness called Stories told in small villages refer to the Ghuls, man-eat-
the Outer Dark. ing beasts that once ruled Ghulistan as kings. Any proof of
Count yourself lucky if you learn some of this knowledge such a species is gone, and only a name backs the legend.
firsthand, for lives are brief, memories briefer, and history Most Ghulistan natives, for there is no ‘Ghulistan’ people
written wholly by the victors. as such, believe only that the tribes were once, briefly, united
under a single chief. The name of this chief, the time of his
GHULISTAN rule, and the specifics of his conquests vary from tribe to
tribe. Vendhyans refuse to believe the hill tribes were ever
more than motley bands of jackals.
Ghulistan was once servant to Iranistan, and to the man-eat- But crafty jackals they have always been. Patient when
ing Ghuls before them. But the Ghuls are now dead, Iranistan invaded, the tribes harry intruders for years, decades, and
faded, and the native tribes are not eager to serve again. even centuries until — like a grindstone used too long —
The rough, rugged terrain makes for a butcher’s block upon the armies break and flake away. To begin with, there are
which civilized armies soon find themselves. Still, both few resources worth fighting for in Ghulistan, and the
Vendhya and Turan eye Ghulistan as their next conquest, natives have always relied on their geographical position
but can either of their armies match the ferocity of the and cunning to get by.
native hill people of this tortured land? There is but one person, if he can be called such, who
invaded Ghulistan and stayed — the Master of Yimsha.
30 Chapter 2
Centuries, maybe millennia ago, he came, his humanity trade routes wend through the rough landscape. Dangerous
yet clinging to him like an ill-fitting tunic. He staked out for any travelers, the swiftness of the routes proves a mighty
a claim on Mount Yimsha, and the tribes quickly gathered temptation. One must otherwise skirt Afghulistan, adding
to show him the way back through the Zhaibar Pass. Six weeks to a journey westward.
tribes united against the sorcerer, and six tribes were slain These trade routes follow old roads upon which silk,
that day. Their progeny withered and perished, and their spices, and conquerors previously traveled. For the tribes,
bloodlines died out. Even today, the names of those defeated caravans provide a steady diet of plunder. Most looting,
tribes are curses in native dialects. however, focuses on the outskirts of Vendhya and Turan.
Since that time, the tribes accepted that Mount Yimsha Neither kingdom is comfortable with this situation, but
belongs to the Black Circle, and all avoid the area by many both realize that pacifying Ghulistan would mean control of
leagues. Why the Master of Yimsha chose a lone peak in the profitable trade. Both also realize the history of attempted
Himelian Mountains has never been discovered. pacifications ended poorly for the would-be pacifier.
The various tribes care little for the pain of rivals. What
GHULISTAN UNCHANGED matters it to a Wazuli if an Afghuli village burns to the
ground? The encroachment by the Turanians on Ghulistan’s
While not a proper kingdom by any means, Ghulistan is
western border is therefore a matter only for the tribes that
perhaps the most unchanged land since the Cataclysm.
live there, at least for now. No attempt to unite the tribes
Rude tribes ruled the area then and rule it still. The lack of
has been made in more than a century. It would take a
order is, perhaps, the closest human representation of the
rare man of singular character to even entertain the idea.
universe. Like the Picts in the West, the tribes of Ghulistan
Rugged hills and mountains leave no end to the sorts of
ride the seething tides of history. It is all the same to them.
adventures outlanders might encounter within Ghulistan.
While no natural resources enrich Ghulistan, some few
From warring tribes to the machinations of the Black Seers,
this far-off land is sometimes the location of events of
uncanny import.
Gazetteer 31
OUTLANDERS IN GHULISTAN
GHULISTAN PROVERBS
Ghulistan is a largely tribal, clannish culture of tightly knit
Where Khitai holds a thousand and one philosophies,
extended families related by blood and marriage. They are
and Hyrkania bows to the edicts of Erlik, the Ghuli are
not over-friendly to outsiders, but neither do they hate
less fervent in both belief and man-crafted ‘wisdom’,
them if they come in small numbers. Merchant trading
instead relying on proverbs collected over generations.
caravans often ‘pay tribute’ to chieftains through whose
A Ghuli proverb is used in everyday speech, much to the
territory they must travel, and the Ghulis are fine with this,
confusion of outsiders. For, while a proverb may seem
for they have little want for the civilized nonsense most
sensical when translated, the nuances of each are deeply
merchants bring with them.
embedded in the Ghuli culture.
However, Ghulistan is a country which has seen inter-
Where to drop the Parable of the Vulture in a conver-
necine war coupled with many attempts by ambitious king-
sation is as important as understanding its meaning. In
doms to pacify the wild tribes. The latter have never been
fact, proverbs themselves can stand in for entire hours of
successful, and no ruler has of late attempted an incursion
outlander dialog, such is the extent to which the Ghulis
into their territory. Of course, there are those who would
know their collected wisdom.
march armies through Ghuli land to get at other enemies
But it is not the wisdom of gods, or smart folk, but the
and their ‘proper’ kingdoms. The Ghuli will have none of
collective wisdom of generations of Ghuli which matter.
this, and any group of well-armed travelers might easily be
A proverb only becomes lodged in culture because it is
taken for scouts of such an advancing army.
true and has been observed for many generations. As the
Ghuli raiders take any prize they think worth having
Ghuli say, anything else is “breath on the wind”.
and are little deterred by outlanders’ displays of power.
Any deep communication within Ghulistan requires
Thus, if a group intends to penetrate Ghulistan, they must
a mastery of such proverbs, and such mastery only
be ready to fight if they have not bought passage from the
comes from immersion in their culture. While Conan
required tribes. Doing the latter requires a native or broker
was respected for his might and keen tactical mind, it
of some sort who, of course, takes quite a cut of the tribute
is the respect he gave the culture, the time in which he
paid for safe passage.
assimilated the culture, and the wisdom he allowed
his outland mind to learn that permitted him to lead. A
GHULI ART, CULTURE, foreigner hoping to carve their way to glory will be hard
AND RELIGION pressed to do so, with might alone.
The Ghuli culture goes back some three millennia to the
advent of the Cataclysm. As told by the people who live there,
their lives are little changed from those storied days. They In the flowing script of the Ghuli people, outlanders
are proud to live on the same earth to which their father’s often find proverbs write into cloth and clay alike, though
fathers were born, on which their ancestors died and which, such proverbs are too complex for the outsider to master.
to date, is unconquered by foreign devils.
Ghuli Culture
A Culture Writ in Clay and Thread The varied tribes of Ghuli distinguish themselves in man-
The Ghuli do not go in for huge displays of opulence, and ners of dress, colorful headscarves, accented weapons,
it is rare to see the ruins of great fastnesses or redoubts. and horse tack that separate one tribe from another. So
There are no castles full of tapestries, not statues loom- deeply coded are these symbols in Ghuli life that a native
ing to unknown gods. A practical people, Ghuli art is can easily recognize the bloodline of another, even when
small, often portable, and usually practical in nature. they hail from across the entirety of the country. From the
An intricate rug can cover the floor of your mud home, a Himelian Mountains and hills to the flatlands, each tribe
statue to Ishtar will not. accents their dress in unique ways. Each Ghuli tribe has
Thus, they express themselves in pottery, the weave and their own songs, poems, and proverbs to distinguish their
weft of rugs and blankets, and other everyday items upon history further from their neighbors.
which personal and tribal histories are writ. Blankets and The Ghuli world is not the soft world of civilized folk.
rugs depict the history of a family, from marriages to death. They dwell in stone buildings connected in such a way to
Each village keeps a rug that tells the tale of that place and form a central courtyard where friends and relatives gather.
these are considered sacred. They are virtually the only large Their villages look poor to an outlander, for they keep little
displays of art one finds among the Ghuli, and even these in the way of gold or jewels unless they make their profession
can be rolled up and carried away as needed. as raiders. Instead, the value of a community is those who
comprise it. Value is that of strength and blood and mettle.
32 Chapter 2
Thus, for any outsider to gain respect, they must dis-

LEADERS IN GHULISTAN play these qualities to the degree expected among a given
While chieftains exist among tribes and villages, these tribe. Neither do the Ghuli let women slide on this matter,
men (for they are nearly always men) are war leaders for a pretty form is not nearly as useful as a keen mind.
rather than daily rulers. Instead of a single ruler, or even While women rarely rule openly among the Ghuli, they are
a hierarchy, a council of elders leads the typical village, often the power behind the scenes. They make the Ghuli
and, by extension, another such council leads a tribe. world run where its menfolk might cut each other down
These councils almost exclusively comprise older to nothing and leave the hills red with blood, the villages
Ghulis, though occasionally a younger member is allowed empty of children. “In a woman’s mind are the courses of
in. Such an advent is a tremendous privilege. The council the stars,” says a Ghuli proverb, stating that women plan
usually skews female, as men are not seen to have the the long course while most men’s temperament is built
temperament for long-term thinking in most tribes. One on emotion, rage, and vengeance. This is not to say that
exception is the Afghuli, where the rule of men is law. — to the Ghuli — a woman pays these no mind, only that
The councils ponder the great stresses put upon their she may do so while seeing to it that the village makes it
community. That community, as represented by the through another harsh season, or inducing treaties when
council, arrives at an answer. In battle the chieftain tribal war has gone too far.
takes prime position, leading their people in war and
Ghuli Religion
raids on rival tribes.
Ghulistan largely rejects the gods of the East, such as Erlik,
As a country, Ghulistan has no single king or queen,
and instead focuses on animism and ancestor worship. As
no central council, nor anything like a traditional
the family unit is the prime source of strength in Ghulistan,
Western monarchy.
and not the individual, it is seen as uncouth for one man
to be the holier than others. This is not to say that elders
and shamans, who know history and proverbs and the filial
bonds, are not respected, only that they are not treated like
Western priests. In the high parts of the Himelians, though,
are holy ones whose wisdom is sometimes sought. It is said
they practice a form of death-worship not unlike Erlikism.
Gazetteer 33
THE HIMELIAN MOUNTAINS

Some 500 miles in length, the rough Himelian Mountains
are the dominant feature of Ghulistan, and the bulwark
between it and the civilized tyrants beyond. Among snow-
capped peaks, people as old and wise as rivers are said
to dwell and tame wooly apes who look and sound like
humans but are not.
The current Ghuli tribes dwell in and around these
mountains, knowing their routes as they do the creases on
the faces of their mothers. Not one could become lost among
them upon the age of adulthood. To outsiders, though, the
valleys and rivers, rocky hills and flat ranges between crags
might as well be a labyrinth. More than one foreign army
bent on bringing the Ghuli to heel has died pitifully trying
to root them out of the Himelians and surrounding hills.
Weather here tends to be harsh, at least to those raised
elsewhere. Many crops can, in fact, grow in the Himelians,
but only the Ghuli know the secrets of such agriculture. So,
too, do they know what berries are poisonous, which herbs
heal, and which song of the jackals means “good night” or
means rally for a kill.
The Himelians are no place for people of the West. MOUNT YIMSHA
Even the eastern might of Khitai does not violate these
Though it is not the tallest peak in the Himelian Mountains,
craggy peaks.
the presence of fell sorcery ensures that this mount dom-
inates the landscape in every direction. The hill people
of Afghulistan make their villages as far away as possible
“I do not know if you are a man or a demon, Khemsa,” from this place, and none in recent memory have dared
he said at last. “Few of us are what we seem. I, whom approach it.
the Kshatriyas know as Kerim Shah, a prince from Legend says a cabal of wizards resides on the peak inside
Iranistan, am no greater a masquerader than most a dark, pyramidal citadel invisible from the ground. No
men. They are all traitors in one way or another, and natives claim to have traveled up that mount to see with
half of them know not whom they serve. There at least their own eyes whether this is true or not. The hill tribes
I have no doubts; for I serve King Yezdigerd of Turan.” are stout and brazen, but superstitious and wary where
magic is concerned.
“And I the Black Seers of Yimsha,” said Khemsa; As fact would have it, the legends of the Ghulistan natives
“and my masters are greater than yours, for they are not far off from reality. Orders of sorcerous folk do
have accomplished by their arts what Yezdigerd indeed inhabit this summit. Calling them human, though,
could not with a hundred thousand swords.” only applies to their acolytes. For the leader of the Black
Circle was once human, but is one no longer, and his four
— “The People of the Black Circle” Black Seers never inhabited the flesh of anything mortal
nor of this world.
Were one to brave the peak, they would encounter an
enormous chasm surrounding the summit, as if some god
carved the largest ditch the likes of which no one had ever
seen around the citadel. Below, one sees not the bottom of
the great crevasse, but instead a strange moat filled with a
dense mist, through which he might espy only the move-
ment of green-robed figures. To the common eye, there is
no way down the sides of the cliff. However, the acolytes
of the Black Seers know a way.
Barely visible along the edge of the cliff, some feet below
the very precipice itself, lies a golden cord. It is thin but
34 Chapter 2
secure. Following the cord leads to a series of handholds and mesmerism to halt any attack. Only one wearing the
and footholds by which a brave traveler may navigate to Girdle of Women’s Hair (described on page 97) can break
the floor hundreds of feet below. the hypnotism of these demons and thus break the globe.
The mist itself bears queer properties, as well. Unless Breaking the globe slays all four Seers and shatters
one continuously grips the gold rope, they cannot breathe everything made of crystal in the castle, including the
inside the foggy, spectral cloud. The air is like water, and door blocking the exit. The snakes spring to life, as does
any breathing it suffocate. Player characters must make a the knocker on the main door. Use the same statistics for
Daunting (D3) Fortitude test each round while in the mist these four serpents as described above. Once the crystal
unless gripping the cord. globe shatters, the pomegranates shoot up toward the roof
Further, the mist slows one’s descent, or perhaps it and disappear. This attracts the attention of the Master
slows time, for time and movement are, according to the himself (page 91).
philosophy of the East, inextricable. Seemingly, this would
be a boon to anyone unfortunate enough to fall through
the mist, but the slowing of time causes one to spend too She felt even her anger being submerged by awe as they
much time in the mist. No mortal lungs could hold enough entered the mouth of the Pass, lowering like a black
air to make it to the bottom alive. well mouth in the blacker walls that rose like colossal
The great ‘moat’ leads up the other side of the cliff to ramparts to bar their way. It was as if a gigantic knife
a series of stairs culminating in jade steps as broad as ten had cut the Zhaibar out of walls of solid rock. On
men lying across. The glassy jade seems carved of the rock either hand sheer slopes pitched up for thousands of
itself, though said rock is not itself jade. The stairs end at a feet, and the mouth of the Pass was dark as hate.
pair of doors fit for giants, upon which a gold knocker — in
the shape of a wedge-shaped serpent’s head — is affixed. — “The People of the Black Circle”
Any touching the knocker with bare flesh cause it to spring
to venomous life. Use the statistics for the Snake, Giant
(Toughened) on page 331 of the Conan corebook. The serpent
gains a bonus of three steps of Difficulty with its first attack. ZHAIBAR PASS
The black wall of the Himelians only parts for Zhaibar
Pass, and it is thus a valuable area fought over by the tribes.
Again and again he struck, hewing through polished However, should any foreign land grab be attempted upon
wood and metal bands alike. Through the sundered the Zhaibar Pass, the clans unite to push the devils back.
ruins he glared into the interior, alert and suspicious The pass has never been controlled by any other than the
as a wolf. He saw a broad chamber, the polished stone Ghulis themselves.
walls untapestried, the mosaic floor uncarpeted. For Ghulistan, the Zhaibar is a giant toll bridge between
Square, polished ebon stools and a stone dais formed near East and far East, and they extract tribute from any
the only furnishings. The room was empty of human merchants wishing to pass between the two. Should an
life. Another door showed in the opposite wall. army wish to march through the pass, they would have to
make some secret deal with a controlling tribe. Anyone
— “The People of the Black Circle” making such a deal with an outlander would become an
enemy of all Ghulis.
The doors are heavy and bolted. One must use brute
force to enter, hacking away at the doors. Past the doors lies
a jade gallery from which one accesses the greater castle.
A door lies on one side of the long room, but a crystal door “The treasure of the Vendhyan kings will be ours as
slides into place, blocking the doorway once the door is ransom — and then when we have it in our hands, we
sundered and the castle entered. One cannot get back out can trick them, and sell her to the king of Turan. We
the way they came unless they smash the crystal globe of shall have wealth beyond our maddest dreams. With
the Master of Yimsha (see page 91). it we can buy warriors. We will take Khorbhul, oust
A massive jade staircase, tapered like a pyramid, stands the Turanians from the hills, and send our hosts
behind a black dais. Four gold serpents twine about a crystal southward; become king and queen of an empire!”
sphere filled with a smoky gas in which float three golden
pomegranates. The Black Seers immediately appear to guard — Gitara, “The People of the Black Circle”
the jade dais if they have not already. Each uses its brute will
Gazetteer 35
KHORBHUL
MESSENGERS OF YIMSHA
One of the many walled towns and forts which for them
The Ghuli are no fools and give the Black Seers of Mount
lies to the Eastern border of mighty Turan, Khorbhul has
Yimsha wide berth. However, neither are the Ghuli com-
its share of raiding attempts. The Ghulis mislike the idea
pletely without contact with the lower acolytes of the
that Turan should claim any part of their perceived territory,
Master. Sometimes, if a child is missing, the Ghuli barter
but, so long as they venture no further than Khorbhul —
for their return. With another tribe, this is a codified
which most consider Hyrkanian territory anyway — an
process. With the acolytes, it is not.
uneasy peace exists.
Most abductees are left and forgotten, for no Ghuli
Khorbhul is a wealthy town by virtue of its location as a
wants to incur the wrath of the Black Seers. However,
rest stop at the beginning of what some call the Lotus Road.
some parents’ love is more powerful than pragmatism.
The governor of the town is corrupt on the fat of the floral
In such a case, the parents, or even the council of a vil-
drug’s profits, and is of late perhaps more easily lost into
lage, may hire foreigners to make the trek to Yimsha and
lotus dreams than keeping a watchful eye on the Ghulis
bargain with the acolytes.
and Hyrkanians. It is said that the People of the Black Circle
Why the people of Yimsha abduct children is anyone’s
control him, or at least want to, though this has never been
guess. Sacrifices, new acolytes, or even stranger uses…
proven; any who say so in the streets of Khorbhul have their
no one knows. Some fear the return of a child taken to
tongues cut out and nailed to the gates.
Yimsha more than they wish for the child’s return.
Khurum There are many things in the mountains — atavisms
Khurum is a region within Ghulistan, as well as a large older than humankind — which might be responsible for
village. The area is the territory of the Wazulis, among missing children. In any case, Ghuli are superstitious as
whom Yar Azfal is chief. The village itself sits in the hills a rule and most prefer it be outlanders, rather than their
of the Himelians and is well protected. The village is the own people, who lose their souls to such unnatural terrors.
birthplace of Akim Kurum, a legendary warrior among
the Wazuli who was said to be possessed of a magic sword
which could shatter any normal steel.
The Red Tower
Afghulistan
It is unclear whether this tower is manmade — or crafted
South of Khurum, Afghulistan comprises the craggy hills
by inhuman hands — and eroded over millennia, or simply
and very peaks of the lower end of the Himelian Mountains.
a curious feature of the Himelian peaks. Sitting at the top
The Afghuli are distinct from their Ghuli cousins in that they
of one the nameless mountains, the Red Tower appears
are wilder and more prone to raiding outlanders, even if they
mostly perpendicular to the ground, rising some 200 feet
themselves must venture to the foreigners to get at them.
into the air.
The most warlike of all the Ghulistan tribes, the Afghuli
The tower itself is not red so much as rust-colored, the
are led almost exclusively by men, with councils the excep-
result of the high iron deposits found on the mountain.
tion rather than the rule. From their contact with foreigners,
Those who have been there say foul glyphs are carved
they sometimes take the names of Western gods, though
upon the tower. The creatures lurking in the hills — almost
rarely with sincerity. Overall, they practice the same mix
human but not quite — know secret entrances. What lies
of animism and ancestor worship as the rest of the moun-
within none can say, for no living person is known to have
tain peoples.
made it out to tell such a tale.
GHULISTAN’S RUINS The Copper Dome

The ragged country and rough peaks of Ghulistan allow Hidden within the Himelian Mountains is a dome made of
many ruins to escape the eye for generations, even centu- what some say is copper and others say is gold. To hear the
ries. While Ghulis maintain they have alone occupied this Ghulis tell of it, one can spot the dome only at dawn or dusk,
terrain since the Cataclysm, there is irrefutable evidence in whereupon it glows radiantly with the light of the fading
the form of broken, moldering ruins that suggest otherwise. sun. Its size is that of a medium village, perhaps larger.
Whether these are evidence of former kingdoms, or simply Strange occurrences and disappearances occur in the
one-off oddities, is unknown. vicinity of the dome, and travelers claim strange hallucina-
The Ghuli, being a people of pragmatism, do not seek tions while passing nearby. Sleeping and waking become
out such civilized detritus nor share what they know of it indistinct, they say, as one moves closer to the dome, and
with outsiders… at least not for free.
36 Chapter 2
the Ghuli believe it is the portal to a land of their ancestors.

One they know better than to enter before their time. “As Xuthltan died,” continued the old Bedouin, “he
This may be true, or the site may be a remnant of Old cursed the stone whose magic had not saved him, and
Kosalan technology, whose reach extends from the dome he shrieked aloud the fearful words which undid the
into the minds of those around who can hear its call. What spell he had put upon the demon in the cavern, and
does it say? No one knows. set the monster free. And crying out on the forgotten
gods, Cthulhu and Koth and Yog-Sothoth, and all
The City of Evil
the pre-Adamite Dwellers in the black cities under
Lost in the shifting sands of Afghulistan is an ancient city
the sea and the caverns of the earth, he called upon
known simply as “the City of Evil”, a place carved entirely
them—to take back that which was theirs, and
out of uneven cyclopean blocks of black stone, its walls and
with his dying breath pronounced doom on the
broad boulevards watched over by great carved chimerical
false king, and that doom was that the king should
beasts — partly human, partly monstrous, brutal and alien.
sit on his throne holding in his hand the Fire of
Among the more prominent of these are winged bulls and
Asshurbanipal until the thunder of Judgment Day.”
bulls with men’s heads, called lamassu by the folk of the
East. It is said to be a place of the dead or haunted by djinn,
— “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, Robert E. Howard
cursed from ancient times to this day.
The Turanians call this place Kara-Shehr, “the Black
City”, and the Iranistani call it Beled-el-Djinn, “the City of
Devils”. This very city was spoken of millennia later in the it by its former owner, the sorcerer Xuthltan. The gem
Necromomicon of the mad Arab Alhazred, whose blasphe- itself is described in Nameless Cults, on page 106, and the
mous contents support much of what is written in “The gamemaster should determine whether it is to be found
Nemedian Chronicles”. Alhazred thought the city younger in the city or, fortunately for any who visit, long since
than its true age, and the tale of its downfall more recent, removed and plaguing humankind in some other remote
but the city itself is far older than even the Hyborian Age. and forgotten corner of the world.
The city’s makers warred amongst themselves, and the Should the gods be absent and the fire-jewel be present
walls ran red with their blood. within the City of Evil, it is still clutched in the hands of an
One of the more prominent locations within this black ancient king, preserved seemingly for eternity. Disturbing
city is the temple of Baal, from which the primary boulevard this likely unleashes forces beyond mortal comprehension,
leads directly from the city’s gates. This structure is huge, a ghastly, splay-footed creature akin to an unspeakable
featuring rows of immense columns, huge bronze doors abomination (Conan, page 345), able to break down the
which fortunately stand ajar, else the temple would be walls and reach from out of the darkness with long, grasping
impregnable. It is dark and somber inside, a mighty and tentacles. More likely than not, there are many such fiends
mysterious hall seemingly built for gods, all the more suit- haunting the shadowy, vaulted halls of this damned city.
able to house the one resident, represented by an immense
The Keep of the Blood-Stained God
idol of Baal looming behind the hideous black stone altar.
So similar to the City of Evil that their legends are often
This malevolent deity embodies the awfulness and cruelty
confused, another cursed place stands within the hilliest
of the city, and the curse of its presence is perhaps why the
crags of Ghulistan, a castle located atop a crag which juts
city is no longer.
against the skyline like a looming vulture. Three peaks
A stair leads upward to a throne room with a giant throne
form a pyramid to the south, oft featured on maps leading
of marble and a skeleton sits there clutching a giant crimson
to this nameless fortress. It is said to be haunted by ghosts,
stone, called “the Fire Jewel of Hell” — a monstrous ruby
inhabited by a slumbering god. At the end of a long, narrow
of incalculable value and with no minor curse laid upon
valley is a ledge upon which sits the castle — more a temple
than any fortress — and the ledge it sits upon cuts away
to a thousand-foot drop, making it seem even more terri-
As, he died in delirium, he babbled a wild tale of a silent fyingly inaccessible.
dead city of black stone set in the drifting sands of the From behind a large bronze portal door festooned with
desert far to the westward, and of a flaming gem clutched strange protuberances and ornaments, one can find entry,
in the bony fingers of a skeleton on an ancient throne. though the way is trapped by wily craftsmen and devilish
architects of old, who intended the castle be left alone
— “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, and trespassers dissuaded from rousing the slumbering
Robert E. Howard god. “The temple can be entered, but be careful, for the
god will take his toll,” say the people of the region, who
Gazetteer 37
rarely speak of this place if they can help it. In the center For now, such dismissive thoughts are comforting, but
of the winding corridors and confusing tunnels that make there are those from the West who’ve ventured deep into
up this fortress-temple is a large chamber, the center of Hyrkania and espied there remnants of civilized cities and
which stands a dwarfish figure of the god, its grotesque the ruins of forgotten empires. Some far time back, perhaps,
body crusted in red jewels. It faces the entry, ugly features the Hyrkanians lived as one, or at least under a single king.
seemingly fixed in cruelty, and whispered legends of the That is not so now, much to the relief of the West.
place state that its expression changes to outright glee Yet the Hyrkanians control a vast swathe of land which
when blood is spilt before it. any Hyborian king would envy. From the taiga in the north
Earthquakes plague the region, and many of the floors to the grasslands in the south, Hyrkania is, for all its seem-
of the fortress-temple show cracks, even great gaps, where ing disunity, the largest area on the Thurian Continent
the restless earth has broken walls and collapsed ceilings. In controlled by a single people. It would be but a small step
time, perhaps, the leviathans beneath the earth’s surface will to extend it further.
stir even more and claim this wretched place in its entirety, On full moons, witch-women and shamans hold new-
but for now it is a place to be avoided, and never spoken of. borns up to the silver light and look for marks, waiting, they
say, for the one who will bring the frozen Hell of Erlik to the
world itself. All, then, will tremble, for who does not when
Now the Lemurians enter history again as Hyrkanians. death himself rides at the head of the horde of his servants?
Through the centuries they have pushed steadily
westward, and now a tribe skirts the southern end A HISTORY OF HYRKANIA
of the great inland sea — Vilayet — and establishes
the kingdom of Turan on the southwestern shore. One cannot begin a history of Hyrkania with the Hyrkanian
Between the inland sea and the eastern borders of people themselves, for their blood is that of Lemuria, that
the native kingdoms lie vast expanses of steppes sunken island continent once populated by a barbarous
and in the extreme north and extreme south, deserts. people. Little is known of the Lemurians themselves,
The non-Hyrkanian dwellers of these territories only that some fled the sinking of their home during the
are scattered and pastoral, unclassified in the Cataclysm and landed upon the eastern shores of the
north, Shemitish in the south, aboriginal, with Thurian continent. There, at some point, an unknown,
a thin strain of Hyborian blood from wandering inhuman culture enslaved the barbarians for centuries
conquerors. Toward the latter part of the period if not millennia before they overthrew their masters and
other Hyrkanian clans push westward, around the began the long migration west.
northern extremity of the inland sea, and clash We must now part the veiled centuries and see, through
with the eastern outposts of the Hyperboreans. the blur of history not written, a time when the Lemurians
split — some heading to found what became old Stygia,
— “The Hyborian Age” and thus embracing civilization, while others roamed to
the steppes and taigas of what would become Hyrkania.
Hyrkanians, then, are no stranger to barbarism, for
it boils in their blood like a primal scream. It is natural
they would become a nomadic culture, taming the rough
HYRKANIA wilds between the Vilayet and Khitai with horse and bow.
These uncivilized hordes, in fact, are probably closer to
their roots than those Lemurians that built Old Stygia, for
It is prophesied that one day the so-called barbarians of
the construction of cities and pyramids is the work of folk
the East shall meet those of the West before, once again,
who’ve abandoned the rough blanket of the stars and the
the world is rent by cataclysm and this Age passes like
hard bed of the Earth.
the month’s moon. Where this prophecy first originated
That bloodline is dimly remembered now, and most
is unclear, but the Hyrkanian clans cling to it as a kind
Hyrkanians identify first with their larger clan, then their
of destiny.
people, rather than with any stories of slaves who threw off
Today, however, the great sweep of the steppe people
their shackles. Whatever gods those Lemurians worshipped
halts at the borders of Turan and the lotus-haunted jungles
are nigh forgotten — save for a few strange redoubts — and
of Khitai. Though the clans are massive and strong, they are
given over to the worship of Erlik.
not united, and internecine wars — as well as conflicting
While the worship of that death god binds the
interpretations of Erlik’s will — keep them a danger pushed
Hyrkanians, it likewise divides them, as no consistent
back into the mind of most Hyborians and Turanians alike.
interpretation of Erlik’s will predominates. For at least a
The nomad people have their empire, in Turan; those who
millennium or more, the clans have roamed as they pleased,
wander still have no desire for one, so why worry?
38 Chapter 2
pushing back all invaders and allowing no further shackle Yet there is no single queen or king that the Emperor
to tether them. of Heaven or King of Turan can bargain with, and so trade
Yet there are ruins of empire within Hyrkanian which and passage must be arranged by individual clans. Such
suggest that the nomads did, in some distant alley of the routes through Hyrkania are themselves valuable simply
past, form a civilization rooted in agriculture and stability. for the tribute they extract, and are warred over by the horse
Though few, the Kazar even today have a king and dwell in clans. There are things from the civilized world Hyrkanians
the ruins of cities more ancient than rivers and mountains. want — mined metals, spices, lotus, and more.
While they have forgotten the secrets of empire building, For civilization’s part, Hyrkania is a massive sea of sav-
Khitai and Turan fear Hyrkanians could all too easily remem- agery between the lights of Paikang and those of Aghrapur.
ber it and, having done so, ride over either kingdom while While there exist routes through Kosala and Vendhya, by
flying the banner of death itself. far the most direct route is through Hyrkania, and thus the
empires of Khitai and Turan must deal with the nomads.
THE NOMAD LAND As discussed, every attempt to tame them, to bring them to
heel under foreign masters and laws, has failed.
The history of Hyrkania is largely oral, save for the glyphs
Beyond the items mentioned above, Hyrkanians deal in
carved in ancient menhirs that dot the region and record
slaves, though they rarely ever keep them. They are willing
land claims, for tribes both extant and forgotten. Generally,
to sell outlanders to other masters, and even some of the
the past is of little concern to a Hyrkanian. The future,
worst of their own people, but the clans themselves have
especially death, preoccupies their minds.
no slaves and think such practice a crude reminder of the
Nomadic, the Hyrkanians have few permanent structures
corrupt nature of civilization and its people.
except for altars and rude-hewn temples to Erlik. Otherwise,
Yet the number of slaves which move through Hyrkanian
they live under the stars and sky, given to the four winds,
territory is staggering. They are all too happy to profit off
and living much as they did a thousand years ago.
the backs of those not their kin. If city-dwellers wish to
Hyrkanians are warlike and considered savage by their
whip and order each other about, it is no business of the
empire-building Turanian kin. But most other cultures,
Hyrkanians. They simply waste time before they attempt
excepting perhaps that of Khitai, would not consider
to appease Erlik on his black throne.
Hyrkanians savages in the same way they might Cimmerians
Yet even as Khitai and Turan, Vendhya, and Kosala deal
or Picts. Perhaps it is their sheer numbers, or the fine crafts-
with Hyrkania, they also fear her. The collected horse
manship that adorns their armor and forges their blades,
clans are hordes against which any wall might fall. Kings
or their estimable horses,. The Hyrkanians are not civilized
and queens are all too aware of this. They thus treat the
because their culture has yet to reach that cycle of history,
Hyrkanians with respect, at least openly, though they curse
but rather because they reject it. To a Hyrkanian, the stable,
them behind their backs. For now, the Hyrkanians are fine
settled life is like a corpse — cold and still and boring. A
with the arrangement. They have not been roused to fury
falcon at their wrist, a war cry in their lungs, and Erliks’s
— have not been united under Erlik’s singular will, nor the
symbols snapping in the wind as they charge into battle
will of a single ruler, in more generations than they can
— that is life. There will be endless centuries for stillness
count. But in the libraries of Paikang, where few besides
when Erlik calls them home, and they intend to take the
the emperor’s scholars are allowed, are books that record
most of life before they meet their god, for he will expect
previous Hyrkanian incursions and speak of a Hyrkanian
them to heap such rich experiences upon his black throne
kingdom which spreads from the East coast of the Thurian
in his frozen hell.
continent to beyond the Vilayet. Hyrkanians have prophe-
Hyrkanian, it should be noted, is both common language
cies suggesting this empire will one day form again; Khitan
and common name for the people within the borders of the
astrologers, too, see it written in the stars.
titular demesne. However, the clans themselves are quite
One day, deep in the heart of every civilized ruler, is the
diverse, and what follows is an overview of what Hyrkanians
knowledge, certain as death, that their walls and towers
have in common. For details on specific clans, see pages
will collapse, that their crowns shall be stripped from their
40-43. What applies to one clan may not apply to another,
brow, and that the land will be ruled by savages just before
and the outlander who misses the differences may quickly
another Cataclysm ushers in a new age and wipes this world
find themselves sold as chattel or dead.
from map and memory.
HYRKANIA AND CIVILIZATION OUTLANDERS IN HYRKANIA

Hyrkanians are not civilized, but that does not mean they
Hyrkanians are not particularly suspicious of individual
do not understand those who are. They trade frequently
outsiders, for they are firm in their position and numbers.
with both Turan and Khitai, and most of the Lotus Road
What can some small group of travelers do to a land as old
passes through their territory. It does not do so for free.
Gazetteer 39
and storied as Hyrkania? However, if Hyrkanian clans are drunk, but it is not at all as pleasing nor as appetizing as
not paid tribute for caravans or any such merchants, the alcohol. They would have to settle and maintain fields to
outlanders are stopped. More often, they are simply raided. get the crops needed for the wine or ale such as produced
Outlanders not killed outright are often sold to one kingdom by other cultures. Instead, they trade for it.
or another as slaves.
Further, even if one clan took tribute, another who Those Who Ride Together
disputes the territorial claim may cause trouble and kill Hyrkanian culture centers on individual filial units that
the outlanders. Yet Hyrkania is friendlier to Westerners comprise the greater clan. Clans themselves sometimes
than most parts of the West would be to them. Their land divide into sub-groups named for their region or animals
is vast, and they do not monitor the comings and goings of found in said region.
every individual or even merchant. They look for the large Names are of great import to Hyrkanians, for they believe
profits and, if they suspect someone as a spy from Turan the name of a child maps out their destiny. As such, children
or Khitai, they stop them, as well. are often given no names at all until they reach the age of
It is up to an individual clan whether to accept outsiders. about five, after which Hyrkanians believe Erlik has not
Traditionally, clans intermarry amongst themselves, but selected them for early death.
not with outlanders. This isn’t expressly enforced, but Naming rituals are events which entire sub-clans attend,
Hyrkanians take pride in their Lemurian bloodlines and and those of chieftains and other important people may even
do not often wish to see them diminished with the weaker be cause for mass gathering of a single clan. The typical
blood of civilized folk. child, however, can expect their extended family to show
up for the naming rites. Once a child is given a name, they
HYRKANIAN ART, CULTURE, have a soul. Prior to that, the child is considered a non-being,
a thing Erlik watches to decide whether they have any use
AND RELIGION in the world above the frozen Hell of death.
Hyrkanians are a diverse people without codification. The As careful as Hyrkanians are in the selection of names,
horse clans share the same blood, though, and to a large they are just as superstitious about everything else. Omens
extent the same culture. What follows is the general art, mark the world, for those who can discern them. Falling off
culture, and religion of Hyrkania. For a deeper look at a horse on the first try is an ill omen for the rider. Stepping
individual clans, see pages 40-43. into someone’s yurt or ger without asking is an invitation
to combat. The appearance of certain birds augurs death,
Only What One Can Carry while the appearance of certain other animals suggests
Hyrkanians produce little in the way of literature or art for good fortune. It should be noted that Hyrkanians are not
its own sake. Their history is oral, as are their laws. They find afraid of death, and do not necessarily see such omens as
little need to record such things. Exceptions occur around bad signs, merely ones that shall bring change.
the worship of Erlik, for whom all sorts of talismans and
small idols are made. The Land of Erlik
Hyrkanians do play flute-like instruments, which, accom- The central god of all Hyrkanians is Erlik and his realm
panied by singing impossible for outsiders to duplicate, is that of icy death. To be Hyrkanian is to be on a path
comprise a strange musical heritage. There are rarely actual toward death one’s entire life; they do not exist outside
lyrics to their songs, but rather vocal glossolalia and hum- the dooms that shall end them. Such a mindset is difficult
ming which they believe is the way the dead speak, or at for many outsiders to process. While Hyrkanians rejoice
least as close as the living can approximate. in this life, it is only in preparation for the next. Perhaps
Hyrkanians dress their horses in finery and gilded armor, only missionaries of certain Mitran sects are as obsessed
and themselves in fur, conical felt hats, and the like. Their with the next life as Hyrkanians.
ger, or yurts, are usually spare, but the people themselves Days of Erlik come at fall, just as the leaves turn brown
have color displayed on their person and animals. and the ice first creeps down from the taigas to sheath
Such color is merely accent, though, for this life is the the land. For two weeks during this period, all clans feast
path to death, and Hyrkanians embrace earth-tones and and celebrate. The dead are remembered only during this
blacks for most of their dress. People of higher stature, period. It is important for an outlander to understand that
however, are bedecked in all kinds of outlandish costumes Hyrkanians do not otherwise grieve or think of the dead.
during festivals and even sometimes marching to war. The dead have moved to the truer world, while those left
Hyrkanians do enjoy the art, gold, and sundry items behind must prepare their own souls for departure.
of other cultures and keep them as curiosities. They are Cairns, called ovoo, are the traditional burial sites for
willing to trade for them. Of all the goods outlanders offer, most departed. These cairns dot the landscape like tiny,
wine is among the most prized. Hyrkanians themselves rocky hills, and no Hyrkanian would think of looting them.
brew a mixture of blood and horse milk which gets them
40 Chapter 2
For an outlander to do so, and be caught, is an immediate Though it is disputed by scholars and even the clan itself,
death sentence. Nearly all clans leave offerings at cairns the Turanian Empire was founded hundreds of years ago
such as candy or wine. They do this whether the cairn be by a splinter of this clan that calved off and settled around
of their own clan or that of another. Walking three times, the Vilayet Sea. Even if true, there is no love lost between
counter to the sun, around a cairn is a show of respect. The the Turanians and their nomad cousins.
opposite invites the dead’s relatives to come upon one as
enemies and oft begins tribal feuds. Skuda
Children are swiped with ash during the night; this is so Astreas, the great traveler of the Hyborian Age, has written
they are mistaken for spotted rabbits instead of tiny people, his belief that the Skuda are related to the Iranistani and,
warding against spirits who have not gone on to Erlik’s like the Hyrkanians, broke off from their nomadic empire
domain but were instead rejected and haunt the living in and settled that kingdom in much the same way as the
a realm between this world and Hell. Hyrkanians founded Turan. Proof of this theory remains
Such spirits invite all sorts of further superstition. elusive, however.
Invoking the name of someone who did not die well is Like all Hyrkanians, the Skuda have their roots in the
tantamount to the gravest curse. Again, Hyrkanians speak time-lost Cataclysm, and their blood, too, is from that
of the dead only during the two-week festival of Erlik. Those sunken land of Lemuria.
who do otherwise are blasphemers and invite the wrath of Unlike most of their kin, the Skuda have a distinct ruling
revenants upon them. class of royals. These filial bonds go back centuries and are
recorded on great stelae that dot Skuda territory. Due to
HYRKANIAN HORSE CLANS this royal bloodline, nearly every chief of every minor clan
is related, and the Skuda possess something of an actual
While outsiders consider the Hyrkanians a monolith culture, hierarchy between sub-clans and groups. Outsider have
one is disabused of that notion after any extended contact yet to discover which sub-clan ‘rules’ the entirety of the
with the people. From the comfortable grasslands in the Skuda, if indeed any such tribe does.
south of the country to the steppes that dominate its center The Skuda are also known for the great burial mounds
and the frozen taiga at its north end, dozens upon dozens of they erect to their dead royalty and famed warriors. These
clans live, war, marry, and die under the eye of the death god. mounds, known as kurgans, reach upwards of 60 feet in
Following are the most powerful and notorious of these height, looking like hills to the untrained eye. Inside these
clans. This list is by no means exhaustive, and even the tombs, reportedly, are also the remains of powerful warrior
premiere scholar of the Hyborian Age, Astreas of Nemedia women and even queen-like figures, suggesting the Skuda
himself, admits there are more rituals, customs, and division females have equal rank among the men. Graverobbing
than he could easily guess at. There are tablets, say one by any Hyrkanian is punished by summary executions.
culture, upon which Erlik has writ not only the name of Outsiders, unfortunately, do not die so quickly as that.
every clan that ever was, but every clansman who ever died. The Skuda are second only to the Hyrkanians in the
No one is likely to see this roster and return to speak of it. mastery of mounted warfare. Rumor holds they have sacked
outlying cities of Khitai in ages past.
Hyrkanians
For the Skuda, the afterlife of Erlik’s frost-sheathed hell
The largest and most powerful of the horse clans, the
is presaged by the House of Many Doors. In this house,
Hyrkanians give their name to the entire country and,
the dead enter and remain until such a time as they can
outside its bounds, the people, as well. Believing themselves
find their way out. However, only one door leads to Erlik’s
the purest descendants of Lemuria — and consequently
reward, while the others lead to non-being, cursed reincar-
the closest to Erlik — Hyrkanians are what nearly every
nation, or enslavement to the Outer Dark — among other
Westerner thinks of when the clans are mentioned.
horrible things. The Skuda believe all homes are a form
They dress in buckskin and furs, wearing distinctive
of this afterlife abode and this, they say, is the reason they
caps that mark them as members of this potent clan. The
remain a nomadic people.
Hyrkanian bow, while not exclusive to them, is named for
the fashion in which they make them. They practice the Kunnak
form of Erlik worship noted on pages 70-71 and consider The Kunnak are a warlike nomadic empire resting against
their form of belief the true way. the edge of Khitai. Their economy is nearly inextricable
Hyrkanians are warlike, given to wandering, and tem- from that of the great Jade Empire, for trade, tribute, and
pered for venturing outside their lands. This, perhaps, is raids comprise most of the wealth taken by the Kunnak.
why so many Western folk think this clan represents all. The region of Khitai they hector is wealthy enough to
Few others venture outside Hyrkania. buy them off, but thus far not clever enough to hunt them
Gazetteer 41
THE RITUAL OF THE SHADOW

There exists a little-known Hyrkanian ritual which only cast it. Thereafter, the shaman tells the caster to speak
elder shamans know. Not only is it secret, it is dangerous, the name of the person who the shadow will avenge
for those who practice it forsake a place before Erlik’s themselves upon. The shadow then slips away, only to
throne. Still, this conjuration is one of deep vendetta, be seen again by the intended victim. Thereafter, the
and so some in this life take the chance. person lacks some part of their soul and, unsurprisingly,
The ritual must take place in some sort of rock enclo- casts no shadow. When they die, whether the shadow
sure, be it a cave, or passage tomb, or other construct. finds its prey or not, they wind up in a limbo between
The shaman builds a fire and incorporates the bones of this world and that of the dead.
fallen enemies excarnated by carrion eaters. The fire is Such attenuated souls are called braka by the
built in such a way that a single person’s shadow is cast Hyrkanians, or “half-souls” in their language. One should
sharply against one wall. The shaman tells the person pray to their gods to avoid the notice of a half-souled
to take on a menacing position, like a thief killing in the being, for they are hungry for the essence of the living,
night. Once the positions are held, the shaman outlines believing that accumulating other souls will grant them
the shadow on the wall in the charcoal of the dead ene- entrance to Erlik’s realm.
mies. Then, the unnatural occurs. If desired, the gamemaster should represent this
The shaman next strips the shadow from the walls creature as if it were a Shadow on the Wall, described
itself and severs it with a ritual knife from the person who on page 187 of the CONAN corebook.
down in their own territory. Though the Great Emperor As for Erlikism, the Kunnak see Erlik as a death god, yes,
of the Heavens would like to see the Kunnak gone, they but one who is known as the Plague Bearer. The banners
control a major portion of the Lotus Road. Even if Khitai they carry into combat show a dead horse upon which rides
could quell the Kunnak, they would wind up dealing with a man, afflicted in boils and covered in bandages. In fact,
another clan whose terms might not be as agreeable. such plagues do run through the Kunnak, though they see
Of course, war breaks out regularly between Khitai and the infected as blessed. Many who survive infection become
the Kunnak, though it is a war of skirmishes, raiding, and shamans and are said to gain their ability to divine through
captives. A full-on assault by either side would break the the pain and disease.
parity which, to date, allows both to be simultaneously The Kunnak have also managed to use the plague-ridden
enemies and necessary partners. as weapons, flinging diseased bodies with siege machines
The fallen empire of the Kazar, and what now remains over the walls of Khitan cities, or infiltrating them in other
of its people, are sworn enemies of the Kunnak. As the ways and spreading the contagions. The cities, forts, or
story goes, the two clans are each sired by sons of Erlik, as towns often succumb to the plague, whereupon the Kunnak
are all tribes if one digs far enough into their roots. These ride in with little resistance.
two siblings, however, were murderous.
To please their father, one sibling brought a hoard of Tashtyk
gold taken from a conquered people. The other sibling This nomad empire rules in the far north steppe and taiga
brought a hoard of knowledge, also taken from the same of Hyrkania. Despite the desolation and oft monochrome
people. The siblings quarreled over who offered their father nature of their terrain, the Tashtyk people are known for
the better tribute, and in so fighting one killed the other. color both in dress and body. They favor bold reds and blues,
Who was the murderer and who was the victim depends dying their cloth where other Hyrkanians are content to
entirely upon which tribe one hails from. For the Kunnak, leave the earth tones they expect to find in Erlik’s realm.
their sire was most certainly the killer, for who would want As for their bodies, tattoos are near constant on men
to be a victim? and women alike. So much so, Astreas wrote, “that when
Kunnak, when not at war, are practitioners of divination. naked it is as if they are clothed from a distance.” Such
In great copper bowls around which a single man could not decorative effort goes into the saddles, bridle, and armor
wrap his arms, they mix freshly melted snow or stream of their horses. To many Hyrkanians, the Tashtyk are con-
water with the blood of their enemies. In this bowl their sidered ostentatious.
shamans then read the future. So it is in every clan within Like other Hyrkanians, the Tashtyk bury their dead in
the greater Kunnak nation. long kurgans. In fact, it may be that the Tashtyk began this
42 Chapter 2
practice. In any event, they claim it was stolen from them any portions of the Lotus Road that snake through either
by the other tribes. Such is the permafrost of the taiga and clans’ territory are ever shifting.
steppe in their territory that bodies naturally mummify, Rumor holds that other tribes speak with the great
and many Tashtyk believe it takes some while for actual empire of Turan and Khitai to take this portion of the Lotus
death to occur. Road from these bitter rivals and thus keep commerce
To this end, they mark their kurgans with totemic guards flowing. Such rumors dishonor Erlik, the clans accused,
which they believe watch over the almost-dead as they and are a quick means to an ugly death should one utter
slowly decompose and join the realm of Erlik. them publicly.
The Tashtyk are kin to the Hyperboreans, and the latter
peoples likely moved west as Tashtyk before developing Alkhon
their own culture. Perhaps the only truly ‘savage’ Hyrkanian clan, the Alkhon
Tashtyk shamans are especially important within the are feared by the other clans. The reason is simple: the
clan. They are discovered as children when they have visions Alkhon are cannibals. They rule the very far north of the
or dreams of Erlik. While this is considered a good omen taigas, and come south to war with their kin.
for the clan, it is often an ill-omen for the child’s parents. Mothers in other clans tell their children to behave lest
Upon learning a child may have the Sight of Erlik, they the Alkhon come for them. They are a fierce people who
are lowered into a deep well dug expressly for such pur- tattoo themselves with the ink markings of those they kill
poses. There, they are left without food and water for nigh and eat. Cannibalism is a ritual for them, a way of life. To
on three days. Near the end of their ordeal, they doubtless consume the dead is to take their power and deny them a
hallucinate and — if alive when the clan returns for them seat near Erlik’s throne. If the Alkhon have their way, they
— they are considered to have the Sight and begin training will be the only clan who dwells in Erlik’s hell. They will
with an older shaman among the clan. be his warriors, powered by the essence of the dead, who
Giving these children food is forbidden on pain of death, march over the land when time is dead, civilization is dust,
as is giving them water. If the snow falls into the pit, they and only barbarian hordes remain.
will drink. If some prey wends its way down, they will eat. It is not known whether the Alkhon eat their own dead,
Otherwise, they must endure or be taken into Erlik’s realm though it is quite likely. When preparing for battle, their
with whatever visions the god deemed the above-world warriors paint their bodies in a fluorescent color in patterns
not ready for. making them look as if they were skeletons from the waist
up. None have ever seen an Alkhon kurgan nor an Alkhon
Kazars cannibalism ceremony.
Once, the Kazars were a settled empire of towns and even, If the tribe were larger, surely they would sweep out of
it is said, cities. Hundreds upon hundreds of years have the north and consume the whole of the Hyrkanian people
passed since that time, and the Kazars are now a nomadic before turning their ravenous appetite on the world.
empire like the other clans. They tend to make camp around
ruins of their previous empire, though none living today Old Lemurians
truly understand how the pillars were made, the walls In the hills and mountains that border Khitai are rumored
erected, or what, exactly, went on when the streets were to exist Lemurians who did not advance further west. These
thick with throngs. Lemurians, should they be more than rumor, have not
The Kazar are a people with amnesia, the heirs to a evolved into other races but maintain a pure bloodline
forgotten world whose detritus they consider sacred. They to the past.
believe Erlik purposed them to build this empire and then, Most Hyrkanians speak of them in whispers, telling
having in some way failed their god, took it away. Their their children tales to frighten them, that such monsters
destiny is to see it rise again. To this end, the Kazars have will abduct them in the night. Yet Hyrkanians also fear the
tried more than once to unite the clans under their standard, possible existence of these people for, if they are of purer
but each time without success. The Hyrkanian people are blood, may they not be closer to Erlik?
simply not ready to settle, or Erlik has not yet deemed it time. The truth may never be known by the Hyrkanians, but
There is a melancholy to the Kazars not found in other these Lemurians worship a god far older than Erlik, one
clans, as well as an envy of Turan to which they would they believe helped release them from their inhuman
never admit. The four winds call to the Kazars as to other masters many millennia ago. In fact, stories among the
Hyrkanians, though not as strongly. They are sworn enemies Khitan scholars of Paikang record meetings with these
of the Kunnak, who the Kazar say tried to kill the spawn people who — the writings say — are also not human and
of Erlik from which they are sired and who was, instead, whose magic is dark, bedeviled, and connected to horrors
killed in turn. Battles between the two are constant, and out of space and time.
Gazetteer 43
Whether any of this is true is uncertain. What is known once helped stop the great tsunami of the Bori and the
is that seemingly pre-human ruins exist in the hills and soldiers of Set itself.
mountains in which these people supposedly live. Traveling
near such ruins is considered an invitation to the Outer Dark A HISTORY OF IRANISTAN
and these near-humans who worship the abominations
which rule there. Like Shem, Iranistan began as a series of desert-dwelling
Perhaps they are a lost sect of Lemurians or some terrible tribes. Initially, these tribes clustered around the sources
progeny between inhuman master and human slave from of water found in the plain, stark land. Over time, they
antiquity. In any case, no scholar nor adventurer has gone fortified these wells of life, and the forts grew into cities
close enough to find out. At least not yet. and towns. In Shem, the desert-dwelling folk continued
the nomadic life. Not so in Iranistan.
IRANISTAN Civilization thrived in this land and grew with speed and
purpose seldom found in the post-Cataclysmic age. Pottery
and poetry, blacksmithing and trade — all flourished in an
Before Turan turned empire builder, when they were just unrivaled period of technological expansion. When the
more Hyrkanian horsemen with ambition, Iranistan ruled Bori tribes sacked the first Acheronian cities, Iranistan was
undisputed in the so-called “near-East”. The minarets already an accomplished, advanced culture.
of her city winked under a sun shining over an empire Its people divested themselves of the folk superstitions
extending from the Vilayet well into the deserts of Shem. of their nomadic roots. With settlement and civilization
The rich tapestry of Iranistan’s history weaves in and out came a theology unknown anywhere else in the world, a
of the legends of the region, like the djinn wind in and out Manichean dualism in which two forces continually strive
of the wishes of humankind. While her glory days seem for power. The first is Ruhs, the truth of the world and the
behind her, Iranistan is not to be taken lightly. Her armies creator of all things. The other is his alter aspect, Druj Daeva,
44 Chapter 2
a demon as inseparable from Ruhs as a person’s head is East. The nomadic tribes of Shem know better than to
inseparable from their body. stray far into Iranistani territory, and neither Turan nor
Such plain delineations between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ were Vendhya yet have the means to conquer the land. Perhaps,
largely unknown to man. While all might agree the Outer given time, Iranistan may reach a place where expansion
Dark was unnatural, there was nothing in it which was inher- is again possible.
ently the work of one force or another. The early Iranistani For now, though, Ishtar worship, which forged the
people changed all this, and their religion influenced later caliphate, threatens to tear it apart from within. Different
religions which followed. interpretations of Ishtar’s words to the prophets divide the
While only the Iranistani knows the intricacies of the people. Small internecine wars have already been waged
relationship between Ruhs and Druj Daeva, Astreas makes over who is right and who is dead.
some mention of this diarchy: “An unfamiliar and curious Under these circumstances, the nation threatens to
faith once took root in Iranistan. On one side was order and fracture or erupt into all out civil war. The current caliph,
purpose. On the other chaos and destruction. The Iranistani a woman in this case, claims direct contact with Ishtar. Her
worshipped the greater, creator aspect but respected its chief rival, a male caliph from a wealthy province, claims her
mirror.” He says little more about this belief system, most a fraud and his own bloodline the true heir to the prophets
likely because it has since been driven underground. Ishtar first visited. To outsiders, the differences in their
The Iranistani and Shemites both claim to be wellsprings beliefs seem minor or inscrutable.
of Ishtarism in the world, and these two views will never Still, for all the world one cannot find busier suks,
reconcile. However, Ishtar in Iranistan took a different aspect more numerous merchant houses, or finer textiles than
than in Shem — she was a living goddess who appeared in in Iranistan. While the nation itself seems on edge internally,
the form of a woman to prophets in the distant past. From it remains a powerful center of commerce.
this simple beginning, the tribal folk of Iranistan spread
word of this miracle; Ishtarism, along with a new polythe- OUTLANDERS IN IRANISTAN
ism of lesser deities such as Anu, took the kingdom as a
Iranistan boasts cosmopolitan cities and sizable towns based
sandstorm does a great city. This altered the nature of rule
in trade, Outsiders are welcome if not entirely understood.
in Iranistan, as shahs converted to Ishtar out of faith or by
Hyborian people especially appear barbaric to the Iranistani,
the blade, and the age of the caliphs began.
given their blunt directness and seeming aversion to reg-
The Empire of Iranistan ular bathing. At least, such is the opinion of the people of
The caliphs of Iranistan ruled in the name of Ishtar, whereas Ishtar’s grace.
the shahdom before merely ruled at the pleasure of Ruhs. Even if the people do not understand outlanders, they
The consolidation of religion served to further consolidate are happy to do business with them. So long as an outsider
earthly power, though the players changed as Manichean respects the customs of Iranistan, and does not insult Ishtar,
rulers were toppled in favor of those who worshipped they are likely to have little trouble in most areas of the
the new god. country. However, the recent fractious trends internally
This did not upend the rise of Iranistani culture but necessitated the use of the occasional Hyborian mercenary
only quickened it. Technological wonders, mathematics, army. Some citizens carry the grudges of those interactions.
and philosophy all bloomed under the early caliphs. Their
rule was also responsible for the nation’s expansion. Once, SUSIDON, THE GREAT CITY
Iranistan ruled a quarter of the world. It does so no longer. The oldest city in Iranistan is also among the oldest of the
post-Cataclysmic world. Susidon dates back contempora-
A NATION IN UNREST neously to Acheron or Old Stygia, at least in some accounts.
The once far-flung borders of the Empire lapsed in the Scant records indicate Susidon grew out of a fortified oasis,
centuries which saw the rise of the Hyborian people and much like legendary Zuzer of the White Pillars. The exis-
the beginnings of Turan. While neither event is the singular tence of Susidon, however, is not in question.
cause of Iranistan’s eroding power, neither helped. Like The walls of the city are made of heavy sandstone encased
all kingdoms man forges, the sun has merely begun to in polished limestone, which gleams like the white-hot fire
set on Iranistan. In time, so too will it descend on the new of a forge when the sun is at its peak. Four gates, one for
kingdoms of the world. each of the cardinal points, lead into and out of Susidon.
Though Iranistan wanes in influence, the culture and Portions of the wall, however, required expansion over time,
military of the nation remain strong. No finer art, no deeper and an inner wall, almost entirely incorporated into current
faith, no greater well of stories, no more advanced math- structures, is yet present inside the city. One section of this
ematics and astronomy are found anywhere save the Far Wall, known as Anu’s Break, is venerated as holy. Faithful
Gazetteer 45
come daily to celebrate at this location where Anu suppos- was forcibly changed to the Festival of Ishtar, so covetous is
edly fought for the early Ishtarans and broke the back of a she of her sole divinity and rule. Ancient Mahzdhan texts
Stygian army trying to subsume Iranistan millennia ago. relate a story of a beggar who became an actual king. Such
Like most Hyborian cities, Susidon is home to slums as is a threat to the royal bloodline.
well as palatial estates. The poor and the rich find themselves While no actual beggar is known to be king or princeling
in the same conurbation, if not the same world. Iranistan of Iranistan, an unofficial king of the begging community
does not have the same rigid class system as much of the does exist. They say he lives in the sewers of each great city,
East, but its citizens work off debts as indentured servants like a king rat, and his edict is law for those with no station.
rather than slaves. Indeed, it is illegal to own a slave of Child beggars, called bohmzi in Iranistan, apprentice and
Iranistani origin. Foreigners are not so lucky. pledge fealty to the beggar king, or so the legend goes.
The Dome of Ishtar IRANISTANI ART, CULTURE,

Perhaps the single most concentration of gold in one struc-
ture in all the world, the Dome of Ishtar is plated in gold,
AND RELIGION
a hemisphere of opulence and faith over the city. Four To understand all aspects of Iranistani society, we must
towers, topped with gold minarets, flank the complex at return to the faiths on which they are based; then, like a
each corner. Inside the first wall are gardens as lush as any sleuth, trace that line through its history to some semblance
Khitan jungle. Guards are ever present, but any Iranistani of a theory. The East, simply, is complex, and the Near East
citizen has the right to worship at this temple. the bridge which uncomfortably joins those kingdoms
Marble imported from far off lands comprises the inte- divided by the Vilayet.
rior of the temple. Gold, silver, and gems form arabesque
designs leading to the central chamber topped by the great A Refined Esthetic
dome. The concentrated wealth in this single edifice is Iranistani art is a mix of both East and West, which influ-
enough to make King Yezdigerd’s mouth salivate like a enced cultures from Shem to Ghulistan, Vendhya and
man lost in the desert. beyond. Weaving, textiles, pottery, jewelry, and more are all
heavily influenced by the original Iranstani empire in the
The Temple Palace region. Their literature and illuminated manuscripts told
Following the fall of the sultanate, the royal palace became wondrous tales which, sadly, have mostly been lost. The
more than simply the house of the ruler, it became a sec- palace in Susidon keeps what remains under lock and key.
ondary temple. Her Majesty Andana claims divine status Many legends of Ishtar which now populate other king-
by virtue of her bloodline. As such, her ancestors saw fit doms originated with the Iranistani. In any suk one can
to connect the Dome of Ishtar to the royal palace to sym- find both miniature statues of Ishtar — a tradition dating
bolically entwine the royals and the god. back a millennium — and stories reflecting her mythology.
Unlike the Dome, not every Iranistani has access to the Many of these are available only orally, though enterprising
palace. Embrasured walls feature gold-topped merlons and minstrels are wont to sing them to anyone who will pay.
the main gate is made from the thickest wood of remote Ziggurats and large statues of man-animal hybrids dot
Khitai. The caliph has a fascination with the exotic and the the remains of the once-great Kingdom, testament to a
foreign and keeps a seraglio of male courtesans with skin culture that has not been exceeded by any now extant in
as dark as coal, as pale as the northern hills, and as yellow the Hyborian Age.
as the papyrus of Stygia. Her handmaidens have access to Much math and numbers also derive from Iranistan
their own such seraglio, a point which rivals use to accuse and such characters appear on the ledgers of merchants
the crown of impropriety. across the Thurian continent.
Beggar Kings of Susidon The Rot Behind the Mask

Old stories, older than many the Bori tell, involve beggars. Much of Iranistani culture is about keeping up appearances.
Oft times the beggar in a given story happens upon a great Their best days are, for now, behind them, but one would
secret or treasure and, in so doing, gains wisdom or wealth. not know this to see their public works, to talk to the people,
In reality, these are just stories, but legends persist that to see the way they maintain the old tombs of dead kings.
Susidon, and other Iranstani cities, have actual beggar In fact, resentment grows in the hearts of many Iranistani
kings. The average citizen on the street has heard all about who see their taxes being spent on a past that is dead while
them but has no specifics to give. they struggle for basic necessities.
The Queen Andana rejects the notion of the beggar king Nevertheless, the average Iranistani takes great pride,
to the extent that the annual Festival of the Beggar King at least publicly, in the façade presented to the world. But
46 Chapter 2
if one goes into the crooked alleys, past the great public general Yelu who conquered the opposing twelve kingdoms
gardens, beyond well-kept statues to the goddess, one sees and made his, then called Kitay, ruler over all. His rule was
a civilization in decay and, perhaps, ripe for revolution. brutal and harsh, but not without booms in knowledge and
philosophy. In fact, Soong — an ancient, semi-mythical
Garden Temples of Ishtar philosopher — even then helped unite the newly formed
One of the great monuments to Ishtar is not in stone but in state under a set of common precepts.
life. Iranistani gardens are miracles of water-management Yelu — who took the title of Emperor, Magnificent Son of
and public works. They radiate with energy, greenery, and 10,000 Years — established the course of the empire which
flowers. There is nothing like them in the world. began to take hold over the former Thirteen Kingdoms.
Ishtar is present in many aspects of Iranistani life, from Yalu's dynasty was no more immune to the natural order
marriage and childbirth to war. The Ishtar worshipped here of things than any other. His descendants found their power
is a multi-faceted deity who is the mother and protector of fade, and then fall apart entirely. But rather than collapse
her people. Yet, with decay comes also a loss of faith, and into barbarism or anarchy, a new dynasty swiftly took its
strange cults crop up in ugly corners of the shrinking empire. place. Such has been Khitai's way for recorded history,
They say they worship gods far older than Ishtar, far older, though not all of these dynasties have been Khitan.
even, than the planet itself. Authorities deny knowledge
of such cults and speaking of them openly is punishable The Invasions of the Hyrkanian Horde
by large fines and even imprisonment. Like the Picts in the West, the Hyrkanian hordes raise their
head every few dozen centuries and run wild over civiliza-
KHITAI tion. In the case of Khitai, this takes the form of periodic
barbarian invasions from Hyrkania. Some are small things,
a petty kingdom rises, taking the capital and splitting the
Khitai is massive and its influence is boundless. Peoples land in two for some decades or centuries. Few are larger,
who have never been within a thousand miles of it know the onslaught of Great Khans, who sweep away Khitan
its wealth and culture. Its goods reach the far corners of the armies like so much wheat and institute their own dynasty.
world due to the history and wealth behind them, carried But even this, Khitai endures. Each time a Khan has come,
alongside wild rumors and incredible legends upon the Khitan culture and traditions have endured. And when the
Lotus Road. Khan's heirs inherit, they soon find themselves becoming
Khitai ranges from dense jungle to frozen tundra, great Khitan, or thrown out in favor of a return to Khitan rule.
plains to impassable mountains. Its history is as varied as The remnants of these conquests are felt, even to this day,
its peoples, and that such a place has held an identity for in the physiognomy of people in western Khitai, the nomadic
so long is testament to its power. nature of some tribes on that frontier, and the mastery of
archery for which the Khitan military is now famous.
A HISTORY OF KHITAI The Slow Return to Empire
Khitai is the oldest continuous empire on the Thurian
The secret to these victories is flexibility. A trait the Khans,
continent besides Vendhya. Both survived the Cataclysm,
for all their martial prowess, lacked. Time erodes all things
and are at least 10,000 years old. As the two kingdoms
which refuse to bend in the wind. While the Khitan mili-
have no common history and do not share a calendar, it is
tary did not bend — and thus broke like stiff bamboo in a
impossible to say with any certainty which is older. Even
typhoon — its culture proved more pliable. The Hyrkanians
Astreas acknowledges that Khitai may be the most ancient
simply had no structure to contain the entirety of their realm
post-Cataclysmic empire.
beyond the cult of personality of the most recent Khan. The
This history is so ancient it stretches into legend. None
empire crumbled and Khitai rose again. Recent emperors
truly know the first dynasty of Khitai, though many suspect,
have been keen not to suffer the fate of their predecessors.
and each new ruling dynasty claims descent. What is known
Border forts were built along the entirety of the frontier,
is that long ago, the people of Khitai were many nations
reinforced by mighty castles and hundreds of thousands
who slowly consolidated during the Period of Thirteen
of troops. Hyrkania has not since ventured far into Khitai.
Kingdoms. This era saw internecine war flare across Khitai
Of course, such an extensive history is difficult to track.
from the ocean to the borders of the steppes in the East.
This is not Hyrkania, where the long arc of history is unim-
Warfare came of age in the East during this period.
portant save in vaguest generalities, or the myriad kingdoms
Innovations in arms and armor, formations, and tactics
of the west, where history simply does not stretch back any
grew quickly. In the Hyborian lands, such methods of war
appreciable length. Khitai has millenia of past beneath its
were lost with the fall of Acheron, but Khitai never fell.
soil, and that length accompanied by the ravages of time
Instead, it united over decades of war under the brilliant
have meant that much of it is unknown. Dynasties may only
Gazetteer 47
THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN The truth of Kitai, the kingdom it hides, is veiled behind
the seductive lie of an eternal monolith. Kitai changes.
The ruler of the Celestial Kingdom of Khitai — one of
Kitai learns. Kitai breathes. Those who do not realize this
its many honorifics — takes his or her mandate directly
will suffer for it.
from the stars. The cosmos is alive for Khitans, and their
Not that a foreigner would realize this, of course. These
leaders hear it speak. This should not be mistaken for
things have become Khitan over time, indistinguishable
deity worship, because the Mandate of Heaven is not
from those elements that have originated in Khitai itself.
like the divine right of kings.
Commoners, too, know about the wheeling stars
above and even read fortunes in them. They know the KHITAN ART, CULTURE,
teachings of the great books, of filial duty, and duty to AND RELIGION
kingdom. Should a ruler break with these traditions, Khitans consider themselves at the apex of culture, philos-
said ruler is not automatically correct. More than one ophy, spirituality, and sorcery, and in many ways this is true.
emperor has been deposed for placing gold or conquest Khitai’s military is unrivaled from her western border to the
above traditional values. Vilayet and possibly beyond. Khitan art has gone through
Reflecting the Mandate of Heaven is the Dragon, the more phases and cycles than all the Hyborian nations com-
galaxy in which our world floats. It is both symbol of the bined. It is a huge country with outsized ambitions. Even
empire and its destiny. Khitan snakes are larger than their Western counterparts,
wrote Astreas.
Truly, Khitai is large and powerful, but it remains unclear
whether it matches the great heights of Acheron. Certainly,
be known about in vaguest generalities, ancient histories
it never reached the technological advancements of Old
reduced to legend, or scattered passages in ancient journals.
Kosala. On the current Thurian continent, though, it ranks
Much has been forgotten here, and what has been for-
with Aquilonia and Turan in power, though never have
gotten has always had the ability to kill.
these mighty empires met in battle.
For the foreigner, Khitai is more legend than fact, and
THE HIDDEN KINGDOM there are some ignorant outlanders who claim the place
The current dynasty has ruled for over 1,000 years, one a total myth. It is not, and should one have the mettle and
tenth of the prophesied length of the empire itself. In size, sword-arm, traveling there is possible.
only Turan under King Yezdigerd rivals Khitai, and even his
mighty domain is smaller. One can march from great deserts Unparalleled Craftsmanship
to snowbound permafrost and yet remain in the borders Both artist and artisan are venerated in Khitai, for beauty
of Khitai. Jungles vaster than any save those in the Black is a part of the celestial whole upon which humankind
Kingdoms contain lotus of every variety, and silk spun in can reflect in its time on Earth. The bind between art and
the empire creates a road of sorts from Paikang to Ayodhya. religion is as strong as in Vendhya, though Khitan religion
Religion does not have the same place in Khitan culture is less organized. Khitan jade is quite simply the finest in
as elsewhere. The gods in Khitai are the spirits of the land all the Thurian continent. The supply is seemingly endless,
and the ancestors who came before, more often than not each piece being part of, at least symbolically, the Great
the personifications of mythical beings. The emperor’s Dragon, a galaxy of stars around which Khitans plot their
divinity is without question, and the rudiments of pure calendars and lives.
reason begin to guide the kingdom; reason the world will Little wonder, then, that the dragon motif appears in so
not see again for some 8,000 years. much Khitan art. From the Emperor’s seal to private sym-
The emperor controls a series of internal highways bols over the doors of simple country homes, the dragon is
which make Hyborian roads look like mere forest paths. both blessing and warning in Khitai. While it sleeps, it is a
Vast wealth moves through the country as well as into it. beautiful thing, but when it wakes it is a terrible thunder.
Trade is bountiful, and that trade brings religion, people, Aside from jade, gold, silver, and other precious stones
and ideas into Khitai. Many religious beliefs come from hold similar value in Khitai as in Turan or Ophir. As men-
Vendhya, art and architecture are influenced by southern tioned, silk is plentiful in Khitai and tailors there make the
and northern neighbors, and influence them in turn. The finest garments in the world. The kings of the West all own
simple scale of the empire means that internal cultural Khitan silk raiment.
exchange is not just present, but an ever-present factor in As a curious counterpoint to the dragon, the image of
the grand empire. the elephant, though only the head, predominates much
48 Chapter 2
of Khitan art and many temples in misty jungles of the Certain stars are represented by the purple towers and
South, though the culture native to that region has long tether the city — and by extension the Empire — to the
since left this earth. cosmos above. Streets follow constellations, and places
A third motif, that of the varying forms of lotus flowers, where even dim stars glow in the night are prized territory.
also appears regularly in Khitan art, both contemporary In fact, where Western cities have sectors devoted to the
and ancient, festooning all manner of ceramics and cloth, aristocracy, Paikang’s elite are spread among the city, each
and carved into walls and wooden furniture. ancestral abode tied to a star of a constellation above.
It is thus that Paikang buildings of import seem oddly
Duty and Fealty designed to the Western eye. Would that a man could turn
Khitan culture is deeply codified under the idea of duty into a bird and view the city through the lazy muslin of cloud,
and legitimacy. Khitan history is ancient, and however young it would become clear that each such building represents
the current dynasty their legitimacy, their right to rule and a key sigil in the night sky.
enforce their will, derives from their ties to dynasties long
past. The Emperor is owed loyalty because of the Emperors From the ground, however, they seem chaotic, discon-
before them who were owed that loyalty. A parent is owed certing, and even akin to the alien geometries of the Old
loyalty because of the parents before them. And so on. Ones. That connection, however, has never been proven.
Many institutions seem divorced from this. Yet still they Yet there are ever rumors of cults on the streets of Paikang.
conform, looking for some way to tie their authority, their Of “the true Emperor or Empress” whose name must never
right to act, from Khitan history. Or, failing that, accepted be spoken.
sources of authority like the Imperial Throne or parenthood. Politically, the ageing Emperor rules through counsels
The philosopher Soong set the basic rules of ethics and and governors of varying prefects from the Purple Lotus
fealty followed today. While periods in Khitai’s history Palace. Privately, it is said, there is a struggle between the
upended this basic set of principles, Khitan history always families who once collided in the War of Five and the empire
returns to them as if inexorably tethered together. is not so unified as it appears. Some of these would-be
Age equals veneration in Khitai. Wisdom comes with usurpers truck with the cults and deal with foreigners to
age and is never dismissed out of hand. The punishments accomplish bloody machinations in which no respectable
for disrespecting an elder are as draconian as the ones for Khitan would openly participate.
stealing. Society is a pyramid atop which sits the Emperor.
The family is a pyramid upon which sits the eldest male The Palace of the Purple Lotus
member, though, in some cases, extraordinary women have The Palace of the Purple Lotus sits off center in the city
proven equally or even more capable. The family reflects of Paikang, again mapped to a certain star. Its pagodas
society. In this way society and filial strength are one. are the titular color, and like-colored banners snap in the
Sorcery is accepted in Khitai where it is rejected else- wind around the palace. The design of the palace itself is
where, though Khitan sorcery relies more on mesmerism a microcosm of the entire city, if one could see the plans
than summoning. Every Khitan knows of the power of drawn up long ago by a now heralded architect. Even were
hypnotism and, in knowing this power, is thus subject to one to gain access over the outer walls, they would have to
its effects. Those from the West, who hold no such beliefs, know how the city maps to the palace compound in order
do not as easily succumb to such powers. to get their bearings. By that time, guards or cats from the
The Outer Dark is not the plentiful source of sorcerous jungles south would likely have dispatched such intruders.
power in Khitai as it is elsewhere. Though black magic Violating the walls of the palace is forbidden without
finds much use in Khitai, alchemy and hypnotism are more written request from a high official. There is no bluffing
common. However, those Khitan sorcerers who do practice one’s way inside.
the black arts are as puissant as their counterparts west The palace was not the first of its kind. That dubious
of the Vilayet. It is said the Emperor keeps a court of such honor goes to the Butterfly Demesne, ripped down when
wizards at his disposal. the evil Empress Wu was overthrown. Today, her face still
looks out over the kingdom from one of the tall peaks
PAIKANG, THE IMPERIAL CITY where, it is said, it appeared overnight upon her ascent to
the throne. This giant face is more than 100 feet in height,
The purple towers of Paikang loom over the whole of the and that does not include the mountain itself. The nose
world, it is said. Built upon a site where a star fell to Earth was broken off in attempt to erase her from all memory, but
millennia ago, Paikang is mapped to the stars above it even those who defaced the visage died horribly in time, as did
now. Such is the layout of the city that it resembles the their children and their children’s children. That, at least,
Great Dragon, that milky galaxy in which Earth finds itself. it what the Khitans say.
Gazetteer 49
The Mantle of Heaven The river is sacred, and befouling it is punishable by

slow, public death. Bridges regularly cross the river, but
This vast square represents a cluster of stars above called the
not necessarily at the most advantageous geographical
Mantle of Heaven. The brighter stars are mimicked below
points. Rather, they appear as dictated by the stars above.
by huge, open pagodas under which the busiest market in
Trade is vital to any empire and, here in the capital, the
the East bustles with life.
Quian is the lifeline by which the imperial city rules the
Lotus is sold openly here, as are hundreds of spices,
rest of the empire, as the river branches out like the veins
silks, and works of art that dwarf the achievements of the
of a man splayed open on one of the anatomical tables of
Hyborian nations. Merchants are not a class in Khitai, but
Paikang surgeons.
rather come from the lower end of the aristocracy. One must
The sewer system of the city never intersects with the
have royal blood to trade openly. This keeps all commerce
river. Few other than repair personnel ever see the sewers.
tightly controlled by the Emperor.
The guild of sewer workers does not speak of the sewers
There is, of course, a black market where things are
below, but rumor says they are vast, cyclopean, and not
sold without royal seal and sign. This is not a place, but an
built by humans.
idea known as the Mantle of Hell. Thieves and scoundrels
have the connections needed to point one to a waystation
(an inn, a tavern, a lotus house) within this dark network. JUNGLES OF KHITAI
The Quian River The title “Jungles of Khitai” is something of a misnomer
embraced by outsiders and native Khitans alike. These
The Quian is the spine of the empire, the longest river on
jungles are in fact kingdoms, fallen or otherwise, under the
the Thurian continent. It is also the spine of the Dragon in
thumb of the Great Celestial Emperor. The further south
whose body we all live. All astronomical charts kept in the
one ventures from Khitai proper, the warmer it gets, and
library of the Purple Palace begin with the Quian mapped
temperate land becomes tropical and dense with flora. There
across the night sky. All other stars are in relation to those
may be one extant kingdom beyond this border or a dozen,
whose glow makes up the points along which the river, or
only the imperial scribes claim to know for sure, and even
constellation, flows.
50 Chapter 2
“He was a magician from far Khitai, returning to his

THE OLD ONES’ WAR
native kingdom after a journey to Stygia. He took me In a history so lost that humans were not even upright
with him to purple-towering Paikang, its minarets to see it, the Mi-Go and the barrel-shaped, fan-winged
rising amid the vine-festooned jungles of bamboo, and Old Ones warred for this Earth. At the time, this world
there I grew to womanhood under his teaching. Age did not resemble the Hyborian Age, but was covered in
had steeped him deep in black wisdom, not weakened jungle, with humid air and sprawling continents whose
his powers of evil. Many things he taught me—” names man could never pronounce and which leave but
tiny isles as testament to their having been.
— Salome, “A Witch Shall be Born” This war raged across the rise and fall of at least one
human civilization before it stalled out; these enemies
from the Outer Dark retreated to whence they came
they haven’t ventured all the way south to where the jungle or hid, here on Earth, until the stars are right for their
breaks upon silver beaches and an unnamed sea awaits. conflict to resume.
Most of the kingdoms so logged are barely extant. They In any case, the structures left behind were fawned
are controlled by Khitai on the northern fringe as vassal over, worshipped, and given sacrifice by primitive man.
states, and are all but collapsed in the south. The peoples It is not until the Yaggite exiles fell to this world that
who built these kingdoms were likely Lemurian and, before any meaning could be construed from the mind-blasting
that, the inhuman masters of the Lemurians whose name sigils and formations left behind. The Yaggites, for their
and visages have vanished from time. part, remained uninvolved in this war but warned man
Still, travelers swear of lost cities in these jungles where against the creatures who did.
Lemurians still dwell. They speak of winged terrors and Even today, primitive tribes in the jungles of deep
strange gods. They talk of wars between things other than Khitai give offering on the outskirts of these remains
humans which ravaged this part of the world prior to man’s and speak of the “once-winged elephants” who warned
appearance. They speak of the return of such horrors with them of the great danger.
wide-eyed fright and awe. Among these ruins — lost, or perhaps purposefully
Whatever lies in the dark jungles is a cipher to man. forgotten — there is, one mad Khitan scholar says, a gate.
Clearly, civilizations both human and otherwise dwelled This gate might be turned to the planet Yag, whereupon
here long, long ago. The time frame itself is like to bend the Kings of Yag could find this world to which they exiled
the mind down strange corridors and unhealthy vectors of their kin. Why would they return? The mad scholar only
thought. Just who or what originally inhabited Earth, and says that the once-green world turns brown and the
is man merely a squatter on someone else’s world? Kings of Yag seek another home.
The scholar is kept in a dungeon beneath the imperial
PRIESTS OF YUN palace in Paikang. Only the current emperor has access to
him and his knowledge. The prisoner has seen two score
The Yellow Priests of Yun, with their saffron robes and
emperors live and die while he sits in a well-appointed
ancient traditions, are a semi-outlawed sect in Khitai. What
cell, screaming between bouts of scribbling things which
few outside the priesthood knows is that their religion is
drive his guards mad upon trying to read them.
far older than cosmic theory or the mapping of the Great
Dragon. The priests worship the now-vanished exiles of Yag.
Such veneration of vanished creatures is a kind of demon
worship to the common folk who hear specious tales of the
cult. In fact, the exiles of Yag were of flesh, albeit seemingly
immortal flesh, and taught early humans in the jungles
A sweetish cloying scent lingered in the atmosphere.
of Khitai the ways of agriculture, architecture, law, and
white magic. “They died without a sound!” muttered the
Yes, white magic. A phrase not often heard on the scan- Cimmerian. “Taurus, what was that powder?”
dalous tongues of rumormongers in taverns from Paikang “It was made from the black lotus, whose blossoms
to Tarantia. Yet it is nevertheless true. The exiles knew a wave in the lost jungles of Khitai, where only
form of magic which was not corrupt, did not draw down the yellow-skulled Priests of Yun dwell. Those
the Outer Dark upon those who wielded it, and which blossoms strike dead any who smell of them.”
brought harmony to the world.
Those secrets are sadly gone, and the Priests of Yun — “The Tower of the Elephant”
now enact rituals which have no effects. Their primary
Gazetteer 51
‘magic’ is a means of distilling and combining yellow lotus Perhaps the swamps are older than man and, in their
to varying effects. The white magic they practice today is venerability, have secrets humankind was not meant to
largely illusory. Still, there is always some drunk fool in the know. Yet humans are the most curious of all beasts, and
corner who will tell you the Priests of Yun know the secrets the Swamps of the Dead are a requiem some hear when
of white magic but hide it from the world. They do, so the near them. Just beyond the next tree, over that muddy log,
legend goes, because one of the Yaggite exiles taught an evil beyond that thatch of tangled vines… just a bit further…
man white magic, and that man captured the Yaggite and that’s it… just a few more steps… and then they are gone.
tortured him for eons until he also gave up the secrets of
black magic. To the Priests of Yun, this is how black magic
entered the world. KOSALA
Their name derives not from a locale or priest, but from
the name of one of the exiles, Yag-Yun, who first took interest Kosala was once part of Vendhya, but that was long ago. The
in humanity after being stranded on this blue world. His two kingdoms now have an uneasy truce, for the Kosalan
name is sacred to the sect, and the crumbling statues to him worship of Yajur taints any peace they may have with their
and his fellow exiles are indeed venerated as gods in the Vendhyan kin. However, the exact relation of Kosala and
deep jungle where wrist-thick vines twine around the lost Vendhya is unknown, for the ages-lost kingdom known as
stone temples of days humankind remembers only as legend. Old Kosala reportedly had mastery of technological wonders
which Vendhya did not. Further, Old Kosalans ventured
further west than their counterparts, leaving mysterious
SWAMPS OF THE DEAD cities such as Xuthal and Xuchotl in their wake. That, at
They say the dead sleep under these brackish waters, in least, is the theory.
repose, or perhaps waiting to be carved in effigy. There is a
stillness about them, there below the surface in their armor A HISTORY OF KOSALA
holding their glinting weapons of war. Yet when one tries
to snatch up such an ancient prize, the water ripples and in To understand Kosala, one must first understand Old Kosala,
the fading concentric circles the images disappear. Below, the kingdom that preceded it. Old Kosala was not, by all
naught but bones and mud, and foul-smelling things as accounts, like anything extant in this era. They were pos-
found in any swamp. sessed of high science, possibly of ancient, Great Old One-
Yet people continue to return, as if the place is a kind of inflected origin, whose workings have long been forgotten.
lodestone for sorrow and ambition alike. For here, some long That culture sustained itself not on agriculture or hunt-
while back, a great battle took place between two armies. ing, but on magical machines which provided sustenance
In the battle, the waters of the Quian rose and drowned for all their city’s people. Lights came not from the rude
them all. This, at least, is what they say. flames of today, but from orbs that glowed and dimmed
at touch. Luxury was heaped upon Old Kosala to such an
extent that it would make the treasure vaults of mighty
“The fall of the panels released the clouds of Hyborian kings and queens seem as the coffers of vagrants
doom,” said the Red Priest with a wild laugh. by comparison. These, at least, are the stories.
“The dust of the gray lotus, from the Swamps Certainly, some evidence of such technology remains
of the Dead, beyond the land of Khitai.” in current Kosala, though the citizens have long forgotten
its use. Instead, these objects and ruins have a place of
— “Rogues in the House” reverence in Kosala, wonders of an age gone by.
What, then, ended such a mighty people? There are
What truth is there to any of these legends? You would many legends. Some say they warred against themselves
have to go there yourself to find out. Those who do typically with their terrible technology and cast themselves back
seek the gray lotus, which grows like loam around the into apedom. More reasonable scholarly speculation sug-
trunks of the swamp trees. Few, however, venture too far gests that they became fat and complacent, allowing their
in, for those who do rarely emerge again, and when they machines to attend to their every need while they indulged
do, they are often mad. in drugs now unknown to man. The latter is most likely
Perhaps it is the gray lotus that gives them visions, for true, and the Old Kosalans slipped into history as hedonists
the flowers of the plant burst with seedlings so small as to whose culture degenerated until it was overthrown by its
easily be inhaled. Perhaps the dead pull the living down into current occupants. Certainly, that is the story Kosalans tell
the muck for company. Perhaps there are things in these today — Yajur, She of the Black Tongue, roused the common
swamps catalogued in no bestiary, dreamt of in no nightmare. folk of Old Kosala and parts of Vendhya to cast down this
degenerate civilization and again join the ranks of those
52 Chapter 2
who carve lives and empires out with a blade and the will to As a rule, however, outlanders passing through are
use it, rather than the profane technology of forgotten gods. not targets for human sacrifice, though rumors definitely
In any case, the Kosalans that rule now worship Yajur suggest otherwise. Kosala is small and depends on trade.
and have little use for the old ways or the stories which Indeed, some portion of the branching tree that is the ‘Lotus
vaunt those weaker people. Road’ passes through Kosala. Kosala is a safe country for
caravans, with little worry of bandits and raiders.
THE GIFT OF YAJUR The will of Yajur precedes all, and any who seek to upset
the economy of Kosala are enemies of Yajur and dealt with
Perhaps only Stygia, with its ineluctable worship of Set, can
accordingly. If nothing else, the common faith of their fell
understand Kosala. For while the great kingdoms of the age
god binds them in common purpose for the good of the
have gods, and give them reverence, only Stygia and Kosala
entire nation.
could be called theocracies. Yajur, the Black God of Nine
Any group traveling through Kosala that keeps out
Hells, rules Kosala. Those who are called royals are merely
of trouble, can likely enjoy a peaceful travel, though the
the bloodline of Yajur and carry out her will.
stranglers of Yota-pong are often reckless with their
There is no Kosala, then, without Yajur, and this explains
chosen sacrifices.
the possible break between the similar looking people
of Vendhya and Kosala. For while Vendhya has its Yajur
worshippers, they are not the malignant, oft-crazed zealots KOSALAN ART, CULTURE,
found in Kosala. No, Kosala is a land unto itself where all AND RELIGION
aspects of society revolve around the veneration of Yajur Upon a glance by the uneducated outsider, Kosalan culture
and the sacrifices she demands. looks much like that of Vendhya. The stupas which mount
Such a single-minded culture creates an incredibly their holy places are not unalike, nor are the people in their
tough people and army. Vendhya, despite its vast wealth dark skin color and daily business. They live in similar
and power, has yet to tame Kosala, for who can fight an homes and, in casual conversation, share common ideas.
army unafraid of death? Still, Kosala’s power does not reach Yet poke at Kosalan culture with the eye of inquiry, and an
beyond its own small borders and, so long as that is the entire world is revealed.
case, the treaty with Vendhya may hold.
Kosalans are more than deeply religious; they are a Images of the Black God
people possessed of destiny. In the stars above, Yajur has Kosalan art, like the Kosalans themselves, is obsessed with
mapped out the entirety of her chosen people’s journey, iconography of Yajur. Interlocked fangs, a many-armed
though no Kosalan will give precise detail. It has been demoness with red skin and golden armor, her razor jave-
gleaned, though, that Kosalans believe themselves the lins and belt of intestines accent pottery, mantles, carpets,
true inheritors of a world older than the Cataclysm, per- jewelry, and just about everything else.
haps older than the pre-Cataclysmic age. In fact, Kosalans Yajur predominates, as in all things Kosalan, but that
believe themselves given intellect and faith from degenerate does not mean Yajur is the subject of every work of art. Old
apedom by Yajur, lifted to the status of soldiers in some Kosalan blood still flows through these people, howsoever
long-forgotten war. they would deny it, and the imagery of that era — strange
Whether this be true or not is of little consequence, for machines, stranger creatures — also appears in their art. It
in Kosala belief is all. appears almost unconscious, some atavistic prompt calling
Kosala itself is home to rich farmland, branches of the back through dead centuries to manifest in curious crea-
deep jungles found in Vendhya and sacred rivers carved, tures at the edges of frescos, odd machines in the corners of
they say, by Yajur herself to give both water to drink and sacred paintings. While the temple of Yajur openly rejects
the means to trade and travel. They make excellent steel — Old Kosala, there is something that prevents them from
though not of Shemitish quality — and rarely experience erasing all traces of it from the collective mind.
drought or flooding. All boons granted, of course, by Yajur. Perhaps Old Kosala and current Kosala are not so differ-
ent as they want to believe. Perhaps Yajur was worshipped
OUTLANDERS IN KOSALA previously, under another name. Perhaps Yajur once walked
the Earth as humans do, in some other aspect.
Kosala is not an unwelcoming place, for anyone who crosses
their borders may do so at the will of Yajur. Apart from Dark Destiny
Vendhyans, whom they do not trust, Kosala is rather open
As a people believing in a true, singular destiny for their
to visitors. This can go easily for the outlanders, or horribly,
race, Kosalans are generally less quarrelsome amongst each
depending upon the will of Yajur.
Gazetteer 53
other than those peoples of other kingdoms. ‘Generally’ is

a relative term, and Kosalans are still human.
Rather than a bonded, unified people, Kosalans view
each other based on the amount of blood from Yajur which
flows through their veins. How this was or is determined
is not known. But, sometime long ago, a ruling class and
a serving class was established, very much like the caste
system in Vendhya. The two sides mix more socially than
in Vendhya, but intermarriage is forbidden, and no one
forgets who really holds the power.
Apart from the main division between heavy-blooded
royals and thin-blooded commoners, various extended
families have rank according to books held safe in the
Temple’s archives. However, anyone with the blood of Yajur
running through them is automatically better than a normal
human, and Kosalans do not expect their lower caste to bow
in deference to the high born of other kingdoms unless
their own royals order so. A king or queen of Vendhya, for
example, is not as worthy of life as a low-born carpenter of
Yota-pong, for the former has no god’s blood in his veins.
On days of Yajur, and there are many of these, the two
castes mingle openly. Feasts and celebrations abound, as
do human sacrifices — the most famous of which are the
stranglings in Yota-pong.
The priest class is an exception to the rule of division
between high and low blood. Priests come from either caste,
entirely determined by visions given by Yajur. However,
“Tolkemec said they came from the east, long ago,
these visions do not come to only the would-be priest, for
from Old Kosala, when the ancestors of those who
what fool would believe those? Instead, several priests
now dwell in Kosala came up from the south and
have ‘visions’ of who among the populace will ascend
drove forth the original inhabitants of the land.”
their vaunted ranks. Can such visions be conjured by coin?
Probably; this is a civilization of humans, after all. Saying
— “Red Nails”
so openly is a sure way for your guts to find their way nailed
to an altar of the dark god.
All official ceremonies, be it marriage, naming of new- All Flows from Yajur
borns, and even courtly decrees on property and justice, As is by now abundantly clear, the worship of Yajur domi-
are mediated, if not outright controlled, by priests of Yajur. nates all aspects of Kosalan life. While the common peasant
As one would expect with any kingdom of the age, the does not know the teleological purpose of their own life in
‘will’ of Yajur can greatly vary based on whose palms are the vast loom that is Yajur’s plan, they have faith that those
being greased by whom. That said, corruption in Kosala is with more of the god’s blood in their veins do.
remarkably low compared to most Hyborian nations, and Ritual and sacrifice are hugely important, and it must
outright selling of favors by priests is illegal. More than once be understood that human sacrifice is common. To see
in the past, the people have risen against a corrupt priest the strangler of Yota-pong at work in front of throngs of
and royal class and demanded Yajur’s true will be heeded. hundreds may shock some outsiders, who prefer their
As Yajur is female, women often rule in Kosala. It is very malignant gods and brutal justice hidden away behind
common for women to be priests, aristocrats, and queens. polite fronts or in back alleys. Not so in Kosala.
The current ruler is rumored to be a queen, though Kosalans Yajur allows the existence of humankind, and humankind
make no distinction between the terms king and queen, has a purpose to Yajur. So long as the purpose is served,
priest or priestess. Yajur’s blood, rather than presumed sex Yajur gives life. One may gather, if around Kosalans for long
at birth, determines a person’s fate in Kosala. enough, that they are a culture biding their time, waiting
for some omen or event which will spur them to full action.
What that might be is unknown, but any who have seen
the many public altars to Yajur, heaped in human entrails
54 Chapter 2
and gore, ought to worry when that time does come. While The temple district is not the only area where altars to
Vendhyans openly dismiss their cousins as ‘fanatics,’ they Yajur rise. In almost any neighborhood, be it a small alcove
do so with a very watchful eye. or a statue in a small square, one finds such idols in all their
hideous glory. Merchants are often quite superstitious of
YOTA-PONG Yota-pong and are all too ready to tell horror stories of
friends being abducted from their inns only for their eyes
The capital of Kosala, Yota-pong is a thriving cosmopolitan and tongue to appear as offerings in a public venue the next
center that rivals some of the lesser cities of Turan. While day. Such stories are wildly exaggerated, but few foreigners
not among the great cities such as Ayodhya or Aghrapur, who do not live in Yota-pong are comfortable there for long.
Yota-pong is a site few well-experienced travelers want to
miss. So long as one keeps their manners about them, they
have little fear of becoming the victim of the city’s stranglers. SABATEA
Sitting on one leg of the Lotus Road, Yota-pong sees
plenty of trade going through, and stopping, in its mar- Southeast of Zamboula in the vast deserts that separate
kets. It is a vital stopping point for the southern east-west Iranistan, Shem, and Stygia lies the city-state of Sabatea.
trade which circumvents Hyrkania. There are many guilds An independent city, Sabatea is rather unique. The city-
and kings who would rather trade through the lengthier state walks a dangerous edge, giving tribute to both Stygia
southern route than risk the uncertainty of some of the and Iranistan while plotting its own ends. Powerful sor-
more straightforward routes. cerers sit behind the throne of Sabatea and have links to
The city, therefore, is one of the only places in Kosala the fell Black Circle. How long can the city-state remain
which feature neighborhoods of foreigners. While foreigners independent, when even the Peacock Throne eyes it as a
are accepted in the kingdom, they generally do not stay long, potential conquest?
save in Yota-pong. Kosalans find that outlanders, who exist
outside the caste system, will take work for coin without A BRIEF HISTORY OF SABATEA
arguing over Yajur’s blood. From an economic standpoint,
It is unclear whether the city-sate of Sabatea was once part
this is a blessing.
of a larger kingdom or somehow grew and flourished inde-
Of course, the foreign sector of Yota-pong has a reputa-
pendently. As a trade center, Sabatea predates the arrival
tion for more riotous brawling, crime, and general malfea-
of the Hyborians 3,000 years ago. Not unlike Zamboula,
sance. This is largely tolerated so long as such antics take
Sabatea has seen its share of occupation.
place behind the walled sections allotted these foreign devils.
In the past, Old Stygia ruled over the Sabateans, thus
The Temple District accounting for their extant worship of Set. Time eroded the
old empire and, as Acheron fell, Old Stygia consolidated and
Yota-pong contains a dedicated temple district, where
withdrew its borders around the Styx. At this time, Sabatea
various aspects of Yajur worship are divided between given
was left to its own devices, though the city had previously
sects. The complexity of this arrangement of ‘responsi-
been independent. Sabatea, then, was conquered by the
bilities’ is such that no outlander has yet to uncover the
Stygians, not founded by them. Possibly, the original set-
exact schematic by which aspects of faith are divided. One
tlers of this were Shemites, or at least of Shemitish blood.
temple might house oracles for personal consultation as
No one today is certain, and only the Holy Books of the
to a single person’s path on Yajur’s Road, while others may
Planets keep such records. The queen and her bloodline
conjure visions of the dead who failed, or pleased, Yajur to
alone have access to these.
advise in this life.
As time moved on, in its relentless pace, Sabatea came
Regardless, the temple district is a bloody affair. Animal
under the dominion of the Iranistani Empire. For perhaps
and human sacrifices are displayed openly. Vultures and
one hundred years or longer, Sabatea was part of the vast
other carrion pick at the limbs, torsos, and heads of the
Iranistani holdings ranging toward the Styx and up along
unclean dead, while those strangled as ‘clean souls’ are
the Vilayet coast.
burnt in town squares with respect.
Holding such remote territories proved increasingly prob-
Teeth and skulls, fingernails and tongues all festoon the
lematic and, by the time the empire eroded and Hyrkanians
grotesqueries that are Yajur’s shrines. Looming over most
began to conquer the old jewel, Sabatea again found inde-
of them is Yajur herself, a four-armed crimson demoness
pendence. Throughout all these travails, Sabatea never
with great, interlocking fangs and javelins in her upper
fell under the direct cultural hammer of any occupier,
hands. Her eyes are often precious or semi-precious gems
instead was the keeper of its own distinct culture and even
no thief would dream of stealing.
stranger religions.
Gazetteer 55
while others, perhaps more knowingly, ascribe these images

to the very near-mythical serpent folk themselves. Some
“Here we abode apart from earthly life. We
scant rumors and legends hold that the people of Sabatea
fought the strange and terrible forms of life
have some of the blood of those pre-human people in their
which then walked the earth, so that we became
veins. Serious folk dismiss this as historical heresy.
feared, and were not molested in the dim jungles
The overwhelming theme of Sabatean art for the last
of the east, where we had our abode.”
thousand years is that of the seven planets. The seven
planets, more than the stars themselves, are guides and
— Yag-kosha, “The Tower of the Elephant”
gods to the Sabatean people. Even where these planetary
images mix with recognizable icons of Set, Ahriman, and
Yog, most who are familiar with those three gods know
IN THE SHADOW instantly that this art is something else altogether.
OF IRANISTAN Governed by the Heavens
Sometimes named an Iranistani protectorate, Sabatea more Sabatean culture centers around the seven planets and
accurately had an arrangement with Iranistan. Sabatea the wheels they draw in the night sky. The Sabatean week
grows and supplies the zuqqum tree. From its sap, a sort is seven days, each day named for a planet. They see the
of mortar-like binding is made, which seals ships against cosmos above as a great machine which, if decoded, can
water. More useful than that, though, are the devil-shaped spill all the secrets man otherwise grasps at futilely.
fruits which grow upon the branches of the zuqqum. These, While trade and business necessitate a work schedule
in the hands of an expert, can turn into healing elixir or that adheres in part to the outside world, Sabateans break
poison. In mild, distilled form, it also serves as flavoring work down by day. Each vocation’s activity is governed by
for all manner of cooking. In both Sabatea and Suidon, a the planet that governs a given day. Blacksmiths, for exam-
wine made from the plant is very popular. They say if you ple, buy ore on the day ruled by Earth. They work the forge
drink but a flagon of zuqqum wine, the last week of your most heartily on days of the red planet, for it is made of
life blurs like a mirage in the Kharamun desert. fire. Blades and tools made on this day fetch a higher price.
Sabatea’s relationship with Iranistan keeps Stygia and Currently, Queen Saba rules over her people from the
Turan at bay, at least for now. Further, the Annulet of Three, Sun Palace. Her word is law, but her word is also bound to
a group of sorcerers linked in some way to the Black Ring, the laws set forth by the cosmos and the gods millennia ago.
reside here. Their power is known from Khemi to Aghrapur. Behind her lurk the mysterious Annulet of Three — sor-
Their presence, too, is proof against casual invasion. cerers and diviners said to hold the true power in Sabatea.
Two important travel routes wend through Sabatea, one Their mix of dark-skinned Iranistani and dusky Stygian
being a part of the so-called Lotus Road. It would not do to blood should mark a Sabatean, yet they are curiously paler
interrupt the flow of lotus, as any fool can tell you. than their neighbors. The reasons for this are unknown.
Land of the Three Gods

SABATEAN ART, CULTURE, Religion in Sabatea is a complex subject. Some Sabateans
AND RELIGION worship gods, while others look to the planets and cosmos
As noted, while Sabatean history is not without its occupiers, for guidance. Like the precarious edge the city-state walks
none have significantly altered the course of the city-state’s between Iranistan and Stygia, the city also walks an edge
religion and culture. Sabatea is a place unlike any other between the divinity of the gods and the divinity of the
in the region, out of time, a peek into the early days of the firmament above. Even the queen herself gives fealty to
post-Cataclysm… or so the city’s scholars claim. both sides, while privately keeping her own counsel.
Three gods dominate traditional temples — Yog, Set,
The Serpent and the Stars and Ahriman. All are dark gods, and their portents often
Some fragments, atavistic memories perhaps, of the lost connected to the other side of Sabatea’s theological coin —
Thurian Age run through Sabatean art. While the signifi- the stars. Conversely, those who give primacy to the planets
cance of the motifs and symbols is largely forgotten, simi- believe the gods are but beings from those other worlds who,
larities in Sabatean pottery, frescoes, and even architecture in the dark of night, burn with a sentient fire all their own.
resemble those surviving artifacts of the southern continent To the outsider, even one well-traveled, Sabatean religion
rent asunder by the Cataclysm. is confusing. Seven temples, one for each planet, dot the
Snake and serpent imagery likewise infuse the Sabatean city in an arrangement that the clergy believes approxi-
esthetic. Some attribute this to the time of Stygian rule, mates the planet’s actual locations. Each temple contains
56 Chapter 2
cosmos in the city streets, is encased entirely in amber — a

mad fortune of amber. It truly belies belief.
The glass dome topping the amber tower has seven
sections, colored for each planet. Ceremonies take place
under these multi-colored panes, many of them steeped in
vicious, fevered rumor involving the profane.
The queen herself resides off center of the tower in a
series of apartments. They are rich in marble, accented in
gemstones, and carpeted with the finest textiles of Shem and
Iranistan. A zuqqum grove grows on the western edge of the
palace compound. From the fruit of the trees, the queen’s
servants make their own wine. Patrolling the groves are said
to be lions or even gryphons, though none has penetrated
the palace walls uninvited and lived to recount their tale.
Temples of the Seven Planets

Spiraling out from the Sun Palace in the city center, the
gemstones associated with that planet and glass domes so
Seven Temples follow the planets in their correct order.
that the planet can be seen above when the stars are right.
Advanced astronomical knowledge was no doubt required
In another section of the city are temples to the three
for their placement. Long ago, before a city proper stood
gods. These dark, foreboding structures are said to cause
on this meadowland, stone stelae represented the planets
the heart to quicken when one scurries past them. Citizens
whirling in orbit above.
respect them, but rarely openly worship inside. Instead,
These stones feature in each temple, or so the priests of
household shrines to the deities take the place of group
the planets claim. How old the stones are that now reside
service. Only priests and acolytes of the gods are allowed
in these temples isn’t provable. Still, priests and lay folk
in the temples. For the planetary churches, all citizens are
alike report strange sensations and even visions in the
free to enter and worship.
presence of the stones.
While that gives an openness to the mysteries of above,
The floor of each temple mimics the layout of the city
there are sciences the ‘priests’ of the planets know which are
and, thus, the arrangement of the planets around the sun.
forbidden to common folk. In truth, some of this knowledge
That the sun is the center of the Sabatean universe is not
is advanced astronomy, the kind not properly seen since the
something all agree on. In some countries, this belief could
demise of Old Kosala. Did the Old Kosalans found Sabatea?
be a rejection of the gods. Further east, in far Khitai, the
Did some refugees from that land stay here long enough
centrality of the sun is accepted as fact.
to give some semblance of science to the nomadic tribes
gathered in a simple fort that would become a great city?
Gates of the Sun and Moon
Only the archives, deep under the city, hold answers.
Along the eastern and western walls of Sabatea are the
two main gates. The Gate of the Sun is in the eastern wall,
SABATEAN LOCATIONS where the sun rises precisely in the frame of the gate on
Surrounded by white, alabaster walls, Sabatea gleams on the summer solstice. The light then falls onto a pool of
the horizon like the rising sun. Her white walls are smooth, water, large and rectangular in shape. On this day, citizens
prominent against the verdant meadow in which the city toss dyed leaves of the zuqqum tree into the pool. Each is
lays. Inside, squat, flat-roofed abodes abut taller, domed colored to the citizen’s birth planet. This ritual supposedly
temples and towers. Were one possessed of the gifts of grants fortune for the coming year.
the bird, they might espy in the city’s design a model of The western gate frames the moon in certain of its phases
the night sky at a certain point during the year. Citizens against the veil of blackest night. An identical pool catches
take pride in this design, though, of course, few have ever the silvery light during certain full moons, turning the pool
seen it from above. into sparkling quicksilver. Marriages often take place en
masse around this pool on such occasions. The children
The Palace of the Sun of such unions are supposed to be blessed.
Situated at the center of the city, as the great scholars of
Sabatea likewise situate the sun at the center of the planets, THE ANNULET OF THREE
this building burns orange against the rest of the city. The
Also called the Ring of Three, the group called the Annulet
central tower, from which the queen can view the simulated
has deep ties to the Black Ring of Stygia. Indeed, some claim
Gazetteer 57
the two are one and the same, only under different names. The only known denizens, besides rats and spiders, are
This is not true. The Annulet of Three worship a tri-faced lotus smugglers. Those who take some portion of the lotus
deity. In its different aspects, it is called Yog, Ahriman, and trade which “fell off the cart”. A profitable business, but
Set. In reality, the sorcerous priests of this god know they the legal traders are likely to cut the throat of any cutting
worship Nyarlathotep and, via the powers of the void that into their profits.
abomination imparts unto them, they carry out his will.
However, they cloak their worship in the three gods who Orrery of Kosala
pervade the city. It is unclear whether the Three believe that Located on a tall hill to the northwest of Sabatea, the Orrery
these deities are actual avatars of Nyarlathotep or merely of Kosala lies under the protection of the Annulet of Three…
use them as convenience. The line between priest and or so it is said. Few try that claim. The Orrery appears made
sorcerer blurs in many kingdoms, but none so much as in of some bronze material which does not corrode. It whines
Sabatea and Stygia. While the Stygians have no doubt that when the wind blows, and the ten planets turn along varying
Set is a separate god entirely, they likewise have members orbits. Yes, this Orrery depicts ten planets, not seven. The
of the Black Ring inside the Annulet. The exact nature of scholarly opinion is that this is a remnant of Old Kosala.
the affiliation between the two isn’t known, but logic bears It is not.
out one reasonable conclusion — Sabatea’s arrangement The Orrery’s metal is not of this world, nor were its
with Iranistan is not the only reason Stygia makes no move builders. From whence they came none can say, but the
against the city-state. Perhaps the Stygians have some Orrery survived the Cataclysm and probably many such
long-ranging plan for both the Annulet and Sabatea. For, upheavals besides. Mad sorcerers variously claim it is a
as Turan rises along the Vilayet, the Stygians are like to construct of the serpent people, the Great Race of Yith, and
make plans within plans. The Turanian army may be a even beings from the dream realms. Those few scholars
match for the Stygian army, but Stygian cleverness comes who do not believe the Old Kosalan theory also wonder
directly from father Set. — what must have happened to other three planets? Does
their fate align with Earth, or are they merely hidden from
SABATEAN RUINS the eyes of humankind?
VENDHYA
Old buildings still stand against new in Sabatea, and a con-
stant stratum of distress and repair marks the ages the city
watched pass. Underneath Sabatea, as under many cities,
lay the ruins of former iterations, as if each generation, Vendhya grew as prosperous as a lotus flower when Acheron
each age, seeks to perfect the very ideal form of the city. was young. It has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations.
The queen holds this is the perfect version, but history and To Vendhya, the Hyborian peoples are stripling, and oft
divinations speak otherwise. treated as such. Vendhya is old. It is as old as the rivers
cutting through the mighty subcontinent, those bleeding
The Undercity of Sabatea trails that yet remind this age of the Great Cataclysm. Her
Pick a city, any city in the world, and you find it is but the mysteries are largely unknown beyond the Vilayet but, for
latest manifestation of an idea — the idea of civilization. those whose wanderlust pulls them toward the sunrise, this
Beneath the great walls of purple-towered Python did there ancient kingdom offers unparalleled wonders.
not lurk older cities? In the heart of Aquilonia, mighty
Tarantia rises over its forebears as grass rises above the A HISTORY OF VENDHYA
newly buried dead.
Sabatea is no different. Her underground waterways and At least as ancient as Khitai and older than even Acheron,
sewers lace like a cat’s cradle with older streets, palaces, and Vendhya was among the first kingdoms to rise and thrive in
the remains of poor hovels baked solid by a younger sun. the aftermath of the Cataclysm. Some records even indicate
None have properly mapped this underground, though some that the people who settled here carry on pre-Cataclysmic
have tried. Crypts and catacombs lay even deeper, burial traditions, unchanged despite that calamity. Much was of
grounds for ages whose names are long forgot. course lost in that tumult, but the survival of Khitai indicates
Or course, with such history daily tread upon by the that the eastern expanse of the Thurian continent suffered
sandaled feet of the citizenry comes also rumors and legends. far less in the Cataclysm as did its west.
A golden palace. A sorcerer-king who sleeps unmolested by Post-Cataclysm, the people of the sub-continent had a
rot and time. A stone not of this Earth which, having fallen significant lead on civilization, probably inherited from
from the heavens, cracked and gave birth to demons. Who those who came prior. While the Bori relearned the rudi-
can say what secrets lurk beneath the streets? ments of fire, Vendhyans already erected great stupas
and established codified laws. Their influence grew, and
58 Chapter 2
they quickly subjugated many of their less technologically

advanced neighbors. The early kings of Vendhya assimilated
OUTLANDERS IN VENDHYA
the savages around them and welded the resulting alloy of Vendhyans are perhaps among the most welcome of Western
flesh into a strong empire. ‘barbarians’. Secure in the superiority of their own culture,
This bloodline continued in a straight line until some the people also believe in the reincarnation of beings as
few centuries ago. Trouble with neighboring Ghanara in taught by Asura. Who can say if one might return as one
the south and the unification of the Hyrkanian horse clans of these self-same barbarians in the next life?
under a single, great khan conspired to alter Vendhya’s Still, Vendhyan’s are not overly welcoming, for the path
isolation from the broader world. through the beads of one’s life is purposefully fraught with
The Hyrkanians conquered Vendhya, at first imposing obstacles; such is Asura’s design. Outlanders must conform
their own ways upon the culture, but eventually assimilating. to Vendhyan culture if they are to be taken seriously. The
In the end, this new Hyrkanian blood became one and the Vendhyan caste system often poses an enigma to foreigners,
same with Vendhyan royalty, and the powerful, enigmatic and Vendhyan haggling harbors rituals more complex than
culture of the Vendhyans converted the invaders to their any found outside of Shem.
ways and their religions. To those willing to travel Vendhya, a range of possibil-
ities and worldviews unknown in the West await… but so
THE SLEEPING GIANT too does danger.
Outside of the great libraries of Ayodhya, little thought is VENDHYAN ART, CULTURE,
given to this mixed ancestry. The king is divine, the royal AND RELIGION
bloodline intact. Besides, Asura says that all beings rein-
carnate so, in the end, there is little difference in the mortal Vendhyan civilization is nigh unrivaled in the entire
coil one wears. Some few Hyrkanian traditions remain, but world. The Hyborian nations are but children compared
have been syncretized into the Asuran faith. to Vendhyan sophistication and codified law, custom, and
Vendhya is among the strongest empires on the Thurian religion. From great Ayodhya to the lost temples of the
Continent and nearly the strongest in the East, rivaled only great jungles, this kingdom’s age and culture is evident.
by Khitai. The kingdom’s distance from the West leaves it a
near-myth in the minds of many Hyborian peoples, though A Land of Empires
southern traders know better. It is rare that Vendhyan goods Vendhya is a land of dozens of successive Empires. Violent
make it beyond Koth, though it does happen. Prior to the uprisings, foreign warlords, and new religions trampling
Hyrkanian invasion, a ‘spice road’ existed between great whatever stood before. Each with their own art, architecture,
Acheron, Stygia, and Vendhya. Now, that route is all but lost. and culture. This deep history is easily missed by foreigners,
Vendhya still controls the major trade routes between but stretches through every aspect of life.
East and West. Traveling through Hyrkanian territory is Caste, social position, architecture, and religion often
inadvisable, and mountains block almost all other paths. have their roots in this violent past. Names reach back to
Between its fertile land, control of trade, and powerful ancient conquerors or subjugations, castes shift based on
military, Vendhya presents a mighty foe indeed. Many the the needs of new rulers or dictats of religious figures, and
fabled Turanian cavalry charge have been stopped dead by many is the family who insist that they are Kshatriya or
Vendhyan war elephants. Brahmin despite their ancestor's fates based on the status
It is that self-same nation of Turan — and the eager, their family has won.
avaricious eye of Yezdigerd — which preoccupies the bulk Abandoned cities tell the stories of long-fallen kings.
of Vendhya’s defensive postures. The expanding empire Ornate tapestries in high caste homes tell the story of that
cannot help but confront Vendhya in time. For its part, bloodline for those who can read them. Stupas dominate
Vendhyan wazams in the royal court advise both caution much of Vendhyan architecture, capping nearly every
and pre-emptive expansion of its own. building of importance and all temples to Asura while
Vendhya’s secondary defensive concerns are the wild telling the story of their builders.
tribes of Afghulistan. So long as they remain locked in
their own petty feuds, they have no hope of threatening Knowing One’s Place
such a powerful empire. But, should some singular leader Vendhyan culture predicates itself on an intricate web of
appear and conciliate the tribes, the resulting army would subtle cues, customs, and deep tradition. Its impact cannot
be formidable indeed. be understated, and shapes life for most Vendhyans from
birth to death.
Gazetteer 59
Marriages are arranged, and Vendhyan brides come

both the journey of the singular, eternal human soul, and
with dowries irrespective of caste. Kshatriyas of the ruling
the ebbs and tides of human history at large.
warrior caste, male or female, also include soldiers in such
Viewed through this lens, the Cataclysm is like the death
arrangements. Thus, a captain of the guard in one royal
of a body — the spirit persists and takes new forms. So it is
house may find himself serving a new house as a matter
until the soul is purified, joining Asura as an aspect of the
of course. Normally, the male’s name is attached to the
great truth of the cosmos. Asura himself is also known as
newly joined house, though females of certain rank hold
“He Who Parts the Veil”, and nearly all Vendhyans strive
their own names and houses.
to replicate that in their own lives. Priests of Asura devote
The caste system is a common lens through which to view
themselves entirely to this pursuit.
Vendhya, and is one that marks all Vendhyans from birth.
Since the body is but a temporary way station for the
Depending on where in the country they are, Vendhyans
wandering soul, Asurans believe it must be destroyed and
have a caste that can be as specific as the job they should
returned to the cycle of nature just as the spirit returns to
hold or as broad as their social class. Such things shape
the World Wheel. The most customary means by which this
life for a child, with religious leaders often holding that
is done are cremation pyres lit along the ghats of Vendhya’s
it is of utmost importance to be true to one's caste. Even
great rivers. Ashes are spread into sacred waters where
funeral rites and temple access can be determined by this
they join the sea, thus symbolizing a reunion with Asura.
quirk of birth.
In some Asuran sects, mostly located in the Himelias,
This operates similarly to how being born rich, poor, or
excarnation or ‘sky burials’ are common. Priests lay the
noble might function elsewhere. And as elsewhere, there
naked body out on a flat rock, usually one at a great height,
are exceptions. Shudra families who carved a kingdom
and proceed to cut long slits into the corpse to expose
and declared themselves Kshatriya. Brahmin who oppose
muscles and organs. Carrion-eaters do the rest, taking
the strictures of caste, or the poor and caste-stripped who
everything from the victuals to sinew. All that remains are
demand proper treatment.
bones, which the priests then grind to a powder and scatter
The Turn of the Wheel to the four winds. In this way do bodies also return to the
cycles of time, nature, and space.
Asura is the primary deity of Vendhya, dedicated to seeing
One cannot overstate the importance of Asura and his
beyond the illusory veil of the flesh to the truth. Asura is the
cosmology on Vendhyan people. Where Western folk see
embodiment of time and space who takes the form of a man,
death as the end, or at least the end of walking this world,
at least in idols, to guide Vendhyans along the World Wheel.
Asurans see it as a wheel ever turning. They do not give
The World Wheel is a two-fold cosmology representing
60 Chapter 2
their lives cheaply or easily, but death carries different con- legendary in the East, and the poorest folk literally live
notations here than almost anywhere in the known world. among the waste of the upper castes.
In opposition to Asura is Yajur, seen variously as the Begging is considered a profession in much of Vendhya
embodiment of all obstacles on the World Wheel, the and is immensely present in Ayodhya. A beggar may have
incarnation of the illusory and the flesh, and the single been a king in a past life, and it bodes poor for one’s path
force which could sunder the Wheel and end time. Cults along the World Wheel to treat them badly. Begging is lim-
to the god practice secretly in Ayodhya, Peshkhauri, and ited to the hour after dawn until dusk, and any mendicants
remote jungle agras. Asurans practice openly in Vendhya, violating this prohibition are imprisoned or publicly shamed.
but most form cults in the West where they are distrusted
and accused of hideous crimes and rituals. The King’s Palace
In one incarnation or another, the royal palace always
AYODHYA existed in the place one finds it today. From simple begin-
nings, the palace grew to dominate, the city spires having
The capital city of Vendhya is also its oldest. Both the eco- thirteen stupas and housing more than 1,000 soldiers on
nomic and spiritual center of Vendhya, the city is built upon the premises.
the spot where Asura first appeared in a form man could The current palace is built of white marble inlaid with
recognize. Further back, another pantheon of gods held a gold. Towers cap mighty walls which have never been
great battle upon this spot, wielding weapons of such ter- breached by any army. Kings and queens alike take more
rible power that survivors saw hair and fingernails fall out than one spouse, should they wish, though only the high-
as their bodies later withered away under great, red sores. est royal caste may do this. Again, being partly divine, the
So sacred is the city that — rather than see it sacked king of Vendhya’s children form one of the outer rings of
when the Hyrkanian horde arrived more than three cen- the World Wheel, beyond which lies unity with all. The
turies ago — the king surrendered the city, and himself. king himself is but a step away, at least according to courtly
Ayodhya thus lacks the marks of conquest which scar many priests. Something of a conflict results between the royal
of the great cities. position on Asura and that of the priests themselves. A
The population of Ayodhya is densely packed, and walls fundamental contradiction lies at the heart of the belief
serve to separate castes. One cannot dwell in a place above that the king is both on the World Wheel and also a god.
their caste and may only visit with proper authorization
from royal-serving bureaucrats. The slums of Ayodhya are
Gazetteer 61
Vendhyan easily reconcile this in their own minds, and the next king via a copper scroll that is read but once then
only the uncouth barbarian would bring up such a paradox. locked away.
The Great Agra of Asura PESHKHAURI

Built upon the spot where the old gods died in a great con-
frontation and where Asura appeared to offer redemption The even hand of Chunder Shan governs the furthest north-
to them upon the World Wheel, the Great Agra, or temple, west city of Vendhya, Peshkhauri. Quite literally settled on
is by law the tallest structure in the city. Only Asura can a dangerous frontier, the city serves as bulwark against
be this close to the stars. Not even the king himself may the ever-rapacious hill tribes of the Afghulistan region of
violate this rule. neighboring Ghulistan.
A statue of Asura, covered in gold plating, peers down at The governor’s fort sits outside the city walls, and patrols
worshippers from a height of over one hundred feet under flood from its mighty gate regularly to police the border.
the central stupa. Bearing six arms, each holds one of the Outlying villages and farms sometimes fall victim to the
sub-worlds of the wheel. Old, nearly forgotten mechanics hill people’s raids, but Chunder does his utmost to keep
cause the arms to spin in a slow circle, thus mimicking the the wild hill folk in check.
procession of the worlds within the World Wheel. Only the
highest priests of Asura know how this machine works.
The faithful from throughout Vendhya make spiritual The governor’s fortress was strong, and situated
pilgrimages to the Agra several times throughout in their outside the walls of the city it guarded. The breeze
lifetime, where possible. During the first, their parents that stirred the tapestries on the wall brought faint
bring them before the age of three. Later, they bring their noises from the streets of Peshkhauri — occasional
children and then, most likely, their parents. Finally, prior snatches of wailing song, or the thrum of a cithern.
to their death, their own children bring them.
Tower of Kites
A hundred-foot tower, once the largest building in the city,
the Tower of Kites has been both fortress and prison. Dating Given its extreme position on the northwest border of
from the earliest days of Ayodhya, the tower served as for- Vendhya, it is not unlikely that any Turanian incursion
tification and a hub of military communication. Long ago, would first target Peshkhauri. Yet the Turanians have only
a series of such towers traced over the fertile topography begun to build forts in Ghulistan itself, so, hopefully, a direct
of Vendhya like a stand of lanterns lighting the night. Each conflict is some ways away. It is said that only the rough
tower used a series of kites and lights to signal the towers wild hills of the Himelians, and the more savage people
to either side of it. In this way, communications rode up who dwell there, keep Turan and Vendhya from open war.
and down these defenses. In Ayodhya, orders were likewise Any side wishing to attack the other would first have to
issued to the towers nearest by signals using the kites, and subjugate the hill tribes — no mean feat.
so on down the line. Peshkhauri is more cosmopolitan than its geographical
The system of kite signals has long since fallen away position suggests. The city dates back many hundreds of
and, for the last 400 years, the Tower of Kites served as a years and stood as fortress against Hyrkanian invasion. Sadly,
prison. The old stone spire stands as testament to the king’s several hundred years ago, the Hyrkanians successfully
law and his justice. The heads of would-be poisoners and conquered much of Vendhya, including Peshkauri.
other enemies of the state trim the tower like grim festival Today, the city sits at a confluence of two major trade
decorations. No citizen gazing upon the tower has any routes, thus earning the moniker “Gateway to Vendhya”,
illusion about the king’s will nor divinity. though some say this name applies because Peshkhaur
At the very apex of the tower is a single cell reserved was the first city to fall to the Hyrkanians. Despite the
for an unknown man. Rumors among the gaolers contend Vendhyan influence, it is essentially a rugged frontier town,
he has been imprisoned since before King Bunda Chand’s barely held to order by its regional governor. Spies, bandits,
grandfather was born. No guard may enter the cell. Food mercenaries, explorers, and other adventuresome souls
and other necessities are exchanged by a simple judas hole will find Peshkauri much to their liking, and as such it is a
in the cold iron door. It is said that only the king knows rich source of danger and opportunity.
the identity of the prisoner, and that identity is passed to
CHAPTER 3
EVENTS
“I never saw people exactly like them. But there’s the smack
of the East about them—Vendhya, maybe, or Kosala.”
“Were you a king in Kosala?” she asked, masking

her keen curiosity with derision.
“No. But I was a war-chief of the Afghulis who live in the Himelian
mountains above the borders of Vendhya. These people favor the
Kosalans. But why should Kosalans be building a city this far to west?”
— Conan and Valeria, “Red Nails”
A
wanderer may expect to encounter a hundred differ- unverified accounts suggest he was there. Vendhya, too, has
ent kinds of adventure in their peripatetic journeys. had its share of disease while Kosala claims the god Yajur
These restless folk settle nowhere. The road is their saved them from some like menace long ago.
home, and it brings ever-shifting forks and paths. No wan- There is little even the great Emperors of Khitai can do
derer, it is said, walks the same path twice. to fight such an invisible, merciless foe. Even dark sorcery,
To the outlander, the East is full of wonder and mystery. for all its unnatural perversions, is feared less by some than
To the native, it is a puzzle box which they know takes a the spread of an incurable fever, boils, buboes…
lifetime to understand. The world seems more complex Yet man, in his ever-inventive way, managed once to
here, and scholars question history as often as they record harness such a disease for his own ends. Seventy some years
it. Science begins in earnest here, though it’s in its infancy. ago, during a Hyrkanian attack against Turan, plague victims
Alchemy and sorcery take strange turns, and the Outer Dark were flung over a city’s walls by catapult. The disease quickly
is given due respect. found victims in the city and — before the Hyrkanians could
There are a thousand customs for every occasion, and further drive home their territorial borders — Turan itself
the cultured Easterner knows that they find not just soci- burned its own city and people to the ground. Since that
ety but also the cosmos. Walk on, travel to the next town, day, Turan and Hyrkania have had naught but skirmishes,
follow the road to the infinite horizon… the wise know the at least for now.
journey is the thing, not the destination. Of note to scholars is the seeming link between the prev-
alence of Erlik worship and disease in Hyrkania. Based on
NATURAL EVENTS oral accounts, the god first came into favor when the first
nomad empires were mere horse clans along the steppe
and taiga. This is ages past, so dim in memory now as to
THE SCOURGE OF PLAGUE be legend. Yet the legend persists. It holds that plague
devastated the horse clans so that they could no longer
Pestilence knows no borders. It is foe to every man and
make war among themselves. The cult of Erlik sprung up in
woman of the age, and none can escape it save by luck, for
the devastation, a yellow-eyed sign in the sky to which the
no chirurgeon knows its methods. Plagues swept the East
great chieftains were drawn. There, under a sun shrouded in
in the past and will do so again. The so-called Yellow Plague
the grim gray gauze of the god’s frozen throne room, these
ran rampant through Khitai in Conan’s own lifetime, and
chieftains set aside arms and formed a single tribe. In time,
Dr. Jack,
Yer not the only one with these mooks on yer heels.
I ported in Manila and damn if the whackos didn’t
Though I guess they might’ve wired ahead. No matter, follow me there.
though, for all their, what do ya call it, zeal? Yeah
all their zeal they go down like , for
a dirty pug, takin’ a dive if you
wrists over here too. Good work, better than some give ‘em a baby swipe. I seen a sym
of what I got myself three sheets to the wind bol tattooed on their
Remind me to show you some of that if we ever see each and loaded to bear.
others in person.
Anyway, me not having a heater about my person let
a couple of them cult types live. They was flat-out unco
mind you, but I knows a den where I brought them nscious,
. A local owed me a favor. I won’t get into details,
into the gangs over here, I got to tell you. And a but the man’s heavy
man that heavy, he has men that can lean on peopl
to spill no matter how much zeal they got. e to get ‘em
I’ll spare you the details, as you’re a perfesser and all
and don’t want to hear about no hot pokers on the flesh
or bamboo shoots under the nails or other likewise. Suffi
ce it to say, the little nut talked. I had to get my
to translate, but he’s part of some damn thing called friend
the Cult of the Butterfly. Sounds innocent enough, but
says the cult does dark deeds in dirty places — tha my friend
t’s black magic to you and me. Anyhows, this littl
up his address, a shack in the red-light district. e
I helped myself to a looksee there on your dime (th feller also gave
by the by), and found a matchbook from London anks for the moola
of all places. Joint called The Hellfire Club. I don’
matchbook has some of that strange writing on it. t know of it, but the
I’m tossing it in with the letter.
Let me know if you go to London. I gotta haul munition
s on an old steamer to some island I never heard of. I
Japanese are stockpiling. Have another go at China. think the
But this little feller I put the questions to says, Chi
Right now, looks like they have heap na will rise again.
s of trouble with the Rising Son. My little joke.
Watch yer back.

—Sailor Steve
it became an empire that rivalled Khitai — some accounts

say it even conquered the jewel of the East. No matter, the
WAR
empire did not last. Tribes fell to internecine fighting again, War and upheaval define the Hyborian Age, regardless of
and Erlik worship fractured into a number of smaller cults, what side of the Vilayet one finds themselves. The fractious
each with different ways of serving their god. kingdoms of the West are no anomaly. Khitai, Vendhya,
Would disease cause such a union again and, if so, what Hyrkania — all make war against some foe or another.
would become of today’s empires should Hyrkania purpose Expansion and conquering are the rules of the day
itself toward conquering? Yet many cultures and empires of the East have forgotten
more about intrigue and the art of war than the West may
ever know. Amidst the chaos and tumult of war are natural
POLITICS, SOCIAL disasters, uprisings, raids from Afghuli tribesman, and the
wicked weed of sorcery.
EVENTS & WAR Man is a consistent animal but, in the East, the flavor of
his highs and lows varies like the tides. Still, the cycles of
The East is no stranger to the handiwork of man. Even in history continue, and the Hyborian Age is but one layer in
the taiga or open steppes, the will of lords, chieftains, and the vast strata of geologic history Howard gave us.
queens can change the world as much as the raw power
of nature. Khitai Goes to War
The most powerful kingdom in the East did not become such
for lack of ambition. Just as in the West, every mighty ruler
64 Chapter 3
eyes their neighbors with the intent of possible conquest. that power from someone who is vulnerable. Traditionally,
Khitai, with its disciplined army and motivated troops, the plotters will conspire to put a sympathetic member
coupled with advances in tactics and technology, is in a of the current dynasty upon the throne so as to maintain
fine position to expand. In fact, Khitai is probably better their legitimacy.
able to conquer its neighbors than, say, Turan… at least for Yet humans are human, and their business on this Earth
now. One day, perhaps, Khitai and the West might square involves plotting and intrigue. Thus, no court is immune to
off, but that day is not today. Below, then, we see likely the machinations of clever, willful plotters. More dynasties
targets for Khitai’s ambition, speculate on the results of than can easily be counted have ruled Khitai — only some
such conflicts, and offer ideas to how these macro-events were established through lineage and law.
might affect your campaign. The size and power of both Vendhya and Khitai mean
that any change in power would have tremendous effects
Warring States on the entire region. The great empires might even split,
History is both cyclical and capricious. What happened falling into internal battles, as has happened in the past.
before will happen again and often when one is least pre- The Easterner knows that nothing is permanent. All things,
pared for it. Long before the rise of the Ten Thousand Year including dynasties, have their rises and their falls.
Empire, Khitai was but a series of warring states struggling
for dominance. While nigh 700 years have passed since Native Characters Involved in a Coup
that era, cultural differences yet run deep and ambitions Any player characters raised in the East will be very wary of
of prefects are lofty. participation in the overthrow of even a minor noble. These
Internecine war could break out, should the gamemas- characters know their traditions and know the penalty for
ter find it narratively rich. At first, this would begin with violating them without cause. It is therefore rare that an
intrigue and spying, for Khitai goes not to war without internal plot comes to fruition without some assurance of
knowledge. The player characters might be recruited as power behind the play, as well as a foundational claim of
scouts and spies or even assassins. After all, a Western vendetta or imperial failure — both of which are legitimate
barbarian slaying a high-ranking noble looks less suspicious, causes for slaying a king or emperor.
for no respectable Khitan would deal with such foreigners Only fools and outlanders would knowingly get involved
on such a subtle matter. in an attempt to overturn a throne without exceedingly
From the intrigue phase, we move directly into the strong motivation and concomitant knowledge of
beginning of war. Border skirmishes flare, troops marshal, all conspirators.
and soon the entire empire is in civil war. Foreigners with a
good sword-arm are suddenly far more welcome than they Outlanders Involved in a Coup
once were. Mercenaries flood in from any place available, It is this gap, between the demands of fidelity and the drive
as many Khitan commanders would rather spill the blood of personal ambition, into which foreign conspirators often
of the pale men than that of their own. Besides, outlanders fall. Killers from Zamora care little whether a murder is
fight differently and with a raw savagery that belies the justified. Plotters from Stygia cannot be stymied by norms
well-studied arts of Eastern warfare. or risks they have no knowledge of.
In this scenario, player characters might become king And so, as if often the case in political intrigue, outsiders
makers, allying with whomever they think best fit for a are employed to do what locals will not. Any wandering
throne or playing one would-be ruler against another. They group might, after becoming known for certain reputations,
had best tread carefully, though, for when all quiets down, be approached obliquely with the notion of such a plot. The
blame is likely to fall on those who do not belong. Such is approach is never direct, for who can trust a foreign devil?
the way of mankind. Instead, the idea seems to arise naturally while getting to
know a sly courtier with power lust. First, the outlanders
PALACE COUP meet only her minions, and even they work and speak subtly.
Indeed, such is the long-winded and evasive manner
Such an event would most likely take place in Vendhya or of speaking about murders that most foreigners tire and
Khitai, though there is nothing to prevent such a usurpation lose patience. These are not conspirators who could have
from happening anywhere, as Conan’s own story demon- been trusted to fulfill their role. And, because the very scent
strates. Wherever there is absolute power, others wait in of conspiracy brings in the ruler’s interrogators, merely
the wings to take it. It is not paranoia which causes the listening to someone vaguely suggest a killing can mark
Emperor of Khitai to utilize a dozen food tasters before meals. an outlander for death.
Such coups largely happen during successions, or when The East has no traditions or compunctions about the
the ruling dynasty is clearly weak. The Eastern Kingdoms are hows and whys of killing the dogs of the West.
powerful, after all, and there is much to be gained by taking
Events 65
The player characters might get caught up in such a

FOREIGNERS PURGED purge. Do they flee, or take up arms against the persecution?
Merchants return from the East claiming that its peoples It serves to remember that Conan was often unwelcome
fear them, but this is inaccurate. The East has no fear of where he visited, but his iron will and steel blade soon
foreigners; they just don’t especially like them. That said, remedied the doubts of any who survived trying to oust
dislike all too easily turns to hate, and it sometimes serves him from their lands.
the purposes of provincial administrators or of those even
higher to blame outlanders for troubles caused internally.
THE CULTS OF ERLIK UNITE
Throughout the East, 'Foreigner' is a broad term, often
As previously mentioned, Hyrkanian legend accounts for
used to mean anyone not of a land, and occasionally used
the rise of Erlik as relating to a plague. It is further said that
against those from a region who are not well liked. Khitans
Erlik caused the plague so that Hyrkanians would unite.
of the southern jungles. Forest and hill-folk of Vendhya.
Who can say what muse a god follows? In fact, perhaps
Hyrkanians, anywhere outside their own tribe.
the gods themselves create muses that only men follow.
Historically, purges have occurred during times of stress.
Whatever the case, Erlik worship hasn’t been unified in
Plagues and famines have been blamed on foreign sorcery.
Hyrkania for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. What
Failed plots to kill leaders are pinned on outlanders —
passes for Erlik worship in Turan churns the stomach of
admittedly sometimes truly. Sometime, any excuse to unite
any member of the nomad empires.
against a perceived common foe will do. To be fair, all this
Thus, each empire, sometimes each tribe, worship Erlik
applies in many Western kingdoms, as well. No kingdom
according to their own custom and tradition. Astreas the
of the Hyborian Age is without prejudice. Ask any civilized
Scholar once attempted to track the various versions of
man what he thinks of a barbarian.
the god depicted and worshipped in Hyrkania, but soon
Thus, this is an event that may occur anywhere, so long
gave up. Today, while Erlik remains a somber death god
as the players are not locals. They stick out. They don’t
for Hyrkanians, little more can be said consistently from
know the customs of this land, and by the time they ask
one area of Hyrkania to the next.
the locals are largely unwilling to show them.
66 Chapter 3
Yet a fervent cult grows somewhere in Hyrkania — one

dedicated to the reunification of their god under a single
THE YAGGITES
set of rituals and tradition. This cult believes, as all cults Long ago, before the coming of man, the Yaggites fell to
must, that theirs is the one, true faith. Ask a Hyrkanian Earth, deep in the jungles of Khitai. Exiles from their own
about it, and they are like to turn upon the asker. However, planet, their wings carried them across space’s endless
enough merchants pass through their territory that the gulfs until, arriving on our planet, their wings burned, and
story of the cult leaked into the West like the very disease they became trapped.
Erlik is known to spread. They survived and watched Elder Things war with Mi-Go,
Some tales say the cult lives in the taiga or even further watched those civilizations rise and fall as Lemuria and
north. Others put the cult on the edge of Khitai, possibly in Mu sunk. They watched the rise of humankind and, in
the Swamps of the Dead. Traveler’s tales are oft amusing time, taught it the sorcerous ways of their world. Perhaps
but rarely true, and this particular story would easily be humanity’s ascent in the East is due to their interference.
dismissed were it not for the strange altars found by both Perhaps humans rose of their own accord. Perhaps all of this
merchant caravans and migrating nomads alike. They happened too long ago for any human to even contemplate.
are covered in blood. Their victims gone. Not even a trace All we know of Yag and its denizens comes from Yag-
of them remains. Locals avoid these areas, while foolish kosha, the elephant-headed alien being trapped in his titular
traders have sought them out, never to return. tower by a malevolent wizard. We find the last surviving
In addition to the altars, people go missing in the night. member of this race a pitiable creature, all his nobility and
It happens among all the nomad empires, even becoming power stripped by the desire of men. But little is known
a cause for war. Yet most kings know that it is not another of what the Yaggites did in detail before they died out.
Hyrkanian empire which takes these folks, for there is Yag-kosha spoke of the Kings of Yag who had exiled the
always impossibility surrounding their vanishing. Reports ones who came to Earth. Likely, these kings survived the
of people sleepwalking from their yurts, naked, into the rebellion against them, and perhaps, as their own planet
open steppes, of winged demons lifting burly warriors from turns brown and dead like a petrified orb in the sky, they
horseback, never to be seen again; all this surrounds the will seek a new home here on Earth, as well.
mysterious disappearances. What would this mean, the arrival of the Kings of Yag?
Something fell and unnatural wafts like a deathly odor Do they retain their wings, or become trapped? Are Earth
from any mention of this cult. Even priests of Erlik are loath and Yag connected in some unknown way, paired spheres in
to speak of its existence. And yet. the heavens bound by some ethereal tether? The arrival of
Erlik is an old god, terribly so. Some trace his worship such powerful beings would disrupt Khitai and, eventually,
to the Outer Dark. Were that true, were Erlik a Great Old all of the East. The kings were described as vengeful and
One, then such a cult, with such power on its side, could powerful; such creatures might take control of the Empire
indeed subsume the lesser masks of the death god’s worship. of the Yellow Lotus and begin to spread west.
Such a possibility makes even the walls of Akif and Paikang Who could stop such a power from dominating or crush-
shake, as if the Earth itself vomits up tremors in the true ing anything in their path? A few unknown wanderers?
name of beings whose existence drives men mad, lays low Stranger things have happened.
empires, and ends entire civilizations.
That is what the traveler’s tales say, anyway.
ADVENTURES
UNNATURAL EVENTS IN THE EAST
The Hyborian Age is a relative treasure vault of adventures,
The Hyborian Age is replete with a thousand thousand
and this is no different in the East. Herein we outline some
natural terrors which can kill or maim a person. Yet, atop
thematic differences Western player characters might
this, the people of this age also must deal with the unnatural.
encounter, as well as offering ideas about what kinds of
The world is infected by corruption, by the Outer Dark. Fell
weird, fantastic danger seekers of fortune might encounter
sorceries resurrect the dead and defy natural law.
in the relatively unknown world beyond Hyborian ken.
The East is no more immune to the effects of such risky
flirtations with the abyss than the West. Below are some
decidedly unnatural events which could have far-reaching STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
consequences in your campaign. One classic trope of all fiction is the fish out of water, the
new arrival, the person who arrives in the new world. For
characters of Western origin, the East is, indeed, a ‘strange
Events 67
a drunk stumbling about the tavern — trouble finds them.

AFTER THE FALL OF YIMSHA The gamemaster can cause tension to rise from such unex-
pected places. After all, a player character knows a pitfall is
After the events in “The People of the Black Circle”, the
a hazard to look for in desolate ruins, but would they think
kingdom — now properly a queendom — of Vendhya is no
equally deadly traps might spring merely by making the
longer under the sway of the titular sorcerers. The court
wrong hand gesture to a Vendhyan noble?
is free of their malice, and the princess free of Khemsa’s
The gamemaster should take what the player characters
threat. Vendhya inevitably experiences a shift in power.
expect and turn it on its ear. This is especially rewarding for
Bunda Chand is dead. The Devi Yasmina presumably
those who have become far too confident in their prowess
holds the throne but there are no doubt others plotting
in combat but think nothing of the finer graces in this life.
to exploit her brother’s death. This can quickly lead to
Just because the robed man that’s been insulted can recite
instability, revolt, civil war, or the ascent to the throne
poetry does not mean he lacks equal skill with parting a
of some tyrant. Likewise, the Devi herself may quell all
head from its body.
such who speak against her, and rule wisely and with
measured reason. Perhaps Vendhya experiences a resur- Sorcery in the East
gence or cultural change under her aegis.
Sorcery is always surrounded in mystery. It is never pre-
Certainly, some of the green-robed acolytes who
dictable, and all those of experience learn to respect it.
survived might wish to resurrect the cult or use the
In the East, this is no different, but the player characters
knowledge they gained there for other purposes, perhaps
who think they know something of the dangers posed by
resulting in an exodus from Mount Yimsha of the Master’s
the Outer Dark find that Eastern sorcerers often play with
former students, selling their sorcerous aptitude across
different powers. Mesmerism and illusion are, overall, more
the lands of the West and East.
common sources of unnatural power than demons called
down from the void.
While the Western mind is not inculcated to this kind
of magic, that also gives them a benefit — their minds are
not as easily tricked. They have not the cultural belief in
land’. Its rigid manner is foreign, the languages more so.
hypnotism, for example, so the mesmerist might have a
Tradition has weight and legitimacy here, and knowing
more difficult time bending their mind. Or course, the
how to obey it is oft more valuable than gold.
outlander also has little idea what tricks a wizard might
Most Western nations have no such age or legitimacy.
hold in these remote lands.
There, a wanderer must take the world by the throat to get
The Book of Skelos covers mesmerism in considerable
what they want. What good is ritual, custom, and etiquette
depth, so that sourcebook might be a useful adjunct to
against naked steel, one may ask? In the lands beyond the
campaigns or adventures set in the East.
Vilayet, this answer is revealed.
Player characters are likely accustomed to life in the
West. Yet the lands of the East offer a respite from the NATIVES OF THE EAST
usual. One can cause trouble by mere misunderstanding Native Eastern characters could also comprise the bulk of a
and violate laws never conceived of in places like Aquilonia. player character group. In this case, the East is not foreign,
Some cultures have tolerance for such ‘Western barbarism’, but still holds mysteries. The Easterner knows that the
while others do not. In any event, player characters arriving cosmos is vast, complicated, and barely understood by the
as outlanders should find themselves often out of place, human mind. They know the customs of their culture and
confused, and reversed in their roles. In the West, they may perhaps those of others around them. Easterners know
command respect. Here, no one has heard of them and their the history of their lands, and the forces that maintain
rude instruments of war carry less weight. their traditions.
Of course, few farmers or village folk take up a sword
The Simple Made Complex and walk the dusty roads that wend through the world like
It is often a simple matter for player characters to find blue veins. Those who do are, of necessity, possessed of a
someone that speaks a common language. In Zamora the certain spark of restlessness. In the East, there is more to
Accursed, a dozen languages assault the ears in the Maul. In keep a person in their place. Therefore, those who seek to
Paikang, there is but one language and few outsiders speak it. make their own fortune are rarer than in the West, though,
So, too, with customs. Anyone unfamiliar with the even there, they are already rare indeed.
ways of specific cultures such as Iranistan or Vendhya Like in the West, a player character from one of the coun-
might insult someone by mere accident. A Western player tries detailed herein is likely either something of an anomaly
character without any social experience in the East is like among their kind… or an exile. This is a broad classification
68 Chapter 3
One never abandons the place from which they came.

“I could never endure to seclude myself in a golden Most Eastern vagabonds have some respect for decorum
tower, and spend the long hours staring into a and tradition. They retain a knack for subtlety, and they
crystal globe, mumbling over incantations written may well carry their native gods with them wherever the
on serpent’s skin in the blood of virgins, poring road takes them.
over musty volumes in forgotten languages.”
The Exile
— Salome, “A Witch Shall Be Born” The second broad reason a citizen of the East takes to the
road is exile. Compulsion, rather than the restless heart,
drives this type of character from their native world. Any
culture as codified as are many in the East leaves little room
and does not apply to all. But the circumstances of eastern for breaking rules. Likewise, a person’s very existence in
characters are oft different to ones in the West. Nations the East is often defined by their duty and, should they
in the East are larger and more ancient, with rewards for fail, they expect punishment. Many are simply executed.
obeying society's rules that are missing in the rough-hewn The less fortunate are banished. Particularly in Khitai and
newborn nations of the West. The mindsets and incentives Vendhya, there is no greater punishment than to be marked
to wander are the same, but characters in the East are less forever a pariah.
likely to believe themselves capable of overthrowing the These folks cannot return home. Whatever social norm
Khitan throne or uniting the Hyrkanian trives. This leads to they violated makes them forever outsiders, little better
two very general kinds of player characters — the restless than the barbarous Westerners they may have to travel
vagabond and the exile. with. The exile has a melancholy about them; resentment
lies in their heart. At night, they may dream of returning
The Restless Vagabond to the rice paddies the vagabond forsook. They may yearn
The rice farmer’s child may look to the stars at night and to return to the circumscribed life. Their tragedy is that
wonder: is their fate really bound to these paddies like they never will.
that of their parents, and their parent’s parents? Perhaps
the stars have something else writ for them that no mortal Other Eastern Wanderers
can read. Perhaps, the child even fearfully wonders, the Not every player character fits into the convenient arche-
Emperor does not know all. types above. These generalizations exist to provide ready-
Such a child might grow weary of toiling under the sun to-play personas and spark ideas. The vast majority of
from its rising to its setting. At some point they might seek those who wander the East are neither rebels nor exiles.
other trials, other lives. Their culture may frown upon it, Merchants, diplomats, scholars, and the like all have reason
their parents might be ashamed, but some restless hearts to travel. So too do mercenaries, soldiers, and others who
simply cannot be tied to a given place of life. live by the sword.
Conan himself is an example of this kind of character, A group of Eastern player characters might be given
insofar as he left Cimmeria. Most Cimmerians are content orders from their lord to venture forth to unknown places.
to stay in their cold, gloomy lands. Conan, inspired by his Likewise, they might already exist on the fringes of their
uncle’s travels, was not. In this way, the Easterner who society as hill-folk, raiders, beggars, or thieves. Just as there
turns their back on custom and tradition is very much are myriad conditions which bring Western characters to
like Conan himself. Of course, in the East, such a soul is the life of the rogue or sell-sword, so too are there hundreds
judged more harshly. more in the East. The gamemaster and the player ought to
Even still, the rebel of any culture carries part of their collaborate on the reasons a given character takes up the
culture in their hearts, easily readable on their countenance. life of a wanderer.
CHAPTER 4
MYTH & MAGIC
I took an ivory grinning joss,

From a chest of scented sandal wood.
Now where the woven bamboos cross
It stands where a silver idol stood.
We sat beneath the drowsy fronded tree,
From shell-thin cups we sipped our amber tea.
The Mandarin laid his coral button cap
Upon the silken ocean of his lap.
He raised a finger nail with jade ornate
And carved the sky in patterns intricate.
— “Sighs in the Yellow Leaves”, Robert E. Howard
T
he myth and magic of the East is not easily digested in to learn the ways of Eastern worship, one must press into
a native lifetime. Outsiders have little hope to grasp their lands and, perhaps, pray to their gods that ignorance
any of it with depth, but still they try. All cultures is accepted as a thirst for wisdom.
have their legends, their secrets, and their dark sides. In
the lands beyond the Vilayet, all three mingle into a heady ASURA OF THE PARTED VEIL
spice, a kind of mental lotus which clouds the mind and
Where Yajur is the cold reality of death, Asura is that which
abstracts the world in shapes both foreign and alien.
sees beyond states to a larger whole. Some say Yajur herself
While men of the age such as Astreas, and modern-era
parts the veil because that veil is death. The faithful of Asura
academics like Dr. Jack Kirowan, have done their best to
know that death, too, is an illusion.
untangle truth from fiction, black from white, material
Early texts often blur the line between Asura and Yajur,
from incorporeal, the East makes fewer distinctions. The
even suggesting they were once an androgynous god, and
world is often of a whole here, and minds too rigid to accept
that they gained gender upon being ripped apart by the
a paradoxical totality cleave to primitive beliefs and reflex-
World Wheel. Other sects believe they were man and wife,
ive violence.
and their separation formed the world from the primeval
chaos of their parting. For many Asurans, the very notion
THE GODS OF that the two were ever related is anathema. Asura sees
THE EAST through the illusion that is the world, and Yajur is merely
an aspect of that mirage.
Asura is always found as a male aspect, and his cults
Eastern gods are strange to Westerners. Their rituals oft operate as far west as Aquilonia. In Vendhya, Asura is the
seem incoherent or even horrific. Death is a prevalent chief deity, but his name coats the tongue of many Eastern
theme among them, but this is an age where death lurks nations. His priests tend toward openness but are not easily
around every bend in the road. Of these looming giants, fooled. His temples are open to those willing to likewise
these strange beings who rule from outer realms and arctic open their eyes. He is without wrath, but those who ignore
hells, little is known west of the Vilayet. Should one wish his wisdom find the cosmos makes its own doom for them.
Asuran priests hold political power in Vendhya in a way is neither death nor life which the Khitans call “The
largely unknown outside Stygia or Iranistan. To the Western Realm of Hungry Ghosts”.
mind, there are a host of gods, and one may be readily Erlik does not merely infuse Hyrkanian culture but is
traded for another. In the East, this is not so, and men gain Hyrkanian culture. One cannot separate the two anymore
power using the name of Asura. Sometimes, this leads to than man may separate life from death. Beneath the yurts
corrupt priesthoods who create more illusion, gather more where Hyrkanians sleep in life to the kurgans (see page 40)
cobwebs than they ever clear away. Remember, those who where their bodies sleep in death, Erlik provides guidance
are hard to fool are also adroit at fooling those who aren’t. and a watchful eye over all.
A person’s life is not their own, but rather part of a skein
ERLIK made by Erlik, of which each person, and even their entire
generation, will see only a part. One’s role in life is deter-
The god of the Hyrkanians, Erlik, sits upon a black throne
mined by their name at birth, when Erlik blows the brief
beneath the Earth in his icy hell. That is where all souls are
breath of life into their lungs… breath which he shall all-
destined, the terminal point of life and, ironically, the end
too-soon take away.
to which all life aspires. Where Erlikism is grim in Turan,
Yet, for all this, Erlik is not a grim god, for he encour-
worship of the god is morbid and sometimes ghastly on the
ages his people, offspring of his nine progenies, to take of
steppes of Hyrkania. As the Four Winds blow, the fate of
this life what they may. Upon their death, they shall heap
empires may rise and fall, but for whatever cardinal point
memories of their time on Earth before Erlik’s throne and
the wind takes a person, all will end in death.
their god will judge whether these bits of life essence are
To have a good death means one had a good life, though
enough for one to join him in his ice-sheathed hell.
‘good’ in this case is certainly not the sort of ethos that
Life and death are a single line for Erlik’s people, one no
the fat priests of Mitra would recognize. A good life for a
man can untangle nor avoid. You take what you can from
Hyrkanian means sending the enemy to either the Halls
this life and barter it for a better position in the next. This
of Erlik or, if an unbeliever, to the non-space of being that
temporary prison of flesh is but a test. Know this when
facing a Hyrkanian in battle.
THE JOURNA
L OF THE WA
NDERER’S CLUB
VOL. 36 NO. 8 1936
…and so, I posit
that again we se
though these spar e the cycles of tim
ks of culture appe e repeat, what Ni
religions, origina ar in different wa etzsche called et
ting in our near-E ys at different tim ernal return,
root. In the Hybo ast. There, the be es. Take our Judeo-
rian Age, in that ginnings of monot Christian
period’s near-Eas heistic theology to
I do not exaggera t, th e fir ok strongest
te when I say th st hints of monothe
Hyborian Age in at the basis of ou ism also flowere
places called Ira r current religio d.
extant records I nistan and Vend us paradigm be
have previously cit hya. While the we gan in the
ed, mired in pant stern lands were
Age Eastern cultu heism and ambigu , according to
res already adva ous morality, som
god. One could nced to Manichea e Hyborian
argue that the ag n dualism and m
places such as Aq e might be prop orality as defined
ulionia dominat erly called the Ve by a single
e the surviving re ndhyan Age or th
I turn now to Ira co rd s. e like, even if
nistan and its an
what we call Zoro cient religion wh
astrianism…. ich prefigures, pe
rhaps even lead
directly to,
Thus, Hyrkanian belief is complex and often particular The body itself is then burned, for every drop of blood must
to a given clan or nomad empire. For details on Erlik and go to Yajur alone. Should an assassin of Yajur spill a victim’s
the way Hyrkanians worship him, see pagea 39-40. blood, some sects demand they replace the sacrifice. These
zealots go willingly to Yajur’s many-armed embrace.
YAJUR OF THE SEVEN TONGUES As a female deity, Yajur bestows her power upon mortal
women. In Vendhya, a matriarchy formed under the intoxi-
The Red Wind, She Who Breaks Nations, the Ten Arms of
cating red eyes of the Black One — the largest matriarchy in
Death, Yajur acquires names like a corpse acquires flies.
the known world. There are few men, despite their positions
Indeed, Yajur is Devi of the Dead, among other things. Her
of power, who would openly invoke Yajur’s wrath. Better to
cults are found throughout the East, but open worship is
err on the side of caution than find oneself visited in the
most common in Kosala and Ghanara.
night by a Yota-pong strangler.
A dark god, Yajur is a deity of chaos and change. She
Her temples are found in both modern urban settlements
has broken nations, ruined the technology of Old Kosala,
as well as ruins crawling with age and vines. Some say Yajur
and demands an ever-increasing tithe of blood. Taken from
was first the god of life but turned into a god of death after
her descendants, and returned to her in flame to increase
the Cataclysm. For others, she is merely the god of change.
her strength.
Vendhyan texts going back seven centuries bear what
appears to be eyewitness accounts of Yajur’s intervention EASTERN SORCERY
on the battlefield, sometimes for one side, other times for
another. Her priests and faithful ritually sacrifice their Sorcery in the East is not so different than in the West save
victims to her, but never by drawing blood. In Kosala, great by façade. In the end, true sorcery is a pact with forces from
stranglers wring the life from victims with bare hands. In the Outer Dark and, howsoever one dresses that up, the
Vendhya, they wrap silken cords around necks or use poison. truth remains — sorcery is unnatural and not of this Earth.
Superstitions about the dark arts abound in the East as
they do in the West, though these beliefs are more codified
in places like Ghulistan and Khitai. Some of these codes
“I was chosen by the priests of Yajur in my infancy,
or rules seem frivolous, and many of them are. However,
and throughout childhood, boyhood, and youth I
many more are truths passed down through the ages; these
was trained in the art of slaying with the naked
warn specifically of the ways in which a person invites the
hands—for only thus are the sacrifices enacted.
void into their heart or make of themselves a mark for dark
Yajur loves blood, and we waste not a drop from
beings, or warn of lines which, when crossed, cannot be
the victim’s veins. When I was a child they gave me
crossed again.
infants to throttle; when I was a boy I strangled
All this is not to say there are more or fewer sorcerers
young girls; as a youth, women, old men, and young
east of the Vilayet than not. We merely herein pose to the
boys. Not until I reached my full manhood was I
enterprising gamemaster that magic remains mysterious
given a strong man to slay on the altar of Yota-pong.”
and, when describing it, adjusting from what it looks like
in the West is helpful.
— “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula”
No magic is explicable save for that which is mere trick-
ery. While player characters may be used to encountering
72 Chapter 4
THE HEART OF ERLIK
It was a ruby, of such deep crimson that it looked darkly purple, the hue
of old wine, and the blood that flows near the heart. It looked like the
materialization of a purple nightmare. She could believe now the wild tales
she had heard—that Woon Yuen worshiped it as a god, sucking madness
from its sinister depths, that he performed terrible sacrifices to it—
— “The Purple Heart of Erlik”, Robert E. Howard

An egg-sized ruby of the darkest hue, this artifact
is said to represent the heart of the god Erlik, cher-
ished throughout the centuries as it made its grim
path across the lands of the East. The Heart of Erlik
is priceless, valuable enough to purchase entire
castles should it find a buyer. A successful Daunting
(D3) Lore roll is required to recognize it outside of
the East, but any worshipper of Erlik will recognize
it immediately.
■ Reputed Qualities: Possession of the Heart

of Erlik provides +1d20 to any casting of
Favor of the Gods when the spell is dedicated
to Erlik. Additionally, the Heart has a bizarre
and unfortunate reputation: that it thirsts
for the blood of any who handle it who
are not high priests of Erlik. If the Heart is
profaned through handling by the non-de-
vout, it must be submerged in a chalice of
the fresh blood of those self-same heretics,
drawn by the possessor of the Heart. If this
is not done within one full day of the trans-
gression, the Heart’s owner will suffer the
effects of a personal Doom pool of 5 Doom
per session that the gamemaster can only
spend on them. The Heart does indeed drink
the blood it is submerged in, as it will vanish
within moments.
all sorts of dark arts within the course of their exploits, the take on some semblance of familiar appearance even as they
way in which the gamemaster accents that experience can drive us mad. Rotting hags in the Swamps of the Dead may
make all the difference. A demon drawn down from the drag men to underwater graves and suck the life from their
gulfs of space may look very different in the East, though bloated corpses… yet they are still vampires. Old Gods who
they remain the same mechanically. go unnamed save on the tongues of madmen may appear
Magic is something man cannot understand, and so differently in the books of Paikang than in “The Nemedian
we process it through our minds and the cultures which Chronicles”, yet both are Elder Gods that have forgotten
hewed them from airy nothing. That is to say, we impose more of space and time than man, in his brief season on
our cultural traditions upon things unnatural so that they the Earth, will ever know.
Myth & Magic 73
YAG EASTERN RELIGION IN PLAY

The further one wanders East, the stranger religions
The folk of Yag came to Earth across the vast gulfs of space, become to one of the West. Not only are gods stranger,
blown by interstellar winds on wings which died and with- perhaps closer to the Earth than in the Hyborian king-
ered upon their exile on Earth — exiles, for they warred doms, but some cultures have them not at all. Patterns
with the Kings of Yag and left that green world behind. They are mapped in the stars where, in Khitai, a life of a single
arrived in the East, in the area that would one day be called man or entire empire might be read.
Khitai. They landed when humans were new and when the In Ghulistan, animism prevails, but it is the proverbs
spawn of the Outer Dark held dominion over the planet. learned by generations over time that form a closer analog
Few now know of their existence, for the people of Yag to Western religion than anything else. In Kosala, Yajur
are long extinct — or so one supposes. Only one Yaggite of the Seven Tongues is worshipped openly with human
ever spoke of his world, at least as recorded in the West, and sacrifice, while Vendhyan belief is a mix of spirituality
he was called Yag-kosha — the last survivor of his race. Yet and philosophy under the guidance of Asura.
in the jungles of Khitai, in jungles older and more primeval Whatever role religion plays, or does not play, in a
still, cities of the Yag exiles remain, folded in loam and ruin, Conan campaign, the gamemaster should emphasize
waiting for intrepid, foolish, and amoral men to exploit that it is notably different from what player characters
their resources and knowledge. have seen west of the Vilayet. All sorts of wonders and
Once, men worshipped the people of Yag as gods, though horrors, insights and mind-blasting truths await those
this belief is now all but forgotten. And yet, it was not for- travelers who seek not only the peripatetic life, but the
gotten, not by all… cults of Yag exist and some haunted-eyed mind which is sponge to all the world’s beliefs.
witnesses to their rites claim some Yaggites yet live too.
“We saw men grow from the ape and build the such superior science as to seem like sorcery. He notably
shining cities of Valusia, Kamelia, Commoria and expounds on this idea in a paper published in The Wanderer’s
their sisters. We saw them reel before the thrusts of Club Journal on Kosalan ‘super-science’. A portion of that
the heathen Atlanteans and Picts and Lemurians. essay appears below, courtesy of Miskatonic University Press.
We saw the oceans rise and engulf Atlantis and Old Kosala is covered in detail in Chapter 2: Gazetteer,
Lemuria, and the isles of the Picts, and shining mastered technology unfathomable even by modern stan-
cities of civilization. We saw the survivors of dards. To the people of the age, indeed to even modern
Pictdom and Atlantis build their stone-age empires, scientists, the acts of which Old Kosalan machines were
and go down to ruin, locked in bloody wars.” capable seem like true magic. Where Old Stygia and Acheron
founded their power on actual sorcery, ancient Kosala took
— Yag-kosha, “The Tower of the Elephant” a different path.
Whether sorcery of science was more potent, the history
of the Hyborian Age speaks much more of Acheron and
These cults are more secretive than the deepest double Old Stygia than it does of Old Kosala. Yet that may simply
agents of kings and more guarded than the deepest myster- indicate Kosalan records did not survive or perhaps were
ies of Mitra. Only the cults of the Great Old Ones remain as stored in methods other than writing which none have
esoteric and legendary as the cults of Yag. Eastern scholars yet decoded. Even Dr. Kirowan, as seen in his essay, must
posited, most of them having gone mad after, that some of necessity surmise rather than deduce some aspects of
truce or pact between the Outer Dark forces on Earth and this forgotten technology — the Hyborian Age remains
the Yag must have been in place. How else could these largely silent.
alien cultures coexist? In von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Old Kosala fell and left less trace of itself than its sor-
Kulten (known in translation as Nameless Cults), the author cerous contemporaries but, curiously, those remnants and
suggests that Yag, in its distant orbit of our galaxy, occa- cities which did remain were far more intact than anything
sionally slipped into the void itself. built in mighty Acheron. Even the pyramids eroded over
Yag-kosha himself claimed to practice only white magic, time and in the Cataclysm, yet cities like Xuchotl and Xuthal
but the kings who he and his rebellious lot opposed likely remained, so far as we know, until the Picts swept down
practiced its opposite. In the modern age, far from the from the north and ended the Hyborian Age in violence
remote Hyborian Age, men like Dr. Jack Kirowan theorize and bloodshed.
that the people of Yag had not magic at their disposal, but
74 Chapter 4
Aspects of Kosalan Technology

No artifacts remain in museums, only fragmentary accounts
passed down through the ages — first as facts and later as
legends. Taken collectively, they offer a tantalizing sugges-
tion of the super-science wielded by the race descended from
Mu. The following are broad categories encompassing this
mysterious counterpoint to the sorcerous arts.
■ Automated Food Manufacturing: Cities built by

the ancient Kosalans appear largely automated, so
much so that the remnant population of these green
stone cities live lives of decadent comfort. Among the
facilities provided by the city, or some aspect thereof,
is the apparent spontaneous generation of food and
drink. One merely need feel thirst, and the city slakes
it. No such methods of conjuring sustenance appear
anywhere where sorcery is concerned.
■ Alchemical Drugs and Extended Life: The people

of Xuthal accessed a dream world via a strange elixir.
They also appeared considerably, possibly incompre-
hensibly, old. Drugs, perhaps some distillation of the
lotus flower, most likely achieved these ends. Perhaps
they perfected not only the conscious altering proper-
ties of lotus, but some medicinal panacea, as well. For
more on Xuthal’s golden dream drug, see page 93 of
The Book of Skelos.
■ Luminescent Crystals: The Hyborian Age is largely

a world lit only by fire. Yet, in cities traced to Kosalan
builders, curious green, gem-like radium stones light Technology and the Demise of Old Kosala
the roads and alleys of what would be darkest night. If sorcery corrupts the individual, it might be fair to say
They give off no smoke, no odor, and seemingly that technology corrupts the masses, or at least has in it the
power themselves. How do they work? Were these potential. Acheron was not brought down by its reliance on
some early, if not superior, form of the light bulb? fell arts, but by the barbaric Borians whose savage fervor
ran wild over that once mighty armor.
■ Heavier-than-air Flight: As Dr. Kirowan notes, Old Kosala did not, so far as we know, fall victim to out-
what if the Wright Brothers were not the first to fly? side forces but merely faded away. The bits which remained,
Ancient Indian Vedas talk of machines which flew discovered in a kind of temporal amber like Xuthal or Xapur,
and even boasted terrible weaponry. The few records were populated by a decadent people whose every need was
of Vendhya uncovered by the Wanderer’s Club and provided by technology they no longer understood. Where
others likewise speak of similar devices. Does some sorcery takes a personal cost, where it is bound to one’s soul,
airship wait to be discovered somewhere in the science does not. Perhaps, had their technology taken some
Himelian Mountains? toll on the individuals of these cities, it might not have led
■ Electricity and Magnetism: In the lost city of to the civilization’s demise. Here we presuppose their power
Xotolanc, the ancient and near-mummified sorcerer science was their undoing, though not without reason.
Tolkemec used a wand that blasted arcs of electricity In nearly every instance, ancient Kosalan cities seem to
at his command, and in the city of Zamboula the sor- scream toward man the horrors of technology run amok.
cerer-priest Totramesk had a large disk-shaped table These are not the deep, alien terrors of the Outer Dark, but
of metal that was but a great magnet. Both relics have rather the banal horror of man’s own capacity for compla-
direct links to old Kosala, and in all likelihood point cency. Time and again, the Hyborian Age reminds us that
at other such items and linked technologies, such civilization leads inexorably to lethargy, to softness, and to
as magnets, electric wires, lightning rods, or more the dustbin of history. Technology is yet another method
exotic derivations. by which humankind achieves its own demise.
THE JOURNAL OF THE
WANDERER’S CLUB
VOL. 36 NO. 8 1936
Super-science and Sorcery

in the Hyborian Age
We have, in the spa ce of a scant century plus,
did in 5,000 years of hum come further technologically
an history. The impossibil than all our ancestors
today, and it is that anniver ity of flight became reality
sary which prompted me to just 33 years ago
drawer, polish it and presen dig this rough-hewn manus
t it to this esteemed club of cript from my
As is my penchant of late, freethinkers and experts on
the Hyborian Age compels the occult.
colleague and friend, Dr. Wil me to research, write, and
liam Dyer, wrote extensivel spe culate. My
him and his party near the y on the technological arti
South Pole, and this is an fac ts found by
of the era, we may deduce extension of that research.
the existence of such scie Fro m records
remind you of Xuthal, tha nce as we ourselves cannot
t city spoken of in “The Nem und ers tand. I
from nothing for its inhabi edian Chronicles”, said to
tants. pro duc e food
This struck me as oddly fam
iliar when I first read about
and those passages detailing this science, and I turned
the Ark of the Covenant. The to the Bible
as they trekked through the Ark produced food for the Chosen
desert via a force called ma People
very much like a machine. nna. The specifics of this “ma
While rereading this, I was nna ” sou nds
Biblical event that sounds also reminded of Ezekiel’s
suspiciously like a technologi Wheel, another
What if some portion of our cal device to a modern min
history, our own legends, if d.
technology we lost since as you will, are misinterprete
a race? Put plainly, if the d records of
are a species with amnesia. Hyborian Age is real, and
Some vast chunk of the rec I thin k it is, we
wondrous technologies mig ord of our race is largely lost
ht have risen and vanished to us — what
I turned next to the Indian between then and now?
Vedic texts, particularly tha
accounts of the wars of god t of the Mahabarata and its
s. Taken at face value, I alw “mythological”
Mount Olympus; but lookin ays dismissed them along with
g at it though a lens of sud Zeus and
suppose some of the flying den revelation, it was not too
vehicles written of there, the farf etched to
modern aeroplanes. vimana, could be something
akin to our
What if, I wondered, the Wri
ght Brothers did not invent
merely rediscovered it. For machine-made flight 33 yea
deeper insight into this pos rs ago but
as Old Kosala…. sib ility we turn now to the land kno
wn only
to the Cosmos for a kind of recycling. This is the World

Wheel, and while not all in the East believe it, many faiths
It was smoky, dim, ghostly, like the life-tide that
and creeds are formed on its precepts. Fealty to society
flickered thinly in a wounded man. The thought came
and tradition takes on greater meaning when any given
vaguely to Conan that the spells of magicians were
individual might have once been a slave, or a king, or even
more closely bound to their personal beings than
an animal.
were the actions of common men to the actors.
This is not to say that people of the East are without
the same human failings of their Western counterparts
— indeed, they are. Greed, covetousness, selfishness, and
cruelty all abound, but they are often framed differently. A
fearsome, tyrannical emperor tells himself and his subjects
THE WORLD WHEEL he serves society, whereas someone like King Strabonus of
Some call it a religion, others a philosophy. Whichever the Koth makes no excuses for serving himself.
case, the idea of the World Wheel permeates the cultures Just as the nations of the Hyborian Age draw on real
beyond the tempestuous waters of the Vilayet. In Aquilonia, cultural antecedents, the people in these nations do the
Nemedia, Koth, and elsewhere in the West, one’s soul is same for faith and philosophy. Any nation, region, or caste
their own. It infuses their life while they walk this earth has its own members that break every norm. Just as every
then leaves to parts unknown after their demise. While a not Hyborian is a barbarian, not every Khitan holds fealty
host of unnatural forces might bind such a soul, the soul above all. However, there are some basic beliefs centered on
itself remains something of the human who carries it. This the World Wheel which guide the gamemaster in design-
they believe in the West. ing their own faiths, metaphysics, and characters derived
In the East, a soul is but the temporary tenant of a body, from either.
borrowed or granted for the span of a lifetime then returned
76 Chapter 4
HOWARDIAN SCIENCE FANTASY Then there came a period of blind impulse

Modern distinctions between science fiction and fantasy and movement, when the atom that was
were far less prevalent during Robert E. Howard’s lifetime. she mingled and merged with myriad other
While credited with launching the sword and sorcery atoms of spawning life in the yeasty morass
genre, it does us well to remember that some of that of existence, molded by formative forces until
“sorcery” was technological in nature. Arthur C. Clarke’s she emerged again a conscious individual,
famous maxim, “Any sufficiently advanced technology whirling down an endless spiral of lives.
is indistinguishable from magic”, applies well to many
of Howard’s stories. In a mist of terror she relived all her former
“The Tower of the Elephant” features an actual alien existences, recognized and was again all the bodies
from another planet. “Xuthal of the Dusk”, describes a that had carried her ego throughout the changing
city in the desert that works on technological princi- ages. She bruised her feet again over the long, weary
ples rather than magic. The line between them is often road of life that stretched out behind her into the
blurred. Today, we might easily ascribe certain elements immemorial past. Back beyond the dimmest dawns
to fantasy — spells and monsters — and others like tech- of Time she crouched shuddering in primordial
nology to science fiction. But Howard wrote in the time jungles, hunted by slavering beasts of prey. Skin-
of Lovecraft, and Howard’s world even shares elements clad, she waded thigh-deep in rice swamps, battling
of the Cthulhu Mythos. with squawking water-fowl for the precious
That mythos was a hybrid of magic and science fiction. grains. She labored with the oxen to drag the
Alien gods are summoned by spells, but elder creatures pointed stick through the stubborn soil, and she
also wield such weapons as lightning guns and practice crouched endlessly over looms in peasant huts.
time travel. While Howard treats the science fantasy with
a lighter hand, the tropes of what we know as science She saw walled cities burst into flame, and fled
fiction were present in the stories. As this roleplaying screaming before the slayers. She reeled naked
game is built on a foundation of pure Howardian mate- and bleeding over burning sands, dragged at the
rial, it is appropriate to incorporate Howardian science slaver’s stirrup, and she knew the grip of hot,
fantasy in Conan games. fierce hands on her writhing flesh, the shame…
The Howardian approach is to treat this technology
much like a kind of magic, insofar as no one understands — “The People of the Black Circle”
how it works. However, scholars of the Hyborian Age, and
certainly any Conan players, know that there is a differ-
ence between sorcery and technology and that each fol- The Eternal Spirit
lows its own rules. No hard and fast border exists between The spirit, the soul, the ka — many are the names given to
the two in the Hyborian Age or in Howard’s stories. that essence of being which survives the flesh. The World
By the same token, the frequent symbols of science Wheel posits that this incorporeal manifestation is not
fiction — energy guns, robots, and flying vessels — do merely of the self, but of something beyond the self. The
not proliferate the tales of the mighty Cimmerian. Yag- spirit in the World Wheel merely possesses a person for
kosha was an alien, but his magic was purely sorcerous in their brief span on the earth. After that, it returns to a vast
nature. Magic and science both are elements in Howard’s repository of such souls and is passed to another mortal
world, but serving the greater story. Just as sorcerers form. Any individual is really an entire history of previous
are few and powerful in Conan’s world, so too should incarnations and, by extension, part of a line of all their
be high technology. future manifestations. A brooding Atlantean general is
This lost super-science and vestiges of high technology reborn after the Cataclysm as a Stygian slave, and tens of
further underscore the antiquity of the Hyborian Age and thousands of years later, as an Irish soldier in the First World
its predecessors: what the modern reader might think is War. Like a musical composition, variations on a central
advanced has been long since lost to the inevitable march theme appear as an individual where an underlying pattern
of time. Whatever technology is left long since faded from defines the entirety of the piece, or the being.
both understanding and ubiquity and, moreover, naked
steel and the will of a player character can overcome it. The Consequences of Lives
Some forms of the World Wheel hold that the lives led
previously lead directly to the lives ahead. While morality
varies, actions which are right and wrong form a kind of
Myth & Magic 77
cosmic tally at the end of each life. That sum determines re-establish themselves despite the utter lack of any living
if one is born well next time, or even born human. It is not being who remembers them. This can only be an example
prescribed by one’s culture. Must an evil, cruel torturer of the World Wheel’s gyre at work.
reincarnate as a horse fly? None know, but many theologians
and metaphysicians of the East say “yes” to this notion. THE REALM OF
The Grand Balance HUNGRY GHOSTS
If the eternal spirit reincarnates again and again, philoso- There is a place that is neither life nor death. It is a non-
phers in Vendhya and Kosala argue that some sort of cosmic space and a space all the same, a conundrum to which the
balance must maintain lest the forces of the Outer Dark Khitan mind is bent. This is the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and
consume all. Incumbent upon the individual incarnation is it is misty limbo where those who stalled upon the World
the idea that it must in some way offset the extremes of its Wheel exist. None would say they live there, for this exis-
previous being. Heady stuff, and at best gnomic to Western tence is not life. In the West, perhaps, we would call these
minds, the East accepts this as routine and smoothes all unfortunates spirits or shades, for they can be summoned
paradoxes that result with a grander view of a total cosmos. for or contacted by the world of those who draw breath.
The wills of the gods, even, are but pressures against Further, they have jealousy of the living and the dead,
the World Wheel, powerful to be sure, but nothing com- for either progresses upon the World Wheel while they,
pared to the axle that turns eternally. For many foreigners, the hungry ghosts, watch with green-eyed envy as souls
such thoughts amount to sophistry. A god’s will, or even a progress to their most perfect iterations.
human’s, is their own. How one applies it bends not only Varying philosophies and tracts in the libraries of Khitai,
the arc of their life, but that of history. Very broadly, this and to a lesser extent Vendhya, describe this realm and the
creates a division between those who believe humankind sins which consign one to it. Some say it is a temporary
shapes history and the world, and those who believe greater Purgatory, which a non-being can leave behind if they learn
forces carve both like wood against a lathe. from it. Others say it is permanent, that souls are simply
removed from the World Wheel never to progress again.
Cyclical Time Which is the correct interpretation? One would have to
The Great Wheel applies not just to people but to the vast visit the Realm of Hungry Ghosts to find out.
cycles of history. Time and again the great patterns of civ-
ilizations rise and fall, humankind descending to mere
apedom and once more attaining the sophistication of
culture, only to lose this once more. Cultural patterns
reassert themselves over and again in the same rough geo-
graphical proximity, and even certain myths and archetypes
THE REALM OF HUNGRY GHOSTS IN PLAY

It is possible that player characters might need to contact some soul in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and may even
need to visit that realm to do so. The “ghost”, for want of a better term, is a shadow of a life. They know things
about their existence, but not all of it and certainly not in chronological order. This makes for confusing, often cir-
cuitous conversations.
Moreover, the ghosts on this plane want the life of anyone who visits. They are desperate for it, ravenous, and
the gamemaster may decide that none can enter this place without the denizens taking something from them. That
could be a memory, a feeling, or even a skill. That is up to the gamemaster. From a standpoint of roleplaying, the
place is cold without having any temperature. It is lonely while filled with sunken faces. It cries out to the hearts
that yet beat with pangs of suffering, pain, and pleading.
None that leave feel the experience was natural, and many are haunted by it long after.
Player characters might, if the gamemaster decides so, glean valuable information from these specters. However,
they might also lose part of themselves or even become trapped forever among them.
CHAPTER 5
ENCOUNTERS
I am foul and monstrous to you, am I not? Nay, do not answer; I

know. But you would seem as strange to me, could I see you. There
are many worlds besides this earth, and life takes many shapes. I am
neither god nor demon, but flesh and blood like yourself, though the
substance differ in part, and the form be cast in different mold.
—Yag-kosha, “The Tower of the Elephant”
T
he East is home to as many nefarious and noble char-
acters as the West. Humankind does not change. Its FOES AND ALLIES
essential nature remains howsoever far one ventures
in this world. One should expect no more of the good in OF THE EAST
one’s character in the East than at home. “That noble beast”
that Astreas once wrote of humankind is but a figment of People rule over each other here as they do in the West. Life
that writer. Nobility is in no ways intrinsic to humanity, remains unfair, a wheel of pain upon which the peasant
though beast-hood certainly is. classes eternally turn. Among the cultists, chieftains, and
Yet while the real beast in the dark heart of people flour- the few of benevolent purpose are a host of others unnamed.
ishes in the East, there are other beasts — strange, powerful, They enter the stage and exit without word, fall beneath
and sanity-rending — for whom no analogue exists back in the blades of reavers and slayers without even giving name
the staid Hyborian world. What unnatural horrors might to their gods. Yet they in their legions comprise the world,
visit foreign travelers are described herein — though, of and in such numbers can fell even the greatest of heroes.
course, such a catalog is woefully incomplete, for those
who would tell of other terrors were consumed by them ACOLYTE OF THE BLACK
and there are no witnesses to record them here. CIRCLE (MINION, TOUGHENED)
If joss or fortune be at one’s back, perhaps one might
Green-robed cultists in thrall to the Black Seers of Mount
endeavor to expand this roster of things best left unmen-
Yimsha, these acolytes have usually just begun their path to
tioned and unencountered, for the sake of future travelers.
knowledge. Some, though, approach the edges of what the
Seers and Master know. Those who survive this brush with
forbidden truths have some measure of power. Most are
pilgrims from other lands, often further east, but some have
come from the Hyborian kingdoms or even the surrounding
area, taken as children and raised within Mount Yimsha.
All, regardless of experience, are fanatical to the dark
beings they serve.
Encounters 79
ATTRIBUTES ATTRIBUTES
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
7 8 6 7 8 7 7 9
Agility Brawn Coordination Agility Brawn Coordination
7 6 6 8 9 9
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE FIELDS OF EXPERTISE

Combat 1 Movement — Combat 2 Movement 1
Fortitude — Senses 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 1
Knowledge 2 Social — Knowledge — Social 1
STRESS & SOAK STRESS & SOAK

■ Stress: Vigor 3/6 (Toughened), Resolve 4/7 ■ Stress: Vigor 5/9 (Toughened), Resolve 5/9
(Toughened) (Toughened)
■ Soak: Armor 1 (Robes), Courage 2 (Fanatical) ■ Soak: Armor 1 (Desert Garb), Courage 1 (Born
Warriors)
ATTACKS
■ §
Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying, ATTACKS
Thrown, Unforgiving 1 ■ Zhaibar Knife (M): Reach 1, 4 § , 1H,
■ Exploding Globe (R): Range M, 5 §to anyone Unforgiving 2
within zone ■ Hunting Bow (R): Range C, 3 § , 2H, Volley
■ Eyes of Madness (T): Range C, 2 §mental, Stun
DOOM SPENDS
SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Gutting the Zhaibar: By Spending 2 Doom, an
■ Explosive Globe: The acolytes are taught how to
make and use globes that explode, causing hor-
Afghuli warrior increases their damage by +1 .
They may only do this twice per attack, up to a
§
rible damage to those who hear them. See above
for details.
§
total of 4 Doom (+2 ).
■ Sorcery: Few acolytes know much more than

the making of petty enchantments or simple
alchemy, but some have knowledge of a spell or
two. Generally, they know spells such as Astral
Wanderings or Haunt the Mind, though some few
know Dismember. They can spend Doom to cast
these in place of Momentum.
DOOM SPENDS
■ Fanatical Horde: Acolytes may summon rein-
forcements from their ranks at half the Doom
cost. Those summoned do not possess exploding
globes, however.
AFGHULI TRIBAL WARRIOR

(MINION, TOUGHENED)
Reputed as deadly warriors, fine archers, and respected even
by their neighboring enemies, Afghuli tribesman charge into
combat with the fury and honor of their people behind them.
Though Ghulistan is prime territory for any enterprising
empire, it has never been conquered by a foreign people.
Men and women such as these are the reason. This can be
used to represent any other of the Ghulistan tribal warriors.
80 Chapter 5
MARTIAL ARTS DISCIPLE SPECIAL ABILITIES

(MINION, TOUGHENED) ■ Ascetic Wisdom: When assisting in philosoph-
This student of the martial arts is an example of those who ical discourse, the Martial Arts Disciple counts
might be recruited to inhabit a Temple as described with as having the Knowledge Field of Expertise of 4
the talent of the same name on page 22. Personalities range instead of 2.
from humble to arrogant, and backgrounds from peasant
to noble, but all are united with the single desire to learn at HYRKANIAN NOMAD
the feet of the wise master. Most martial artists as students
are Minions, but disciples are Toughened.
(TOUGHENED)
Born to the saddle on the vast wilds of Hyrkania, these
ATTRIBUTES tribesmen fight like lions, live like each day is their last, and
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower welcome their voyage to the icy hell of their death god Erlik.
They are masters with the bow, and dangerously mobile.
9 8 8 10
Agility Brawn Coordination ATTRIBUTES
12 10 12 Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE 9 7 7 8
Combat 2 Movement 3 Agility Brawn Coordination
Fortitude 2 Senses 1 10 9 10
Knowledge 2 Social 1
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
ATTACKS Combat 2 Movement 1
■ Unarmed Strike (M): Reach 1, 4 § Fortitude 2 Senses 1
■ Angry Screams (T): Range M, 2
Stun
§ mental, Area, Knowledge — Social 1
STRESS & SOAK

■ Stress: Vigor 9, Resolve 8
■ Soak: Armor 2 (Hide Armor), Courage 1 (Fearless)
ATTACKS
■ §
Sabre (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Cavalry 1
■ §
Hyrkanian Bow (R): Range C, 4 , 2H, Volley
■ Screams from the Steppes (T): Range C, 2
mental, Stun
§
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Born to Ride: A Hyrkanian nomad reduces the
Difficulty of all tests to ride a horse by two steps,
to a minimum of Simple (D0).
■ Brutal Cavalry: Once per attack when mounted,
a nomad can re-roll any
Effect.
§ that doesn’t roll an
DOOM SPENDS
■ Ride Them Down: A nomad can spend 1 Doom
to include their mounts in a Mob or Squad for
one attack. The mount rolls as if it was another
nomad.
■ A Thousand Voices as One: When in a Mob or
Squad, the nomad can spend 2 Doom to add +2
for every member of the Mob to their Screams
§
from the Steppes attack. This can only be done once
at the start of an attack.
Encounters 81
PHILOSOPHER (MINION) ATTRIBUTES

Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
ATTRIBUTES 10 (1) 4 — 6
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower Agility Brawn Coordination
8 10 9 8 12 6 8
Agility Brawn Coordination
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
7 7 7
Combat 1 Movement 2
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Fortitude — Senses 2
Combat — Movement 1 Knowledge — Social —
Fortitude — Senses 1
STRESS & SOAK
STRESS & SOAK ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage —
■ Stress: Vigor 4, Resolve 4 ATTACKS
Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 (Quizzical)
■
■ Ripping Beak & Talons (M): Reach 1, 4 ,
Vicious 1
§
ATTACKS
■ Existential Doubt (T): Range M, 2 § mental,
■ Screech (T): Range M, 2 §
mental, Area, Stun
Area, Stun (see below) SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Unarmed (M): Reach 1, 2 , 1H§ ■ Eyes of the Eagle: Senses tests using sight are
SPECIAL ABILITIES always Simple (D0) and suffer no increase to steps
■ The Ways of Humankind: A philosopher may of Difficulty due to distance.
substitute their Knowledge with their Social Field
■ Flight
of Expertise in situations when they are able to
■ Inhuman Awareness 1
impress others with their learning and expound
upon the order of the universe. ELEPHANT (TOUGHENED)
Huge pachyderms, elephants are common throughout
DOOM SPENDS
Vendhya, Kosala, and many portions of Khitai, and are often
■ Pacifist: Most philosophers are not fighters, and
domesticated for use as labor animals or as transportation.
do not readily enter combat willingly. A philoso-
Perhaps due to their similarity to Yaggites, they are partic-
pher may only use their Existential Doubt attack
ularly venerated in Khitai.
by spending 1 Doom and must spend 1 Doom per
War elephants are described on pages 65–66 of Conan
round of any physical combat.
the Mercenary: these are their gentler and smaller kin.
WILDLIFE OF ATTRIBUTES
THE EAST Awareness
7
Intelligence
5
Personality
5
Willpower
6
The East contains an amazing topography of climates and Agility Brawn Coordination
natural environments unlike those within the West, and 4 15 (2) 4
thus is full of many creatures and natural animals utterly
unknown to the Hyborians and their ilk. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Combat — Movement —
EAGLE, HUNTING (MINION) Fortitude 3 Senses 1
Though the eagle is common throughout all the Hyborian Knowledge — Social —
kingdoms, in the East is it truly allowed to flourish. Notable
STRESS & SOAK
among these fine beasts are the golden eagles of Hyrkania,
each a princely gift in value and a sign of considerable
prestige to the one fortunate enough to own one.
■ Soak: Armor 2 (Tough Hide), Courage —
82 Chapter 5
ATTACKS ATTRIBUTES
■ Trample (M): Reach 3, 8
Stun
§ , Area, Knockdown, Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
9 5 4 7
SPECIAL ABILITIES Agility Brawn Coordination

■ Inhuman Brawn 2 9 7 9
■ Keen Senses (Hearing, Scent)
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
■ Monstrous Creature
Combat 1 Movement 1
DOOM SPENDS Fortitude 1 Senses 2
■ Inelegant: Due to its great mass, an elephant is Knowledge — Social —
not very adept at movement at speed or in close
quarters. It must spend 1 Doom to make any STRESS & SOAK
Movement test while under these conditions. ■ Stress: Vigor 4, Resolve 4
■ Soak: Armor 1 (Hide), Courage —
FALCON, HUNTING (MINION) ATTACKS
Fierce predatory birds, the falcon is smaller but faster than ■ §
Bite (M): Reach 1, 2 , Grappling
the eagle, and somewhat easier to train and handle with
Falconry talents. Few birds are as majestic as these, or as
■ Foaming Growl (T): Range C, 2 §
mental, Stun
terrifying from the vantage point of prey. SPECIAL ABILITIES

■ Keen Senses (Scent)
ATTRIBUTES
10 (1) 4 — 4 The party had not gone fifty steps when a snarling
shape burst from behind a rock. It was one of
the gaunt savage dogs that infested the hill
10 4 8
villages, and its eyes glared redly, its jaws dripped
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE foam. Conan was leading, but it did not attack
him. It dashed past him and leaped at Kerim
Combat — Movement 2
Shah. The Turanian leaped aside, and the great
dog flung itself upon the Irakzai behind him.
Knowledge — Social —
STRESS & SOAK
Soak: Armor —, Courage —
■
OWL, HUNTING (MINION)
ATTACKS Often called “eagle-owls”, these are large and powerful birds
■ Raking Talons (M): Reach 2, 4 § , Piercing 1 of prey, difficult to domesticate due to their independent,
stubborn nature. Most have ear tufts of some sort. These
SPECIAL ABILITIES are impressive creatures and are often granted as gifts to
■ Flight favored subjects or allies.
■ Inhuman Awareness 1
ATTRIBUTES
HILL-HOUND (MINION) Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
Fierce dogs from the hills of Ghulistan, these mangy curs 10 5 5 6

fight in packs and plague all the hill tribes, though they Agility Brawn Coordination
are mostly tolerated. They are usually scavengers but are 7 7 8
occasionally emboldened to attack humans when sufficiently
hungry or threatened, usually striking as a pack. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Combat 1 Movement 2
Fortitude 1 Senses 1
Knowledge — Social —
Encounters 83
STRESS & SOAK ATTRIBUTES

■ Stress: Vigor 4, Resolve 3 Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
■ Soak: Armor —, Courage — 10 11 8 14
ATTACKS Agility Brawn Coordination

■ §
Claw & Bite (M): Reach 1, 2 , Grappling 13 13 13
■ Startling Coo (T): Range M, 2§ mental, Area,
Stun (only works once per encounter, and only
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Combat 3 Movement 2
when its presence is undetected)
SPECIAL ABILITIES Knowledge 3 Social —
■ Keen Senses (Sight)
■ Flight STRESS & SOAK
■ Night Vision ■ Stress: Vigor 16, Resolve 17
■ Soak: Armor 4 (Unholy Flesh), Courage 4 (Horror)
UNNATURAL BEINGS ATTACKS

■ §
Inhuman Rake (M): Reach 1, 7 , 1H
The East is full of mysterious beings, those which crawl
out from the dark gulfs of unnatural nights. Some are like
■
Stun
§
Devilish Will (R): Range M, 6 , Knockdown,
those found in the West, which is terrible enough. Below, a

variety of new forces are outlined which may kill Easterner
■ Radiance of the Dark (T): Range L, 4
Area, Stun
§
mental,
and outlander alike with impunity and perhaps even with

relish. Across the whole of the Thurian Continent, the SPECIAL ABILITIES
unnatural stalks humankind in dreams, shadows, and ■ Crimson Tornado: The four Black Seers can form
even open daylight. a crimson, cone-like cloud and travel through
the air, unimpeded by any mortal boundaries. If
BLACK SEER (NEMESIS) challenged or for some reason tested, this is a
Movement Field of Expertise, not Knowledge,
Vulture-headed humanoids in voluminous black robes, the
which is usually used for sorcery-related tasks.
Black Seers of Yimsha are in fact demons. Bound, cajoled,
■ Dread Creature 3
or otherwise in service to the Master of Yimsha, the Black
Seers do his bidding on the mortal plane and perhaps ■ Sorcerer: A Black Seer knows spells as required
beyond. While there are seemingly only four, they can take by the gamemaster. Suitable ones include
the form of a conoid cloud the color of a bloody eye. In this Dismember, Enslave, and Venom on the Wind. Not
state, they fly like a tornado where they will and materialize being human, these spells cost no Resolve to learn
as four distinct entities upon landing. and may be used by spending Doom.
Such is their combined will that no one of the East can
DOOM SPENDS
resist them, for such folk are inculcated from birth to believe
■ Concerted Malignance: The Black Seers are
in mesmerism. The raw, inchoate force of these creatures
accustomed to using the Devilish Will attack (see
can cause anyone to bend their knee unless some aspect
above) together, and combine it, adding +1d20
of self, some naked emotion, ties them directly to another
mortal. Curiously, love seems a way to refute the Black Seers
and +1 § per additional Black Seer, for a total of
power of dominance over the mind, but only for a while.
+3d20 and +3 § to their use of this attack, at the
cost of 1 Doom per Seer.
Underneath their robes are hands which are not hands
■ Diabolic Ritualists: Black Seers can contribute
and feet which are not feet, for they come not from the
+3d20 on any ritual casting when assisting their
coupling of man and woman but are spawns of the gulfs
Master. This bonus is only conferred once, no
between realities. Their power is bound to a crystal globe,
matter how many are present and assisting.
or at least so it appears. Perhaps the globe found in the
■ Fell Powers: If the Black Seer pays 2 Doom, they
citadel of Mount Yimsha is what binds them to this plane
gain the Area Quality on their innate sorceries.
and to The Master. Perhaps, were they were released, they
would seek some vengeance upon The Master to ensure
his undoing. Perhaps, being alien of body and mind, they
would care not for the mortal world once they shuffle off
all rude semblance of it.
84 Chapter 5
DRAGON, KHITAN (NEMESIS) DOOM SPENDS

A long and sinuous reptile, the Khitan dragon is a magnif- ■ Sinuous and Flowing: The dragon is a fast animal
icent creature covered in resplendent scales that grows capable of moving with tremendous speed. It can
to a truly monumental size. The dragon represents the pay 1 Doom to gain the Area Quality on its attacks.
galaxy in which the Earth finds itself, and thus has sacred ■ Mythical Sorcerer: If the dragon knows any
properties to Khitans. To slay one is considered an ill omen, spells, it can cast them as a sorcerer and gains 2
while surviving an encounter with one is deemed a boon bonus Momentum on any Sorcery test.
from the celestial heavens and beyond. ■ The Lash of Lightning (Optional): The dragon is a
While some are rumored to be sentient, others are living lightning bolt rippling with static electricity.
simply beautiful snarling beasts, favoring water but If it makes any contact with another character,
fully amphibious. that character suffers X[CD], non-lethal stun
damage where X is the Doom spent. This includes
ATTRIBUTES
successful melee attacks, successful parries of the
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower dragon’s attack, or touching the dragon in any way.
11 6 –9 10 12
Agility Brawn Coordination LION DOG (NEMESIS)
9 12 (2) 9 Named for their loyalty rather than their species, the
“lion dog” is actually a small, well-trained breed of lion. A
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
common tale holds that in the early empire, a princess was
Combat 3 Movement 3
married to the King of Lions. The early marriage was quite
Fortitude 5 Senses 2 happy, leading to the birth of a son, but over time the prin-
Knowledge 0 –3 Social 0 –3 cess grew weary of the lion and abandoned him. Angered,
the King of Lions terrorized the community until his own
STRESS & SOAK son sought him out. They fought and the son killed this
■ Stress: Vigor 19, Resolve 17 fearsome beast. Upon discovering the unhappy truth that
■ Soak: Armor 3 (Resplendent Scales), Courage 3 he had slain his own father, the princeling took lionesses
as his wives, creating a line of royal animals that have never
ATTACKS
swayed in their duties.
■ §
Snapping Bite (M): Reach 1, 7 , Vicious 1 While the truth is more likely to involve intergenera-
■ §
Constricting Form (M): Reach 1, 5 , Grappling tional training and a touch of sorcery, lion dogs are to this
■
Piercing 1
§
A Jewel of Heaven (T): Range C, 5 , Area, Stun, day presented to Khitan royal households upon the birth
of an heir and are ritualistically married into the family.
SPECIAL ABILITY These creatures are usually found in pairs, often chained
upon either side of a door.
■ Dread Creature: The dragon begins with a Doom
pool equal to twice its ranks in Knowledge. ATTRIBUTES
■ Breath of Steam (Optional): If the dragon
succeeds in avoiding a melee attack, it can blast
its aggressor with its hot breath. This causes 2
non-lethal damage which is immune to non-magi-
§ 10
Agility
8
Brawn
5 8
Coordination
cal Soak of all sorts. 13 12 11
■ Creature of Elemental Water (Optional): The
dragon is a creature tied to the element of water. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
It can move between any two locations tied by a Combat 2 Movement 3
continuous stretch of water as a Free Action. Fortitude 4 Senses 2
■ Mythical Wisdom (Optional): The dragon is Knowledge — Social —
reputed to be a creature of great wisdom. If it has a
Knowledge greater than 1, it can speak languages STRESS & SOAK
equal to its twice its Knowledge ranks and adds its ■ Stress: Vigor 16, Resolve 12
Knowledge ranks in Doom to its Dread Creature ■ Soak: Armor 1 Thick Pelt, Courage 4
ability. Additionally, the dragon knows spells equal
to its Knowledge ranks and may spend them by
paying Doom (see below).
Encounters 85
ATTACKS ATTRIBUTES
■ §
Tooth and Claw (M): Reach 2, 5 , Grappling,
Knockdown
10 8 5 8
■ §
Snarling Visage (T): Close, 4 , Area, Stun
SPECIAL ABILITIES 13 12 11
Dancing Gait: A lion dog often moves in an
■
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
erratic jerking fashion. Attacks made against one
Combat 2 Movement 3
increase in difficulty by one step.
■ Doom-herald Fortitude 4 Senses 2
■ Paired Guardians: Lion dogs will work as a coordi- Knowledge — Social —
nated team with another lion dog. While both
dogs are alive and in proximity, they each gain
STRESS & SOAK
+1d20 on all skill tests. ■ Stress: Vigor 14, Resolve —
■ Soak: Armor 3 (Coat of Plates), Courage —
DOOM SPENDS
Generations of Training: If the lion dog success-
ATTACKS
§
■
fully knocks down an opponent, it can spend 1 ■ Poleaxe (M): Reach 3, 8 , Intense, Piercing,
Doom to perform any one, and only one, of the Vicious 1
following effects: ■ Stoic Silence (T): Range C, 2
Stun
§
mental, Area,
■ Vicious Bite: The lion dog immediately bites
its prey, resolved as a Simple (D0) Melee test

SPECIAL ABILITY
dealing Tooth and Claw damage, though it loses
the Grappling Quality for this attack.
■ Duty Above All: A terracotta warrior is immune
■ Disarming Bite: The lion dog is trained to
to mental damage and automatically succeeds
remove weapons where possible. The target any Willpower test or struggle.
character is disarmed with any weapons held
■ Ready for War: A terracotta warrior cannot be
being knocked out of reach. ambushed. All attempts at an ambush fail and
■ Smother: The lion dog places its bulk over the
grant initiative to the warrior.
head and face of its victim. The target character
■ Spectacular Display: Every round that a char-
begins to suffer an effect akin to drowning. This acter witnesses the terracotta warrior fight, they
causes 1 Fatigue, and if Grappled, will cause 1 must pay 1 Doom or suffer 1 Despair.
additional Fatigue every round the grapple is
■ Unrivaled Experience: A terracotta warrior never
maintained. suffers penalties from Reach and can use the
■ Sorcerous Bloodline: While the lion dog cannot Secondary Target Momentum spend up to three
cast spells, it can use counter magic for any spell times in a round. This costs 1 Momentum per use.
cast in its vicinity, using Intelligence + Fortitude. It
DOOM SPENDS
must pay 1 Doom to attempt this.
■ Legion: A terracotta warrior can pay 2 Doom to
summon four Minions. These Minions use the
WARRIOR, TERRACOTTA same attributes of the terracotta warrior, though
(TOUGHENED) their Vigor is 7 and they only possess the Duty
Carved into the likeness of one of the emperor’s champions, Above All special ability.
the terracotta warrior is a vessel for the soul of a fallen ■ Down But Not Out: When a terracotta warrior
champion. While the body remains, the soul cannot seek suffers their second Wound, they can instead
out its resting place and is held by its sense of duty in place, pay 3 Doom to ignore it and keep fighting. Every
ready to protect the remains of its dead master. These grim time the terracotta warrior does this, the Doom
relics are often found in the tens, if not hundreds, arrayed price doubles.
in rows and buried with their former liege.
86 Chapter 5
YAGGITE (NEMESIS)
Aliens from the planet Yag, these are beings of incredible
wisdom and resilience, with lifespans measuring in millen-
nia. A rebellion tore their planet apart, unleashing a wave of
conflict and destruction on a scale unimaginable to human
beings. Having little choice but to flee, the upstarts who
failed set forth across the stars, borne on great wings and
traveling throughout the deeps of space to find a new home.
Eventually they settled upon Earth, particularly in the
lands of the East. There, they ruled from within the steam-
ing jungles that were so like those of their homeworld,
eventually adopting humankind almost as a pet. Humans
worshipped the Yaggites and learned from them, and many
of the philosophies and magic of the East have their origins
in the alien culture of the Yaggites. Mystery cults grew “We saw new savages drift southward in conquering
around them, and they became reclusive, set apart from waves from the Arctic circle to build a new
the burgeoning civilizations of humankind, which to the civilization, with new kingdoms called Nemedia,
Yaggites had so many of the faults of their own former and Koth, and Aquilonia and their sisters. We saw
oppressors on Yag. your people rise under a new name from the jungles
Thousands of years later, these ancient creatures are all of the apes that had been Atlanteans. We saw the
but extinct in our world. Some say the last was killed by descendants of the Lemurians who had survived
Conan himself. The great kings of Yag, though, may remain the cataclysm, rise again through savagery and ride
on their world. And, someday, they could come here. The westward as Hyrkanians. And we saw this race of
Yaggites and their history are discussed in greater detail devils, survivors of the ancient civilization that was
on page 50, and the most famous Yaggite, Yag-kosha, is before Atlantis sank, come once more into culture
described on pages 95–96 of Conan the Thief. and power — this accursed kingdom of Zamora.”
ATTRIBUTES — Yag-kosha, “The Tower of the Elephant”

10 12 11 13
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Dread Creature 5
9 13 9 ■ Familiar
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE ■ Metaphysical Heart: Each Yaggite has a giant
gem in which they store their soul. Should
Combat 1 Movement 1
a character gain possession of this item, the
Fortitude 2 Senses 2 Yaggite is all but defenseless against them. The
Knowledge 4 Social 3 Yaggite must obey any character controlling
their metaphysical heart and cannot cast spells
STRESS & SOAK
or attack the possessing character. In addition,
■ Stress: Vigor 15, Resolve 15 the attacks of the possessing character gain the
■ Soak: Armor 3 (Thick Hide), Courage 2 Fearsome 2 Quality against the Yaggite. Note that
each heart is specific to each Yaggite: possessing
ATTACKS
one Yaggite’s heart does not provide any benefits
■ Heavy Rod (M): Reach 2, 7 §, 2H, Stun
against another of that race.
■ Alien Presence (T): Range C, 5 § mental, Stun ■ Patron
■ Sorcerer
DOOM SPENDS
■ Master Spellcaster: Yaggites know all spells
and can pay 1 Doom to cast any spell as if with 2
Momentum. Yaggites automatically win magical
struggles unless the target spends 1 Fortune point
or possesses the Yaggite’s metaphysical heart.
Encounters 87
YENG-DU (TOUGHENED) SPECIAL ABILITIES

There exist 18 levels of Hell for a Khitan, and many courts. ■ Rend Soul: Once a yeng-du has successfully hit
Each acts as a crucible to test and expiate the sins of one’s a target with its Ghostly Talons, it can latch on
life above. Not until the soul passes through each court and to its victim’s very soul and cause its victim to
trial may it reincarnate. But what of those who somehow suffer 1§ mental damage every scene so long as
the yeng-du continues to exist. This prevents the
escape? What of those souls that literally “break out of
hell (diyu)”? victim from resting and healing stress. In addition
They are called yeng-du and they are, fortunately rare. to this, every time this damage rolls an Effect,
Who wants to tangle with a soul tortured in hell only to the yeng-du gains 1 Doom. The yeng-du can only
return to the surface world? What mad vengeance and rage maintain a connection to one soul at a time.
do these spirits possess? A great deal. Inchoate, the yeng-du
DOOM SPENDS
are part of the physical world and part of hell. Their bodies
■ Burning Agony: Any time the yeng-du uses
are not entirely incorporeal. Instead, they may focus their
Rend Soul, it can spend 1 Doom prior to rolling to
diyu energies to manifest physical parts but, in general,
exist as a kind of malleable goo in human form.
■
increase the damage dealt by the effect by 2 .
Visitation: The yeng-du can spend 2 Doom to
§
Yeng-du are often interested in exacting revenge on those
immediately appear within Reach of the character
involved in their sins. However, wherever they manifest, they
it has connected to with Rend Soul. If it spends 1
possess an innate hate for the living, for the living possess
extra point of Doom, it is invisible until it attacks.
what they do not. Some folk tales in Khitai portray a few
of these souls as protectors, coming to wayward people
to warn them of the hell that awaits them if they do not
mend their twisted path. More often, folk tales speak of FIGURES OF RENOWN
sorcerers summoning these tortured folk and purposing
them toward destruction.
AND INFAMY
When they manifest on their own, they typically emerge
Though remote to the Hyborian kingdoms, many of the
from diyu at the place they died. From there, they may
notables of the East nonetheless hold great reputations
range many leagues, though one volume of the blind scribe
throughout their homelands and beyond those tentative
Vathelos’ Book of Skelos suggests there is a limit to how
borders. These noble and ignoble personages might become
far they can stray from their place of death. However, there
useful allies to the player characters, implacable foes, or
exist spells of unbinding which sorcerers may trade in
both. Such is the way of things in the East, where an enemy
pacts with yeng-du. By this means, a yeng-du might travel
might become a staunch partisan and a loyal follower a
anywhere so long as the pact allows.
treasonous usurper.
ATTRIBUTES
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower BUNDA CHAND, KING OF
11 8 7 12
VENDHYA (NEMESIS)
Agility Brawn Coordination A young king, Bunda Chand traces his lineage back into
dimly remembered history. Normally a pragmatic man,
12 12 12
Chand is known as a wise and just ruler. His court contains
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE scholars from Vendhya’s finest schools, and his library
Combat 3 Movement 1 contains treatises on everything from the cyclical nature of
time to the reality beside this one, which powers fell sorcery.
For all that, his heart does pump human blood and he
Knowledge 2 Social — loves a princess of Kosala. Viziers caution him to marry
STRESS & SOAK within Vendhya to better solidify his heirs. He was con-
sidering this until he recently took ill. His arms ache, his
head pounds, and he feels, when he dreams, as if something
■ Soak: Armor 3 (Incorporeal), Courage 1 (Undead)
unnatural, something not of this world, tugs at his soul.
ATTACKS Bunda Chand tells little of this to the doctors who attend
■ Ghostly Talons (M): Reach 1, 5 §
, 1H, Fearsome 1
him. He bears the pain, physical and psychic, without
■ Pitiless Gaze (T): Range C, 5
Stun
§
mental, Area,
complaint. At least for now.
Chand’s primary political concerns are the preservation
and prosperity of Vendhya. The rising might of Turan is
88 Chapter 5
of concern, and Bunda knows that political ‘solutions’

only further King Yezdigerd’s ambitions. Sooner or later,
perhaps over disputed Ghulistan, their armies will meet.
That keeps Chand’s mind sharp and the demons away… for
the time being
ATTRIBUTES
9 8 9 9
6 6 6
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Combat 2 Movement 1
STRESS & SOAK

■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 2
ATTACK
■ §
Scimitar (M): Reach 2, 3 , 1H, Cavalry 1
■ The Power of the Throne (T): Range C, 8
mental, Stun
§
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Experienced Ruler: When issuing a command
to any subject, that subject must pay 2 Doom to Chunder Shan, governor of Peshkhauri, laid down
attempt resisting. If the subject succeeds in the his golden pen and carefully scanned that which he
attempt and chooses to disobey, they must pay 1 had written on parchment that bore his official seal.
additional Doom. He had ruled Peshkhauri so long only because he
weighed his every word, spoken or written. Danger
CHUNDER SHAN, GOVERNOR breeds caution, and only a wary man lives long in that
OF PESHKHAURI (NEMESIS) wild country where the hot Vendhyan plains meet the
crags of the Himelians. An hour’s ride westward or
Chunder Shan rules a city on the edge of the wild county
northward and one crossed the border and was among
where hill people burn villages and kill citizens of
the Hills where men lived by the law of the knife.
Vendhya. As governor, Chunder’s role is to protect the
city of Peshkhauri first, but the people outside the walls are
never far from his mind. Indeed, his own fort lies outside
the walls of that northwesternmost city.
A member of the Kshatriyas warrior caste, Chunder is goal. Vendhya is a bulwark against the uncivilized and a
ever faithful to the royal bloodline. All in Vendhya serve check on Turanian aggression. Chunder’s country is far
at the pleasure of their rulers, whom they believe possess older than these new kingdoms or savage tribes. History
divine power. Such power is not, alas, enough to keep the and tradition matter.
wild hill people at bay. On Chunder Shan’s broad shoul-
ders falls that responsibility. He bears it well, limiting the ATTRIBUTES
number of successful attacks on his people and keeping Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
the wild tribes harried. 9 11 7 10
Chunder is as clever as he is faithful, though, and he
sees the hill tribes as a force that could prove Peshkhauri’s
undoing, were they to unite. To this end, he attempts to keep 6 8 6
enmity between them through guile and spies, though his
regular patrols must of necessity undermine part of this
Encounters 89
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Combat 3 Movement — Khemsa too was panting, shaking like a leaf in
her grasp; his face showed gray in the starlight,
beaded with great drops of perspiration.
STRESS & SOAK — “The People of the Black Circle”

■ Soak: Armor 2 (Ceremonial Garb), Courage 2 position as servant, however pampered that may be. She
begins to see other options, plans that might further her
ATTACKS
station and gain her great wealth. As the king lays dying,
■ §
Scimitar (M): Reach 2, 3 , 1H, Cavalry 1
Gitara wonders if perhaps she and Khemsa might make
■
below)
§
Poisoned Knives (R): Range C, 4 , 1H (see
a move of their own. First, though, she must convince
Khemsa to break with the Black Circle. To do so, he says, is
■ Indomitable Will (T): Range C, 4 § mental, Stun
tantamount to suicide. Yet Gitara’s love and her feminine
SPECIAL ABILITIES charms are ample. In the lust for power and the lust for
love, one must often concede one to the other
■ Intrigue: When engaging in any conversation,
Chunder gains 2 Momentum which must be used
ATTRIBUTES
to gain information.
DOOM SPENDS 8 8 9 8
■ Paralyzing Venom: Chunder can spend 2 Doom to Agility Brawn Coordination
add the Vicious 2 Quality to his knives. Characters 6 7 6
“killed” by this attack are paralyzed and will sur-
vive, though capture is certain. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
■ Spy Network: At the gamemaster’s discretion, Combat — Movement —
Chunder can spend 1 Doom to win any attempt
at an ambush without a skill roll, forewarned by
his informants. If such distribution of information
is not possible, he can do the same through an STRESS & SOAK
intuitive reading of his current circumstances and ■ Stress: Vigor 7, Resolve 8
environment. ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage —
GITARA (TOUGHENED) ATTACKS

The comely handmaiden to the Devi Yasmina, sister to
■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3
Thrown, Unforgiving 1
§ , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying,
the king of Vendhya, Gitara swore an oath to the royal
family, and more particularly Yasmina. The handmaidens SPECIAL ABILITIES
of Vendhya are chosen carefully from a pool of specially
■ Wise if Biased Words: When attempting to con-
bred workers. Gitara can trace her bloodline, and its tether
vince a character to act in her interests she can
to Yasmina’s bloodline, almost as far back as Vendhyan
roll +2d20.
scholars can record. Vendhyans impart near godlike powers
on their rulers. Those who tend to them must be faithful DOOM SPENDS
of heart and mind. ■ Beguile: Gitara can seduce, convince, and
To date, most of those in service to the royal family command most people through a combination
have been above reproach. Indeed, Gitara seems much the of clever machination and exotic beauty. When
same, but there is someone she loves more than her Devi — attempting to command any non-player charac-
Khemsa, a sorcerer with ties to the Black Circle of Yimsha. ter, she can spend Doom equal to the number of
For his part, Khemsa is as devoted to the Black Seers as he Trauma that character can withstand and have
is to his own life… or so he believes. them obey without question.
In truth, the love which burns between acolyte and
handmaiden may, in time, melt the bonds of fealty tethering
them to others. Gitara has of late become restless in her
90 Chapter 5
advantage, attacking and parrying with ease. If he can get

KERIM SHAH (NEMESIS) close enough to an opponent, he will attempt a leg sweep to
Kerim Shah serves at the pleasure of the Turanian gov- knock them off balance or knock them down. If Kerim Shah
ernment as their eyes and ears throughout Vendhya. His is on horseback, he will not hesitate to charge, using what-
ability to charm and impress, both as a prince of the royal ever weapon is handy to try and knock down an adversary.
bloodline and also as a skilled diplomat, grants him access Kerim Shah will always choose the best, most effective
into closed meetings and darkened bedchambers with equal tactics and weapons for any encounter. He knows when to
ease. He sees the world in tactical terms, and always weighs press an attack and when to break off a fight.
his options before determining whether to engage in battle.
In his role as an ambassador to a foreign power, Kerim ATTRIBUTES
Shah is well aware that all of his actions have consequences. Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower
The only way Kerim Shah would draw his sword is in defense. 10 10 10 10
He would much rather use his wits and cunning to defuse a
situation until he can learn more about his opponent. Once
he has analyzed an enemy’s weakness, he strikes, leaving 10 10 10
nothing to chance.
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
Once engaged, Kerim Shah is a ferocious combatant
Combat 4 Movement 2
and, if not on horseback, will use both scimitars to his full
STRESS & SOAK

■ Soak: Armor 4 (Concealed Plate), Courage 3
(Ideals)
ATTACKS
■
Parry
§
Two Scimitars (M): Reach 2, 5 , 1H, Cavalry 1,
Fragile
§
Lance (M): Reach 3, 8 , Unbalanced, Cavalry 2,
■ Hyrkanian Bow (R): Range M, 5 §

2H, Volley
■ Put at Ease (T): Range C, 4
Stun
§
mental, Hidden 3,
SPECIAL ABILITY
■ Agent of the Court: When attempting a Social
test while acting as a spy, Kerim Shah can re-roll
any d20 that is not initially a success. He may
attempt one re-roll for each d20.
DOOM SPENDS
■ Royal Command: When leading a unit in a charge,
Kerim Shah can spend 3 Doom to initiate a free
Display attack with Fervent Zeal: Range C, 4 ,
Area, Stun.
§
“Few of us are what we seem. I, whom the
Kshatriyas know as Kerim Shah, a prince from KHEMSA (NEMESIS)
Iranistan, am no greater a masquerader than most Khemsa has grown up in the royal palace. An ambitious man,
men. They are all traitors in one way or another, full of promise, this child of the court was taken under the
and half of them know not whom they serve.” tutelage of the palace scribes at an early age. His aptitude
for reading and writing allowed him to move rapidly from
— “The People of the Black Circle” teacher to teacher. Even as the court educated him, he knew
he didn’t really belong to the family and thus, would never
Encounters 91
THE MASTER OF
“Even the arts you call sorcery are governed by cosmic
laws. The stars direct these actions, as in other affairs.”
YIMSHA (NEMESIS)
Like flesh flayed from a condemned man over tortuous
— Khemsa, “The People of the Black Circle” days, so too has all that was human been stripped from
the Master of Yimsha. Over the course of centuries, his
interaction with the Outer Dark flensed all morality and
be treated as an equal by them. So, he left under the guise of mortality from this powerful sorcerer. He appears as a man
wanting to further his study and wandered for many years. in velvet robes and cap when it suits him to do so, but he
When he found the Seers of Mount Yimsha, they offered also takes the form of a giant serpent, or a skeletal horror
to teach him their skills, in return for being an agent on from the House of Shades.
their behalf. Khemsa readily agreed, and when he returned No mortal mind can hope to understand the inner work-
to court, after many years of traveling, it was with a new ings of the Master. He does what amuses him, what benefits
demeanor. Gone was the eager youth with a thirst for knowl- him, and what furthers goals no man can name. At his
edge, and in its place was a studious and canny young man, service, and in his bondage, are demons pulled from the
wise to the levers of power and how to manipulate them. great voids in space and time.
Khemsa would much rather scheme than fight, but if The Master’s power may be his undoing, for he has
pressed, he will not hesitate to use his petty enchantments concentrated much of it in four golden pomegranates —
to startle, confuse, or otherwise befuddle an enemy and use yet these are so well protected that no normal man could
the confusion to slip away to fight another day. If directly hope to get at them. How the pomegranates work is not
attacked and unable to use his magic, he will try to use his known. Perhaps some measure of his power is imbued in
staff to incapacitate and stun an opponent. His dagger, and each. Perhaps they are the means by which he twists forces
the spilling of blood, are a last resort — one he’d rather not of the great dark to his sinister purposes.
use unless his life were in immediate danger. Older than even the Book of Skelos might easily reckon,
the Master’s being is inextricable to his relationship with
ATTRIBUTES the dark arts. A being of power, perhaps some single spark
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower of humanity rests yet within him — desire and spite. Unlike
9 12 13 11 those gods of the Outer Dark to whom no human emotion
Agility Brawn Coordination may be ascribed, the Master has something of an ego. Woe
to those who tread upon it.
10 7 8
His machinations involve compromising and manip-
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE ulating rulers of the Hyborian Age, though whether this
is for influence or entertainment only the Master can say.
Combat 3 Movement 2
Beneath him serve the four Black Seers of Yimsha and a host
of acolytes who would learn the sorcery of their masters in
Knowledge 4 Social 4 exchange for their humanity.
STRESS & SOAK
ATTRIBUTES
■ Soak: Armor 2 (Thick Robes, Girdle), Courage 3 (In
love) 12 13 11 13
ATTACKS 13 13 12
■ §
Curved Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1,
Parrying, Vicious 1, Unforgiving 1 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
■ §
Staff (M): Reach 3, 4 , 2H, Knockdown, Vicious 1 Combat 3 Movement 2
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Girdle of Protection: See page 97 for additional
information on this rare artifact. STRESS & SOAK
■ Patron (The Black Circle)
■ Sorcerer: Khemsa possesses the spells
■ Soak: Armor 5 (Enchantment of Protection),
Dismember, Enslave, and Haunt the Mind, paying
Courage 5 (Indomitable)
Doom for their use.
92 Chapter 5
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Master of Yimsha: The Master gains +1d20 when- The Wazuli girl laughed mockingly, Conan scowled,
ever he casts spells or uses counter magic. and then the door opened and Yar Afzal came
swaggering in. The Wazuli chief was as tall as Conan,
DOOM SPENDS and of greater girth, but he looked fat and slow
■ “I Will Take Your Heart!”: Once per scene, the beside the hard compactness of the Cimmerian.
Master can cast Dismember, paying 1–5 Doom
to gain twice the amount spent in Momentum. — “The People of the Black Circle”
This Momentum may only be used on this spell’s
casting.
■ Blackest Magics: The Master knows all spells, ATTRIBUTES
including some otherwise lost to time. By spend-
ing Doom equal to and in addition to the required
Momentum, the Master can use any Momentum 7 7 8 7
spend from any spell on any casting of any spell. Agility Brawn Coordination
8 8 6
YAR AFZAL, CHIEF OF THE FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
WAZULI (NEMESIS) Combat 2 Movement —
With dark hair as thick as a wire — like the rest of the hill
Fortitude 2 Senses —
folk in Ghulistan — and the broad chest of that same kin,
Knowledge — Social 1
Yar Afzal presents an imposing figure. He is not lean, but
powerful muscles lurk beneath a layer of fat. His dark skin STRESS & SOAK
and beard mark him as a hill man to anyone from the plains.
Yar was born to a hetman of his people but earned his rank
■ Soak: Armor 3 (Mail Shirt), Courage 2
as chief by the strength of his sword-arm and unflinching
loyalty to those he calls friend. He rules with both the mind’s ATTACKS
keen razor and the raw brutality of his station. Those who ■ §
Scimitar (M): Reach 2 3 , 1H, Calvary 1, Parrying
question him are beaten, shamed, or even killed. This is the ■ §
Bow (R): Range C, 3 , 2H, Volley
way of the hill tribes, and any chief who lacks such meth-
ods quickly finds himself lacking both position and head.
■ Killer’s Eyes (T): Range C, 3 §
mental, Stun
The wildness born of the defiles between the hills runs SPECIAL ABILITIES
also in Yar’s veins. He shrinks from no man and would gladly ■ Pact with Yimsha: The dark powers of Yimsha
face death were it preferable to fleeing. He is not, however, guide the hetman in unseen ways. The hetman
suicidal, though the grim, fateful mien of the Wazuli in the rolls +1d20 on all tests so long as he’s loyal to
face of death can easily be mistaken for such a condition. the Master, combining Momentum spends from
Yar’s home is the village of Khurum, from which Wazuli entirely different spells, where possible.
power spreads in the region.
What Yar does not tell his people, what he tells no man or DOOM SPENDS
woman of this earth, is that he pledged his mortal heart to ■ It Is Our Way: Yar can spend 1 Doom to ignore any
the Master of Yimsha. A bargain made long ago, Yar scarcely mental damage caused by a Wazuli.
remembers, or chooses not to remember, the specifics of
this deal. Surely the Master forgets nothing. One day, Yar YASMINA, DEVI OF
will pay for the occasional brilliance in tactics he received VENDHYA (TOUGHENED)
from the Master. On that day, he must submit to the sorcerer
Royal houses have produced innumerable decadent lines
or have his still beating heart pulled from his chest.
down the long centuries. Such beings scoff at nobler sen-
timents. Loyalty is a courtly charade used in intrigues.
Fealty to another, including their own kin, is a temporary
inconvenience on their road for personal power. The Devi
Yasmina comes from a land steeped in such infernal mach-
inations, but she has defied the odds.
Encounters 93
She was raised haughty and proud, second only to her

brother Bunda Chand, the King of Vendhya. In a lesser soul Sobbing wildly, Yasmina plucked a jeweled dagger
this lesser position would have sparked jealousy and envy. from her girdle and plunged it to the hilt in his
Yasmina carries within her heart true love and devotion for breast. He stiffened and then went limp, a grim
her sovereign brother. The king’s recent illness has shaken smile curving his dead lips. Yasmina hurled herself
his subjects to the core, none more so than faithful Yasmina. face-down on the rush-covered floor, beating
The root of his malady eludes the court physicians. the reeds with her clenched hands. Outside, the
Poison has been ruled out. Since birth, others have been gongs and conchs brayed and thundered and the
tasked with tasting first any food and drink that may touch priests gashed themselves with copper knives.
the King’s lips. Wise men look to the stars and ponder
their positions. What portents does the Serpent coiled in — “The People of the Black Circle”
the House of the Elephant bring to Vendhya? Are darker
forces at work?
Although beautiful and pampered by a life of luxury, SPECIAL ABILITIES
Yasmina is no preening plaything who waits idly for a ■ Devi: As the de facto ruler of Vendhya while her
suitor. She is strong-willed, clever, and — when need be brother is incapacitated, Yasmina can use the
— resourceful. In seeking an answer to her brother’s con- Commanding Mien, Heed My Words, and Healthy
dition, she has read from many occult tomes and sought Superstition talents from the Conan corebook
arcane wisdom, though she has shied away from the actual (pages 62, 62, and 65, respectively).
practice of sorcery. Should she discover that there is some-
thing more behind Bunda Chand’s condition, she will stop
DOOM SPEND
at nothing to avenge her brother. Fire and sword marches ■ The Devi Demands: Used to the life of an influ-
alongside her wrath. ential noble, the Devi has remarkable self-confi-
dence and the love of her people. She can spend 1
Player characters may encounter the Devi Yasmina, if
Doom to trigger the Inspiring Leader talent (Conan
summoned to the royal court on some matter. There she
corebook, page 62) and activate Minions. This
will be resplendent in silks, veils, and gold. Her every need
ability can only be used in her homeland, or with a
will be tended by her handmaidens. If some twist of fate
group of her loyal subjects.
were to take her from her station there, she is not above
donning a rougher disguise, or going all but alone into a
dangerous place. ZHENG OF KHITAI (NEMESIS)
Whipcord thin, Zheng’s features seem to droop like his thin
ATTRIBUTES mustache. His countenance always betrays an inability
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower to suffer his lessers, especially outlanders. Some of this
9 11 11 10 no doubt dates to his simple beginnings as a commoner.
Based on Zheng’s birth, none would expect him to ever
approach the Great Court of the Heavens in Paikang, let
9 7 8
alone serve there.
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Yet an uncanny facility with languages soon brought him
to the attention of the Emperor, The Magnificent Son of Ten
Thousand Years. The Emperor’s wisdom, Zheng says, is as
deep as his magnanimity. This is why Zheng must tolerate
Knowledge 2 Social 3 the uncouth outlanders who come to court.
He interprets for them, makes them clean and present-
STRESS & SOAK
able, and wonders at what mad world west of the Vilayet
could produce such dirty, stupid menfolk. Some small
■ Soak: Armor 1 (Clothes), Courage 2
portion of his time on this earth has had cause to draw
ATTACKS him to the west under the Emperor’s name. He was not at
■ Ornate Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3
Unforgiving 1
§ , Hidden 1,
all impressed by the experience.
Still, The Son of Ten Thousand Years is no fool. If he sees
some value in hosting the pink barbarians, then there must
be method to it. Zheng, however, makes sure to convey to
all outsiders this singular notion — Khitai is the world,
and the world is Khitai. This must be distinctly understood.
94 Chapter 5
ATTRIBUTES SPECIAL ABILITIES

Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower ■ Master Translator: Zheng speaks more languages
10 11 8 10 than he can name and can quickly learn new ones.
■ Master of Etiquette: If Zheng chooses to aid a
character in matters of etiquette, he can grant
5 5 5
+2d20 to any Persuade test. Likewise, should he
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE choose, he can increase the Difficulty of such a
test by one step.
Fortitude — Senses — DOOM SPENDS
Knowledge 3 Social 3 ■ Bodyguard: Zheng is a trusted servant of the
Khitan Emperor and can summon toughened
STRESS & SOAK bodyguards as if they were Minions at the cost of 1
■ Stress: Vigor 5, Resolve 10 Doom apiece.
■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 ■ Envoy in Sheep’s Clothing: Zheng has a code of
movement and posture that he shares with the
ATTACKS
Emperor. Consequently, he can spend X Doom to
■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3
§ , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying, increase the Difficulty in persuading another char-
acter by X steps. This is in addition to his Master of
Etiquette ability (above).
Dr. Jack,
Sorry for the delay. I been in the brig, well, a Vladivostok brig. Seems yer man is working with the Russkie
s ‘cept
it’s them they call White Russians. Didn’t know they still had ‘em here. Plenty in Shanghai, though. Was the
Soviets that actually busted me out. Don’t that beat
all?
They are on to this cult of ours, too. Seems these whackos are in Siberia as well, looking for some tomb
that has the
body of yer Butterfly Emperor in it. The White Russians want the Bolshie’s out, and they got an alliance with the Chinese
Nationalists to do it. According to them, this Wu gal has the big time hoodoo, or did, and they think they can bring her
back from out of the big dark. When they do, they think her power can overthrow Steel Joe and his gang
of mooks as well
as whip the Commies on the Chinese mainland. (I didn’t ask what they thought she’d do about all them
Japanese
ships and planes waiting to start a big ‘ole war.)
So, this feller named Yemtov broke me outa this rust bucket ship the White Russians had me on and enlisted my
help to go find this tomb. Trouble is, I got no sense for digging up bodies, but I figure you do. Yemtov has a rubbing he
made from something called an Obelisk near Lake Baikal. I says to him I got me an employer that can maybe translate
that. So, we copied it. It’s in the envelope for you.
Right now, I’m enjoying myself some Soviet vodka with these Red Army intelligence fellows. Communism isn’t half-bad
if yer not in a gulag. Anyway, they don’t want this Wu coming back, and they seem to think that’s a
real possibility.
Let me know if you can translate this thing for us, then wire me.
We gotta bust up this ring of grave robbers fore they bring about the end of the world and all. Least that’s
what
Yemtov says.
—Steve
CHAPTER 6
HITHER CAME CONAN
“I was born in the Cimmerian hills where the people are all barbarians.
I have been a mercenary soldier, a corsair, a kozak, and a hundred
other things. What king has roamed the countries, fought the
battles, loved the women, and won the plunder that I have?”
C
onan is a long way from his humble beginnings in forces, led by the Iranistani nobleman Kherim Shah, in
gloomy Cimmeria, a period described in Conan the hot pursuit. Unbeknownst to his Vendhyan masters, Shah
Barbarian. Conan the Thief addresses his sojourn as a is a spy for King Yezdigerd of Turan, seeking to weaken
thief in the eastern Hyborian kingdoms, and his period as a Vendhya against Turan.
sell-sword in the middle kingdoms is detailed in Conan the Caught in the middle of these events are Khemsa, an enig-
Mercenary. His career as a pirate upon the southern coasts matic devotee of the Black Circle, and his beloved, a slave
is dealt with in Conan the Pirate, and Conan the Brigand girl named Gitara. Urged by Gitara, Khemsa seeks freedom
describes his time amongst the kozaki as a bandit chief. from his sorcerous mentor, the Master of the Black Circle.
Moving southeast from there, the wayward barbarian He slays Conan’s captive hillmen as a means of weakening
earns a place as a chief of the rugged tribal nomads of the the governor’s bargaining position. Once this atrocity has
mountains of Ghulistan, no small feat for a foreigner. In been committed, Khemsa strikes out to Afghulistan, towards
less than a year, he becomes a popular leader among the Mount Yimsha, to challenge his former master.
Afghuli, adopting their customs entirely. Chased through the Zhaibar Pass, Conan and his cap-
tive Yasmina encounter some of Conan’s allies, and take
PEOPLE OF THE shelter with them. When Khemsa and Gitara cross their
paths, the sorcerer casts diabolical sorcery that turns the
BLACK CIRCLE hillfolk against Conan, and he and Yasmina are forced to
flee once more. Though Yasmina urges the barbarian to aid
her in slaying the Master of Yimsha, he chooses instead to
Utilizing skills and abilities he learned among the brigands
try to return with her to his camp, to use her as a hostage
of the near-east, Conan and his men have become a thorn
to bargain back his captured hillmen — unaware they are
in the side of the regional governor, until seven of them
already dead at Khemsa’s hand.
are captured and he makes a desperate bid to free them.
In the rough hill country, they encounter Khemsa and
Upon the untimely sorcerous demise of the king of
Gitara, and Conan overcomes the mesmerist tricks of the
Vendhya, Bunda Chand, his sister Yasmina journeys to
sorcerer. Before Conan can kill Khemsa, however, the Black
the border city of Peshkhauri — nearest to Mount Yimsha,
Seers of Mount Yimsha arrive, and Conan and Yasmina
the stronghold of the Seers of the Black Circle, who were
witness the magical confrontation between the sorcerer
responsible for her brother’s death. Her goal is to bring
and his former masters. Gitara is slain and Khemsa is soon
her brother’s killers to justice, though they are apparently
overcome by the Black Seers, falling to his apparent death
beyond the law. While there, the Devi Yasmina interrupts a
into an avalanche of their making. Recognizing the Devi,
meeting of the governor and Conan, who has broken in on
the Black Seers wrench her from Conan’s arm, and blast
the governor to negotiate the release of his captured hillmen.
Conan with magic.
Seizing the opportunity, Conan captures the Devi and
When Conan recovers, they and the Devi are gone. He
spirits her away into the night — the governor and his
continues towards his camp and runs into a small army of
96 Chapter 6
his former followers, now hell-bent on vengeance upon Conan concedes Yasmina her freedom, turning down her
their former leader, blaming him for the death of the cap- offer of being her king. He boasts to her that he’ll collect her
tured hillmen. Fleeing them by going downhill, Conan ransom in person with an army at his back. They part, the
encounters the wrecked and broken body of Khemsa, still barbarian rejoining his hill-folk and the queen returning
alive despite his terrible injuries. Khemsa surrenders to to her homeland.
Conan a magical girdle and begs him to enact vengeance
upon the Black Seers. Conan agrees, continuing towards CONAN THE WANDERER
Mount Yimsha. There he runs into Kherim Shah, whose own
Here we see Conan still in the height of his physical prowess
pursuit of Conan has cost him many men. Conan strikes
and fame, in his mid-thirties with many adventures behind
a bargain with the Iranistani nobleman, agreeing to work
him. He has not strayed far from brigandry, though now he
together to rescue the Devi.
is more responsible and has proven himself adept at leading
Together, they assault Mount Yimsha, encountering
more than just companies of bandits and outlaws. Conan’s
much strange magic and many acolyte cultists of the Black
fame is considerable, and though he could easily find himself
Circle within. Kherim Shah and most of his men die against
an engagement and position within a king’s household as a
them, meeting horrible fates. Conan, however, kills the
guard captain or even a general, he is driven by his endless
Black Seers and the Master, and frees Yasmina. Escaping
thirst for exploration, for wealth, and for esteem.
the sorcerous redoubt, Conan and the Devi encounter a
Conan has continued to improve his skill Focus and
Turanian army sent by King Yezdigerd to capture Yasmina.
Expertise incrementally, and since his period as a brigand he
They are enmeshed in battle with Conan’s onetime allies,
has spent several thousand experience points on new talents,
the army of Afghuli hillmen.
learned new languages, and utterly acclimated himself to
This seemingly impossible predicament shifts dramat-
the way of the southeastern kingdoms. He’s poorer than
ically with the arrival of a Vendhyan army, sent to rescue
he has been prior, but his needs are met. Notably, Conan’s
the Devi. Seizing command of the Afghulis, Conan leads
Renown is such that everyone has heard of him, no matter
them to victory against the Turanians. Confronted with
how far he goes.
Yasmina as Queen of Vendhya with an army at his back,
Hither Came Conan 97
KHEMSA’S GIRDLE
Conan stared down at the girdle. The hair of which it was woven was not horse-hair. He was convinced that it was
woven of the thick black tresses of a woman. Set in the thick mesh were tiny jewels such as he had never seen. The
buckle was strangely made, in the form of a golden serpent head, flat, wedge-shaped and scaled with curious art.
If encountered after his exploits at Mount Yimsha, ■ Ward Against Wizardry: Any sorcery spell
Conan may still be in possession of an enchanted girdle directed at the wearer is increased in Difficulty
— a type of thick, woven belt — worn by the sorcerer by one step, and the wearer has 1 point of Soak
Khemsa until his death. Khemsa came by the belt against any physical or mental damage the
from a Stygian priest he slew, and though it protected magic would normally inflict. It also grants
him from magic for several years, it was not enough the wearer 1 free point of Momentum when
to overcome the magic mustered by four acolytes of casting counter magic.
the Black Circle, who slew Khemsa in a sorcerous duel.
■ Bolstering the Bold: Once per encounter, if
The belt has a curious means of protecting its
able, the wearer of the girdle can clasp it and
wearer and is extremely powerful, but does not convey
gain the effects of 1 Fortune point, which must
invulnerability, as Khemsa discovered. Indeed, it is
be spent within the same scene. This provides
stained with the blood of several of its prior owners.
the gamemaster with 3 Doom which cannot be
Nonetheless, it has the following qualities:
used directly against the player character wear-
Attacks Fall Astray: In circumstances where
ing the girdle.
chance determines whether a missed attack or acci-
dent might strike the wearer of the girdle (such as a The girdle offers no protection whatsoever against
Complication for a ranged weapon attack), it instead normal physical harm, such as from a weapon or a fall.
strikes another adjacent person, whether player The Girdle of Women’s Hair described on page 16 of
character or non-player character. Whenever this The Book of Skelos is another example of these artifacts,
occurs, the gamemaster gains 3 Doom. but this one is much more powerful and older.
CONAN THE WANDERER
AGILITY 10 BACKGROUND
Skill Exp Focus TN ■ Homeland: Cimmeria ■ Education: Educated on the Battlefield
Acrobatics +4 +4 14 ■ Caste: Barbaric ■ War Story: Defeated a Savage Beast
■ Caste Talents: Savage Dignity, ■ Languages: Cimmerian,
Melee +5 +5 15
Uncivilized Afghuli, Argossean, Aquilonian,
Stealth +4 +4 14
■ Story: Born on a Battlefield Hyperborean, Kothic, Kushite,
9 Trait: Born to Battle Nemedian, Nordheimer, Ophirian,
AWARENESS ■
■ Archetype: Barbarian Shemitish, Stygian, Turanian,

Skill Exp Focus TN
■ Nature: Proud Vendhyan, Zamorian
Insight +2 +1 11
Observation +3 +3 12 SOAK FORTUNE POINTS
Survival +4 +3 13 Soak 3 (Turanian Mail Shirt)
Thievery +3 +2 12 Courage 3
BRAWN 14 STRESS HARMS

Focus Exp Focus TN Vigor Wounds
Athletics +3 +3 17 Resolve Trauma
Resistance +3 +3 17
ATTACKS SOCIAL
COORDINATION 11
Skill Exp Focus TN
■
Unforgiving 2
§
Zhaibar Knife (M): Reach 2, 8 , 1H,
Social
Standing
2
Parry +4 +4 15 ■ §
Brawl (M): Reach 1, 6 , 1H, Improvised, Stun Renown 6
Ranged ■ A Mighty Name (T): Range C, 8 §
mental, Stun Fortune 3
Weapons
+2 +1 13
■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 4§ mental, Stun Gold 5+
Sailing +3 +3 15
TALENTS
INTELLIGENCE 9 ■ A Born Leader: Conan can, once per ■ Lightning Reflexes
Skill Exp Focus TN battle, re-roll any failed Command ■ Master Thief
Alchemy — — 9 test. ■ Might
Craft — — 9 ■ Accent ■ Nimble as a Cat
■ Ancient Bloodline: Atlantean ■ No Mercy
Healing +1 +1 10
■ Animal Magnetism: Most women (at ■ Polyglot
Linguistics +5 +3 14 the gamemaster's discretion) take a ■ Savage Dignity: Conan may roll an
Lore +2 +1 11 one step penalty when trying to resist additional d20 for any test to resist
Siegecraft +3 +2 12 Conan’s Persuade. being intimidated, persuaded, or
■ Agile impressed by a “civilized” person.
PERSONALITY 10 ■ Captain ■ Savage Instincts
Skill Exp Focus TN ■ Command ■ Strong Back
Animal ■ Courageous ■ Thief
+3 +2 13 Deflection Traveler’s Tongue
Handling ■ ■
Command +4 +3 14
■ Deft Blade ■ Uncivilized: Conan suffers one step
■ Dodge of Difficulty in social tests when deal-
Counsel +1 +1 11
■ Hardy ing with people from more civilized
Persuade +2 +2 12 ■ Healthy Superstition countries. However, his Upkeep is
Society +1 — 11 ■ Human Spider reduced by 2 Gold.
■ Inspiring Leader
WILLPOWER 10 ■ Knack for Survival: Conan may OTHER POSSESSIONS
Skill Exp Focus TN spend 1 Fortune point to survive even ■ Hillman's Garb
Discipline +4 +3 14 the most seemingly inescapable ■ Horse
Sorcery +1 — 11 death.
CHAPTER 7
THE WAY OF THE EAST
Stay not from me that veil of dreams that gives

Strange seas and and skies and lands and curious fire,
Black dragons, crimson moons and white desire,
That through the silvery fabric sifts and sieves
Strange shadows, shades and all unmeasured things,
And in the sifting lends them shapes and wings
And makes them known in ways past common knowing–
Red lands, black seas and ivory rivers flowing.
— “Shadow of Dreams”, Robert E. Howard
Riven by the Cataclysm, having left the Vilayet Sea in its in contradiction to this Western stereotype. While the span
wake, the Thurian continent is evenly split between East between rice paddy farmer and emperor is no less vast than
and West. The ways of one are not the ways of the other; between serf and king, the former is connected by filial duty,
wanderers from the West ought not to assume their knowl- caste systems, and a sense of having a place in the world.
edge of humankind nor civilization applies to those forms Subtlety, ritual, and custom are the paths which lead
of each they shall meet as they move into those mysterious men and women of the East through the crude loam of
lands beyond the great sea. barbarism. These trails through the forest of life are given
East or West, all societies are predicated on traditions unto one generation and then the next. These are the walls
passed down from one generation to the next. Indeed, the of which even great cities cannot boast. These are sentinels
very idea of civilization, at least to a civilized individual, which even the legendary thief Shevatas himself could
is one of walls, metaphorical and otherwise. There are not slip past.
simply lines one does not cross or, if one does, you do so
circumspectly. The West takes great liberties with such a
loophole. The East does not. RITUAL AND CUSTOM
There is no small irony in the fact that ritual, custom, and
tradition are made paramount among the great civilizations
of the East and the so-called barbarians of the West. Both RITUAL
cultures have true respect for the past. What matters the Ritual is no more evident than in the vendetta system which
past to a Corinthian prince save that he can claim coin and governs Khitai. It applies to all, from the lowliest man to the
power by his association with it? Emperor himself. It is a structured order of killing. Reasons
For an Easterner, the West’s approach to tradition is must be sound and cleave to established precedent. Then,
barbarous. Western kingdoms are draped in finery and murder is not murder, but a justified act along the World
gold, but beneath they are no more than pigs. A low beggar Wheel. Where life and death are concerned, the Westerner
in Ayodhya would tell you a Western king would trade his is like to think only of survival. In the East, survival may
heritage for his weight in gold. Perhaps he is even right. No not be worthwhile if one loses honor, position, or respect.
matter, the Easterner believes so and, more importantly, acts Indeed, to the outlander, the lengths to which some go to
100 Chapter 7
The Westerner thinks largely of themselves. In the East,

they think of the whole of society. This precludes neither
“Civilized men are more discourteous evil nor selfishness. In fact, it makes passable excuse for
than savages because they know they grosser forms of either in pursuit of “the great good”, but it
can be impolite without having their is always considered, even by those who flaunt it. One may
skulls split, as a general thing.” die for another’s cause but take comfort in the fact that the
other rationalized that death with a litany of precedent as
— “The Phoenix on the Sword” determined by the celestial movement of stars, humankind,
and the passing of eons.
CUSTOM
The lowest of the pillars on which tradition is held aloft,
custom serves as the cultural norm. One does not politely
break them, but breaking them is a sign of the buffoon, not
the outlander. Though, let it not be said that outlanders
do not constantly violate custom. However, Easterners
expect this if they’ve had any dealings with them. If not,
they are like to bid the outlander good day and refuse to
speak further with them.
Within Eastern societies themselves, though, custom
is not a thing taken lightly. While it is not as grave as filial
duty or ritual, it does mark a person’s stature in their cul-
ture. A farmer addresses another farmer in a certain, more
familiar, way. A landowner addresses the farmer in a polite
tone, but one which connotes less respect. This goes up
and down the ladders of stratification. In Vendhya, such
customs are esoteric and arcane to the point of variance
between one city and the next causing insult and possible
injury upon one’s person.
Custom is the least of bonds, but it is a bond nonetheless.
Do not venture there thinking their culture shall submit to
an outsider. Theirs is an old way, and it bends like a reed
in the wind. Outlanders are rigid, stick-like — they break
when the monsoons come. After, when morning alights on
field of battle, literal or otherwise, the reed remains intact.
The wood does not.
preserve honor before life is madness. The world is cruel.
One must be cruel to survive in it. Yet in Vendhya, they
teach different ways. In Khitai, they have different laws. In LOTUS ROAD
Kosala, a death is divine if by strangling, while a stabbing
is seen as inherently profane and an insult to Yajur. Were every other commonality dashed upon the edges
All things which demand ritual are not matters of life of the Vilayet, were every cause to speak with those from
and death, but ones of long-standing tradition. Birthed opposite corners of the world forgotten, the two disparate
of ancient histories and cultural synthesis that are more halves of the Thurian continent would still be bound by
ancient than writing itself. the Lotus Road.
Ceremonies exist for having tea, exchanging gifts, part- The Lotus Road is famous, if not entirely real. There is
ing for another wagon along a slim road, approaching a many a fakir in Yota-pong who’d sell a stranger a map of
temple, worshipping, birth, death — everything is bound the road itself, but no such thing exists.
by ritual. There exists a continuous line from the beginning Instead, the Lotus Road is a series of shifting trails used
of any man or woman to the first generation of their people. by merchants moving across the world. Stability in Eastern
To know that one practices the same rituals as those who nations has traditionally resulted in enormous trade oppor-
came before is not merely important, it is life-defining. tunities. The ability to take goods from Khitai to Turania is
The way of the east 101
an immensely profitable one, after all. And even if Khitai is

in turmoil, Vendhya is rich enough to be a tempting target A HANDFUL OF TRADITIONS
for distant merchants. But the specifics of that route vary.
Here find some small examples of rituals, customs and
By land, by sea, or by the strange conveyance of sorcerors,
subtleties oft encountered in the East. Not all are ubiqui-
there have always been Lotus Roads and, gods willing, there
tous, though they give the gamemaster some guideline to
always shall be. Only experienced travelers know what
work with. These are intended to add flavor, not become
paths to take through differing terrain and seasons. There
law. The gamemaster can use or discard them as desired.
is a story of a priest of Mitra, who, along with over 1,000
followers, struck out to convince the Emperor of Khitai that ■ In any conversation, the person of lesser status
Mitra was the true god. They left from Nemedia, it is said, speaks first. It is then decided by the person of
forsaking the Lotus Road. Many, many years later a few higher status whether to engage with them and
stragglers returned, telling of the horrors frostbite inflicts with what degree of formality or familiarity.
on the Hyrkanian taiga and of the inhuman things from
■ Whether male or female, the mate of lesser
the stars which dwell in the jungles of Khitai.
status never speaks against their partner in front
Whether this is simply a cautionary tale is irrelevant to
of another.
any sensible wanderer. If one aims to travel past the Vilayet,
going one direction or another, one best trek with those ■ A warrior of equal status who asks for quarter is
who know the way. given so. The loss of honor is worse than death.
Further, while it is called the Lotus Road, this is but a
■ Men and women of rank in Vendhya never pass
name and not representative of the trade moving between
a beggar without giving coin. All have been beg-
east and west. Silks, rugs, pottery, Akbitanian steel, yarrow
gars, insects, and lower in one’s passage on the
wood bows, effigies to gods long dead, spices, strange
World Wheel.
animals, and anything else one can imagine moves along
the road. There is heavy coin to be made for those brave
enough to make the long journey.
FILIAL DUTY
JOURNEYS AND The first duty for most peoples of the East is to the family.
TRAVEL RULES From that strong trunk do all stalks grow in their time.
The family serves as the central unit around which a
The exploration of the East requires just that: exploration. village grows, and then a town, then a city and an empire.
The player characters will spend much of their time on No one, not even a ruler, ignores filial duty. To do so is to
the road, or on the dirt tracks, if that’s all that is available, turn one’s back on every foundation of society.
moving on toward their next adventure. But journeying in Even seeming “barbarians” such as the people of
the East is not the same as questing across the landscapes Hyrkania hold fast to filial duty. The elderly are venerated
of the Hyborian kingdoms. There, a map might contain as wise, the youth as the future. Where a Cimmerian
all one might want to know. Every notable location and might leave a weak stripling to die in the woods, a Skuda
relevant country. The East is too large for such a thing, would not. They have people to take care of the weak and
maps and directions both tend to be local. Restricted to a infirm until they are ready for the cold rapture of Erlik.
nation or, for larger empires, part of one. Giving a traveller Because one’s duty is to the family unit, the family
the next step in a long journey.877 Those who reside in the itself informs the character of the individual — and not
East have access to remarkably accurate cartography; but in any mere nurturing way. No, a person is their family
these maps are difficult to obtain, and this makes journeys name. Be it strong or weak, every man or woman born
dangerous and unpredictable. under celestial heavens labors under their family name
from birth to grave. Therefore, what one does as an
individual affects their family and, by extension, their
larger community and even the empire in which they all
dwell. Likewise, what they do falls upon the individual.
The sins of the father are passed along to each scion and
none would dream of abandoning them.
In this life or the next, all filial debts are paid.
LONE WOLVES
AND VAGABONDS
Seekers, those whose blood burns from thirst unquenched,
come to the East where, tales say, answers are to be had. To
what questions? All of them, of course. And so, come the
loners, the solitary wolves, and vagabonds — drawn, as if
metal to a lodestone, to the mysteries of the East. Do they
find answers? Mostly, they find only confusing customs,
strange lands, and often harsh trials. Some, though, find
what those in the west might call fulfilment… but these are
few and it is only the fool that thinks the East exists to quell
Western restlessness. All the mysteries of the Hyborian
kingdoms are but a drop of saltwater compared to the
depths of the enigmas that comprise the East.
EASTERN THEMES
Each of Howard’s tales focuses on one (or more) themes.
Conan struggles against men, beasts, nature, and even
his own character. So, too, should Conan players expe-
rience a variety of themes in their adventures. While
the gamemaster can import almost any theme from the
published adventures into the East, here are some ideas
for specifically Eastern-flavored themes upon which to
hang a plot or, if fortune dictates, upon which the player
characters may hang themselves.
Balance and the Way

Especially in Khitai, but generally in most of the empires
of the East, some monks, priests, philosophers, and
wizards follow the Way. The Way is the nature of the
world, and to go against it is to invite the world to grind but almost never with dismissal. For one, Khitai and the
you down. One does not struggle against the firmament other nations trade with the barbarians — especially in
but rather adjusts themselves to the will of nature. slaves. Moreover, the old tomes in Ayodhya and Paikang
To some, this is contrary to the nature of most libraries recall times where the barbarous were civilized,
Hyborian-descended adventurers. After all, what is when they ruled over the uncivilized, describe refugee
Conan if not a man struggling always against forces Lemurians and other folk who would become the great
outside himself? He holds to no gods and depends on civilizations of this age.
no one but himself. When nature is in Conan’s way, he Regardless of the nature of a ‘barbarian’ culture, it
hacks through it as he would a score of enemies. has more in common with Eastern civilization than its
Contemplative Eastern minds, however, seek balance. Western counterparts. Filial duty, tradition, ritual, and
This is not to say many achieve such — for the nature of custom all bind both ends of the spectrum of humanity.
man is one of imbalance and rioting emotions convulsing The horse lords of Skuda recount family lineage with the
like the wild sea — but some in the East believe that same pride as high officials in the Khitan court.
wisdom and enlightenment come not from grabbing This understanding between civilized man and rude
magics from demons and tomes, but from aligning with barbarian does not, however, extend to outlanders. They
the world, be it ours or that of the Great Old Ones. are assumed savages — even if hailing from kingdoms
Each has a Way. One does not build their home next considered mighty in the West. A Khitan emissary would
to a river and be surprised when the home floods. One — though perhaps not openly — make no distinction
does not seek knowledge from demons without expecting between an Aquilonian lord or a Cimmerian chieftain;
to encounter the abyss. Sorcerers of the East are often both are far less culturally evolved than those in the East.
more circumspect in their research into the black arts For player characters arriving from the West, this
and fewer make pacts with beings from the Outer Dark. presents a frustrating social wall which blade and sinew
In play, this more nuanced approach to life can take cannot overcome. For native player characters, it can be
the form of a strange, counterintuitive way of thinking quite fun to dismiss the high and mighty achievements
the outlander encounters, or provide new roleplaying of the West as crude things which are likened to the
opportunities for player character born of the East. In work of children.
an age where power is sought openly, where people kill In the Hyborian Age, all cultures think themselves
for it casually, the meditative thinking character proves the height of civilization if they dwell within city walls,
quite an interesting juxtaposition. tread paved roads, and understand law. Mighty lords
of either side may find shock — and their players role-
Barbarism vs. Civilization playing fun — as their achievements are dismissed by
Those in Khitai, Vendhya, and Kosala look upon the the strange other.
natives of Hyrkania with varying levels of contempt,
104 Chapter 7
Intricate Plots was later killed over a point of decorum. His name was
Only the machinations of Stygian wizards, it is said, com- never recorded.
pare to the intricate webs and schemes woven by master
tacticians in the East. Hyborian kingdoms want results, Gods vs. Forces
and they want them now. Eastern kingdoms are patient, For many in the West, gods make the world move. In the
they wait years and even generations to achieve their East, forces less anthropomorphized are recognized. The
aims. This is a contrast between self and community Way is the prime example of such a force, though it takes
which sharply draws a curtain between the two cultures. a lifetime to understand its basic precepts.
The younger Hyborian kingdoms are like Conan as a Nevertheless, the cyclical nature of time and tide is
brash youth — quick to anger and quicker to draw a blade better respected by Easterners. All the kingdoms of the
before hurling themselves into the fray. Older kingdoms, Hyborians might fit in the span of a single Khitan dynasty,
like Stygia, Khitai, and Vendhya assess conditions. They or so their scholars would have you believe. Ebb and flow,
plan. They push the advantage when they have it and black and white, sun and moon, pace about the Earth to
retreat when necessary. Aquilonian scholars have said, remind man of his small place in the mechanistic cosmos.
long after King Conan vanished from the Earth, that no The stars that wheel above dictate the repetition of
small amount of his military acumen was learned from given cycles and, for diviners, can reveal the future with
the war-masters in the East. great precision. Seasons pass, as do lives; the inherent
For any given campaign, this means the linear plot transitory nature of the world seats itself at the heart
should be constantly disrupted. The obvious foe proves of any contemplative existence.
a fake. The treasure sought proves a trap which leads to Whether these forces are any more real than gods,
yet another trap. Wizards and nobles have plans within no scholar can say, but the lens through which a master
plans. The gears of their plotting grind ever finer. The of the Way and a high priest of Set see the world is very
piece or clue picked up proves not one of a hundred but different. Who is right does not matter. Whose civili-
a thousand, and one must find the majority of said pieces zation can endure the cycles of barbarism and enlight-
to complete the picture. enment does.
Self vs. Community The Mythos and the East

“You can break a single arrow. You cannot break a quiver Though many Eastern sorcerers are more careful than
of them,” said a Khitan philosopher lost to time. His their Western counterparts, the Mythos is no less know-
point was that a single person breaks against the forces able to a Khitan wizard than to one from Old Stygia. The
of nature, while a community may endure. The single abyss awaits anyone who peers into the Outer Dark.
life is ever brief, but in descendants and tradition and However, the history of the Mythos varies by location.
community, the single individual becomes immortal. In Kosala, for example, they worship Yajur, an avatar
Villages, cities, nomad empires — all persist between of Nyarlathotep, and have done so since the Cataclysm.
the short seasons of their founders. Being part of In Khitai, undying cultists are said to have founded
something larger than oneself is important in the East. the first temples in the wake of the sundered world.
That is not to say it is dismissed in the West, but it is They live still, their minds too attached to the gulfs of
not privileged as among the highest virtues in most vast dark above to be understood by men. In the deep
Western cultures. jungles, temples stand which represent the mad visions
To understand any given person from the other half of of cities constructed by Elder Things.
the continent, one must understand the bonds to their Lemuria and Mu sank due to the war between those
community, family, and kingdom which define them. This Elder Things and the Mi-Go. Some even say the world
goes so far in some societies that one’s community or was broken by the same.
family name comes before a given name. Some parts of Yithians, too, visit the East most often, finding the
Khitai even insist on formal recitation of lineage before record keeping of empires like Khitai familiar as their
a brief conversation with a stranger. All this may seem own, inscrutable histories.
pointless to a wanderer looking to make their fortune. The unnatural pervades the dark corners of the Eastern
“Such a wanderer mistakes gold as the real treasure.” world. One may wander far, but no leagues can shield
That, too, was said by a Khitan philosopher upon first humankind from the dark things which have dwelled
encountering a missionary for Mitra. The missionary here since slope-shouldered ape-things first took to tools.
The Journey
Conan’s own tale is a journey — from brash youth sure of
the world to king for whom all the thrones of the Earth
are but different variations of the same. He moves across
the topography of both the world and the self. His journey
is that of man constantly wandering until, at the end of
his saga, he settles on a throne… though it is said there
he did not remain but took again off to parts unknown.
This peripatetic nature takes two forms for the gam-
emaster — that of the physical journey and that of the
characters’ arcs. Change suffuses Conan’s adventures,
and while plots may recur, places and people shift as the
barbarian becomes a world traveler and leaves some sim-
pler aspect of self behind in the gloomy hills of Cimmeria. and tradition as their sandaled feet tread new trails
A player character need not undertake such epic through unmapped arboreal forests, cruel deserts, and
character arcs, but it could be a lot more fun if they the expectations of civilization.
did. One should consider the journey always as paired Embrace the unmapped territory, the unknown coun-
twins — one the map of the land, the other of the soul. try, for there lies discovery. One wanders not merely out
Beyond the fall of sword on shield, the cracking of bone, of circumstance but out of internal need. Player charac-
the confrontation with demons, Howard’s work says ters are often, by their nature, wanderers. They are ill at
something fundamental about the human journey. ease in settled places and seek danger and adventure
A perfectly fulfilling and enjoyable campaign can as a way of life. There is no greater journey to be had in
ignore the inner aspect of a journey — and may even take the Hyborian Age than from one end of the world to the
place within a single locale — but that misses something next. May the player characters choose to take it, and
great about the nature of Howard’s tales. They were full may they grow — or at least survive — if they do.
of strangers in strange lands who learned local custom
106 Chapter 7
BETWEEN WANDERINGS
Just as in the West, player characters beyond the Vilayet Sea stop and find trouble, fortune, amusement, and more between
their adventures. The nature of these interlude encounters is sometimes familiar, but more often not. For native Eastern
player characters, such situations as found below are navigable. For the outlander, a mere misunderstanding can prove deadly.
The following two tables offer alternatives to the Carousing tables found in the Conan corebook and various supplements.
Each Trouble result is divided by Native and Outlander results, depending on from where the most player characters
originate. The gamemaster is free to use them as desired, hopefully emphasizing the differences between the Far East
and those storied Hyborian kingdoms Conan trod beneath his sandaled feet.
EASTERN TROUBLE
Effects Example Trouble Caused
1–2 Native: The player character gets rowdy and offends a merchant, settler, or garrison soldier.
All further Personality-based tests in this area are increased by one step of Difficulty.
Outlander: The player character inadvertently crosses the border and trespasses on native lands, causing
the ire of the local authorities. They are pointedly told to leave, unwelcome further.
Any continued presence in the area is met with violence.
3–4 Native: The player character escalates a drunken argument into a feud with soldiers, requiring a consider-
able amount of effort to amend the insult to propriety. This costs 2§Gold to remedy (minimum 1).
Outlander: The player character kills or injures a native in a brawl, for which they are thrown into a jail
while their freedom is sought by their allies. This requires a prolonged struggle that can only be remedied
with successful Challenging (D2) Persuade or Society tests. If these rolls are not successful, 2 Gold may be
substituted for each failure.
5+ Native: The player character’s revels are so odious to those nearby that the authorities are summoned in
force, surrounding the establishment they inhabit. They are forced to pay 3 § Gold to make up for this
gross faux pas, or or suffer 1 point of Despair for each Gold they cannot pay. While in the area, their Renown
is decreased by –2 and Upkeep is increased by 1 Gold.
Outlander: The player character manages to somehow antagonize the entire town they are in, or a sizable
group or culture, and thus is chased out of the area at high speed. Half of their existing Gold (round up) is
lost due to their rapid departure and they now must contend with the authorities should they choose to
return to the region, with the punishment either imprisonment or execution.
EASTERN CAROUSING EVENTS

The player characters are invited on a hunt by an inebriated minor noble. This is the perfect
chance to demonstrate the skills for which they are increasingly famed, or else to disgrace
themselves in front of a party of influential courtiers. Any participating player character
must make a Challenging (D2) Survival test:
Good
1 Failure: Lose 1 point of Renown.
Hunting
1 Success: Complete the hunt without distinction.
2–3 Successes: The player character earns a friend in the person of the organizer of the hunt.
4+ Successes: Gains 1 point of Renown and become widely regarded as one of the most
skillful hunters in the East.
The innkeeper swore this was a mild, local rice wine. If this is the case, then the locals nearby
Too Much have the constitution of several large oxen. And livers to match. The player character must
2
Rice Wine make a Challenging (D2) Resistance test or begin the next adventure suffering 1 point of
Fatigue from the inevitable hangover.
While recuperating from their debauches, the player character makes the mistake of asking
the wrong question to a passing monk. The monk, hot tempered and extremely quick to take
Wandering
3 offense, challenges the player character to a fight. Will the player character accept a duel
Monk
with a member of the nearby temple? Or will they avoid the fight, losing face but perhaps
saving themselves a great deal of pain in the long run?
EASTERN CAROUSING EVENTS (CONTD.)

Result Event Description
In an alley behind one of the inns which the player character has been touring, they stumble
across the body of an unfortunate thief. A quick fumble through the corpse’s pockets reveals
The Dead
4 a strange, black stone, perfectly smooth and gleaming with a sinister, inner light. Does the
Thief
player character take the gem? Leave it with the corpse? Or try and find out where it came
from?
The player character finds themselves in a town gripped by the celebrations for the Festival
The of a Thousand Candles. Every house is bedecked in lamps and tiny flames, designed to allow
Festival of the great hero Ruma to find his way home. It does, however, make sleeping off the effects of
5
a Thousand the road somewhat difficult. The player character must make a Challenging (D2) Willpower
Candles test to sleep through nights as brightly illuminated as the day. A failure results in the player
character suffering 1 point of Stress.
Whether through drunken accident or mere wandering, the player character finds them-
selves in the empty yard of the city’s premiere blade-maker and weaponsmith. Examples
The Yard
of his art lie everywhere. Will the player character steal a weapon of exemplary quality (all
6 of the
Weaponsmith
blades taken from the yard do an extra +1 § damage compared to their standard equiva-
lent)? Doing so results in the Weaponsmith placing a bounty of 20 Gold on the player charac-
ter’s head. Claiming that bounty will be a little harder for those who pursue it, however.
Befuddled by ale and caught in an awkward situation, the player character relieved them-
selves into a nearby river. This would not usually be a problem, except that this river is
The Curse
guarded — protected and nurtured by a river witch. While the witch is, by and large, uncon-
7 of the River
cerned by the goings on of the world, this quite naturally drew her ire. She placed a curse on
Witch
the player character, who now starts all adventures with 1 Fatigue, until they either appease
the witch or kill her.
The player character is wrongly (or justifiably) accused of being one of a group of bandits who
waylaid a merchant on their way to town. The watch seizes the player character and impris-
Mistaken ons them (having waited until they were too drunk to resist). Now the threat of imminent
8
Identity execution hangs over them. The player character can: try and escape, requiring a Difficult
(D2) Brawn test; prove their innocence (gamemaster determines what skills to use); or bribe
their way free (at the cost of 3 Gold).
Through some act of unwise braggadocio, the player character has managed to find them-
selves embroiled in a contest of poetic skill with the local master of a regional poetic
form. Will the player character back out or attempt to compete with the lyricist? If a player
chooses to write and perform their own poem with a successful Challenging (D2) Linguistics
A Poetry
9 or Lore test, see the following for the outcomes:
Contest
0 Successes: The poem was awful. Lose 2 Gold and 1 point of Renown.
1–2 Successes: A tolerable poem, though far from winning the contest. Lose 2 Gold.
3–4 Successes: A meritorious effort. The prize is split. Gain 1 Gold.
5–6 Successes: Victory! A verse worthy of the gods; gain 4 Gold and 1 point of Renown.
In a market square, the player character finds themselves in a large crowd of locals, all lis-
tening to the speeches of a trader who claims to be in possession of remarkable specimens
10 The Swindler of rare antique weaponry, fossils of dead creatures, and volumes of eldritch lore. The player
character is all too aware that the man is a charlatan, but what do they do? Expose him in
front of the crowd? Threaten to expose him to extort money? Simply move on?
Passing through the crowded streets of the city, the player character becomes engaged in a
game of some description — in Vendhya, it might be moksha-patamu, in Khitai it might be a
Board variation of mancala — with a local. A successful Daunting (D3) Insight test is enough to win
11
Gaming and earn the player character 2 Gold. But the local offers another game, with 10 Gold as the
next bet… this time, the player character needs to make an Epic (D5) Observation test to win.
Will they take the chance?
108 Chapter 7
EASTERN CAROUSING EVENTS (CONTD.)

Result Event Description
The rainy season is experienced in each country and each culture across the East. It makes
the ground treacherous, and while it keeps the land fertile, it means that little can happen.
The player character is trapped where they are. The Upkeep round lasts twice as long and
12 Monsoon
the player characters must pay twice — however, they may roll again on this list with the
gamemaster’s consent, re-rolling any activity which requires the player character to be
outdoors.
Alcohol and ignorance can precipitate all manner of unfortunate misunderstandings in the
kingdoms of the Hyborian Age. Who, after all, is well traveled enough to know the correct
Breaching codes of behavior for each province, city, and village they might stumble into? Unfortunately,
13
Etiquette the player character has committed a terrible faux pas and is banished from the town, for
good. They gain no benefits from their Upkeep round on this occasion — though they may
reduce any lost Vigor or Stress as normal.
The nearby river has burst its banks and swept the town, washing away houses, hearths, and
14 Flooding §
horses. The player character is also affected; they lose 3
of equipment (player’s choice).
Gold and their mount or a piece
Tall, austere, and bearing a blade almost as tall as herself, the woman sits at your table and
places 5 Gold in front of the player character. Her town is under attack from a nearby bandit
A Call to
15 chief, she explains, and she is searching for warriors who might defend it. Will the player
Arms
character heed the call? She is willing to pay 5 Gold now, and a further 20 Gold after the
bandit chief has been driven off.
While walking through a crowded marketplace, the player character is warmly embraced by
Invitation to
16 an elderly man and invited to join in the festivities at a local wedding. The player character
a Wedding
gains 1 Gold and one ration of food — as part of the gifts given out to all attendees.
As the player characters pass through a clearing in the forest, they encounter a dozen people
crowded around something on the floor. It is the corpse of a dead snake, with no visible
The Dead marks to explain its passing. In the East, this is a well-known omen of death. Those who
17
Snake are crowded around it believe that the first to leave the snake’s side will die. Will the player
characters leave and continue their journey? Or will they too wait… and who will they meet
if they do so?
The roads and cities of the mighty East are paid for via regular taxes. The Emperor of Khitai
and the King of Vendhya both rely on their tax collectors who pass through the kingdom,
Imperious
gathering their due and sending it back to the capital. The player character is stopped by a
18 Tax
pair of these important officials, who treat the traveling adventurers with barely disguised
Collectors
contempt, demanding the payment of 3 Gold or else they will face the wrath of the ruler. Do
the player characters pay? And if they do not, how do they deal with the grasping collectors?
The player characters’ striking resemblance to a well-known rogue and ruffian (and it is just a
coincidence… isn’t it?) has resulted in them being challenged to a duel by the person whose
An honor the player character might have slighted. The player character can fight this duel
19 Unfortunate (the gamemaster should use the statistics of an appropriate character from the Encounters
Coincidence… chapter of this book or the Conan corebook), or simply run away. Victory grants 1 point of
Renown and 2 Gold. Dodging it reduces Renown by 1 point… though the player character
gets to keep their life.
In ancient myth, there is talk of “the God’s Breath”, a breeze which on occasion sweeps down
from the nearby mountain, invigorating all who feel it. This time, the player character is in
The God’s
20 the right place at the right time, as the healing wind sweeps down into the town where they
Breath
are. The player character starts with 1 free point of Momentum in the pool at the start of the
next adventure which only they can use.
CHAPTER 8
WANDERERS OF THE AGE
“You are a barbarian, and I am an outcast, denied by my people. We

are both pariahs, wanderers of the earth. Oh, take me with you!”
— “Iron Shadows in the Moon”
HAMAR BACKER CHARACTERS

Presented here are characters born of the creativity of
The son of an Afghuli chieftain, Hamar excelled in those
backers from the Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures
skills expected from one of his station: stealth, survival,
in an Age Undreamed Of Kickstarter campaign, for use
and wielding the yard-long Zhaibar knife. Adept at skir-
as potential player or non-player characters in Conan
mishing in the dark, his people dubbed him the ‘Ghost
campaigns, as desired.
Warrior’. Though eldest, Hamar was a poor choice for chief,
preferring solitude and exhibiting little interest in leader-
ship. Though a dutiful child, he was curious about things
outside his culture, whether Vendhyan artifacts owned by
his father or subtly stranger things once found in a small
ruin. With no formal education, he discovered very little,
but he remained curious.
His life changed when Mitra-worshipping missionaries
appeared at his village, far from home. They bargained with
his father to let them stay and try to win converts, offering
considerable valuables. Hamar’s father considered their
faith no threat, so he let them stay. Hamar was fascinated
by these strangers, particularly a young priestess named
Rosamund. She was a young noble daughter, seeking to
avoid an arranged marriage through entering the church
of Mitra. Hamar spent a great deal of time with her, learn-
ing all he could, though conversion was not on his mind.
Hamar’s two brothers, Dost and Mohan, were disturbed
by the growing influence of the missionaries, but his father
had given his word. They rose up one night in a bloody
coup, critically wounding their father and killing many
of the Mitra worshippers. Hamar rallied what loyalists he
could to aid his father and the Mitran delegation, but in
the skirmish — before the conflict could be fully decided
— a third force intervened, seemingly pouring out of the
earth itself. They were better armed, better trained, and
more numerous than the weakened Afghuli, and easily
overcame them.
110 Chapter 8
Made prisoners, Hamar and his people were taken far

DOOM SPENDS
away, heads hooded as they marched, long weeks passing.
They eventually found themselves underground, where
■ Ghost Warrior: When fighting in darkness or at
the mysterious race dwelt within a seemingly time-lost night, Hamar can spend 1 Doom to negate any
city, apparently predating even the Cataclysm itself. As penalties from darkness or limited visibility. This
prisoners, they were treated mercilessly, separated and spend lasts the entire encounter.
forced into humiliating labor, depravities committed upon
■ Oathsworn: Hamar has pledged to restore
them all. Hamar fared somewhat better than his fellow Rosamund to her homeland. He gains a pool of 3
tribesfolk and was forced to battle in the arena — slaying Doom that he may use only in defense of, or when
their gladiators, beasts, and others captured, and forced assisting, Rosamund.
to fight for the entertainment of the subterranean folk.
Allied with his brothers, Hamar’s attempt at escape fell ROXELENA “THE
KINGMAKER”
apart in betrayal, but nonetheless he was able to escape
with Rosamund, fighting his way to the surface and win-
ning their freedom. Now they find themselves far from
the lands they know.
Her origins are uncertain, and Roxelena does little to
ATTRIBUTES shed light upon her true past. Some claim she is an heir
to Hyborian royalty, while others put her as a low-born
commoner. Her reputation, however, is carefully cultivated
8 8 7 7 as a source of mystique, with rumors calling her a sorcer-
Agility Brawn Coordination ess or witch, or even a mere grifter and schemer, however
11 11 10 successful she may be. What cannot be disputed is that she
is an accomplished warrior, more than adept at wielding
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE the blades she wears at either hip. Her appearance is exotic
Combat 3 Movement 2 enough to mask her origins: clad in silks and garments
Fortitude 2 Senses 1 from a half-dozen countries upon the trade routes from the
Knowledge 1 Social 1 East to West, and speaking several languages with fluency.
Roxelena calls herself ‘the Kingmaker’. She claims that
STRESS & SOAK whomever she attaches herself to, whether serving as a
■ Stress: Vigor 13, Resolve 9 bodyguard or sometimes lover, will rise in power to claim
■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 2 a throne. How she selects those she serves is known only
to her — mere coin is not enough to sway her choice — and
ATTACKS she inevitably requests a single boon from each of her
■ §
Battleaxe (M): Reach 1 or 2, 6 , Unbalanced,
Intense, Knockdown, Parrying, Vicious 1
patrons. To grant it, she claims, is to invite fortune and
to ensure one’s path to rule, while to deny it is to lose her
■
Vicious 1
§
Throwing Axe (M): Range M, 3 , 1H, Thrown, service and to bring ruin and a loss of status.
Her past is her own, but in truth she was a caravan fol-
■
Unforgiving 2
§
Zhaibar Knife (M): Reach 2, 6 , 1H, lower upon a route from Stygia to Khitai, having been left
behind as a child by a Hyborian campaign that was defeated
■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 2 §
mental, Stun south of the Styx. With the alternative slavery, Roxelena
attached herself to a group of traders heading east. She
SPECIAL ABILITIES kept her eyes and ears open, and learned what she could
■ Afghuli Hillman: Hamar ignores one step of — negotiation, swordsmanship, and culture — all to keep
Difficulty from any Movement or Senses tests herself alive and capable. She ended up in a Turanian lord’s
performed in a hilly or mountainous environment. harem, sold for a handful of coins. Once there, she studied
■ Pit-fighter: Through rough experience fighting in with the tutors and servants of the household, particularly
close quarters, Hamar can use all Reach 2 weap- the arts of the apothecary, learning which herbs could be
ons as if they were Reach 1. used to coax longer life and health, and which could end it.
■ Son of the Axe: Taught a variety of unconven- Roxelena rose in status within the harem and helped
tional axe-fighting techniques by his mysterious guide her husband to supremacy over his older brothers,
captors, Hamar adds the Knockdown and Parrying eventually taking his father’s estate. Inevitably, his atten-
Qualities to his battleaxe in combat. tions went to wine, riches, conquest, and other women. She
abandoned him in turn, leaving him to his own fate, falling
Wanderers of the Age 111
in battle in defense of his throne. Freed, Roxelena left Turan DOOM SPENDS
and sought fortune elsewhere, wandering as an adventurer, ■ Kingmaker: After agreeing to serve them,
putting her unique combination of talents to use. Roxelena can spend 5 Doom upon one she deems
as her ‘patron’, provided she has requested a boon
ATTRIBUTES from them. If they granted the boon, they may
Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower eventually find their path to the throne, and if
10 9 11 9 it was refused, ruin will follow. Roxelena has no
Agility Brawn Coordination control over this outcome and it may be entirely
coincidental, but she believes it nonetheless
9 8 8
and has examples from her personal history to
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE support it.
Combat 2 Movement 1 ■ Expert Poisoner: Roxelena always has a few
doses of black lotus-based poisons and antidotes
at hand, ready for use. She may pay 1 Doom to
Knowledge 2 Social 3 have a dose of poison ready for use, doing 2§ per
STRESS & SOAK dose, or can spend 2 Doom for a 4 § poison. She
carries antidotes costing X Doom, with X equal to
Stress: Vigor 9, Resolve 10
■
■ Soak: Armor 1 (Layered Cloth and Jewelry),

the § of damage canceled by the poison.
Courage 1
ATTACKS
■ §
Tulwar (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Cavalry 1, Parrying
■ §
Saber (M): Reach 2, 3 , 1H, Cavalry 1, Parrying
■
§
Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying,
Volley
§
Throwing Knife (R): Range C, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1,
■ Seductive Glance (T): Range C, 4

Persistent 2
§ mental,
SPECIAL ABILITIES
■ Adaptability: Accustomed to the life of a trader
upon the caravan roads, Roxelena can adapt to
new circumstances with aplomb. She reduces any
Social tests by one step of Difficulty when dealing
with newcomers.
■ Hand-crafted Tulwar: Roxelena wields a tulwar
crafted for her and scaled to suit her frame. It
is a one-handed weapon and does not have the
Unbalanced Quality.
■ Seductive Appeal: Roxelena can specifically
make herself more appealing to anyone she
desires, letting her re-roll any failed d20s on
Social tests in matters of seduction. She must
accept the results of the second roll, however.
INDEX
Adventures in the East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Yeng-Du (Toughened) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 A History of Khitai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Natives of the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Zheng of Khitai (Nemesis). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Khitan Art, Culture, and Religion . . . . . . . 47
Stranger in a Strange Land. . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Erlik.9, 10, 12, 13, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, The Hidden Kingdom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Afghuli. . 7, 8, 13, 24, 30, 32, 35, 62, 63, 95, 42, 62, 63, 66, 70, 72, 101 Khorbhul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
96, 98, 109, 110 Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Khurum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Afghulistan. 4, 8, 28, 30, 33, 35, 36, 58, 95 Foreigners Purged From Khitai . . . . . . . . . 65 Kirowan, Jack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 69, 73, 74
After the Fall of Yimsha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Palace Coup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Kosala. 7, 8, 9, 23, 25, 38, 51, 71, 73, 74, 77
Appearance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Politics, Social Events, & War. . . . . . . . . . . 63 A History of Kosala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Asura. . . . . . . 8, 9, 58, 59, 60, 61, 69, 70, 73 The Cults of Erlik Unite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Kosalan Art, Culture, and Religion . . . . . . 52
Asura of the Parted Veil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Scourge of Plague. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Outlanders in Kosala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Ayodhya. . . . . . . . 47, 54, 58, 60, 61, 99, 103 Unnatural Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The Gift of Yajur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Between Wanderings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Kosalan Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Eastern Carousing Events. . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Final Touches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Lotus Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Eastern Trouble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 "Fire Jewel of Hell, The" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Mandate of Heaven, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Black Seers of Yimsha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gear & Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Master of Yimsha . . . 30, 34, 83, 91, 92, 95
33, 34, 35, 78, 89, 91, 95, 96 Ghulistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8, 9, 11, 16, Messengers of Yimsha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Castes . . 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 24, 25, 48, 53, 54, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, Mount Yimsha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
58, 59, 60, 75, 88, 98, 99 45, 61, 71, 73, 79, 82, 88, 92, 95 30, 33, 35, 67, 78, 83, 91, 95, 96, 97
Caste Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Ghuli Art, Culture, and Religion . . . . . . . . 31 Necronomicon, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Vendhyan Castes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Ghulistan Unchanged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 New Quality: Paired. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Conan the Wanderer. . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 96, 98 History of Ghulistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Old Ones' War, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Costigan, Steve. . . . . . . . 3, 6, 30, 63, 70, 94 Leaders in Ghulistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Paikang, the Imperial City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eastern Archetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Outlanders in Ghulistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4, 16, 38, 42, 47, 48, 50
Beggar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Ghulistan Proverbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Personal Belongings and Garments . . . 23
Court Official. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ghulistan's Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Peshkhauri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60, 61, 88, 95
Emissary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The City of Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Priests of Yun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 51
Horse Nomad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Copper Dome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Realm of Hungry Ghosts, The. . . . . . . . . 77
Mystic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Red Tower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Ritual of the Shadow, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Vagabond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Hamar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109, 110 Roxelena "The Kingmaker". . . . . . . . . . 110
Eastern Arms and Armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Heart of Erlik, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Sabatea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 55, 56, 57
Eastern Educations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Himelian Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Brief History of Sabatea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Eastern Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 8, 11, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 61, 62, 74, 88 In the Shadow of Iranistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Eastern Sorcery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Howardian Science Fantasy. . . . . . . . . . . 76 Sabatean Art, Culture, and Religion . . . . . 55
Eastern Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Hyrkania . 7, 8, 9, 23, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, The Annulet of Three. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Eastern War Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 42, 43, 46, 47, 54, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, Sabatean Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 66, 70, 71, 80, 81, 101, 102, 103 Susidon, the Great City. . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 45
Acolyte of the Black Circle (Minion, History of Hyrkania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Iranistani Art, Culture, and Religion. . . . . 45
Toughened). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Hyrkania and Civilization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Swamps of the Dead. . . . . . . . . . . . 51, 66, 72
Afghuli Tribal Warrior (Minion, Hyrkanian Art, Culture, and Religion. . . . 39 Tarantia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 57, 99
Toughened). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 The Nomad Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Black Seer (Nemesis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Hyrkanian Horse Clans. . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 58 Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Bunda Chand, King of Vendhya Alkhon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Djong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
(Nemesis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Hyrkanians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Junk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chunder Shan, Governor of Peshkha Kazars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Vendhya. . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 20,
(Nemesis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Kunnak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 38, 44, 46,
Dragon, Khitan (Nemesis). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Old Lemurians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 47, 51, 52, 53, 57, 59, 60, 61, 67, 71, 77
Eagle, Hunting (Minion). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Skuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 A History of Vendhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Elephant (Toughened). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Tashtyk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Outlanders in Vendhya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Falcon, Hunting (Minion). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Improvement Items & Facilities. . . . . . . 25 The Sleeping Giant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Gitara (Toughened) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Iranistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7, Vendhyan Art, Culture, and Religion . . . . 58
Hill-Hound (Minion). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 8, 9, 14, 23, 24, 33, 36, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, Wanderer Talents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Hyrkanian Nomad (Toughened) . . . . . . . 80 54, 55, 56, 57, 67, 70, 71, 90, 95, 96 Falconry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Kerim Shah (Nemesis). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 A History of Iranistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Martial Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Khemsa (Nemesis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 A Nation in Unrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Philosophy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Martial Arts Disciple (Minion, Outlanders in Iranistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Wise Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Toughened). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Jungles of Khitai . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 7, 37, 49, 50 Weapon and Provenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Owl, Hunting (Minion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Keep of the Blood-Stained God, The. . . 36 World Wheel, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Warrior, Terracotta (Toughened). . . . . . . . 85 Khemsa's Girdle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Yag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 66, 73
Yaggite (Nemesis). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Khitai . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, Yajur of the Seven Tongues. . . . . . . . . . 8, 71
Yar Afzal, Chief of the Wazuli (Nemesis). . 92 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 33, 37, 38, 39, 40, Yota-pong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52, 53, 54, 71, 101
Yasmina, Devi of Vendhya (Toughened). . 92 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 56, 57, 58 Zhaibar Pass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
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■ New homelands, castes, talents, ■ Secrets of ominous Mount Yimsha, home to

System Design Operations Director

CONAN THE WANDERER . . . . 2 MYTH & MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . 69

CONAN THE WANDERER

Slow sift the sands of Time; the yellowed leaves

— “The Sands of Time”, Robert E. Howard

ment by the teller. Hyrkanians are born in the saddle and a

seeking new wisdom in lotus dreams, the mercenary who

Chapter 1: Characters of the East Chapter 3: Events

CHARACTERS OF THE EAST

There is a strange and mystic land

— “Mystic”, Robert E. Howard

GHULISTAN IRANISTAN (SEE PAGE 43)

ANCIENT BLOODLINES OF THE EAST

parent’s tribe was either lost or is paused while you wander

by the experience but wanting to know more. Why didn’t

The Wyrm Turned

ARCHETYPES Acrobatics, Linguistics,

COURT OFFICIAL EMISSARY

■ Seal and ink for

HORSE NOMAD MYSTIC

■ Bow (of appro-

■ Water skin and

CAREER SKILL: +2 Skill Expertise and +2 Skill Focus 1–2 Apprenticed

■ Additional 2§ Gold (minimum 1)

DIVINE TUTELAGE PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERING

You are Hyrkanian, born and raised on the steppes held by

SHAMANIC TRADITION YITHIAN POSSESSION

and concoctions drawings of conical things from beyond time

THE WISDOM OF ELDERS

Avenger of the True Servants of the

Distracting Wings and Talons

Deadly Ally Mighty Bird

GAINING A HUNTING BIRD

Open Hand Academy

A philosopher who has progressed into the study of meta-

Savant is reduced to 0 Gold during Upkeep. You must follow the

SAMPLE EASTERN NAMES

FINAL TOUCHES PERSONAL BELONGINGS

WEAPON AND PROVENANCE

PERSONAL BELONGINGS AND GARMENTS

through exposure to the sun on the steppes. They

■ Kosalans show their Lemurian ancestry in slight Falconry Gear

in Conan the Pirate, but a particularly common type is the

STRESS AND SOAK STRESS AND SOAK

QUALITIES AND NOTES QUALITIES AND NOTES

The howdah is a large, sometimes-covered sedan chair or

WEAPONS OF THE EAST

Bichuwa, Kris 1 4 § 1H Parrying 1 5

Wind and Fire

■ The khukri dagger has a slight bend in its wide blade

The king of Vendhya was dying. Through the hot, stifling

— “The People of the Black Circle”

Thus, for any outsider to gain respect, they must dis-

THE HIMELIAN MOUNTAINS

GHULISTAN’S RUINS The Copper Dome

the Ghuli believe it is the portal to a land of their ancestors.

PHILOSOPHER (MINION) ATTRIBUTES