Hyperborea - Howard/Lovecraftian setting based on ancient map needs ideas!

[Turanil]

Reading at some other thread I discovered this map (click here for the full-size pic). It is how Mercator (the map's author) envisioned Earth's north pole in the XVIth century. Of course it but complete nonsense. However, looking at the map I kept wondering what could be done with it in terms of RPG campaign setting.

What I suggest is to mak a sort of cooperative work in this thread. Give your ideas about the world represented by this map; or just tell what you think exists in one of its parts. Anything you may think of. This may contradict something a previous poster said, it doesn't matter. In the end, I could compile the best ideas and make it into a sort of RPG world on PDF.

I will begin with some ideas of mine (see next post)...

EDIT: I think this is going to more and more resemble something with a Lovecraft/Howard flair.

 

[Turanil]

My ideas so far:

HYPERBOREA

1) Geography - Plane. This is set on an alternate demi-plane somewhat linked to the real Earth's north pole. It reflects a distant past, before an unknown northern continent (the one broken into four parts in the center of the map) sunk under the ocean, and before ice covered all of the north pole. Note the place is not covered in ice and freeze, rather being cold-temperate. On the other hand, you have nights and days as near the north pole on the prime plane.

2) History.
-- One should know that more than 12,000 years ago, a layer of ice miles thick covered most of the northern hemisphere. Then it melted, making the oceans' level rise up to 400 feet high. However, farther back in time there was almost no ice, but this continent (the one broken into four parts in the center of the map).

-- In the distant past, this continent was home to warring alien "gods" (of the Cthulhu like kind; think Tsattoghua, Itaqua, etc.). The "god" related to ice and cold won, and during earth shattering events the continent sunk under the waves (the origin of the Atlantis myth?). Thereafter the ice did spread and covered most of the northern hemisphere. However, at some point the ice melted and retreated, only remaining on the north pole for 12,000 years. It's because the "god" of cold went into slumber or maybe was fought back by the others.

-- In any case, during the mighty magical war that saw the victory of the "god" of cold, some kind of alternate plane was created, where the vanquished "gods" took refuge. Now, events in this place are affecting the real north pole (on prime material plane). The war is again fought, and its outcome will affect the normal world. Death of the "god" of cold will have the ice defnitely melt and the ocean rise much; on the contray his victory will bring back the ice age....

3) Magic.
-- Note that the mountain at the center of the map, on the north pole, was a powerful nexus of magic, to which ley lines connect. As a result, on normal Earth (outside of this alternate plane) the world is low-magic at best (and near the ley lines). When on this alternate plane, magic becomes easier, and more important near that mountain. There is more magic and magical beasts on the central continent than on those on the border of the map.

4) Mortals in this place. Several ideas (which one do you prefer?):
-- a) This is a typical Call of Cthulhu adventure, set in 1930 or in modern times.
-- b) This a Robert E. Howard world set in the dawn of times, with black magicians and barbarians.
-- c) This is a weird place where humans from different epochs ended (unable to get back on the prime material plane), and continued their existence and older civilizations. Hence, there you find Vikings, but also Celts, medieval-ages' people (with priests and knights in plate armor) in their medieval cities and castles, etc. All of them don't know what happened in the real world (and have probably forgotten about it).
-- d) Of course you could also go with a+b+c...

5) Adventures.
-- Figuring out what's happening here, what this place is.
-- Eventually becoming involved in the war between the old "gods" that is being fought again.

 

[theredrobedwizard]

Well, the first thing that springs to mind is the four classical elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water). Each of the fourths is a land wherein that element is dominant; maybe the majority of the populace in each is a genasai of the appropriate type? The outer ring of land is the human/elf/whatever lands, and the rock in the center is coterminous to the Negative Energy Plane.

The four islands were created to keep the Rock of Negative Energy from leaking out into the rest of the world; and civilization has sprung up on the islands because of it.

Um... quasi-Greenland would be the home of the gnomes, because, well, we'll segregate the little buggers like they do in FR.

OR, the green area is one kingdom, the yellow is another, and the orange/red is a third. The Yellow and Green share control of keeping a large gate to the Abyss in check, because orange/red is too troubled with internal strife to keep the Hordes of Evil at bay.

-TRRW

 

[Kafkonia]

I would key on a few things.

1) The rocky outcropping at the very centre. That should be a place of great power -- perhaps a planar gate, or an artefact of a long-forgotten age.

2) There are four islands surrounding this point; each should have its own distinct character. Perhaps one for each of the extreme alignments, existing in a fragile state of balance as none of them wants to provoke the other three, but at the same time they serve as deterrents for each other in their desire to gain control of the focal point (section 1.)

3) The larger perimiter landmasses are most likely the common adventuring ground from whence your PCs will hail. In some cases trade between continents will be easier than trade within the continent (at the edges where they are close to their neighbours.) The smaller island landmasses will likely have strong seafaring qualities.

 

[Turanil]

Well, the first thing that springs to mind is the four classical elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water). <snip>

Good ideas there! I had thought of the four elements but was unable to do something with it. I like the Genasi idea, and the mountain at the center being a gate that must be held in check...

 

[Herobizkit]

I ran an elemental-themed campaign based on Genasi; I went Final Fantasy meets Legend of Dragoon meets "Angels/Demons" with it. Sounds incredibly bizarre, and it was. And it worked.

Also, the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil module would be a shoo-in for this kind of map. Run it in pieces rather than front-to-back, and you've got a whole campaign just waiting to be discovered.

 

[Kafkonia]

Also, the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil module would be a shoo-in for this kind of map. Run it in pieces rather than front-to-back, and you've got a whole campaign just waiting to be discovered.

Oooh yes, I hadn't thought of that. Absolutely, the four elemental temples would be a perfect fit, and by spreading it out you could make it even more epic than it is as written. The stone at the centre would be the centrepiece for accessing Iuz/Zuggtmoy/whomever.

 

[Turanil]

Okay, from the above posts I will expand:

1) Each of the four continent's quarters is a land wherein an element (Earth, Fire, Air, Water) is dominant. Each is then populated by a genasi race of the appropriate type. The outer ring of land is the human/elf/whatever lands. These Genasi represent ancient and decadent race that had dwindled over the ages but are now rising again and again warring among themselves because of their conflicting gods.

2) The Genasi control the elments and some elemental-related monsters in their own lands:
-- Air Genasi = control storms over their land ; can summon air demons (Djinns) and elementals ; pacts with blue dragons and cloud giants.
-- Earth Genasi = control earthquakes on their land ; can summon earth demons (Daos) and elementals ; pacts with black dragons and stone giants.
-- Fire Genasi = control volcanoes on their land ; can summon fire demons (Efreeti) and elementals ; pacts with red dragons and fire giants.
-- Water Genasi = control storms along their shores and floods on their land ; can summon water demons (Marid) and elementals ; pacts with sea dragons and sea giants.

3) This four parts continent is home to warring alien "gods" (of the Cthulhu Mythos kind). Itaqua or hastur for the land of air Genasi; Cthugha for fire Genasi; Cthulhu for water Genasi; and Tastogghua or Shub Niggurath for earth Genasi (all names and cults would be adapted but the flavor would remain Lovecraftian). There was a war in a distant past when these alien "gods" were vanquished by the "god" of cold. However, being "gods" they didn't die but were banished on this alternate demi-plane (a reflection of the Earth at that epoch before the cataclysm) where they slumbered for so long. But now they are waking up (thanks to their worshippers again calling upon them for war purposes).

4) Something I don't know is about the "god" of Cold. I guess he should reside deep under the ocean at the north pole on real Earth? That place would be linked linked to the demi-plane through the magical mountain at the center of the map. Through the ages, the Genasi fought him through this mountain, but now they are fighting among themselves (they and their "gods" are too chaotic) so the "god" of ice may regain power and bring a new ice-age on Earth?

5) Over time some humans found their way into this alternate world, and brought their culture with them. Such cultures didn't evolve into a modern civilization due to the isolation and peculiar conditions of this plane. So you find medieval humans (Christian priests and knights) in Greenland (sort of new Albion); Vikings in the part resembling Scandinavia; some Slavians city-states to the east; and Mongols hordes in the Asia part. Because of too many monsters and a harsh cilmate, no significant humans in the America northern part (maybe this place was overrun by goblinoids that are hominids from distant prehistory?).

6) PCs must come from the human lands. Probably they come from normal Earth and found their way into this strange demi-plane. At first they will be on some of the perimeter landmasses, but then will learn about the center continent.


Well, I would be glad that you discuss and change/improve these premises as you see fit.

 

[Turanil]

It appears that Wiki is full of interesting info and texts released under GNU free license. I post some excerpts here for purpose of later downloading this thread:

HYPERBOREA (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

In Greek mythology, according to tradition, the Hyperboreans were a mythical people who lived far to the north of Thrace. Their land, called Hyperborea, or Hyperboria ("beyond the Boreas (north wind)"), was perfect, with the Sun shining twenty-four hours a day.

Along with Thule, Hyperborea was one of several terrae incognitae to the Greeks and Romans, where Pliny and Herodotus, as well as Virgil and Cicero, reported that people lived to the age of one thousand and enjoyed lives of complete happiness. Also, the sun was supposed to rise and set only once a year in Hyperborea. Large quantities of gold were here, guarded by griffins.

(As with other legends of this sort, selected details can be reconciled with modern knowledge. Above the Arctic Circle, from the time of the vernal equinox to the time of the autumnal equinox, the sun can shine for twenty-four hours a day; it rises and sets only once a year, possibly leading to the erroneous conclusion that a "day" for such persons is a year long, and therefore that living a thousand days would be the same as living a thousand years.)

-- In the fiction of Robert E. Howard, Hyperborea is a far northern land of fair-haired barbarians, to the north and east of Conan's native Cimmeria.
-- Inspired by Howard, H.P. Lovecraft used the name in his mythology for his version of Atlantis.
-- Clark Ashton Smith wrote a cycle of ten stories set in an ancient version of Greenland during a warm habitable phase, see below.

HYPERBOREAN CYCLE (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea (present-day Greenland). Various elements in Smith's cycle have been borrowed by H.P. Lovecraft, most notably the "toad-god" Tsathoggua. Because Smith in turn borrowed numerous Lovecraftian elements, the cycle itself may be regarded as a branch of the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Hyperborean cycle mixes cosmic horror with an Iron age-style setting. Adding to the peril is the rapidly approaching ice age, which threatens to wipe out all life on the Hyperborean continent. A host of other deities play important roles in the cycle; foremost is the toad-god Tsathoggua, who dwells in Mount Voormithadreth.

Hyperborea is a legendary continent in the Arctic. Before it was overwhelmed by the advancing ice sheets of the Pleistocene age, Hyperborea was warm and fertile with lush jungles inhabited by the last remnants of the dinosaurs. A race of yeti-like bipeds known as the Voormi once populated Hyperborea, but were wiped out by the pre-human settlers that migrated here from the south. These pre-humans built the first capital of Hyperborea at Commoriom. Later they moved to Uzuldaroum when prophesies foretold of Commoriom's doom.

THULE (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Thule, is an ancient semi-mythical island often identified with Iceland, Shetland, or Greenland. In the works of Procopius it refers to a part of Scandinavia. Otherwise it is Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea. Ultima Thule in medieval geographies may also denote any distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world." Some people use Ultima Thule as the Latin name for Greenland when Thule is used for Iceland.

[Otherwise,] "Thyle" (from a Old Norse word meaning "wise-man, sage") was a specific courtly position associated with Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon royalty and chieftains in the Middle Ages.

Here is also a useful website: Hyperborean Glossary

 

[Turanil]

From the above I will expand a few points (feel free to add your own):

-- Voormis could be represented by goblinoid races (goblins, hobgoblins, and especially bugbears). They scourge the western landmass in red. They are but hominid species from a distant prehistory that were also warped by the "gods" and magic of this plane.

-- Greeks were the first (in recorded western history) to discover that alternate demi-plane. Later, there was a secret society in Byzantium (the inheritors of Rome and the Greeks) that had regular dealings with Hyperborea. Most of what is known about this land comes from them. Anyway, some Byzantine remained in Hyperborea, and their culture influenced later European middle-ages people who came there. So the medieval culture in this place is a mixture of both. For example, we have the Church of the Logos as a variant of the Christian religion, and an order of Legate Knights in place of the Knights Templars. This would make for a world at the same time similar yet somewhat different from real medieval Earth.

-- On a side note: this "real Earth" is more of a fantasy kind where CoC investigators or Ars Magica magi can actually cast spells. Anyway, the setting is about both planes, although the game should revolve mostly around Hyperboria where fantastical things and adventures will be the norm, unlike "real Earth" which is much more boring. Hyperborea would be what did lend to the myth of Atlantis, where Atlantis would in fact have been the sunken contient on center of the map.