Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 778 Location: Hyperborea Karma: 47
[AS&SH] Volume VI: Hyperborea Gazetteer « Thread Started on Jan 2, 2012, 11:46am »
Hello fellows,
Here follows an outline of Volume VI, of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, which is developed and presently being edited. This volume features the setting material for Hyperborea. It is the final volume of the set, and my personal favorite of the lot.
Please bear in mind that the editing process may effect changes to what I present below.
INTRODUCTION the etymology of the term "Hyperborea" and how the author applies it to this fantasy game milieu HYPERBOREA in RELATION to OLD EARTH and the CELESTIAL BODIES Old Earth, The Sun (Helios), The Moons (Phobos and Selene), The Planets (Ganymede, Saturn, Ouranos, Poseidonos, Yuggoth), Astronomical Phenomena, The Black Gulf, The Boreas (North Wind) CALENDAR the 13 year cycle explained, which features 1 year of complete light, and 1 year of complete darkness; days of the week; the 13 month calendar, including the moon phases of Phobos and Selene; the Festivals detailed (Apollonalia, Saturnalia, Bealltainn, and Plutonia) CLIMATE and SEASONS of HYPERBOREA winter, spring, summer, and fall discussed as relating to the 13 year cycle in which there is 1 year of uninterrupted light and 1 year of uninterrupted darkness FLORA and FAUNA of HYPERBOREA desert, forest, grassland (and steppe), tundra, and wetlands LOTUS SPECIES OF HYPERBOREA black lotus, golden lotus, smoky lotus, violet lotus, white-speckled blue lotus A BRIEF HISTORY OF HYPERBOREA short history of the realm from when it was an arctic continent on Earth to its own planetary body in the far-flung future; includes information on the reign of races such as the elder things, snake-men, the bestial vhuurmis, the Hyperboreans; the advent of the Ashen Worm is discussed, as well as the rise of the barbarians, the coming of the Green Death, and man's struggle to survive in the post-plague years COMMON ERA CHRONOLOGY OF HYPERBOREA a table that lists major events of the Common Era (post-Green Death) and also several events before the Common Era) RACES of HYPERBOREA races discussed in greater depth, including "Common" men, Amazons, Atlanteans, Esquimaux, Hyperboreans, Ixians, Kelts, Kimmerians (and Kimmeri-Kelts), Picts (and Half-Blood Picts), Vikings, and other races ANCIENT and CURRENT LANGUAGES the major language groups are discussed; also, some of the rare and secret languages, and also writing systems CIVILIZED AND BARBARIC HYPERBOREAN POPULATIONS EXAMINED population distribution, settlement populations (village, town, city); also, fortifications and population communications are discussed POLITICAL and GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS many of the lands on the map are discussed. It is important to note that there are many towns, villages, stretches of land, rivers, islands, and so forth on the map that are left blank for the individual referee to develop. This is a sort of two-pronged approach in that referees who want pre-developed setting are supplied with plenty of resources, and those who wish to create their own are left with plenty of blank canvass; other still might wish to work out something between. MARVELS and WONDERS of HYPERBOREA the realm features some unique features such as the Black Obelisks, Mount Vhuurmithadon, the Boreas (North Wind), and the Rapids at the End of the World RELIGIONS of HYPERBOREA faith in this decaying realm is discussed, and also the deities of Apollo, Artemis, Aurorus "The Shining One," Azathoth, Boreas "The North Wind," Helios "The Sun," Kraken "The Dimensional Dweller," Krimmr, Kthulhu, Lunaqqua, Mordezzan, Rel "God of Thieves," Thaumagorga, Tlakk-Nakka, Xathoqqua "The Toad God," Yig (Apep) "The Great Serpent," Yikkorth "The Ashen Worm," Ymir, Yoon’Deh, Ythaqqa "The Wendigo," and Yug. The orthodoxy of Xathoqqua (Tsathoggua) is most prevalent across the realm.
Fellows, over the last few years, I've received messages through public forums and private messages that ask, "What makes AS&SH different from other retro-clones?" They want to know why they would want or need Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea when they are prefectly happy with their favorite traditional fantasy RPG or one of its modern simulacra. It is a fair question. In addition to the alternative approaches (as shown in the threads for Vol. I-V), I feel that this portion of the work, Vol. VI, is the defining element of the project, the one that truly set it apart.
The Hyperborea Gazetteer is largely pastiche in that it derives much from the pulp fiction works that inspired its creation: namely such authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith, though with some strong doses of Vance, Merritt, Burroughs, Moorcock and other authors whose work I have admired over the years. Not to be dismissed as merely a "rules creator" is E. Gary Gygax whose brilliant synergy of rules, setting, and authorial voice have been an inspiration to me since I was a little kid using the family dictionary to look up words like "dweomer" and "eldritch".
With this gazetteer I have crafted a setting that should (hopefully!) please fellow enthusiasts of the above mentioned authors, but also the setting has many of its own unique quirks for the referee and players to explore. The game is to include a large map developed by Andreas Claren that shows the entire realm, which is about the size of our own Arctic Circle; this is one of the reasons why I often say that Hyperborea may be used in conjunction with your own campaign setting (published or home brewed) or on its own: it may exist "just beyond the North Wind" of pretty much any campaign milieu.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments about the setting, please share.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 778 Location: Hyperborea Karma: 47
Re: [AS&SH] Volume VI: Hyperborea Gazetteer « Reply #3 on Jan 2, 2012, 8:34pm »
@musicalmooster: Thank you! I hope you find the presentation of setting material to be useful. @ynasmidgard: This volume is about 31,000 words, which is small as compared to Vol. II (the spells) and Vol. IV (the monsters), but is comparative in size to the other volumes.
Regarding the Hyperborean year, a true year is actually 4732 days (13 years for one revolution around the Sun). So there are 13 "years" in the cycle. Each year is 364 days, divided into 13 months (each 28 days). A week is 7 days and a day is about 23:50.
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 2,327 Location: New Hope, MN Karma: 93
Re: [AS&SH] Volume VI: Hyperborea Gazetteer « Reply #4 on Jan 4, 2012, 5:30pm »
Quote:
CLIMATE and SEASONS of HYPERBOREA winter, spring, summer, and fall discussed as relating to the 13 year cycle in which there is 1 year of uninterrupted light and 1 year of uninterrupted darkness
Joined: Jan 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 93 Location: The shadow encrusted tombs Karma: 15
Re: [AS&SH] Volume VI: Hyperborea Gazetteer « Reply #7 on Jan 7, 2012, 3:15pm »
And this is, for me, the meat of any game I purchase. Jeff, what you have listed above was the final selling point that pushed me over the edge and won you my money. More then enough detail to allow me to get started with minimal work on my part, enough blanks that I can tailor new locations as the stories progress. Something that even the major companies never seem to get right, imo. Already my mind is filling with ancient stone ruins hidden deep within cypress swamps. Caves that open into forgotten tombs, carved and polished before humans dared to move upright on two feet. Sleeping liches that dream of the day when a foolish thief trips the spells that will awaken them and free them to once again stride the world. Dam, I need to go buy some new notebooks so I can start writing all this down.
And this is, for me, the meat of any game I purchase. Jeff, what you have listed above was the final selling point that pushed me over the edge and won you my money. More then enough detail to allow me to get started with minimal work on my part, enough blanks that I can tailor new locations as the stories progress. Something that even the major companies never seem to get right, imo. Already my mind is filling with ancient stone ruins hidden deep within cypress swamps. Caves that open into forgotten tombs, carved and polished before humans dared to move upright on two feet. Sleeping liches that dream of the day when a foolish thief trips the spells that will awaken them and free them to once again stride the world. Dam, I need to go buy some new notebooks so I can start writing all this down.
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