1. RELATION to OLD EARTH and the CELESTIAL BODIES

Hyperborea is a flat, hexagonal plane, though men of learning who measure the stars suggest the realm to be somewhat concave. At the Rim of the World where the Black Gulf is met, the boreas blows. The deity Boreas is said by some to dwell within those interminable winds; others submit he is imprisoned there.

OLD EARTH:

Sages aver that the whole of Hyperborea was once an arctic land mass on Old Earth; prior to this it was a land of sunshine and plenty, a blessed place. Assumptions regarding its separation remain speculative. Connexions to Old Earth remain intermittent, these oftest associated with convergent manifestations of the aurora borealis or the crossing of the boreas. Incomers from Old Earth originate from various times and places; of note nearly two millennia have elapsed since a large-scale cultural migration has occurred.

SUN (Helios):

Helios is a giant red sun that sheds little warmth. It lingers at the Rim of the World, never ranging more than 25° above or below the horizon, and bathing Hyperborea in variegated tones ranging from fulvous to sanguine; indeed it reaches its zenith during High Summer Waxing and High Summer Waning. As the two moons (Phobos and Selene) also cling to the horizon, these three objects appear to chase one another as the days pass. The deities Apollo and Helios are associated with the sun; in fact, Helios is oft held to be the deific representation of the sun itself. Dire portents surround the sun, as sorcerers, poets, and madmen say it is dying.

MOONS (Phobos and Selene):

Hyperborea is attended by two ellipsoid moons, one of slow orbit, the other quick. The moons spiral around the horizon, each dipping and rising as its respective orbit dictates. These motions are consistent with the Old Earth arctic perspective from which the realm is derived. Full moons coincide every 91 days.

Phobos:

The smaller of the two moons, Phobos requires seven days to complete a circuit. This irregularly shaped object shews ruddy brown hues and never rises or falls more than 30° above or below the horizon. Phobos is associated with fear, horror, and bloodshed. Although not formally recognized as a deity personified, warriors and druids sometimes offer bloody sacrifices to Phobos. Some say that the deity Artemis dwells on Phobos.

Selene:

The larger of the two moons, Selene has an orbit of 45½ days. This irregularly shaped object shews a breath taking, aquamarine hue and never rises or falls more than 35° above or below the horizon. Selene is strongly associated with the deity Lunaqqua, the moon goddess; indeed, some followers simply refer to Lunaqqua as Selene, for they are viewed as one and the same.

THE PLANETS:

The planetary objects recorded by the ancestors of the Hyperborean race are not the same as those recorded by modern scholars. Treated here are those bodies that are observed from Hyperborea with the naked eye or by use of arcane devices.

Ganymede:

This planet is reputed to cling closest to Helios. It is purported to be occupied by a semi-intelligent race of spore-based beings that do not require breathable air. Rare tales and verse tell that sentient creatures from an unseen world called Fomalhaut mine Ganymede for its unique conglomerates and ores.

Saturn (Kyranos):

Saturn, called Kyranos by Xathoqquans, is oft in Hyperborea’s sky, faintly visible by day, yet vivid by night. Many of Saturn’s moons are likewise visible, these held to be the dwelling places of otherworldly ilk. Saturn is significant to Hyperborean priests, sages, and scholars. In tales and verse it is regarded as a former dwelling place of the toad god, Xathoqqua, and presently it is reputed to house many of his kin. In æons past, when most men of Old Earth first learnt to wield fire and fashion tools of stone, the “true” Hyperboreans may have visited the ringed planet.

Ouranos:

This planet is visible as a blue-green star. Whether it is inhabited by intelligent life or not is a matter of conjecture, but certain sorcerous rituals are believed to invoke preternatural powers from this distant place.

Poseidenos:

Visible but few times per year, this enormous ocean planet is said to house beings from without; furthermore it is held that intelligent horrors from Yuggoth mine the planet’s ocean floor for ores not elsewhere found. Some sages suggest that the crab-men may have originated from Poseidenos, or at least inhabited the ocean planet at some point in their mysterious history.

Yuggoth:

This mysterious dark orb cannot be observed with the naked eye, but its existence is accepted by most men of learning, for it has been viewed by both sorcerous means and the impossible machines of the nearly extinct Atlantean race. Yuggoth lies at the outermost edge of the sun’s influence. Indeed, when viewed from Yuggoth, Helios appears only slightly larger than other stars, but this is said to suit Yuggoth’s inhabitants, who require neither light nor warmth.

Cyclopean cities rise from the surface of Yuggoth: tiers upon tiers of terraced towers, pyramids, and spheres carved from black stone, windowless and joined by massive skywalks. Rivers black as pitch are said to flow across this alien world, winding through its metropolises and cutting across dark, unforgiving landscapes. The mi-go are said to inhabit Yuggoth, their schemes unfathomable to even the most erudite of sages.

ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA:

Auroræ:

Auroræ oft manifest about Hyperborea, cascading from the heavens in rippling curtains of red, green, and purple. Auroræ are said to presage the arrival (or departure) of otherworldly beings and like travellers of time and space. Some men of learning suggest that auroræ are in fact living entities that capture the souls of dæmons and men; others say auroræ are spiritual manifestations of the deity Auroros, “The Shining One”.

Eclipses:

Due to the sheer size of Helios, no solar eclipses occur beyond partial occultations; Phobos, for example, transits the sun often, a mere spot passing across, and Selene is hardly more significant. When a lunar eclipse occurs (the shadow of Hyperborea passing over a moon), Phobos briefly turns blood red; this is said to presage murder and bloodshed most foul for the civilized and cannibalism amongst the savage barbarians. When Selene is eclipsed, men of learning attempt to measure Hyperborea’s shape, which is betrayed as flat and hexagonal.

Falling Objects:

Ofttimes do comets blaze across the Hyperborean sky, these believed to presage dire portents; likewise dazzling meteor showers light the sky in a rain of fire, and when these occur during Nightfall (the 13th year), anarchy and chaos consume the realm. Indeed, legends speak of a black comet* that burns across the sky during Nightfall, though it is known only by sages, sorcerers, and madmen. From time to time, strange and otherworldly objects, such as sky ships, are purported to drop from the heavens from realms unseen.

* This is actually The Beast's Black Fortress. Which will come again cae585 it being 1009 years since it last landed on Hyperborea just prior to causing the Green Death The Green Comet.

THE BLACK GULF:

This is the Stygian abyss, the cosmic void of space traversed by otherworldly beings such as the mi-go. Frigid, black, and airless, mortal men cannot survive the Black Gulf without aid of the most potent dweomers. Where Hyperborea meets the Black Gulf, the Rapids at the End of the World cascade to oblivion.

THE BOREAS (North Wind):

The boreas (or North Wind) is where Boreas (the deity) dwells, though some sages suggest it is not merely his dwelling place, but rather his prison. The boreas lashes around the hexagonal realm, just beyond the Rapids at the End of the World. Men of learning suggest that this force seizes the cascading water and returns it to Hyperborea’s atmosphere. In Sharath, the desert peninsula that is the only land mass to meet the Rim of the World, the boreas makes ingress to Hyperborea, blasting the land with stardust and admitting extraordinary objects from the illimitable Black Gulf.