1A. THE RACES

Nine “pure” races of man are extant in Hyperborea; in those regions dominated by a single strain, breeding with foreign races is not only uncommon, but frowned upon. Though some advocate the superiority of their race and culture, others are less discriminating. Of course the tides of war and migration effect racial admixtures, and in the larger centres of commerce, such as the City-State of Khromarium, interbreeding is commonplace. Too, in some regions a “hybrid” race prevails, though these people are oft denigrated as “half-bloods” or “half-breeds”.

Common Men

@Common Men: These are men of mixed or indeterminate ancestry. Typical admixtures include strains of Keltic, Kimmerian, Pict, and Viking (each described hereafter). Men of mixed ancestry might also include traces of Angle, Saxon, Hellenic (Greek), Roman, Lapp, and/or Yakut. Common men are of variable height and build, complexion, hair colour, and eye colour.

Amazon

@AMAZON: This race is renowned for its caste of warrior-women, tall and robust with light to olive complexion, black to auburn hair, and blue or hazel eyes. Amazon women are taller and more heavily thewed than Amazon men. In matriarchal societies they dwell in the remote corners of the world, most notably New Amazonia and the Floating Island of Paradoxon. The Hellenic roots of the Amazons may be traced to the Black Sea of Old Earth, where their gynarchic society reserved great contempt for the Scythians; correspondingly, they despise the Ixians. Most Amazons adhere to a rigid lifestyle that embraces Law, though some factions favour Chaos.

Atlantean

@ATLANTEAN: These are the scattered remnants of a nearly extinct race whose origins trace back to Old Earth’s antediluvian Atlantis. Atlanteans are medium-build men of glaucous complexion, black or blond hair, aquiline features, and pale grey or yellow eyes. Atlanteans are sexually incompatible with the other races of man, which may be related to their development of aquatic traits: webbed digits, amphibious respiratory systems (including gill slits on their necks), and oily skin that dries painfully if not immersed in salt water at least once per week. Atlanteans are, by and large, a displaced race in severe decline. Their largest centres of population exist in Khromarium and Port Zangerios. On the islands of Atlantica, a small Atlantean population struggles for survival.

Esquimaux

@ESQUIMAUX: These are squat, narrow-eyed tribesmen of jaundiced complexion. Most Esquimaux subsist off the sea, hunting seal and whale and fishing from their sealskin kayaks; others roam the tundra herding reindeer, raising sled dogs, and hunting mammoth. Esquimaux are renowned for their mammoth-hide dwellings framed by mammoth tusks. Their roots trace to a singular Kthulhu-worshipping cult from Greenland that was shunned by other Esquimaux for its blasphemous practices. In Hyperborea, the Esquimaux have conquered and absorbed Lapps and Yakuts into their bloodline. For many generations they warred with the Tlingit, who were ultimately conquered by the Picts. Presently two major Esquimaux groups are extant: the fisherfolk who inhabit Esquimaux Bay and Crab Archipelago, and the nomads who roam the Plain of Leng.

Hyperborean

@HYPERBOREAN: Hyperboreans are extremely tall men (c. 7-foot males, 6½-foot females) of milk-white skin, golden hair, and violet eyes; rare females shew silky, blue-black hair. For ages the Hyperboreans were the only race to inhabit Hyperborea, the polar continent of Old Earth just beyond the North Wind. Then came the Ashen Worm, the otherworldly deity that mantled the region in ice. The other races arrived in the ensuing millennia, after the realm thawed, and its connexion to Old Earth was no more. Reputed to live 200 or more years, most Hyperboreans take a dim view of the other races, deeming them “savages”, “apes”, or “sub-men”. Like the Atlanteans, they are a race in decline and are believed to be sexually incompatible with the other races of mankind. Most present-day Hyperboreans are the descendants of renegades, outcasts, and expiators whence none can say; sages posit that many remain sequestered in the hoary depths of the Spiral Mountain Array. Although Hyperboreans roam about the realm, they almost always gravitate to Khromarium, the jewel of their erstwhile empire.

Ixian

@IXIAN: These are tall, narrow-shouldered, hook-nosed men of dusky grey skin and beady black eyes. Chiefly they dwell at the Rim of the World on the sickle-shaped island of Scythium, where their malefic necromancers study abominable sorceries; the most precocious individuals are sent to the fabled Isle of IX. Ixian society is ruled by an elite class of priests, witches, and necromancers. With the other races they trade diamonds, spices, and lotus leaves in exchange for wood and other resources. Ixian roots may be traced to a lost race (or perhaps a select caste) of Egypt and Persia; specifically, Scythians are counted amongst their ancestry. Ixians are notorious slavers, despised by most other men, particularly Amazons and Kimmerians. Ixian absconders and outcasts typically go to great pains to hide their pedigree, fearful of persecution from non-Ixians, and even more fearful of apprehension by their brethren.

Kelt

@KELT: The Kelts are of insular Old Earth ancestry, with Irish, Manx, and Scottish roots. They are barrel-chested men of red, sandy brown, or auburn hair. They are of fair or rosy and oft-freckled complexion, and their eyes are blue, green, or hazel. Kelts are amongst the most gregarious of races, mingling wherever they are welcome; indeed, nearly all men of common stock will have Keltic blood in their veins. Pure Keltic clans dwell in the Gal Hills, farming and herding. Others are known to form tight-knit cultural minorities in cities and towns; others still from small villages about the realm. Bloodline clans are typically governed by their chieftains, these in turn guided by their ancient religious sect, the druids, who will traverse the realm to tend their far-flung flock. Whilst Keltic clans are notorious for their feuds and bickering, they will unite under a single banner to face a common threat, selecting a “king” chosen by a conclave of leaders. Kelts are a passionate people, quick of temper and raucously mirthful, yet fearsome combatants.

Kimmerian

@KIMMERIAN: These are large-boned men of fair to weather-bronzed skin, black hair, steel grey eyes, and thick, blue-black beards. Kimmerian roots trace to a foggy vale within the Caucasus Mountains of Old Earth, where the Ixians and Scythians drove them to no Earthly return. Most Kimmerians consider the Ixians their racial enemies. The Kimmerians are not an overly religious people; although they will at times pay homage to their deity, Krimmr, ofter his name is used as an expletive. Chiefly the Kimmerians are horsemen, drivers and herders who roam the Kimmerian Steppe and into the hotly contested northern periphery of the Fields of Vol. Kimmerian cataphracts are the most feared and renowned of all horsemen; too, their artisans craft the most elaborate saddles in the realm, and their gold-chased plate armour is unmatched. Kimmerian tribes oft war with one another, honouring the blood feuds of their ancestors, but when a foreign threat emerges, they will unite, forming a bloodthirsty horde. Other Kimmerians are catacomb dwellers, and in the stone-carven dungeon halls of Krimmea, they are unassailable. Some sages posit that the more reclusive subterranean Kimmerians may well outnumber their surface-dwelling kinsmen, as few can gauge how severely the Green Death impacted their society.

Kimmeri-Kelt

@Kimmeri-Kelt: These barbarians are the by-blows of Kimmerian and Keltic mergers during the Dark Age that followed the Green Death. When mankind was on the brink of extinction, displaced survivors of Kimmerian and Keltic pedigree formed their own tribes in the Fields of Vol; Kimmerian chieftains took Keltic daughters for wives, and vice versa. The tribes grew and split several times as the centuries passed, and so were born the Kimmeri Kelt people, nomads who are fiercely independent and resentful of the denigrations that their parent races oft reserve for them. Physically, the Kimmeri-Kelts are a large-boned people, with variable skin tone, hair colour, and eye colour. As the tribes swell, they pose a greater threat to the security of the City-State of Khromarium, for these barbarians reserve no small amount of enmity for civilized man.

Pict

@PICT: Picts are compact, broad-shouldered men with long torsos and short legs. Typically they have green eyes and dense, wavy, orange-red hair. Pictish women are usually petite, no taller than five feet. The men are ruddily complexioned, but the women are almost always fair-skinned, both sexes being heavily freckled. Pictish warriors are known to paint and tattoo their skin, and their shamans lace their long, twisted hair with feathers. Pure-blooded Picts dwell in stockade fortresses within the tangled depths of New Pictland, where foreigners are unwelcome. Their origins trace back to a sinister cult of Caledonia, which was bidden by its withered, white bearded shaman (reputed still to endure) to commit unspeakable rites.

Half-Blood Pict

@Half-Blood Pict: The Picts of the Savage Boreal Coast are swarthily complexioned, with straight black hair and brown or hazel eyes. They are regarded as “half-bloods” by their brethren across the Pictish Channel, because Pictish conquerors enslaved and eradicated Tlingit males and claimed Tlingit females as their wives. This history has contributed to cultural, religious, and technological developments divergent from the insular Picts of New Pictland. Presently, most half-blood clans refuse to acknowledge the sovereignty of Fidib. That half blood Pictish mothers almost always bear twins is noteworthy; this fecundity has contributed to rapid population growth, which is mostly kept in check by the half-bloods’ own tribal warfare.