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  1. HYPERBOREA (orig by C. A. Smith) [R18+]
  3. Lore

1B. THE RACES

Viking

@VIKING: Vikings are a robust, fair-skinned race of blond or red hair and blue or hazel eyes. Their women are lean and strong-boned, many as physically gifted as the strongest Amazon women. Vikings build their longhouses about the mountainous coastal regions and glacially carved bays of Vikland, as well as New Vinland. Of note, Vikings (when outside of Vikland) do tend toward gregariousness, much like the Kelts, so their blood is also part of many common strains. Viking origins trace back to Iceland of Old Earth (specifically, the eleven lost ships of Erik the Red’s fleet). Their shipbuilding techniques are amongst the finest in all of Hyperborea; with their drekar (longships) they exact brutal raids all about Hyperborea, leaving a wake of pillage, destruction, and bastard sons. Vikings have many jarls (chieftains), all of whom accept tribute from family leaders; in turn, the jarls pay tribute to the Viking king in Erikssgard.

Other Races:

Racial remnants of past migrations may endure in small numbers: Angles, Saxons, Moors, Greeks, Romans, Lapps, and Yakuts, to name a few. Also, on the Isle of Mu thrive an odd, reclusive people who shun other men. Too, there exists a degenerate race of men who dwell in the subterranean depths of Underborea. They are called the oon (or “ghost men”), and their numbers are unknown. Oon skin is pale to the point of transparency. They have dull black hair and sunken grey eyes. By scholarly accounts, the oon are in thrall to the otherworldly mi-go. Oft the North Wind ushers in men, and otherworldly beings from various times and places. Sometimes races of differing types have arrived via mystical portals which are rumoured to exist in the wild inhospitable places.

ANCIENT and CONTEMPORARY LANGUAGES

Men of learning agree that six major language groups are spoken throughout Hyperborea, each with its own distinct dialects. Within each language group, speakers of the various dialects are generally understandable to one another, though simple misunderstandings can be cause for tragic consequences.

COMMON TONGUE:

Most men will have at least some understanding of the Common tongue, if not complete f luency. It is the most universally understood language of the realm. The Common tongue is prevalent in the City-State of Khromarium and Port Zangerios; consequently it is the language of commerce. The Common tongue is a bastardized language that primarily includes Hellenic, Keltic, and Old Norse elements, but also it has evolved into its own complete and quite extensive language.

ESQUIMAUX TONGUE:

Over the centuries the Esquimaux language has split into two divergent dialects: the Coastal dialect, such as is spoken in the region of Esquimaux Bay, and the Tundra dialect, which is spoken in the Plain of Leng region. The former is influenced by regular contact with other seafaring peoples, whilst the latter is influenced by the absorption of the Lapp and Yakut cultures. Both forms are comprehensible to each other.

HELLENIC TONGUE:

This is the root language of the ancient Greeks of Old Earth. Outside of the Common Tongue, it is perhaps the most frequently spoken in Hyperborea, though the various dialects can be cause for miscommunication. Hellenic dialects include Amazon, Atlantean, Hyperborean, and Kimmerian. For one who speaks only the Common tongue, Hellenic is perhaps the easiest language to learn.

KELTIC TONGUE:

Two major dialects of the Keltic tongue are spoken in Hyperborea. These include the Goidelic dialect, the roots of which are shared by Old Earth’s Scottish, Irish, and Manx ancestors, and the Pictish dialect of the Picts. Enough parallels exist for both groups to comprehend each other, but misunderstandings are common. Interestingly, Pictish wise men insist that their dialect is its own separate tongue, but men of learning in Khromarium and elsewhere agree that fundamental similarities are present.

OLD NORSE TONGUE:

The traditional language of Hyperborea’s Viking race is Old Norse, a North Germanic language of Old Earth. Old Norse is spoken in several non-Viking settlements due to lengthy occupations. Whilst multiple dialects of Old Norse may have been spoken on Old Earth, only the one form is accepted in Hyperborea.

THRACIAN TONGUE:

This ancient tongue comprises two spoken dialects: the Ixian dialect spoken by the Ixians of Scythium and an esoteric variation (the Kimmerian dialect) spoken by the Kimmerians who sequester themselves in the underground city of Krimmea. Evidence suggests that the Thracian language may have been more widespread during the centuries prior to the Green Death and may have included dialects no longer extant. Presently, with the exception of the cultures mentioned, this language is not commonly spoken.

RARE and SECRET LANGUAGES:

A number of rare and esoteric tongues are extant throughout the realm. Many of these remain unclassified and likely unknown; others are reserved for secret societies.

  • Druidic: The secret tongue of druids.

  • Hyperborean Esoteric: The clandestine language of Hyperborean sages and sorcerers, who refuse to teach this tongue to other men (though sages of Khromarium seek to decipher it).

  • Muat: On the tiny island of Mu Minor, this strange language is said to comprise 814 words. It is not spoken by outsiders.

  • Oonat: The strange and ancient language of the oon, an uncanny race of men who dwell in the subterranean depths of Underborea. It has no known shared attributes with other languages.

  • Thieves’ Cant: The secret language of the underworld (including many signs and gestures); pirates are known to have their own variation.

WRITING SYSTEMS:

Most written languages in Hyperborea employ alphabets comprising runes or letters that form syllables. Other writing systems are composed of pictographs (hieroglyphs); i.e., symbols that represent entire words or phrases.

  • Esquimaux, Kelts, and Vikings employ separate runic alphabets for their respective native tongues; Kelts and Vikings do share some runes.

  • Amazons, Atlanteans, Hyperboreans, and Kimmerian plainsmen share the Old Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician. Too, the written form of the Common tongue utilizes this same alphabet.

  • Ixians and the subterranean Kimmerians of Krimmea each employ somewhat similar pictographic (hieroglyphic) writing systems. The esoteric form of the Hyperborean tongue is also said to employ pictographs.

Other Writing Systems:

Note that druids use the same runic alphabet as the Kelts; thieves’ cant has no uniform written form. The oon are held to employ a form of writing not unlike cuneiform, a complex series of wedge shaped characters, though also using uncanny geometric shapes; whether or not the Muat possess a writing system is unknown. Of course any number of lost and ancient writing systems may exist. Lastly, the written forms of sorcery as employed by magicians, clerics, and the like are clandestine, mysterious, and extremely abstruse; essentially these are unintelligible to the uninitiated, and even the initiated must tax themselves to decipher such scripts.

Intelligence & Languages:

Most player characters begin play knowing how to speak, read, and write the Common tongue and, if applicable, their native or vulgate tongue. Characters of low (3–6) intelligence are illiterate, and characters of above average (13–18) intelligence begin play with additional languages that they can speak, read, and write. (INT 13-14 = +1; 15-16 = +2; 17 = +3; 18+ = +4.)