“Barbarianism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarianism must ultimately triumph”
―
Chaos on Hyperborea has always been a very weird area for me as a dungeon master. There are lots of indications that sometime in the past of the passing of Old Earth and The Green Death something rather nasty took place on the flat plateau world of Hyperborea. And there are indicators that it might have been some form of the conflict between Law & Chaos.
Given the influence of Clark Ashton Smith I think that such a conflict would look vastly different. More akin to the author's Weird Tales leanings. And less in the vein of DC comics or Michael Moorcock even though Moorcock is a huge influence on the Hyperborea rpg.
And through reading about the Lovecraftian and demonic monsters of Hyperborea a hypthosis forms in my mind. Hyperborea was a battle front in the war between Chaos and Law but only a minor dust up. To the Earth however this might have been a major world end event. Law won but there was a cost. Chaos's soldiers & monsters have been left behind having slinked off to the four corners of Hyperborea with thier purpose over. But is it?! There a sense of circular purpose to Hyperborea like the fact that Ice Worm will devour the artificial planet. The Chaos forces are slinked into the forgotten places of Hyperborea.
And through reading about the Lovecraftian and demonic monsters of Hyperborea a hypthosis forms in my mind. Hyperborea was a battle front in the war between Chaos and Law but only a minor dust up. To the Earth however this might have been a major world end event. Law won but there was a cost. Chaos's soldiers & monsters have been left behind having slinked off to the four corners of Hyperborea with thier purpose over. But is it?! There a sense of circular purpose to Hyperborea like the fact that Ice Worm will devour the artificial planet. The Chaos forces are slinked into the forgotten places of Hyperborea.
If the Chaos vs Law war happened it was long time ago and the believers have long since turned to dust. Thier cults however continue on even after the war ended eons ago. The proof of this is in the fact that only Appollo, Artemis, and Boetzu are the only gods of Law still in any capacity of power on Hyperborea. These cults continue to struggle for power in any real solid form on our version of Hyperborea. Really there are actually still a ton of artifacts of Law waiting to be discovered in the lost dungeons and fortresses of Hyperborea. And without the influence of Law the civilization of humanity could be sliding into the Abyss of barbarism and Chaos.
The gods of Chaos stroke humanity's ego and power by influencing the tribes of warriors and worshipers to cleave towards violence. Don't believe me? Take a look at the nine axiom alignment system that the Hyperborea rpg uses. This is all a part of the natural Lovecraftian cycle that happens to worlds. Seldom does civilization rise from the morass of Chaos to embrace advancement.
In Clark Aston Smith's Lovecraftian gods patheon's placement these alien gods seem to be there to end an epoch of mankind. As if Chaos and entropy itself are a part of the natural cycle as an age declines they come in and clean the slate for another era. And yet they guard the ruins until the natural order swallows up these lost dungeons & ruins. We see this in CAS's The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan. We see this on CAS's Hyperborea and I hard to guess we also see it on the Hyperborea rpg campaign setting as well.
The gods of Chaos stroke humanity's ego and power by influencing the tribes of warriors and worshipers to cleave towards violence. Don't believe me? Take a look at the nine axiom alignment system that the Hyperborea rpg uses. This is all a part of the natural Lovecraftian cycle that happens to worlds. Seldom does civilization rise from the morass of Chaos to embrace advancement.
In Clark Aston Smith's Lovecraftian gods patheon's placement these alien gods seem to be there to end an epoch of mankind. As if Chaos and entropy itself are a part of the natural cycle as an age declines they come in and clean the slate for another era. And yet they guard the ruins until the natural order swallows up these lost dungeons & ruins. We see this in CAS's The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan. We see this on CAS's Hyperborea and I hard to guess we also see it on the Hyperborea rpg campaign setting as well.
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