The Black Monolith

The Black Monolith

On the foothills of the Kimmerian Steppes near Lake Novagrad, where the people of the Rus have settled, there is a darkness which haunts their land. Legends speak of a ship of fire which created the great lake, and of the Norse God Ullr creating the Chain of Nod with his skis as he fled from some unnamed horror, the streams of the Chain which feed the lake from the tall mountains, but the fear that is whispered among the settlers within the hills and valleys is of a Stone Monolith that sits upon the last hill before the coming of the mountains near to a cavern of immense size and evil repute. This is the Black Monolith which is older than the settlement of the Rus, older than the Kimmerians, if such stories can be believed. Any of the old race of Hyperboreans will avow no knowledge of this stone, but neither will they journey nearer than the southern edge of Lake Novagrad and even then none will stay longer than it takes to complete what business they may have before moving on.

The village of Stregoicavar sits on a small promontory at the south of the lake. It is here that the people cower within their shuttered houses at night, here where the fear of the Stone Monolith and here where the adventure begins...

Anyone interested in a play-by-post adventure using the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerors of Hyperborea setting should reply to this post and we can begin the adventure. 

Inspiring Illustrations - Riding the Wolf

25). Riding the Wolf

NOTE: These are adventure seeds and setting work for my own Hyperborea campaign inspired by the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea Gazetteer

When the Rus found themselves transported to Hyperborea many of their traditional ways immediately changed. The Boet, a group of warrior-hunters finely attuned to living in the wild, were possessed by the spirit of the Vukodlak; an ability akin to lycanthropy. While they could not change themselves into the aspect of a wolf they became attuned to the nature of wolves and discovered a monstrous form of wolf lurking on the outskirts of their towns and settlements. Whether these were wolves from Rusland altered by the powerful magic which caused the dislocation from old Earth to Hyperborea or whether these beasts were already in Hyperborea the Boet do not know and these wolves cannot tell them, though along with their gargantuan size the wolves have gained the power of speech, their memories begin with their first encounters of the Rus and their adoption of the Boet.

According to Vas'Ka, the pack leader of all the wolves in Rusland (anywhere the Rus settle is called Rusland) the Boet just smell right and a bond of friendship and even brotherhood has sprung up between the two.

Never much for horses and more at home in the thick forest or the hills and mountains the Boet were always poor horseman, but with the coming of the great wolves they now ride in packs through the forest and steppes that surround Hyperborea's Rusland or scrabble through the stoney hills and inhospitable heights on their borders. The great wolves are as big as ponies, but stronger and heavier, their bodies all muscle and dense bone.  The Boet ride them when there is a need for haste though most often a pair of human and great wolf can be encountered hunting the forest or patrolling the roadways between town and village or camping on some hill, sharing their days catch.

Boets tend to wear a shirt of fine chain sometimes with a sleeveless vest of leather over the metal. Many will wear a cap of iron, steel or leather, but just as many disdain such and grow their hair long which they tie back and tuck under the collar of their armored shirt. They are almost never found without bow or sling, but they tend to favor a spear and a short sword as weapons.

Their new wolfish affinity has given them keener sense making it easier for them to track animals or enemies. They can be killed or wounded like any other man, but heal twice as quickly. The can speak to animals though they speak Rus to the great wolves and the great wolves can growl out a few short words of Rus back to them.

The great wolves of Rusland are several times the size of a normal wolf, the largest are truly the size of horses and even the smallest is big and strong enough to carry a normal-sized Boet. Their senses are slightly less keen than that of a normal wolf but still greater than a man's. They bond with their human companions and will fight to the death against any who would attack them. On the death of a Boet companion the great wolf will pine and grieve, and let its life pass away within three days of the loss of a companion.

The bonding ceremony between Boet and great wolf is called Riding the Wolf and the pair set out on a tour of Rusland. This is celebrated by a massive hunt with dozens of Boet and great wolves participating culminating in a feast where the families, wolves and human, join in to eat what the hunt has gathered.

Most Boet and great wolves are encountered alone, but that is only the cautious nature of the hunters. There will usually be from three to five other Boet and great wolves somewhere nearby waiting to see if they have encountered friend or foe. In any case there will always be at least one pair of wolf and rider that is does not reveal themselves. These Boet are a suspicious lot outside of their own kind, which is the main reason they and the Rus have prospered in this strange land of Hyerborea  that is now their home.

Inspiring Illustrations - The Hanged Man

 19). The Hanged Man

The roadsides of Hyperborea are dotted with hanging trees, gallows or gibbets, rarely unoccupied. These are often places of the unconsecrated dead and in consequence are avoided or quickly passed by the common folk of the locale, but it is not unusual to see a cleric setting wards, a patrol of warders and workmen removing one malodorous corpse to make room for a fresh one, a wandering skald, a lurking necromancer's apprentice, a pair of body-snatchers, or among the Rus, a dispossed drifter called a Zhulik serving some vile purpose of the local Koldun ( a type of Witch/Necromancer/Soothsayer) as depicted here.

The Hanged Man serves as a warning to rebels, outsiders and any troublemakers and the spaces on the gibbet are all too readily filled. The symbol of The Hanged Man is found in many lands of Hyperborea among thieves as a simple twist of rope or as a small doll-like figure of cloth among certain dark cults of murder and assassination. Among the Norse it is banned emblem and those found with it are subject to the punishment of Ullr. 

Inspiring Illustrations - The Dark Rider

12). The Dark Rider

Bilibin is a throwback among the tribes of the Rus who live on the edge of the Kimmerian steppes in small cities and large towns. The Rus were latecomers to Hyperborea and the lands and people are disturbingly strange to them. They left behind their gods when they arrived in the aftermath of a great storm that swept them from their conquered home and deposited several town and villages in this strange land, so now most have become followers of Hyperborea's multitude of deities; from Hellenic Apollo to sloth-bodied Xathoqqua. But it is to Nerthus that Bilibin pays worship; she who is a Goddess of peace but demands the sacrifice of men.

It has been long since the last believer in Nerthus dwelt among the Rus, who seem determined to forget their past and somehow adapt to all the ways of Hyperborea without seeming rhyme or reason. Bilibin is said to have encountered the Goddess in her chariot and become her lone priest. His aim is to return the Rus to her worship and he isn't above killing them all to do so.

While he is a true-believer in Nerthus, Bilibin is not a cleric but is instead a powerful Warlock, having been both a warrior and a mage in his younger years. He now rides throughout the land of Hyperborea but returns again and again to his people, the Rus, bringing with him death and destruction to all who fail to return to the worship of Nerthus.

For the most part he is falls upon travelers and small villages and beheads all those who he sees as heretics to the true faith. His actions have earned him the title of the Dark Rider, the bringer of  death and he has little success in his work of conversion.