SOMETIMES COMICS ARE JUST CRAP
A TRUE OVERVEIW OF COMICS GOOD AND BAD-SOMETIMES TERRIBLE.SCIENCE FICTION MAYBE.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann First Son of Aqualonia work in progress
Mavericlion Productions,LLC
Presents Tales of Terra-Prime featuring Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.
The First Son of Aqualonia
by Carl Edward Thompson and Joseph Gilbert Thompson
The Prince Eric Khorum Rhann character and related characters featured in these stories and all the rest are copyright and trademarks owned by Mavericlion Productions,LCC.©®™ 1973- 2019
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Origin of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.
Hydropangea is an undersea world where the ocean floor has been so heavily colonized that there are whole underwater nations. Hydropangea is an undersea take on the Hyborean Age of Conan of Cimmeria and similar characters adapted to an underwater environment.The various stories of Conan the Barbarian occur in the pseudo-historical "Hyborian Age", set after the destruction of Atlantis and before the rise of any known ancient civilization. This is a specific epoch in a fictional timeline created by Robert E .Howard for many of the low fantasy tales of his artificial legendary Sword and sorcery adventures,featured in the pages of Weird Tales,in the 1930's.Then later the short stories,novella and one novel,was collected in the Knome Press editions.And later still in Lancer Books novel reprints that proved Conan as popular as Edgar Rice Burroughs 's Tarzan series with the public.The publishers came up with tons of Clonans-clones of Conan,from Thongorr,Blade,Drey Prescott ,Kothar,Crom and a few others everyone forgets.
This led to Roy Thomas noticing the fact Conan,might prove an as and Tarzan ,(Once Maveric Comics lost those rights from Edgar Rice Burroughs,Inc.)
Conan success in comics,led to comic industry sword and sorcery boom,being copies,but not surpassed by Maveric Comics and other publishers with weak imaginations like Claw the Unconquered,Warlord,the Stalker,Starfire,(not the Teen Titan character),Beowulf,Tor,Wulf the Barbarian,Ironjaw,Ironwulf and few other forgotten Clonans.Conan success led movies,animation cartoons and a syndicated series,that had mixed results from fans.Conan had a newspaper comic strip by Roy Thomas,and such artist drawing the comic books.
And when Marvel Comics lost the Conan rights,Dark Horse Comics took up comic publishing rights,with allot of bombastic boasts and more mixed results-some good reprints of the Marvel Comics and others had-their own not so grand attempts to give Conan purest better than Marvel.
The reasons behind the invention of the Hyborian Age were perhaps commercial: Howard had an intense love for history and historical dramas; however, at the same time, he recognized the difficulties and the time-consuming research work needed in maintaining historical accuracy—and moreover, the poorly-stocked libraries in the rural part of Texas where Howard lived just didn't have the material needed for such historical research. By conceiving a timeless setting—"a vanished age"—and by carefully choosing names that resembled human history, Two Gun Bob Howard,as H.P.Lovecraft called him, shrewdly avoided the problem of historical anachronisms,created his own of course in his Conan stories and his need for lengthy exposition.
According to "The Phoenix on the Sword", the adventures of Conan take place "Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas." This was suppose to a forgotten Age Undreamed of by modern man,that Bob Howard pulled out of the past and retold as stories or yarns in the pull pages of Weird Tales.
Conan is a Cimmerian and from the writings of Robert E. Howard (The Hyborian Age among others) it is known that his Cimmerians are based on the fantasy Celts or perhaps the historic Cimmerians, based on the described geography and the existence of said people theories at the time.Conan was an idealistic version of Robert E Howard,mixed with those Texas ruffians,he speaks of,bits of Tarzan,Doc Savage and other literary heroes. Conan was born on a battlefield and is the son of a village blacksmith.The Cimmerian was born upon an appropriate setting for a wandering warrior such as he will become and his father,held a profession,making swords-weapon appropriate to a swordsman,as Conan was to stalk through his many adventures.
Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian fortress of Venarium.After its demise, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil wizards, tavern wenches, and beautiful princesses. He roamed throughout the Hyborian Age nations as a thief, outlaw, mercenary, and pirate. As he grew older, he began commanding vast units of warriors and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seized the crown of the tyrannical king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of his own throne. Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, though his motivation for doing so is largely to protect his own survival or for personal gain.
A conspicuous element of Conan's character is his chivalry. He is extremely reluctant to fight women (even when they fight him) and has a strong tendency to save damsels in distress.Conan is similar to In Fleming 's James Bond,who is basically,always rescuing his suicidal mother in the form of some damsel in distress.Movies don't often emphasize that In the film productions.
In "Jewels of Gwahlur", he has to make a split-second decision whether to save the dancing girl Muriela or the chest of priceless gems which he spent months rch of. So, without hesitation, he rescues Muriela and allows for the treasure to be irrevocably lost. In "The Black Stranger", Conan saves the exile Zingaran Lady Belesa at considerable risk to himself, giving her as a parting gift his fortune in gems big enough to have a comfortable and wealthy life in Zingara, while asking for no sexual favors in return. Reviewer Jennifer Bard also noted that when Conan is in a pirate crew or a robber gang led by another male, his tendency is to subvert and undermine the leader's authority, and eventually supplant (and often, kill) him (e.g. "Pool of the Black One", "A Witch Shall be Born", "Shadows in the Moonlight"). Conversely, in "Queen of the Black Coast", it is noted that Conan "generally agreed to Belit's plan. Hers was the mind that directed their raids, his the arm that carried out her ideas. It was a good life." And at the end of "Red Nails", Conan and Valeria seem to be headed towards a reasonably amicable piratical partnership".
George Baxter noted that "Conan's recorded history mentions him as being prominently involved, at one time or another, with four different pirate fraternities, on two different seas, as well being a noted leader of land robbers at three different locales. Yet, we hardly ever see him involved in, well, robbing people. To be sure, he speaks about it often and with complete candor: "We Kozaks took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth, Zamora, and Turan impartially" he says in "Shadows in the Moonlight". But that was before the story began. And "We're bound for waters where the seaports are fat, and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder!" Conan declares at the end of "The Pool of the Black One". But this plundering will take place after the story ends. When we see Conan onstage, we see him do many other things: He intervenes in the politics and dynastic struggles of various kingdoms; he hunts for hidden treasure; he explores desert islands and lost cities; he fights countless terrible monsters and evil sorcerers; he saves countless beautiful women and makes them fall in love with him... What we virtually never see Conan do is engage in the proper business of an armed robber, on land or by sea—which is to attack people who never threatened or provoked you, take away their possessions by main force, and run your sword through them if they dare to resist. A bit messy business, that. Armchair adventurers, who like to enjoy a good yarn in the perfect safety and comfort of their suburban homes, might not have liked to read it."
Appearance
Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."
Robert E. Howard, The Phoenix on the Sword, 1932.
Conan has "sullen", "smoldering", and "volcanic" blue eyes with a black "square-cut mane". Howard once describes him as having a hairy chest and, while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing to give him a more barbaric image, Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the kingdom and culture in which Conan finds himself. Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story, only describing him in loose terms like "giant" and "massive". In the tales, no human is ever described as being stronger than Conan, although several are mentioned as taller (such as the strangler Baal-pteor) or of larger bulk. In a letter to P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark in 1936, only three months before Howard's death, Conan is described as standing 6 feet (180 cm) and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg) when he takes part in an attack on Venarium at only 14 years old, though being far from fully grown. Conan himself says in "Beyond the Black River" that he had "...not yet seen 15 snows".
Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther (see, for instance, "Jewels of Gwahlur", "Beyond the Black River", or "Rogues in the House"). His skin is frequently characterized as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun. In his younger years, he is often depicted wearing a light chain shirt and a horned helmet, though appearances vary with different stories.Conan depiction in Marvel Comics,was scalped down often to a point clothe,Brown Captain America swashbuckling boots,a stupid upper gold arm band,go d agThisbands and Hother else.This John Buscema look is oftpen ted fromthnguage Ba W,possibly having never read one of original Conan written stories.k Machine y 2. Y seeve ofrigiere. Stof eth tletica (B gatar deck letion of The h is w
Besides all this,Conan and the Hyborean Age are a perfect fit for warrior and the world surrounding his adventures.To remove one from the other,often is an indulgence in often stupidity.
And this is where,we come to our next topic.Creating a perfect fit for an underwater hero like Conan.Most be not only unique,to much degree,but for with one another.Otherwise,both are fishes out of water and not worth bothering with.This maybe why Prince Namor,the Sub-Mariner,Aquaman and everyone's favorite underwater hero Neptune Perkins just doesn't work.Either the undersea hero isn't a good fit or his undersea civilization is not fully developed.
You would figure it would be a kind of Undersea Hyborean Age World just beyond the shore.Not just Underwater Ruins or an Underwater Base, but an entire city of people living and "breathing" underwater,with a fully realized undersea civilization.Generally,this is not the case.
It's usually created with futuristic technology or fantastic magic,or sometimes a bit of both.And much of that often conflicts with one another or simply looks very stupiditly created by hackish so called professionals,who are really amatuers at their jobs.And a popular depiction is to have a fully surviving underwater world like Atlantis in the ruins of the sunken lost continent ,still existing as they did thousands of centuries ago.Sometimes they exist within a sunken underwater city or they cover the city of Atlantis with domes and exist much like fantasy kingdom with magic and technology.Often they water breathing Fish People,adapted to their new,undersea environment or Apparently Human Merfolk,with fish tails.I find the later,hard to take beyond the usual rendition of the Little Mermaid tale.Sorry,Lori Lemarris,your story,despite Maveric Comics insistence to keep using you,really doesn't work for me anyway.
Usually though it's a modern attempt at colonizing the ocean floor, or a villain's secret lair.A villian will create some Spectre like base and conduct his evil plans from there until found out.
As might be expected, living in such a precarious location makes these cities inordinately prone to having something go Horribly Wrong. Be it sabotage causing the dome to break, an undersea volcano activating, or other disasters.Queen Mira in the old Filmation Animated series Aquaman,is often breaking the Dome of Atlantis,just piss her boyfriend Arthur Curry with huge whales.Guess,they did not bother to notice,in the Aquaman Comics,they were dating.
And forget Prince Namors half century war with the surface dwellers.Namor and Arthur Curry are sort of underwater Tarzans or Conan,often not thought of by many comics fans,and yet that is what they are.Prince Namor and Aquaman seem to share a similar origin.Both are children of a surface human male and an Atlantean human female of royal blood.Both are raised Tarzan style as wild children among a fantastic environment.Both can converse with the native wild folk and use them weapons against an enemy.Both marry females,but in the case of the Avenging Son,stupid Soap Opera troupes gets in the way of a happy union.Too bad there.Both travel among fantastic worlds,but few awhile those created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E.Howard seem more fantastic and interesting.
You would think various writer would have a creative field day creating a wonderful undersea kingdom of Atlantis and some such similarly created underwater civilizations,but no many fall back of silly troups,that are little more the not much beyond the Little Mermaid.Most,simply go for a underwater human inhabited sea kindom,right out of your local fish tank.
Some do try for more than your typical fantasyland kingdom sunk underneath the sea.
These cities are often made out of a large number of sealed-off, interconnected domes at the bottom of a large lake or sea bed.Some are the open sea,ruins,you see at Marvel Comics.The underwater colony of humans is established on the ocean floor, using geothermal power engines to provide light and power for the forgotten,undersea kingdoms.Sometimes a specially-made oxygen-carrying dive fluid is used in place of air.Sometimes it simply air,filled domes.
But since the humans are less dense than water, the humans have to wear weights if they want to stay on the bottom or even have neutral buoyancy. They sleep special pressurived dwelling their buildings,that mimic surface world conditions.I prefer,some of hybrid situation,that doesn't Mimi the Little Mermaid civilization.Humans would still be humans.They need places dry and oxygen filled.Sorry,Bill Everett.If they were clever Atlanteans,building vast comes to survive underwater,encasing their vast,once surface cities,they might keep a bit of that old civilization.That means proper food.Not just fish and squides,but sallads and bread,eaten off plates of China.Various drinks drank from regular cups.There would no banquets,diner under open water.Sorry,Ariel.
And the undersea people would continue to build an undersea civisation.They would spread across the undersea land.They would sort of underwater roads,with underwater highway traffic.Sure the trucks and cars would be various types of submarines,but there would traffic.Maybe even with idiots,honking their sonar equipment like horns.Underwater road rage in undersea Atlantis.
These types of undersea civilizations,are like the heroic Martians,trying to build cities,fed by water canals,like in Egdar Rice Burroughs Martian Tales of John Carter.
The Many Suicides of Aquaman: The Loneliness Of The Underwater Crimefighter When There's No Crime Underwater"
Seems Aquaman has started in a few film projects and faired successful..So I guess,he has recovered from those many suicides.Many it's Aquaman s fault allot of so called Professional creators are maybe...stupid and not so creative.Funny,nobody would dare ever say this about Prince Namor.Maybe it's because like Fonzie,he might hit,but the Avenging Son,he will.People are scared of the Sub-Mariner,but are not scared of Aquaman.Top brainwashing from Superfreinds.Superfreinds ! Hello,the very name is stupid,jackass title.The Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America just was not good enough the idiots at ABC.But then again,those are the people that gave us an all,New Roseanne or Lourie Laughlin.Thank you !Thank your very much !
When I see my stupid daughter cheating her my stupid grand daughters way into college,I just want to go berserk !
Go an cheat your neighbors.Go cheat and your freinds ! Go your stupid daughters way into college.
"Or maybe,it's how not to write an undersea character.There are some so called "professional writers",many in the world of comics,who just just clueless,stupid fucks,who think,well the editor likes me and got the job,so I just be good.Well,your a stupid fuck and the editor is a stupid clueless,jackass,desperate to sell a shitty comic book to bitchy,comic can not idiots,who are desperate,clueless jackasses.Sorry,though saying,but true.
Underwater is boring.There is a crime under the sea.Characters can't stop bank robbers underwater.
— Warren Ellis
This was something found upon the internet..
Warren Ellis seems to see an undersea civilization boring,because you can't have superheroes stop villains from robbing banks.Well,Warren Ellis,I guess when your using one dimensional Rob Liefeld brain power,that statement can be true.
And that statement shows how utter stupid Warren Ellis is,because most things out of lamb superheroes involve all sorts of things other than crime.Besides you have a city.Underwater of otherwise you people and if you have people,you have bank,vice and crime.If you can't get beyond that narrow minded thinking,then your an asshole.
Due to the long history of Atlantis, merpeople, sea monsters and other myths about the ocean, people are fascinated by the mystique of the sea. Most Speculative Fiction stories, particularly in the fantasy vein, may well try to explore or add to the setting by introducing the presence of some sentient underwater species inspired by merpeople. Futuristic science-fiction oriented series may well have men colonize the ocean floor in undersea domes - or perhaps people have discovered that Cetaceans are actually sentient and have been hiding in all along. In the horror genre, there may be an Eldritch Abomination and its spawn waiting at the bottom of the ocean. An alien race or precursor artifacts might be down there somewhere. Plus, the ocean has pirates.And pirates always means either trouble or adventurers or both.
You'd think that all of this this might make for a really cool setting for stories,but you would be wrong.To many creative people,Atlantis is boring.They just can't get passed it as an undersea Prince Valiant and see that also as dull,despite the comic is as long running comic as Aquaman or Prince Namor ,when not interupted it's continuity with sliding scale time line still exist.But comic books,are full of stupid dumfucks like Warren Ellis.
I am hoping Prince Eric Khorum Rhann might change that perspective.
The ocean is boring to humans.It's all just too much ocean and nothing else.It's all just lots of water and nothing else .Those words,are often spoken by an ignoramus.So Warren Ellis,the Great Comic Genius,you are an ignoramus.Your statements show this.And creative people find it too much of a chore to really develop into something interesting.They fall into all the Undersea cliches.First off,undersea people go fish or sea Schell happy.They have fish and sea Schell symbols everywhere.Fish and sea Schells on the walls.Fish on their clothing.Their bubble shaped diving helmets look at fish.Their submarines look like fish.Everything is about fish.And all the Undersea dwellers live in a primitive underwater world.They breath water and are either all pink or blue skinned,maybe with big fish eyes.The swords ,knives and trident,but never or rarely use guns-even spear guns.Fighting like James Bond did in Thunderball with modern weapons is either rare or never used.Flash Gordon mixed swords with guns,with high tech medieval kingdoms is rarely used.
All of the conventions of human society are missing from the ocean.Well,actually they wouldn't,but surface dwellers,have this prejudice. Even with the addition of colonies to the seafloor, you can't really write a story down there as easily as you could on land.Actually you could have the addition of colonies,but creator's insist of the tiny fairy single cityscape,all crowded into one single,cluster fuck of a district,about two blocks long.There are probably no ocean theme parks.Actually there would be.If you have people,you would have theme parks,just ocean theme parks.No underwater romantic restaurants, no ability for the cast to move around.Actually there maybe underwater romantic restaurants.If you have people...even undersea people,they need places to eat.Also, like it or not, the basis for about 80% of fantasy, science fiction, drama, and adventure stories is They Fight Crime!. But there's hardly going to be any crime to fight — there are no underwater bank robberies.And there should be.Even underwater people spend money and crooks like money.
There is ability for the cast to move around.Well,that is again narrow minded thinking.Why do creator's always think of Atlantis is this single city ?According to the legend it a single city surrounded by seven rivers.But it was also a vast continent.That suggests a big place like King Kull's Thurian Continent or Conan's's Hyborean Age.Both Conan and Kull had plenty ability for the cast to move around.They both traveled all over.So why president the place as a tiny single city under a dome or one little cluster fuck. of buildings all crowded in a single area ? Why could not Atlantis make a big cities like in our world,but set under vast domes .Atlantis could be New York just set under the sea,with everything a big city has.It could have stuff like restaurants,bars,gas ,stations,supermarkets,malls,parks,zoo's,strip malls,city halls.police station s,all the stuff real cities have.
Also, everything underwater is typically depicted in various shades of blue. This will get depressing and boring alike after a while. The fact that things tend to move more slowly underwater doesn't help, either.Actually,the depressive moron would find that boring like all Star Trek set in space.The only Star Trek I like is the whale one,Granny.Actually,you would only see it as various shades of blue.The movie Captain Nemo and the Underwater City,the film present s this domed metropolis is a bright wonderland.So much for shades of blue.
As Larry Niven once said, humans mostly only use or think about the top of an ocean. From the perspective of most humans, the ocean has only one environment: water. There are no forests to get lost in, deserts to be stranded in, mountains to scale, swamps crawling with disease, or cities to have adventures in. It's just water and fish. Actually,it would be the Underwater sea people.Their civilization.Fighting to survive,just like Surface Dwellers.Trying to tame environment,without ruining it.Other nations competing with each other.Wars and more wars.Treaties.Breaking Treaties.More wars.Crime.Social injustice.Pretty much what happens to land dwellers,only it takes under the sea.sed
Prince Namors creator once said he liked the sea ?
More than likely Bill Everett like to sit on a beach chair,drink booze and look at the ocean.Because if one looks his creation,Prince Nomor,he knew very little about the actual world under the sea.He may have read Tarzan or saw a movie or two,but modtly he was simply ripping off Tarzan and Superman.Filling books up allot of comic book sillyness.
This is a vast oversimplification of the incredible diversity in underwater ecosystems and biomes to the point of outright falsehood — any oceanographer would tell you there are forests, mountains, barren wastelands, briny mires, plenty of places to put Atlantis, and much more — but it's the popular perception.My brother Carl said "I said into stuff like Aquaman or Prince Namor,because I'd feel like I was drowning.Of Course,I didn't agree.I figured,if you created the right backdrop for the characters,the story could be a fantastic adventure.
There would be forests to get lost in.Imagine giant Edgar Rice Burroughs forest filled with horrible cruel monster fish or giant squids to terrorize you. There would be deserts to be stranded in and Undersea desert bandits to attack you or kidnap you.There world be mountains to scale-maybe lost civilizations to find.Tibetan Monks and places like Shanghai could be found.There would be swamps crawling with disease or strange sea life to threaten adventurers.There would be many cities scattered across the sea to have adventures in. It's not just water and fish if you have a creative imagination.
Like in Twenty Thousand League's Under the Sea,the ocean floor is challenging.Jules Verne obviously saw the sea as a challenge.After all Jacquel Cousteau spend his life on and under the sea with Phillipe or Philleep as he used to say.Lots of National Geographic tv on him.Obviously,he saw it as the undiscovered frontier right upon our planet.Bob Balland,too must saw it this way and still does.He found the Titanic.What did you do ?Lets see nothing,but shoot off your big Ralph Kramden mouth.And fictional character,Dirk Pitt spends allot of time in sea.Clive Clousser and son Dirks written a buch of books on the subject of the sea and so on.So water isn't boring to these guys.It is boing to the narrow minded baffoon,who just see water,more water and fish.Oh !And I forgot no crime.Undersea Bank Robbers would have no backs because Undersea Atlanteans trade things with sea Schell and those are worthless to the surface dwellers.Gee,no wonder Prince Namor and Arthur Curry thinks we are all assholes,because maybe we are having the attitude of Warren Ellis and the like.Maybe it's not the environment that is lacking...maybe it's the talent.
As a result, settings that have a rich undersea world will inevitably ignore it. Writers just can't figure out what to do with it. It will be pushed into the background, forgotten about, or openly mocked. Tabletop game expansions that take place underwater are just going to produce a heck of a lot of unused character templates - because creating an underwater setting or making a character that has to have saltwater poured over their gills regularly is hard. Besides, it's rather hard for a being without lungs to survive out of the water, so their utility outside their intended setting is limited.Limited to a small,uncreative mind. And living your life in a futuristic sterilized bubble colony at the bottom of the sea where there are no intergalactic battles or intrigue would just be plain boring when you could set a story on a space station!
Actually,there could be.Who says that a submarine can't also be a star ship ?Who ?The dimwits like star ship pumber on the internet who the star ship Enterprise could survive warp space,but not the crush depths of the sea,even those we are told it is made up of super materials.And Tomorrow is Yesterday isn't a valid point.The USS Enterprise was just surviving be shot back through time,after encountering an uncharted Black Hole.Being what we know of black holes,it's lucky,it made it anywhere.And Gene Roddenberry said the Enterprise could land every week,he didn't say why.I suspect it was it didn't have legs to stand on.After all,the other Universe,USS Enterprise launched from it's Earth bound construction dock successfully.Submarine and star ship s doing each other's jobs in a prejudice people have.The star ship Yamato/Argo seems to bother star ship and above sea and Undersea capabilities.And was an old rusting battle ship,until it was re built.If that can go under the sea and in space ,why can't others.All my star ship have multiple capabilities of traveling on land,air,water and Undersea.
Speaking which: Space settings share something of the same problem, with the side-benefit that space, given FTL travel, is a route to other planets where humans might find useful environments. Humans, like other animal species, have an environmental niche which we require to exist. A race of undersea sapients would likely find land stories boring, because they can't experience land directly, just as humans can't experience undersea (or space) directly. Any being has a limited range of environments it can ever directly experience. See Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale, All Planets Are Earth-Like, Single-Biome Planet, Rubber-Forehead Aliens, aliens who mate with humans and babies and Planet of that have a stage backdrop culture.
The underwater tropes are often seen as Water Is Air,where everything you can do in an oxygen environment,you can do directly under water. This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman the Flying Seafood Special is Under the Sea is prejudice,that he can rescue sinking ship with whales at his command. people can't get over.The thing is Strange,that people perceive Aquaman as a joke,while Prince Namor as one scary,angry bad ass warrior.Both are pretty much the same,but Aquaman,mostly because of Super Friends is considered an lamb duck character.Another funny thing,both were originally created as underwater Tarzan s,but dum ass people just Prince Nomor as mean and Aquaman as stupid,even he got his animated cartoon often teamed up Superman.Pretty ok,if you ask me,despite the likes of Tuskie the seal.
This all leads to this.
Strange thing,while creating or rather recreating Prince Toreus Rhann,I came with the idea of giving him an undersea cousin .The whole idea came a Marvel Comics ad in the 1990's where Prince Namor had long hair and a more fantasy looking costume.At the time,they must have trying to update his look with long hair.I had no idea what they did with it,having not read it.But it was enough to give an idea.It was like Prince Conan,No way did I think f or a second was someone going to let this character,be adapted into tyeir already existing continuity.
I started to think,you know Prince Namor McKenzie is just not only an undersea Superman,but an underwater Tarzan.He protects his realm from outside invaders,just like the Lord of the Jungle.He dresses like Tarzan,with only a small bathing trunk,much Tarzan generally does in stuff.I am sure,though Bill Everett might have never admit ted to it,but Tarzan must influenced Prince Namor.*
Tarzan goes by several titles.Lord of the Apes.King of the Jungle.Lord Greystoke.Big Bwanna.Prince Namor is not only the Sub -Mariner,but Namor the First,Prince of Atlantis.Avenging Son of Atlantis.Emperor of the Deep,Lord of the Seven Seas,Scourge of the Season Seas and Supreme Commander of the Undersea Legions.
He even has a slightly altered Tarzan origin.The Queen of England sends Lord Greystoke and Lady Alice to an African outpost.Tarzan is essentially abandoned by his people.His mother dies and father.He raised the people of mother.His case The Great Apes.Emporer Thakhor send his daughter Princess Fen to spy the humans on ship Oracle.She fall in love with Captain Leonard McKenzie.Her come and take her back undersea people,while allegedly kill the father.Prince Namor is abandoned by his people and raised by the Atlanteans.Some the details are altered,but the story is essentially the foundling child raised by the other civilization.Aquaman is pretty much similar.Abandoned on a reef,found and raised by the Surface World.
With that said,I started to think well Conan is just a sword wielding Tarzan in some Age Undreamed of.And hit me.Why not mix up Prince Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,Tarzan and Conan.I wondered simply why no one had saw it before hand ? And Neptune Perkins doesn't count because he is just far too....stupid.
And of course,like Conan and Toreus,I needed to create a suitable world.The name Atlantis could not be used,since I already established that as an ancient,time space fairing civilization.It might inspire many undersea versions of Atlantis,but it could simply not be Atlantis.And felt just sinking the Hyborean Age the undersea would not simply work.I know,must creators simply do that.Prince Namor and Aquaman are simply fantasy kingdoms underwater.They are like those little castle sets you see in fish tanks,but with water breathing characters swimming about.Very little is thought about the concept of sinking or building a civilization under the sea,other that putting one city here and another there.And I know it is sheek to bash Aquaman,but he and Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics,actually got it more correct than Marvel Comics did with Prince Namor.It would make more sense for underwater people live an oxygen filled City under a dome and wear a skin tight diving suite,than open water cities,with fish swimming around and dressing like medieval characters under the sea.I try swimming under water with clothes like that and you will see my point.And try staying underwater and you might see my other point.Fish are adapted to sea life and humans,sorry to say,even with fish gills would it difficult to survive other than short periods underwater.
Human beings underwater have all sorts of problems,not fixed by superman strength,thick bullets proof skin,tiny layers of bubber and wings on their ankles.Whales,sharks,squids,whatever all evolved suitable for living under the sea.Human beings living there would be some sort of compromise between the land and underwater.Aquaman attemps to address that with being originally humans,while Namor goes to a silly,separate race evolved underwater idea.
Conan is a Cimmerian and from the writings of Robert E. Howard (The Hyborian Age among others) it is known that his Cimmerians are based on the fantasy Celts or perhaps the historic Cimmerians, based on the described geography and the existence of said people theories at the time. Conan was born on a battlefield and is the son of a village blacksmith.The Cimmerian was born upon an appropriate setting for a wandering warrior such as he will become and his father,held a profession,making swords-weapon appropriate to a swordsman,as Conan was.
Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian fortress of Venarium.After its demise, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil wizards, tavern wenches, and beautiful princesses. He roamed throughout the Hyborian Age nations as a thief, outlaw, mercenary, and pirate. As he grew older, he began commanding vast units of warriors and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seized the crown of the tyrannical king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of his own throne. Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, though his motivation for doing so is largely to protect his own survival or for personal gain.
A conspicuous element of Conan's character ,that is also apart of Prince Toreus Rhann and his underwater cousin Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is his chivalry. He is extremely reluctant to fight women (even when they fight him) and has a strong tendency to save damsels in distress.And since Conan is similar to In Fleming 's James Bond,who is basically,always rescuing his suicidal mother in the form of some damsel in distress,so is Prince Eric.
In "Jewels of Gwahlur", he has to make a split-second decision whether to save the dancing girl Muriela or the chest of priceless gems which he spent months in search of. So, without hesitation, he rescues Muriela and allows for the treasure to be irrevocably lost. In "The Black Stranger", Conan saves the exile Zingaran Lady Belesa at considerable risk to himself, giving her as a parting gift his fortune in gems big enough to have a comfortable and wealthy life in Zingara, while asking for no sexual favors in return. Reviewer Jennifer Bard also noted that when Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is in a pirate crew or a robber gang led by another male, his tendency is to subvert and undermine the leader's authority, and eventually supplant (and often, kill) him . Conversely, in "", it is noted that Prince Eric "generally agreed to Jessica Drago's plan. Hers was the mind that directed their raids, his the arm that carried out her ideas. It was a good life." And Prince Eric and Princess Jessica Drago seem to be headed towards a reasonably amicable piratical partnership at the tales end.
"s recorded history mentions him as being prominently involved, at one time or another, with four different pirate fraternities, on two different seas, as well being a noted leader of land robbers at three different locales. Yet, we hardly ever see him involved in, well, robbing people. To be sure, he speaks about it often and with complete candor: "We Kozaks took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth, Zamora, and Turan impartially" he says in "". But that was before the story began. And "We're bound for waters where the seaports are fat, and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder!" Conan declares at the end of "The Pool of the Black One". But this plundering will take place after the story ends. When we see Conan onstage, we see him do many other things: He intervenes in the politics and dynastic struggles of various kingdoms; he hunts for hidden treasure; he explores desert islands and lost cities; he fights countless terrible monsters and evil sorcerers; he saves countless beautiful women and makes them fall in love with him... What we virtually never see Conan do is engage in the proper business of an armed robber, on land or by sea—which is to attack people who never threatened or provoked you, take away their possessions by main force, and run your sword through them if they dare to resist. A bit messy business, that. Armchair adventurers, who like to enjoy a good yarn in the perfect safety and comfort of their suburban homes, might not have liked to read it."
For Prince Namor and the other Atlanteans to have evolved underwater,would be more than having just blue skin and fish eyes.Namor would either be more like the Creature from the Black Lagoon's Gill Man or something like a cross between a whale and a human being.Not exactly an appealing hero concept. I know Marvel has had more success with Sub Mariner than Maintain Productions,LLC. has had with Aquaman,but wrong is still wrong in my opinion.And just saying well,that is the way Marvel and Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics has always do it and to say that,your just missing my whole point.
I figured first,create a believable underwater costume for Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,that would share some aspects of Prince Namor.Flight Wings,fins,armor and such to help him move about in an undersea environment.But I figured provide him with a diving like armor,to keep him warm and protect the Prince from hostile under life or other water breathing humans.This was the Aquaman bit I wanted to keep.Incidentally,this was years before Jason Manoa became the character in a movie.
Hydro Pangeans were some kind of long ago genetically engineered humans created by the Taurons to survive in aquatic environments on various water worlds.I figure,the Elder Race wanted to in some past era were allowed to do this .The Taurons wanted to exploit the vast seas of Pangea as a test for other worlds plates.Having failed at this,the Tauron Empire pulled out and left their colony to collapse.And the undersea civilization of Hydro Pangea still survives,perhaps because of the Atlanteans intervention .
Prince Eric needy a companion like Prince Toreus had,but instead of a lion,it would be a big Killer Whale.Sharks would not do,if the hero gets bitten by his undersea friend.Besides people like Orcas and not sharks.Maybe that is the Dino Delaurentis movie Orca was a flop and Jaws was a hit.Killer Whales lovable and sharks no,even though both are undersea versions of predator like Lions and Tigers.sea
And also make him like Conan or Toreus,I would give an sea horse.Well kind of .Actually,the creature is not a sea horse,but an Aqua Steeds.Steeds are robot like Speeder Bikes used in the Crescent Lands of Pangea and elsewhere.Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's Aqua Steed is called Hellfire,because he looks a bit like a blue green demon.
I wanted to be in someway a copy of Pangea.I figured many of the underwater inhabitants,were colonists from there,who were modified or mated with modified Tauron water breathing humans.Atlanteans,Taurons,and such were both capable in the same genetic origins,so is none of that alien human breeding like we see with Star Trek.
And I wanted to create a believable civilization like the Hyborean Age or Pangea would take more than just sinking the continent under the sea.Most creative people don't go beyond the Little Mermaid and such.Don't know how Little Ariel drinks from a cup underwater.Many stories show chrophobic an undersea habitat is and how dangerous.Anything from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to DSV HMS RN Seatation DSV attempted to show that.And another other things like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea did that first long ago.I figured the first was no sunken cities under the sea,with open streets and buildings exposed to the ocean floor environment.After all,you would not a hostile shark swimming in your back yard.
So like Aquaman ,Hydro Pangeans are amphibious,which means they breath both in air and water.I never cared for Marvel Atlanteans not having dual breathing capabilities.Only Prince Namor can breathe on land and Undersea because he is a hybrid Atlantean,Terran.Borin.Oxygen filled City Domes would scattered across the sea.Some of them,would connected to the Plate Dwelling underworld of Pangea on Terra-Prime.Remember this is an artificial world,so we find more things there than on Earth.Hydro Pangeans travel by various sized subs.Few Aqua Steeds and swimming is rare occasions,like hand to hand battle or moving around the outside of an undersea habitation dome.And nobody flies because they have wings on the feet.Sorry,Bill Everett,that was just so stupid and it hasn't got better with age.Never could understand just how that wor anyway.That's why they gave Namor Flying Fish Wings between his arms,despite a few idiot s complaining the the changed and ruined the Sub -Mariner.It ankle wings might make sence in Classic Mythology,but not an age of scientific thought.
These undersea dweller s understand it is hostile they inhabit.They know,that they do not fit of the surface world,being former slaves of a fallen empire.Although there is some contact and limited co-operation between the Crescent Lands of Pangea,the Pan Almerhan Continent and the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea,both see each other as strange,alien cultures.Like the various stories of Conan the Barbarian occur in the pseudo-historical "Hyborian Age", set after the destruction of Atlantis and before the rise of any known ancient civilization,Prince Eric Khorum Rhann takes place between the destruction of an ancient Golden Civilization upon the World of Pangea and before the rise of a mighty civilization upon a Dyson Sphere called Terra-Prime.
The whole reason for creating Prince Eric Khorum Rhann was to mix Prince Namor,Aquaman with Conan and their worlds,but rethink them all.If I was to create just another underwater character,what would be the point ?If I rethought the Hyborean Age and Pangea Amtor on a Dyson Sphere,the undersea counter civilization would also needed to rethought.If any oceanographer would tell you there are forests, mountains, barren wastelands, briny mires, plenty of places to put Atlantis, and much moe,I want to break that popular perception.
Here is a thought for those you out there,who just think I am just ripping off everything from everywhere.Christy Marx,in her utter ignorance told me that once and I simply told,that what you're all doing and just not admitting it.It's what Gene Roddenberry did with Star Trek.It's what George Lucas did with Star Wars.It's Marvel and Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics have been doing for years and also not admitting it.And Christy Marx really did with career,beside share the name with porn actress.Write G.I.Joe and allot of other work for hire junk.Wow.Brilliant.Bravo.
There is no secret cave.No secret vault where people get their ideas.We all just rethink other people's stuff.And that's been going on since the first guy who told tales around a camp fire.
If you think the giants,as Mister Spock says,have said it all and done it all,then good for you.Just please stay a consumer and don't try anything really creative.The business has far too many hacks for hire already,making a career producing new material for other people's crap,and expecting to be called a genius for being a creative salary man.Me I would rather try and create something new.Something of my own.
I think I did a pretty good job,considering what other people have done other the decades.I hope you agree.
Upward Onward Mavericlion.
Doc Thompson.
Introduction
Oh know you travellers of the Seven Seas of Pangea,that there is more the Crescent Lands of Pangea.Down below the oceans is the vast undersea world of Hydro Pangea -a gleaming kingdoms of an underwater civilizations,spread across the sea floor like starfish and clam schell under asure blur waters
Dargokhonean ,and it's dark sister Okhonn cut through the Southern Rim of the Atlantic ocean as a threat to many land surrounding them. The Dargokhoneans and the Okhonn twine kingdoms-Gleaming mailed and silken clad submariners, masters of the Black Burning Sea, Twine Kingdoms revels in sweeping the barely contested wastelands to the west and south .The Khathinay ancient empire, stronghold of the world's greatest time wizards and masters of the eastern world.Argholistan and Khurdistan2 are the two twine kingdoms outside Drakhonia.
Far East is the kingdom of Khathinay ,Nhipon and Chaytharr,the mystic Lands found at the Great Eastern Road of Eastern Kings.Lower to them was the land of ,with dark golden temples in the Vhillandia Undersea Jungles-one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of Hydro Pagea Pangea and Vharkhainian ,land of the Many High Priest of Typonn found among the Hign Himalayan Mountains.Cutting across the Great Northern Tundras is the Land of the Rhushack.They are fur helmed harsh horse riders of steel swords and harsh,brutal city states.The Rhashack fear the decadent ways of the Far Pangean West.
To the far South of the Central Hydro Pangean Kingdoms,was the Dark Kingdoms of the Lower Crescent Lands.There was Alliance of Dark Kingdoms - loose association of nations.Khamarhann,Rhodhankhai,Khudhakhan,Sundhankha,Urhukhandra ,Khanbarr,Zhunnabarr and Vhudhankha.Set among that Also is the Kingdom of Gwaillia in Southern Hydro Pangea -a land of Gill creatures from a distant star.
But the proudest kingdom of the world was Great Aqulonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west.It’s Great Seven Kingdoms of Hither out of Great Central Hydropangea came Prince Eric Khorum Rhann, Son of Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann , his esteemed father. also sometimes known as Toreus the Slayer by his enemies and friends.
Out of Aqualonia swam Prince Eric Khorum Rhann stepped in history with gigantic will of the Holo and determination, this Thuvian Ranger would across the kingdoms of the Crescent Lands of Hydro Pangea seeking this world s lost glory among the skeleton ruins by gone Golden Age."
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann, Lord of Lions black-haired, keen-eyed, great Aqualonean sword in hand, Grand Aqualonium Armor and blaster in hand a slayer of many enemies, with gigantic strength and great courage,assisted by the mysterious Green Guider Gem upon his brow to tread the jeweled thrones of the Terra-Prime with the Great Capronean Orca –Naimarr Shamuu and the Great Hunting by his side with other heroes bring down the dark forces of evil and light back to the New Sons of Terra-prime."
- The Aqualonean Chronicles-Prince Eric Khorum Rhann, the Third.
This is a not tale of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann. The First Son of Thuvia, also sometimes known as Eric Khorum the Slayer by his enemies and Prince Eric Khorum , Lord of the Sea, by friends, but one of companions, Captain Eric Darkwater and Commander Phafnire Khonn.and allies. Not to be confused with Eric Khorum Rhann I, his esteemed father. Much has been said about that worthy elsewhere in the Chronicles of Pangaea and the Book of Aqualonia.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the Fourth.
Aqualonean Chronicles.Tales of Terra-Prime
King Nhaimarr Khonn is basically King Kull/Conan underwater.He is an exile of Kharthonia.The exile of his own kindgon,much like Kull,he becomes king.This is an element first used with my Prince Toreus Ryanne Sagas and reused here.
Like Kull and Conan,he was many things Exile of his own people.A theif with undersea pirates.A mercenary and king.He has traveled all over Hydro Pangea and even to the surface lands.He would tell you,he has done more living for seven life times in his one.
Many of the Khorrovhan cities are made up of Aqualonean Travellers,Hellonean Nomads,Helloshia Nomads.
Undersea King Nhaimarr Khonn of Kharthonia once called on Prince Collen Troy and Khorrovhan Gypsy Navy to back up undersea forces in a war with Warlord Lochnharr Khonn and invading Imperial Navy of the Nharratann Empire .Troy and King Nhaimarr Khonn met up with The Hydrokhonn Nomads,who he knew yeard ago.Naimarr Khonn rescued Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica Drago and Warlord Isaack Drago.
Hellonean Sea Beds is said be haunted by creatures called the Scarlett Death.The Scarlett Death came upon Warlord Locknharr Khonn as his vessel pursues an escaping Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica Drago and Warlord Isaack Drago-all on their hyndro steeds.Locknharr Khonn was forced to flee as the red tide approaches,hoping it kill the three fugitives.
But unknown to him,King Nhaimarr Khonn was near by.His Submarine Carrier 's .activated the near by Jump Portal and Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica Drago and Warlord Isaack Drago rode into and onto the Torpedoe Deck of King Nhaimarr Khonn's super sub.
King Nhairarr Khonn was searching for Prince Eric and two companions.Super Submarine Battle Group had already met up with Prince Arthur Collen Troy,Son of King Archamedes Troy Khorrovhan Sea Beds and was on his way encounter the Prince of Aqualonia,when Warlord Locknharr Khonn captured his ship.
Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica Drago and Warlord Isaack Drago escaped on their Aqua Steeds,as the evil Warlord pursued them onto the outer rim Khorrovhan Sea Beds
It is a coloy of red colored nanites,that lives in small caves about the region.Khorrovhan Pirates can be suddenly confronted by the Scarlett Death,that can attack subs super Catavation Drive and strand the boats.The Scarlet Death is a failed weapon created by the Hydro Pangeans to fight the Nharratann Empire .The test were experimented in Tortage City and managed to what they were ment ,by controlling the Scarlett Death became hard,because of their hive like mind and free will to adapt to any situation.The Hydro Pangeans abandoned them and left the Scarlett Death to their own devices.Khorrovhan Sea Pirates see the Scarlett Death as a barrier against enemy attack,but also understand their existence with the red swarm is difficult.
Nhaimarr Khonn1 the First - the Warlord of Pangea. Formerly a captain of the Thuvian Confederacy and a chieftan of Thuvian Rebel Army -Rhianna Khonn1 the wife of General Khonn1 the First, and Imperial Warlord of Thuvia. Warlord Isaack Drago,Junior of Isaack Drago Senior.Baron of Isaack Drago ),Khantos Drago .(Second Son)-Fraternal Twins,Son of Dejannarro Drago (First Son ),Daughter of Isaack Drago the First -(Aunt Euriel Drogo) ,First Sister to Isaack Drago ,Senior.,(Aunt Delilla) Delilla Drago ,second sister of Isaack Drago the First -
Lady Jessica Drago Sister to Isaack Drago ,Junior.Future Wife of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.Daughter of King Kajakus Drago and granddaughter of Orrin Drago.
Prince Nhaimarr Khonn1 the Third - son of Prince Nhaimarr Khonn1 and Jessica Drago , and a prince of Thuvia. Married to Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth.Princess Tarna Khonn1 - daughter of Prince Nhaimarr Khonn1 and Jessica Drago a princess of Thuvia.
Jessica Drago is an Underwater Red Sonja,without all you can't have me crazy shit.She also has elements of Dejah Thoris, Mary Jane Watson.
Married to Gahan, Prince of Gathol. King Kajakus Drago - father of Jessica Drago , and a Jed of Lesser Thuvia.Queen Thanna Drago-Mother of Jessica Drago
Tardos Mors - King of Thuvia; grandfather of Jessica Drago Uthia - Princess Nagdha Khonn1 's beloved and loyal friend Kantos Kan - Commander of the Thuvian Navy Djor Kantos - son of Kantos Kan and Thuvian Ranger of the 5th Utan Jat Or - Thuvian Ranger and lieutenant of Jessica Drago ' personal guard Vastus Hortus - Thuvian Ranger of navy Val Dor - a dwar renowned for his fighting prowess. Captured and enslaved in Manator, but later freed by Gahan.Zat Arras - man appointed Jed of Hastor after it was absorbed by Vhundria
And Mavericlion Productions presents our story.
Prologue
ONLY theag?e brooded over the mysterious ruins of Khashamesh City , A darker hung over a darked,cracked dome.The vessel was attached to an a small airlock near the bottom of the dome,by its own umbilical boarding ramp tunnel.A board of oxygen bubbles leaked from the doorway,revealing the airlock was not fully secure.
Inside the Command Bridge of the ,stood seven men.All were looking upon the vessels holographic view screen,that projected one of the boats many external holo cameras He is of the mysterious ruins of Khashamesh Cities Golden Palace of the Ivory Khonn.
"Our you sure this is it,Shevatas Torr ?" A black river man spoke to the Commander of this boat.
Fear was there in all Seven men.; Fear quivered in the mind of prince,who was the thieving , driving his breath quick and sharp against his clenched teeth.
"I would not have brought you here,if I was not sure." Prince Shevatas Torr finally spoke. "Whisper Probes had scalwered the dark sea deserts of
He stood, the one atom of life amidst the colossal monuments of desolation and decay. Not even a vulture hung like a black dot in the vast blue vault of the sky that the sun glazed with its heat. On every hand rose the grim relics of another, forgotten age: huge broken pillars, thrusting up their jagged pinnacles into the sky; long wavering lines of crumbling walls; fallen cyclopean blocks of stone; shattered images, whose horrific features the corroding winds and dust-storms had half erased. From horizon to horizon no sign of life: only the sheer breathtaking sweep of the naked desert, bisected by the wandering line of a long-dry river course; in the midst of that vastness the glimmering fangs of the ruins, the columns standing up like broken masts of sunken ships—all dominated by the towering ivory dome before which Shevatas stood trembling.
The base of this dome was a gigantic pedestal of marble rising from what had once been a terraced eminence on the banks of the ancient river. Broad steps led up to a great bronze door in the dome, which rested on its base like the half of some titanic egg. The dome itself was of pure ivory, which shone as if unknown hands kept it polished. Likewise shone the spired gold cap of the pinnacle, and the inscription which sprawled about the curve of the dome in golden hieroglyphics yards long. No man on earth could read those characters, but Shevatas shuddered at the dim conjectures they raised. For he came of a very old race, whose myths ran back to shapes undreamed of by contemporary tribes.
Shevatas Ford was wiry and lithe, as became a master-thief of Zamora. His small round head was shaven, his only garment a loin-cloth of scarlet silk. Like all his race, he was very dark, his narrow vulture-like face set off by his keen black eyes. His long, slender and tapering fingers were quick and nervous as the wings of a moth. From a gold-scaled girdle hung a short, narrow, jewel-hilted sword in a sheath of ornamented leather. Shevatas handled the weapon with apparently exaggerated care. He even seemed to flinch away from the contact of the sheath with his naked thigh. Nor was his care without reason.
This was Shevatas Torr, a thief among thieves, whose name was spoken with awe in the dives of the Dark Mauls of near by Shavavarr City,the most vile and wicked place of Zamora.He was a Zamorean Sea Pirate,who plundered half of the outer rim region of Hydropangea.
and the dim shadowy recesses beneath the temples of Bel, and who lived in songs and myths for a thousand years. Yet fear ate at the heart of Shevatas as he stood before the ivory dome of Kuthchemes. Any fool could see there was something unnatural about the structure; the winds and suns of three thousand years had lashed it, yet its gold and ivory rose bright and glistening as the day it was reared by nameless hands on the bank of the nameless river.
This unnaturalness was in keeping with the general aura of these devil-haunted ruins. This desert was the mysterious expanse lying southeast of the lands of Shem. A few days' ride on camel-back to the southwest, as Shevatas knew, would bring the traveller within sight of the great river Styx at the point where it turned at right angles with its former course, and flowed westward to empty at last into the distant sea. At the point of its bend began the land of Stygia, the dark-bosomed mistress of the south, whose domains, watered by the great river, rose sheer out of the surrounding desert.
Eastward, Shevatas knew, the desert shaded into steppes stretching to the Hyrkanian kingdom of Turan, rising in barbaric splendor on the shores of the great inland sea. A week's ride northward the desert ran into a tangle of barren hills, beyond which lay the fertile uplands of Koth, the southernmost realm of the Hyborian races. Westward the desert merged into the meadowlands of Shem, which stretched away to the ocean.
All this Shevatas knew without being particularly conscious of the knowledge, as a man knows the streets of his town. He was a far traveller and had looted the treasures of many kingdoms. But now he hesitated and shuddered before the highest adventure and the mightiest treasure of all.
In that ivory dome lay the bones of Thugra Khotan, the dark sorcerer who had reigned in Kuthchemes three thousand years ago, when the kingdoms of Stygia stretched far northward of the great river, over the meadows of Shem, and into the uplands. Then the great drift of the Hyborians swept southward from the cradle-land of their race near the northern pole. It was a titanic drift, extending over centuries and ages. But in the reign of Thugra Khotan, the last magician of Kuthchemes, gray-eyed, tawny-haired barbarians in wolfskins and scale-mail had ridden from the north into the rich uplands to carve out the kingdom of Koth with their iron swords. They had stormed over Kuthchemes like a tidal wave, washing the marble towers in blood, and the northern Stygian kingdom had gone down in fire and ruin.
But while they were shattering the streets of his city and cutting down his archers like ripe corn, Locknharr Khonn had swallowed a strange terrible poison, and his masked priests had locked him into the tomb he himself had prepared. His devotees died about that tomb in a crimson holocaust, but the barbarians could not burst the door, nor ever mar the structure by maul or fire. So they rode away, leaving the great city in ruins, and in his ivory-domed sepulcher great Locknharr Khonn slept unmolested, while the lizards of desolation gnawed at the crumbling pillars, and the very river that watered his land in old times sank into the sands and ran dry.
Many a thief sought to gain the treasure which fables said lay heaped about the moldering bones inside the dome. And many a thief died at the door of the tomb, and many another was harried by monstrous dreams to die at last with the froth of madness on his lips.
So Shevatas shuddered as he faced the tomb, nor was his shudder altogether occasioned by the legend of the serpent said to guard the sorcerer's bones. Over all myths of Locknharr Khonn hung horror and death like a pall. From where the thief stood he could see the ruins of the great hall wherein chained captives had knelt by the hundreds during festivals to have their heads hacked off by the priest-king in honor of Set, the Serpent-god of Stygia. Somewhere near by had been the pit, dark and awful, wherein screaming victims were fed to a nameless amorphic monstrosity which came up out of a deeper, more hellish cavern. Legend made Locknharr Khonn more than human; his worship yet lingered in a mongrel degraded cult, whose votaries stamped his likeness on coins to pay the way of their dead over the great river of darkness of which the Styx was but the material shadow. Shevatas had seen this likeness, on coins stolen from under the tongues of the dead, and its image was etched indelibly in his brain.
But he put aside his fears and mounted to the bronze door, whose smooth surface offered no bolt or catch. Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees, and read the forbidden iron-bound books of Vathelos the Blind.
Kneeling before the portal, he searched the sill with nimble fingers; their sensitive tips found projections too small for the eye to detect, or for less-skilled fingers to discover. These he pressed carefully and according to a peculiar system, muttering a long-forgotten incantation as he did so. As he pressed the last projection, he sprang up with frantic haste and struck the exact center of the door a quick sharp blow with his open hand.
There was no rasp of spring or hinge, but the door retreated inward, and the breath hissed explosively from Shevatas's clenched teeth. A short narrow corridor was disclosed. Down this the door had slid, and was now in place at the other end. The floor, ceiling and sides of the tunnel-like aperture were of ivory, and now from an opening on one side came a silent writhing horror that reared up and glared on the intruder with awful luminous eyes; a serpent twenty feet long, with shimmering, iridescent scales.
The thief did not waste time in conjecturing what night-black pits lying below the dome had given sustenance to the monster. Gingerly he drew the sword, and from it dripped a greenish liquid exactly like that which slavered from the scimitar-fangs of the reptile. The blade was steeped in the poison of the snake's own kind, and the obtaining of that venom from the fiend-haunted swamps of Zingara would have made a saga in itself.
Shevatas advanced warily on the balls of his feet, knees bent slightly, ready to spring either way like a flash of light. And he needed all his co-ordinate speed when the snake arched its neck and struck, shooting out its full length like a stroke of lightning. For all his quickness of nerve and eye, Shevatas had died then but for chance. His well-laid plans of leaping aside and striking down on the outstretched neck were put at naught by the blinding speed of the reptile's attack. The thief had but time to extend the sword in front of him, involuntarily closing his eyes and crying out. Then the sword was wrenched from his hand and the corridor was filled with a horrible thrashing and lashing.
Opening his eyes, amazed to find himself still alive, Shevatas saw the monster heaving and twisting its slimy form in fantastic contortions, the sword transfixing its giant jaws. Sheer chance had hurled it full against the point he had held out blindly. A few moments later the serpent sank into shining, scarcely quivering coils, as the poison on the blade struck home.
Gingerly stepping over it, the thief thrust against the door, which this time slid aside, revealing the interior of the dome. Shevatas cried out; instead of utter darkness he had come into a crimson light that throbbed and pulsed almost beyond the endurance of mortal eyes. It came from a gigantic red jewel high up in the vaulted arch of the dome.
Shevatas gaped, inured though he was to the sight of riches. The treasure was there, heaped in staggering profusion—piles of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, turquoises, opals, emeralds; zikkurats of jade, jet and lapis lazuli; pyramids of gold wedges; teocallis of silver ingots; jewel-hilted swords in cloth-of-gold sheaths; golden helmets with colored horsehair crests, or black and scarlet plumes; silver scaled corselets; gem-crusted harness worn by warrior-kings three thousand years in their tombs; goblets carven of single jewels; skulls plated with gold, with moonstones for eyes; necklaces of human teeth set with jewels. The ivory floor was covered inches deep with gold dust that sparkled and shimmered under the crimson glow with a million scintillant lights. The thief stood in a wonderland of magic and splendor, treading stars under his sandalled feet.
But his eyes were focussed on the dais of crystal which rose in the midst of the shimmering array, directly under the red jewel, and on which should be lying the moldering bones, turning to dust with the crawling of the centuries. And as Shevatas looked, the blood drained from his dark features; his marrow turned to ice, and the skin of his back crawled and wrinkled with horror, while his lips worked soundlessly. But suddenly he found his voice in one awful scream that rang hideously under the arching dome. Then again the silence of the ages lay among the ruins of mysterious Kuthchemes.
Chapter One
1. O SLEEPER, AWAKE!
THE LONG TAPERS flickered, sending the black shadows wavering along the walls, and the velvet tapestries rippled. Yet there was no wind in the chamber. Six men stood about the ebony structure,set upon an incline on which lay the green sarcophagus that gleamed like carven jade. In the upraised right hand of each man a curious black Galaxean Glow Globe burned with a weird greenish light. Outside was night and a lost wind moaning among the black trees.
Inside the chamber was tense silence, and the wavering of the shadows, while four pairs of eyes, burning with intensity, were fixed on the long green case across which cryptic hieroglyphics writhed, as if lent life and movement by the unsteady light. The man at the foot of the TyKhonean sarcophagus leaned over it and moved his as if he were writing with a pen, inscribing a mystic symbol in the air. Then he set down the Galaxean Glow Globe that hovered above,on it's paragravity generator at the foot of the case,in give himself a better look at arcane controls,with the hidden Time-Sorcerers Vault .The Temporal Wizard bent down and his black gloves fingers pushed away several cob webs.Strange black spider scurried away as he did,annoyed by this human creature,breaking away from what was several thousand generations of Mystrann spiders ,who made this their home,among the stygian darkness.The Chrono Mage then began mumbling some ancient TyKhonean formula unintelligible to his companions, as he adjusted several dusty controls.The panel flickered a bit with age,as these Atlantean technology based systems stubbornly can to life.The dark wizard thrust a broad white hand into his fur-trimmed robe. When he brought it forth again it was as if he cupped in his palm a ball of living fire.
The other three drew in their breath sharply, and the dark, powerful man who stood at the head of the sarcophagus whispered: "The Heart of Ahriman!"
The other lifted a quick hand for silence. Somewhere a dog began howling dolefully, and a stealthy step padded outside the barred and bolted door. But none looked aside from the mummy-case over which the man in the ermine-trimmed robe was now moving the great flaming jewel while he muttered an incantation that was old when Atlantis sank. The glare of the gem dazzled their eyes, so that they could not be sure of what they saw; but with a splintering crash, the carven lid of the sarcophagus burst outward as if from some irresistible pressure applied from within, and the four men, bending eagerly forward, saw the occupant – a huddled, withered, wizened shape, with dried brown limbs like dead wood showing through moldering bandages.
"And Bringing that thing back will change the course of Hydropangea ?" muttered the small dark man who stood on the right, with a short, sardonic laugh. "It is ready to crumble at a touch. We are fools—"
"He better !" Shevatas Torr cursed " I risked much finding this camber tomb. "
"Shhh!" It was an urgent hiss of command from the large man who held the jewel. Perspiration stood upon his broad white forehead and his eyes were dilated. He leaned forward, and, without touching the thing with his hand, laid on the breast of the mummy the blazing jewel. Then he drew back and watched with fierce intensity, his lips moving in soundless invocation.
It was as if a globe of living fire flickered and burned on the dead, withered bosom. And breath sucked in, hissing, through the clenched teeth of the watchers. For as they watched, an awful transmutation became apparent. The withered shape in the sarcophagus was expanding, was growing, lengthening. The bandages burst and fell into brown dust. The shiveled limbs swelled, straightened. Their dusky hue began to fade.
"By Khaykhonn Torr!" whispered the tall, yellow-haired man on the left. "He was not a TyKhonean . That part at least was true."
Again a trembling finger warned for silence. The hound outside was no longer howling. He whimpered, as with an evil dream, and then that sound, too, died away in silence, in which the yellow-haired man plainly heard the straining of the heavy door, as if something outside pushed powerfully upon it. He half turned, his hand at his sword, but the man in the ermine robe hissed an urgent warning: "Stay! Do not break the chain! And on your life do not go to the door!"
The yellow-haired man shrugged and turned back, and then he stopped short, staring. In the jade sarcophagus lay a living man: a tall, lusty man, naked, white of skin, and dark of hair and beard. He lay motionless, his eyes wide open, and blank and unknowing as a newborn babe's. On his breast the great jewel smoldered and sparkled.
The man in ermine reeled as if from some let-down of extreme tension.
"Ishtar!" he gasped. "It is Warlord Locknharr Khonn !—and he lives! Valerius! Tarascus! Amalric! Do you see? Do you see? You doubted me—but I have not failed! We have been close to the open gates of hell this night, and the shapes of darkness have gathered close about us—aye, they followed him to the very door—but we have brought the great magician back to life."
"And damned our souls to purgatories everlasting, I doubt not," muttered the small, dark man, Tarascus.
The yellow-haired man, Valerius, laughed harshly.
"What purgatory can be worse than life itself? So we are all damned together from birth. Besides, who would not sell his miserable soul for a throne?"
"There is no intelligence in his stare, Orastes," said the large man.
"He has long been deaanswhoas one newly awakened. His mind is empty after the long sleep—nay, he was dead, not sleeping. We brought his spirit back over the voids and gulfs of night and oblivion. I will speak to him."
He bent over the foot of the sarcophagus, and fixing his gaze on the wide dark eyes of the man within, he said, slowly: "Awake, Warlord Locknharr Khonn !"
The lips of the man moved mechanically. "Warlord Locknharr Khonn !" he repeated in a groping whisper.
"You are Warlord Locknharr Khonn !" exclaimed Orasteus Khonn , like a hypnotist driving home his suggestions. "You are Warlord Locknharr Khonn of Python, in Nharratann Empire ."
A dim flame flickered in the dark eyes.
"I was Warlord Locknharr Khonn ," he whispered. "I am dead."
"You are Warlord Locknharr Khonn !" cried Qrastes. "You are not dead! You live!"
"I am Warlord Locknharr Khonn ," came the eery whisper. "But I am dead. In my house in Khemi, in Stygia, there I died."
"And the priests who poisoned you mummified your body with their dark arts, keeping all your organs intact!" exclaimed Orasteus Khonn . "But now you live again! The Heart of Ahriman has restored your life, drawn your spirit back from space and eternity."
"The Heart of Ahriman!" The flame of remembrance grew stronger. "The barbarians stole it from me!"
"He remembers," muttered Orasteus Khonn . "Lift him from the case."
The others obeyed hesitantly, as if reluctant to touch the man they had recreated, and they seemed not easier in their minds when they felt firm muscular flesh, vibrant with blood and life, beneath their fingers. But they lifted him upon the table, and Orasteus Khonn clothed him in a curious dark velvet robe, splashed with gold stars and crescent moons, and fastened a cloth-of-gold fillet about his temples, confining the black wavy locks that fell to his shoulders. He let them do as they would, saying nothing, not even when they set him in a carven throne-like chair with a high ebony back and wide silver arms, and feet like golden claws. He sat there motionless, and slowly intelligence grew in his dark eyes and made them deep and strange and luminous. It was as if long-sunken witch-lights floated slowly up through midnight pools of darkness.
Orasteus Khonn cast a furtive glance at his companions, who stood staring in morbid fascination at their strange guest. Their iron nerves had withstood an ordeal that might have driven weaker men mad. He knew it was with no weaklings that he conspired, but men whose courage was as profound as their lawless ambitions and capacity for evil. He turned his attention to the figure in the ebon-black chair. And this one spoke at last.
"I remember," he said in a strong, resonant voice, speaking Nemedian with a curious, archaic accent. "I am Warlord Locknharr Khonn , who was high priest of Set in Python, which was in Nharratann Empire . The Heart of Ahriman—I dreamed I had found it again—where is it?"
Orasteus Khonn placed it in his hand, and he drew breath deeply as he gazed into the depths of the terrible jewel burning in his grasp.
"They stole it from me, long ago," he said. "The red heart of the night it is, strong to save or to damn. It came from afar, and from long ago. While I held it, none could stand before me. But it was stolen from me, and Nharratann Empire fell, and I fled an exile into dark Stygia. Much I remember, but much I have forgotten. I have been in a far land, across misty voids and gulfs and unlit oceans. What is the year?"
Orasteus Khonn answered him. "It is the waning of the Year of the Lion, three thousand years after the fall of Nharratann Empire ."
"Three thousand years!" murmured the other. "So long? Who are you?"
"I am Orasteus Khonn , once a priest of Mitra. "Orasteus Khonn said. "I am one of your last descendents.It is my family,your story came down from one generation to another. "
"Really !" Locknharr Khonn spoke "You must of Rhacknhuss Khonn's family line.I see something in him in you."
"Rhacknhuss Khonn was indeed my very distant ancestor."Orasteus Khonn returned.
"Who are these others ? I do not know any of them ?
"This man is Amalric Khaaza, baron of Tor, in Nemedia. "Orasteus Khonn said pointing to his right." He is a decendent of Lord Amalric Khaaza.He if you remember was Baron of the Brythundrian Province and an associate of yours in those ancient times.
Correct,I remember him.
" This other is Tarascus Khamarr, younger brother of the king of Nemedia ."Orasteus Khonn said pointing to his right."He is a descendent of Tamascus Khamarr, He if you remember was Baron of the Nemedean Province and an associate of yours in those ancient times.
This is Shevatas Torr-Prince of Zamora.Todd is a descendent of Prince Stradivarius Torr.Another friend of yours.
And this tall man is Valerius Mhannus, rightful heir of the throne of Aquilonia."he pointed to far right
I see,your are all descended from people from my unholy Black Circles.They were all loyal individuals.
"Why have you given me life?" demanded Warlord Locknharr Khonn . "What do you require of me?"
The man was now fully alive and awake, his keen eyes reflecting the working of an unclouded brain. There was no hesitation or uncertainty in his manner. He came directly to the point, as one who knows that no man gives something for nothing. Orasteus Khonn met him with equal candor.
"We have opened the doors of hell this night to free your soul and return it to your body because we need your aid. We wish to place Tarascus on the throne of Nemedia, and to win for Valerius the crown of Aquilonia. With your necromancy you can aid us."
Warlord Locknharr Khonn 's mind was devious and full of unexpected slants.
"You must be deep in the arts yourself, Orasteus Khonn , to have been able to restore my life. How is it that a priest of Rhacknhuss Khonn knows of the Heart of Ahriman, and the incantations of Skelos?"
"I am no longer a priest of Rhacknhuss Khonn," answered Orasteus Khonn . "I was cast forth from my order because of my delving in black magic. But for Amalric there I might have been burned as a magician.
"But that left me free to pursue my studies. I journeyed in Zamora, in Vendhya, in Stygia, and among the haunted jungles of Khitai. I read the ironbound books of Skelos, and talked with unseen creatures in deep wells, and faceless shapes in black reeking jungles. I obtained a glimpse of your sarcophagus in the demon-haunted crypts below the black giant-walled temple of Set in the hinterlands of Stygia, and I learned of the arts that would bring back life to your shriveled corpse. From moldering manuscripts I learned of the Heart of Ahriman. Then for a year I sought its hiding-place, and at last I found it."
"Then why trouble to bring me back to life?" demanded Warlord Locknharr Khonn , with his piercing gaze fixed on the priests. "Why did you not employ the Heart to further your own power?"
"Because no man today knows the secrets of the Heart," answered Orasteus Khonn . "Not even in legends live the arts by which to loose its full powers. I knew it could restore life; of its deeper secrets I am ignorant. I merely used it to bring you back to life. It is the use of your knowledge we seek. As for the Heart, you alone know its awful secrets."
Warlord Locknharr Khonn shook his head, staring broodingly into the flaming depths.
"My necromantic knowledge is greater than the sum of all the knowledge of other men," he said; "yet I do not know the full power of the jewel. I did not invoke it in the old days; I guarded it lest it be used against me. At last it was stolen, and in the hands of a feathered shaman of the barbarians it defeated all my mighty sorcery. Then it vanished, and I was poisoned by the jealous priests of Stygia before I could learn where it was hidden."
"It was hidden in a cavern below the temple of Rhacknhuss Khonn, in Tarantia," said Orasteus Khonn . "By devious ways I discovered this, after I had located your remains in Set's subterranean temple in Stygia.
"Zamorian thieves, partly protected by spells I learned from sources better left unmentioned, stole your mummy-case from under the very talons of those which guarded it in the dark, and by camel-caravan and galley and ox- wagon it came at last to this city.
"Those same thieves—or rather those of them who still lived after their frightful quest—stole the Heart of Ahriman from its haunted cavern below the temple of Rhacknhuss Khonn, and all the skill of men and the spells of sorcerers nearly failed. One man of them lived long enough to reach me and give the jewel into my hands, before he died slavering and gibbering of what he had seen in that accursed crypt. The thieves of Zamora are the most faithful of men to their trust. Even with my conjurements, none but them could have stolen the Heart from where it has lain in demon-guarded darkness since the fall of Nharratann Empire , three thousand years ago."
Warlord Locknharr Khonn lifted his lion-like head and stared far off into space, as if plumbing the lost centuries.
"Three thousand years!" he muttered. "Set! Tell me what has chanced in the world."
"The barbarians who overthrew Nharratann Empire set up new kingdoms," quoted Orasteus Khonn . "Where the empire had stretched now rose realms called Aquilonia, and Nemedia, and Argos, from the tribes that founded them. The older kingdoms of Ophir, Corinthia and western Koth, which had been subject to the kings of Nharratann Empire , regained their independence with the fall of the empire."
"And what of the people of Nharratann Empire ?" demanded Orasteus Khonn . "When I fled into Stygia, Python was in ruins, and all the great, purple-towered cities of Nharratann Empire fouled with blood and trampled by the sandals of the barbarians."
"In the hills small groups of folk still boast descent from Nharratann Empire ," answered Orasteus Khonn . "For the rest, the tide of my barbarian ancestors rolled over them and wiped them out. They—my ancestors—had suffered much from the kings of Nharratann Empire ."
A grim and terrible smile curled the Pythonian's lips.
"Aye! Many a barbarian, both man and woman, died screaming on the altar under this hand. I have seen their heads piled to make a pyramid in the great square in Python when the kings returned from the west with their spoils and naked captives."
"Aye. And when the day of reckoning came, the sword was not spared. So Nharratann Empire ceased to be, and purple-towered Python became a memory of forgotten days. But the younger kingdoms rose on the imperial ruins and waxed great. And now we have brought you back to aid us to rule these kingdoms, which, if less strange and wonderful than Nharratann Empire of old, are yet rich and powerful, well worth fighting for. Look!" Orasteus Khonn unrolled before the stranger a map drawn cunningly on vellum.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn regarded it, and then shook his head, baffled.
"The very outlines of the land are changed. It is like some familiar thing seen in a dream, fantastically distorted."
"Howbeit," answered Orasteus Khonn , tracing with his forefinger, "here is Belverus, the capital of Nemedia, in which we now are. Here run the boundaries of the land of Nemedia. To the south and southeast are Ophir and Corinthia, to the east Brythunia, to the west Aquilonia."
"It is the map of a world I do not know," said Warlord Locknharr Khonn softly, but Orasteus Khonn did not miss the lurid fire of hate that flickered in his dark eyes.
"It is a map you shall help us change," answered Orastes. "It is our desire first to set Tarascus on the throne of Nemedia. We wish to accomplish this without strife, and in such a way that no suspicion will rest on Tarascus. We do not wish the land to be torn by civil wars, but to reserve all our power for the conquest of Aquilonia.
"Should King Nimed and his sons die naturally, in a plague for instance, Tarascus would mount the throne as the next heir, peacefully and unopposed."
Warlord Locknharr Khonn nodded, without replying, and Orastes continued.
"The other task will be more difficult. We cannot set Valerius on the Aquilonian throne without a war, and that kingdom is a formidable foe. Its people are a hardy, war-like race, toughened by continual wars with the Picts, Zingarians and Kharthonianns. For five hundred years Aquilonia and Nemedia have intermittently waged war, and the ultimate advantage has always lain with the Aquilonians.bank.
The current ruler in The United Kingdoms of Hydropangea is a distant ancestor of the man,who skew you.
This Sea King Vhallan Dhallas Rhax created a dynamic dynasty that last to this day.Those Who rebelled against your rule became the Founding fathers of a Great empire.
"Wis h to see...this ancestor to Vhallan Dhallas Rhax dynasty.
Very well.
This mirror cast no reflection, but Warlord Locknharr Khonn 's expression showed that he understood its purpose, and Orastes nodded with the pride a good craftsman takes in the recognition of his accomplishments by a master of his craft.
"Their present king is the most renowned warrior among the western nations. He is an ancestor of outlander,adventurer who seized the crown by force during a time of civil strife, strangling King Namedides with his own hands, upon the very throne.
The image of a tall,handsome man,in the Imperial Aqualonean armor of all his kind.
His name is Primus Khorum Rhann, and no man can stand before him in battle.His allies are the night of a formidable undersea empire in Hydropangea.
"Valerius is now the rightful heir of the throne of Aqualonia.
His great grandfather had been driven into exile by his royal kinsman, Namedides, and has been away from his native realm for years, but he is of the blood of the old dynasty, and many of the barons of his land would secretly hail the overthrow of King Prumus , who they are as a thorn in their royal sides.
This Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann,
he appeared to be somewhat no much an Aqualonean.Somehow,he seems...different somehow.
This man in not a pure blood Aqualonean.His grandfather comes from the surface world.
But the common people are loyal to him, and the nobility of the outlying provinces.he has built a mighty royal family about him.His son Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,is said to be young.Unskilled in battle,in not a degree as his father,but that too might change.
"I would see this....Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.""Warlord Locknharr Khonn asked. " I once under estimated his ancestor
Yet if his forces were overthrown in the battle that must first take place, and
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann himself slain, I think it would not be difficult to put Valerius on the throne. Indeed, with Prince Eric Khorum Rhann slain, the only center of the government,he represents might be in turmoil.
"Perhaps or maybe his family might turn upon those murderers him."Locknharr Khonn surmised. "We may try other things to move his dynasty in other directions.
"Like what ?
" Kidnapping and ransom.!We might gain by using that as leverage.
Primus Khorum Rhann is allied to the descendants of those that removed you from power.
Shown me.
This is Sea King Khachalla Zhurass.He is a great descendent of Tukhalla Zharass.
The holo images of a tall,dark broad shoulder ed black appears
Here is Sea King Zhantaruss Tardass.He is a great descendent of Lord KhokhackTardass
This is Sea King Khanhussus McKool.He is a great descendent of Brann McKool
Here is Sea King Januss Karr,the Third.He is a great descendent of Lord Rhandolph Karr.
This is Sea King Kharzan Khorr.He is a great descendent of Baron Khazarr Khorr.
This is Sea King Uthorr Conner Troy.He is a great descendent of Vhanus Collen Troy.
This is Sea King Khotharr Vhanallus.He is a great descendent of Prince Khothann Vhanallus
They are indeed a formidable set opponent .We will just have to be very clever.Very curious.
There is one element hard to control.
Who would be ?
King Nhaimarr Khonn.I know this man.He is very cunning.You try to trap him and This famed barbarian will use fierce,savage mind to turn the tables in his favor. "
Show me!"I wish that I might see this king," mused Warlord Locknharr Khonn , glancing toward a silvery spinning sphere,which formed one of the holographic image s centered inside several rotating silver rings.
Orasteus Khonn adjusted the Seraphean Crystal Rods upon the floating bowl.The images of Vhallon Collen Troy vanished and was charged to a large,from face hulking of a man.It was uncanny, but those watching knew it was no more than the reflected image of Orastes' thought, embodied in that swirling sphere of light as a wizard's thoughts and command s of holographic thought records of a thousand Time Vault,scattered across Hydropangea and were the embodied in a magic Serapheans crystals. It floated hazily, then leaped into startling clarity—a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accouterments. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs.
He is not part of a dynasty, but only a lone adventurer."
mused Warlord Locknharr Khonn , glancing toward a silvery mirror which formed one of the panels of the wall. This mirror cast no reflection, but Warlord Locknharr Khonn 's expression showed that he understood its purpose, and Orastes nodded with the pride a good craftsman takes in the recognition of his accomplishments by a master of his craft.
He is an outlander, an adventurer who seized the crown by force during a time of civil strife, strangling King Namedides with his own hands, upon the very throne.
"I will try to show him to you," he said. And seating himself before the mirror, he gazed hypnotically into its depths, where presently a dim shadow began to take shape.
Orasteus Khonn adjusted the Seraphean Crystal Rods upon the floating bowl.The images of Vhallon Collen Troy vanished and was charged to a large,from face hulking of a man.It was uncanny, but those watching knew it was no more than the reflected image of Orastes' thought, embodied in that swirling sphere of light as a wizard's thoughts and command s of holographic thought records of a thousand Time Vault,scattered across Hydropangea and were the embodied in a magic Serapheans crystals. It floated hazily, then leaped into startling clarity—a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accouterments. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs.
"This is Sea King Nhaimarr Khonn. "
"That man is Aqualonean !" exclaimed Warlord Locknharr Khonn "but somehow he differs in some way !
"
"No; he is a Kharthoniann, one of those wild tribesmen who dwell in the gray hills of the north."
"I fought his ancestors of old," muttered Warlord Locknharr Khonn . "Not even the kings of Nharratann Empire could conquer them."
"They still remain a terror to the nations of the south," answered Orastes. "He is a true son of that savage race, and has proved himself, thus far, unconquerable."
He is not part of a dynasty, but only a lone adventurer."
Warlord Locknharr Khonn did not reply; he sat staring down at the pool of living fire that shimmered in his hand. Outside, the hound howled again, long and shudderingly.
Prologue:
CHAPTER 2
RUMORS drifted up through the meadowlands, into the cities of the Hyborians. The word ran along the caravans, the long camel-trains plodding through the sands, herded by lean, hawkeyed men in white kaftans. It was passed on by the hook-nosed herdsmen of the grasslands, from the dwellers in tents to the dwellers in the squat stone cities where kings with curled blueblack beards worshipped round-bellied gods with curious rites. The word passed up through the fringe of hills where gaunt tribesmen took toll of the caravans. The rumors came into the fertile uplands where stately cities rose above blue lakes and rivers: the rumors marched along the broad white roads thronged with ox-wains, with lowing herds, with rich merchants, knights in steel, archers and priests.
They were rumors from the desert that lies east of Stygia, far south of the Kothian hills. A new prophet had risen among the nomads. Men spoke of tribal war, of a gathering of vultures in the southeast, and a terrible leader who led his swiftly increasing hordes to victory. The Stygians, ever a menace to the northern nations, were apparently not connected with this movement; for they were massing armies on their eastern borders and their priests were making magic to fight that of the desert sorcerer, whom men called Natohk, the Veiled One; for his features were always masked.
But the tide swept northwestward, and the blue-bearded kings died before the altars of their pot-bellied gods, and their squat-walled cities were drenched in blood. Men said that the uplands of the Hyborians were the goal of Natohk and his chanting votaries.
Raids from the desert were not uncommon, but this latest movement seemed to promise more than a raid. Rumor said Natohk had welded thirty nomadic tribes and fifteen cities into his following, and that a rebellious Stygian prince had joined him. This latter lent the affair an aspect of real war.
Characteristically, most of the Hyborian nations were prone to ignore the growing menace. But in Khoraja, carved out of Shemite lands by the swords of Kothic adventurers, heed was given. Lying southeast of Koth, it would bear the brunt of the invasion. And its young king was captive to the treacherous king of Ophir, who hesitated between restoring him for a huge ransom, or handing him over to his enemy, the penurious king of Koth, who offered no gold, but an advantageous treaty. Meanwhile, the rule of the struggling kingdom was in the white hands of young princess Yasmela, the king's sister.
Minstrels sang her beauty throughout the western world, and the pride of a kingly dynasty was hers. But on that night her pride was dropped from her like a cloak. In her chamber whose ceiling was a lapis lazuli dome, whose marble floor was littered with rare furs, and whose walls were lavish with golden friezework, ten girls, daughters of nobles, their slender limbs weighted with gem-crusted armlets and anklets, slumbered on velvet couches about the royal bed with its golden dais and silken canopy. But princess Yasmela lolled not on that silken bed. She lay naked on her supple belly upon the bare marble like the most abased suppliant, her dark hair streaming over her white shoulders, her slender fingers intertwined. She lay and writhed in pure horror that froze the blood in her lithe limbs and dilated her beautiful eyes, that pricked the roots of her dark hair and made goose-flesh rise along her supple spine.
Above her, in the darkest corner of the marble chamber, lurked a vast shapeless shadow. It was no living thing of form or flesh and blood. It was a clot of darkness, a blur in the sight, a monstrous night-born incubus that might have been deemed a figment of a sleep-drugged brain, but for the points of blazing yellow fire that glimmered like two eyes from the blackness.
Moreover, a voice issued from it—a low subtle inhuman sibilance that was more like the soft abominable hissing of a serpent than anything else, and that apparently could not emanate from anything with human lips. Its sound as well as its import filled Yasmela with a shuddering horror so intolerable that she writhed and twisted her slender body as if beneath a lash, as though to rid her mind of its insinuating vileness by physical contortion.
"You are marked for mine, princess," came the gloating whisper. "Before I wakened from the long sleep I had marked you, and yearned for you, but I was held fast by the ancient spell by which I escaped mine enemies. I am the soul of Natohk, the Veiled One! Look well upon me, princess! Soon you shall behold me in my bodily guise, and shall love me!"
The ghostly hissing dwindled off in lustful titterings, and Yasmela moaned and beat the marble tiles with her small fists in her ecstasy of terror.
"I sleep in the palace chamber of Akbatana," the sibilances continued. "There my body lies in its frame of bones and flesh. But it is but an empty shell from which the spirit has flown for a brief space. Could you gaze from that palace casement you would realize the futility of resistance. The desert is a rose garden beneath the moon, where blossom the fires of a hundred thousand warriors. As an avalanche sweeps onward, gathering bulk and momentum, I will sweep into the lands of mine ancient enemies. Their kings shall furnish me skulls for goblets, their women and children shall be slaves of my slaves' slaves. I have grown strong in the long years of dreaming...
"But thou shalt be my queen, oh princess! I will teach thee the ancient forgotten ways of pleasure. We—" Before the stream of cosmic obscenity which poured from the shadowy colossus, Yasmela cringed and writhed as if from a whip that flayed her dainty bare flesh.
"Remember!" whispered the horror. "The days will not be many before I come to claim mine own!"
Yasmela, pressing her face against the tiles and stopping her pink ears with her dainty fingers, yet seemed to hear a strange sweeping noise, like the beat of bat wings. Then, looking fearfully up, she saw only the moon that shone through the window with a beam that rested like a silver sword across the spot where the phantom had lurked. Trembling in every limb, she rose and staggered to a satin couch, where she threw herself down, weeping hysterically. The girls slept on, but one, who roused, yawned, stretched her slender figure and blinked about. Instantly she was on her knees beside the couch, her arms about Yasmela's supple waist.
"Was it—was it—?" Her dark eyes were wide with fright. Yasmela caught her in a convulsive grasp.
"Oh, Vateesa. It came again! I saw It—heard It speak! It spoke Its name—Natohk! It is Natohk! It is not a nightmare—it towered over me while the girls slept like drugged ones. What oh, what shall I do?"
Vateesa twisted a golden bracelet about her rounded arm in meditation.
"Oh, princess," she said, "it is evident that no mortal power can deal with It, and the charm is useless that the priests of Ishtar gave you. Therefore seek you the forgotten oracle of Mitra."
In spite of her recent fright, Yasmela shuddered. The gods of yesterday become the devils of tomorrow. The Kothians had long since abandoned the worship of Mitra, forgetting the attributes of the universal Hyborian god. Yasmela had a vague idea that, being very ancient, it followed that the deity was very terrible. Ishtar was much to be feared, and all the gods of Koth. Kothian culture and religion had suffered from a subtle admixture of Shemite and Stygian strains. The simple ways of the Hyborians had become modified to a large extent by the sensual, luxurious, yet despotic habits of the East.
"Will Mitra aid me?" Yasmela caught Vateesa's wrist in her eagerness. "We have worshipped Ishtar so long—"
"To be sure he will!" Vateesa was the daughter of an Ophirean priest who had brought his customs with him when he fled from political enemies to Khoraja. "Seek the shrine! I will go with you."
"I will!" Yasmela rose, but objected when Vateesa prepared to dress her. "It is not fitting that I come before the shrine clad in silk. I will go naked, on my knees, as befits a suppliant, lest Mitra deem I lack humility."
"Nonsense!" Vateesa had scant respect for the ways of what she deemed a false cult. "Mitra would have folks stand upright before him—not crawling on their bellies like worms, or spilling blood of animals all over his altars."
Thus objurgated, Yasmela allowed the girl to garb her in the light sleeveless silk shirt, over which was slipped a silken tunic, bound at the waist by a wide velvet girdle. Satin slippers were put upon her slender feet, and a few deft touches of Vateesa's pink fingers arranged her dark wavy tresses. Then the princess followed the girl, who drew aside a heavy gilt-worked tapestry and threw the golden bolt of the door it concealed. This let into a narrow winding corridor, and down this the two girls went swiftly, through another door and into a broad hallway. Here stood a guardsman in crested gilt helmet, silvered cuirass and gold-chased greaves, with a long-shafted battle-ax in his hands.
A motion from Yasmela checked his exclamation and, saluting, he took his stand again beside the doorway, motionless as a brazen image. The girls traversed the hallway, which seemed immense and eery in the light of the cressets along the lofty walls, and went down a stairway where Yasmela shivered at the blots of shadows which hung in the angles of the walls. Three levels down they halted at last in a narrow corridor whose arched ceiling was crusted with jewels, whose floor was set with blocks of crystal, and whose walls were decorated with golden friezework. Down this shining way they stole, holding each other's hands, to a wide portal of gilt.
Vateesa thrust open the door, revealing a shrine long forgotten except by a faithful few, and royal visitors to Khoraja's court, mainly for whose benefit the fane was maintained. Yasmela had never entered it before, though she was born in the palace. Plain and unadorned in comparison to the lavish display of Ishtar's shrines, there was about it a simplicity of dignity and beauty characteristic of the Mitran religion.
The ceiling was lofty, but it was not domed, and was of plain white marble, as were the walls and floor, the former with a narrow gold frieze running about them. Behind an altar of clear green jade, unstained with sacrifice, stood the pedestal whereon sat the material manifestation of the deity. Yasmela looked in awe at the sweep of the magnificent shoulders, the clear-cut features—the wide straight eyes, the patriarchal beard, the thick curls of the hair, confined by a simple band about the temples. This, though she did not know it, was art in its highest form—the free, uncramped artistic expression of a highly esthetic race, unhampered by conventional symbolism.
She fell on her knees and thence prostrate, regardless of Vateesa's admonition, and Vateesa, to be on the safe side, followed her example; for after all, she was only a girl, and it was very awesome in Mitra's shrine. But even so she could not refrain from whispering in Yasmela's ear.
"This is but the emblem of the god. None pretends to know what Mitra looks like. This but represents him in idealized human form, as near perfection as the human mind can conceive. He does not inhabit this cold stone, as your priests tell you Ishtar does. He is everywhere—above us, and about us, and he dreams betimes in the high places among the stars. But here his being focusses. Therefore call upon him."
"What shall I say?" whispered Yasmela in stammering terror.
"Before you can speak, Mitra knows the contents of your mind—" began Vateesa. Then both girls started violently as a voice began in the air above them. The deep, calm, bell-like tones emanated no more from the image than from anywhere else in the chamber. Again Yasmela trembled before a bodiless voice speaking to her, but this time it was not from horror or repulsion.
"Speak not, my daughter, for I know your need," came the intonations like deep musical waves beating rhythmically along a golden beach. "In one manner may you save your kingdom, and saving it, save all the world from the fangs of the serpent which has crawled up out of the darkness of the ages. Go forth upon the streets alone, and place your kingdom in the hands of the first man you meet there."
The unechoing tones ceased, and the girls stared at each other. Then, rising, they stole forth, nor did they speak until they stood once more in Yasmela's chamber. The princess stared out of the gold-barred windows. The moon had set. It was long past midnight. Sounds of revelry had died away in the gardens and on the roofs of the city. Khoraja slumbered beneath the stars, which seemed to be reflected in the cressets that twinkled among the gardens and along the streets and on the flat roofs of houses where folk slept.
"What will you do?" whispered Vateesa, all a-tremble.
"Give me my cloak," answered Yasmela, setting her teeth.
Jessica Drago looked up the holo screen of her nations undersea map.Small blips appeared crossing the outer defence perimeters.Torpedo Outpost let fly a barrage of underwater missiles.Some passed by small targets and few hit smaller targets and they dissapeared from the veiw screen,while the larger one employed a variety of undersea countermeasures destroying the attacking torpedoes.It was like watching schools of fish attacking a large herd of Capronean Whales.Nothing hurt them.Nothing bothered them.They came across the outermost regions outer rim of Vhundria.
The Scarlett haired beauty slammed her first against the control systems dashboard.
"By Vhallard Drogo,is there nothing that will stop them from raiding outposts ?" she screamed.
"Dear cousin,cursing to our celebrated ancestor who founded this undersea kingdom will not help neither. "a voice shot from behind.Jessica Drago turned to see a tall darked giant dressed in the male version of her own Vhundrian diving suite.He wore a tight black fish scaled Combat Utlity vest,with golden metal s on one side and communication badge on the left breast pocket.A Dargokhonean Loin Cloths cover his croch area,used to protect any vitals found there.He had Krakhen Shoulder Pads,like many Aqua Mariners wore.He also wore a dark green and red Argrothian Battle Utility Vest over it.His great arms folded.He had the general Sarkhon Replicator Arm Band on the right upper arm and on the left opposite it was the Karza Medical Industries,Inc.Bio Recorder Arm Band.One useful for repairing battle damage of ones self and equipment.The other useful for monitoring one life sign and medical data.
A sword belt of Carolinthian Leather belt wrapped about his broad waistline..In it hung a Great Aqualonian Broad Sword.A jewelled Rhokhokai dagger was set opposite it.His handsome face wore a black neatly trimmed goutee and his blue green eyes glowed from the reflective lights with the Primary Palace Command Center.
" Dear cousin Isaack Drago. " Princess Jessica Drago responded.
"That's Warlord Isaack Drago ,dear beautiful cousin."
" I know . " "It's just whole thing is driving me made.I'm warrior, and father and mother won't let me fight."
"You're also First Daughter of Vhundria.That makes you too valuable to get killed out there or worse kidnapped by Bastard of an enemy,looking to exploit a weakness."
" I'm not weak. "Jessica Drago complains." I can fight as good as any male r. "*
"But your position in life is.If you were a nobody,that would be different.
" No,I know who I am,but I also know what I can do,but nobody will let me just try.I am as good as male soldier.Better than most rs. "Jessir Drago cursed
"But your still the draughter of a King Kajakus Drago and Queen Thanna Drago."Isaack Drago responded.
*pronounced either Sub-Mariner or r.
Jessica Drago was silent for a minute .The Vhundrian Princess was thinking over the problem and looked up.Her expressions changed as she just thought of something.Isaack Drago -Son of Junior of Isaack Drago Senior looked at her and knew what ever his beautiful cousin was thinking,would eventually onvolve him in small way.Sometimes that was ok,but other times not so good.Once,he became involved her scheme to travel about the thirty one city domes of Vhundria.In the City Dome of Scalunthia-a underwater pleasure resort and theme park,Princess Jessica Drago got mixed up a poker game.She won,but the eyed BastaOctussamas2mas object ed and thought she cheated,which wasn't true.Octussas Attumas was simply a bad poker player,a half wit with busted skull and poor loser.Warlord Isaack Drago and his beautiful cousin had to sword fight their way out.Things got heavy for the too.Jessica Drago was standing on a table whipping the rowdy crowds away,while Isaack Drago fought off Octussas Attumas by beating him unconditionally unconscious with a wooden chair.The two fled by beating the last of the erratic crowd off with a big rotette wheel table.The two fled back to the Capital City of Vhundria.
"Come lets see my father." Jessica Drago ordered.
Isaack Drogo followed,but only reluctantly.He knew one thing.If he argued,Jessica Drago would pull out,I am a Princess of the Realm crap ! And he knew,once his dear cousin's mind was made up,nothing sort of the threat of death,would stop her.The two strolled down long blue hall,trimmed in silver and gold sea shells and dancing fish.Isaack Drago wondered why many undersea realms declarated everything in sea Schells,starfish and fish.Was it just a thing all undersea architects and designers did automatically or was some artisans movement,that they all enjoyed.Once.Just once,he would like to see a big whale or a shark.
The two passed through two huge golden doors,that split apart in the middle with a great swish.Jessica Drago and Isaack Drago move beyond into grand chamber,inlaid with ivory tiles along the far walls and gold trim.Two transparent pillars were fixed on each side,two transparent columbs of bubbing water moved upwards.A red carpet runs up towards twin throne.Upon these two thrones sat King Kajakus Drago and Queen Thanna Drago of Vhundria.Both were talking to High Chamberlain Marcos Tue the Third -an elderly man,whose father High Chamberlain Marcos Tue the Second and grandfather High Chamberlain Marcos Tue the First served the Royal Family of the Kingdom.
"Daughter."King Kajakus Drago asked "What brings you here to the Royal Throne Room ?"
" The trouble s in the Outer Region of the Kingdom.Have you noticed the invaders are still hitting us hard along the Outer Post ? "
"Yes.this is what we were just discussing with High Chamberlain Marcos Tue."King Kajakus responded.
High Chamberlain Marcos Tue bowed a bit and smiled.He was a modest man and not brag too much any achievements.Everyone knew what he had done for Imperial Court.
"I hope you are not asking to lead a battle group into the area.
" No.! " "Lease,I don't think so."
" Good,but we do have a task for you.
And what would that be ?
We need someone to send an emissary to the Aqualonean Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann.And we can spare anyone,but some one with ambassador ship duties. "King Kajakus explained.
"And that would leave me,since we have few ambassadors within the Capital City.Ambassador Dell Tarres is away taking with the king and queen of Vhundria.
I figured..We figured you and cousin Warlord Drago could go see him.We would like to speak with young Prince Eric Khorum Rhann about allowing the use of Imperial Aqualonean Navies to help defend our boarders.We in return would have stronger ties to capital kingdom."
"i hear the young Prince is very handsome and unattached,my husband."Queen Thanna Drago added.
" Now,dear lets pressure the girl.She will pic who she likes. "
"I just want my daughter to understand everything,will not be all work.This duty might be a bit of fun."
"mm.Well ,in any event.Would you help your kingdom ?
"Yes,I will.I will get ready immediately,father..mother."
Chapter One
The Princess Comes Riding
The Twins Cities of Aqualon and Hydralon,was kept under a massively transparent segmendomed dome of blue green Atlantium Titanium transparent steel.The device,that made it transparent was the chameleon camouflage technology,known to the ancient Atlanteans so,so long ago.It could transform an undersea warrior or craft,into any color,even invisible to the naked eyes of sensor devices of an enemy,in times of war.It could also render a city dome,also such by lowering it's visual profile to hear zero levels of the light spectrum and making anything appear to be as clear as glass.
Like a great behemoth,the HMS Thackoth Drago rose from our of the grand moon pool,slowly displacing water upward as it surfaces.A long gantry swings across to greet the vessels upper open deck.Railings awash with water,as the boat clears the last bit of surface waves.
"Stand clear for departure." Captain Arthos Brenton orders for crew members to hear aboard the vessel. "Repete.Stand clear for departure "
The long gantry moves into place as it sucks with the board upper railing.A small gate swings back,as if ghostly hands have moved it backwards.
The two cities sat like huge glowing undersea squides,waiting for prey to swim by.
The blare of the trumpets grew louder, like a deep golden tide surge,like the soft booming of the evening tides against the silver beaches of Aqualon and Hydralon.These were the Imperial Aqualonean Trumpet players ,who trained mainly since birth and were proud students of Curtis Musical Academy of Aqualon City.Behind them came a band of flute players and bagpipes.This was grand tradition,since the Aqualonean true origins with the Avalonean Highlanders of ancient Atlantean origin and Thuvian Highlands of the surface worlds Central Pangea of the Great Crescent Lands.
The throng shouted, women flung roses from the roofs as the rhythmic chiming of silver hosts came clearer and the first of the mighty array swung into view in the broad, white street that curved round the golden-spired Tower of Splendor.
First came the Avalonean trumpeters, slim youths, clad in scarlet, riding with a flourish of long, slender golden trumpets; behind the Avalonean bagpipers.A small band of young females hosted batons about behind them.
But next came the pride of the Aqualonean military.
Behind the musical bands came the Imperial Soldiers.Next the bowmen, tall men from the mountains; and behind these the heavily armed footmen, their broad shields,with a Scarlett Sea Dragon blackened upon its face,clashing in unison, their long spears swaying in perfect rhythm to their stride. Their job was mainly to defend the Twins Imperial Cities,once,if the Imperial Aqualonean Navy fails to defend the cities for whatever reason that,they failed to do so.
Behind them came the mightiest soldiery in all the world, the Emerald Slayers, horsemen, upon Aqua Steeds,splendidly mounted, armed in red and emerald green trimmed from helmet to spur. Proudly they sat their steeds, looking neither to right nor to left, but aware of the shouting for all that. Like bronze statues they were, and there was never a waver in the forest of silver EMPP spears that reared above them.
Behind those proud and terrible ranks came the motley files of the Imperial Aqualonean mercenaries, fierce, wild-looking warriors, men of the Muraquandria Province to the far north and of Kaanhu Province to the far west .Along with them came Thankooth Mercenaries of the Nhamus hills of the east and the White Face Domed isles of the west. They bore spears and heavy swords, and a compact group that marched somewhat apart were the bowmen of Lumainia .These were the same roving,barbarian bandit clans,that once helped Admiral Vhallan Septimus Rhax and General Victoria Dallas Rhax throw off the oak of the Tauron Occupation,over three hundred years ago,that once enslaved much of the people of Hydropangea.
Then came the light foot soldiers of the nation, the Imperial Aqualonean Calvary and more Avalonean trumpeters brought up the rear.This was apart of showing off the night of an underwater nation,while also the Great general celebration practices to greet dignitaries of a foreign,allied power.
Vhundria was a great power to far North East of the United Kingdoms of Hydropangea.
A brave sight, and a sight which aroused a fierce thrill in the soul of Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann , king of Aqualon and Hydralon. Not on the Topaz Throne at the front of the regal Tower of Splendor sat the First Son of Aqualonia,Prince Eric Khorum Rhann came, but in the saddle, mounted on a great sea stallion, Hellspawn a true warrior Prince of the Blood.In miighty blue green armored clad arms,flowed the Blood not of lineage of Sea King Vhallan Septimus Rhax and Sea Queen Victoria Dallas Rhax,but the royal blood of Uhthor Conner Troy-cousin of the royal family from the Imperial Kingdom of Alpha66 . His mighty arm swung up in reply to the salutes as the hosts passed. His fierce green eyes ,glinted with silvery green reflections passed the gorgeous trumpeters with a casual glance, rested longer on the following soldiery.
royal
they blazed with a ferocious light as the Red Slayers halted in front of him with a clang of arms and a rearing of steeds, and tendered him the royal salute. They narrowed slightly as the mercenaries strode by. They saluted no one, the mercenaries. They walked with shoulders flung back, eyeing Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann boldly and straightly,albeit with a certain appreciation; fierce eyes, unblinking; savage eyes, staring from beneath shaggy manes and heavy brows.
And Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann gave back a like stare. He granted much to brave men, and there were no braver in all the world, not even among the wild tribesmen who now disowned him. But Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann was too much the savage to have any great love for these. There were too many feuds among the United Kingdoms of Hydropangea, much needed to be settled before their was peace among the Undersea World.After all,this was an alien environment for human beings to adapt too.
Many were age-old enemies of Isaack Drago 's nation, and though the name of Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann was now a word accursed among the mountains and valleys of the people beyond the realm of the United Kingdoms of Hydropangea, and though Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann had put them from his mind, yet the old hates, the ancient
Torches flared murkily on the revels in the Great Maul of Heroes, where the Great Fleets of the east and west held carnival by day and night,along the undersea canals,the many trade merchant's of Hydropangea came to trade markets among the Twins Cities of Aqualon and Hydralon,as they had done,before the Great Undersea Plateau 's Cataclysmic Era .
Somewhere,at the edges of the cities,were great undersea smaller domes,clustered about the Twins Great Cities,like small jeweller babbles laying with two larger gleaming jewels.These smaller undersea comes were the Port District.She to the nature of Hydropangea,an open harbor to undersea would have been a nightmare to navigate.Silly science fiction and fantasy stories had undersea natives,living in an open sea environment,but practically had sworn ancient Hyndropangeans,that such would have foolish,with the ocean floor and sea life would have been to such structural buildings.Not only would the sea overcome with corrosion of coral and barnacle infestation covering much of the seascapes,but unwanted undersd's lifeforms like sharks and barracuda would overwhelm and be threatenning to undersea populace of the sea beds.
No,long ago the ancient Atlantean and Tauron technologies dictated undersea domes,were a must for these amphibious humans,who swelled among the sea floors of Hydropangea.Foolish concepts of aquatic humans and humanoids living underwater,without a part time oxygen environment was as foolish as trying to fly across deep space by flapping ones arms.Let stupid comic book companies and movie creators present such stupid and back dated concepts.In reality,undersea comes were not only sound,but a must for sociable and ergonomical existence of human life upon an underwater environment such as this.
In the Maul they could carouse and roar as they liked, for honest people shunned the quarters, and watchmen, well paid with stained coins, did not interfere with their sport. Along the crooked, unpaved streets with their heaps of refuse and sloppy puddles, drunken roisterers staggered, roaring. Steel glinted in the shadows where wolf preyed on wolf, and from the darkness rose the shrill laughter of women, and the sounds of scufflings and strugglings. Torchlight licked luridly from broken windows and wide-thrown doors, and out of those doors, stale smells of wine and rank sweaty bodies, clamor of drinking jacks and fists hammered on rough tables, snatches of obscene songs, rushed like a blow in the face.
The Royal Party passed several well known business of the Great Maul.One was a strange establishment,something from the surface world.
In one of these dens,known as Bazooms Restaurant, merriment thundered to the low smoke-stained roof, where rascals gathered in every stage of rags and tattered set suites,with scuba gear decades too old to be considered the envy of Hydropangea.Many were mercenaries and merchants from the car founded of the Undersea Plateau.Others were
furtive cutpurses, leering kidnappers, quick-fingered thieves,swaggering bravoes with their boxum wenches, strident-voiced women clad in tawdry finery. Native rogues were the dominant element--dark-skinned,dark-eyed Zamorians, with Kracken Toothed daggers at their girdles and guile in their hearts. But there were wolves of half a dozen outland nations there as well. There was a giant Hydroborean renegade, taciturn, dangerous,with a broadsword strapped to his great gaunt frame--for men wore steel openly in the Maul. There was a Howalldish counterfeiter, with his hook nose and curled blue-black beard. There was a bold-eyed Brythunian wench, sitting on the knee of a tawny-haired Gunderman--a wandering mercenary soldier, a deserter from some defeated army. And the fat gross rogue whose bawdy jests were causing all the shouts of mirth was a professional kidnapper come up from distant Koth to teach woman-stealing to Zamorians who were born with more knowledge of the art than he could ever attain.
The lurid lights and drunken revelry fell away behind the Vhundrian Princess as her Aqua Steed moved further forward.Isaack Drago road beside her,followed by several armed Vhundrian Scarlett Guardians.Great gleaming towers of gold,silver and brass moved by as the Royal Vhundrian caravan hovered by
He had discarded his torn tunic, and walked through the night naked except for a loincloth and his high-strapped sandals. He moved with the supple ease of a great tiger, his steely muscles rippling under his brown skin.
Princess Jessica Drago had entered the part of the city reserved for the temples. On all sides of him they glittered white in the starlight--snowy marble pillars and golden domes and silver arches, shrines of Zamora's myriad strange gods. He did not trouble his head about them; he knew that Zamora's religion, like all things of a civilized, long-settled people, was intricate and complex, and had lost most of the pristine essence in a maze of formulas and rituals. He had squatted for hours in the courtyard of the philosophers, listening to the arguments of theologians and teachers, and come away in a haze of bewilderment,sure of only one thing, and that, that they were all touched in the head.
His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Aqualonean's mind, was all any god should be expected to do.
His sandalled feet made no sound on the gleaming pave. No watchmen passed, for even the thieves of the Maul shunned the temples, where strange dooms had been known to fall on violators. Ahead of him he saw, looming against the sky, the Tower of the Elephant. He mused,wondering why it was so named. No one seemed to know. He had never seen an elephant, but he vaguely understood that it was a monstrous animal, with a tail in front as well as behind. This a wandering Howalldite had told him, swearing that he had seen such beasts by the thousands in the country of the Hyrkanians; but all men knew what liars were the men of Howalldia. At any rate, there were no elephants in Zamora.
The shimmering shaft of the tower rose frostily in the stars. In the sunlight it shone so dazzlingly that few could bear its glare, and men said it was built of silver. It was round, a slim perfect cylinder, a hundred and fifty feet in height, and its rim glittered in the starlight with the great jewels which crusted it. The tower stood among the waving exotic trees of a garden raised high above the general level of the city. A high wall enclosed this garden, and outside the wall was a lower level, likewise enclosed by a wall. No lights shone forth; there seemed to be no windows in the tower--at least not above the level of the inner wall. Only the gems high above sparkled frostily in the starlight.
Shrubbery grew thick outside the lower, or outer, wall. The Kharthonian crept close and stood beside the barrier, measuring it with his eyes.
It was high, but he could leap and catch the coping with his fingers.
Then it would be child's play to swing himself up and over, and he did not doubt that he could pass the inner wall in the same manner. But he hesitated at the thought of the strange perils which were said to await within. These people were strange and mysterious to him; they were not of his kind--not even of the same blood as the more westerly Brythunians, Nemedians, Kothians and Aquilonians, whose civilized mysteries had awed him in times past. The people of Zamora were very ancient, and, from what he had seen of them, very evil.
Great Emperor Primus Khorum Rhann and lovely wife Chymorella Rhann both sat upon twine Royal Aquamarine Thrones of Aqualonia.Behind them,situated a huge holographic window,presenting the Great Aqualonean Super Carrier ,the HMSS Septemus Rhax,leading a huge undersea Battle Group -an huge Armada of vessels.Along side them was a Great Fleet of Kracken Squides-huge emerald red eyed behemoth with massive tentacles trailing behind.Swimming near the Great Sea Beasts is the smaller Nautalus Sea creatures-sea green with scarlet stripes.And near them was a Great school of Capronean Killer Whales.They were a more primitive,almost beastal larger version of the Shamue sea creatures,with a white under belly and a jet black,spiked top.The Capronean Killer Whales had more human intelligence and the cunning of the Great White Shark.
"Great Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann,you who are Lord of the Seven Seas.King of the Aqualonia.Lord Primus Khorum Rhann.Emperor of the Deep,Lord of the Seven Seas,Scourge of the Season Seas and Supreme Commander of the Undersea Legions."Princess Jessica Drago stated."And your son Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is not only the First Son of Aqualonia,but Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the First,Prince of Aqualonia.Commander of the Imperial Aqualonean Scarlett Mariners. "
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann eyed the lovely Scarlett haired Vhundrian princess,as she spoke.Her tall,dark haired cousin dyed him back with cousion.He knew the gleam of human lust in a man's eyes,even a ma of royal blood,trained in the ways of courtly honor and details,could become a wild man when dealing with the matters of sexual attractions.He had heard stories of this young First Son of Aqualonia,pursuing various young women about the royal court.Many of them were of the busty type,the young Prince prefered.Sometimes those advancements were favorably handled and others not.There was scandal of Lady Tara Marinus,an already married buxom woman,who although very flatted,had to denie Young,foolish Prince Eric correspondences.The Young Aqualonean thought he was in love,but simply very foolish and very horny as an
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann approached the Great Capronean Killer Whale,who swam inside the Great moon pool,that was situated within the ship vast Secondary Cargo Deck .The deck he!d a Aqualonean Flying Sub,several Aqualonean Aqua Steeds,several Aqua Work Podds and various types of Imperial Aqualonean Types of Battle Armor.Naimarr Shamue was a bold sea creature,the First Son of Aqualonia was bonded since birth-nearly twenty-five years ago.
Warlord Isaack Drago sittings in pilot seat and Prince Vhallan Rhann sitting at the co-pilot station were watching the aquatic warp bubble wash about the boats transparent Atlantum Steel veiw plate.Watery waves of foam bellowed about the veiw port as the sub moved onward.Drago checked over the subs auto pilot systems and wondered something.Prince Vhallan was simply enjoying the beauty of the Undersea world of Hydro Pangea.Schools of fish quickly darted out of their ships path as it suddenly came upon them and went on by.
"You know what buggs me arout the surface world ? "Isaack Drago wondered.
" They pollute the Seven Seas of Pangea ? "Prince Vhallan Rhann responded.
" Besides that ? " Warlord Drago commented "Clifford the Red Dog.!"
" Who in Septimus Rhax is Clifford the Red Dog.?"Vhallan Rhann responded
"Some idiotic Surface World Children s cartoon,where the dog grew so big because the kid loved him so much. "Isaack Drago reported.
"Sounds like a recipe for a family nightmare."Vhallan Rhann added
" My point exactly. "Isaack Drago went on." How do you feed a dog as big as a house?With nearby farms cattle or people who accidentally wander into the neighborhood ? "
"Is probably human sacrifice involved."Prince Vhallan Rhann speculated.
" Maybe. "
"No doubt about it.I hear some of those Black Kingdoms still human sacrifice."Prince Vhallan Rhanns
"And what about all the dog poop.Miles of it. "Prince Vhallan Rhann wondeed.
" Exactly.And what happens if the dog goes rapid ?Do you shoot in with a cannon and then hold up a city barbecue ? "Isaack Drago wondered.
" You seemed to put allot of thought into the subject. "Prince Vhallan finished.
" Just enough to wonder who produce such idiotic nonessential crap for children. "Isaack Drago commented.
" And that 's they pollute the oceans-bad upbringing on stuff like that. "Prince Vhallan finished again.
" Barney.There is another one that bugs me. "Isaack Drago commented.
"I know this one.Two kids summon him up while standing around a statute,like some demon up from a dark pit and this crippled child shows up."Prince Vhallan stated
" Exactly.All decked in some badly designed costume "Drago reported
"There is human sacrifice there for sure.Why else let crippled kid join in,other than to fed their god."Prince Vhallan said.
" Surface People.No wonder their kids are all fucked up. "Warlord Isaack Drogo lastly added.
Prince Vhallan grimace.
" Think that is bad,wait I tell about Lagoon Boy ! "Warlord Isaack Drogo lastly added.
"Ok,by Khamus Rhax, now that sounds really tracked all up.! "Prince Vhallan grumbled and was about to finish his thought, when the Control Bridge life up.Suddenly,the active and passive Sonar went wild.Boop Boop Boop Boo Chopp !Boop Boop Boop Boo Chopp !
"Warning.Coming up upon Vhandollean Outpost 121 ."
Suddenly,the subs dash board lit up.The ships lights indicated that the vessel was approach ing one the kingdom perimeter undersea beacon s.Small anchor ed bouys that not transmitted friendly signals,but admitted unknown hostile threats to the nation perimeter outpost command stations.Small domed villages,made up of about thirty people.All military.
" Ok.Everybody..listen up. "Isaac Drago commanded "Were coming up upon the outer rim of Vhundria.
Isaack Drogo reached down and switched off the Super Catavvation Drive.The aquatic warp bubble wash about the boats transparent Atlantum Steel veiw plate began to dissaplate.Watery waves of foam that bellowed about the veiw port of the sub began to transform into regular undersea currents.
Before them suddenly came up of Battle Group of enemy Fleets.Smaller Destroyer Subs Four in all.In between is a scattering of Sub Fighters,who escorted the bigger Battle Carrier.The carrier was a flat front Manta Ray shaped nose,with Herculanium Atlantium Transporent Front veiw screens.The giant had two launch bay ponds set upon the side and single launch bay set upon the underside of the giant boat.
"Holy Shit!" Isaack Drogo cursed. " By By Vhallard Drogo,
The outpost was in ruins.Oxygen bubbles poured out of the small undersea dome,that torn apart,as if giant hand reached down and ripped the whole top open.
"Destroyed by Eastern Hydropangea n Undersea Pirates ! "Prince Eric Khorum Rhann leaned over Isaack Dragos shoulder saying thus. "Perhaps the Whispers could find survivors.!
"Perhaps,my Prince"
" I would advise against it.We maybe in hostile waters.I say we evacuate the area and move on to Vhandollean Outpost 122."Admiral Nelson adviced.
"Information,my young Prince." the guided suddenly voice cut in. "I am connecting to the vessel s communications network.I sense no hostile about yet.I do not believe we have anything to worry about,as of yet. Sea Pirates will attack quickly,plunder what they can and quickly exited the area."
You sure by Vhallan and Septimus Rhax ? "
You swear by those two names,would you not trust the will of the Undersea Holo Gods ?
Ok.Guider,I by...I trust you
"Perhaps,if the need is necessary.I still want to search for survivors,admiral.you
You heard that Captain Bridger.Order Short Range Probe One,Two and Three in to investigate.And allow the long Range Probes to circle out peremeter.Ready the Khacken and Triton Whales just incase. "
Aye aye,Admiral.You heard the order Commander.
Aye,Captain.Ready Yellow alert status.Ready all Whisper and Whisker probes.
Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica Drago and Warlord Isaack Drago escaped on their Aqua Steeds,as the evil Warlord pursued them onto the outer rim Khorrovhan Sea Beds.They tried to move among the Scarlet Undersea Forrest of the Khorrovhann Ses Beds,hoping to lose Warlord Locknharr Khonns massive Carrier's Undersea Whisper Probes,that was blanketing the area above.Red searching lights was searching accross the sea floor,but illumination lamb post that helped guide undersea travellers across the ocean floors in great travellers caravans ,like Aqualonean Travellers and Rhomian Gypsie flleets crisscrossed the sesscar with sesrch lights and Aquadic oxygenated tubes,with bubbles,used to obvide breathable water for Hydro Pangean confused the search.That and armies of schools of fish darting back and forth,made each probe miss any object moving accross the ses floor.Everything thing was either
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann spotted it first.He knew what it was having encounter ed similar things years ago,when he got lost smong the Tolloshean Sea Jungles in Thollanthia.The place was a field of Avatearhan Monolith -hypnotic hallucinatic holographic recording markers,set among a jump point gateway,that threw the young Prince back to memories of Undersea Pirate Captain John Blackthorne and romantic adventures with Commander Patience Drago.Eric Rhann knew it was another undersea jump point and could be an obvious possible escape route.
"Follow me!" the Prince shouted
"Eric what ?" Princess Jessica asked.
"Don't argue.Just listen and follow." Eric Khorum Rhann responded.
"Why should I ?"Jessica Drago argued
" Dear cousin .Listen to him.I see what he means.Just look ahead. " Warlord Isaack Drago.
Then Jessica Drago saw it.Suddenly,the rainbow arch began swirl about among the water.It was a Time Space Jump Point,that one could from from.point to another,in a kind of short distance star gate wormhole jump.Where ever it led to was better than here.
And. Prince Vhallan Rhann saw something else to the right.It was a field of red.A Scarlett hoade moving across the undersea horizon.It seemed to ooze out of the Undersea Forrest,like an eerie mist.The red mist was advancing fast.
"Prince Eric...everyone..Look to the right.We have another problem." Prince Vhallan.Rhann shouted.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann and others looked over and saw it.The scarlet mist seemed move closer,mixing with ocean floor,and not apart from.it.
"The Scarlett Death!" Prince Eric commented. "Legendary undersea myths say it can swallow whole navies."
" Then we need to get much closer to that jump point. "Isaack Drago stated.
"Then I suggest by Dallas and Septimus Rhax we move a bit faster." Prince Eric cursed,while he and the other s pushed the handle bar control s to cause the Hydro Steeds to ignite the Aquatic Turbo Drive faster and stronger.
Meanwhile aboard the Command Control Bridge of the """""""" , Warlord Locknhard Khonn looked at the holographic veiw plate with the boats front vew port.One of the Whisper Probes spotted the activation of the Jump Point and the four Aqua Steed riders moving towards it,among the undersea scarlet jungle.He had them now.His Undersea Sub fighters could...
"Commander." his helmsman interupted his thoughts.
"What ?"
" We have a problem coming to on the port side.It's the Scarlet Death. "
"Scarlet Death ?" the warlord scream ed.Everyone has heard of the Undersea myth and everyone knew it's lethal intent.No submarine fleet outside of the natives around here could survive an attack by the red little demons.They could clog a ships Super Catavation Drive ,stranding any might boat upon.the sea floor.They then could strip the ships hull,like a pack of sharks stripping a great dead Capronean Whale.Locknharr Khonn did not want to lose his quarry,but the fear of dying again by those microbes gave him a chill up cold spine.
"Back off. "the Warlord screamed
" What ?What about the prey ! "
"Blast them!You heard me,get us out of here.Alert the fleet.All ships move off.Immediately.That 's an order to all ships commanders.Do it now ! "
Down below as the Nhavattaran Sup submarine battle fleet began to move backwards,as the Scarlet Death reaches the area,Prince Eric and company road their Hydro Steeds into the swirling rainbow arch and into darkness.
Chapter
Prince Eric found himself and companions within the darken metallic cavernous chamber of someone 's Torpedo Room.The Jump Point had obviously counter ballanced the in rush of water frim the connecting Jump Gate,that was under the open sea,by directing the ocean away from the portal,but allowing it's four passengers through.
"Welcome aboard,Laddy." a grim voice growelled in the darkness. " By Cohllan MacNharr,I thought you four fishes might not have made it.The Scarlett Death blooms when it perceives any hostile threat to the Underwater world and Warlord Locknharr Khonn is indeed a threat to anywhere in Hyndro Pangea. "
Suddenly,the light can on.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's sea green eyes reflected the intense light and tried adjust to sudden burst of light.A big broad outline formed in the hollow.The figure was tall,with broad shoulders and deep chest,even with an Aqualonean Witsuite on.He had Krakhen Shoulder Pads,like many Aqua Mariners wore.He also wore a dark green and red Argrothian Battle Utility Vest over it.His great arms folded.He had the general Sarkhon Replicator Arm Band on the right upper arm and on the left opposite it was the Karza Medical Industries,Inc.Bio Recorder Arm Band.One useful for repairing battle damage of ones self and equipment.The other useful for monitoring one life sign and medical data.
A sword belt of Carolinthian Leather belt wrapped about his broad waistline..In it hung a Great Aqualonian Broad Sword.A jewelled Rhokhokai dagger was set opposite it.He wore the general Sarcom Utility Belt Comlink,that was squocking voices from.the bridge of the enemies ship.An Argrothian Loin piece hung between his loins.He reached down and flipped up the volume of the comlink.
"Back off! It's pursuing us.Immediately activate emergency. Catavation drive to anywhere but here. "
"By By Cohllan MacNharr,I
THE roar of battle had died away; the shout of victory mingled with the cries of the dying. Like gay-hued leaves after an autumn storm, the fallen littered the plain; the sinking sun shimmered on burnished helmets, gilt-worked mail, silver breastplates, broken swords and the heavy regal folds of silken standards, overthrown in pools of curdling crimson. In silent heaps lay war- horses and their steel-clad riders, flowing manes and blowing plumes stained alike in the red tide. About them and among them, like the drift of a storm, were strewn slashed and trampled bodies in steel caps and leather jerkins – archers and pikemen.
The oliphants sounded a fanfare of triumph all over the plain, and the hoofs of the victors crunched in the breasts of the vanquished as all the straggling, shining lines converged inward like the spokes of a glittering wheel, to the spot where the last survivor still waged unequal strife.
That day Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , king of Aquilonia, had seen the pick of his chivalry cut to pieces, smashed and hammered to bits, and swept into eternity. With five thousand knights he had crossed the south-eastern border of Aquilonia and ridden into the grassy meadowlands of Ophir, to find his former ally, King Amalrus of Ophir, drawn up against him with the hosts of Strabonus, king of Koth. Too late he had seen the trap. All that a man might do he had done with his five thousand cavalrymen against the thirty thousand knights, archers and spearmen of the conspirators.
Without bowmen or infantry, he had hurled his armored horsemen against the oncoming host, had seen the knights of his foes in their shining mail go down before his lances, had torn the opposing center to bits, driving the riven ranks headlong before him, only to find himself caught in a vise as the untouched wings closed in. Strabonus' Shemitish bowmen had wrought havoc among his knights, feathering them with shafts that found every crevice in their armor, shooting down the horses, the Kothian pikemen rushing in to spear the fallen riders. The mailed lancers of the routed center had re-formed, reinforced by the riders from the wings, and had charged again and again, sweeping the field by sheer weight of numbers.
The Aquilonians had not fled; they had died on the field, and of the five thousand knights who had followed Prince Eric Khorum Rhann southward, not one left the field alive. And now the king himself stood at bay among the slashed bodies of his house-troops, his back against a heap of dead horses and men. Ophirean knights in gilded mail leaped their horses over mounds of corpses to slash at the solitary figure; squat Shemites with blue-black beards, and dark- faced Kothian knights ringed him on foot. The clangor of steel rose deafeningly; the black-mailed figure of the western king loomed among his swarming foes, dealing blows like a butcher wielding a great cleaver. Riderless horses raced down the field; about his iron-clad feet grew a ring of mangled corpses. His attackers drew back from his desperate savagery, panting and livid.
Now through the yelling, cursing lines rode the lords of the conquerors—Strabonus, with his broad dark face and crafty eyes; Amalrus, slender, fastidious, treacherous, dangerous as a cobra; and the lean vulture Tsotha-lanti, clad only in silken robes, his great black eyes glittering from a face that was like that of a bird of prey. Of this Kothian wizard dark tales were told; tousle-headed women in northern and western villages frightened children with his name, and rebellious slaves were brought to abased submission quicker than by the lash, with threat of being sold to him. Men said that he had a whole library of dark works bound in skin flayed from living human victims, and that in nameless pits below the hill whereon his palace sat, he trafficked with the powers of darkness, trading screaming girl slaves for unholy secrets. He was the real ruler of Koth.
Now he grinned bleakly as the kings reined back a safe distance from the grim iron-clad figure looming among the dead. Before the savage blue eyes blazing murderously from beneath the crested, dented helmet, the boldest shrank. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's dark scarred face was darker yet with passion; his black armor was hacked to tatters and splashed with blood; his great sword red to the cross- piece. In this stress all the veneer of civilization had faded; it was a barbarian who faced his conquerors. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann was a Aqualonean by birth, one of those fierce moody hillmen who dwelt in their gloomy, cloudy land in the north. His saga, which had led him to the throne of Aquilonia, was the basis of a whole cycle of hero-tales.
So now the kings kept their distance, and Strabonus called on his Shemitish archers to loose their arrows at his foe from a distance; his captains had fallen like ripe grain before the Aqualonean's broadsword, and Strabonus, penurious of his knights as of his coins, was frothing with fury. But Tsotha shook his head.
"Take him alive."
"Easy to say!" snarled Strabonus, uneasy lest in some way the black- mailed giant might hew a path to them through the spears. "Who can take a man- eating tiger alive? By Ishtar, his heel is on the necks of my finest swordsmen! It took seven years and stacks of gold to train each, and there they lie, so much kite's meat. Arrows, I say!"
"Again, nay!" snapped Tsotha, swinging down from his horse. He laughed coldly. "Have you not learned by this time that my brain is mightier than any sword?"
He passed through the lines of the pikemen, and the giants in their steel caps and mail brigandines shrank back fearfully, lest they so much as touch the skirts of his robe. Nor were the plumed knights slower in making room for him. He stepped over the corpses and came face to face with the grim king. The hosts watched in tense silence, holding their breath. The black-armored figure loomed in terrible menace over the lean, silk-robed shape, the notched, dripping sword hovering on high.
"I offer you life, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann ," said Tsotha, a cruel mirth bubbling at the back of his voice.
"I give you death, wizard," snarled the king, and backed by iron muscles and ferocious hate the great sword swung in a stroke meant to shear Tsotha's lean torso in half. But even as the hosts cried out, the wizard stepped in, too quick for the eye to follow, and apparently merely laid an open hand on Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's left forearm, from the ridged muscles of which the mail had been hacked away. The whistling blade veered from its arc and the mailed giant crashed heavily to earth, to lie motionless. Tsotha laughed silently.
"Take him up and fear not; the lion's fangs are drawn."
The kings reined in and gazed in awe at the fallen lion. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann lay stiffly, like a dead man, but his eyes glared up at them, wide open, and blazing with helpless fury. "What have you done to him?" asked Amalrus uneasily.
Tsotha displayed a broad ring of curious design on his finger. He pressed his fingers together and on the inner side of the ring a tiny steel fang darted out like a snake's tongue.
"It is steeped in the juice of the purple lotus which grows in the ghost- haunted swamps of southern Stygia," said the magician. "Its touch produces temporary paralysis. Put him in chains and lay him in a chariot. The sun sets and it is time we were on the road for Khorshemish."
Strabonus turned to his general Arbanus.
"We return to Khorshemish with the wounded. Only a troop of the royal cavalry will accompany us. Your orders are to march at dawn to the Aquilonian border, and invest the city of Shamar. The Ophireans will supply you with food along the march. We will rejoin you as soon as possible, with reinforcements."
So the host, with its steel-sheathed knights, its pikemen and archers and camp-servants, went into camp in the meadowlands near the battlefield. And through the starry night the two kings and the sorcerer who was greater than any king rode to the capital of Strabonus, in the midst of the glittering palace troop, and accompanied by a long line of chariots, loaded with the wounded. In one of these chariots lay Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , First Son of Eric Primus Rhann,king of Aquilonia, weighted with chains, the tang of defeat in his mouth, the blind fury of a trapped tiger in his soul.
The poison which had frozen his mighty limbs to helplessness had not paralyzed his brain. As the chariot in which he lay rumbled over the meadowlands, his mind revolved maddeningly about his defeat. Amalrus had sent an emissary imploring aid against Strabonus, who, he said, was ravaging his western domain, which lay like a tapering wedge between the border of Aquilonia and the vast southern kingdom of Koth. He asked only a thousand horsemen and the presence of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , to hearten his demoralized subjects. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann now mentally blasphemed. In his generosity he had come with five times the number the treacherous monarch had asked. In good faith he had ridden into Ophir, and had been confronted by the supposed rivals allied against him. It spoke significantly of his prowess that they had brought up a whole host to trap him and his five thousand.
A red cloud veiled his vision; his veins swelled with fury and in his temples a pulse throbbed maddeningly. In all his life he had never known greater and more helpless wrath. In swift-moving scenes the pageant of his life passed fleetingly before his mental eye—a panorama wherein moved shadowy figures which were himself, in many guises and conditions—a skin-clad barbarian; a mercenary swordsman in horned helmet and scale-mail corselet; a corsair in a dragon-prowed galley that trailed a crimson wake of blood and pillage along southern coasts; a captain of hosts in burnished steel, on a rearing black charger; a king on a golden throne with the lion banner flowing above, and throngs of gay-hued courtiers and ladies on their knees. But always the jouncing and rumbling of the chariot brought his thoughts back to revolve with maddening monotony about the treachery of Amalrus and the sorcery of Tsotha. The veins nearly burst in his temples and cries of the wounded in the chariots filled him with ferocious satisfaction.
Before midnight they crossed the Ophirean border and at dawn the spires of Khorshemish stood up gleaming and rose-tinted on the south-eastern horizon, the slim towers overawed by the grim scarlet citadel that at a distance was like a splash of bright blood in the sky. That was the castle of Tsotha. Only one narrow street, paved with marble and guarded by heavy iron gates, led up to it, where it crowned the hill dominating the city. The sides of that hill were too sheer to be climbed elsewhere. From the walls of the citadel one could look down on the broad white streets of the city, on minaretted mosques, shops, temples, mansions, and markets. One could look down, too, on the palaces of the king, set in broad gardens, high-walled, luxurious riots of fruit trees and blossoms, through which artificial streams murmured, and silvery fountains rippled incessantly. Over all brooded the citadel, like a condor stooping above its prey, intent on its own dark meditations.
The mighty gates between the huge towers of the outer wall clanged open, and the king rode into his capital between lines of glittering spearmen, while fifty trumpets pealed salute. But no throngs swarmed the white-paved streets to fling roses before the conqueror's hoofs. Strabonus had raced ahead of news of the battle, and the people, just rousing to the occupations of the day, gaped to see their king returning with a small retinue, and were in doubt as to whether it portended victory or defeat.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , life sluggishly moving in his veins again, craned his neck from the chariot floor to view the wonders of this city which men called the Queen of the South. He had thought to ride some day through these golden-chased gates at the head of his steel-clad squadrons, with the great lion banner flowing over his helmeted head. Instead he entered in chains, stripped of his armor, and thrown like a captive slave on the bronze floor of his conqueror's chariot. A wayward devilish mirth of mockery rose above his fury, but to the nervous soldiers who drove the chariot his laughter sounded like the muttering of a rousing lion.
CHAPTER 2
Gleaming shell of an outworn lie; fable of Right divine—
You gained your crowns by heritage, but Blood was the price of mine.
The throne that I won by blood asweat, by Crom, I will not sell
For promise of valleys filled with gold, or threat of the Halls of Hell!
—The Road Of Kings
IN THE CITADEL, in a chamber with a domed ceiling of carven jet, and the fretted arches of doorways glimmering with strange dark jewels, a strange conclave came to pass. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann of Aquilonia, blood from unbandaged wounds caking his huge limbs, faced his captors. On either side of him stood a dozen black giants, grasping their long-shafted axes. In front of him stood Tsotha, and on divans lounged Strabonus and Amalrus in their silks and gold, gleaming with jewels, naked slave-boys beside them pouring wine into cups carved of a single sapphire. In strong contrast stood Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , grim, blood-stained, naked but for a loin-cloth, shackles on his mighty limbs, his blue eyes blazing beneath the tangled black mane which fell over his low broad forehead. He dominated the scene, turning to tinsel the pomp of the conquerors by the sheer vitality of his elemental personality, and the kings in their pride and splendor were aware of it each in his secret heart, and were not at ease. Only Tsotha was not disturbed.
"Our desires are quickly spoken, king of Aquilonia," said Tsotha. "It is our wish to extend our empire."
"And so you want to swine my kingdom," rasped Prince Eric Khorum Rhann .
"What are you but an adventurer, seizing a crown to which you had no more claim than any other wandering barbarian?" parried Amalrus. "We are prepared to offer you suitable compensation—"
"Compensation!" It was a gust of deep laughter from Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's mighty chest. "The price of infamy and treachery! I am a barbarian, so I shall sell my kingdom and its people for life and your filthy gold? Ha! How did you come to your crown, you and that black-faced pig beside you? Your fathers did the fighting and the suffering, and handed their crowns to you on golden platters. What you inherited without lifting a finger—except to poison a few brothers—I fought for.
"You sit on satin and guzzle wine the people sweat for, and talk of divine rights of sovereignty—bah! I climbed out of the abyss of naked barbarism to the throne and in that climb I spilt my blood as freely as I spilt that of others. If either of us has the right to rule men, by Crom, it is I! How have you proved yourselves my superiors?
"I found Aquilonia in the grip of a pig like you—one who traced his genealogy for a thousand years. The land was torn with the wars of the barons, and the people cried out under oppression and taxation. Today no Aquilonian noble dares maltreat the humblest of my subjects, and the taxes of the people are lighter than anywhere else in the world.
"What of you? Your brother, Amalrus, holds the eastern half of your kingdom, and defies you. And you, Strabonus, your soldiers are even now besieging castles of a dozen or more rebellious barons. The people of both your kingdoms are crushed into the earth by tyrannous taxes and levies. And you would loot mine—ha! Free my hands and I'll varnish this floor with your brains!"
Tsotha grinned bleakly to see the rage of his kingly companions.
"All this, truthful though it be, is beside the point. Our plans are no concern of yours. Your responsibility is at an end when you sign this parchment, which is an abdication in favor of Prince Arpello of Pellia. We will give you arms and horse, and five thousand golden lunas, and escort you to the eastern frontier."
"Setting me adrift where I was when I rode into Aquilonia to take service in her armies, except with the added burden of a traitor's name!" Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's laugh was like the deep short bark of a timber wolf. "Arpello, eh? I've had suspicions of that butcher of Pellia. Can you not even steal and pillage frankly and honestly, but you must have an excuse, however thin? Arpello claims a trace of royal blood; so you use him as an excuse for theft, and a satrap to rule through. I'll see you in hell first."
"You're a fool!" exclaimed Amalrus. "You are in our hands, and we can take both crown and life at our pleasure!"
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's answer was neither kingly nor dignified, but characteristically instinctive in the man, whose barbaric nature had never been submerged in his adopted culture. He spat full in Amalrus' eyes. The king of Ophir leaped up with a scream of outraged fury, groping for his slender sword. Drawing it, he rushed at the Aqualonean, but Tsotha intervened.
"Wait, your majesty; this man is my prisoner."
"Aside, wizard!" shrieked Amalrus, maddened by the glare in the Aqualonean's blue eyes.
"Back, I say!" roared Tsotha, roused to awesome wrath. His lean hand came from his wide sleeve and cast a shower of dust into the Ophirean's contorted face. Amalrus cried out and staggered back, clutching at his eyes, the sword falling from his hand. He dropped limply on the divan, while the Kothian guards looked on stolidly and King Strabonus hurriedly gulped another goblet of wine, holding it with hands that trembled. Amalrus lowered his hands and shook his head violently, intelligence slowly sifting back into his grey eyes.
"I went blind," he growled. "What did you do to me, wizard?"
"Merely a gesture to convince you who was the real master," snapped Tsotha, the mask of his formal pretense dropped, revealing the naked evil personality of the man. "Strabonus has learned his lesson—let you learn yours. It was but a dust I found in a Stygian tomb which I flung into your eyes – if I brush out their sight again, I will leave you to grope in darkness for the rest of your life."
Amalrus shrugged his shoulders, smiled whimsically and reached for a goblet, dissembling his fear and fury. A polished diplomat, he was quick to regain his poise. Tsotha turned to Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , who had stood imperturbably during the episode. At the wizard's gesture, the blacks laid hold of their prisoner and marched him behind Tsotha, who led the way out of the chamber through an arched doorway into a winding corridor, whose floor was of many-hued mosaics, whose walls were inlaid with gold tissue and silver chasing, and from whose fretted arched ceiling swung golden censers, filling the corridor with dreamy perfumed clouds. They turned down a smaller corridor, done in jet and black jade, gloomy and awful, which ended at a brass door, over whose arch a human skull grinned horrifically. At this door stood a fat repellent figure, dangling a bunch of keys—Tsotha's chief eunuch, Shukeli, of whom grisly tales were whispered—a man with whom a bestial lust for torture took the place of normal human passions.
The brass door let onto a narrow stair that seemed to wind down into the very bowels of the hill on which the citadel stood. Down these stairs went the band, to halt at last at an iron door, the strength of which seemed unnecessary. Evidently it did not open on outer air, yet it was built as if to withstand the battering of mangonels and rams. Shukeli opened it, and as he swung back the ponderous portal, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann noted the evident uneasiness among the black giants who guarded him; nor did Shukeli seem altogether devoid of nervousness as he peered into the darkness beyond. Inside the great door there was a second barrier, composed of heavy steel bars. It was fastened by an ingenious bolt which had no lock and could be worked only from the outside; this bolt shot back, the grille slid into the wall. They passed through, into a broad corridor, the floor, walls and arched ceiling of which seemed to be cut out of solid stone. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann knew he was far underground, even below the hill itself. The darkness pressed in on the guardsmen's torches like a sentient, animate thing.
They made the king fast to a ring in the stone wall. Above his head in a niche in the wall they placed a torch, so that he stood in a dim semicircle of light. The blacks were anxious to be gone; they muttered among themselves, and cast fearful glances at the darkness. Tsotha motioned them out, and they filed through the door in stumbling haste, as if fearing that the darkness might take tangible form and spring upon their backs. Tsotha turned toward Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , and the king noticed uneasily that the wizard's eyes shone in the semi-darkness, and that his teeth much resembled the fangs of a wolf, gleaming whitely in the shadows.
"And so, farewell, barbarian," mocked the sorcerer. "I must ride to Shamar, and the siege. In ten days I will be in your palace in Tamar, with my warriors. What word from you shall I say to your women, before I flay their dainty skins for scrolls whereon to chronicle the triumphs of Tsotha-lanti?"
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann answered with a searing Aqualonean curse that would have burst the eardrums of an ordinary man, and Tsotha laughed thinly and withdrew. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann had a glimpse of his vulture-like figure through the thick-set bars, as he slid home the grate; then the heavy outer door clanged, and silence fell like a pall.
CHAPTER 5
A long bow and a strong bow, and let the sky grow dark!
The cord to the nock, shaft to the ear, the king of Koth for a mark!
—Song of the Bossonian Archers
THE MIDAFTERNOON SUN glinted on the placid waters of the Tybor, washing the southern bastions of Shamar. The haggard defenders knew that few of them would see that sun rise again. The pavilions of the besiegers dotted the plain. The people of Shamar had not been able successfully to dispute the crossing of the river, outnumbered as they were. Barges, chained together, made a bridge over which the invader poured his hordes. Strabonus had not dared march on into Aquilonia with Shamar, unsubdued, at his back. He had sent his light riders, his spahis, inland to ravage the country, and had reared up his siege engines in the plain. He had anchored a flotilla of boats, furnished him by Amalrus, in the middle of the stream, over against the river-wall. Some of these boats had been sunk by stones from the city's ballistas, which crashed through their decks and ripped out their planking, but the rest held their places and from their bows and mast-heads, protected by mandets, archers raked the riverward turrets. These were Shemites, born with bows in their hands, not to be matched by Aquilonian archers.
On the landward side mangonels rained boulders and tree-trunks among the defenders, shattering through roofs and crushing humans like beetles; rams pounded incessantly at the stones; sappers burrowed like moles in the earth, sinking their mines beneath the towers. The moat had been dammed at the upper end, and emptied of its water, had been filled up with boulders, earth and dead horses and men. Under the walls the mailed figures swarmed, battering at the gates, rearing up scaling-ladders, pushing storming-towers, thronged with spearmen, against the turrets.
Hope had been abandoned in the city, where a bare fifteen hundred men resisted forty thousand warriors. No word had come from the kingdom whose outpost the city was. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann was dead, so the invaders shouted exultantly. Only the strong walls and the desperate courage of the defenders had kept them so long at bay, and that could not suffice for ever. The western wall was a mass of rubbish on which the defenders stumbled in hand-to-hand conflict with the invaders. The other walls were buckling from the mines beneath them, the towers leaning drunkenly.
Now the attackers were massing for a storm. The oliphants sounded, the steel-clad ranks drew up on the plain. The storming-towers, covered with raw bull-hides, rumbled forward. The people of Shamar saw the banners of Koth and Ophir, flying side by side, in the center, and made out, among their gleaming knights, the slim lethal figure of the golden-mailed Amalrus, and the squat black-armored form of Strabonus. And between them was a shape that made the bravest blench with horror—a lean vulture figure in a filmy robe. The pikemen moved forward, flowing over the ground like the glinting waves of a river of molten steel; the knights cantered forward, lances lifted, guidons streaming. The warriors on the walls drew a long breath, consigned their souls to Mitra, and gripped their notched and red-stained weapons.
Then without warning, a bugle-call cut the din. A drum of hoofs rose above the rumble of the approaching host. North of the plain across which the army moved, rose ranges of low hills, mounting northward and westward like giant stair-steps. Now down out of these hills, like spume blown before a storm, shot the spahis who had been laying waste the countryside, riding low and spurring hard, and behind them sun shimmered on moving ranks of steel. They moved into full view, out of the defiles—mailed horsemen, the great lion banner of Aquilonia floating over them.
From the electrified watchers on the towers a great shout rent the skies. In ecstasy warriors clashed their notched swords on their riven shields, and the people of the town, ragged beggars and rich merchants, harlots in red kirtles and dames in silks and satins, fell to their knees and cried out for joy to Mitra, tears of gratitude streaming down their faces.
Strabonus, frantically shouting orders, with Arbanus, that would wheel around the ponderous lines to meet this unexpected menace, grunted, "We still outnumber them, unless they have reserves hidden in the hills. The men on the battle-towers can mask any sorties from the city. These are Poitanians – we might have guessed Trocero would try some such mad gallantry."
Amalrus cried out in unbelief.
"I see Trocero and his captain Prospero—but who rides between them?"
"Ishtar preserve us!" shrieked Strabonus, paling. "It is King Conan!"
"You are mad!" squalled Tsotha, starting convulsively. "Conan has been in Satha's belly for days!" He stopped short, glaring wildly at the host which was dropping down, file by file, into the plain. He could not mistake the giant figure in black, gilt-worked armor on the great black stallion, riding beneath the billowing silken folds of the great banner. A scream of feline fury burst from Tsotha's lips, flecking his beard with foam. For the first time in his life, Strabonus saw the wizard completely upset, and shrank from the sight.
"Here is sorcery!" screamed Tsotha, clawing madly at his beard. "How could he have escaped and reached his kingdom in time to return with an army so quickly? This is the work of Pelias, curse him! I feel his hand in this! May I be cursed for not killing him when I had the power!"
The kings gaped at the mention of a man they believed ten years dead, and panic, emanating from the leaders, shook the host. All recognized the rider on the black stallion. Tsotha felt the superstitious dread of his men, and fury made a hellish mask of his face.
"Strike home!" he screamed, brandishing his lean arms madly. "We are still the stronger! Charge and crush these dogs! We shall yet feast in the ruins of Shamar tonight! Oh, Set!" he lifted his hands and invoked the serpent- god to even Strabonus' horror, "grant us victory and I swear I will offer up to thee five hundred virgins of Shamar, writhing in their blood!"
Meanwhile the opposing host had debouched onto the plain. With the knights came what seemed a second, irregular army on tough swift ponies. These dismounted and formed their ranks on foot—stolid Bossonian archers, and keen pikemen from Gunderland, their tawny locks blowing from under their steel caps.
It was a motley army Conan had assembled, in the wild hours following his return to his capital. He had beaten the frothing mob away from the Pellian soldiers who held the outer walls of Tamar, and impressed them into his service. He had sent a swift rider after Trocero to bring him back. With these as a nucleus of an army he had raced southward, sweeping the countryside for recruits and for mounts. Nobles of Tamar and the surrounding countryside had augmented his forces, and he had levied recruits from every village and castle along his road. Yet it was but a paltry force he had gathered to dash against the invading hosts, though of the quality of tempered steel.
Nineteen hundred armored horsemen followed him, the main bulk of which consisted of the Poitanian knights. The remnants of the mercenaries and professional soldiers in the trains of loyal noblemen made up his infantry – five thousand archers and four thousand pikemen. This host now came on in good order—first the archers, then the pikemen, behind them the knights, moving at a walk.
Over against them Arbanus ordered his lines, and the allied army moved forward like a shimmering ocean of steel. The watchers on the city walls shook to see that vast host, which overshadowed the powers of the rescuers. First marched the Shemitish archers, then the Kothian spearmen, then the mailed knights of Strabonus and Amalrus. Arbanus' intent was obvious—to employ his footmen to sweep away the infantry of Conan, and open the way for an overpowering charge of his heavy cavalry.
The Shemites opened fire at five hundred yards, and arrows flew like hail between the hosts, darkening the sun. The western archers, trained by a thousand years of merciless warfare with the Pictish savages, came stolidly on, closing their ranks as their comrades fell. They were far outnumbered, and the Shemitish bow had the longer range, but in accuracy the Bossonians were equal to their foes, and they balanced sheer skill in archery by superiority in morale, and in excellency of armor. Within good range they loosed, and the Shemites went down by whole ranks. The blue-bearded warriors in their light mail shirts could not endure punishment as could the heavier-armored Bossonians. They broke, throwing away their bows, and their flight disordered the ranks of the Kothian spearmen behind them.
Without the support of the archers, these men-at-arms fell by the hundreds before the shafts of the Bossonians, and charging madly in to close quarters, they were met by the spears of the pikemen. No infantry was a match for the wild Gundermen, whose homeland, the northern-most province of Aquilonia, was but a day's ride across the Bossonian marches from the borders of Cimmeria, and who, born and bred to battle, were the purest blood of all the Hyborian peoples. The Kothian spearmen, dazed by their losses from arrows, were cut to pieces and fell back in disorder.
Strabonus roared in fury as he saw his infantry repulsed, and shouted for a general charge. Arbanus demurred, pointing out the Bossonians re-forming in good order before the Aquilonian knights, who had sat their steeds motionless during the melee. The general advised a temporary retirement, to draw the western knights out of the cover of the bows, but Strabonus was mad with rage. He looked at the long shimmering ranks of his knights, he glared at the handful of mailed figures over against him, and he commanded Arbanus to give the order to charge.
The general commended his soul to Ishtar and sounded the golden oliphant. With a thunderous roar the forest of lances dipped, and the great host rolled across the plain, gaining momentum as it came. The whole plain shook to the rumbling avalanche of hoofs, and the shimmer of gold and steel dazzled the watchers on the towers of Shamar.
The squadrons clave the loose ranks of the spearmen, riding down friend and foe alike, and rushed into the teeth of a blast of arrows from the Bossonians. Across the plain they thundered, grimly riding the storm that scattered their way with gleaming knights like autumn leaves. Another hundred paces and they would ride among the Bossonians and cut them down like corn; but flesh and blood could not endure the rain of death that now ripped and howled among them. Shoulder to shoulder, feet braced wide, stood the archers, drawing shaft to ear and loosing as one man, with deep, short shouts.
The whole front rank of the knights melted away, and over the pin- cushioned corpses of horses and riders, their comrades stumbled and fell headlong. Arbanus was down, an arrow through his throat, his skull smashed by the hoofs of his dying war-horse, and confusion ran through the disordered host. Strabonus was screaming an order, Amalrus another, and through all ran the superstitious dread the sight of Conan had awakened.
And while the gleaming ranks milled in confusion, the trumpets of Conan sounded, and through the opening ranks of the archers crashed the terrible charge of the Aquilonian knights.
The hosts met with a shock like that of an earthquake, that shook the tottering towers of Shamar. The disorganized squadrons of the invaders could not withstand the solid steel wedge, bristling with spears, that rushed like a thunderbolt against them. The long lances of the attackers ripped their ranks to pieces, and into the heart of their host rode the knights of Poitain, swinging their terrible two-handed swords.
The clash and clangor of steel was as that of a million sledges on as many anvils. The watchers on the walls were stunned and deafened by the thunder as they gripped the battlements and watched the steel maelstrom swirl and eddy, where plumes tossed high among the flashing swords, and standards dipped and reeled.
Amalrus went down, dying beneath the trampling hoofs, his shoulder-bone hewn in twain by Prospero's two-handed sword. The invaders' numbers had engulfed the nineteen hundred knights of This Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann, but about this compact wedge, which hewed deeper and deeper into the looser formation of their foes, the knights of Koth and Ophir swirled and smote in vain. They could not break the wedge.
Archers and pikemen, having disposed of the Kothian infantry which was strewn in flight across the plain, came to the edges of the fight, loosing their arrows point-blank, running in to slash at girths and horses' bellies with their knives, thrusting upward to spit the riders on their long pikes.
At the tip of the steel wedge This Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann roared his heathen battle-cry and swung his great sword in glittering arcs that made naught of steel burgonet or mail habergeon. Straight through a thundering waste of foes he rode, and the knights of Koth closed in behind him, cutting him off from his warriors. As a thunderbolt strikes, This Sea King Primus Khorum Rhann struck, hurtling through the ranks by sheer power and velocity, until he came to Strabonus, livid among his palace troops. Now here the battle hung in balance, for with his superior numbers, Strabonus still had opportunity to pluck victory from the knees of the gods.
But he screamed when he saw his arch-foe within arm's length at last, and lashed out wildly with his axe. It clanged on Conan's helmet, striking fire, and the Aqualonean reeled and struck back. The five-foot blade crushed Strabonus' casque and skull, and the king's charger reared screaming, hurling a limp and sprawling corpse from the saddle. A great cry went up from the host, which faltered and gave back. Trocero and his house troops, hewing desperately, cut their way to Conan's side, and the great banner of Koth went down. Then behind the dazed and stricken invaders went up a mighty clamor and the blaze of a huge conflagration. The defenders of Shamar had made a desperate sortie, cut down the men masking the gates, and were raging among the tents of the besiegers, cutting down the camp followers, burning the pavilions, and destroying the siege engines. It was the last straw. The gleaming army melted away in flight, and the furious conquerors cut them down as they ran.
The fugitives raced for the river, but the men on the flotilla, harried sorely by the stones and shafts of the revived citizens, cast loose and pulled for the southern shore, leaving their comrades to their fate. Of these many gained the shore, racing across the barges that served as a bridge, until the men of Shamar cut these adrift and severed them from the shore. Then the fight became a slaughter. Driven into the river to drown in their armor, or hacked down along the bank, the invaders perished by the thousands. No quarter they had promised; no quarter they got.
From the foot of the low hills to the shores of the Tybor, the plain was littered with corpses, and the river whose tide ran red, floated thick with the dead. Of the nineteen hundred knights who had ridden south with Conan, scarcely five hundred lived to boast of their scars, and the slaughter among the archers and pikemen was ghastly. But the great and shining host of Strabonus and Amalrus was hacked out of existence, and those that fled were less than those that died.
While the slaughter yet went on along the river, the final act of a grim drama was being played out in the meadowland beyond. Among those who had crossed the barge-bridge before it was destroyed was Tsotha, riding like the wind on a gaunt weird-looking steed whose stride no natural horse could match. Ruthlessly riding down friend and foe, he gained the southern bank, and then a glance backward showed him a grim figure on a great black stallion in pursuit. The lashings had already been cut, and the barges were drifting apart, but Conan came recklessly on, leaping his steed from boat to boat as a man might leap from one cake of floating ice to another. Tsotha screamed a curse, but the great stallion took the last leap with a straining groan, and gained the southern bank. Then the wizard fled away into the empty meadowland, and on his trail came the king, riding hard, swinging the great sword that spattered his trail with crimson drops.
On they fled, the hunted and the hunter, and not a foot could the black stallion gain, though he strained each nerve and thew. Through a sunset land of dim and illusive shadows they fled, till sight and sound of the slaughter died out behind them. Then in the sky appeared a dot, that grew into a huge eagle as it approached. Swooping down from the sky, it drove at the head of Tsotha's steed, which screamed and reared, throwing its rider.
Old Tsotha rose and faced his pursuer, his eyes those of a maddened serpent, his face an inhuman mask. In each hand he held something that shimmered, and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann knew he held death there.
The king dismounted and strode toward his foe, his armor clanking, his great sword gripped high.
"Again we meet, wizard!" he grinned savagely.
"Keep off!" screamed Tsotha like a blood-mad jackal. "I'll blast the flesh from your bones! You can not conquer me—if you hack me in pieces, the bits of flesh and bone will reunite and haunt you to your doom! I see the hand of Pelias in this, but I defy ye both! I am Tsotha, son of—"
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann rushed, sword gleaming, eyes slits of wariness. Tsotha's right hand came back and forward, and the king ducked quickly. Something passed by his helmeted head and exploded behind him, searing the very sands with a flash of hellish fire. Before Tsotha could toss the globe in his left hand, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's sword sheared through his lean neck. The wizard's head shot from his shoulders on an arching fount of blood, and the robed figure staggered and crumpled drunkenly. Yet the mad black eyes glared up at Prince Eric Khorum Rhann with no dimming of their feral light, the lips writhed awfully, and the hands groped, as if searching for the severed head. Then with a swift rush of wings, something swooped from the sky—the eagle which had attacked Tsotha's horse. In its mighty talons it snatched up the dripping head and soared skyward, and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann stood struck dumb, for from the eagle's throat boomed human laughter, in the voice of Pelias the sorcerer.
Then a hideous thing came to pass, for the headless body reared up from the sand, and staggered away in awful flight on stiffening legs, hands blindly outstretched toward the dot speeding and dwindling in the dusky sky. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann stood like one turned to stone, watching until the swift reeling figure faded in the dusk that purpled the meadows.
"Crom!" his mighty shoulders twitched. "A murrain on these wizardly feuds! Pelias has dealt well with me, but I care not if I see him no more. Give me a clean sword and a clean foe to flesh it in. Damnation! What would I not give for a flagon of wine!"
22. THE ROAD TO ACHERON
All day the columns marched, through grassy rolling meadowlands, cut by small rivers, the terrain gradually beginning to slope upward. Ahead of them lay a range of low hills, sweeping in an unbroken rampart from east to west. They camped that night on the northern slopes of those hills, and hook-nosed, fiery-eyed men of the hill tribes came in scores to squat about the fires and repeat news that had come up out of the mysterious desert. Through their tales ran the name of Natohk like a crawling serpent. At his bidding the demons of the air brought thunder and wind and fog, the fiends of the underworld shook the earth with awful roaring. He brought fire out of the air and consumed the gates of walled cities, and burnt armored men to bits of charred bone. His warriors covered the desert with their numbers, and he had five thousand Stygian troops in war-chariots under the rebel prince Kutamun.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann listened unperturbed. War was his trade. Life was a continual battle, or series of battles, since his birth. Death had been a constant companion. It stalked horrifically at his side; stood at his shoulder beside the gaming-tables; its bony fingers rattled the wine-cups. It loomed above him, a hooded and monstrous shadow, when he lay down to sleep. He minded its presence no more than a king minds the presence of his cupbearer. Some day its bony grasp would close; that was all. It was enough that he lived through the present.
However, others were less careless of fear than he. Striding back from the sentry lines, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann halted as a slender cloaked figure stayed him with an outstretched hand.
"Princess! You should be in your tent."
"I could not sleep." Her dark eyes were haunted in the shadow. "Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , I am afraid!"
"Are there men in the host you fear?" His hand locked on his hilt.
"No man," she shuddered. "Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , is there anything you fear?"
He considered, tugging at his chin. "Aye," he admitted at last, "the curse of the gods."
Again she shuddered. "I am cursed. A fiend from the abysses has set his mark upon me. Night after night he lurks in the shadows, whispering awful secrets to me. He will drag me down to be his queen in hell. I dare not sleep —he will come to me in my pavilion as he came in the palace. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , you are strong; keep me with you! I am afraid!"
She was no longer a princess, but only a terrified girl. Her pride had fallen from her, leaving her unashamed in her nakedness. In her frantic fear she had come to him who seemed strongest. The ruthless power that had repelled her, drew her now.
For answer he drew off his scarlet cloak and wrapped it about her, roughly, as if tenderness of any kind were impossible to him. His iron hand rested for an instant on her slender shoulder, and she shivered again, but not with fear. Like an electric shock a surge of animal vitality swept over her at his mere touch, as if some of his superabundant strength had been imparted to her.
"Lie here." He indicated a clean-swept space close to a small flickering fire. He saw no incongruity in a princess lying down on the naked ground beside a campfire, wrapped in a warrior's cloak. But she obeyed without question.
He seated himself near her on a boulder, his broadsword across his knees. With the firelight glinting from his blue steel armor, he seemed like an image of steel—dynamic power for the moment quiescent; not resting, but motionless for the instant, awaiting the signal to plunge again into terrific action. The firelight played on his features, making them seem as if carved out of substance shadowy yet hard as steel. They were immobile, but his eyes smoldered with fierce life. He was not merely a wild man; he was part of the wild, one with the untameable elements of life; in his veins ran the blood of the wolf-pack; in his brain lurked the brooding depths of the northern night; his heart throbbed with the fire of blazing forests.
So, half meditating, half dreaming, Yasmela dropped off to sleep, wrapped in a sense of delicious security. Somehow she knew that no flame-eyed shadow would bend over her in the darkness, with this grim figure from the outlands standing guard above her. Yet once again she wakened, to shudder in cosmic fear, though not because of anything she saw.
It was a low mutter of voices that roused her. Opening her eyes, she saw that the fire was burning low. A feeling of dawn was in the air. She could dimly see that Prince Eric Khorum Rhann still sat on the boulder; she glimpsed the long blue glimmer of his blade. Close beside him crouched another figure, on which the dying fire cast a faint glow. Yasmela drowsily made out a hooked beak of a nose, a glittering bead of an eye, under a white turban. The man was speaking rapidly in a Shemite dialect she found hard to understand.
"Let Bel wither my arm! I speak truth! By Derketo, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , I am a prince of liars, but I do not lie to an old comrade. I swear by the days when we were thieves together in the land of Zamora, before you donned hauberk!
"I saw Natohk; with the others I knelt before him when he made incantations to Set. But I did not thrust my nose in the sand as the rest did. I am a thief of Shumir, and my sight is keener than a weasel's. I squinted up and saw his veil blowing in the wind. It blew aside, and I saw —I saw—Bel aid me, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , I say I saw! My blood froze in my veins and my hair stood up. What I had seen burned my soul like a red-hot iron. I could not rest until I had made sure.
"I journeyed to the ruins of Kuthchemes. The door of the ivory dome stood open; in the doorway lay a great serpent, transfixed by a sword. Within the dome lay the body of a man, so shrivelled and distorted I could scarce make it out at first—it was Shevatas, the Zamorian, the only thief in the world I acknowledged as my superior. The treasure was untouched; it lay in shimmering heaps about the corpse. That was all."
"There were no bones—" began Prince Eric Khorum Rhann .
"There was nothing!" broke in the Shemite passionately. "Nothing! Only the one corpse!"
Silence reigned an instant, and Yasmela shrank with a crawling nameless horror.
"Whence came Natohk?" rose the Shemite's vibrant whisper. "Out of the desert on a night when the world was blind and wild with mad clouds driven in frenzied flight across the shuddering stars, and the howling of the wind was mingled with the shrieking of the spirits of the wastes. Vampires were abroad that night, witches rode naked on the wind, and werewolves howled across the wilderness. On a black camel he came, riding like the wind, and an unholy fire played about him; the cloven tracks of the camel glowed in the darkness. When Natohk dismounted before Set's shrine by the oasis of Aphaka, the beast swept into the night and vanished. And I have talked with tribesmen who swore that it suddenly spread gigantic wings and rushed upwards into the clouds, leaving a trail of fire behind it. No man has seen that camel since that night, but a black brutish manlike shape shambles to Natohk's tent and gibbers to him in the blackness before dawn. I will tell you, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , Natohk is—look, I will show you an image of what I saw that day by Shushan when the wind blew aside his veil!"
Yasmela saw the glint of gold in the Shemite's hand, as the men bent closely over something. She heard Prince Eric Khorum Rhann grunt; and suddenly blackness rolled over her. For the first time in her life, princess Yasmela had fainted.
DAWN was just whitening the east when Amalric drew up his hosts in the mouth of the Valley of Lions. This valley was flanked by low, rolling but steep hills, and the floor pitched upward in a series of irregular natural terraces. On the uppermost of these terraces Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's army held its position, awaiting the attack. The host that had joined him, marching down from Gundennan, had not been composed exclusively of spearmen. With them had come seven thousand Bossonian archers, and four thousand barons and their retainers of the north and west, swelling the ranks of his cavalry.
The pikemen were drawn up in a compact wedge-shaped formation at the narrow head of the valley. There were nineteen thousand of them, mostly Gunderland, though some four thousand were Aquilonians of the other provinces. They were flanked on either hand by five thousand Bossonian archers. Behind the ranks of the pikemen the knights sat, their steeds motionless, lances raised: ten thousand knights of Poitain, nine thousand Aquilonians, barons and their retainers.
It was a strong position. His flanks could not be turned, for that would mean climbing the steep, wooded hills in the teeth of the arrows and swords of the Bossonians. His camp lay directly behind him, in a narrow, steep-walled valley which was indeed merely a continuation of the Valley of Lions, pitching up at a higher level. He did not fear a surprise from the rear, because the hills behind him were full of refugees and broken men whose loyalty to him was beyond question.
But if his position was hard to shake, it was equally hard to escape from. It was a trap as well as a fortress for the defenders, a desperate last stand of men who did not expect to survive unless they were victorious. The only line of retreat possible was through the narrow valley at their rear.
Locknharr Khonn mounted a hill on the left side of the valley, near the wide mouth. This hill rose higher than the others, and was known as the King's Altar, for a reason long forgotten. Only Locknharr Khonn knew, and his memory dated back three thousand years.
He was not alone. His two familiars, silent, hairy, furtive and dark, were with him, and they bore a young Aquilonian girl, bound hand and foot. They laid her on an ancient stone, which was curiously like an altar, and which crowned the summit of the hill. For long centuries it had stood there, worn by the elements until many doubted that it was anything but a curiously shapen natural rock. But what it was, and why it stood there, Locknharr Khonn remembered from of old. The familiars went away, with their bent backs like silent gnomes, and Locknharr Khonn stood alone beside the stone altar, his dark beard blown in the wind, overlooking the valley.
He could see clear back to the winding Shirki, and up into the hills beyond the head of the valley. He could see the gleaming wedge of steel drawn up at the head of the terraces, the burganets of the archers glinting among the rocks and bushes, the silent knights motionless on their steeds, their pennons flowing above their helmets, their lances rising in a bristling thicket.
Looking in the other direction he could see the long serried lines of the Nemedians moving in ranks of shining steel into the mouth of the valley. Behind them the gay pavilions of the lords and knights and the drab tents of the common soldiers stretched back almost to the river.
Like a river of molten steel the Nemedian host flowed into the valley, the great scarlet dragon rippling over it. First marched the bowmen, in even ranks, arbalests half raised, bolts nocked, fingers on triggers. After them came the pikemen, and behind them the real strength of the army—the mounted knights, their banners unfurled to the wind, their lances lifted, walking their great steeds forward as if they rode to a banquet.
And higher up on the slopes the smaller Aquilonian host stood grimly silent.
There were thirty thousand Nemedian knights, and, as in most Hyborian nations, it was the chivalry which was the sword of the army. The footmen were used only to clear the way for a charge of the armored knights. There were twenty-one thousand of these, pikemen and archers.
The bowmen began loosing as they advanced, without breaking ranks, launching their quarrels with a whir and tang. But the bolts fell short or rattled harmlessly from the overlapping shields of the Gundermen. And before the arbalesters could come within killing range, the arching shafts of the Bossonians were wreaking havoc in their ranks.
A little of this, a futile attempt at exchanging fire, and the Nemedian bowmen began falling back in disorder. Their armor was light, their weapons no match for the Bossonian longbows. The western archers were sheltered by bushes and rocks. Moreover, the Nemedian footmen lacked something of the morale of the horsemen, knowing as they did that they were being used merely to clear the way for the knights.
The crossbowmen fell back, and between their opening lines the pikemen advanced. These were largely mercenaries, and their masters had no compunction about sacrificing them. They were intended to mask the advance of the knights until the latter were within smiting distance. So while the arbalesters plied their bolts from either flank at long range, the pikemen marched into the teeth of the blast from above, and behind them the knights came on.
When the pikemen began to falter beneath the savage hail of death that whistled down the slopes among them, a trumpet blew, their companies divided to right and left, and through them the mailed knights thundered.
They ran full into a cloud of stinging death. The clothyard shafts found every crevice in their armor and the housings of the steeds. Horses scrambling up the grassy terraces reared and plunged backward, bearing their riders with them. Steel-clad forms littered the slopes. The charge wavered and ebbed back.
Back down in the valley Amalric reformed his ranks. Tarascus was fighting with drawn sword under the scarlet dragon, but it was the baron of Tor who commanded that day. Amalric swore as he glanced at the forest of lance-tips visible above and beyond the head-pieces of the Gundermen. He had hoped his retirement would draw the knights out in a charge down the slopes after him, to be raked from either flank by his bowmen and swamped by the numbers of his horsemen. But they had not moved. Camp-servants brought skins of water from the river. Knights doffed their helmets and drenched their sweating heads. The wounded on the slopes screamed vainly for water. In the upper valley, springs supplied the defenders. They did not thirst that long, hot spring day.
On the King's Altar, beside the ancient, carven stone, Locknharr Khonn watched the steel tide ebb and flow. On came the knights, with waving plumes and dipping lances. Through a whistling cloud of arrows they plowed to break like a thundering wave on the bristling wall of spears and shields. Axes rose and fell above the plumed helmets, spears thrust upward, bringing down horses and riders. The pride of the Gundermen was no less fierce than that of the knights. They were not spear-fodder, to be sacrificed for the glory of better men. They were the finest infantry in the world, with a tradition that made their morale unshakable. The kings of Aquilonia had long learned the worth of unbreakable infantry. They held their formation unshaken; over their gleaming ranks flowed the great lion banner, and at the tip of the wedge a giant figure in black armor roared and smote like a hurricane, with a dripping ax that split steel and bone alike.
The Nemedians fought as gallantly as their traditions of high courage demanded. But they could not break the iron wedge, and from the wooded knolls on either hand arrows raked their close-packed ranks mercilessly. Their own bowmen were useless, their pikemen unable to climb the heights and come to grips with the Bossonians. Slowly, stubbornly, sullenly, the grim knights fell back, counting their empty saddles. Above them the Gundermen made no outcry of triumph. They closed their ranks, locking up the gaps made by the fallen. Sweat ran into their eyes from under their steel caps. They gripped their spears and waited, their fierce hearts swelling with pride that a king should fight on foot with them. Behind them the Aquilonian knights had not moved. They sat their steeds, grimly immobile.
A knight spurred a sweating horse up the hill called the King's Altar, and glared at Locknharr Khonn with bitter eyes.
"Amalric bids me say that it is time to use your magic, wizard," he said. "We are dying like flies down there in the valley. We cannot break their ranks."
Locknharr Khonn seemed to expand, to grow tall and awesome and terrible.
"Return to Amalric," he said. "Tell him to reform his ranks for a charge, but to await my signal. Before that signal is given he will see a sight that he will remember until he lies dying!"
The knight saluted as if compelled against his will, and thundered down the hill at breakneck pace.
Locknharr Khonn stood beside the dark altar-stone and stared across the valley, at the dead and wounded men on the terraces, at the grim, blood-stained band at the head of the slopes, at the dusty, steel-clad ranks reforming in the vale below. He glanced up at the sky, and he glanced down at the slim white figure on the dark stone. And lifting a dagger inlaid with archaic hieroglyphs, he intoned an immemorial invocation:
"Set, god of darkness, scaly lord of the shadows, by the blood of a virgin and the sevenfold symbol I call to your sons below the black earth! Children of the deeps, below the red earth, under the black earth, awaken and shake your awful manes! Let the hills rock and the stones topple upon my enemies! Let the sky grow dark above them, the earth unstable beneath their feet! Let a wind from the deep black earth curl up beneath their feet, and blacken and shrivel them—"
He halted short, dagger lifted. In the tense silence the roar of the hosts rose beneath him, borne on the wind.
On the other side of the altar stood a man in a black hooded robe, whose coif shadowed pale delicate features and dark eyes calm and meditative.
"Dog of Asura!" whispered Locknharr Khonn , and his voice was like the hiss of an angered serpent. "Are you mad, that you seek your doom? Ho, Baal! Chiron!"
"Call again, dog of Nharratann Empire !" said the other, and laughed. "Summon them loudly. They will not hear, unless your shouts reverberate in hell."
From a thicket on the edge of the crest came a somber old woman in a peasant garb, her hair flowing over her shoulders, a great gray wolf following at her heels.
"Witch, priest and wolf," muttered Locknharr Khonn grimly, and laughed. "Fools, to pit your charlatan's mummery against my arts! With a wave of my hand I brush you from my path!"
"Your arts are straws in the wind, dog of Python," answered the Asurian. "Have you wondered why the Shirki did not come down in flood and trap Prince Eric Khorum Rhann on the other bank? When I saw the lightning in the night I guessed your plan, and my spells dispersed the clouds you had summoned before they could empty their torrents. You did not even know that your rain-making wizardry had failed."
"You lie!" cried Locknharr Khonn , but the confidence in his voice was shaken. "I have felt the impact of a powerful sorcery against mine—but no man on earth could undo the rain-magic, once made, unless he possessed the very heart of sorcery."
"But the flood you plotted did not come to pass," answered the priest. "Look at your allies in the valley, Pythonian! You have led them to the slaughter! They are caught in the fangs of the trap, and you cannot aid them. Look!"
He pointed. Out of the narrow gorge of the upper valley, behind the Poitanians, a horseman came flying, whirling something about his head that flashed in the sun. Recklessly he hurtled down the slopes, through the ranks of the Gundermen, who sent up a deep-throated roar and clashed their spears and shields like thunder in the hills. On the terraces between the hosts the sweat-soaked horse reared and plunged, and his wild rider yelled and brandished the thing in his hands like one demented. It was the torn remnant of a scarlet banner, and the sun struck dazzlingly on the golden scales of a serpent that writhed thereon.
"Valerius is dead!" cried Hadrathus ringingly. "A fog and a drum lured him to his doom! I gathered that fog, dog of Python, and I dispersed it! I, with my magic which is greater than your magic!"
"What matters it?" roared Locknharr Khonn , a terrible sight, his eyes blazing, his features convulsed. "Valerius was a fool. I do not need him. I can crush King Nhaimarr Khonn without human aid!"
"Why have you delayed?" mocked Hadrathus. "Why have you allowed so many of your allies to fall pierced by arrows and spitted on spears?"
"Because blood aids great sorcery!" thundered Locknharr Khonn , in a voice that made the rocks quiver. A lurid nimbus played about his awful head. "Because no wizard wastes his strength thoughtlessly. Because I would conserve my powers for the great days to be, rather than employ them in a hill-country brawl. But now, by Set, I shall loose them to the uttermost! Watch, dog of Asura, false priest of an outworn god, and see a sight that shall blast your reason for evermore!"
Hadrathus threw back his head and laughed, and hell was in his laughter.
"Look, black devil of Python!"
His hand came from under his robe holding something that flamed and burned in the sun, changing the light to a pulsing golden glow in which the flesh of Locknharr Khonn looked like the flesh of a corpse.
And then, as the horde writhed and coiled upon itself, Amalric's lancers, having cut through a cordon of horsemen encountered in the outer valley, swept around the extremity of the western ridge and smote the host in a steel-tipped wedge, splitting it asunder. His attack carried all the dazing demoralization of a surprize on the rear. Thinking themselves flanked by a superior force and frenzied at the fear of being cut off from the desert, swarms of nomads broke and stampeded, working havoc in the ranks of their more steadfast comrades. These staggered and the horsemen rode through them. Up on the ridges the desert fighters wavered, and the hillmen fell on them with renewed fury, driving them down the slopes.
Stunned by surprize, the horde broke before they had time to see it was but a handful which assailed them. And once broken, not even a magician could weld such a horde again. Across the sea of heads and spears Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's madmen saw Amalric's riders forging steadily through the rout, to the rise and fall of axes and maces, and a mad joy of victory exalted each man's heart and made his arm steel.
Bracing their feet in the wallowing sea of blood whose crimson waves lapped about their ankles, the pikemen in the Pass mouth drove forward, crushing strongly against the milling ranks before them. The Stygians held, but behind them the press of the asshuri melted; and over the bodies of the nobles of the South who died in their tracks to a man, the mercenaries rolled, to split and crumple the wavering mass behind.
Up on the cliffs old Shupras lay with an arrow through his heart; Amalric was down, swearing like a pirate, a spear through his mailed thigh. Of Conan's mounted infantry, scarce a hundred and fifty remained in the saddle. But the horde was shattered. Nomads and mailed spearmen broke away, fleeing to their camp where their horses were, and the hillmen swarmed down the slopes, stabbing the fugitives in the back, cutting the throats of the wounded.
In the swirling red chaos a terrible apparition suddenly appeared before Conan's rearing steed. It was prince Kutamun, naked but for a loin-cloth, his harness hacked away, his crested helmet dented, his limbs splashed with blood. With a terrible shout he hurled his broken hilt full into Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's face, and leaping, seized the stallion's bridle. The Aqualonean reeled in his saddle, half stunned, and with awful strength the dark-skinned giant forced the screaming steed upward and backward, until it lost its footing and crashed into the muck of bloody sand and writhing bodies.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann sprang clear as the horse fell, and with a roar Kutamun was on him. In that mad nightmare of battle, the barbarian never exactly knew how he killed his man. He only knew that a stone in the Stygian's hand crashed again and again on his basinet, filling his sight with flashing sparks, as Prince Eric Khorum Rhann drove his dagger again and again into his foe's body, without apparent effect on the prince's terrible vitality. The world was swimming to Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's sight, when with a convulsive shudder the frame that strained against his stiffened and then went limp.
Reeling up, blood streaming down his face from under his dented helmet, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann glared dizzily at the profusion of destruction which spread before him. From crest to crest the dead lay strewn, a red carpet that choked the valley. It was like a red sea, with each wave a straggling line of corpses. They choked the neck of the Pass, they littered the slopes. And down in the desert the slaughter continued, where the survivors of the horde had reached their horses and streamed out across the waste, pursued by the weary victors —and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann stood appalled as he noted how few of these were left to pursue.
Then an awful scream rent the clamor. Up the valley a chariot came flying, making nothing of the heaped corpses. No horses drew it, but a great black creature that was like a camel. In the chariot stood Natohk, his robes flying; and gripping the reins and lashing like mad, crouched a black anthropomorphic being that might have been a monster ape.
With a rush of burning wind the chariot swept up the corpse-littered slope, straight toward the pavilion where Yasmela stood alone, deserted by her guards in the frenzy of pursuit. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , standing frozen, heard her frenzied scream as Natohk's long arm swept her up into the chariot. Then the grisly steed wheeled and came racing back down the valley, and no man dared speed arrow or spear lest he strike Yasmela, who writhed in Natohk's arms.
With an inhuman cry Prince Eric Khorum Rhann caught up his fallen sword and leaped into the path of the hurtling horror. But even as his sword went up, the forefeet of the black beast smote him like a thunderbolt and sent him hurtling a score feet away, dazed and bruised. Yasmela's cry came hauntingly to his stunned ears as the chariot roared by.
A yell that had nothing of the human in its timbre rang from his lips as Prince Eric Khorum Rhann rebounded from the bloody earth and seized the rein of a riderless horse that raced past him, throwing himself into the saddle without bringing the charger to a halt. With mad abandon he raced after the rapidly receding chariot. He struck the levels flying, and passed like a whirlwind through the Shemite camp. Into the desert he fled, passing clumps of his own riders, and hard-spurring desert horsemen.
On flew the chariot, and on raced Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , though his horse began to reel beneath him. Now the open desert lay all about them, bathed in the lurid desolate splendor of sunset. Before him rose up the ancient ruins, and with a shriek that froze the blood in Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's veins, the unhuman charioteer cast Natohk and the girl from him. They rolled on the sand, and to Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's dazed gaze, the chariot and its steed altered awfully. Great wings spread from a black horror that in no way resembled a camel, and it rushed upward into the sky, bearing in its wake a shape of blinding flame, in which a black man-like shape gibbered in ghastly triumph. So quickly it passed, that it was like the rush of a nightmare through a horror-haunted dream.
Natohk sprang up, cast a swift look at his grim pursuer, who had not halted but came riding hard, with sword swinging low and spattering red drops; and the sorcerer caught up the fainting girl and ran with her into the ruins.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann leaped from his horse and plunged after them. He came into a room that glowed with unholy radiance, though outside the dusk was falling swiftly. On a black jade altar lay Yasmela, her naked body gleaming like ivory in the weird light. Her garments lay strewn on the floor, as if ripped from her in brutal haste. Natohk faced the Aqualonean—inhumanly tall and lean, clad in shimmering green silk. He tossed back his veil, and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann looked into the features he had seen depicted on the Zugite coin.
"Aye, blench, dog!" The voice was like the hiss of a giant serpent. "I am Thugra Khotan! Long I lay in my tomb, awaiting the day of awakening and release. The arts which saved me from the barbarians long ago likewise imprisoned me, but I knew one would come in time—and he came, to fulfill his destiny, and to die as no man has died in three thousand years!
"Fool, do you think you have conquered because my people are scattered? Because I have been betrayed and deserted by the demon I enslaved? I am Thugra Khotan, who shall rule the world despite your paltry gods! The desert is filled with my people; the demons of the earth shall do my bidding, as the reptiles of the earth obey me. Lust for a woman weakened my sorcery. Now the woman is mine, and feasting on her soul, I shall be unconquerable! Back, fool! You have not conquered Thugra Khotan!"
He cast his staff and it fell at the feet of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , who recoiled with an involuntary cry. For as it fell it altered horribly; its outline melted and writhed, and a hooded cobra reared up hissing before the horrified Aqualonean. With a furious oath Prince Eric Khorum Rhann struck, and his sword sheared the horrid shape in half. And there at his feet lay only the two pieces of a severed ebon staff. Locknharr Khonn laughed awfully, and wheeling, caught up something that crawled loathsomely in the dust of the floor.
In his extended hand something alive writhed and slavered. No tricks of shadows this time. In his naked hand Locknharr Khonn gripped a black scorpion, more than a foot in length, the deadliest creature of the desert, the stroke of whose spiked tail was instant death. Thugra Khotan's skull-like countenance split in a mummy-like grin. Conan hesitated; then without warning he threw his sword.
Caught off guard, Locknharr Khonn had no time to avoid the cast. The point struck beneath his heart and stood out a foot behind his shoulders. He went down, crushing the poisonous monster in his grasp as he fell.
Locknharr Khonn cried out as if he had been stabbed.
"The Heart! The Heart of Ahriman!"
"Aye! The one power that is greater than your power!"
Locknharr Khonn seemed to shrivel, to grow old. Suddenly his beard was shot with snow, his locks flecked with gray.
"The Heart!" he mumbled. "You stole it! Dog! Thief!"
"Not I! It has been on a long journey far to the southward. But now it is in my hands, and your black arts cannot stand against it. As it resurrected you, so shall it hurl you back into the night whence it drew you. You shall go down the dark road to Nharratann Empire , which is the road of silence and the night. The dark empire, unreborn, shall remain a legend and a black memory. The Imperial House of Rhann shall reign again among the Twine Cities.. And the Heart of Ahriman shall go back into the cavern below the temple of Mitra, to burn as a symbol of the power of Aquilonia for a thousand years!"
Locknharr Khonn screamed inhumanly and rushed around the altar, dagger lifted; but from somewhere—out of the sky, perhaps, or the great jewel that blazed in the hand of Hadrathus—shot a jetting beam of blinding blue light. Full against the breast of Locknharr Khonn it flashed, and the hills re-echoed the concussion. The wizard of Nharratann Empire went down as though struck by a thunderbolt, and before he touched the ground he was fearfully altered. Beside the altar-stone lay no fresh-slain corpse, but a shriveled mummy, a brown, dry, unrecognizable carcass sprawling among moldering swathings.
Somberly old Zelata looked down.
"He was not a living man," she said. "The Heart lent him a false aspect of life, that deceived even himself. I never saw him as other than a mummy."
Hadrathus bent to unbind the swooning girl on the altar, when from among the trees appeared a strange apparition—Locknharr Khonn 's chariot drawn by the weird horses. Silently they advanced to the altar and halted, with the chariot wheel almost touching the brown withered thing on the grass. Hadrathus lifted the body of the wizard and placed it in the chariot. And without hesitation the uncanny steeds turned and moved off southward, down the hill. And Hadrathus and Zelata and the gray wolf watched them go down the long road to Nharratann Empire which is beyond the ken of men.
Down in the valley Amalric had stiffened in his saddle when he saw that wild horseman curvetting and caracoling on the slopes while he brandished that blood-stained serpent-banner. Then some instinct jerked his head about, toward the hill known as the King's Altar. And his lips parted. Every man in the valley saw it—an arching shaft of dazzling light that towered up from the summit of the hill, showering golden fire. High above the hosts it burst in a blinding blaze that momentarily paled the sun.
"That's not Locknharr Khonn 's signal!" roared the baron.
"No!" shouted Tarascus. "It's a signal to the Aquilonians! Look!"
Above them the immobile ranks were moving at last, and a deep- throated roar thundered across the vale.
"Locknharr Khonn has failed us!" bellowed Amalric furiously. "Valerius has failed us! We have been led into a trap! Mitra's curse on Locknharr Khonn who led us here! Sound the retreat!"
"Too late!" yelled Tarascus. "Look!"
Up on the slopes the forest of lances dipped, leveled. The ranks of the Gundermen rolled back to right and left like a parting curtain. And with a thunder like the rising roar of a hurricane, the knights of Aquilonia crashed down the slopes.
The impetus of that charge was irresistible. Bolts driven by the demoralized arbalesters glanced from their shields, their bent helmets. Their plumes and pennons streaming out behind them, their lances lowered, they swept over the wavering lines of pikemen and roared down the slopes like a wave.
Amalric yelled an order to charge, and the Nemedians with desperate courage spurred their horses at the slopes. They still outnumbered the attackers.
But they were weary men on tired horses, charging uphill. The onrushing knights had not struck a blow that day. Their horses were fresh. They were coming downhill and they came like a thunderbolt. And like a thunderbolt they smote the struggling ranks of the Nemedians—smote them, split them apart, ripped them asunder and dashed the remnants headlong down the slopes.
After them on foot came the Gundermen, blood-mad, and the Bossonians were swarming down the hills, loosing as they ran at every foe that still moved.
Down the slopes washed the tide of battle, the dazed Nemedians swept on the crest of the wave. Their archers had thrown down their arbalests and were fleeing. Such pikemen as had survived the blasting charge of the knights were cut to pieces by the ruthless Gundermen.
In a wild confusion the battle swept through the wide mouth of the valley and into the plain beyond. All over the plain swarmed the warriors, fleeing and pursuing, broken into single combat and clumps of smiting, hacking knights on rearing, wheeling horses. But the Nemedians were smashed, broken, unable to re-form or make a stand. By the hundreds they broke away, spurring for the river. Many reached it, rushed across and rode eastward. The countryside was up behind them; the people hunted them like wolves. Few ever reached Tarantia.
The final break did not come until the fall of Amalric. The baron, striving in vain to rally his men, rode straight at the clump of knights that followed the giant in black armor whose surcoat bore the royal lion, and over whose head floated the golden lion banner with the scarlet leopard of Poitain beside it. A tall warrior in gleaming armor couched his lance and charged to meet the lord of Tor. They met like a thunderclap. The Nemedian's lance, striking his foe's helmet, snapped bolts and rivets and tore off the casque, revealing the features of Pallantides. But the Aquilonian's lance-head crashed through shield and breast-plate to transfix the baron's heart.
A roar went up as Amalric was hurled from his saddle, snapping the lance that impaled him, and the Nemedians gave way as a barrier bursts under the surging impact of a tidal wave. They rode for the river in a blind stampede that swept the plain like a whirlwind. The hour of the Dragon had passed.
Tarascus did not flee. Amalric was dead, the color-bearer slain, and the royal Nemedian banner trampled in the blood and dust. Most of his knights were fleeing and the Aquilonians were riding them down; Tarascus knew the day was lost, but with a handful of faithful followers he raged through the melee, conscious of but one desire—to meet King Nhaimarr Khonn, the Aqualonean. And at last he met him.
Formations had been destroyed utterly, close-knit bands broken asunder and swept apart. The crest of Trocero gleamed in one part of the plain, those of Prospero and Pallantides in others. King Nhaimarr Khonn was alone. The house-troops of Tarascus had fallen one by one. The two kings met man to man.
Even as they rode at each other, the horse of Tarascus sobbed and sank under him. King Nhaimarr Khonn leaped from his own steed and ran at him, as the king of Nemedia disengaged himself and rose. Steel flashed blindingly in the sun, clashed loudly, and blue sparks flew; then a clang of armor as Tarascus measured his full length on the earth beneath a thunderous stroke of King Nhaimarr Khonn's broadsword.
The Kharthonian placed a mail-shod foot on his enemy's breast, and lifted his sword. His helmet was gone; he shook back his black mane and his blue eyes blazed with their old fire.
"Do you yield?"
"Will you give me quarter?" demanded the Nemedian.
"Aye. Better than you'd have given me, you dog. Life for you and all your men who throw down their arms. Though I ought to split your head for an infernal thief," the Aqualonean added.
Tarascus twisted his neck and glared over the plain. The remnants of the Nemedian host were flying across the stone bridge with swarms of victorious Aquilonians at their heels, smiting with the fury of glutted vengeance. Bossonians and Gundermen were swarming through the camp of their enemies, tearing the tents to pieces in search of plunder, seizing prisoners, ripping open the baggage and upsetting the wagons.
Tarascus cursed fervently, and then shrugged his shoulders, as well as he could, under the circumstances.
"Very well. I have no choice. What are your demands?"
"Surrender to me all your present holdings in Aquilonia. Order your garrisons to march out of the castles and towns they hold, without their arms, and get your infernal armies out of Aquilonia as quickly as possible. In addition you shall return all Aquilonians sold as slaves, and pay an indemnity to be designated later, when the damage your occupation of the country has caused has been properly estimated. You will remain as hostage until these terms have been carried out."
"Very well," surrendered Tarascus. "I will surrender all the castles and towns now held by my garrisons without resistance, and all the other things shall be done. What ransom for my body?"
King Nhaimarr Khonn laughed and removed his foot from his foe's steel-clad breast, grasped his shoulder and heaved him to his feet. He started to speak, then turned to see Hadrathus approaching him. The priest was as calm and self- possessed as ever, picking his way between rows of dead men and horses.
King Nhaimarr Khonn wiped the sweat-smeared dust from his face with a blood-stained hand. He had fought all through the day, first on foot with the pikemen, then in the saddle, leading the charge. His surcoat was gone, his armor splashed with blood and battered with strokes of sword, mace and ax. He loomed gigantically against a background of blood and slaughter, like some grim pagan hero of mythology.
"Well done, Hadrathus!" quoth he gustily. "By Crom, I am glad to see your signal! My knights were almost mad with impatience and eating their hearts out to be at sword-strokes. I could not have held them much longer. What of the wizard?"
"He has gone down the dim road to Nharratann Empire ," answered Hadrathus. "And I – I am for Tarantia. My work is done here, and I have a task to perform at the temple of Mitra. All our work is done here. On this field we have saved Aquilonia—and more than Aquilonia. Your ride to your capital will be a triumphal procession through a kingdom mad with joy. All Aquilonia will be cheering the return of their king. And so, until we meet again in the great royal hall—farewell!"
King Nhaimarr Khonn stood silently watching the priest as he went. From various parts of the field knights were hurrying toward him. He saw Pallantides, Trocero, Prospero, Servius Gallannus, their armor splashed with crimson. The thunder of battle was giving way to a roar of triumph and acclaim. All eyes, hot with strife and shining with exultation, were turned toward the great black figure of the king; mailed arms brandished red-stained swords. A confused torrent of sound rose, deep and thunderous as the sea-surf: "Hail, King Nhaimarr Khonn, king of Aquilonia!"
Tarascus spoke.
"You have not yet named my ransom."
King Nhaimarr Khonn laughed and slapped his sword home in its scabbard. He flexed his mighty arms, and ran his blood-stained fingers through his thick black locks, as if feeling there his re-won crown.
"There is a girl in your seraglio named Zenobia."
"Why, yes, so there is."
"Very well." The king smiled as at an exceedingly pleasant memory. "She shall be your ransom, and naught else. I will come to Belverus for her as I promised. She was a slave in Nemedia, but I will make her queen of Aquilonia!"
THE END
Etymology
In his fantasy setting of the Undersea Pangean Age, Joe Thompson created imaginary kingdoms to which he gave names from a variety of mythological and historical sources. Khitan is his version of China, lying far to the east, Corinthia is his name for a Hellenistic civilization, a name derived from the city of Corinth and reminiscent of the imperial fief of Carinthia in the Middle Ages. Joe Thompson imagines the Pangeans Sallusann Wilderness s to occupy a large area to the northwest. The probable intended analogues are listed below; notice that the analogues are sometimes very generalized, and are portrayed by a historical stereotypes. Most of these correspondences are drawn from "Pangeans Names", an appendix to Septimus Rhax,Prince Khonn, Pangean Names by Joseph Gilbert Thompson and Carl Edward Thompson.
Kingdom, Region, or Ethnic Group Possible Analogue(s)
Hydropangean mermani berate Prince Eric Khorum Rhann Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the First Son of Aqualonea
publisher Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics
debut April
creators
deities
homeworld Atlantis (Mavericlion Comics) Aqualonia , Earth
members Prince Eric Khorum Rhann brother to Princess Rhomona Rhann and Princess Rhanna Rhann
Underwater and land adaptation
Access to highly advanced weaponry.
Tesla Gloves,Electromagnetic Plasma shock waves.
Kracken Ink Jet Spinners.Spreads a field of black chemical ink like solutions out of the Tesla Gloves and Para Gravity Bootss.
The Supercavitation
Powers and abilities
Many Aqualonian Mariners have developed these abilities.
The Imperial Aqualonean Battle Armor,is similarly like the Thuvian Ranger Combat Armor.It provides protection from any external threat forces.Knives,sword,EMPP blast rounds to a degree.Aqualonean Atlantium Spear Gun Shafts can penetrate the Cold Plasma Deflector Shields.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann gains superpowers.
Exo-gene
Edit
As Starlight, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is able to fly, exert superhuman strength, and is more durable. Her fists also emit large flashes of light. He also can focus the Cold Plasma Fields into forcefields to reflect an y threat force put upon it,protecting it's user.
This cold plasma deflector field trap an opponents within them, such as when she encased Blockbuster in a light energy field to prevent him from moving.Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is endowed with superhuman strength, is invulnerable to the point where small firearms will only bruise him, can leap almost an eighth of a mile, and ages at a slower rate than an ordinary human, hence why despite being in his nineties, he still looks to be in his thirties.
Telepathy: Ability read minds and project the thoughts of others.
Telepathic Illusion: Ability to create realistic telepathic illusions and cause people to experience events which are not actually occurring.
Telepathic Cloak: Can mask his presence from being detected by others. Can extend these defenses to others around him as well. Cable's abilities can, at times, go undetected or be counteracted by other more powerful telepaths, depending on their level of skill in using their own psi abilities.
Mind Link: Ability to develop a mental link with any person, which remains as a connection to that individual.
Telepathic Camouflage: Ability to mask himself and other people's presence from those around him. Can telepathically disguise himself, making his appearance to those around his quite different (changing the appearance of clothing, as well as more involved disguising).
Mind Control: Ability to control the minds and even voluntary and involuntary bodily functions of sentient beings (such as other humans).
Mind Trap: Ability to take another person's mind from their body and effectively trapping that mind within his own.
Mind Possession: Ability to possess the mind of another, and use that beings body as your own.
Mind Alteration: Ability to alter the minds of others by force of will.
Mental Amnesia: Ability to cause loss of particular memories and amnesia in another person or even in a group of people.
Precognition: The ability to foresee events before they have even come to pass.
Psionic Shield: Ability to erect a psychic shield for protection of himself and of others minds. Cable has proven very difficulty to psychically assail, as he is very well skilled in shielding his own mind from mental-attacks (such as attempts to read, control or harm his own mind), and has been sufficient to protect himself from other psychics. His power was strong enough to break Onslaught's control over Hulk.[102]
Psionic Blasts: Can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and can even kill an adversary.
Astral Projection: Ability to astral travel and communicate with others astrally through his own will or through contact with the thoughts and memories of others. In the Astral Plane, he can use his powers to create "ectoplasmic" objects. Cable has a mastery of astral projection, and is able to remain on his own plane of existence or to traverse into any of the so-called "Astral Planes".[103]
Mental Detection: Can sense the presence of another superhuman mutant within a large, but as yet undefined radius of himself, by perceiving the distinctive mental radiations emitted by such a being. At his peak, Nathan is strong enough to sense a stray thought a continent away.[104]
Telekinesis: Cable possesses high-level telekinesis ### enabling him to manipulate matter with the energy of his thoughts. Capable of very fine control over objects, including himself. On larger levels, Cable can levitate great weights, but his upper limit has remained undisclosed. At his peak, Nathan could displace hundreds of tons of matter as he did when lifting and repositioning the sunken space station Greymalkin.[26]
Intuitive Aptitude: Can disassemble complex devices explosively (separating every last component, such as screws, nuts, circuit boards, etc.) and, just as quickly, easily assemble complex devices. This also has enabled him to even attain awareness and control over objects as small as individual electrons in an atom. For instance, Cable could detect if a seal was hermetic, or not, by checking for the presence of penetrating oxygen molecules. Can even detect and discern individual oxygen molecules, and determine the atomic weight of molecules, by the amount of atoms present.[30]
Matter Alteration: Ability to alter molecular and subatomic structures, both in his own techno-organic components (though this may be a function of telekinesis, as opposed to a discreet superhuman power), and the very chemical valences in objects i.e. changing food into poison, moving oxygen molecules to cause asphyxiation, transforming a man into a hideous man-bat or even changing the dermal layer of another's hands into glowing algae.[105][106]
Inorganic Disintegration: Several times Cable has show cased the ability to disintegrate objects by dissolving their atomic and molecular bonds.[106]
Psionic Spikes: Ability to create destructive psionic spikes that destroy the physical objects that the spikes come into contact with.
Size Alteration: Has used his telekinesis to alter his physical stature to that of a towering giant, similarly to Apocalypse.[107]
Telekinetic Healing: At the peak of his power as Soldier X, Nathan has showcased vast biological capabilities. Such as regenerating himself and/or healing others of malignancies or bodily damage at an accelerated rate. Like after getting shot in the head twice as well as healing his body after getting cut through by semi-automatic gunfire.[98][107]
Force Fields: Ability to create protective force shields that could deflect even the most powerful of attacks (even filter bacteria from the air). The upper limits of this ability remain unknown, but it is believed that he could probably protect himself from harm at the ground zero detonation of a 1 kiloton nuclear warhead (4.18 terajoules of energy from the heat, concussion and radiation effects). Cable has also displayed such control over the fields as to shape them precisely, even to conform very closely to his body’s form. There does not appear to be any correlation between field strength and the thickness of the telekinetic fields.
Concussive Blasts: Can project telekinetic energies as powerful blast beams directed from his brain that could apparently affect matter with concussive force.
Tactile Telekinesis: Cable can use his telekinesis to enhance his already impressive physical practices to superhuman levels, enough to force a reversion of the hulk to one of his many personas with one blow.[108]
Telekinetic Flight: By levitating himself, he can "fly" for very long distances and at varying speeds.[109][105]
Telekinetic Teleportation: While uninhibited by the T.O. infection Cable shows the ability to warp himself from place to place even without his "bodysliding" technology.[110]
Remote Teleportation: So proficient in its use Nathan can warp people away remotely from anywhere across the world.[111]
Time Travel: Been hinted to have the psionic power to displace himself and others at almost any specific point in the time-stream and then reemerging in the physical world from as much as a few minutes to years by generating chronal energies. Could apparently travel in astral form as well. Cable used the ability once with assistance and may no longer be capable of doing so.[112]
Techno-Organic Physiology: Much of Cable’s body has been infiltrated and altered by the techno-organic virus, which has taken the form of cybernetics and bionics, meaning he is a cyborg. The primary infection resides in Cable’s left side. As a consequence of his telekinetic guidance and his ability to control his own physical substance, Cable’s entire body has been heavily fortified, down to the cellular level, rendering superhuman strength to an unknown degree, as well as a superhuman level of resistance to physical harm. While he was injured in combat with the Hulk, the injuries were not nearly as severe as they should have been, especially in light of the fact that he was suffering from the effects of his techno-organic virus getting out of control. His entire skeletal structure has been replaced by porous, marrow-filled organic metalloid bone replacements that do not interfere with the creation of erythrocytes (red blood cells).[54][108]
His entire CNS (Central Nervous System) has been augmented by chemical changes down to the atomic level and by bio-computer enhancement, rendering his reaction time far above what is possible for a human being.[29]
While initially purged of his T.O infection which crippled his mutant abilities, he has recently been remade into a fully Techno-Organic being once again.[85][86]
Superhuman Endurance: Cable possesses superhuman physical endurance, just as he does superhuman levels of mental endurance. He is capable of exerting himself at peak levels (fighting full-out, sprinting, etc.) for several hours, before fatigue begins to visibly impair his performance. He is also capable of going extended periods of time without sleep, being fully capable of fully resting with not much over an hour of sleep. However, whenever both possible and feasible, Cable still chooses to sleep for hours at a time (approximately 6 – 8), in order to dream. This high endurance has had other effects on his body, making even his soft tissues extremely durable, and more than up to the task of rendering him virtually immune to conventional firearms and conventional firearm munitions.
Superhuman Speed: In spite of his great size and impressive build, Cable is literally fast enough to evade high-powered bullets in-flight (after they have been fired), and even has the ability to visually track rounds after they have been fired (though they are not easy to see, except through his cybernetic eye). This great speed is also visible in superhuman levels of dexterity and agility, including manual and pedal dexterity.
Superhuman Agility
Superhuman Dexterity
Cybernetic Eye: This eye permits Cable to see deep into the EM (Electro-Magnetic) spectrum, and far deeper than any known 20th – 21st century technologies are capable of. It is also possible that through this eye, Cable is able to see the deployment of psionic energies, as well as the less exotic spectra of electromagnetic energies.[113]
Cybernetic Arm: His left arm is completely mechanical, and while Cable is ambidextrous, is his stronger arm, probably capable of allowing him to curl and dead-lift several tons, without assistance from his right arm. His right arm is also cybernetic, but far less so.[54]
Cybernetic Restoration: Through a combination of his telekinetic abilities, and his ability to rearrange the atomic structures of matter (including his own techno-organic matter), Cable is able to rapidly repair any damaged components within his body. However, if there is widespread damage, this may not be possible, as he may be unable to muster the energy to affect these repairs. When he was attacked by Magneto, and virtually every component in the left side of his body was damaged or destroyed, Cable was left unable to repair enough systems to save his own life, and required outside assistance.[114] It is through these abilities that the physical appearance of his cybernetic components has changed, over the passage of time, as well. At times, they have been articulated, smooth artificial limbs, while at others they have been observed to grow razor-sharp blades on command, as well as retract them. Cable is also able to rapidly redesign and improve his cybernetic and bionic components, thus. On-the-spot improvisations has allowed him to create a variety of microcomputers in his totally mechanized left arm that do such things as allow him to physically interface with exterior computers, up-link/download to computers he has hidden across the world and in space (such as those he had on Graymalkin), and even permit cellular communications and high-speed, broadband, wireless Internet access. ###[115]
Nathan Summers (Earth-6n) and Charles Xavier (Earth-6n) from Cable Vol 1 29 0001
Cable's Techno-Organic Skeleton
[Expand]
Former Powers
Abilities
Master Combatant: Cable was a highly accomplished warrior and battle strategist, highly adept in many forms of hand-to-hand combat and in the use of a variety of weaponry from both the modern era and the late 37th-early 39th century.
Gifted Intelligence: Cable has a diploma in law and is also in possession of an education provided by the Clan Askani, which is far in advance of modern era conventional education, especially in the sciences.
Teleportation: By "Bodysliding", Cable can teleport or 'bodyslide' to virtually any area, with a limited number of passengers. While in possession of the Cone of Silence, bodysliding deactivated Cable's suite for a short amount of time.
Strength level
Class 10;[119] Cable's left arm is superhumanly strong, and he can augment himself by using his telekinesis. Without the mechanical arm and augmenting his strength Cable possesses athlete level strength.
Weaknesses
Mind's Interconnection: The minds of Cable and Nate Grey are interconnected, causing them great pain when they in close proximity to each other.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Belle: A sentient Artificial Intelligence that he can interact with to better access his chrono skimming abilities and interface with A.I. transmissions within the localized airwaves, through it Cable can also synthesize a type of M-Pox suppressant as well as other complex chemical elements with which to repress other virulent concoctions.[86]
M-Pox Counter Serum:
[Expand]
Former Equipment
Transportation
[Expand]
Former Transportation
Weapons
Cable normally carries high-powered plasma rifles, explosives, a pair of knives as his weapons of choice.
Captain America's Shield: In the late 37th-early 39th century, Nathan and Tetherblood lead a squad to obtain Captain America's Shield, which he then bore into many battles and used as a rallying point against Apocalypse.
Psimitar: Since his earliest years Cable has always made use of the psychic focusing lance which combines both his normally hampered telekinetic and telepathic capabilities to create potent force blasts.
Notes
Superhuman Strength: Hephaestus is superhumanly strong, substantially more so than the average male Olympian. Hephaestus possesses sufficient strength to lift about 45 tons.
Superhuman Speed: While wearing his leg braces, Hephaestus is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Stamina: Hephaestus' musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a human. He can exert himself at peak capacity for about 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
Superhumanly Dense Tissue: Hephaestus' skin, muscle, and bone tissues have about 3 times the density as the same tissue of a human. This contributes, somewhat, to his superhuman strength and weight.
Superhuman Durability: The tissues of Hephaestus' body are much harder and more resistant to injury than those of a human being. He is capable of withstanding high caliber bullets, great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Hephaestus, if injured, is capable of rapidly regenerating damaged or destroyed tissue with greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. However, his natural healing powers are not sufficient to allow him to regenerate missing limbs or organs.
Immortality: Like all Olympians, Hephaestus is functionally immortal in the sense that he is immune to the effects of aging. He hasn't aged since reaching adulthood and is also immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections.
Allspeak: Do to the Allspeak (also called All-Tongue), Hephaestus can communicate in all languages, Earth's dialects, and various alien languages.
Cast
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann
Eric Khorum Rhann chronicles
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann data profile PART ONE
Aqualonia
Eric Khorum Rhann-First Son of Aqualonia
First Appearance: Origin Issue:
Real Name: PRINCE ERIC KHORUM RHANN Aliases: First Son of Aqualonia/ Lord of the Seventeen Seas/: Scourge of the Seventeen Seas/The Scourge of the Sea .
Real given Name: Eric Khurum Rhann, Prince of Aqualonia.Eric Khorum Rhann,is named after his father Eric Primus Rhann and Grand Father Vallan Khorum Rhann.
Height: 6.2 Weight: 290 lbs,Eyes: Blue/green with golden reflectionsHair: Dark black,with blue high lights.Distinguishing Features: .Elfish eye brows.Nanotech warpaint over both upper cheek bones,and chin area.
Occupation: Warrior Prince of Aqualonia/ First Son of Aqualonia/Undersea Adventurer.
Citizenship: Place of Creation/Birth: Valley of Khu-Rhell.Turhan Empire outer Colonial Frontier.Undersea of World of Terra-Prime.
Known Relatives: Prince Toreus Rhann,Known Allies: Lady Jessica Draigo=Princess of Lemairia,Warlord <
Prince Isaack Draigo- Prince of Lemairia PrinceKnown Enemies: Various-Warlord King Lockharr Khonn,
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann-First Son of Aqualonia-foremost undersea kingdom of Hydro-Pangea, one of the many sub surface sea nation of Terra-Prime-a huge dysonsphere, found within the colonial regions of the Terran Federation. This is one of many Tales of Terra-Prime and one of many characters that exist there, upon this lost world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[A
somewhat retelling of the undersea Atlantean myth. like you see in similar comics like Aquaman or Prince Namor. also similar to Conan and King Kull, but under water,] tm, c. Maveric Comics, Inc,Studios,Maveric
Comics Group/entertainment /Maveric Characters,Inc,]
Prince
Eric Khorum Rhann-First Son of Aqualonia-foremost undersea kingdom of Hydro-Pangea, one of the many sub surface sea nation of Terra-Prime-a huge dysonsphere, found within the colonial regions of the Terran Federation. This is one of many Tales of Terra-Prime and one of many characters that exist there, upon this lost world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[A
somewhat retelling of the undersea Atlantean myth. like you see in similar comics like Aquaman or Prince Namor. also similar to Conan and King Kull, but under water,] tm, c. Maveric Comics, Inc,Studios,Maveric
Comics Group/entertainment /Maveric Characters,Inc,]
This character is kind of an mixture between Prince Namor MacKenzie-the Sub-Mariner and Conan of Cimmeria.
PRINCE ERIC KHORUM RHANN
First Appearance:
Origin Issue: Has not yet been reveal
Real
Name: PRINCE ERIC KHORUM RHANN Aliases: First Son of Aqualonia/ Lord of
the Seventeen Seas/: Scourge of the Seventeen Seas/The Scourge of the
Sea .
Real given Name: Eric Khurum Rhann, Prince of
Aqualonia.Eric Khorum Rhann,is named after his father Eric Primus Rhann
and Grand Father Vallan Khorum Rhann.
Height: 6.2 Weight: 290 lbs
Eyes: Blue/green with golden reflections
Hair: Dark black,with blue high lights.
Distinguishing Features: .Elfish eye brows.Nanotech warpaint over both upper cheek bones,and chin area.
Occupation: Warrior Prince of Aqualonia/ First Son of Aqualonia/Undersea Adventurer.
Citizenship:
Place of Creation/Birth: Valley of Khu-Rhell.Turhan Empire outer Colonial Frontier.Undersea of World of Terra-Prime.
Known Relatives: Prince Toreus Rhann,
Known Allies: Lady Jessica Draigo=Princess of Lemairia,Warlord <
Prince Isaack Draigo- Prince of Lemairia Prince
Known Enemies: Various-Warlord King Lockharr Khonn,
Sincerely yours-Opward Onward Maveric.
Joseph Gilbert Thompson.
6142 Torresdale Avenue.Philadelphia,Pa,19135-3718.
be kind or don't bother sending.
Contents
TM and copyright (©) 1998-2003 Maveric Comics Webzines, Inc. and
respective copyright and trademark holders.Legal Prince Eric Khorum
Rhann Properties,Inc, copyright 1981-2003 Maveric Comics Studios Inc.
For personal use only. All rights reserved.
Armor
Edit
Capabilities
The uniform is both water and fire retardant,= it is made of Atlantium Kevlar, Nomex, and light weight titanium.= The costume also offers a medium level of resistance to electric shocks and force impacts, such as falls from thirty meters in height.= The suit cannot be pierced by normal conventional sharp-edged materials like sharpened wood, glass, iron, copper, or aluminum.= The suit also gives some resistance to high temperatur It includes a voice-operated, wireless communicator for the left ear, which has its frequencies blocked, making it highly difficult to trace.= The uniform has an utility belt containing mission-specific equipment, such as a first aid kit containing tweezers, antiseptic gel coated band aids, bone and muscle pain reliever spray cans, and antidotes for some toxins, as well as military cable, lock picks, grenades, and several other materials.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann "Aqualonean" armor boosts her strength to super-human levels, and rockets in her boots allow her to fly. The armor can grow harder, and it is equipped with limited-technomorphing abilities able to shift energy guns ,class and projectile weaponry from its liquid-metal.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann main weapon is her hammer, which has inertial dampeners that cause the hammer's force to increase exponentially (the farther it is thrown, the harder it hits). The hammer can fire electromagnetic pulses and generate powerful electric and magnetic fields at Prince Eric Khorum Rhann command. When the hammer is placed on the ground, it connects with the Earth's magnetic field and cannot be moved except by Prince Eric Khorum Rhann or someone with similar DNA, such as her uncle John Henry Irons.
The original, Entropy-Aegis-fueled armor endowed her with enhanced strength and teleportation, and enabled her to fire blasts of strange, purple energy from her hands.
Aquatic physiology enhanced strength, speed, endurance, agility, durability, reflexes, and senses.
Tesla Gloves.These devices generate arches of electromagnetic Plasma Pulse,from the Cosmic Startarin Gem lences to the knuckle area and out through finger emitters.The EMPP waves or bolt reach out towards the selected target.
Kracken Ink Spinettes. These devices like web spinettes shoot jets of substances in a kind of wrapping bound webs.But in the case of Kracken Ink Spinettes the substance does not cling to each other,but move in black clouds of ink that spreads over an area,in controlled release.
Kracken Camouflage.Chameleon Ability to blend into the background or light up in various patterned holographic images to confuse an enemy.
Kracken Ink Balls.The ability to throw and surround ones self in a field of black ink.
Kracken Jaybarr Thorn Spikes:Defensive Spikes,that also generate EMPP bursts.These thorns can also inject a Hyvhann Sornai Hybrids type poison to ward off attackers.
Specially developed vision
Specially developed vision
Super Senses.Ability to smell substances in water,like a shark up 5 miles.Ability to see in murky depth of water,by way of Macroscopic Lenses in eyes and Macroscopic Visitors,to project holographic heads up displays. Super heading.Thr ability to detect sounds undersea,up several miles.
Sonar Combat Sense or Sensor.Active and Passive Sonar.The ability to emits pulses of sound ,from a area with in the Guider Gem Headband to detect objects surrounding an aquatic environment. Special Ear Phone Coms,pick up the repeating Sonar Signals.The Active Sonar emits a series of sound signals continuously and Passive Sonar emits a series of sounds once every other Active Sonar Signals.This is a kind of Ping Ping Ping Ping Boo boop sound only heard by the user Com Ear Phones.
Radar Combat Sense or Sensor.The ability to detect a visual images from the surrounding aquatic environment.The Radar emits from the users Guider Gem Headband area,similar to the personal combat Sonar.The Radar images are transmitted back and fed into the Macroscopic Visors to display ed upon the visors holographic Heads Up Displays.The user with also feel a strange tingling sensation at back of the skull and an audio ping,that warns the user of dangerous events with his or her personal perimeters.The active Radar Sensor reported in a kind of Boot Boot signal sound only heard by the user Com Ear Phones.
Hydrokinesis Cold Plasma Hard Water is the ability to swiftly fashion solid water into cold plasma spheres and propell across the Undersea environment like baseball objects to propel an opponent from attacking.The ability,also can be used to fashion Combat Cold Plasma Shields and Body Armor.
Telepathic control of all aquatic life in Hydro Pangea,by way of the Guiders Telepathic Communication abilities.The Guider has ability to telepathicly transmit and translate human languages into undersea lifeform communication.The sea life will understand the communication in their own language understanding.
Self-propelled flight
High level swimming speed.Super-fast swimming,aid ed by the Supercavitation Drive.The small aquatic warp bubble surrounds the users body and creates a smooth thrust through the underwater environment.Aqualonean Flight Wings aid the users abilities to swim through water,along with forearm fish Navigation Fins and Ankle Navigation Fins.These can also aid not the Aquatic Turbo Para Gravity Jet Pack use in fast swimming,but above surface limited air travel.
Able to speak and understand any language of Pangea.An ability gained by use of the Guider Gem Headband.The Guider uses the Universal Utility Belt Comlink Translator to interprets the language into the users personal language.
Utilizes the Trident of Aqualoneus Rho
Companions
Naimarr Shamue was a bold sea creature,the First Son of Aqualonia was bonded since birth-nearly twenty-five years ago.Great Capronean Killer Whale,They were a more primitive,almost beastal larger version of the Shamue sea creatures,with a white under belly and a jet black,spiked top.The Capronean Killer Whales had more human intelligence and the cunning of the Great White Shark.
Naimarr Shamue,along with Sea Stallion-a Hydro Pangean version of the Surface World Steed,Hellspawn,was Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's most trusted companion.Most were as brave as any human Hellspawn
Hellspawn is a Sea Stallion or Hydro Steed,used by Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.A huge aqua marine metallic sea horse like creature,armed with human intelligence and a variety of hidden weapons.Twine Spear Guns in front,just below the head,in the frint chest area.The Hydro Steed has twine Kracken Ink Jet Spinners in back,just in front of it's great fined and spike tail.
Mavericlion Comics Aqualoneans (Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious)
Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious
''''' Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious ''''' is a fictional race of gilled aquatic humanoids appearing in American comic book s published by Mavericlion Comics . This race is best known as the people who live in the Aqualonea (Mavericlion Comics) Aqualonea of the Mavericlion Universe . Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the First Son of Aqualonea is the most notable character representative of the race.Prince Eric Khorum Rhann ,the First Son of Aqualonea , Aqualoneans and undersea kingdom Aqualonea .
An offshoot of the ''Homo sapiens'' species known ''Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious'' or "Aqualonus Homo Sapiens are a mammalian species, but with some fish -like characteristics as result of genetic modifications by the Taurons on Conner's Waterworld ages ago. The Taurons found this Water World,discovered by interstellar explorer Jonathan Conners to hard to colonize by General means.They had built a few surface cities with huge transparent domes,to protect the city's from the harsh Hurricanes that battle d the scattering of marsh filled continent of this mostly water world.And ancestor of Jonathan Conners
Each one possesses two twin gills located on their necks near the side,much like fish which allow them to breathe underwater. Their skin pigmentation can be either be similar to surface dwellers (most Aqualoneans ) or green (most Lemurians and nomads)
The Hydro Pangeans have protective eye coverings and nano implants that help them see in the murky depths of the ocean floor.Still Hydro Pangeas wear protective Macroscopic Visors,that provides protection from high aquatic speeds,due the Aqualonean Battle Armors Super Catavation Para Gravity Jet Marine Packs.The visord also have a variety of holographic Heads Up Displays,useful in travel and combat situations.
Hydro Pangeas have superior sences under water.They see better and hear better than normal humans.They smell drops of blood for miles like a shark for miles.
Hydro Pangeas all wear a kind of Aqualonean Skin tight Battle Armor,that not only acts as as underwater diving suite,to protect the wearer from the harsh ocean environments,but gives protection from hostile lifeforms and other enemies.The armor is made up Fractal Abiloni Scales,with Kracken Shoulder Armor.The Armor can also use the Para Gravity Generators,to either lighten or gain weight to act as ballast.Tesla Gloves can help the user,shock an opponent with an mild electricity.The gloves also have Kracken Oil Jets,which can be deployed to evade or confuse an enemy.The Armor also has a kind of holographic camouflage,that help the wearer apparently blend into with background.
Their physiology is also much stronger and more durable than that of the normal ''Homo sapiens'', necessitated by their exposure to the vast pressure of the deep sea.Genetic Engineering produced stronger human s,who live underwater. As a consequence they are physically much stronger than regular humans and can swim up to 30 miles (48& ;km) per hour.This is mostly due to the users Super Catavation Drive Aquatic Turbo Jet Pack,that creates a aquatic warp bubble about a object,which reduces water friction during movement.Also advanced Technologies also help the Hydro Pangean exist within the undersea environment.
The typical lifespan for a ''Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious'' is 150 years. They can survive outside of water for long periods,but find more arid climates dehydrating and need massive intakes of water.
Prince Arthur Collen Troy ,.
The total population of '' Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious '' has been estimated at over 1,000,000 globally.
Aquatic physiology enhanced strength, speed, endurance, agility, durability, reflexes, and senses
Telepathic control of all aquatic life
Super-fast swimming
Able to speak and understand any language on earth
Utilizes the Trident of Aqualoneus Rho
Hydrokinesis (alternate continuities)
Powers and abilities
Prince Arthur Collen Troy,First Son of Vhallinoshia's most widely recognized power is the telepathic ability to communicate with marine life, which he can summon from great distances.This is due him having a special guider gem,that influence the minds of intelligent undersea creature s like Tellonian Fish,Tellonian Sharks,Tellonian Dolphins,Tellonian Krayckhen Squids.Tellonians were Marine Geneticist on Conners Water world,who enhanced many undersea creature s as laborers and defense forces.
Although this power is most often and most easily used on beings that live in the sea, Prince Arthur Collen Troy has at times demonstrated the ability to affect any being that lives upon the sea (e.g., sea eagles), or even any being evolved from marine life (e.g., humans and some aliens). Prince Arthur Collen 's telepathy has been greatly downplayed: acknowledging that most marine life doesn't possess enough intelligence to carry a meaningful telepathic communication, Prince Arthur Collen is now stated to simply add compulsions and needs in the mindset of aquatic life, compelling them to do his bidding by a subtle altering of their cerebellum.
"Prince Arthur Collen has a number of other superhuman powers, most of which derive from the fact that he is adapted to live and thrive in the harshest of underwater environments. He has the ability to breathe underwater and possesses a superhuman physique strong enough to withstand attacks from superhuman opponents and resist machine gun fire.
. Prince Arthur Collen frequently displays feats of Super-Aqualonean (the average Aqualonean can lift/press approximately 2 tons) and Superhuman strength. While not on par with Superman and Jessica Drago , he has proven capable of leaps up to 6 miles. title Prince Arthur Collen Rebirth last first publisher Maintain Productions,LLC.
He can swim at very high speeds, capable of reaching speeds of 3,000& ;meters per second name ""/ (10,800& ;km [roughly 6,00 miles] per hour) and can swim up Nagharra Falls in Northern Almerhann . Mainly because combined with Troy's superior strength and the use of a Hydro Pack,that can push against the rush of the water coming down the falls.He can see in near total darkness and has enhanced hearing, granting limited sonar. name "dc-ency"/
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann and Prince Arthur Collen Troy practice the art of Kharr Zhann Chi- the ability to summon up by the use of Cold Plasma Fields,to create balls of hard water,while underwater.The hard water balls are created by gathering up small amounts of ses water and encase them in cold plasma spheres to be used as throwing weapons
Although Prince Arthur Collen Troy can remain underwater indefinitely without suffering any ill effects, he grows weak and dehydrated if he remains on land for extended periods.Like all of his kind,drinking a large amount of water is needed. However, when Prince Eric Khorum Rhann invented Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's water suit he was able to walk on land for an indefinite amount of time and was no longer vulnerable to a "dehumidifier".
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy ''but he still runs the risk of dying by dehydration within incredibly hostile environments.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy had been bestowed an ability he never showcased before gifted unto him by an old Sea Monarch, so far one of the said proclivities granted to him was the ability of unaided flight under his own power. ''Prince Arthur Collen ''
Etymology
In his fantasy setting of the Undersea Pangean Age, Joe Thompson created imaginary kingdoms to which he gave names from a variety of mythological and historical sources. Khitan is his version of China, lying far to the east, Corinthia is his name for a Hellenistic civilization, a name derived from the city of Corinth and reminiscent of the imperial fief of Carinthia in the Middle Ages. Joe Thompson imagines the Pangeans Sallusann Wilderness s to occupy a large area to the northwest. The probable intended analogues are listed below; notice that the analogues are sometimes very generalized, and are portrayed by a historical stereotypes. Most of these correspondences are drawn from "Pangeans Names", an appendix to Septimus Rhax,Prince Khonn, Pangean Names by Joseph Gilbert Thompson and Carl Edward Thompson.
Kingdom, Region, or Ethnic Group Possible Analogue(s)
Hydropangean mermani berate Prince Eric Khorum Rhann Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the First Son of Aqualonea
publisher Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics
debut '''1
debut month April
debut year 13
creators
deities
homeworld Conner's Water World (Mavericlion Comics) Hydro Pangea , Pangea,Terra Prime
members Prince Eric Khorum Rhann Princess Rhomona Rhann Rhomona Rhann
powers
Mavericlion Comics Aqualoneans (Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious)
Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious
''''' Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious ''''' is a fictional race of gill ed aquatic humanoids appearing in American comic book s published by Mavericlion Comics . This race is best known as the people who live in the Aqualonea (Mavericlion Comics) Aqualonea of the Mavericlion Universe .
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the First Son of Aqualonea is the most notable character representative of the race.Bill Everett often called sub mariners and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann ,the First Son of Aqualonea ,but Stan Lee began call everyone Aqualoneans and undersea kingdom Aqualonea .
An offshoot of the ''Homo sapiens'' species with an as yet undisclosed origin, ''Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious'' are a mammal ian species, but with some fish -like characteristics as result of genetic modifications by the Taurons on Conner's Waterworld ages ago. Each one possesses two twin gills located on their necks near the side,much like fish which allow them to breathe underwater. Their skin pigmentation can be either be similar to surface dwellers (most Aqualoneans) or green (most Lemurians and nomads)
The Hydro Pangeans have protective eye coverings and nano implants that help them see in the murky depths of the ocean floor.Still Hydro Pangeas wear protective Macroscopic Visors,that provides protection from high aquatic speeds,due the Aqualonean Battle Armors Super Catavation Para Gravity Jet Marine Packs.The visord also have a variety of holographic Heads Up Displays,useful in travel and combat situations.
Hydro Pangeas have superior sences under water.They see better and hear better than normal humans.They smell drops of blood for miles like a shark for miles.
Hydro Pangeas all wear a kind of Aqualonean Skin tight Battle Armor,that not only acts as as underwater diving suite,to protect the wearer from the harsh ocean environments,but gives protection from hostile lifeforms and other enemies.The armor is made up Fractal Abiloni Scales,with Kracken Shoulder Armor.The Armor can also use the Para Gravity Generators,to either lighten or gain weight to act as ballast.Tesla Gloves can help the user,shock an opponent with an mild electricity.The gloves also have Kracken Oil Jets,which can be deployed to evade or confuse an enemy.The Armor also has a kind of holographic camouflage,that help the wearer apparently blend into with background.
Their physiology is also much stronger and more durable than that of the normal ''Homo sapiens'', necessitated by their exposure to the vast pressure of the deep sea.Genetic Engineering produced stronger human s,who live underwater. As a consequence they are physically much stronger than regular humans and can swim up to 30 miles (48& ;km) per hour.This is mostly due to the users Super Catavation Drive Aquatic Turbo Jet Pack,that creates a aquatic warp bubble about a object,which reduces water friction during movement.Also advanced Technologies also help the Hydro Pangean exist within the undersea environment.
The typical lifespan for a ''Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious'' is 150 years. They can survive outside of water for long periods,but find more arid climates dehydrating and need massive intakes of water
The total population of '' Hydro Pangean Humanoid Amphibious '' has been estimated at over 1,000,000 globally.
Powers and abilities
Many Aqualonian Mariners have developed these abilities.
Aquatic physiology enhanced strength, speed, endurance, agility, durability, reflexes, and senses.
Tesla Gloves.
Kracken Ink Spinnerettes.
Kracken Camouflage.Chameleon Ability to blend into the background or light up in various patterned holographic images to confuse an enemy.
Kracken Ink Balls.The ability to throw and surround ones self in a field of black ink.
Kracken Jaybarr Thorn Spikes:Defensive Spikes,that also generate EMPP bursts.These thorns can also inject a Hyvhann Sornai Hybrids type poison to ward off attackers.
Super Senses.Ability to smell substances in water,like a shark up 5 miles.Ability to see in murky depth of water,by way of Macroscopic Lenses in eyes and Macroscopic Visitors,to project holographic heads up displays. Super heading.Thr ability to detect sounds undersea,up several miles.
Sonar.The ability to emitt pulses of sound to detect objects surround ing an aquatic environment.
Radar.The ability to detect a visual images from the surrounding aquatic environment.
Hydrokinesis Cold Plasma Hard Water is the ability to swiftly fashion solid water into cold plasma spheres and propell across the Undersea environment like baseball objects to propel an opponent from attacking.
Telepathic control of all aquatic life in Hydro Pangea,by way of the Guiders Telepathic Communication abilities.
Super-fast swimming,aid ed by the Supercavitation Drive.
Able to speak and understand any language of Pangea.An ability gained by use of the Guider Gem Headband.
Utilizes the Trident of Aqualoneus Rho
Overly detailed date November section yes
Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's most widely recognized power is the telepathic ability to communicate with marine life, which he can summon from great distances. Although this power is most often and most easily used on beings that live in the sea, Prince Arthur Collen Troy has at times demonstrated the ability to affect any being that lives upon the sea (e.g., sea eagles), or even any being evolved from marine life (e.g., humans and some aliens). PrinceArthur Troy 's telepathy has been greatly downplayed: acknowledging that most marine life doesn't possess enough intelligence to carry a meaningful telepathic communication, PrinceArthur Troy is now stated to simply add compulsions and needs in the mindset of aquatic life, compelling them to do his bidding by a subtle altering of their cerebellum. name "Prince Arthur Collen 1 "/
The character has a number of other superhuman powers, most of which derive from the fact that he is adapted to live and thrive in the harshest of underwater environments. He has the ability to breathe underwater and possesses a superhuman physique strong enough to withstand attacks from superhuman opponents and resist machine gun fire.
. PrinceArthur Troy frequently displays feats of Super-Aqualonean (the average Aqualonean can lift/press approximately 2 tons) and Superhuman strength. While not on par with Superman and Jessica Drago , he has proven capable of leaps up to 6 miles.
The book title Prince Arthur Collen Rebirth last first publisher Maintain Productions,LLC.
He can swim at very high speeds, capable of reaching speeds of 3,000& ;meters per second name ""/ (10,800& ;km [roughly 6,00 miles] per hour) and can swim up Niagrass Falls,in proud Northern Alerhann. He can see in near total darkness and has enhanced hearing, granting limited sonar. name "dc-ency"/
Although Prince Arthur Collen Troy can remain underwater indefinitely without suffering any ill effects, he grows weak and dehydrated if he remains on land for extended periods.Like all of his kind,drinking a large amount of water is needed. However, when Prince Eric Khorum Rhann invented Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's water suit he was able to walk on land for an indefinite amount of time and was no longer vulnerable to a "dehumidifier".
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' but he still runs the risk of dying by dehydration within incredibly hostile environments.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Arthur Collen Troy had been bestowed an ability he never showcased before gifted unto him by an old Sea Monarch, so far one of the said proclivities granted to him was the ability of unaided flight under his own power. ''Prince Arthur Collen ''
the Trident, granted by Aqualoneus Rho to the rightful ruler and protector of the seas, was indestructible and a very powerful melee weapon, able to destroy the very powerful Imperiex Probes for instance, which Prince Arthur Collen Troy wielded with unmatched skill. Apart from its power as a melee weapon, the Trident also had the power to manipulate water, fire bolts of powerful energy and act as a focus to amplify the magical power of others, most notably Tempest. '
the Trident is now part of a collection of seven very powerful Aqualonean magical items, forged by the first king of Atlantis who calls himself 'The Dead King Aqualoneus Rho'.
Thought to be the most powerful weapon of the set, with the possible exception of the recently discovered seventh item, the Trident is completely indestructible and able to hurt even the most powerful of opponents, such as the evil god Warlord Locknharr Khonn, with Prince Arthur Collen Troy being the only leaguer to puncture and make him bleed out. He was also able to break the mystical barrier of Dr. Khorr which was deemed indestructible at the time. In one instance, the Trident was shown glowing with magical power when Black Manta used the rest of the items to discover the hidden seventh one. For a time, Prince Arthur Collen Troy withheld the Trident of said aforementioned god of the oceans in his battles against the Thule and Rao's disciples, which gave him the power to summon tsunamis and deluges,
Prince Arthur Collen Troy project and control ice, move the earth making it rise and tremble at his command, as well as teleport by way of Undersea Jump Points himself from global to interplanetary distances using the Gate System around Hydro Pangea.
'' also carries a gladius sword along with trident.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Arthur also uses both versions of the trident to boost the range his telepathy.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Recently Arthur has learned to channel his underlying magical power through his royal trident while under the influence of '''The Crown of Thorns'''.
'' '' The ambient magical energies the current regime had been peddling awakened both his and the artifacts long dormant arcane aptitude giving him powers similar to the blessings of Aqualoneus Rho, these powers included augmented physical abilities enabling the dispatch of the magically enhanced Drift Squads.
'' '' Soothing Mera's magic poisoned condition when she was rendered incapable of breathing water by it.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Discharging bolts of eldritch energy, erecting protective shielding and resisting magical power when faced against it, with or without his trident. Often whenever he utilizes these latent talents Arthur's eyes glow with arcane power further strengthening his abilities.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy ''
His left hand,is telepresence artifact,that can control the Trident of King Aqualoneus Rho'. .,that is one of Prince Arthur Collen Troys secret possessions. The mechanical glove can generate a stronger Electromagnetic Plasma Pulse wave, given to him by the Lady of the Lake, which grants Prince Arthur Collen Troy numerous abilities, including, but not limited to, the ability to generate save of EMMP forces.He can dehydrate anyone he touches and kill them instantly, the ability to shoot jets of water from his hand, scalding or freezing water or frost,much members of the Legion of Time-Sorcerers.It also has healing abilities,much like a Time-Sorcerers Medical Glove,using Nanite technologies to repair injuries and sickness.
The glove the ability to create portals into mystical dimensions acting as spontaneous transport,by being able to activate and deactivate Specific Jump Point Stargates.
Collen Troy has the ability to control almost any body of water he sets his focuses on ,by his use of shaping water based cold plasma force shields.
name dc-ency/ and the ability to communicate with the Lady of the Lake through the waterbearer hand.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' vol. ,12. Aqualad was initially known as Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's teenage partner, and like many other such kid sidekicks popular in the Silver Age, his powers originally varied very little from his mentor. Aqualad was a founding member of the Teen Titans.
His origin is similar to that of his mentor. He is an amphibious humanoid who was left to die because of ancient Aqualonean superstition and prophecy. He is the prince and heir to the throne of the Idyllists, a colony of Aqualoneans who settled in the Hidden Valley 4,000 years ago. There, nestled in the capital city of Shayeris formerly Crastinus), the pacifist Idyllists became rabid builders and collectors, architects and artisans, and eschewed physical violence at all costs. The Idyllists were also practitioners of magic and kept an extensive library of mystical texts and scrolls.
Approximately four decades ago, King TharKhann Torr and his wife Queen Bretarra Torr became the reigning monarchs of Shayeris, the capital of The Hidden Valley of colonies. TharKhann Torr had inherited the throne and access to ancient magical energies that his brother Zathann Torr , a powerful magician in his own right, believed to be rightfully his. Zathann Torr practiced dark sorcery and necromancy and was eventually banished from the Hidden Valley. His body transformed into a disgusting half-human form, Zathann Torr , renamed Slizzath, returned to Shayeris twenty years later with an army of undead. He planned to invade the Hidden Valley and transform it into a necropolis he would rule.
Prince Eric was born in the capital city of the Aqualonean empire, then located off the Northern Almerhann coast. His mother was the First Daughter of Uthorr Troy,King of Vhallinoshia
Lady Tharkhann Vhann's daughter, Lady Cymorrella Vhann, and his father the Prince Primus Rhann of Aqualonia sea captain, Leonard McKenzie, of the icebreaker Oracle; they had fallen in love and married aboard ship while she was, unbeknownst to him, spying on the human intruders. When Lady Cymorrella Vhann did not return, Aqualonean warriors attacked the Oracle, evidently killing McKenzie, and returned Lady Cymorrella Vhann to her kingdom. The pink-skinned mutant Prince Eric was subsequently born among the blue-skinned Aqualoneans. He became the Prince of Aqualonia, and a warrior for his people against the "surface-dwellers". He became friends with New York City police woman Jessica Drago, and when the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea entered World War II, he began fighting the Axis powers. he was retconned as a member of the Allied superhero team the Invaders, consisting originally of himself, Jessica Drago, Isaack Drago, Prince Arthur Collen Troy, and Nhaimarr Khonn.
Powers and abilities
Because of his unusual genetic heritage, Prince Eric is unique among both ordinary humans and Aqualonean s; he is sometimes referred to as Mavericlion's first mutant because, while the majority of his observed superhuman powers come from the fact that he is a hybrid of human and Aqualonean DNA, his ability to fly can't be explained by either side (Aqualonean s are an offshoot of baseline humanity); though, in terms of in-continuity chronology, there were many mutants in existence before Prince Eric .
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann possesses a fully amphibious physiology suited for extreme undersea pressures, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, flight, and longevity. Prince Eric has the ability to survive underwater for indefinite periods, and specially developed vision which gives him the ability to see clearly in the murky depths of the ocean.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann story, described the character as an superior human of the deep ,who lives on land and in the sea.He travels around in a super subine or fantastic mechanical sea horse.He flies in the air, and has the strength of many surface men His other powers vary and are those of the Undersea creature s. Prince Eric has wrist and ankle fins,plus under arm flying fish wings that assist in swimming and powers of flight; many
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann at 14 his full strength, was above average.Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has trained almost since birth to a superior being in everyway.Smarter,faster,cunning.He is schooled in the art of war by Warlord Arrakhus Rhann,Doctor Orhinn Sarkhon and parents.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds, even by Aqualonean standards.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has greater longevity than a normal human being. He is well over 90 years old as he was born in 120 in the Mavericlion timeline, but has the appearance of a male in his prime. His identity as a pre–World War II superhero is well-established, making him less subject to the sliding timescale of the Mavericlion universe.
During Prince Eric Khorum Rhann's original fight with the Human Torch in Mavericlion Mystery Comics June 10, and the first fight between superheroes to appear in any media), Prince Eric was able to forcibly expel water from his body to extinguish fires, although it proved useless against the Torch.
After he was revived yet again in the 10s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann demonstrated powers of various sealife that had not been shown in earlier stories. An editorial note in Maveric Tales July 1), stated explicitly that nautical Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has since lost his power to imitate the characteristics of fish... According to one of Sub-Mariner's scripters, :
As for Prince Eric Khorum Rhann's electrical and other sea-creaturely powers. They were used in one or two stories in Fantastic Four.
In all , Prince Eric Khorum Rhann possesses superhuman strength and, with the possible exceptions of Admiral Orhakus Morhack and Tyrak at their full sizes, is the strongest Aqualonean ever known. The exact level of his strength is dependent upon his physical contact with water, in which he needn't be submerged. It has been shown as sufficient to effortlessly toss a water-filled ocean-liner, despite the underwater viscosity.His strength diminishes slowly the longer he is out of contact with water, though an extended period on land does not result in his death, as it would for a typical Aqualonean , and his power is retained in full as long as he keeps himself wet. Prince Eric possesses superhuman stamina and resistance to injury due to his hybrid nature. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann's strength level is such that he has held his own in hand-to-hand combat with beings as powerful as Admiral Orhakus Morhack in the past.
Some stories have mentioned that Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has gills for breathing underwater, in as Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , Skurge of the Seven Seas ,like all of his kind that gives him the amphibious abilities to live in both the surface world and the Undersea world of Pangea. , Prince Eric thinks this New Hawk City river water burns my gills and scalds my lungs,and have him with red scared gill slits on either side of his neck.In The Prince of the Seven Seas , beings from outer space surgically closed Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's gills for a time, leaving him with the ability to breathe air but unable to breathe underwater. Other sources have stated that his lungs contain oxygen diffusing membranes that allow him to breathe underwater.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann possesses a telepathic rapport with all forms of marine life. He is able to mentally communicate with most forms of marine life and can mentally persuade them to do his bidding.It maybe something the Guider Gem he wears to talk to the Holo Ghost of Undersea Lord Dallas Rhax and Warlord Septimus Rhax. Prince Eric can mentally communicate with other Aqualonean s,who either also wear Guider Gems,Thought Radios or other Sarcom Communication Systems and give mental-telepathic orders to all his men.
Due to a unique aspect of his hybrid nature, not shared by Princess Rhomona Rhann, it was theorized that Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is vulnerable to oxygen imbalances in his blood that trigger manic-depressive mood swings; he can prevent imbalances by regular immersion in water.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann gives off a sense of charisma which most women tend to find captivating. Many of the ladies that have entered his life made clear their attraction to his masculine, slightly alien personality in ways both subtle and blatant. He reacts to such advances with gratitude tinged with a slight distance born of monarchical etiquette.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is a natural leader, trained by the royal family of Aqualonia as befitting an heir to the throne. He has historically led troops into battle with expert success. His typical interpersonal behavior with both subject and friend borders on the aloof; this is more a sense of regal noblesse oblige rather than snobbishness.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann and Prince Arthur Collen Troy both given possession of the Guider Gems.This gems allows the user to talk to specific holo ghost in holo space.He can talk to Dallas Rhax. Prince Arthur Collen Troy can talk to Sea King Aqualoneus Rho.
Aqualoneus Rho can access control over the past, present, and future. It allows time travel, can age an the Hood attempted to steal the Gems, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann briefly helped Thor recover the Gem from the bottom of the ocean to prevent the Hood acquiring it, before being entrusted with the Power Gem as the Gems were divided amongst the new Illuminati – Steve Rogers replacing Isaack Drago– once again.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann was educated by the royal tutors of the Aqualonean court, and speaks English, Aqualonean , and Lemurian. He is a highly skilled business executive.
Aquatic physiology enhanced strength, speed, endurance, agility, durability, reflexes, and senses
Telepathic control of all aquatic life
Super-fast swimming
Able to speak and understand any language on earth
Utilizes the Trident of Aqualoneus Rho
Hydrokinesis (alternate continuities)
Powers and abilities
Overly detailed date November section yes
Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's most widely recognized power is the telepathic ability to communicate with marine life, which he can summon from great distances. Although this power is most often and most easily used on beings that live in the sea, Prince Arthur Collen Troy has at times demonstrated the ability to affect any being that lives upon the sea (e.g., sea eagles), or even any being evolved from marine life (e.g., humans and some aliens). Per the Maintain Productions,LLC. continuity reboot, Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's telepathy has been greatly downplayed: acknowledging that most marine life doesn't possess enough intelligence to carry a meaningful telepathic communication, Prince Arthur Collen Troy is now stated to simply add compulsions and needs in the mindset of aquatic life, compelling them to do his bidding by a subtle altering of their cerebellum. name Prince Arthur Collen Troy 1 /
Superhuman strength, agility, stamina, reflexes, and endurance
High level swimming speed
Specially developed vision
Self-propelled flight
Underwater and land adaptation
Access to highly advanced weaponry.
Tesla Gloves,Electromagnetic Plasma shock waves.
Kracken Ink Jet Spinners.Spreads a field of black chemical ink like solutions out of the Tesla Gloves and Para Gravity Boots.
The character has a number of other superhuman powers, most of which derive from the fact that he is adapted to live and thrive in the harshest of underwater environments. He has the ability to breathe underwater and possesses a superhuman physique strong enough to withstand attacks from superhuman opponents and resist machine gun fire. name Vol. : .
Prince Arthur Collen Troy frequently displays feats of Super-Aqualonean (the average Aqualonean can lift/press approximately 2 tons) and Superhuman strength. While not on par with Prince Eric Khorum Rhann and Jessica Drago , he has proven capable of leaps up to 6 miles.
Prince Arthur Collen Troy Rebirth last first publisher year location pages He can swim at very high speeds, capable of reaching speeds of 3,000& ;meters per second name Vol. : / (10,800& ;km [roughly 6,700 miles] per hour) and can swim up Niagara Falls. '' : Classified''3. He can see in near total darkness and has enhanced hearing, granting limited sonar.
name dc-ency/
Although Prince Arthur Collen Troy can remain underwater indefinitely without suffering any ill effects, he grows weak if he remains on land for extended periods. However, when Prince Eric Khorum Rhann invented Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's water suit he was able to walk on land for an indefinite amount of time and was no longer vulnerable to a dehumidifier.
name dc-ency/ This weakness was later removed from continuity in , establishing that he grew up on land before learning of his Aqualonean heritage, ''Prince Arthur Collen Troy ''0 ). but he still runs the risk of dying by dehydration within incredibly hostile environments. ''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' ).
Arthur Collen Troy had been bestowed an ability he never showcased before gifted unto him by an old Sea Monarch, so far one of the said proclivities granted to him was the ability of unaided flight under his own power. ''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' ).
Before the New 2, the Trident, granted by Aqualoneus Rho to the rightful ruler and protector of the seas, was indestructible and a very powerful melee weapon, able to destroy the very powerful Imperiex Probes for instance, which Prince Arthur Collen Troy wielded with unmatched skill. Apart from its power as a melee weapon, the Trident also had the power to manipulate water, fire bolts of powerful energy and act as a focus to amplify the magical power of others, most notably Tempest. '' '' )
In the New 2, the Trident is now part of a collection of seven very powerful Aqualonean magical items, forged by the first king of Aqualonia who calls himself 'The Dead King'.
Thought to be the most powerful weapon of the set, with the possible exception of the recently discovered seventh item, the Trident is completely indestructible and able to hurt even the most powerful of opponents, such as the evil god Warlord Locknharr Khonn, with Prince Arthur Collen Troy being the only leaguer to puncture and make him bleed out. He was also able to break the mystical barrier of Dr. Khorr which was deemed indestructible at the time. In one instance, the Trident was shown glowing with magical power when Black Shithead used the rest of the items to discover the hidden seventh one. For a time, Prince Arthur Collen Troy withheld the Trident of said aforementioned god of the oceans in his battles against the Thule and Rao's disciples, which gave him the power to summon tsunamis and deluges,
Prince Arthur Collen Troy project and control ice, move the earth making it rise and tremble at his command, as well as teleport himself from global to interplanetary distances using water as a medium.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' It could also transform into a gladius and back at will.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Arthur also uses both versions of the trident to boost the range his telepathy. ''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' Recently Arthur has learned to channel his underlying magical power through his royal trident while under the influence of '''The Crown of Thorns'''.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy ''30 Jan, ) The ambient magical energies the current regime had been peddling awakened both his and the artifacts long dormant arcane aptitude giving him powers similar to the blessings of Aqualoneus Rho, these powers included augmented physical abilities enabling the dispatch of the magically enhanced Drift Squads.
''Prince Arthur Collen Troy ''31 Feb, ) Soothing Mera's magic poisoned condition when she was rendered incapable of breathing water by it.
Discharging bolts of eldritch energy, erecting protective shielding and resisting magical power when faced against it, with or without his trident. Often whenever he utilizes these latent talents Arthur's eyes glow with arcane power further strengthening his abilities.
'
Black Manta a cybernetic retractable guanlet, that controls the Trident of Sea King Aqualoneus Rho
. The mechanical Glove which grants Prince Arthur Collen Troy numerous abilities,to throw the Trident like a spear and it will return back to his hand again by teleprense.This ability including, but not limited to, the ability to twist the Trident around like a top.The trident instantly, the ability to shoot jets of water from the spear tips, scalding or freezing anymore or anything it hit.
, healing abilities, the ability to create portals into mystical dimensions acting as spontaneous transport, the ability to control almost any body of water he sets his focuses on name dc-ency/ and the ability to communicate with the Lady of the Lake through the waterbearer hand. ''Prince Arthur Collen Troy '' vol. His biological hand was restored when the character was resurrected in.
Aqualad was initially known as Prince Arthur Collen Troy 's teenage partner, and like many other such kid sidekicks popular in the Silver Age, his powers originally varied very little from his mentor. Aqualad was a founding member of the Teen Titans.
His origin is similar to that of his mentor. He is an amphibious humanoid who was left to die because of ancient Aqualonean superstition and prophecy. He is the prince and heir to the throne of the Idyllists, a colony of Aqualoneans who settled in the Hidden Valley 4,000 years ago. There, nestled in the capital city of Shayeris formerly Crastinus, the pacifist Idyllists became rabid builders and collectors, architects and artisans, and eschewed physical violence at all costs. The Idyllists were also practitioners of magic and kept an extensive library of mystical texts and scrolls.
Approximately four decades ago, King TharKhann Torr and his wife Queen Bretarra Torr became the reigning monarchs of Shayeris, the capital of The Hidden Valley of colonies. TharKhann Torr had inherited the throne and access to ancient magical energies that his brother Zathann Torr , a powerful magician in his own right, believed to be rightfully his. Zath practiced dark sorcery and necromancy and was eventually banished from the Hidden Valley. His body transformed into a disgusting half-human form, Zathann Torr , renamed Slizzath, returned to Shayeris twenty years later with an army of undead. He planned to invade the Hidden Valley and transform it into a necropolis he would rule.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann states, I have the powers of all the creatures who live beneath the sea! I can charge the very air with electricity – using the power of the electric eel! In the same issue, the radar sense of the cave fish from the lowest depths of the sea enables him to sense the presence of Sue Storm when she is invisible. He uses the power to surround himself with electricity in the manner of an electric eel again in Strange Tales10 April 13, and12 Oct. 1; in the former he manifests the power to inflate his body like a puffer fish. These extra powers were ignored, when Maveric gave Prince Eric Khorum Rhann his own feature beginning in Tales to Astonish0 Aug. 1.
Another ability unknown in the Golden Age and rarely displayed is his empathic rapport with many forms of marine life. He had a limited empathic rapport with Princess Rhomona Rhann. But, only as a result of being given one of her magic earrings (which has long-since disappeared.
An editorial note in Maveric Tales (July 1, which reprinted the story from Strange Tales10, stated explicitly that nautical Prince Eric Khorum Rhann has since lost his power to imitate the characteristics of fish... His electrical abilities were seen out of comic continuity in 11's . Furthermore, Prince Eric Khorum Rhann employed these lost powers semi-regularly in his 10s series, under John Byrne's pen.
Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is actually a hybrid of Aqualonean and human physiology, although he has principal characteristics that neither Aqualonean s (Homo Aqualonus Sapien) nor humans (Homo sapiens possess. These include his ability to fly, and possibly his durability and strength (which is several times that of an Aqualonean ).
In the first issue of the five part Illuminati miniseries, after being experimented on by the Skelloshians, it was confirmed that Prince Eric Khorum Rhann is not only an Aqualonean /human hybrid but also a mutant.
Enemies
Warlord Locknharr Khonn – Leader of the Aqualonean barbarians, Warlord Locknharr Khonn would threaten Aqualonia repeatedly; conquering major Northern and Northwest Regions on several occasions, and became Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's Greatest nemesis.
Prince Vlallan Collan Rhann – Childhood friend and rival to Prince Eric Khorum Rhann , Prince Vlallan Collan Rhann was Aqualonean royalty that lost the command of the Undersea Navies of United Kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea to Prince Eric erved him as unfit for the position.He felt the Prince was a brave warrior,but too nieve and too inexperienced for the position and maybe right. For many years, he would challenge Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's rule of the Imperial Aqualonean Legions and interference with Prince Erics defeat of his enemies to usurp his command of the Undersea Legions. Eventually, he appears to have made peace with Prince Eric Khorum Rhann and stands by his side as a brother.
Captain Ulysses Backharra – A modern-day pirate employing advanced technology that frequently crossed swords with Prince Eric Khorum Rhann (and several other heroes).
Imperial Nharatann Special Squad Six – A group formed by Warlord Locknharr Khonn to maintain his rule of Northern Hyndro Pangea during one of his periods as its conqueror. His subordinates included Baron Tarraska Khoorrus , Admiral Orhakus Morhack , Pyrruss Khorvhex , Sea Urchin, and Nagala (bearing the Serpent Crown).
Doctor Orhann Sarkhon – Sometimes allies, sometimes enemies, Orhann Sarkhon and Prince Eric use each other but inevitably turn against each other when their ultimate sensibilities override the benefits of working together. This has been their perpetual relationship since first meeting years ago.
Doctor Jurrassus Darko – A brilliant scientist that created several of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's greatest threats such as Baron Tarraska Khoorrus , Admiral Orhakus Morhack , and Pyrruss Khorvhex , often working alongside the likes of Warlord Locknharr Khonn and Prince Byrron Vhann . He appeared to die in a battle with Prince Eric , but later turned up alive with starfish-based abilities.Fathom Five – Led by Llyron, the son of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's enemy Llyra and supposedly Prince Eric himself.
Later, it is revealed that Llyron is the grandson of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's half-brother 1 that was passed off as Prince Eric Khorum Rhann's successor who usurped his throne, Fathom Five sought to wipe out humanity. Its members include Dragonrider, Bloodtide, Manowar, and Sea Leopard.
Great White – An albino villain and shark trainer. He ambushed Loa and her father while they were surfing. Loa managed to use her ability to kill the sharks while Great White was defeated by Prince Eric Khorum Rhann .
Karthon the Quester – A faithful servant to Lemurian ruler Commander Nharu Barrakhonda that sought the Serpent Crown for his master from Prince Eric Khorum Rhann . His sense of honor conflicted with his master and after Commander Nharu Barrakhonda's rule was toppled, Karthon became king and an ally to Prince Eric .
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus
– A Lemurian that usurped Karthon's rule of his kingdom and became Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's enemy when he tried to restore his friend and ally. She would return to face him repeatedly, in time becoming high priestess of Set.
Magneto – Sometimes allies, sometimes enemies, Magneto and Prince Eric Khorum Rhann use each other but inevitably turn against each other when their ultimate sensibilities override the benefits of working together. This has been their perpetual relationship since first meeting years ago.
Commander Nharu Barrakhonda – Longtime wielder of the Serpent Crown, Commander Nharu Barrakhonda would rule Lemuria until he was murdered by his staunchest aide Karthon.
Admiral Orhakus Morhack – An underling of Locknharr Khonn empowered by Doctor Jurrassus Darko to be massively strong and grow stronger in the presence of orca. He would return repeatedly as a minion for Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's enemies.
Pyrruss Khorvhex – Created a suite of Aqualonean Armor by Doctor Jurrassus Darko , thought would defeat Prince Eric Khorum Rhann .the Pyrruss Khorvhex is an ever-kunning enemy of Prince Eric to return again and again.
Doctor Magutu Barrakhonda – Using Prince Eric Khorum Rhann as a pawn on several occasions, such as against the The Time Stalkers and in obtaining funds, the Doctor Magutu Barrakhonda would garner the ire of the sea king. On one occasion, when Prince Eric Khorum Rhann considered befriending Admiral Orhakus Morhack , Doctor Magutu Barrakhonda took the green behemoth over and forced him to battle Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus – An Undersea Mariner transformed by Doctor Jurrassus Darko into a hybrid of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's abilities and several undersea creatures. He battles Prince Eric repeatedly over the years, at one time an ally to the sea king, though today he has again chosen to be his enemy.
Tyrhuss Khorvhex – A powerful warrior in Warlord Locknharr Khonn 's army ,who that leds his Seventh Imperial Fleet.The fleet has grow to monstrous size and bears incredible strength the Free United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea.
Commander Urhantus Mhermoh – was a childhood rival to Prince Eric Khorum Rhann that joined the Third Reich and . Leading the Nazis to Aqualonia, their attack left its emperor in a coma with Prince Eric Khorum Rhann succeeding him for time. During World War II, he would be Prince Eric Khorum Rhann's frequent sparring partner.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn – One time military leader of Aqualonia' forces,Locknharr Khonn tried to usurp Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's power and became an enemy to the kingdom. He would return repeatedly to challenge Prince Eric .
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox comics species
!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--
!-- species Homo Aqualonus Sapien --
image Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 33.jpg
imagesize !-- default 250 --
caption A group of Aqualonean Homo mermani berate Prince Eric Khorum Rhann Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the Prince Eric Khorum Rhann
publisher Maveric Comics
creators
deities
homeworld Aqualonia (Maveric Comics) Atlantis , Earth
members Prince Eric Khorum Rhann br Prince Eric Khorum Rhannita Princess Vhallanna Kharris Rhann
powers
altcat Maveric Comics Aqualonean s (Homo Aqualonus Sapien)
alttop y
sortkey Homo Aqualonus Sapien
}}
'''''Homo Aqualonus Sapien''''' is a fictional race of gill ed aquatic humanoid s appearing in American comic book s published by Maveric Comics . This race is best known as the people who live in the Undersea World of Hydro Pange a and Conner's Water World. Aqualonia (Maveric Comics) Aqualonia of the Maveric Universe . Prince Eric Khorum Rhann Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the Lord of the Seven Seas is the most notable character representative of the race.Bill Everett often called sub mariners and Prince Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,the Sub-Mariner,but Stan Lee began call everyone Aqualonean s and undersea kingdom Aqualonia.
An offshoot of the ''Homo sapiens'' species with an as yet undisclosed origin, ''Homo Aqualonus Sapien'' are a mammal ian species, but with some fish -like characteristics. Each one possesses two twin gills located on their necks near the clavicle bone, which allow them to breathe underwater. Their skin pigmentation can be either blue (most Aqualonean s) or green (most Lemurians and nomads)
Their physiology is also much stronger and more durable than that of the ''Homo sapiens'', necessitated by their exposure to the vast pressure of the deep sea. As a consequence they are physically much stronger than regular humans and can swim up to 30 miles (48& ;km) per hour. The typical lifespan for a ''Homo Aqualonus Sapien'' is 150 years. However they cannot survive outside of water for longer than five minutes without aid.
The total population of ''Homo Aqualonus Sapien'' has been estimated at over 1,000,000 globally. {{ March 201}}
Warlord Locknharr Khonn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Maveric Comics. He was a high-ranking member of the Aqualonean military.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn 
Warlord Locknharr Khonn from The Last Defenders #3.
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Publication information Publisher Maveric Comics First appearance The Time Stalkers Annual #1 (13 Created by Stan Lee (Writer
Jack Kirby (ArtistIn-story information
Full name Warlord Locknharr Tyrhack Khonn Species Homo Aqualonus Sapien
Place of origin AqualoniaTeam affiliations Defenders
Serpent Squad Partnerships Baron Tarraska Khoorrus
Prince Byrron Vhann
Lemuel Jurrassus Darko
Doctor Magutu Barrakhonda
Orka
Subcommander Selach Abilities Ability to breathe underwater
Skilled strategist
Expert fencer
Wields electric sword
Contents
Publication history
Warlord Locknharr Khonn first appeared in The Time Stalkers Annual #1 (13, and was created by Maintain Productions,LLC.
Fictional character biography
Warlord Locknharr Khonn was born in Aqualonia City, Hydropangea. He became a leader of the Aqualonean military and warlord of Aqualonia who rose to prominence during the time in which Prince Primus Khorum Rhann, the Prince of Aqualoniawas missing. The Warlord of Aqualonia began plan Prince Primus Khorum Rhann 's eventual downfall by secretly trying to undermine his rule and make the Prince 's father Sea King Dannus Rhann believe his young son was not ready for responsiblities.
Upon Prince Primus Khorum Rhann's return,the Nharratann Warlord's bride-to-be, the Lady Cymorrella Vhann , deserted him for Prince Primus Khorum Rhann, bringing a great hatred for Prince Primus Khorum Rhann from the Warlord of the Seven Seas.
Shortly thereafter, when Prince Primus Khorum Rhann attempted to conquer New York City, he made Locknharr Khonn his second in command. However, the The Time Stalkers fought off the first attack and Prince Primus Khorum Rhann stopped the invasion in order to save Sue Storm of the The Time Stalkers .
Feeling that Lord of the Seven Seas had betrayed his own people to save an enemy, Locknharr Khonn was even more angered and after the Aqualonean s left Aqualoniahe seized control and usurped the throne of Aqualoniafrom King Dannus Khorum Rhann.
Locknharr Khonn imprisoned Prince Primus Khorum Rhann, and forced the Prince to prove himself on a quest to find Trident of Warlord Setimus Rhax ,lost since the death of the Aqualonean Warlord made additionally difficult by traps set by Locknharr Khonn.He knew the task would prove himself in the eyes of the people if he succeeded,but if he failed,to return with this so called Mystic Weapon,a symbol of the United Kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea to rule the Seven Seas of Pangea,they would send into exile forever.After all killings him outright would not be favored by the people,if was to seize control the throne of Aqualoniafrom King Dannus Khorum Rhann.They would by Aqualonean Law want his death,as well.
Prince Primus Khorum Rhann remembers the story of gladiator/slave Warlord Startarus Rhax,who led a rebellion against the Imperial Nharratann Empire .Startarus Rhax and 4 Rebels were eventually captured and their bodies crucified.The Emp orer Nirro Ghanus Rho said he would free the 4 Rebels and put them back the Nharratann Gladiator Games to die an honorable death,if anyone would give up which one Startarus Rhax .If Startarus Rhax called out who he was,he would also save the 4.But before Startarus Rhax would bravely give himself up,another called out and another.All 4 called out,confusing which one was really Startarus Rhax .In the Nirro Ghanus Rho was forced to execute them all.He entombed their bodies in the Tomb of the Eternal Ancient Sub-Mariners,as traditional burial rights prescribed by all who fight in the game-honored or dishonored.
And Primus Khorum Rhann remembers another part of the tale.the Tomb of the Eternal Ancient Sub-Mariners on the Sea Beds of Gladiators,who entombed there.Know only to those of the Imperial House of Rhax,whomb he shared ancestry.And being Primus Rhann had use of a Guider Gem,who connected to Lord Dallas Rhax,brother to Warlord Setimus Rhax,he had a clue as to where to look.Startarus Rhax was said to have been buried with the Trident
Whatus Rhax,hid grandson of Setimus Rhax was said have hidden it and created the Legendary Myth of the Trident to create an honorable task for anyone worthy of the quest.
Primus Khorum Rhann locates the Legendary Trident of Warlord Setimus Rhax in the Tomb of the Eternal Ancient Sub-Mariners on the Sea Beds of gladiator/slaves Tomb.First,Prince Primus Khorum Rhax does battle with the Tombs Holo Guardian Ghalon Colto the Great Scarlet Behemoth.The Skurge of the Seven Seas defeats the Behemoth by tricking it into swimming outside the tomb,as the Great Golden Doors close shut.
Meanwhile,Locknharr Khonn plotted a conquest of the surface world, ruled Aqualoniaas a despot, and put down a revolt against his rule.
When Prince Primus Khorum Rhann returned, he defeated Locknharr Khonn in personal combat.the Warlord of Aqualonia
was dethroned and sent into exiled.
Locknharr Khonn, now a professional criminal, through the Doctor Magutu Barrakhonda, set the Behemoth against Prince Primus Khorum Rhann. While Prince Primus Khorum Rhann was busy, Locknharr Khonn returned to Aqualoniaand tricked Lady Cymorrella Vhann into renewing their engagement and accompanying him to the surface world, as well as tricking Prince Primus Khorum Rhann into believing that she had betrayed him and left willingly. Fleeing to the surface world with Cymorrella Vhann he would come into conflict with the armored avenger Iron Man, and fomented a battle between The First Son of Aqualonia and Iron Man.In a battle with Locknharr Khonn, Prince Primus Khorum Rhann was inflicted with temporary amnesia. Locknharr Khonn used Aqualonean technology to create a tidal wave in Lankmearia City .
However Prince Primus Khorum Rhann finally recovered, capturing Locknharr Khonn and defeating him in personal combat. Prince of the Seven Seas imprisoned him, exiling him once more.
Locknharr Khonn found himself at the mercy of the Hydrokhonn Nomads. Nomad-who a kind of Aqualonean Travellers,inhabiting a region
He created tidal waves in another attempted invasion of the surface world, and was this time defeated by the Avengers, after they were alerted by the kidnap of the Wasp, although Baron Tarraska nearly succeeded in drowning them.
Baron Tarraska enslaved the nomadic Aqualonean s after the destruction of Hydropangea.
After Aqualoniawas rebuilt, Baron Tarraska attempted another invasion during the wedding of Prince Primus and Cymorrella Vhann . The attempt failed as he got his asskicked and fled in shame.
Hydrokhonn Nomads. Warlord allied with the Warlord Locknharr Khonn, and used mind-controlled sea creatures in another attempted conquest of the surface world, and was this time defeated by the Aqualonean Fleet
With Dr. Jurrassus Darko and Baron Tarraska Khoorrus , Baron Tarraska invaded Hydro-Base, but was then defeated by a teaming of Prince Primus Khorum Rhann and Doctor Orhann Sarkhon .
Baron Tarraska then enslaved the Avengers to use them against Prince Primus, but unintentionally instigated a battled between the Avengers and Doctor Orhann Sarkhon . Baron Tarraska was defeated by Prince Primus, Orhann Sarkhon, and the Avengers. 11
When Prince Byrron Vhann ,Prince Primus Khorum Rhann's evil cousin, seized the throne of Aqualoniaand invited the Warlord of the Nharratann Empire back to enjoy his former position, but refused and said it be better to Locknharr Khonn formed an alliance with Prince Byrron Vhann and Baron Tarraska Khoorrus . This however was short-lived and soon the Nharratann Warlord was forced to flee yet again when Prince Byrron Vhann 's scheme failed.
After this he would attempt to steal the Serpent Crown, a powerful object, which would make him nearly invincible. These efforts however were thwarted by Prince Primus Khorum and Captain America (who called himself Nomad at the time). Locknharr Khonn was driven fully insane. When Prince Primus Khorum spent much time on the surface world allied with Doctor Jurrassus Darko ,the Warlord of the Nharratann Empire once more seized control of Hydropangea. Stealing the Trumpet Horn of Prince Primus Khorum , he summoned the great beast Gargantus, to defeat the returning Prince Primus Khorum , but it was soundly defeated by the Prince, while his ally, Dr. Orhann Sarkhon, beat Locknharr Khonn within an inch of his life with a neuro-shock blade.
Locknharr Khonn while fleeing kidnapped Queen Cymorrella Rhann and fled towards a secret time vault located at the Caves of Mount Mormantus.His insane plan was to marry the pregnant Aqualonean Queen and raise her son Prince Eric Khonn Rhann as his own.
Prince Primus Khorum confronts Locknharr Khonn and the battle inside the Great Undersea Vault.Insane the evil Warlord/Time Wizard will not surrender and Primus Rhann is forced to decapitate him.Left for dead,Warlord Locknharr Khonn loyal servant Prince Byrron Vhann manage s to get his body to a hidden TyKhonean Sarcophagus in hopes it might resurrect the Former Aqualonean Warlords dead body.It would take some twenty-five years to do it's work.
Somewhat after altering his physiology through the technological means of Caves of Mount Mormantus,,Warlord Locknharr Khonn has been recruited as a member of the Nharratann Empire.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn later appears as one of the Aqualonean s living in exile unknown the United Kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea.
Powers and abilities
Warlord Locknharr Khonn has all the powers inherent to members of the Aqualonean race, including superhuman strength. He is adapted to live underwater, having gills that allow him to breathe underwater, he can swim at high speeds and his body is resistant against the pressure and the cold of the deep oceans. His specially developed vision allows him to see clearly in the murky depths of the ocean.
Originally he could survive only for 9 minutes out of water, unless he uses a special serum that gives him the ability to breathe air, which changes his skin from blue to pink. This chemical allowed him to breathe surface air through his lungs (although when using this he temporarily loses his ability to breathe beneath the waves). He often wore a water-filled breathing helmet for operating on land. His stamina, agility, and reflexes were reduced when out of the water.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn later changed his own physiology through technological means to allow himself to breathe in water as well as on air indefinitely. This procedure also seems to have removed the limitation of his physical abilities when outside water and somewhat fortified his personal strength to an yet unknown degree. 10
He is a master of all forms of Aqualonean armed and unarmed combat, and has achieved mastery of most Aqualonean weapons.Locknharr Khonn is a master planner and strategist, and a skilled leader. He possesses a diabolic cunning and is an expert fencer.
Warlord Locknharr Khonn wears conventional Aqualonean military attire over body armor of an unspecified composition. He wields an electrically charged sword known as a neuro-shock blade, and a standard Aqualonean pistol firing bursts of concussive force. He wears a specially-designed battle helmet, and body armor over an electro-repellent chest-shield, and forged steel gauntlets equipped with electronic knuckles. He sometimes uses various other items which he has usually stolen such as the trumpet horn, and the serpent crown. In his exile he controls an army made up of remnants of Prince Byrron Vhann 's and Baron Tarraska Khoorrus 's armies, as well as a few surface men.
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Maveric Comics. He is an Aqualonean nomadic warlord who is an enemy of Prince Primus Khorum the Sub-Mariner, and is the father of the superhero Andromeda. He believes he is the prophesied conqueror of the Aqualonean Empire.
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus 
Publication information Publisher Mavericlion Comics First appearance The Time Stalkers #33, (December 1Created by Stan Lee (writer
Joe Thompson (artist In-story information Alter ego Baron Tarraska Khoorrus Species Homo Aqualonus Sapien Place of origin AqualoniaTeam affiliations Hydropangea
Lethal Legion
Imperial Nharatann Special Squad Six
The Worthy Partnerships Warlord Warlord Locknharr Khonn
Locknharr Khonn
Phaidra Rhonn
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus
Tyrak
Prince Byrron Vhann
Dr. Jurrassus Darko Notable aliases Baron Tarraska Khoorrus the Barbarian, Lords of the Murky Depths, Nerkkod: Breaker of Oceans Abilities Expert hand-to-hand combatant
Superhuman strength, agility, stamina, reflexes, and endurance
High level swimming speed
Specially developed vision
Self-propelled flight
Underwater and land adaptation
Access to highly advanced weaponry.
Tesla Gloves,Electromagnetic Plasma shock waves.
Kracken Ink Jet Spinners.Spreads a field of black chemical ink like solutions out of the Tesla Gloves and Para Gravity Bootss.
Contents
Publication history
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus first appeared in The Time Stalkers volume 133 (1, and was created by By Carl Edward Thompson and Joseph Gilbert Thompson
Fictional character biography
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus was born as a member of a tribe of barbaric Aqualonean s,in Hydrokhonn Nomads. who were banished from Hydropangea ages ago. For unknown reasons Baron Tarraska Khoorrus was born with strength, endurance, and speed far superior to those of any normal Atlantean. Baron Tarraska Khoorrus quickly became leader of his tribe and declared that he would conquer the city of Aqualoniaas an ancient prophecy predicted. Baron Tarraska Khoorrus had an illegitimate daughter, Andromeda by a woman named Lady Gelva, but he did not know she gave birth to his only child until confronted by Andromeda. 1
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus was disappointed to learn he had a child who wasn't a boy and was disgusted to find out Lady Gelva was the mother as he saw her as a "bullocked whale". Andromeda would later challenge her father as is the right of every first born male child, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus allowed the challenge to proceed because Andromeda had been raised as a warrior. Baron Tarraska Khoorrus won the challenge but Andromeda was kidnapped by Locknharr Khonn before Hydrokhonn Nomads. Warlord could kill her. 2
The newly resurrected Warlord Locknharr Khonn,was secretly rallying the enemies of the United Kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea.He met with Baron Tarraska Khoorus of Vlanderland,who were long enemies of the United Kingdoms.
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus gathered his troops and attacked Hydropangea, and was defeated by Prince Eric Khorum Rhann the Sub-Mariner, the Prince of Aqualoniaand his allies the The Time Stalkers . 3 Hydrokhonn Nomads. Warlord and his troops were banished from Aqualoniaonce again. Over the years, Baron Tarraska has been at war with both Aqualoniaand the "surface world" (the Atlantean name for the human nations). He developed a super-weapon with which to invade the surface world, but was foiled by Iron Man. Baron Tarraska was among the villains assembled by Doctor Jurrassus Darko using a mind-control device in one of his attempts to destroy the The Time Stalkers . As his troops left the docks they were knocked back in by a bomb in a HYDRA truck Daredevil had caused to go towards the docks. Mister Fantastic causes the Aqualoneans and the other villains to forget this event.
He created tidal waves in another attempted invasion of the surface world, and was this time defeated by the Avengers, after they were alerted by the kidnap of the Wasp, although Baron Tarraska nearly succeeded in drowning them. Baron Tarraska enslaved the nomadic Aqualoneans after the destruction of Hydropangea. After Aqualoniawas rebuilt, Baron Tarraska attempted another invasion during the wedding of Prince Primus and Cymorrella Vhann . Hydrokhonn Nomads. Warlord allied with the Warlord Locknharr Khonn, and used mind-controlled sea creatures in another attempted conquest of the surface world, and was this time defeated by the Aqualonean Fleet With Dr. Jurrassus Darko and Baron Tarraska Khoorrus , Baron Tarraska invaded Hydro-Base, but was then defeated by a teaming of Prince Primus and Doctor Orhann Sarkhon. 10 Baron Tarraska then enslaved the Avengers to use them against Prince Primus, but unintentionally instigated a battled between the Avengers and Doctor Orhann Sarkhon. Baron Tarraska was defeated by Prince Primus, Orhann Sarkhon, and the Avengers. 11
When the ruling Council of Aqualonia asked Prince Prince Primus to abdicate the throne, Prince Primus obliged and left Hydropangea. Baron Tarraska was hired with his men as mercenaries to end the Atlantean civil war. Several Atlantean nobles battled for the throne, but Baron Tarraska took the throne and became the new ruler of Atlantis. His rule was not a popular one though and Baron Tarraska Khoorrus kidnapped Cymorrella Vhann, Prince Primus 's new wife to embarrass Prince Primus Khorum Rhann in the eyes of the Atlantean people. 12 Prince Primus Khorum Rhann , with the help of various superheroes including Alpha Flight and the Avengers, freed Cymorrella Vhann and battled Baron Tarraska . Baron Tarraska Khoorrus ended the battle when he realized that Prince Primus Khorum Rhann was happy with Cymorrella Vhann and did not want to return to Atlantis. 13 He did swear vengeance against the superheroes who had allied against him and joined the Lethal Legion, a group of supervillains, shortly afterwards. The Legion was short-lived though and Baron Tarraska returned to Atlantis. During the events of "The Evolutionary War," Baron Tarraska Khoorrus joined forces with the Lemurians and reserve Avengers against the High Evolutionary. 1
As depicted in the crossover AqualoniaAttacks, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus allied himself with Locknharr Khonn and his Deviants and Llyra and her Lemurians against humanity. He battled Iron Man and Prince Primus Khorum Rhann , and then learned that the superhero Andromeda was his estranged daughter. 1 Baron Tarraska mobilized his troops for an assault against the United States. 1 He abducted Cymorrella Vhann as part of Locknharr Khonn 's plan. Baron Tarraska Khoorrus then finally met his daughter Andromeda again, who now led a group of Atlantean rebels against him. Baron Tarraska fought his daughter and defeated her in personal combat, but Locknharr Khonn spirited her away. 1 Baron Tarraska Khoorrus was angered, but continued with their plans. Locknharr Khonn and Llyra tricked him though and while Baron Tarraska attacked the surface world, battling Prince Vhallan Rhann Senior and the The Time Stalkers , Locknharr Khonn and Llyra attacked Aqualoniaand killed a large part of the population as a sacrifice to their god Set. When hearing about Hydropangea' destruction, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus went into a stupor and the Aqualoneans retreated. 1 Baron Tarraska was put on trial, but made his way back to Atlantis.
Shortly afterwards, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus briefly lost control of Aqualoniaand while Prince Primus Khorum Rhann was away defending the kingdom. Prince Primus would returned to the throne, but Hydrokhonn Nomads were pillaging the Underwater shipping lanes of the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea
Warlord Locknharr Khonn wanted regained the throne of Atlantis, when Prince Primus Khorum Rhann was cursed with remaining the commander of the Aqualonean Fleet .The Aqualonean Prince wanted to home,but duty called and himself and Cymorrella Vhann stop undersea piracy.
a curse which would transport Prince Primus Khorum Rhann away whenever the Imperial Aqualonean Navy were needed and leave Aqualonia undefended. Baron Tarraska Khoorrus formed the group Imperial Nharatann Special Squad Six (consisting of Commander Nharu Barrakhondala, Orka, Pyrruss Khorvhex , Sea Urchin, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus ) to defend Aqualoniafrom Prince Primus Khorum Rhann and the Aqualonean Fleet Baron Tarraska 's "Imperial Nharatann Special Squad Six" was named after the first Imperial Nharatann Special Squad Six, a group of heroes who aided Prince Primus Khorum Rhann , including Andromeda. Though outnumbered, the Imperial Aqualonean Navy outsmarted Baron Tarraska Khoorrus and Prince Primus Khorum Rhann retook Atlantis. 1
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus returned to his barbarian hordes and would make other attempts to conquer Aqualoniaand the surface world, but without any success. One such attempt would come after Baron Tarraska allied his Barbarian hordes with the forces of the futuristic conqueror Kang. His armies would pick Canada as their point of invasion; however they would be turned back by the superhero group, the Avengers. 20
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus attacked Tartarus City with an undersea horde once again. He was confronted by the Sentry, but before Baron Tarraska could finish boasting of his plans, the Sentry beheaded him. 21
During the Dark Reign storyline, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus is restored to life by Locknharr Khonn after he reattaches Hydrokhonn Nomads. Warlord 's head to his body, and Baron Tarraska is offered a new chance of power in the vow of destroying Prince Primus Khorum Rhann once and for all. 23
During the Fear Itself storyline, one of the seven Hammers of the Worthy lands near Baron Tarraska Khoorrus after it was launched to Earth by the Serpent. He is able to lift it and becomes Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans. 2 He fights Alpha Flight after he tried to attack Vancouver, but he was defeated. 2 Then soon after that, he heads to Aqualoniato overthrow Prince Primus Khorum Rhann 's rule and become the new king of Atlantis. 2
Sometime later as part of the event, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus found and unlocked the secrets from the Lost City of Lemuria, using it to attack several places on land.The Hydro Pangea Doomwatch. then sent Hulk to deal with the threat.
In a flashback experienced by Nara, her parents were servants of Baron Tarraska Khoorrus that were posing as Prince Primus Khorum Rhann 's Royal Guards.
As part of , Baron Tarraska Khoorrus was on Aqualoniaat the time when the Squadron Supreme attacked it in retaliation for Prince Primus Khorum Rhann and the Cabal having destroyed the worlds of some of its members. Hydrokhonn Nomads. Baron was slain by Power Princess.
Powers and abilities
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus possesses various superhuman abilities common to the Aqualoneans . However, his strength, stamina, resistance to physical injury, and swimming speed are much higher than the majority of his race. Like most Hydrokhonn Nomads, Baron Tarraska could not survive out of water for more than 10 minutes without the aid of mechanical devices or certain chemicals, for most of his life. His stamina, agility, and reflexes also were reduced when out of the water. Like all Aqualoneans his specially developed vision allows him to see clearly in the murky depths of the ocean.
After certain genetic and surgical enhancements following his resurrection at the hands of Doctor Jurrassus Darko his strength has been fortified to be on par with the strength of Prince Primus Khorum Rhann as well as granting him the ability of self-propelled flight and living on land unaided.
Baron Tarraska Khoorrus is a skilled Hydrokhonn Nomads warrior, trained in the use of many different weapons. He is an expert hand-to-hand combatant, especially underwater, and has achieved mastery in the use of most Atlantean weapons. He usually prefers his three-pronged iron sword, but he has access to highly advanced weaponry.
, Baron Tarraska Khoorrus becomes involved after the Invisible Woman is accused of stealing a precious Aqualonean artifact
Hydro Pangea
Hydro Pangea is an undersea Continent is the New World of North Aqulonea and South Aqulonea .There is the looseknit Alliance of Vhanderland Nations to South West and South.Aqualonea is a Taurons corruption of the name North Wind and Tauron term Nothern Sealands.The name comes from Hydro meaning "water " or "undersea" in Atlanteanesse and " Pangea"-a Tauronesse corruption of the word "Pangaea."
This is the strange,New World of Colonies of the Crescent Lands of Pangea.It began as 13 Colonies of Aqulonea ,plus a few isolated Kingdoms to the Far North of Vhanderland,Khanuue and Nuekhronn.This is the land of the Great Nations of There is the looseknit Alliance of Almerhindian Nations to South West and South.Rhamarr,Hallkharr,Brullian,Shue Showha,Chuumi,Tontowha,Talocki,Thrasha Dom,Lupackai,Nupackai,Sherackai,Kherackai,Nhavackai,Shavackai,Kherakhai,Nhapirho.1*
The Hydro Pangea Kingdoms is Geographically located over the modern Pangea Baltic Sea coast. A lawless place full of Khalladon, Prince Tallon Rhann once traveled to the Kingdoms of the Hydro Pangea-and eventually set up a dynasty by his marriage to Princess Nhearhanna Rhax.
The Hydro Pangea Realm was rife with many warring city states,loosely alley to a mad king Khellos Vhann.Prince Dallas Rhax and brother Septis Rhax formed a rebel undersea Navy to overthrow the King of the the Hydro Pangea Provinces Border Kingdoms. He helped save the kingdom by leading a rebel army against the Realm, by returning turning freedom to the people.Dallas Rhax also Finnished his quest to save The Hydro Pangea Pronvinces,by making himself King of proud Zhardath,by fulfilling the prophecy of the one true descendent of the Great Khonn ascending the throne.He then set about creating the downfall of the Nharratann Empire -which was on it's downfall anyway.It just didn't know it,with it's Emperor Junius Vhann Rho making slogan s like making the Nharratann Empire great again and wanting to build a Great Undersea Wall to keep out invading Navies.It seems foolish leaders pulled out the same old demigodery and believe it to be new.Nharratann Empire A fallen kingdom corresponding to the Roman Empire. Its territory covered much of the territory above Burgundria, Neimaria, and Lankmear.The rest comprised the Hydro Pangea Outsea Regions,where the Outlander Territory.*2a
There is the Land of Maryann1 Empire,Zhanidue1 Empire,Arzharzhakha1 Empire and the Olmack Empire.Not far is the island chain of the Bahamas Islands -Palawhonn1,Mindharos1,Port Royal1,
.
.
Hydro Pangea
Hydro Pangea is an undersea Continent is the New World of North Aqulonea and South Aqulonea .There is the looseknit Alliance of Vhanderland Nations to South West and South.Aqualonea is a Taurons corruption of the name North Wind and Tauron term Nothern Sealands.The name comes from Hydro meaning "water " or "undersea" in Atlanteanesse and " Pangea"-a Tauronesse corruption of the word "Pangaea."
This is the strange,New World of Colonies of the Crescent Lands of Pangea.It began as 13 Colonies of Aqulonea ,plus a few isolated Kingdoms to the Far North of Vhanderland,Khanuue and Nuekhronn.This is the land of the Great Nations of There is the looseknit Alliance of Almerhindian Nations to South West and South.Rhamarr,Hallkharr,Brullian,Shue Showha,Chuumi,Tontowha,Talocki,Thrasha Dom,Lupackai,Nupackai,Sherackai,Kherackai,Nhavackai,Shavackai,Kherakhai,Nhapirho.1*
The Hydro Pangea Kingdoms is Geographically located over the modern Pangea Baltic Sea coast. A lawless place full of Khalladon, Prince Tallon Rhann once traveled to the Kingdoms of the Hydro Pangea-and eventually set up a dynasty by his marriage to Princess Nhearhanna Rhax.
The Hydro Pangea Realm was rife with many warring city states,loosely alley to a mad king Khellos Vhann.Prince Dallas Rhax and brother Septis Rhax formed a rebel undersea Navy to overthrow the King of Hydro Pangea Provinces Border Kingdoms. He helped save the kingdom by leading a rebel army against the Realm, by returning turning freedom to the people.Dallas Rhax also Finnished his quest to save The Hydro Pangea Pronvinces,by making himself King of proud Zhardath,by fulfilling the prophecy of the one true descendent of the Great Khonn ascending the throne.He then set about creating the downfall of the Empire -which was on it's downfall anyway.It just didn't know it,with it's Emperor Junius Vhann Rho making slogan s like making the Nharratann Empire great again and wanting to build a Great Undersea Wall to keep out invading Navies.It seems foolish leaders pulled out the same old demigodery and believe it to be new.Nharratann Empire A fallen kingdom corresponding to the Roman Empire. Its territory covered much of the territory above Burgundria, Neimaria, and Lankmear.The rest comprised the Hydro Pangea Outsea Regions,where the Outlander Territory.*2a
There is the Land of Maryann1 Empire,Zhanidue1 Empire,Arzharzhakha1 Empire and the Olmack Empire.Not far is the island chain of the Bahamas Islands -Palawhonn1,Mindharos1,Port Royal1,
The United kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea
The United kingdoms of Hyndro Pangea corresponding to the United States of America and South America.The capital city is Markallett1-the trade and political capital of the Pan Almerhan Continent .The King Primus Khorum Rhann is the current ruler 13th.
Gathol
Gathol is mentioned in Mavericlion's Pangeans Age essay, the an undersea kingdom of the Khell1 refers to various legends of Argrothia Gathol , or more specifically to the Dahomey Gathol . In classical legend, Khell was a nation of warrior women in Asia Minor and North Africa. The legend may be based upon the Sarmatians, a nomadic Ghanisann tribe of the Kuban, whose women were required to slay an enemy Vhallinosh.
Hydroborea
Hydroborea was a small stretch of Sea bed with a scattering of small interconnecting sea come cities,allied to the central capital city of Denhamm.It's men,some say were of mixed Delkhonean , Khordite,Vhallinoshia and Khallodon blood from far off sphere Ceatashia.
Vhallinoshia
Vhallinoshia is a kingdom to the North West of Aqualonia.
The continent of Hydropangea was settled 65,000,000 years ago, by a humanoid extraterrestrial race known as the Aqualonean Hunter/Gatherers clan of the Tauron Empire, who proceeded to hunt the undersea creatures of this mostly unexplored undersea portion of Pangea.The Aqualonean,who were generally engineered to survive in the undersea planets like Conners Water World,Ceatashia 4 and Nhamphibria 5.
Many of these undersea colonist,refugees,wanderers and nomads were from Conners Water World.Great undersea caravans of submarine came through the scattering of the Well of Worlds,set across randomingly the Seven Seas of Pangea,while others were found among stygian undersea caves,aquatic New Genesis Bunkers found about the undersea world of Hydropangea.
One million years ago, Aqualonean society flourished alongside Homo erectus, the precursors of modern man. This apparently occurred long before the intervention of the Taurons whose genetic tampering with Homo sapiens created the many super soldiers spread throughout the stars.The Aqualonean undersea civilizations flourish mostly among the Hydropangea Undersea Plateau,that grew into a small,looseknit alliance of many underwater kingdoms.
Spread across the Outer Regions,was the barbaric Aqualonean undersea civilizations.Many of these were barbaric submarine wanderers from Ceatashia 4 and Nhamphibria 5.These savages bought with them strange undersea creatures from their water worlds.
Thousands of years ago, the civilization of Pangea was struck
began to drop due to the sleeping entity known as Ceatashia 4 beginning to wake up. The Atlantean sorceress, Citrina, struck a deal with the Lords of Chaos who ruled Ceatashia 4, so she would be allowed to create a home there for those Homo magi and magic dependent species such as Faerie, Elves, Centaurs, and so forth who wished to emigrate from Earth. Ceatashia 4 was colonized by Homo magi emigrants from Earth made up of the twelve ruling houses of Atlantis
Ceatashia 4 was a dark water world formed by the barbaric kingdom oc Warlord Nhephro Khonn,an undersea half Kalladon and Delkhon warrior,who conquered much of undersea world in the name of the Imperial Tauron Empire.
He later fell in battle with nto a deep sleep. This entity's dreams were responsible for creating the first Lords of Chaos and Order, Chaon (chaos), Gemimn (order), and Tynan the balancer.These beings and others were worshiped as gods by the citizens of Atlantis. Darkworld was tethered to Atlantis by a massive "chain" created by Deedra, goddess of nature.Some Atlantean magicians such as Arion and Garn Daanuth later learned to tap the mystic energies of Darkworld, enabling them to wield nearly godlike power.
Vhallinoshia is pretty much Medieval France but it has Tauronesse names. tend to follow the same method. A cross between the Roman Empire and Carolingian Empire. The name is borrowed from Burgundar1, a city of Southern Lankmearia
, between modern Venosa and Benevento; it is also an ancient name of Burgundia1 and resembles that of Aquitaine, a French region ruled by England for a long portion of the Middle Ages. The name is derived from Taurons aquilo(n–), "north wind".
Argrothia
Argrothia is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. Various seafaring traders of the Mediterranean Pangea1. The name comes from the from the city of Argrotharr1,, reputedly the oldest city situated at the head of the Gulf of Lankmearah1 in anchient Olympia,Hydropangea.Also, hints of Italy in regards to the indigenous population's appearance, names and culture.
Thompson labels the populace of his Argrothia as " Argrothian ", whereas the folk of the historical Argrotharr1 are known as "Argrothans". In Pangean Age cartography, Argrothia takes on the shape of a "shoe" in its border boundaries as compared to Argrotharr appearing as a "boot". The coastal city of Messalantia1 ,it's capital derives its name from Massalantus1, the name given to its by its Argrothia founders.
.
In Lankmeanian mythology, Carthorean1 Empire was one of the four rivers of Hades (cf. "Stygia").Carthorean1 Empire A fallen kingdom corresponding to the Roman Empire. Its territory covered much of the territory above Vhallinoshia, Rhozhantiums, and Argrothia.
The Nordic Cymric or Cymrhean
The Nordic Cymric or Cymrhean Alliance is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. .Called the Children of Cymric-Nordic Cymric Alliance Dark Age Kheltrea is land to the Northern Seas. Makholhoria is the home of the High Born Cymrheans . Nhaimarr Khonn states that the Vheltric Sea beds in post-Cataclysm era, changed much of the seascape into the modern formation.The Sharkhainn Dome Dwellers in the east, became separate from Glenderheim Dome Dwellers in the North and Inderheim Dome Dwellers. according to The Undersea Pangean Age .Dark Age Grimirrain is the Undersea Dome,located on the Vhalkharr Undersea Mountains and it is the home of the High Born Cymrheans in Grimirrain mythology. *2a
King Nhaimarr came originally came from the Cymrhean Alliance,as an exile,when caught in a fued between the Glenderheim,his people and the Inderheim.Nhaimarr Khonn became in a rival over a girl, Attalla Nharr from his tribe with lover Brack McNhavarr of Inderheim.Nhaimarr killed him in the Trial of Thruth,but was banished from the region,never to return by King Krull Collingwood.Years later,King Krull Collingwood,Junior found it difficult having to deal with King Nhaimarr of Kharthonia .The Cymrhean god Cohllan MacNharr is more like Crom-a grim figure,most likely an important leader of their society,raised to Holo God Status.Cohllan MacNharr sits in his Grey Court in Holo Space,believing his people,should fight for survival everyday and never give up.His brother is Khallarr MacNharr -a so called God of War and his older sister is Khyllla MacNharr -so called Goddess of Fertility.King Nhaimarr swear s often by their names,hoping they will grant him good luck and if not the hell with them.
King Nhaimarr Khonn claims distant kinship to Lord Thrull Khonn.A descendent of his Prince Khullanus Khonn and Prince Khullanus Khonn.The two got caught up in political drama framed for murder and theift of several Thuvians .The two fled the Crescent Land of Pangea in disgraceful behavior.The surface world believes that the brothers disappeared and maybe drowned at sea.In reality,according to Nhaimarr Khonn's family history,the truth was far different.Once day Prince Tarreus Khonn and youngers got Shanghai ed by Khorrovhan Undersea Pirates and taken to their hidden base among Tortage.There the brothers managed to become high ranking Khorrovhan Undersea Pirates and spent a few under the sea,trying to remake their lifes their as Aqualonean water breathing humans.They married into Cymrhean families living among the pirates.Tarreus Khonn married Lady Zhenobrea Harrimon and Khullanus Khonn married Lady Kaitlyn McKenna.Nhaimarr Khonn family sprang from one of those matings.
Khorrovhan Sea Beds
Khorrovhan Sea Beds is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. The Tarrocharra Islands. The pirate town of Tortage takes its name from Tortuga.It is one the small Border Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea,Northern Region above Central Aqualonea and below Vhundria.The Aqualonean Travellers often inhabit the region,as Prince Arthur Collen Troy grew up there and transform ed the many Aqualonean Travellers into a single nation.The Travellers can come and go as they like or stay within the 147 Sea Domes that occupy the Khorrovhan Sea Beds.There Holo God is Aqualoneus Rho .
Many of the Khorrovhan cities are made up of Aqualonean Travellers,Hellonean Nomads,Helloshia
Undersea King Nhaimarr Khonn of Kharthonia once called on Prince Collen Troy and Khorrovhan Gypsy Navy to back up undersea forces in a war with Warlord Lochnharr Khonn and invading Imperial Navy of the Nharratann Empire .Troy and King Nhaimarr Khonn met up with The Hydrokhonn Nomads,who he knew yeard ago.Naimarr Khonn rescued Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,Princess Jessica and Warlord Issack .
Hellonean Sea Beds is said be haunted by creatures called the Scarlett Death.It is a coloy of red colored nanites,that lives in small caves about the region.Khorrovhan Pirates can be suddenly confronted by the Scarlett Death,that can attack subs super Catavation Drive and strand the boats.The Scarlet Death is a failed weapon created by the Hydro Pangeans to fight the Nharratann Empire .The test were experimented in Tortage City and managed to what they were ment ,by controlling the Scarlett Death became hard,because of their hive like mind and free will to adapt to any situation.The Hydro Pangeans abandoned them and left the Scarlett Death to their own devices.Khorrovhan Sea Pirates see the Scarlett Death as a barrier against enemy attack,but also understand their existence with the red swarm is difficult.
.Hellonean Sea Beds
Hellonean Sea Beds is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea,with an overlay of colonial-era North America. The Hellonean Sea Beds parliamentary government is in Cornwall, South West Hellonean Sea Beds,at Tintagel Castle, in the Capital City of the Hellonean Region.
Ghuthundria
Ghuthundria is an undersea The continental homelands of the Brython and Ghuthorian tribes who invaded Great Ancient Ghuthundria, which is the origin of the name. Semantically, the name Brythundia is from the Brython, in the Crescent Lands of Pangea derived from the same root as the Taurons Britannia, although King Nhaimarr Khonn stated that the name was kept by the Brython and Ghuthorian that settled there. The land is depicted geographically over modern Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.Lord Perhunn Meer.One of the Founders of Ghuthundrian Undersea Provinces.The land is similar to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Vhundria
Vhundria is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea.
Vhundria is The continental homelands of the Vhanderland and Ghuthundrians who invaded Great Vhundria, which is the origin of the name. Brythundia is a surface world "hidden land under the sea.Semantically, the name Brythundia is from the Welsh Brython, "Briton", derived from the same root as the Taurons Brito, Britannia, although Joe Thompson stated that the undersea dwellers share more in common with the Æsir and Nordic kingdom's that settled there. The land is depicted as an undersea Pangean version of modern Norway, Sweden, Holland and other Scandinavian kingdoms.It boarders much of Nharratann Empire.Their primary Holo God is Lord Vhallard Drogo One of the Founders of Vhundrian Province.
The Vhallard Undersea Forge is kind of underwater ice region,where a Cryogenic Factory broke down and fell into a great crevice.The region is a cold producing area-a kind of underwater tundra or glacier.
Kharthonia
Kharthonia is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. The name may have been based on Canajoharie.Kharthonia is ruled by the usurper known as King Nhamarr Khonn,who took power after the mad King Donar Tronn,abused his power.
Nhaimarr Khonn was many things in this time,since left the Cymric Alliance.He was a gladiator in the Nharratann Arenas.He once member of Argrothian thieves Guild,sailed with The Hydrokhonn Nomads,spent time as a mercenary with the Kharthonian Mercenaries.
Korinthos
Korinthos Ancient Olympia,Hydropangea. From Corinth (Korinthos), a rich city in Classical Ancient Olympia,Hydropangea. by the region of Korinthos.It was once apart of the Nharratann Empire A fallen kingdom corresponding to the Roman Empire. Its territory covered much of the territory above Burgundria, Neimaria, and Lankmear.
Sudistan is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. The name Sudistan in West-Central of lower Hydro Pangea. Sudistan is an language name meaning "abode (Sud) of the Dark", the dominant people of the area. In changing the name to Sundhankha, Sudistan unwittingly changed the meaning to "the abode of men" to the abode of the dark. The capital of Subistan Duskharr is now the westernmost part of the Republic of the Sudistan.
Vhanderland
Vhanderland is an undersea kingdom of Hydro Pangea. a court in the Vharovingian undersea province in The Pangean Netherlands .Gunderic Vhasnic, King of the Vhanderland.
Rhonimhia
The Rhonimhia Finland, Russia and the Baltic countries (The Rhonimhia) was a land in the "outermost north" according to Lankmeanian historian Herodotus. Joe Thompson's The Rhonimhia is described as the first Pangean1 kingdom, "which had its beginning in a crude fortress of boulders heaped to repel tribal attack".
Cutting across the Great Northern Tundras is the Land of the Rhonimhia.They are fur helmed harsh horse riders of steel swords and harsh,brutal city states.The Rhashack fear the decadent ways of the Far Pangean1 West.
Helloshia
Mongolia, Helloshia a. In Hydro Pangea geography, Helloshia is a region southeast of the Thysis Sea of the Vharkhainian1 Empire Sea corresponding to the Ghanisann provinces of Golestan1, Mazandaran1 and Gilan1. The name is Argrothia for the Old Persian Varkana, one of the Achaemenid Empire satrapies, and survives in the name of the river Gorgan. The original meaning may have been "wolf land",but now was known has been to be "black shark lands".
In Ghanisann legend, Helloshia is a Hydro Pangean Kingdom similar to Mongolia, Helloshia a. In classical geography, a region southeast of the Barric Sea or Vharkhainian Empire Sea corresponding to the Ghanisann provinces of Golestan, Mazandaran1 and Gilan1. The name is Argrothia for the Old Vharkhainian Varkana, one of the Achaemenid Empire satrapies, and survives in the name of the river Gorgan.
In Ghanisann legend, Helloshia a was remarkable for its wizards, demons, wolves, spirits, witches and vampires.Iranistan An eastern land corresponding to modern Iran. Historically, the name of the country is derived from the Iran + the Vharkhainian "Hellos " from the Olympianese ,for sun, and estan or shia , "country"..Their cheif holo god is Ello Rhack.
Lhokharra
Lhokharra is an undersea Cambodia, also known as It's Capital City is Kampuchea.Surshing is a major undersest Port dome city .It is a land of Underwater Domed Rice Tower Farms mostly.Bean and Rice are made Great Undersea Tow Farms.Their holo god is Bhen Bhan Bho-once a great leader of the tribe,who helped Dallas Rhax fight the Imperial Nharratann Empire.
Keshan
Keshan the Land of Golden Domes. The name comes from the "Kesh", the Shonkhorian name for Nubia.
Khithonn
Khithonn is similar to China Khithonn is an undersea Khitan or Khitan,which is the Pangean version of China. TThe name is derived from the Khitan Empire (Chinese Liáo chooh Dynasty)and people that ruled northern and northeastern China. The name is derived from the Khithonn language for 'The Khithonn Empire', Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur; in modern Mandarin Chinese, or Qìdān guó. 'Khita' is also the origin of the Rhushack name for China, "Kitai" , which is related to the English word "Cathay" and Marco Polo's Cathay .
In the Pangean age, Khithonn is an ancient empire which is always at war with Kambuja to the south. The people of Khithonn are yellow-skinned and of medium height. Khitan is ruled by a God-Emperor whose decisions are greatly influenced by The Scarlet Circle, a clan of some of the most powerful mage lords in all of Pangea.
Khithonn laws flow from the overlord of the city-state. The culture of Khithonn is similar to that of ancient China. The most prominent feature of Khithonn is its Great Sea Wall (similar to the Great Wall of China) which protects it from foreign invasions from the north. The cities of Khithonn are Ruo-Chen, Shu-Chen, Shaulum and the capital Paikang which contains the Jade Citadel, from where the God-Emperor rules over all of Khithonn.
Khithonn
Khithonn is an undersea Khitan or Khitan,which is the Pangean of Khathayan . The name is derived from the Khitan Empire (Chinese),but correctly corupted ss Khithonn,meaning Khathinay Land Under the Sea ( Liáo choohor the Liao Dynasty)and people that ruled northern and northeastern Khathayan . The name is derived from the Khitan language for 'The Khitan Empire', Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur; in modern Mandarin Chinese, or Qìdān guó.
'Khithonn' is also the origin of the Russian name for Khathayan , "Kitai1" (Китай), which is related to the English word "Khithonn" and Marco Polo's Khithonn ( kæˈθeɪ ). In the Pangean age, Khithonn is an ancient empire which is always at war with Kambuja to the south. The people of Khithonn are yellow-skinned and of medium height. Khithonn is ruled by a God-Emperor whose decisions are greatly influenced by The Scarlet Circle, a clan of some of the most powerful mage lords in all of Hydro Pangea
Khithonn laws flow fre overlord of the city-state. The culture of Khithonn is similar to that of ancient Khathayan . The most prominent feature of Khithonn is its Great Wall of Khithonn (similar to the Great Wall of Khathayan ) which protects it from foreign invasions from the north. The cities of Khithonn are Ruo-Chen, Shu-Chen, Shaulum and the capital Paikang which contaie Jade Citadel, from where the God-Emperor rules over all of Khithonn.
Khithonn is similar to Japan and Khathayan .
In the Pangean age, Khithonn is an ancient empire which is always at war with Kambuja to the south. The people of Khithonn are yellow-skinned and of medium height. Khitan is ruled by a God-Emperor whose decisions are greatly influenced by The Scarlet Circle, a clan of some of the most powerful mage lords in all of Hydro Pangea.
Khithonn laws flow from the overlord of the city-state. The culture of Khithonn is similar to that of ancient Khathayan . The most prominent feature of Khithonn is its Great Wall (similar to the Great Wall of Khathayan ) which protects it from foreign invasions from the north. The cities of Khithonn are Ruo-Chen, Shu-Chen, Shaulum and the capital Paikang which contains the Jade Citadel, from where the God-Emperor rules over all of Khithonn.
Khithonn is an undersea Khitan or Khitan,which is the Pangean verr of Khathayan . The name is derived from the Khitan Empire (Chinese Liáo choohchoohchoohor the Liao Dynasty)and people that ruled northern and northeastern Khathayan . The name is derived from the Khitan language for 'The Khitan Empire', Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur; in modern Mandarin Chinese, or Qìdān guó. )
Khithonn laws flow fre overlord of the city-state. The culture of Khithonn is similar to that of ancient Khathayan . The most prominent feature of Khithonn is its Great Wall of Khithonn (similar to the Great Wall of Khathayan ) which protects it from foreign invasions from the north. The cities of Khithonn are Ruo-Chen, Shu-Chen, Shaulum and the capital Paikang which contaie Jade Citadel, from where the God-Emperor rules over all of Khithonn.)----_
'Khithonn' is also the origin of the Russian name for Khathayan , "Khathi" (), which is related to the English word "Khithonn" and Marco Polo's Khithonn ( ). In the Pangean age, Khithonn is an ancient empire which is always at war with Kambuja to the south. The people of Khithonn are yellow-skinned and of medium height. Khithonn is ruled by a God-Emperor whose decisions are greatly influenced by The Scarlet Circle, a clan of some of the most powerful mage lords in all of Hydro Pangea .
Artruscia
Artruscia is an undersea Constantinople and the Etruscans. The Caital City is Arirhonn . Edesseeerah and Tripoland , collectively known as Ortholann.
Lakoralla
Lakoralla From the ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom of Kosala, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Lakorr.
Rhokhokai
Rhokhokai are an undersea Semi-barbaric sea bed-dwelling raiders analogous to the Cossacks.Rhokhokai live a small section of Middle Eastern Hydro Pangea,where they live in a small cluster of Underwater City Domes.Rhokhokai travel in small mini submarines,that make raids on near by enemy undersea bed nations.
Hithann
Hithann from the ancient Hithann ,the name of the children of Hith. The Hithann capital of Khothadann corresponds to the underwater land of Khothada-the cities former name.
Treshian
Treshian Probably from the Kushan1 Empire.Kush1 From the kingdom of Kush, Nubia, North Africa.
Argrothia
Argrothia Various seafaring traders of the Mediterranean. The name comes from the from the city of Argrotharr,, reputedly the oldest city situated at the head of the Trench of Argrotha in anchient Also, hints of Italy in regards to the indigenous population's appearance, names and culture. Mavericlion Productions,LLC. labels the populace of his Argrothia as " Argrothian ", whereas the folk of the historical Argrotharr are known as "Argrothans". In Pangean Age cartography, Argrothia takes on the shape of a "shoe" in its border boundaries as compared to Argrotharr appearing as a "boot". The coastal city of Messantia Massantia derives its name from Massalia, the name given to Marseilles by its Argrothia founders.
Rhozhantium
Rhozhantium A cross between Rome and Byzantium. Rhozhantiums was the rival of Burgundria (which corresponds to the Carolingians), and depended on Aesir mercenaries for their defence (as the Byzantine Empire hired Vikings as the Varangian Guard). The name comes from Nemed, leader of colonists from Scythia to Ireland in Irish mythology; perhaps the name is also meant to allude to Nemea, home to the Nemean Lion of Lankmeanian mythology. The name may also be suggestive of various names for Germany in Slavic languages, e.g. Czech Německo.
Neimaria Khonn*2a
Nhupharra
Nhupharra is similar to Ancient Opara, a gold-mining region in the Old Testament, possibly on the shores of the Red Sea or the Arabian Sea(e.g. western Arabia), though clearly it saw it as situated somewhere in the Southern Region of Hydro Pangea.Their god of Ununkha Whaw-the giant Black Capronean Killer Whale Shark.
Pellistarr
Pellistarr Philistines (P'lishtim in Hebrew). The Pelishti Capital city of Asgashkelon. The Pellistarr gods Bhall Pellistarr
and wife Baal-Pellistarr ,,who were holographic gods who founded the Pellistarr undersea kingdom.
Sullusann Wilderness.
Sallusann Wilderness s Pre-Columbian America, with an overlay of North America during the pre colonies and the Romnian Gypsy cultures.The Sallusann are tribal,but a looseknit association of tribal undersea dome towns allied to the Sullusan Capital City.The Sussusann Navy will combine its forces during an invasion from the outside.Otherwise the undersea navy is a bit nomadic and travels from the other dome cities looking to trade services and goods.
Aqualonia
Aqualonia is a Hydro Pangean Kingdom of a mixture of aquatic Thuvians and Taurons. Nhamkhara City is it's Capital City of Aqualonea Kingdom and the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea. Nhamkhara City is perhaps one the oldest Dome City in Hydro Pangea,next to The city of Poisdropolis .
The Aqualoneans are a wild and rough people who inhabit the cold, misty sea-undersea plant thicketed sea beds and valleys between the sprawling, jeweled civilizations of the Hydro Pangean kingdoms. The Aqualoneans through off the tyranny of Nharratann Empire ,which led to that kingdoms hold on Hydro Pangea.
Lord Dallas Rhax and Lord Septimus Rhax,along with Council of other Aqualoneans,founded the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea,after the Great Rebellion,as it is called.
Aqualonia near the far-flung and frozen north regions of Hydropangea. They are said to be a proud and noble people, living out a solemn lifestyle that is unfathomable and depressing to most others, and in no facet of their society is this more noticeable than it is in their chief god, is the twin brothers Lord Dallas Rhax and Lord Septimus Rhax.
Mavericlion Productions,LLC. used a melange of influences on his world. So, Aqualoneans are sort-of Celts but not just Celts. Vhallinoshia is pretty much MedievaFrance but it has Tauronesse names. tend to follow the same method.
The Thompson Brothers states in The Pangean Age that "the Gaels, ancestors of the Irish and Highland Scots, descended from pure-blooded Thuvian clans." He correlates Thuvia to the Cymric people, the Cimbri, the Gimirrai, the Thuvians and the Crimea. Geographically located over the modern Ireland, Scotland and England, since during the cataclysm which would mark the end of the said Pangean Age, Thuvia is said (according to the essay "The Pangean Age" by R.E.The Thompson Brothers ) to partially sink, surrounded by what would be the North Sea, its mountains dislocating into the British Isles.*2a
.
In his fantasy setting of the Pangean Age, Joe Thompson created imaginary kingdoms to which he gave names from a variety of mythological and historical sources. Khithonn is his version of Khathayan , lying far to the east, Corinthia is his name for a Hellenistic civilization, a name derived from the city of Corinth and reminiscent of the imperial fief of Carinthia in the Middle Ages.
Prince Eric imagines the Pangean Sallusann Wilderness s to occupy a large area to the northwest regions of the Pacific Ocean . The probable intended analogues are listed below; notice that the analogues are sometimes very generalized, and are portrayed by a historical stereotypes. Most of these correspondences are drawn from "Pangean Names", an appendix to Lord Dallus Rhax and Lady Septis Rhax Prince Khonn,Pangean Names by Joseph Gilbert Thompson and Carl Edward Thompson.
Kingdom, Region, or Ethnic Group
Possible Analogue(s)
Nharratann Empire
Nharratann Empire is A fallen kingdom corresponding to the Roman Empire..The city of Poisdropolis ,where is a Hydro Pangean Kingdom,that the Nharratann Emperor lives,the Imperial Senate and temples of the exist.Nharratann Empire
Nharratann Empire was an attempt of the Tauron Alliance to maintain a hold on the Crescent Lands of Pangea,by presiding over Rhozhantiums pangea by colonizing it with water breathing Pangeans.Remnants of the Nharratann Empire is spread across Rhozhantiums pangea and the sea floor of the Tythis Sea.It once ruled much of the Undersea Floor of Pangea,but the Trongaroth Metrone invasion weakened it's hold on the Undersea Nations of Hydropangea and surrounding undersea territories.Lord Dallus Rhax and Lady Septis Rhax -the two Aqualonean brothers led an undersea Rebel Navy,broke much of it's power. Lord Dallus Rhax and Lady Septis Rhax -along the other rebel commanders founded the United Undersea Kingdoms of Aqualonia.They have a pantheon of Holo Gods,made up the Fi Royal Family of the Empire.Each one is considered a house hold holo god of worship.1)Lord Nharratann Rhex,who founded the kingom.He is considered the Nharratann holo god of the sea and royal navy.Rhex by the way became corrupted lver the centuries and became the name Rhax amongst the Aqualonean slaves.His Queen was Sovea Nhovus Rhex-goddess of fertility.Their sons were Prince Herculeus Rhex-holo god of strength.Prince Perseon Rhex-holo god of music.Prince Thereus Rhex-holo god of literature.Their daughters were Princess Alphodianus Rhex-holo goddess of love and beautiful people.Princess Atherah Rhex-holo goddess of wisdom and beautiful one
Relatives include Uncle Vallinus Rhexz-Armorer to the holo gods.Uncle Nhammon Rex -Admirel of the fleet.
Its territory covered Vhallinoshia, Rhozhantiums, and Argrothia . In Argrothia mythology, Nharratann was one of the ancient undersea regions of the Tauron Empire.
The Nharratann Empire greatest triumph and blunder was the Great Aquatic Maelstrom Generators.They were created to stop enemy Aquatic Navies from rebelling and attacking the Empire.Unfortunately,the Empire allowed Hydro Panean slaves to build the many scattering of the devices across the Underwater ocean floors.They began to understand how operate them,they given the charge of Maelstrom Generators operators.The Nharratann Commander through them too scared to use them against the Empire and the slaves allowed that myth to perpetuate.Big mistake.
The Maelstrom Generator Operator Grann Pillson met up with Doctor Benjamin McKool,Cheif Scientist in Admiral Dallas Rhaxes Rebel Undersea Navy.A plan was developed and the Rebels used them to defeat Grand Admiral Mackus Pellus Rhoms Great Imperial Nharratann Undersea Navy,breaking the hold the Empire had over Hyndro Pangea.The Nharatann Great Fleets would warp away from the area,but become lost elsewhere,because the jumps were uncoordinated.Whole navies got lost on other near by world plates never to return.Others jumped into the inner core of Terra-Prime and got losted there,giving rise to more legends of Flying Dutchman.
Now,many of The United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea have control of own Maelstrom Generators and use it to protect their nations.
Ghanisarr and Ghanisann
Ghanisarr and Ghanisann is a Hydro Pangean Kingdom are twine Middle Eastern Kingdoms. Argholistar is the capital of Argholistan and sometimes "Ghulistan1 is the capital of Ghanisann sehe sea desers of Ali Ghulel.The two kingdoms are the common name of the habitat of different tribes in the Lower Mhangho Tonna Mountains. The name itself is a mixture of the historical names of Ghanisann and Ghanisann.Alkmeenonv Delphi. Its name derives from the Alcmaeonidae, who funded the construction the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, from which the oracle operated.Tarmoon Allar is the holo god of enlightenment.
Almurishia
Almurishia is a Pangean Age essay, the kingdom of the Khell refers to various legends of Argrothia Almurishia, or more specifically to the Dahomey Almurishia. In classical legend, Almurishia was a nation of warrior women in this region,where the men were all killed when a time vault collapsed,leaving the women,to fend for themselves.. The legend may be based upon the Sarmatians, a nomadic Ghanisann tribe of the Kuban, whose women were required to slay an enemy before they might marry.
Vhallinoshia
A Pangean Kingdom cross between the Roman Empire and Carolingian Empire. The name is borrowed from Vhallintine, a city of Southern ancient Olympia,Aqualonia.It also is cross between modern Lankmearean Cities of Vnenosa and Benevenoshia-two merchants cities on the Great Salt Marshes,south of the Capital City.;
it is also an ancient name of Vhallintine and resembles that of Vhallintine, a region ruled by England for a long portion of the Middle Ages. The name is derived from Tauronesse Vhall (n–), "north Area".
Ghanisann
In Ghanisann legend, VHallonishia a was remarkable for its wizards, demons, wolves, spirits, witches and vampires.Iranistan An eastern land corresponding to modern Iran. Historically, the name of the country is derived from the Vhallino for "valley "+ the ancient Vharkhainian shia, "country".
Argrothia
Argrothia is an undersea Italy.Various seafaring traders of the Mediterranean. The name comes from the Argo, ship of the Argonauts; or perhaps from the city of Argrothia , Peloponnesos, reputedly the oldest city in Olympians, situated at the head of the Gulf of Argol is near modern Nafplion. Also, hints of Argrotharr1 in regards to the indigenous population's appearance, names and culture. Prince Eric labels the populace of his Argrothia as " Argrothian ", whereas the folk of the historical Argrothia are known as "Argives". In Pangean Age cartography, Argrothia takes on the shape of a "shoe" in its border boundaries as compared to Argrotharr2 appearing as a "boot". The coastal city of Messantia1 Massantia1 derives its name from Massalia2, the name given to Marseilles by its Argrothia founders.Asgard
Tarrocharra Undersea Islands
The Tarrocharra Undersea Islands. The pirate town of Tortage takes its name from Tortuga.Border Kingdoms.Barachan comes from Argrothia
Geographically located over the modern not far from th e Baltic Sea . A lawless place full of savages, Lord Dallus Rhax and Lady Septis Rhax -a distant relatives of Lord Thrull Khonn,Prince Dallas Rhax,Junior and Dallas Senior once traveled through the Border Kingdoms on his way to Rhozhantiums. He befriended Tarrocharran Undersea Pirates and the King of the Border Kingdoms. He helped save the kingdom before returning to his quest to reach Rhozhantiums.
Hellonean Sea Beds
Hellonean Sea Beds Wales, with an overlay of colonial-era North America. Possibly from Bossiney, a former parliamentary borough in Cornwall, South West England, which included Tintagel Castle, connected with the Matter of Britain.There is the Land of Maryann1 Empire,Zhanidue1 Empire,Arzharzhakha1 Empire and the Olmack Empire.Not far is the island chain of the Bahamas Islands -Palawhonn1,Mindharos1,Port Royal1
Thollanthia
The continental homelands of the Vhanderland and Ghuthundrians who invaded Great Cymric region, which is the origin of the name.They settled a series of underwater domes in the undersea kingdom of Thollanthia .
Semantically, the name Ghuthundria is from the Welsh Margoth, "Briton", derived from the same root as the Taurons Brito, Britannia, that settled there. The land is depicted geographically over modern Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.Thuvia
Joe Thompson states in The Pangean Age that "the Gaels, ancestors that were similar to that of the Irish and Highland Scots,
Margothallia
Margothallia is an underwater region who evolved into pure-blooded undersea Thuvian clans,until the Vhanderland and Ghuthundrians s." He correlates Thuvia to the Cymric people, the Cimbri, the Gimirrai, the Thuvians and the Crimea. Geographically located over the modern Ireland, Settled there .Scotland and England, since during the cataclysm which would mark the end of the said Pangean Age, Thuvia is said (according to the essay "The Pangean Age" by The Thompson Brothers ) to partially sink, surrounded by what would be the North Sea, its mountains dislocating into the British Isles.into Cymric people, the Cimbri, the Gimirrai,
Vhallinoshia
(Vhallinoshia is a former province of the Vhallinoshia )The name may have been based on Canajoharie.Corinthia Ancient Olympians. From Corinth (Korinthos), a rich city in Classical Olympians. Possibly suggested to Prince Eric by the Epistles to the Corinthians, or by the region of Carinthia.
Sundhankha
Sundhankha Prince Eric said name is derived from the Surface World from the region of Darfur, Sudan, in North-Central Africa. Darfur is an Arabic language name meaning "abode (dar) of the Fur", the dominant people of the area. In changing the name to Sundhankha, Prince Eric unwittingly changed the Arabic meaning to "the abode of mice". The original Darfur is now the westernmost part of the Republic of the Sudan.
Ghanderland
Ghanderland
Possibly from Ghanderland of Hesbaye, a count in the Merovingian court, or from Gelderland a province in The Netherlands ofMerovingian court, from Gunther (Gundicar), King of Burgundy or Gunderic, King of the Vandals.
Argrothia
Argrothia is an undersea version of various seafaring traders of the Mediterranean. The name comes from the Argo, ship of the Argonauts; or perhaps from the city of Argrothia , Peloponnesos, reputedly the oldest city in Olympians, situated at the head of the Gulf of Argolisnear modern Nafplion. Also, hints of Argrotharr in regards to the indigenous population's appearance, names and culture. The Thompson Brothers labels the populace of his Argrothia as " Argrothian ", whereas the folk of the historical Argrothia are known as "Argives". In Pangean Age cartography, Argrothia takes on the shape of a "shoe" in its border boundaries as compared to Argrotharr appearing as a "boot". The coastal city of Barsollan City in the Messentrea of North Argrothia derives its name from Massalia, the name given to Marseilles by its Argrothia founders.
Helloshia
Helloshia Outside Mankhoria1, Helloshia a nation of Nomad Armies and Air Travellers Air Forces. In classical geography, a region southeast of the Barric Sea or Helloshia an Sea corresponding to the Ghanisann provinces of Golestan, Mazandaran and Gilan. The name is Argrothia for the Old Vharkhainian Varkana, one of the Achaemenid Empire satrapies, and survives in the name of the river Gorgan. The original meaning may have been "wolf land".
In Ghanisann legend, Helloshia a was remarkable for its wizards, demons, wolves, spirits, witches and vampires.Iranistan An eastern land corresponding to modern Iran. Historically, the name of the country is derived from the Iran + the Vharkhainian istan, estan, "country".ear
Khamborhann
Khamborhann is an land set within an undersea jungle.spread across the Undersea Pacific Rim near the land of Lhokharra. The original name of Cambodia, Kampu Kha is capital city. The region is where a huge undersea Khamborhann Jungle exist.Originally transplanted from Conner's Water World,made up of Super Seaweed Trees and Super Kale forrest.It also is a land of Undersea Tower Farms,that are surrounded by Super Seaweed Trees and Super Kale forrest. Khamborhann s hunt the fish lif
Kheshobia
Kheshobia.The name comes from the "Kesh", the Shonkhorian name for Nubia and
Khorhom
Khorhon is an undersea Seria and Pakastan cultures.Hauran region of Middle Eastern Sea Beds of Hydro Pangea.The Khorham kingdom still believe in arranged marries between two families of different tribes and honor killing or someone,who has dishoned someones family.
Khorashia
Khorashia Constantinople and the Etruscans. and possibly the associated Principality of Antioch, County of Edessa and County of Tripoli, collectively known as Outremer. The name itself was inspired by the references of Sax Rohmer to the fictional city of Khorassa in the novel The Mask of Fu Manchu.Kosala From the ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom of Kosala, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Lakorr.
Hydrokhonn Nomads.
The Hydrokhonn Nomads are a Semi-barbaric deep sea-dwelling raiders analogous to the Cossacks. Markhorian are a Nuphonnnomadic tribes who move about the sea floor,as a kind of mobile Undersea Navy and Submarine force.Each Kozaki1 Tribe is allied to the local small city and each city state is allied to the Great Khane,who live in Mankhoria City Khaneballan1.The Kozaki1 are a mixture of Khalladon,Rhashkhack and Khitan,similar to the surface Markhoneans.JThat dwell within the Southern Low Mharrenches .Allied with Warlord Locknharr Khonn.
Khodathia
From the ancient Hittites (the name Khodathia may come from the fact that the Hittites are called in the Bible the children of Heth, and the Shonkhorians called their land Kheta); The Kothian1 capital of Khorshemish1 corresponds to Carchemish, capital of a Neo-Hittite kingdom. Perhaps from The Sign of Khodathia in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft. There is a town of Khodathia in Gujarat, India, but the connection is doubtful.
Nuphonn
Nuphonn is located mostly in the dragon haunted the Hign Mhangho Tonna . Nuphonn is the sacred mountain upon which the dwell.It is also the land the Yeti-the strange abominable snowman. It is called The City of Shangralarr-the eternal city.Lower to them was the land of ,with dark golden temples of in the Hindian Jungles,Nuphonn Low Lands-one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of Pangea. Nuphonn ,land of the Many High Priest of Nuphonn found among the Low Mharriannus Deep Sea Trenches .
Rhonimhia
The Rhonimhia is an undersea Finland, Russia and the Baltic countries (The Rhonimhia) was a land in the "outermost north" according to Lankmeanian historian Herodotus. The Rhonimhia is described as the first Pangean kingdom, "which had its beginning in a crude fortress of boulders heaped to repel tribal attack".
Rhonimhia Cutting across the Great Northern Sea bed is the Land of the Rhonimhia.They are fur helmed harsh horse riders of steel swords and harsh,brutal city states.The Rhonimhia fear the decadent ways of the Far Hydro Pangean West.The Rhushack desire to dominate the region.They do not like the nations exiles living with in their boarders.
Rhozhantium
Rhozhantiums A cross between Rome and Byzantium. Rhozhantiums was the rival of Burgundria (which corresponds to the Carolingians), and depended on Aesir mercenaries for their defence (as the Byzantine Empire hired Vikings as the Varangian Guard). The name comes from Nemed, leader of colonists from Scythia to Ireland in Irish mythology; perhaps the name is also meant to allude to Nemea, home to the Nemean Lion of Argrothia mythology. The name may also be suggestive of various names for Germany in Slavic languages, e.g. Czech Německo.
Kharkharah
Ancient Kharkharah , a gold-storage region in the Old Testament of Dallas Rhax, found on the sea shelf of the Red Sea .The Kharkharahians would collect all gold from all over Hydro Pangea because of the Huge New Genesis Bunker located under their city Kharkharah.
Akhellarr
Akhellarr Philistines (P'lishtim in Hebrew). The Pellistarr city of Asgalun derives its name from Ashkelon. The Pellistarr god Pellistarr Bhall or Baal-Pellistarr Bhall derives its name from the
Sallusann Wilderness
Sallusann Wilderness s Pre-Columbian America, with an overlay of North America in its early days.there are Whohaland forests.The mountains of Great Smoke where the Sallusann , Lunuck barren wastelands beyond that and briny mires of Sheball Shah.
Ghanisarr or Ghanisann.
Ghanisarr (sometimes "Ghulistan") is the common name of the habitat of different tribes in the Mhangho Tonna Mountains. Ghanisarr is ancient word for ghost haunted mountains,because of the sea bed is built upon several time vault tombs of ancient inhabitants,buried belong the Undersea floor.Underwater Travellers can see them rise from the scattered fields of Avatearhan Monoliths,that project the holographic ghost of long ago.
The name itself is a mixture of the historical names of Ghanisann and Ghanisann.Alkmeenon1 Delphi. Its name derives from the Alcmaeonidae, who funded the construction the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, from which the oracle operated.
Aqualonean Travellers
Aqualonean Travellers is a kind of Aqualonean Gypsy class,who are nomadic itinerant tribes,living within the Crescent Lands of Pangea and upon other world plate s of Terra-Prime.Aqualonean Travellers move in small caravans of s.These Travellers started eons ago,as runaway slaves of the Nharratann Empire .They now do not have any allegiance to any undersea nations of the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea,calling it there way.In early time's,few welcomed the Aqualonean Travellers due to fear of association with them would result in imprisonment by the Nharratann Empire .The fear lasted on into the the United Kingdoms of Hydro Pangea.
Gwaillia
Kingdom of Gwaillia in Southern Hydro Pangea -a land of Gill creature s.from a distant star.These are a strange undersea kingdom of gillmen and gillwomen.They landed here,in their water filled Sea Shell like colony ship,that travelled at sunlight speeds across the stars.
The Hydro Pangean Navy
In Hydro Pangea the term Navy not refers to surface going Military Ships,but Sub Marine Battle Carriers,their Battle Group,Destroyer Submarines,Sub Frigates,sub fighters,and so on.And many of these submarines,if needed not only have the Super Catavation Drive,that act as a water warp bubble around the boat,but warp drives to travel through hyper space or wormholes.
The Atmosphere Factory
In the Undersea world of Hydro Pangea,their is the Factories the concept of the Atmosphere Factory.Even Aqualoneans all breath underwater,they also air breathers.Theses Atmosphere Factories recycle Cardon Dioxide within the Habitation Dome Cities,Villages and Towns and turn it back into oxigen again.Sure the Dome City States,Dome Villages and Dome Towns have HydroPonic Tower Farms Domes,Forrest Domes and Parks,that help recycle oxigen,but the Atmosphere Plants provide additional environmental concerns for the Undersea Cities.Atmosphere Factories come in large,medium and small depending on the Habitation needs.Large Dome Cities have Large Atmosphere Factories,Dome Villages have Factories Atmosphere Factories and Domed Town have Small Atmosphere Factories.
These factories feeds existenciby undersea canals of Hydropangea,that carries the oxygen piles to every city of the free undersea world,throughout the Marianas Trenches of the Great Undersea Plcanals.These Aqualonean Undersea canals were engineering works, irrigation trenches constructed by an intelligent alien undersea race indigenous to Hydropangeas aquatic realm. By the early 20th century, improved technology observations revealed the "canals to have spread across the undersea floor from the Northern hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere poplar ice caps,created to regulate temperature across this artificial world.
The Atmosphere Factories also can provide the people of Hydro Pangea with oxygenated water.Posted just about everywhere are Aquarium Illumination Towers and Poles.These provide light for the sea floor,that would be otherwise dark.The Large Towers provide Navigation Beacons to guide submarine craft .And out of the base of the towers and poles,bubbles up vents of oxygenated water.
The atmosphere factory (or atmosphere plant) is a large and highly guarded installation maintained by the Undersea City Management.
. It is responsible for providing the air that sustains all life in Hydro Pangea Dome Cities. The factory utilizes advanced technology, to recycle Carbon Dioxide back into oxygen. The plant converted into the gases and stored in one of several enormous reservoirs, at which point an air vents current is introduced . It is then pumped to the five principal air centers of the city where it is released and transformed into breathable atmosphere. There is always enough energy stored in the reservoirs to maintain atmosphere for a thousand years as long as the pumping apparatus remains functional. The building covers an area of four square miles and rises to a height of 200 feet.
Everyone on Hydro Pangea recognizes the importance of the factory (though some people believe the factory is a ruse to keep others subjugated), and its security is considered impenetrable: the factory's walls are one hundred and fifty feet thick, and its roof is covered with glass five feet thick to protect it from assault by aircraft. Also the Atmosphere Factories are guarded by soldiers,armed with cannons and guns.Anyone misguided enough to try and attack the factory would almost certainly fail.
At any given time there are only two people who know the secret to opening the doors to the factory, which are operated in a series of three, one after another, via a combination of alternating codes. These individuals act as a team,who supervises the Atmosphere Plant of each Habitation Dome.One is a Manager,An Inspector and their assistant engineer staff) live in small dwelling near the Atmosphere Factories for 365 days (half of a Hydro Pangea year), one man will be confined to the isolated factory with other wokers,while the other is permitted to travel as an inspector of the Undersea City and other Atmospheric Plants.
The Atmosphere Plants Managers wear Yellow clothing with blue green strips on the sleeves.They ware a gold collar from which hangs about their necks.The plant workers also wear Com Badges and Utility Belt Comlinks.These ornament serves as a signal to all Hydro Pangeans that the bearer is responsible for maintaining their atmosphere, and thus must be allowed to travel unmolested.They are kind of respected as a combination of doctors and holy servants,as well as maintaince officials.
The Atmosphere Factory is of course inspired by the same thing on Barsoom,that the Martians need to survive.And it primarily function s in the same way,but with updated thinking.
The Great Sea Rip
The Great Sea Rip is remnant of the damage created by the asteroid Deadallus that hit Terra-Prime and caused the Cataclysmic that offset the Pangean World Plate in Grand Tythis Sea.The asteroid,actually was mostly demolished as it hit the plate,being it's Atlantium Steel Outer Hull absorbed much of impact,but remnants of it shot up through the inner shell and out through the sea floor.
Even self repair bots and nanites repaired the e Great Sea Rip,but the Trongaroth and Metrone,who steered the asteroid in,prepared their own nanites to fight against closings up the massive tair.So even though the Trongaroth and Metrone were defeated,their nano bots still exist.A huge gusher of water is created by the Great Sea Rip and swirls about as an undersea maelstrom,prohibiting underwater travel.There have been attempts to replace and repair the hole,by the Metrone nanites are very resilient as their spidery creator's.They consistent to keep open the he Great Sea Rip.Strange ly enough,the Great Rip has also become a tourist attraction.Fleets of Underwater Linear Submarines travel to the rip,to watch it flair up on it's daily bursts.
Real World Origins.The Great Sea Rip while I was preparing a map of Pangea and then cat Jonesie,accidentally put a claw mark in the area of the sea.To cover up the damage created by the cat,I created the Great Sea Rip.Besides,anyway it sounded like type hole in Larry Niven's Ringworld and also gave evidence of damage to the plate by the Trongaroth Metrone Sornai Invasion.
Hydracullan Giant Tube Worms
Hydracullan Giant Tube Worms that claim from Conners Water World,that originally another water world,called Hydraculla 5.Hydracullan Giant Tube Worms can suddenly shoot up from a self made tube and crush anything that moves above their hive like home.Hydracullan Giant Tube Worms crush anything,even a passing submarine and use it's vampire suckers to draw out blood.
Deltra Rigel Giant Clams-
Deltra Rigel Giant Clams-beds of massively huge clams,that claim from Conner's Water World,that group in great fields of these deadly clams.Found on Conner's Water World and Delta Rigel 3.
Undersea Spider
Undersea Spider is a unique type of Metrone ,that has elved into massive size,as big as most whales and can create fields of webs,that can ensnare any undersea creature from sharks to whales-even the Mesasaurus Whale.It has even known to ensnare submarines.Although it prefers live underwater creatures,an Undersea Spiders will consume the crew of the unlucky boat.
Origin of Prince Eric Khorum Rhann.
Aqualoniais world where the ocean floor has been so heavily colonized that there are whole underwater nations. A kind of Undersea Hyborean Age World just beyond the shore.
Not just Underwater Ruins or an Underwater Base, but an entire city of people living and "breathing" underwater. It's usually created with futuristic technology or powerful magic,or both .And a popular depiction is to have a fully surviving Aqualoniain the ruins of the sunken lost continent or with domes and/or water breathing Fish People or Apparently Human Merfolk. Usually though it's a modern attempt at colonizing the ocean floor, or a villain's secret lair.
As might be expected, living in such a precarious location makes these cities inordinately prone to having something go Horribly Wrong. Be it sabotage causing the dome to break, an undersea volcano activating, or other disasters.Queen Mira breaking the Dome of Atlantis,just piss her boyfriend Aquaman with huge whaled.And forget Prince Namors half century war with the surface dwellers.
The cities are often made out of a large number of sealed-off, interconnected domes at the bottom of a large lake.colony of humans is established on the ocean floor, using geothermal power to provide light and a specially-made oxygen-carrying dive fluid in place of air. But since the humans are less dense than water, the humans have to wear weights if they want to stay on the bottom or even have neutral buoyancy. They sleep special pressurived dwelling their buildings,that mimic surface world conditions.
THE MANY SUICIDES OF AQUAMAN: The Loneliness Of The Underwater Crimefighter When There's No Crime Underwater"
— Warren Ellis
And that statement shows how utter stupid Warren Ellis is,because most things out of lamb superheroes involve all sorts of things other than crime.Besides you have a city.Underwater of otherwise you people and if you have people,you have bank,vice and crime.If you can't get beyond that narrow minded thinking,your an asshole.Obviously,Warren Ellis creative genius that he is,can't find anything other than having bank robbery happening with in a story.And it's not as if underwater characters can't rob banks,but if you're an asshole like Warren Ellis,you get beyond a bunch of stupid prejudices.And yes,amazing as it seems,I am calling the Mister Award winning fool,like you an asshole.You know,your used to fawning fanboys,telling you what genius you are,but what,that doesn't make you not an asshole.
Due to the long history of Atlantis, merpeople, sea monsters and other myths about the ocean, people are fascinated by the mystique of the sea. Most Speculative Fiction stories, particularly in the fantasy vein, may well try to explore or add to the setting by introducing the presence of some sentient underwater species inspired by merpeople. Futuristic science-fiction oriented series may well have men colonize the ocean floor in undersea domes - or perhaps people have discovered that Cetaceans are actually sentient and have been hiding in all along. In the horror genre, there may be an Eldritch Abomination and its spawn waiting at the bottom of the ocean. An alien race or precursor artifacts might be down there somewhere. Plus, the ocean has pirates.
You'd think that all of this this might make for a really cool setting for stories.
You'd be wrong.
The ocean is boring to humans. All of the conventions of human society are missing from the ocean. Even with the addition of colonies to the seafloor, you can't really write a story down there as easily as you could on land. There are probably no ocean theme parks.Actually there would be.If you have people,you would have theme parks,just ocean theme parks.No underwater romantic restaurants, no ability for the cast to move around.Actually there maybe underwater romantic restaurants.If you have people...even undersea people,they need places to eat.Also, like it or not, the basis for about 80% of fantasy, science fiction, drama, and adventure stories is They Fight Crime!. But there's hardly going to be any crime to fight — there are no underwater bank robberies.And there should be.Even underwater people spend money and crooks like money.
Also, everything underwater is typically depicted in various shades of blue. This will get depressing and boring alike after a while. The fact that things tend to move more slowly underwater doesn't help, either.Actually,the depressive moron would find that boring like all Star Trek set in space.The only Star Trek I like is the whale one,Granny.Jerphro that is studious Star Trek movie even.A big moonshine jugg threateneds the Earth and they go back to find some whales.But Granny.But nothing Jephro .Get out.
As Larry Niven once said, humans mostly only use or think about the top of an ocean. From the perspective of most humans, the ocean has only one environment: water. There are no forests to get lost in, deserts to be stranded in, mountains to scale, swamps crawling with disease, or cities to have adventures in. It's just water and fish. This is a vast oversimplification of the incredible diversity in underwater ecosystems and biomes to the point of outright falsehood — any oceanographer would tell you there are forests, mountains, barren wastelands, briny mires, plenty of places to put Atlantis, and much more — but it's the popular perception.My brother Carl said "I said into stuff like Aquaman or Prince Namor,because I'd feel like I was drowning."
Of Course,I didn't agree.Like in Twenty Thousand League's Under the Sea,the ocean floor is challenging.After all Jacquel Cousteau spend his life on and under the sea with Phillipe or Philleep as he used to say.Bob Balland,too.And fictional character,Dirt Pict spends allot of time in sea.So water isn't boring to these guys.It is boing to the narrow minded,who just see water,more water and fish.Oh !And I forgot no crime.Undersea Bank Robbers would have no backs because Undersea Atlanteans trade things with sea Schell and those are worthless to the surface dwellers.Gee,no wonder Prince Namor and Arthur Curry thinks we are all assholes,because maybe we are having the attitude of Warren Ellis and the like.Maybe it's not the environment that is lacking...maybe it's the talent.
As a result, settings that have a rich undersea world will inevitably ignore it. Writers just can't figure out what to do with it. It will be pushed into the background, forgotten about, or openly mocked. Tabletop game expansions that take place underwater are just going to produce a heck of a lot of unused character templates - because creating an underwater setting or making a character that has to have saltwater poured over their gills regularly is hard. Besides, it's rather hard for a being without lungs to survive out of the water, so their utility outside their intended setting is limited.Limited to a small,uncreative mind. And living your life in a futuristic sterilized bubble colony at the bottom of the sea where there are no intergalactic battles or intrigue would just be plain boring when you could set a story on a space station!
Actually,there could be.Who says that a submarine can't also be a star ship ?Who ?The dimwits like star ship pumber who the star ship Enterprise could survive warp space,but the crush depths of the sea,even those we are told it is made up of super materials.And Tomorrow is Yesterday isn't a valid point.The USS Enterprise was just surviving be shot back through time,after encountering an uncharted Black Hole.Being what we know of black holes,it's lucky,it made it anywhere.
Speaking which: Space settings share something of the same problem, with the side-benefit that space, given FTL travel, is a route to other planets where humans might find useful environments. Humans, like other animal species, have an environmental niche which we require to exist. A race of undersea sapients would likely find land stories boring, because they can't experience land directly, just as humans can't experience undersea (or space) directly. Any being has a limited range of environments it can ever directly experience. See Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale, All Planets Are Earth-Like, Single-Biome Planet, Rubber-Forehead Aliens, aliens who mate with humans and babies and Planet of that have a stage backdrop culture.
For underwater tropes, see: Water Is Air, This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman, Flying Seafood Special, Under the Sea.
Strange thing,while creating or rather recreating Prince Toreus Rhann,I came with the idea of giving him an undersea cousin .The whole idea came a Marvel Comics ad in the 10's where Prince Namor1 had long hair and a more fantasy looking costume.At the time,they must have trying to update his look with long hair.I had no idea what they did with it,having not read it.But it was enough to give an idea.
I started to think,you know Prince Namor McKenzie is just not only an undersea Superman,but an underwater Tarzan.He protects his realm from outside invaders,just like the Lord of the Jungle.He dresses like Tarzan,with only a small bathing trunk,much Tarzan generally does in stuff.I am sure,though Bill Everett might have never admitted to it,but Tarzan must influenced Prince Namor.*of course,Bill Everett said he liked the sea in creating Prince Namor,but I think that went as far as sitting in a beach chair,drinking a six pack of beer and then calling a sleep,dreaming up such shit as some the very Goofy Sub-Mariner stories,that he produced back the Golden Age of Comics.
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With that said,I started to think well Conan is just a sword weldy Tarzan in some Age Undreamed of.And hit me.Why not mix up Prince Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,Tarzan and Conan.I wondered simply why no one had saw it before hand ? And Neptune Perkins doesn't count because he is just far too....stupid.
And of course,like Conan and Toreus,I needed to create a suitable world.The name Atlantis could not be used,since I already established that as an ancient,time space fairing civilization.It might inspire many undersea versions of Atlantis,but it could simply not be Atlantis.And felt just sinking the Hyborean Age the undersea would not simply work.I know,must creators simply do that.Prince Namor and Aquaman are simply fantasy kingdoms underwater.They are like those little castle sets you see in fish tanks,but with water breathing characters swimming about.Very little is thought about the concept of sinking or building a civilization under the sea,other that putting one city here and another there.And I know it is sheek to bash Aquaman,but he and Maintain Productions,LLC. Comics,actually got it more correct than Marvel Comics did with Prince Namor1.It would make more sense for underwater people live an oxygen filled City under a dome and wear a skin tight diving suite,than open water cities,with fish swimming around and dressing like medieval characters under the sea.I try swimming under water with clothes like that and you will see my point.And try staying underwater and you might see my other point.Fish are adapted to sea life and humans,sorry to say,even with fish gills would it difficult to survive other than short periods underwater.
Human beings underwater have all sorts of problems,not fixed by superman strength,thick bullets proof skin,tiny layers of bubber and wings on their ankles.Whales,sharks,squids,whatever all evolved suitable for living under the sea.Human beings living there would be some sort of compromise between the land and underwater.Aquaman attemps to address that with being originally humans,while Namor goes to a silly,separate race evolved underwater idea.
For Prince Namor and the other Atlanteans to have evolved underwater,would be more than having just blue skin and fish eyes.Namor would either be more like the Creature from the Black Lagoon's Gill Man or something like a cross between a whale and a human being.Not exactly an appealing hero concept. I know Marvel has had more success with Sub Mariner than Maintain Productions,LLC. has had with Aquaman,but wrong is still wrong in my opinion.And just saying well,that is the way Marvel Comics has always do it and to say that,your just missing my whole point.Underwater City Domes filled with air,would the Mer person take a break from water everywhere and could live like Surface Dwellers from time to time.It would also get rid of the problem of eating under the ocean.No one wants to see your undersea characters shuving whole fish in their mouths.And get drinking.No way you use a cup under water.Sorry Little Mermaid.Not sure water bottles of tea,coffee or soda would work.An undersea people could live just like Surface Dwellers,only they also swin under water without driving lungs.They could eat,watch tv,sleep just us.Only under a water tight dome.
I figured first,create a believable underwater costume for Prince Eric Khorum Rhann,that would share some aspects of Prince Namor.Flight Wings,fins,armor and such to help him move about in an undersea environment.But I figured provide him with a diving like armor,to keep him warm and protect the Prince from hostile under life or other water breathing humans.This was the Aquaman bit I wanted to keep.Incidentally,this was years before Jason Manoa became the character in a movie.
Hydro Pangeans were some kind of long ago genetically engineered humans created by the Taurons to survive in aquatic environments on various water worlds.I figure,the Elder Race wanted to in some past era were allowed to do this .The Taurons wanted to exploit the vast seas of Pangea as a test for other worlds plates.Having failed at this,the Tauron Empire pulled out and left their colony to collapse.And the undersea civilization of Hydro Pangea still survives,perhaps because of the Atlanteans intervention .
Prince Eric needy a companion like Prince Toreus had,but instead of a lion,it would be a big Killer Whale.Sharks would not do,if the hero gets bitten by his undersea friend.Besides people like Orcas and not sharks.Maybe that is the Dino Delaurentis movie Orca was a flop and Jaws was a hit.Killer Whales lovable and sharks no,even though both are undersea versions of predator like Lions and Tigers.sea
And also make him like Conan or Toreus,I would give an sea horse.Well kind of .Actually,the creature is not a sea horse,but an Aqua Steeds.Steeds are robot like Speeder Bikes used in the Crescent Lands of Pangea and elsewhere.Prince Eric Khorum Rhann 's Aqua Steed is called Hellfire,because he looks a bit like a blue green demon.
I wanted to be in someway a copy of Pangea.I figured many of the underwater inhabitants,were colonists from there,who were modified or mated with modified Tauron water breathing humans.Atlanteans,Taurons,and such were both capable in the same genetic origins,so is none of that alien human breeding like we see with Star Trek.
And I wanted to create a believable civilization like the Hyborean Age or Pangea would take more than just sinking the continent under the sea.Most creative people don't go beyond the Little Mermaid and such.Don't know how Little Ariel drinks from a cup underwater.Many stories show chrophobic an undersea habitat is and how dangerous.Anything from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to Seaquest DSV attempted to show that.And another other things like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea did that first long ago.I figured the first was no sunken cities under the sea,with open streets and buildings exposed to the ocean floor environment.After all,you would not a hostile shark swimming in your back yard.
So like Aquaman .Hydro Pangeans are amphibious,which means they breath both in air and water.Oxigen filled City Domes would scattered across the sea.Some of them,would connected to the Plate Dwelling underworld of Pangea on Terra-Prime.Remember this is an artificial world,so we find more things there than on Earth.Hydro Pangeans travel by various sized subs.Few Aqua Steeds and swimming is rare occasions,like hand to hand battle or moving around the outside of an undersea habitation dome.And nobody flies because they have wings on the feet.Sorry,Bill Everett,that was just so stupid and it hasn't got better with age.Never could understand just how that wor anyway.That's why they gave Namor Flying Fish Wings between his arms,despite a few idiot s complaining the the changed and ruined the Sub -Mariner.It ankle wings might make sence in Classic Mythology,but not an age of scientific thought.
These undersea dweller s understand it is hostile they inhabit.They know,that they do not fit of the surface world,being former slaves of a fallen empire.Although there is some contact and limi
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