[CONAN] Hyperboreans from Age of Conan and Dark Horse

[Supplement Four]

I'm reading the Dark Horse collections, and I see that Dark Horse copied some of the Hyperborean stuff from Age of Conan. At least, that's what I think they did. Maybe it's the other way around?

Is there another source for the gurnakhi?

And, I've read Howard stories where Hyperboreans were mentioned. They are described as thin and tall. But, don't they just look like people? They're not so pale that they look blue, right? Their noses don't look like small pig snouts, right?

I like a lot of what Dark Horse has done, filling in the holes and creating atmosphere for the universe of our favorite barbarian. But, aren't these Dark Horse Hyperboreans just a little too powerful? They live forever. They control the weather. They suck men's souls from their bodies to fuel their sorceries. Even the wizards of the Black Ring seek to learn from them.

Really?

Then, why haven't they taken over the world?

It all just seems a little too much for me. It steps just on the other side of my suspension of disbelief. The strength of the Hyperboreans almost seems godlike, to me.

I've always thought of Hyperborea as a collection of city-states that most likely conflict amongst themselves. Each city or region has a different (enough) culture from the other to keep unification from happening. Some of the Hyperboreans still worship Bori, and some and embraced other religions. Some city-states are allied, and some stand alone. Some of the people have embraced sorcery (but not to an extent where they are controlling the weather and keeping the land 75 degrees every day!), and some are examples of more traditional Hyborian Age peoples.

I don't know why, but the Hyperboreans that I've read so far in the Dark Horse graphic novel THE FROST GIANT'S DAUGHTER And other stories strike me more as a race from Star Wars rather than Conan.

How about you? Your thoughts?

 

[Spectator]

I never read the AOC or Dark Horse versions, but have read of them and they make the whole race seem to be more powerful than the Seers of Yimsha (plus they all look as weird, too).

I think that's completely wrong.

In the Howard, DeCamp, and the other pastiche writers, the Hypes were still normal guys and girls, some with a little more magical aptitude than the rest of the Hyborian cultures, but still a Nordic/ Finnish touch and not the otherworldy appearance, powers, and culture portrayed by AOC or Dark Horse.

In the Conan RPG, the only thing I would change would be to add the preferred class of Scholar. but that still makes them pretty human.