Hyperborea

• Population: 910,000
• Capital: Haloga (pop. 115,000)
• Ruler: Vammatar the Witch-Queen (? - ?)
• Major cities: Sigtona (pop. 90,000), Pohiola (pop. 65,000)
• Resources: Game (cave bears, reindeer, musk-ox, mastodon)
• Imports: Extensive raiding for slaves into neighbouring territories 
• Historical Equivalent: Finland ? 
• Religion: Louhi, Bori

A northeastern Hyborian kingdom situated east of Asgard, west of Turan, and north of Brythunia and the Border Kingdom, the western boundary of Hyperborea with Asgard was the River of Death Ice, having its source in the Eiglophians. This stream is however shallow, clogged by glacial débris, and since it is also frozen throughout the long winters, it provides an ineffectual barrier against invading Aesir.

The eastern Hyperborean frontier is also quite open, delineated vaguely by low hills, a few lakes, and a small river flowing north from the Graaskal Range or Frozen River. The principle break in the southern rampart is Skull Gate Pass.

The climate of Hyperborea is presumed to have been milder during its florescence, allowing some simple agriculture as well as herding and hunting. The early chieftains built stone keeps. The lower classes lived in huts or cave-like hovels, scratching out gardens near the protective castles and herding first ponies and reindeer, and later shaggy cattle.

As the lordlings consolidated their positions and Hyperborea became the first settled Hybori kingdom (circa -2500), rebellious tribes migrated southward in an invading horde, into the ancient lands of lost Acheron, where they contributed greatly to the founding of other political entities.  Hyperborea, known as the Elder, remained a beacon of civilisation for over seven centuries, reflecting back into the northern wastes the great events taking place to the south.  Around -1750, however, Hyperborea the Elder was overwhelmed by a wave of Aesir - a disaster that some Nemedian historians link to the climate taking a turn for the worse and the economy being consequently weakened by crop failure and loss of domestic animals.

In any case, the Aesir invasion paved the road to power for a clique of wizards of mysterious and apparently alien origin.  Little is known of their history, except that they came out of the icy north into which even the Vanir do not venture.  They first counselled, then slaughtered, the Vanir nobles, and changed the face of Hyperborea forever.

These wizards, known as Witchmen, formed a guild known as the White Hand, membership of which requires mortifications of body, mind and will.  Although rivalries between them, and a strong monarch, long kept them in check, the balance of power has slowly changed.  Hyperborea has fallen under the sway of a dynasty of Witch-Queens, who an increasing number of Witchmen see as manifestations of their Death Goddess.

Although it would be wrong to imagine the White Hand as some sort of secret organisation, the Witchmen who embody it do therefore have increasing unity of purpose.  There are, on occasions, outbreaks of civil war or pitiless purges whose unleashed magic makes the sky crackle, but there are also an increasing number of embassies sent to contact similar organised occult forces in Stygia, Nemedia and even distant Kambuja, on the Khitai frontier.

From their bleak fortresses, the Witchmen keep the Hyperborean population in check, be it by the sword wielded by their warrior caste, or by the platinum-tipped staves that their magicians carry, able to deal searing pain without leaving a mark.  They are typically very tall and gaunt, with pale skin that verges on albino, and striking green or blue eyes.  These are generally hidden behind grim, faceless masks.

The only trait that the common people of Hyperborea - who combine the physical features with the Vanir and the Brythunians - share with their overlords is their cruelty.  They are, with few exceptions, malicious and aggressive, having learned early that only the cruelest live in such a bitter land.  They are well-known as slavers : those they purchase or abduct are condemned to a life of hardship in Hyperborea.  Surviving too long this hardship only serves to arouse the curiosity of the Witchmen, who like to practise their dark arts on sturdy victims.