Acheron (Hyboria)

Foundation and early years (15,500 BC)[]

Circa 15,500 BC,^[5][15] thousand years after the Great Cataclysm. The ancient kingdom of Acheron was founded by a northern offshoot of the Lemurian survivors,^[13] Stygians from Khemi, who established an outpost at the embouchure of the Tybor and expanded up-river, while enslaving or destroying the small unclassified tribes they encountered.^[5] By that period, they worshiped Set.^[15]

The capital, Python, was likely set in Nemedia,^[16] possibly on the plain north of Hanumar, though it could as well be located in Aquilonia. The claim of Acheron being set within the Shem-Stygia region on an ancient map was considered an error from the map-maker.^[17]

Acheron soon broke off Stygian control, though it remained Stygian in culture.^[5]

Expansion and encounter with the Hybori (15,000 BC)[]

Advancing still their frontier, they first encountered the wandering Hyborians circa 15,000 BC.^[5]

At some point, Acheron was an ally of Ophir, then an independent kingdom. Though, Acheronian soldiers present in Ororium, the City of Gold of Ophir, abused citizens and mocked their gods, including a "man of the gods"^[18] and wizard, leading him to curse the future of thier capital.^[19]

Acheron extended its dominion over western Koth, Ophir, and Corinthia, the three nations that were at some point under Stygia's dominion, but apparently fell to Acheron at a later date. Seemingly, the empire overexpanded itself by annexing Stygian satellites.^[13]

An advanced nation, Acheron raided its more barbarous neighbors, such as the Zingg Valley,^[5] the Shemites, then the Hybori tribes that drifted south, using them both a slaves and human sacrifices.^[14]

As war approached between Acheron, Stygia, and Zamora (the pre-Cataclysmic Zhemri, re-invigorated by infusions of some unclassified race), the Hyborians, unable to penetrate Acheron's and Zamora's borders, were led to Stygia with Acheron's connivance and Zamora's secret help, resulting in the loss of the Stygian forts in northern Shem. The Hyborians subsequently settled in tribal clusters between Acheron and Zamora.

Expansion then halted with Acheron's borders stabilized. Acheron then led slave raids across the Shirki and into Shem, fought border skirmishes with the Stygians, and bitter war with the Cimmerians^[5] (both Stygian and Cimmerians persisting into 13,000 BC but before the days of the Fall of Acheron).

Undisclosed time events[]

While most events tied to Acheron occurred circa 13,000 BC, in the final years or days of Acheron, others lack indications, and could be set at any point between the foundation of Acheron by Stygian adventurers, and its fall.

Kara-Shehr[]

The dates of the rise and fall of Kara-Shehr remains unrevealed so far.
Though stated to have been already old when Set emerged from the sands of Stygia, Kara-Shehr, the City of the Dead, was an outpost of Acheron in the Iranistani Desert. The people of Kara-Shehr didn't seemed to worship Set, but instead erected statues of man-headed bat-winged bulls. The legends stated that the city wasn't governed by the gods, but by even more powerful demons.

Kara-Shehr somehow became a lost city, inhabited and in ruins,^[20] though the circumstances of this fall is unknown (and could be tied or not to the Fall of Acheron).

King Bel-Hissar's rule[]

The span of Bel-Hissar's life and reign over Acheron remains unrevealed so far. During the reign of King Bel-Hissar over then-mighty Acheron, a diver for pearls named Naka recovered a great ruby from the clutches of a giant mummified? king in an undersea city, and passed it to Bel-Hissar, just before dying. Despite his lords' pleas, Bel-Hissar refused to throw away the gem, considering the jewel belonged to the sea-gods. He was slain soon afterwards in his very palace by an unnamed thief who stole the gem. The ruby became then known as the Blood of Bel-Hissar.^[21]

Westwards exploration[]

At some point, an Acheron explorer found a land across the Western Ocean. He fell in love with a native, Princess Matoaka, but when she revealed the immense gold treasure of her people, he left and returned with a fleet of Acheronian vessels. They burned and slayed, but were eventually all killed, while Matoaka was banished by her people in punishment for having unwittingly led the invaders to this land.^[22]

Yezmite influence[]

At some point, the Yezmite cult was powerful in Acheron, and had Python under its thrall.^[23]

Arznarbonodus[]

The magician Arznarbonodus claimed to have used his teleportation spell in Acheron, and to have gotten stuck in a temple wall for a century, until someone knocked it down and set him free.^[4] He could have been set free during the Age of Acheron, during the Fall of Acheron circa 13,000 BC, or in the decades following. Though, he claims it was the last time he used the spell.^[4] He later stated he hadn't used it in "a century or two".^[24]

13,000 BC[]

Circa 13,000 BC, Acheron fought the Cimmerians of the north, but the Kings of Acheron were never able to conquer them.^[3][14] Some Cimmerian youths were brought back to Python, where they made up the King's Elite Guard.^[14]

At some point circa 13,000 BC, according to legends, Acheron's fiercest warrior Thun'da of the Snow-Mane, wielder of the Scarlet Sword, led a massive army toward the mighty city of Potosi, in the land that would become Koth. He was defeated by the Great Guardian, a construct made from dust by a wizard of Potosi who bore no love for Acheron. Thun'da fled, and the Guardian returned to his state of being unmoving statue, but legends said he would return when blood would drench it in a time of peril.^[25]

Later, the Stygians marched on Acheron. In Koth, Thun'da battled a horde of Stygians, but was eventually defeated and slain, and his family massacred.^[26]

Queen Xaltana's rule[]

Queen Xaltana attempted to supplant the worship of Set with one centered around a Demon God, but her subjects conspired against her.^[1] The wizard Kheperu convinced many lesser mages that Queen Xaltana was possessed, leading to her being entombed alive^[14] in the mines later known as the Lost Treasure Mines of Acheron (later set in northern Nemedia) out of fear of the Demon God, which possessed Xaltana. The priests of Set, who had buried her, were themselves executed to keep the site secret.^[1]

King Bafomai's rule[]

Queen Xaltana's removal made way for Bafomai's ascension. Bafomai and Kheperu also wished to slay Xaltana's brother and high priest of Set, Xaltotun, but Xaltotun was himself leading a powerful faction.^[14] Xaltotun was also in possession of the Heart of Ahriman,^[3] the Heart of Tammuz, and the Hand of Nergal, among other magical artifacts.^[27]

Thugra Khotan, the other arch-mage of Acheron, preferred to retreat towards the Stygian city of Kuthchemes to avoid being forced to choose sides in the matter, as Stygia's king remained strictly neutral to Acheron and its enemies alike.^[14]

To prevent civil war within Python, entertainment were set in the arena where many captives and slaves were sacrificed every day.^[14]

By having absorbed the nations of Koth, Ophir, and Corinthia, Acheron made its northern border vulnerable to the Hyborian invasions to come.^[13]

The Fall of Acheron[]

Around that time, the empire was destroyed by the hands of barbarians:^[10] the Hyborians who had suffered under Acheron uprose.

The Heart of Ahriman was stolen by the barbarians, and used against Xaltotun by a feathered shaman. Xaltotun fled the fall of Acheron.^[3]

Due to an encounter with the mirrors of Tuzun Thune, Conan and Red Sonja briefly found themselves taking part in this fabled rebellion.^[28]

During the Sack of Python, Khossus V, monarch of Koth, took the Blood of Bel-Hissar from a dying wizard.^[21] The city was completely destroyed,^[3] razed to the grounds.^[17]

In the aftermaths, Ophir, Corinthia and Koth regained their independence, while new kingdoms such as Argos, Aquilonia and Nemedia rose on the ashes of Acheron.^[3]

Legacy[]

Acheron left an indelible legacy on the world, and was remembered as a fabled^[29] nation of evil cities,^[9][11] or even "most evil of empires". Conan learned from it from the sorcerer Zukala.^[10][20]

The people of Acheron were virtually wiped out by the Hyborians, save for a few:

• Some folk in the hills of Nemedia boasted to be descendants of Acheron.^[3][16] Those "Sons of Acheron" claimed to be the last pure-blooded descendants of Acheron and rejected the dominion of the royal house of Nemedia over them. There, in northern Nemedia, they searched for years to unleash the power of the Demon God of Acheron and resurrect Python.^[1]
• Refugees of Acheron established city-states in Brythunia, as did refugees of Hyperborea the Elder.^[30]

Nemedia (where was likely set Acheron's capital) possibly^[16] inherited its long tradition of scholarship and intellectual inquisitiveness from Acheron.^[31]

Acheronian, as well as Shemitish, influenced the Kothic language.^[32]

During the Age of Conan, sorcerers studied and treasured ancient scrolls from Acheron, such as Kharram-Akkad^[11] and Eithriall.^[33]

Jewels of Acheron became fabled as well, and tied to histories of death around them:

• The Blood of Bel-Hissar, the jewel of jewels, was heard of even in far-off Hyborian Lands. For it, women gave up their virtues for it, and men their lives. It was taken by Skol Abdhur from a Himelian chieftain that he slew. Abdhur used it to ensure loyalty from the people of Bab-El-Shaithan using the jewel's mesmerizing capabilities. Conan's companion Turghol stole it, causing Bab-El-Shaitan to descend into chaos. Conan thought of taking it, but renounced and let Turghol keep it instead.^[21]
• The Azure Eye of Kara-Shehr was said in legends to be worth its weight in stars, and laid in the lost city of Kara-Shehr, in the desert between Turan and Khitai, where it led to the death those who tried to acquire it.^[20]
• The Heart of Ahriman ended up int the Temple of Mitra in the capital of Aquilonia.^[3]

In Nemedia, all Acheronian artifacts, including gold coins, were property of the crown. Looking for riches to finance a campaign against Aquilonia, Prince Tarascus of Nemedia (accompanied by Conan of Cimmeria) travelled to the Lost Treasure Mines of Acheron, and was opposed by the Sons of Acheron. They were seemingly destroyed by the spawn of the Demon God of Acheron.^[1]

The evil reputation of Acheron even reached the occultists of the 20th century, such as John Grimlan who mentioned the "noxious winds which blow from Acheron" (as a thing of the present).^[34]

Alternate Realities[]

Earth-19558[]

On Earth-19558, Acheron was a land of sorcerers, long gone by the Age of Conan. It was believed by some that necromancy had died out along with the sorcerers of Acheron.^[35]

Facts[]

Religion[]

The people of Acheron had adopted the worship of Set by circa 15,500 BC.^[15] They also worshiped Ba'al.^[36]

At the time of King Bel-Hissar, his lords acknowledged and feared the Sea-Gods.^[37]

Circa 13,000 BC, Xaltana attempted to supplant Set's worship with one centered around a Demon God, but she was deposed for it and entombed alive.^[1]

The people of Kara-Shehr didn't seemed to worship Set, but instead erected statues of man-headed bat-winged bulls. The legends stated that the city wasn't governed by the gods, but by even more powerful demons.^[20]

The Cimmerians of King Bafomai's Elite Guard, in Python, invoked Crom's and Badb's names,^[14] Cimmerian Gods from the Tuatha de Danaan.

Politics and Rulership[]

Acheron was a theocracy governed by sorcerers,^[13][31] though the Empire was led by kings^[3][21][14] and queens.^[14]

Language[]

The Acheronians spoke the Stygian-Acheronian tongue,^[14] or "Acheronian".^[32]

The Cimmerians of the King Bafomai's Elite Guard spoke it with a distinctive Cimmerian accent (though they only spoke their own tongue when on duty, which was why Bafomai had surrounded himself with them).^[14]

Acheronian influenced the Kothic language.^[32]

• Python, the City of Purple Towers - Capital, set in Nemedia or possibly Aquilonia
• Tybor River^[2]
• Shirki River - northeastern border, separating Acheron from the Bossonians and Gundermen^[2]
• Kara-Shehr - City, outpost in the Iranistani Desert

• Bel-Hissar - King of Acheron (undisclosed era)
• Thun'da of the Snow-Mane - Legendary Acheronian warrior, fell to the Stygians in Koth (13,000 BC)
• Xaltana - Queen of Acheron, sorceress (13,000 BC)
• Xaltotun - High priest of Set, wizard, brother to Xaltana (13,000 BC)
• Thugra Khotan - wizard (13,000 BC)
• Bafomai - Last king of Acheron (13,000 BC, succeeded Xaltana)
• Kheperu - Wizard, counsel of Bafomai (13,000 BC)
• Yezmite cult

• Robert E. Howard created Acheron in "The Hour of Conan"/"Conan the Conqueror" (Weird Tales; December, 1935 to April, 1936).
  • He named this fictional country after the real-life river Acheron,^{[citation needed]} located in Epirus, in the northwest regions of modern Greece, and flowing into the Ionian Sea.
  • In Greek and Roman mythology, the river was to be an entrance to the underworld and to continue to flow through its regions, as one of the underworld's five rivers.
• In the adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Cthulhu Mythos story "Dig Me No Grave" (February, 1937) in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #1 (October, 1972), written by Roy Thomas, the name-dropping was modified, notably replacing "Yuggoth" by "Acheron".
• As a Set-worshiping city, formerly set in what became the Hyborian Lands, Eidoran mirrored Old Stygia and the Empire of Acheron.
• Though relations, if any, between Eidoran and its two fellow Set-worshiping nations, were unrevealed, it can be speculated that Eidoran was either a part of Acheron, enclaved by it, or a close neighbor to it by its eastern border, and presumably fell to the alliance against Acheron and to the southward drift of the Hyborians that ended Acheron,^[28] as Eidoran was seemingly set in Argos (possibly in Eastern Argos), while Acheron occupied roughly the territory occupied during the Age of Conan by Argos, and considering that Eidoran stood at least from 15,500 BC (date of the attested worship of Set) until 13,000 BC (date of the estimated fall, see "Eidoran circa 13,000 BC" for more information).