History
Pre-Cataclysmic Age[]
During the Pre-Cataclysmic Age (see notes), pirate Captain Ehestes Rhan was marooned by his crew on an isle west of Grebuhl, on August 12th, along a few ancient incantations books he possessed, though he claimed to have never dabbled in black magic. The crew also buried a treasure formerly plundered on the isle.
Stranded on the isle (that he named Zahrahn), he soon decided to avenge himself and punish the mutineers, while forcing them to respect the Ancients they despised. He studied the teachings of Set and Mhur from his books. He prayed to the Dark Ones, and to the Great Goat Gods and their brethren, unwillingly summoning a terrible creature only named as "the were-god". The creature seemingly forced Rhan to mate, and later spawned the monstrous Children of Rhan, rapidly aging girls that eventually transform into massive feral creatures if taken away from their birthplace, and causing the weariness of men. Rhan died, seemingly killed by the were-god.
The crew, now led by Captain Lahrentz, returned on May 6th. They found Rhan's skeleton, his log, the buried treasure, but also a group of Children of Rhan under the form of white-haired girls, that they took in, intending to sell them as slaves for an enormous profit. They loaded the ship with provisions and left the isle by May 10th. The Children of Rhan soon grew up to womanhood, were married to the crew, slaughtered them, and shipwrecked three hundred miles afar, on the coast which would become a valley in Vanaheim.
Hyborian Age[]
During the Hyborian Age, the isle ended up as a butte in ravines of the Pictish Wilderness during the Hyborian Age
After the Great Cataclysm, the area around Zahrahn found itself above the ocean's level, the isle becoming a butte in the ravines of what became the northern part (see notes) of the Pictish Wilderness. The Picts shunned the place.[1]
Circa 10,000 BC, Conan the Cimmerian, on his to Vanaheim through the Picts ended up in Zahrahn while being pursued by Picts. There, he slew an adult Child of Rhan and found a young one, believing to have killed her mother.[1]Notes
- As horrific and ancient creatures originated from the use of eldritch tome of black magic, the summoning of a monstrous god, and the mating with a human, the Children of Rhan are actually similar to many monsters described within the Cthulhu Mythos.
- The era of those events are never detailed in names or dates, but it is safe to assume that they are set in the Pre-Cataclysmic Age (100,000 BC-18,000 BC), before the Great Cataclysm which would be the cause of the geological changes mentioned (the ocean in a valley of Vanaheim, the isle of Zahrahn in the ravines of Pictish Wilderness, which is attested as being fully formed after the Lesser Cataclysm, circa 17,500 BC). The other possibilities could that those geological changes occurred during the Lesser Cataclysm, or even -more unlikely- afterwards).
- The isle of Zahrahn was stated to be set west of Grebuhl in the past. During the Hyborian Age, Zahrahn was set in the Pictish Wilderness; presumably up north (as Conan was headed to Vanaheim, and stated that Surhon, in a valley of Vanaheim (which was the ocean's coast as at the time) was located three hundred miles from Zahrahn.[1]
- The Valishka was stated to be sailing from Auuroghan, and was seemingly set on the Nespian trade routes. It can be assumed as a fair guess that all locations mentioned in the context of Captain Rhan's misadventures (Auuroghan, Grebuhl, and Zahrahn) are set on the Nespian trade routes (or in its vicinity), and are set on the Western Ocean, possibly in Thuria.
See Also
- 1 appearance(s) of Children of Rhan
- 1 image(s) of Children of Rhan
- 2 victim(s) killed by Children of Rhan
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Savage Sword of Conan #64 ; The Children of Rhan