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History

Origin[]

The Man-Bats of Ur-Xanarrh were one of the many elder races created by Chthon.[1][2]

Elder Days[]

Creatures that were man and bat lived in ancient Valusia, along others of the "Elder Race" such as the Serpent-Men and Wolf-Men, until the first true men waged war on them.[6] The Bat-Men were among the races that constituted challenges for humanity to find strength.[3] The true men were victorious but many survivors had been driven mad.[6]

Pre-Cataclysmic Age[]

By 20,000 BC, most of the Elderspawn were slaughtered or driven into seclusion.[5] When the subject of the elder races arose, Bat-Men,[3] or creatures that were man and bat,[6] were sometimes mentioned.

Hyborian Age[]

For uncounted eons, the Bird-Men of Akah Ma'at dwelt above the earth in their floating, cloud enshrouded city, their existence unsuspected by the wingless races of the planet below. The only threat to tranquil Bird Men was the race of evil race of bat-winged conquerors from nearby Ur-Xanarrh some half-dozen leagues away. For centuries the Man-Bats launched attack after attack in an endless quest to subjugate and destroy the Bird-Men.[7]

Age of Conan[]

However one of Bird Men’s mighty sages devised the miraculous Cylinder of Power. This source of inexhaustible energy in turn fuelled a cordon of ‘power batons’ encircling the city. These batons emit blazing, death-dealing bolts of energy on any attempting to invade the floating city, which the Bat-Men painfully learned in at least one attack. However periodically the power batons and other weapons fuelled by the Cylinder must be recharged. For a millennium Bird Men enjoyed the peace provided by the Cylinder and the cordon of floating batons, but a fortnight before Conan found himself drawn into the struggle between the two floating cities the traitorous elder Thaltar stole the Cylinder of Power with the intention of betraying the Bird Men to the Men-Bats. Luckily for the Bird-Men Thaltar did not succeed and was shot down by a warrior wielding one of their energy weapons before he could get too far away.[7]

The Ur-Xanarrh eventually seized the Cylinder of Power from the sorcerer Raksos B'Quen and immediately waged war agains the Bird Men. Meanwhile, Conan was captured and tortured, but he eventually managed to escape the gloomy floating city with the Cylinder, but the horde of bloodthirsty Man-Bats were on his heels and there was no time to recharge the power batons. Conan lead the Bird-Men into battle with steel; an aerial battle erupted and, though outnumbered two to one, the Bird-Men led by the barbarian turn the tide of battle.[8]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

The Man-Bats are capable of flight on large bat-like wings. Their fangs can be used as weapons in close quarters. There is some small evidence to indicate the Bird-Men have peak human to enhanced human strength so it might be safe to assume the Man-Bats have a similar strength level.

Habitat

Habitat

During prehistoric times and the Hyborian Era, the floating city of Ur-Xanarrh amongst the clouds of Cimmeria and about six leagues from the floating city of Akah Ma'at.

Miscellaneous

Level of Technology

They utilize conventional Hyborian era weaponry such as swords, spears, and shields, but seem to have no science or sorcery that can match the Akah Ma'at's Cylinder of Power.

Cultural Traits

Religion and Mythology[]

During the Hyborian Age, circa 10,000 BC, at least some Man-Bats invoked the names of the Emerald Jinns of Ur-Xanarrh.[9]

Representatives

Notes

  • The Man-Bats of Ur-Xanarrh are presumably inspired by the elder races created by eldritch entities, frequent in the Cthulhu Mythos.

See Also

Links and References

References

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