And in those days, the weak kingdom of Ophir did still remain independent, despite its rich gold and gemstone mines, its warriors wearing gilded armor, for this reason only: its more powerful neighbors Aquilonia and Nemedia, aye, and even avaricious Corinthia, all enviously watched both Ophir... and each other. 
Ophir was a very small[3] yet prosperous Hyborian kingdom, lying to the south of the major powers of Aquilonia and Nemedia.[4] as well as Corinthia, and north of Argos and Koth.[3]
Part of its borders is protected by a mountain range which hinders the passage of armies.
These same mountains are the main reason for its prosperity. They contain vast resources in gold and gemstones. The mines of Ophir have brought it wealth comparable to its more powerful neighbors. This wealth is reflected in the gleaming armor of its soldiers, which has a golden surface.
The capital and royal seat is Khorala. There are several autonomous city-states such as Pergona and Carnolla. The borders of Ophir include a system of fortified keeps, situated by all major passages. Aided by its mountains and other physical features, Ophir is well-prepared to face any potential invader.[4]
History
Pre-Cataclysmic Age and Great Cataclysm[]
A few landmarks from the Pre-Cataclysmic Age remained through the ages, despite the Great Cataclysm, into the Hyborian Age, including:
- the Plain of Shamu, where was located a nameless city was originally a mountain-city set on the outer fringes of Valusia. During the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, its king, Thuron performed human sacrifices to elder gods, until his death, seemingly through the intervention of the Great Scorpion, as King Kull of Valusia marched on the city in his crusade against the elder gods worshipers that still sacrificed humans to them.[5]
- a city of fishmen worshipers of Dagon west off the coast of Valusia, in the Western Sea, was leveled and ended up in Ophir.[6] For a time, the sorcerer Ohris Dehjmal's disembodied head led them. After a failed attack on Dehjmal's enemy, King Kull, the fishmen rejected Dehjmal.[7]
Foundation by Thanus[]
In the days when the Hyborians first came down from the North, Thanus founded the land of Ophir, united all of the warlords of Ophir and became its first king, founding the Ophirean nation and its dynasty. Thanus held an unquestioned power over Ophir.[1]
Given the problematic assertion that Ophir was an early Hyborian kingdom while it appears that the Hyborians would likely not have reached Ophir this early, it is possible that Thanus was the founder of post-Acheron Ophir, setting him circa 13,000 BC, rather than before the domination of Ophir by Old Stygia or Acheron.
Ophir was possibly one of the earliest Hyborian kingdom. Though the scope of the claim was contested on the basis that Ophir was set far from the Hybori's homeland in the North, the assertion that Ophir became a Hyborian kingdom at a very early date was confirmed.[3]
Due to the statement that the Hyborian Kingdoms of Koth, Ophir, and Corinthia "regained their independence with the fall of the empire" of Acheron, a theory asserted that those three kingdoms may had not been founded by the Hyborians (unlikely to have dominated those kingdoms at the dawn of Acheron), but by refugees from Valusia, Thurania, and Zarfhaana, rebuilding their culture while the Hyborians were still in the Far North.[8]
It persisted in the ages despite its size thanks to the prosperity brought upon it by its mines.[3]
Under Stygia's and Acheron's dominion[]
At some point, Ophir, while an independent kingdom, was an ally of Acheron. In those days, Acheronian soldiers visited Ororium, the City of the Gods, where they humiliated a "man of the gods".[9] This led that wizard to spell a curse upon mankind by breathing life into the city, with worm-things being its children.[10]
At another point, Ophir, as well as Koth and Corinthia, were satellites of Stygia.
Later,[11] Ophir was annexed by Acheron.[12]
Having absorbed the nations of Ophir, Koth, and Corinthia, Acheron overextended its army to pacify those southern lands, leaving its northern border vulnerable to the Hyborian invasions to come,[11] and by 13,000 BC, with the Fall of Acheron, Ophir regained its independence.[12]
It is presumed that when the Hyborians were secure enough in Nemedia and Aquilonia, they attempted to conquer Ophir, while Koth was already occupied elsewhere to afford fighting an Ophirean army that would have been well-equipped thanks to Ophir's wealth. Ophir nevertheless became one of the earliest Hyborian kingdom at a very early date.[3]
10,200 BC[]
During the Hyborian Age, circa 10,200 BC, Count Alarkar was a wealthy count in Theringo. While visiting in the ruined city of Khorala in the jungles of Vendhya, he was given a ring set with a great azure gemstone, the Star of Khorala, carrying the following spell: "This ring, in the possession of a good man, will cause other good men to rally round him to fight in a good cause."
Returning to Ophir, Alarkar wished to strengthen the kingdom, fearing both Koth and Turan. Thanks to the ring, Alarkar was able to rally support for a charter to establish the rights and duties of all subjects of the kingdom. He called all the lords and their knights to meet outside his castle, but no consensus could be found. The Count of Mecanta withdrew from the conference with a few other lords, only for the Battle of the Hundred and One Swords to begin moments later. Most lords and knights were slain. Alarkar rallied the survivors and pursued the traitors, but was shot at crossbow bolt as he met Mecanta's forces, and his movement failed.[13]
Age of Conan[]
Khossus, king of Khoraja was captured by the treacherous king of Ophir, who hesitated to release him for a ransom, or to deliver him to his enemy King Amalrus of Koth for an advantageous treaty.[14]
King Moranthes II's rule[]
King Moranthes II[15] married Marala, descendant of Alarkar and wielder of the Star of Khorala. Moranthes feared the power of the ring. The Star of Khorala was eventually stolen by a thief. From then, Moranthes stopped fearing Marala.[13]
Like Thanus, Moranthes held an unquestioned power over Ophir. He was described as decadent. Conan helped Queen Marala to flee his mad vengeance.
While Marala remained in Aquilonia as a mere noblewoman, Moranthes eventually died.[1]
King Varis' rule[]
In the following years , King Varis ruled over Ophir and turned the monarchy into a tyranny. Fearful of being betrayed, Varis extensively funded the army and formed the Black Cloaks to serve as a secret force, commanded by Balthis who gave his men free-reign to seize property and murder.
On his birthday, Varis was slain by the father of daughter who had been raped by a Black Cloak. Black Cloaks slew the assassins on the spot.[1]
Queen Varia's rule[]
Varia was succeeded at the throne by his orphaned daughter, niece of Moranthes, Queen Varia. She took Shahela, cousin and member of the council of nobles of Ophir as her chief counsellor, against custom. Shahela suggested in funding the Iron Maidens to act as a counter-force to the Black Cloaks. Varia also diminished the power of the Black Cloaks, eventually trying two of them for murder.
Within a single year of rule, Veria had rejected the unquestioned power held by her predecessors. On the first anniversary of her rule, Varia declared the right to trial for everyone, making both people and nobles nervous, and disbanded the Black Cloaks in the declaration, causing Balthis to seize the palace, allegedly to prevent the Iron Maidens' own coup.[1]
Balthis and Shahela's co-regency[]
Verbatim from the Nemedian Chronicles, And in those days, the weak kingdom of Ophir did still remain independent, despite its rich gold and gemstone mines, its warriors wearing gilded armor, for this reason only: its more powerful neighbors Aquilonia and Nemedia, aye, and even avaricious Corinthia, all enviously watched both Ophir... and each other. Were one to attack the kingdom of gold, the other two would surely have formed an alliance to attack the invader. And so Ophir remained free, independent, and rich. Yet in the days before Conan was king, there was a change of rulers which did threaten to upset the delicate balance...
Balthis and his Black Cloaks joined Shahela and her Iron Maidens, and backed by the people and jealous nobles, the two factions captured the Queen and seized the throne. Under insistence of the nobles who feared Balthis, the power was shared between the two leaders, now co-regents, with the Queen as their joint prisoner, intending to eventually make her disappear once their power would be consolidated. Toiros (another cousin of Varia) and other nobles of the council plotted against them both, who distrusted and spied each other as well.[1]
Both met with Conan, trying to gain him to their side. Conan, spying on the council for Balthis, turned himself to their cause, helping Toiros while pretending to serve Balthis. Eventually opposing Balthis, Conan found the armor of Thanus. As Balthis was about to have the nobility of Ophir slaughtered with the blessing of the people, Conan donned the armor and appeared to the crowd, posing as Thanus. The people and the Iron Maidens turned against the co-regents and the Black Cloaks, and Balthis and Shahela were slain. Conan was offered the positions of first counsellor, and of commander of the army, but refused. Lord Toiros became first counsellor to Varia, on Conan's advice.[1]
Later, heading to Aquilonia to find the Devourer of Souls, Conan and his party dashed across the grassy pastures of Ophir toward the Tybor River, purposely avoiding normal roads and trade routes, hoping to avoid the attention and delay a group of armed riders such as they would undoubtedly attract.[16]
King Amalrus' rule[]
During the early days of Conan's rule over Aquilonia, his kingdom was allied to Ophir, but Ophir betrayed him just before a great battle on the Plains of Shamu, siding with Koth. Conan was captured and his army destroyed. Conan would have his revenge afterwards.[3]
Queen Leora's rule[]
Queen Leora of Ophir entered an alliance with King Tarascus II's Nemedia, and King Xantaus' Argos against King Conan I's Aquilonia.[17] When the invasion was foiled and the alliance fell apart, Leora reforged her alliance with Xantaus.[18]
Later, during the siege of Belverus, capital of Nemedia, by the Aquilonian forces, Conan offered safe conduct to the women and children of Belverus. Those thousands of refugees fled to Numalia but were driven out, sent to beg for Queen Leora's help. Leora met them at the pass between Nemedia and Ophir, where she had her Amazons crush the refugees under boulders.[19] Having defeated Nemedia, Conan's forces turned toward Ophir.[20]
Despite their numbers, the Ophirians, the Argosseans, and El Mullah's Zingarans, were crushed in Zingara by Conan and the Aquilonian alliance forces (made up of Aesir, Cimmerians, Kushites, and Zingarans),[21] and Kordava was reconquered.[22]
Leora and her remaining forces fled to Messantia, capital of Argos, with Xantaus, but the Zingaran Fleet carried the army to Argos' shores, crushed both kingdoms' forces, along with Argossean Fleet, and caused Leora and Xantaus to flee again. While Xantaus finally gave and intended to die like a soldier along his lover, Leora left the scene.[23]
End of Ophir[]
In the years after Conan's reign, Ophir was absorbed into the Pictish Empire.
Later, long before the Modern Age, its mines were swallowed by the Adriatic Sea.[3]
Facts[]
Geography[]
Ophir was a very small kingdom set south of Aquilonia, Nemedia, and Corinthia, and north of Argos and Koth.
The border with Aquilonia, delineated by the Tybor River was made of meadowlands.
The mountains between the border between Nemedia and Corinthia possibly continued into Ophir and included the mines producing Ophir's riches.
Save for the border with Koth, where guarding castles were built, Ophir was a small enclave easy to defend.[3]
Diplomacy[]
Despite its small size and its immense riches, Ophir remained independent from its neighbors[3] due to a few factors:
- Aquilonia, Nemedia, and Corinthia all envied Ophir, but neither dared to invade it, in fear of having the two other nations to ally in order to repel the invader away from Ophir.[1]
- Koth had too much trouble on other fronts to add a war with Ophir. Though, as the border the harder to defend, guarding castles had been set up.
- Further, Ophir's riches allowed it to equip an army with the best equipment.[3]
Economy[]
Ophir was known for the gold and gems produced in its mines, which was likely the key to Ophir's very existence.[3]Points of Interest
- Ianthe - Capital[1]
- Khorala - Seat of power[4] and capital[24]
- Carnolla - City-state[25]
- Ronnoco - City-state[5]
- Pergona - City-state[25]
- Mecanta[13]
- Theringo[13]
- Mines of Ophir
- Ororium, the City of Gold - City, mining town[24]
- Inn of the Three Griffins[13]
- Mountain of the Moon-God[26]
- Plain of Shamu - Formerly Nameless City of Thuron in Valusia
- Ruins of the Nameless City
- Temple of Everlasting Darkness
- Northern Ophir[6]
- Tybor River
Residents
- Oracle of Ophir
- Count Alarkar - Count of Theringo, famous traveler, wielder of the Star of Khorala circa 10,200 BC
- Count of Mecanta circa 10,200 BC
- Count Rigello - Count of Mecanta circa 10,000 BC
- Council of nobles circa 10,000 BC
- Lord Toiros - cousin of Varia
- Shahela - briefly co-regent, cousin of Varia, formerly her chief counsellor, founder and commander of the Iron Maidens
- Balthis - commoner, briefly co-regent, commander of the Black Cloaks
- Ophir dynasty
- Thanus - first king and founder of Ophir and its dynasty, somehow turned into a huge ghoul
- Moranthes - King of Ophir circa 10,000 BC
- Marala - Queen, wife of Moranthes, descendant of Count Alarkar, fled to live as a noblewoman in Aquilonia
- Varis - King, succeeded Moranthes
- Varia - Queen, niece of Moranthes and daughter of Varis, succeeded Varis, briefly deposed by Shahela and Balthis
- Amalrus - King
- Leora - Amazon queen
- Belzamo - King of Ronnoco
Notes
- Robert E. Howard named Ophir after a namesake mysterious location in the Bible, where the kings of Israel, Judah, and Tyre reportedly send expeditions to acquire gold. Making the "gold of Ophir" proverbial to Bible readers.
- Ophir is synonymous with the "Mines of King Solomon", because these mines were not placed in Israel. Several theories place them either in Africa, or in South Asia.
See Also
- 26 appearance(s) of Ophir
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Ophir
- 5 minor appearance(s) of Ophir
- 61 mention(s) of Ophir
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Ophir
- 3 image(s) of Ophir
- 3 article(s) related to Ophir
- 5 citizen(s) of Ophir
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Savage Sword of Conan #68 ; Black Cloaks of Ophir
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #122 ; The City Where Time Stood Still
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Savage Sword of Conan #38 ; A Gazetteer of the Hyborian Age, Part VI: Ophir's entry
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Handbook of the Conan Universe #1 ; Ophir's profile
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Conan the Barbarian #52 ; The Altar and the Scorpion!
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Savage Sword of Conan #186 ; Horror Out of Time
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #132 ; The Sea King
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #33 ; A Gazetteer of the Hyborian Age, Part IV: Koth's entry
- ↑ Conan Death Covered in Gold #2
- ↑ Conan Death Covered in Gold #3
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Savage Sword of Conan #30 ; A Gazetteer of the Hyborian Age, Part I: Acheron's entry
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Giant-Size Conan #1 ; Conan the Conqueror - The Hour of the Dragon - Chapter One
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Savage Sword of Conan #44 ; The Star of Khorala
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #2 ; Black Colossus
- ↑ Conan Saga #84 ; Conan Comics Chronology, Chapter Nine: Conan the Restless - II. Star Over Ophir
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #200 ; The Fall of Acheron
- ↑ Conan the King #32
- ↑ Conan the King #35
- ↑ Conan the King #37
- ↑ Conan the King #38
- ↑ Conan the King #40
- ↑ Conan the King #41
- ↑ Conan the King #42
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Conan Death Covered in Gold #1
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Conan the Barbarian #53 ; Brothers of the Blade!
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #3 ; At the Mountain of the Moon-God