Conan - OGL - Field Guide to Creatures of the Hyborian Age, Pt 1 (article).pdf - Conan - Matrinicz

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AFieldGuidetoCreatures

of the Hyborian Age

A detailed study of

Man-Apes for Conan The

A detailed study of

Man-Apes for Conan The

Roleplaying Game, Part I

Josh Kapfer

Roleplaying Game, Part I

the talons of eagles. Although they

make no weapons of steel, these large

claws can be utilised as such with

equally devastating results.

It was covered with black hair, from which small pig-like eyes

glared redly; its nose was ﬂ at, with great ﬂ aring nostrils; its

loose lips writhed back, disclosing huge yellow fangs, like the

teeth of a dog.

Black Man-Apes of Zamora:

Although reported to exist throughout

the southern lands, these beasts

are considered to be of Zamora as

that is where they seem to be most

common. Although called black

man-apes because their hair and skin

is generally dark charcoal or black

in colour, there are reports of dark

brown and rust-coloured individuals

in the lands of Kush and the Black

Kingdoms. They are found most

commonly in mountainous regions,

where they are reported to live in

- Rogues In the House, Robert E. Howard

I: Overview

muscle structure of their massive

chest is so pronounced that they are

said to look almost as if they have

been chiselled from stone. In all

man-ape species, a distinct layer of

hair covers the body in thick coarse

mats, which are especially dense

along the back, arms and legs. The

colour of this hair depends on the

type of man-ape being discussed; but

is generally brownish, black or grey.

D eep in the steamy jungles

of the south live beasts that

are spoken of only in whispers by

civilised people. Among the jagged

mountains of eastern Zamora and

Hyrkania lurk the hunched forms of

creatures so terrible that travellers

do not dare traverse the crags

alone. They are the man-apes: the

degenerate reminders to present-day

Hyborians of their primitive relatives.

Modern observers would call them

the ‘missing link’, the stepping-

stone between true apes and humans.

The truth about their past, however,

is far more disturbing. Whatever

their origins, they are fearless and

ferocious, possessing Herculean

strength and posing a constant threat

to any adventurer travelling in their

shadow.

Like true apes,

man-apes have ﬂ at

noses, pronounced

brow ridges and

sloping foreheads.

Generally speaking,

their eyes are small,

often described as

‘pig-like.’ Their

jaws are prominent,

with large, thick

lips used primarily

to manipulate food

while eating. They

are described as

having yellow

teeth, with enlarged

canines that can rip

ﬂ esh from bone.

Finally, the physical

characteristic that

most distinguishes

man-apes from true

apes or humans are

their thick, sharp

claws that resemble

General Physical Appearance:

From a distance, or from behind,

man-apes might be mistaken for

muscular, squat humans. The stance

of all man-apes is somewhat hunched,

but, unlike true apes, only rarely

do they walk upon their knuckles.

Instead, with their strong and nearly

straight legs, they are able to walk

mostly upright, as well as leap and

even run with ease (albeit using a

somewhat awkward gait). Generally,

man-apes have broad shoulders, long,

brawny arms and proportionally

shorter legs than humans. The

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great pains to eradicate

black man-apes from

their lands, and will kill

them on sight. This fact,

coupled with the man-

apes’ predilection for

wandering near human

civilisation, has taken

a toll on their number.

Consequently, the beasts

are much less common

than their grey cousins.

It has been reported that

efforts have been made

by the foolhardy to train

these creatures as one

would a dog. It is beyond

doubt that black man-

apes are smart enough to

be trained; yet their base

animal instincts, coupled

with the simple human

emotions that they retain

from their ancestors,

make them unpredictable.

Therefore, it is not unexpected that all

attempts to habituate these creatures

to domestication have ended badly.

sub-species. Grey man-apes have a

much more hunched posture than do

black man-apes, with shorter, more

crooked legs, which forces them to

walk on their knuckles occasionally.

They also have broader shoulders

and are considered more powerful

than their cousins to the west. Their

features, which include large tusk-like

teeth protruding from their mouths,

are less like humans and more like

true apes, making them appear bestial

and savage to some. It is unlikely that

a grey man-ape could be mistaken for

a human, even from behind. These

beasts reach an average height of six

and a half feet and weigh over 550

pounds.

Although they are much more similar

to animals in their appearance and

habits, grey man-apes are much more

common than their black-haired

relatives. Their territory is distributed

over a much wider area and they

seem to exist in greater numbers. The

mechanisms behind their relative

commonness are not fully understood.

Some scholars believe that, because

they are more bestial and do their best

to shun human civilisation, they do

not receive the level of persecution

that black man-apes do.

groups. Yet, it is not known if the

beasts prefer these habitats, or if

they are merely forced to live there

due to persecution by humans. This

notion stems from the fact that the

few individuals encountered in the far

south all inhabit dense jungles.

Black man-apes are the most hairless

species existing in Hyboria, not

surprising based on their preference

for warm climes. They are also the

most upright in their stance among

man-apes, and have longer legs

than their grey relatives (although

not quite proportionally as long

as humans). Because of this, it is

somewhat understandable that black

man-apes are mistaken for humans

at ﬁ rst glance. Furthermore, it is

believed that they are slightly less

powerful than the species that exist in

the east. They are reported to reach

average heights of over seven foot six

inches and weigh over 400 pounds.

Grey Man-apes of the East and

Yahtis: Grey man-apes are often

regarded as true apes, similar to

gorillas. Their evolutionary record

shows that this is untrue, and their

physiognomy is much

closer to black man-

apes than gorillas (the

explanation for which

will be given shortly).

Most grey man-apes

seem concentrated to the

dense forests or jungles

east and south of the

Vilayet Sea, although

there are reports of

them inhabiting nearby

mountain ranges as well.

As their name suggests,

these creatures have hair

and skin that is grey in

colour and much lighter

than that of the black

man-apes. Furthermore,

their fur appears to be

much thicker than that

of their western cousins,

especially in the Yahti

Black man-apes are territorial and

violent by nature. They are also

regarded as the man-ape species

with the most advanced intellect. In

addition, it seems they have little fear

of humans, and occasionally venture

too close to civilisation. These traits

make them incredibly dangerous to

mankind. The Zamorians have taken

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placed within the taxonomic Class

Mammalia, being warm-blooded

animals with female individuals

possessing mammary glands. Much

like others of their kind, they are in

the taxonomic Order Primates, which

also includes prosimians (such as

lemurs and tarsiers), monkeys (such

as mandrills and baboons), apes (such

as chimpanzees and gorillas) and

humans. It is their placement within

this Order that leads to the greatest

disagreement among those that study

Taxonomy. While a small group

of individuals consider man-apes

to be a type of primate completely

separate from humans, most believe

that they should actually be placed,

taxonomically, within the same

group, as it appears they evolved

from primitive humans. Although it

may never be proved which is true,

much evidence has been accumulated

in favour of the latter hypothesis,

including profound skeletal and

anatomical similarities between the

man-apes and humans. Furthermore,

while monkeys and apes are reported

to be gentle unless provoked or

threatened, man-apes are always

ferocious. Most scholars agree that

this disposition was acquired from

human ancestors, from whom they

retain shadows of emotions, such

as hate and resentment. Finally,

the historic records that have

been summarised in the previous

paragraph, give evidence that man-

apes are more closely related to, and

in fact evolved from, men (rather than

true monkeys or apes).

Among the forest-covered hills of the northwest exist

wandering bands of ape-men, without human speech, or the

knowledge of ﬁ re or the use of implements. They are the

descendants of the Alanteans, sunk back into the squalling

chaos of the jungle-bestiality from which ages ago their

ancestors so laboriously crawled.

Far to the east, the Lemurians, leveled almost to a bestial

plane themselves by the brutishness of their slavery, have risen

and destroyed their masters. They are savages stalking among

the ruins of a strange civilisation.

-The Hyborian Age, Robert E. Howard

Interestingly, there is at least one

sub-species of grey man-ape in

existence during the Hyborian Age.

These are the shaggy ape-men, also

called Yahtis by local inhabitants,

found in the snow-covered Himelian

Mountains. Although as bestial and

grey as their contemporaries, Yahtis

have hair that is signiﬁ cantly longer

and thicker. They also tend to walk

slightly more upright than other grey

ape-men, an adaptation that some

believe makes them better suited for

travelling through deep snow.

primordial state, degenerating into

‘lesser-humans’. The resulting

degenerates, it appears, eventually

evolved into, what are today known

as the black man-apes of Zamora.

As the downfall of Atlantis was

occurring, the cataclysm was also

forever altering the Atlanteans’

contemporaries to the east: The

Lemurians. The changing of the

world forced the Lemurians to travel

even further east, until reaching

the very coast of their ancient

Thurian continent. Yet, instead of

ﬁ nding peace here, the Lemurians

were enslaved by a race of ancient

humanoids whose history was lost in

ages past. All that is known of these

humanoids is that, although they

had enslaved the Lemurians, their

slaves eventually overthrew them and

seized their freedom. Unfortunately,

the many years of brutish slavery

had degenerated the Lemurians into

a semi-human, bestial state. While

some of these primordial humans

traveled west, evolved and eventually

established the present-day land of

Stygia, the rest remained in the east,

continuing their boorish existence.

Those who remained behind became

the grey man-apes of the Hyborian

Age that exist to the east and south of

the Vilayet Sea, including the shaggy

sub-species that roam the Himelian

Mountains.

History and Position in the Animal

Kingdom: Recently, archaeological

documents have been discovered

that help scholars place these

beasts, taxonomically, in the Animal

Kingdom. While these documents are

only summarised here, the importance

of their ﬁ ndings to current beliefs

regarding archaeology, anthropology

and evolution will be evident.

Ancient races of humans, such as

the Atlanteans, dominated the Pre-

Cataclysmic Age. Although slightly

different in appearance from current

humans of the Hyborian Age, the

Atlanteans were fundamentally very

similar, and even as technologically

advanced. Yet this was before the

great cataclysm rocked the face of

the earth, changing it forever. The

races of men, as they had evolved to

be during the Pre-Cataclysmic times,

were likewise altered by the upheaval,

forever changing their evolutionary

path. The turmoil caused most

human races of the time, in particular

the Atlanteans, to regress back into a

II.Anatomyand

Physiognomy

Man-apes have been a source of

fascination for scholars over the

ages. Thus, it should come as

no surprise that certain scholars

have gone to great lengths to be

able to dissect these animals and

thoroughly catalogue their internal

anatomy. From these diagrams and

notes, inferences regarding their

physiognomy have also been made

over the years. The ﬁ ndings reported

here represent a summary of the most

up-to-date and commonly accepted

views regarding the subject.

Although the subject is hotly

debated in academic circles, most

scholars consider man-apes a

close relative of humans. Among

vertebrate animals, they have been

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Unique

Morphological

‘The black talons of the monster and the awful grasp of those

misshapen hands ripped and tore at him.’

-Rogues in the House, Robert E. Howard

Morphological

Characteristics

The Fur: As mentioned earlier, man-

apes are mostly covered in coarse

hair or fur. This hair, a structure

comprised mostly of protein, is

slightly different from that found

in other types of mammals. Most

mammals have two coats of hair,

or fur: an outer thick coat for

protection, called the guard hair, and

an under coat that is soft and dense

for insulation, called the under hair.

Surprisingly, man-apes, much like

true apes and humans, have very

little along the lines of under hair.

Compared to other mammals, their

hair is actually somewhat sparse,

especially in the face, chest and

belly regions. The exception to this

rule is found in the shaggy variety

of man-ape inhabiting the Himelian

Mountains south of the Vilayet Sea.

These creatures do possess long, thick

hair (including both guard hair and

under hair), which is not surprising

considering the frigid regions in

which they exist.

appendages lies in the feet. Grey

man-apes, being more prone to dense

forests and jungles, where they climb

frequently, also have a large inner-toe

that is opposable. Thus, the feet can

be used to grasp items as efﬁ ciently

as the hands, making these beasts

superior climbers to their western

relatives.

protection. Although a formidable

hunting adaptation, there is little

doubt that man-apes employ these

claws as offensive weapons as

well, should the need suit them.

In nearly all reports of attacks on

humans, the man-apes in question

used their claws frequently: both to

help secure their grip on the victim,

while inﬂ icting signiﬁ cant amounts

of damage through lacerations or

disembowelment.

The Claws: The presence of

enlarged nails, or claws, is a feature

ubiquitous among man-apes (be they

black or grey). In fact, their claws are

reported to be so long and sharp that

they are often referred to as appearing

‘talon-like’. Despite this, however, it

is likely that a variation exists in the

length and sharpness of these claws

among individuals, and they range

in length from 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to

10 cm). Like most ﬁ ngernails and

claws found in vertebrate animals,

they are made primarily from keratin

(a protein-based substance similar

to that used found in the horns of

bull cattle). However, what is most

interesting about these claws is that

their upper surface (for example,

the surface on the same side as

the knuckle) has an extra layer of

protective enamel compared to the

bottom surface. This added enamel

better protects the nail from breaking

off at the base during daily use,

limiting breakage to the most distal

points of the nail. This effectively

keeps the nails long and sharp, which

is important for man-ape survival.

After all, a man-ape with many

broken claws cannot as adequately

defend or feed itself.

Unique Skeletal

Structures

The Skeleton: Because they are

related to modern humans, there

should be little surprise that man-

ape skeletons are very similar

in appearance to those of most

Hyborians (this is especially true

in the case of the black man-apes

of Zamora). However, unlike the

relatively delicate skeletons of

humans, those of man-apes are

remarkably dense. There are several

advantages to this enhancement:

ﬁ rstly, it makes the beasts more

robust to damage from falling or

being attacked by prey. The skull,

for example, is so thick that it is very

resilient to attacks from bludgeoning-

type weapons. The downside to this

quality is that such thickness in the

brain case leaves less room for the

brain itself. Many scholars believe

that the evolution of thick skulls in

these creatures is inversely related

to the size of the brain, and probably

the size of their intellectual capacity.

Secondly, having dense bones is an

adaptation that helps support the great

weight that these animals posses.

The orientation of these bones is

also believed to be for supporting the

added stress and weight associated

with a bipedal (in other words,

walking upright) stance.

The Feet and Hands: The feet

and hands are incredibly important

features in the every day lives of

man-apes. As in true monkeys,

apes and humans, these appendages

are designed, speciﬁ cally, to allow

manipulation of objects and superior

locomotion. Their uses are incredibly

diverse, allowing the hands, for

example, to be wielded in combat to

batter objects, or for tasks requiring

the ﬁ ne motor skill necessary to peel

fruit and crack nutshells (if necessity

deems it). The hands of both black

and grey man-apes have opposable

thumbs, which can be used to

securely grasp and hold most objects,

and improve climbing ability. The

largest difference among black and

grey man-apes in regards to these

The claws evolved their shape

primarily for hunting prey, rather than

‘Its feet and hands were more manlike than those of a

gorilla, the great toes and thumbs being more like those of a

man than a anthropoid.’

-The Flame Knife, R. E. Howard and L. S. de Camp

The Teeth: Most vertebrate animals

have teeth that are unique from the

rest of the Animal Kingdom. This

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other words,

the mouth is

ﬁ lled with teeth

of different

shapes and sizes

that represent

their speciﬁ c

functions. For

example, canines

and incisors are

sharp and used

to tear of bits of

food, while pre-

molars are multi-

cusped and used

to shear bits of

food into more

manageable

sizes, and so

on. Man-apes,

and primates

in general, are

no exception

in this regard.

However, the

teeth of man-

apes are unique

enough that they

are probably

the skeletal

feature that

most separates

them from other

primates. The

majority of

primates are

omnivorous (in

other words,

consuming both

plant and animal

material), which

is reﬂ ected in the

shape of their

teeth: relatively

large canines and

sharp incisors

for tearing off

bits of ﬂ esh, yet

relatively ﬂ at

and broad molars

for grinding

vegetation.

Man-apes, in

contrast, are

strict carnivores.

They eat no

vegetation and

their dentition

reﬂ ects that. In fact, the shape of

their teeth more closely resembles

that found in other strict carnivores

that are of no relation to primates

(for example, dogs, wolves, lions and

tigers). Man-apes have sharp, pointed

incisors and very large, yellowish

canines designed for tearing large

chunks of ﬂ esh from their prey. They

have uniquely shaped premolars and

molars in both the upper and lower

jaw that, when brought together while

chewing, creates a shearing action

(like that of a meat scissors). This

helps these beasts chew their usually

tough food to the point that it can be

easily swallowed. Only the last set of

molars in each jaw vaguely resemble

those found in omnivorous primates.

Although it is believed that they are

residual (their shape coming from

human ancestors) the function of

these teeth is no longer for grinding

vegetation, as is the case in humans.

Instead, in man-apes these molars are

shaped as such to crack open bones

for acquiring the nutrient-rich marrow

within.

Unique Internal

AnatomicalElements

In many ways, the organ systems

of man-apes are similar to other

mammals, especially humans. For

example, the respiratory system,

while very complex and efﬁ cient, is

very similar to that found in many

mammals, especially primates.

The glands, including sweat, scent

and sebaceous glands, in their

morphology are also not largely

unique among mammals. Thus, these

organs will receive little attention in

the following paragraphs.

The Digestive System: The digestive

system of man-apes is somewhat

unique compared to that of other

large primates, such as gorillas. This

is because gorillas eat large amounts

of vegetation, which requires a unique

digestive system. For example,

properly digesting vegetation usually

requires a large or even multi-

chambered stomach that is specialised

for breaking down the tough cellulose

found in plant material. Creatures

with diets consisting mostly of

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