There are a few things in my mind that make Conan, Conan. These things need to be there or we are simply going to get barbarians with laser swords, and that is not the aim of this project.
There are two things that I believe absolutely need to be involved in this setting.
- Barbarism vs Civilization
- Rise and fall, cyclical nature of the rise and fall of society and civilization
Cyclical Nature and the Hyborian Essay
Robert E Howard wrote a short essay titled, "The Hyborian Age". In it, he outlines his world. The rise and fall of civilizations, cataclysms, the migration of the people and the evolution and devolution of mankind. It ends with Howard telling us that the people that populate the world today can trace their origins far older than they know, back to the Hyborian Age.
|
The ancient Sumerians had no connection with the western race. They
were a mixed people, of Hyrkanian and Shemitish bloods, who were not
taken with the conquerors in their retreat. Many tribes of Shem
escaped that captivity, and from pure-blooded Shemites, or Shemites
mixed with Hyborian or Nordic blood, were descended the Arabs,
Israelites, and other straighter-featured Semites. The Canaanites, or
Alpine Semites, traced their descent from Shemitish ancestors mixed
with the Kushites settled among them by their Hyrkanian masters; the
Elamites were a typical race of this type. The short, thick-limbed
Etruscans, base of the Roman race, were descendants of a people of
mixed Stygian, Hyrkanian and Pictish strains, and originally lived in
the ancient kingdom of Koth. The Hyrkanians, retreating to the eastern
shores of the continent, evolved into the tribes later known as
Tatars, Huns, Mongols and Turks. The origins of other races of the modern world may be similarly traced; in almost every case, older far than they realize, their history stretches back into the mists of the forgotten Hyborian age... The Hyborian Age -Robert E. Howard |
Barbarism vs Civilization
It is well known that Howard had no love for modern civilization. He saw it as broken and corrupt and felt a kinship to those who came before. He had a special affinity for the medieval Irish, and so it is no surprise that Conan was his ultimate hero in many ways. Several of his writings talk about the evils of boomtowns. How the rise of civilization and money where he lived bred corruption and evil deeds.
|
Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph. -Robert E. Howard Beyond The Black River Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. -Robert E. Howard Tower of the Elephant |
Barbaric Future
So with these two basic tenants in mind, I present the initial stages of the world I imagine...|
Thousands of years into the future the initiative of humanity has continued to carry the species forward. Technology has continued to progress, new ideas in genetics, energy, materials, and computing have formed new weapons, new armor and in some cases new people. Despite the massive abilities and technological advances of mankind, we largely remain confined to our world. We have lifted ourselves into orbit and explored much of our solar system through drones and a few manned missions, but Earth remains our home and efficient space travel still eludes us. War remains a reality and several massive conflicts have been engaged in between then and now. Some conventional, some small scale nuclear. Our world has seen the rise of capitalism and the formation of great corporations. It has also seen the governments of nations fall and these new centers of power rise to fill the void. Now the world is dotted by the Corporate States, rife with corruption and greed. Each maintains a stranglehold on their populations through information censorship and military power. They lie in the temperate zones of the Earth, places less likely to be touched by disaster or rising sea levels. Places untouched by radiation and devastation of ancient nuclear conflict. In the places abandoned by the Corporate States live tribes of humans. These people live a more primitive and savage life, sometimes using the discarded junk from the Corporate States, sometimes living in the skeletons of long-abandoned cities, using older technology and still others existing alongside nature. In the wildest places, the far frozen places, the places rife with disease, the irradiated places, live others who have reverted to a more bestial state, over uncounted generations, they have devolved into a beast that is more ape than man, still clever and cunning and still able to use primitive weapons. |
Corporate States
With a basic idea we can go forward and flesh out our three zones of humanity with a few key points about each area.
- Very high tech. AI, Robots etc.
- Clean.
- State controlled.
- Isolated.
- Crime & Corruption.
- Cybernetics.
- Genetic enhancement.
- Fusion power.
- Projectile & Beam weapons are outlawed.
Tribes of the Free
- Generally lower technology.
- Almost post apocalyptic in some places.
- Savages, Barbarians and Canibals.
- Primitive religions.
- Knowledge of the old worlds. Libraries of books, paper and digital.
- Solar, wind, hydro power.
- Ruins.
Savage Wastes
- Potential high radiation.
- Mutant humans.
- Mutant beasts.
- Ruins.
- Lost technologies.
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