Antikes Thoule

**C2781**

> *It is a land of deep jungles and golden seas, mysterious and unexplored. It is a land of knife-edged mountains and deadly glaciers, trackless and forbidding. It is an age when humankind is a young race, newly arisen on an ancient and monster-haunted Earth. Mighty cities and sprawling empires rise and fall, weaving a tale of great deeds and epic tragedies that will be lost and forgotten by the peoples who came later. Even the land itself is fated to fall beneath the numbing cloak of endless winter, burying the triumphs and defeats of this vanished age beneath miles of ice. But for this glittering moment in the slow dream of time, Thule lives—and it is a fierce, cruel, splendid, and marvelous moment indeed.*
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Humans and demihumans are young races, and civilization is not well established. Many people live in tribal societies close to nature—and its dangers. Even within the walls of the city-states, life is often violent and unforgiving. he so-called civilized peoples entertain themselves with bloody arena fights, and practices such as robbery, dueling, and assassinations are commonplace. Life is all too often nasty, brutish, and short, whether one lives in a jungle village or an opulent palace. Engineering, knowledge, and technology are likewise not very advanced. Writing is known only to sages, scribes, and those few people wealthy enough to aford an education. Arms and armor are usually made of copper or bronze. he great temples and monuments of the cities are raised by hordes of laborers using the simplest of tools and techniques.

Leave the city and you’re taking your life in your hands. here are few roads, and the jungles are teeming with bloodthirsty predators. he flora and fauna of Thule belong to a crueler and more primitive age. his is the time of the giant predators, beasts such as cave bears, giant vipers, and saber-tooth cats. Even the herbivores are huge and short-tempered— mammoths and giant sloths can be every bit as dangerous to humans as the big predators. The tribal peoples of the wilderness are just as savage as the beasts whose home they share. he best are simply warlike and territorial. he worst tribes are unspeakably vicious and bloodthirsty—headhunters, cannibals, or degenerate primitives who worship inhuman monsters and eagerly torture or sacrifice any who fall into their hands.

The wilderness is dangerous, but civilization is little better. he city-states are dens of greed, crime, and callousness. Powerful thieves’ guilds dominate many of Thule’s cities and struggle endlessly with rival guilds for territory and influence. Slavery is widespread, and secretive cults dedicated to forbidden gods lurk in the shadows. he rich and powerful constantly pursue intrigues to move closer to the throne, while the underclass simmers in unrest and resentment. Heavy-handed oppression is the typical response from the civic authorities.

Vast jungles and forbidding mountains and glaciers deter all but the hardiest and most determined travelers. Consequently, people don’t know what is more than a few days’ travel from their homes. The stark mountains and brooding jungles hide many secrets: Abandoned cities, the strongholds of inhuman powers, foul temples, degenerate tribes, and hidden lands ruled by obscene monstrosities. Any of these dangers might be waiting in the next valley over. Many of these places are unique and unrecorded

Humans dabble in supernatural powers at their peril. Occult learning is fantastically ancient, predating the rise of humankind; arcane lore comes from prehuman civilizations. his ancient lore is dangerous in the extreme, and the most likely outcome of taking up arcane studies is a horrible and grisly doom. Priestly magic is not quite as dangerous, but it is still rare.

The old races were not the first to inhabit Thule. he further back one travels, the more horrible and aberrant the ruling powers of the world become. A handful of Great Old Ones—entities as old as the Earth itself, or even older—lie dormant or imprisoned in the desolate places of the world.