Classification: Human (Pictish ethnicity);
distant past (at least back to 110,000 BC); pre-Cataclysmic era, Hyborian era, post-Hyborian era, first millenium
A.D., 11th century A.D., allegedly at least active into the 19th and early 20th
century (as well as the ages in-between);
Location/Base of Operations: (Pre-Cataclysmic Age) Pictish Isles (including Kurmonn & Tathel), later colony in Valusia, western
Thuria;
(Hyborian Age) Novum Terra, later Terra Incognito, remnant Atlantis,
west coast of Kush, west Thuria including Pictland and lands later known as
Cornwall;
(A.D.) Caledon (modern Scotland) and Cornwall, British Isles
Known Members:
Pre-Cataclysmic Age
Hyborian Age
A.D.
(Pre-Cataclysmic Age) Valusians;
(Hyborian Age) Ligureans;
formerly Arus
(A.D.) , Cormac na Connacht, Domnail,
formerly the Britons, Gaels
Enemies: (Pre-Cataclysmic Age) Atlanteans, Gaels, Kelts, Men of the Sea, Reindeer Men, Serpent Men;
(Hyborian Age) Aesir, Aquilonians, Arus, Bossonians, Cimmerians, Niord, Vanirmen, Worm of the Valley of
Broken Stones;
(A.D.) Britons, Publius
Calidius Falco, Gaels, Titus Germanicus, Legio IX Hispana, Legate Caius Estulitius Incitatus, Legio IX
Infernalis, Drusus Marcellinus Maximus, Quintus Claudius Nero, Northmen, Roman Empire, Lucius Alfenus Senecio, Emperor Septimius
Severus, Ssrhythssaa the Deathless, Titus Sulla, Worms of
the Earth,
First Appearance: (Historical) "The Lost Race" by Robert E. Howard (first
published in Weird Tales, January, 1927);
(Marvel) Creatures On the
Loose I#10 (March, 1971)
Powers/Abilities/Nature: All Picts possess dark skin, black hair and black (or very dark brown) eyes, except for a small percentage with blue eyes, possibly due to Kelt or Thulian ancestry. Most Noble and Alban Picts have an average range of intelligence, and muscular bodies, with the Noble Picts averaging medium height and the Alban Picts never attaining a height over four feet. The Savage Picts are generally shorter and more brutish in stature and temperament, due to having interbred with the neanderthal Reindeer Men, although the red hair of that race is dormant amongst the Savage Picts.
Their shamans tend to range in power, from powerful wizard to simple mummery. Many of the shamans possessed lifespans of more than a century, at least one effectively immortal due to a magic potion he imbibed. At least one of their number, Liuba, had become vampiric.
Some great leaders are known to be apothosized as gods in statue form after death.
Traits: Picts were a fierce tribal society, composed of great warriors, hunters, fishers, scouts and artisans. The Noble and Alban Picts generally were of average range of intelligence, but the Savage Picts were generally less so, often more brutish in stature and temperament. The Alban Picts, despite their shorter stature, were still fierce combatants, and skilled in subterranean life.
Among the rankings in Pict society were:
King or
Queen (also High King, Over-King, Chief of Chiefs) - Supreme leader of most or
all Pict tribes or clans assuming they have strength to hold them together
War Chief -
Temporary leader of a large number of Pict tribes or clans during time of war
with external threats
Chief or
Chieftain - leader of a Pict tribe or clan, rank generally hereditary from
father to son
Shaman -
religious leader of a Pict tribe or clan, often second or advisor to chief
Type: Bilaterally symmetric humanoid bipeds (human)
Eyes: Two (on head; generally black (or very dark brown))
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Five
Skin color: Swarthy (see comments)
Average height: (Noble Picts) Between 5'0" to 5'6";
(Savage Picts) between
4'6" to 5'0";
(Alban Picts) between 3'0" to 4'0"
| History: (Adventures of the X-Men#12 - BTS) <Hundreds of thousands of years ago> - After eons of tectonic drift, the geophysical configuration of continents on Earth were almost identical to that of the modern era, but some unrevealed catalyst, possibly a polar shift, forced the radical alteration of the continents. The continent known today as North America submerged beneath the ocean waves, the mountainous peaks of the landmass forming extensive island chains later known as the Pictish Isles, the Pictish Islands or the Isles of Sunset. The geotopography of other continents shifted as well, with Africa becoming known as Alkebulan, Antarctica becoming Pangea, Australia becoming the Nameless Continent, Eurasia becoming Thuria, and South America becoming the Southern Continent. Additionally the continents of Atlantis arose from the Western Ocean (modern Atlantic Ocean), and Lemuria and Mu from the Eastern Ocean (modern Pacific Ocean). (Scientific theory) - The evolution of the first
humans (homo sapiens) started in Africa, and humankind eventually began
emigrating across all the continents (see comments). |
|
 (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows) <c.
110,000 BC> - The northeastern coast of Thuria and the northwestern
coastline of an archipelago or island chain were joined by a narrow
neck of land known in the modern era as Beringia or the Bering land
bridge, far north of the Eastern Ocean or the Sea of Silent Waters.
Traveling eastward across this land bridge from Thuria came the
Nameless Tribe or First Race, who would come to be known as the Picts,
amongst the earliest of the Paleo-American migrations, and the chain of
islands they were to settle upon would come to be known as the Pictish
Isles.  This savage race of humans had been warriors and hunters for
untold centuries, strong and of medium height, but swift and lean and
muscular like leopards, and were reputed as "the First Men." And after
thousands of years upon these isles of broad and fertile plains, this
warrior tribe clad in the hides of beasts and of crudely chipped stone
implements taught themselves the arts of peace, becoming skilled in
agriculture and harvesting grain and fruits, to polish their implements
of stone, to spin and weave and to build huts, and to become skilled in
the making of pottery and the working of pelts.(Scientific theory) - For tens of thousands of years, tribal human populations continued to infrequently migrate from northeastern Thuria to the northwestern Pictish Isles along the Bering land bridge, which due to fluctuations in the sea level, would disappear beneath the waters for centuries at a time. These tribes would eventually spread throughout the Pictish Isles and the Southern Continent as the Paleo-American peoples, the ancestors of the indigenous peoples of North and South America, as well as the Picts. |
|
 (Handbook of the Conan Universe#1: Atlantis and the Pre-Cataclysmic Age) <c. 100,000 BC> - The Pre-Cataclysmic Age or the Thurian Age began as the first great human nations and cultures started to arise. (Savage Sword of Conan I#14: A King Kull Glossary, All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z#3: Council of Godheads) <c. 30,000 BC> - The god Valka, alleged son of Elder Goddess Gaea, began to be revered by numerous cultures, and was the chief deity of the Picts, Atlantean and Valusian peoples. Other gods and demons would eventually come to be honored and/or worshipped by the Pictish culture. (Wizard and Warrior -BTS) - The Picts dwelt amongst their isles, the largest being the island of Tathel. Tathel itself was shared by four tribes, the bards, sculptors and weaponsmiths of the Dano (or Danyo), the woodcrafting Nargi known for their fleet of war canoes, the sea hunting and coast dwelling Whale-Slayers, and the Tatheli, the largest and fiercest Pictish tribe which loosely ruled the others with an acknowledged Over-King. Other tribes that dominated the islands included the Borni, horsemen who resided on their own large island of Kurmonn and from whom the Mak Morn line would descend, the Hawkmoon tribe who warred with the Borni for centuries, the isolationist and antagonistic Sungara, the enigmatic and mysterious Wolf-Slayers (or Wolf People), and their enemies the Red Isle tribe. (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows - BTS) - The Reindeer Men, a savage race of red-bearded neanderthal giants, also known as the Beast-Men, dwelt within the forests of an unclaimed area of the Pictish Isles to the East. |
(Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows -BTS) - From the continent of Lemuria in the Eastern Ocean, far west of the Pictish Isles, came fleets of canoes bearing the reptilian humanoids the Men of the Sea, also known as the Second Race or Lemurians (not to be confused with either the Deviant or human populations of Lemuria), perhaps sprung from some strange sea monster as they were scaled as sharks and could survive for hours beneath the waters. The Men of the Sea were raiders, but were often beat back by the Pictish peoples over the centuries. (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#197/2 - BTS; Men of the Shadows - BTS) - The Picts became the enemy of the inhabitants of the continent of Atlantis, located to the east of the Pictish Isles in the Western Ocean. The Atlanteans, also known as the Third Race, and the Picts considered themselves hereditary enemies. (The
Shadow Kingdom) - Before the Picts allied with Valusia and during the reign
of Lion-fang, the seventh war chief of the Picts, he led an assault from the
Pictish Isles against the nation of Valusia, burning many castles in flame. The
Valusian king died on the red beaches that day, and his form revealed to be a
Serpent Man. (Savage Sword of Conan I#2/2 - BTS; Black Abyss - BTS) <c. 19,500 BC> - The Pictish Isles forged an alliance with the nation of Valusia in western Thuria, located to the east of Atlantis, an association which would endure over one thousand years. |
| (For the Witch of the Mists - BTS) - The mortal body of the goddess Aeysla died in Atlantis
generations before the age of Kull. Aeysla, also known as the Moon
Woman, Moon-Mother, Witch-Queen of
Atlantis and Witch of the Mists, was daughter of the moon god Golka.
She
was revered as a moon goddess by many cultures including the Picts of
Caledon, and she had the gift of prophecy. Upon her mortal death, her
divine essence relocated to the Cavern of Mists in
the mountains in far western Thuria, later known as Caledon (modern
Scotland). (Wizard and Warrior - BTS) - The earliest confirmed ancestors of the Mak Morn bloodline, whose descent included Brule the Spear-Slayer and Bran Mak Morn, began a few hundred years before the reign of King Kull of Valusia. Amongst them were skin clad tribal chiefs, painted and feathered warriors, shamans with bison skull masks and finger bone necklaces, and one or two island kings who held court in mud huts. There was also a legendary hero or two, revered for feats of personal strength or wholesale murder, deified by the Picts, perhaps as both Brule and Bran would one day be honored. Also, somewhere within their blood was a vagrant strain of Kelt or possibly Thulian, as the eyes of Brule were neither brown nor black, but rather a deep volcanic blue. |
|
(Wizard and Warrior - BTS) <18,500 BC> - Nial of the Tatheli
was acknowledged as the Over-King of the Pictish Isles, but his rule
was loose. He did not levy tribute against the Pictish tribes except
for the Nargi, Dano and Whale-slayers, who share the isle of Tathel
with his own tribe the Tatheli. He did not interfere with the affairs
of the other tribes nor interfere when two tribes went to war. After the
conflict was over, he would arbitrate matters and assign reparations.
And if any foreign nation moved against the Pictish Isles, Nial would
unite all the tribes to oppose the invaders.(Savage Sword of Conan I#197/2 - BTS) <18,500 BC> - The seemingly ancient Pictish shaman Gonar acted as consul to Nial, using his magicks and his accumulated wisdom to guide the Pictish people towards its destiny. He was one of the line of Gonar, a bloodline of formidable Pictish wizards who use their magicks to assist Pictish rulers and heroes, as well as their allies. It appeared that perhaps one male each generation of the Gonar bloodline was named Gonar, and each was taught all the accumulated wisdom and shamanistic magic of the preceding Gonars, from at least the late Pre-Cataclysmic Age to the 11th century AD. As each Gonar appeared ancient and shared the same name, it was rumored there was only one Gonar who was immortal. (Savage Sword of Conan I#197/2) <18,500 BC> - On Tatheli, Nial and Gonar led a conclave with the tribal leaders of the island, when an Atlantean raid drew away the men. The young warrior Kull of Atlantis used the diversion to attempt to abduct Valusian diplomat Dinaldo of Atl Volante, but he released his hostage after the demon Jaggta-Noga was summoned by Aa-Thak but banished by Gonar, demonstrating to Gonar that Kull was a man of honor. Gonar would later become an ally of Kull when the latter became king of Valusia. | |
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#132/2 - BTS) <18,500 BC> - A Pictish
fisherman, probably of the Borni tribe, captured a fish-like humanoid,
who dwelt in an ancient city beneath the Western Sea. Believing the
creature to be a sea god, the fisherman released it. The fisherman was
the father of
Brule, both of whom were ancestors of Bran Mak Morn. |
|
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#55/2 (fb); Wizard and Warrior) <18,500
BC> - The Borni and the Sungara engaged in a tribal war for
possession of a valley that was choice hunting land. Brule was given by
his father his own great iron sword. During the subsequent battle,
Brule slew the Sungara shaman Aa-Thak, and upon his chest won the scars
of the the Spear-Slayer, the elite warrior clan. (Kull the Conqueror III#4/2 - BTS) <18,500 BC> - Brule the Spear-Slayer became chieftain of the Borni and was a renowned Pict warrior. (Kull the Conqueror I#1-2; The Shadow Kingdom) <18,500 BC> - Brule later became the ambassador to the Kingdom of Valusia alongside the wise emissary Ka-Nu. Despite his hatred of the inhabitants of Atlantis and his reluctance to work alongside King Kull, the Atlantean having usurped the throne of Valusia, Brule and Kull overcame their mutual animosity and became close friends, overthrowing a plot by Serpent Men to conquer Valusia. (Conan Saga#97: The Kull Comics Chronology) <18,500 BC> - Brule returned from the Pictish Isles after defeating the evil wizard Ba-thek, and was accompanied by the Pictish shaman Gonar, who became a trusted associate of King Kull. This Gonar of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age was the earliest recorded shaman of his bloodline, with his descendants including Gonar of the Hyborian Age, Gonar of the third century, and Gonar of the eleventh century. |
 |
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 (fb)) <18,500 BC> - After a
strange battle in a dim land, King Kull gifted Brule a red jewel which
the Pict would wear inset within a ring. The gem would remain within
the Mak Morn bloodline for thousands of years. |
|
 (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS, Savage Sword of Conan I#43/2
(fb)) <18,500 BC> - The Pictish shaman Gonar, through eldritch means, communicated with his
distant descendant, Gonar of the third century. As Kull was needed in
the future era, Gonar placed upon him a Spell of Deep Sleep, and Kull
was transported to the year 207 AD to help Bran Mak Morn, the
descendant of Brule, in battle against Roman legions. After the battle,
Kull returned to his own era, at first thinking it was a dream, but
Gonar informed him that the battle truly occurred, as evidenced by his
wounds and reddened sword.(Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) <18,500 BC> - Probably either later during the reign of Kull or following it, Brule allegedly married and had children, founding the Mak Morn bloodline. The red jewel gifted to Brule would remain with the bloodline. (Savage Tales I#4 - BTS) <18,500 BC> - Probably either later during the reign of Kull or following it, Brule the Spear-Slayer died under unrevealed circumstances. So revered he was by his Pictish countrymen that he was deified, reputedly becoming apotheosized as a god and his soul residing within the statue known as the Dark God. The idol would remain within the possession of and worshipped by the Pictish people for millennia. |
|
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of
the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age) - A number of Picts established a
great colony, settling amongst the mountains of the southwest frontier
of Valusia, Thuria, to serve as a buffer against foreign invasion of Valusia from their enemies. (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#7, Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe) - The Deviant Empire located in Lemuria had conquered most of the human nations of the Earth, presumably including the Pictish Isles, in the centuries following the reign of Kull, with only Atlantis successful in resisting. The Deviants forced many of the conquered peoples to serve in armies to attack other human nations. (Sub-Mariner I#62/2-63/2, Savage Sword of Conan I#7: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 1 - The Pre-Cataclysmic Age, Eternals I#2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 (fb), Incredible Hercules#123 (fb); The Hyborian Age) <18,000 BC> - The Deviant Empire launched a massive assault on Atlantis, the only remaining human civilization to resist their campaign of conquest. King Kamuu of Atlantis ordered the magma pits beneath his capital city opened to destroy the invaders, while Atlantean sorcerers attempted to harness the power of the Axis Mundi. The Deviants also attacked the Celestial Second Host, which responded by detonating a powerful nuclear weapon in Lemuria. These events and other factors contributed to the Great Cataclysm, causing severe tectonic upheavals across the Earth. (Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age) <18,000 BC> - As a result of the Great Cataclysm, the geophysical configuration of continents on Earth were again forced to undergo radical alteration. The Pictish Isles arose from beneath the ocean waves, the extensive island chain was heaved up to form the mountain peaks of the new continent later known as Novum Terra. The geotopography of other continents shifted as well, with Alkebulan becoming known as Kush, the Nameless Continent becoming the Unknown Land, Pangea becoming the Frozen Land, the Southern Continent becoming Terra Incognito, and Thuria retaining the name of Thuria. The continents of Atlantis submerged beneath the Western Ocean (modern Atlantic Ocean) and Lemuria and Mu submerged beneath the Eastern Ocean (modern Pacific Ocean). |
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of
the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age) <18,000 BC> - The great
colony of Picts who had settled amongst the mountains of the southwest
frontier of Valusia, Thuria survived the Great Cataclysm untouched.
However, the changing environmental conditions created strange forms of
flora and fauna. Great mountains were heaved up from the Earth, thick
jungles covered the plains, great rivers cut their pathways to the
seas, and lakes submerged the ruins of ancient cities in fertile
valleys.(Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age, Legion From the Shadows - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS) <18,000 BC> - The inhabitants of the Pictish Isles were devastated by the upheaval of their continent, decimating much of the Pictish population. However, despite rumors that those remaining upon the resurfaced landmass were eradicated, a number of survivors endured, but were forced to flee the great volcanoes upon the west coast that were once their beloved isles. Their once fertile vineyard, the land had become a desert. Fleeing eastward, these now nomadic Picts migrated, driving the neanderthal Reindeer Men before them, until coming upon broad and rich plains far to the east, where they dwelt for centuries. The Reindeer Men ventured southward to Terra Incognito, the former Southern Continent. |
|
| (Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of
the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age) <18,000 BC> - A great colony
of Picts, settled among the mountains of the southern frontier of
Valusia, survived the Great Cataclysm comparatively untouched. However,
with the destruction of Atlantis, thousands of Atlantean tribesmen
traveled eastward by vessel to seek refuge in the thick jungles that
now existed to the south of the Pictish colony in western Thuria.
Forced to battle for their lives in the harsh conditions but managing
to retain vestiges of their advanced barbarism, the Atlantean survivors
eventually clashed with their Pictish neighbors to the north. The
colonial Picts, who had reverted to working with flint, outnumbered the
Atlanteans, who themselves were hurled back into a state of apelike
wildness. The conflict between Pict and Atlantean would last five
hundred years, with the continuous warfare reducing both sides to near
savagery. (Marvel Graphic Novel: Conan of the Isles - BTS, Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb) - BTS, Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of the Hyborians, Conan Saga#95: The Conan Comics Chronology, Chapter Seventeen; The Hyborian Age, Conan of the Isles - BTS, Legion From the Shadows - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS) <18,000 BC> - With the submergence of the continent of Atlantis, its peoples fled to the shores of other lands. Many survivors ventured westward to the former Pictish Isles, now the continent of Novum Terra, and founded the colonies of Mayapan, Poseidonis and Zothique, which would eventually evolve into great civilizations. Thousands more sailed eastward and sought refuge upon the ravaged western Thuria, where they gradually interbred with the elder Cimmerian tribes, and their advanced culture grew more barbaric as they were forced to battle constantly for their lives. They came into contact with the Pictish nation, and the two barbaric kingdoms clashed in a series of bloody wars, gradually halting the cultural development of both Atlantean and Pict. Some remnants of continental Atlantis still remained above the waves, upon one of which a handful of Atlanteans continued to dwell. (Scientific theory) - Human tribal populations continued their infrequent migration from northeastern Thuria to northwestern Novum Terra along the Bering land bridge, which due to fluctuations in the sea level, would disappear beneath the waters for centuries at a time. These tribes continued to spread throughout Novum Terra and Terra Incognito as the Paleo-American peoples, the ancestors of the indigenous peoples of North and South America, as well as possibly Inupak's tribe and the Chuma, Malagu and Shuta tribes of Novum Terra, and the Inka culture of Terra Incognito. | |
(Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Legion From the Shadows - BTS,
Men of the Shadows - BTS) - Aboding broad and rich plains of eastern
Novum Terra for centuries, the nomadic branch of the Picts were forced
southward as the great ice fields came down from the Arctic, which
began one thousand years of wandering. Venturing to Terra
Incognito, these nomadic Picts were ever driving the Reindeer Men before
them, and after a great war, the Reindeer Men fled to the south of the
continent. Traveling across a series of marshy islands that at that
time had spanned the ocean, the Reindeer Men crossed over to Kush,
gradually wandering northward to an isolated location in western
Thuria. The Men of the Sea entered into Novum Terra, and
despite understanding little of cultivation or crafting, they held
knowledge of curious architecture, and from their encounters with the
Picts they had learned to make tools of argillite, jade and obsidian.(Legion from the Shadows - BTS) - Within the highlands of western Thuria, the Reindeer Men reputedly took command of the ancient stone fortress of Baal-dor, but ultimately abandoned it. (The Hyborian Age) <17,500 BC> - The continual warfare between the Atlanteans and Picts in western Thuria have reduced both cultures into nations of savages. These "savage" Picts maintained the advantage of unity and numbers, while the Atlanteans had fallen socially into loosely bound clans. The Lesser Cataclysm then struck, further altering the landmasses, and the resultant devastation completed the ruin of the Pictish and Atlantean cultures that their tribal wars had begun. (Savage Sword of Conan I#17/2 - BTS, Legion from the Shadows - BTS) - The Worms of the Earth, presumably either devolved Serpent Men or crossbreeds between snakes and Serpent Men, were reputedly the first race to dwell in the Pictish Wilderness (part of modern Britain). Arriving Pictish settlers drove the Worms from the surface, forcing them to take refuge within their burrows and caverns. Over the centuries, as the Worms, also known as the Children of the Night and the People of the Dark, withdrew deeper into the Earth, they became more bestial in appearance and their magical powers grew. They revered the Black Stone, a mystical orb of great eldritch power. It is believed that the legends of "Little People" who stole away those who came too close to their sleeping hills were inspired by them. |
|
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows - BTS) - Although no ice sheets drifted to Terra Incognito, the nomadic Picts
found it a dank and swampy, serpent-haunted land, so they
constructed vessels and sailed to one of the remnant isles of Atlantis
that were spared the sinking of the main continent. There the Picts encountered
remnant Atlanteans, also known as the Third Race, Cro-Magnon physical giants who inhabited
caves and painted images of men and beasts upon their cavern walls.
They were driven forth by the nomadic Picts, who were also making their way
to western Thuria, where they waged savage warfare with the Reindeer Men dispatched there before them. |
|
| (Legion from the Shadows - BTS) - The Pictish woman Liuba established
herself as a queen of the Pictish clans of Atlantis. A powerful
warrior-sorceress, she was eventually transformed into a vampire or
revenant under unrevealed circumstances. She was driven forth during
the great wars of the clans, at some point fleeing to western Thuria
(modern Scotland) and entombed alive within Kestrel Scaur, an
ensorcelled barrow that was doubly guarded by a ring of sacred rowans
to keep her from walking by night. (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows - BTS) - As the nomadic Picts drove forth the conquered remnant Atlanteans during the war, a wise and ancient Atlantean wizard placed a curse upon that remnant isle of Atlantis, so that it would become unknown to the tribes of men: No vessel from that isle would ever gain another shore, and no foreign vessel should ever see the remnant isle again. (Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2 - BTS, Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); The Lost Race - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS) - The nomadic Picts departed Atlantis, oaring from island to island until the reached the western shores of Kush, and then sailing northward up the coast until arriving at the Middle Sea, also called the Inland Sea, which at this time separated much of Thuria from Kush (later during the Hyborian Age, the sea drained to reveal the lands of Argos, western Koth and the western lands of Shem, and -- after the waters returned millennia later -- would be known as the Mediterranean Sea). They traversed snowcapped mountains, where some remained to slay any enemy who may follow. Finally their thousand year exodus completed, the nomadic Picts came to fertile plains in lands near the area now known as Cornwall, and aboded there for centuries, growing strong and mighty, and they again began to spread over the world. As evidence in the modern world would attest, they ranged from the Afric deserts to the Baltic forests, from the Nile to the peaks of Alba, where they grew grain, grazed cattle an weaved cloth. They built their crannogs upon the Alpen lakes and reared stone temples on the plains of Britain. Two great kings arose in the land, one conquering and driving out the other, so many Picts constructed boats and set sail for fertile plains by the far off cliffs that gleamed white in the sunlight. These nomadic Picts again encountered remnant Atlanteans and now cave-dwelling neanderthal Reindeer Men and drove both before them, with the Reindeer Men fleeing to the forests and mountains of the remote north and west. |
 |
|
(Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of
the Hyborians; The Hyborian Age) <16,500 BC> - One thousand
years after the Lesser Cataclysm, the savage Picts remained an untamed
people in southwest Thuria, defying nature itself by neither advancing
or retrogressing, the truest definition of barbaric savagery. They
still retained the name "Pict," which has become a term describing
"men" - themselves. Amongst the forest-covered hills to the north of
them, the apelike descendants of the Atlanteans dwell in scattered
clans without fire and using only the most primitive of speech, but
they have started their slow climb back to a semblance of culture. |
 (Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); The Lost Race - BTS, Men of the ShadowsThe
Hyborian Age) - From the dim lands of the north and the shores of the
far North Sea came the Kelts, also known as the Celts or the Fourth
Race, bearing bronze swords and spears over the Pictish flint. They were tall and
powerful men with tawny hair and grey eyes, and their attacks on
Pictish territory drove both versions of the Pictish culture before
them. There were the "savage" Picts, survivors of the Thurian colony that
degenerated into barbaric savagery due to unending war with the
Atlantean refugees, and the nomadic and more "noble" Picts, who despite
the decimation of their homeland and subsequent exodus, had retained a
semblance of their noble culture. The two drifts of the Picts were
reunited when they fled to the remote north and west mountains for a time, the
barren lands where they had driven the Reindeer Men. The savage Picts
eventually interbred with the Reindeer Men, redheaded neanderthal
giants, causing them to degenerate as ages passed, becoming smaller and
more brutish in stature and temperament over the millennia. The "noble"
Picts however, being descended from ancient lines of Pictish
chieftains, having kept its bloodline pure through the ages and
scouring the known world for women of the Old Race, resumed their
position of leadership over the remnants of the Pictish people. To the
northwest, the descendants of the Atlanteans have slowly climbed
back from primitive apedom into primitive savagery.
(Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2 - BTS, Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb); The Lost Race - BTS) - Whereas most of the Picts fled from the Kelts to
the mountains of the north and the west, many Picts swore to never
abandon the land they had fought for and took refuge in the caves and
tunnels beneath the lands later known as Cornwall. Within the caves
they found and the caves they made, these Picts would eventually assume
a diminutive stature, no more than four feet in height, and sitings of
them would be attributed to elves and dwarves of legend. They became known as the Alban Picts and retained
a deep hatred for not only the Kelts but for all people who drove out
others before them. The Alban Picts were ruled by their
high chieftain, who had entered the caverns as a young man and never left as
his fellow Picts do on occassion. He alone knew how to brew a magical draft to
heal his body when it grows weak, and was effectively immortal. (Conan the Adventurer#3 - BTS) - The blood feud between the Picts and the Cimmerians, the descendants of their ancestral enemies the Atlanteans, persevered, their conflict was "older than the world." |
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(King Conan#2 - BTS; The Black Sphinx of Nebthu - BTS, GURPS Conan) - During the early years of the Hyborian drift, a number of sorcerers
from Acheron known as the Ligureans fled their homeland and fled deeply
into the Pictish Wilderness. Their arcane practices became entwined
with their new forest home, and over time they abandoned their
Acheronian culture, began to accept Hyborian members, and became
druidic priests opposed to the worship of Jhebbal Sag. The Picts
attempted to exterminate the Ligureans, but they were easily repulsed
by Ligurean sorcery, and they abandoned their efforts. The Pictish people
eventually would come to deeply respect the Ligurean druids. (Savage Sword of Conan I#12: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 3 - The Hyborian Kingdoms; The Hyborian Age) <14,000 BC> - The Hyborian Age began as the first Hyborian nations and cultures began to arise. |
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(Savage Sword of Conan I#12: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 3 - The
Hyborian Kingdoms; The Hyborian Age) - South of the Pictish Wilderness,
within the broad Valley of Zingg and protected by great mountains,
nomadic savages akin to the Shemites had settled and established an
advanced agricultural system. Eventually, a tribe of Picts invaded and conquered this agricultural people, settling amongst them, and then they in turn were conquered by a roving Hyborian tribe. From the mingled elements of this multiracial people arose the kingdom of Zingara. (Supernatural Thrillers#3, Conan: Serpent War#1 (fb),#4 (fb); The Valley of the Worm)  - A nomadic tribe of five hundred Aesir warriors
and their kin journeyed southward from Aesgaard, Nordheim into the
Pictish Wilderness. They briefly battled a tribe of Picts, but peace
was established through the efforts of the Aesir Niord and the Pict
Gorm (not to be confused with the king Gorm of circa 9500 BC). When the tribes were threatened by the Worm of the Valley of Broken Stones, Niord and Gorm worked together to finally slaughter it, but in doing so Niord sacrificed his life. (Handbook of the Conan Universe#1: Pictland) - By the late Hyborian Age, the Picts primarily dwelt within the realm of Pictland (also known as the Pictish Wilderness, Pictish Wild and Pictish Wilds), occupying the coastal area of western Thuria along the Western Ocean and bordering Aquilonia, Cimmeria, Vanaheim and Zingara. Their eastern territory was marked by the Bossonian Marches, a stretch of land that acted as a defensive bulwark between Aquilonia and the Pictish Wilderness. The Aquilonian frontier of Pictland appeared to fluctuate between Black River (or Yaba Nutchi in Pictish) to the west and Thunder River to the east. The inhabitants of Pictland were of numerous tribes and clans, often but not always affiliated with animal totems, with little unity amongst them and intertribal warfare common. Amongst the tribes were the Gwaweli tribe, worshipers of the god of darkness and fear, Jhebbal Sag; the Sea-Land tribe, the most primitive, living in coastal villages, scavenging for carcasses of walrus and whale, and fishing the coastal waters but never venturing forth as seafarers; the Snow-Lion tribe which dwelt in snowy wastes of northern Cimmeria near the Cimmerian clans Greybear and Snowhawk and the Btoth, Cormorant, Eagle, Hawk, Hornbill, Ktonpha, Oranadi, Raven, Sea-Falcon, Sharks' Teeth, Tantaka, Turtle, Wildcat, Wolf and Wolfmen tribes. |
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(Savage
Sword of Conan I#137 (fb)) <10,000 BC> - The XXI Legion of
the Aquilonian Army marched into the Pictish Wilderness, transporting a
tribute of gold plate to bribe the Pictish King Grntar for his
allegiance. The Hyperborean mercenaries accompanying the legion
attempted to steal the gold, but the battle resulted in the deaths of
the entire legion and the mercenaries except for Galoric, the Tribune
of the Imperial Legions, who ended up becoming the counselor for another
Pictish tribal chieftain Ptaka. The gold was found and ended up in the
possession of the king of the Btoth tribe of Picts. (Savage Tales#4 - BTS) <10,000 BC> - The Dark God idol, the deified Brule, was worshipped by the Picts as their god and located in Pictland. This tribe of Picts was led by the chieftain Brogar (not to be confused with Brogar of the 11th century). Evil Picts stole the effigy and fled north to Vanaheim, and Brogar and his warriors tracked them for months. Upon a seven league lake in Vanaheim, the evil Picts encountered a group of Vanirmen near the Isle of Swords, and all from both sides were slain in the subsequent battle, leaving only the Dark God adrift in the boat. | |
(Savage Tales#4, Sword of Conan II#6 - BTS) <10,000 BC> - Conan the Cimmerian sailed
across the stormy seven league lake in Vanaheim in pursuit of Thorfel the Fair (not to be confused with the 11th century Thorfel the Fair), whose Vanirmen had abducted Mala,
a beloved from his youth in Cimmeria. He found a vessel adrift and
within it the bodies of
several dead Vanir and Picts. He also recovered the idol of the Dark
God from the vessel, and after noting how light the statue seemed, soon
arrived at the Isle of Swords. Despite hiding his vessel, two Vanir
found it and returned with the Dark God to Thorfel. Conan watched in
horror as Mala killed herself rather than allow herself to be wed to
Thorfel by a captured priest of Mitra.
The enraged Conan slaughtered
many of the Vanirmen, the remainder of them being killed with the
arrival of Brogar and his war party. Brogar thanked Conan for
recovering their Dark God, the only god they had left, and the Picts
depart by boat from the isle with the idol, taking with them Thorgeir,
nephew of Thorfel, as captive. The Mitran priest told Conan that he may
follow the Picts, to learn the secret of their dark faiths that
sustained them.
(Conan: The Ravagers Out of Time) <10,000 BC> - In northern
Turan, Conan the Cimmerian and Red Sonja of Hyrkania first encountered
the Pictish shaman Gonar when they rescued him from a Turanian caravan.
This Gonar of the Hyborian Age was one of the bloodline of Gonar.(Savage Sword of Conan I#26-27; Beyond the Black River) <10,000 BC> - After King Numedides of Aquilonia annexed land from the Pictish Wilderness to establish the new province of Conajohara, the Pictish shaman Zogar Sag, son of the god of darkness and fear, Jhebbal Sag, united many of the Pictish tribes to overwhelm the Aquilonian Fort Tuscelan at the Black River. The intervention of Conan the Cimmerian and Balthus of Tauran saved many of the nearby settlers, and despite the death of Balthus, Conan managed to kill Zogar Sag. (King Conan#2 - BTS; The Black Sphinx of Nebthu - BTS) <10,000 BC> - The tribes of Pictland forged a loosely held together alliance, the Pictish Confederation, to stand united against Aquilonia and other external enemies. The Pictish chief Dekanawatha Blood-Ax was chosen to represent the interests of the Pictish Confederation when dealing with Aquilonia. Dekanawatha held a great respect for Diviatix, a Ligurean druid whose people also dwelt in Pictland, and often accepted his council. |
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 (King Conan#9) <10,000 BC> - Conan of Cimmeria, now King of Aquilonia, traveled with his son Conn to meet with Pictish chief Dekanawatha Blood-Ax to maintain peace. The Pictish shaman Goranda Zek tried to sabotage the diplomatic effort, abducting Conn as well as Dekanawatha's son Akenak, and attempting to slay Conan and Dekanawatha with the demon Brown Man of the River. Dekanawatha slew Goranda Zek and continued negotiations with King Conan. |
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(Savage Sword of Conan I#15: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 4 - The
Beginning of the End; The Hyborian Age) <9500 BC> - The Picts
were growing in population and power, and they had benefited from their
contact with the Hyborian nations, but had always fiercely resisted
that contact. They had learned to crudely work copper and tin, metals
found scantily in the Pictish Wilderness, and the latter acquired from
raids into Zingara. They traded hides, whale teeth, walrus tusks and
other items, and no longer living in caves, the Picts now build tents
of hide and crude huts, replicated from the Bossonian style. They still
hunted game and fished, but also learned to plant grain, although they
often plundered it from the neighboring Bossonians and Zingarans. They
lived in scattered clans generally feuding with one another, their
simple customs bloodthirsty and utterly inexplicable to the civilized
nations. They possessed no direct contact with the Hyborian realms, as
the Bossonian marches were a buffer between the Pictish Wilderness and
Aquilonia. | |
(Savage Sword of Conan I#15: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 4 - The
Beginning of the End, Savage Sword of Conan I#16: The Hyborian Age,
Chapter 5 - Fire and Slaughter; The Hyborian Age) <9500 BC> - The Nemedian priest Arus, a reformer and devout follower of Mitra, the god of light and justice, undaunted by tales of the atrocities of the
Picts, ventured into the western wilds to introduce the gentle worship
of Mitra. Arus was brought before the Pictish chieftain Gorm (not to be confused with Gorm, ally of Niord), around
twenty five years of age, who possessed a higher than usual
intelligence and an instinct for conquest and empire building. Gorm
granted Arus permission to remain amongst his tribe unbutchered, a
precedent unheard of amongst the Picts, preaching against the Pictish
traditions of human sacrifice, blood feuds, and burning captives alive,
and expounding the eternal truths of Mitra. But Gorm also listened
intently to the tales of the wealth and power of the Hyborian kingdoms
as Arus appealed to his sense of material gain. Arus discovered vast
deposits of iron ore in the Pictish hills and taught them to mine,
smelt and forge that iron into the implements of agriculture, unaware
the iron was being smithed into weapons of war. Arus also educated Gorm
on the lands beyond his borders, but the chieftain mainly absorbed
information of battle tactics and military strategy. Gorm possessed an
interest in the civilized lands of the known world, and had Arus
conduct him and his warriors through the Bossonian marches into the
outside world, where they claimed to be converts to the ways of Mitra.
The Picts served as mercenaries in the Aquilonian armies, secretly
learning greater knowledge in civilized warfare and armor forging and
weaponsmithing, and then returned home, their service completed, to share
their acquired wisdom. Gorm asserted his dominance over the other
clans, some through war and others through diplomacy, gradually
becoming the chief of chiefs, and in uniting the Pictish tribes, the
nearest approach to an Over-King the Picts had had in hundreds of years.(Savage Sword of Conan I#16: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 5 - Fire and Slaughter, Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The Darkness... and the Dawn; The Hyborian Age) <9500 BC> - Gorm, clad in a corselet of silvered mail instead of the tiger skin, moved against the Bossonian frontiers in war and plunder, leading hordes of now formidable Pictish warriors wielding weapons of steel. Arus attempted to undo the work he had unwittingly wrought, but was killed by a drunken Pict who brained him. Gorm, not without gratitude to the priest of Mitra, would set Arus' skull atop the cairn of Arus. The forces of the Pictish Empire assaulted the Bossonian borders with renewed strength and vigor, and the Bossonians were barely able to hold their lines, having found themselves at a disadvantage with much of their military being drawn away by Aquilonia to aid in their military campaign against Nemedia. Hearing word of the conflict in their homeland, entire Bossonian regiments left the Nemedian campaign and marched to the western frontier, where they managed to defeat the Pictish invaders in a great battle. Their desertion, however, led to the defeat of the Aquilonians by the Nemedians, the Aquilonians secretly sent regiments to the marches, where the Bossonian chiefs held a great conclave to prepare an expedition against the Picts. Savage Shemitish soldiers hired by the Aquilonians massacred the unarmed Bossonian chiefs, followed by Aquilonian forces ravaging the length of the Bossonian marches before departing, leaving the ruined and unprotected land behind. Gorm, now an old man, soon led his empire eastward, and with no walled villages in their path, they violently swept the remnants of the Bossonians out of existence. The Picts then swarmed into Aquilonia, looting and burning whole cities, with Aquilonia unable to defend itself with most of its forces gathered eastward against Nemedia and elsewhere. With the fall of the Aquilonian Empire, having went down in fire and blood, the Hyborian nations once allied with the collapsed empire withdrew, and the resultant power struggle decimated the lands. The Pictish Empire now ruled the former Aquilonian territories with an iron hand, practically overwhelming the inhabitants. They rapidly moved eastwards through Zingara, Argos and Ophir, but found their advancements halted by Hyrkanians hordes encroaching from the east, both sides clashing in the nation of Koth. Nemedia engaged a tribe of Aesir as mercenaries, and Over-King Gorm was slain by Hialmar, a chief of the Nemedian Aesir. Gorm had nearly been 100 years old, and in the seventy-five years since he first encountered Arus, he engineered the fall of the Aquilonian Empire and the rise the newer Pictish Empire. |
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(Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The
Darkness... and the Dawn; The Hyborian Age) - For a short age, Pict and
Hyrkanian snarled at each other over the ruins of their conquered
world. The glacial ages began, and the advancing ice sheets forced many
of the Aesir and Vanir tribes southward, driving the Cimmerians before
them. The Cimmerians surged across and destroyed the realm of
Gunderland, and then marched across the former Aquilonia, hewing a trail
through the Pictish Empire. Hordes of Aesir and Vanir soon followed and
they too clashed with the Picts, as well as the kingdom of Nemedia,
itself now populated by the descendants of the previously retained
Aesir mercenaries, who now considered themselves Nemedians as well.
Nemedia was overthrown, but the civilized Aesir fled before their wilder
kinsmen, coming into the ancient lands of Koth, expelling both the Pict
and Hyrkanian invaders. Across western Thuria, the Picts and Hyrkanians
were staggering before the younger and fiercer Aesir and Vanir
barbarians, and yet the Picts still held Aquilonia, part of Zingara,
and the western coast of the continent. | |
(Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The
Darkness... and the Dawn; The Hyborian Age) <8000 BC> - Another great convulsion of the Earth known as the Post-Hyborian
Cataclysm occurred, with the geophysical configuration of continents on
Earth again forced to undergo radical alteration, returning to the
state almost identical to that known in the modern era. The
geotopography of the continents shifted, with the Frozen Land eventually becoming
known as Antarctica, Kush becoming Africa, Novum Terra becoming North
America, Terra Incognito becoming South America, Thuria becoming
Eurasia (Europe and Asia), and the Unknown Land becoming Australia. In
Thuria, great sections of the western coast sank, and Vanaheim and
western Aesgaard, both uninhabited and glacier haunted wastes for a
century, vanished beneath the waves, as did the Pictish Wilderness and
Bossonian marches. The ocean flowed around the mountains of western
Cimmeria and formed the North Sea, with the mountains themselves
becoming the islands later known as the British Isles.(Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The Darkness... and the Dawn; The Hyborian Age) - Upon the western isle later known as Britain, the remnants of the Picts, reduced by the Great Cataclysm to the status of stone age savages, with the incredible virility of their race, once more came to possess the land, until at a later age they were overthrown by the westward drift of the descendants of the Cimmerians and Nordics. The tribal remnants of the Picts would remain within Caledon, the lands of northern Britain, for thousands of years. (The Night of the Wolf - BTS)
- One branch of the Picts drifted even further to the north than those in
Caledon, settling amongst the northern isles of Golara, also known as Shetland
or the Shetland Islands to the Scots and Hjaltland in Old Norse, about 110
miles northeast of Scotland. (The Hyborian Age; historical accounts) <900 BC-27 BC> - The Etruscan civilization of ancient Italy thrived in the territory later known as modern Tuscany, northern Lazio and western Umbria, having originally dwelt in the ancient kingdom of Koth. The people descendants of an admixture of Pictish, Hyrkanian and Stygian bloodlines, the Etruscan culture arose around 900 BC, before becoming influenced by ancient Greek culture circa 750 BC. The Etruscans began assimilation into Roman society in the late 4th century resulting from the Roman–Etruscan Wars, and the Etruscans territory was incorporated into the newly established Roman Empire in 27 BC. (Savage Sword of Conan I#17/2 - BTS) <300 BC> - The tribes of the Caledonian Picts were united under an acknowledged king, the last king the Pictish people would see for five centuries. After the end of his kingship, the Picts split into several small feuding tribes over the following five hundred years. (Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2-#69/2; The Lost Race) <First century BC> - While disguised as wolf, the Alban Pict's lesser chieftain, Berula, was assaulted by a Panther. Happening upon this conflict, Briton warrior Cororuc defended the wounded apparent wolf. Discovering the footprints of the wolf walking on two legs before vanishing, Cororuc suspected it was a werewolf.
After Cororuc subsequently was assaulted by and beheaded
the bandit chief Bruruc, the Briton was subdued by diminutive Alban
Picts while fleeing Bruruc's bandit followers. The Picts bound and
carried Cororuc into their hidden but extensive
cavern system, and he was brought before their immortalchieftain, who ruled his
people for thousands of years, retaining a deep hatred for any people who
invaded their lands. The chief sought to burn Cororuc at the stake, as his
Briton ancestors were invaders, but the lesser chieftain Berula interceded, telling
the high chieftain that the Briton had rescued him from a panther previously
while he was disguised as a wolf. The elder chief reluctantly set him free, and
Cororuc was released to honor the debt, and Berula brought him to a nearby
Briton village, giving him gifts and they parted as friends. (Historical accounts) <43-87 AD> - The Roman Empire began its conquest of Brittania, engaging in countless battles with the indigenous tribes as it advanced as far north as central Caledon. The Picts were also known as Picti in Latin (thought to derive from the Latin pictus or "painted," a reference to a Pictish practice of tattooing), Cruithni in Old Irish, and Prydyn in Old Welsh. |
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(Savage Sword of Conan I#103/2 - BTS; Men of the Shadows - BTS, Legion
From the Shadows - BTS) <104 AD> - The Pictish shaman Gonar
was born. He was one of the ancient bloodline of Gonar. | |
(Historical accounts) <122 AD> - The construction of Hadrian's
Wall (Vallum Aelium in Latin), also known as the Roman Wall or Picts'
Wall, a defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia,
started during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The length of the Wall was
80 Roman miles (or 73 modern miles), covering the entire width of the
island from the town Bowness-on-Solway in the west to the town Wallsend
on Tyne on the River Tyne in the east. The Wall was intended for use as
a strong defensive barrier to protect the Roman conquered lands to the
south from the barbarian tribes to the north.(Legion From the Shadows) <Late spring, 128 AD> - Publius Calidius Falco and his Legio IX Hispana ("9th Legion – Spanish" in Latin) of the Roman army advanced northward into Caledon to lay waste to all tribes before them. With six thousand legionaries and two thousand auxiliary cavalry, as well as many women, children and slaves with their baggage train, they moved into the Caledonian Highlands, but were ambushed at Serpent Gorge by over ten thousand Picts. The Picts were led by their chieftains Othna Mak Morn of the Wolf Clan and Utha Mak Dunn of the Raven Clan, as well as the Pictish shaman Gonar. Most of the Legio IX Hispana were killed, but Calidius Falco and others found refuge in a large cairn, the entrance of which Othna ordered buried. Othna Mak Morn was the war chief who united the scattered tribes against the Romans, but with his death from injuries sustained during the battle, the alliance was short lived. He had allowed his infant son Berul Crookback, born with a withered arm and a crooked back, to live to ensure the continuation of the male Mak Morn bloodline. Berul later father Malis Mak Morn. The Legio IX Hispana, rather than die within the cairn, were captured by the degenerate Worms of the Earth, and their ruler, the Serpent Man Ssrhythssaa the Deathless, forced the survivors to breed with the Worms to strengthen their numbers. Calidius Falco included great-grandson Quintus Claudius Nero, who was part Worm. | |
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(Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <Early 180s AD> - Bran Mak Morn,
a noble Pict, was born to Malis Mak Morn, chieftain of the Wolf Clan,
and his wife Gydda. In the year of his birth, the men of Caledon
attacked and destroyed some of the Antonine Wall, which once
represented the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire. |
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 (Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <190 AD> - Morgain, a noble Pict and younger sister of Bran, was born to Malis Mak Morn and Gydda. No other siblings had survived past infancy. (Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <196 AD> - Malis Mak Morn fell in a bloody assault against Hadrian's Wall. His wife Gydda, consumed with grief, did not long survive his passing. (Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <Late 190s AD> - At the age of sixteen, the young Bran Mak Morn and other Picts swarmed over Hadrian's Wall, spending months drenching his sword in Roman blood to make them atone for their oppression of Caledon. The Picts burned the Romans' forts, watchtowers, camps, and towns, and they pulled down great sections of their mighty wall. However, Bran and the Picts could not overtake the larger Roman encampments, and Bran's army broke apart into bands of reavers at the first show of Roman resistance. The Picts sought to engage in old feuds and easy plunder. (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 (fb)) - Bran, rising by his own efforts from the negligent position of the son of the Wolf Clan chief, quickly gained power and loosely united the feuding Pictish tribes who had been split for over five hundred years, becoming the King of Caledon (modern Scotland) during the Roman occupation of Brittania (modern Britain). Bran proved to be a brave and wise ruler, who attempted to convince the Pictish clans to end their feuds to present a solid front against their foreign foes, to end their bloody rituals and end their worship of the Serpent. He also worked to forge alliances with the other peoples of the British Isles, the Gaels and the Britons. | |
 (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) - As the King of the Caledonian Picts, Bran Mak Morn wore an iron crown resembling a circlet upon his brow. The red jewel once gifted from Kull to Brule, which had remained within the Mak Morn bloodline for thousands of years, was inset within the crown. (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 (fb); Legion From the Shadows - BTS) - Bran decided to have the ancient fortress of Baal-dor reconstructed, as the Pictish keep commanded a position of strength in the Highlands of Caledon. The stone walls had remained in ruin until Bran had undertaken its restoration. Pictish legends held that Baal-dor had been a citadel of the Reindeer Men, the race of red-bearded giants whom the Picts had battled in the ages past. (Savage Sword of Conan I#102/2-104/2,#106/2; Men of the Shadows) <205 AD> - After a legion of five hundred Roman soldiers searching for a Pictish priest was massacred by Pict warriors in Caledon, the one remaining survivor, the Norseman was spared by Bran. When Pictish shaman Gonar wanted to sacrifice the Norseman to their gods, Bran, who was attempting to end the human sacrifices amongst the Picts, challenged Gonar to an arcane battle of wills. Witnessing the wolf totem of Bran before losing, Gonar accepted Bran's authority. Gonar subsequently told of the origins of the Pictish race and ultimately noted how their time was soon to pass. |
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 (Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2 - BTS) <206 AD> - To better understand the threat the Roman Empire posed to Caledon, Bran Mak Morn assumed the identity of Partha Mac Othna (possibly named after his great-grandfather Othna Mak Morn) and disguised himself as a Pictish emissary to Rome. Bran and his vassal Grom, an old war chief, remained at the Roman fort of Eboracum, located in Eboracum, Brittania (modern York, North Yorkshire, England) and observed its military governor Titus Sulla. (Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2-17/2; Worms of the Earth) <206 AD> - Giving Grom his bronze seal that would allow him free passage to leave Eboracum, Bran ordered Grom to head north and have his ally Cormac na Connacht of the Isle of Erin (modern Ireland) to have his Gaelic forces sweep the frontier north of Hadrian's Wall. This would cause Titus Sulla to send Caius Camillius to lead Roman forces north, while Sulla himself would head west to secure himself in the Tower of Trajan. Via an alliance with Atla, Bran enlisted the Worms of the Earth to abduct Titus Sulla, whom Bran then beheaded. (Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <206 AD> - Titus Sulla was succeeded as the Roman governor of Brittania by Lucius Alfenus Senecio. Alfenus Senecio would strive ineffectively for months to subdue the rebellious tribes of Caledon. |
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(For the Witch of the Mists - BTS) <206 AD> - Drusus Marcellinus Maximus, High Tribune of the Sixth Legion, a Roman assigned to
Britannia the year prior, began to actively engage in battle against
the Pictish nation. He was also a sorcerer who sought to use the
ancient magicks of the British Isles to enhance his power. (For the Witch of the Mists) <207 AD> - Following the divination of the shaman Gonar, Bran journeyed to the Cavern of Mists in the mountains far to the west of Caledon, where the spirit of Aeysla, daughter of the moon god Golka, foretold that Bran would journey to Rome to recover the mortal with whom she would merge to walk upon the Earth again. Bran recovered an amulet of Aeysla, but was soon captured by the Roman forces of Drusus Marcellinus Maximus, High Tribune of the Sixth Legion and a sorcerer, who sent him to Rome itself as tribute to Emperor Septimius Severus. During the voyage to Rome, due to a clerical error he was purchased as a slave by Claudius Argo. Cornelia, the wife of Claudius Argo and secretly a sorceress, suspected the slave "Bran" was truly the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn. Bran learned that her slave Sirena, a twenty year old orphan from Ionia (located in modern Turkey), was the chosen of Aeysla when he placed the amulet of Aeysla upon her. During Bran's two month absence, his ally Grom had been instigating revolts against the Roman forces. Bran and Sirena crossed Britannia to its west coast, where his allies from the Isle of Erin, Cormac na Connacht and the druid Caradach, sailed them to near the Cavern of Mists, and the spirit of Aeysla merged with Sirena. The Roman soldiers were turned back first by the guardian spirits protecting Aeysla, then by the arrival of Pictish forces led by Gonar and Grom. (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) <207 AD> - The occupying Roman forces led by Marcus Sulius prepared for a major assault on Caledon with eighteen hundred soldiers. To oppose them, Bran formed an alliance of his loosely federated Pictish tribes, including those led by tribal chieftains Bocah and Gron, the Celtic horsemen led by the Gaels Cormac na Connacht and Domnail, and the Britons and their war chariots. | |
 (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) <207 AD> - Northmen from
Norway raided the countries of the south in their galleys, ravaging the
coasts and burning villages of the Picts of Caledon. Bran Mak Morn
burned their longships and ambushed the Northmen, and he threatened to cut
them down with thrice their number of bowmen hidden in the forested
hills. He spared them when the Northman leader Rognar swore to lead his
three hundred warriors in an alliance against the Romans.(Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) <207 AD> - An arrow fired by a Roman scout killed the Northman leader Rognar. With the death of their leader, the Northman Wulfhere assumed command of his raiders, and feeling no longer bound by the oath of Rognar to aid Bran Mak Morn, threatened to have his men side with the Romans unless Bran could ensure they would be led by a king who was neither Pict, Gael nor Briton. (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2-43/2; Kings of the Night) <207 AD> - Bran Mak Morn and Cormac na Connacht witnessed as the Pictish shaman Gonar communicated with his Pre-Cataclysmic Age ancestor Gonar through eldritch means and summoned the Valusian king Kull, using the red jewel in Bran's iron crown as a beacon to draw him across the centuries. Kull slew Wulfhere in combat and agreed to lead the Northmen. The following day, Roman leader Marcus Sulius led twelve hundred legionnaires against the alliance, but upon entering a valley where they faced Kull leading the three hundred Northmen, the Romans are besieged on all sides by fifty war chariots and five hundred horsemen, one thousand archers and countless warriors. The Roman forces are slaughtered, although the Northmen are all slain as well. Kull was returned through a portal to his own time.. (Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2 - BTS) <207 AD> - With his defeat of the Roman forces led by Marcus Sulius, Bran Mak Morn had established himself as the King of the Picts, not in just name but in the loyalty of the thousands of unorganized Picts that had remained aloof, and the remaining Pictish tribes flocked to his banner. |
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| (Legion From the Shadows - BTS) <208 AD> - Lucius Alfenus Senecio, the Roman governor of Brittania, sent the Roman fleet to burn
the Gaelic settlements along the Alban coast. Cormac na Connacht and
his Gael reavers, who had crossed from Erin to claim a foothold on the
western coast of Caledon, battled against the Roman invaders. (Legion From the Shadows) <Spring, 208 AD> - Bran, alongside Gonar and Grom, marched with an army of three thousand Pictish warriors against a Roman encampment led by Marcus Sertorius Facilis, but they were horrified to discover the camp destroyed and all two thousand Roman legionaries already massacred by the Worms of the Earth. During a later celebration at the fortress of Baal-dor, Bran sister, Morgain, was abducted by the Worms. Bran was summoned to barrow Kestrel Scaur, where he was by met by Atla, the witch of Dagon-Moor, and Quintus Claudius Nero, the half-Worm great-grandson of Publius Calidius Falco, whose Legio IX Hispana had been buried in Serpent Gorge in 128 AD. The Worms had bred with the human survivors, and now Nero commanded their hybrid descendants in the Roman-styled Legio IX Infernalis. Bran refused their proposal for an alliance against Rome and then barely survived an attack from their Hell-Worm. Bran entered their subterranean lair to rescue Morgain, but was captured by the Worm leader, the Serpent Man Ssrhythssaa the Deathless, who hoped to control him with the Black Stone. Morgain escaped through an underground river but was recaptured by Nero, who briefly took her carnally before she again fell into the claws of Ssrhythssaa. Bran was rescued by the mysterious Pictish woman Liuba, and together they recovered Morgain, their narrow escape assisted by the appearance of Grom leading Pictish warriors against the Worms. Nero murdered Ssrhythssaa and assumed control over the Worms, soon launching and attack against Baal-dor with the Legio IX Infernalis and the Hell-Worm. The Hell-Worm was driven back to the underworld with fire, and the Legio IX Infernalis was defeated by the forces of Baal-dor and an army of ghosts that Liuba had summoned. Before she fled into the night, Atla revealed to Gonar and Morgain that Liuba was a threat to Bran; when Liuba sought out Bran, she was driven off by Gonar and Morgain. (Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth - BTS) - The alliance between the Picts and the Gaels ultimately fell apart, with them resuming conflicts with each other, as well as continuing to harry and raid the Roman border along Hadrian's Wall. Legate Caius Estulitius Incitatus ordered bribes be gifted to the leaders of the Gaels to deter the attacks, payments that were accepted by the leaders, but with little control over their subjects, the Gaelic assaults continued. (Historical accounts) <208 AD> - Emperor Septimius Severus of Rome arrived in Britain with around 40,000 men and marched north to Hadrian's Wall, where he initiated a massive reconstruction project which finally transformed the wall into stone. After reparations to the wall commenced, Severus marched north and reconquered all the land between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall. After completing the occupation, Severus began another reconstruction project, but this time on the Antonine Wall. (Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth) <208 AD> - While stationed at Hadrian's Wall at Corstopitum (modern Corbridge), Titus Germanicus, a Centurion and Roman citizen of Germanic birth, hoped to exploit the tribal enmity between the Picts and the Gaels by allying with the Picts against the Gaels, arming the Picts and cultivating an even greater hostility between them and the Gaels. He established a parley with Bran Mak Morn at Eboracum, and Bran agreed to lead Titus through the heart of Caledon. Their forces came under attack by the returned Worms of the Earth, who sought revenge upon Bran Mak Morn for his earlier actions against them. Bran and Titus Germanicus battled the Worms many more times, once with Titus even assisting a gravely wounded Bran from subterranean tunnels where their men had been slaughtered. (Historical accounts) <209 AD> - Septimius Severus led his Legions north into the Caledonian Highlands, but suffered heavy casualties due to the guerrilla tactics used by the Pictish warriors. Severus began reoccupying many of the older Roman forts in the area, planning to hold all the territory he could and devastating all the territory he could not. This forced many of the Caledonian tribes to try to reach a peace agreement with Severus for fear of genocide by the Romans. Peace talks however failed, and the war continued until Severus fell sick. (Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth) <210 AD> - Bran Mak Morn was slain in battle due to the treachery of Titus Germanicus, after he determined that his attempts to ally with the Pictish king to be unnecessary. With Bran dead, Titus expected Pictish aggression against Hadrian's Wall to subside. He wrote of his victory to Caius Estulitius Incitatus and promised to send him the salted head of Bran Mak Morn as a trophy. Without Bran to lead the Pictish tribes, his unified kingdom crumbled apart. (The Children of the Night - BTS, The Dark Man - BTS) <210 AD> - After his death, Bran Mak Morn was deified by the Picts, reputedly becoming apotheosized as a god like his ancestor Brule, his soul residing within a statue carved in his likeness, known as the Dark Man or the Dark One. The idol was mounted on an altar within a great cave on the Isle of the Altar, its location unrevealed but presumably somewhere in Caledon (modern Scotland). It was attended until at least the early eleventh century by the line of Gonar. (Historical accounts) <210 AD> - Septimius Severus, having fallen sick, returned to Eboracum, Brittania. (Historical accounts) <February 4, 211 AD> - Septimius Severus died in Eboracum, and his son Caracalla ended the war against Caledon, returning to Rome to consolidate his power. (Historical accounts) <4th Century AD> - No other High King of the Picts would arise to rival Bran's greatness. The historic Pictish Chronicle, a pseudo-historical account of the kings of the Picts, recorded the regnal list of kings of the Picts who would later reign over the remnants of the Pictish nation, the earliest monarch being Vipoig, who reigned from circa 311 AD and died circa 341 AD, being succeeded by Canutulachama. (Historia Regum Britanniae)
<Early 5th century> - Constantine III was crowned the King of Briton, and
had three sons, Constans, Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon. A Pict who
had entered the service of Constantine, under the pretense of holding some
private discourse with him, accompanied Constantine into a nursery of young
trees, and with no one present, stabbed him to death with a dagger. The
nobleman Vortigern, consul of the Gewisseans, had Constans placed on the throne
as the new King, but secretly manipulated his actions, granting Vortigern even
greater wealth and power. Eventually he brought one hundred Pictish soldiers
into the court of Constans, earning their trust with gifts and power, and during
a night of drunkenness and passion, Vortigern manipulated them into
assassinating Constans. Vortigern promptly had the hundred Picts beheaded, and
soon placed the crown upon his own brow as the King of Briton. Their Pictish
countrymen became hostile towards Vortigern due to his treachery. The youths
Aurelius and Uther fled to Brittany, where they were given shelter by their
kinsman King Budes. (The Tigers of the Sea - BTS)
<c. 470 AD> - At the Isle of the Altar, a Pictish idol dedicated to the
Moon woman Aeysla was adorned with the Moon's bloodstone on a golden chain, but
the bloodstone was stolen. Under unrevealed circumstances, the bloodstone ended
up in possession of the British noble Marcus, who later gifted it to his
beloved Princess Helena, the daughter of King Gerinth of a minor Briton
kingdom, when she was rescued from a shipwrecked Pictish ship. (The Tigers of the Sea - BTS)
<Late 5th century> - The Picts of Caledon were ruled by their King Brogar
the Dark One, renowned as the greatest warrior in Caledon. The second most
powerful of the Picts was the mercenary Grulk the Skull Smasher, who dwelt in
Grothga, Caledon. (The
Night of the Wolf - BTS) <Late 5th century> - The Irish reaver
Cormac Mac Art first clashed with the Caledonian Picts. (The
Night of the Wolf) <Late 5th century> - One year after the
Northmen settled upon Golara, Brulla confronted Thorwald Shield-Cleaver about
the transgressions of his men, but Thorwald and his warriors severely beat the
Pictish chief and cast him outside of their gates. The Irish reaver Cormac Mac
Art, under the guise of Partha mac Othna, arrived to try to secure the release
of their prisoner Hrut (secretly a Danish king), but he was recognized and
imprisoned. That evening, thousands of Picts descended upon the fortress in
retribution, and Brulla freed Cormac. The Irish reaver subsequently rescued
Hrut and they fled the island, being recovered by his ally, the Danish Viking
Wulfhere Hausakliufr the Skullbreaker. Brulla and Thorwald Shield-Cleaver
killed each other during the battle, but the Northman fortress was consumed in flames. (Historia Regum Britanniae)
<Late 5th Century AD> - Shortly after the death of Uther Pendragon and
the coronation of his son Arthur as the new King of Briton, the Saxon commander
Colgrin composed a great army of Saxons, as well as Picts and Scots, to depose
the fifteen year old king. However, Arthur and the British forces besieged
Colgrin by the river Duglas, eventually subduing the Saxon army and securing
his authority over the realm. When Pict and Scot barbarians besieged Alclud,
Arthur Pendragon led forces against the invaders, who sought refuge on the
islands at the Lake Lumond. Arthur relentlessly laid siege to the islands,
causing first King Guillamurius of Ireland to send a fleet of vessels to
unsuccessfully assist the Picts and Scots, and then sending Irish clergy to
grant them pardon, to which Arthur agreed. (Historia Regum Britanniae)
<Early 6th Century AD> - During his war against Gaul, Arthur Pendragon
placed his kinsman Hoel in command of part of his army to march against
Guitard, commander of the Pictavians who held part of Gaul, while Arthur
reduced the other provinces. Hoel entered Aquitaine and conquered the cities,
forcing Guitard to surrender. Arthur later held an elaborate Pentecostal feast
at the City of Legions (modern Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Wales) for many of his
allies, and Guitard of Pictavia (also known as Caledon) was in attendance. When
Roman general Lucius Tiberius demanded the fealty of Arthur Pendragon, he
formed an alliance with other nations, including Pictavia, to oppose the Roman
Empire (possibly the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium Empire, 395-1453 AD).
During the subsequent war between Rome and Britain, Guitard rescued his allies
from a Roman ambush, leading three thousand Pictavians against their
assailants, and later during the Battle of Suesia, during which Arthur slew
Lucius Tiberius, Guitard had led a company alongside Holdin, duke of the
Ruteni. (Historia Regum Britanniae)
<542 AD> - The usurper Mordred the Evil gathered together both British
forces still loyal to his banner and mercenary forces of other nations,
including the Picts, Irish and Scots, to combat the forces of King Arthur
Pendragon at the Battle of Camlann. The battle ended with the deaths of
thousands on both sides, including both Arthur and Mordred, as well as most of
the Picts and their leaders.  (Historical accounts) <9th Century AD> - Kenneth MacAlpin (also
known as Cinaed mac Ailpin) was born circa 810 AD, and upon the death
of his father Alpin mac Echdach, Kenneth succeeded him as the King of
Dal Riada in 841 AD. The son on a Pictish princess, Kenneth then
undertook the conquest of the Picts, annexing Pictavia into the nation
of Alba (modern Scotland) and reigning from 843 to 858 AD.
(The Dark Man - BTS) <1017 AD> - Worshipped by the remaining Picts, the Dark Man was located upon its altar on the Isle of the Altar. It communicated with its followers as Bran Mak Morn through the dreams of the shaman Gonar, descended from the line of Gonar. This tribe of Picts was led by the chieftain Brogar (not to be confused with Brogar of the Hyborian Age). The lesser priest Grok and his followers stole the idol and fled, taking to sea along the Hebrides islands of the west coast of Scotland. In his dreams, Gonar followed their route. Grok and his followers encountered a group of Viking Danes and they battled upon a shelving shore near the Isle of Swords, resulting in the death of all Danes and Picts, leaving the Dark Man there during a storm. (The Dark Man) <1017 AD> - Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, or "Black Turlogh," kinsman to King Brian Boru of Ireland, pursued Thorfel the Fair (not to be confused with Thorfel the Fair of the Hyborian Age), whose viking forces had abducted Moira of the O'Brien clan. En route to the island of Slyne, called Helni and also the Isle of Swords by the Norse, he recovered the statue of the Dark Man from the shelving shore, observing the dead Danes and Picts about and noting how light the statue seemed. Arriving at the Isle of Swords, Turlogh hid his vessel, but it was soon found by two Dane warriors who brought the Dark Man to the longhouse of Thorfel. As Turlogh prepared to rescue Moira, he witnessed as she killed herself rather than wed Thorfel. Consumed with rage, Black Turlogh entered the longhouse and slaughtered a great number of Danes, and she was shocked when a Pictish war party led by Brogar too entered, killing the rest. In the aftermath, Brogar thanked Turlogh for rescuing their god, the only god they had left. As the shaman Gonar recovered the effigy, the Picts sailed away from the isle. As they departed, Turlogh had a brief vision of Bran Mak Morn as if in a dream. (The Children of the Night - BTS) <1839 AD> - Over the centuries, the tales of the deeds of Bran Mak Morn had grown distorted and many myths about his abilities invented. It was rumored that even by the nineteenth century, the cult of Bran Mak Morn continued to exist. Explorer and author Friedrich Wilhelm von Junst, in his book Unaussprechlichen Kulten (Nameless Cults) published in Dusseldorf in 1839, mentioned the statue of the Dark Man as being hidden in a cavern. The members of the cult, descendants of the Picts, continued to worship Bran in secret, and they had to undertake a pilgrimage to the idol once during their lifetimes. The cult believed that one day the statue of Bran Mak Morn would breathe and move again, and that he and his people would rebuild their lost empire. Scholars continued to discuss the existence of the cult by the early twentieth century. (Savage Sword of Conan I#200 - BTS) <November, 1930> - Robert Ervin Howard, an American author, published his first Bran Mak Morn story, "Kings of the Night," in Weird Tales magazine. |
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Comments: Created by Robert Ervin Howard. Adapted for Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith and Tim A. Conrad. The history of tectonic drift and geophysical configuration of continents on Marvel Earth is nearly identical to the real world (Adventures of the X-Men#12, 1997), but diverged at some point, resulting in the radically different continents of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age and the Hyborian Age.
The Cimmerian people of Cimmeria, from which the warrior Conan was sired, were descended from survivors of Atlantis who fled to western Thuria during the Great Cataclysm (Savage Sword of Conan I#12: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 3 - The Hyborian Kingdoms; The Hyborian Age), and possibly the related remnant Atlanteans (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb) - BTS; Men of the Shadows - BTS), who interbred with the elder Cimmerian race indigenous to western Thuria (Savage Sword of Conan I#31: A Gazetteer of the Hyborian Age, Part II: Cimmeria; Conan of the Isles), who had once been tormented by Shuma-Gorath, but saved by the god Crom prior to the Great Cataclysm. The union of both their cultures resulted in the birth of the Cimmerian race during the Hyborian Age, which later gave rise to the Gaels, ancestors of both the Irish and Highland Scotch. Humans (homo sapiens) began appearing circa 300,000 BC in the real world, but upon Marvel Earth, a number of humans (and even mutants) began to manifest as early as circa one million BC (Marvel Legacy#1, 2017), including Prehistoric Avengers members Ghost Rider (Ghost), Phoenix (Firehair) and Starbrand (Vnn). The proliferation of early humans may have been due to the Horde-infected Celestial the Progenitor arriving on Earth circa four billion BC (Avengers VIII#5, 2018) or the Celestial First Host circa one million BC (Eternals I#1, 1976). The Picts's earliest chronological reference is circa 110,000 BC, as the Pict chieftain "Gorm had behind him a heritage of a hundred thousand years of screaming savagery" (The Hyborian Age) and he lived circa 9500 BC. The Pre-Cataclysmic Age began "about 100,000 years ago" (Handbook of the Conan Universe#1: Atlantis and the Pre-Cataclysmic Age). Kull stated "The feud between Atlantean and Pict is older than the world" (Savage Sword of Conan I#197/2, 1992). Valka, the "alleged son of the Earth goddess Gaea" (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z#14: Zhered-Na, 2010), was worshipped since "around 30,000 B.C." (All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z#3: Council of Godheads, 2006). The alliance between the Pictish Isles and Valusia began circa 19,500 BC, as it stood "for a thousand years" (Savage Sword of Conan I#2/2, 1974) circa 18,500 BC. The Pictish Isles of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age was strongly implied by Robert E. Howard to be the submerged continent of North America. Despite never explicitly stating this fact, he left numerous details in his works pointing to that fact. In The Hyborian Age, he wrote "Then the Cataclysm rocked the world... and the Pictish Islands were heaved up to form the mountain peaks of a new continent." In Men of the Shadows, Gonar told the Norseman, "Far, far across the great, wave tossed vastness of the Atlantic lie two great continents, so vast that the smaller would dwarf all Europe... So mighty are these continents that they span the world, from the snows of the north to the snows of the south. And beyond them lies a great ocean, the Sea of Silent Waters [the Pacific Ocean]. Many islands are upon that sea, and those islands were once the mountain peaks of a great land – the lost land of Lemuria. And the continents are twin continents, joined by a narrow neck of land. The western coast of that northern continent is fierce and rugged. Huge mountains rear skyward. But those peaks were islands upon a time, and to those islands came the Nameless Tribe [the Picts], wandering down from the north, so many thousand years ago that a man would grow a-weary numbering them. A thousand miles to the north and west had the tribe come into being, there upon the broad and fertile plains close by the northern channels, which divide the continent of the north from Asia... Then, upon a day, a mighty earth-quake rocked the world. Sky mingled with sea and the land reeled between. With the thunder of gods at war, the islands of the west plunged upward and lifted from the sea. And lo, they were mountains upon the new-formed western coast of the northern continent." In the Marvel Universe, this was confirmed in the Great Cataclysm entry in Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe, 2011. As the Pictish Isles and North America were one and the same, the Picts and the Paleo-Americans were probably either the same peoples or related, despite this never being confirmed by Howard. Both races migrated across Beringia from Asia to North America and occupied the same landmasses during the same periods of prehistory. During the Hyborian Age, Conan mentioned that "a race of warriors called Picts -- savages who hid in trees, used arrows like these, and killed silently, in darkness" (Savage Sword of Conan I#167), referring to the Malagu tribe of Novum Terra. On the hypothesis that the real world history of the Paleo-Americans and their settlement of North and South America parallel the Earth-616 history of the Picts during the Pre-Cataclysmic and Hyborian Ages, it would appear the original Paleo-Americans or Nameless Tribe began their migration (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, 1984) circa 110,000 BC, from northeastern Thuria (Asia) across Beringia to move southward and colonize the Pictish Isles (North America) as the Picts and the Southern Continent (South America) as perhaps a proto-Inka people (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, 1984). After the Great Cataclysm, most of the Picts were decimated (once mistakenly believed to have destroyed their entire population) as the Pictish Isles arose to become Novum Terra, but after a few centuries many of the survivors undertook a thousand year journey to rejoin their brethren (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, 1984) who dwelt within the Pictish colony in western Thuria (Europe). The remaining Picts in Novum Terra eventually merged with still more Paleo-Americans migrating across Beringia during the Hyborian Age, forming new cultures such as hunter tribes of the Chuma, Malagu and Shuta (Savage Sword of Conan I#167, 1989), and much further north the fur-clad hunters of Inupak's tribe (Savage Sword of Conan I#168, 1989). The continent also became inhabited by at least three Atlantean colonies, Mayapan, Poseidonis and Zothique (Marvel Graphic Novel: Conan of the Isles, 1988, Conan Saga#95: The Conan Comics Chronology, Chapter Seventeen, 1995), as well as the aforementioned Men of the Sea (Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, 1984). The Southern Continent was also gravely affected by the Great Cataclysm to become Terra Incognito, but the remnants of the proto-Inka culture eventually merged with more Paleo-Americans migrating southward from Beringia during the Hyborian Age, forming new cultures such as the Inka people dwelling in the city of Kuzko (Savage Sword of Conan I#166, 1989). There is evidence that during the Hyborian Age, the cultures that remained in Novum Terra and Terra Incognito may have drifted away from the Pictish pantheon towards other gods. The Inka people of Terra Incognito worshipped "Pathakamak" (Savage Sword of Conan I#166, 1989), which was etymologically similar to the Quechua term Pacha Kamaq, a creator deity of the Apu or Incan gods of South America. The Shuta tribe of Novum Terra worshipped the "coyote-spirit" (Savage Sword of Conan I#167, 1989), who was similar to the coyote god Nanabozho, a trickster deity of the Manidoog gods of North America. After the Post-Hyborian Cataclysm shifted the continents to their modern configuration "circa 8,000 BC" (Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic: Tribe of the Moon, 2007), Novum Terra became North America and Terra Incognito became South America, and the Paleo-Americans gradually developed into the Native Americans or Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Robert E. Howard wrote two differing accounts of the history of the Picts from the Pre-Cataclysmic Age to the Hyborian Age, both providing contradictory details in the narrative. In Men of the Shadows and The Lost Race, the Picts were decimated but not eradicated when the Pictish Isles arose to become a new continent during the Great Cataclysm, they were driven to migrate to other continents including Atlantis, which had not yet submerged, and degenerated into savagery because of interbreeding with the Reindeer Men. In The Hyborian Age, the Picts were utterly annihilated when the Pictish Isles arose and the only survivors were from the Thurian colony, Atlantis had submerged due to the Great Cataclysm, and their descent into savagery was a result of a five hundred year war with the Atlantean refugees. This combined history attempted to reconcile the two variant histories, with the Picts surviving both with the Thurian colony and the arisen Pictish Isles, albeit with a declined number, Atlantis had submerged but remnants of the island remained above the surface, both branches of the Pictish people eventually reunite, and their descent into savagery was brought about first by the war with the Atlantean refugees, and then exacerbated by the interbreeding with the Reindeer Men. Also, Men of the Shadows stated that the Picts arrived at the Middle Sea or Mediterranean Sea (also called the Inland Sea in The Lost Race) after the Great Cataclysm, but The Hyborian Age indicated that during the Hyborian Age, the area where the Mediterranean stood was all land and it did not become the Mediterranean Sea until after the Hyborian Age. As a compromise, we determined the Picts first arrived at the Middle Sea sometime after the Great Cataclysm, the sea later drained by the Hyborian Age to reveal the lands of Argos, Koth and Shem, only for it to again flood as the Mediterranean Sea following the Post-Hyborian Cataclysm. The third century Gonar appeared in Kings of the Night and Worms of the Earth. An unidentified "wizard" who fulfilled a role similar to Gonar was in Men of the Shadows, and was confirmed as being Gonar in Legion From the Shadows. He was born circa 104 AD, as he was "more than a hundred years" (Savage Sword of Conan I#103/2) and "outlived a hundred years" (Men of the Shadows) in 205 AD, and again "outlived a hundred years" (Legion From the Shadows) in 208 AD. He would have been around 24 years old after the battle with the 9th Legion in 128 AD, where he was described as "old Gonar" and "the old wizard" (Legion From the Shadows); it is possible that Gonar aged unnaturally upon becoming a shaman, or this could even be his predecessor, also named Gonar. The bloodline of Gonar was shamans that used their magicks to assist both Pictish rulers and heroes and their allies. It appeared that perhaps one male each generation of the Gonar bloodline was named Gonar, who was taught all the accumulated wisdom and shamanistic magic of the preceding Gonars, from at least the late Pre-Cataclysmic Age to the eleventh century. There were at least four Gonars depicted, including Gonar of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age (Kings of the Night), Gonar of the Hyborian Age (Conan: The Ravagers Out of Time, 1992), Gonar of the third century (Kings of the Night), and Gonar of the eleventh century (The Dark Man). A false "Gonar," a sorcerer of the Black Ring and ally of Thoth-Amon, also appeared in Conan the Barbarian I#68, 1976. As each Gonar appeared ancient and shared the same name, it was rumored there was only one Gonar and he was in truth immortal. In Legion From the Shadows, Gonar of the third century stated "I am directly descended from that Gonar who was the greatest sorcerer in the days of Kull of Atlantis, king of Valusia. And though a hundred thousand years and a thousand fathoms of sea have swept Valusia into forgotten myth, there are fewer links in the chain of my ancestry than common minds could grasp. I am old, Bran — I have outlived a hundred years. I have been a priest of the Serpent, the Moon and the Shadow; now I am high counselor to the first acknowledged king of Pictdom in five hundred years. My brain holds the secrets of elder lore and hidden knowledge that would drive other minds into gibbering oblivion. But for these years and for this wisdom I have had to pay a price." ETHNIC
VARIATIONS IN PICTS "Noble"
Picts - The core ethnicity and culture of the Pictish people, they initially
settled the Pictish Isles after crossing the Bering land bridge circa 110,000
BC. When the Great Cataclysm caused the isles to become the volcanic western
mountain range of Novum Terra circa 18,000 BC, they were almost wiped out, but
the survivors became nomadic for a time, first settling in the eastern valleys
of Novum Terra for centuries, then spending the next thousand years migrating
from Terra Incognito, Atlantis, the west coast of Kush, and areas of western
Thuria. Eventually driven forth by the advancing Kelts, they reunited with the
"savage" Picts, who prior to the Great Cataclysm had established a
colony on Thuria, and following an aggressive war with Atlantean refugees and
interbreeding with the Reindeer Men, had degenerated to become smaller and more
brutish in stature and temperament over the millennia. "Savage"
Picts - A colony of "noble" Picts was formed in Valusia, western
Thuria towards the end of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, but when the world was
devastated by the Great Cataclysm circa 18,000 BC, the Pictish colony remained
relatively untouched. However, refugees from Atlantis escaped to the mainland,
and aggressions broke out between the ancestral enemies. Five hundred years of
brutal warfare reduced both to little more than bestial savages, made worse
with the Lesser Cataclysm circa 17,500 BC. These Picts were eventually driven
forth by the Kelts to the remote north and west mountains and again encountered
the Reindeer Men, redbearded neanderthal giants, with whom they interbred,
causing them to degenerate as ages passed, becoming smaller and more brutish in
stature and temperament over the millennia. Alban
Picts - After more than a millennium following the Great Cataclysm, the
"noble" Picts had settled within western Thuria for centuries,
resettling for a time in the lands later known as Cornwall. Eventually these
Picts were driven forth by the advancing Kelts, but a handful swore to never
abandon their lands and took refuge in the caves and tunnels beneath the
ground. Within the caves they found and within the caves they constructed,
these Alban Picts would eventually assume a diminutive stature, the tallest
standing no more than four feet in height, and sitings of them would be attributed
to elves and dwarves of legend. Zingarans
- Sometime following the Great Cataclysm, a tribe of Picts conquered the Valley
of Zingg, settling amongst a people akin to the Shemites who had previously
settled there, and they in turn were conquered by a roving Hyborian tribe. From
the mingled elements of this multiracial people arose the kingdom of Zingara,
an advanced agricultural culture, during the Hyborian Age. Zingara was
conquered by Aquilonia circa 9500 BC, but after the fall of Aquilonia, the Pictish
Empire invaded Zingara, and thousands of Zingarans fled eastward to the mercy
of the advancing Hyrkanians, who resettled the refugees into Zamora as
subjects. When Cimmerians destroyed the ancient Hyrkanian kingdom of Turan, the
power of the eastern conquerors broken before the invading Cimmerians and
Nordheimr, the Hyrkanians herded their subjugated captives as they rode back to
the mysterious east. With their retreat went thousands of Zamorians and
Zingarans, who eventually settled together far to the East, and from their
intermarriage the Romani (also known as the Gypsy) people were born. (Note: As
real world genetic research indicates that Romani people probably originated in
India, the land "far to the East" [The Hyborian Age] where they were
resettled was probably Vendhya.) Etruscans
- Descendants of an admixture of Pictish, Hyrkanian and Stygian bloodlines, the
Etruscan culture of ancient Italy arose around 900 BC, thrived in the territory
later known as modern Tuscany, northern Lazio and western Umbria, having
originally dwelt in ancient Koth. They were influenced by ancient Greek culture
circa 750 BC, and began assimilation into Roman society in the late 4th century
resulting from the Roman–Etruscan Wars, and the Etruscans territory was incorporated
into the newly established Roman Empire in 27 BC. For the Pictish Isles of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, the island Tathel and
tribes Borni, Dano, Nargi, Red Isle, Sungara, Tatheli, Whale-Slayers
and Wolf-Slayers were from Wizard and Warrior;
and the island Kurmonn and
tribe Hawkmoons from Kull and the Barbarians#2, 1975.
For the Hyborian Age, the Gwaweli tribe was from Savage Sword of Conan I#26-27, 1978; the Eagle and Wolf tribes from Savage Sword of Conan I#47, 1979; the Cormorant, Eagle, Hornbill, Sea-Falcon and Sharks' Teeth tribes from Savage Sword of Conan I#48, 1980; the Hawk, Turtle, Wildcat and Wolfmen tribes from Savage Sword of Conan#76/2, 1982; the Hawk, Raven, Sea-Land, Wildcat and Wolf tribes from Handbook of the Conan Universe#1, 1986; the Oranadi and Tantaka tribes from Savage Sword of Conan#135, 1987; the Btoth tribe from Savage Sword of Conan I#137, 1987; the Ktonpha tribe from Savage Sword of Conan I#138, 1987; the Raven tribe from Savage Sword of Conan#201, 1992; and the Snow-Lion tribe from Savage Sword of Conan I#219/2, 1994. For the third century, the Wolf tribe was from Kings of the Night, and the Raven tribe from Legion From the Shadows. In the
comics they have been shown with pink skin, red skin and brown skin.
Although unidentified specifically, spending 90,000 years on the Pictish Isles
alongside indigineous Americans, all of who crossed over from the Bering Land
Bridge, I think they qualify as Paleo-Americans. Even when in Britain, the
Noble and Alban Picts did not breed with outside races, and the Savages only
bred with the Reindeer Men. Even in real life, scientists aren't exactly sure
what the Picts were. I would suggest, "swarthy skinned" but not more
than that The Bran Mak Morn story The Dark Man was never directly adapted into Marvel Comics, but was freely adapted as a Conan story in Savage Tales#4, 1974. Conan replaced Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, Mala replaced Moira, and the Dark God (an apotheosized Brule) replaced the Dark Man (an apotheosized Bran). Other characters (Brogar, Thorfel the Fair) and locations (Isle of Swords) may have similar names, but are distinctly separate between the Hyborian Age and the eleventh century. Brule the Spear Slayer (Savage Tales#4, 1974) and Bran Mak Morn (The Dark Man) were both deified by the Picts upon their deaths, worshipped as deities. It was unrevealed if either was truly apotheosized as a god, but the effigies of both, Brule as the Dark God and Bran as the Dark Man, possessed supernatural characteristics. Either may be considered one of the Pictish pantheon of gods. Brogar of the eleventh century stated the Dark Man was "the only God we have left" (The Dark Man), and Brogar of the Hyborian Age also stated the Dark God was "the only God we have left" (Savage Tales#4, 1974). An ancestor or two of Brule and Bran may also have been honored as gods, as there was "a legendary hero or two, semi-deified for feats of personal strength or whole sale murder" (Wizard and Warrior). Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth was written as a supplement for the roleplaying game Werewolf: The Apocalypse. There were many aspects of the story that somewhat contradict established details of the Howard story, primarily with Bran (called Brennus therein but confirmed as Bran Mak Morn later in the book) being a werewolf and the Worms of the Earth being aspects of the Wyrm, a power of entropy. However, the issue can be reconciled with Titus Germanicus seeing Bran appear as his wolf totem during battle, something similar happening when Bran battled Gonar (Men of the Shadows), and Titus incorrectly assuming he was a werewolf, and Bran, who sought his alliance, indulged Titus' erroneous assertions about the supernatural. There was also the seeming contradiction of Bran turning against the Gaels and seeking an alliance with Rome, but at this time during the Roman invasion of Caledonia (208-210 AD), Septimius Severus personally led the Roman forces north to Hadrian's Wall, forcing many of the Caledonian tribes to try to reach a peace agreement with Severus for fear of genocide by the Romans. In Legion From the Shadows, Bran considered ending the alliance with the Gaels, feeling the Pictish forces he now commanded able to oppose Rome, as he stated "We are an army of Picts! A victory today will prove to all Britain that Pictish savages can defeat the Roman colossus — defeat Rome without Celtic allies, without ensnaring sorceries! That will be a victory, Gonar! Pictish valor and Pictish steel will win that victory — and then shall the Celtic tribes look to Pictdom for leadership!" Howard was influenced by the writings of Madame Blavatsky (Helena Blavatsky), a Russian philosopher and author. Blavatsky advocated the idea of "Root Races" in her book The Secret Doctrine, 1888, in which ancient human races existed on lost continents. Howard adapted her concept to his own fictional writings, with the First Race (Pict), Second Race (Lemurian), Third Race (Atlantean) and Fourth Race (Kelt). The Men of the Sea, also known as the Second Race or Lemurians (Men of the Shadows) of Lemuria were reptilian humanoids and could survive for hours beneath the waters. Despite Howard describing the Picts, Atlanteans and Kelts as being human, the Men of the Sea were described by Howard as "half-human" (Men of the Shadows). In the Marvel Universe, perhaps they were a Deviant branch or a genetically modified mutate engineered by the Deviants. The Atlanteans, also known as the Third Race, were probably from a remnant of Atlantis that remained above water, as the Atlantis mainland submerged during the Great Cataclysm (The Hyborian Age). Both they and the Atlantean refugees who fled to Thuria following the Great Cataclysm probably were ancestor to the Cimmerians. The Pre-Cataclysmic Celts were called the Fourth Race (Men of the Shadows) and the Kelts (Brachan the Kelt by Robert E. Howard, 1981) and were the ancestors for the later Celtic people of later recorded history. Brule, from the late Pre-Cataclysmic Age, inherited his volcanic blue eye color from a Celt or possibly Thulian ancestor (Wizard and Warrior). The unseen Roman Emperor during the battles of Bran Mak Morn was not identified by Howard, but was revealed as Septimius Severus, who reigned from 193 to 211 AD, in For the Witch of the Mists and Legion From the Shadows. Severus would have probably also been the same Roman Emperor that time traveler Tommy Tyme encountered in "200 A.D" (Young Allies Comics#14/2, 1944). In Bizarre Adventures#25, 1981, Lady Megan Daemon of the Clan Daemon described her ancestry in Scottish Highlands, noting how that location held dark power and how the Daemon family had always held a part of it. "Before the MacKay, Sutherland, Sinclair, before Danes and Gaels and Picts, before the Lairds of Alban -- from a time when the dark Caledonian forests covered the moors -- we were! And we were feared." She also mentioned the "Daemon isn't my family's original name, but a Roman corruption of it." If her family predated the Picts in the lands now known as Scotland, they must have been there at least a few centuries before the Great Cataclysm between circa 18,500 BC to 18,000 BC, when the first Pictish colony was founded in Valusia. The Black River was called Yaba Nutchi in the Pictish language (Conan the Barbarian I#136, 1982). PRE-CATACLYSMIC
AGE
HYBORIAN AGE
HISTORIC AGE
It's probably worth noting that the Picts didn't call themselves by that name. Picti ("painted ones") was the Roman name for them. However, since the Picts had no written language that we know of, there are no records of what they actually called themselves. - Loki This is an extremely impressive, thorough, well-researched, and well-documented body of work. Nonetheless, if you know the wealth of Conan, etc. stories by Marvel, you know the Picts appear very frequently, and so you know this profile is not complete in its coverage. It certainly hits the highlights, and we can always expand on it later. --Snood This profile was completed 8/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event. Profile by Wolfram Bane and Snood. CLARIFICATIONS: Picts have no known connections to:
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Prominent Members: Aeysla (moon goddess - For the Witch of the Mists), Dark Man (deified Bran Mak Morn - The Dark Man), Dark God (deified Brule - Savage Tales I#4, 1974), Four Brothers of the Night (gods of darkness - Savage Sword of Conan I#6: Gods of the Hyborian Age Part One: The Homes of the Gods, 1975; Beyond the Black River), Golka (moon god - For the Witch of the Mists), Great War Chief (god - Kull the Conqueror III#6, 1984), Gullah (gorilla god who dwells on the moon - Handbook of the Conan Universe#1, 1986; Beyond the Black River), Jaggta-Noga (demon - Conan the Barbarian I#5, 1971; The Curse of the Golden Skull), Jhebbal Sag (ancient god of darkness and fear - Savage Sword of Conan#27, 1978; Beyond the Black River), Jhil (raven god - Savage Sword of Conan I#21, 1977; Beyond the Black River), Serpent (snake god - Savage Sword of Conan I#103/2, 1984; Men of the Shadows), Seven Devils (demons - Kull the Conqueror III#6, 1984), Valka (god - Creatures on the Loose#10, 1971; The Shadow Kingdom), Zogar Sag (demigod - Savage Sword of Conan I#26, 1978; Beyond the Black River), "A legendary hero or two, semi-deified" (deified ancestors of Brule - Wizard and Warrior) Base of Operations: Unrevealed, perhaps connected to the Lost Land (Conan the Barbarian I#5, 1971) or the Dark Land (Beyond the Black River) Traits (speculation based on modern pantheons of Gods): The Gods of the Picts possess certain superhuman physical and/or mystical attributes, which may include a degree of immortality (immunity to death by aging), resistance to injury, enhanced vitality and life force, and/or superhuman strength and durability. Many Pictish gods also possess additional superhuman powers that may be magical in nature, such as Jhebbal Sag can control animals. History: The Pictish gods are superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who have been worshipped by the Pictish culture in the Pictish Isles (modern North America) from circa 110,000 BC to 18,000 BC, and in western Thuria and Europe until the 9th century A.D., although the cult of Bran was still active by as late as the 11th century A.D., and they are rumored to have continued to exist until at least the early 20th century. Despite their affinity for the British Isles, they have no known connection to the Tuatha da Danaan. Most of their number includes gods and apotheosized humans, but some demons are also affiliated. Many of the Albidosi are also worshipped by cultures other than Pict, such as Valka being the chief deity of the Pict, Atlantean and Valusian peoples, Jhebbal Sag and Jullah worshipped by the Picts and the Black Kingdoms, Jhil worshipped by the Pict and Darfari, and Aeysla being worshipped in Caledon, Gaul and Rome and perhaps being mistaken for other goddesses. Most of the Albidosi dwell in an unrevealed extradimensional realm, perhaps with some connection to the realms of the Lost Land (Conan the Barbarian I#5, 1971) or the Dark Land (Beyond the Black River). The Albidosi's precise origin is lost to legend, but it is possible, like most of Earth's pantheons, they either were created when Demogorge cast off the primordial energy he absorbed form the Elder Gods which manifested as gods from the nascent consciousness of humanity (Thor Annual#10, 1982), or they were descended biologically from the Elder Goddess Gaea, often the "mother goddess" of the pantheons of Earth (Thor#301, 1980), a possibility as Valka was the alleged son of Gaea (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z#14: Zhered-Na, 2010). These Gods had been revered by the Picts since the Pre-Cataclysmic Age with gods such as Aeysla, Golka, Jhebbal Sag and Valka, some of these gods shared with other cultures, and demons such as Jaggta-Noga. The Picts even began deifying their legendary heroes towards the end of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age (Savage Tales I#4, 1974), but the Great Cataclysm occurred in 18,000 BC, throwing the Pictish culture into chaos and possibly affecting their connection with their gods. Aeysla had died generations before the reign of Kull, her divine essence dormant in the Cavern of Mists (For the Witch of the Mists), and worship of Valka almost completely died out after the cataclysm except for a handful of locations like Opar, Africa (Tarzan#3, 1977), while worship of darker forces such as Jaggta-Noga and Jhebbal Sag continued unhindered. Perhaps due to the hardships the race endured while recovering, devolving into the savage Picts, becoming smaller and more brutish in stature and temperament over the millennia, these Picts sought out and embraced darker gods and demons, such as Gullah, Jhil, the Serpent and the Seven Devils, during and following the Hyborian Age. During this time, the tribe of Brogar allowed worship of the Dark God, "the only god we have left" (Savage Tales I#4, 1974), perhaps in hope that their noble Pictish forebearer could assist. At some time the Pictish shamans adopted human sacrifice and other dark rituals, a practice they used up until the third century, and something that Bran Mak Morn desperately sought to abolish (Men of the Shadows). Dark entities unrelated to the Picts began to be invoked, with even Bran swearing to the "Black gods of R'lyeh" and "the Nameless Ones" (Worms of the Earth) in frustration. With the death of Bran also died their greatest opportunity to restore their people, and their culture effectively perished when Kenneth MacAlpin ascended the throne in 843 AD. But very much like his namesake, another Pictish chieftain named Brogar possessed the Dark Man idol, the soul of Bran Mak Morn, stating "It is the only God we have left." First Appearance: Conan the Barbarian I#5, 1971 Notes: There was no known name of the Pictish pantheon, but according to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba during the reign of King Malcolm I of Scotland, an archaic name for the Picts was the Albidosi, and this seemed like an appropriate name for the pantheon. Also, in the real world, very little was known about the Pictish culture, religion and language. Almost nothing of the Pictish language survives except for a handful of place names and personal names. Most texts that do mention the Picts are written by those of other cultures and tend to be fairly silent on the topic of Pictish religion prior to the introduction of Christianity. As the Picts were a very insular culture, they did not record their history through the written word, and most of their culture was supplanted by the cultures of those that came after, there is a limited amount of information regarding the deities of their mythology. A names of a handful of goddesses are known from historical place names that endured since ancient Scotland, including Cuachag, Deva (or Duibhe), Eiteag, Gamhnach, and Tava (or Tatha). I'm far from an expert on the Picts and their gods, but from what I've read and in reviewing this information, it seems more likely that the Gods of the Picts were likely not part of any unified group but rather largely unrelated gods, demons, and other beings worshipped by the Picts, similar to the Gods of the Hyborian era and the Gods of the Pre-Cataclysmic era. --Snood For further information see: The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland by William J. Watson Tairis, A Gaelic Polytheist Website |
 Aeysla, also known as the Great Mother, Moon Woman, Moon-Mother, Witch-Queen of
Atlantis and Witch of the Mists, was daughter of the Pictish moon god Golka. She
was revered as a moon goddess by many cultures including Caledon, Gaul
and Rome, and she was perhaps mistaken for other goddesses including Diana,
Gaea, Hecate, Hertha, Ishtar, Tellus and Venus.
She had the gift of prophecy and had once possessed a mortal form to
walk the Earth. She had been reputed to be the lover of demon princes,
mother to winds and sky-fires, and foreteller of futures so distant
that even now all she had said had not come to pass. After her mortal death in ancient Atlantis generations before the age of Kull and Brule, her divine essence relocated to the Cavern of Mists in the mountains far to the west of Caledon. In 207 AD, the shaman Gonar had a divination to send Bran Mak Morn to the cavern, and on his journey Bran recovered the amulet of Aeysla from the Roman Centurion Ursus. Aeysla foretold that Bran would journey to Rome to recover the mortal with whom she would merge to walk upon the Earth again. Bran was soon captured by the Roman forces of Drusus Marcellinus Maximus and sent as a prisoner to Rome, where he discovered the slave Sirena was the chosen of Aeysla. Bran, Sirena and her lover, Auctus, escaped and fled north to Gaul, where the druid Mogham secured them a vessel to return to Brittania. Auctus departed when he realized that the mind of Aeysla was dominating Sirena. Arriving at the Cavern of Mists, the spirit of Aeysla fully merged with Sirena, and when the sorceress Cornelia attempted to assault Aeysla, but she perished when Aeysla turned her magic back upon her. Aeysla then departed to again journey throughout the world and worship the many forms of Tellus, the Great Mother, as a humble human being. An idol dedicated to Aeysla was found on the Isle of the Altar, and was adorned with the Moon's bloodstone on a golden chain. The bloodstone was stolen circa 470 AD, but was recovered circa 490 AD by the shaman Gonar of the 5th century --For the Witch of the Mists (The Tigers of the Sea - BTS Note: Aeysla is the face pictured behind Bran... |
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Sometime after the Great Cataclysm, the nomadic drift
of Picts settled in the lands later known as Cornwall. From the north the Kelts
invaded and drove them forth to the mountains of the north and the west, many
Picts swore to never abandon the land they had fought for and took refuge in
the caves and tunnels beneath the Earth. Within the caves they found and
expanded, these Picts eventually assumed a diminutive stature, no more than
four feet in height, and sightings of them would be attributed to elves and
dwarves of legend. They retained a deep hatred for not only the Kelts but for
all people who drove out others before them. A youthful Pictish witch-finder had discovered how to
brew a magic draft that would render one immortal, and he ruled the Alban Picts
for thousands of years. In the first century BC, they capture the Briton
warrior Cororuc, whom the immortal chieftain sought to burn, but the lesser
chief Berula had him freed as Cororuc had previously saved his life. --Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2-#69/2; The Lost Race |
Sometime after the Great Cataclysm, a young Pict
dwelling within the lands later known as Cornwall was a witch-finder, and an
elderly woman witch cursed him as she was burnt at the stake. She cursed him to
live as long until the last Pictish child had passed. However, he learned the
curse was nothing, but eventually discovered how to brew a magic draft that
would restore a damaged body, and when combined with a strong will could render
one immortal.
When the Kelts came from the north and drove the Picts
before them to the mountains of the north and the west, many Picts swore to
never abandon the land they had fought for and took refuge in the caves and
tunnels beneath the lands later known as Cornwall. Within the caves they found
and expanded, these Picts eventually developed a more diminutive stature, no
more than four feet in height.
The youth eventually became ancient and the high
chieftain of the subterranean Alban Picts, retaining a deep hatred for any
people who invaded their lands, and vowing never to leave the caverns until he
was the last of his race. When his scouts captured the Briton warrior Cororuc
in the first century BC, he revealed the origin of the Alban Picts, but he also
sought to burn Cororuc at the stake, as his Briton ancestors were invaders. The
lesser chieftain Berula interceded, as Bororuc had previously saved his life
from a panther, and the elder chief reluctantly set him free and then withdrew
back into his memory of glories past.
--Savage
Sword of Conan I#69/2; The Lost Race
 Arus was a Nemedian reformer and devout follower of the god of light and justice Mitra circa 9500 BC. Undaunted by tales of Pictish atrocities, Arus ventured into the Pictish Wilderness to introduce the worship of Mitra. He was brought before the Pictish chieftain Gorm, who possessed a higher than usual intelligence and an instinct for conquest and empire building. Gorm granted Arus permission to remain amongst his tribe unbutchered, preaching against the Pictish traditions of human sacrifice, blood feuds, and burning captives alive, and expounding the eternal truths of Mitra. But Gorm also listened intently to the tales of the wealth and power of the Hyborian kingdoms as Arus appealed to his sense of material gain. Arus discovered vast deposits of iron ore in the Pictish hills and taught them to mine, smelt and forge that iron into the implements of agriculture, unaware the iron was being smithed into weapons of war. Arus also educated Gorm on the lands beyond his borders, but the chieftain mainly absorbed information of battle tactics and military strategy, and had Arus conduct him and his warriors through the Bossonian marches into the outside world, claiming to be converts to the ways of Mitra. Gorm secretly acquired greater knowledge in civilized warfare and weaponsmithing, and then asserted his dominance over the other clans, and moved against the Bossonian borders. Arus attempted to undo the work he had unwittingly wrought, but he was instead killed by a drunken Pict who brained him. Gorm, not without gratitude to the priest of Mitra, set the skull of the slayer atop the cairn of Arus. "And
it is one of the grim ironies of the universe that the stones which covered
Arus's body should have been adorned with that last touch of barbarity -- above a
man to whom violence and blood-vengeance were revolting." |
In 207 AD, Bran Mak Morn traveled to
the Cavern of Mists west of Caledon with a band of Pictish warriors including
Asag and Gakor. During their journey they battled an encampment of Romans led
by Centurion Ursus. Later arriving at the cavern, the Picts were fearful of the
haunted land, but Asag and Gakor accompanied Bran to the entrance of the cave.
After Bran encountered the goddess Aeysla, the band returned westward, but
encountered a legion of Roman soldiers led by Drusus Maximus, who captured Bran
and killed the others, including Asag. --For the Witch of the Mists |
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While disguised as a wolf in the woodlands, he was
attacked and wounded by a panther, but was rescued by the Briton warrior
Cororuc, who slew the panther with a spear. Berula slipped away unnoticed,
walking on two legs and then leaping into the trees, and Cororuc thought him a
werewolf as he had left bipedal tracks. Cororuc was soon captured by the Alban Picts, and
their elder chieftain was going to have him burned alive, but Berula arrived
and told those gathered that this Briton has rescued him. Cororuc was released
to honor the debt, and Berula brought him to a nearby Briton village, giving
him gifts, and they parted as friends. --Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2-#69/2; The Lost Race |
 Bocah was a savage Pict and a clan chieftain who rallied under the banner of Bran Mak Morn in 207 AD on the eve before a major battle against Roman forces. He and fellow chieftain Gron watched as shaman Gonar killed a captive Roman soldier, then read that the portents were good for the coming battle. Bocah subsequently lead his Picts in the battle and defeated the Romans. In 208 AD, Bocah was one of the clan chiefs that marched with Bran and a vast army of Picts against a Roman encampment, but they were horrified to find it already massacred by the Worms of the Earth. --Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2,#43/2 - BTS; Kings of the Night, Legion From the Shadows |
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Brogar was the chieftain of the Pictish tribe that protected the Dark God in Pictland circa 10,000 BC. Evil Picts stole the effigy and fled north to Vanaheim, where it ended up in the possession of the Vanir leader Thorfel the Fair on the Isle of Swords. Brogar and his warriors tracked the Dark God for months, helped Conan the Cimmerian slaughter the Vanirmen, and then they returned the Dark God to Pictland. When the Picts departed, an abducted priest of Mitra chose to accompany them to learn the secret of their dark faith that sustained them. The Picts also abducted Thorgeir, the nephew of Thorfel, and held him for ten years. --Savage Tales#4 Note: The Bran Mak Morn story The Dark Man was freely adapted as a Conan story in Savage Tales#4, 1974. Conan replaced Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, Mala replaced Moira, and the Dark God (an apotheosized Brule) replaced the Dark Man (an apotheosized Bran). Other characters (Brogar, Thorfel the Fair) and locations (Isle of Swords) may have similar names, but are distinctly separate between the Hyborian Age and the eleventh century. |  |
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--The Tigers of the Sea - BTS |
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Brogar was the chieftain of the Pictish tribe that protected the Dark Man on the Isle of the Altar in the early 11th century. In 1017 AD, the lesser priest Grok and his followers stole the idol, which ended up in the possession of the Viking Thorfel the Fair on the Isle of Swords. Brogar, the shaman Gonar and their warriors helped Irish warrior "Black Turlogh" O'Brien slaughter the Vikings, and then they returned the Dark Man to its island. --The Dark Man Note: The Bran Mak Morn story The Dark Man was freely adapted as a Conan story in Savage Tales#4, 1974. Conan replaced Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, Mala replaced Moira, and the Dark God (an apotheosized Brule) replaced the Dark Man (an apotheosized Bran). Other characters (Brogar, Thorfel the Fair) and locations (Isle of Swords) may have similar names, but are distinctly separate between the Hyborian Age and the eleventh century. |
 The father of Brule the Spear-Slayer was a Pictish warrior, probably of the Borni tribe, who lived circa 18,500 BC. While fishing he once caught a fish-like humanoid, a member of a species that dwelt in an ancient city beneath the Western Sea. He believed the creature to be a sea god and subsequently released it. When the Borni and the Sungara engaged in a tribal war for possession of a valley that was choice hunting land, Brule was given by his father his own great iron sword. He and his son Brule were both the ancestors of Bran Mak Morn. --Savage Sword of Conan I#55/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#132/2 - BTS; Wizard and Warrior |
Brulla was the chief of the Picts of
Golara (the Shetland Isles) in the late 5th century. The Northman leader
Thorwald Shield-Cleaver allied with Brulla, the Pictish chief, allowing
Thorwald to construct a skalli fortress on Golara, and he would help protect
the isles from attack by other Northmen. However, once the fortress was built,
more Northmen arrived, and within a year their numbers swelled to four hundred
men and the Northmen were abusive and cruel to the Pictish tribesmen. One year
after the Northmen settled upon Golara, Brulla confronted Thorwald
Shield-Cleaver about the transgressions of his men, but Thorwald and his
warriors severely beat him and cast him outside of their gates. The Irish reaver
Cormac Mac Art arrived to try to secure the release of their prisoner Hrut
(secretly a Danish king), but he was recognized and imprisoned. That evening,
thousands of Picts descended upon the fortress in retribution, and Brulla freed
Cormac. The Irish reaver subsequently rescued Hrut, and they fled the island,
being recovered by his ally, the Danish Viking Wulfhere Hausakliufr the
Skullbreaker. Brulla and Thorwald Shield-Cleaver killed each other during the
battle, but the Northman fortress was consumed in flames. --The Night of the Wolf |
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Buruc the Cruel was a bandit chief in the first century BC who dwelt in the mountains of Cornwall and descended on victims that passed his way. A large and burly man, over six feet in height, he had beady black eyes, red hair and a long red beard. He and two of his men were traveling through the woodlands when they happened by the Briton warrior Cororuc, and Buruc promptly ambushed him by leaping from a tree. They briefly skirmished before Cororuc removed Buruc's head from his body with a sword. Cororuc then
fled into the forest, as the bandit followers of Buruc scoured the trees trying
locate him afterwards, but Cororuc was secretly captured and spirited away by
the Alban Picts. --Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2; The Lost Race |
Cormac Mac Art an Cliuin ("The Wolf") was born in Connacht on the Isle of Erin (modern Ireland). He put out to sea from a young age sometime by circa 475 AD, spending time in service for the king of Dalriata and even battling the Picts of Caledon. He was tall and powerfully built with black hair and grey eyes, with a scarred but oft clean shaven face. He often wore the chain mesh mail of Irish armorers rather than the scale mail of the Norse, and his helmet had a crest of flowing horse hair. Becoming famous as an Irish pirate and reaver, he eventually joined the Danish Viking Wulfhere Hausakliufr the Skullbreaker, who commanded their dragonship with Cormac as his second. Cormac, under the guise of Partha Mac Othna (an alias once used by Bran Mak Morn), ventured to the fortress of Viking leader Thorwald Shield-Cleaver located in Shetland, to secure the release of their prisoner Hrut (secretly Thorfinn Eagle-Crest, the King of Denmark), but he was recognized and imprisoned. That evening, thousands of Picts descended upon the fortress, and their leader Brulla freed Cormac, who in turn rescued Thorfinn and they fled. Arriving at the beach, Cormac was told by Wulfhere that their vessel was destroyed by the Picts, but they managed to steal one of the Viking dragon ships and escaped the bloody battle between Pict and Viking. Their vessel was later wrecked in a storm, but the crew managed to make it pass the breakers to the beach of the island lair of the Viking lord Rognor the Red, the island being known as Golmara by the Picts, Ladbhan by the Scots, and Valgaard by the Norwegians. Wulfhere and his crew secreted themselves upon the island as Cormac entered the lair, hoping to secure a new vessel. A conflict soon broke out between Rognor, who was to wed the Breton girl Tarala on the morrow, and Hakon, whom Tarala had truly fallen in love with. Hakon was imprisoned by Rognor, but Cormac helped him escape in exchange for a new vessel. During the subsequent battle between the forces of Rognor and Hakon, the old commander was slain, and Hakon was chosen to become the newest Viking leader, and he kept his word by granting Cormac and Wulfhere a new dragon vessel (which presumably became their vessel The Raven). Circa 490 AD and during the reign of Uther Pendragon, Princess Helena, daughter of King Gerinth, ruler of a minor Briton kingdom, was abducted by Picts. The bard Donal contacted his allies Cormac and Wulfhere to recover her. Cormac, again under the guise of Partha Mac Othna of Uladh, entered the city of Ara, Caledon and claimed to seek employment as a mercenary for Eochaidh Mac Ailbe. There he learned that Helena had been abducted by the Pictish warrior Grulk, but she had been claimed by Gonar as a sacrifice to the moon god Golka; Cormac and Wulfhere were then ambushed by Northmen who sold Helena to the son of Thorleif Hordi. Cormac and Wulfhere sailed The Raven for the Kaldjorn Islands to pay a ransom for her return, but they were ambushed by Halfdan Wolf. During their battle, Pictish warriors led by Gonar arrived, intending to recapture Helena as their sacrifice, but they claimed Halfdan as their victim instead, and Helena was subsequently returned to her father. Arthur Pendragon later succeeded his
father Uther as King of Briton, and he hosted a conclave to build alliances with
the other political powers around Europa. Cormac and Wulfhere took advantage of
the lack of outside interference to loot an apparently abandoned druid temple
in Brittany, but they were soon forced to rescue a Christian monk from a number
of violent satyrs. --The
Night of the Wolf, Swords of the Northern Sea, The Temple
of Abomination, Tigers of the Sea Notes: Robert E. Howard wrote
several stories about Cormac Mac Art, including The Night of the Wolf
(1969) and Swords of the Northern Sea (1974), and fragments completed by
Richard L. Tierney, including The Temple of Abomination (1974) and Tigers
of the Sea (1974). Cormac Mac Art should not be confused with Cormac mac
Airt, a High King of Ireland according to medieval Irish legend and historical
tradition, his reign dated as sometime between the 2nd to the 4th centuries.
Nor should he be confused with the ally of Bran Mak Morn named Cormac na
Connacht, who like Cormac Mac Art was also from Connacht, Ireland. In the pastiche
novel The Sign of the Moonbow (1977) by Andrew J. Offutt, Cormac Mac Art
of Ireland was stated to be a later reincarnation of Kull of Atlantis and Conan
of Cimmeria. If extended into the Marvel Universe, this would also include the
Scot Jim O'Brien (Savage Sword of Conan I#6/2). |
Cororuc
was a Briton but not a pure Celt, with a trace of Belgae, was the height of six
feet, leanly built with grey eyes and long yellow hair. He lived during the
first century BC and once fought the Picts of Caledon, whom he found short,
but massive and misshapen.
Cororuc and his fellows had completed a secret mission for the wild Cornish tribemen, and while his comrades lingered at the savage court of the Cornish king, enjoying the crude hospitality, Cororuc was not content and so decided to set out for home alone. Passing through woodlands, he happened upon a battle between a panther and a wounded wolf. Deciding to defend the wolf, he was surprised to discover the footprints of the wolf walked on two legs, then vanished, and suspected it was a werewolf (he was unaware that it was the Pict Berula).
Immediately thereafter, he encountered Buruc the Cruel, a bandit chief who was
the scourge of Cornwall. They briefly skirmished before Cororuc beheaded Buruc
with his sword and then fled eastward into the forest, as the bandit followers
of Buruc scoured the trees trying locate him. Staggering into a clearing,
Cororuc was prompty subdued by diminutive Alban Picts, bound and carried into a
hidden but extensive cavern system. Therein he discovered the subterranean
abode of the Alban Picts, and was brought before their immortal chieftain.
After the chief told Cororuc of their history, he judged that because Cororuc
was of a race that had once invaded Cornwall, he was to be burned at the stake.
But Berula, another Pictish chief who had been disguised as the wolf whom
Cororuc rescued earlier, intervened. Cororuc was released to honor the debt,
and Berula brought him to a nearby Briton village, giving him gifts and they
parted as friends.
--Savage Sword of Conan I#68/2-#69/2; The Lost Race
In 207 AD, Bran Mak Morn traveled to
the Cavern of Mists west of Caledon with a band of Pictish warriors including
Gakor and Asag. During their journey they battled an encampment of Romans led
by Centurion Ursus. Later arriving at the cavern, the Picts were fearful of the
haunted land, but Gakor and Asag accompanied Bran to the entrance of the cave.
After Bran encountered the goddess Aeysla, the band returned westward, but they
encountered a legion of Roman soldiers led by Drusus Maximus, who captured Bran
and killed the others, including Gakor. |
| Golka was the Pictish god of the Moon and the father of the goddess Aeysla. An idol of Aeysla found on the Isle of the Altar was adorned with the Moon's bloodstone on a golden chain. The bloodstone was stolen circa 470 AD, but was recovered circa 490 AD by the shaman Gonar of the 5th century.] --For the Witch of the Mists - BTS (The Tigers of the Sea - BTS |
 The Pictish shaman Gonar of the third century, born circa 104 AD, was one of the bloodline of Gonar, with his ancestors including Gonar of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age and Gonar of the Hyborian Age, and his descendants including Gonar of the 11th century. In late spring, 128 AD, the Pictish chieftains Othna Mak Morn and Utha Mak Dunn, as well as Gonar, led over ten thousand Picts in an ambush against the Legio IX Hispana at Serpent Gorge, with most of the legion killed and the remainder buried within a great cairn. In 205 AD, a Norseman, the one remaining survivor of five hundred Roman soldiers massacred by Picts, was captured by Bran Mak Morn, but his sister Morgain asked to show mercy and set the Norseman free. However, Gonar, now over one hundred years old, wanted to sacrifice the Norseman to their gods. Bran, attempting to end the human sacrifices amongst the Picts, challenged Gonar to an arcane battle of wills, during which Gonar witnessed the wolf totem of Bran before losing, and he accepted Bran's authority. The shaman subsequently told of the origins of the Pictish race. In 206 AD, after Roman military governor Titus Sulla had a Pict crucified upon a cross, Gonar, slumbering in Baal-dor, approached Bran in his dreams and unsuccessfully warned him against his intent to summon the demonic Worms of the Earth against Sulla. In 207 AD, Gonar, through divination, informed Bran that he was to journey to the Cavern of Mists in the mountains far to the west of Caledon, where the spirit of Aeysla foretold Bran would journey to Rome to recover the mortal with whom she merge to walk upon the Earth again. During the two month absence of Bran, Gonar had the Pictish war chief Grom instigating revolts against the Roman forces. Bran soon returned with Sirena, who Aeysla became one with, and the nearby Roman forces were driven back with the arrival of Pictish forces led by Grom and Gonar. In 207 AD, as Roman forces led by Marcus Sulius prepared for a major assault on Caledon, Bran Mak Morn formed an alliance of Picts, Gaels, Britons and Northmen to oppose them. Gonar sacrificed a captured Roman soldier before Bran, Cormac na Connacht, and Pictish tribal chieftains Bocah and Gron, the portents predicting triumph for the coming battle. Wulfhere informed Bran that his Northmen would depart if there was no king to lead them to battle, so Gonar communicated with his Pre-Cataclysmic Age ancestor Gonar through eldritch means and summoned the Valusian king Kull, using the red jewel in Bran's iron crown as a beacon to draw him across the centuries. Kull slew Wulfhere in combat and agreed to lead the Northmen. The alliance ended up defeating the Romans and Kull was returned through a portal to the Pre-Cataclysmic Age. With his defeat of the Roman forces led by Marcus Sulius, Bran Mak Morn had established himself as the King of the Picts. In spring, 208 AD, Bran Mak Morn, alongside Gonar and Grom, marched with an army of three thousand Pictish warriors against a Roman encampment led by Marcus Sertorius Facilis, but discovered the camp destroyed by the Worms of the Earth. When Bran sought to enter the caverns in which the Worms had abducted Morgain, Gonar counseled against it. Later as Bran slumbered within the tunnels, Gonar contacted him briefly through his dreams, and dispatched Grom to find the entrance at Kestrel Scaur to rescue Bran. After the battle between the Picts and the Worms at Baal-dor, Atla revealed that Liuba was an immortal vampire and a threat to Bran, allowing Gonar and Morgain to drive off Liuba. --Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2-17/2, 42/2-43/2,#103/2-104/2,#106/2; Men of the Shadows, Worms of the Earth, For the Witch of the Mist, Kings of the Night, Legion From the Shadows |
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The Pictish shaman Gonar of the 5th century was one of the bloodline of Gonar, with his ancestors including Gonar of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, Gonar of the Hyborian Age, and Gonar of the 3rd century, and ancestor of the Gonar of the 11th century. In the late 5th century, he was a priest on the Isle of the Altar (also known as the Isle of Altars). An idol dedicated to the Moon woman Aeysla was adorned with the Moon's bloodstone on a golden chain, but the bloodstone was stolen. Under unrevealed circumstances, the bloodstone ended up in possession of the British noble Marcus, who later gifted it to his beloved Princess Helena, the daughter of King Gerinth of a minor Briton kingdom, when she was rescued from a shipwrecked Pictish ship. The Pictish warrior Grulk the Skull Smasher stole away Princess Helena to Grothga, Caledon, but as she possessed the bloodstone dedicated to Aeysla, Gonar intended to sacrifice her to the moon god Golka, and he departed with her to the Isle of the Altar. Gonar and the Picts were then ambushed by
Northmen who abducted Helena and sold her to the son of Thorleif Hordi at
Kaldjorn Islands. Wulfhere Hausakliufr and Cormac Mac Art, attempting to pay a
ransom for her return, but were ambushed by Halfdan Wolf. During the battle,
Pictish warriors led by Gonar arrived from the Isle of the Altar, intending to
recapture Helena as their sacrifice, but upon seeing the bloodstone had been
dropped and claimed by Halfdan, the Picts took him as their victim instead.
Cormac and Wulfhere subsequently returned Helena to her father. --The Tigers of the Sea |
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The Pictish shaman Gonar of the 11th century was one of the bloodline of Gonar, with his ancestors including Gonar of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, Gonar of the Hyborian Age, and Gonar of the third century. In 1017 AD, he was the priest of the Dark Man, an effigy of Bran Mak Morn located upon its altar on the Isle of the Altar. Worshipped by the remaining Picts, the Dark Man communicated with its followers as Bran Mak Morn through the dreams of Gonar. This tribe of Picts was led by the chieftain Brogar. The lesser priest Grok and his followers stole the idol and fled, taking to sea along the Hebrides islands of the west coast of Scotland, where Grok and his followers were slain by Vikings, and the Dark Man ended up in possession their leader Thorfel the Fair on the Isle of Swords. In his dreams, Gonar followed their route, and accompanied Pictish warriors led by Brogar to recover their idol. They arrived to find many of the Danes already slaughtered by "Black Turlogh" O'Brien, who was avenging the death of the abducted Moira of the O'Brien clan. In the aftermath, Brogar thanked Turlogh for rescuing their god, and as Gonar recovered the Dark Man, the Picts sailed away from the isle. --The Dark Man |
 Gorm (not to be confused with Gorm, the ally of Niord) was a Pictish chieftain in the Pictish Wilderness during the late Hyborian Age circa 9500 BC. Around twenty-five years of age, Gorm possessed a higher than usual intelligence (for the savage Picts of his time) and an instinct for conquest. The Nemedian priest Arus, a reformer and devout follower of Mitra, was granted permission by Gorm to remain amongst his tribe unbutchered, a precedent unheard of amongst the Picts, preaching the eternal truths of Mitra. Gorm listened intently to the tales of the wealth and power of the Hyborian kingdoms as Arus appealed to his sense of material gain. Arus also educated Gorm on the lands beyond his borders, but the chieftain mainly absorbed information of battle tactics and military strategy. Gorm possessed an interest in the civilized lands of the known world, and had Arus conduct him and his warriors through the Bossonian marches into the outside world, where they claimed to be converts to the ways of Mitra. The Picts served as mercenaries in the Aquilonian armies, secretly learning greater knowledge in civilized warfare and armor forging and weaponsmithing, and then returned home to share their acquired wisdom. Gorm dominated the other clans, some through war and others through diplomacy, gradually uniting the Pictish tribes as their Over-King. Gorm, now clad in a corselet of silvered mail instead of the tiger skin, led his Pictish forces against the Bossonian frontiers in war and plunder, leading hordes of formidable Pictish warriors wielding steel weapons. Arus unsuccessfully attempted to undo the work he had wrought, but was killed by a drunken Pict. Gorm was not without gratitude to Arus and set the skull of his slayer atop his cairn. The newly forged Pictish Empire assaulted the Bossonian borders with renewed strength, and the Bossonians were disadvantaged as much of their military was being drawn away by Aquilonia in their military campaign against Nemedia. Hearing word of the conflict in their homeland, entire Bossonian regiments marched to the western frontier, deserting the Nemedian campaign. After a great battle, they managed to defeat the Pictish invaders. Their desertion allowed the Nemedians to defeat the Aquilonians, so Aquilonia secretly sent regiments to the marches, and they had savage Shemitish soldiers massacre the Bossonian chiefs during a conclave to prepare an expedition against the Picts. Aquilonian forces then ravaged the Bossonian marches before departing, leaving the ruined lands unprotected. Gorm, now an elderly man, led his empire eastward, and without their walled villages, the remnants of the Bossonians people were ended violently. The Picts assaulted Aquilonia, looting and burning whole cities, and Aquilonia was unable to defend itself with the majority of its forces on its eastern borders battling Nemedia and elsewhere. After the collapse of the Aquilonian Empire, the Hyborian nations once allied to them withdrew, and the resultant power struggle decimated the lands. The Pictish Empire now reigned over the former Aquilonian territories, overwhelming the inhabitants. Rapidly moving eastward through Zingara, Argos and Ophir, the Picts found their advancements halted by Hyrkanian armies encroaching from the east, with both sides engaging in Koth. Nemedia engaged a tribe of Aesir mercenaries, and Over-King Gorm, nearly the age of one hundred, was slain by Hialmar, a chief of the Nemedian Aesir. In the seventy-five years since he first encountered Arus, Gorm had engineered the fall of the Aquilonian Empire and the rise the Pictish Empire. --Savage Sword of Conan I#15: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 4 - The Beginning of the End, Savage Sword of Conan I#16: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 5 - Fire and Slaughter, Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The Darkness... and the Dawn; The Hyborian Age |
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Grok was the lesser priest of the Dark Man in the early 11th century, possibly subordinate to the shaman Gonar. Grok and his followers stole the idol and fled the Isle of the Altar in 1017 AD, but while sailing a lake in Ireland, they were overtaken by a Viking craft, the battle resulting in deaths of all the warriors on both sides, including Grok. --The Dark Man |
 Grom was a savage Pict and an old war chief fiercely loyal to Bran Mak Morn. Bran once assumed the identity of Partha Mac Othna, disguising himself as a Pictish emissary to the Roman Empire, with Grom pretending to be his vassal. While at Eboracum in 206 AD, Bran and Grom witnessed a Pict crucified by its military governor Titus Sulla. Bran gave Grom his bronze seal that would allow him free passage to leave Eboracum, and ordered Grom to head north and have Cormac na Connacht have his Gaelic forces sweep the frontier north of Hadrian's Wall. When Bran Mak Morn was captured by Drusus Maximus in 207 AD, Grom sought to free him, but was dissuaded by Gonar as Bran intended to be taken to Rome itself to locate the vessel for the goddess Aeysla. Grom and Gonar instead led Pictish forces to assail the Romans until the return of Bran, and supported Bran and Aeysla as they opposed Roman forces at the Cavern of Mists. In 208 AD, Bran and Gorm led a vast army of Picts against a Roman encampment, but they were horrified to find it already massacred by the Worms of the Earth. He was then unable to prevent the abduction of Morgain at Baal-dor and was equally ineffectual against the Hell-Worm at Kestrel Scaur, but later he led a number of Pictish warriors into the barrow below Kestrel Scaur to rescue Bran, Morgain and Liuba from the Legio IX Infernalis, and was vital in the subsequent defense of Baal-Dor by the Worms. --Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2-17/2; Worms of the Earth, For the Witch of the Mists, Legion From the Shadows |
 Gron was a savage Pict was a clan chieftain who rallied under the banner of Bran Mak Morn in 207 AD on the eve before a major battle against Roman forces. He and fellow chieftain Bocah watched as shaman Gonar killed and captive Roman soldier, after which he read that the portents were good for the coming battle. Gron subsequently led his Picts in the battle and defeated the Romans. --Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2,#43/2 - BTS; Kings of the Night |
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Grulk the Skull Smasher was a Pictish mercenary from Grothga, Caledon during the fifth century. He stated he was the second greatest warrior in Caledon, second only to King Brogar the Dark One himself, and claimed within his house in Grothga there is a rug made of Anglo, Breton, Saxon and Scottish skins. A mercenary in the service of Eochaidh
Mac Ailbe, he abducted Princess Helena, daughter of King Gerinth of a minor
Briton kingdom circa 490 AD, but she was later claimed as a sacrifice to the
moon god Golka by the shaman Gonar, only to be stolen away by Northmen. Later
while at the house of Eochaidh in Ara, Caledon, he was drunkenly bragging about
his exploits, unwittingly providing information to the disguised
Cormac Mac Art, hired to rescue Helena. When his identity was revealed by
a renegade Viking named Sigrel, Cormac fled back to his vessel The Raven. --The Tigers of the Sea |
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During his war against Gaul in the early 6th century, King Arthur Pendragon placed his kinsman Hoel in command of part of his army to march against the Pict commander Guitard, leader of the Pictavians who held part of Gaul, while Arthur reduced the other provinces. Hoel entered Aquitaine and conquered the cities, forcing Guitard to surrender. Arthur later held an elaborate Pentecostal feast at the City of Legions (modern Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Wales) for many of his allies, and Guitard was in attendance. When Roman general Lucius Tiberius demanded the fealty of Arthur, Arthur formed an alliance with other nations, including Pictavia, to oppose the Roman Empire. During the subsequent war between Rome and Britain, Guitard rescued his allies
from a Roman ambush, leading three thousand Pictavians against their
assailants, and later during the Battle of Suesia, during which Arthur slew
Lucius Tiberius, Guitard had led a company alongside Holdin, duke of the
Ruteni. --Historia Regum Britanniae
(aka The History of the Kings of Britain |
In spring of 208 AD, the Worms of the Earth abducted Morgain from her bedchambers in the fortress Baal-dor in an effort to force an alliance with Bran against Rome. The screams of her
maidservant Helta drew Bran to the bedchamber, where they found a mutilated
corpse in her place. --Legion From the Shadows |
 The nation of Nemedia engaged a tribe of Aesir mercenaries to oppose King Gorm of the Pictish Empire circa 9500 BC. Hialmar, a chief of the Nemedian Aesir, slaughtered the elderly Gorm, almost one hundred years of age. The Aesir mercenaries and their descendants would come to rule Nemedia for a time, and thousands of years later, those who remember the Nemedians of Irish legendry are actually recalling the Nemedian Aesir. In the early twentieth century, James Allison lied on his deathbed recalling his heroic past reincarnations, including those of Hialmar and Niord. --Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6 - The Darkness... and the Dawn, Supernatural Thrillers#3 - BTS; The Hyborian Age, The Valley of the Worm - BTS |
The Kelts, also known as the Celts or the Fourth Race, were tall and powerful men with tawny hair and grey, and occasionally blue, eyes. They were recorded possibly as early as the late Pre-Cataclysmic Age, as an ancestor of Brule may gave been a Kelt. Millennia after the Great Cataclysm, they came from the dim lands of the north and the shores of the far North Sea, bearing bronze swords and spears over the Pictish flint. The Kelts drove both the noble and the savage drifts of the Pictish peoples before them, reuniting them but forcing them to flee to the remote north and west mountains for a time, where the savage Picts interbred with the Reindeer Men, causing them to become smaller and more brutish in stature and temperament over the millennia. The Kelts were the ancestors to the later Celtic peoples. --Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Wizard and Warrior - BTS, The Lost Race - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS, The Hyborian Age |
The Pictish people were primarily a tribal society during
their hundred
thousand year history. Each tribe was often governed by a chieftain,
and in times of great conflict a war chieftain could unite their people
against a common threat. There are only a handful of known Kings of Pictdom,
also called High King or Over-King, recorded prior to circa 311 AD, with an occasional
Queen. The rank is not hereditary, but a powerful enough chieftain or
war-chieftain could attain it and secure it for a length of time. The
position of King may only be held by a pureblooded "noble" Pict, not a
"savage" Pict with the taint of Reindeer Men blood. The position of King of Pictdom became more frequently assumed from the fourth to ninth centuries. The historic Pictish Chronicle
and other sources has a regnal list of 54 later Pictish Kings reigning
approximately 547 years, from Vipoig to Kenneth MacAlpin (see List of Kings of the Picts).
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| Liuba
was a beautiful warrior-sorceress and Queen of the Picts when her
people dwelt on the remnant island of Atlantis. Under unrevealed
circumstances, she was transformed into a vampire or revenant, and
she possessed many attributes of the undead, including immortality, the
ability to see in darkness or summon an army of spirits, the need to
feed upon the blood of others, an aversion to daylight, inability to
cross running water or a circle of sacred trees, and sleeping in a
burial chamber. Eventually she was driven forth during the great wars
of her clans, at some point arriving in western Thuria (modern Scotland)
and becoming entombed alive within Kestrel Scaur, an
ensorcelled barrow that was doubly guarded by a ring of sacred rowans
to keep her from walking by night. Sometime prior to 208 AD, Atla was summoned to the caverns below Kestrel Scaur by the Worms of the Earth, and she observed the pristine form of the dead Pictish queen Liuba lying on the barrow slab when they forced their way into the sealed tomb of the barrow. The shattering of the seal upon the barrow granted Liuba her freedom. In spring of 208 AD, Bran Mak Morn refused an offer by Quintus Claudius Nero and Atla to form an alliance with the Worms, and they subsequently abducted his sister Morgain as a hostage. As Bran prepared to enter the tunnels to rescue his sister, Liuba appeared and offered her sword, an offer he declined. Shortly thereafter, Bran was captured by the Worms, but he was located and freed by Liuba, who again offered her assistance in exchange for an unspecified price. They searched the tunnels, even locating the lair of the Hellworm, and Bran noted how well she navigated in the darkness. After securing legionary armor to disguise themselves, Liuba and Bran entered a chamber where Ssrhythssaa was attempting to reshape a Worm into the form of Morgain. In the ensuing chaos that erupted when Claudius Nero slew Ssrhythssaa, Bran and Liuba rescued Morgain, and they escaped back to Baal-dor. During the subsequent assault upon Baal-dor by the Legio IX Infernalis, the legion was decimated by the Pictish warriors and an army of ghosts summoned by Liuba. Claudius Nero fled, and Bran and Liuba pursued, but when in the wilds Liuba chose her debt for aiding Bran was to feed upon his blood, possibly even transforming him into a revenant like her. However, Atla, who harbored feelings for Bran, had recognized Liuba as the same pristine but dead woman within the barrow, and she revealed to Gonar and Morgain that Liuba was a threat to Bran, allowing them to rescue their king from her as Gonar used his ashen staff to command her away to her abode. --Legion from the Shadows |
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The half-human Men of the Sea, also known as the Second Race or Lemurians (not to be confused with either the Deviant or human populations of Lemuria), were from the continent of Lemuria in the Eastern Ocean, far west of the Pictish Isles. They had perhaps sprung from some strange sea monster as they were scaled as sharks and could survive for hours beneath the waters. The reptilian humanoids were raiders coming in fleets of canoes, but were often beat back by the Pictish peoples over the centuries. With the submerging of Lemuria circa 18,000 BC, the Men of the Sea sailed to the northern land of the newly risen continent of Novum Terra, and although they knew little of cultivation or craft, they possessed knowledge of curious architecture and from the Nameless Tribe they had learned to make instruments of polished jade, obsidian and argillite. The Men of the Sea attempted to establish a dark empire upon Novum Terra, rearing up temples to their gods which were torn down by the Paleo-American tribes, and their attempt to influence the fledgling Toltec Empire resulted only in it crumbling. --Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); Men of the Shadows - BTS |  |
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The Reindeer Men were a savage race of red-bearded neanderthal giants, also
known as the Beast-Men, who dwelt within the forests of an unclaimed area
of the Pictish Isles to the East. With the Great Cataclysm circa 18,000 BC, the Pictish Isles arose from beneath the ocean waves, and the extensive island chain was heaved up to form the mountain peaks of the new continent later known as Novum Terra. The inhabitants of the islands were devastated by the upheaval of their continent, decimating much of the Pictish population, and they were forced to flee the great volcanoes upon the west coast that were once their beloved isles. Fleeing eastward, these now nomadic Picts migrated, driving the neanderthal Reindeer Men before them, until coming upon broad and rich plains far to the east. The Reindeer Men ventured southward to Terra Incognito, the former Southern Continent, but after centuries, the nomadic Picts were forced southward as the great ice fields came down from the Arctic, and after a great war, the Reindeer Men fled to the south of the continent. Traveling across a series of marshy islands that at that time had spanned the ocean, the Reindeer Men crossed eastward over to Kush, gradually wandering northward to an isolated location in western Thuria. While in the highlands of western Thuria, the Reindeer Men reputedly took command of the ancient stone fortress of Baal-dor, but they ultimately abandoned it. The nomadic Picts later sailed to one of the remnant isles of Atlantis and drove forth the remnant Atlanteans, they too making their way to western Thuria, where they waged savage warfare with the Reindeer Men dispatched there before them. The nomadic Picts eventually departed Atlantis, their journeys ultimately bringing them to the lands near the area now known as Cornwall, but after centuries, a conquering king forced most of them to sail for fertile plains by the far off cliffs that gleamed white in the sunlight. There the nomadic Picts again encountered the neanderthal Reindeer Men, now dwelling in caves, and the remnant Atlanteans, and drove both before them, the Reindeer Men fleeing to the forests and mountains of the remote north and west. Later from the dim lands of the north came the Kelts, bearing bronze swords and spears over the Pictish flint, their attacks driving both Pictish cultures before them, the nomadic and more "noble" Picts, who despite the decimation of and exodus from their homeland had retained a semblance of their noble culture, and a second drift of "savage" Picts, survivors of their Thurian colony that degenerated into barbaric savagery due to unending war with the Atlantean refugees. The two drifts of the Picts were reunited when they fled to the remote north and west mountains for a time, the barren lands where they had driven the Reindeer Men. The savage Picts eventually interbred with the Reindeer Men, redheaded neanderthal giants, causing them to degenerate as ages passed, becoming smaller and more brutish in stature and temperament over the millennia. --Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); The Lost Race - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS, Legion From the Shadows - BTS, The Hyborian Age Note: So, I don't get the reindeer men...They were supposed to be red-haired and bearded Neanderthals, but they don’t look like that in the pictured image. Why were they called reindeer man? What do they have in common with reindeer? Why would giant Neanderthals mating with normal-sized people created 4-5’ tall people? --Snood They
were first referred to as red-headed/red-bearded Reindeer Men in Men of the
Shadows. Although not specific, reindeers were probably their tribal totem
animal, like the Pictish Wolf Clan or the Turtle Tribe, or possibly even their
main form of sustenance that they hunted. |
 When Atlantis submerged beneath the ocean waves during the Great Cataclysm circa 18,000 BC, thousands of Atlantean tribesmen traveled eastward to seek refuge in western Thuria, as well as other locations across the Earth. However, some remnants of the continent remained upon the surface for some time, and upon one of the remnants dwelt Atlanteans also known as the Third Race, Cro-Magnon physical giants who inhabited caves and survived by hunting. While they possessed no skill in artizanship, they were artists, and when not involved in hunting or in war, the painted and drew pictures of men and beasts upon the walls of their caves. The nomadic Picts who had been forced to relocate to Terra Incognito found it a dank and swampy serpent-haunted land, so they sailed to the remnant Atlantean isle spared the sinking of the main continent. There the Picts encountered the remnant Atlanteans and drove them forth to western Thuria, where the Atlanteans engaged in savage warfare with the Reindeer Men already exiled there. A wise and ancient Atlantean wizard placed a curse upon that remnant isle of Atlantis, so that it would become unknown to the tribes of men, and no vessel from that isle would ever gain another shore nor would any foreign vessel should ever see the remnant isle again. The nomadic Picts were again forced to seek out new territory, reaching the western shores of Kush, sailing northward along the coast until arriving at the Middle Sea, settling for centuries into the lands later known as Cornwall, before a conquering king drove most of the Picts westward to fertile plains by the far off cliffs that gleamed white in the sunlight. It was here that the nomadic Picts again encountered the Reindeer Men and remnant Atlanteans and drove both before them. The ultimate fate of the remnant Atlanteans was unrevealed, but it was probable they reunited with the mainland Atlantean refugees who had also fled to western Thuria, who eventually interbred with the elder Cimmerian tribes and spawned the Cimmerian culture. --Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2 (fb), Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2 (fb); The Lost Race - BTS, Men of the Shadows - BTS) |
Utha Mak Dunn was a noble Pict and chieftain of the Raven Clan in 128 AD, who with Othna Mak Morn of the Wolf Clan and the shaman Gonar, ambushed the Roman general Publius Calidius Falco and his Legio IX Hispana, slaughtering most of their number at Serpent Gorge and forcing the remainder to take refuge in a large cairn, the entrance of which Othna ordered buried. Othna Mak Morn soon succumbed from injuries sustained during the battle, and Utha mourned his passing. --Legion From the Shadows |
| images: (without ads) Conan#9, page 5, panel 3 (Pict horde/color); Conan: The Ravagers Out of Time, page 6, panel 6 (Hyborian Age Gonar) King Conan#9, page 3, panel 2 (Dekanawatha Blood-Ax and son Akenak) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 3, panel 2 (Nameless Tribe) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 4 (Men of the Sea on a ship) Savage Sword of Conan I#197/2, page 3, panel 2 (Nial) Kull the Conqueror I#2, page 16, panel 2 (Kull and Brule) Savage Sword of Conan I#43/2, page 14, panel 4 (Kull and Gonar) Savage Sword of Conan I#8: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 2 - The Rise of the Hyborians, page 1, panel 1 Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 6, panel 2 (Reindeer Men) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 7, panel 1 (Atlantean wizard) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 7&8, panel 5 (Kelts) Savage Sword of Conan I#12: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 3 - The Hyborian Kingdoms, page 2, panel 2 (Zingg) Savage Tales#4, page 20, panel 3 (Dark God) Savage Sword of Conan I#15: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 4 - The Beginning of the End, page 5, panel 2 (Grom and Arus) Savage Sword of Conan I#16: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 5 - Fire and Slaughter, page 6 (Post-Hyborian Cataclysm) Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2, page 12, panel 4 (Gonar of the 3rd century) - bran15 Savage Sword of Conan I#103/2, page 6, panel 1 (Bran vs Gonar battle of wills) Savage Sword of Conan I#17/2, page 12, panel 19 (Bran w/ Black Stone) Savage Sword of Conan I#43/2, page 1, panel 2 (Bran and Kull) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 3, panel 3 (First Race survives on Pictish Isles) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 6, panel 4 (Picts sail to Atlantis) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 6, panel 5 (Atlanteans) Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2, page 2, panel 1 (Bocah) Savage Tales#4, page 19, panel 5 (Brogar) Savage Sword of Conan I#55, page 3, panel 5 (Brule's father) Savage Tales#4, page 13, panel 2 (Dark God) Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2, page 4, panel 6 (Gonar) Savage Sword of Conan I#15: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 4 - The Beginning of the End, page 5, panel 1 (Grom) Savage Sword of Conan I#16/2, page 9, panel 4 (Grom) #17/2 The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6, The Darkness... and the Dawn, page 2, panel 1 (Pictish horde) Savage Sword of Conan I#42/2, page 2, panel 1 (Gron) #68/2, page 8, panel 6 (Berula); pg. 9, panel 4 (Berula, non-wolf) Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2, page 1 (Alban Picts) page 4, panel 1 (Picts in caves under Cornwall) page 5, panel 4 (Alban Pict chief) page 9, panel 6 (Cororuc) Savage Sword of Conan I#69/2, Savage Sword of Conan I#17: The Hyborian Age, Chapter 6, The Darkness... and the Dawn, page 2, panel 2 (Hialmar) Savage Sword of Conan I#104/2, page 7&8, panel 5 (Kelts) Savage Sword of Conan I#192, page 33, panel 4 (Pict shaman finds phrase) Supernatural Thrillers#3, page 8, panel 4 (Gorm and Niord tribes make peace) For the Witch of the Mists, cover (Aeysla) Portrait of Kenneth MacAlpin by Alexander Bannermann, 18th century (Kenneth MacAlpin) Appearances: Bibliography: Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. First Posted: 09/15/2021 Last Updated: 09/10/2021 Non-Marvel Copyright info All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing! Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.! Back to Characters |
Berula was a chieftain amongst the diminutive Alban
Picts in first century BC Cornwall. When venturing outside of their cavernous
abode, Berula often wore a realistic wolf skin and mimicked wolfish movements
like walking on all fours, convincing observers he was an actual wolf. At times
however, he would also walk on two legs or seemingly vanish by leaping into the
branches of nearby trees, causing some to believe him a werewolf. 
BURUC THE CRUEL