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Hyrkanian Hyrkanian Warriors
Hyrkania is a vast land of prairies, forest, and tundra.
Hyrkania is best known for its broad, barren steppes
where horse-warriors, masters of the powerful doublecurved
bow, gallop the great treeless tracts of land.
Living in tribal clans and led by Khans, these warriors
ride on raids of plunder. They are "lean horsemen in
sheepskins and high fur caps lashing their horses and
loosing their barbed arrows".
In Conan's time Hyrkania had many city-states, more or
less firmly under the control of the Turanian Empire.
Autonomous regions were situated along the
northeastern shore of the Sea and deep into the interior,
with Turanian vassals along the southeastern coast and
the eastern caravan routes.
The Hyrkanians are tall and slender, with hooked noses
and brown or black hair. Their skin is naturally light, but
is darkened by the sun and wind of the steppe to a deep
brown, almost like a Zingaran. The men wear
moustaches, and beards are not uncommon.
The Hyrkanians are fearsome warriors. Their
horsemanship, combined with their carefully made
saddles and skill at their chosen weapons, makes them a
terrible raiding force. They do not fight the "set piece"
battles that Hyborians fight; rather, they fight when and
where they choose.
A troop of Hyrkanian cavalry can travel nearly 100 miles in a day, bringing four to five horses per rider,
and fight at the end of that day without resting. When traveling, Hyrkanians do not stop to change
horses; rather, the warrior vaults from horse to horse, taking his bow case and arrows with him.
Hyrkanian archery is legendary. Their recurved composite bow are made from wood, horn and sinew
glued together, and take over a year to make and season. The Hyrkanians get the bows from artisans
who live in villages or the western slopes of the Mountains of Night in Khitai. The strength of one of
these bows is rated by the number of men required to string it. Youths use a "one-man" bow, most
warriors use a "two-man" bow, which can also be strung by one man with the aid of a special harness,
and the strongest archers use a "three-man" bow.
The Hyrkanians do not take slaves, at least not adult male slaves. Sometimes they take young children or
non-Hyrkanian concubines, but otherwise they kill those who stand in their way. "We do not want to
rule over conquered peoples," say the Hyrkanians, "but over great pastures."
The Hyrkanians have little fixed territory to defend. Their nomadic way of life makes them immune to
the territorial imperatives of more "civilized" lands.
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