Cuppar-Nombo

Gary Myers' Egyptian-themed Dreamland, inspired by Lord Dunsany's few brief references to the desert-land of Cuppar-Nombo and its ruined city Golthoth the Damned in Dunsany's Dreamlands stories. Chaosium also includes elements of Lovecraft's Dreamland of Cydathria.

Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo

The Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo is one of the Six Kingdoms, and bounded by the Karthian Hills and the Forest of Parg is that ancient desert plateau land of Cuppar-Nombo. The region receives little or no rainfall, and what little water there is rises from underground springs to form oases. Much of the region is covered by a blanket of shifting sands and dunes known as the Great Sand Sea. The bulk of the population of this region live a nomadic existence following herds of goats and sheep from one oasis to the next. They travel to the city once each season to trade with the native merchants and those from abroad for whatever they might need or desire. There is only one permanent settlement in the area, the city of Cuppar-Nombo, and many of the valleys near the city have mines from which various precious stones, such as rubies or emeralds, are extracted. The region has two main caravan routes which connect it with the rest of the Dreamlands; the first runs monthly across the eastern hills to Drinen and then to the Valley of the Skai, and the second runs every season to the headwaters of one of the tributaries of the river Zuro and then down river to Aphorat. (source?)

Geography

Mountains of Ayell-Tzarthica

A range just to the north of the Land of Ennon, known as the Place of Deep Mystery. No one knows what is concealed by the blue-litten mist surrounding the peaks of these mountains. Sometimes the gods come here in their cloud ships to dance upon the highest of the peaks, and the men of Cuppar-Nombo look forward to these times, for the tears which the gods shed when they leave this place are the only rain to come to their desert land; it is a great crime in Cuppar-Nombo to attempt to climb that mountain, lest such an attempt offend the gods and prevent them and their rains from ever returning. (source?)

Great Sand Sea

The Great Sand Sea is a blanket of shifting sands and dunes covering much of the region of the Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo. (source?)

Desert of Mlok

Centuries ago, a monster named Mlok fell from the sky into the deserts beyond Bnazic. Remnants of this blasphemous creature may still remain, buried deep beneath the sand. In this desert, near Drinen, is a round hill known as the Tomb of Neb. Neb was the last priest of an ancient god named Mlok, who fell to the Dreamlands from the sky and tried to usurp the worship of the Great Ones. As Mlok's cult grew the god began to fission—constantly splitting into smaller, less powerful entities. In Neb's time, there was little left to worship and when Neb was buried, the last Children of Mlok were buried with him. It is rumored that they still live in the Tomb of Neb, warded by Elder Signs. If anyone were foolish enough to remove these wards, the Children of Mlok could overrun the nearby lands. (Gary Myers, "The Priest of Mlok")

Forbidden Lands

The Forbidden Lands are a hellish place near Ooth-Nargai, full of volcanoes, lakes of fire, and bizarre nameless creatures. The lands touch upon the Waking World in a number of places, and account for many Earthly disappearances. King Kuranes of Celephaïs has forbidden this region to humankind, and any dreamer caught trying to enter is regretfully imprisoned. (source?)

Cities

City of Cuppar-Nombo

One of Gary Myers' Egyptian-themed additions to the Land of Mnar, the desert Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo has its capitol city in the heart of a desert of the same name. The city is surrounded by high walls of plastered sandstone which gleam white in the baking sun. Within the walls are many low buildings with thick walls made from the clay of the surrounding soil. These buildings are constructed so that they extract the coolness from the air and maintain a comfortable temperature. At the center of the city stands the magnificent palace of the Khalif of Cuppar-Nombo, Prince Fiasal. Cuppar-Nombo was founded long ago by survivors who fled the nearby ruins of Golthoth. The Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo is one of the Six Kingdoms. (Gary Myers and Dunsany)

Golthoth

Very splendid still are Golthoth's temples.... There by little copper lamps the shaven priests mumbled once over papyrus scrolls before cryptical gods: strange figures with human bodies and the heads of cats, hawks, rams, and lions....
—Gary Myers, "The Loot of Golthoth (fiction)"

In the Desert of Cuppar-Nombo can be found the beautiful blue city called Golthoth the Damned, which is sentinelled all round by wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly desolate for years and years because of a curse which the gods once spoke in anger and could never since recall. (Lord Dunsany)

Once this city was the capital of Cuppar-Nombo and here, under the leadership of their god-kings, the priests worshiped their strange animal-headed gods. Golthoth now stands empty and silent. The mighty limestone temples and obelisks are deserted but for the desert sands which encroach a little more each year. On the temple walls may still be seen the carven images of the ancient gods with the heads of animals and the bodies of humans. Careful examination of the carvings will reveal that a jackal-headed figure has been chipped off all the walls. Tales persist of great riches waiting to be discovered in the tombs beneath Golthoth, but none have ever found them, and no small number of those who have gone in search of them have disappeared. The dark-skinned, gypsy-like folk who originally inhabited Golthoth, now known as the Dark Wanderers, might have migrated throughout Mnar shortly after the destruction of their civilization, and then wandered on to all corners of the Dreamlands. (Gary Myers and Lord Dunsany)

Aphorat

Aphorat is a small port in the far south. Lying as it does in the shadows of Mount Thalarion (apparently a different place from Thalarion), Aphorat is remote and little visited, but it is important for it serves as the only link to the sea for both Sydathria and Cuppar-Nombo. Few ships from other lands come here for any reason. The men of Aphorat are skilled sailors and have sailed as far away as Celephaïs on the Cerenarian Sea. Barges travel up and down the river bringing goods to and from the inner lands. (Chaosium? Lovecraft briefly mentions a "Zenig of Aphoret" who once sought Kadath, but does not elaborate)

Dothar

A smallish desert city whose brown-skinned people keep mostly to themselves. They do not worship the Great Ones, unlike most Dreamlands residents, but keep the nature of their deity a secret. Naturally, fearful rumors are rife about their faith, though the people of Dothar do not seem to practice human sacrifice or other abhorrent rites. The city is best known for the peculiar trade items which are sold by its diffident silk-clad merchants. These items include exotically-scented oil suitable for lamps or dipped torches, powerful acids kept in green glass bottles, planks of fine ivory from six to ten feet long, and eerie phosphorescent rocks. The source of these items is completely unknown. (Gary Myers, "The Priest of Mlok"?)

Ennon

The Land of Ennon, called the Last of the Fantastic Realms, the Land of Music and Poetry. In this land reside all the dreamers and poets who offered their visions to the world but were rejected. This land is filled with music and merriment, and at night the air is filled with songs which once lived in men’s souls but were pushed out as wonder left the Waking World. Inland from the coast of this land is a high range of mountains known as Ayell-Tzarthica: the Place of Deep Mystery. No man knows what may lie concealed behind the veils of blue-litten mist which obscure the peaks of those mountains, but it is said that both wonder and madness await those who brave the summit of those peaks. The residents of Ennon therefore content themselves to remain on the soft slopes flanking the mountains. It is here, near the base of Ayell-Tzarthica, where one can find Ward Phillips, who was once of the Waking World. Phillips is the Keeper of the Lamp of Alhazred, and he can use the powers of that lamp to show investigators the one safe route into splendid Cathuria, which lies beyond the Basalt Pillars of the West. (Chaosium?)

Lhosk

Lhosk is a seaport on the Cerenarian Sea, with white sand beaches, teak wharves, broad towers, gambrel roofs, and winding streets. Like most Dreamlands cities on the Southern Sea, the principal businesses are fishing and trade, in this case with Sona-Nyl. Ships have rose-tinted sails, and the fishermen wear turbans. (Gary Myers, "The Three Enchantments")

Myngar

Long ago, Myngar was a mighty city, old even as the wandering herdsmen were founding the cities of Kadatheron, Thraa and Ilarnek. It was ruled over by King Kynaratholis — a good king, but he longed to rule all the Dreamlands. He rode forth from his city at the head of his armies and for many years he was away, fighting and conquering. When he returned, victorious, he found that the gods were displeased with him and had laid ruin to his land. It is said that Kynaratholis died on the spot from grief at what at befallen his beloved homeland. Those few who venture to the ruins say that his ghost still roams the old city. (?)

Heresies and Controversies

• This page currently has a hodge-podge of locations by Gary Myers, Chaosium, and a few others, mostly Gary Myers, with some locations drawn from a few different stories in addition to Cuppar-Nomba. Chaosium places them across Lovecraft's Dreamlands, and places Lovecraft's Cydathria in Cuppar-Nombo. There may be enough non-Egyptian-themed Gary Myers content to further split off into a third Dreamland (see also Inquanok), perhaps built around the Land of Mhor.

Associated Mythos Elements

• setting: Dreamlands

References

• fiction: Gary Myers, The House of the Worm (fiction); "The Loot of Golthoth (fiction)", "Passing of a Dreamer (fiction)", "Xiurhn (fiction)", "Yohk the Necromancer (fiction)", "The Maker of Gods (fiction)", "The Snout in the Alcove (fiction)", "The Priest of Mlok (fiction)", "[[The Gods of Drinen (fiction)]", "The Tomb of Neb (fiction)", "The Treasure of the Ancients (fiction)", "The Three Enchantments (fiction)"
• sourcebook: H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands