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.

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.

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. Mount Sidrak is a high mountain overlooking the land of Cuppar-Nombo. Sometimes the gods come here in their cloud ships to dance upon the peak. 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 this mountain, lest such an attempt offend the gods and prevent them from ever returning.

Karthian Hills

These hills separate Teloth and Oonai. Some local farmers have tamed a portion of these hills and developed them into vineyards and arbors. The wine therefrom is much sought after. The wilder sections of the hills, near Mouth Thorin, are wooded and sylvan. Fauns, unicorns, and other shy, gentle beings are claimed to inhabit these remote slopes.

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.

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.

Bnazic Desert

The Bnazic Desert is a mild desert near the land of Mnar. The taciturn, nomadic people who live there breed and eat three-humped sea-green camels; many of the people are dangerous robbers. The sands are blue and yellow-green, and the flora of the desert weirdly resembles a sea bottom, with blue, green, or gray plants like coral and seaweed; the animals are likewise colored. The desert becomes most beautiful at night, when luminous animals weave their lairs and move about like living stars.

Liranian Desert

A barren desert, peopled by small tribes of people who camp at the few oases and trade rare spices with the folk of Sinara. Their women are accomplished dancers.

River Zuro

The dark green Zuro flows near the city of Teloth and the Karthian Hills. It is swift and cold, though narrow. The river's headwaters lie far to the north near the hills of Implan. At its mouth stands the port of Aphorat.

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 Glothoth. The Khalifate of Cuppar-Nombo is one of the Six Kingdoms.

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.

Aphorat

APHORAT: 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.

Drinen

A city near Cuppar-Nombo inhabited by dusky-skinned folk famous for their eerie music, played on flutes, drums, and accompanied by wailing, wordless singing. One portion of the city is called the Pleasure Quarter, and is widely condemned as thoroughly decadent by many people, while envied by others.

Dother

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 Dother 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.

Sinara

A small city on the outskirts of the Liranian Desert. The city is Arabic in flavor and unusual in that the buildings, made of marble, are fashioned in the shapes of tents and pavilions rippling in the wind. The folk here are all swart, cheerful, ribald, and boisterous. The only domestic animals are dromedaries, used for riding, burden, and food. One variety of dromedary is raised solely for the delicate garlicky flavor of its flesh. Sinara is run by a Bey who is not hereditary, but is chosen for his prowess, determined in a contest of battle, singing, and riding.

Teloth

A drab gray granite city of square, flat-roofed buildings. The inhabitants are dark and stern. The only plants are down by the river Zuro. All must work in Teloth. There is no laughter or singing here—the inhabitants do not approve of such things. Teloth is a city of laborers. Travelers may stay no more than a single day before they, too, are forced to work. There are no inns. Newcomers lodge in the stables until they finish building their own squat, square domiciles. Teloth's king, who also works with his hands, dwells in the tower of Mlin.

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 and/or Derleth?)

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)"
• sourcebook: H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands