Where exactly in Hyboria is the land of the exiles located?
How can I learn more about it?
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Welcome back to the forums,
The lore around the exiled lands is convoluted at best.
On paper, it’s in Stygia, the hyborian age equivalent of Egypt. However; if you go deeper down the rabbit hole it’s a bit less straightforward. There’s theories that it’s in a pocket dimension controlled and manipulated by a lovecraftian elder god.
If you believe the face value Stygia, you’re sent there by the wizard Thoth-Amon, to plunder artifacts of the extinct Giant-kings and their fallen empire
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From Jens Erik -
Where in Hyboria are the Exiled Lands located?
It’s a new setting that’s not found in the original Conan lore. We made it ourselves!
Most likely this.
You are not sent to the lands to survive, you are nailed to a cross to die.
Luckily a hunky barbarian comes along and frees you.
What is at odds is that you are nailed to a cross, yet have a bracelet on that keeps you in this dimension, as if the executioner knew that Conan would free you.
As I see it, since you come from a wealthy family, they have bribed the executioner, who in turn pays Conan to free you.
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Wikipedia is good for general knowledge…
- Hyborian Age - Wikipedia
- Hyperborea - Wikipedia
- Robert E. Howard - Wikipedia
- https://www.weirdtales.com/ Where REH published a lot of his early Conan stuff (if you can find older issues - digital copies).
- Robert E. Howard bibliography - Wikipedia Some of the many REH books.
Hundreds maybe even thousands of comic books and specifically the several official handbooks in digital and paper form:
- Handbook of the Conan Universe Vol 1 1 | Marvel Database | Fandom
- The Official Handbook Of The Conan Universe Anniversary Edition (2020) #1 | Comic Issues | Marvel
If you’re going with digital on some or all of these you will need a decent CBR reader … I’m using this one and liking it a lot! http://www.cdisplayex.com/ with a nice clean interface with good options:
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Few NPC and abit of lore around it… not all of it matches.
Thoth Amon, basiclly found place (which location isn’t fully known…but can be gotten to)
Got ring and made a deal (before or after finding ring) with several of lords and kings to send people there in search of relics.
Who then have there story, that bracelets turn into snakes and kill users when they disobey… (I think its more mention to books) Are bracelets don’t do that.
It Seems several of Kings and Lords, instead of sending us to Relic Hunter for work… start tossing us on crosses to be rid of people. Which may expalin newer bracelets. and those of Eastern side and North.
Conan himself walked there it seems, Pocket Dimension works, but Conan roamed Desert in one of Stories and founds one city with people sleeping. Seemingly unknown to world it was out there.
Exile Lands could be somewhere…
I dunno anything about REH ever mentioning a land or area of “Exiles” but a few of his comics contain stories where whole societies exist in an illusion. Like where a mad sorcerer was putting people under his spell so that the people thought they were living in such and such a reality but were actually enslaved or were being experimented on in some heinous way.
One such story was of a sorcerer who wanted to create a perfect land where everyone was happy. So he created an area with boundaries you could step in and out of which took you into and out of the illusion. However there was some trouble so he locked everyone in. The energy source for the “walls” began causing problems for creatures & people in the reality side of things tho. So Conan had to save the day.
That’s just one such. There are several others as well. Sorcerer creature conjured illusions are a fairly common theme in REH’s works so I’m not sure I see a problem with EL being an illusion or a different dimension.
This. Its like ending a movie where the main character was asleep or in a coma. Lazy storytelling. I wouldnt tar Funcom by supporting it.
I’m gonna hard disagree with you both on that front, and I’ll offer up my reasoning why;
Outside of the comments on being a dream by the Outcast, corrobrated by the son of Dagon’s comments on a place between places, and Conan’s take on the gods of this land; this theory is woven into the core story of the game. The Shining Trapezohedron is a major plot element for both maps, and as I would like to remind everyone this item isn’t from a REH story, it’s Lovecraftian. It houses an avatar of Nyarlathotep, which the devs have chosen to reference across both maps many times. The black sarcophagus, Chaosmouth, his literal manifestation on siptah back during wild surges.
It’s hardly coincidental they chose this particular outer god, given his story about herding people out of their world into a grand illusion outside of our understanding of reality. If this is the case which I believe it is, that’s not lazy writing; you’re basically playing in a lovecraftian horror game without even realizing. That in itself is how Nyarlathotep operates. There’s clues and hints for the observant to pick up the trail, but not enough to be in your face about it.
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The airport is a place between places and a “nightmare” but its not a dreamworld. The EL and Siptah are connected by boat and not sleep and Conan doesnt wear a bracelet and is just passing thru (aka not dead). The giant is a drunk.
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Neither is the exiled lands. The dreamlands do exist, as confirmed by Siptah; but the exiled lands if I had to guess are a separate dimension on their own.
I can see why people would think that though, given the presence of Dreamland creatures in the maelstrom. But there’s also creatures from this world and from outer space, so it’s more of a multi-intersectional dimensional crossroads. But I don’t subscribe to the dreamlands theory. Likely the outcast was failing to come up with a more fitting word to describe it, but he also in his dialogue references the ending lines of the story Nyarlathotep
Separate dimension stories are lame. I hope if this was the intent, it will never be confirmed. It nauseates me.
I’m sorry I have to do this; but even excluding Lovecraft from the theory, frost giants are aliens from another dimension as is, and Conan has travelled interdimensionally in the core canon.
Do you need a bucket?
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No because you dont control the game story and your interpretation is not Funcom’s. Until they confirm your stories, I can spare the bucket.
It’s likely they will never comfirm it and that’s the point. It’s vague on purpose, to make people question it and dive deeper. It’s an invitation to dive in to the lore to find out for yourselfl, not a push.
If you don’t want to make the dive that’s fine, but you also can’t say with absolute certainty it’s not true. After all, wierder has happened in Wierd Tales.
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I’m not saying its not true; I’m saying its dumb and lame if true.
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There isn’t many facts we know here, but we do know some important ones.
First we know Conan walked into the Exiled Lands. He was not braceleted and did not get forced in. Most visitors (Relic Hunters) were transported in by shady means (tricked to come, hired under false pretenses, and I think even Blind folded). Conan walked in under his own accord for his own reasons.
Second we know the time. Age of Conan and Conan Exiles do NOT happen at the same time. Age of Conan is much later as Conan is King of Aquilonia in that title. Conan Exiles takes place between A Slithering Shadow (Xuthal of the Dusk), and A Witch Shall be Born. This puts the location somewhere between Southern Stygia and Khauran.
We know there is some funny business with the climate in Exiled Lands due to the Scourgestone being used by the giant kings. So I wouldn’t try to put much into trying to match biomes. Though the biggest issue is the eastern coast. What sea, lake, or whatnot does that open to? Its very possible its an inland lake or sea that no one knows about.
The area marked on the map does have some areas in it and near it that are entirely unknown to most people. And I would note that unnamed geographical places are pretty much artistic liberties and not actual canonical features.
As for the Isle of Siptah. We know where that is. Its an established island in the lore. So that one is easy. Exiled Lands is a bit more fuzzy. But I’d say somewhere in that circle, closer to Xuthal than not. Exiled Lands takes place where A Slithering Shadow left off.
Few issues with that:
- Siptah’s intro says you’re sailing from Argos, to Stygia. Not the other way around.
- In a reddit AMA with Den, Joel rose from his eternal slumber to place the Exiled Lands around Stygia. His wording is intentionally vague, but he says that Conan arrived in the Exiled Lands because he was “crossing Stygia or nearby regions”.
Not really, you’ve got an entire Shem between Stygia and Argos to contend with. Plus the context of the quote puts conan’s arrival right after Xuthal of Dusk; which is south of stygia, not two countries north of it.
