Name

Aliases

Origin[]

TheMan-Bats ofUr-Xanarrh were one of the manyelder racescreated byChthon.^[1][2]

Elder Days[]

Creatures that were man and bat lived in ancientValusia, along others of the "Elder Race" such as theSerpent-Men andWolf-Men, until thefirst true men waged war on them.^[6] The Bat-Men were among the races that constituted challenges for humanity to find strength.^[3] The true men were victorious but many survivors had been driven mad.^[6]

Pre-Cataclysmic Age[]

By 20,000 BC, most of the Elderspawn were slaughtered or driven into seclusion.^[5] When the subject of theelder races arose, Bat-Men,^[3] or creatures that were man and bat,^[6] were sometimes mentioned.

Hyborian Age[]

For uncounted eons, theBird-Men ofAkah Ma'at dwelt above the earth in their floating, cloud enshrouded city, their existence unsuspected by the wingless races of the planet below. The only threat to tranquil Bird Men was the race of evil race of bat-winged conquerors from nearby Ur-Xanarrh some half-dozen leagues away. For centuries the Man-Bats launched attack after attack in an endless quest to subjugate and destroy the Bird-Men.^[7]

Age of Conan[]

However one of Bird Men’s mighty sages devised the miraculousCylinder of Power. This source of inexhaustible energy in turn fuelled a cordon of ‘power batons’ encircling the city. These batons emit blazing, death-dealing bolts of energy on any attempting to invade the floating city, which the Bat-Men painfully learned in at least one attack. However periodically the power batons and other weapons fuelled by the Cylinder must be recharged. For a millennium Bird Men enjoyed the peace provided by the Cylinder and the cordon of floating batons, but a fortnight beforeConan found himself drawn into the struggle between the two floating cities the traitorous elderThaltar stole the Cylinder of Power with the intention of betraying the Bird Men to the Men-Bats. Luckily for the Bird-Men Thaltar did not succeed and was shot down by a warrior wielding one of their energy weapons before he could get too far away.^[7]

Religion and Mythology[]

• The Man-Bats of Ur-Xanarrh are presumably inspired by the elder races created by eldritch entities, frequent in theCthulhu Mythos.

• Fantasy
• Sci-fi
• Marvel