These behemoths tread through the cold pools of bog water like manifestations of the defiled swamp, all muscle and slime and hatred.

The latest threat to the peace of Aquilonia comes from no natural source. It is not the thunder of a Nemedian army's march, or the howling cries of a Pict tribe running to battle. Instead, the Wild Lands and the frontier villages scattered throughout its reaches are bedeviled by the presence of creatures earning the name ‘Dark Beasts' from the lips of terrified peasants.

In their foolish quest for power, the Nemedians experiment with forces beyond their control. They attempt to recreate the black plague that swept their country, and unleash it upon their foes the Aquilonians.

A goddess of fertility and lust originally worshipped in Shem, Derketo can be found among the pantheons of many southern kingdoms, particularly Stygia and Kush. In Stygia, Derketo is a decadent, licentious deity, serving as the religious counterpoint to the strict and humourless devotions of Set, the Great Serpent.

Set, the Old Serpent, is Mitra's arch-enemy, and the ancient god revered and worshiped mainly in Stygia, and is known and worshiped as Damballah in the Black Kingdoms.

Crom is the head of the Cimmerian pantheon of cruel gods, sending forth dooms and death from his seat on the great mountain of Mount Crom, or Ben Morgh, the holiest place in Cimmeria.

Mitra's name was recognized by Xaltotun, an Acheronian who lived around 13000 BC. Mitraism's real ascendancy probably began about 1400 years after Acheron's empire fall, when the Hyborian lands were once again menaced by the shadow of Set, and were largely saved through the efforts of the Mitraic prophet-hero Epemetrius the Sage. One of the earliest nations to embrace Mitra was Koth, around 11000 BC.

Mitra is the most common god worshipped in Hyboria, and is the chief deity in almost all Hyborian kingdoms, including Aquilonia, Ophir, Nemedia, Brythunia, Corinthia, and even Zingara.

One important clarification before we get into the details on the Battlekeep system is that the keeps are a separate system from the normal Age of Conan Gold game player built towns, although they use the same building system, so in learning one you will know the other (we will cover the PVE Age of Conan Gold game player towns in more detail in a future article), so player controlled land comes in two distinct types.

We aim to provide Age of Conan Gold gameplayers with truly meaningful goals and ambitions in PVP. The joy of battle and glee of destruction will shape the blood soaked landscape of the border kingdoms. This conflict will provide those with ambitions for power the means by which they can forever carve their place in Hyborian history.