Ghol-gan was a pre-human empire which occupied the lands on which
Azlant was founded and whose cities now
mostly lie beneath the waves. The capital, Tzaarban, is said to lie beneath the Eye of Abendego.
The empire was, however, extensive which has meant that its pre-Azlantian ruins are scattered over a wide
are from Mediogalti Island to the Sodden Lands. The rulers of the empire were
Cyclops who thought that their unique appearance indicated a manifest destiny and given their wisdom it
was natural that they should rule over lesser beings.
The fact that there many ancient Ghol-gan sites have been found and explored and that the Cyclops recorded
their history in hieroglyphs on their monuments means that scholars have been able to understand a
surprising amount of their culture. In the beginning the Cyclops were simple nature worshipping beings but
they gradually came to worship the sun and moon which they saw as the eyes of Cyclopian gods.
When they first encountered the human tribes of the Mwangi Expanse they were not unfriendly towards them
and often allied with them against their common enemy, the Serpentfolk. Over time, however, the Serpentfolk
seem to have persuaded the Cyclops that humans were their prime enemy. As part of this insidious process the
Serpentfolk seem to have offered the Cyclops an an introduction to alien gods who would give them the power to crush
the humans. The Cyclops gradually turned from paternalistic empire builders to brutal, bloodthirsty and canibalistic religious fanatics even turning against their own kind who refused to bow to their new gods. As the change came
over Ghol-gan society a sizeable proportion of their population fled from the empire into the East.
As first the Cyclops won their wars with their human neighbours but in time the tribes who were to become the
Azlanti united. Under the tutelage of the god Azoth they became a mighty military power who crushed Ghol-gan and
took over their lands. Many Cyclops fled to the fringes of their empire but their culture collapsed and
today their descendants are little more than cannibalistic beasts who have little understanding of their heritage.