Greetings, Traveler!

One of the Hyborian kingdoms, situated south of Aquilonia, Nemedia, and Corinthia, and north of Argos and Koth.

Near the Aquilonian border, which was delineated by the Tybor River, Ophir had meadowlands and a few mountains near Poitain. Farmlands, forests, and fortresses covered the north between the Tybor and the capital city, Ianthe. Its royal court was called the Ianthium.

Southern Ophir had craggy borderlands, lone and deserted, save for the ramshackle huts of peasants. Hills and a small river lay between Koth and Ophir. The impassable Karpash Mountains lay on the Nemedian frontier and produced the gold and precious stones, which have been linked to the destiny of Ophir down through the ages. The mountains were quite high, with very few mountain passes, and considered to be haunted by vampires, ghost mists, and terrible lightning storms.

Some exegetes have suggested that Ophir was one of the earliest Hyborian kingdoms. Its location far from the Northland home of the original Hybori seems to mitigate against this. Nevertheless, it is a snug little enclave, easily defensible on all borders except that of Koth, where guardian castles were erected at the passes. The penurious rulers of the latter kingdom seem to have troubles enough of their own without taking on an Ophirian army equipped with the best money could buy.

It has been said by some, that Ophir was an independent state contemporaneous with Acheron and dominated by it. When the Hyborians overwhelmed Acheron, Ophir “regained its independence”. We may presume that this freedom lasted only until the Hyborians were secure enough in Nemedia and Aquilonia to essay the conquest of the wealthy little nation. At any rate, it became a Hyborian kingdom at a very early date.