The draft opens by describing the pre-Cataclysmic civilizations of the Valusian continent, where the dominant kingdoms—Kamelia, Valusia, Verulia, Grondar, Thule, and Commoria—shared a common ancestry. Surrounding these kingdoms were barbaric societies, notably the Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians. The Picts inhabited islands to the west, the Atlanteans dwelled on a continent between the Pictish islands and the Valusian mainland, and the Lemurians lived on a chain of islands in the eastern hemisphere.

A massive Cataclysm then strikes, destroying these civilizations and reshaping the world’s geography. Atlantis and Lemuria sink into the ocean, the Pictish islands become mountain ranges on a new continent, and many Valusian cities are destroyed. While the more advanced societies are devastated, some barbarian groups—Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians—survive in colonies or through migration.

The survivors of Atlantis establish themselves on the Valusian mainland, while Lemurians are enslaved by an ancient race in the east. The western world undergoes vast changes, with newly emerged savage tribes and beasts dominating the landscape. As centuries pass, the Atlanteans and Picts rebuild primitive societies and engage in bloody conflicts, which further hinder their development.

Five thousand years after the Cataclysm, new civilizations begin to emerge. The Lemurians overthrow their masters and found the kingdom of Stygia in the south, while the Hyborians, a northern people, begin their gradual expansion. The Hyborians become dominant in the western world, establishing kingdoms such as Hyperborea and pushing the Picts westward. Simultaneously, the Atlanteans, now called Cimmerians, slowly recover their former greatness, while Lemurians evolve into a new civilization known as the Hyrkanians.

Over millennia, the Hyborian kingdoms flourish but eventually face invasion from Picts, Hyrkanians, and barbarian tribes from the north, such as the Aesir and Vanir. The essay concludes with the ultimate fall of Hyborian civilization, driven by barbarian invasions and internal decline, setting the stage for new peoples and empires to arise in a reshaped world.