THE OMEANS (1934)

Here an Aytan is being attacked by a black assassin. The artist obviously never read the description below.

SOURCES: "The Sunless World" (Amazing Stories, December 1934)

DESCRIPTION: “Professor Jameson examined thenewcomer both physically and mentally. Instantly he perceived it to be of a higher plane of intelligence than the seven below. Besides, it possessed a head, appearing to the professor like a distorted caricature of his own race. The chief differences were longer legs and shorter arms. Two eyes were set quite far apart, nearly on the sides of the head, like those of a fish, and the representative of this new species had nostrils yet lacked a nose. A three cornered mouth and a visible lack of exterior ears completed the physiognomy. Hair was absent, at least from this particular individual. Standing five feet or more, the wanderer from the tunnel was a foot shorter than the black space-dwellers, despite the latter's lack of a head. Unlike the hard, bony composition of the headless species, the newcomer's deep-purple body appeared soft and fleshy.” (“The Sunless World” by Neil R. Jones)

NOTES: The Omeans, the most familiar of which are the Aytans from the city of Ayt, are humanoid creatures. They live in cities along the inner shell of the hollow planet known as Ome. (There's no place like Ome...) The inside of their buildings and tunnels are lit by a natural occuring light-producing fungus or chemical. The different cities vary in their physical appearance. The men from Ux are taller and buffer than those from Ayt. The different Omean cities are all enemies and kill intruders by throwing them into an unscalable pit and letting them starve to death. The only other form of execution is to send the weak, sick and criminal into the central cavern to be eaten by the black assassins. The ancient menace is conquered after the catalysm that follows the Sunless World taking the place of another planet in a new solar system. Three quarters of the Omean population is killed but the remaining Omeans band together against the black assassins and end their cruel reign.

HISTORY: Once again Jones goes after organized religion, choosing to replace it with cooperation and Science.