Cykranosh is the fictional name for the planet

Planet

A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

 Saturn

Saturn in fiction

The planet Saturn is featured in numerous science fiction novels and films, although the planet itself usually serves more as a pretty backdrop than as the actual setting.- Literature :...

 in the Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

. Cykranosh is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...

 and is part of his Hyperborean cycle

Hyperborean cycle

The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea . Various elements in Smith's cycle have been borrowed by H. P. Lovecraft, most notably the "toad-god" Tsathoggua...

. It also the setting for his short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 "The Door to Saturn" (1932

1932 in literature

The year 1932 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. V. Knox replaces Sir Owen Seaman as editor of Punch magazine.*Samuel Beckett's first novel, Dream of Fair to Middling Women, is rejected by several publishers....

).

Cykranosh in the mythos

Unlike its namesake, the gas giant

Gas giant

A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...

 planet Saturn, the Cykranosh of Smith's fiction has a material surface, a breathable atmosphere, and a topography similar to Earth with vast plains, deserts, and mountains. It is replete with forests of giant fungi, lakes of a strange mercurial liquid, and fields of a bluish, semi-mineral, cactus

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

-like (and possibly sentient) flora covered with razor-sharp spines and serrated blades. Cykranosh is also inhabited by intelligent bipeds as well, such as the Bhlemphroims and the Ydheems.

Gods of Cykranosh

He turned to see what manner of creature had flung the shadow. This being, he perceived, was not easy to classify, with its ludicrously short legs, its exceedingly elongated arms, and its round, sleepy-looking head that was pendulous from a spherical body, as if it were turning a somnambulistic somersault. But after he had studied it a while and had noted its furriness and somnolent expression, he began to see a vague though inverted likeness to the god Zhothaqquah. And remembering how Zhothaqquah had said the form assumed by himself on Earth was not altogether that which he had worn in Cykranosh, Eibon now wondered if this entity was one of Zhothaqquah's relatives.

—Clark Aston Smith, "The Door to Saturn"

Cykranosh was once the home of various Great Old Ones such as Atlach-Nacha and Tsathoggua

Tsathoggua

Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....

(Zhothaqquah). Tsathoggua's paternal uncle, Hziulquoigmnzhah, still dwells here. Hziulquoigmnzhah looks much like his nephew except he has a round body and a head that swings beneath his torso.

Bhlemphroims

These beings, though they were bipeds, and were not quite so unheard-of in their anatomic structure as the entity which Eibon had met by the lake, were nevertheless sufficiently unusual; for their head and bodies were apparently combined in one, and their ears, eyes, nostrils, mouths, and certain other organs of doubtful use were all arranged in a somewhat unconventional grouping on their chests and abdomens. They were wholly naked, and were rather dark in color, with no trace of hair on any part of their bodies.

—Clark Aston Smith, "The Door to Saturn"

The Bhlemphroims live in the kingdom of Vhlorrh, and are a benign and somewhat advanced race. They abandoned their religious traditions long ago and now aim toward a more materialistic lifestyle.

The Bhlemphroims have unusual reproductive practices. Though they are of two sexes, they do not reproduce by conventional means. Instead, a single female is chosen to be the Djhenquomh, the singular mother for an entire generation of Bhlemphroims. The Djhenquomh is fed a carefully prepared diet until she grows to elephantine proportions. When she is ready to mate, a committee of Bhlemphroims chooses several males to become her husbands; after performing their requisite duty, the chosen spouses are served to the Djhenquomh as portions of her voluminous meal.

Ydheems

The Ydheems are similar to the Bhlemphroims, but have rudimentary craniums and a far more primitive society. Unlike the Bhlemphroims, the Ydheems are devoutly pious (though never to the extreme) and worship the Cykranoshian gods, Hziulquoigmnzhah in particular.