Arenjun

Arenjun
Name	Arenjun
Aliases	City of Thieves
Location Details
Reality	Earth-616
Galaxy	Milky Way
Star System	Sol
Planet	Earth
Continent	Hyboria
Country	Zamora
Region	Hyborian Lands
Locale	Kezankian Mountains
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Barry Smith
First	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)
First	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)

History

Origins

Originally, long before the Age of Conan, the founder of this city called it only The City of Thieves, named for its god, as the Shemite god of thieves Bel was the patron deity of the city.

Age of Conan

By the Age of Conan, it was known as Arenjun.

In the part of Arenjun reserved for the temples, Conan joined Taurus of Nemedia to plunder the jewels in the Tower of the Elephant. Once inside, Taurus was killed by a giant spider, while the Cimmerian met the elephantine alien, Yag-Kosha, who had been enslaved by the dreadful sorcerer Yara. Using a magical gem known as the Heart of the Elephant, Conan freed Yag-Kosha from his mortal shell and helped him get revenge upon Yara. The Cimmerian then ran away from the Tower just in time to save himself from the Tower crumbling in the purple sunrise, shimmering in pieces as the Heart did before.

More than a decade after the fall of the Tower of the Elephant, Helliana and Sabo entered the ruins to plunder the huge gems encrusted in its fallen walls and met Harpagus. As Sabo tried to steal his ring, Harpagus turned into a giant spider and slew him.

After Harpagus slew the local magistrate, a priest of Ishtar, he took over the position, calling himself "Zath". Later, Conan was captured while in Arenjun on the trail on the one who wished him dead. Harpagus injected Conan with a vial of lotus liquid and held him captive in a pitfall, until Helliana came to rescue him. She brought the Cimmerian to her place and then to the ruins of the Elephant Tower; after having dealt with Captain Finar and his guard, they headed back to confront Zath.

Points of Interest

• Temple District
  • Tower of the Elephant
• The Maul

Residents

• Blackrat

Notes

• The City of Thieves was created by Robert E. Howard, and later named Arenjun by L. Sprague de Camp.
  • In Conan: Lord of the Spiders #1, the introduction stated that "its founder, long ago, called it only The City of Thieves", homaging Howard.

See Also

• 21 appearance(s) of Arenjun
• 3 minor appearance(s) of Arenjun
• 24 mention(s) of Arenjun
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Arenjun
• 1 image(s) of Arenjun
• 2 article(s) related to Arenjun