Conan the Barbarian Vol 1 223

Conan the Barbarian #223
Previous Issue	Conan the Barbarian #222
Next Issue	Conan the Barbarian #224
Art by: Don Perlin
Release Date	June 20, 1989
Cover Date	October, 1989
Issue Details
Editor-in-Chief	Tom DeFalco

1. "The Wheel of Life and Death"
Appearances · Synopsis
Writer(s)	Michael Fleisher
Penciler(s)	Gary Kwapisz
Inker(s)	Alfredo Alcala
Colorist(s)	George Roussos
Letterer(s)	Jim Novak
Editor(s)	Don Daley Kelly Corvese

Appearing in "The Wheel of Life and Death"

Featured Characters:

• Conan

Supporting Characters:

• Khoraja temple of Vajrath's sect (First appearance)
  • Arasandra, high priestess of Vajrath (First appearance)

Antagonists:

• Cutthroats (Only appearance; all die)
  • Jarga (First appearance; dies)
  • Pernaq (First appearance; dies)
  • Unnamed members (Only appearance; all die)
  • Rathnok (First appearance; dies)
• Vajrath's sect of "pretenders" (First appearance; many die)

Other Characters:

• Erlik (Invoked)
• Gods (Mentioned)
• Vajrath (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
• Xukmaq, the Chaos-Dragon (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
• Ishtar (Invoked)
• Crom (Invoked)

Races and Species:

• Humans
• Horses
• Dogs
• Gods (Mentioned)
• Hobgoblins (Mentioned)
• Demons (Mentioned)
• Vultures

Locations:

• Earth
  • Hyboria
    • Khoraja (First appearance)
      • Temple of Vajrath (First appearance)
    • Pretenders' sanctuary (First appearance)
    • Aghrapur, Turan (Mentioned)

Items:

• Eyes of Erlik (Invoked)
• The Wheel of Life and Death (First appearance)

Vehicles:

• Shining Celestial Chariot (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Events and Eras:

• Hyborian Age

Synopsis for "The Wheel of Life and Death"

The high priestess of Vajrath, Arasandra, asks Conan to bring back the stolen wheel of Vajrath's chariot. The wheel was stolen by a sect of pretending Vajrath's believers. One of the young priests, Rathnok, requests Conan to accompany him. They go to the temple of pretenders and after a struggle manage to steal the wheel back. On their way back, a group of brigands wait to kill them and steal the wheel. Conan was aware of their plan and the fact that Rathnok is one of their men. Conan leads the group into desert where they corner Conan. Conan lied to Rathnak that his other donkey is carrying extra water while hiding his water pouch somewhere on the way. The brigands believing they have enough water get stuck in the desert and die of thirst while Conan retrieves the wheel, picks up his water, and leaves.

Solicit Synopsis

The offer of a king's ransom in gold made Conan a willing pawn in a religious cult feud. It will take all of Conan's wits and strength to escape the cult's clutches once his usefulness has ended!

Notes

• The city of Khoraja appearing in this issue was explicitly stated by Roy Thomas as having no relation to the kingdom of Khoraja set south of Koth, and whose capital city is also named Khoraja.

See Also

• 1 image(s) from Conan the Barbarian Vol 1 223
• 1 reprint(s) of Conan the Barbarian Vol 1 223