Appearing in "The Dweller in the Pool!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Stefanya (Main story and flashback)
- Lupalina, the Wolf-Woman / Samandra, the Wise-Woman (Main story and flashback)
Antagonists:
- Carnivorous plants
- "The Dweller in the Pool" / Pthassiass (Death)
- Elviriom, Creeper in Shadows (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Thalkalides of the Dark Heart (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Unos (First appearance)
- Jailers (First appearance)
- Demons
Other Characters:
- Gwineer
- Crom (Invoked)
- Mitra (Invoked)
- Ishtar (Invoked)
- Chrysala (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
- Torkal Moh (Mentioned)
- Ravengard soldiers (Mentioned)
- Thomond (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
- Themas Herklar (First appearance; dies) (Main story and flashback)
- Phalkar's Army (Mentioned)
- Merdoramon the Mage (Mentioned)
- Zoqquanor (Only in flashback)
- Ayilla (Only in flashback)
- Raama, Binder of Demons (Invoked)
- Ape Lords (Invoked)
- Jarkan Val (First appearance)
- Unnamed condemned man (First appearance; dies)
- Karnol, the Death-God (Invoked)
- Shoggoth (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Hyboria
- Border Kingdom
- Ravengard land
- Ravengard fortress
- Gifting Tree
- Ravengard fortress
- Phalkar (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Alkarion (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Sfanol (Only in flashback)
- Kaddonia (Mentioned)
- Ravengard land
- Cimmeria (Mentioned)
- Hyperborea (Invoked)
- Border Kingdom
- Hell (Invoked)
Items:
- Amulet of Blue Fire
- Dinars (Mentioned)
Events:
Synopsis for "The Dweller in the Pool!"
The giant monster Pthassiass wastes no time in attacking Conan and his companions, quickly gobbling up the unfortunate serving girl Gwineer. Conan's blows barely do any damage to the creature, but he notices that it seems to avoid the living, magical garden itself. Conan manages to lure it into the plants, and the tendrils and vines attack and flay Pthassiass as Conan and Stefanya retreat with the amulet. When they reunite with Lupalina, the wolf-woman reveals that she does indeed know Stefanya, and reveals the girl's history. She is the daughter of Thormond, the former lord of Phalkar, residing in the capital city Alkarion, whose demise was plotted by the wizards Thalkalides and Elviriom. Lupalina, when she was called Samandra and was a sorceress and the lady-in-waiting to Chrysala, Stefanya's mother, helped the wizards overcome the magical protections of Thormond, erected by the mage Merdoramon before his retreat to the Haunted Lands. But she felt the wizards gone to far in killing the family and saved the baby instead of killing it as the wizards expected, fleeing herself in the wilderness, turning into a priestess. Thormond and Chrysala were killed in a rockslide "accident" and the wizards' puppet, Themas Herklar, was put on the throne. But Herklar fears his puppeteers will dispose of him, and it is to him that Conan is meant to deliver the amulet of protection, under the noses of the wizards. Lupalina uses her magic to spy on their enemy, expecting to see the wizards, but instead see a young man sitting on the throne, exuding evil, who can shoot beams of fire from his eyes. Lupalina realizes greater magics are at work and quickly breaks off the scrying. She reveals that the amulet can teleport Conan to the castle at Phalkar, and Conan goes in hopes of finding Themas Herklar. He finds him in the dungeon, a tortured, broken man, and discovers that the young man, Unos, was in fact a being of evil magic created by the wizards. Suddenly, the two are attacked by subhuman creatures who lurk in the dungeons, and Conan teleports back to his companions. They vow to bring the wizards down.
Notes
- The issue is freely adapted from the Belmont novel Kothar and the Conjurer's Curse by Gardner F. Fox.
- Inks by Giordano (figures) and Austin (backgrounds).
- synopsis by YardIHS