Ajonga was one of Bêlit's Black Corsairs, and battled alongside Conan of Cimmeria, the barbarian warrior and mate of Bêlit.
Unlike most Black Corsairs, Ajonga had a life full in change: He acted as a spy in Asgalun for Bêlit, joined Zula the Zamballah with a few of his fellow corsairs to travel north.[3] He, Yasunga and Laranga later became slaves aboard an Argossean galley until, two decades after leaving the Black Corsairs, they revolted under Conan's leadership,[1] and accompanied him in his quest to regain his throne.[1][4]
History
Origin and early years[]
Ajonga was from the Southern Isles,[1] and was one of the Black Corsairs, dark-skinned buccaneers led by the pirate queen Bêlit, an alleged Goddess daughter of Derketa and captain of the Tigress, ravaging the coasts of Kush and other targets to the North.[2]
Black Corsairs and Conan[]
Soon after Conan joined the crew, M'Gora and Yasunga wrestled with him in order to prove that at last two of the Corsairs could best the Cimmerian (while Conan wished to make them learn a lesson on fighting. Conan nevertheless managed to defeat the pair. Dissipating their feelings of shame, Conan then proceeded to teach them about leverage and team-fighting. As Conan was going to brawl against Ajonga, M'Gora and Laranga, they were interrupted by Bêlit who had grew tired of the brawling. As Conan criticized her, Bêlit decided to have him and she exercise by crossing swords.[2]
Ajonga was among the Black Corsairs infiltrating Messantia in order for Bêlit to sell her loot to the merchant Publio, and who fought thieves working for Publio's rivals.[5]
...[6]
Ajonga was seemingly part of the party of Black Corsairs to spy for Bêlit in Asgalun.[3]
Adventuring with Zula[]
After their fleeing of Asgalun, a few of the Corsairs, including Yasunga, Ajonga and Lasanga decided to follow Zula and go north. Yasunga was asked by his fellows to speak on their behalf to Bêlit, to ask her if she understood their wish to go with the Zamballah. Bêlit proved to be supportive, and even said a prayer to them for her alleged mother the Death-Goddess to stay her hand from them and grant them long lives.[3]
After some time, long before three after leaving the Tigress crew, Zula and the former Black Corsairs eventually went different ways.[7]
Aboard the Venturer[]
Two decades after Amra (Conan)'s disappearance (in the fourth year of Conan's rule of Aquilonia), Ajonga, Laranga and Yasunga had somehow became galley slaves on the Venturer (among other blacks, mostly Kushites but also some from the Southern Isles) whose captain was the Argossean Demetrio.
When the ship was in Messantia, capital of Argos, Demetrio brought Conan aboard. The Argossean and the Cimmerian soon came to hands and swords. Conan rallied his former companions by recalling them of him and managed to hurl Demetrio among the black slaves who soon took the keys to free themselves. Galvanized by the return of Amra, the corsairs and Kushites turned against the Argosseans. Once the Argosseans slaughtered, Conan rallied the former slaves as free men who accepted him as their leader. He had them headed southwards, along the Shemite coastal ports and city-states, to Stygia where Conan believed the Heart of Ahriman to be.
They stopped at Khemi where the River Styx joins with the sea. There, Conan asked Yasunga and Loranga to capture a Stygian and carry him back and (explicitly) unharmed, as they hated the Stygians for what they had done to their people (he shared his thoughts on the subject with Ajonga). The pair found and abducted a fisherman who was brought back aboard the Venturer and interrogated by Conan. Upon learning that the Stygian galley he was pursuing carried the priest Thutothmes who had for years sought the power to overthrow Thoth-Amon, Conan deduced Thutothmes was the thief of the Heart of Ahriman. He decided to go after the priest, leaving the Corsairs in charge of the prisoner, asking Ajonga to keep him safe.[1]
After a series of encounters in Khemi, Conan returned to the Venturer, had the Stygian fisherman rewarded with gold and put ashore, and the crew set to Zingara.[4]
Ajonga and his fellow Corsairs weren't seen in the following and conclusion of the conflict opposing Conan to the conspirators.
Ajonga's subsequent adventures are unknown.Paraphernalia
Transportation
Notes
- Ajonga was created by Robert E. Howard in Conan the Conqueror ("The Hour of the Dragon" in Weird Tales, December, 1935-April, 1936), 15. "The Return of the Corsair", adapted in Conan the Conqueror, Part 5: "Corsairs Against Stygia" in Savage Sword of Conan #8 (October, 1975).
See Also
- 7 appearance(s) of Ajonga (Earth-616)
- 2 minor appearance(s) of Ajonga (Earth-616)
- 1 image(s) of Ajonga (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Savage Sword of Conan #8 ; Conan the Conqueror: Corsairs Against Stygia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Conan the Barbarian #60
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Conan the Barbarian #94
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Savage Sword of Conan #10 ; Conan the Conqueror: The Sacred Son of Set
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #66
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #73
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #244