Appearing in "Devourer of Souls!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- King Savarro's army (First appearance)
- King Savarro (First appearance; dies)
- Soldiers (First appearance)
- Mercenary legion (First appearance)
- King Savarro's Shield Maidens
- Moira (First appearance; dies)
- Melicynth (First appearance; dies)
- Capt. Nar Rhan, Royal Siege Engineer (First appearance; dies)
- Leandro (First appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Army of Qurha'at Lok (First appearance)
- King Granak (First appearance; dies)
- Soldiers (First appearance)
- Unnamed captain (First appearance)
- Wraarl the Manslayer, He of the Dragon Helmet, the Devourer of Souls ⏵ (First appearance) (Apparent death) (Main story and flashback)
- Meldark (First appearance; dies) (Main story and flashback)
Deities and Invocations:
- Mitra (Invoked)
- Ishtar (Invoked)
- Tarim (Invoked)
- Saints of Tarim (Invoked)
- Crom (Mentioned)
- Erlik (Invoked)
- Y'zarrh (Invoked)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Black Inferno (Invoked)
- Arallu (Invoked)
- Hell (Invoked)
Items:
- Jewel of Bhanjapur (Only apperance, destruction) (Main story and flashback)
- Eye of Erlik (Invoked)
Vehicles:
- King Savarro's Chariot (First appearance)
Events and Eras:
- Hyborian Age
- Great Migration (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Devourer of Souls!"
A siege by King Savarro for six months has been laid against a rival King Granak in a Corinthian city state. The commander of the mercenaries for Savarro was Conan. The king had fallen from his chariot being protected by his chariot maidens. The devour of souls or Wrarrl was about to slay the king when interrupted by Conan. The king thanks Conan later for saving his life, and gifted his two shield maidens to him. Wrarrl was able to come from a different dimension by the jewel of Bhanjapur.
Later Conan Decides to scout out the city they've been putting under siege, and his shield maidens, unbeknownst to him, observed him scaling the walls of the rival King. They reported this to King Savarro and found upon him the jewel of Bhanjapur which Conan had stolen during his espionage. King Savarro had him locked up and could not trust him. King Granak Had grown tired of Wrarrl and his sorcerer, Meldark. He had choice soldiers enter to slay them, but Wrarrl with magics seem to suffocate them and eventually reduce their soul to a worm. This is the reason they came was to eat the life or soul for food. Wrarrl slays the king as well. Meldark finds the jewel to be gone and with his Mystic Eldritch flames he's able to see that Conan took it and is now in King Savaro's possession.
Wrarrl sets off to secure it and kills King Savarro and escapes with the jewel. The chariot maidens help Conan escape from his prison, although he did kick the door down because they were slow in finding the key. Surprisingly, without their leaders, the siege continued, and they were able to press hard against the Corinthian city and breach its gates. Meldark seems to have great powers and able to repel the advancing troops with energy, psionic like, blast from his hands. Meldark falls in the battle and Wrarrl picks up the jewel and states that is all that he needs. Warrell is very adept With the sword and nearly has Conan subdued when the two chariot maidens attack him and divert his attention. Melicynth was the first to fall and asked Conan to avenge her as she's dying while Moira is killed shortly later. Meldark, as he lay dying and his jewel taken, gave one last psionic palm blast to open up the bag of souls on Wrarrl 's belt. And the worms of souls began to grow and engulf and constrict and suffocate Wrarrl, killing him apparently. And then Conan destroys the jewel and wishes he could find two maidens with that kind of spirit to fight by him in the future.
Notes
- The issue also includes:
- "Those Barbarian Artists", a mini-portfiolo of Hyborian pinups by Ernie Chan, David Wenzel, Dave Simons, "Mad" Castrillo and Gary Kwapisz.
- Tim Conrad's map of the Hyborean Age.