
Conan (10,000-9930 BC) was a mythological Cimmerian warrior and King of Aquilonia during the 100th century BC.
Biography[]
Conan was born in Cimmeria in 10,000 BC, the son of the blacksmith Corin and his wife Greshan. In 9988 BC, when Conan was twelve, the brigand Thoth-Amon and his troop of Turanians raided his village in search of steel weapons and killed Conan's parents before his eyes, before proceeding to enslave him behind the "Wheel of Pain." Conan grew into a strong man while working at the mill, and he was purchased by "Red Hair", who used him as a gladiator, gave him women with whom to breed, and sent him to the east to learn reading and sword-fighting from the Hyrkanians (Mongols).
By 9965 BC, when Conan was 35, his master suddenly had a change of heart and decided to free Conan, though leaving him unarmed. Conan was chased by wild dogs and fled to the tomb of an Atlantean warrior, where he retrieved an ancient sword and set out alone, fending for himself. Along the way, he laid with a witch, Isthis, whom he slew after she attempted to kill him, and he later freed the chained-up Hyrkanian thief and archer Subotai, who had been left to be eaten by wolves for his crimes. Conan fed and befriended Subotai, and the two men encountered civilization when they came to the city of Zamora (Arenjun).
There, the two men learned of the oppression of a new snake cult that had erected towers across the land, and Conan and Subotai decided to rob the Tower of Serpents. Along the way, they met the thief Valeria, who agreed to work with them to plunder the tower's jewels during a ceremony. They stole the "Eye of the Serpent" jewel and many others, and they were forced to slay a giant snake before fleeing after being detected by the guards. Conan and Valeria grew close and made love, but, while drunkenly celebrating at a tavern, they were arrested by King Osric of Zamora's soldiers for theft. Osric offered them a handsome reward if they could rescue his daughter, Princess Yasimina, from Thoth-Amon's cult, and Conan, recognizing the name, decided to seek vengeance for his parents' murders.
Conan rode out alone to find the Temple of Set and slay Thoth-Amon himself, knocking out a priest and wearing his clothing to a ceremony. There, he was recognized by Thoth-Amon's lieutenants Rexor and Thorgrim, and he was captured and tortured. While Thoth-Amon interrogated him, Conan revealed that Thoth-Amon had killed his parents, causing Thoth-Amon to decide to crucify Conan on the Tree of Woe after lecturing him on the power of flesh. Conan survived only by eating birds that had come to feast on him, but he was soon rescued by his friends, who brought him to the Wizard of the Mounds, whom Conan had briefly met while searching for the Temple of Set. The Wizard healed Conan in a ceremony involving tattooing his face, but he warned him that the spirits would exact a heavy toll of Conan.
The trio proceeded to infiltrate the Temple of Set during a ceremony and rescue the princess, but Thoth-Amon transformed into a snake and escaped the fighting. As the quartet fled on horseback, Thoth-Amon fired a straightened snake at Valeria, mortally wounding her and fulfilling the Wizard's prophecy. Conan cremated Valeria at the mounds, where he prayed to his god Crom for his aid in slaying Thoth-Amon and avenging his people. The next day, Conan, Subotai, and the Wizard ambushed Thoth-Amon's men when they came to the Mounds to search for them, using booby-traps and hit-and-run tactics to slay all of the men, including Rexor and Thorgrim. Conan retrieved his father's sword from Rexor, despite having splintered it with his Atlantean sword.
With Thoth-Amon's men dead, Conan confronted Thoth-Amon at his temple as he addressed his cult members. Thoth-Amon received Conan with open arms and attempted to mesmerize him, calling him his son and saying that he had given Conan a will to live, but Conan used his father's broken sword to hack at Thoth-Amon's neck before beheading him before his followers. Thoth-Amon's followers lost their hypnotism and doused their torches before dispersing, and Conan burned down the temple before returning the princess to Osric.
Having returned the wayward daughter of Osric to her home, Conan and his companions sought adventure in the West. By 9963 BC, Conan had teamed up with the thief Malak, and they were visited by Queen Taramis of Shadizar and persuaded to help her in exchange for Taramis promising to resurrect Valeria from the dead. Conan, while refusing to acknowledge Taramis as his queen, agreed to escort Princess Jehnna to retrive the Heart of Ahriman, use it to locate the jeweled horn of the dreaming god Dagoth, and bring Jehnna back to Shadizar to restore the jeweled horn to the city's Dagoth statue, with both her life and virginity intact. Conan, Malak, and Jehnna were accompanied by Taramis' captain of the guard, Bombaata, who had secret orders to kill Conan once the gem was obtained.
As the gem was secured in the fortress of the wizard Rammon, Conan decided to seek the help of the Wizard of the Mounds, Akiro, whom he helped rescue from a tribe of cannibals. With Akiro joining the group, the party carried on with their journey, coming across a village where they found the chained bandit Zula fighting off villagers who were torturing her. Conan cut her loose before setting off, but Zula later caught up with Conan and offered to join his quest.
The adventurers made their way to Rammon's castle, where, as they rested before planning to enter the castle in the morning, the wizard Rammon took the form of a giant bird and kidnapped Jehnna. Akiro divined Jehnna's kidnapping and discovered a hidden entrance to the castle through a water gate, and the adventurers snuck into the castle through the gate. Conan was separated from the group during his infiltration, and he battled a transmorphed Rammon, who became an apish monster. Conan slew the creature, causing the castle to disintegrate, but the group escaped with Jehnna and the Heart of Ahriman. As they continued on to the ancient temple, they were ambushed by Shadizarian soldiers, and Conan slew them and confronted Bombaata over the attack. Bombaata said that the guards had not attacked Conan under the queen's orders, but Conan remained skeptical.
The group made their way to the ancient temple, where they secured the Hotn of Dagoth, only for Akiro to decipher the temple's engravings and realize that Jehnna would be ritually sacrificed to awaken Dagoth. Shadizarian troops soon entered the temple and demanded that Conan hand over Jehnna, resulting in a battle in which Bombaata captured Jehnna as the others escaped from the priests and trekked to Shadizar to rescue Jehnna.
Malak helped the adventurers enter the throne room through a secret entrance, where Conaan slew Bombaata as Zula threw a javelin into the heart of Grand Vizier Karanthes to stop the sacrifice. The rising Dagoth became distorted from a human statue into a horned monster, impaling Taramis and attacking Conan. Akiro told Conan that the horn was the monster's life, so Conan ripped out the horn and finished off the beast.
Jehnna was crowned as the new Queen of Shadizar, and she named Zula as her new captain of the guard, Akiro as her advisor, and Malak as the court jester. Jehnna offered to make Conan her king, as she had fallen in love with him, but Conan reiterated his earlier desire to have his own kingdom, even though he had no chance of recovering Valeria. Conan departed to find further adventures and his own place in the world, fighting in many wars and feuds. Honor and fear were heaped upon his name before, in time, he became King of Aquilonia by his own hand.