D&D General GM's Closet for the CONAN RPG

[Water Bob]

-- NOTES FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN --






Michael Stackpole wrote a damn good novelization of the 2011 film. Even if you didn't like the movie, Stackpole's book is worth reading. It stands on its own merits and a pretty good Conan tale, and Stackpole adds a lot of scenes that were not in the movie. For example, a large section of the beginning chapters focuses on young Conan after the attack by Khalar Zym and his band on Conan's village. In the movie, we cut from that scene where Conan's father is killed to years later, when Conan is a man, traveling with Artus. In the book, young Conan is taken by his grandfather who lived close to the village but was not present during the massacre, and old Connacht would continue teaching Conan where Conan's father, Corin, had left off. Even Venarium is addressed before the story moves on to catch up with Conan and Artus attacking a slave caravan (it's a coastal slave camp in the movie).


Stackpole gives use reference, in places, to other Howard Conan stories. For example, the reason the slave caravan I just mentioned is traveling by land and not by sea is because of the piracy. The Queen of the Black Coast has disappeared, but her second in command, Conan, has taken up with another bunch of pirates, that of Artus and his crew on the Hornet.


In the movie, it's not really clear or even said that Artus is a pirate captain, though one could make the assumption. And, in the film, Artus says that he's known Conan for a long, long time, since Conan was a young pup picking pockets in Zamora (Conan has never been a sneak thief to pick pockets in any other story I've read), and that Conan was the one who slayed the sorcerer Yara (a reference to The Tower of the Elephant). In the book, Artus is definitely a pirate and who Conan sailed with after the death of Belit.


Below are some notes from the novel that I am taking mainly for use in my personal game (but you may find them useful or interesting).






I. LUCIUS. He's the character who gets his nose cut off by young Conan. He's an Aquilonian, and he leads Khalar Zym's Aquilonian Mercenaries. So, not all of Zym's forces are fanatics following him. These mercenaries are paid to bolster Zym's army. After leaving Zym's employ, Lucius became overseer of lead mines in the mountains north of Messantia.






II. SHADOW LORD. This title for Zym is not used in the book (but is used in the movie). In my game, Zym is a bandit warlord who came to control the southeast region of Argos, near the border with Shem. The term "shadow lord" is nothing sinister. It simply means that Zym's power is equivalent to the King of Argos. Though not the official ruler of the kingdom, Zym controls his portion of Argos as if he were king. Thus, the term "shadow lord" refers to his power. King Milo feared that Zym would start a civil war or annex even more land from Milo's kingdom.






III. NAVARUS. He is an Argossean, not seen in the film. He drives the slave caravan down the coast of Zingara with intention of delivering and selling his cargo to Lucius in Messantia. Conan and Artus have targeted the slave master several times in the past. Navarus avoids the sea to avoid them, but, of course, the pirates are on to his latest move. "You rob me at sea. You rob me on land. Why can't you leave me alone!" He says. Navarus once tried to drug Conan with the intention of selling him into slavery as a pit fighter (a nod to the 1982 Conan film). Navarus is not killed in the attack. Instead, Conan and Artus throw him into a slave cage.






IV. ARTUS. The pirate Captain of the Hornet, and comrade to Conan, is actually a Zingaran. He was born in Zingara to Kushite slaves who worked a plantation near Thunder River. Conan's path had crossed with that of the pirate several times over the years. They were never enemies, but not always friends. Most of Artus' crew is Zingaran (which doesn't make sense that they dock in Messantia so easily).

 

[Water Bob]

-- CONAN THE AVENGER --

 

[Water Bob]

-- MORE NOTES FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN --


The book is so much better than the film. Remember the scene in the movie where Conan gets himself captured in the Messantian tavern in order to go to the mines and confront Lucius, the man Conan had cut the nose from his face when he was a boy? In the book, Conan notices the mercenaries looking for the thief, so Conan captures the thief himself and demands to be taken to their guard commander in order to claim the reward.

That seems a lot more like Conan that what we saw in the film.

I also enjoy the dialogue between Conan and the thief, Ela Shan, where Ela tells Conan how he lifted certain treasures from a villa after Yara's death (The Tower of the Elephant).



V. ELA SHAN. A Shemite thief, from Asgalun (for some reason, the city is Argalon in the movie) . After the death of Yara and the fall of the Elephant Tower, Ela discovered one of Yara's villas and raided it for treasures. He's become known as a master thief with a specialty in picking locks. Why was Shan running from Lucius? Lucius approached him to stealth his way into Khalar Zym's lair at Khor Kalba and steal the Mask of Archeron! This is how Shan knows his way into the ancient city. He's been studying the place for months.

VI. THE RED WASTES. The name refers not to the color of the place but to the amount of blood that has seeped into the ground. The Red Wastes are somewhat inland and east from the northern coast of Shem.



VII. TAMARA. Full name is Tamara Amaliat Jorvi Karushan. Monk. She is the Pure Blood that Khalar Zym seeks.



VIII. KHALAR ZYM. Bandit Warlord. Started raiding 20-30 years ago. Artus remembers tales of him when the Zingaran was a kid. Has taken the ruined city of Khor Kalba as his personal fortress. When Zym completed the Mask of Archeron, having found the last piece of it in Conan's village somewhere around 20 years ago, he expected it to activate. He did not know that blood was required. He slaughtered entire villages and poured gallons of blood upon the Mask to no avail. It was Marique, in her studies, that discovered that the Mask required a certain kind of blood, that of a pure-blood Archeronian (a race thought to be extinct). Thus, the hunt for the Pure Blood began.

IX. SHAIPUR OUTPOST. This abandon outpost is on the coast of Shem. From Messantia, the Hornet sails to the coast of Shem and up a muddy river, where Conan is set aground with horse. Conan will travel inland and east, towards the Red Waste, and Artus will take the ship down the coast on a parallel course to a bay near the outpost.



X. SHAIPUR RAVINE. This must be a pass between Argos and Shem.



XI. MARIQUE. Khalar Zym's daughter. She has arcane tattoos across her head, down to her shoulders. She drew the tattoos for the legion's tattooist, then had her father slay the tattooist so that he may never again make the marks. She follows the ways of the ancient priest-kings of Acheron. Stackpole does an excellent job writing Marique in the novel. He's given the character subtle "daddy issues" that are never explained overtly. But, you can tell, she yearns for Khalar's love. In fact, sick as it might sound, there are spots in the novel where I thought Marique might be trying to replace her mother in Zym's arms as well as other ways. Zym, at least, is not evil in this regard. His daughter seems to be a second thought to him, behind his grief over his dead wife and his lust for power.

Marique also shows more sorcerous power in the book than she does in the film. In once scene, Scouts were brought before the warlord and the witch. But, these were not normal scouts. She turned them to face into the Red Waste, drew a run between their shoulder blades using mud, then pressed her finger into the heart of the design, which laid right over the men's spines. What she whispered in their ears could age a man by 20 years if spoken louder. Then, she ordered, "Eyes closed. Tell me what you see." One of them sees nothing, but the other points toward the Waste and says, "There. It's beckoning. Blue, a soft blue, tendrils, weaving and flowing. Inviting. Mingling."

Marique says to the Scout, "Do not look where they conjoin, but follow the lines. Ignore the knots, do not get lost in the knots, follow the skein."

The other Scout speaks up, "But I see nothing."

"I know," says the witch, "One of you had to be blinded so the other could see. Remo, kill him."

That's awesome! That's some cool, very gritty, Hyborian Age type sorcery! More of that should have been in the film.

XII. THE LAND SHIP. Carried on the backs of eight elephants, Zym has taken a sailing vessel and ordered it customized as his mobile headquarters. Yes, Zym takes some pride in this demonstration of his wealth and power, but that's not why the Land Ship was created. It's creation was ordered to fulfill an ancient prophecy necessary in obtaining the Mask of Acheron. Obviously, I think Michael Stackpole thought the Land Ship as silly as the rest of us, but at least he took some time to give it relevance in the story. Marique has quite a library of Archeronian lore contained in the old of the vessel. Most of these scrolls and books were tracked down by Zym and her mother.



XIII. MALIVIA. This is Zym's dead wife, Marique's mother. She was burned to death, accused of being an Acheronian witch. Zym intends to use the power of the Mask to raise Malivia from the dead.

 

[Water Bob]

-- SHEMITE TERMS --


The devil is in the details when it comes to roleplaying. Dropping little bits like this makes the gaming universe so much more real for the players. Of the few terms below, I made up one, but the others are from Howard's writings and from the Shem - Gateway to the South supplement.


Mombay. This is a Jaren term. It refers to the nature of one's soul. "May your mombay be bright," is a standard parting said to a friend when his path takes a different course from yours. It's akin to wishing someone good fortune. Mombay is a bit like Karma.



Dam-gar. A term among the Meadow Shemites referring to merchants.



Karum. Merchant streets or areas within Shemite city-states are called karums. Strictly translated, it means "harbor". When caravans approach a city, the always approached the caravan gate, or the caravan karum. Shemite karums typically sell only one type of item. All swordmakers sell their wares together. All leather workers are in a different karum.



Asshuri. Well-known mercenaries that hail from the citiy states of the Meadow Lands.

 

[Water Bob]

-- EVEN MORE NOTES FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN --



XIV. SORCEROUS BOUNDARY OF THE RED WASTES. The Red Wastes lay inland from the coast in northeastern Shem, near the border with Argos. Sorcery protects the border of this dry, desert area. In the novelization, Conan crested a hill to find his own tracks leading into the Waste, yet he did not remember making them. The tracks went so far then doubled back the way he had come only for the Cimmerian to realize later that he had approached the Waste and retreated from it. In addition, the approach on the Waste made him fell exhaustion and frustration--as if entering the Waste was not worth the effort.

When Conan let the horse go, he found that he would find himself, doubled back on his trail, closer to the road that would take him to water (and away from the Waste). Se

Conan circumvented the sorcery in the book by grabbing a stone and tossing it about ten or twelve feet in front of him. Concentrating on the stone, he walked his horse to it in two or three steps. He felt almost convinced that he had gone far enough and should turn back. But, instead, Conan bent down, grabbed the stone, and tossed it another ten feet. The more Conan was successful with this action, the stronger his conviction to proceed became. This is how the sorcery was defeated.

In the game, have characters roll a DC 15 Concentration (or, maybe Willpower is more appropriate?) check 2d4 times. Each time that they succeed, the get a cumulative +1 modifier on the next roll. If the character fails a check, then the modifier is a cumulative -1 on the next throw. Once the character is done with the sequence, he no longer has to make checks as he has defeated the sorcerous entry barrier. If the character ever rolls 0 or less, due to the modifiers, then he must turn away and go a different direction, unwilling to proceed along the path that enters the Red Waste.



XV. SHAIPUR MONKS. Tamara belongs to this order. There's not a lot about the order in the movie or the book. Master Fassir is a seer, having seen Tamara's future in the Pool of Visions (in the movie, Fassir smoked from an opium-like pipe to get his visions). I suspect that the order originated in Hyrkania and, at one time, spread out across the world. Today, the order has fallen on hard times--out of favor with the thousands who supported it at one time. Although referred to as "Shaipur" monks, I don't think that's the name of the order. I think that's a reference to these specific monks since their monastery is in the Shaipur region. From what I can tell, the goal of the monks is focused on the individual rather than a god or some other belief. I think the order is devoted to a person attaining the highest form of human that he can be. Enlightenment, personal perfection, a healthy body are the things that I think are important to this order. Of course, I'm just guessing from the context. The monks are trained in empty-handed combat specifically, but many are also trained with other weapons like the dagger, spear, and bow. In the movie, a monk twists in the saddle to ride his horse backwards, firing his bow at Zym's legionnaires. The reason I guess the order is based in Hyrkania is three-fold. First, the goals I've guessed about the order are very "'Zen" like, in line with real eastern philosophy. Tamara is taken to what looks to be a very large chapter of the order at the end of the film. And, the spears used by the monks, if you see a close up of them on the net, have oriental dragons on them.



XVII. UKAFA. Considered one of Khalar Zym's generals, Ukafa is chief of a band of Kushite warriors, all of which have sworn their lives to Zym. Once Zym becomes a god, he has promised Ukafa dominion over Stygia and the Black Kingdoms.

XVIII. MARIQUE's TALONS. The fingers on Marique's right hand are capped with sharp, silver talons of great workmanship. The talons are of Stygian manufacture.



XIX. CHERIN. (Spelled "Cheren" in the movie credits) is a Brythunian archer, though I wouldn't have guessed that to look at her. She leads a troop of all female archers. All wear the leather headpieces that cover their left eyes. I speculate one of two possibilities here. Either Cherin leads a female-only troop of archers who pluck out their left eyeballs as part of their dedication to the bow, leaving only their aiming eye. Or, Cherin and her female archers have both eyes but use the leather helms to guide their specific style of archer with just the left eye. It is also a possibility that Cherin and her band follow Marique's order of Archeronian sorcery, but this is just a thought based on how the archers look. Khalar Zym has promised Cherin the western half of the world once he is a god.

 

[Water Bob]

-- YET MORE NOTES FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN --



XX. THE FORESTS OF OPHIR. Khalar Zym and Master Fassir have crossed paths before, in the forests of Ophir, when Zym's wife was burned at the stake. Fassir was there. Khalar, his wife Maliva, and daughter Marique were chased by hounds and men on horseback as Zym fled with his family through the forests. The three of them were on a search that originated with Maliva's discovery of mention in an ancient Archeronian tomb of a cavern that led to the Well of Light. The cavern should be somewhere in the forests of Ophir. If anyone were to bathe in the Well, immortality would be bestowed upon them. But, the Well of Light was a trap. It didn't exist. It was a carrot to pull Zym out of his domain. Maliva had made too many enemies. People feared her. Maliva was strapped to a large oaken wheel and burned alive. Zym and Marique were made to watch.

This leads me to believe that it was Maliva, not Khalar, who was the first tyrant. Khalar might have been her general--a warlord in service to an Archeronian witch. After Maliva's death, I speculate that Khalar picked up the piece and became the Shadow Lord that was feared even more so than his wife before him.

Fassir was member of the enemies who taunted Maliva with the fake reference to the Well of Light and who chased and captured the witch. And, this makes sense. It was Fassir''s master--the head of the monastery then--that helped trap Maliva. Fassir must have assisted him. The order, back then, was probably more influential than it is today. In fact, Maliva cursed all who engineered her downfall as she lied burning on that wheel. Maybe the decay that has fallen on the monastery has to do with....that?



XXI. TAMARA's BACKSTORY. This is one of the coolest parts of the book--whey you read of Tamara's backstory and how she came to be with the monks. It makes you wonder just who the good guys are. Or, if there are any good guys. When Maliva burned on that wheel, she screamed at Khalar to raise her from the dead. This was the seed of Zym's obsession with the Mask of Acheron. He spent the rest of his life to date, gathering the resources to search the world for the Mask, enduring set back after set back. When he finally found all the pieces of the Mask, again he suffered a set back in that he needed the blood of an Acheronian noble to activate the Mask.

The coalition that burned Maliva heard her curse, and years ahead of Khalar, they found the youngest pure-blood Archeronian known to exist. Fassir's master had a heavy hand in this. The Master Monk had the babe, Tamara, taken from her home in Hyrkania and transported to the monastery in Shaipur, where the babe could be watched. Then, Fassir's master has Tamara's family massacred. Her parents were slain. Her brothers and sisters were put to the sword. Her grandparents were killed. And even her cousins--all of them murdered in order to keep their blood from ever touching the Mask of Acheron, should the Mask ever be reassembled. Tamara's entire family has been wiped from the earth at the hands of her own order. As Fassir says in the novelization, "Every single one, Khalar Zym, from the babes suckled at their mothers' breasts to a crone so old and in so much pain that she begged for release."



XXII. SHAIPUR MONASTERY RAZED. After Zym's attack, Khalar has all surviving monks put to the sword, and not a single stone from the age-old buildings are left standing. Today, it is a ruin. In the movie, the monastery is in the Forbidden Forest. I assumed the movie makers traded the Red Waste for the Forbidden Forest to give use a change in terrain, visually speaking. I'm sure Michael Stackpole's book was written from the latest script he could get his hands upon before the movie was finished. Note that the architecture of the monastery shown in the movie is definitely Argossean (or, at least, Hyborian) in nature, even though the name of the region has a Shemite flavor. Just from the way Master Fassir speaks (and from the decay and general poor condition of the Shaipur Monastery), the last remaining monastery to this order is probably the one seen at the end of the film, in Hyrkania. Later in the book, the Hyrkanian monastery is referred to as the sister to the one in the Red Waste--another clue that there were only two and now only one.



XXIII. SHAIPUR PASS. In the movie, it is called the Shaipur Ravine. I had guessed earlier that it is a pass through the hills between Argos and Shem, and what I read in the book still makes me think that.



XXIV. REMO. He seems to be the leader of Zym's Legion Scouts. He is an ugly man, and that fact comes up a few times in the novel. Zym has promised to make him comely once Zym becomes a god. When I first saw the film, I thought Remo was a Pict. But, now that I've read a tad more about him, I think he's probably a Hyborian or maybe a Zamorian.

XXV. FORBIDDEN FOREST. According to the film, the Shaipur Monastery lies in the Forbidden Forest. In the book, the monastery lies at the heart of the Red Waste (thus, the sorcery surrounding the Waste). Could both be true? That the Forbidden Forest lies in the central portion of the desert that is the Red Waste? And, the monastery lies at the heart of both? This isn't as far fetched an idea as it would seem at first. Remember the chase scene when Tamara escapes the Zym and his attack on the monastery? At first they're in a forested region, but the forest gradually thins and the chase wears on and Conan, with Tamara, camp.



XXVI. ARCHERONIAN. This is interesting. I would have never guessed. Khalar Zym is a Nemedian by birth. He's a princeling. Maliva was interested in him, at first, because of his bloodline. He, too, has some Archeronian blood flowing through his veins. It is hinted that Maliva, too, is Nemedian, though the book doesn't say it specifically as it does with Zym. What it does say, though, is that Maliva's parents were also scholars of Archeronian sorcery, and they were driven out of Nemedia for their dark arts. Maliva chased the Mask of Acheron first. Zym took on the obsession as he got involved with her, long before Marique was born.



XXVII. SHAIPUR OUTPOST. This is where Conan meets Zym and Marique, and fight's Marique's sandmen. According to the book, it is about two days journey on horse from the Shaipur Ravine. As we see in the film, the outpost is on the coast of Shem.



XXVIII. HYRKANIAN MONKS. I see now that Zym refers to the monks from the Red Waste monastery as "Hyrkanian Monks". Why are they so far from home? Why is the monastery on the other side of the Known World from Hyrkania?

Extreme speculation: Could the Shaipur region of Shem or Argos be an abandoned colony of Hyrkania? The term "Shaipur" definitely has an eastern taste to it. Zym refers to the monastery's monks as Hyrkanians. The sister monastery is in Hyrkania. Tamara is Hyrkanian. And, the spears used by the monks feature an oriental dragon. In addition, the entire area seems abandoned. There is a huge city that Conan passes in the movie that looks completely empty. And, the Shaipur Outpost is definitely empty. And, there is a proliferation of ruins shown in the film in this area.

On the other side of the coin, though, it just doesn't mesh will with what we know of the area and of the Hyborian Age. And, the cities look empty, yes, but they don't look extremely old. Abandoned 25 years maybe? I'll give you 50 years, but not much more than that. The Shaipur Outpost is abandoned, but it's not 100 years abandoned.



XXIX. ARGOS. Yes! There is an explanation of the Shaipur Outpost in the book, and it IS IN ARGOS. Ok, then. That's settled. The test reads:

The kings of Argos had intended it to house tax collectors who could discourage smugglers, but the smugglers paid better than the kings. As the land around the outpost became exhausted, the outpost could no longer sustain itself. The people fled, taking with them most anything of value, and pirate raids successfully ended the smuggling trade.

So, the Shaipur region is definitely in Argos. At least, part of it. The region could saddle both sides of the border, into Shem. But, I think that's unlikely due to the hills between the two kingdoms. The questions are: How did the Red Waste become the REd Waste? And, does the Red Waste have anything to do with the Shaipur region becoming barren? Plus, when Conan is on the Hornet, telling Artus that he's going after Zym (in the movie), Conan says that he's going to Shaipur. He could be talking about the region. But, maybe that big abandoned city that we see is the abandoned Argossean city of Shaipur, in the hills on the border with Shem. Maybe bandtry in the area keeps the place unoccupied?



XXX. FATE. There's a short section in the book that could speak to Fate Points in the roleplaying game. I though it interesting enough to note. Conan is reflecting on his use of the catapult to toss Remo down on Zym's Land Ship as the Legion camps in the Shaipur Ravine. This could easily be speculation on Conan's part of a use of a Fate Point in the game. It reads:

Of two things Conan had been certain when the stuffed the note written in Tamara's blood into Remo's mouth and dropped him. The first was that the falling rock would not kill Khalar Zym. Civilized men might have added to the note some pacan to the glory of Fortune, hoping the stone would crush the life out of his enemy. Conan had no doubt that while some gods were capricious enough to interfere with the affairs of men, Crom was not. For him, the only satisfaction would be watching Conan slay or be slain. While Conan never minded a bit of luck here and there, those who counted on it always ran out of it when they needed it most.

 

[Water Bob]

-- AND MORE AND MORE NOTES FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN --



XXXI. SANDLICHES. The sand that gathers itself and fights Conan like a man is called a sandlich. This is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I loved this fight. In the book, Marique palms some aging clay shards from the walls of the outpost. In her hand, he draws the outline of a warrior on the clay, then crumbles the clay and blows it towards Conan. The sand beneath Conan's feet seems in turmoil, reminding Conan of shark infested waters, before the sand burps, spitting up the sandliches that fight like men. The liches fight in the style of her father, but at the level of Marique's expertise. I thought that a cool touch added by Stackpole in the novel, and it's some good info should you want to create this spell for use in your game (if you do, post it here on the thread!).



XXXII. BOOM. I've wondered about the liquid that is combustible at the Shaipur Outpost. Conan throws a torch into it to cover his and Tamara's escape as they jump from the outpost down into the bay. The fight at the outpost is different in the book. Cherin and her archers show up, firing blunt arrows (designed to capture) at Conan and Tamara. But, Conan had foreseen that Zym would not come alone, and he and Tamara had made preparations. Conan and Artus had explored the outpost before. In the caves beneath the outpost, the two pirates had found barrels filled with a mixture of naptha and oil. The Argosseans used the oil light fire arrows against ships in the bay. I like that, in the book, the barrel of the stuff hasn't just been sitting there for who knows how long. The book makes it clear that Conan put it there, to use in the fight. And, it is Tamara, not Conan, that tosses the torch. In the book, the barrels go boom and blows Cherin and her archers to bits.

By the way, the poison that Marique delivers in the movie is similar to that in the book (thought, it is a bit different), and Conan takes about four days to recover on the Hornet. And, the sword that Conan carries is lost when he jumps into the sea from the outpost. That seems more realistic to me. I wondered, when watching the film, how he swam all that distance to the ship, poisoned, with this large sword, and Tamara to boot. The new sword that Conan grabs from the plunder kept on the ship is quite long, and Conan has to open the end of his scabbard to hold the weapon. I thought that another nice touch. Way to go Stackpole.

Artus has known Conan for a long time. Many years. Before Artus became a pirate, he was also a thief on the streets of cities in Zamora, along with Conan.



XXXIII. REMO's DEATH. In the movie, Remo is alive when Conan lauches him at the Land Ship. In the book, we learn that the barbarian breaks his neck before launching him, and the dead man is tied to a rock in the catapult. Artus explains:

From the barbarian point of view, the man was already dead. After all, had he been any sort of warrior, he never would have surrendered. He would have died on the battlefield. And, his willingness to bargain, this unmanned him further. This man, I'm sure, thought he could pull the wool over Conan's eyes. Not the first to make that mistake, and certainly not the last--though all of them tend to share the same fate.

XXXIV. COMBAT ON THE HORNET. This happens later in the book than it does in the movie. Marique, at Khor Kalba, casts a spell to hide Zym's attack force. The Hornet has been at sea for quite some time. Conan has recovered from Marique's poison, and Zym has lead his Legion back to his castle at Khor Khalba. Ukafa dies here. Before his death, he recognizes Conan as Amra. It is not clear if Cherin, the one-eyed female archer, dies at the Shaipur Outpost with the rest of the archers in the explosion, of if she dies on the Hornet. In the movie, she's not at the Shaipur Outpost and there is a quick scene of her death on the ship when Conan pierces her with a harpoon.


XXXV. KHOR KHALBA. Is an ancient Archeronian ruin, with new construction on top. Parts of it remain unexplored. I speculate that the Skull Cave, which is within site of Khor Khalba on the beach, connects to the tunnels and caverns below the city. From the movie, the city is huge. From the book, only some of it is recovered and lived in. Cats infest the place, along with other creatures. Khor Khalba is one day's ride from Asgalun.

Of Khor Khalba, Ela-Shan says:

Khor Khalba is a fell place, my friend. It was built to be an impregnable fortress, and no one has ever taken it. But it has fallen many times, riven from within, the factions killing each other. And, each new owner rebuilds, adding more locks, more traps, more passages and devices which he hopes will keep him safe. They never do, but they remain to destroy any thief who is foolish enough to enter. And no thief would enter since there is nothing there worth plundering.

The coast where Khor Khalba now rises was once home to a grand city in the heart of a plain. The shattering of Acheron's power fractured the land as well. The sea devoured what it could.



XXXVI. MASK OF ACHERON. Tamara knows of it. She learned of it in her studies at the monastery. She says:

Evil roots itself in the world in dreams and devices. The Mast of Acheron was a dream that became a device, and then returned to being a dream. The priest-kings of Acheron created it, fed it the blood of their daughters, and reaped great power through it.

Tamara says that Master Fassier rescued her. He doesn't know that the order murdered her entire family. Tamara, as a babe, was captured by Zym's men. Fassier's order, under the former master, stole the child back and then murdered her entire family so that Zym would find no blood.

The pic below is of the Hyrkanian monastery.

XXXVII. ASGALUN. In the movie, it is Argalon that Conan goes to search for the thief Ela-Shan. In the book, it is the well known Shemite city of Asgalun.



XXXVIII. TAMARA CAPTURED. I always wondered how Tamara would have been captured in the movie. In the book, it is explained. Marique uses sorcery to locate Tamara, at a place four days away from Khor Khalba. She goes there, capturing the Pure Blood, for her father, using her sorcery to aid her. Marique sent assassins to kill Conan, and these, along with some sorcerous items Conan found, told him that Tamara had been captured by Zym's people. I thought it silly that Marique looses one of her talons, which Conan finds, in the film. Stackpole, again, did it better.



XXXIX. PROPHECY. Zym must perform the ritual on the eve of the Dead Moon. The prophecy is: When the tide has ebbed, and the ruins are dry, when the moon is eager to rise from the grave, then shall Acheron be brought forth again.



XL. AKHOUN. Like Remo, Akhoun (spelled Akhun in the movie credits) is not illuminated in description. He seems to be one of Zym's generals, and he seems to be the keeper of The Dweller, the creature with tentacles shown in the film. In the book, Zym calls the creature "The Beast That Lurks", and it is no pet. It comes and goes as it pleases, out to sea, using the tunnels underneath Khor Khalba. It just happens to be "home" when Conan and Ela-Shan arrive. The room where the Akhoun and the Dweller are fought is a torture room. Notice the cages in the film. The Dweller is used, sometimes, in the tortures. I mean, it would scare the gods out of me.

 

[Water Bob]

 

[Water Bob]

-- ASSHURI --


The asshuri are the elite mercenary soldiers produced by the city states of the meadow shemites. A section of Shem = Gateway To The South discusses these infamous warriors. One of the things the book says is that, upon killing 10 men, an asshuri is given a sword with an iron hawk on its pommel. After killing 20 men, an asshuri gains bronze hawk. After 100, the asshuri is awarded a golden hawk pommel. The sword commands respect among the assuri. When and ironman, bronzeman, or goldman speaks, even his superiors take note.

I smiled when I read this because it fits nicely with the experience rules I created for the game. As written, experience is awarded totally at the whim of the GM. For my campaign, I devised some simple rules. Mainly: A foe is worth in XP his level multiplied by 100. A foe of 1st level is worth 1 x 100 = 100 XP. A foe of 2nd level is worth 200 XP. And, so on.

I usually add in the foe's hit points as an adjustment. Thus, a 1st level foe with 7 hit points would be worth 107 XP.

This makes for an easy rule. It basically says that a character of 2nd level has defeated 10 men to rise to that level of expertise. A character of 4th level has defeated 60 men (10 @ 1st, 20 @ 2nd, 30 @ 3rd).

So, in my game...

2nd level asshuri are ironmen. Some are brassmen.

Asshuri, 3rd-4th level are brassmen.

5th level asshuri (and above) are goldmen.

 

[Water Bob]

-- ARGOSSEAN DRACHMAS --



A drachma is a type of coin used in Argos. My guess is that it is worth a silver piece in the roleplaying game. The source of the drachma is the novel, Conan The Guardian, by Roland Green.

Different sources use different names for coin in Argos, and in my game, there is no standard Argossean coin. Different regions and power centers mint their own coinage, and all of it is used, together with coin from out-kingdom trade, within the country. This fits well with the difficult and fractured political system presented in the RPG.