Conan the Barbarian 173

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-172; next appearance in CB-174).

Minor Characters

 * Zacharus (Previous appearance in CB-172; next appearance in ??).
 * Tetra (Previous appearance in CB-172; next appearance in CB-174).
 * Delmurio (First appearance; next appearance in CB-174). Zingaran captain.
 * Keiv (First appearance; next appearance in CB-176).
 * Kawagne (Previous appearance in CB-172; next appearance in ??).
 * Nostume (First appearance; next appearance in CB-178).). Forest spirit and Pictish god.

Locations

 * The Pictish wilderness

Time Frame

 * A day

Synopsis
A company of a 100 Zingaran soldiers, led by Delmurio, enter the Pictish wilderness hunting for someone, and three of them are ambushed and killed by Tetra and Conan. The pair, and Tetra's father Zacharus, have found a house in the trees where they suspect the person all are searching for resides, but when Zacharus hears there are Zingarans are near, the merchant excitedly calls out for what he believes are the first civilized men he's seen in some time. Unfortunately, he is also overheard by a band of Picts who chase him into the Zingaran camp. Meanwhile, Conan and Tetra ascend into the house and meet Keiv, who they believe has the second half of a map they carry. Keiv lives in luxury, his Pictish allies having stolen the furnishings, causing the Zingarans to send in their army to stop him. He has no interest in fighting Conan and offers to take him to the other half of the map. Meanwhile, Kawagne, the Pictish priest whose harvest ritual Conan interrupted seeks the god Nostume in the forest for help. The indifferent elven-like god accompanies Kawagne to the cave that Keiv has brought Conan and Tetra to and summons tentacles to entangle the two. Delmurio has tracked the party down, however, and shoots Nostume with a crossbow, distracting the god. Delmurio attacks Keiv, intimating his hostility is more than avenging stolen furnishings, and a fed up Nostume seals Conan, Tetra, Keiv and Delmurio inside the cave and collapses the mountain, though Conan, Tetra and Delmurio escape through another exit. Delmurio shows the scars on his chest Keiv carved into him, which is where his animosity comes from, and Tetra realizes the scar pattern is the second half of the map. Meanwhile, Kawagne discovers Conan and the others have escaped, and Nostume sends Keiv, who he has transformed into a shambling swamp monster, after them.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 22 - Reavers in the Borderland and Other Stories