Savage Sword of Conan 91

=Forest of Fiends!=

Creators
Writer: Michael Fleisher

Pencils: John Buscema

Ink: Pablo Marcos

Letterer: Joe Rosen

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous chronological appearance in SSOC-79; next chronological appearance in SSOC-90).

Minor Characters

 * W'Karrl (First and only appearance to date)
 * Henrak (First and only appearance to date; dies in this issue)
 * King Ronal (First and only appearance to date; dies in this issue)
 * Sorcha (First and only appearance to date)
 * Q'ar Doon (First and only appearance to date), Wazir to the King
 * Qheen Rhalina (First and only appearance to date; dies in this issue)
 * General Zt'ath (First and only appearance to date; dies in this issue)
 * Nadine (First and only appearance to date)

Location

 * Corinthian city-states

Time Frame

 * several weeks

Synopsis
Conan, in the employ of King Ronal, leads a mercenary force against the forces of Queen Rhalina of Rozalah B'Qen. While B'Qen's forces practice the customary rituals of an opening battle, Conan's men run up and slaughter them, although one of Conan's men, W'Karrl, to Conan's annoyance, fights in his own style rather the manner Conan trained the men. It's so distracting to Conan that he is nearly ambushed by an archer but saved in the nick of time by another soldier, Henrak. Via royal adviser Wazir Q'ar Doon, Word of the victory arrives at King Ronal, who is enjoying time with his concubine Sorcha. Ronal discusses how his queen carried on an affair with King Nassot of Rozalah B'Qen which led to war between the two countries. Ronal slew Nassot, but Khalina took over Nassot's forces and continued the campaign. Back at the mercenary camp, Henrak is interrogating the prisoners, unsuccessfully, and W'Karrl takes matters into his own hands and kills one of the prisoners, much to Conan's anger, although the remaining prisoners do talk and reveal the nearby Fort Daimon is undefended on the south wall, owing to its abutment to a dangerous forest. In Rozalah B'Qen, Queen Rhalina discusses the sorry state of the war with General Zt'ath, but is interrupted by her daughter Nadine, who is angry both at her mother's affair and that she was dragged along to Rozalah B'Qen against her wishes. Soon, Conan leads his army through the cursed forest, where he loses one of his men to a succubus, although that helps keep the remaining men on focused on their march, and soon they break into the fortress, unnoticed, from the rear. News soon arrives back at King Ronal and Q'ar Doon. Wizar takes his leaves and meets with a group of conspirators, who have an economic interest in prolonging the war. However, their plot to assassinate Conan is overheard by Sorcha. The spy in Conan's ranks is revealed to be Henrak, who, after his failed attempt to kill Conan reveals his orders came from the Wazir, which Conan interprets as coming from the King himself. Conan sneaks his way into the chambers of Queen Rhalina and offers her his services, which she gladly accepts. News of Conan's switching sides reaches Ronal, who is in disbelief until Sorcha tells him Q'ar Doon betrayed him. She manages to subdue the Wazir for a grateful king, but he recognizes the damage has already been done. In Rozalah B'Qen, Conan rebuffs the advances of Nadine but falls into bed with the queen instead, right before he begins to lead a successful campaign against his former employer. After many days of defeats, Ronal finally agrees to peace talks and he and his former queen manage to patch up their differences. However, Ronal is still angry and fearful of Conan, and Rhalina would prefer her dalliance not be revealed, so they agree to have Conan killed. They hire the ambitious W'Karrl to do the deed and give him half his fee up front. W'Karrl heads off to Conan's chambers while Sorcha, in a fit of anger at being cast aside, kills Ronal, and Nadine, after learning her mother was going to have Conan killed, stabs her to death in the hopes it will endear her to the barbarian. Unfortunately, W'Karrl has already told Conan about the plot and the two of them have already left for Zamora, a thousand crowns richer.

Creators
Writer: Jim Owsley

Artist: Gary Kwapisz

Letterer: Rick Parker

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous chronological appearance in second story of SSOC-100; next chronological appearance in CB-13).

Minor Characters

 * Yago & Nestor (First and only appearance to date). Con-men.
 * Tamor (First and only appearance to date). Prefect of Dunn

Location

 * Dunn, a village on the Ophir border.

Time Frame

 * Two days.

Synopsis
A small village is terrorized by a humanoid wolf-beast. Conan and his companion Yaga, who claim to have tracked the creature for hundreds of leagues, arrive the next day, and when word of their arrival spreads, the village prefect, Tamor, offers them a bag of emeralds to kill the beast. The two companions head out for the forest, and meet their companion Nestor, who wears a wolf-man disguise, and the three laugh as they go to con the next village.