Savage Sword of Conan 108

=The Claws of the Osprey=

Creators

 * Writer: Michael Fleisher
 * Pencils: Gary Kwapisz
 * Inks: Ernie Chan
 * Letters: Joe Rosen

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous chronological appearance in SSOC-96; next appearance in SSOC-109).

Minor Characters

 * Count Nerval (First and only appearance to date). Corinthian Ruler
 * Baron Gorbek (First and only appearance to date). Corinthian Ruler
 * Pol Tiurno (First and only appearance to date; likely dies in this issue). Corinthian inventor
 * Lady Gorbek (First and only appearance to date). Corinthian baroness
 * Warrl (Previous chronological appearance in SSOC-96; next appearance in SSOC-108).

Location

 * Corinthia
 * Gnalpest
 * Barony of Gorbek

Time Frame

 * A week

Synopsis
Conan assists Count Nerval in repelling the attack of Baron Gorbek, and although his original plan to pull the siege tower down with grappling hooks fails due to a well placed catapult strike, Conan manages to topple it himself, giving Nerval's troops the inspiration to turn back Gorbek's forces. At a war council, Conan suspects a spy is present, which is how Gorbek knew to target Conan's position, among other strategies. All wait anxiously for genius engineer Pol Tiurno's new weapons of war, but the rather spoiled inventor grates on Conan's patience. In fat, Tiurno is the spy and has been communicating with Gorbek via birds, but his latest message is intercepted by Conan who, when he reads the note, head off angrily to confront Tiurno. The fleeing inventor buys some time by convincing some soldiers Conan has gone mad and is chasing him, and reaches the roof of the fortress where a rough hang glider is stashed. Tiurno attempts to fly away but Conan leaps and grabs his foot. Fortunately, for Tiurno, his shoe slips off, taking Conan with it, but a hurled sword cuts the glider's strut and while Conan plunges into the water, Tiurno crashes into a large stone outcropping. Meanwhile, a hundred miles away in the town off Gnalpest, two demonic creatures stalk the night for sacrifices to their master, settling on a tavern wench and dragging her into the shadows. Later, they make their way to a cave that contains the Jewel of Ganjammide. Back in Nerval's barony, the lord and Conan discuss Tiurno's betrayal and how to counter the information he must have been sending Gorbek, and Nerval formulates a plan to have Conan enter Gorbek's beloved gladiatorial games, not suspecting that Tiurno has survived but is trapped on a mile-high rock formation, close to starving and dreaming of turning into a giant hawk to rend Conan limb from limb. One evening, while ranting at a storm, a giant osprey is struck by lightning and lands at Tiurno's feet. A near-mad Tiurno fashions clawed gloves and wings and flies off the outcropping. Soon, Conan rides to the Barony of Gorbek ostensibly seeking gladiatorial work, just as Gorbek has the current head of the gladiatorial school executed for failure to amuse him enough, triggering a great invitational battle to be the new head. Conan liberates an invitation from another and enters the competition. That night, Conan sneaks over the walls of the castle and observes a battalion of soldiers experimenting with manufactured glider-wings with which they will use to fly over Nerval's walls. Conan stealthily leaves but is spotted by the Lady Gorbak, whose silence Conan buys by entertaining her in his quarters. Unfortunately, the Brythuinian gladiator Conan stole the invitation from makes his way to the castle and when the guards come to arrest Conan he leaps out a window, steals a horse and rides to warn Count Nerval. Meanwhile, Tiurno flies to Gorbek's castle and convinces him to attack at once. Conan reaches the castle first and has Nerval mount catapults on the parapet walls, but he is picked up and flown into the air by Tiurno. Conan escapes his grasp but is clawed at by the mad inventor, who keeps picking Conan and up and throwing him from great heights. Finally, Conan gets his hand on a torch and burns Tiurno's wings. Tiurno flies away as Gorbek's soldiers approach, but Conan's plan to shoot fiery pitch into the sky brings down the flying army. An enraged Gorbek sends in his forces but they are easily overwhelmed by Conan's troops. Finally, miles away in a mountain temple, the demonic creatures reach their destination - the body of Wurrl.