Guron

Guron (or Thuron) was the high priest of the malevolent deity known as the Black Shadow in the Thurian Age during the time of Kull. He was the ruler of an unnamed Valusian city located in the mountains (probably the Zalgara Mountains though it is not stated), and used armed priests to enforce his will. The city also had a temple devoted to the Great Scorpion. Guron allowed the temple to exist but mocked and disparaged the Great Scorpion as a mostly forgotten deity, remembered only by women and children.

Guron attempted to capture a young man and his beloved in order to sacrifice them to the Black Shadow. The unnamed youth was a descendant of the warrior Gonra who had died defending the temple of the Great Scorpion from Atlantean invaders. The youth called out to the Great Scorpion for protection against Guron, imploring the god to remember the loyalty shown by his ancestor Gonra. It was then that Guron was killed by the venomous sting of a scorpion that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as if sent by the Great Scorpion himself. The city was soon afterward delivered from the hands of Guron's priests by King Kull.

Guron is described as tall and gaunt like a cadaverous giant, with evil eyes that burned like pools of fire. His only garment was a silken loincloth, and he wielded a curved dagger and a whip. He was incredibly strong and walked with a swaying stride that resembled the sinuous glide of a serpent.

Guron was the name originally intended for the character by Robert E. Howard but was changed by later editors to Thuron.

Dale Rippke asserted in his essay "The Mystery of Pre-Human Stygia" that Thuron was a member of the Elder Race based on the character's description, though this is not confirmed in the original Kull stories.