Conan the Barbarian 59

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in CB-58; next appearance in CB-60).
 * Belit (Last appearance in CB-58; next appearance in CB-60).

Minor Characters

 * N'Yaga (Last appearance in CB-58; next appearance in CB-60).
 * Belit's crew (Last appearance in CB-58; next appearance in CB-60).
 * Nim-Karrak (First appearance; next appearance in BC-72). Belit's uncle and illegitimate king of Asgalun.

Location

 * The Black Coast.

Time Frame

 * An hour.

Synopsis
A successful raid on a Stygian vessel ends with a Stygian priest cursing Belit and Conan. Conan asks N'Yaga why Belit seems to hate Stygians so much, and N'Yaga explains Belit's origins. After the story, Conan watches Belit store her booty, including the great gem from her tale.

Flashback
Belit was born to King Atrahasis of Asgalun, a city-state of Shem. However, the throne was coveted by her uncle Nim-Karrak, who arranged for the king's murder by Stygian assasins. Belit was smuggled away by N'yaga, her royal tutor, who took her back to his homelands in the Southern Isles. Once there, he convinced his tribe that Belit was a goddess, and she became a member of the tribe, albiet one who was never entirely accepted. Upon adulthood, she was was given the impossible task of returning a long-missing jewel to the tribe, a mission the chieftan fully expected to bring her death, but instead managed to steal the gem away from its keepers, monstrous Mound Dwellers, who chase her back to the village. Returning to the village, and with the help of N'Yaga, Belit force fed the chieftan liquid steel, which fascinates the monsters and they took the chieftan instead. The tribe fully accepted Belit as a goddess, and they became her crew.

Reprinted

 * Conan Saga 50
 * The Chronicles of Conan Volume Eight: Brothers of the Blade and Other Stories