The City of Skulls

"The City of Skulls" is a short story written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter and first published in the paperback collection Conan (Lancer, 1967).

Plot Summary
While escorting a Turanian princess, Conan and his comrade Juma are kidnapped and enslaved by the inhabitants of a hidden city.

Detailed Synopsis
Conan is part of a Turanian escort bringing the Turanian princess Zosara to an arranged marriage. As they move east through Hykerania, they are ambushed by well armored and armed soldiers. Conan and his comrade, the giant black Kushite named Juma, fight bravely, but Prince Ardashir is slain. Finally, Conan is brought down. Conan comes to and discovers that he, Juma, and Zosara are the only survivors, and their captives, the Azweri, lead them though the mountains for days to a lush green valley, Meru, between the Talakma Mountains to the north and the Himelias to the south. They are taken through a jungle, and while Juma is at home in such an environment, Conan, having never seen a jungle before, is uncomfortable; moreso when he sees a tiger and an rhino for the first time. After a week, the party finally arrives at the city of Shamballah. The city's gates are formed into a giant skull, and the skull motif is seen throughout the city. They are brought before the god-king, or rimpoche, Jalung Thongpa, and acting swiftly, Conan attacks and grabs the ruler, demanding his and his companions' freedom or he will choke Thongpa to death. The Grand Shaman, Tanzong Tengri, agrees to Conan's terms, but when Conan walks by thepriest, Tengri taps Conan with his staff, and Conan instantly falls unconscious. Conan awakens once more in captivity, this time in a slave pit, once again with a bemused Juma nearby. Conan learns from a Meruvian slave, Tashudang, that the people believe the valley exists through the grace of their god, Yama, and if they defy the shamans or their god-king, who has reincarnated for centuries into new bodies, their valley will rise to the top of the mountains and freeze. After many, many days, the slaves are removed to a ship for auction, and Conan reacts by attacking the overseer before he is quickly surrounded by pikemen. In punishment, Conan is made an oarsman and whipped mercilessly by the overseer, but he doesn't react, much to the overseer's annoyance. Soon, the ship sets off. The ship makes a circuit of the cities of Meru on the river Sumeru Tso before finally returning to Shamballah. A frustrated Conan and Juma want to rebel, but the Meruvians refuse and beg Conan not to cause problems. Unfortunately, the conversation is overheard by Gorthangpo, who begins to whip Conan again but Conan instead grabs his whip and wrenches it from the overseer. He then breaks his giant oar, slips it from its chain, and beats the overseer to death with it. A jubilant Juma does the same thing and the two of them easily hold off the sailors until the bows come out. The two naked men leap into the water. Conan and Juma find and enter the sewers of the city, and Juma luckily stumbles across a secret door that the two men follow. It leads to an opulent, domed temple in which a chained Zosara is being married to Jalung Thongpa in front of a thirty-foot jade statue of the monstrous god Yama. Conan and Juma jump into action, and while Conan tosses a torch into a mass of scarlet-robed priests and heads to release Zosara, Juma kills Tanzong Tengri with his oar, but before he can turn to Thongpa, the toad-like god-king runs to the base of the statue and begins praying. Conan frees Zosara but realizes with horror that the statue of Yama has come to life. The giant statue lumbers towards Conan, who is powerless against it. He hurls a marble bench at the creature, but it barely chips it. Then the god catches Conan with its ruby eyes and Conan finds himself paralyzed as the monster slowly reaches for him. In frustration, Juma picks up the cackling Jalung Thongpa and throws him at the creature, and Yama accidentally crushes him beneath its giant foot, which immediately turns it back into a statue once again. The three flee, steal horses, and head north. A month later Zosara is finally delivered to her arranged husband, the Great Khan of the Kuigar nomads, and when Conan and Juma leave several days later with gifts and gold from the Khan, Conan reveals he impregnated Zosara, much to Juma's amusement.
 * 1. Red Snow
 * 2. The Cup of the Gods
 * 3. The City of Skulls
 * 4. The Ship of Blood
 * 5. Rogue's Moon
 * 6. Tunnels of Doom
 * 7. When the Green God Awakens

Characters

 * Conan
 * Juma, Kushite soldier in Turanian army
 * Prince Ardashir of Turan
 * Princess Zosara of Turan
 * Jalung Thongpa, god-king of Meru
 * Tanzong Tengri, Grand Shaman of Shamballah
 * Tashudang, Meruvian slave
 * Gorthangpo, Meruvian slave overseer

Locations

 * Talakma Mountains, Hyrkania
 * Shamballah, capital of Meru
 * Sumeru Tso, river in Meru

Continuity

 * This story takes place seven months after the events of "The Hand of Nergal".

Publication History

 * Conan (collection) &bull; Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter &bull; Lancer 1967
 * The Conan Chronicles (Sphere Books, 1989)

Adaptations

 * Very loosely adapted in "The Curse of the Golden Skull!" (Conan the Barbarian #37, April, 1974). The story covers the same period/episode (in a far different form after the first few pages) that The City of Skulls (adapted in Savage Sword of Conan 59). As Marvel Comics had originally obtained the rights only to the Robert E. Howard material, the established policy was that when they had produced an episode of Conan's life which had also been covered by other authors, such as de Camp or Carter, the non-comics version were ignored. The two versions are mutually exclusive, Golden Skull being the "authentic" story in Marvel's Conan, while The City of Skulls occurs in another reality, Earth-80179".