Conan the Barbarian 122

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-121; next appearance in CB-123).

Minor Characters

 * Atreah (Previous appearance in CB-121; next appearance in CB-123).
 * Jonnwalli (First appearance; next appearance in CB-123).
 * Dukenrik (First appearance; next appearance in CB-123).
 * A waif (First appearance; next appearance in CB-123).
 * Noreobbo (First and only appearance to date). Ophirian priest.
 * Shuin-Shann (First and only appearance to date). Ophirian priest.

Locations

 * Ophir
 * Pergona

Time Frame

 * A day

Synopsis
Conan and Atreah are lost in the mountains after their pegasus died. Luckily, a rider heads toward them and nearly tramples Conan. He is fleeing the Ophirean city of Pergona and in a fit of hysteria runs away leaving his horse behind. Now that they know where they are, Conan and Atreah take the horse through the mountain pass and see the walls of the city with the gates open. However, every person in the city is immobile...even ale being poured into a cup is frozen. As the two wander around the town they hear laughter and see two young men, hands full of stolen supplies, walking through the streets. When Conan steps out, they assume he is the warlock responsible for the frozen townspeople and attack, although they are as lacking in skill as subtlety. When Conan calms them down, they reveal they just wandered into town and found it like this. Conan believes them, though he knows they are keeping their backgrounds secret, and no one notices they are being watched. Suddenly, the townspeople begin to move and surround the four travelers, although they are clearly being controlled. Conan and Atreah toss the townspeople aside and the four run off as the people freeze in their tracks once again. The group approaches the palace but Conan spots an unaffected, trembling girl and her dog. They go to her and she seems to bond with Atreah, who lifts her on his soldiers. They enter the palace and Dukenrik finds a secret passage after hearing music. Descending, they find a vast treasure room with a dwarf lounging on a chair. He introduces himself as Noreobbo and describes his feud with archrival Shuin-Shann who, after being accused of treachery by Noreobbo and fleeing the town, found half of the fabled Amulet of Astorte, which can control minds and allow the wielder to change his shape. Noreobbo himself has the other half and has expected Shuin-Shann to come, and he knows that one of Conan's party is, in fact, the shape-shifted priest. Conan, fed up with being caught in the middle of spellcasters, tries to leave but the dwarf summons a wall of fire. Suspecting that Conan is Shuin-Shann, Noreobbo picks up a sword and fights the Cimmerian. He is deceivingly adept at swordplay but during the fight his amulet slips to the ground. Jonnwalli notices and creeps toward the amulet, but with a magical blast that knocks Conan to the ground, Noreobbo reveals the amulet was an illusion planted as a trap. and as he prepares to kill Jonwalli he is stabbed in the back by the girl. She and Jonwalli are under the spell of Shuin-Shann, who was the dog all along. Now that he has united the halves of the amulet his power grows exponentially and he increases in size, crumbling the roof of the cavern and causing an earthquake. Atreah manages to knock the amulet out of Shuin-Shann's hand with a rock and Dukenrik prepares to run the distracted priest through, but he turns into Jonwalli and Dukenrik hesitates. Conan doesn't however, and kills the priest, who turns back to his true form as the now-revived soldiers of Pergona rush into the vault and take them all prisoner.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 16 - The Eternity War and Other Stories