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" -- And at the last, O Prince, there came to pass that which all the plots of
Ascalante the Rebel had failed to bring about, and for which the grim shade of
Xaltotun was conjured in vain from the mouldering dust of his Acherontic tomb,
and which even the hell-spawned sorceries of Yah Chieng, the Yellow Wizard
of nighted and demon-ridden Khitai failed to accomplish; and Conan of Aquilonia
gave over the crown and the throne of the mightiest kingdom of all the West,
and ventured forth into the Unknown, wherein he vanished forever from the
knowledge of man." |
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The Nemedian Chronicles |
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After the events described in the volume Conan of Aquilonia, Conan's rule is
for several years relatively peaceful. His old foes Thoth-Amon and King
Yezdigerd are no more, and turbulent Zingara has been reduced to a quiet
client kingdom under the rule of Conan's docile puppet. The savage Picts
resent and resist the constant pressure against their forest fastness, but
that is to be expected. The event of these years that most affects Conan is the death of his queen, Zenobia, in childbirth. Thereafter, Conan finds the routine of a peaceful reign increasingly irksome. He haunts the royal library, finding in dusty scrolls and crumbling codices strange accounts of lands beyond the Western Ocean. He spends time with his children, but the yawning gap in age - he is in his sixties, while they are still infants and adolescents - makes it hard for him to reach any true intimacy with them. And then a sudden catastrophe shatters his mood of vague, half-resigned discontent ... |
Chapters:
- Red Shadows
- The Black Heart of Golamira
- The Cup and Trident
- Scarlet Tortage
- The Black Kraken
- Magic Fire
- The Phantom Warriors
- The Casket from Atlantis
- Voyage on an Unknown Sea
- Dragon Fire
- Terrors of the Sea
- Lost City
- Thieves of Ptahuacan
- The Black Labyrinth
- Dungeun of Despair
- In the Dragon's Lair
- A Day of Blood and Fire
- Gates of Doom
- The Crystal Talisman
- Gods of Light and Darkness