The Hour of the Dragon from
The Bloody Crown of Conan (Del Rey)
Chapter I: O Sleeper, Awake!Xaltotun's sarcophagus: was "green" and "gleamed like carven jade." Across its surface, "cryptic heiroglyphics writhed". Later, the case is said to actually
be jade. (p.83-84)
The Ritual: The four conspirators, Orastes, Tarascus, Valerius and Amalric, stood in a "circle" about the mummy-case. Each held a " curious black candle" set into a "black gold stick" which "burned with a weird greenish light." Orastes stood at the "foot" of the case, Tarascus to the "right", Valerius "on the left" and Amalric "stood at the head". Orastes, the actual worker of the ritual, first used his candle to draw a symbol in the air over the sarcophagus while mumbling "some formula". Then he drew forth the Heart of Ahriman. Orastes began passing the jewel over the case while muttering "an incantation that was old when Atlantis sank" (the incantations of Skelos?). The lid of the case burst outward and revealed the withered mummy of Xaltotun. Orastes laid the Heart upon the breast of the mummy and stood back. The conspirators could hear the heavy door of the chamber strain inward, as if
something powerful sought entry. Meanwhile, an "awful transmutation" occurred. The withered corpse straightened and lengthened, the flesh regained the appearance of life. Xaltotun opened his eyes. The ritual was a success. (p.83-85)
Orastes: He was a "large man" with "large hands" and a "broad white forehead". He wore an "ermine-trimmed robe". Once a Nemedian priest of Mitra, he was cast forth from his order due to his delvings into "black magic". If not for the intercession of Amalric, he claimed that he "might have been burned as a magician." He then journeyed to Zamora, Vendhya, Stygia and "the haunted jungles of Khitai." He read "the iron-bound books of Skelos" and sought knowledge from unhallowed beings. He caught a glimpse of Xaltotun's sarcophagus where it lay in "the demon-haunted crypts below the black giant-walled temple of Set in the hinterlands of Stygia". Orastes also claimed that the Acheronian's remains were "in Set's subterranean temple". From "moldering manuscripts" Orastes learned of the Heart of Ahriman and then spent a year locating its hiding-place. After that, he arranged for the theft of the sarcophagus and the Heart. (p.84-87)
Orastes claimed that he might've been burned as a magician. I'm sure that some will point to this as an example of the Mitran priesthood's "oppressiveness" or "degeneracy". The thing is, in a
milieu where "black magic" is an actual
reality, this is a very sensible attitude. Would
Conan disapprove of a "black magician" being burned? I seriously doubt it. While they persecute the Asurans, on the whole, the Mitran priests seem fairly tolerant. There appears to be no hint of persecution towards the "Ibis cult".
We also learn from the career of Orastes that there are "book
s" of Skelos. Other yarns indicate only a single "Book". The evidence indicating a pre-Hyborian origin for Skelos conflicts with the account given in "TDiI" that it contains
early Hyborian lore (AND that
Conan had read it himself). A solution of this conundrum might be that "The Book(s) of Skelos" were actually a compilation. Robert M. Price wrote an essay positing a similar history for
The Necronomicon.
WHERE is this "giant-walled temple of Set"? In Chapter XVI, there is also a mention of a "holy city" in the hinterlands. Orastes also speaks of a "subterranean temple".
Apparently, lore concerning the Heart isn't contained in the books of Skelos. Orastes had to find his information elsewhere.
Xaltotun: Once given the semblance of life, the Acheronian appeared as "a tall, lusty man, naked, white of skin, and dark of hair and beard." According to Valerius, he "was
not a Stygian." He was in his "house in Khemi" when he was poisoned by "the jealous priests of Stygia". He was mummified by them with all of his "organs intact." "Zamorian thieves" stole the Acheronian's mummy-case, "and by camel-caravan and galley and ox-wagon it came" to Belverus. Xaltotun had "black wavy locks that fell to his shoulders","dark eyes" and a "lion-like head". He was "high priest of Set in Python, which was in Acheron." Xaltotun spoke Nemedian "with a curious, archaic accent." He claimed his "necromantic knowledge (was) greater than the sum of all the knowledge of other men". REH also called him a "Pythonian". (p.84-88)
Amalric: A "dark, powerful man", he was "baron of Tor, in Nemedia" and an old benefactor of Orastes. (p.84, 86)
Tarascus: was a "small dark man", the "younger brother of the king of Nemedia." (p.84, 86) While most of the Nemedian royal family seem to have names derived from "Nemed" (the name of the leader of the Irish "Nemedians"), Tarascus is a little different. Perhaps REH was being a bit clever here. Considering the pervasive "dragon" imagery in this yarn (especially in regards to Nemedia), it's interesting that "Tarascus" is (probably) ultimately derived from the name of a French dragon, the Tarasque. Here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TarasqueThe original "Beauty and the Beast" story.
Valerius: He was described as a "tall, yellow-haired man". Valerius was claimed to be, by Orastes, "the rightful heir of the throne of Aquilonia". He had been driven into exile by his royal kinsman, Namedides. He had been absent from Aquilonia "for years", but he was "of the blood of the old dynasty". (p.82, 86, 88)
I always thought that Karl Edward Wagner could've written some good tales concerning Valerius.
The Heart of Ahriman: It is described as "a ball of living fire." Xaltotun claimed that the "barbarians stole it from me!" The Pythonian said he did not know "the full power of the jewel." He "did not invoke it in the old days", he guarded it, lest it be used against him. According to Xaltotun, "The red heart of the night it is, strong to save or damn. It came from afar, and from long ago. When I held it, none could stand before me." "At last it was stolen, and in the hands of a feathered shaman of the barbarians", it defeated all of Xaltotun's mightiest sorcery. The Heart had been hidden, "in a cavern below the temple of Mitra, in Tarantia." (p.84-87)
This "red heart of the night" doesn't sound like any sort of "Grail". It also doesn't sound like it was forged by "Monster-kings".
Zamorian thieves: "are the most faithful men in their trust." (p.88)
The Hyborian calendar: Xaltotun was resurrected in "the waning of the Year of the Lion, three thousand years after the fall of Acheron." (p.88) Xaltotun asks no particulars about the calendar (just as he already understands "archaic Nemedian"). He seems to already understand the calendar. Long ago, Kane speculated that the Hyborian calendar was descended from that of Acheron (whose people were also Hyborians). I think that speculation definitely has merit.
Mitra: Xaltotun asks Orastes, "How is it that a priest of Mitra knows of the Heart of Ahriman and the incantations of Skelos?" (p.87) The Pythonian seems to know that knowledge of the Heart and Skelos would be off-limits to an acolyte of Mitra.
Acheron: "Where the empire had stretched now rose realms called Aquilonia, and Nemedia, and Argos, from the tribes that founded them. The older kingsoms of Corinthia, Ophir and western Koth, which had been subject to the kings of Acheron, regained their independence with the fall of the empire." According to Orastes, "In the hills small groups of folk still boast descent from Acheron." As Xaltotun recalls: "Many a barbarian, both man and woman, died screaming on the altar under this hand. I have seen their heads piled to make a pyramid in the great square of Python when the kings returned from the west with their spoils and naked captives." According to Orastes: "And when the day of reckoning came, the sword was not spared. So Acheron ceased to be, and purple-towered Python became a memory of forgotten days. But the younger kingdoms
rose on the imperial ruins and waxed great." Orastes shows Xaltotun a
vellum map (another "medieval" indicator). Xaltotun says, "The very outlines of the land are changed." (p.88)
Here we see the concept of "Elder" Corinthia, Ophir and Koth. They existed 3000+yrs ago as well. The idea, held by some, that Hyborians were ALL skin-clad, tawny-haired barbarians at the time of the fall of Acheron appears to be wrong. Also, REH is strongly intimating that Aquilonian/Nemedian/Argossean culture rose on the "ruins" of Acheron. Thus, the persistent "dragon" imagery seen in both Aquilonia and Nemedia.
Xaltotun's comments concerning Orastes' map are intriguing.
Aquilonians: The kingdom is "a formidable foe. Its people are a hardy, war-like race, toughened by continual wars with the Picts, Zingarans and Cimmerians. For five hundred years Aquilonia and Nemedia have intermittently waged war, and the ultimate advantage has always lain with the Aquilonians." (p.89) They don't sound very decadent to me.
Conan: According to Orastes: "He is an outlander, an adventurer who seized the crown by force during a time of civil strife, strangling King Namedides with his own hands, upon the very throne." Many of the barons "would secretly hail the overthrow of Conan, who is a nobody without royal or even noble blood. But the common people are loyal to him, and the nobility of the outlying provinces." "He is not part of a dynasty, but only a lone adventurer." As seen in Orastes' mirror, Conan was " a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and
velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold on his rich
jupon". "His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered
as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man". Orastes says of Conan, "He is a true son of that savage race, and has proved himself, thus far,
unconquerable." (p.89-90) Conan's "almost sinister face" keeps reminding me of descriptions of Sir Richard Burton. I'm sure that REH read a few of them, too. As for "velvet" and "jupons" (also mentioned in
The Scarlet Citadel), they're
both products of the 14th century
AD. Nothing "Greco-Roman" (or "ancient") about 'em. Here's some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvethttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/JuponLSdC missed the boat, as usual. If he was goin' to rename "THotD", he should've called it
Conan the Unconquerable.
Cimmerians: Xaltotun says, "I fought his ancestors of old. Not even the kings of Acheron could conquer them." (p.90)
