SSoC #128
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Curse of the ageless onesScript by Don Kraar
Art by Mike Docherty and Fraja Bator
Docherty was ill-served by Vince Colletta's inking last issue, but here Fraja Bator does a much better job. Docherty and Bator were a team on
Conan the king for a long while, and their styles mesh very well. Docherty's strength lies in the kinetic energy he gives his characters, as well as in the design of things like armour and helmets; he also seems to enjoy drawing entire armies going at each other! He often gives a certain east European look to characters, maybe inspired by Ron Cobb's designs for the Conan movie. At the time I thought he would have done a great job on a "Conan the Kozak" story arc, which I finally got to see... 15 years later.
The script by Kraar introduces Tem, a childhood friend of Conan's, a man who also left Cimmeria to look for fame and fortune and actually became a famous hired assassin. Tem looks Middle-eastern more than Cimmerian with his curly hair, but that's a small detail.
A few of Conan's childhood friends were seen over the years, and it would have been fun to see a young Conan tale where several of them would have interacted. Tem was never seen again, however, nor was Laynnen, the bard who turned out to be the offspring of gods (ugh!) from CtB #128-130. Mara, Conan's erstwhile childhood sweetie introduced in ST#4, is the only one we saw in one of Roy's later stories.
In this issue, a famous wizard named Xotai must undertake a pilgrimage to a certain ancient city where he will replenish his energies, thus prolonging his life as he does regularly. He hired Tem as overseer of the caravan that must protect him during the journey, and Tem in turn hired Conan.
Several of Xotai's competitors in the sorcerous arts intend to take advantage of his momentary weakness to do away with him. They assemble in the
temple of the rat, sitting around a cool wooden pentagram placed over a pit filled with hungry rodents.
The story is however not about a wizard and his pilgrimage; it is entirely about the friendship between Tem and Conan, a friendship that gets poisoned during the course of this story. Both men suffer greatly for it and wish things were otherwise. They clearly respect each other a great deal; Tem, in particular, sounds like a very lonely man -an individual who knows very few equals, and who treasures Conan's company because here at last is someone he can talk to eye-to-eye. This is an uncommon theme in SSoC, with rare psychological depth.
Things were going nicely at the start: Conan and Tem had been reunited after many years, remembering their shared childhood in Cimmeria, and they worked well together protecting Xotai's caravan (beating back several attacks by the forces of the rival sorcerers). But then, shortly after the story begins, two things happen.
First, a messenger comes to warn Tem that "
the men bringing his prize back from Zamora have been attacked", and that "
that which is yours has been stolen". Tem doesn't seem particularly upset; he orders that "
what is his" be recovered, and that the interlopers be killed. Then he sends Conan on a mission to the temple of the rat where Xotai's opponents are said to convene; he must deliver them a message (by means of a sorcerous globe that registers Tem's image and words).
The message is a warning, which the assembled wizards wizards contemptuously dismiss. This prompts a less diplomatic response from Conan, who uses an axe to chop down the frame of the wooden pentagram, throwing the wizards tumbling down into the rat pit!
Escaping the temple, Conan loses his horse to a well-placed crossbow bolt. Continuing on foot, he meets a group of bandits who have just abducted a beautiful woman and mean to do her harm. Gallant but always pretending to be a brute, the Cimmerian ambushes the reavers as they are about to rape their victim, saying that what he's actually after is a new horse. He still brings the lady with him when he gallops off, though! He has an opportunity to demonstrate his innate sense of chivalry soon thereafter, surprising the woman by not trying to take advantage of the situation.
The two of them learn to appreciate each other's company in the following days, and even get intimate eventually. (The lady's name, Conan learns after a few days, is Amardin).
Meanwhile, Tem is growing worried... Conan should have come back a long time ago, and the assassin is worried that his friend might be hurt. He sends riders to try and find him.
Conan is in no hurry to get back to work, but he does feel loyal to his old friend and decides that his vacation must end. The reunion with Tem is however less than smooth; in fact, the master assassin is devastated. Amardin omitted to mention to her lover that she was Tem's woman.
She was "what is his".
We understand that Tem does not really care much for Amardin, but he cares for his own image, for his own pride. At the same time he also cares a great deal for Conan, whom he tries not to blame for what happened. He even cruelly beats Amardin for "coming between such good friends". It is obvious that the man is however tortured about the matter, and Conan is pretty angry... at himself, for having unwittingly offended his friend and for not knowing how to react to the man's cruelty, and at Tem for acting in such a vain and brutal way.
The unease grows between the two men, and at one point Conan states that things have become untenable and that he quits. Tem then forces him to fight him, telling Conan he can go only if he defeats him. Should he lose, Conan must agree to remain with the caravan until the mission is done, and must furthermore take Amardin. Conan thinks this is insane, but Tem forces the issue, knowing his friend's virtue won't allow him to really try to hurt his wronged opponent. Tem wins the fight, and he later brings Amardin to Conan.
The barbarian is extremely angry, and even though he does care for Amardin, he loves Tem as one of his oldest friends. Caught between a rock and a hard place, it is only Amardin's equally sad situation that calms him down. (She never loved Tem, having been given to him as payment for some past job; but she does love Conan).
That night, Conan is summoned to the tent of the wizard Xotai (whom he hasn't seen yet). Surprise: he is the same guy who was heading the sorcerous circle in the temple of the rat! Changing his appearance to that of a plump and inoffensive-looking fellow, Xotai explains that he enjoys tricking his enemies like that, snaring them in silly plots that lead nowhere. But Xotai's real problem is Tem: he feels the caravan leader has come unhinged, and he would like Conan to replace him. The Cimmerian turns the offer down.
He then tries to warn his friend of Xotai's scheming, in a graphically interesting scene: the crazy Tem keeps galloping around Conan as the man talks, refusing to explain why he's so keen on keeping his friend around despite the wedge driven between them.
When the caravan finally reaches its destination, an army of demons awaits it. These are met by the swords of the soldiers, and Tem uses his magic to wipe them out with a wall of fire; a wall that causes many collateral casualties in his own ranks. Xotai deplores that Tem has finally snapped, and he goes into the old city where the assassin has preceded him for undisclosed reasons.
Amardin asks Conan to leave with her, but instead the Cimmerian tries to reach Tem before Xotai does. He is too late.
Tem's recording globe has one last message: the assassin explains that he intended to somehow take Xotai's power for himself but that the wizard was far more powerful than expected, even in his weakened state. Tem also finally admits that he wanted to keep Conan around because he had everything a man could want... everything but a friend. A friend that would stand by him, or avenge him if need be.
Conan then follows Xotai, and finds him sitting on a throne that turns into an impromptu island when the entire floor around it collapses to unfathomed depths. The Cimmerian manages to remain on said island and throws Xotai off. The wizard climbs back, but Conan then places Tem's globe at the center of a certain arrangement of jewels that Xotai had been working on, and that he surmises must be linked to the man's power. This causes an explosion and Xotai dies, while the essence of a smiling Tem appears in the air and fades away.
Conan and Amardin leave together.
A good tale, one with a greater than average importance due to a glimpse into Conan's childhood, and to an uncommon psychological exploration.
Notes:
- Hard to say when the story occurs, as there are no chronological references.
- "Tem" isn't a very Cimmerian name... Something more Welsh or Irish sounding would have been more appropriate. methink.
