An ancient wizard named Thugra Khotan is awoken from his 3,000-year slumber by Shevatas, a Zamoran thief (he doesn’t survive the experience). Soon, Thugra remembers his dream of world domination. He assumes the alias of Natohk (The “Veiled One”), assembles an army of desert nomads, and begins his strategy of conquering the Hyborian nations. But the tiny kingdom of Khoraja – with a mixed Hyborian-Shemite population, culture, and religion – stands in his way. Khoraja is ruled by the beautiful Yasmela, sister of the king, who is now a prisoner in neighboring Ophir. Fearing Natohk’s invasion, Yasmela seeks advice from the god of her ancestors, Mitra. Yasmela is told to travel into the streets and offer her kingdom’s defenses to the first man she meets. The first man she encounters is Conan the Cimmerian…
Appearance List “Black Colossus” by Robert E. Howard in Weird Tales v21 n6 (June 1933). Collected in Conan the Barbarian (Gnome Press, 1954); Conan the Freebooter (Lancer Books, 1968); Conan the Freebooter (Sphere Books UK, 1974).
Description An ancient wizard named Thugra Khotan is awoken from his 3,000-year slumber by Shevatas, a Zamoran thief (he doesn’t survive the experience). Soon, Thugra remembers his dream of world domination. He assumes the alias of Natohk (The “Veiled One”), assembles an army of desert nomads, and begins his strategy of conquering the Hyborian nations. But the tiny kingdom of Khoraja – with a mixed Hyborian-Shemite population, culture, and religion – stands in his way. Khoraja is ruled by the beautiful Yasmela, sister of the king, who is now a prisoner in neighboring Ophir. Fearing Natohk’s invasion, Yasmela seeks advice from the god of her ancestors, Mitra. Yasmela is told to travel into the streets and offer her kingdom’s defenses to the first man she meets. The first man she encounters is Conan the Cimmerian…
