Complete Chronicles of Conan (14). Jewels fo Gwahlur.

I've recently read the P. Craig Russell comic adaptation some years ago, but I couldn't remember the end of the story, so it was like reading a new story. Here Conan behaves like a real thief. He enrols in a Keshan division. Keshan is at war with Punt. In fact he wants a means to access Alkmeenon, an enchanted and abandoned city. There he wants to steal a set of jewels called Tee of Gwahlur.

Two more parties are after the Jewels. The first one under some diplopatic make-up are two thives from both Stygia and Shemitia that offer the high priest of Keshan the possibility of an aliance with another country against the Punts. They ask for some Teeth in exchange and the high priest, Gorulga, said that he must consult the mummy of Alkmeenon.

Their scheme is to fool everyone by using a slave girl that would supplant the mummy and say that they must give the jewels to the two thieves. But Conan arrives and discovers the plot. Gorulga is fooled.

The other party is leaded by Bit-Yakin (the original title of this short story was Servants of Bit-Yakin). They are like morlocks and follow the orders of the dead Bit-Yakin, killing almost everybody. Conan, in all the confusion, steals the jewels. But in the end he must decide between the treasure and his life (well, the slave girl too) and, well, he survives... with out any benefit. Cool ending.

More about the Jewels of Gwahlur:

• Read it online at Wikisource and PGA.
• Conan Wiki
• Wikipedia
• Image taken from Wikipedia.