Released August 1979

Conan the Barbarian #101

Synopsis

Kush:Conan sits alone in a jungle clearing cooking meat over a rough campfire. A sound in the surrounding jungle alerts him, and he is suddenly attacked by a group of Bamulan tribesmen. The Cimmerian hacks down two, until he is brought down by sheer weight of numbers and a blow to the skull from a war-club. Conan has slain the tribal war-chief in the skirmish and the warrior, Yorubo, wants to kill Conan and take the now vacant position. Another warrior, Mulla, holds him back, stating a tribal council must be held before the role of war-chief can be taken. Yorubo begrudgingly agrees and Conan is bound and taken to the Bamulan village...Conan is roped to a wooden stake in the village compound. One night he witnesses a warrior from a rival tribe thrown into a pit in the village centre, to his death...The Cimmerian, at the stake for several days, works slowly on the knots binding his wrists and listening to his captors - he knows many of the tribal dialects from his time with the Black Corsairs...It is a night of the full-moon,and Yorubo is arguing with the other warriors. He demands Conan be sacrificed to the `many-legged one` and be proclaimed as the new war-chief.Mulla disputes this and Yorubo kills him with a spear thrust, the other warriors are stunned by this outrage but indecisive. At this moment, Conan breaks free and demands his right to challenge Yorubo to the war-chief claim, by trial of combat!A log is placed over the pit that dominates the village centre, and from below emerges a gigantic spider-like monster - The Many-Legged One!Yorubo and Conan, both carrying spears, approach each other from either end of the log balancing over the pit and they clash. Initially Yorubu has the advantage, but with a kick, Conan sends his challenger into the pit - and onto the monster waiting below...Yorubu`s distraught wife, Felida, whips out a knife and jumps into the pit in a wild attempt to save her doomed husband. Conan, admiring the courageous but futile act by Felida,...