7.8 /10 1 Votes7.8
Country US Originally published 1933 | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Published in US Publication date 1933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Robert E Howard, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conan the cimmerian the scarlet citadel part 05
"The Scarlet Citadel" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the January, 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns a middle-aged Conan battling rival kingdoms, being captured through treachery and escaping from an eldritch dungeon via unexpected aid. The story includes Tsotha-lanti who is an evil wizard whose sorcerous arts help ensnare King Conan.
Contents
The story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967). It has more recently been published in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003).
Plot summary
"The Scarlet Citadel" was the second Conan story to be printed by Weird Tales magazine and involves an older, wiser Conan as king of Aquilonia. King Conan receives a call for help from Amalrus, the ruler of neighbouring Ophir, who claims that Strabonus, the king of Koth, is threatening his border.
When Conan marches to the aid of Amalrus with five thousand Aquilonian knights, the planned campaign is revealed to be a trap as Amalrus and Strabonus are working together to destroy Conan with the assistance of a Kothian wizard named Tsotha-lanti. The Aquilonian knights are cut to pieces and, having been taken prisoner, Conan is imprisoned in a Korshemish dungeon. This dungeon is used by the imperial wizard Tsotha-lanti for nefarious experiments and the story is largely a dark tour of that dungeon as Conan tries to escape.
In the dungeon, Conan frees Pelias, a former rival of Tsotha-lanti, who helps Conan to escape imprisonment and regain the throne of Aquilonia. This notably makes Pelias a rare occasion of a sorcerer who allies with Conan; almost every other sorcerer Conan encounters throughout the original Howard books is his enemy. The only other exception of a spellcaster friendly towards Conan is the witch Zelata in The Hour of the Dragon. The story climaxes in a gigantic battle, with Tsotha-lanti meeting a grisly fate at the talons of Pelias.
Adaptation
The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and Frank Brunner in Savage Sword of Conan #30 in 1978, then by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello in 2011 in King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel.