How I would have done DH Conan

[lordyam]

Looking back the DH run was pretty good (barring exceptions like QotBC) but it wasn't perfect. Even the stronger series had some flaws (too much filler for one in the first series). So with the series basically done I'm going to try to describe how I would have done it, keeping elements that worked and changing what didn't.

So without further ado Part 1:

Arc 0 Cimmeria: Largely the same in some regards but make it clear that women are equal to men. Conan hears of the various lands from his grandfather Conn Conan meets Arianne when they do a "trading mission" to Venarium (really they're spying on them). Conan gets into the governor's mansion by seducing the governor's daughter Arianne and then sneaking into daddy's office while she's asleep in bed. When Venarium falls Arianne and her daddy are among those spared but Arianne is PISSED at Conan for using her and for destroying all the hard work her daddy put into this. Conan's grandfather is mortally wounded during the battle but says goodbye to his grandson. Conan leaves shortly afterward, heading north.

Arc 1: Conan in the north: Conan goes north and falls in with the Aesir, helping them track Vanir. However like in the original he pisses of Sjarl and Einar, who set him up and arrange for him to be abducted by the people of the Aerie (a city that even other Hyperboreans go out of their way to avoid). Conan falls in love with Iasmini and we see that in addition to being his lover she also teaches him a lot of basics of civilization (reading, writing, speaking other languages.) Conan picks up very rudimentary Zamorian and Hyrkanian from her, along with a smattering of Nemedian. However like in the original Conan unintentionally persuades Aishti'ana to enact his day of farewell and things go to shit. Conan does the funeral pyre and then goes after Sjarl and Einar. As luck would have it they were exposed as liars and forced to flee to the Border Kingdom when they were exposed and Conan catches up to and brutally murders them. He's hollow but continues on (We also get Janissa)

Arc 2: Conan heads to Nemedia and is recruited by Aztrias while in Bertinus. Conan is persuaded to do a job for him, but things don't work out. Then we get Kal recruiting Conan. THIS time Kal isn't heading to Hanumar but to a village in Ophir called Thuladra (which is home to an ancient obelisk that can destroy the eye of tik pilonga). Like canon Conan quickly finds himself drawn in and talks to Janissa; THIS Time she doesn't go into exact detail about her past. She derails the conversation by revealing she knocked him out. The next day you get the big final battle and Conan helps defeat the plague demon but almost dies. The Bone Woman approaches him and he rejects her, realizing that Janissa is ultimately a slave and that he won't be like her. Kal heals him and offers him money. Conan leaves Thuladra, hooking up with Jiara, Nyssa and the others.

Arc 3: Birth of a thief: Conan gets robbed and after an incident on Uskath hill he decides that fuck it he is NOT going to be beaten. He heads to Zamoria, and almost immediately makes waves. His first real mission (Scarcely a week after he arrives) is the tower of the elephant (yeah I'm changing things around a bit). He has that adventure, and then tries to continue being a thief. He has the adventure with Raffir (learning about a fence) and manages to make his mark. He also runs into Jiara again, and she manages to worm her way back into his trust due to the whole crown of tiamat thing.

Arc 4: Rise and Fall of a Thief: Conan's star continues to rise; his most daring exploit is raiding a caravan from Koth (here he encounters Sergius in a sword duel and humiliates him while working with the guy from Black Colossus). He also fucks the magistrate's wife. However, the King of Zamora reasserts himself following the destruction of Yara and begins trying to crack down on the thieves in the city. Conan's exploits in particular are a source of embarrassment. Conan is almost spoken to by Nestor but Ineri being saved waylays Conan who leaves. Conan and Nestor cross swords (Jiara tells Utor about Conan hitting the counting house the same night nestor robs it) and ultimately this leads to things going to shit (Conan's crew for another job is massacred by Nestor's goons). Conan however manages to escape and strangles Osshur for his treachery. He leaves, but looses his horse and most of his gold.

Arc 5: Halls of the Dead and Befriending Nestor: Conan manages to find the hidden city by chance and decides to raid it. Nestor follows after Conan and makes it, and they ultimately team up. During the course of the tomb raid they talk about what happened and Nestor explains why he was pissed at Conan (explaining how Conan's recklessness made shit a lot harder than it should have been). They end up becoming friends, with Conan saving him a few times. Eventually the army comes (the zombies) and they manages to flee. Conan returns to Zamora and the dragon lays Surna low with poison causing Conan and Jiara to get the fuck out of dodge. Meanwhile Iniri pursues Conan with another man, Old Jerim. She seeks to warn Conan. Conan unintentionally dooms Surna by thwarting the priest of Anu's attempts to get the healing potions (Atalis contracted them to get the potions) and then looting the potions. He and Jiara are captured by the sons of bel but Conan fights his way out and he and Jiara are saved by Nestor (still acting on Tzilius's curse.). Nestor and Conan manage to flee to the western corinthian city state of Magyar. We get an interlude with Conan and Nestor bonding; Nestor talks about his past to Conan and Conan tells Nestor his own adventures. They become friends; Nestor helps Conan learn a little bit more language.

Arc 6: Death of Nestor and Rogues in the House: Tzilius is pissed that Conan's interference cost Surna his life (Surna was planning to assassinate the King and so put a more pliant puppet on the throne who wouldn't hurt the nobility. Unfortunately Conan killing him put paid to that.) He decides Conan and Nestor will die. Conan and Nestor start making a splash in Magyar being observed by Murilo one night. Jiara is seduced by one of the priest's men to betray Conan and Nestor, and Tzilius contacts Nestor giving him the ultimatum. Kill Conan or die. Nestor refuses but realizes his own days are numbered. At this point the high priest attempts to arrest them; Conan escapes with the potions but Nestor is arrested and executed. Conan avenges him by enacting that scene from the comics where he makes the priest drink the potions and then cuts his head off before throwing it in the fire. Unfortunately he gets caught and thrown in jail. Murilo springs him partially (he creates the opening). Conan spares Jiara because she's just so pathetic it ain't worth it and we get the rest of the tale. Conan however looses Nestor's body thanks to Atalis and Tilbar making off with it and so heads home.

Arc 7: Cimmeria: Conan returns home to Cimmeria for a time, meeting Caollan (who like in the original is fleeing from the Aesir.) Like the original story it ends in tragedy when Breccan (being a cowardly little shitbag) murders her and Conan avenges her. He leaves Cimmeria after a heart to heart with his mom and goes back. Meanwhile Iniri falls in with Princess Ereshka and is accepted into court as an entertainer.

Arc 8: Return to the South: Conan returns to the south and decides to embark on the path of the mercenary. He falls in with Yaralet and we get that story. Conan is able to ultimately lay Nestor to rest and saves Iniri and Ereshka. Ereshka gives him some money and a promise to call on a favor at anytime after Strabonus (being a complete and utter shitbag) refuses to pay Conan anything other than a pittance. Conan falls in with a band of mercenaries and his commanding officer Aratus nearly gets everyone killed with his ineptitude. Conan kicks his rear and Aratus leaves the unit in disgrace after his idiocy nearly gets the unit wiped out in a battle. Conan is happy at having found a home.
That would wrap up series one

[lordyam]

Series 2

Arc 1: Kozaki:
Time has passed and Conan has bonded with his new unit; they’ve found work for a rebel prince of Koth fighting against Strabonus. However they are informed that the prince has made peace with Koth, so they decide to head East and make their own fortune. During this time Conan learns to care for most of the men, as he sees them as his friends. However Conan’s leader is betrayed to the Turanian army, and they butcher most of the unit. Conan gets his revenge by killing Amurath, and meets Olivia. We see Olivia suffering under Amurath's "affections" and thus are extra pleased when Conan guts the son of a bitch.

Arc 2: Iron Shadows:

Iron Shadows Adaptation; Conan bonds with Olivia during this time and they become lovers after seizing the red brotherhood (and killing Sergius and Aratus). However, Conan is also extremely reckless as a leader, and Olivia conspires with Ivanos to (nonviolently) remove Conan. They drug him and leave him adrift on the shore, with Olivia writing a letter explaining her reasons for doing so. Conan….actually accepts this and so doesn’t hold a grudge (for once in his life.) He falls in with a Hyrkanian tribe, and thwarts an attempt to overthrow the chieftain, earning himself a place in the clan. He doesn't try to pursue leadership, feeling he still has a lot to learn.

Arc 3: Among the Hyrkanians/Return of Janissa
Conan bonds with the Hyrkanians; he learns their language, he learns their horseback skills and the ways of the bow. He even reclaims his lost helm. However, he also reencounters Janissa. Janissa has managed to let go of her grudge against Conan, as she seeks the tribe’s help in order to perform a mission in Hyrkania (retrieving an artifact). Conan is wary of her, and is tasked with keeping an eye on her. Janissa opens up about her past to Conan during this time, and Conan learns the full story (being alternately horrified and sympathetic to her; note it's NOT the demon rape thing). Sadly the tribe is destroyed during a raid and Conan is forced to flee to the West with a few survivors. Janissa feels guilty about screwing Conan over and when the Bone Woman accidentally lets slip that Janissa was offered to Conan but that he refused Janissa finally turns on her mistress. Conan is of course unaware of this.

Arc 4: Return to the West/Black Colossus:
Conan joins with Amalric’s company alongside the survivors of the Hyrkanian tribe (who are integrated into the unit alongside Afreet, the chieftains son). Conan joins the Spearmen’s regiment, but his turbulent nature makes him difficult. After Strabonus cheats the mercenaries they head to Khoraja and are ultimately dragged into Black Colossus. Conan is reluctant to take command but doesn’t really have a choice. Learning from experience Conan proves up to snuff and the horde is broken. He saves Yasmela, and they sleep together.

Arc 5: Road of Kings: Time has passed, and Conan and Yasmela have been (very) sexually active, but things are starting to fray……especially after an incident when Conan spears a royal dear and cooks it on a spit. To make things….interesting Conan now faces competition from Prince Julion, another Rebel Prince (and Straby's stepson). Conan calls in his favor to Ereshka in order to get Khossus sprung and he Afreet, Galan and Cashius launch a daring rescue in which Khossus is freed. Khossus is freed but is badly wounded by an arrow. Due to Khossus being freed Strabonus is forced to make concessions in order to avoid war. Conan and Yasmela part on amicable terms (Yasmela doesn’t tell Conan that she’s pregnant with his child); Yasmela marries Julion and Conan heads to Argos after relinquishing command of the unit to Almuric again (Afreet and the other Hyrkanians stay behind). Conan separates from his friends.
On the Road of Kings he ultimately makes his way to Argos, befriending a Corinthian Soldier and his love interest. When the soldier is in trouble for killing a captain of the guard Conan refuses a chance to sell his friend out and kills the judge before fleeing.


Series 3: Queen of the Black Coast
Arc 1: Meeting Belit and first adventures:
Picking up where the last series ended Conan joins Tito. They bond and Conan becomes one of the men. When Belit attacks he impresses them and Belit offers herself to him. Conan agrees to join on the condition that the survivors be spared, which Belit agrees to. Conan also bonds with the Black Corsairs, coming to respect them as equals and learning more about them in the process. Conan gets his first real taste of adventure as a pirate during this time; we also get Belit’s backstory during this time (intercut with Conan and Belit doing a pirate raid).

Arc 2: The Affair of the Well of Skelos and Khemi;
Conan and Belit have risen far and wide; one day they are approached by Kalanthes while recruiting men from a village on the black coast and enjoying some shore leave. Kalanthes explains that he is hunting for the well of Skelos, and is attempting to retrieve an artifact from deep within the Well before Thoth Amon’s agents (led by Thutmekri) do. They manage to find the well and enter a battle against Thutmekri and the rest of his agents after navigating the horrors of the well. Ultimately they are successful and Kalanthes is safely dropped off on the Shemitic coast with the artifacts (Kalanthes also puts a blessing on them to protect them from any further attempts by Thoth to seek revenge; it will work for a while). However this badly angers the Black Ring of Stygia, which pulls strings to increase the Stygian Navy’s attempts to kill Belit and the others (since Kal's blessing means they can't be attacked with magical means). Conan and Belit ultimately go on the offensive; first finding a base near Khemi (where Conan has a massive battle with a python and breaks it’s neck). They strike in the Stygian harbor under cover of night and burn the entire fleet in the dock. Conan and Belit celebrate by having wild sex (this comes into play later)

Arc 3: Darkest Hour:
Conan comes across a derelict ship that’s infected. Belit and most of the corsairs are infected, forcing Conan to head to a local village for help. He braves great challenges and is able to persuade a local witch doctor to help (the witch doctor is able to use some herbs to heal Belit); Conan and N’Gora hold off the locals (who are pissed about Belit being there) and Belit and the rest are cured…..but at a terrible price. Belit was pregnant and the illness caused her to miscarry her child. Conan and Belit are now in an awkward position and their relationship is being tested.
N’Yaga and the crew realize something is up and they decide the best way to fix things is a good old fashioned pirate raid on the city of Abombi. Conan and Belit decide to do this and they invade. During the battle Conan is forced to face one of the twin kings, a powerful shaman who forces Conan to face his fears. Conan fights through the illusion and kill the chieftain. His brother shits his pants and runs away in terror. Conan and Belit reconcile

One shot:Light hearted filler moment; meant to be a calm moment before the hammer storm that is the final arc

Arc 4: Song of Belit: Conan goes down the river Zarkheba with Belit and they make it to the temple. The temple’s dark influence starts to effect Belit, and she cares less for her soldiers. When the black lotus traps Conan he has a haunting vision of the ape creature. He's forced to mercy kill N'gora (burying his body) and then goes to find Belit dead. He channels his rage and kills the ape man before vanishing into the jungle.

[lordyam]

Series 4: Conan the Avenger

Issue 0: New Beginning: Sets the stage for Conan the Avenger: Conan arrives in Kush, while Amboola is arrested after cursing Tananda while drunk. Conan starts climbing out of his rut after being robbed while drunk and manages to reclaim his supplies. Later that night Amboola is horrifically murdered by a beast; Conan is recruited by Tananda and works with the royal guard, earning their loyalty. He also has a sexual relationship with Tananda which ends when he stops Diana from being tortured by Tananda. He exposes the plot of Thuthmes by accident (the scapegoat has been pulled up to give a confession just before the beast fingers Meru). Things explode in an orgy of blood and violence, and Conan Diana and the Bastards flee.

Arc 2: The Lost City of Usir: Conan, Amra’s Bastards, and Diana flee the city of Shumballah and head north to Shem, where the treasure Diana’s husband was hunting is supposedly located. Diana has managed to conceal the map even from her master, and is leading them to the site. However, her attempts to find comfort in Conan are hindered by his own grief over Belit and she instead finds solace in the arms of Abit, one of the younger members of the guard (he's closer to her own age). Eventually they make it to the site, but they discover that Diana's husband mistranslated it and that it's actually a HORDE of serpent monsters. Ultimately the bastards are forced to bury the city forever rather than let the creatures escape. Diana and Abit are separated from the others in the chaos and they flee to the east to be together.

Arc 3: The Rebel Prince from years ago has once more taken up arms against Strabonus and is looking for work. Conan and the bastards sign on but the army of Koth proves stronger and as a result the army is forced to flee into Shem. Conan purchases Natala from a slave market and they flee past Stygia into Kush, which is still in the midst of civil war. However the warring factions temporarily unite to wipe out the stragglers. Conan and Natala ultimately make it to the desert, but wander through it. On the verge of giving up Conan sees Xuthal, and they have their adventure there.

Arc 4: Blood Oasis: Conan and Natala stock up on supplies at the Oasis and make their way to Kush, eventually making their way to the Oasis of Akrel near Khuaran. Conan meets Valerius of Khauran, as well as the mysterious Turanian adventurer Selim Shah. Conan is conned into storming the tower of silence, in which the flame holding Nazu back is held. At this point Janissa reveals herself to Conan; it’s a somewhat fraught moment. Conan’s still pissed at her for the Hyrkanian tribe incident, but Janissa explains that she left the Bone Woman’s service and is now forming a slave rebellion to attack Shemite and Turanian slavers. Conan is somewhat skeptical and in any case he refuses to let Janissa harm his friends. They face off in single combat, when finally Natala calls Janissa out on the fact that “Sannah” isn’t there. At this point the Bone Woman reveals that SHE is the mastermind. Over the years she has sought the fragments of the scepter which would allow her to control Nazu. Janissa unintentionally threw the plan out of whack when she turned on the bone woman but the bone woman was able to fake her death and waited until she had the chance to exploit Janissa again. With the flame extinguished Nazu comes. Conan, Selim Shah, Valerius and Janissa join forces to take the demons out. Janissa is able to destroy the staff, which causes Nazu to devour the bone woman and destroy her forever. Just as Nazu charges the tower Conan triggers the chime, obliterating Nazu and destroying him.
In the aftermath Conan and Janissa talk; Natala has decided to stay with Janissa as a healer. Taramis decides to hire Conan (having been rather impressed with his skills) and Conan and Janissa part on amicable terms, having finally buried the hatchet with the Bone Woman’s death. Conan and Valerius/Taramis return to Khuaran

Arc 5: A Witch Shall Be Born: Nothing really to change; Fred Van Lente does a really great job with this story; change the art and it's a classic.


Series 5: Conan the Slayer
Issue 0: Conan and the Zuagir raid an outpost by Turan, and are now pillaging.
Arc 1: Conan and the others meet a Kozaki tribe run by a chieftain; the cheiftain challenges Conan for leadership of their combined hordes, but drugs Conan to ensure a victory. Conan, being an absolute badass, is able to turn the tables and kills the fucker, adding a large Kozak band to his already growing horde.

Arc 2: Devil in Iron: One thing Bunn did REALLY fucking well was to have the buildup to devil. Issue 8 was PHENOMINAL in that it managed to build up to chapter 4 while extrapolating on the incident at camp. It plays out similar, the only incident is at the very end Octavia’s rejections are kinda weak and half hearted, Conan stares at her with a “really?” look, at which point Octavia lets him kiss her. The next issue Conan hunts down Ghanzavi and kills him

Arc 3: Kerim Shah’s machinations: Conan and his men sack Khwarazeim, which prompts Yezdigerd to dispatch armed forces to kill them all. Kerim Shah is dispatched to infiltrate the horde, which he does successfully. Kerim manipulates them into an attack on Sultanaphur, where the army is badly crushed. Conan is separated from Octavia in the chaos, but goes back to save some of his captive leaders from being executed in Agraphur’s square.

Arc 4: Mini arc; Conan journey’s to the east near Vendheya; he joins up with a tribe of warriors and manages to successfully rise to the top of the heap.

Arc 5: People of the Black Circle: More fleshed out version of people of the black circle. The aftermath is also shown when Conan realizes that his position amongst the chieftains is weakened; to avoid destroying the horde he steps down and flees.

[lordyam]

Limited Issue Miniseries: Shadows in Zamboula

Series 6: Conan the Reaver

Part 1: Drums of Tombalku: The first part of the story is told in flashbacks. Conan joins the Argossean army as they war with Stygia (making a name for himself) and befriends Malthum (Malthum is basically Amalric from the original story). When Koth betrays them thanks to the influence of Tsortha-lanti (who’s worked out a deal with the new leaders of Stygia after Thoth was run out of town) Conan and Malthum are separated; a Stygian disease wiped out most of them and the survivors were pursued by the Kushite military and crushed to bits. Conan is separated from Malthum and a few others (the guy who finds Lissa would be white guys rather than black guys, to so ease the racial stuff for the most part). Malthum meets Lissa and they have that whole adventure. Conan saves them and takes them back to Tombalku. Everyone's happy there for a while, but unfortunately things go to hell and a civil war engulfs the region, with Conan and the duo separating. With nowhere to go Conan heads south into the jungle. He meets up the Bamulah tribe and gets in. However he finds himself becoming more cutthroat as time passes.

Part 2: Vale of Lost Women.....gonna be honest I'm gonna have to completely overhaul this one. This one is one even the most devout Howardians don't really try to defend.
My take is that Livia is with the Bakalah tribe but is there willingly. The tribe that abducted her and murdered her brother was a different tribe and when the Bakalah conquered them Bajujh allowed Livia to get her revenge on the chieftain who had raped her (Livia castrated him in a display of violence that earned her the grudging approval of the tribe); now she's Bajujh's mistress and has already born him a son. Conan betrays the Balakah tribe (Though they would have ALSO betrayed him) and Livia flees with her son. You have the whole weird shit with the creepy women and the bat monster but then Conan catches up to her. Livia begs for her life and that of her child and Conan, realizing how low he’s kinda sunk (he's adapted to the cutthroat nature of the region), spares Livia and her son, allowing them to return to Ophir. However, this is seen as a sign of weakness by the Bamula and Conan is expelled from the tribe over this. He makes his way to the sea and by chance happens to meet a Barachan ship, which he joins.

Part 3: Pool of the Black One: First part of the final third is Conan making a name in the Barachans and ultimately fleeing in a rowboat. He manages to worm his way into Zarono's ship and kills the guy before the whole adventure with the Black Ones. He and Sancha leave and go off on further adventures.

Miniseries: Homecoming: This would replace Songs of the Dead or one of the other ones. Conan drops Sancha off back in Zingara because she's homesick and Conan doesn't want to be a douche. He returns to Cimmeria a final time, but realizes once and for all that his heart just isn't in it anymore. His dad is now EXTREMELY old and his childhood friends have all grown up. It's a quiet philosophical piece; Conan visits Caollan's grave and his father dies while he's there. Conan gives a final goodbye at the grave and then leaves, heading to Aquilonia.

Conan the Adventurer
Part 1: Beyond the Black River: A straight adaptation of Beyond the Black River; would cover 6 issues or so.

Bridge Arc: Conan gets captured by Picts, but escapes; 2 issues

Black Stranger: Basically the Black Stranger story. Conan sends Belasa and Tina to Khitai and than takes his pirate crew. This takes about 6 issues or so.

Bridge Arc: Conan sacks the town of Vedilidad (I think that's how you spell it; he definitely sacked a town starting with a V). However he gets run down off the coast of Shem and flees. He joins a mercenary company in Shem which heads south. This would be 6 issues, and features the events immediately prior to the story

Red Nails: Conan and Valeria have an adventure in Xuchotl. This would be 8 issues.

Final arc: Short one; Conan and Valeria have an adventure, but ultimately split up. Last issue would be a double sized one.

Jewels of Gwahlur miniseries: Jewels of Gwalhur miniseries like the 05. Thutmekri is still PISSED at Conan for humiliating him on the Black Coast and forcing him to flee Stygia (Thoth Amon is rather unfond of failure) and we have the Jewels of Gwalhur.

Miniseries: Path to the throne; Conan returns to Aquilonia and rejoins the military. He manages to achieve success by routing a Zingaran army in a civil war. He also meets Arianne again, which is...awkward to say the least due to the fact that her family fell on hard times following the destruction of Venarium. Conan apologizes to her, and it turns out that she became pregnant from the night they spent together (Conan meets his son, now a young man, which makes Conan comically wonder if he has any other illegitimate children lying around). Ultimately Numidides is scared of Conan's popularity and tries to kill him. Arianne is guilted into helping save Conan by her son, and so she helps others break Conan out of the Iron Tower. Conan than rallies the troops and wages war against Numidides, strangling the bastard on his throne. He makes peace with Arianne and restores the family lands that were lost due to her father's shame.

[lordyam]

Conan the King: This would be a pretty big series.
Issue 0 would be a flash forward featuring Conan meeting Pramis the scribe, and they hit it off.
Issues 1-4 would cover Phoenix on the Sword. The main difference (aside from Thoth using his magic to show Dion the visions) would be that Thoth consciously orders the demon to attack Conan; he remembers that Conan has twice thwarted his ambitions (once in Thuladra and another in the well of skelos). Epimitreus is awakened and warns Conan and we get the big fight sequence.
Issues 5-7: Two Parter: Silent to the Sea. Covers the adventure with Nai the witch
Bridge Issue: Conan tells Pramis about an incident that made him realize that the people needed him; the son of a nobleman had raped a common girl and the father petitioned the king for justice. Ultimately Conan realizes from this that the little people need him and so manages to get the nobleman's son thrown in jail (this pisses off many of the aristocrats, who are rather used to being allowed to do whatever the fuck they want)
Issues 8-12: Scarlet Citadel Adaptation: Conan's adventures in the Scarlet Citadel.
Issue 13: Another Bridge Issue
Issues 14-26: Hour of the Dragon storyline: This is the Adaptation of Hour of the Dragon. Pretty much plays out like in Tim Truman's tale except that Conan WAS married to Zenobia and they have sons. Also make it clear that Xal took out Epimitreus for a while (hence why he didn't warn Conan about Xaltotun)
Bridge Issue: Filler story
Issues 27-30: Wolves Beyond the Border: Conan and Nai have another adventure.
Miniseries: Midnight God: Conan has his tangle with Ra Sidh. He defeats Ra Sidh but this creates an opening for Kalanthes to start spreading the word of Ibis (he already laid the groundwork when Thoth was expelled from Stygia for a few years).
Miniseries: Conan has an adventure in Khitai.
Final series: Conan the Legend
This is told between the Prince and Wazir and Conan: The Prince reads about the final conflict between Conan and Thoth, and discovers hidden deep within that Conan had laid a failsafe should darkness ever return.
Past: Ra Sidh's actions created an opening for Kal to undermine Thoth's hold over the course of about a decade and Thoth sees his power slipping. In desperation he tries to do a ritual he attempted so long ago.....reviving Greater Stygia. Over the years Thoth has grown in power and knowledge. He also gained the artifacts that Kal and Conan retrieved from the Well of Skelos and has hijacked the remaining frame work of what would have been Xaltotun's spell. He plans to revive both Acheron and Greater Stygia and rule over both as a god king. He initiates this plan as the Aquilonians invade Stygia with the aid of the Kalanthes rebels. On the eve of the battle Thoth is confronted by the ghosts of all those he sacrificed for his ambitions (Ayina, Kharatus, Amon). The next day Thoth triggers his ritual as the army storms the remains of Memphia (we get a final battle like the climax of book of thoth) and ultimately Conan and Kalanthes thwart the ritual and seal the rift. Conan and Kal kill Thoth, but Thoth swears that he will return (he bonds his soul to that of the ring).
Present: The Prince has started to become more suspicious of the Wazir, and eventually the Wazir reveals his true colors. He is in fact.....Thoth Amon (though it was kinda obvious). Thoth attempts to murder the prince after a failed attempt to persuade the Prince to be a puppet, and the prince remembers what was found in the scrolls and the inscription on the statue. We find out that Conan and Kalanthes laid the groundwork for Conan to be there in order to stop Thoth Amon should he return. The Prince hurries to the tomb, and Thoth and his brainwashed army pursues the prince, declaring himself the reagent in the meantime. The prince flees to the tomb with the aid of some priests (they were sworn to remain as long as Thoth risked coming back), and manages to activate the failsafe. Conan is pulled through time a la Kings of the Night and helps the Prince defeat Thoth Amon by rallying the populace. They bond during this time, and Conan is....despite being rather bummed that his world is no longer around is touched that he is remembered as a hero. He helps the prince get over his guilt for failing to realize that Thoth was the Wazir. The prince moves to reclaim his kingdom and after an epic showdown they defeat Thoth, severing the ring from his finger. Set, now a powerless shade, declares that Thoth has failed for the final time and destroys Thoth, dragging his soul down to hell. Conan is pulled back into the past, his task completed, but gives the Prince some final advise about being a king. The Prince is ready.
Epilogue: Conan's adventures in Mayapan. He forges a new empire (nailing nubile young virgins despite his advanced age) and dies in battle.