An older, wiser King Conan of Aquilonia receives a call for help from Amalrus, the ruler of neighbouring Ophir. Amalrus claims that Strabonus, the Emperor of Koth, is threatening his kingdom.
Conan marches into Ophir with an army of five thousand Aquilonian knights. His planned campaign is a trap; the two monarchs are working together to destroy him with the help of a Kothian wizard named Tsotha-lanti. The Aquilonian knights are cut down by the Kothian cavalry, while Conan is imprisoned within a Korshemish dungeon. This dungeon is used by Tsotha-lanti for nefarious experiments, and Conan discovers many bizarre horrors during his escape.
Conan frees Pelias, a former rival wizard of Tsotha-lanti, who helps him escape the dungeon and regain his position as king of Aquilonia. The story climaxes with a gigantic battle, where Tsotha-lanti meets a grisly fate at the hands of Pelias.
Receptionedit
Robert Weinberg described "The Scarlet Citadel" as "Howard at his best", and praised the character of Pelias.[1]
Adaptationedit
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.
scarlet, citadel, original, short, stories, starring, fictional, sword, sorcery, hero, conan, cimmerian, written, american, author, robert, howard, first, published, january, 1933, issue, weird, tales, magazine, pseudo, historical, hyborian, middle, aged, cona. 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 In the pseudo historical Hyborian Age a middle aged Conan battles rival kingdoms The wizard Tsotha lanti ensnares King Conan who escapes a dungeon with unexpected aid The Scarlet Citadel Short story by Robert E HowardCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s FantasyPublicationPublished inWeird TalesPublication typePulp magazinePublisherRural Publishing Corp Publication dateJanuary 1933ChronologySeriesConan the Cimmerian The Phoenix on the Sword The Tower of the ElephantThe 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 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Reception 3 Adaptation 4 References 5 External linksPlot summary editAn older wiser King Conan of Aquilonia receives a call for help from Amalrus the ruler of neighbouring Ophir Amalrus claims that Strabonus the Emperor of Koth is threatening his kingdom Conan marches into Ophir with an army of five thousand Aquilonian knights His planned campaign is a trap the two monarchs are working together to destroy him with the help of a Kothian wizard named Tsotha lanti The Aquilonian knights are cut down by the Kothian cavalry while Conan is imprisoned within a Korshemish dungeon This dungeon is used by Tsotha lanti for nefarious experiments and Conan discovers many bizarre horrors during his escape Conan frees Pelias a former rival wizard of Tsotha lanti who helps him escape the dungeon and regain his position as king of Aquilonia The story climaxes with a gigantic battle where Tsotha lanti meets a grisly fate at the hands of Pelias Reception editRobert Weinberg described The Scarlet Citadel as Howard at his best and praised the character of Pelias 1 Adaptation editThe 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 References edit Robert Weinberg The Weird Tales Story FAX Collector s Editions ISBN 0913960160 p 36 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article The Scarlet Citadel The Scarlet Citadel at Project Gutenberg Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion com Conan com The Official WebsitePreceded by The Phoenix on the Sword Original Howard Canon publication order Succeeded by The Tower of the Elephant Preceded by The Phoenix on the Sword Original Howard Canon Dale Rippke chronology Succeeded byThe Hour of the DragonPreceded by The Phoenix on the Sword Complete Conan Saga William Galen Gray chronology Succeeded byThe Hour of the Dragon nbsp This article about a fantasy short story or stories published in the 1930s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about a horror short story or stories published in the 1930s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Scarlet Citadel amp oldid 1161126829, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
