20. Tor Conan # 7, Conan the Victorious by Robert Jordan. Part 2

chapters 5 - 8

In the previous encounter with the Vendyhan assassin, Conan took a glancing blow from the mans pushdagger. He thought nothing of it at the time, but over time the wound began to throb. poison. The ships captain and conan recruit an herbalist who is able to stem the tide of the poison in his system, but not cure it. The man is not familiar with the herbs of Vendhya, exclaiming to Conan that only one of their leaches could know the cure.

So now with added purpose, our intrepid crew get underway to leave Sultanapoor and head south. First they must get past the massive man made breakwaters of The Mole, Stone towers flank the mouth of the harbour and control the giant chain which can close the harbour's two shipping lanes to all comers*.

Chains which have just gone up, preventing them from leaving the harbour. Conan leads a small group to take over one of the towers and let the chain down. After a small skirmish they succeed in lowering the harbour chains and the smugglers ship departs. Now to make the journey south towards the Zaporaska river, where they were to deliver the chests belonging to the assassin who attacked Conan.

After several days of hugging the coast to try and avoid pirates, the ship makes its way to the mouth of the Zaporaska. They hear metal strike stone on the beach and a fire spring up. These are the vendhyans they are supposed to meet. Conan feels its an ambush but knows he needs to find the antidote to the poison. They go ashore and bring with them the chests the assassin had paid them to bring south. Sure to Conan's feelings however, the Vendhyans attack upon seeing the seals on the chests had been broken. The skirmish dosen't take long to run its course, but ends with their ship being burnt. Now stranded in a strange land, all they can do is press forward.

* If you have read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series far enough to reach the City of Tar Valon, You will notice many similarities between it and Sultanpoor's description in this book. Especially the Chain, which features prominently here, and forms the basis of a large scale battle in the 10th or 11th wheel of time book.