Conan the Barbarian - The Pool of the Black One

Conan arrives on the ship dripping wet from Crom knows where.

Conflicts with captain and crew lead to typical Conan solutions. Punch it or stab it if possible. As the ship goes in search of ancient treasure a new and frightening enemy appears that will test Conan's limits.

Read The Pool of the Black One with us in this episode.

Transcript

Welcome Back And First Reactions

Michael Kentris 0:05

Hello and welcome back to Brothers Reading Books. I am one of your hosts, Will Kentris, joined by my brother, Michael. And today we will be reading another Conan story, The Pool of the Black One. I don't know, Michael. What were your initial thoughts or hot takes for this story today? So we return to Conan as pirate in our story today. And, you know, it's it's interesting. They refer to him as a Sumerian relatively infrequently, more referring to him like from the region from which he initially came to this group that we're going to be talking about. But um it's checking a lot of the kind of adventure story boxes, right? You've got a a voyage to parts unknown, you have a ruthless crew of ne'er doells. Tree booters, I think they call them. They call them tree booters, yes. You know, fancying it up a little bit. We have a uh you know a beautiful woman, and of course we have Conan, and we have some sort of you know kind of supernatural type antagonist here, as well as a more corporeal or normal, I guess you would say, antagonist. Absolutely. So yeah, uh, it checks a lot of the boxes, weird stuff happens, and the story ends. So I mean some of these more recent ones do end a little abruptly. Uh I can very much see it in my mind's eye, you know, and we'll talk about this when we get to the end of the story, but it's like, you know, you can kind of think of it as like one of those old TV shows where it's like the protagonist with, you know, a you know, beautiful woman on his arm and like the sun's setting behind them as they like you know sail off into the horizon. So it's it's very much like that fade to black kind of thing. No, I I agree, especially with the way that Conan kind of yeah, iterates his fast last few lines there. It's like, yeah, this is a little this is a little corn ever for Conan, I thought. Yes. But you know, maybe maybe it was a new it wasn't as tropey as as it was now. So if we give them the benefit of the doubt, sure.

A Warning Poem And A Damsel

Michael Kentris 2:05

So So yeah, the pool of the black one. We start with a little poem here. Into the west, unknown of man, ships have sailed since the world began. Read if you dare what Skelos wrote with dead hands, fumbling his silken coat, and follow the ships through the windblown rack, follow the ships that come not back. I don't remember if we've heard the name Skelos before. I think I think it's been mentioned in some of the previous stories, though. Maybe. It doesn't ring any bells off the top of my head. But you know, yeah, it's I feel like there's not a whole lot to read into that poem. It's kind of like, oh hey, in the in the far west there be there be treasures of dangerous origin. And the story the story kicks off pretty pretty normally. You know, we're we're following it this point of view of Sancha, once of Cordava, kind of as you had mentioned earlier, alluded to earlier. It's the expected sort of beautiful damsel of this day's the distressed de jour. Right. Yes. We we I don't think we've had a uh we've maintained damsels across stories so far for Conan. No, he's he's a man of many ladies, it seems. Right. No, it it definitely does seem to be kind of okay. New Conan, new love interest. Right, right. That's fine. But it sounds like, you know, she's she's very lovely. She's got supple limbs and is scantily clad as well. Uh I believe it references her, yeah, she's wearing a short silk kirtle, which uh veiled little of her voluptuous contours from the crew's eager eyes. So she's just kind of doing a little sunbathing there as as they're sailing along the sea. Yes, she's on this uh the poop deck here. They do reference the poop deck quite frequently in this game. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, perhaps that's just immaturity on my part. I keep calling like, get off the poop. The poop. It's it's just calling it poop, which does make me giggle each time. Yeah. We are

Conan Climbs Aboard From Nowhere

Michael Kentris 4:05

very obviously not uh seagoing gentlemen. No. Not at all. And then I I do love kind of the introduction of Conan into this story. So it's it's possibly one of the best uh, you know, Conan on the scene maneuvers here. Right. So again, like I said, she's sunbathing and hear a sound, presumably the sound of somebody coming out of the water, because that's what happens. She looks over the rail and finds this dripping figure clambering over, and obviously it is Conan, and he's got just a single garment, pair of bright crimson silk briecs, soaking wet, he's got his gold buckled girdle and his sheath sword, and again, the description of his black mane and blue eyes, the hair streaming water, of course. Of course. So yeah, like uh look at Sancho, are you a merman that you rise up out of the sea? And then we get uh the introduction of the captain of this vessel here, and he walks up and is like, Who the devil are you, Sirah? And he just says, I am Conan. He answered imperturbably. Right. And I do like when Sancho's like, Whence did you come? He just kind of like gestures at the ocean. It's just like like a full, I think it says here, a full quadrant of the horizon. Just like Fantastic. Yes. Yeah. And it's like, how did you get aboard my ship? I swam. He's like, swam, dog. Would you jest with me? So that's like we're far beyond the sight of land. Whence do you come? And it's like, I came from the island. And so now we learn you're one of those dogs of the Barachans, Baratchans, Barackans, and we learn these are pirates, essentially. So he he's basically leaving behind another pirate crew. Right. It does seem like Conan does know where he is. So he knows that this is the wastrel, and he knows that by that course of reasoning, the captain, him, must be uh Zapporovo. Zapporovo Zaporavo? Zapporovo? Something. I called him Zav. Zap. Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah. I I think I agree with your second pronunciation. I was going Zapporavo, but um, you know, put a little uh you know flair on it there. Yeah. And yes, so they say we now get a description of him, a steel morion, right, which is kind of like a a round helmet. Dark faced, saturnine, hawk-like, wherefore men called him the hawk. So so yeah, we get some description, you know, the the Zingarin, we're we're with the Zingarin crew here, so they are buccaneers raiding coastal towns, call themselves freebooters, while they dubbed the Barachans pirates. I like this. They were neither the first nor the last to guild the name of thief. They're kind of going back and forth, Conan and uh Zap, and they're talking, you know, Conan's giving a story. I was in a leaky boat, I saw your topsails, and basically uh abandoned my leaky tub to sink and swam towards your ship uh to make better time. You know, we learn there's sharks in these waters. Conan just shrugs in response. And Zap's asking him, why should I let your You've ruined me well, why should I keep every nameless, you know, riffraff on board my sea from the sea on my ship? And he's like, Well, I'm a good sailor, so you know, every ship needs good sailors. And he's like, Well, that's true. So uh he tells him to get off the poop.

Shipboard Hazing Ends Badly

Michael Kentris 7:35

And remember, the only law here is my will. So he sends him down amongst the crew, and yeah, uh, we we kind of get a little scene transition into the dynamics of the the crew here. Right, yeah. It seems like there's kind of a hazing ritual that they do with newcomers, which from this initial kind of glance seems like it's more just injurious. Just straight up, you know, beating somebody. And so they they've got like their guy that they go to in this sort of situation. Right. The man chosen for this duty thrust himself forward a wiry brute with a crimson sash knotted about his head like a turban. His lean chin jutted out, his scarred face was evil beyond belief. Every glance, each swaggering movement was an affront. His way of beginning the baiting was as primitive, raw, and crude as himself. And yeah, they were just like Baracha, eh? That's where they raise dogs for men. We of the fellowship spit on 'em like this. Right. And then he proceeds to spit in Conan's face. So so yes, I like this. They referred to Conan here as a Baratchin, although, you know, you and I know he's actually a Sumerian. But uh but he's too fast, his sledge like fist crunched with a terrible impact against his tormentor's jaw. The seamen lifted their companion, his broken jaw hung slack, his head lulled unnaturally. By Mitra, his neck's broken. And uh Conan just basically insults them that you free bird freebooters are a weak boned race. On the Barraches, we take no account of such taps as that. And he basically asks, like, anyone want to play with stored swords now? And it's like, no takers, then we're all friends, aren't we? So yes, maximum intimidation is uh the name of the game here. So they basically uh toss the dead dude over the rail. Right. The sharks immediately swarm on it. Yeah, right. So there we go. And yeah, we kind of get a little pastiche, a montage of some sort, you know, where Conan's like ingratiating himself with the crew, you know, he's lustible laugh, you know, he's always polite, he's never insolent to the mates or the captain. So he's he's a good crewman by all outward measures. Yes. And they kind of go on for you know a couple pages about this, and they contrast it with Zap, who is a you know, kind of brooding, melancholy sort. Basically say he's you know in a black grim mood, and it's gotten worse as his years have gone by. So we kind of get this contrast in personalities between these two. And there's this one line near the beginning of this, I'm gonna call it a montage. It's like Z Zapporavo made the mistake so many autocrats make. He underestimated the man below him. He had his opportunity to kill Conan and he let it pass, engrossed in his own gloomy ruminations. So kind of the classic underestimation. So they're obviously foreshadowing some conflict here. Absolutely. And again, like you said, Conan's the perfect specimen for a crewman, like you said. He's he's good with the crew, fast with his laughs and body, and just in general, just meshing very well as opposed to, like you said, that zap is very much just kind of like this

Crew Power Dynamics And Sancha’s Past

Michael Kentris 10:45

sore thumb sticking out. And then we get a little bit of Sancha's backstory. So she has not always, of course, been with the wastrel here, and she is also kind of getting impressed with Conan as well, starting to make some sweet eyes at him. And we learned that uh she had been kind of the spoiled and petted daughter of the Duke of Cordova. And at some point she had been, what was it, kidnapped basically, sold off one of those. It sounds like kidnapped, as they say here. Uh, tore her screaming from the flaming caravel. So I assume kidnapped. Yes. No, that makes much more sense. And it sounds like she's been able to adapt to the situation, whereas other people might be much more hesitant to embrace a situation, but that would kind of lead to their quick demise. So she's not exactly, you know, loving the situation, but as we saw earlier, she was sunbathing and kind of just relaxing. So yeah, it sounds like maybe she's got a little Stockholm syndrome kind of thing going on here. Mm-hmm. So we kind of get this little backstory of the crew, and you know, Zapparavo has, you know, he's he's not one to confide his plans in his crewmates. So they basically they start they say here that they left all charted coasts behind, going further and further into the unknown billowy waste ordinarily shunned by seafarers. So they're basically like they're just rumors. This is very echoing of like the uh kind of the age of exploration, Christopher Columbus kind of thing, like going into the West, where you know the crew's kind of getting a little uncertain, are we all going to die out here, etc. And so he is spending all of his time by himself, kind of looking through charts, and the only one he really talks to is Sancha. And as they say here, uh he talked to Sancha wildly, it seemed to her, of lost continents and fabulous isles dreaming unguessed amidst the blue foam of nameless gulfs, where horned dragons guarded treasures gathered by pre-human kings long, long ago. So so yeah, uh this goes on for, as they say here, many weary weeks. So we don't know exactly how long they've been sailing, kind of into these unknown parts, but it's been for quite a while. And eventually they see land. Right. So she's ordered to stay on the ship, and then the rest of the crew, it seems, they're getting I don't know if this is before or after the Queen of the Black Coast. It doesn't seem like

Sailing Past Maps Into Rumors

Michael Kentris 13:20

they're keeping anybody on the boat to prevent the staving end of water casks, but they do they do kind of uh go on shore and they find some fruit, they start eating the fruit, and it seems like it's very tasty, but also has some other effects as well, as we'll learn here soon. Shoporific. Yes, yes. So yeah, it sounds like while they're doing this initial investigation that the Zaporovo is referencing that book of Skellis, so the one I assume that the passage from the beginning of this is from, and it's just trying to like he goes off on his own to do some initial investigations to see if it is indeed the same island that's being referenced there. So he goes away. Uh-huh. And in a little bit we find that Conan follows him. Only S. Yes, the other seamen are kind of on the beach. Many had lain down in the shade to sleep after they'd been kind of eating these unusual fruits. So yes, she uh she slips over the deck and basically makes her way to shore and kind of follows after them. And we get some insight into Zap's character here that uh she uh says it's it's worth one of his beatings. So he's not right, in case you had any wonder of the kidnapping pirate who threatens to stab and kill his own crew on a regular basis, is not a nice guy. Colin Me shocked. I know. So So yeah, uh as she makes her way into the the jungle. I think it's a jungle, right? I think so, yeah. After uh Zap and Conan, she eventually comes acoustic some reddened trampled grass and you know, finds Zap laying there on the sword, staring sightlessly upward, a gaping wound in his breast. The hawk had made his last swoop. That that line seemed a little ridiculous to me. A little bit. A little bit. Well they only this is only the second time it's mentioned in the whole story, I think. Right. Seems a little unnecessary to give him such a such a nickname if he's gonna be killed off so soon. But uh but yeah, we we learn, obviously, that uh well that he's dead. Yes. He is dead. And uh she gets kind of like hysterical, or she resists, I should say, resists a wave of hysteria, and she starts calling out for Conan, and all of a sudden her voice falters and unbelieving horror dilates her brown eyes. She could only shriek wordlessly. Something has happened. And we do a cut back in time to Conan's perspective for these recent events. So he sees Zap going into the tree line and follows after him, and he felt the chance that he had watched for had come. So this tells us kind of what they were implying earlier that Conan's looking to become the leader of this crew. Right? But he understands, based off kind of the general law of pirates, that he has not yet earned the right to challenge him for dominance of the crew. So he's gotta be a little sneaky about it. He's gonna kill him, make sure that nobody knows that he killed him. And then I like this last bit here. The leaderless crew would not be likely to be swayed by loyalty to a dead man. And such wolf packs, only the living counted. Right. Yeah, we we

The Island Fruit Puts Men Down

Michael Kentris 16:50

have our first wolf reference, and then, you know, the paragraph before that, uh like a stalking panther. Yes. Yes, Conan is I think they reference wolves multiple times in this story, as well as Panthers. Uh, so we're definitely getting our large predator references. Our our count is getting met today. Absolutely. So eventually Zap does notice him. He swears, Dog, why do you follow me? It's like, are you mad to ask, Lap Conan? And basically advances on him with his sword. Right. So sorry I like this. So yeah, I like this. They they play up that he's like this amazing swordsman. And then basically Conan in relatively short order, just straight overpowers. So so they say here, right, that uh they just go back and forth, it sounds like a few strokes, and he blocks one of Conan's blows, his whole arm goes numb, and then then he thrusts immediately after that right through his chest, ripping through his chainmail and ribs like paper to transfix the heart beneath. So I don't know, I f they they play out like there's an entire paragraph here about about his sword skills, and then he just like he's like almost one shot right conan. Basically. Yeah. So right. I mean that's that's the end of the sword fight. He's like, oh my arm's numb, and then he stabbed through, right through all of his armor, through his heart, done. Again, it's the steely fuse. You can't it's it's a genetic thing, it sounds like. You know, right? He is a timber wolf of a man here. Yes. I like this. His primitive fury as a human boxer skill against the onslaughts of a panther. We get Timberwolf and Panther in the almost the same sentence. Alright. So yes, yeah, Conan, he shakes the blood, grins with unaffected pleasure, uh, and abruptly he sees something in the trees. It was a tall, black, naked figure bearing on its shoulder an equally naked white form. And so he uh looks around uncertainly, swears, not not happy about this development, and he liked this. In the midst of realistic, if exotic surroundings, a vagrant image of fantasy and nightmare had been introduced. It's a little on the nose, uh, given that that kind of follows the general structure of a lot of Conan's stories. But yeah, he decides to follow. Shaking his head doubtfully, Conan started off in the direction in which he had seen the thing. He did not argue the wisdom of his move, with his curiosity so piqued he had no choice but to follow its promptings. So as he's as he's following. Inasmuch as it's like a lot of like interlocking courtyards and towers and all this, and it doesn't really follow what we would think of as a traditional city structure. No architecture dreamed of by a sane mind. Yes, yeah. There's definitely some Lowcraftian language here. I like this. It was a there was symmetry about their architecture and system, but it was a mad symmetry, a system alien to human sanity. So anyway, yeah, I like this. Uh we get our reference. Uh he felt as if he were in the midst of a black lotus dream. So, yes, definitely a lot of odd things happening. So he proceeds through this odd architecture until he comes to uh a band of these beings, and he he describes them as black skinned, naked,

Conan Kills The Captain Quietly

Michael Kentris 20:30

similar to men, but the least of them standing upright would have towered head and shoulders above the tall pirate. And he goes on to describe like there's there's something diabolic about their features, they have unusual eyes, you know, talent, hands, like inhuman, right? They similar, but not. So definitely a bit of an unusual, non-human situation going on here, and they have, amongst them, uh a youth, the youngest sailor from the Wastrel, cringing and naked. And so then things get weird. Yeah, yeah, they do. So one of them has a pipe, a pipe-like thing at least, and as he's playing it, it's apparently causing these jerkings and sort of rhythmic twitchings and all sorts of irregular movements, almost as if it's like being forced that he's dancing. And it was a convulsion of obscenity, a spasm of l lashivisness, an exudation of secret hungers framed by compulsion, desire without pleasure, pain made it awfully to lust. It was like watching a soul stripped naked in all its dark and unmentionable secrets laid bare. Yeah. This kind of made me think of something called uh St. Vitus's dance, if you're familiar. So it was uh it was this condition. It was later changed the name, but uh but basically it was thought to be related to this like kind of infection that it caused abnormal movements in the brain where the people People started having these dance-like movements that were uncontrollable. So you end up with all these weird kinds of movements, but it was this kind of unnatural looking event. So that there there is a parallel in real life as well. I mean, not to the music, but in terms of these weird dancing types of things. And then uh after it seems they kind of get their their fun out of that, they have this pool, this green water pool near them that uh they go ahead and toss the boy into, almost like they're drowning him in it. Right. Yeah, and I mean, yeah, the way he describes this is pretty brutal. I mean, almost as brutally. Grasping the boy by neck and haunch, he up-ended him and thrust him headfirst into the green pool. So it almost looks like he's like drowning him. But uh eventually the movements stop, like his thrashing stops, and then they leave, and Conan, being the curious little boy that he is, walks in there and investigates, and he finds no trace of him. Right. And on and the area where they were, it sounds like there's kind of like a band or shelf or ledges striations along the wall. Yes. And they're just covered with thousands of tiny little figures. Right. Kind of similar to um what was that one story? The Iron Shadows in the night or something like that. The uh Yeah. These sculptures have like just very specific detail where you can not only tell kind of like where they were from, but there's their facial features and everything. Like all individuals. Exactly. And again, they just like uh maybe they just war game, like to collect minis. Right. Right. So yeah, these figures, not much longer than a man's hand, represented men, and so cleverly were they made that Cun recognized various racial characteristics and the different idols, features typical of Zingarns, Argoshians, Opherians, and Kushite corsairs. And looks like they were kind of made this petrified bone, and he's just confused. Like, how could they get such a substance locally and in the world? Right. Where's this coming from? You know, obviously Connor has some knowledge of geology. Uh so yes, yeah, but but essentially, like, where is all this material coming from in this kind of like jungle forest setting? So he starts looking for the boys, like he looks in the pool. Nobody in the pool, and there's nearly nowhere you can hide. Kind of inspects the pool again a little more, just some description that defies, you know, Euclidean geometry. Of no great dimensions, the pool was round as a well, bordered by a rim of green jade. Looking down he could see the rounded bottom. How far below

A Mad City And The Petrifying Pool

Michael Kentris 24:40

the surface he could not decide, but the pool seemed incredibly deep, and he was aware of a dizziness as he looked down, much as if he were looking into an abyss. Yeah. So it is you know, he isn't sure why he's able to see the bottom, but he he keeps looking around, almost like where in the name of Krom was the boy, whom he had seen brutally drowned in that pool. And eventually he looks up on one of the higher ledges, a cold sweat broke suddenly out on Conan's brown hide. Stony, immobile, dwarfish, yet unmistakable, the features of the Zingaran boy stared unseenly at him. Conan recoiled, shaken to his soul's foundations, a realization too abysmal and awful for the mind to grasp. Yet the fact was indisputable. So So yeah, he is now like basically horrified by what's going on. Something strange. Conan always hates magic. Mm-hmm. And it appears that that is the correct response in most of these stories, because it is dangerous and untrustworthy. I think there's only ever been like one magic user who's been good at these stories. Two, I think two. One in the the Phoenix and the Guard and the other one in the uh Tower of the World. Oh gosh, which Well, I guess there was that weird dude. I was thinking Scarlet, the Scarlet Citadel, where he rescues that one wizard from the dungeon. You're right. And I guess there is the elephant-headed guy from the Tower of the Elephant, too. He cleaned alright. Yeah, yeah, he was alright. But uh But uh but yes, most of the stories we do not get the good magic here. So, you know, he comes to his senses after he hears a feminine voice that shrieked more and more loudly, and so he you know, he bounds out of the way, finds a place to hide, essentially, and he realizes that uh the giants have captured Sancha here, and so he uh you know is trying to decide what he needs to do here as far as rescuing her. So he's observing first, and we get a little bit more of that description, you know, a face is like a carved mask, tawny eyes vibrantly gold, inhuman face, each each feature stamped with evil, transcending the mere evil of humanity. It was not human, could not be. So so yeah, we get that little extra monstrosity added into our description here. So bit of an odd tableau, right? So the the giant tosses her down on the ground, and like this, he casts a glance about as if uncertain, and his tawny eyes narrowed as they rest on the images overturned and knocked from the wall. So he he realizes something is amiss. But he proceeds in the usual fashion, grabs Sancha, and starts walking towards the pool. And that's when Conan decides to act. Yes, yes he does. So he glides from his archway and raced like a wind of death across the sword. And so the giant sees him, and it sounds like you know, with their talent hands, they're trying to like more or less stab at him with those, but Conan's able to dodge it pretty effortlessly, and drives his sword through the giant's groin and fells it like a tree, scushing blood. And i I I thought this part was pretty funny. Uh the next instant Conan was seized in a frantic grasp as Sancha sprang up and threw her arms around him in a frenzy of terror and hysterical relief. It's like he cursed as he disengaged himself, but his so is already dead. Right? It's just it's just like in Zoothil, uh that lady's like, if you get on my sword arm again. You know. So I like this. Uh it's like, oh Conan, what will become of us? What are these monsters? Oh, surely this is hell, and that was the devil. Conan's reply is excellent. Uh then hell needs a new devil, the Barachin grinned fiercely. So and he's asking, How'd you get here? Do they take the ship? She's like, no, I followed you. She's asking, like, I found Zapparava. Was it was it you? And it's like, who else? What then? So yeah, uh most of the she he conan learns most of the crewmen are asleep on the beach, and he's like, you know, what in the seven devils of hell's fire and damnation? And then yeah, we learn that the giants are now bringing in said crew that has fallen asleep. And yeah. Each each bore a limp human form, some bore two. Right. So yeah, they're they're coming with the crew, they got all their swords, you know. Why did they bring their swords? I don't know. That is unusual. Seems like it might be useful later on. So Conan grabs Sancha, they hide, and you know, they he he drags the corpse of his victim to the pool, casts it in, and he sees the change here. In appalling contraction, a shrinking, a hardening. Uh he hastily turned away, shuddering. So, and you know, there's blood on the grass, and it's like hopefully they won't

Sancha Taken And Conan Intervenes

Michael Kentris 29:40

think anything of it. It seems like a place where there's probably blood fairly often. Right. And uh, you know, he turns out he was correct on that uh account. So they they hide themselves uh behind one of the walls, and the uh the giants come in just throwing their victims on the ground. They use the word sword here a lot. They do. I guess it's fine. It's just not a word that you see very often. It it stands out. Yeah. So so yeah, they're they're kind of arranging themselves around the pool. The the tall, tall ist, I suppose. Uh, this is the one I think we might have skipped over to where he has like some sort of like headdress with jewels on it. He's the one playing the golden pipes, companions listening. And they're you know, they they notice this sweet cloying smell, and uh Conan's like, it's that damned fruit they were eating. I remember the smell of it. It must have been like the black lotus that makes men sleep. It's always the black lotus. Alright. It's never the purple lotus or the white lotus, it's always the black lotus. So anyway, so the plan is I'll distract them, you wake them up. So that that is the extent of our plan. So Conan Conan being Conan, she's like, I I don't know if I can do it. And so Conan curses, grabs her by the hair, and shakes her until she's dizzy. Such a gentleman. But uh yeah, it's every time I see this, I just keep thinking of that that scene from Gone with the Wind. This must have just been like a common trope. Uh being hysterical. That's right. Come to your senses. Anyway, that's Conan's answer for every hysterical woman is to shake her or slap her on the bottom. So that's that's just how he he is. Right. Yeah, he's able to convince her, as by doing so, it's like you must do it. I mean, his track record is indisputable. Right? Easier so far. Anyway, aside from that ridiculous break there. So uh Conan in an instant was among them with a tigerish bound, and as a tiger leaps and strikes among his prey, Conan leaped and struck. Thrice his blade flickered, and behind him sprawled three figures, their skulls split. So so yeah, he he races in there, snick, snick, snick, cuts down three of these giants, and then basically runs out. Right? Good sneak attack. I mean, you know, uh it gives extra extra D12 to that. So he's giving him a good haul for good run for his money. And he's just like dashing through all these different arches that he's seen. And his plan is working so far. The entire band has followed him, so that gives uh Sancha, you know, the moment she needs to hopefully do what she needs to do. But uh it turns out he kind of leads himself into a dead end. He enters this chamber, and there's only the singular arch way in and out, it seems. Right. So his plan is to jump up to a little ledge, however, the ledge breaks away in his hands, he falls on his back, and then now he's serious. So before this, this was all just a game. I mean not so much, but he was not perturbed at all. So so he turns around with the calm alertness of a wolf, and when he struck, it was the devastating suddenness of a thunderbolt. So they have uh kind of to paint a picture of this, they have this little courtyard, there's a group of the giants still at the entrance, and there's a an arc of them working their way around, trying to basically corner him in. And so he attacks the one in the middle there, strikes him through the breastbone, and then basically makes a charge, or he was about to charge, but we have the the freebooters. The freebooters arrive on the scene. That's right. They have with a clashing noise there, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're they weave drunkenly, they swear incoherently, they're addled and bewildered, but they grasp their swords and advance with a ferocity, not dimmed the slightest by the fact that they do not understand what it was all about. There we go. Excellent. So so yeah, and basically we get like a kind of butchery type scene here, right? We've got a larger number of the of the pirates, but obviously the the giants are giants, and they are much larger and stronger. So

A Risky Diversion Sparks A Melee

Michael Kentris 34:10

we proceed with a montage of various gruesome details. Someone's scalp is torn loose, blood and entrails, someone's head jerked back at a terrible angle, with the sound like a breaking of a thick branch. Someone's heads chopped off. So so on and on and on. Um And then we get this little perspective here from Sancha. It's like revolted, repelled, nauseated, yet she felt the awful fascination she had always experienced at sight of blood. Like, poor Sancha. Something, you know, bad situation for that young lady. Right. And again, she's not a fighter. She's just kind of like trying to just stay on the outskirts of things. Yes. And I like this, uh, you know, Conan at one point is basically enveloped by a gang of the giants, but he grabs one of the guys and pulls him down with him by his teeth on his throat and uses him as a human shield. So, yeah. Uh what do they describe him here as a blood mad panther? Uh he'd already taken punishment enough to kill three ordinary men, but his bull-like vitality was undiminished. So Conan, right? Like we've already learned, his bones don't break like normal guys. No his fews are steely. Sure are. You know, what else? What else? Oh yeah, his jaw and his neck. I think that was one of the past stores as well, right? His his bull-like neck. Yep. Truly a man of uh superhuman abilities. Right. He's gotta have like a pointy strength and constitution. Something. So anyway, although he hasn't resisted poison very well in the past, I'll say that. That's true. That's true. So so eventually the giants they break and they start running, and the battle becomes a chase. And so as they're going on here, eventually Conan corners the gem-headed headband wearin' giant. And he's he's about to engage him, but he jumps towards the pool, and you know, there's a lot of back and forth, but he jumps into the pool, and there is an earth-shaking roar. The green waters rose and rushed up to meet him, enveloping him in a green volcano. Yeah. So weird stuff is afoot. Right. And it seems like this geyser of water is not ending anytime soon. So Conan has to stop again from jumping into it because he was chasing this guy. Uh-huh. And yeah, the green pool is like a geyser now, the noise rising to deafening volume as the great column of water reared and reared, blossoming at the crest with a great crown of foam. And Conan basically realizes, like, we gotta get out of here now. So he sees Sancha standing paralyzed, and basically it's like, hey, start moving. And it's kind of similar with everybody else. It's just he's trying to make sure that everybody who's still alive is getting out. So Conan's eyes swept over the bloody naked group and he cursed the only a score. In the stress of the moment, he grasped a corsair by the neck and shook him so violently that blood from the man's wounds spattered all near them. Like, where are the rest? That's all, he yelled back. The others were all killed. It's like, well, get out of here. That fountain's gonna burst. Yeah, Conan's in a shaking mood today. He's shaking. And yeah, uh he's like, Well, I'll be drowned. Like, drowned, hell. We'll be turned to pieces of petrified bone. Get out, blast you. Right. I like this. His method uh for loiterers was to grab him by the scruff of the neck, impel them violently through the gate, add impetus with a lusty kick in the rear, placing his urgings for haste with pungent comments on the victim's ancestry. So uh basically he is swearing at them and shoving them and kicking them to get them to move faster. Right. So they uh make their way away from the city, away from the thing, and they they find that this this torrent, right, it eventually breaks over the walls and the towers, blotting them out, and they continue to flee, right? They're they realize it is following them. So this water, this this greenish water is intentional, it's sentient, right? Whether it's being controlled by that uh that giant that jumped into it seems probable. And so they are now fleeing from this thing, this river. So yeah, they gotta run from the jungle all the way back to the ship. So eventually they basically they do. They jump into the boats, they get to the wastrel, and they they find, like, as they are like their hearts ready to burst from exertion, they pull in for the ship. The green river bursts through the fringe of trees, felling them as if their stems had been cut away, and they sank into the jade-colored flood. What they feared they knew not, but they did not know. But they did know that in that abominable smooth green ribbon was a menace to body and to soul. So they see the thing, it's it starts weaving its way into the water towards them without changing shape or course. They keep rowing, keep going. And they make their way to the ship, and they get on there and get underway, and basically it's like kind of like by the skin of their teeth, how they say in ore's length from the Wastrel's keel, it advanced no further. And so they make their way away from this uh cursed island. Right. Again, there's only a score of them, so kinda kind of a skeleton

The Pool Erupts And The Escape Begins

Michael Kentris 39:30

crew at this point. Skeleton crew. And we get description now of Coden post post-battle. So uh his breaks hung in blood stained tatters, his girdle and sheath were gone, his sword driven upright into the deck beside him was notched and crusted with red. Blood thickly clouded his black mane, and one ear had been half torn from his head. His arms, legs, breasts, and shoulders were bitten and clawed as if by panthers, but he grinned as he braced his powerful legs and swung on the wheel in sheer exuberance of muscular might. Yep. So that being said, he he's laughing. You know, Sancha asks him, What now? It's like the plunder of the seas, he laughs. Uh poultry crew, and that chewed and clawed to pieces, but they can work the ship, and crews can always be found. Come here, girl, and give me a kiss. And uh basically she think of kisses at a time like this. Right. And yes, he his laughter booms. I think of life. The dead are dead, and what has passed is done. So uh I have a ship and a fighting crew and a girl with lips like wine, and that's all I ever asked. Lick your wounds, bullies, and break out a cask of ale. You're going to work ship as she never was worked before. Dance and sing while you buckle to it, damn you. To the devil with empty seas, we're bound for waters where the seaports are fat and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder. Fade to black. So so yes, that is the end of uh gosh, what was the name of the story? The Pool of the Black One. The Pool of the Black One. So so yes, kind of a pretty typical adventure story. Definitely, you know, you got your regular antagonist and your supernatural antagonist, and uh battle escape. So it seems to be a common trope with these more of like exploration-influenced type uh stories. But what what is your take on this one, Will? It definitely seems like as we've gone more and more into these stories, it's definitely kind of like a villain of the week format. You know, we have, like you said, kind of our typical template that we're using where Conan shows up on the scene, there's a damsel in distress, there's like a supernatural element. Conan kills a bunch of things and gets away in the end. So you know, this this may uh this definitely will date me a little bit, but I remember growing up there was uh cartoon. Do you know which one I'm gonna talk about? Not right now. The Pirates of Blackwater. Oh yes. Yeah, yeah. This this definitely gave me like some of those same echoes. Uh for those who aren't familiar. Actually,

Conan’s Final Line And Fade Out

Michael Kentris 41:55

I think it's a pretty good show. But there's this Noisy talk. Uh there's this Blackwater. The eponymous Blackwater.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Is it Dark Water?

Michael Kentris 42:03

Is it Dark Water? Oh, Pirates of Darkwater? Maybe. Dark Water. That's all right. We're gonna fact check this in real time. Yeah, Pirates of Dark Water. Oh goodness gracious. See, I'm getting things conflated. But uh but yeah, I think it got like cancelled somewhat abruptly. But I think there's a few seasons of it. Anyway, the the Dark Water is like this parasitic thing that just like devours people and animals and like all organic matter essentially. And uh it definitely like had the same flavor, and it makes me wonder. Obviously that show came much later, but like this it it definitely has thinking back on that show, like a lot of the kind of buccaneer, like there's a lot of Conan-ish themes to it. It is very much a sword and sorcery type of cartoon show. You know, for a children's show, it's a little on the dark side, I would say. Yeah, I think people straight up die in that one. Yeah, well, they throw them into the dark water, like like walking the plank style. Like instead of sharks tearing you apart, it's it's like this supernatural, all-consuming sludge. I think Tim Curry voice is one of the villains. That would surprise me not at all. Right. But yeah, makes me want to watch that again. Anyway, uh, but yeah, it's it definitely is interesting to see kind of like to think back on the influences of other media that you've seen, you know, in your youth. Yeah, for someone who's might be interested in something like that, I would say check it out. It's probably somewhere online. But uh but yeah, good cast of characters on that show, you

Pirates Of Dark Water Connections

Michael Kentris 43:30

know, a lot of friction with with the main protagonists there. It is true. Yeah, they are often at odds with each other. Which I feel like it's realistic considering they're pirates. Pirates, yes. But whatever they call themselves. Right, right. I think they just call themselves like adventurers or something. But anyway, uh but yeah, it was a pretty good story. Right, right. Well, Will. Are you reading any any modern fiction lately? Yeah. So I actually finished this one book, as short. Order called Blackbrain, B-R-A-N-E. Yeah, yeah. What was that? Michael Sisko. I did not care for. Oh. Tom Moore. This is our first hot take. Right. No. Like I I won't say I hated it, but it was definitely in that vein of I think they call it weird fiction. Where it's it's not necessarily like a cohesive narrative. It jumps back and forth in kind of like point of view relative time. And just as someone who has not dabbled too much in weird fiction, it made it very hard for me to kind of follow the story of what was actually going on or what had happened. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like a dream, you know, as far as like you would have like this thread that you're following, and then you just turn your intention somewhere else, and that thread completely disappears into something else. You might be revisiting that sentiment when we get to William Gibson. We'll see, we'll see. To be fair, I I will feel slightly validated by this. So I I do keep my record of stuff that I read on Goodreads. And the top comment I saw for BlackRay was if you have not read Michael's Fisco before, do not start with this book. It's like, okay. Well, you know, reader be warned. But no, that's interesting. I'll have to think about that. I do enjoy some weird fiction, but it's it's very much like you gotta be ready for the cognitive work of those kinds of stories. I feel like if I had that sort of, you know, preface going into it, I probably would have been more prepared for that style. But in the first chapter, it was definitely kind of like is this gonna make sense at some point? Yeah. Yeah, they're they're definitely I've I've read some books like that. And you know, some some are very brilliantly executed, others are like I have a headache after this. So But yeah, it's uh it's definitely interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind. Yeah, because I know you've read some China. A China Mieval, yeah. Yes. I I think he falls under the weird fiction umbrella sometimes. And I would say that like some of the narrative style did remind

Modern Weird Fiction And Reading Takes

Michael Kentris 46:20

me of that. Yeah. Like, um Did you ever read The City and the City? No, no. I I think the only one I've read by by them is uh Perdito Street Station. Yeah, yeah. That was his big I think his big breakout, which excellent novel if you like that kind of stuff. Like weird steampunk kind of aesthetic. I think that would be weird steampunk would be the the genre that he falls into in a lot of his stories. But but yeah, the The City and the City is kind of like an alternative, alternate universe. I want to say London, if I remember correctly, but it's like a I think the main character is a detective, and you wind up with these very odd narrative devices, and they don't make sense until almost near the end of the book. It is uh is a beautifully done twist, and uh I enjoyed it very much. So it's one of those books that you could probably read it a couple times, at least, once not knowing what it is, and then again afterwards and be like, ah, makes more sense. Yes, yes. It's it's a very good book. And so if you're looking for something, I think it's a fairly low barrier to entry as far as like weird narrative device kind of stuff. So I I would recommend it. Okay. It's been a long time since I've read it, but I enjoyed it. Well, what are you reading currently? Currently, let's see. What am I reading? Uh it's a lot of the same stuff I was reading last week, I'm afraid. That's fair. They're longer. But I will say Blackbrain is short. It's like 160 pages. Yeah, I I'm trying to think. I know, gosh, I I've been adding books to my my to-be read, to be read list, but I don't think I have actually started any of them yet. I'm still working on uh a lot of these. I will say I've been I don't remember if I mentioned this last week. I've been talking about daily reading stuff. Mm-hmm. And one of the things did I did I mention that I was reading Shakespeare's sonnets? I don't know if you mentioned that specifically. So I've been reading Shakespeare's I've been reading one sonnet a day as part of kind of like my my morning routine for the last few weeks. And uh, you know, I'm not intimately familiar with Shakespeare. I read a few plays in high school, like I think a lot of people do, and uh but never really got into his sonnets, except secondarily. There was a series of books. Oh gosh, what was it called? The Ilium. What was his name? This is gonna drive me crazy. Oh gosh, what's the name of the guy who wrote Hyperion? Something Simmons. Dan Simmons? Yes. So Dan Simmons wrote another book called Ilium, which is a part of a duology. So I'm I'm recommending stuff I've read in the past, I guess, today. But uh but uh it's basically a sci-fi take on like Trojan War mixed with elements of Shakespeare, a lot of stuff from uh gosh, uh the one with Caliban. Help me out. Caliban, I guess. The Tempest. Okay. So Elements of the Tempest, other Shakespearean type stuff. Essentially, you have these, and additionally, there's like these different interweaving plot lines, but there are these robots who are like big Shakespeare fans. And one of them is always reading Shakespeare's sonnets. So anyway.

Shakespeare Sonnets As Daily Practice

Michael Kentris 49:20

So I have some some reference to the sonnets via this thing I read like probably over a decade ago. But excellent series if you if you like classic mythology mixed with weird sci-fi mixed with Shakespeare. So I would say, you know, Ilium by Dan Ammons, or Dan Simmons, definitely check it out. But I I've been reading one sonnet a day, and you know, the first dozen or so are a lot about um getting older, dying, and what will you leave behind when you die? So, and a lot of times they're talking about, you know, as your beauty fades and passes from this world, leave something behind, often referring to, you know, children who you know carry your your mark, your image forward in time. So there there is a bit of that in the first ten, twelve or so sonnets. And it's been very interesting, very introspective and reflective. So so I've been enjoying working my way through that. I've been trying to get more into poetry lately. So that's something I've been working on. I kind of have a collection of um Bloom's best works in the English language. Okay. So I'll I'll flip through there occasionally, not on a regular basis, but kind of intertwining it to my other readings. So I I've been enjoying that. I've read some some Spencer and I'm I'm in the old, I shouldn't say old, I'm in the Middle English era to an extent. Middle to early modern. And uh yeah, you get some of that interesting stuff there. So it's it's good to have some poems memorized, uh just be able to rift those off the cuff, reflect on them. Good stuff. I do enjoy having a few bits of Macbeth to to throw out there every now and then, and drives my wife crazy. Isn't she a Shakespeare person? Yes, but it's it's more like tug-in-cheek type stuff. So she's like, Oh, I gotta remember to do this. It's like crown my thoughts with actions and be they done. I could see that how it would be insufferable.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

Yeah.

Michael Kentris 51:20

No, that's good. That's good. Do you ever ask her if she is biting her thumb at you? Oh my god, no. Do you bite your thumb at me, sir? I bite my thumb, but not at you. Yeah. Anyway, thank you, listener, for this diversion into our other

Where To Find Us And Next Reads

Michael Kentris 51:35

reading habits. So if you want to reach us, you can always find us on our website, brothersreadingbooks.com. You can find us on X at Brothers Reading, and you can always email us at brothersreadingbooks at gmail.com. We'll be back next week with more Conan shenanigans. We're closing in on the end of our Conan stories. So we've got, I think it's three more. Is that correct, Will? I think so. Yes. Rogues in the House, The Veil of Lost Women, and The Devil in Iron. And then maybe we'll do a wrap-up episode after that, because I think there's like a little bit of some appendices here, uh, and about Hyboria itself at large. Not appendix. We'll decide. We'll decide in the moment if we want to do that or not. So uh yeah, so this has been a fun romp through the sword and sorcery genre. Again, this is this is my first time reading Conan. I read, I mean, the first time was just last year, I read some of these short stories. So it's it's definitely been a uh a learning experience as far as like kind of you know the the origins of the genre and seeing how these things have influenced later works of fantasy. I agree. It's been great. Uh again, I'm just surprised that we did not read this when we were kind of the target demographic in our teens. So, all that being said, you know where to find us, and we will be back next week with more Conan stories. Alright, talk to you later, Will. See ya.