"Give me a bow," requested CONAN. "It's not my idea of a manly weapon, but I learned archery among the Hyrkanians, and it will go hard if I can't feather a man or so on yonder deck."From "Queen of the Black Coast"
His horned helmet was such as worn by the golden-haired Aesir of Nordheim; his hauberk and greaves were of the finest workmanship of Koth; the fine ring mail which sheathed his arms and legs was of Nemidia; the blade at his girdle was a great Aquilonian broadsword; and his gorgeous scarlet cloak could have been spun nowhere but Ophir.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
He saw a tall powerfully built figure in a black scale-mail hauberk, burnished greaves and a blue-steel helmet from which jutted bull's horns highly polished. From the mailed shoulders fell a scarlet cloak, blowing in the sea-wind. A broad shagreen belt with a golden buckle held the scabbard of the broad sword he bore. Under the horned helmet a square-cut black mane contrasted with smouldering blue eyes.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
CONAN agreed. He generally agreed to her plans. Hers was the mind that directed their raids, his was the arm that carried out her ideas. It mattered little to him where they sailed or whom they fought, so long as they sailed and fought. He found life goodFrom "Queen of the Black Coast"
She turned toward CONAN, her bosom heaving, her eyes flashing. Fierce fingers of wonder caught at his heart. She was slender, yet formed like a goddess: at once lithe and voluptuous. Her only garment was a broad silken girdle. Her white ivory limbs and the ivory globes of her breasts drove a beat of fierce passion through the Cimmerian's pulse, even in the panting fury of battle. Her rich black hair was as a Stygian night, fell in rippling burnished clusters down her supple back. Her dark eyes burned on the Cimmerian.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
She was untamed as a desert wind, supple and dangerous as a she panther. She came close to him, heedless of his great blade, dripping with blood of her warriors. her red lips parted as she stared up into his sombre eyes.
"I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or CROM's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content"From "Queen of the Black Coast"
"There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people," answered CONAN. "In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity"From "Queen of the Black Coast"
Belit shuddered. "Life, bad as it is, is better than such a destiny. What do you believe, CONAN."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply."
He was quick to laugh, quick and terrible in his wrath. He was a valiant trencherman, and strong drink was a passion and a weakness with him. Naive as a child in many ways, unfamiliar with the sophistry of civilization, he was naturally intelligent, jealous of his rights, and dangerous as a hungry tiger.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
"By CROM though, I've spent considerable time among you civilised peoples, your ways are still beyond my comprehension. Well last night in a tavern, a captain in the kings guard offered violence to the sweetheart of a young soldier, who naturally ran him through. But it seems there is some cursed law against killing guardsmen, and the boy and his girl fled away. It was bruited about that I was seen with them, and so today I was haled into court, and a judge asked me where the lad had gone. I replied that since he was a friend of mine, I could not betray him. Then the court waxed wrath, and the judge talked about my duty to the state, and society, and other things I did not understand, and bade me tell where my friend had flown. By this time I was becoming wrathful myself, for I had explained my position.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
But I choked my ire and held my peace, and the judge squalled that I had shown contempt for court, and that I should be hurled into a dungeon to rot until I betrayed my friend. So then seeing they were all mad, I drew my sword and cleft the judge's skull; then cut my my way out of court..."
"Their chief is CROM. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send dooms, not fortune. He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man's soul. What else shall men ask of gods?"From "Queen of the Black Coast"
I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and I am content.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is an illusion, then I am no less illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me.From "Queen of the Black Coast"
