Jewels of Gwahlur

The Story

The adventure begins on the sheer, jade-blue cliffs of Keshan, where a Cimmerian warrior named Conan scales a precipice that appears insurmountable. Driven by the rumors of the "Teeth of Gwahlur"—an ancient, legendary treasure hidden within the deserted valley of Alkmeenon—he seeks to secure his fortune before the political machinations of rival powers can claim it. Conan is an interloper in a volatile region; the kingdom of Keshan is currently weighing an alliance with the neighboring trading empire of Zembabwei. The Zembabwans, represented by the cunning Stygian adventurer Thutmekri and his partner Zargheba, propose to annex the neighboring kingdom of Punt. As a seal of this covenant, they demand the fabled Teeth of Gwahlur, intending to use the treasure to manipulate the superstitious Keshani priests.

Conan, well-acquainted with Thutmekri’s treacherous nature, knows that if the Stygian succeeds, he will be exiled or killed. He enters the silent, overgrown ruins of Alkmeenon, a city of crumbling marble and pillared porticos, where the only inhabitant appears to be the preserved, alabaster-skinned corpse of Princess Yelaya. Through a combination of battlefield intuition and a recovered manuscript, Conan realizes that the valley is not merely a tomb. He discovers that an ancient scholar named Bît-Yakin once lived there, using the mummy of Yelaya as an oracle to deceive the Keshani priests and maintain his own solitude.

As Conan navigates the palace, he discovers that Zargheba has abducted a Corinthian dancing-girl named Muriela, forcing her to pose as the reincarnated goddess Yelaya to influence the priest Gorulga. Conan intercepts Muriela, exposing her ruse and forcing her into his service. He instructs her to command the priests to place the treasure in his custody, hoping to outmaneuver Zargheba and his allies. However, the plan unravels when the real, long-dead mummy of Yelaya mysteriously reappears, and Muriela is snatched away by inhuman, gray-furred creatures that dwell within the palace’s subterranean tunnels—the descendants or servants of Bît-Yakin’s old household.

Conan hunts for the girl and the treasure through the dark, labyrinthine guts of the city. He finds Zargheba dead, his head severed and hung in the trees, and eventually tracks the priests of Keshan to a hidden cavern. There, the high priest Gorulga uses an ancient ritual to open a stone altar and reveal the brass chest containing the jewels. The moment the treasure is exposed, the gray, beast-like servants of the valley emerge from the shadows. In the ensuing chaos, the priests flee in terror, and Gorulga is slain. Conan, watching from the gallery, seizes the chest, rescues the traumatized Muriela from the altar where the creatures had chained her, and fights his way across the precarious stone spans of the cavern. In a desperate, final scramble, he carries the girl and the heavy treasure up the cliffs, barely escaping the clutches of the vengeful, sub-human inhabitants as they emerge into the starlight of the jungle.

The People

• Conan: A Cimmerian mercenary of immense physical strength and tactical cunning. Driven by the prospect of immense wealth, he refuses to be manipulated by political intrigue, relying on his knowledge of human (and non-human) nature to survive. He emerges not as a hero in the traditional sense, but as a pragmatic survivor who values his own autonomy above all else.
• Muriela: A Corinthian dancing-girl caught in the gears of a larger conspiracy. Initially a pawn of Zargheba, she is terrified, humiliated, and desperate for protection. Her role shifts from a forced deceiver to a displaced survivor, ultimately relying on Conan’s strength to escape a fate of ritualistic horror.
• Thutmekri: A Stygian adventurer whose ambition to control trade routes drives the plot's political tension. He views the treasure as a tool for leverage and conquest, underestimating both the danger of the valley and the capabilities of his rival, Conan.
• Gorulga: The high priest of Keshan. He is a man of deep, if misguided, faith who is genuinely susceptible to the "oracle" because he believes in the divine power of the dead princess. His devotion ultimately leads to his gruesome death at the hands of the valley’s true, bestial inhabitants.

In Its Own Voice

The setting is established with a vivid sense of isolation and decay that persists throughout the narrative:

The silence was primordial; not even a leaf quivered on a branch.

Conan’s assessment of the situation, particularly regarding the deceptive nature of his adversaries, reveals his cynical, hard-boiled outlook:

'Goddess! Ha! So you were one of the veiled women Zargheba brought to Keshia with him.'

Finally, the realization that the valley holds terrors far older and more dangerous than any political rival hits the protagonist with brutal clarity:

It was no ape, neither was it a man. It was some shambling horror spawned in the mysterious, nameless jungles of the south, where strange life teemed in the reeking rot without the dominance of man.

What It's Really About

This book explores the intersection of human political ambition and the indifferent, often grotesque, remnants of a forgotten past. The central argument is that civilization, no matter how grand, is temporary and ultimately destined to be reclaimed by the wild or the monstrous. Alkmeenon, once a seat of power, has become a place where history has been stripped of its meaning, turned into a stage for charlatans like Bît-Yakin and Zargheba. The "oracle" of the princess is an empty vessel—a corpse manipulated to serve the immediate, petty needs of men. This highlights a recurring theme: the corruption of the sacred by the mundane. Whether it is the priests seeking divine sanction for war, or the merchants seeking to monopolize trade, every character attempts to impose their own order upon a site that has moved beyond the reach of human laws.

There is also a sharp examination of the nature of power. Conan is the only character who succeeds, and he does so precisely because he does not treat the "sacred" aspects of the valley with the reverence that destroys the priests, nor with the cold, intellectual detachment that eventually leads to the doom of the Zembabwans. He sees the "goddess" for what she is: a corpse. He sees the "oracle" for what it is: a trick. By stripping away these illusions, Conan maintains his clarity. However, he is ultimately confronted by a force he cannot quantify or manipulate—the inhuman servants of Bît-Yakin. These creatures represent the raw, primal indifference of the natural world, a force that exists outside the logic of trade, religion, and politics. The treasure, while physically real, acts as a catalyst that exposes the moral bankruptcy of everyone who pursues it. By the end, the jewels are lost, but Conan survives, suggesting that in this universe, the only "victory" is the ability to walk away from the wreckage of other people’s obsessions with your life—and your sword—intact.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate fast-paced, visceral storytelling will find this a compelling experience. The prose is lean and kinetic, emphasizing immediate action—climbing, fighting, and fleeing—over long stretches of exposition. There is a distinct, pulpy atmosphere here; it feels like a dark fairy tale viewed through the lens of a gritty, survivalist thriller. The world-building is evocative, relying on the contrast between the lush, vibrant jungle and the cold, decaying stillness of the stone ruins to create a sense of mounting unease.

Contemporary readers should be prepared for the period attitudes embedded in the text. The depiction of the black kingdoms and the inhabitants of the jungle reflects the racial tropes common to 1930s adventure fiction, which can feel jarring and reductive today. If you can move past these dated portrayals, you will find a narrative that remains surprisingly effective at building suspense. The story does not rely on complex psychological arcs but rather on the raw energy of its protagonist as he reacts to a series of escalating threats.

What lingers after the final page is not the lore of the Teeth of Gwahlur, but the image of that silent, empty city and the sense of a world where ancient, inhuman things wait in the dark for the unwary. It is a story about the fragility of human institutions and the persistence of the primal. If you like your heroes to be uncomplicated, your settings to be ancient and menacing, and your plots to move with the speed of a pouncing cat, this will provide an engaging afternoon of reading. It is a stark reminder that in some narratives, the most significant achievement is simply surviving the consequences of other people's greed.