Dungeons & Dragons Naga Miniature

SOURCE: "The God in the Bowl" by Robert E. Howard (Space Science Fiction, September 1952)

DESCRIPTION: "Conan stared in wonder at the cold, classic beauty of that countenance, whose like he head never seen among the sons of men. Niether weakness, nor mercy, nor cruelty, nor kindness, nor any other human emotion showed in those features. They might have been the marble mask  of a god, carved by a master hand, excep for the unmistable life in them...Behind that gilded screen had lain no human body--only the shimmering, headless coils of a gigantic serpent." ("Red Shadows" by Robert E. Howard)

NOTES: The Child of Set is trapped in a bowl-shaped sarcophagus measuring four feet high and three feet in diameter. The metal is unidentifiable and covered in ancient Stygian runes. These sarcophagi are found at the very bottom of Stygian pyramids. Thoth-amon sends one to the priest o the god Ibis as revenge for their ancient rivalry. Kallian Publico chisels off the seal thinking the bowl contains jewels. Once free the child of Set can be seen to be a snake body with a beautiful female human face. Conan kills it by chopping off its head.

HISTORY: Howard's story appeared sixteen years after his death. The tale is a little different for a Conan tale, being a poorly-written murder mystery as well as Sword & Sorcery. Probably rejected by Weird Tales it waited to be published. The Children of set must be related to the Serpent Men and the Crawlers.

Barry Smith's version from Conan the Barbarian

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