"Delcardes' Cat" by Robert E. Howard (Circa 1928?) Originally appeared in King Kull 1967. Plot: King Kull is intrigued by the idea of a talking cat and invites Saremes into his palace, along with her slave, Kuthulos. He meets these unusual people through Delcardes, a noble woman who wishes an unfavorable marriage. Kull listens to the talking cat's small prophecies, that come true, and is lead into a deadly trap when the cat tells him Brule is trapped in the Forbidden Lake, a lake filled with magical creatures that only the king of Valusia may swim in. Kull rushes to the lake, faces multiple monsters until he is captured by a sea serpent and dragged to the magical home of the Lake-People and their king. Kull demands they return Brule and is eventually convinced he has been tricked. Returning to the palace he finds the cat a fraud and her slave the ventroliquist who voices her words. Kuthulos has been knocked out and it wasn't he who told Kull to go the lake but his arch-enemy Thulsa Doom. Monsters: Octopus Man - an octopus with a man's head and legs. Kull kills it easily. Water Spiders - spiders that run over the surface of the Forbidden Lake. They shoot webs. Sea Serpent - gigantic snake that serves the Lake-People as a beast of burden. The Lake People - ancient beings who live in the Forbidden Lake. They use spears as weapons and ride sea serpents. Their lake is protected from humanity by a tabu that says only the king of valusia may enter the waters. Thulsa Doom - the most powerful sorcerer in the Seven Kingdoms who has a skull for a head. History: This story was not a brilliant follow up to "The Shadow Kingdom" and did not appear in Weird Tales. It may have been rejected by Farnsworth Wright. The multiple and vague monsters in the lake are very reminiscent of Lord Dunsany's "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save For Sacnoth" that Tom Shippey says inspired REH.
"Delcardes' Cat" appeared in Kull the Conqueror #7 (March 1972). It was adapted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Marie & John Severin.
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