"The Hall of the Dead" by Robert E. Howard & L. Sprague de Camp (1967) Originally appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 1967 Plot: Nestor, a mercenary captain of Shadizar, comes looking to trap Conan at Larsha. Conan's dead fall trap wipes out his small band of soldiers, but Nestor goes on alone. He meets Conan outside Larsha's walls and they duel. Conan thinks he has killed the man and goes on. Inside the city he is attacked by a giant slug which he kills by dumping gargoyle statues onto its squishy form. Nestor shows up again and Conan convinces him they can share the treasure of Larsha. They go into the dark palace of teh ancient king and find the Hall of the Dead where treasure spills out on the floor. Ancient mummies guard the treasure but only animate when Conan takes the items from the altar, seven green gems and a snake idol. The two men desperately fight their way out. When the mummies come out of the hall into the open air they dissolve with age. An earthquake flattens the city and Conan and Nestor are separated. Conan takes his gems to his favorite inn but his gems have turned to dust and the idol has come alive, biting the captain who tries to arrest him. Conan fless to to the agreed meeting spot where he finds Nestor. Conan demands half of Nestor's share, which he gives him, one coin. Drunk, nestor had his treasure taken when the guards tried to arrest him, dumping the money everywhere. Monsters: The Giant Slug - The Terror of larsha, this monster has kept people at bay for ages. Kings of Shadizar sent armies against it, and none ever returned. The slug shoots acid in a stream at it victims. It also does not tire when chasing prey. Conan kills it by dumping gargoyles on it. The Giant Mummies - Seven foot, tall these warriors reside in the Hall of Dead, in the main palace, guarding its treasures. Only when Conan takes the seven green gems from the altar do they animate. History: This story was written by L. Sprague de Camp from an outline left by Robert E. Howard. It is the first tale of Conan to feature a giant slug (many of which appeared in comic book stories afterwards) though Howard had a similar monster in "The Valley of the Worm". The girl who Conan spends his time with at the inn is named Semiramis (historically an Assyrian queen), the same name Roger Zelazny used for the heroine in The Changing Land (1981). Barry Smith's version (Giant slug changed to a gila monster(?)
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