One hero towers above all others in the Hyborian world. Black-haired, sullen-eyed, with gigantic melancholies, this is Conan. Barbarian, thief, pirate, raider, mercenary, hero --- but above all, a Cimmerian!

The son of a village blacksmith in the grim gray hills of Cimmeria, Conan honed his strength and prowess by hunting the wild mountain beasts and competing with the other boys in his tribe. At age 15, already standing 6 feet and weighing 180 pounds though still not fully grown, Conan received his baptism of battle as part of a host of Cimmerian clans that attacked the garrison settlement of Venarium, an Aquilonian outpost encroaching on Cimmerian lands.