From the back cover: WELCOME TO THE SOUTHERN KINGDOMS “THERE ARE HALF A DOZEN POWERFUL FACTIONS PLOTTING AND INTRIGUING AGAINST EACH OTHER — THERE ARE CONTINUAL BRAWLS IN THE TAVERNS AND STREETS, SECRET MURDERS, MUTILATIONS, AND EXECUTIONS. AND THERE ARE WOMEN, GOLD, WINE — ALL THAT A MERCENARY WANTS!” Conan the Adventurer is the definitive guide to the lands south of the Styx River, including serpent-haunted Stygia, Kush, Darfar, Keshan, Punt, Zembabwei, and that vast region known to the folk of the Dreaming West as “the Black Kingdoms”. Rife with mystery and ancient, long forgotten cultures and ruins, this region is brimming with potential for adventure and intrigue. New archetypes like the Adventurer, Griot, Tomb Guardian, and Witch-finder, including talents, war stories, educations, equipment, and other background elements to bring them to life. Cultural groups such as the Chagas and Gallahs of Shumballa, the dreaming folk of Xuthal, the Aphakis of Tombalku, the Ghanata tribe, and the strange denizens of isolated Xuchotl. Important characters high and low: King Ctesphon of Stygia, Ageera the Witch-finder, Tananda of Shumballa, the sorcerer Tuthmes, Thalis of Xuthal, Amalric, King Sakumbe of Tombalku, King Zehbeh of the Aphaki, Gorulga of Kheshan, the roguish Stygian adventurer Thutmekri, and others. Stunning art and maps produced by a variety of new and renowned Conan artists. A guide to the countries of Stygia, Kush, Darfar, Keshan, Punt, Tombalku, Zembabwei, and the other Black Kingdoms, describing their histories and their cultures, and cities lost to human ken. Conan described during his period as a war-chief in the Black Kingdoms. Terrifying beasts and monsters: giant scorpions; the pig devil; the Crawler in the Dark; the immortal vampire queen Akivasha; and the and the dreaded Ollam-onga and its devil riders. Myths and magic, such as the infamous cabal of sorcerers called the Black Ring, timeless Ghazal, the lost women of the flowery vale, the cults of Ajujo and Jhil, and more. Developed with leading Conan scholars, this is the place for exotic Hyborian Age adventure, just as Howard created it!