AA-THAK
Real Name: Aa-Thak
Identity/Class: Human magic user; Pict (Pre-Cataclysmic Era)
Occupation: King-Wizard
Group Membership: Clan of the Sungara
Affiliations: His kinsmen, Nial (loose)
Enemies: Brule and the clan of the Borni; other enemy clans and tribes
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile (Pre-Cataclysmic Era)
First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan#55/2 (August, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: Aa-Thak had sorcerous powers and magical charms, although most of them remained unseen. He could cast spells by pronouncing words of power, for example, to paralyze a person. He used a great ebon staff carved with magical glyphs.
History:
(Savage Sword of Conan#55/2 (fb)) - Aa-Thak was the most powerful sorcerer among the wizards of the Pict clan of the Sungara.
A valley used for hunting became contested territory among the Sungara tribe and the Borni tribe. Nial of the Tatheli, war-chief of all the tribes, did not take any decision about the contest, and eventually a war among the enemy clans arose. Aa-Thak decided to use his black sorcery to stop and defeat the Borni clan at the valley entrance.
Alone, Aa-Thak waited for the enemy warriors. A single Pict, a youth named Brule, appeared before him. Aa-Thak spelled a single word of power and cast a paralyzing enchantement over his enemy. The Pict warrior was numbed, his feet were frozen, but the sorcerous blast was weakened by his cold iron sword. Aa-Thak kept on sending forth his sorcery but the Borni was not paralyzed. Swinging his blade, he cut Aa-Thak's staff in two, then sunk the blade in Aa-Thak's chest, killing him.
The Sungara were severely demoralised by the their King-Wizard's death and lost the battle and the valley.
Comments: Original story by Robert E. Howard and Lin Carter. Adapted for comics by Roy Thomas (writer) and Alfredo Alcala (art).
For those times and scale of values, it was unbelievable that a single warrior could survive in a fight one-to-one against a King-Wizard. After this exploit, Brule gained the title of Spear-Slayer.
Did Howard want to explain the origin of the belief that cold iron was a good defense or offense against magic?
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Aa-Thak has no known connections to
Nial has no known connections to
images:
(without ads)
Savage Sword of Conan#55/2, p8, pan1 (Aa-Thak, full body)
Savage Sword of Conan#55/2, p7, pan3 (Aa-Thak, head shot)
Other Appearances: None
Last updated: 05/20/08
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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