DEMUZAAR

Classification: Extraterrestrial technology / magic item

Creator: Unrevealed

User/Possessors: Conan, Yasul

First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan#114/1 (July, 1985)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The huge mask of Demuzaar could open a portal for the nether reaches of Khaa. Its blinding light was more effective on evil people, who, hit by the light, found themselves trapped at the mercy of Bellil and his demons. Good people and blind men, weren't affected by its light and the portal wouldn't swallow them.
    For an external observer, the man captured in the nether realm suffered and struggled for seconds, before his eyes. The captured, instead, suffered in agony for hours.
    The mask's shining light had also a calming effect on wild animals and evil beasts.

History: 

(Savage Sword of Conan#114/1 (fb)) - In an era, when no kingdom existed, and men were similar to beasts, the mask of Demuzaar was found in the rubble. A falling star attracted the attention of some men of good will and following its trail, they found the mask, shining of light.

    Many evil men were defeated and executed using the mask. The fortune they amassed with their cruel actions were buried in a valley that, a millennia after, would have become the valley of the Black River in the Pictish Wilderness. A volcano erupted and changed the valley, the mask and the treasures went lost.

(Savage Sword of Conan#114/1 (fb) - BTS) - A millenium after, King Jumel hired Conan the Barbarian to find the mask, well knowing that the mask would have killed the Barbarian, but his real goal was the treasure. Conan found the mask, its light bathed him and he was transported to Khaa, Bellil's nether domain. Conan succeeded in escaping but lost the memory.

(Savage Sword of Conan#114/1) - Helped by Yasul and Lena, Conan found the mask again. Again, the mask sent him to the nether realm of Bellil and again Conan managed to come back from that dreadful world.
Yasul, blind and of good will, brought the mask to King Jumel and his lackeys. The mask bathed them with its light giving them a horrible punishment. Conan abandoned the mask in Jumel's castle, in the Pictish Wilderness.

Comments: Created by Larry Yakata (writer), Rudy Nebres (art), Larry Hama (editor).

    The fallen star which signaled to the savage men the position of the Demuzaar, could be the Demuzaar itself. Adding the fact that Bellil and his demons lived in a nether realm, the Demuzaar could be the portal left by the demon Bellil to lure men to Khaa. Or better, the star was Bellil, whose fall created the nether reaches of Khaa, and the Demuzaar was his mask. All this resembles the story of Lucifer.
    Examining the sound of the word "Demuzaar" it seems to me the joining of the two words "Demons" and "Zar", which should mean "leader of demons" or could be "Demons" and "are", but my knowledge of English pronounciation of Hyborian dialect is far from good.

Profile by Spidermay.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Demuzaar has no known connections to

• or any other mask or magic item.

Yasul and Lena

    Yasul was an old healer and Lena was his granddaughter.

    They were travelling through the Pictish wilderness in search for Lena's father when they found a Cimmerian whose memories were lost. They continued the travel together, crossing Dhakmar, where Yasul had lived before. Outside the town, they were attacked by some criminals who wanted Conan's treasure: the Demuzaar. But Conan didn't have any treasure, so they tortured Yasul, blinding him with fire. Eventually Conan regained his fighting spirit and slew them all.
    Their search luckily led them to King Jumel's castle. The King had hired Conan to find the Demuzaar, so he convinced Conan and Yasul to start the quest again.
    Conan, Yasul and Lena reached a valley which Conan remembered, through his clouded memories. After having defeated enormous beasts in the caverns under the fall, Conan found the mask. Yasul and Lena witnessed Conan's agony for mere seconds, while the barbarian fought for his life in the demon-pit of Khaa for hours, and won.
    Yasul offered his help to Conan and brought the Demuzaar to King Jumel. He showed the Demuzaar to the King and his court. The blind Yasul wasn't affected, but the King and his men screamed in agony for a long time, punished by the Demuzaar.
    Yasul and Lena continued their search.

--Savage Sword of Conan#114/1

King Jumel

    Jumel was a King without a kingdom.

    King Jumel lived in a ruined castle in the Pictish Wilderness, with few nobles and soldiers.

    His dream was to put his hands on the Demuzaar's treasure to regain his wealth and power. He knew the dangers about the mask of Demuzaar, so he hired a barbarian named Conan, to find the mask. The barbarian would have died, killed by the Demuzaar, but he would also find the treasure.

    Instead, days later, the barbarian, Yasul, an old blind man, and his granddaughter Lena, arrived at Jumel's Castle. Jumel deceived them, sending them again to search for the Demuzaar, with three of his men. The men would have brought the treasure, their fee would have been the reward on the Cimmerian's head.

    But his men were killed by the monsters dwelling in the valley before the Demuzaar's hideout, and Conan survived exposition to the Demuzaar's rays'. The King expected his men to return with the treasure. Instead, the old Yasul arrived offering him a gift: the Demuzaar! King Jumel and his court were bathed by its shine and they were punished. Their screams ended with their death.

--Savage Sword of Conan#114/1

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Savage Sword of Conan#114/1, p17, pan3 (a savage with the Demuzaar)