Aventurine Stone (power item of Set)

aventurine_stone-set-main AVENTURINE STONE

Classification: Talisman of Mystic Power;
Hyborian era

Creator: Presumably created by agents of Set under his direction aventurine_stone-set-snakeeathorses

Possessors: Unrevealed (apparently destroyed, but it certainly could have been reformed);
    briefly held and apparently destroyed by Conan of Cimmeria and Dark Agnes (Agnes de Chastillon);
    formerly contained within one of a pair of unidentified giant serpent guardians;
    presumably created by agents of Set under his direction

First Appearance: Conan: Serpent War#2 (February, 2020)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Described as a worthy artifact in the quest to weaken Set's might, the Aventurine Stone was presumably an object of mystic power.

The stone may have granted great size and power to the snakes that protected it, or perhaps the snakes were otherwise powerful servants of Set sent to protect it.

Beyond that, it did not demonstrate any other abilities, but its destruction weakened Set and his influence on Earth.

The Aventurine Stone could be consumed by fire, at least when such fires were perhaps manipulated by the Wyrm.

History: aventurine_stone-guardians

(Conan: Serpent War#1 - BTS / Conan: Serpent War#4 - BTS) - Circa 1936, in Cross Plains, Texas, the ancient demon known as the Wyrm manipulated James Allison to gather warriors from across time to oppose the threat of Set, which would secretly allow the Wyrm to invade and conquer Earth.

(Conan: Serpent War#1 - BTS) - Allison, via the Wyrm's influence, transported 1522's Dark Agnes to around 10,000 BC in the Karpash mountains in western Corinthia, where she encountered Conan.

(Conan: Serpent War#1 - BTS) - Allison similarly recruited the modern day costumed hero Moon Knight (Marc Spector, agent of the moon god Khonshu), whom he transported to 1584 A.D. to join his other recruit, Puritan warrior Solomon Kane.

(Conan: Serpent War#2 - BTS) - The Wyrm-influenced Allison spoke through a mask that had been worn by one of the Man-Serpents, convincing Conan and Agnes of Set's threat, and the pair reluctantly allied to oppose this.

Conan fought and won in a challenge to procure horses to transport them from Corinthia, across Zamora and into the Kharamun Desert en route to Stygia.

aventurine_stone-fire flash

(Conan: Serpent War#2 - BTS) - After days of transport, after Conan and Agnes had dismounted and were giving their horses some water, they felt the ground shake, and Conan lunged into Agnes, knocking her to safety just before a pair of giant serpent emerged from the ground, taking both of their steeds into its mouth.

    As a second giant serpent emerged, Conan rushed to attack one and urged Agnes to prove her skill with a blade.

    As Conan stabbed his blade into one of the snake's necks, Agnes watched the other bite the horses in half before steeling her will and leaping forward to stab the snake between its eyes. After Conan and Agnes had each slain a serpent, Conan retrieved Set's Aventurine Stone from the corpse of one of them.

    Conan and Agnes then followed Allison's instruction to throw the stone into the fire under the light of the moon to best destroy it and weaken Set.

(Conan: Serpent War#2 - BTS) - Kane and Moon Knight's campfire flared up as the Aventurine was destroyed (in relative due to time-travel issues, as that was 12,000 years before)

Comments: Created by Jim Zub and Stephen Segovia.

And, that's all there is...the stone itself was in two panels, the guardians were in two pages, and then the fire flared in one more page. At least they gave the Aventurine stone a name so it could be profiled...maybe...MAYBE...Marvel will again get the chance to cover Conan, and we'll learn more about this stone.

Per geology.com:

Aventurine is a variety of translucent quartz or quartzite with abundant small plate- or flake-shaped inclusions. Light entering the quartz strikes these inclusions and reflects from them. This produces a sparkly appearance known as "aventurescence." The inclusions can also impart a distinct, and often beautiful, color to the material.

When the inclusions are abundant and in a common orientation, their reflections can be eye-catching. This property, along with desirable colors, are what give aventurine its appeal as a gemstone. Aventurine is most often green, but also occurs in orange, yellow, red, pink, brown, white, gray, and blue.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Aventurine Stone should be distinguished from:

other mystic stones, Set-empowered or otherwise

guardians of the Aventurine Stone

(Conan: Serpent War#2 - BTS) - After days of transport, after Conan and Agnes had dismounted and were giving their horses some water, they felt the ground shake, and Conan lunged into Agnes, knocking her to safety just before a pair of giant serpent emerged from the ground, taking both of their steeds into its mouth.

As a second giant serpent emerged, Conan rushed to attack one and urged Agnes to prove her skill with a blade.

As Conan stabbed his blade into one of the snake's necks, Agnes watched the other bite the horses in half before steeling her will and leaping forward to stab the snake between its eyes.

After Conan and Agnes had each slain a serpent, Conan retrieved Set's Aventurine Stone from the corpse of one of them.

---Conan: Serpent War#2

.
Note: The stone may have granted great size and power to the snakes that protected it, or perhaps the snakes were otherwise powerful servants of Set sent to protect it.

Obviously, there are two more images of the guardians in the name profile

images: (without ads):
Conan: Serpent War#2, pg. 12, panel 4 (serpent grabbing both horses);
       pg. 13, panel 1 (both serpents);
          panel 3 (Conan vs. serpent);
       pg. 14, panel 1 (Agnes stabbing serpent);
          panel 3 (Conan slaying serpent);
          panel 5 (Conan holding Aventurine stone);
       pg. 15, panel 2 (destruction causing flame to flare up across time)

Appearances:
Conan: Serpent War#2 (February, 2020) - Jim Zub (writer), Vanesa Del Rey (penciler & inker; James Allison sequence), Stephen Segovia (penciler, inker), Martin Biro (assistant editor), Mark Basso (editor), Ralph Macchio (consulting editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First posted: 04/23/2023
Last updated: 04/23/2023

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Items