ZUULDA THAAL

Real Name: Zuulda Thaal

Identity/Class: Human magic user (Hyborian Era), Kuthchemes

Occupation: Wizard

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: His God

Enemies: Unnamed tyrant

Known Relatives: Varlen D'aal (son)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Kuthchemes 

First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan I#87 (April, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Zuulda Thaal can teleport objects to very far places. Contact his God. Other unspecified magic powers.

History: (Savage Sword of Conan I#87 (fb)) <13, 000 BC> - About 3000 years before Conan became King of Aquilona, Zuulda Thaal lived in Kuthchemes, under the reign of a tyrant King. The King's power was great and no one wanted or could to contrast the King; no one but Zuulda Thaal's son: Varlen D'aal.

Zuulda Thaal knew that his son wanted to kill the tyrant, He tried to dissuade Varlen but he couldn't. Then Zuulda Thaal asked help from his God. His God appeared to Zuulda Thaal and left to him some magic objects: a suit of armor, a pair of gauntlet, and a bow. Zuulda Thaal gave the enchanted weapons to Varlen.

    Varlen D'aal defeated the tyrant's army using the enchanted weapons and became the new ruler of Kuthchemes.

    But, two burglars, one night, trying to rob the enchanted weapons, killed Varlen D'aal in his room. Zuulda Thaal uncovered them and fled in his own room, barring the door. He knew that the weapons could be very dangerous in the wrong hands, so cast a spell that sent the objects in three separate places, far in the world, where only an intrepid man could retrieve them. He also succeeded in writing where the three locations was and in throwing the instructions out the window. Then, the burglars managed to smash the door and killed him.

    Zuulda Thaal's body was placed in a sepulcher of stone, and his history was engraved on the walls near his tomb.

(Savage Sword of Conan I#87) - Time passed, and his tomb was covered by the desert, which had become, after thousands of years the Desert of Kharamun in the Hyborian Era.

    (10, 000 BC> His instructions were translated by Uval Q'Baal of Belverus who also found his tomb together his assistant Darius.

Comments: Created by Michael Fleisher, John Buscema and Ernie Chan.

Profile by Spidermay

Clarifications:
Zuulda Thaal has no known connections to

• Drugunda Thal, of Lost Lemuria, former Sark/leader of Tsargol, slain by Thongor, @ Creatures on the Loose#26
• or any other character with a similar name.

Varlen D'aal has no known connections to

• Bevarlene of Earth-Amalgam, girlfriend of Lobo, @ Lobo the Duck#1
• or any other character with a similar name.

The Fire Demon has no known connections to

• The mother of one of the Jhebbal Sag's sons, also a fire demon, @ [Savage Sword of Conan#26]
• Kalumai, goat-headed fire demon, imprisoned in extra-dimensional realm, @ Marvel Spotlight I#26
• Fire Demons of Muspelheim, offspring of Surtur, @ Thor I#324/2
• Tolomaq, Great Beast, fire demon, @ Alpha Flight I#24
• or any other "Fire" or "Demon" character in the Marvel Universe.

Varlen D'aal

Varlen D'aal was a normal human. He was the son of Zuulda Thaal.

    Varlen D'aal lived under the tyrannical reign of his King. He decided to kill the King and gathered some men. His father, to help him, summoned his God and obtained three magic weapons which he gave to Varlen: an armor, two gauntlets and a bow.

    Varlen wore the armor, the gauntlets and took the bow, and with his men assaulted Kuthchemes. His men believed him mad, but he threw a magic arrow to the Kuthchemes army, slaying 50 men. After a short time, the entire King's army was put to rout.

    Varlen D'aal became the new ruler of Kuthchemes.

    But his reign lasted only a short time. Two burglars sneaked in the throne room, looking for the enchanted weapons, and killed Varlen D'aal.

    His story was engraved on his father's tomb's walls.

--Savage Sword of Conan I#87

Zuulda's God

    The God who gave the enchanted objects to Zuulda Thaal had humanoid form, but seemed more a demon than a God.

    An ancient God, Zug, lived beneath the ruins of Kuthchemes, but I have no idea of any connection.

--Savage Sword of Conan I#87

The Enchanted Weapons

The enchanted armor consisted only of the breast-plate. It granted to its wearer the invulnerability from every hit or fall, generating a sort of force field around the person. It didn't protect the person from heat.

 The enchanted gauntlets gifted the wearer of a great strength, capable to crunch a stone of 52 lbs.

The enchanted bow could launch magic arrows that produced huge, flashing blows.

    The objects were given by a God to Zuulda Thaal. Varlen D'aal used them when he and his army attacked Kuthchemes. After Varlen became the new ruler of Kuthchemes, the armor and the other weapons were kept in Zuulda Thaal's room.

Two burglars tried to steal the weapons, but Zuulda Thaal magically sent the objects away:

• the armor was transferred in an icy cavern, on the Kezankian mountains;
• the gauntlets were transferred near an active volcano, in the land that centuries later would become Koth;
• the bow was sent in the Sea of Vilayet.

    3000 years later, Conan the Cimmerian, led to the caverns by Darius, entered in the icy cavern and had to kill a big Snow-Ape to take the armor.
Days after, Conan took the Gauntlets in the volcano, but had fight a Fire Demon who lived there.
Finally, Conan had to kill an enormous serpent-fish monster to take the bow.
Darius wore the weapons. With them he defeated a company of Turanians, then beat Conan nearly to death.
For months, the enchanted objects were used by Darius, who, using its power, became the new tyrant of Turan.
But Conan pursued Darius. He cut the bow in two parts then succeeded in causing Darius to fall in a furnace, the intense fire killed Darius and presumably destroyed the armor and the gauntlets.

--Savage Sword of Conan I#87

The Fire Demon

The Fire Demon was a humanoid being, a little higher than 2 meters, whose body was covered by flames. He could easily live in heat, swim in lava and breathe venomous vapors.

He lived in the volcano, in Koth, where the enchanted Gauntlets had been sent 3000 years before. When he saw Conan he approached him, but Conan crashed the rock under his feet and the Demon fell in the pool of lava. But he soon started to climb the rocks to reach the intruder. Conan had some rocks crumble over the Demon only delaying him. The Demon, enraged, had the volcano erupt, and Conan and his Zuagirs had to flee.

--Savage Sword of Conan I#87

Images:
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p4, pan3 (Zuulda Thaal, full body)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p2, pan5 (Zuulda Thaal, head shot)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p2, pan5 (Varlen D'aal)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p15, pan1 (enchanted armor)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p4, pan6 (enchanted gauntlets)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p4, pan7 (enchanted bow)
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p15, pan3 (Snow-Ape) 
Savage Sword of Conan I#87, p18, pan2 (Fire Demon)

First Posted: 06/09/2006
Last updated: 06/09/2006

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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