BEAST-MEN of Brutheim(Hyborian era)
BEAST-MEN of Brutheim
(Hyborian era)
Classification: Sub-species of humanity ("hidden race")
Location/Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Brutheim (aka the Land of Always-Light), Aesgaard (circa the Hyborian era, at least, 10,000 BC);
formerly unrevealed northern lands
Known Members: Brutorian Guard, Gan-Torr, King Gha-Kree, Har-Lann, Zha-Gorr
Affiliations: Moira;
formerly Kiord and their Thralls;
they are diverged from the White Apes of Sorjoon and descended from the snow-apes of unspecified snowy regions just below what would become the Arctic
Enemies: Conan, Kiord, Thralls;
unidentified war-party of Hyborians (the survivors of whom became their first thralls);
possibly the tusk-bears;
they used snow lions in their Games
Aliases: Man-Apes
First Appearance: (Mentioned) The Phantagraph: Hyborian Age essay (February, 1936);
(seen, identified) Conan the Barbarian I#2 (December, 1970)
Powers/Abilities: The Brutorian guard were experienced warriors, skilled with pikes, spears, swords, and nets. They wore scale mail armor, arm bands, and horned helmets that protected both their cranium and chin.
Most of them did not appear to have any actual superhuman abilities (perhaps an enhanced sense of smell). We have no idea about their lifespan, etc.
An unspecified number of Beast-Men were giant-sized and may have possessed superhuman strength.
They appeared to be covered by a thin layer of white fur.
The Beast-Men possessed a number of immense war machines.
Beast-Men from millennia before were significant larger and shaggier.
Traits: The Beast-Men were ruled by a king and protected by the Brutorian guard, but the general populace of Beast-Men knew not how to fight and were little threat if the guard was defeated.
The Beast-Men were ruled by a king, and they enslaved human thralls to perform their labor. They had some thralls who were descended from those they had originally defeated and captured in the past, and they have subquently captured females to breed with the captive men to bear children to serve as their thralls. They apparently also captured other humans as needed, forcing them into slavery. Those who proved too resistant to become a thrall were sent to fight in their Games, in which they typically perished.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid bipeds
Eyes: Two
(on head; mostly not clearly shown, but apparently dark, possibly
black; Gha-Kree had a solid red color shown a few times when he was
angry)
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Presumably five
Skin color: Pale, possibly white, much of their bodies and faces were covered by white fur
Average height: Approximately 5'10" (an unspecified number of Beast-Men were giant-sized (perhaps 8-10' tall))
History:
(The Hyborian Age) - At the time of the Cataclysm,
circa 18,000 BC, a band of savages, whose development was not much above that of the
Neanderthal, fled to the north to escape destruction. They found the
snow-countries inhabited only by a species of ferocious snow-apes -- huge shaggy
white animals, apparently native to that climate. These they fought and drove
beyond the Arctic circle, to perish, as the savages thought. The savages then
adapted
(Conan the Barbarian I#264-265 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the snow-apes diverged into those who would become known as the White Apes of Sorjoon and those who would become Beast-Men of Brutheim.
(The Hyborian Age) <Apparently somewhere between 16,500 - 5000 BC> - A wanderer into the far north returned with the news that the supposedly deserted ice wastes were inhabited by an extensive tribe of ape-like men, descended, he swore, from the beasts driven out of the more habitable land by the ancestors of the Hyborians.
The wanderer urged that a large war-party be sent beyond the arctic circle to exterminate these beasts, whom he swore were evolving into true men.
He was jeered at; a
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb)) - The small war-party traveled into north to destroy the Beast-Men before they could grow strong enough to menace the world where men ruled.
Greatly out-numbering the war party, the Beast-Men ambushed and defeated the invaders. Keeping some of the defeated as slaves, the beast-men learned of their weapons and forced the men to build dwellings for them.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb)) - Not
wanting their slaves to die out, the Beast-Men abducted women from
nearby villages, took them back to their home, and made them brides of
their man-slaves. 
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast-Men found an abandoned underground city in southwest Aesgaard, near the Cimmerian border, built by "some earlier, long dead race of men," and made it their home.
It eventually became known as Brutheim or the Land of Always-Light.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually planning to carve out an empire on the world above, the Beast-Men constructed numerous great "Weapons of War" (or, more likely, had their thralls contruct them for them).
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) <Circa 10,000 BC> - The giant beast-man Gan-Torr-- considering the approaching Conan too small to fight back -- charged through the woods at him, but Conan instead slew him.
(Conan
the Barbarian I#2) - Standing over the fallen giant beast-man, Conan
headed back through the woods in hopes of getting warmer. He spied a
young woman (Moira) and pursued her in hopes of seeking shelter in her
home or at least directions, but she led him into a trap where Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann could capture him.
The two Beast-Men brought Conan to Brutheim in the Land of Always-Light and hurled him into the slave-pens.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - Chief Thrall Kiord related to Conan the history of his people as slaves of the Beast-Men.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Beast-Men subsequently entered the slave-pens, instructing Kiord to muster his manlings as it was work-time. Kiord urged Conan to do what was demanded of him, but one of the Beast-Men silenced him, reminding him that thralls were forbidden to speak during work-time except to relay the guard's orders to his fellow manlings. When Conan hesitated, Zha-Korr and Har-Lann confronted him, resulting in Conan throttling Zha-Gorr; however, the chains hampered Conan sufficiently for Har-Lann to strike him with his pike.
Their continued battering of Conan was interrupted by King Gha-Kree (accompanied by Moira). When Zha-Gorr explained that he was teaching the manling a lesson prior to skewering him like a pig, Conan suggested they remove his chains after which they would see who learned the lesson. Gha-Kree swiftly agreed that this manling would never make a good slave, but noted that it was a shame to waste his death. Moira suggested the Games, and Gha-Kree agreed, warning Conan that he would grovel before he died.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - Not wishing Conan to suffer at the Beast-Men's hands, Kiord gave Conan an obsidian dagger so he could end his life that night; Conan kept the dagger for his own purposes.
(Conan
the Barbarian I#2) - The next day, at the Games, Gha-Kree offered Conan
a chance to grovel and perhaps he would give Conan a place in his
palace, but Conan refused to serve "like the she-cur Moira"; in
response, Gha-Kree had a snow lion released.
After Conan slew the snow lion with Kiord's dagger, Gha-Kree sent in his guards to make Conan die slowly and painfully; a quartet of guards rushed in and trapped Conan within a net. When Har-Lann prepared to skewer Conan with his spear, one of the others reminded him that it was up to Gha-Kree to decide the manling's fate, and Gha-Kree approved Conan's death, but only after he begged for it and admitted to being a manling.
Inspired by Conan's courage and fighting spirit, Kiord broke from his containment cell -- smashing one of the Beast-Men to the ground with the door in the process -- and led at least a few other manlings to join him against the Beast-Men. The delay allowed Conan to get free of the net and join the battle.
After Gha-Kree instructed the guards to protect the war-weapons, Kiord rushed to the weapons in hopes of evening the scales, and Conan joined him in getting the wheels of a large ram-weapon moving; as the weapon began to move inch by inch, the Beast-Men began to break and run.
Finally, the weapon began rumbling forward and crashed into the area holding Gha-Kree and his court, causing it to collapse on them. As Kiord proclaimed their freedom and Conan retrieved his helmet, Zha-Gorr suddenly and fatally struck Kiord from behind; Conan swiftly slew Zha-Gorr in turn.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lacking their leaders and guardsmen, the remaining Beast-Men fled, uncomprehending, to dark, forgotten caverns and perhaps to the snow-lands which spawned their ancestors.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - Conan recovered Gha-Kree's helmet and placed it on Kiord's head.
Comments: Created by Robert E. Howard;
adapted by Roy Thomas, Barry (Windsor) Smith, and Sal Buscema.
The specific origins of the snow-apes is unrevealed. They may be descended from some Deviants or other elder races. They may or may not be related to other races of northern-dwelling beast-men (see clarifications for some of these)
The Hyborian Age timeline seems to be placing the war-party being captured by the Beast-Men perhaps 16,500 to 15,000 BC, which would mean they and their thralls existed as a society for perhaps 5000+ years before Conan encountered them in 10,000 BC.
No female "Beast-Men" were pictured as far as I could see:
Even
if Conan the rebelling Thralls slew the entire Brutorian Guard, and the
entire ruling court perished when the war machine struck their section,
it's hard to believe that hundreds of Beast-Men just fled...perhaps the
structural collapse of the ruling court's section caused a progressive
collapse of the entire arena, slaying, injuring, and/or terrifying the
remaining Beast-Men...or perhaps after the one weapon was used, the
Thralls used the other machines to similarly shatter the surrounding
arena. Or maybe there were a lot more Thralls than it seemed.
The
original Hyborian Age essay by Robert Howard implies that the men who
drove out the beast-men eventually developed into the Nordheimr races,
the Aesir of
Aesgaard and Vanir of Vanaheim. However, Marvel's version (by Roy
Thomas) doesn't say anything about the Nordheimr people being
descendants of the Arctic savages. A subsequent acccount (Savage Sword of Conan#40: A Gazeteer
of the Hyborian World Part 8) notes the Nordheimr to be descended from the
Precataclysmic race of Thule.
--Wolfram Bane
I'm not sure that two are mutually exclusive, as we know next to
nothing of the people of Thule. Perhaps they were these same
savages...or perhaps they intermixed with them...
The Roy Thomas version is available here: https://hyboria.xoth.net/history/hyborian_age.htm
According to the map in Handbook of the Conan Universe#1, the city of Brutheim is located in southwest Aesgaard, near the Cimmerian border:
Many of the sub-profiles could easily be made into full profiles...I
left them as sub-profiles so I could more quickly move on to get more
profiles done, but if someone wants to convert Kiord and others into
full-profiles, go for it.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Beast-Men of Brutheim are diverged from the White Apes of Sorjoon.
They should be distinguished from:
Gan-Torr
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Spying the approaching Conan and considering him too small to fight back, Gan-Torr charged through the woods at him, but Conan instead slew him.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Standing over the fallen giant beast-man, Conan headed back through the woods in hopes of getting warmer.--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: It is unclear whether Gan-Torr lived completely separate from the rest of the Beast-Men and was perhaps trying to capture Conan for food, or whether he was just trying to capture Conan by himself and bring him back to Brutheim.
Gha-Kree
King of the Beast-Men, Gha-Kree wore a crown made from the teeth of the long-dead tusk-bears. He kept the human Moira as his handmaid (and possibly more).
Also referred to as "His Supremacy" and "Sire" (the latter by Moira).
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - As Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann battered the rebellious new captive Conan, Gha-Kree (accompanied by Moira) interrupted them, asking what they were doing. When Zha-Gorr explained that he was teaching the manling a lesson prior to skewering him like a pig, Conan defiantly challenged them. Gha-Kree swiftly agreed that this manling would never make a good slave, and he accepted Moira's advice to put him into the Games, warning Conan that he would grovel before he died.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - The next day, at the Games, Gha-Kree offered Conan a chance to grovel and perhaps he would give Conan a place in his palace, but Conan refused to serve "like the she-cur Moira"; in response, Gha-Kree had a snow lion released.
After Conan slew the snow lion with a dagger he had received from the
chief thrall Kiord, Gha-Kree angrily announced that a manling
possessing a weapon was forbidden, after which he sent in
his guards to make Conan die slowly and painfully. 
The Guardsmen trapped Conan within a net, but when Har-Lann prepared to skewer Conan with his spear, one of the others reminded him that it was up to Gha-Kree to decide the manling's fate, and Gha-Kree approved Conan's death, but only after he begged for it and admitted to being a manling.
Inspired by Conan's courage and fighting spirit, Kiord broke from his containment cell and led at least a few other manlings to join him against the Beast-Men. The delay allowed Conan to get free of the net and join the battle.
After Gha-Kree instructed the guards to protect the war-weapons, Kiord rushed to the weapons in hopes of evening the scales, and Conan joined him in getting the wheels of a large ram-weapon moving.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note:
I would think it likely that Moira was Gha-Kree's favorite for more
than just her work ethic, but there's nothing to support that in the
story.
Or, perhaps, he found her human form disgusting...
Ghekre is and African god of judgment in monkey-ish form...I wonder if the similarity between the names is intentional...
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Later, when Conan hesitated to join the thralls in work-duty, Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann confronted him. Conan began to throttle Zha-Gorr; however, the chains hampered Conan sufficiently for Har-Lann to strike him with his pike, saving Zha-Gorr and stunning Conan anew. After Zha-Gorr thanked Har-Lann, he responded that they should knock the fight out of their newest slave.
As Har-Lann held Conan and Zha-Gorr beat him, they were interrupted by King Gha-Kree (accompanied by Moira). When Zha-Gorr explained that he was teaching the manling a lesson prior to skewering him like a pig, Conan suggested they remove his chains after which they would see who learned the lesson. Gha-Kree swiftly agreed that this manling would never make a good slave, but noted that it was a shame to waste his death. Moira suggested the Games, and Gha-Kree agreed, warning Conan that he would grovel before he died.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - The next day, at the Games, after Conan slew the snow lion with Kiord's dagger, Gha-Kree sent in his guards to make Conan die slowly and painfully; led by Har-Lann (as Zha-Gorr worked the other end of the arena that day), a quartet of guards rushed in and trapped Conan within a net. When Har-Lann prepared to skewer Conan with his spear, one of the others reminded him that it was up to Gha-Kree to decide the manling's fate, and Gha-Kree approved Conan's death, but only after he begged for it and admitted to being a manling.
Inspired by Conan's courage and fighting spirit, Kiord broke from his containment cell and led at least a few other manlings to join him against the Beast-Men. The delay allowed Conan to get free of the net and join the battle.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - Har-Lann was very likely subsequently slain by Conan or Kiord.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - In the ensuing struggle, the remaining Beast-Men either died or fled.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
(Conan
the Barbarian I#2) - Later,
when Conan hesitated to join the thralls in work-duty, Zha-Gorr and
Har-Lann confronted him,
with Zha-Gorr claiming Conan's war-helm as his own, noting it was not
for the likes of a slave and asking Conan, "What do you say to that,
dog?." Conan swiftly spun Zha-Gorr around and began to throttle him; however, the
chains hampered Conan sufficiently for Har-Lann to
strike him with his pike, saving Zha-Gorr and stunning Conan anew.
After Zha-Gorr thanked Har-Lann,
recalling how slaves taken from the outer world often had some fight
left in them, Har-Lann responded that they should knock the
fight out of him. 
As Har-Lann held Conan and Zha-Gorr beat him, they were interrupted by King Gha-Kree (accompanied by Moira). When Zha-Gorr explained that he was teaching the manling a lesson prior to skewering him like a pig, Conan suggested they remove his chains after which they would see who learned the lesson. Gha-Kree swiftly agreed that this manling would never make a good slave, but noted that it was a shame to waste his death. Moira suggested the Games, and Gha-Kree agreed.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - The next day, at the Games, after Conan slew the snow lion with Kiord's dagger, Gha-Kree sent in his guards -- led by Har-Lann as Zha-Gorr worked the other end of the arena that day -- to make Conan die slowly and painfully.
Inspired by Conan's courage and fighting spirit, Kiord broke from his containment cell and led at least a few other manlings to join him against the Beast-Men. The delay allowed Conan to get free of the net and join the battle.
After Conan and Kiord used a massive war-weapon to smash Gha-Kree's section, apparently killing him and his court, Conan retrieved his helmet, figuring Zha-Gorr must have dropped it.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Zha-Gorr suddenly and fatally struck Kiord from behind, but Conan then slew Zha-Gorr with another sword; as he struck, he told Zha-Gorr he hoped he had a soul so it may drift and mutter forever in some Beast-Man's hell.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - During the revolt, the remaining Beast-Men either died or fled.--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: Zha-Gorr had a mastery of the use of adverbs, which is more than I can say for most humans...
Zha-Gorr, in particular, seemed to despise humans, considering them inferior and being disgusted by the scent.
Brutheim / Land of Always-Light
The entrance to the tunnels leading to Brutheim had a face around it, like we sometimes see with Monster Island, etc.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast-Men found an abandoned underground city in southwest Aesgaard, near the Cimmerian border, built by "some earlier, long dead race of men," and made it their home.
It eventually became known as Brutheim or the Land of Always-Light.
The latter name came from the phosphorescent nuggets that studded the caven walls, providing constant luminescence. However, as this was not sunlight, the residence of this underground realm remained pallid.
Blocked off within chambers, the slave barracks were always dark.
It is unrevealed what plant-life they had in their land without sun, and whether they farmed their own animals (or had their thralls do it) and/or hunted/stole animals from the surface world.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: There were many Elder Races of Earth...this underground city was supposed to be from a long dead race of men, which would make Deviants less likely, but I'd guess that Kiord wouldn't know anything for a fact and was just relating information passed down over countless generations.
In the main profile, Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann are seen walking down the tunnels from the entrance to Brutheim.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - After Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann captured Conan, the Guard supervised the Thralls and the subsequent Games intended to make a spectacle of Conan's death.
At the Games, after Conan slew the snow lion with Kiord's dagger, Gha-Kree sent in the Guard to make Conan die slowly and painfully; led by Har-Lann (as Zha-Gorr worked the other end of the arena that day), a quartet of Guardsmen rushed in and trapped Conan within a net. When Har-Lann prepared to skewer Conan with his spear, one of the others reminded him that it was up to Gha-Kree to decide the manling's fate, and Gha-Kree approved Conan's death, but only after he begged for it and admitted to being a manling.
Inspired by Conan's courage and fighting spirit, Kiord broke from his containment cell and led at least a few other manlings to join him against the Beast-Men. The delay allowed Conan to get free of the net and join the battle.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - In the ensuing struggle, the remaining Beast-Men either died or fled.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
The "Event Supreme" of Brutheim, the Games were where the Beast-Man executed, via trial-by-combat, those humans they deemed most rebellious, and thus most dangerous.
It was reportedly the only time when all of the Beast-Men gathered.
During the Games, the great Weapons of War were displayed.
Manlings/Thralls were penned in wooden cages and allowed to watch, presumably to remind them of the fate of those who defied the Man-Beasts.
Those "participating" in the Games might face an attacking snow lion or any number of armed Brutorian Guards. Perhaps the War Machines were used against combatants, too. Any other trials are unrevealed.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Conan was forced to participate in the Games. After he refused Gha-Kree's offer to submit to servitude, a snow lion was unleashed against him, but Conan slew it with a dagger he had been secretly given by Kiord. In response to this forbidden weapon possession, Gha-Kree sent the guard to force him to beg before killing him.
However, Kiord then led the Thralls to rebel. He and Conan smashed Gha-Kree and the ruling court with an immense War Machine, and the remaining Beast-Men either perished in the ensuing conflict or fled.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: Though called the "Games of Gha-Kree," I would imagine they predated him and were just renamed with each king.
Also known as War Weapons and Weapons of War.
These included large battering rams, catapults, and other wheeled vehicles they intended to use to conquer surrounding villages.
Only three such weapons were seen, but it is unrevealed how many such weapons existed.
They were put on display for the gathered Beast-Men at the Games
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually planning to carve out an empire on the world above, the Beast-Men constructed numerous great "Weapons of War" (or, more likely, had their thralls contruct them for them).
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Chief Thrall Kiord showed the newly arrived Conan the War Machines and revealed the Beast-Men's plans for them.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - When Conan was forced into the Games, Kiord led the the Thralls to break free and aid him, and Gha-Kree warned the Brutorian Guard to protect the War-Weapons. This warning prompted Kiord to utilize the War-Weapons, and he and Conan got an immense battering ram moving and then sent it to smash into Gha-Kree's section, apparently killing him and his court.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - The remaining Beast-Men either perished in the ensuing conflict or fled.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
(Conan the Barbarian I#264-265 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the snow-apes diverged into those who would become known as the White Apes of Sorjoon and those who would become Beast-Men of Brutheim.
--The Phantagraph: Hyborian Age essay; Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: While the Beast-Men and the White Apes of Sorjoon are apparently descended from these snow-apes, the original snow-apes have never been pictured.
That being said, the Beast-Men who were confronted by the war party are decidedly more ape-like than the Beast-Men Conan encountered, so perhaps they looked like them.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb)) - The small war-party traveled into north to destroy the Beast-Men before they could grow strong enough to menace the world where men ruled.
Greatly out-numbering the war party, the Beast-Men ambushed and defeated the invaders.
Keeping some of the defeated as slaves, the Beast-Men learned of their weapons and forced the men to build dwellings for them.
--The Phantagraph: Hyborian Age essay; Conan the Barbarian I#2
After Gha-Kree instructed the guards to protect the war-weapons, Kiord -- noting the battering ram was aimed right at Gha-Kree's court -- rushed to the weapons in hopes of evening the scales while there was still time, and Conan joined him in -- with great effort on both their parts-- getting the wheels of a large ram-weapon moving; finally, they got it going swiftly, and the weapon crashed into the area holding Gha-Kree and his court, causing it to collapse on them.
As Kiord proclaimed their freedom and Conan retrieved his helmet, Zha-Gorr suddenly and fatally struck Kiord from behind; Conan swiftly slew Zha-Gorr in turn.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lacking their leaders and guardsmen, the remaining Beast-Men fled or perished.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 - BTS) - Conan recovered Gha-Kree's helmet and placed it on Kiord's head.
Conan told the people to let their legends say that a king led them to victory, and that his name was Kiord: "For he was the last of the manlings, but first among...men."
--Conan the Barbarian I#2(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - For unrevealed reasons, Moira left Brutheim (apparently with Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann) and was in the woodlands above when she witnessed Conan slaying Gan-Torr after the giant Beast-Man attacked him.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - As Conan began to wander away, cursing the cold, Moira allowed him to catch a glimpse of her behind a nearby tree. Noting her both to be beautiful and no better dressed for the weather than himself, he called out to her and asked if she was lost. After staring blankly at him for a few moments, she took off running, and Conan pursued her in hopes of seeking shelter in her home or at least directions. Moira instead led him into a trap where Zha-Gorr was hiding behind another tree and could strike him across his mid-section with a pike, after which Har-Lann knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head.
Moira then instructed them to stop hitting Conan and to instead bring him back to Brutheim, but Zha-Gorr reminded her that she had no place giving orders to officers of the Brutorian Guard; although she was the king's favorite, she was still human. Moira accompanied the two Beast-Men and their captive back to Brutheim.
When Zha-Gorr insisted they take him to the slave-pens, taking a path straight through the heart of Brutheim, Moira noted that she expected him to turn this capture into an excuse for a triumphal procession; Zha-Gorr vainly admitted to this.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Later, as Zha-Gorr and Har-Lann battered the rebellious Conan, Moira accompanied Gha-Kree as he interrupted them, asking what they were doing. When Zha-Gorr explained that he was teaching the manling a lesson prior to skewering him like a pig, Conan defiantly challenged them. Gha-Kree swiftly agreed that this manling would never make a good slave, but lamented wasting his death. Moira asked if she may suggest the Games, and Gha-Kree happily approved this option advice to put him into the Games.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - At the Games, Moira sat alongside Gha-Kree and his court when Gha-Kree offered Conan a chance to grovel and perhaps gain Conan a place in his palace, but Conan refused to serve "like the she-cur Moira"; in response, Gha-Kree had a snow lion released.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - Ultimately, Kiord, the former Chief Thrall, freed the other Thralls and led Conan to help him send a giant battering ram-type war machine rushing into the section containing Gha-Kree's court. Moira and everyone else in that section was apparently killed.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: I would think it likely that Moira was Gha-Kree's
favorite for more than just her work ethic, but there's nothing to
support that in the story.
Or, perhaps, he found her human form disgusting...as Zha-Gorr seemed to.
Moira is also pictured a few times in Gha-Kree's sub-profile.
(Conan
the Barbarian I#2) - The Beast-Men threw the captured Conan into the
slave barracks, where Kiord told him of their history. Later, when
Conan got into a fight with the Beast-Men, one of the other thralls
told Kiord he hoped they wouldn't be punished for Conan's defiance.
Later, the Thralls were placed into their wooden cage(s) to watch Conan in the Games, but Kiord eventually broke out and freed them. Most fled, but some joined the struggle against the Brutorian Guard.
When the Guard fell and Conan and Kiord slew King Gha-Kree and the ruling court with an immense war machine.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lacking their leaders and guardsmen, the remaining Beast-Men fled or perished.
(Conan the Barbarian I#2) - After Kiord was slain from behind by the Beast-Man Zha-Korr, whom Conan slew in turn, Conan recovered Gha-Kree's helmet and placed it on Kiord's head.
Conan told the former thralls that they were free now, and long may they remain so; "but let your legends say that a king led you to victory, and that his name was Kiord: "For he was the last of the manlings, but first among...men."
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
They were presumably a race of bear-like creatures with elongated canines or incisors in the form of tusks.
They were noted by Gha-Kree as having been long-dead, presumably meaning they were extinct; if so, the cause of their distinction is unrevealed; perhaps the Beast-Men hunted them to extinction, but obviously that is only one of many possibilities, including being preyed on by other creatures, exhausting their food supplies, some form of plague/infection, etc.
As king, Gha-Kree wore a crown made from the teeth of tusk-bears.
--Conan the Barbarian I#2
Note: Tusk-bears were never pictured, and only mentioned once by Gha-Kree in reference to his crown.
images: (without ads)
Conan the Barbarian I#2 cover (main);
pg.1 (Gan-Torr fallen);
pg. 2, panel 4 & 5 (Moira face & body);
pg. 4, panel 2 (Zha-Gorr face);
panel 3 (mouth of cave entrance);
panel 4 (tunnels);
panel 5 (Har-Lann profile);
pg. 5, panel 1 (Brutheim);
panel 2 (Zha-Gorr lifting Conan);
panel 3 (Zha-Gorr throwing Conan into slave-pens);
pg. 6, panel 3 (long-view of slave barracks);
pg. 7, panel 1 (Kiord face);
panel 2 (war party);
panel 3 (war party ambushed by early Beast-Men);
panel 6 (war party laboring as slaves);
panel 7-9 (Beast-Man watching village, watching women, stealing women);
pg. 8, panel 4 (Kiord showing war machines);
pg. 9, panel 4 (Conan throttling Zha-Gorr);
pg. 10, panel 1 (Gha-Kree & Moira, full, distant);
panel 2 (Gha-Kree body profile with Moira);
panel 3 (Gha-Kree face profile);
pg. 12, panel 1 (Games);
pg. 13, panel 1-2 (Thralls in wooden pens, faces and upper bodies);
pg. 14, panel 1 (snow lion, front);
pg. 15, panel 1 (snow lion, lateral);
panel 5 (Brutorian Guard entering);
pg. 16, panel 2 (Brutorian Guard, net);
panel 3 (Gha-Kree ordering Conan's death);
panel 5 (Kiord breaks out of wooden pen);
pg. 18, panel 3 (Kiord pushing wheel);
panel 7 (battering ram);
pg. 19, panel 1-2 (Gha-Kree's court crushed);
pg. 20, panel 1 (Conan slays Zha-Gorr);
panel 5 (Gha-Kree's crown);
panel 6 (Gha-Kree's crown on Kiord's head)
Official Handbook of the Conan Universe#1, pg. 16-17 (map)
Appearances:
The Phantagraph: February, August, and
October-November 1936 issues: The Hyborian Age - Robert E. Howard (editor)
Conan the Barbarian I#2 (December, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), Barry (Windsor) Smith (penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Official
Handbook of the Conan Universe#1: Map (January, 1986) - Alan Zelenetz
(researcher, writer), Tony Edwards (map design), Eliot R. Brown
(penciler, inker), Larry Hama (editor)
First posted: 03/24/2018
Last updated: 03/24/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Har-Lann
Zha-Gorr
Brutorian Guard
Games of Gha-Kree
war party
Moira
Thralls
snow 
Tusk-Bears