EPIMETREUS the SAGE
Real Name: Epimetreus
Identity/Class: Human/ghost/spirit magic-user;
Hyborian era (lived circa 11,500 BC; spirit active through at least 10,000 BC)
Occupation: Sage, wizard, alleged protector of humanity
Group Membership: Unrevealed
Affiliations: Aquilonians, Conan, Cult of Mitra (formerly Publius), Mitra
Enemies: Set, Thoth-Amon, Thoth-Amon's monstrous ape-creature, the Hierarch and the wizard-priests of Ptahuacan, Xotli
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A tomb within the black halls of timeless Golarmira, the mount of eternal time
First Appearance: Weird Tales: Phoenix on the Sword story (December, 1932);
(Marvel Universe) Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (1976)
Powers/Abilities: Epimetreus had unspecified
magical powers. His spirit was summoned forth by higher powers
(presumably gods, such as Mitra) in times of need, and he could contact
certain mortals, apparently summoning their spirits to his tomb, where
his spirit confronted them.
He seemed to have some degree of precognitive and perhaps clairvoyant and/or telepathic powers.
Epimetreus could grant certain mystic talismans or spells; such as the phoenix symbol he placed on Conan's sword's base, and the phoenix talisman. The phoenix symbol granted the sword (or even its jagged base, if the sword's shaft had been shattered) the ability to slay a magical beast. The phoenix talisman, when shattered, could summon forth the energy and/or a manifestation of Mitra to do battle with a powerful demon, such as Xotli.
The stairs to Epimetreus' crypt were carven with the head of the Elder Serpent God, Set.
Height: Unrevealed (he was only shown as a
ghost/spirit, in which he has appeared to be either approximately 6'
tall or 15' tall in different manifestations)
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 150 lbs. at 6' tall)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White (including a full beard; both likely a different color in his youth)
History:
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - Epimetreus drove Set into the shadows of Stygia.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) <Circa 11,500 BC> - Epimetreus died and was buried.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - "Epimetreus the Sage" remained a well-known legendary figure at least 1500 years after his death.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - Unspecified mystic events awakened Epimetreus's spirit, and he continued to oppose Set's worshippers.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 -
BTS) <Circa 10,000 BC> - Not long after Conan had taken the
throne of Aquilonia, as Count Ascalante organized a conspiracy against
the king, Epimetreus summoned the spirit/mind of the sleeping Conan to
his crypt. Epimetreus' calls to Conan, which Conan appreciated as being
called across the gulfs of time and space, led the king through clammy
mists to stride down a long corridor. Knowing no mortal had trod there
for many centuries, Conan continued to the corridor's end and then
climbed the stairs carven with the head of the Elder Serpent God, Set,
though this made his flesh crawl.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2) - As Conan emerged in the strange crypt, Epimetreus stood before his own tomb and asked the Conan if he knew him. Conan did not recognize him, but when Epimetreus revealed his name, Conan argued that Epimetreus had been the Sage had been dead for 1500 years. Explaining that happenings in the unseen world had broken like waves upon his slumber, Epimetreus noted that he had marked Conan well, and that the stamp of great deeds was upon him. When Conan noted that he was a barbarian/outlander, Epimetreus interrupted with, "Peace! Your destiny is one with Aquilonia!"
Telling Conan of his long and
ongoing struggles against the forces of Set, Epimetreus bade Conan to
hold his sword out for Conan. As the warrior-king did so, Epimetreus touched its base, causing a glowing symbol to
appear.
Epimetreus, the crypt, and the
tomb all suddenly vanished and, despite his protests, Conan awakened in
his couch in the palace royal, and he was shocked to find he was
gripping its sword and that a phoenix symbol was carven on its base.
(Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 - BTS) - Ascalante's forces ambushed Conan soon thereafter, and the sword's shaft was shattered. While Conan overcame the bulk of them, his wounds left him at the mercy of Ascalante until he was slain by an ape-creature summoned by the Set-worshipping Stygian sorcerer Thoth-Amon, previously oppressed into Ascalante's servitude.
Ultimately, overpowered by the ape-creature, Conan grasped his shattered sword (still containing the phoenix at its base) and stabbed it into his attacker's side, slaying it.
Soon after, Conan's guard and
other servants, who had previously been led away, arrived. When Conan
mentioned Epimetreus' involvement and having passed through the black
stone corridor to his tomb in his dreams, Publius urged him to silence.
Publius then explained that only the inner circle of priests, of which
Publius was once one, knew of the corridors and the location of
Epimetreus' phoenix-guarded tomb; these were the mysteries on which the
Cult of Mitra stood.
After Conan showed the
phoenix-symbol carved on his sword, Publius acknowledged that Conan had
indeed spoken to Epimetreus, after which they found the creature had
vanished, leaving behind only its blood-etched outline.
All present acknowledged that
Epimetreus had crossed over that night from the land of shades to guard
the crown of Aquilonia, granting Conan the respect of his people.
(Marvel Graphic Novel:
Conan of the Isles - BTS) <Over 20 years later> - After the Red Shadows
-- magical assaults from the wizards of Ptahuacan utilizing the power
of the demon Xotli that transported victims to Ptahuacan to be directly
sacrificed to Xotli -- had transported 700 citizens away from
Aquilonia, Epimetreus again contacted the sleeping King Conan.
Calls for "Conan of
Cimmeria...Conan of Aquilonia...Conan of the Isles" summoned Conan's
spirit forth through barriers of time and space, through swirling gray
mists.
Conan eventually came to a hall of
titantic proportions with
ebon walls and a lofty roof of virtually complete blackness except for
a faint, mystic radiance that seemed to shine out from those walls.
Every inch of the walls displayed a vast panorama peopled with millions
of struggling, warring men from past and future eras, as well as the
nameless demonic Old Ones. At this point Conan realized he had
been summoned again to the crypt of Epimetreus, after which he again
scaled the steps carved with Set's images. 
Conan finally entered the tomb,
hewn of massive crystal and flanked by two giantic and terrifying
phoenix statues, their wings outspread as if to shelter beneath their
stony pinions him who slept within the diamond sepulcher. The cold gem
glittered with a thousand points of restless light, like a multitude of
captive stars amid the jet-dark gloom.
(Marvel Graphic Novel:
Conan of the Isles)
- Epimetreus then appeared as a gigantic image before Conan, asking
Conan if he knew who he was. When Conan confirmed he knew him to be
Epimetreus, the sage shade informed Conan that in the years between
their meetings, all had been done as the eternal ones who set him there
as man's guardian would wish.
Epimetreus then alerted Conan to a darkness hovering over the lands of the west, which only Conan could dispel. Reminding Conan that the gods had marked him for great deeds and undying fame and that they were pleased with what he had accomplished, Epimetreus advised Conan that there was one last task awaiting him before he could go to his well-earned rest. This task was to save the world from the terror stalking his land, and that to do this Conan must surrender his throne to his son and venture forth alone to the uttermost reaches of the western ocean this very night.
Motivated more to save Trocero, Conan agreed, and Epimetreus advised him that the way into the unknown seas was long and hard, and that he could give Conan one gift alone:
Instructing Conan to save it for the hour of greatest need, as it would
be his salvation and that in his time of peril his heart would instruct
him how to use it, Epimetreus caused a phoenix amulet to seemingly
congeal out of the mist at Conan's feet.
Finally, Epimetreus advised Conan to beware the black kraken emblem used by the sorcerer kings of old Atlantis.
(Marvel Graphic Novel: Conan of the Isles - BTS) - Awakening in his own bed, Conan found the phoenix amulet/talisman in his hands.
(Marvel Graphic Novel:
Conan of the Isles
- BTS) - As the wizards of Ptahuacan summoned Xotli, Conan smashed the
phoenix amulet with his sword hilt, summoning or releasing the energy
of the god Mitra who destroyed Xotli.
Comments: Created by Robert E. Howard.
Adapted to the Marvel Universe by Roy Thomas, Vincente Alcazar, & Yong Montano.
Epimetreus is particularly significant in that he appeared in the first Conan story published (althought it was far from Conan's first chronological appearance). His appearance in Conan of the Isles is similarly significant in that it was the last chronological appearance of Conan at the time. Conan the Savage#10 represents a subsequent chronologically-later appearance of Conan, but it seems like the original intent of the Conan of the Isles story would have been to make Epimetreus appear in the "final" Conan story...or not...
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Interestingly, the Phoenix on the
Sword was a rewrite of Howard's last Kull story, "By This Axe I Rule!,"
rejected by the pulp magazines Arogsy and Adventure
in 1929. Howard then rewrote the story, creating Conan as the king and
substituting adding plot and supernatural/horror elements. The two
stories primarily shared the conspiracy, which the king personal
overcame. "By This Axe I Rule!" was eventually published in the Lancer Books paperback "King Kull" in 1967. Per Wikipedia: The first comic book appearance of King Kull was in Marvel's "Kull the Conqueror" (1971). The first issue was in part an adaptation of "By This Axe I Rule!", and issue #11 (1973) was more specifically based on that story and had the same title. The 1997 movie Kull the Conqueror starring Kevin Sorbo was partly based on "By This Axe I Rule!".
From David Thomas' Conan the Cimmerian Blog (check it out: https://plus.google.com/collection/QtNwm): Profile by Snood. CLARIFICATIONS:
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images: (without ads)
Conan the Barbarian Annual#2, main story, pg. 13, panel 1 (full body, with lower body obscurred by text);
panel 3 (face);
panel 6 (touching sword);
pg. 14, panel 5 (phoenix on the sword);
letter page: Hyborian age / text feature - discussing Phoenix on the Sword
Marvel Graphic Novel:
Conan of the Isles, pg. 9, panel 1 (tomb; giant phoenixes);
pg. 10, panel 1 (face);
panel 6 (magically summoning phoenix amulet);
pg. 11, panel 3 (phoenix talisman);
pg. 91, panel 3-4 (shattering talisman)
Appearances:
Weird Tales: Phoenix on the Sword story (December, 1932) - Robert Howard
Conan the Barbarian Annual#2 (1976) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Vincente Alcazar (penciler), Yong Montano (inker)
Marvel Graphic Novel:
Conan of the Isles (1988) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema
(pencils), Danny Bulanadi, Ricardo Villamonte & Armando Gil (inks),
Craig Anderson (editor)
First posted: 11/26/2018
Last updated: 11/26/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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