RING of the SECT of the RED SERPENT
RING of the SECT
of the RED SERPENT
Classification: Talisman of Mystic Power
Creator: Presumably the Sect of the Red Serpent and/or the Wyrm
First Appearance: (Vaguely referenced only) Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#1 (April, 2020);
(seen as vague glow)
Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#2 (May, 2020);
(identified as ring)
Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 (June, 2020)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: When contacted by one who
had been exposed to the blood of priests of Set, the ring of the Sect of the Red Serpent" would teleport that
being and at least one ally to the land nearby the Serpent Scepter.
The Ring could also levitate itself (as well as a small chest surrounding it) and direct itself to approach one who could utilize it.
It could swiftly force itself onto the finger of one would could use it and then take control of that being, guiding him or her to the Scepter.
Being with exceptional force of will could resist the ring's influence, and shattering the ring broke its hold altogether. One who had worn the ring and been subject to its control and visions retained some memory of the visions to allow the subject to locate the site of the Scepter of his or her own free will.
History:
(Conan:
Battle for the
Serpent Crown#4 (fb) - BTS) - Together, the Serpent Crown and the Serpent Scepter should have been
unstoppable. But when the Sect of the Red Serpent tried to use their
combined power, they found it too much for the frail human
frame.
(Conan:
Battle for the
Serpent Crown#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Serpent Scepter was hidden by the
ragged remnants of the Red Serpent. It was to be discovered only by one
who had proven himself by bathing in the blood of Set's priests.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 (fb) - BTS / Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#4 (fb) - BTS) - Apparently the "Ring of the Sect of the Red Serpent" was created to guide such a person to the Serpent Scepter.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 (fb) - BTS) -
In the modern era, the Ring came into the possession of a thief known
only as Max.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 (fb) - BTS) - Max's ring was admired by fellow thief Nyla Skin. Max joked that she could have it if he ever died.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#4 (fb) - BTS) - In the modern era, Hell-lord Mephisto sought to escape from Las Vegas' Hotel Inferno, in which he had been mystically bound.
Mephisto appreciated that time-displaced Hyborian warrior Conan of Cimmeria, who had slaughtered many priests of Set in his time, would be able to locate the Serpent Scepter. In combination with the Serpent Crown, Mephisto believed its power could free him.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#1 (fb) - BTS) - Mephisto allied with multi-billionaire megalomaniac Imus Champion to free himself from Hotel Inferno, although he provided limited information to Champion.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#1 (fb) - BTS / Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 (fb) - BTS) - To facilitate Conan's discovery of the Serpent Scepter, Mephisto had Champion (presumably use his agents to) kill Max, the possessor of the "Ring of the Sect of the Red Serpent," and steal the ring.
Mephisto presumably knew that Max's ally the thief Nyla Skin would want revenge and wish to claim the ring, and he also presumably arranged for Skin to enlist Conan's aid in these matters.
|
Mephisto countered Champion's evaluation of the Black Cat stealing the ring, noting that it was not luck but inevitability. (Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#2 - BTS) - Mephisto advised Champion that things must be done in the proper order: The ring, the scepter, and then the crown. And, ultimately Mephisto would walk free again. (Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#2 - BTS) - At the Hotel Inferno, Nyla and Conan saw Black Cat escaping on a helicopter, so Nyla hit the copter with a tracker, after which she and Conan fought back Imus Champion's men and stole a car to pursue it. Following the tracker, Nyla drove Conan to the Collision
Center where the Black Cat and her ally Boris Korpse were based. However, the chest containing the ring apparently levitated into the air and followed Conan to the ground.. |  . |
.
As Nyla approached, Conan opened the chest, hoping to have attained some treasure for his efforts, and he found the ring. Although Nyla shouted that it was hers, Conan grabbed it, and it teleported him and Nyla to Wakanda abruptly.
|
.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3) - As Nyla assured Conan that it was no power of hers, but rather that of the Ring that brought them there, Conan opened the chest and scrutinized the ring. Hearing approaching craft, Conan directed Nyla to hide in the foliage.
(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3) - When Conan again examined the ring, he detected a sinister light and hurled it away, cursing it as a "foul thing" despite Nyla's arguing that it was their score. However, the ring halted in mid-air and then flew back toward Conan, landing on his left ring finger despite his vocally warning it off. |
The ring took possession of Conan, causing his eyes to glow with malevolent light and him to speak the words "The Scepter" and point in direction. As Nyla wondered what had happened to him, Conan felt his feet shuffle toward some unseen destination, and he was powerless to stop them; additionally, he was unable to respond to Nyla's queries. In his mind, Conan heard the screams of people being sacrificed, and he strided toward them, though he struggled to resist.
Eventually, Conan summoned his will to force himself to shatter the ring, allowing him to regain control of himself. (Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#3 - BTS) - Recalling where the Ring's visions had been directing him, Conan led Nyla to a cave, noting that dark things had happened there. Although Nyla had a bad vibe about the place, she considered that one of the richest men in the world was willing to kill to get whatever was in the cave, and she felt that there was a valuable score in there. They both resolved to seek that to which they had been driven, and Conan ultimately led them to the altar of Set -- and the Serpent Scepter it contained -- within the caverns. |
Comments: Created by Saladin Ahmed and Luke Ross.
See the profiles for Nyla Skin and Imus Champion for some more details about the events involving the
ring. The Serpent Scepter profile is on hold until 2026, but I will
also update the Mephisto and Serpent Crown profiles in the near future.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Ring of the Sect of the Red Serpent should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads):
Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#2, pg. 18, panel 2 (chest containing Ring with Black Cat in helicopter);
panel 4 (chest levitating
or otherwise coincidentally rising into the air as Black Cat prepares
to stomp on Conan's hands);
panel 5 (chest (tiny) following Conan to the ground);
pg. 19, panel 1 (Chest on the ground by Conan);
panel 4-5 (Conan touches ring, and flash of light teleporting them to Wakanda);
#3, pg. 3, panel 1 (Conan observing ring in chest);
pg. 4, panel 2 (Conan casting away the ring);
panel 3-4 (ring halting and then flying atop Conan's finger);
pg. 5, panel 1 (Conan controlled by ring);
pg. 6, panel 3 (Conan rallying effort);
panel 4 (ring shattered)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First posted: 04/07/2023
Last updated: 04/07/2023
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(Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown#1 - BTS)
- Nyla allied with Conan and convinced him to rob Imus Champion at the
Hotel Inferno, only to discover
the Black Cat there, having already robbed the safe.
(Conan:
Battle for the
Serpent Crown#3 - BTS) - Conan and Nyla were nonetheless spotted by
a Hatut Zeraze patrol outside of an ancient site previously
undiscovered by the Wakandans.
