Conan Stories · Chapter
VI: The Mountain of the Black Seers explained
Khemsa confronts four Black Seers in a psychic battle, but they exploit his love for Gitara to defeat him.
What happens
Khemsa confronts four Black Seers in a psychic battle, but they exploit his love for Gitara to defeat him. Conan and Yasmina encounter Khemsa, who attempts to hypnotize Conan but fails; Conan fights back. A crimson cloud heralds the arrival of the four wizards, who kill Gitara and defeat Khemsa. Conan and Yasmina escape, and Conan forces Yasmina to disguise herself as a hill-girl to avoid detection.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
Valerius’s emotional peak occurs as he shifts from physical agony to a stunned, weeping despair over Taramis’s…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Supernatural and Ancient Evil
The Black Seers embody ancient, forbidden sorcery, using psychic powers and a crimson cloud to manifest.
- Survival and Individualism
Conan's resistance to hypnotism and his pragmatic decisions (e.g., disguising Yasmina) highlight his survival instincts.
- Love and Sacrifice
Khemsa's love for Gitara both empowers and ultimately defeats him, as the Seers exploit it.
Characters to notice
- Conan
Resists Khemsa's hypnotism due to his Cimmerian heritage, fights Khemsa, and helps Yasmina escape.
- Yasmina
Disguises as a hill-girl at Conan's insistence; experiences a shift in personality and feelings.
- Khemsa
Battles the four Black Seers but is defeated when they use Gitara against him.
- Gitara
Khemsa's lover; used as a pawn by the Black Seers and falls to her death.
Key passages
“Rakhsha gave back with a stifled cry. He backed away, pushing the girl Gitara back with groping, fending hands. The crimson cloud balanced like a spinning top for an instant, whirling in a dazzling sheen on its point. Then without warning it was gone, vanished as a bubble vanishes when burst. There on the ledge stood four men.”
Khemsa recoils in terror as a crimson cloud materializes into four Black Seers on the ledge.
The supernatural arrival of the wizards marks a turning point in the psychic battle.
“But Conan was not a son of the East. Its traditions were meaningless to him; he was the product of an utterly alien atmosphere. Hypnotism was not even a myth in Cimmeria.”
Conan's Cimmerian upbringing makes him immune to the hypnotic powers that affect Easterners.
Highlights Conan's cultural and psychological resistance to sorcery.
“Conan displayed the gold coin. 'If you will give this woman your garments,' he said, 'I will give you this money.'”
Conan bribes a hill-girl to exchange clothes with Yasmina for disguise.
Demonstrates Conan's pragmatic and resourceful nature in evading pursuit.
