Conan -

Conan did not tremble. He saw the cruelty of the "civilized" sorcerer and the dignity of the suffering beast. With a single stroke of his blade, he ended the god’s torment, watching as the tower crumbled into dust. It was his first lesson: in a world of magic and treachery, only the steel in one's hand and the will in one's heart could be trusted.

"I seek only to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under my sandaled feet," Conan replied, quoting a dream he barely understood. Conan did not tremble

The crone cackled, a sound like dry leaves skittering over stone. "Then go, boy. But know that civilization is a whim of circumstance, a thin veil over the honest barbarism of the soul. You will find wizards who summon shadows and kings who trade their honor for gold. You will be a thief, a pirate, and a king in your own right, but you will always be a stranger to their walls". It was his first lesson: in a world

Conan turned to see an old crone emerging from the shadows of a lightning-scarred oak. Her skin was like parched parchment, and her eyes held the milky glaze of the blind. "Then go, boy

For weeks, the red-haired reavers from the north had harried the mountain clans, but today the Cimmerians had answered with steel. Yet, as the echoes of the war-horns faded, Conan felt a restlessness that no battle could sate. He looked south, beyond the gray mists, toward the legendary kingdoms of the "civilized" world—Hyboria, where cities were built of stone and men lived in soft decadence.