Mountain of Power

The Mountain of Power is the central stronghold of Thulsa Doom and his Cult of Set, a looming conical peak that rises from a level plain beside the shimmering blue waters of the Vilayet Sea. It is the cult's center of intrigue, the destination of endless pilgrimages of entranced youths, and the stage for the final, decisive confrontation between Conan and the man who destroyed his village. Within its templed chambers and walled gardens, the narrative's central conflict between barbaric steel and charismatic, serpentine power reaches its violent and cathartic end.

Geography and Approach

The Mountain of Power is not merely a building but a natural fortress. It is a conical peak that looms high against the sky, visible from a pass between two ridges of volcanic rock. The approach is marked by the constant stream of pilgrims, bedraggled youths and maidens decked with wreaths of long-dead flowers, who plod along beating tambourines and chanting monotonously, calling out to travelers to "Throw away your sword and give yourself to time, to the earth." The mountain's base is surrounded by broken country, and to its right, along the shores of the great inland sea, lies a stretch of land thrust up with a series of mounds—ancient burial tumuli where primordial peoples buried their kings, their remains impaled on pointed stakes as a ghastly warning. The mountain itself is riddled with a vast network of chambers, some natural caves and others hollowed out by those who built Doom's templed hiding place, as Conan learns from the hermit-wizard. A secret entrance exists behind the mountain, where a stream has cut a deep and narrow gorge, far up which lies an unguarded opening known only to the old man.

The Cult's Sanctum and Its Rituals

The Mountain of Power functions as the sacred center of the Cult of Set, a place where the cult's ideology is forged and its followers are bound to their master. Within its great temple, hundreds of candles throw a dim radiance over the chamber, reflecting the eager faces of the congregation as the commingling of young voices, flutes, and brasses makes solemn music. It is here that Thulsa Doom, resplendent in his reptilian armor, mounts the dais to deliver his exhortations, his eyes dark and filled with sorcery but devoid of humanity. He preaches a doctrine of cleansing, telling his followers that "The day of doom is here. The purging is at last at hand," and that all who stand against them—parents, teachers, judges—"shall depart in a night of blood and fire." He calls his listeners "the pure water that will cleanse the world" and promises them that they hold "the eternal light that burns in the eyes of Set." The rituals are designed to produce absolute submission, as Doom asks his followers whether they will strike true to the infidel heart, "whether it be the heart of friend, or lover, or loved one in your former life," and whether they will "slip the silken noose over the heads of Set's enemies." The votaries respond with moans of "Doom! Doom!" swaying in rhythm to his utterances, their unseeing gaze fixed on their leader.

Conan's Imprisonment and the Garden of Power

Conan's first encounter with the Mountain of Power's inner sanctum comes not as a conqueror but as a captive. After being discovered during his infiltration, he is beaten unconscious and awakens in a walled garden within the stronghold, a place of deceptive beauty with sculptured fountains, paths of mosaics, and beds of daffodils and tulips. He finds himself shackled with chains fixed to a bronzen ring set into the pavement, confined as he had been as a slave of the Wheel and later as a Pit fighter. The garden is tenanted by groups of youths and maidens, some lounging atop the wall, some strolling among the shrubs, and some seated by the fountain at the feet of Rexor, Doom's chief lieutenant. It is here that Doom stages his most chilling demonstration of power. He commands a young girl, a child, to come to him; she leaps from the wall and falls with a heavy thud on the tiles, her body broken like a doll. Doom laughs, his laughter spun through with a note of triumph, and tells Conan: "That is strength, boy—that is power! It is strength against which the hardness of steel or the resilience of human flesh are as naught. What is steel, compared to the hand that wields it; what is the hand, without a mind to command it?" This moment crystallizes the philosophical conflict of the narrative, as Doom seeks to break Conan's spirit by demonstrating the absolute power of his will over life and death.

The Final Assault and the Fall of Doom

The Mountain of Power is ultimately breached not through its main gates but through its secret weakness. Conan, Valeria, and Subotai, guided by the hermit-wizard's knowledge, cross the plain and skirt the mountain's flanks, entering a region of broken foothills where a spring-fed stream has chiselled a deep cleft. They dismount and, using goatskin bags caulked with pitch as floats and smearing their bodies with a mottled pattern of mineral oil and powdered charcoal to resemble sunlight dancing on shadows, they abandon themselves to the rushing torrent. This secret entrance allows them to infiltrate the citadel undetected. The final confrontation occurs in the great temple, where the Faithful of Set are gathered to hear their master's exhortation. Yasimina, the princess, rides boldly to the gates of the mountain citadel with Conan following in the guise of a guardsman, and the sentries, knowing nothing of her abduction or Doom's disavowal of her, let them pass. As Doom raises his arms to continue his exhortation, his true nature is revealed before the frozen faces of the faithful: his neck lengthens, his jaws elongate, his nose shrinks and disappears, and his dark eyes round into lidless orbs as he bears the scaly serpent head of the ancient snake-men. In that moment, Conan's sword sighs as it sweeps up in a great arc and cleaves the swaying snake head from the human body. The body falls backward and lies writhing like a trampled serpent at the top of the wide steps, while the severed head rolls slowly down the long flight of stairs to come to rest beside the fountain pool. Conan, gazing at the gory object, speaks his final judgment: "My father was the light of day; Thulsa Doom, my night. Yet in one thing he spoke true. What matters is not the steel within the blade, but the steel within the man." He then turns to the guards, raising the Eye of Set, and commands them to "go back to the caves from which he called you... And find another source of meat." The Mountain of Power, once the center of Doom's web of intrigue, is thus emptied of its master and its purpose, its power broken by the very steel Doom had dismissed as naught.