After travelling east for many months in search of adventure, Conan of Cimmeria headed west to the port city of Argos. Running afoul of local authorities, the Cimmerian stowed away on a trading ship, only for that vessel to be raided by pirates loyal to a Shemite captain named Bêlit. Impressed by the Barbarian's strength and spirity, the fiery Queen of the Black Coast offered him a new life. At Bêlit's side. Conan found great passion and vast treasure, but it would not last. After his queen's tragic demise, the Cimmerian now drowns his sorrows on the seedy streets of Shadizar, taking work as a brute for a group of thieves calling themselves "The Gloryhounds."