So call that tortured soul “Yogah,” I say. The name carries no taint of exile or torment, and by all accounts, he was always a friend to men of good will.
So call that tortured soul “Yogah,” I say. The name carries no taint of exile or torment, and by all accounts, he was always a friend to men of good will.
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==List of Great Old Ones==
==List of Great Old Ones==
Revision as of 18:54, 25 February 2020
The creature, named Yag-kosha, is a blind, tortured prisoner of the sorcerer Yara,in the short story''Tower of the Elephant '' by Robert E.Howard..Yag Kosha and a few others led a revelation against the kings of Yag and lost,similar to Lucifers Fall from Heaven.Yag Kosha then becomes a sort of Buddha or Christ figure,worshipped by his students and later followers.
Yag Kosha is somewhat based on the Cthulu mythology,just as Marvel Comics Man-Thing is somewhat similar.
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The tortured, transcosmic being that the youthful Conan encounters in “The Tower of the Elephant” seems to have a bit of an identity problem. Said entity refers to himself as “Yogah” once and as “Yag-kosha” twice. Robert E. Howard, in his role as omnipotent narrator, refers to the last exile of green Yag as “Yag-kosha, or Yogah” and as “Yag-kosha and Yogah.”
What to make of this? How should Yara’s ultra-telluric thrall be called? By what name did that pathetic entity refer to himself, in his innermost thoughts? Short of finding a lost letter relating to the matter, or the discovery of more “Hyborian Age Notes” of some sort, nothing absolutely definitive can be stated. However, I think something can definitely be speculated.
A test using simply the incidence of the two names in “The Tower of the Elephant” as the criterion shows a clear winner: “Yag-Kosha.” All told, “Yag-kosha” is used five times, “Yogah” is used thrice. I haven’t done a formal, precise survey, but my guesstimate of the general implementation of the two names in the arena of overall REH fandom seems to place “Yag-kosha” ahead of “Yogah.” I have to admit, for many years, I used “Yag-kosha” because it sounded “cooler” than “Yogah”.
That’s not all there is to it, not in my opinion.
When one looks at how the last exile of Yag employs his two appelations, a pattern (such as it is) emerges. Here are the first words that the wayward son of green Yag speaks in “The Tower of the Elephant”:
“Who is here? Have you come to torture me again, Yara? Will you never be done? Oh, Yag-kosha, is there no end to agony?”
“Oh, Yag-kosha…” Yara’s slave is referring to himself in the third person, somewhat like how Smeagol (a tortured, enslaved being, though for different reasons), in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, calls himself “Gollum.” Could it be that the marooned, ultra-telluric castaway had created an “outer self,” one which endured nigh-endless torments while the eons-old psyche within clutched the tatters of sanity (and rebellion) tightly?
There is also the matter of the name, “Yag-kosha,” itself. Despite the opinions of de Camp and Lovecraft (to a certain extent), Robert E. Howard had a sophisticated (if mostly instinctive) feel for languages. The entity in question was from the planet of Yag. Howard knew this, obviously. So, would he then bestow a given name upon the titular “elephant” of the yarn in question that contained the name of the planet “Yag” therein? To make an approximate analogy, it would be like someone naming their child “AmericanJoe” or “EarthBob.” One could argue that Howard “felt” like it, but we have “Yogah” as counter-evidence.
As I’ve noted, Yara’s slave refers to himself as “Yogah” but once, but that one time is of paramount significance, in my opinion. Here are his words:
“Let me be free of this cage of broken blind flesh, and I will once more be Yogah of Yag, morning-crowned and shining with wings to fly, and feet to dance, and eyes to see, and hands to break.”
“I will once more be Yogah of Yag…” He was once “Yogah of Yag,” but he was “Yag-kosha” when he spoke (he thought) to Yara. When he instructed the Cimmerian thief before him in what words to say to his erstwhile tormentor, he bade him say, “Yag-kosha gives you…” What Yogah did not give Yara (by way of Conan) was his true name. Even in his moment of ultimate triumph, Yogah was too wary from centuries of hard lessons to give such a precious thing away, lest the whole gambit be foiled at the last moment. Conan may have been the only human to ever hear Yogah’s birth name spoken.
So what might “Yag-kosha” mean? In the spirit of speculation, I’d guess “The Last Son (or ‘Exile’) of Yag,” in Yogah’s native tongue. Certainly, Yogah must have felt he was the last free son of Yag (despite his terrestrial bondage); he and his brethren having conceded green Yag to the tender mercies of its “kings.”
So call that tortured soul “Yogah,” I say. The name carries no taint of exile or torment, and by all accounts, he was always a friend to men of good will.
List of Great Old Ones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a compendium of the lesser known Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.
Contents: A B C D E M N O Q R S T V W Y Z
References—Notes—External links
A[edit]
Aphoom-Zhah[edit]
See Lin Carter deities.
Atlach-Nacha[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities.
B[edit]
Basatan[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities.
Bokrug[edit]
Bokrug (The Great Water Lizard) first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Doom That Came to Sarnath" (1920). The being is also part of Lovecraft's Dream Cycle.
Bokrug is the god of the semi-amphibian Thuum'ha of Ib, in the land of Mnar. The deity slept beneath the calm waters of a lake which bordered both Ib and the city of Sarnath. When the humans of Sarnath cruelly slaughtered the populace of Ib and stole the god's idol, the deity was awakened. Each year thereafter, strange ripples disturbed the otherwise placid lake. On the one-thousandth anniversary of Ib's destruction, Bokrug rose up and destroyed Sarnath (so utterly that not even ruins remained). Afterwards, the Thuum'ha recolonized Ib and henceforth lived undisturbed.
C[edit]
Chaugnar Faugn[edit]
Some were the figures of well-known myth — gorgons, chimaeras, dragons, cyclops, and all their shuddersome congeners. Others were drawn from darker and more furtively whispered cycles of subterranean legend — black, formless Tsathoggua, many-tentacled Cthulhu, proboscidian Chaugnar Faugn, and other rumoured blasphemies from forbidden books like the Necronomicon, the Book of Eibon, or the Unaussprechlichen Kulten of von Junzt.
—H. P. Lovecraft, "The Horror in the Museum" (emphasis added)
Chaugnar Faugn (The Elephant God, The Horror from the Hills) was created by Frank Belknap Long and first appeared in his novel The Horror from the Hills (1931).
Chaugnar Faugn (or Chaugnar Faughn) appears as a horribly grotesque idol, made of an unknown element, combining the worst aspects of octopus, elephant, and human being. When Chaugnar Faugn hungers, he can move incredibly quickly for his size, and use his lamprey-like "trunk" to drain the blood from any organism he encounters.
Chaugnar Faugn came to Earth from another dimension eons ago, possibly in a form other than the one which he later assumed. Upon arriving, he found the dominant lifeforms to be only simple amphibians. From these creatures, he created the Miri Nigri to be his servitors. The Miri Nigri would later mate with early humans to produce hybrids that would eventually evolve into the horrid Tcho-Tcho people.
Cthugha[edit]
See Cthugha.
Cthulhu[edit]
See Cthulhu.
Cthylla[edit]
See Cthylla
Cynothoglys[edit]
Cynothoglys (The Mortician God) first appeared in Thomas Ligotti's short story "The Prodigy of Dreams" (1994). The being appears as a shapeless, multiform entity with a single arm used for catching those who summoned her, and bringing them a painless, ecstatic death. In ancient times, she once held a small cult in Italy, which paid her homage rather than worshiping her, since actual worship would be the same as summoning the god. They considered her to be no mere Cloacina, but the mortician of all creatures, even the gods themselves.
D[edit]
Dweller in the Gulf[edit]
Dagon[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities. Dáci
E[edit]
Eihort[edit]
See Ramsey Campbell deities.
G[edit]
Gloon[edit]
Gloon first appeared in H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Temple" as a Dionysian statue. Whether Lovecraft intended the statue to be anything other than the centerpiece of a piece of weird fiction is debatable. In 2004, Chaosium released an expanded bestiary to the Mythos which included the entity of Gloon, attributing some non-canonical eldritch and limacine attributes to the entity, a counterpoint to its outwardly pleasing and homoerotic aesthetic. Author Molly Tanzer's novelette "The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins" expanded upon Gloon's cult and mythology.
M[edit]
Morrick[edit]
See Brian Lumley deities.
N[edit]
Nug and Yeb[edit]
Nug (The parent of Cthulhu) and Yeb, the Twin Blasphemies, are the spawn of Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth. Nug is the parent of Cthulhu[1] and the parent of Kthanid via the influence of Yog-Sothoth. Nug is a god among ghouls, while Yeb is the leader of Abhoth's alien cult.[2] Both Nug and Yeb closely resemble Shub-Niggurath.
The names Nug and Yeb are similar to the names of the Egyptian sibling gods Nut and Geb, members of the Heliopolitan Ennead.
Nyogtha[edit]
See Henry Kuttner deities.
Nyarlathotep[edit]
See Nyarlathotep
O[edit]
Oorn[edit]
See Brian Lumley deities.
Q[edit]
Quachil Uttaus[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities.
R[edit]
Rlim Shaikorth[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities.
Rhan-Tegoth[edit]
A weakened, amphibious, chimaera-like being that crushed its victims and sucked their blood. Revived and worshipped by the mad wax artist George Rogers.
Rhogog[edit]
The Bearer of the Cup of the Blood of the Ancients, taking the form of a black leafless oak tree, hot to the touch, that bears Cthulhu's blood.
S[edit]
Shudde M'ell[edit]
See Brian Lumley deities.
Summanus[edit]
See Brian Lumley deities.
V[edit]
Vulthoom[edit]
See Clark Ashton Smith deities.
W[edit]
The Worm that Gnaws in the Night[edit]
See Lin Carter deities.
Y[edit]
Yag-Kosha[edit]
Yag-Kosha is described as a telepathic being with an elephant head, from outer space and being the last survivor of a group of refugees.[3]
Yag-Kosha appeared in the story "The Tower of the Elephant", from Robert Ervin Howard (the creator of "Kull" and "Conan, the Barbarian"). The Tower of the Elephant was best known for being portrayed in the comic book Conan the Barbarian#4 and Savage Sword of Conan,plus as a Dark Horse Comic.[4]
Yba'sokug[edit]
Yba'sokug is a great beast that is said to be come to devour the world, sending depravity before him in the form of his heralds. He is depicted as a froglike creature with a great multitude of eyes. Yba'sokug is worshiped fervently by "the lonely and the tired".
Yibb-Tstll[edit]
See Brian Lumley deities.
Yig[edit]
Main article: Yig
Yig (the Father of Serpents) first appeared in the story The Curse of Yig which was created by Zealia Bishop and almost completely rewritten by H. P. Lovecraft. He is a deity that appears as a serpent man, serpent with bat like wings, or as a giant snake. Although Yig is easy to anger, he is easy to please as well. Yig often sends his serpent minions, the children of Yig, to destroy or transform his enemies. He is associated with the Serpent Men.
To Native Americans, Yig is regarded as "bad medicine". He is also alluded to in western American folklore. He is identified with the Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl, and may be a prototype for that god and other serpentine gods worldwide. Some authors identify him as the Stygian serpent god Set's father, and from Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, and also with the Great Serpent worshiped by the Serpent People of Valusia from Howard's Kull stories.
Yig is the subject of a song by the shock rock band GWAR entitled "Horror of Yig", which appears on their album Scumdogs of the Universe. The band The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, famous for their Lovecraft references, also refers to Yig in a song titled "Yig Snake Daddy".
Yig is the name of a deity in the Arcanis Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. Yig was once (and may still be) worshipped by the Ssethregorean Empire, a group dominated by various lizard and snake-like beings. Yig in this mythos is a female deity, but still strongly associated with serpents, suggesting the name is not a coincidence.
Despite being spoken of on only a few occasions in Lovecraft's work, Yig is one of the Ancient Ones included in the Arkham Horror boardgame, appearing alongside Ancients such as Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep, proving his popularity.
Z[edit]
Zathog[edit]
Zathog appears in Richard Tierney's novel The Winds of Zarr (1971), as well as in his short story "From Beyond the Stars" (1975). After warring with the Elder Gods, Zathog, eager for revenge, entered into a compact with the brutal Zarr. The Zarr controlled most of the galaxy where they dwelt, and desired to conquer the rest of the universe. In return for helping him free his brethren, Zathog promised to give the Zarr the ability to travel through time and space.
Zushakon[edit]
See Henry Kuttner deities.
YAG-KOSHA
Posted on July 21, 2013 by Big Rich
Many of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories were attempts at writing stories in H. P. Lovecraft’s unique horror style. Howard eventually assimilated the artistic influence of Lovecraft, and was able to include Lovecraftian elements in his Conan stories without aping his Providence colleague. Robert E. Howard was a member of the Lovecraft Writing Circle, and often corresponded with Lovecraft to craft ideas for stories.
The short story “Tower of the Elephant” is an excellent example of Conan facing off against the endless horror of the Great Old Ones. Yag-Kosha is a being from beyond the stars, trapped by a wizard. Conan helps to free the monster, thus allowing the wizard to face his terrible fate at the hands of Yag-Kosha.
Yag-Kosha describes his life in The Tower of the Elephant. Long before the dawn of man, and before even the Hyborian age began on Earth, a conflict raged on the far-distant world of Yag. The noble and peaceful people retreated into exile across the stars, coming at last to Earth. Here they hid in the deep jungles, living simple lives of hunter-gatherers, and not interfering with the evolution and history of humanity. However, as time went by, more and more of the people died, and at last only Yag-Kosha remained. Deep in the jungles of Khitai, he adopted a tribe of humans, teaching them the ways of civilization and being worshipped as a god. Then one day Yag-Kosha met Yara. Yara was a student of lore and sorcery, and had come to Yag-Kosha to learn from the wise and knowledgeable alien. Yag-Kosha made an effort to teach Yara humility and morality, but Yara was interested in only power. He betrayed his mentor, confining him and torturing him until he could draw more secrets of sorcery from the peaceful exile. Back in the west, he tortured Yag-Kosha and made him a magical slave, forcing him to build the Elephant Tower and do other deeds. In this time, over hundreds of years, he withered from torture and confinement, and knew only suffering. By the time of the events of “the Tower of the Elephant,” the poor creature was blind and nearly helpless. He convinced Conan to slay him as part of a final spell which gave him revenge over the evil Yara, and in doing so, was reincarnated as Yogah of Yag. He destroyed the Elephant Tower, and flew away to parts unknown.
603389_10151846636265934_1300413587_n
Data
Real Name: Yogah of Yag
Identity/Class: Alien (Yag), magic user (Distant Past through Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Former prisoner, god, space voyager, rebel.
Group Membership: Rebels of the Green Planet Yag
Affiliations: Conan the Barbarian;
formerly Yara, worshippers in Khitai
Enemies: Yara;formerly the Kings of Yag
Known Relatives: None known so far
Aliases:Yagah of Yag-possable a title,not an actual name.
Base of Operations: The Tower of the Elephant in Arenjun, Zamora;
formerly Khitai, formerly the pre-Cataclysmic Era;
Earth in the distant past;
formerly Yag (planet at the edge of the Universe).
First Appearance: "The Tower of the Elephant". Originally published: Weird Tales, March 1933;
(adapted by Marvel) Conan the Barbarian I#4 (April, 1971) {Edizione Italiana: Albi dei Super-Eroi#17 Editoriale Corno}
Powers/Abilities:
It is unknown if Yag-Kosha's powers derived from his alien physiology or from magic learned in some way. He had a long life measurable in eons. His race could survive in
outer space. They could fly, more quickly in outer space than within an atmosphere. His powers let him build the Tower of the Elephant in just one night. He could understand what people-race Conan belonged to only touching him with his trunk. His psychic powers included telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and postcognition. He knew how to use the Heart of the Elephant, and he was able to revive into it after being killed.
Yag-Kosha, the pacifist alien exile from the distant constellation of Yag.It is unclear,if Yag Kosha really had bird wings,as depicted many comic adaptions or this was some sort of unclear metaphore for some sort of Yaggian Space Ship.Since Bob Howard was a great fan of Lovecraft and drew alot of inspiration from the Chthulu Mythos,it can be assumed Yag Kosha did have wings,like the Chthulu,but could such,know what now about space flight and the speed of light,could carry Yag Kosha and his fellow rebels of Yag with him.It makes great annologies to Milton and the Fall of Lucifer,plus the Chthulu,but is good science even the realm of a fantasy story like the Tower of the Elephant.
It has been observed that Robert E. Howard made his best use of Lovecraft's mythology when he used it as the cosmological backdrop for his sword-and-sorcery tales. One of the clearest examples of this occurs in Howard's story "The Tower of the Elephant", wherein Conan the Cimmerian penetrates the defenses of said tower hoping to procure the fabled gem within. In the process, he encounters an imprisoned alien from another world --- Yag-kosha, whose green-skinned form is humanoid save for having the head of an elephant. (Once he possessed wings as well, but these have since withered away.)
Yag-kosha has been imprisoned and tortured by an evil Zamoran magus who seeks ever more of his occult knowledge. The fortuitous appearance of the Cimmerian, however, offers Yag-kosha a chance for deliverance. He pleads for Conan to slay him, since a sword-stroke will liberate him from his broken physical form like a butterfly from its cocoon. Thus reborn, Yag-kosha gains his revenge on his human tormentor, and Conan narrowly escapes the destruction of the "Tower of the Elephant".
Two things are to be noted here. First, the idea of the minotaur-like alien is borrowed wholesale from Lovecraft. Yag-kosha explains, "Long ago I came to this planet with others of my world, from the green planet Yag, which circles forever in the outer fringe of this universe. We swept through space on mighty wings that drove us through the cosmos quicker than light. . . . We saw men grow from the ape and build the shining cities of Valusia, Kamelia, Commoria, and their sisters." This is all too reminiscent of Lovecraft's "Elder Ones" of Antarctica, his "Great Race" of Australia, and especially his "Outer Ones" in the Vermont woods. These crustacean-like aliens even had similar ether-beating wings. And Howard's alien planet "Yag" sounds suspiciously similar to their world "Yuggoth" (as well as "Yaddith", "Yith", "Yig", "Yeb", and "Yog-Sothoth", but who's counting?).
Second, it is apparent that Howard has not merely copied HPL's visitors "out of space" to use them as stage props. It is not as if any old dragon or gorilla would have sufficed. As a matter of fact, Conan does fight off a giant spider in the same story. By contrast, his encounter with the Elephant Man from Yag is handled altogether differently. Whereas, so to speak, the spider is there for Conan's sake, to test his mettle, Conan himself is there for Yag-kosha's sake. At the climax of the tale, Conan is shunted out of the spotlight to take a supporting role. The resolution of the story is Yag-kosha's revenge, in which Conan is simply an accessory.
The point of all this is that Howard not only used Lovecraft's standard aliens, but also used them in a manner altogether consonant with Lovecraft's. Once the alien enters the story, he dominates it, symbolizing the inbreaking of the Infinite Beyond which dwarfs man. Just as Lovecraft believed that the vastness of the universe dethrones man from his illusions of anthropocentricity, even so Yag-kosha displaces Conan, hitherto the hero, but now relegated to a "bit-player". The Cimmerian stumbles onto some thing much bigger than himself, plays the small part blind luck has assigned him, and is lucky to escape with his life.
In light of all this, one might even enumerate Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" among his Cthulhu Mythos stories.
MYSTERIIS SOLVED!
(Answers to last issue's quiz)
1. Two kinds of non-Euclidean geometry are Lobachevskian and Reimannian (HPL probably referred to the second).
2. "The Shadow over Innsmouth" was adapted for "Saturday Night Live".
3. "Yob-Haggoth" was the devil-god in Brak the Barbarian by John Jakes.
4. Ibn Khallikan actually existed.
“The Tower of the Elephant”
Originally published: Weird Tales, March 1933
Robert E. Howard once stated that Conan was his most realistic character. In a letter to Clark Ashton Smith, REH wrote. “It may sound fantastic to link the term ‘realism” with Conan; but as a matter of fact -- his supernatural adventures aside -- he is the most realistic character I have ever evolved.” I think the realism that REH felt for the character allowed him to interweave various themes and ideas into these, albeit fantasy, stories that his non-fantasy stories simply don’t have. Even a cursory read of the Conan stories reveals concerns about the impermanence of civilization and its tendency toward decadence.
Thanks to Novalyne Price we know that REH was interested in the writings of Pierre Louys and his “ability to guild decay.” REH incorporated a small portion of Louys’ lesbian themes into “Red Nails.” Novalyne also gives us further insight into “Beyond the Black River.” Howard was certainly trying to weave some Texas history into this story with Picts as Indians and Conan as Indian Scout for the Aquilonian Cavalry.
Tevis Clyde Smith’s insights into REH aren’t quite as clear-cut as the insights and timeline that Mrs. Ellis has given us in her book, One Who Walked Alone. Tevis Clyde Smith knew REH for a longer period of time and his reminiscences in “Report on a Writing Man” are more of a scattered overview of the long friendship they held rather than a view of the last years of REH’s life.
One of the most fascinating quotes from this volume is that “He (REH) did not believe in destroying any living thing, seemingly including insects…” Earlier, Clyde Smith says that Bob would have fitted in the Tibet of his today. From this, it is clear that REH had a fascination for eastern thought and an appreciation for its animal welfare precepts. I believe that REH incorporated these views in one of his best Conan stories, “The Tower of the Elephant.”
For me, this story ranks as one of REH’s best. It is a great fantastic adventure as well as a tale of social justice equal to the best work of Jack London. The story opens “where the thieves of the east held carnival by night.” Howard first compares the thieves to wolves preying on wolves. But when Conan enters the story, he is “as much out of place in that den as a grey wolf among mangy rats of the gutters.”
The animal imagery is important to this story. Howard plays with our fairy-tale imbued sense of animals and twists them when appropriate as in the example above. Wolves having both good and bad qualities.
Conan is interested in the secret of the Elephant Tower. He is derided for his ignorance. REH sets derision as a particularly civilized experience. “Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” Even though Conan has been provoked he makes no move to kill his tormentor until the Kothian physically assaults him and steel is drawn.
Conan leaves the bar and enters the part of the city reserved for the temples. Conan and REH see religion to be, “like all things civilized... lost of [its] pristine essence in a maze of formulas and rituals.” REH is constantly challenging our civilized viewpoints.
Conan ponders the tower, aware only that an elephant, to his knowledge, is a monstrous animal. While scheming to rob the jewel, Conan meets Taurus of Nemedia, a bulky but experienced, cat-like, thief. Conan is now described, as tiger like. Taurus has black lotus powder that kills the guarding lions. One escapes and Conan slays the attacking beast in self-defense. Two animals battling. Upon entering the tower, Taurus is slain. Mysterious holes on his bull-neck. Conan confronts Taurus’s killer, a gigantic black spider. A battle ensues. Conan wins.
Conan continues to search the tower. He enters a chamber; “the walls were of green jade, the floor of ivory, partly covered with thick rugs.” A definite eastern atmosphere as befits a story about an elephant headed demi-god. (Ganesha, being the elephant headed Hindu god of scribes.) Conan confronts the elephant of the tower and is frozen in his tracks. The elephant is blind and pitiful, not monstrous at all. “Oh, Yag-kosha, is there no end to agony?” Tears rolled from the sightless eyes.
Conan “shank with shame, as if the guilt of a whole race were laid upon him.”
This is obviously not racial guilt. Cimmerians weren’t responsible for Yag-kosha’s misery. Conan is feeling the guilt of the “human” race. Conan is human, Yag is not. I believe REH is juxtaposing a western view of animals here with the eastern view. Western civilizations mercilessly exploit non-humans, like Yara has done with Yag-kosha. Eastern religion, represented by Yag-kosah, recognizes more of a universal kinship between man and animal.
Yag-kosha and Thak (from Rogues in the House) have both human and animal characteristics and REH clearly sympathizes with them. REH was a reader of Edgar Rice Burroughs and might also have been influenced by ERB’s/Tarzan’s admiration of apes and elephants. The REH/Conan attitude towards animals is somewhat Tarzan-like, in that, Conan kills for survival, but not for pleasure or sport.
Conan answers, “I am only a thief. I will not harm you.” REH is clearly letting the audience know that Conan, while willing to steal for survival is no cold-blooded killer. Even though he has slain a man, a lion, and a spider in the course of the night.
To REH the thievery of baubles like jewels is not as great a crime as the theft of another’s life and labor. Conan is not exactly noble but he has compassion. He steals and even kills in anger and self-defense but he would never enslave or torture someone.
REH has Yag-kosha state a basic truth about all of humankind and our non-human animal kin, “I am neither god nor demon, but flesh and blood like yourself, though the substance differ in part, and the form be cast in a different mold.”
Yag-kosha or Yogah of Yag was worshipped by an ancient race. Yag-kosha had an idyllic existence where apes danced and he was a god to kindly jungle-folk. REH has Yag-kosha mention that he saw the rise of man from apes. Once again establishing the bond between humans and animals. Then Yara tricked him and imprisoned Yag-kosha for Yara’s personal gain. Yag-kosha bids Conan to cut out his heart. It is both a form of euthanasia and a means of revenge.
Conan confronts Yara, who has the eyes of a vulture. Conan delivers the blood-covered jewel and Yag-kosha gets his revenge. Conan escapes and imagines he might have dreamed this adventure which certainly has fable like morals and lessons to be learned.
All in all, a great tale, that rises above the average fantastic sword & sorcery tale due to REH’s unique and ultimately moral world view. The story works as pure escapism but it can also be studied for its deeper meaning.
Yag Kosha's Story
Yag-Kosha describes his life in The Tower of the Elephant. Long before the dawn of man, and before even the Hyborian age began on Earth, a conflict raged on the far-distant world of Yag.This allusions to both Milton's War in Heaven of Paradice Lost and the Chthulu.Ancient.elder being waging some galactic war or mighty war before the coming of mankind.Yag Kosha is the Fallen Angel,thrown out of paradice and sent into exile,to live among the lesser beings. The noble and peaceful people of Yag retreated into exile across the stars,flying or carried on mighty wings coming at last to Earth.Gee dosen't everybody.We should turn off galactic joint point,near Pluto sending everybody our way. Here the exiles of Yag hid in the deep jungles, living simple lives of hunter-gatherers, and not interfering with the evolution and history of mankind. However, as time went by, more and more of the people died, and at last only Yag-Kosha remained. Deep in the jungles of Khitai, he adopted a tribe of humans, teaching them the ways of civilization and being worshipped as a god.Yag Kosha become both Jesus Christ and Buddha here,bringing a new age to humanity or ateast apart of it. Then one day Yag-Kosha met Yara. Yara was a student of lore and sorcery, and had come to Yag-Kosha to learn from the wise and knowledgeable alien. Yag-Kosha made an effort to teach Yara humility and morality, but Yara was interested in only power.This is age old Sorcerer's apprentise being great magic or the hidden secrets of the universe,only to betray his master in the end. Yara betrayed his mentor, confining him and torturing him until he could draw more secrets of sorcery from the peaceful exile.
Back in the west, Yara tortured Yag-Kosha and made him a magical slave, forcing him to construct the Elephant Tower and perform other deeds. In this time, over hundreds of years, he withered from torture and confinement, and knew only suffering.Depending on who,produces the depection of Yag Kosha,either body withered or his head got enlarged. By the time of the events of "the Tower of the Elephant," the poor creature was blind and nearly helpless. He convinced Conan to slay him as part of a final spell which gave him revenge over the evil Yara, and in doing so, was reincarnated as Yogah of Yag,within the scarlet jewel known as the Heart of the Elephant-Yag Kosha's center of his life force or soul,Conan has taken and placed with the center of the Great Jewel..Howard was a big believer in reincarnation-so much he eventually blew head,possably thinking he's come again as someone else.Yag Kosha uses this to punish Yara,for all the years of torchure and pain.Inside the otherworld of the Heart of the Elephant, Yag Kosha destroys the Great Jewel and with it the Elephant Tower,-the object of his captivetly and great pain for years.Once free flew away to parts unknown-possably heaven or pargatory or back the emerald planet of Yag,chasing after Yara,who is running for his life.The tables turned and the story ends,as Conan flee's the Tower of the Elephant,watching topple into a millian jewel shards...
Physical Appearence
==
Physical appearance======
Yag-Kosha is of the alien species known as Yag-also the name of his peoples planet. He is vaguely humanoid in form, having eyes, hands, legs, and a mouth capable of speech. His skin is leathery grey, like an elephant, and his head bears many features similar to elephants, such as tusks, large ears, and a trunk.Some artist depict as a green man with massive elephant size head,too big to support the weight of such a big skull,while illustrate Yag Kosha being an alien,with similar features as an elephant. Many of the Yag appear to have wings that allow interstellar flight, but in landing on Earth these wings were burned off in our thick atmoshere.This too,is only presented as an artist depiction by Yag Kosha word and maybe a metaphore for Yag Kosha's star ship and not actual wings. By the time of "The Tower of the Elephant," his confinement
has left him withered and atrophied, with stick-thin limbs he cannot move. His body is marked with scars and burns from his many years of torture and torment.
Where as the cute cartoonist Yag Kosha appears comical to those serious,it ain't cool crowd,the next Yag Kosha to is more stupid depiction,as is the one by John Buscema,in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan and Mark Shultz version printed in recent paperback editions.Magic otherwise,no way is a species going evolve with a too big for it's body elephant sized head.The weight along would Yag Kosha and other Yaggians before could elvolve beyong a tribal civilization,let anything higher.The so called check anatomy,often spewed out dimwit editors,looking to turn down potential new talent,if often overlooked by all ready established talent.Too Big headed Yag Kosha's head is one primary really stupid example,of an artist getting away very poor anatomy.John Buscemas version is equilly poorly drawn.The late JB gotaway alot of stupid mistakes in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan.
Natohk and his meatball Doctor Phibes face,when clearly Howard's skull face description,was refering to the dead sorcerer being like Noferatu-gaught and very ages,not rotting away.His Yag Kosha in my opinion is very poor and inaccurate for someone,who knows his human anatomy,but missunderstands that an alien creature such as Yag Kosha would have adhere to the same principles as human beings.These were two statement Roy Thomas made personally at comic conventions,I attended,where he stated John Buscema often misunderstood what he intended and drew material all wrong in the Conan comic.
Here Wikipedea-here my refence.Memmory.Actually being there and hearing in person,not needing the inaccurate statement of someone bad website or poorly written book.Ever here of it.
Covers
On the
right are the covers to Conan the Barbarian #4 and The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #24, both of which feature comic adaptations of "The Tower of the Elephant."
I really wish I knew why both artists (Barry Windsor Smith and John Buscema) chose to put a girl in the art. No such woman appears in the story.But then Marvel did alot in the covers of their comics-depict figures or events not shown inside.The Barry Smith version is more attrachtive as the Savage Sword cover is way to busy.Yag Kosha is kind of thrown,like a Yaggian Abe Lincoln Memmorial in the background.Conan and the spider seem to be more like dancers,than fighting opponents.
The Savage Sword adaptation is the longer of the two, but the Conan The Barbarian adaptation won an award.Deservedly so,since it was way better in format,design,artistic integrety and creatively,whereas the John Buscema version just presented the facts mame-just the facts.It may have given us more Howard,but also gave a dull,boring Hyborean Age-freely ripped off from Hal Foster's Prince Valiant.Barry Smith made the Hyborean Age an Age Undreamed of,whereas John Buscema just gave an age we see in an Medieval epic from Hollywood. Both are pretty fun adaptations although the Barry Smith is far more superior than John Buscema version-which an attempt do the original Robert E.Howard version,but lacked something that made first better.
The Barry Smith version or his cartoony depiction is way more accurate than the so called professional master of the mediun living or dead.SSOC 24 includes one of Howard's better short stories, The Tower of the Elephant. It's a great adaptation by Roy Thomas, and is illustrated by perhaps my favorite Conan artist, John Buscema. Here's a great panel in which Conan first encounters the blinded and crippled Yag-Kosha, prisoner in the tower of the evil wizard Yara.
==
==
Traits and skills======
Yag-Kosha is a scholar, with knowledge of an unbelievable amount of lore. His sorcerous powers are incredible, being able to create the wonderous Elephant Tower in a single night. Though he is far too moral a being to use them himself, Yag-Kosha has acquired a number of dark secrets and spells in his life, which Yara forced him to divulge after betraying him.Yag-Kosha was able to fly through space using his vast wings, but they were burned off in Earth's atmosphere.
Stories featuring
=
==The Tower of the Elephant
Conan and the Tower of the Elephant
“As Conan came forward, his eyes fixed on the motionless idol, the eyes of the thing opened suddenly! The Cimmerian froze in his tracks. It was no image—it was a living thing, and he was trapped in its chamber!”A great appeal of licensed settings is the chance to not just experience the world of the heroes of the setting, but to walk in their footsteps and perhaps attempt the same adventures undertaken by the heroes. The Classic Conan series of adventures for Conan the Roleplaying Game offers this opportunity by turning the original Conan stories into adventures. Conan and the Tower of the Elephant is the first (and so far only) in the series, being based on the acclaimed short story The Tower of the Elephant.
The key idea in turning the story into an adventure is that the tower (where the action takes place) in the adventure should be exactly as it was encountered by Conan in the story. Therefore, the assumption is made that, for whatever reason, Conan never got around to tackling the tower. So the tower’s inhabitants remain to be encountered and the fate of the tower is in the hands of the PCs. (The unspoken time period for Conan the RPG is at the beginning of Conan’s reign as king of Aquilonia, so several years have passed since the time when the story would have been set. Very little has changed about the tower in that time.)
As in the story, the plot of the adventure involves the PCs breaking into the impregnable Tower of the Elephant, home of the evil priest Yara. (The basic premise is that they are breaking in to steal the fabled gem the Heart of the Elephant, though other plots are suggested, such as rescuing a friend held captive by Yara.) The adventure therefore consists for the most part of a description of the tower and its grounds. However, the adventure also includes a prologue of sorts where the PCs can acquire some green lotus powder (good against the lions in the tower’s gardens) and meet an NPC ally, Vanku of Arenjun, who also intends to tackle the tower. This is a nice addition. Not only does it provide an extra chapter, easing the adventure towards the assault on the tower, but it also ties the adventure closer to the story. Vanku is the son of Taurus of Nemedia, who accompanied Conan in this attempt on the tower in the story, thus Vanku fills the role in the adventure played by Taurus in the original story. The acquisition of the lotus powder also recalls Taurus’ account of how he came to have lotus powder.
When Conan tackled the tower, he saw only about half of it, specifically, the gardens, the roof, Yag-kosha’s chamber and Yara’s lotus den. The adventure fleshes out these areas and details the rest of the tower, including the basement and ground floor, occupied by the tower’s guards, a floor given over a temple to Zath and two floors for Yara’s studies and laboratories. The tower has eight stories, including the basement and the roof. All in all it is well put together as a magician/priest’s tower, with wonders and dangers to be encountered on every level, and does a decent job of filling in the blanks in the story. However, none of the additions are even fractionally as interesting, surprising or original as Yag-kosha.
While the most obvious course for the adventure is for the PCs to follow that taken by Conan, by going through the roof, stumbling upon Yag-kosha, slaying Yara and fleeing as the tower falls, the adventure could unfold in other ways. An interesting aspect is the fact that the tower could as easily be entered from below as through the roof, which could change completely the order in which things are encountered – most significantly, Yara could be encountered before Yag-kosha, giving a very different story. However, the adventure doesn’t satisfactorily explore the alternative courses and possible outcomes. Alternative endings are acknowledged (such as the PCs taking over the tower), but no alternative denouements are offered.
Despite the fact that the course of the adventure is quite flexible, the tower is presented strictly linearly, from the bottom of the tower to the top. As this is the reverse of the default path, the peculiarity arises that events are described out of their most likely order. Specifically, Yara and the effect on him of the Heart of the Elephant is presented before it is described how the PCs might acquire the Heart from Yag-kosha’s chamber on the level above. It might have been useful if the tower was described in general terms, before the room-by-room description, so that they GM can see what directions the adventure might take.
Visually, the adventure is nice enough, with the standard Conan layout and page borders (though oddly the border on odd-numbered pages is printed at a lower resolution than those on even-numbered pages). It is printed in black and white with several small illustrations, none of which particularly help illustrate anything in the adventure, and simple, clear maps. There is only one notable error in the book: the room numbers 3:2 and 3:3 should be transposed on the map (a small mistake, but it had me confused for quite a while).
Overall it is a decent enough adventure. It does a good job of bringing the original story to life, but unfortunately it doesn’t stretch that material. While it is not necessary for the GM to have read the original story, the adventure is all but spoilt for any players who have read it.
=
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha's once was Yogah and lived on the green Yag, a planet at the edge of the Universe. He and other of his race fought a was against the Kings of Yag but were defeated. So they had to leave their home planet and voyaged in the cosmos thanks to their wings. They arrived to the Earth when still the dinosaurs were and man was still not. Unfortunately, on the Earth they lost their wings.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - They first lived in the jungles of the East and had to defend themselves from the wild animals that populated that lands. Then they retired aside and observed man rising from the caverns and his cities' growth, such as Valusia and Commoria and other realms. They also saw the oceans swallowing Atlantis and the survivors building new cities. During these long years the rest of his race died off, until only one of them remained: Yag-Kosha.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha was venerated as a god in the jungles of Khitai. Then Yara arrived, knowing the dark magic arts. First he sat at Yag-Kosha's feet, learning his wisdom and knowledge, but one day, the sorcerer revealed his evil intentions and enslaved Yag-Kosha with his sorcery.(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Yara brought Yag-Kosha in Arenjun and obliged Yag-Kosha to create a tower for him. Using his powers Yag-Kosha raised the Tower of the Elephant in just one night, and Yag-Kosha used it as his house.(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - 300 years passed while Yara continued to learn magic from Yag-Kosha, torturing him with the fire and the wheel. Yag-Kosha was chained in the Tower, blinded and his arms and legs broken.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4) - One night, Conan the Cimmerian climbed the Tower of the Elephant looking for the Heart of the Elephant, the most precious gem of all the Yara's treasure, and reached the room where Yag-Kosha's was imprisoned. There he was moved to pity by Yag-Kosha who told his history to the barbarian. Yag-Kosha felt the blood on Conan's body and knew of the two men he had killed, Taurus, on the top of the Tower, and the Kothian in the tavern. Yag-Kosha said that the third death would achieve the magic of his liberation. Then the ancient being asked to Conan to free him using his last spell: of the Blood and the Gem. He asked Conan to kill him and to take his heart and to squeeze its blood on the purple gem: the Heart of the Elephant. Reluctantly Conan did so. While he was leaving the room he felt that in Yag-Kosha's body something was happening, but he had to bring the gem to Yara. In his Ebony room Conan completed the spell pronouncing the last words.
Yara, stuporous from the yellow lotus effects, awakened from his sleep and grabbed the purple-red gem. Yara 's body started to shrink in size. The sorcerer tried to run away from the Heart, but an invisible magnetic force held him close. Yara turned back and climbed on the top of the Heart and soon started to sink into the Heart of the Elephant. In that wide purple sea, Yag-Kosha arrived flying above Yara, no more crippled, no more blind. The evil sorcerer tried to run away, but Yag-Kosha pursued him like a winged avenger. Then the Heart of the Elephant exploded in thousands of shimmering lights. Conan ran away from the Tower just in time to save himself from the Tower crumbling in the purple sunrise, shimmering in pieces as the Heart did before.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomans, Barry Smith and Sal Buscema. Re-told by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.The story was re-told years later in Savage Sword of Conan#24. Roy Thomas decided so because this was his favorite Conan's story and because SSoC#24 had more pages and it could better describe the original Howard's novel. Some particulars were different but the history basically remains the same of CB#4.B.W. Smith's art and CB#4 was more colored,and appeared to more suitable to an age undreamed of,where as SSoC#24 B/W version by Buscema/Alcala:was closer to Howards original story
The Heart of the Elephant was a sphere in CB#4, but was instead was a big jewel in SSoC#24.
Clarifications:
Yag-Kosha has no known connections to
Yagg the Slayer, attacked Thor and Loki during "Trial of the Gods", @ Journey Into Mystery I#116
Yagotha, turned key to the gate of the "Elder Gods", unleashed blizzard when his priest was slain, until forced to close gate by man wielding shield of Valka, @ [Kull the Conqueror III#4]
Yog of the Hyborian era, worshipped as king of demons by Zuagir, @ [Savage Sword of Conan#188]
Yog Sotath, demon, @ Savage Sword of Conan#152
Yog-Sokot, demon invoked by Grim Reaper and Lilith, @ [Morbius#1]
anyone else with a similar name.
The Heart of the Elephant has no known connections to
any other Heart or mystical gem with a similar name.
Conan takes the Heart of the ElephantThe Heart of the Elephant
The Heart o the Elephant was a big purple-red globe (or gem) with mystic powers. It is unknown if it was imbued with eldritch powers by Yag-Kosha, by Yara or by someone other.
It is rather sure that Yara used the Heart to transform a Prince into a small black spider. It is also possible that the giant black spider guardian in the room of the treasure at the top of the Tower of the Elephant was another man transformed by Yara using the Heart.
The Heart was considered by Conan and Taurus the most precious thing in the Tower, although the Tower walls were covered by jewels and there was a room full of gold and precious stones.
When Conan began performing the Spell of the Blood and the Gem, he squeezed the blood from Yag-Kosha's heart onto the Heart of the Elephant, and the Gem absorbed it like a sponge. Moments later, Conan watched while the Heart captured Yara's attention, reduced his size and finally absorbed him inside it. At the end of the spell, the Heart became like a purple sea were Yag-Kosha could easily fly to pursue his torturer until the gem exploded in a thousand of shimmering pieces.Comic adaptions differ as how deed is done.In the original Marvel adaption of the Tower of the Elephant in issue #4,Conan simply thrust his sword into Yag Kosha's chest,through his heart and huge,sperical gem transforms from green to blood red.The comic code would allow Conan to preform his deed as Howard desribed,making more fanciful as presented in a magical sword and sorcery world,than buchery as the original shart story presented it.In both the later adaption in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan#24 and later still with the Dark Horse Comic version,Conan cuts out Yag Kosha's heart and dripping the blood over it.
--Conan the Barbarian I#4 (Conan the Barbarian I#4, Savage Sword of Conan#24
Images:
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p15, pan1
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p13, pan4/5/6
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p13, pan8
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p17, pan3
Other appearances: Savage Sword of Conan#24 (1977) {Edizione Italiana: Conan La Spada Selvaggia#13 Comic Art (novembre 1987)}
The creature, named Yag-kosha, is a blind, tortured prisoner of the sorcerer Yara.Yag Kosha and a few others led a revelation against the kings of Yag and lost,similar to Lucifers Fall from Heaven.
Real Name: Yogah of Yag
Identity/Class: Alien (Yag), magic user (Distant Past through Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Former prisoner, god, space voyager, rebel.
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Conan the Barbarian;
formerly Yara, worshippers in Khitai
Enemies: Yara;formerly the Kings of Yag
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: The Tower of the Elephant in Arenjun, Zamora;
formerly Khitai, formerly the pre-Cataclysmic Era;
Earth in the distant past;
formerly Yag (planet at the edge of the Universe).
First Appearance: "The Tower of the Elephant". Originally published: Weird Tales, March 1933;
(adapted by Marvel) Conan the Barbarian I#4 (April, 1971) {Edizione Italiana: Albi dei Super-Eroi#17 Editoriale Corno}
Powers/Abilities: It is unknown if Yag-Kosha's powers derived from his alien physiology or from magic learned in some way. He had a long life measurable in eons. His race could survive in outer space. They could fly, more quickly in outer space than within an atmosphere. His powers let him build the Tower of the Elephant in just one night. He could understand what people-race Conan belonged to only touching him with his trunk. His psychic powers included telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and postcognition. He knew how to use the Heart of the Elephant, and he was able to revive into it after being killed.
Yag-Kosha, the pacifist alien exile from the distant constellation of Yag.
Biographical sketch
Yag-Kosha describes his life in The Tower of the Elephant. Long before the dawn of man, and before even the Hyborian age began on Earth, a conflict raged on the far-distant world of Yag. The noble and peaceful people retreated into exile across the stars, coming at last to Earth. Here they hid in the deep jungles, living simple lives of hunter-gatherers, and not interfering with the evolution and history of mankind. However, as time went by, more and more of the people died, and at last only Yag-Kosha remained. Deep in the jungles of Khitai, he adopted a tribe of humans, teaching them the ways of civilization and being worshipped as a god. Then one day Yag-Kosha met Yara. Yara was a student of lore and sorcery, and had come to Yag-Kosha to learn from the wise and knowledgeable alien. Yag-Kosha made an effort to teach Yara humility and morality, but Yara was interested in only power. He betrayed his mentor, confining him and torturing him until he could draw more secrets of sorcery from the peaceful exile. Back in the west, he tortured Yag-Kosha and made him a magical slave, forcing him to construct the Elephant Tower and perform other deeds. In this time, over hundreds of years, he withered from torture and confinement, and knew only suffering. By the time of the events of "the Tower of the Elephant," the poor creature was blind and nearly helpless. He convinced Conan to slay him as part of a final spell which gave him revenge over the evil Yara, and in doing so, was reincarnated as Yogah of Yag. He destroyed the Elephant Tower, and flew away to parts unknown.
Physical appearance
Yag-Kosha is of the alien species known as Yag. He is vaguely humanoid in form, having eyes, hands, legs, and a mouth capable of speech. His skin is leathery grey, like an elephant, and his head bears many features similar to elephants, such as tusks, large ears, and a trunk. Many of the Yag appear to have wings that allow interstellar flight, but in landing on Earth these wings were burned off in our thick atmoshere. By the time of "The Tower of the Elephant," his confinement has left him withered and atrophied, with stick-thin limbs he cannot move. His body is marked with scars and burns from his many years of torture and torment.
Traits and skills
Yag-Kosha is a scholar, with knowledge of an unbelievable amount of lore. His sorcerous powers are incredible, being able to create the wonderous Elephant Tower in a single night. Though he is far too moral a being to use them himself, Yag-Kosha has acquired a number of dark secrets and spells in his life, which Yara forced him to divulge after betraying him.Yag-Kosha was able to fly through space using his vast wings, but they were burned off in Earth's atmosphere.
Stories featuring
The Tower of the Elephant
See also
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha's once was Yogah and lived on the green Yag, a planet at the edge of the Universe. He and other of his race fought a was against the Kings of Yag but were defeated. So they had to leave their home planet and voyaged in the cosmos thanks to their wings. They arrived to the Earth when still the dinosaurs were and man was still not. Unfortunately, on the Earth they lost their wings.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - They first lived in the jungles of the East and had to defend themselves from the wild animals that populated that lands. Then they retired aside and observed man rising from the caverns and his cities' growth, such as Valusia and Commoria and other realms. They also saw the oceans swallowing Atlantis and the survivors building new cities. During these long years the rest of his race died off, until only one of them remained: Yag-Kosha.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha was venerated as a god in the jungles of Khitai. Then Yara arrived, knowing the dark magic arts. First he sat at Yag-Kosha's feet, learning his wisdom and knowledge, but one day, the sorcerer revealed his evil intentions and enslaved Yag-Kosha with his sorcery.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Yara brought Yag-Kosha in Arenjun and obliged Yag-Kosha to create a tower for him. Using his powers Yag-Kosha raised the Tower of the Elephant in just one night, and Yag-Kosha used it as his house.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - 300 years passed while Yara continued to learn magic from Yag-Kosha, torturing him with the fire and the wheel. Yag-Kosha was chained in the Tower, blinded and his arms and legs broken.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4) - One night, Conan the Cimmerian climbed the Tower of the Elephant looking for the Heart of the Elephant, the most precious gem of all the Yara's treasure, and reached the room where Yag-Kosha's was imprisoned. There he was moved to pity by Yag-Kosha who told his history to the barbarian. Yag-Kosha felt the blood on Conan's body and knew of the two men he had killed, Taurus, on the top of the Tower, and the Kothian in the tavern. Yag-Kosha said that the third death would achieve the magic of his liberation. Then the ancient being asked to Conan to free him using his last spell: of the Blood and the Gem. He asked Conan to kill him and to take his heart and to squeeze its blood on the purple gem: the Heart of the Elephant. Reluctantly Conan did so. While he was leaving the room he felt that in Yag-Kosha's body something was happening, but he had to bring the gem to Yara. In his Ebony room Conan completed the spell pronouncing the last words.
Yara, stuporous from the yellow lotus effects, awakened from his sleep and grabbed the purple-red gem. Yara 's body started to shrink in size. The sorcerer tried to run away from the Heart, but an invisible magnetic force held him close. Yara turned back and climbed on the top of the Heart and soon started to sink into the Heart of the Elephant. In that wide purple sea, Yag-Kosha arrived flying above Yara, no more crippled, no more blind. The evil sorcerer tried to run away, but Yag-Kosha pursued him like a winged avenger. Then the Heart of the Elephant exploded in thousands of shimmering lights. Conan ran away from the Tower just in time to save himself from the Tower crumbling in the purple sunrise, shimmering in pieces as the Heart did before.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomans, Barry Smith and Sal Buscema. Re-told by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.
The story was re-told years later in Savage Sword of Conan#24. Roy Thomas decided so because this was his favorite Conan's story and because SSoC#24 had more pages and it could better describe the original Howard's novel. Some particulars were different but the history basically remains the same of CB#4.
Although I love B.W. Smith's art and CB#4 was colored, I still prefer the SSoC#24 B/W version by Buscema/Alcala: a masterpiece!
The Heart of the Elephant was a sphere in CB#4, but was instead was a big jewel in SSoC#24.
Clarifications:
Yag-Kosha has no known connections to
Yagg the Slayer, attacked Thor and Loki during "Trial of the Gods", @ Journey Into Mystery I#116
Yagotha, turned key to the gate of the "Elder Gods", unleashed blizzard when his priest was slain, until forced to close gate by man wielding shield of Valka, @ [Kull the Conqueror III#4]
Yog of the Hyborian era, worshipped as king of demons by Zuagir, @ [Savage Sword of Conan#188]
Yog Sotath, demon, @ Savage Sword of Conan#152
Yog-Sokot, demon invoked by Grim Reaper and Lilith, @ [Morbius#1]
anyone else with a similar name.
The Heart of the Elephant has no known connections to
any other Heart or mystical gem with a similar name.
Conan takes the Heart of the ElephantThe Heart of the Elephant
The Heart o the Elephant was a big purple-red globe (or gem) with mystic powers. It is unknown if it was imbued with eldritch powers by Yag-Kosha, by Yara or by someone other.
It is rather sure that Yara used the Heart to transform a Prince into a small black spider. It is also possible that the giant black spider guardian in the room of the treasure at the top of the Tower of the Elephant was another man transformed by Yara using the Heart.
The Heart was considered by Conan and Taurus the most precious thing in the Tower, although the Tower walls were covered by jewels and there was a room full of gold and precious stones.
When Conan began performing the Spell of the Blood and the Gem, he squeezed the blood from Yag-Kosha's heart onto the Heart of the Elephant, and the Gem absorbed it like a sponge. Moments later, Conan watched while the Heart captured Yara's attention, reduced his size and finally absorbed him inside it. At the end of the spell, the Heart became like a purple sea were Yag-Kosha could easily fly to pursue his torturer until the gem exploded in a thousand of shimmering pieces.Comic adaptions differ as how deed is done.In the original Marvel adaption of the Tower of the Elephant in issue #4,Conan simply thrust his sword into Yag Kosha's chest,through his heart and huge,sperical gem transforms from green to blood red.The comic code would allow Conan to preform his deed as Howard desribed,making more fanciful as presented in a magical sword and sorcery world,than buchery as the original shart story presented it.In both the later adaption in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan#24 and later still with the Dark Horse Comic version,Conan cuts out Yag Kosha's heart and dripping the blood over it.
--Conan the Barbarian I#4 (Conan the Barbarian I#4, Savage Sword of Conan#24
Images:
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p15, pan1
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p13, pan4/5/6
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p13, pan8
Conan the Barbarian I#4, p17, pan3
Other appearances: Savage Sword of Conan#24 (1977) {Edizione Italiana: Conan La Spada Selvaggia#13 Comic Art (novembre 1987)}
The creature, named Yag-kosha, is a blind, tortured prisoner of the sorcerer Yara.Yag Kosha and a few others led a revelation against the kings of Yag and lost,similar to Lucifers Fall from Heaven.
Real Name: Yogah of Yag
Identity/Class: Alien (Yag), magic user (Distant Past through Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Former prisoner, god, space voyager, rebel.
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Conan the Barbarian;
formerly Yara, worshippers in Khitai
Enemies: Yara;formerly the Kings of Yag
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: The Tower of the Elephant in Arenjun, Zamora;
formerly Khitai, formerly the pre-Cataclysmic Era;
Earth in the distant past;
formerly Yag (planet at the edge of the Universe).
First Appearance: "The Tower of the Elephant". Originally published: Weird Tales, March 1933;
(adapted by Marvel) Conan the Barbarian I#4 (April, 1971) {Edizione Italiana: Albi dei Super-Eroi#17 Editoriale Corno}
Powers/Abilities: It is unknown if Yag-Kosha's powers derived from his alien physiology or from magic learned in some way. He had a long life measurable in eons. His race could survive in outer space. They could fly, more quickly in outer space than within an atmosphere. His powers let him build the Tower of the Elephant in just one night. He could understand what people-race Conan belonged to only touching him with his trunk. His psychic powers included telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and postcognition. He knew how to use the Heart of the Elephant, and he was able to revive into it after being killed.
Yag-Kosha, the pacifist alien exile from the distant constellation of Yag.
Biographical sketch
Yag-Kosha describes his life in The Tower of the Elephant. Long before the dawn of man, and before even the Hyborian age began on Earth, a conflict raged on the far-distant world of Yag. The noble and peaceful people retreated into exile across the stars, coming at last to Earth. Here they hid in the deep jungles, living simple lives of hunter-gatherers, and not interfering with the evolution and history of mankind. However, as time went by, more and more of the people died, and at last only Yag-Kosha remained. Deep in the jungles of Khitai, he adopted a tribe of humans, teaching them the ways of civilization and being worshipped as a god. Then one day Yag-Kosha met Yara. Yara was a student of lore and sorcery, and had come to Yag-Kosha to learn from the wise and knowledgeable alien. Yag-Kosha made an effort to teach Yara humility and morality, but Yara was interested in only power. He betrayed his mentor, confining him and torturing him until he could draw more secrets of sorcery from the peaceful exile. Back in the west, he tortured Yag-Kosha and made him a magical slave, forcing him to construct the Elephant Tower and perform other deeds. In this time, over hundreds of years, he withered from torture and confinement, and knew only suffering. By the time of the events of "the Tower of the Elephant," the poor creature was blind and nearly helpless. He convinced Conan to slay him as part of a final spell which gave him revenge over the evil Yara, and in doing so, was reincarnated as Yogah of Yag. He destroyed the Elephant Tower, and flew away to parts unknown.
Physical appearance
Yag-Kosha is of the alien species known as Yag. He is vaguely humanoid in form, having eyes, hands, legs, and a mouth capable of speech. His skin is leathery grey, like an elephant, and his head bears many features similar to elephants, such as tusks, large ears, and a trunk. Many of the Yag appear to have wings that allow interstellar flight, but in landing on Earth these wings were burned off in our thick atmoshere. By the time of "The Tower of the Elephant," his confinement has left him withered and atrophied, with stick-thin limbs he cannot move. His body is marked with scars and burns from his many years of torture and torment.
Traits and skills
Yag-Kosha is a scholar, with knowledge of an unbelievable amount of lore. His sorcerous powers are incredible, being able to create the wonderous Elephant Tower in a single night. Though he is far too moral a being to use them himself, Yag-Kosha has acquired a number of dark secrets and spells in his life, which Yara forced him to divulge after betraying him.Yag-Kosha was able to fly through space using his vast wings, but they were burned off in Earth's atmosphere.
Stories featuring
The Tower of the Elephant
See also
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha's once was Yogah and lived on the green Yag, a planet at the edge of the Universe. He and other of his race fought a was against the Kings of Yag but were defeated. So they had to leave their home planet and voyaged in the cosmos thanks to their wings. They arrived to the Earth when still the dinosaurs were and man was still not. Unfortunately, on the Earth they lost their wings.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - They first lived in the jungles of the East and had to defend themselves from the wild animals that populated that lands. Then they retired aside and observed man rising from the caverns and his cities' growth, such as Valusia and Commoria and other realms. They also saw the oceans swallowing Atlantis and the survivors building new cities. During these long years the rest of his race died off, until only one of them remained: Yag-Kosha.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb)) - Yag-Kosha was venerated as a god in the jungles of Khitai. Then Yara arrived, knowing the dark magic arts. First he sat at Yag-Kosha's feet, learning his wisdom and knowledge, but one day, the sorcerer revealed his evil intentions and enslaved Yag-Kosha with his sorcery.(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Yara brought Yag-Kosha in Arenjun and obliged Yag-Kosha to create a tower for him. Using his powers Yag-Kosha raised the Tower of the Elephant in just one night, and Yag-Kosha used it as his house.(Conan the Barbarian I#4 (fb) - BTS) - 300 years passed while Yara continued to learn magic from Yag-Kosha, torturing him with the fire and the wheel. Yag-Kosha was chained in the Tower, blinded and his arms and legs broken.
(Conan the Barbarian I#4) - One night, Conan the Cimmerian climbed the Tower of the Elephant looking for the Heart of the Elephant, the most precious gem of all the Yara's treasure, and reached the room where Yag-Kosha's was imprisoned. There he was moved to pity by Yag-Kosha who told his history to the barbarian. Yag-Kosha felt the blood on Conan's body and knew of the two men he had killed, Taurus, on the top of the Tower, and the Kothian in the tavern. Yag-Kosha said that the third death would achieve the magic of his liberation. Then the ancient being asked to Conan to free him using his last spell: of the Blood and the Gem. He asked Conan to kill him and to take his heart and to squeeze its blood on the purple gem: the Heart of the Elephant. Reluctantly Conan did so. While he was leaving the room he felt that in Yag-Kosha's body something was happening, but he had to bring the gem to Yara. In his Ebony room Conan completed the spell pronouncing the last words.
Yara, stuporous from the yellow lotus effects, awakened from his sleep and grabbed the purple-red gem. Yara 's body started to shrink in size. The sorcerer tried to run away from the Heart, but an invisible magnetic force held him close. Yara turned back and climbed on the top of the Heart and soon started to sink into the Heart of the Elephant. In that wide purple sea, Yag-Kosha arrived flying above Yara, no more crippled, no more blind. The evil sorcerer tried to run away, but Yag-Kosha pursued him like a winged avenger. Then the Heart of the Elephant exploded in thousands of shimmering lights. Conan ran away from the Tower just in time to save himself from the Tower crumbling in the purple sunrise, shimmering in pieces as the Heart did before.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomans, Barry Smith and Sal Buscema. Re-told by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.The story was re-told years later in Savage Sword of Conan#24. Roy Thomas decided so because this was his favorite Conan's story and because SSoC#24 had more pages and it could better describe the original Howard's novel. Some particulars were different but the history basically remains the same of CB#4.B.W. Smith's art and CB#4 was more colored,and appeared to more suitable to an age undreamed of,where as SSoC#24 B/W version by Buscema/Alcala:was closer to Howards original story
The Heart of the Elephant was a sphere in CB#4, but was instead was a big jewel in SSoC#24.
Clarifications:
Yag-Kosha has no known connections to
Yagg the Slayer, attacked Thor and Loki during "Trial of the Gods", @ Journey Into Mystery I#116
Yagotha, turned key to the gate of the "Elder Gods", unleashed blizzard when his priest was slain, until forced to close gate by man wielding shield of Valka, @ [Kull the Conqueror III#4]
Yog of the Hyborian era, worshipped as king of demons by Zuagir, @ [Savage Sword of Conan#188]
Yog Sotath, demon, @ Savage Sword of Conan#152
Yog-Sokot, demon invoked by Grim Reaper and Lilith, @ [Morbius#1]
anyone else with a similar name.
The Heart of the Elephant has no known connections to
any other Heart or mystical gem with a similar name.
Conan takes the Heart of the ElephantThe Heart of the Elephant
The Heart o the Elephant was a big purple-red globe (or gem) with mystic powers. It is unknown if it was imbued with eldritch powers by Yag-Kosha, by Yara or by someone other.
It is rather sure that Yara used the Heart to transform a Prince into a small black spider. It is also possible that the giant black spider guardian in the room of the treasure at the top of the Tower of the Elephant was another man transformed by Yara using the Heart.
The Heart was considered by Conan and Taurus the most precious thing in the Tower, although the Tower walls were covered by jewels and there was a room full of gold and precious stones.
When Conan began performing the Spell of the Blood and the Gem, he squeezed the blood from Yag-Kosha's heart onto the Heart of the Elephant, and the Gem absorbed it like a sponge. Moments later, Conan watched while the Heart captured Yara's attention, reduced his size and finally absorbed him inside it. At the end of the spell, the Heart became like a purple sea were Yag-Kosha could easily fly to pursue his torturer until the gem exploded in a thousand of shimmering pieces.Comic adaptions differ as how deed is done.In the original Marvel adaption of the Tower of the Elephant in issue #4,Conan simply thrust his sword into Yag Kosha's chest,through his heart and huge,sperical gem transforms from green to blood red.The comic code would allow Conan to preform his deed as Howard desribed,making more fanciful as presented in a magical sword and sorcery world,than buchery as the original shart story presented it.In both the later adaption in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan#24 and later still with the Dark Horse Comic version,Conan cuts out Yag Kosha's heart and dripping the blood over it.
--Conan the Barbarian I#4 (Conan the Barbarian I#4, Savage Sword of Conan#24
