History Literature / TheGodInTheBowl

* EvilIsNotAToy: Do not open the bowl

* GoodCopBadCop: Demetrius and Dionus, to a large extent. Dionus threatens Conan with beatings and execution every chance he gets; Demetrius mostly just wants Conan's cooperation in figuring out what actually happened.

A nightwatchman comes upon a corpse while making his rounds, only to run into Conan in the process of attempting a heist. With Conan as the prime suspect, the city guards and lead investigator are called in, but Conan proclaims he is innocent of the murder. Nobody is buying Conan's story, except for the curator, who claims that the murderer was not a man, and is still in the building.

The curator reveals that the murder victim had recently received a strange sealed bowl from Stygia, and, hoping to find riches inside, had sent the curator away with plans to open it. Conan and the guards find the bowl, its seals broken, and with a mysterious insignia carved on its base. Suddenly, the guards start reporting seeing a strange moving figure out of the corner of their eyes, moving throughout the building, but always gone before they can investigate.

Out of nowhere, a young noble arrives, who Conan claims hired him for the burglary in the first place. The nobleman denies it and Conan is sentenced to death. Conan readies to fight, but the curator comes running in, terrified; he has found the murderer. As the guards go to investigate, Conan springs into action, slaying the nobleman and several of his captors. The guards return, only to run past Conan, driven mad by what they've found. Conan cautiously enters the room, only to be struck dumb with terror at what he finds. He slays the creature, only to turn and run as far away from the city as he can, having almost been driven mad by what he saw.

* AnimalisticAbomination: Whatever the hell was in that bowl. It's implied to look like a giant snake, but something about it was so horrifying that it prompts a panicked Conan to flee the city immediately after killing it. [[spoiler:The fact that it's referred to as a god adds more fuel to the fire.]]
** [[spoiler:Later retreads of the story, particularly in the comics, reveal it to be a Manserpent; a splinter branch of the Serpentmen race from the days of Atlantis with the body of a giant snake and the head of a [[{{Medusa}} human with writhing serpents for hair]]. Such creatures are worshipped as demigods or agents of Set in distant Stygia, and will appear in a number of stories either set there or featuring Thoth-Amon.]]

* FakingAndEntering: Kallian opens the bowl to look for valuables, since he can claim the burglar took them.
* FlatEarthAtheist: Dionus

* HeroAntagonist: The guards led by Dionus and Demetrius are just people doing their job, trying to stop a burglary and figure out who or ''what'' is responsible for the murders. Demetrius in particular is very fair and even-handed in his dealings with Conan, in that while he knows the Cimmerian is a thief, he deduces he couldn't have possibly killed anyone.

** Conan himself is not exactly at his best here. The story takes place very early in his adventuring life, and he is even more hot-tempered than usual. He inflicts some very cruel damage to some of the other characters, most of whom are just honest cops doing their jobs.
** The large guard that enjoys tormenting suspects and terrorizing them a little too much. He once [[EyeScream tore out the eye]] of a theif's ssweetheart to get her to tell on him. He gets some justice when Conan tears ''his'' eye out.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Demetrius generally comes across as one.
* TheScapegoat: Dionus plans this for Conan. Arus as well since the prince was going to have Conan steal some jewels and the plan was to blame Arus who likely would have been killed. Arus getting his mouth smashed doesn't seem so bad off.

** The large guard that enjoys tormenting suspects and terrorizing them a little too much. He once tore out the sweetheart of a thief and he gets some justice when Conan tears his eye out.

* BullyingADragon: ZigZagged. Dionus think the best way to go about the investigation is to ''[[TooDumbToLive beat a confession out of Conan]]'', while Demetrius knows antagonizing a wild Cimmerian is a fatally bad idea.

* GenreShift: The bulk of the story reads less like a typical SwordAndSorcery adventure and more like a police procedural or ''Series/CSI: Nemedia''. Really shows Robert E. Howard's genius as a writer: he can plunk his BarbarianHero into a detective story -- as a suspect, no less! -- and still make a compelling yarn of it.

* TheScapegoat: Dionus plans this for Conan

The curator reveals that the murder victim had recently received a strange sealed bowl from Stygia, and, hoping to find riches inside, had sent the curator away with plans to open it. Conan and the guards find the bowl, it's seals broken, and with a mysterious insignia carved on it's base. Suddenly the guards start reporting seeing a strange moving figure out of the corner of their eyes, moving throughout the building, but always gone before they can investigate.

Out of nowhere, a young noble arrives, who Conan claims hired him for the burglary in the first place. The nobleman denies it and Conan is sentenced to death. Conan readies to fight, but the curator comes running in, terrified; he has found the murderer. As the guards go to investigate, Conan springs into action, slaying the nobleman and several of his captors. The guards return, only to run past Conan, driven mad by what they've found. Conan cautiously enters the room, only to be struck dumb with terror at what he finds. He slays the creature, only to turn and run as far away from the city as he can, having almost been driven made by what he saw.

Out of nowhere, a young noble arrives, who Conan claims hired him for the burglary in the first place. The nobleman denies it and Conan is sentenced to death. Conan readies to fight, but the curator comes running in, terrified; he has found the murderer. As the guards go to investigate, Conan springs into action, slaying the nobleman and several of his captors. The guards return, only to run past Conan, driven mad by what they've found in younger room.

"The God in the Bowl" is a Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. Written in 1932 or 1933, but not published. A version edited by Creator/LSpragueDeCamp was first published in September, 1952. The original version was first published in 1975.

"The God in the Bowl" is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. Written in 1932 or 1933, but not published. A version edited by Creator/LSpragueDeCamp was first published in September, 1952. The original version was first published in 1975.

* TheCorpseStopsHere: Being found by the body doesn't help Conan

"The God in the Bowl" is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by RobertEHoward. Written in 1932 or 1933, but not published. A version edited by Creator/LSpragueDeCamp was first published in September, 1952. The original version was first published in 1975.

"The God in the Bowl" is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by RobertEHoward. Written in 1932 or 1933, but not published. A version edited by L. Sprague de Camp was first published in September, 1952. The original version was first published in 1975.