Conan is exploring the Black River in Gunderland when he hears the screams of a woman being savagely beaten by a group of hooded men who seem intent on kidnapping her baby, Conan chases and kills the men, but when he returns with the swaddled infant, the mother is dead. The sounds of choking lead him to a hanged man, barely alive, and Conan cuts him down. His name is Eral, and he and his sister were returning the baby to its father up the river while the monks of Yaba Nutchi intend to sacrifice the child to the river monster Dratha. In return for a large reward, Conan agrees to help Eral deliver the child and they take Eral's raft. The journey down the river is eventful, as Dratha sends tentacle-like vines to pull them into the water, and unleashes tidal waves, fog, and whirlpools, but the