Hondren

Hondren Fictional Character Shared Universe Story Conan of Venarium Fantasy Type of Appearance: Direct Nationality: Gunderland Religion: Mitraist polytheism Date of Birth: Hyborian Age Cause of Death: Head crushed with stone Occupation: Soldier Hondren was a squat, heavyset Gunderman soldier patrolling occupied Duthil, Cimmeria. He quickly made an ugly name for himself, always roaring and cursing, and cuffing boys out of his path when they did not move fast enough to suit him. His fellow soldiers despised him as well. One day Hondren was hunting in the woods, and encountered Conan. When he accused the Cimmerian youth of scaring off the game, Conan replied that it was Hondren's own noisy, careless movement which had scared off the game. Hondren struck Conan, who replied in kind. The fight immediately escalated into deadly earnestness, until it was clear that it was to the death. Conan picked up a rock from the ground and bashed Hondren's head in. Hondren was the first man Conan ever killed. Conan knew he had to hide the body completely, lest the Aquilonians take 10 hostages from Duthil to be executed by slow torture. He weighted the body with stones and sank it in the stream. Conan confessed the deed to his father Mordec. While the blacksmith congratulated his son for ridding the area of a hated menace, he also knocked him down with a severe punch, to remind Conan never to brag about it, lest Conan's life and nine more be taken as reprisal. The other occupying soldiers were not saddened by Hondren's disappearance (and some agreed that the lout had likely deserved to die), but were required to take notice of it. While there was suspicion that Hondren had been killed by human action, it could not be proven that he had not simply run afoul of a wolf or panther. There was apprehension that Governor Count Stercus would execute hostages even without proof, but this did not happen. Ultimately, Hondren's body was never found, and the matter remained undiscovered at the time of the Cimmerian general uprising, which made the whole matter irrelevant.