In the hybrid desert city of Zamboula, the Cimmerian barbarian Conan seeks a cheap room at the tavern run by Aram Baksh. Warned by a nomad that strangers vanish from the inn, Conan remains skeptical until a night-stalking cannibal slave attacks him in his locked chamber. Conan kills the beast and uncovers the horrifying truth: Aram Baksh lures travelers into a trap and sells them to Darfar cannibals who roast their victims in a pit beyond the palm groves. Meanwhile, a dancing girl named Zabibi flees into the streets after her lover, the young officer Alafdhal, is driven mad by a drug given to him by Totrasmek, the corrupt high priest of Hanuman.
Conan rescues Zabibi from cannibals, and she persuades him to help her infiltrate the sinister shrine of Hanuman to exact vengeance on the priest. Inside the temple, Conan faces the giant Kosalan strangler Baal-pteor, whom he defeats in a brutal test of raw muscle. When they reach Totrasmek, the priest attacks Zabibi with illusory cobras, but Conan slays him with a sword thrust.
Afterward, Zabibi reveals her true identity as Nafertari, the satrap's mistress, and that her lover is actually Jungir Khan, the ruler of Zamboula. Conan revives the satrap with an antidote, but not before subtly stealing a powerful magical ring from his finger. After leaving the palace with a bag of gold, Conan returns to Aram Baksh's tavern, captures the corrupt innkeeper, and hands him over to the waiting cannibals. With the stolen Star of Khorala and his payment secured, Conan rides westward into the open desert, leaving the bloody city behind him.
