History
The legendary Cult of the Leopard was a "demonic" cult dwelling in an island in unmapped waters, during the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, circa 18,500 BC. Both island and cult were known in tales and legends. Their isle was the seat of the castle of Dom Vinsala, a tyrannical merchant who had enslaved the local villagers. Demontur, a werewolf seeking death through mercenary job, came to the isle. He realized that the Leopard-Cult worshippers might possess the power he needed, but they scorned him as one who kept them enslaved.
Returning from a campaign at sea against the Lemurian pirates, Kull and his forces were stranded on the island, and was informed by the slave-scholar Kuthulos about the Cult of the Leopard. Later that day, Brule led a small scouting party of Black Legionnaries, but was himself wounded in an attack of the Leopard Cult's warriors, but was saved by the arrival of Demontur who slew the Leopard-Men, before he presented the Valusians to Dom Vinsala, his host.
After Demontur, in beast form, slaughtered two locals, the villagers blamed Dom Vinsala, who accused the Leopard-Men in turn, and the village leader was imprisoned by Vinsala. Unrest quickly escalated as the Leopard-Cult was stirring the villagers to violence. After Demontur turned in the castle and attacked Vinsala's daughter Marcina, Vinsala accused once more the Leopard-Cult, despite Kull denying it.
The conflict soon escalated, as the Leopard-Cult rallied villagers toward revolution. Led by the Leopard-Men, the villagers surrounded Vinsala's castle, burned his ships, and demanded the return of their leader, to what Vinsala answered by executing a captive villager and throwing his corpse out of the castle, into the revolted crowd. Kull, now convinced of Vinsala's madness and resolve, armed his troop to force Vinsala to surrender. Vinsala, well decided to mutilate the village leader until they retreated was attacked by Kull's forces, as well as by Demontur, who slaughtered Vinsala and threw his corpse down into the crowd, putting an end to the fighting.[1]
Later mentions of "leopard cults" were made during the Modern Age, including the "leopard cults" mentioned by John Grimlan (cults involved in black magic and considered by Grimlan to be among the "dregs of the unknown", along with the Voodoo rituals),[2] and the Leopard Cult that served Fu Manchu and were gathered along other groups in the Order of the Golden Dawn.[3]
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Notes
- The leopard cult was created by Robert E. Howard in the story "Wolfshead"[4] (Weird Tales; April, 1926),[5] a non-Kull story freely adapted by Marvel Comics in Kull the Conqueror #8 (May, 1973), the original Marvel story written by editor Roy Thomas, the script by Len Wein, and the art by Marie and John Severin.
- Robert E. Howard also mentioned "black leopard cults" in his story "Dig Me No Grave" (Weird Tales; February, 1937),[6] adapted in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #1 (October, 1972), written by Roy Thomas and penciled by Gil Kane.