Conan the Barbarian #82 – “The Sorceress of the Swamp” – Roy Thomas/Howard Chaykin/Ernie Chan
This one starts with Conan heading back to Harakht after his adventures in the lost valley. He’s taking a circuitous route through the swamplands in case some of Hun-ya-Di’s men are waiting along the usual trail. He only knows this territory through rumour, but is aware that a small contingent of Stygians live in the vicinity, lording it over some renegade Kushites they encountered there. Conan runs into one of the Kushites, a very attractive woman, who asks him to help her brother who’s in trouble deeper in the swamp. Conan knows it’s
a trap but goes with her anyway, his curiosity (and recklessness) getting the better of him. His instincts prove correct and he’s jumped by three Kushite warriors. Conan dispatches them quickly, but the girl is long gone so he continues on his way. He soon runs into some Stygians, led by a man named Neth-At, who has one of the Kushites Conan killed slung across his saddle. Neth-At asks Conan to help the Stygians against the Kushites, filling him in on the history of their feud. Both peoples came to the region from elsewhere and have kept a delicate balance, but lately the Kushites have been more aggressive, spurred on by the witch-man Toroa, who has recently joined them. Spurred on by 
Toroa, the Kushites (who may be under his spell or following him of their own accord) want to rid the region of Stygians. Neth-At mentions an alluring woman named Sabia who helps Toroa in his machinations. Conan realizes this is the woman he met, but lies and says he’s never seen her. When they return to the Stygian village, Neth-At prepares to torture a black tribesman who was captured in the swamp. Conan lets the captive know that’s he’s the feared pirate Amra, which intimidates him enough to start talking. The prisoner tells them that Toroa wants to oust all the Stygians from the region and tried to waylay Conan earlier to “put him into the swamp”. Before they can ponder that too much, a signal from outside causes the prisoner to stop speaking. Conan tells Neth-At he will ride to Toroa’s village himself. Conan knows that’s a
stupid move and wonders if Sabia used some kind of sorcery on him earlier, but he ends up going anyway. He reaches the village unopposed and is drawn to a certain hut. But before he can enter, his instinct for self-preservation kicks in and he turns away, fleeing into the jungle. He runs into Sabia again, who tells him he was right to avoid entering the juju hut. When Conan tries to threaten her, he finds himself paralyzed and Sabia tells him that she has indeed ensorcelled him, using some blood she found at the scene of their first encounter. Sabia says she will do the Dance of the Skull later tonight in the hut of Damballah and that she will call Conan to come witness it … and that he will be powerless to resist. Conan takes off, swearing to himself that he’ll resist 
Sabia’s call, but knowing he might not be able to stop himself. This is a pretty good story that’s based on a non-Conan tale by Robert E. Howard called “Black Canaan”. That story took place in relatively modern times and dealt with some kind of black uprising. Naturally, it was pretty racist, even by the standards of the day, so Roy had to tone down that aspect since Conan has never shown himself to care overmuch about skin colour. Roy kept most of the plot but changed the names, and tweaked the circumstances of a bit since Conan is just passing through in this story and has no real vested interest in either side.
Conan the Barbarian #83 – “The Dance of the Skull” – Roy Thomas/Howard Chaykin/Ernie Chan
This one continues immediately from above, with Conan heading through the swamp with Sabia’s words ringing in his ears. He runs into Neth-At, who tells him the black captive escaped the city after hearing a strange howling from the swamps. Conan realizes it was the call of Damballah, compelling the captive to go to Toroa to be punished for betraying him. Conan can hear drums in the distance (although Neth-At doesn’t hear them) and heads deeper into the swamps. Neth-At refuses to abandon him, saying the safety of his village is at stake. They head through the marshes and Neth-At
feels someone—or something—pulling at his feet under the water. They spot Sabia on the far bank and Neth-At fires an arrow at her, but he’s dragged under water and Conan gets a glimpse of some kind of zombie, which disappears before he can hit it. Neth-At’s body is thrown up on shore, torn by some kind of inhuman claws, and Conan finds blood which makes him think Neth-At’s arrow must’ve hit Sabia after all. Conan continues into the depths of the swamp, here he finds Toroa enacting a ritual that transforms people and leaves them under his control. Sabia must complete the ritual by doing the Dance of the Skull, but the arrow wound she took from Neth-At fucks up her rhythm and 
she dies before finishing the dance, which breaks the spell. The Kushites flee into the swamp, leaving Toroa to call on the dark powers to aid him now that he’s alone. Conan confronts the witch-man and kills him, but Toroa’s call is answered and Conan is dragged into the swamp by some reptilian man-serpents, the results of Toroa’s dark magics. He kills them and surfaces, realizing that was the fate Toroa had planned for him. After burning the hut containing Toroa’s latest victim, Conan leaves, vowing to head straight back to Harakt instead of stopping at the Stygian village. This is a good conclusion to the “Black Canaan” adaptation, with a good dose of sorcery mixed into the
usual heroics. Conan is always a little out of his depth when facing magic and he kinda gets lucky here, since he might not have had such an easy time of it if Neth-At’s arrow hadn’t killed Sabia. The god invoked here is Damballah, which comes from the original story and is worshipped by voodoo practitioners in real-life (although he’s not really a malevolent god).