My first impression upon reading The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard was that Conan is the classic example of a hero starting at the lowest of low, and then doing great things despite this low status. Conan began the story as nothing more than a drunken barbarian seeking to gain wealth when he gains word of a magical gem hidden away in the Tower of the Elephant. Once he reached the Elephant tower and encountered Yag-Kosha who explains that Yara is evil and must be defeated by Conan. Conan listens to Yag-Kosha and defeats Yara by drawing him into the gem. Conan is left at the end alone, staring at the ruins of the tower he was just in, questioning the reality and majesty of the events that had just transpired around him.
The mood
The mood