"A child of Jhebbal Sag who still visits his sacred groves at times.  A woman of Gwawela slept in a grove holy to Jhebbal Sag.  Her babe was Zogar Sag.  I too am a son of Jhebbal Sag, out of a fire-being from a far realm.  Zogar Sag summoned me out of the Misty Lands.  With incantations and sorcery and his own blood he materialized me in the flesh of his own planet.  We are one, tied together by invisible threads.  His thoughts are my thoughts; if he is struck, I am bruised.  If I am cut, he bleeds."

The Swamp Devil leaves tracks like a bird, burns like a green flame, and speaks with a human voice.  His voice, while human, carries non-human vibrations which make the voice sound eerie. 

He has two forms – one, a glowing column of green flame, and a second, his true materialized form, is a combination of reptilian, human, and bird features.  He is very tall, and there is a very demonic aspect to his face.  He looks, in face, very similar to his half-brother, Zogar Sag.  He has oblique eyes, sharp ears, thin lips, and eyes that are red.  He has a slender torso, which is man-like in shape, with man-like arms.  Long, crane-like legs ended in  splayed, three toed feet like a huge bird.  He has curving, sickle-like talons and is unbelievably quick.

He is a son of Jhebbal Sag.  Jhebbal Sag is an ancient deity back in the time when men and animals spoke the same language.

Via enchantments and sorceries unknown, Zogar Sag linked himself with this Swamp Devil.  The exact reason why he linked himself with his half-brother is unknown, but if either one takes any damage, the other one also takes the damage.  They can communicate via telepathy.

Combat
In order to engage in combat, The Swamp Devil must materialize.  His flames die down, and one can see his true form.

Burn (Ex): The Swamp Devil is surrounded by a nimbus of cold fire, and red hot fire runs through his veins as blood.   The fire causes additional damage to his claw attacks when he is fully materialized and his true form is revealed.  If he is in his more elemental form, then this functions exactly as a fire elemental, except the flames feel cold instead of hot.

Voice Mimicry (Su): The Swamp Devil can imitate any voice that it has heard.

Robert E. Howard's story, "Beyond the Black River," was first published in Weird Tales as a two part serial, beginning in May of 1935 and ending in June 1935.  The story can also be found in the Ace/Lancer paperback "Conan the Warrior"; and the Gnome Press collection "King Conan".  It is also available in the Burkley/Putnam edition, "Red Nails". 

This was the second of Conan's four serial length appearances in Weird Tales.  For a change, the Robert E. Howard story did not make the cover (probably because there wasn't a scantily clad female in distress).  Instead, the magazine featured "A weird Craig Kennedy murder-mystery" by Arthur B. Reeve. 

Of this story, Howard said this, "My latest sales have been... a two-part Conan serial to Weird Tales; no sex in the latter.  I wanted to see if I could write an interesting Conan yarn without sex interest.  I've attempted a new style and setting entirely - abandoned the exotic settings of lost cities, decaying civilizations, golden domes, marble palaces, silk-clad dancing girls,

etc., and thrown my story against a background of forests and rivers, log cabins, frontier outposts, buckskin clad settlers, and painted tribesmen.  Some day I am going to try my hand at a longer yarn of the same style, a serial of four or five parts."  (This probably refers to "The Black Stranger", which he was unable to sell to Weird Tales.)

A lot of people don't care for "Beyond the Black River" because it is such a departure in style, but I think it is an excellent Conan story.  For the first time, Howard was writing a Conan story in a framework which he knew from his own experience, which, in my opinion, gives the story a sense of reality and power that few of the other Conan stories can match. 

Conan has, by this time, become such a super hero that it takes a secondary character so that the reader can relate to the story.  In many ways, Balthus is a reflection of Howard himself, and it can be said that this story is a sort of 'what if Howard had met Conan' tale.  This story seems to generate the most controversy amongst Howard fans.  They either love the story, or they hate it.

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