Zenobia (pic to the left is a McFarlane Toys Conan Series Two) has a very strange relation with Age of Conan, it's timeline, NPC and even developers themselves.
Zenobia is no were to be seen in game and as far as I know only 3 NPCs mention her: Pallantides, Conan and Countess Albiona.
Albiona only mentions special jewelry that Conan gave Zenobia. Conan, when asked about it, will simply say that "Zenobia is not here, man" and gets defensive about it (what are you? Jealous?)
A real gold to be mined comes from Pallantides dialogue.
"Ah, now there's a wonder. She was a Seraglio girl who caught the king's eye after helping him escape the Iron Tower. She's beautiful beyond words, almost the match of the perfect Countess Albiona. She's heavy with child right now. As my blade guards the king, it guards the queen as well".
First of all it establishes two truths about Zenobia: she is already married to the Conan and she is pregnant. This is a great indicator about when exactly Age of Conan is taking place.
The last Conan story The Hour of The Dragon ends with Conan naming his ransom for Tarascus life:
"Very well." The king smiled as at an exceedingly pleasant memory."She shall be your ransom, and naught else. I will come to Belverusfor her as I promised. She was a slave in Nemedia, but I will make herqueen of Aquilonia!"
- REH, The Hour of The Dragon
So between The Hour of The Dragon ending and Age of Conan king Conan went to Belverus (capital of Nemedia), took Zenobia back with him to Aquilonia, made her queen and pretty much... "gave her one".
The whole dialogue gets weirder: Pallantides says that Zenobia "was a Seraglio girl".
Seraglio is a harem. But why is it spelled with a capital letter in the middle of a sentence? Its almost like the writer thought that Seraglio was a person. REH didn't capitalize the first letter of that word and I didn't find any other sources that would do so.
"There is a girl in your seraglio named Zenobia."
- REH, The Hour of The Dragon
The biggest blunder is Pallantides saying that Zenobia "caught the king's eye after helping him escape the Iron Tower" and that she is "almost the match of the perfect Countess Albiona". That is a straight lore fail on Funcoms part (I am not aware of similar lore mistake in the whole game).
No one helped Conan escape the Iron Tower, in fact it was Conan who broke into Iron Tower to free Countess Albiona.
"In an instant Conan had drawn the massive bolt that barred the door--too heavy for one ordinary man to have manipulated--and called hastilyto Albiona, who ran staggering to him. Catching her up unceremoniouslywith one arm, he bore her through the door and into the outerdarkness.
They had come into a narrow alley, black as pitch, walled by the sideof the Tower on one hand, and the sheer stone back of a row ofbuildings on the other. Conan, hurrying through the darkness asswiftly as he dared, felt the latter wall for doors or windows, butfound none"
- REH, The Hour of The Dragon
But Zenobia indeed helped Conan to escape when he was a prisoner in a dungeon in a Belverus.
"Who are you?" demanded the king belligerently, struggling to asitting position in spite of his chains.
"Men call me Xaltotun," was the reply, in a strong, golden voice.
"What place is this?" the Cimmerian next demanded.
"A chamber in the palace of King Tarascus, in Belverus."
- REH, The Hour of The Dragon
"It is no mockery!" The girl was trembling violently. Her braceletsand breast-plates clinked against the bars she grasped. "I swear byMitra! I stole the keys from the black jailers. They are the keepersof the pits, and each bears a key which will open only one set oflocks. I made them drunk. The one whose head you broke was carriedaway to a leech, and I could not get his key. But the others I stole.Oh, please do not loiter! Beyond these dungeons lie the pits which arethe doors to Hell."
Somewhat impressed, Conan tried the keys dubiously, expecting to meetonly failure and a burst of mocking laughter. But he was galvanized todiscover that one, indeed, loosed him of his shackles, fitting notonly the lock that held them to the ring, but the locks on his limbsas well. A few seconds later he stood upright, exulting fiercely inhis comparative freedom. A quick stride carried him to the grille, andhis fingers closed about a bar and the slender wrist that was pressedagainst it, imprisoning the owner, who lifted her face bravely to hisfierce gaze.
"Who are you, girl?" he demanded. "Why do you do this?"
"I am only Zenobia," she murmured, with a catch of breathlessness, asif in fright; "only a girl of the king's seraglio."
- REH, The Hour of The Dragon
I have always wondered if Conan's and Pallantides dialogues were parts of some old plot for future content so I asked former Game Director Joel Bylos about it:
You can check whole conversation here. Of course Joel is super knowledgeable about REH and his writings so me catching him on getting something wrong would be as rare as Funcom writers getting the lore mixed up. Which, in case of Zenobia, seems like there is an ongoing curse. So my dear Zenobia, you have been pregnant for a like 7 years now? Either have the baby or don't, make up your mind sweetie.
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