Conan and his friends are on their way to the city of Messantia. They come to a strange city where they try to rescue a beatiful girl who has been snatched by a bat-thing and taken to a high tower. As Conan bests the bat-thing, the city suddenly turns to dust. Tara and Yusuf tells Conan of their encounter with the founder of the city, the deformed Mad Jakk. The city was a magical construct that took on a life of its own and ensnared adventures in order to create a population. When the city could not defeat Conan, it self-destructed and Mad Jakk chose to follow his city into oblivion.