Drowtales/Characters/Val'Sarghress Clan: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted

Inline

Latest revision as of 14:07, 25 February 2023

Return to the main character index here.

The Clan as a whole

Background Information:

A clan of mercenaries united around Quain'tana as a figurehead. They came to Val status with the help of the Sullisin'rune and replaced the Val'Egan'dar clan ^[1].

Animal Motifs (The wolf, which are larger than regular wolves and required Rosof to search the Surface for wolves of the right size.)
Asskicking Equals Authority (Pretty much how individuals move up in rank)
The Clan (Due to them recruiting from all over Drow society the Sarghress clan is one of the largest in Chel.)
Cycle of Revenge (the main cause of Dysfunction Junction in the Val house. Kel'noz even directly says that Ariel shouldn't be burdened with the grudges they've carried for centuries)
Gambit Pileup (there are hints that the multiple interests making up the Sarghress are a weakness that could cause the clan to implode. Lulianne, a former Dutan'vir clearly has her own plans to bring back her old clan and now thanks to Khaless' possession is also a spy for Snadhya'rune; as do Sker, Minka and Mikilu as seen in a pre-timeskip cameo. Sil'lice is also hiding within the Sarghress, and while its not known what her exact plans are, she still doesn't exactly follow the Sarghress party line. Then there's the fact that sleeper Nidraa'chal agents are in the clan as they are in apparently every major clan and even Kel'noz, Quain'tana's own son and the person she seems to trust most, has his own agenda. The only thing holding these people together is their mutual dislike of the Vel'Sharen, and it's uncertain if that'll be enough.)
Generation Xerox (both deconstructed and invoked, since the fact that the same patterns are repeated across generations is not a good thing, and Quain'tana's specific desire to have an heir who's a Generation Xerox of her has caused many more problems than it has solved)
The Hecate Sisters (the female members of the family can be seen as variations on this, and the trope is also played with in regards to their roles, which may not be as clear cut as they appear at first. The cover of the first chapter even poses them like this)
- Ariel: Child (in the first arc) / Maiden (in the second)
- Mel'arnach: Witch (in appearance) Mother (in reality, especially after the timeskip)
- Syphile: Maiden (when younger) Crone / Witch (in her role as Ariel's guardian)
- Quain'tana: Mother (officially to Ariel) Crone / Matriarch (as the official leader of the clan)
Horse of a Different Color (the Sarghress use wolves as their primary mounts, and Rosof's Wolfriders in particular have a special bond with their animals)
Private Military Contractors (This was what they used to do, and even after becoming a Val clan they kept it up until they gained a lot of territory in the Nidraa'chal War aftermath)
Proud Warrior Race Guy (Their clan philosophy)
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits (The entire clan is mostly made up of commoners and exiles with no real ties between one another except for uniting around Quain'tana as a figurehead leader.)
Royally Screwed-Up (the main Val house. Holy crap the main Val house. Any family where the mother feels justified in breaking the arms of her child is this and then some.)
The Three Faces of Adam (as a Spear Counterpart to The Hecate Sisters, the main male members also fall into this trope, especially since Kel'noz and Rosof both have a mutual descendant in Sarnel.)
- Sarnel: The Hunter
- Kel'noz: The Lord
- Rosof: The Prophet / Mentor, which is emphasized even more by him actually looking old.
Wolf Versus Dragon (The Sarghress are currently seen as the bitterest rivals to the Sharen for power.)
Zerg Rush (one tactic of the "War Meat" squadron, which is made up of non-fae, is to charge in and take out demons and nether summoners because they have no auras to be possessed by, allowing the regular troops to come in later and avoid being tainted)

The Main Val House

Ariel Val'Sarghress

The main character, daughter of Quain'tana (or so she thinks) and heir of the Sarghress clan.

Amazonian Beauty (after the timeskip. Just check out her bicep in a shower scene.)
Anti-Hero (swings back and forth, but seems to have settled into a Type IV, or possibly even a Type III after the timeskip)
Badass Adorable (as the story goes on she increasingly becomes this)
Berserk Button (Monster!)
- Also, if you're Mel, don't badmouth Quain in front of her.
Black Mage
Blade on a Stick (her primary weapon after the timeskip, likely taking inspiration from Vaelia)
Blow You Away (besides her shapeshifting, she also has an affinity for air sorcery)
Book Dumb (shows signs of this, including not knowing her clan's history outside of the romanticized versions she read though this makes sense considering Syphile's lackluster teaching and the fact that she only spent about 5 years at Orthorbbae, and much of the time she did spend there was spent trying to avoid being attacked again, and she's explicitly said to have not gotten very good grades as a result)
Break the Cutie (pretty much since day 1)
Broken Bird (showed signs of it, but seems to have mostly avoided becoming this trope after the timeskip)
Character Development (much of the story has focused on her developing from a little kid with no clue how the outside world works into a Little Miss Badass with her own crew of badasses at her back. Which is exactly what Quain'tana wanted to happen.)
Cheerful Child (originally, though she's not completely broken yet)
Chronic Pet Killer (has been Flanderized into this by fans even though she's only had three, but she is still 1-2 on their survival since Melodia the feral isn't dead yet and survived the timeskip)
Creepy Child (has her moments, and one forumgoer's response to this page was to post a picture of Samara from The Ring)
Dramatic Irony (for most of the story the audience and several other characters have known that her mother is really Mel'arnach, not Quain'tana, but she doesn't yet know. This makes a lot of her interactions with both Mel and Quain that much more interesting.)
- As of chapter 32, the cat's out of the bag. Not that she believes it, at least at first.
Face Palm (after the timeskip she seems to have picked up some habits from Kel'noz)
Freak-Out (did not react well to Faen's disappearance at all)
Holy Child (Chirinide and the rest of the Kyorl'solenurn seem to think she's this and call her the "Daughter of the Holy Eye" (read: Zhor, an aware), but Ariel is skeptical, to say the least)
I Will Find You (to Faen, and succeeded)
Kid Hero (by Drow standards, since she's physically only around 7 before the timeskip)
Little Miss Badass (not at all surprising given who her mother is. This statement could apply to both Mel'arnach and Quain'tana)
Locked Out of the Loop (until chapter 32, she was the only member of her immediate family that didn't know that her mother is really Mel'arnach, not Quain'tana)
Multicolored Hair (can do it herself using magic)
Naive Newcomer (for the first arc of the story, but this seems to have largely disappeared after the timeskip)
One Head Taller (after the timeskip, with Faen, which is an inversion of when they were younger. Receives an amusing lampshading in one extra page)
Parental Abandonment (she does not have a good track record with parental figures, who are either abusive, distant or imprisoned, with the exception of Vaelia who's now been Put on a Bus, albeit by Ariel herself and now we can add Diva'ratrika as a possible mother figure, leading to jokes that Ariel has a 3/5 chance of stabbing Diva in the back at some point)
Plucky Girl (and how)
Rapunzel Hair (even more so after the timeskip)
Romantic Two-Girl Friendship (with Faen, and Faen at least would like more emphasis on the "romance" and less on the "friendship", but so far Ariel's feelings on the matter aren't known. After the timeskip it's also implied that the two of them already share a bed)
She's All Grown Up (after the 15 year timeskip Ariel is now 30, or 15 physically, and shot up like a weed. Unsurprising, given her family.)
She's Got Legs (much of her height seems to be because of her very long legs)
Statuesque Stunner (after the timeskip, she's head and shoulders above her entire peer group which is entirely unsurprising given her family and the fact that she is a second generation drow on her father's side)
Strong Family Resemblance (after the timeskip, her resemblance to her female relatives becomes really apparent, especially to Mel'arnach and Kalki)
Sweet Polly Oliver (while at Orthorbbae. It takes Snadhya'rune about five years to catch on, but her classmates figure it out within the first week, and are only prevented from spreading the news by not being able to leave. Kel'noz also clues in the other headmasters early on.)
Tomboy and Girly Girl (with Faen, and it helps that she spent about five years disguised as a boy in Orthorbbae. Her tomboyishness, along with Sorane being in the same class helped disguise her true gender.)
Vitriolic Best Buds (with Diva after the timeskip, confirmed by Word of God)
Voluntary Shapeshifting (her signature ability, though she's warned that if she's not careful she could accidentally put a vital organ in the wrong place)
Well Done Daughter Girl (even though her relationship with Quain'tana can be rocky, she desperately wants her approval, and in Chapter 30 finally seems to get it)
Yank the Dog's Chain (right after she finally gets acknowledged as Quain'tana's heir Faen disappears, sending her into a deep depression)

Syphile Val'Sarghress

Ariel's adopted older sister, who herself was abused by Quain'tana and inflicts the same treatment on Ariel. There is little love lost between the two.

Abusive Parents (foster parent, but still)
Babysitter From Hell (when the girl you've raised says that her greatest wish is to kill you, you're this)
Blue Eyes (concept art from an unused sidestory that eventually became the "Syphile's Great Deed" contest story shows that she originally had these before becoming tainted. There's also a piece done by the official artist that shows her with purple eyes, but that probably isn't canon at this point.)
Calling the Old Man Out (possibly her only Crowning Moment of Awesome)
Dying Moment of Awesome (Opinion varies, but at the very least her words had a lasting impact on Quain'tana)
Epic Fail (her entire life possibly excluding her death, see above)
Fail O'Suckyname (Word of God is that the origin of her name, back when the story was an RP, is the word syphilis.)
It's All About Me (the "Syphile's Great Deed" story shows that even before she got tainted she had some of this attitude, and talks to herself about she's the only legitimate Val'Sarghress left since everyone else is either disgraced, adopated, a male or a golem, which just makes the end result of that story all the more ironic since she single-handedly removes herself from the running.)
Maternally Challenged (much like Quain'tana, but not played for laughs at all. She thinks leaving Ariel with a dictionary to study constitutes "teaching" her.)
Moral Event Horizon (In-Universe, the brutal and completely unnecessary way she killed Fuzzy in front of Ariel after locking them in her room for a week without the means for Fuzzy to even to the bathroom properly seems to be the moment when Ariel decided she needed to die, and for the audience it made a lot of people lose sympathy for her)
Neck Lift (at one point Quain'tana physically lifts her off the ground)
Secret Keeper (Subverted. Syphile knew that Ariel's parents were really Mel'arnach and Zhor, not Quain'tana and she was expected to keep this secret. Once she helped Chrys'tel escape, however, practically the first thing she did was spill the secret to her, and by extension to Zala'ess, and Zala has more than taken advantage of this knowledge to try and shame Quain'tana)
Troubled Abuser (Kel'noz at the very least seems to think so, but he notably doesn't excuse Syphile for any of her treatment of Ariel even knowing this)
The Un-Reveal (Readers never learn who her biological parents were. All we know is that her parents were two of Quain'tana's strongest followers which is partly why she is viewed as a disappointment; because she did not live up to the standards met by her biological parents.)
Used to Be a Sweet Kid (subverted, since she appears to have always been something of a brat according to one side story, where she alienates one of her friends, who was trying to convince her that tainting herself is a dumb idea, with a low blow about her fallen clan and pretty much turns her only ally against her)

Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress

Ariel's older sister (or not) who was disowned and imprisoned within the Sarghress fortress and is seen as a dangerous psychopath.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg (she's twice prostrated herself before Quain'tana, but in both cases Quain has seen through it and can tell it's an act. The second one ends particularly brutally.)
Broken Bird (With good reason. According to Kel'noz she "lost her mind a long time ago" which is only half-right)
Dark Mistress (she may wind up playing this role to Snadhya'rune as indicated here)
Did You Just Have Tea With Cthulhu (Ariel and Mel's first interactions are this, since Ariel has been falsely told by Syphile that Mel is a monster)
Did You Just Romance Cthulhu? (she had a child with Zhor, who was originally a dark elf but is now a giant spider)
- This could also apply to her relationship with Snadhya'rune, who's the closest thing the comic has to a Big Bad. The other Sarghress certainly feel this way about their relationship.
Establishing Character Moment (this entire scene)
Face Palm (yet more evidence that this runs in the Sarghress family)
Fallen Princess (she explains to Lulianne that at one point she had her own servants, slaves and even people who call themselves her knights, and was mostly left on her own, but later on an incident (implied to be Sarv'swati's attack on Quain) made Quain take this all away and imprison her for refusing to follow Quain's plan)
Homosexual Reproduction (she's Kalki's "father" and Snadhya'rune is the "mother", not that Mel knew it)
Hammerspace Hair (while not in her hair per se, in chapter 1 she uses her extremely long hair, which falls almost to the floor, to hide a knife that she has hidden on her clothing.)
Hot Mom (even more so after the timeskip, where she has two sons and another daughter on the way)
Hypocrite (Some of her criticisms of Quain'tana, especially here ring a little hollow when you remember that she's sleeping with the leader of the Nidraa'chal, and Snadhya'rune has pretty much done all that and worse, especially the "obedient drones" comment considering that Snadhya has pretty much literally made obedient drones.)
- Relatedly, the fact that she's disappointed in Ariel for still idolizing Quain also has an aspect of this considering that there are some subtle indicators that Mel on some level understands exactly how bad Snadhya actually is, but is choosing to ignore it.
- And she claims that she wants Ariel to be able to choose how to live her life, something Mel was denied, and yet when Ariel does make the choice for herself, Mel doesn't like it and tries to stop her. Kel'noz is also well aware of this and explains this to her.
Love Makes You Dumb ( towards Snadhya'rune. Less on the "dumb" aspect and more on the "naive" aspect however. The fanbase feels that Mel'arnach is so in love that she is blinded towards Snadhya'rune's faults and have begun to think the less of her for it.)
Love Martyr (see above, for Snadhya'rune)
Ariel I Am Your Mother (though Ariel didn't know until Chapter 32)
- And from Kalki, Mel'arnach, You Are My Father which is even harder to explain.
Ironic Echo (her first reaction to being told she was Kalki's father was to ask if it was a joke. Later, the first words out of Ariel's mouth when told that Mel is her mother is to ask effectively the same thing.)
It Got Worse (largely the course her life has taken. She didn't get along with Quain'tana practically from the beginning, but when Laele'aell was born it seems some of the heat was taken off Mel, but when Laele died things only got worse again, and to top it off the child she was waiting for for years was taken away before she could even name her, and she wasn't even allowed to see said child for 10 years, and when she did said child was terrified of her, and didn't believe her when told of her true heritage)
- It seems to have gotten slightly better for her after the timeskip, since she seems to have more freedom in the Sullisin'rune dome, apparently sees Ariel on a somewhat regular basis and has had two more children with a third on the way. While not ideal, especially since it's implied the children are being raised elsewhere, she seems much happier, though her relationship with Ariel is clearly still somewhat rocky.
Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold
Ms. Fanservice
Mysterious Parent (Word of God has refused to answer any questions about who her and Kel'noz's father was, which has led fans to speculate that he's important, and also Mel herself qualifies for both Kalki and Ariel)
Not Distracted by the Sexy (despite spending most of her time in what's essentially lingerie hardly anyone seems to notice. This can be chalked up due to drow culture and the fact that most characters are probably just used to her)
Obfuscating Stupidity (possibly in regards to exactly what Snadhya'rune admitting to be a Nidraa'chal founder actually means since Mel's body language when asked if she'd ever heard of the Nidraa'chal is defensive, and when directly asked if she wants to join Snadhya in her "business" her response is to evade the question.)
Obfuscating Insanity (and it's heavily implied that she either made up the story about her killing men and being a rapist to make people leave her alone, or adopted some slander about her for the same purposes. Notably, Lulianne sees right through it from the get-go)
Psycho Lesbian (it's an act)
Rape and Switch (A debatable example. While it is heavily implied that Quain'tana allowed her to be sexually abused by her male soldiers, and Mel says that the abuse she suffered made her hate men, she also says that Quain was never able to accept that she preferred women, implying that she was always more attracted to them, and drow have an Everyone Is Bi society anyway)
Shipper on Deck (after the timeskip, ships Ariel/Faen)
Statuesque Stunner (along with her mother she's one of the tallest characters in the comic, and is even taller than Snadhya'rune, best seen here. Word of God is that she and Quain'tana are as tall as their Dark Elf ancestors would have been.)
You Have to Believe Me (Needless to say, Ariel has problems believing Mel is her mother)
- Possibly averted after the timeskip, where the fact that Mel refers to Ariel as "my daughter" when talking to Faen implies that Ariel has acknowledged Mel, at least in private, though when Mel (again) starts insulting Quain'tana Ariel storms out, indicating that they're not 100% on good terms yet.

Kel'noz Val'Sarghress

Ariel's older brother (really her uncle), Mel'arnach's twin brother, Quain'tana's only son and headmaster of the Davya tower at Orthorbbae.

Big Brother Mentor
Conflicting Loyalty (several types, between Quain'tana and Mel, Quain'tana and Ariel, and his duties at Orthorbbae versus his clan)
Face Palm (he's done this several times, and given how his family acts, who can blame him? When he did this in reaction to Ariel rejecting Mel as being her mother it was generally agreed that he spoke for the fans)
I Did What I Had to Do (what he says about his more questionable actions, but who knows if it's true)
Manipulative Bastard
Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught (his policy, and that of Orthorbbae)
Only Sane Man (compared to the rest of his family he definitely comes across as this)
Parental Substitute (to Ariel, to the point that when Mel starts insulting him (again) Ariel explicitly says that he raised her)
True Neutral (as a Headmaster at Orthorbbae he's supposed to be this, but who knows what he really is )
Twin Desynch (there's a heavy implication that he and Mel went through this after he chose Quain'tana over her)

Laele'aell Val'Sarghress

The former heir of the Sarghress and leader of the Fallen Legion, sometime before Ariel's birth Laelle'aell was possessed by a demon, and though technically still alive (with the addition of some golem parts) is mainly used as a weapon now. She has had very little screen time, and some information about her is taken from a Daydream story about the early Sarghress/Sullisin'rune alliance, so its canocity is uncertainly.

The Ace (she was everything Quain'tana wanted in an heir, which made her fall that much more devastating)
Empty Shell (one early character description called her a "container of souls")
Follow in My Footsteps (she built up the Fallen Legion on her own, just as Quain built up her first army)
Has Two Mommies (Ash'waren is implied to have had a significant role in her upbringing)
Mismatched Eyes (if the Daydream story is canon, she originally had one green eye and one purple eye reflecting her Sullisin'rune heritage)
Mysterious Protector (of Ariel after the Fallen Legion become her bodyguards)
Ninja
Noodle Incident (it's unknown exactly what happened to her besides a few basic facts, like a demon being involved and a failed exorcism)
Pet the Dog / Morality Pet (a subtle one for Quaintana. Its pretty clear that Laele'aell was always the favourite daughter but in this scene, Quain'tana explicitly gives Ariel Syphile's lands instead of Laele'aell's, despite the latter's condition and despite the fact that Syphile had not been formally disinherited yet. Quain'tana even expresses hope that Laele'aell may eventually recover from her tainting as an explanation for her decision.)
Person of Mass Destruction (see here)
Prophet Eyes
The Spartan Way (she had to climb her way up to the top, just like Quain'tana, and essentially build her own army from the ground up)
The Voiceless (it's unknown if she's even capable of speaking anymore)

Quain'tana Val'Sarghress

Originally a street rat, Quain'tana turned the Sarghress clan from a ragtag bunch of mercenaries into one of the most powerful militaries in the world setting. Not a very good parent.

Abusive Parents (Offenses listed on the main trope page)
Amazonian Beauty / Brawn Hilda (In the past she was definitely more of the former, but is now more of the latter.)
Badass
Bifauxnen (a Running Gag in the comic and fandom is how she can easily be mistaken for male given her body-builder like physique, such as here, and the creator specified in one side comic how she was to be drawn, but depending on the artist this is or isn't followed)
Braids of Barbarism (starts wearing her hair this way in chapter 31)
Broken Pedestal (Ariel found out the hard way that Quain'tana is not the kind mother she imagined)
Character Development (it's still early, but there are indications that she might be starting to soften, especially this)
Designated Hero (in universe and out)
Drowning My Sorrows (Did this after being rendered barren)
Face Palm (as seen above, her family seems to have gotten this from her)
Heir Club for Men (Quain is willing do anything -- and we do mean anything -- to make sure she has an heir)
Heroic BSOD (For a given definition of "heroism" anyway. As seen in a flashback, she did not take being rendered barren thanks to a battle wound inflicted by Sarv'swati very well. It's one of the reasons she leans so hard -- to put it lightly -- on Mel to bear an heir)
Hypocrite (see also Not So Different, and a big theme in the comic is that despite publicly being against the Sharen Quain is willing to do many of the same things in order to gain power, especially when it comes to her Control Freak tendencies over her family, which Mel lampshades)
I Want Grandkids (To Mel, in the most horrific way possible)
Jerkass Has a Point (has several moment of this, adding to the Grey and Grey Morality of the setting since while she's not a particularly nice person, she's, well, right about a bunch of things)
- Most of her criticisms of the Sharen are shown to be pretty spot-on, especially when it comes to how the Sharen underestimate the people they rule over.
- Pulling Ariel out of Orthorbbae when her true gender is discovered by Snadhya'rune is this, especially since we find out that Snadhya explicitly planned to bring Ariel in to control her.
- Her reaction to Mel in chapter 32, where she says she doesn't trust her due to Mel having threatened to kill her not two months ago, made doubly so by the fact that the audience knows that Snadhya'rune put Mel up to it and that the whole thing is a lie. Even so, she lost a lot of sympathy when she proceeded to restrain Mel and break her arms with a hammer.
- Also, her anger at Syphile tainting herself becomes this in hindsight with the revelation that many if not most of Snadhya's seeds are intentionally faulty and designed to kill the user within 50 years, and it's very likely that Syphile was carrying one of those seeds.
Karma Houdini (Not unlike much of the cast.)
Large Ham (if there was ever any doubt... And earlier, her verbal spar with Zala left toothmarks all over the set)
Law of Inverse Fertility (got hit by this hard)
Maternally Challenged (one interpretation of her bad relationships with her children is that she's not so much intentionally cruel as much as having no idea how to properly treat them, and among her children Laele'aell seems to have been treated best)
Memetic Badass (In-universe anyways.)
Not So Different (with Diva'ratrika. Both are obsessed with continuing their bloodlines and pressure their daughters to have children, both are Control Freaks, both of their children wind up hating them, and they both share a descendant in Kalki)
Parental Abandonment (cause and victim)
Pet the Dog (her relationship with Ash'waren, and the fact that when one of her dev'esses, Sang, was tortured by the Sharen and lost all of her limbs Quain'tana got her all new golem limbs and had her re-trained. One golem limb, much less four, are expensive in the DT world. The case can also be made for Moral Myopia in terms of her relationships with her children. She gets another one in chapter 30 where she finally tells Ariel that she makes her proud, with the slight pause suggesting that she's not really sure how to even say it.)
Reluctant Ruler (she really doesn't want to be a figurehead ruler, and even says that if she manages to defeat the Sharen she'd leave the role of Empress to Ash'waren and go adventuring again)
Satisfied Street Rat (deconstructed, since we see exactly how messed up a person raised like she was can become)
The Spartan Way (how she seems to view most things, especially child rearing. As for the results, well, see above.)
Tomboy and Girly Girl (tomboy to Ash'waren's girly girl)

Servants and Slaves

Vaelia

Originally a human slave that Ariel fought with in a series of Gladiator Games, Vaelia joined Ariel as her bodyguard even after being freed. Later she joined the Highland Raiders, and appears periodically in short stories at the end of chapters chronicling her adventures.

Androcles' Lion (befriends and saves a fairy she dubs "Chu", who helps her with mana related things)
The Atoner (due to selling out her home village to slavers, due to her fellow male warriors Moving the Goalposts on her)
Badass Normal (especially apparent after she joins the Highland Raiders)
Blade on a Stick
Eloquent in My Native Tongue (despite the difficulty she has with the drow language, her inner monologues show her to be quite thoughtful)
Good Scars, Evil Scars (has several on her face, but in a few people's opinions they make her hotter)
Important Haircut (Inverted in a sense. After being freed, she had hair extensions put in to signify she was no longer a slave.)
I Owe You My Life (to Ariel)
Lady of War
Mama Bear (to Ariel, and she's arguably the best mother figure Ariel has, despite not even being the same species! Ironically, at 18 in the initial arc she's actually only three years older than Ariel herself)
Matron Chaperone (she assigns herself to this role after seeing what Rik tries to do to Ariel, since Ariel doesn't understand the full implications of what he's trying to do)
No Periods, Period (averted quite comically)
Put on a Bus (Ariel arranges for her to join the Highland Raiders on the surface, though a side story of her adventures on the surface focuses on her)
Offhand Groin Attack (don't piss Vaelia off)
Values Dissonance (an in story example, since while the drow see fairies as pests, she sees them as spirits of the Earth)
You No Take Candle (justified, since drow is not her native language, and she gradually improves through the story)
Younger Than They Look (surprisingly, concept art of a post-time jump Vaelia reveals that she's only 18 during the first arc, only three years older than Ariel herself, since she's 33 after the time jump and has two young children, one of whom is a toddler)

Liriel

A perpetually drunk, flighty slave that Ariel acquired with Faen after the latter's powers resulted in the death of Liriel's master. She is also the incomplete fusing of Diva'ratrika and her servant, Ragini, and as of Chapter 23 Diva has taken full control, and for tropes pertaining to her, see below.

The Alcoholic (she has her reasons, mainly suppressing Diva, and being deprived of alcohol allows Diva to fully take control)
Chekhov's Gunman (hello Diva'ratrika)
Cloudcuckoolander (viewed as this by most people, but as Diva takes control more and more of what she says is actually true)
Fusion Dance (the result of this with Diva and Ragini)
Hidden Depths (even if you haven't read the spoilered text, the sheer numbers of spoilers about her had probably tipped you off that she's not what she appears)
Nailed to the Wagon (on account of losing her booze in a dwarf attack, Liriel spends much of the overworld arc in withdrawal and eventually Diva'ratrika breaks through)
Servile Snarker (even before Diva'ratrika awakens she gets away with saying some pretty daring things around Ariel)
Split Personality Takeover
Unusually Uninteresting Sight (the fact that she looks like a Dark Elf is mostly glossed over, though Kyo'nne does wonder about it, granted, while asking if she can buy Liriel. Her hair and skin color change also elicits this reaction from Ariel at first, until Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize that as a shapeshifter herself, it really isn't an unusual sight, and Ariel may in fact wonder why everyone can't do that)
You Kill It, You Bought It (pretty much how she ended up with Ariel, who was there when Faen's powers resulted in the death of her former master)
- Crowning Moment of Funny in the original version. She looks at her old master, looks at Ariel. "Hi New Master!"

Diva

The final result of the fusion of Ragini and Diva'ratrika. For tropes pertaining to Val'Sharess Diva'ratrika, see her entry under Vel'Sharen. After the timeskip, she tutors Kau and Shala and advises Ariel.

Absurdly Youthful Mother (even with the usual parts of this trope pertaining to fae, she takes it one step further by looking the same age as her pre-pubescent granddaughter, to the point of being able to fit into her clothes)
Bookworm (preserves books, much to Ariel's chagrin)
Brought Down to Normal (in a few senses. In Ragini's body she was initially a slave, and while no longer a slave is still essentially a nobody. And her powers, which at one time were capable of bringing down an entire building in one hit, are now very weak compared to before.)
In the Hood
Important Haircut (after she regains control)
King Incognito (justified, since shortly after she "awakens" it's shown that her daughters are using a Body Double, and Diva doesn't really even look like herself anymore since she's significantly younger, and tragically means that she can't tell Sil'lice, the one daughter still loyal to her, that she's still alive)
Parental Substitute (seems to be shaping up to be this for Ariel)
Spanner in the Works
Vitriolic Best Buds (with Ariel after the timeskip)
Walking Spoiler (this character's very existence spoils two major plot points: one, that Diva'ratrika is dead and two, that she cheated death using Ragini as a conduit. Considered a separate character from Liriel and Diva'ratrika for ease of browsing.)
What Did I Do Last Night? (one fan pointed out that after regaining consciousness, she's more or less going through the equivalent of a 15 year hangover, since she remembers very little from the time she separated her aura until she finally took full control)

Tions House

Rosof Tions Sarghress

One of the few male leaders in the worldsetting and Dev'ess of the Tions subhouse, Rosof is the closest thing Quain'tana has to a right hand man and is the leader of the elite Wolfriders. As a result of spending so much time on the surface he is also suffering from mana deprivation and slowly dying.

All Love Is Unrequited (to Quain'tana, via Word of God)
Badass Grandpa (though he may not be especially old by drow standards, he stands out as this trope because he's one of the few that actually looks old)
Cool Old Guy (though most drow men are substantially old, he stands out by actually looking old)
Defeat Means Friendship (after Quain'tana beat him at Machike)
Eye Scream (lost his eye in his duel with Quain'tana)
I Was Quite a Looker (before the mana deprivation set in he was quite handsome, and his descendants aren't bad either)
Reasonable Authority Figure (compared to the bull-headed and rash Quain'tana)
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl (he doesn't even come up to Quain'tana's shoulder in the present day and wasn't much taller before mana deprivation set in)
Token Minority (He's pretty much the only male dev'ess in the entire drow world, but considering that he not only took on Quain'tana and survived, but also managed to make her stop and think even after she'd beaten him and might have just killed him he's one tough S.O.B. Not to mention that he got the Sarghress wolf mounts at the cost of mana deprivation and has been Quain'tana's right hand man for centuries, playing a large part in earning them Val status, so the man has fucking earned it)
Turncoat (albeit Rosof is a more positive take on this trope, but as seen in the Machike takeover side-story, he was originally a member of a female Dark Elf's army, until she was killed by Quain'tana and the latter later defeated him in combat.)
Your Days Are Numbered (due to the mana deprivation he doesn't have much longer to live, and knows it)

Nei'kalsa Tions Sarghress

Rosof's granddaughter and the heir to the Tions. She's also Sarnel's caretaker.

Blue Eyes (of the pale blue variety, shared by Rosof)
The Caretaker (is this to Sarnel)
Good Parents (just compare her interactions with Sarnel with Syphile's interactions with Ariel, it's night and day)
Longest Pregnancy Ever (Word of God is that she is pregnant in this scene, which was published in December of 2007, and while only a few months passed in-story until the end of chapter 32 and the timeskip, she was pregnant for nearly four years of real time. The reason Word of God was needed to show that she's pregnant is because it isn't immediately apparent, and only certain pages are at the right angle to show the baby bump. Fans were actually first clued in that she was pregnant due to the fact that she puts her hand over her stomach several times during the scene.)
Skirt Over Slacks (seems to be her default outfit)

Sarnel Tions Sarghress

Blue Eyes
Distaff Counterpart (in many ways, to Ariel)
Honor Before Reason (was taught that the clan is above all else)
Jackie Robinson Story (the fact that he got promoted to squad leader, and it seems not everyone's happy about it since he's a male)
The Stoic (to the point that you can count the number of times he's smiled on panel on one hand)

Niz'zre House

Sang Niz'zre Sarghress

First appears in Chapter 8, she's Kor'maril's mother and devess of the Niz'zre House. Most of the information on her and the other Dev'esses can be found in the Sarghress Dev'ess podcast.

Artificial Limbs (all four of her limbs were cut off by the Sharen, so she got replacements)
Gray Eyes
Dramatic Irony (it hasn't been addressed in story, but fans have speculated about whether she knows that Kor'maril fathered Sil'lice's twins since it's very likely that Sil'lice herself or one of her descendants was in charge of Sang's torture when she was captured)
Meaningful Name (Sang means "blood" in French)
One Steve Limit (there's also a Sang'oro in the Kyorl)
Pint-Sized Powerhouse (Word of God calls her "small and mean")

Kor'maril Niz'zre Val'Sarghress

Sang's son, he was adopted by Quain'tana in recognition of his deeds.

Badass
Bishonen
The Cavalry (shows up to save Ariel from Jer'kol)
Estrogen Brigade Bait (both In-Universe and out, since he's had at least one mate and has fathered Sil'lice's twins)
Blade Below the Shoulder
Gray Eyes
Lightning Bruiser (as Jer'kol found out the hard way)
Pint-Sized Powerhouse (like his mother, don't let his size fool you, which is what Sil'lice found attractive about him. Additionally, it's actually possible to see that Vaelia is taller than he is, which likely puts him around five foot)

Nori'fu House

Suu'be Nori'fu Sarghress

The Dev'ess of the Nori'fu House and Koil'dorath's mother. She's vocally displeased with the way Quain'tana has been leading the clan.

Berserk Button (she manages to hit Quain's by saying Ariel isn't ready yet)
Braids of Barbarism
Brawn Hilda (even more so than Quain'tana since she has more lines on her face)
Curtains Match the Window (though her hair is likely dyed)
Make It Look Like an Accident (Quain'tana implies and Rosof outright states that Suu'be and Mandroga would either use Ariel for her own purposes or make her have an "accident" to get her out of the way if she was ever given to the Nori'fu to train, this may have also been part of the Berserk Button mentioned above)
The Resenter (to Quain'tana, and to Ariel because she believes she stole Koil'dorath's right as the heir, and because she thinks Quain'tana has gotten soft as a Val. This is visually demonstrated by how scuffed Suu'be's armor is when compared to Quain's.)
Sarcasm Mode (it's hard not to read this into her words here)
The Starscream (implied, and Word of God is she'd try to take over if she thought she could get away with it, and Quain'tana knows this but also realizes that it's too dangerous to get rid of Suu'be)

Mandroga Nori'fu Sarghress

Suu'be's mate and Koil'dorath's father. First appears (chronologically) in the Machike Conquest storyline, and then in Chapter 5.

The Beast Master (during the conquest of Machike he was quite proud of one of his beasts)
The Big Guy
Braids of Barbarism
Curtains Match the Window (formerly had both orange hair and eyes, but now has mainly white hair with some red streaks)
Facial Markings
Servile Snarker (he must be on pretty good terms to get away with calling Quain'tana ruthless to her face, but when he crosses the line she puts him in his place very firmly)

Koil'dorath Nori'fu Val'Sarghress

Suu'be and Mandroga's daughter, Koil'dorath leads the Sarghress Heavy Infantry and was, until Ariel was officially recognized, Quain'tana's heir after Laele'aell's death.

Badass ("a very scary woman, no one messes with her")
The Big Guy
Braids of Barbarism
Brawn Hilda
Conflicting Loyalty (subverted, when she finds out that Ariel's the new heir she doesn't care)
Curtains Match the Window (like her mother she has orange hair and eyes, but her hair also has some red streaks in it, perhaps to show that despite who her mother is she's still loyal to Quain'tana at heart)
Inadequate Inheritor (not because of anything she did herself, but she came with too much Suu'be attached)
Playing with Fire (seen here)
Replacement Sibling (Quain'tana made her the heir after Laele's death to ensure someone would be there if she fell in battle)
The Stoic

Yurunhiir House

Quill'yate Yurunhiir Sarghress

Leader of the Highland Raiders and head of the Yurunhiir House. She's usually out of the fortress and on the surface or hunting for relics.

Authority Equals Asskicking
Badass (fights Koil'dorath to a draw, and according to one observer they were going easy on each other, and later fights off a band of dwarves)
Blood Sisters (with Quain'tana)
Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick (in the podcast about the dev'esses, the author describes her house like this)

She is the Commander of the Highland Raiders, and her house is composed of her own family but also a lot of other troops that come within her groups to visit strange lands and meet strange people and kill them.

Fashionable Asymmetry (half of her hair is dyed black while the other is white, additionally, one of her eyes is glass and pure green)
Green Eyes (both of her eyes, though one is artificial)
Honorary Aunt
Number Two (in one of his podcasts, the creator of the comic states that the Yurunhiir house has a special function within the clan; namely that should something happen to the main Sarghress branch, the Yurunhiir would be the ones to rally the survivors into a new clan)
The Obi-Wan (to Ariel, best seen here where she tries to convince Ariel that Quain'tana's not so bad)
Reasonable Authority Figure (she even agrees to let Vaelia join the Highland Raiders)

Valo

Quill'yate's grandson and a Highland Raider.

The Big Guy (even for a drow he stands head and shoulders above almost everyone)
Blade on a Stick
Canon Immigrant (from the Relic Hunters game, along with several other Highland Raiders)
Player Character (originally, though he's now part of the main story)
Shiny Midnight Black (his hair is actually black, but in some pages it's colored as a very dark blue)

Mae'yukir House

Itan'sha Mae'yukir Sarghress

A former Kyorl'solenurn, she is now the Dev'ess of the Maeyukir House in the Sarghress Clan. She was a former Kyorl who was branded a heretic, tortured and banished. She makes her first appearance in Chapter 8 but has had little screentime since.

Eye Scream (the reason her eyes look the way they do is because the Kyorl said she didn't need them since she'd lost her way from the Goddess)
Facial Markings (on her forehead there's a mark that looks like a line with other, smaller horizontal lines through it representing how the Kyorl thought that her third eye had been closed to the Goddess, and if Abyte is any indication than it was probably carved in with a knife. While Kyo'nne was with the Kyorl she had a similar mark, but hers was with paint)
The Heretic (at some point she came into conflict with the mainline Kyorls, and as a result was tortured and exiled)
Knight Templar (Possibly, judging by how quick she is to jump to conclusions about Quain'tana's new heir, but it is too early to tell.)
Milky White Eyes (Word of God is she can still sort of see, but not well, and mainly sees blurs of color)
Noble Fugitive (after the Kyorl declared her a heretic she ran away to the Sarghress, and thus thinks little of the Kyorl and their ideals. Most other members of the Mae'yukir are either refugees from the Kyorl or survivors of the Dutan'vir.)
The Big Girl (shown to be rather tall for a drowussu female (^[2]) at least in comparison with Lulianne. Best seen in this panel where she seems to stand at level with Suu'be.)
The Skeptic (Taking Suu'be's comments at face value Itan'sha appears to be this in comparison. When Ariel is declared as the new heir, she immediately supposes the Jaal'darya must have had something to do with it; knowing that Quain'tana is barren.)
Token Minority (She's the only drowussu dev'ess seen thus far)
White-Haired Pretty Girl

Lulianne Mae'yukir Sarghress

One of Mel'arnach's guards, Lulianne is a former Dutan'vir.

Because You Were Nice to Me (Mel says this to her as she's escaping)
Compressed Hair (her series of braids actually hides very long hair)
Double Agent (in true drow fashion, Lulianne is spying on Mel and reporting to Quain'tana, but at the same time has her own agenda when it comes to bringing back her old clan and now, thanks to being possessed by Khaless, is also a spy for Snadhya'rune too, meaning that in reality she's more like a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent)
Early-Bird Cameo (her first appearance is in the new chapter 1, but her first chronological appearance happens in chapter 8)
Evil Costume Switch (her wardrobe after the timeskip, due to Khaless' influence, especially in the pants and Cleavage Window)
Grand Theft Me (Word of God confirmed that Khaless' takeover was complete.)
Hair Color Dissonance (her original hair color (^[3]) has been separately described as both pink and brown by different people, while it's much more obviously a pink in her later design.)
Halfbreed (by her own words, fourth generation half blood)
Info Dump (exists pretty much to give characters someone to give these to, which is even lampshaded in story)
Les Yay (not in the main story, but the chibi pages love to put her in these situations and have her play The Comically Serious to Mel)
Letting Her Hair Down (fan consensus is that it makes her even hotter)
Made of Iron (at least if this page is anything to go by, or though it seems that was because Khaless had possessed her.)
My Greatest Failure (was present when the Dutan'vir Ill'haress was killed by her own guardian, who was somehow tainted and set on her)
- It's also implied that leaving the Dutan'vir children behind at their urging to look for information on what happened to their warriors, since the children they liked were either taken by the Kyorl'solenurn or sold to slavers. The fact that Khaless uses Sael's face to throw Lu off also suggests this.)
Noble Fugitive (from the Dutan'vir, and after the timeskip was thrown out of the Sarghress, allegedly for letting Mel escape, though this may just be a cover)
The Plot Reaper (after hearing the truth from Sha'sana, there was pretty much no way that she'd survive, and indeed Khaless' takeover ensures that she won't be telling anyone about what she found out. Word of God even states that "Lulianne is gone but served her purposes")
Purple Eyes (formerly)
Rose-Haired Girl (more a faded pink than is usual of this trope)
Retcon (a minor one, mainly her hair was originally a much darker pink, while her appearance in the new chapter 1 has her with the much lighter hair seen in subsequent chapters)
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains (provides a one-woman version of this trope in her wardrobe before and after the timeskip, thanks to Khaless)
Taking You with Me (says this to Khaless, but Lu survives, albeit possessed by Khaless.)

Abyte Mae'yukir Sarghress

A former Kyorl'solenurn Warden in-training. First appears in Chapter 31, on patrol with Tir'ade.

Ass Shove (she humorously refers to having "a stick up my ass the length of Chel" before she went to the Mae'yukir)
Bifauxnen (her armor, short hair and general build led to a lot of Viewer Gender Confusion before it was clarified in her first appearance where she refers to formerly being a Kyorl Warden, an all female rank, but some were still confused)
Blade on a Stick (her weapon)
Break the Cutie (during the Nidraa'chal War, where she was tainted, and the Warden who was responsible didn't even apologize and carved the heretic mark into her forehead)
The Empath (though in her own words her empathy is pretty weak and not strong enough for her to have gotten training as an Inquisitor)
Facial Markings (like Itan'sha, her forehead bears a heretic mark, which was forcibly carved into her forehead by the very same warden who was responsible for her getting tainted in the first place)
Mythology Gag (the little cartoon wolf holding a letter in its mouth on her satchel was previously on the site's front page as the donation button until it was redesigned)
Plucky Girl (and how! Just read Break the Cutie above and marvel at how she's managed to keep a positive attitude)
Sexy Mentor (to Tir'ade given how blatantly she flirts with him)
Traumatic Haircut (after she was imprisoned for becoming tainted she was shaved bald, and she's kept her hair short in the Sarghress)

Rek'mar Mae'yukir Sarghress

A half-blood Mae'yukir, he first appears at the beginning of Chapter 16, has a crush on Lulianne.

Adorkable (just check out the adorably silly way he asks Lulianne out but all things considered, he'd have been better off if he'd been stood up)
Brick Joke (he finally gets to have that dance with Lulianne)
Death by Sex (averted, since Word of God clarified that he had his aura drained by Lulianne / Khaless, but was otherwise okay)
Halfbreed (he looks much more drowolath than drowussu)
Uncanny Resemblance (looks a lot like Phani'nath Vel'Sharen. The only differences are that Phani'nath is stockier and Rek'mar has longer hair.)

Return to the main character index here.

↑ this info is taken from a Daydream story so may not be entirely canon
↑ drowussu females tend to be shorter than the males, an inversion of the norm with drowolath
↑ see Retcon further down this entry

[1] this info is taken from a Daydream story so may not be entirely canon

[2] rowussu females tend to be shorter than the males, an inversion of the norm with drowolath

[3] see Retcon further down this entry

[1]

[2]

[3]