History Literature / TheDevilInIron

* NeutralFemale: Octavia doesn't even try to help out while Conan is fighting [[spoiler:the giant snake.]]

!!Tropes included

On the island, Conan and Octavia are shocked to find a city that wasn't there the day before, full of hanging tapestries, golden banquet halls, and beautiful sleeping people. Heading for the center of the city, they find its keeper, Khostral Khel, a millennia-old HumanoidAbomination who has just awoken from his long slumber, and who has now [[MindOverMatter brought the]] [[{{Necromancer}} city back]] to it's former glory.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: What Octavia fled.

* EldritchAbomination: Khosatral Khel.

* {{Necromancer}}: Who roused the city.

On the island, Conan and Octavia are shocked to find a city that wasn't there the day before, full of hanging tapestries, golden banquet halls, and beautiful sleeping people. Heading for the center of the city, they find its keeper, Khostral Khel, a millennia-old HumanoidAbomination who has just awoken from his long slumber, and who has now [[MindOverMatter brought the]] [[RealityWarper city back]] to it's former glory.

Trapped and with nowhere to run, Conan and Octavia must contend with a giant serpent, Agha's forces, and the living horror that is [[TitleDrop the devil in iron]].

* DarknessEqualsDeath: Literally. Khosatral's necromancy only fully revives the population of Dagon at night, "which is akin to death," as they've been dead too long to be fully restored to true life. By day, they fall into a deathlike slumber.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The city that appears; what Octavia fled.
* EldritchAbomination: Khosatral Khel, first appearing as an EvilSorcerer and a {{Necromancer}}, turns out to be eldritch and abominable when Conan kills him, reverting from mere HumanoidAbomination to a form so ghastly that it causes ''Conan'' to flee in fear. In fact, he's stated to have come from primordial chaos. And the name of the country he ruled? ''Dagon.''

* {{Golem}}: Khosatral Khel is basically one, an EldritchAbomination who made an iron body for himself because no mortal flesh could properly serve as a vessel for his mighty essence.
* HumanoidAbomination: Khosatral Khel, again, as he has taken a human form. His description is the page-header quote for this very trope.
* HumanSacrifice: In the back story.

* LotusEaterMachine: Conan at first assumes the city is this, due to the drugged, sleepy behaviour of the inhabitants. [[spoiler:The trope is subverted, though; the townspeople act that way because they have been brought back after centuries of death, and Khosatral Khel expends immense amounts of power keeping their mental faculties working.]]

* MadeOfIron: The villain, literally, making him nearly invulnerable, to everything except the dagger.

* SealedEvilInACan: The {{Necromancer}}, until awakened by a fisherman stealing the dagger that was keeping him inert.

* ThisWasHisTrueForm: A rare inversion. While Khosatral was human in his life as an EvilSorcerer, when he dies, he reverts to something so ghastly that it sends Conan himself fleeing in fear.
* ThunderboltIron: Enabled a slave revolt.

* WaitHere: Conan tries this on Octavia, warning her to stay outside a room with a gaunt snake while tries to sneak past it and get the magic knife. She doesn't listen, HilarityEnsues.

* HumanoidAbomination: Khosatral Khel, again, as he has taken a human form. His description is a quote for this very trope!

* LotusEaterMachine: Conan at first assumes the city is this, due to the drugged, sleepy behaviour of the inhabitants. [[spoiler:Subverted: the townspeople act that way because they are brought back after centuries of death, and Khosatral Khel expends immense amounts of power keeping their mental faculties working.]]

On the island, Conan and Octavia are shocked to find a city that wasn't there the day before, full of hanging tapestries, golden banquet halls, and beautiful sleeping people. Heading for the center of the city, they find it's keeper, Khostral Khel, a millennia old HumanoidAbomination who has just awoken from his long slumber, and who has now [[MindOverMatter brought the]] [[RealityWarper city back]] to it's former glory.

* DarknessEqualsDeath: Literally. Khosatral's necromancy only fully revives the population of Dagon at night, "which is akin to death," as they've been dead to long to be fully restored to true life. By day, they fall into a deathlike slumber.

* EldritchAbomination: Khosatral Khel, first appearing as an EvilSorcerer and a {{Necromancer}}, turns out to be this when Conan kills him, reverting to a form so ghastly that it causes Conan to flee in fear. In fact, he's stated to be this, as he came from the primordial chaos. The name of the country he's ruled? Dagon.
** HumanoidAbomination: Khosatral Khel, again, as he has taken a human form. His description is a quote for this very trope!

* RescueSex: Conan is surprised that Octavia rejects this and has to seduce her.

* ThisWasHisTrueForm: A rare inversion. While Khosatral was human in his life as an EvilSorcerer, when he died, he reverted into something so ghastly that it sent Conan himself fleeing in fear.

On the island, Conan and Octavia are shocked to find a city that wasn't there the day before, full of hanging tapestries, golden banquet halls, and beautiful sleeping people. Heading for the center of the city, they find it's keeper, Khostral Khel, a millennia old HumanoidAbomination who has just awoken from his long slumber, who has [[MindOverMatter brought the]] [[RealityWarper city back]] to it's former glory.

* WaitHere: Conan tries this on Octavia, warning her to stay outside a room with a gaunt snake while tries to sneak past it and get the magic knife. She doesn't listen, HilartyEnsues.

* WaitHere: Conan tries this on Octavia.