History Literature / XuthalOfTheDusk

* TheFatalist: Thalis. When Thog wants you, he will take you, no sense worrying about it.

* NotSoDifferent: Being [[ReligionOfEvil Stygian]], Thalis is quite blase about Thog eating the inhabitants of Xuthal, asking what difference it makes if a priest offers a sacrifice to the god or if the gods comes to take it in person. Conan and Natala, whose societies don't practice HumanSacrifice, think this is ridiculous.

* ButNotTooBlack: Thalia is explicitly Stygian (proto-Egyptian), Conan describes her features as being Stygian and she confirms she is from Stygia, but she has ''alabaster'' skin.

* DiamondsInTheBuff: Thalia is described as "clad in a narrow girdle crusted with jewels," and that's the extent of attention paid to her wardrobe.

* TheFatalist: Thalia. When Thog wants you, he will take you, no sense worrying about it.

* HumanSacrifice: Thalis's society, in the BackStory.

* NotSoDifferent: Is Thog so different from HumanSacrifice? (As if Conan's or Natala's people practiced it.)

* TheUnderworld: Natala thinks they died and went to one.

* TheFatalist: In the city.

* YouCantFightFate: Thalis's advice.

* DamselInDistress: Natala.

* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: When Natala goes into hysterics thinking that they have both died and are ghosts, Conan slaps her butt and tells her that her reaction proves that she's still corporeal.

* ButNotTooBlack: Thalia is explicitly Stygian (proto-Egyptian), Conan describes her features as being Stygian and she confirms she is from Stgia, but she has ''alabaster'' skin.

* ButNotTooBlack: Thalia is explicitly Stygian (proton-Egyptian), Conan describes her features as being Stygian and she confirms she is from Stgia, but she has ''alabaster'' skin.

* DiamondsInTheBuff: Conan stumbles on such a woman.

-->:At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blond head drooped. Her white skin contrasted against his hard bronzed limbs; her [[DangerouslyShortSkirt short silken tunic]], [[AbsoluteCleavage low-necked]] and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, [[TheissTitillationTheory emphasized rather than concealed]] [[MsFanservice her lithe figure.]]

-->:At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blond head drooped. Her white skin contrasted against his hard bronzed limbs; her [[DangerouslyShortSkirt short silken tunic]], [[AbsoluteCleavage low-necked]] and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, [[ThiessTitlationTheory emphasized rather than concealed]] [[MsFanservice her lithe figure.]]

-->:At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blond head drooped. Her white skin contrasted against his hard bronzed limbs; her [[DangerouslyShortSkirt short silken tunic]], [[AbsoluteCleavage low-necked]] and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, [[TheissTitlationTheory emphasized rather than concealed]] [[MsFanservice her lithe figure.]]

Conan and Natalia, a woman he rescued from slavers, have become lost in the desert after Conan's forces are decimated in a surprise attack. Fearing either capture or death of dehydration, Conan prepares to MercyKill the two of them, until Natalia spots what appears to be a city in the distance.

The city has a violet glow about it and is surrounded by hundred foot walls. They are let in by Thalis, a former slave herself who came upon the city in much the same way Conan and Natalia did. She instantly takes a liking to Conan, and invited the two of them to dinner. As they pass through the empty streets of the city, it becomes apparent that something is amiss. Thalis explains that the people of the city live in a constant state of dreaming, with their bodily needs taken care of by their technology. The only thing they have to worry about is Thog, the EldritchAbomination who lives under the city and gives it it's power, coming up every now and then looking for a meal.

"[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Slithering_Shadow Xuthal of the Dusk]]" (a.k.a. "The Slithering Shadow") is a ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. First published in September, 1933. It has been adapted by both Creator/MarvelComics in their ''Savage Sword of Conan'' magazine and by Creator/DarkhorseComics in their ''Conan the Avenger'' comic.

* GreenEyedMonster: both Thalis and Natala.

"[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Slithering_Shadow Xuthal of the Dusk]]" (a.k.a. "The Slithering Shadow") is a ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. First published in September, 1933.

"[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Slithering_Shadow Xuthal of the Dusk]]" (a.k.a. "The Slithering Shadow") is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. First published in September, 1933.

"[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Slithering_Shadow Xuthal of the Dusk]]" (a.k.a. "Literature/TheSlitheringShadow") is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by Creator/RobertEHoward. First published in September, 1933.

* BedsheetLadder: Well, tapestries
* ChivalrousPervert: When Thalis glomps on him before Natala, he's embarrassed
* DamselInDistress: Natala
* DiamondsInTheBuff: Conan stumbles on such a woman
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Armed only with a normal sword Conan inflicts so much damage on Thog that it retreats back to whereever it is that it lives when not stalking the halls of Xuthal.
** BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: On the other hand Conan takes so much damage himself that he probably would have died if Natala hadn't given him a healing potion

* GreenEyedMonster: both Thalis and Natala
* HealingPotion: The golden wine
* HollywoodMirage: Conan fears that he sees this and not a refuge
* HumanSacrifice: Thalis's society, in the BackStory
* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: Conan is dropped on where Natala needs rescue
* JustInTime:
* LivingShadow: It slithers
* LookBehindYou: How Thalis escapes
* ((Magitek}}: Xuthal's seems to run on it.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Thalis attempts it

* SchmuckBanquet: Natala fears it. Conan figures they are dying anyway
* TrapDoor: A woman uses this on Conan
* TheUnderworld: Natala thinks they died and went to one
* UnwillingSuspension: Thalis to Natala

* YouCantFightFate: Thalis's advice
* ZergRush: Conan is nearly overcome

"[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Slithering_Shadow Xuthal of the Dusk]]" (a.k.a. "{{Literature/The Slithering Shadow}}") is a ConanTheBarbarian story written by RobertEHoward. First published in September, 1933.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Armed only with a normal sword Conan inflicts so much damage on Thog that it retreats back to whereever it is that it lives when not stalking the halls of Xuthal