History Literature / XuthalOfTheDusk

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-->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 short silken tunic, [[AbsoluteCleavage low-necked]] and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, 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, emphasized rather than concealed [[MsFanservice her lithe figure.]]

* 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 god comes to take it in person. Conan and Natala, whose societies don't practice HumanSacrifice, think this is ridiculous.

* ZergRush: The men of Xuthal attack Conan in this fashion. He ends several of them, [[RealityEnsues but is forced to retreat by their sheer numbers.]]

* WhipItGood: After Natal knifes her superficially, Thalis punishes her with a silken cat o' nine tails.

* GreenEyedMonster: Both Thalis and Natala.

-->From the black shadows came sounds, incomprehensible and blood-freezing. She heard Thalis' voice pleading frenziedly, but no voice answered. There was no sound except the Stygian's panting voice, which suddenly rose to screams of agony, and then broke in hysterical laughter, mingled with sobs. This dwindled to a convulsive panting, and presently this to ceased, and a silence more terrible hovered over the secret corridor.

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 Conan 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 invites 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 its power, coming up every now and then looking for a meal.

Natalia begs Conan to leave, saying that such a city is cursed and unnatural, and Conan agrees, but Thalis won't have it: she wants Conan all to herself and plans to sacrifice Natalia to Thog!

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 invites 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.

-->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,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, [[TheissTitillationTheory emphasized rather than concealed]] [[MsFanservice her lithe figure.]]

* TheFatalist: Thalis. When Thog wants you, he will take you, no sense worrying about it. The inhabitants of Xuthal as a whole, as well. They know their society is doomed, they'll be extinct in a few generations, and they could easily relocate and rebuild just a day or two away from their currant settlement. . . they just can't be bothered.
* 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. In general, Conan is noticeably more physical with Natala throughout the story, [[HystericalWoman as she's noticeably more hysterical than most women in Conan stories so far.]]

* SchmuckBanquet: Natala fears it. Conan figures they are dying anyway.

* NothingIsScarier: Whatever Thog does to Thalis. She dud say that Thog's hunger [[MarsNeedsWomen and lust]] needs tie be sated, and that Natala would be "bride of he who dwells below."

* BedsheetLadder: Well, tapestries.

* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: Conan is dropped on where Natala needs rescue.

* JustInTime

* TrapDoor: A woman uses this on Conan.

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

* ZergRush: Conan is nearly overcome.

* LivingShadow: It slithers.
* LookBehindYou: How Thalis escapes.

* UnwillingSuspension: Thalis to Natala.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Thalis attempts it.

* ChivalrousPervert: When Thalis glomps on him before Natala, he's embarrassed.

* MsFanservice: Thalis, in-universe and out. The men of Xuthal were quite taken with her when she arrived, and she proudly claims to be the only thing for which they'll leave their lotus dreams. She seems quite happy to be Xuthal's "village bicycle."

* HealingPotion: The golden wine.