Line #75 Literature/TheTaleOfTheExile


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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thetaleoftheexile.png]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:It was supposed to be a simple job.]]
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6	It was supposed to be [[ASimplePlan a simple job]].
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8	Get in, get the goods, retire rich. Simple, right? Then my idiot partner screws things up. I mean, [[TooDumbToLive what kind of thief brings a lit candle on a burglary?]] When I blew it out, he screamed as if I'd stabbed him, and suddenly I'm on trial for [[DisproportionateRetribution attempted murder]]! Why are the people of Miir so afraid of the dark, anyway?
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10	But I found a [[SchmuckBait loophole]] in a punishment called "Exile." For one week I get turned out on the streets after dark, alone and unarmed, and have to fend for myself. [[TemptingFate That doesn't seem too hard.]] In a week I'll pick this place clean!
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12	Oh, sure, there's supposed to be some sort of "[[TheDreaded Shadows]]" who will [[CosmicPlaything make my life]] [[ButtMonkey miserable]]. There's rumors of [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] hunting the alleys, streets that [[MobileMaze don't lead the same place twice]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent spirits]] who possess the dead, [[AristocratsAreEvil decadent nobles]] who play with people's lives for sport, a [[CircusOfFear circus]] that [[BodyHorror transforms]] men into monsters, and worse. I'm told the last Exile was found with his [[EyeScream eyes gouged out]] and [[RoomFullOfCrazy strange writing in blood on the walls]] around his corpse.
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14	But you expect to hear that kind of stuff in a city as superstitious as [[{{Dystopia}} Miir]]. Really, it's only a week.
15
16	[[TemptingFate How bad could it be?]]
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18	''The Tale of The Exile'' is a story being told one line at a time via the social networking site [[https://twitter.com/Gaven_Morren Twitter]] by TV Trope's own [[Tropers/TheStray The Stray]]. Also collected [[http://talesofthestray.blogspot.com/2009/08/tale-of-gaven-morren-chapter-list.html here]].
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20	-----
21	!!!This story provides examples of:
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23	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Belly of Miir.
24	%%* ActionSurvivor -- Gaven.
25	* AristocratsAreEvil: The nobles of Miir are essentially the mafia in overt control of everything
26	%%* BigBad: The Shadows.
27	* BishieSparkle: Jereth seems to have this going on (though it could be a [[MushroomSamba hallucination]]), and this is apparently a stereotype about elves in Miir.
28	* BlackEyesOfEvil: Most of The Shadows have these, if they [[EyelessFace have eyes at all]].
29	%%* BoxedCrook: Jereth's plan for Gaven is this.
30	* BuriedAlive: During the Third Night.
31	%%* ButtMonkey: Gaven Morren. Oh so much fun to torment.
32	%%* CharacterBlog: Though it's the actual story, not a supplement.
33	%%* CircusOfFear: Le Cirque d'Abberations.
34	%%* CityNoir: Miir
35	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler: The Shadows exist off a mixture of this and [[EmotionEater Emotion Eating]].]]
36	* CombatPragmatist: Gaven tends to use whatever is at hand when he fights. Dragon claws, a horn full of black gunpowder, a shard of glass, and other items have been put to dangerous use in his hands.
37	* CosmicPlaything: Becoming an Exile turns you into one of these, as Gaven quickly discovers.
38	* CouldntFindAPen: [[spoiler: Gaven, though he doesn't realize it at the time...]]
39	* DarkWorld: Miir isn't a pleasant place by day, but it gets infinitely worse after midnight.
40	%%* CuteGhostGirl: Aelia
41	%%* DarknessEqualsDeath
42	%%* DaydreamSurprise / IndulgentFantasySegue -- [[spoiler: Gaven attacking The Jester at Le Cirque]]
43	%%* spoiler: DeadAllAlong -- Jessamine, Aelia
44	* DeadpanSnarker -- Gaven, when he's not running around in pants-wetting terror, is this. He could snark about his own death. [[spoiler: [[FakingTheDead And does]].]]
45	* TheDreaded: The Shadows to the people of Miir, The Hangman to Gaven himself.
46	%%* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Jessamine, with elements of StringyHairedGhostGirl. Naros Miir also has this.
47	* EmotionBomb: The primary weapon of The Shadows.
48	* EmotionEater: The Shadows, [[spoiler: The Tower of Miir]]
49	* EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace: The premise of the series.
50	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Tower of Miir, [[spoiler:which is also [[GeniusLoci alive]].]]
51	* TheFairFolk: The elves of House Dythanus, The Shadows.
52	* FantasticDrug: The Elisdee Lily, also known as [[MushroomSamba Dreamlily]], causes vivid hallucinations.
53	%%* FauxAffablyEvil: Jereth Dythanus
54	%%* FirstPersonSmartass: Gaven.
55	* FluffyTheTerrible: The Redcaps, horrible hungry imp-goblins with wide mouths filled with really sharp teeth, have childish names like Billy, Bobby, or Robin.
56	* GeniusLoci: They say that the City of Miir is alive. [[spoiler: THEY'RE RIGHT!]]
57	* TheGrotesque: The Caliban of Le Cirque d'Aberrations play up their hideousness for their shows, but most of them would be normal people without their magic-induced deformities.
58	* GlasgowGrin: The Jester has one of these as a magically-induced deformity.
59	* GroinAttack: "Ringing the family bells."
60	* GunsAreWorthless: Or at least the one Gaven finds is.
61	* HannibalLecture: Some of the Shadows, notably Despair, are fond of this as a form of MindRape.
62	* LivingShadow: Despair, oh so very much. Most of the rest of The Shadows don't actually fit this, though they are [[IntangibleMan made of air]].
63	%%* LowFantasy
64	%%* MalevolentArchitecture: ''Miir''.
65	* MirrorMonologue: During the Third night, Gaven finds himself unable to recognize himself in reflections he sees. The Shadows use this to either to encourage him onward (The Shadow of Exile) or taunt him about his failings (Despair).
66	* MobileMaze: The streets of Miir become these at the whims of The Shadows.
67	%%* MonsterClown: The Jester
68	* MushroomSamba: The Third Night has Gaven poisoned with Elisdee extract.
69	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The Redcaps, also called gremlins or "tiny giggling death on very swift legs."
70	%%* PowersThatBe: The Shadows.
71	* RageAgainstTheReflection: Gaven does this accidentally, smashing a mirror because he's unable to recognize his own reflection while high on Elisdee.
72	%%* {{Shadowland}}
73	%%* SchrodingersButterfly: [[spoiler: The Third Night.]]
74	* ShoutOut: Several.
75	** The names of several of the Noble Houses: House Von [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Hastur]], House [[CollectibleCardGames Dythanus]], and House Von [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Krueger]]
76	** One of Gaven's encounters with the Bullyboys is an homage to "Uneasy Rider"
77	** [[Film/{{Labyrinth}} Jereth]] Dythanus, complete with his EightiesHair and SlouchOfVillainy. [[spoiler: And his command of the city's [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Red Caps]].]]
78	* ShroudedInMyth: Depending on who you ask, The Shadows are either [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], [[RefugeeFromTVLand stories come to life]], [[TheFairFolk fairies]], [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil a metaphor for the evil in men's hearts]], or [[FallenAngel the wicked thoughts of God made manifest]].
79	* TheSpock: Aelia, to Gaven's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]].
80	* StealthInsult: The Jester is fond of these:
81	--->"And what lesson may you learn? Well, we hope that you will take away the knowledge that even the twisted ones have useful talents. But as I am afraid such enlightenment may be lost to those born to privilege, several of your peers have generously provided alternatives."
82	%%* StealthMentor: [[spoiler: Naros]]
83	* StealthPun:
84	** The [[FairyGodmother Elven]] [[Film/TheGodfather Godmother]].
85	** The Elisdee Lily, which produces [[MushroomSamba hallucinations]].
86	* TemptingFate: "It's only a week. How bad could it be?"
87	* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Gaven's MushroomSamba turns into this as the night goes on.
88	%%* TrashTalk: Gaven vs. the Bullyboys.
89	%%* TricksterArchetype: The Jester
90	* UnusualEuphemism: "Dragon Dung" for "Bullshit". Also, [[GroinAttack Ringing the family bells]].
91	* TheWatson: Gaven again, usually to his companion of the evening.
92	* WeakButSkilled: Gaven isn't a powerhouse, but he's good at what he's learned how to do.
93	%%* WorldHalfEmpty: Miir is a bad place.
94	* TheVonTropeFamily: Half the noble houses of Miir have a Von as part of their name. Definitely the Darker Von Trope variant.

Context Literature / TheTaleOfTheExile