| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16730617970.84325900 |
| 3 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daughter_of_the_lilies.png]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | ->''Daughter of the Lilies'' is a comic largely about the importance of self-worth, the different forms love can take, how it can redeem and empower us, as well as issues relating to anxiety. (There are also unicorns, manticores, ghouls, goblins, cannibalistic elves, dragons, gods, fairies, ghosts, werewolves, demons, angels, and so on.) |
| 8 | -->-- From the "About" page. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ''[[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com Daughter of the Lilies]]'' is a fantasy webcomic drawn by Meg Syverud, author/artist of ''Webcomic/OneQuestion'', and colored by Jessica "Yoko" Weaver. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Thistle is a hooded combat mage on the run from her past. She's hired on by an Orc mercenary named Orrig to work with him and his rather fractious employees. The comic follows her adventures as well as her burgeoning romance with Brent, a part-orc swordsman with his own anger-management and insecurity issues. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/part-1-a-girl-with-no-face The first page can be found here.]] The comic was first published in November 2013 and currently updates on Tuesdays. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!''Daughter of the Lilies'' provides examples of: |
| 18 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[folder:Tropes A to E]] |
| 21 | * AcidAttack: To his own delighted surprise, the Greater Drath [[TransformationOfThePossessed develops]] acid-filled pustules on the back of its new host. [[spoiler:Margot]] suffers immediate, serious burns when one bursts and splashes her. |
| 22 | * AdventureGuild: The Mercenary Guild seems to lean in this direction, given that the unconventional assignments it hands out often involve clearing out monster infestations from forests, mines and ruins. |
| 23 | * AfterActionPatchUp: Zig-zagged when Thistle treats Brent's bite wound. It's [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/210 tense]] at first, since Brent is angry at having taken an injury that can't be immediately {{Heal|ingHands}}ed and Thistle is badly shaken by the whole encounter, but it leads them to open up to each other more [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/725 while she's checking his recovery]] later. |
| 24 | * AfterTheEnd: Remnants of modern-day Earth like a flashlight and "D" batteries are sold as historic artifacts and [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/707 monsters infest]] the [[RuinsOfTheModernAge ruins of Wien]] (a.k.a. Vienna). What sort of apocalypse replaced technology with magic is unknown, aside from cryptic and wholly untrustworthy hints from a Drath. |
| 25 | * AltText: On every page. Often provided by Patrons if they come up with something Meg particularly likes. There are also many alt-text references to Literature/TheBible, which the reader is free to look up and interpret at their leisure. |
| 26 | * AmphibianAtLarge: In a flashback, the gang is hired to safeguard a class of apprentice mages learning to summon demons into the bodies of small animals. The professor conjures up an ancient, powerful one into the body of a toad, which promptly devours him, grows to giant size, rampages through the city, and attempts to open a portal to hell the size of an entire city block. |
| 27 | * AntiMagic: Obsidian is unaffected by magic and nullifies ambient magical energy, while oak trees can conduct magic without being affected by it, like a lightning rod. |
| 28 | * TheArchmage: Wizards are supposed to be the "gold standard" when it comes to magic, capable of feats that no other mage can manage, and what we've see of Wu so far supports this. [[spoiler:This is thanks in part to the patronage of the One Who is Three.]] |
| 29 | * AssholeVictim: "Brody" the Drath {{invoke|dTrope}}s this on [[spoiler:Professor Fike]] by taunting him over his responsibility for [[spoiler:[[{{Gayngst}} rejecting his gay son]], who later [[OutlivingOnesOffspring died]]]], in order to [[DemonicPossession possess his body]] and drive him to {{despair|EventHorizon}} to stop him from FightingFromTheInside. However, Drath are utterly evil and have an intuitive sense of their victims' vulnerabilities, so Brody's word on the matter is hardly reliable, and [[spoiler: Fike]] seems to honestly regret what happened. |
| 30 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Not romantically, but after Brent suffers MindRape and is almost dragged down to hell by the draths, Lyra is unexpectedly gentle with him, forgoing her usual mocking even after he has to make some personal confessions about his issues that the draths brought up. |
| 31 | * BadassBystander: [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/512 A random fire mage]] and his [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/517 friend]] manage to distract a [[BuffySpeak monstrous demonic frog thingie]] before it can complete a gigantic Drath summoning circle. |
| 32 | * BatPeople: Cave elves have a distinctively bat-like appearance (upturned noses, large eyes, fin-like ears, sharp teeth), developed from living in the dark underground. [[spoiler: Thistle is no exception.]] |
| 33 | * BigDamnHeroes: |
| 34 | ** Thistle's first appearance in Chapter 1 is to save Brent's life with a timely fireball. |
| 35 | ** In her first chronological fight in Chapter 4, she [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/428 saves Orrig]] [[spoiler:from Drath assimilation]] with a LightEmUp slam-dunk. |
| 36 | * BlackBugRoom: When a person is possessed by a Drath, their mind is trapped with the Drath's spirit in a black void where it delivers an unending HannibalLecture of their deepest insecurities. |
| 37 | * BodyHorror: |
| 38 | ** Drath hosts mutate hideously when initially possessed. When the fusion dance aspect of possession comes into play, it gets even worse, and apparently corpses are ''really'' icky when {{possess|ingADeadBody}}ed. |
| 39 | ** The Drath themselves have their heads twisted backwards. |
| 40 | ** [[spoiler:Professor Margot]] is badly burned on the face and side from the Greater Drath's AcidAttack, though after she heals, she's happy to show off the scars. |
| 41 | * BotheringByTheBook: Orrig [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/836 trolls]] a customer refusing to pay for the team dealing with a glow troll problem, by letting her know that they get paid directly by the guild, and then handing her a ''complaint form''. |
| 42 | * BuryYourGays: |
| 43 | ** The first gay character in comic, [[spoiler:Jamie]], is dead before the comic even starts. His first appearance is as a corpse [[spoiler:in his father's memories]]. To make matters worse, the arc involving him is [[spoiler:based around his father's guilt over inadvertently causing his suicide.]] |
| 44 | ** In contrast, the author makes it ''very'' clear when [[spoiler: Lyra starts dating Margot]] that this will ''not'' happen to her. |
| 45 | * TheCavalry: After an argument with the group, Thistle returns to save their lives [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/428 just in the nick of time]]. |
| 46 | * CensorBox: More like a "Censor Scribble", blacking out swearing and obscene gestures. This happens to Lyra [[SirSwearsALot more than all of the other characters combined]]. |
| 47 | * ChainmailBikini: PlayedForLaughs with the characters' response to the "T'Fa'Nii" series of novels (an InUniverse version of ComicBook/RedSonja). {{Discussed|Trope}} by Lyra, who doesn't see the point of it, and Brent, who [[RuleOfSexy does]]. |
| 48 | * ClicheStorm: The [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe book]] character T'Fa'Nii the Clanless has a PunctuationShaker name (pronounced Tiffany), boobs that are barely restrained by a skimpy ChainmailBikini, and a [[{{BFS}} huge sword]] [[SticksToTheBack stuck to her back]], to say nothing of the PurpleProse with which it's all described and the LegCling she gets on her book cover. |
| 49 | * ClotheslineStealing: Thistle [[TheFaceless hides her face]] for reasons that once get her [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/22 run out of town]] by a TorchesAndPitchforks mob; even when fleeing for her life, she snags a shirt off a clothesline to wrap around her head as a replacement for her usual MysteriousVeil. |
| 50 | * ConfusedQuestionMark: When Master Wu gets told off for berating Thistle, [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/630 a small flock]] of these gathers around his head, followed by an IdeaBulb when he realizes that she's not actually one of his students. |
| 51 | * CrystalDragonJesus: The One Who Is Three. There's also mention of a Goddess of unknown provenance. Thistle has tried to research them, but has come up empty so far. |
| 52 | * CuteCreatureCreepyMouth: Glow trolls [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/823 look]] like [[TechnicallyASmile smiling]] froggy lumps until they see food. [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/824 Then]] those mouths turn out to take up much of the troll's body and be filled with oversized humanlike teeth. |
| 53 | * CurbStompBattle: When Master Wu (in his dragon form) intervenes in the Brody fight, Brody is instantly overmatched. He breaks his teeth trying to bite Wu, gets a blast of dragon breath and just gives up. |
| 54 | * CypherLanguage: The cave elf language is a simple substitution cypher, making it fairly easy to translate. For example: [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/17 "Sorry it's nothing personal"]] & [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/110 "You killed my comrade!"]]. |
| 55 | * DarkIsEvil: Hell is pitch-black with Drath wandering around complaining and begging, and huge centauroid statues/guards off in the distance. In the physical world, Drath without hosts manifest as {{Living Shadow}}s. |
| 56 | * DealWithTheDevil: Many of the older or more intelligent drath do this in order to possess you. The teacher of the Magical University that holds [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong drath summoning courses]] notes that the drath are able to sense and latch onto peoples' insecurities, although no one is sure how. |
| 57 | * DemonicPossession: |
| 58 | ** The drath can invade living and dead bodies with a touch, mutating and taking control of them while the host spirit is trapped in a BlackBugRoom. [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/322 The results]] [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/336 can be]] [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/419 horrifying]]. |
| 59 | ** Even without possessing them, Greater Drath can infect a victim with a touch, leaving an EnemyWithin "echo" behind that constantly brings up their insecurities. The echo can be removed if discovered quickly enough by someone with the power to do it, but the window of opportunity is brief and the people who are able to remove it are rare. |
| 60 | * DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Drath are divided into lesser and greater variants. The greater ones (like Brody) are the really dangerous ones that can leave pieces of themselves inside you. |
| 61 | * DontLookAtMe: Thistle has some serious body image issues on account of being [[spoiler:a cave elf living in an area where cave elves aren't well regarded]]. Normally she's content to simply cover up all her visible skin, but when a vision leaves her perceiving herself to be wearing clothing that doesn't cover her face and hands, [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/928 she tells her companions to stop looking at her.]] |
| 62 | * DragonsAreDivine: Implied by the way a Wizard’s dragon transformation is referred to as a “sacred shape.” |
| 63 | * DramaticDrop: In a flashback [=LouAnne=] drops a tray when she spots Thistle with [[spoiler:her [[LittleBitBeastly true]] [[CreepyLongFingers form]] revealed, performing magic to heal a premature baby]]. The TorchesAndPitchforks scene from Chapter 2 quickly ensues. |
| 64 | * ElementalBaggage: Downplayed with elemental magic. Although a mage can conjure up an element out of nothing, it's more energy-efficient to cast on existing material, so one pragmatic mage [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/517 wears a dress]] of transmuted water as an emergency aid to MakingASplash. |
| 65 | * EnemyWithin: When Drath latch on to a sapient host, they also dig into the hosts' minds by constantly bringing up their failings and insecurities. This makes it that much harder for the hosts to break free. Even if the host is freed, the Drath will leave an "echo" behind that continues to torment the host. This echo can be removed if discovered quickly enough by someone powerful enough to remove them, but those people are rare and the window of opportunity to remove it is short. Several characters so far have had echoes: |
| 66 | ** Brent is left with an echo after he is nearly dragged into the Drath's realm by a horde of lesser Drath, but Thistle manages to remove it in time. Said echo brings up Brent's insecurities over his own UnstoppableRage, his intelligence, and the belief that he was unloved by his own family. |
| 67 | ** The professor who was possessed by Brody was left with an echo that told him that nobody would ever trust him again after what happened, but Master Wu immediately removed it. |
| 68 | ** [[spoiler:Thistle herself is stuck with an echo]] and unlike the others there was no one around to remove it in time. So it's likely permanent. Even worse since the host has a '''lot''' of insecurities for the echo to use. |
| 69 | * EternalRecurrence: [[spoiler:What's left of Brody, before disintegrating, claims to Master Wu that the Drath have seen Wizards rise and fall time and time again, and that when they fall again, which will be soon, the Drath will retake the world]]. |
| 70 | * EvilVersusEvil: During a party, Gwendolyn gets into a spat with another very sexist Drath-summoning mage. She trounces him in a "friendly" contest then quietly orders her crow familiar to follow him after the party and tear out his tongue for good measure. Gwendolyn is very much a HateSink due to her abuse of Thistle, but readers ended up (sort of) rooting for her due to how arrogant and slimy the other guy comes off as. |
| 71 | * EyeTake: Orrig's bushy BigOlEyebrows and forehead ridges give him a very heavy brow, and he's drawn with his EyesAlwaysShut most of the time. Whenever his eyes are open wide enough to be visible, it's because he realizes that [[OhCrap something very bad is about to happen]]-- like "Brody" the Drath [[FusionDance taking over Professor Fike]], or the onset of a powerful magic storm. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Tropes F to L]] |
| 75 | * {{Familiar}}: "Familiars" are Drath spirits bound into living or dead animal hosts, to [[AnimalisticAbomination generally gruesome effect]]. They're intelligent and can serve as protectors, aides, or "supplements" to spellcasting, so long as one doesn't mind a [[DarkIsEvil shadowy]] companion that intuitively knows one's deepest insecurities and most painful secrets. |
| 76 | * FantasticRacism: |
| 77 | ** ''Nobody'' likes cave elves. Considering that they [[ToServeMan happily chow down on other sapient species]] and aren't too picky about said species [[EatenAlive being dead first]], it's not hard to see why. |
| 78 | ** It's mentioned that more old-fashioned elves look down on orcs, not least because the orcs defeated them quite handily in war. Thistle is enraged to realize that the fantasy book she bought is clearly racist towards orcs, presenting them as evil and savage. Orrig dismisses the author as "an angry little man making a fit." |
| 79 | * FantasticSlurs: Ko' or Ka'dafekka (male and female, respectively) is a really nasty way of saying "orphan" or "unwanted child". |
| 80 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: |
| 81 | ** The city elves are based on monarchic to Napoleonic France, with the associated fashions and snootiness and a capital named St. Trivium sur Bourge. |
| 82 | ** The orcs speak with Russian accents, and Orrig tends to insert Russian phrases into his speech such as "nyet" for "no" and the occasional swear. There was also a notable historic incident where the Napoleonic-styled elves tried to invade them and failed miserably. |
| 83 | * FluffyTheTerrible: Professor Caedhin's terrifying drath-infused bird turns out to be named Carol (after one of the comic's patrons). |
| 84 | * FlyingSeafoodSpecial: [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/846 One comic]] depicts a pod of flying whales soaring high in the sky. |
| 85 | * FoodPorn: Not in the comic proper, but an InUniverse DimeNovel describes a village feast with what can only be called "lascivious detail." It makes Lyra hungry and Thistle has to skip that part. |
| 86 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 87 | ** Way back in Chapter One, there's a good reason [[spoiler:Thistle gets so upset over the death of the cave elves and doesn't use ItIsDehumanizing pronouns for them]]. |
| 88 | ** Also regarding Thistle, [[spoiler:the cover page of Chapter 1 -- ''Our Wild Brethren'' is likely a reference to Thistle's brethren]]. |
| 89 | ** And another one in the last frame [[spoiler:on [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/212 this page]], with a HiddenInPlainSight sign]]. |
| 90 | * FormalFullArrayOfCutlery: [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/e101 Featured]] (with gold cutlery, no less) at a particularly stultifying formal dinner where some social elites have a casual chat about Drath summoning. |
| 91 | * FungusHumongous: When Thistle is caught out in the magic storm in Chapter 10, fields of meters-tall mushrooms begin popping out of the ground. [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1040 When the characters emerge after the storm abates]], they see that the magic caused the environment to grow gigantic, including the button mushrooms. |
| 92 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: The evening after defeating the drath, the group sits and waits while Thistle recovers after fainting briefly. While they talk, Lyra pulls out a compact and starts powdering her nose. |
| 93 | * FusionDance: Drath hosts can absorb other creatures into themselves by simple touch. If they do so with a person, they return to full sapience. |
| 94 | * GayAesop: A drath mocks the summoning teacher over his gay son, and his guilt over having rejected him, as part of a ThanatosGambit. When it gets him angry enough to stomp on it, it merges with him. If the teacher was more tolerant, the whole school arc wouldn't have happened -- and [[spoiler:getting the teacher's soul out of the resulting demon involves convincing him to let go of his views and admit that he should have let his son grow to be the man he wanted to be]]. |
| 95 | * GenderIsNoObject: Sexism seems to be non-existent despite it taking place in a more or less medieval-ish fantasy setting. When Thistle is hired as member of a group of mercenaries, there's already a woman in the team, and the objection to hiring Thistle (mentioned only after she's hired) is that she's a ''mage'', most of whom are arrogant and self-centered to the point of being completely useless in battle. |
| 96 | * GoldColoredSuperiority: This is an indicator that Wizards are superior magic-users. |
| 97 | ** Master Wu wears golden robes, and he can transform into a golden dragon. |
| 98 | ** Meanwhile [[spoiler:Thistle's eyes glow gold when she's casting powerful magics, the arrow she enchants for Lyra glows gold, and her coat is edged with gold trim]]. |
| 99 | * GrotesqueCute: The glow trolls are lumpy dog-sized creatures with [[TechnicallyASmile smiley faces]] when at rest. Then they see Thistle and [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/824 bare their teeth]] ''en masse''. Cue frantic retreat. |
| 100 | * HandwritingAsCharacterization: Demonstrated when the crew [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/755 sign]] a poster for a young fan. TeamDad Orrig's writing is plain and clear; the CulturalRebel [[TheLadette Lad-ette]] elf Lyra has a surprisingly neat cursive (but [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/712 writes differently]] with her left hand); and the BookDumb but kind-hearted Brent gets the [[RandomlyReversedLetters N backwards]] as he struggles to write his name. |
| 101 | -->AltText: Everyone else's signature: This is about me. Thistle's signature: This is who I am. |
| 102 | * HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Growing plants doesn't seem to have much in the way of tactical applications -- until [[spoiler:Thistle needs to plug a breached summoning circle ''fast'']]. |
| 103 | * HoldTheLine: Margot faces a rampaging Greater Drath singlehandedly in order to buy time for the city's resident Wizard to arrive. [[spoiler:She can't quite manage it alone, but Orrig's team rescues her and picks up where she leaves off.]] |
| 104 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Whatever Thistle's face looks like, it's enough to send a cave elf running away in panic. Even [[TheUndead the drath]] recoil from her. It turns out that [[spoiler:the cave elf was simply horrified at the thought that he'd almost tasted the flesh of one of his own, while the drath are repulsed by the divine favor she carries]]. |
| 105 | * HurricaneOfPuns: [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/416 This page]] lead to the fans creating them in the comment section every time a goat is seen. |
| 106 | * IgnoredExpert: Basically any mage with any intelligence refuses to have anything to do with the drath, and the incredibly powerful and wise wizards are the most insistent about it. Everyone else dismisses them as "crazy" and "old-fashioned" for not wanting to ''deal with demons'' whose primary shtick revolves around knowing exactly how to exploit people's psychological weak points. Even after the school arc, when a drath tries to summon more drath in what would likely end with the city a festering hellscape, Wu's concerns are brushed off. |
| 107 | * InnateNightVision: Cave elves can see in complete darkness, which could prove something of a give-away for [[spoiler:Thistle]]. |
| 108 | * InternalReveal: Brent [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/842 correctly infers]] that the book Thistle's reading has an unflattering reference to whatever she is, so he grabs it out of her hands and [[spoiler:[[{{SubvertedTrope}} throws it into the fire]] without looking.]] |
| 109 | * ItIsDehumanizing: Zig-zagged regarding the [[ToServeMan cannibalistic]] cave elves. They're classified as non-sapient by other species and are referred to as "it" by most of Orrig's crew; [[TheHeart Thistle]], who knows about cave elf culture and [[spoiler:secretly is one herself]], uses "him" and has many more reservations about the job. |
| 110 | * JarOfTheBizarre: Inverted. One of the first signs that the fantasy world is connected to reality somehow is a jar containing a D battery as an ancient relic. |
| 111 | * TheLegionsOfHell: The drath, a mixture of damned souls and true demons who yearn to enter and overrun the physical world and will take advantage of any breach that allows them through to come boiling out into corporeal existence. |
| 112 | * LightEqualsHope: LightIsGood, while the demonic Drath spirits manifest as clinging shadows that [[EnemyWithin infect]] or [[DemonicPossession outright overwhelm]] their mortal targets through despair. On two occasions, mages who rescue Drath victims get a sudden [[RaysFromHeaven heavenly backlight]] while they reach out, physically or metaphorically, to the victim. |
| 113 | * LineOfSightName: After hearing his new mage introduce herself hesitantly as Thistle, Orrig casts a glance at the thistle-plant at his feet. Confirmed when "Thistle" writes down her new name under a long list of crossed out flower names and noting that she's running out of flowers. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Tropes M to P]] |
| 117 | * MagicalSensoryEffect: Magic is often accompanied by a sparkling effect that showers from the spell or the magus' hands, caused by formless waste magic escaping. The [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/921 in-universe term]] for it is "gaspillage" or "cast-off". |
| 118 | * ManySpiritsInsideOfOne: When Drath possess a herd of animals, they mash the herd together into a ''very loosely'' humanoid form with hundreds of Drath voices speaking in sync from its mouths. |
| 119 | * {{Matriarchy}}: It's mentioned off-hand in the first chapter that cave elves have a matriarchy. [[spoiler:This is why the male cave elf flees when he rips off Thistle's mask; as a ''female'' cave elf, him attacking her is unspeakable]]. |
| 120 | * MisterMuffykins: One [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/e102 bug-eyed purse dog]] is [[BodySnatcher host]] to a Drath spirit. Usually host bodies undergo a nightmarish TransformationOfThePossessed, but perhaps the Drath decided that selective breeding had already done enough to the pooch. |
| 121 | * MoreInsultingThanIntended: When Lyra [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/38 needles]] her teammate Brent with a particular {{Fantastic Slur|s}} while drinking, he's [[StunnedSilence shocked into silence]] for one panel, then nearly [[RageBreakingPoint attacks her on the spot]]. She's left quietly ashamed for using a word meaning "unwanted child" on an orphan. |
| 122 | * MundaneFantastic: Orrig and his crew are a typical fantasy RPG party, except they work in a mercenary guild with a printed news circular and employee paperwork [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/716 to report various specialties and magic proficiencies]]. Meanwhile, Thistle's magic show in the street is treated like busking, and Drath summoning is taught in an academy. |
| 123 | * MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: After he is defeated, the frog drath taunts Master Wu with the knowledge that the wizards' time is ending, and that the drath will soon return in force to the world to rule over it. |
| 124 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: [[spoiler: Thistle is obviously not OK with other cave elves eating people and the like]]. |
| 125 | * MysteriousVeil: Thistle wears one (and possibly uses magic to deepen the shadows around her face) to conceal an apparently terrifying visage. [[spoiler:Horrifying to humans, that is, but only because of the reputation of her people for being cannibals.]] |
| 126 | * {{Necromancy}}: Drath are damned souls (and, occasionally, actual demons) summoned at random from the netherworld and placed in the body of another creature. It's illegal to use people for it (because that makes them dangerously powerful), and if a corpse is used it's even more disgusting than usual. |
| 127 | * NinjaProp: Thistle grabs [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/507 Brent's speech bubble]] and smashes it to the ground to [[spoiler:rid him of Drath influence]]. Later, Wu does the same for another speech bubble by cutting though its tail with a hand. |
| 128 | * NoodleIncident: Brent met Orrig, the TeamDad mercenary who became his current boss, when he punched Orrig in the face under circumstances that they decline to explain. |
| 129 | -->'''Orrig:''' Vas good punch. |
| 130 | * NotNowKiddo: An uppity mage has the amazingly poor judgement to try this when Lyra warns him of a [[spoiler:rampaging Drath in the academy]]. The monster then crashes through the wall nearby, to which Lyra points in silent, furious exasperation. |
| 131 | * OnceMoreWithClarity: In chapter 7, we see the events of chapter 1 again, this time through Thistle's eyes. [[spoiler:The cave elf wasn't running away from Thistle because he was horrified by her appearance, but because he was horrified to know he had almost eaten one of his own people, and a woman at that.]] |
| 132 | * OurAngelsAreDifferent: When Thistle saves Brent from [[spoiler:the drath, he sees a glowing golden being, with six arms, wings of flame, and halo-like horns studded with eyes, who appears behind her, burns away the drath, and tells him to fear not and that the servants of the One-Who-Is-Three watch over him]]. When he asks Thistle about it later, she says that while she's seen a vision of such a being as well she has no idea what they could be beyond hypothesizing them to be enemies of the drath, as she's been unable to find anything said or written about them. |
| 133 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: "Drath" or "Drackthmal" is an umbrella term that comprises both damned souls and more powerful demons that can be summoned from TheUnderworld, as [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/726 Thistle explains]]. |
| 134 | * OurElvesAreDifferent: Two distinct elven types are present: |
| 135 | ** City elves are urban, civilized, and arrogant; their society is largely based on that of the French ''Ancien Régime'', down to using Francophone names, and they place great value on protocol, elegance and learning. Physically, they resemble humans with long, pointed ears and slimmer frames. They're also known for looking down on others, and have a long-standing feud with the orcs that started when the city elves tried to conquer the orc homelands and failed disastrously. |
| 136 | ** Cave elves are savages who inhabit caverns and mines, live in a tribal and matriarchal society, and happily prey on and eat other sapient beings. Other races hate and fear them in equal measure and view them as dangerous vermin to be exterminated. However, it's hinted that they may have more going on, as [[spoiler:the main character, Thistle, is a civilized cave elf living in disguise]]. |
| 137 | * OurMagesAreDifferent: |
| 138 | ** Mages are individuals who learn to manipulate the magical energy that naturally exists in everything. Everybody has some innate magic and the potential to manipulate it; mages are simply individuals who have taken time to train in and improve this ability. Mage powers draw from a "Core" of magic in the body, which is finite but refills over time; not everybody has equal amounts of stored energy. The mage Thistle compares this form magic use to a martial art, where the amount of raw energy present within you isn't as important as precision, control and skill. |
| 139 | ** Wizards are their own distinct thing. There are only seven wizards alive at any given time, and they significantly outclass mages in power; the wizard Master Wu, for instance, is able to effortlessly solo a demon that two experienced mages nearly died stalling. Wizardry is also implied to be capable of tasks that are impossible using regular magic. Not a great deal of detail is given about how wizards come into being, but it's stated that they're "chosen" by something. |
| 140 | * OurOrcsAreDifferent: Green, hunky, horned, occasionally axe-wielding and inexplicably Russian-accented, but besides that, they're just another sapient species, and just as capable of reasonable and civilized behavior as everybody else. They do have a history of warfare with elves, but note that ''the elves started it''. |
| 141 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: A woman in Thistle's backstory had suffered several miscarriages, followed by a gravely ill premature baby, and said that she couldn't bear to try again if the baby didn't survive. |
| 142 | * PaintingTheMedium: Of the SpeechBubble variety. Ordinary characters have standard white bubbles with black lettering, Orrig's heavy accent is represented with a messier font, Drath have white letters on black bubbles, and [[spoiler: Thistle's turn grey when the Drath echo is affecting her confidence, and her thought bubbles are white lettering on black when it cranks up her anxieties, implying it's putting the negative thoughts in her head.]] |
| 143 | * PartingFromConsciousnessWords: Thistle [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/440 tries to have the last word]] with Lyra after casting a major spell. |
| 144 | -->'''Thistle:''' ''Now'' who's the crazy ''oooouuuunnn...'' ''[=[=][[PowerStrainBlackout Drops to the floor]]]'' |
| 145 | * PietaPlagiarism: Used in the [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/609 confrontation]] between Prof. Fike and Master Wu, as Fike clutches an illusion of his late son in the depths of the Drath hell. |
| 146 | * PointyEars: Common in non-humans -- elves have extra-long pointed ears that extend past their heads, cave elves in particular have very large batlike ears, and orcs' ears are pointed but only elongated by an inch or two. Brent, an UnevenHybrid, has only a slight point to his ears from his orc grandparent. |
| 147 | * PossessingADeadBody: Drath spirits can possess almost any body after being {{summon|ingRitual}}ed, generally causing a grotesque TransformationOfThePossessed. When a dead body is used as a host, the [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/e105 results]] are even grosser. |
| 148 | * PowerStrainBlackout: Thistle has a brief PostVictoryCollapse after rushing into a crisis situation with all guns blazing. Then she [[{{Determinator}} picks herself up]] and goes to finish the job. And then collapses again after the danger is over. |
| 149 | [[/folder]] |
| 150 | |
| 151 | [[folder:Tropes R to Z]] |
| 152 | * RaceFetish: Orrig isn't thrilled about orcs becoming popular fodder for InUniverse {{Romance Novel}}s like ''[[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/815 My Green Chieftain]]''. |
| 153 | * RelativeButton: The Greater Drath is able to compromise [[spoiler:Professor Fike]] by blaming him for [[OutlivingOnesOffspring his own son's death]]. Worse, it might be true. |
| 154 | * TheReveal: |
| 155 | ** Whom Thistle really [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/436 works for]]: [[spoiler:the One Who Is Three. This might also be an InternalReveal, since Thistle claims not to have any idea what the One is.]] |
| 156 | ** When Thistle is seen without her hood, [[spoiler:she's revealed to be a cave elf]]. |
| 157 | * RuinsOfTheModernAge: A battery and a flashlight are shown as "ancient relics", and modern-day Vienna makes an appearance as a monster-infested ruin. Given that the setting includes orcs, elves, magic, gods, and demons, quite a lot appears to have happened in the interim. |
| 158 | * ScissorsCutsRock: Cave elves are resistant to fire. [[NoKillLikeOverkill Doesn't stop Thistle from frying one's face off.]] |
| 159 | * ScrewYouElves: Historically, the orcs [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/814 dealt]] a large-scale one when the elves thought their lands would be an easy target for invasion. Traditionalist elves are still sore about it. |
| 160 | -->'''Orrig:''' Tink ve too stupid to beat them. Ve show them the vay of tings real qvick. |
| 161 | * SealTheBreach: When a botched SummoningRitual opens a {{Hellgate}} in the University, in desperation, Thistle [[spoiler:[[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/438- physically plugs it]] by [[GreenThumb conjuring a tree over it]].]] One professor's [[SkewedPriorities priorities are skewed enough]] to [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/510 complain]] about the damage to the lecture hall, but Master Wu [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/628 fixes it]] offscreen. |
| 162 | * ShoutOut: |
| 163 | ** [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/541 This page]] has a [[Literature/HarryPotter 9 3/4]] engraved in a bit of rubble, and Margot receiving aid from what's recognizably [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Pearl]]. |
| 164 | ** Later Thistle identifies a giant rat as a [[Film/ThePrincessBride ROUS]]. |
| 165 | * SinisterSurveillance: The villain has a [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/e113 large flock]] of drath-possessed birds to spy for her, and has dispatched them to [[spoiler:hunt down Thistle.]] |
| 166 | * SkewedPriorities: In the first chapter, Orrig and Lyra become very concerned by Thistle losing her mask momentarily. Meanwhile, right beside them, Brent is trapped underneath an enormous boulder and has had a large chunk of his arm bitten off. |
| 167 | * SleepModeSize: Carol the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Drath]] {{Familiar}} usually takes the form of a grotesque, one-eyed, pigeon-sized bird that rests on [[spoiler:Lady Gwendolyn's]] [[ParrotPetPosition shoulder]]. A drunken boor who annoys [[spoiler:Gwendolyn]] learns the hard way that Carol can ''also'' appear as a human-sized bird monster with an [[LongNeck extendable neck]], huge claws, and ''way'' too many teeth. |
| 168 | * StylisticSuck: The T'Fa'Nii the Clanless in-universe novel series -- contemptible covers and PurpleProse combined with in-universe UnfortunateImplications[[invoked]] as Thistle reads her "kinda racist" adventures out loud. |
| 169 | * SummonMagic: Drath-summoning overlaps with {{Necromanc|er}}y, since it calls damned souls into a host through a [[GeometricMagic ritual circle]]. |
| 170 | * TeamPowerWalk: When Thistle joins Orrig's group in the middle of the [[spoiler:Greater Drath]] crisis, they resolutely [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/519 walk off]] to face it together. |
| 171 | -->'''Orrig:''' Ve have job to do. |
| 172 | * ThemeNaming: When she needs to change names, Thistle always chooses some form of flower. |
| 173 | * ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Pulled by T'Fa'Nii in the [[ShowWithinAShow terrible book]] Thistle is reading. Remarkably, it leads to the buxom warrior being run over by her attacker's mount while disarmed. |
| 174 | * TorchesAndPitchforks: The last time someone saw Thistle's face, it ended with an armed mob running her out of town. They later try to hire mercenaries to make sure she doesn't come back. |
| 175 | * ToServeMan: Cave elves eat other humanoid species, even [[EatenAlive taking bites of flesh off living victims]], and can [[InnateNightVision see in pitch darkness]]. |
| 176 | * ToweringFlower: In Chapter 10, a WildMagic storm strikes an area that the characters are traveling through. [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1040 When they emerge after the storm abates]], they see that the magic caused the environment to grow gigantic, including wildflowers that are now taller than trees. |
| 177 | * TransformationOfThePossessed: A corpse or living being possessed by the drath is quickly twisted and warped into unnatural shapes. The first example seen is of a white mouse that turns gray and has its head twisted upside down while its mouth grows to cover most of its neck; later examples include cyclopean or many-eyed creatures, a three-headed bird, and a cat with human hands. |
| 178 | * UnusualHalo: The AngelicAbomination from [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/436 Brent's vision]] has an eye-studded, horn-like halo growing out of its head. It definitely opposes the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent malevolent Drath]], but the main characters are still at a loss as to what exactly it ''is''. [[note]]It's appearance is similar to Abrahamic descriptions of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph seraphim]], angels of heaven that have six wings and are described being closest to God.[[/note]] |
| 179 | * VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Brody starts freaking out when the Professor starts breaking free of his manipulations and he's fried by a dragon]]. |
| 180 | * VisualPun: When Thistle tosses seeds into Brody's empty eye socket, it immediately sprouts... Black-Eyed Susans. |
| 181 | * WhamEpisode: [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/742 Chapter 7, Page 742.]] We finally see [[TheReveal part of Thistle uncovered, and she's definitely not human.]] |
| 182 | * WhamLine: [[spoiler: "FEAR NOT, Brent Donovan, son of Olgar, for the servants of the One Who Is Three watch over you."]] |
| 183 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Cave elves are written off as non-sapient monsters even though they have a language and an internal society. On the other hand, they're fine with [[ToServeMan eating people alive]]. [[spoiler:As a cave elf herself, Thistle has a lot of anxiety over being a "monster"]]. |
| 184 | * WildMagic: [[https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1001 Storms]] of natural magic are enough of a hazard that AntiMagic shelters are built in high-risk areas. At a distance, they only [[FieldPowerEffect amplify magical phenomena]], but reality within the Storm gets [[RealityIsOutToLunch warped]] to potentially deadly effect. |
| 185 | -->'''Orrig:''' People died. Or disappeared. Or changed. |
| 186 | * {{Wingdinglish}}: Used to represent various forms of BlackSpeech on a few occasions: |
| 187 | ** The speech of the cannibalistic, atavistic cave elves is written like this. |
| 188 | ** The spell to [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/328 bind]] [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/330 a Drath]] happens to be a transliteration of Jesus's quotations from Luke 4:18 and Mark 14:62. |
| 189 | * WizardsLiveLonger: Unlike normal mages, wizards gain a lifespan of centuries. [[spoiler:Their gifts are strongly implied to be provided by the One Who Is Three.]] |
| 190 | * WrongContextMagic: Thistle manages some feats that are beyond the realm of conventional magic, such as [[spoiler:helping a premature baby with underdeveloped lungs get enough oxygen to survive]]. This is implied to have something to do with [[spoiler:the patronage of the One Who Is Three]], but might instead just be creative application of different magical disciplines, like [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/35 air magic]] instead of healing magic for a child with underdeveloped lungs. |
| 191 | * YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Thistle's reaction when informed she has to help take down a giant demonic frog. |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Webcomic / DaughterOfTheLilies
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
