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Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen
Pretty much where she is. Always.
The eldest Sharen daughter, current headmistress of Orthorbbae and Mel'arnach's lover, as well as one of the key players in the Nidraa'chal War and the murder of her mother. In story she seems to be the closest thing to a Big Bad considering how many plot points are related directly or indirectly to her machinations.- Abusive Parent: Snad sure as hell isn't winning any "Mother of the Year" awards. Although she provided Kalki with everything she could ever need materially, she was a rather hands-off parent and was extremely emotionally neglectful to the point where Kalki grew up desperately wanting her mother's affection. And it's revealed that Kalki was Snad's failed attempt to get Quain's Anti-Magic ability through genetics. And just before she kills Kalki in cold blood for her disruptive antics, Snad reveals, to her face, that she sees her daughter as nothing more than a tool. As a result, Kalki's last moments were spent cursing her mother as she is shredded to bits.
- Ambiguously Human: Though it's hard to see
, in the last panel, she's got a nice summon-stone shaped glow where her womb should be, tucked under her clothes and her "smile" is Khaless level big. It's not yet known if she's hiding a stone under her robes, or she's .... something else. - Ambition Is Evil: As more and more about her is revealed, it seems she's a case of this. In the canon sidestory Empress to Be she brags about the fact that she'll one day be the Val'Sharess. It's now been confirmed that her ultimate ambition is to be Empress, and it's implied she wants to do it without any reminders of Diva or the old caste/clan system attached, but she's using atrocious methods such as clan genocide, infanticide, secretly produced magical/biological weaponry that would've been disproved and made illegal, and swaying people to her side either through blackmail, psychological manipulation, and/or "enlightenment".
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Snad is such a control freak that any time she offers a Deal with the Devil she has subordinates kill those who refuse, in a way that passes in her mind as Plausible Deniability. What made her so murderously furious with Kalki is not only that Kalki "jumped the gun" for her own pointless amusement, but publicly made her "offer" meaningless before it could even be made.
- Antagonistic Offspring: To Diva'ratrika, as she was the one who came up with the plan to trap and seal her in her own throne room, leaving her to die of starvation.
- Aura Vision: Hers has been developed to aid in her specialty, summoning, which allows her to recognize different types of demon seeds and even confirm Diva'ratrika's presence in a stolen host body.
- Ax-Crazy: Although she keeps it contained under a facade of reason, her outburst after she is stabbed and sees her blood tells a lot about how much of an animal she is without the veil of civility. When she finally hits her breaking point after the majority of her power base turns against her, she decides to straight up annihilate the entire city by opening a nether gate, then encases herself in one of her most potent summons and begins destroying everything in sight before her loyalist sisters manage to kill her. By the time she resurrects herself as a giant Eldritch Abomination, all semblance of sanity has been sandblasted out the window, leaving only a near-mindless, demonic monstrosity driven almost entirely by destructive, psychotic fury.
- Bad Samaritan: If she offers to "help" you, odds are there are massive strings attached.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: In the trio of herself Zala'ess and Sarv'swati she most obviously fits the brains part, as she tends to work in the background and is the one that Sarv'swati goes to for support and was the mastermind behind the whole coup d'etat against Diva'ratrika/Diva and Nidraa'chal uprising.
- Beauty Is Bad: She is immensely gorgeous drow with great fashion sense, who is also most evil character in the setting.
- Big Bad: Officially, the story begins with no main antagonist, being a setting of Grey-and-Gray Morality without any real heroes or villains. However, most of the conflict underlying the plot stems from her manipulations, and those of her motivations that have been revealed aren't terribly sympathetic in comparison to the sheer number of people that she has betrayed and destroyed. Once a majority of the power players have been weakened or killed off, Snadhya'rune relishes the opportunity to become the tyrant of the setting.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Not only is she currently a Villain with Good Publicity (although the veneer on that is starting to crack with the public reveal of the Poison and Cure Gambit), but in "The Longest Wait," she was good, as a child, at pretending to be a loyal daughter to Diva, after being tainted, despite most of Diva's available research on the subject showing that tainting causes its victims to become more, and more violent and insane with time... until she taints two of her other sisters, Zala and Sarv'swati and they combine their efforts to seal Diva in her own tower until she dies. Zala would grow to regret this, at least publicly. Sarv... not so much, until it's too late and then blames Quain'tana for it.
- Black Eyes of Evil: In the final arc, after going through a Villainous Breakdown, her eyes become black with red swirls.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: She invokes this with Kyo'nne during the Felde dinner when Kyo'nne begs her for the cure to the flower poison that her clan's Ilharess is suffering from.
- Blood Upgrade: When confronted with the sight of her own blood, Snadhya'rune is enraged to the point that her own guards are too terrified to help her and Mikilu is forced to take cover.
- Body Backup Drive: Discussed. One of her aides mentions having a back-up body prepared for her, but she's reluctant to use it unless she feels she has no other choice since a lot could go wrong in the transferral process.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In chapter 46, when Mikilu'ligr finally confronts her about the terrible things she did over the years such as engineering the Nidra'chaal War and the fall of the Dutan'vir clan, she just laughs it off as if she heard it before and tells her to get on with killing her again.
- This also happens in chapter 57 when Mel confronts her about lying about all her younger children being dead, she first replies to her that she will have to be more specific.
- This also happens in chapter 57 when Mel confronts her about lying about all her younger children being dead, she first replies to her that she will have to be more specific
- Cain and Abel:
- The Cain to both Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta's Abel as she wiped out most of her sisters' bloodlines during the Nidraa'chal War, while framing Sil'lice herself for matricide and treason, which forced her to become a fugitive hiding behind Sarghress protection.
- She has become the Cain to Zala'less as well, with her giving a special kind of demonic tainting that will screw with their fertility and result in Zala's clans giving birth to mutated, stillborn babies, if what happened to Shinae's child was of indication. Snad has no other purpose for this other than to inflict some delicious irony to one of her sister's most populous bloodlines.
- The Caligula: For a long time presented herself as one of the more rational choices for Empress, and even had Kyo'nne call her the only one advocating peace. But at the Felde conference Snadhya finally lets her true colors show and it becomes obvious that she's even worse than Sarv'swati.
- The Chessmaster: Big time.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Technically all three Sharen sisters count, but she takes the cake, especially since she betrayed her mother, Sha'sana, Sil'lice, Nishi'kanta, the former two's entire bloodlines, every civilian who died during the Nidraa'chal War, the entire Dutan'vir clan, almost every tainted character in the setting due to her faulty seeds, and is now apparently willing to turn on Zala and probably others we don't know about yet. The male masters at Orthorbbae are also terrified of her, and the Vloz'ress master says she's wiped them out before.
- And unsurprisingly she seems to have at least publicly thrown Zala under the bus as of here.
- Mel'arnach has also fallen victim to Snadhya's CBD, given how Snadhya convinced Mel to go back to the Sarghress, and things definitely did not go according to how Mel thought they would and given Snadhya's history, up to an including matricide it was pretty clear this was what was going on.
- Over the Time Skip, she has been doing considerable sabotage to the Sharen clan's war efforts in order to balance things out, since she wants each faction to be weakened to the point that she can rule, and until recently, the Sarghress clan was the underdog in the war. Such sabotage includes assassinating the false empress, weakening the clans of Nuqrah'shareh, and very likely being the one behind a mysterious nether resistant summon that defeated the Sharen invaders of Machike.
- And unsurprisingly she seems to have at least publicly thrown Zala under the bus as of here
- Collector of the Strange: With her "proteges" or students, or basically anyone whose rare and/or unique abilities made Snadhya'rune take them under her sway and take Felde by force from her rivals. In chapter 49, she also attempts to steal the Kyorl clan's "Seers" through a clan alliance, which will allow her to predict the future and stay one step ahead of her enemies (in reality this is a misinterpretation as Seers only see the desires and experiences of other fae). She didn't count on the new Holy Mother and another Seer, Anahid, exposing her sins to the Kyorl she attempted to ally with.
- Color Motif: Purple, which stands for nobility, wealth, faith, virtue, and power. Purple also stands for delusions of grandeur, arrogance, instability and (in some Asian cultures) death. Despite projecting the image of a benevolent High Queen, Snad's actually an insane, sociopathic narcissist underneath her mask who treats her followers as tools at best.
- Combat Tentacles: Snadhya'rune's demon form consists of a gigantic eye, surrounded by countless shadowy tentacles capable grabbing physical objects.
- Condescending Compassion: Her attitude towards Ran'diirk's attempt to avenge Diva'ratrika's death. In spite of his attempt to assassinate her, she tries to show him mercy and orders that he not be killed. She calls him a fool that doesn't know any better, tells him to accept that the old guard has fallen, and tells him that everybody else is looking to the future. She also has this attitude towards Mikilu, talking about how tragic it is that the Dutan'vir are so set in their ways.
- Consummate Liar: She's been lying to so many people, for so long, that she actually believes her own propaganda, despite knowing it's false. In her return in chapter 50, it's so blatantly obvious that she's lying by
Word of God, that the forumites are honestly astounded that any of the characters she's talking to can't see it. If they do, they must be master actors in their own right. - Control Freak:
- Heavily implied, considering how much she says she hated being controlled by Diva, but also a bit of Hypocritical Humor when you consider all the trouble she went through to have Kalki without her mother knowing it.
- It's telling that the first man she shows affection towards is a guy who was tortured and mindraped for weeks to make him subservient to her before "mastering" his Taint, a process that seems to have changed him to make him even more loyal to her.
- Her preferred mates seem to be her own students that she molded into her playthings. She even dresses up Mel similarly to Kalki's "pets", something that Zhor (Mel's mate and husband, more or less) does not fail to notice and even points it out, which heavily implies that Snadhya truly does not see Mel as an equal.
- Later, in conversation with Kalki Snadhya is clearly displeased by her behavior stabbing Ariel's hand and warns her against pushing it further. Of course Kalki then ups the ante by chopping off Ariel's arm which suggest Snadhya doesn't have nearly as much control over her daughter as she thinks.
- This is made explicitly clear shortly thereafter when Snadhya informs Kalki that she was just a tool. The eventual realization that Kalki apparently won't obey her causes Snadhya to follow up on her threat and kill her daughter.
- The Corrupter: Attempts this on Ariel during the Felde Gathering. Thanks to Kalki's interference it doesn't seem to have been successful, much to Snadhya's displeasure.
- Crippling Overspecialization: By Word of God, Snad has put all her training into controlling mana and nether arts, in all their forms, but most specifically summoning of all kinds. In exchange, she completely neglected any form of martial arts. As such, if anyone can get into melee with her, she's basically helpess. As Nishi'kanta exploits by repeatedly hitting her upside the head with a random rock, and when Snad tries to retaliate to that with a strangle, a swift kick to the stomach with an armored boot.
- Curtains Match the Window: Pre-tainting, she had purple eyes to go with her hair.
- Deal with the Devil: She has offered many of these:
- She made this sort of offer to Kiel's mother, which was apparently so heinous that Kiel's mom was considering writing to tell the other clan leaders her plans and had the Sharen attack them when they refused. It's heavily implied that Snadhya wanted to use and weaponize the Vloz'ress' immense knowledge in nether magic and demons with the creation of demon tainting, which according to Sha'sana is incredibly faulty and will shorten the lifespan of anyone who accepts Snadhya's "faulty seeds" by fifty years, while (judging by the fate of Shinae's child) also causing anyone who are already tainted by said seeds and decide to have children to give birth to stillborn babies that are horrifically mangled beyond recognition while still in the womb.
- Over the timeskip, she approached Kyo'nne about sponsoring her show. Kyo'nne accepted, but it's obvious that there are some massive strings attached. The author even lampshades the second with a chibi of Snadhya saying how she has no sinister motive at all behind it.
- Verthandi is an agent of the Nidraa'chal, but is still ultimately loyal to her clan, the Beldrobbaen. She helps Snadhya'rune and her own clan all at once by giving Waes'soloth an excuse to pull out of the District War. Nevertheless, she does not trust Snadhya'rune not to screw her clan over, and Snadhya'rune's reassurances are completely unconvincing in her eyes.
- At the Felde conference, she unveils her Poison and Cure Gambit, telling the guests that she can save them from their faulty taints. The "cure" involves a Split-Personality Merge between the host and their demon seed, effectively changing who they are. At least two of those so treated start becoming very favorable towards Snadhya'rune.
- She made this sort of offer to Kiel's mother
- Deceptive Disciple: To Sha'sana, from whom Snad took her research on tainting and weaponized it into its current form that is now used by the Vel'Sharen clan. Snad was also this to her own mother Diva; by the time Diva caught on and tried to kill her, it was too late.
- Democracy Is Flawed: Snadhya'rune views the old Val and caste system as obsolete and, to some extent, agrees with the Sarghress creed of allowing everyone a chance to prove themselves. But she still wants her own line to rule. It is heavily implied that Snad intends to take advantage of this particular trope, giving drowkind democracy, but one she and her family puppeteers.
- Devil in Plain Sight: The drow population at large sees her as an enlightened peacemaker. Word of God states that despite the sinister signs and her smug, all-knowing demeanor, the people around her do not see it and cannot pinpoint the source of their unease.
- Did Not Think This Through: Her ultimate goal to destabilize Chel'el'sussoloth and free it from old structures turns out to be this, since it became an almost abandoned, chaotic wasteland with barely anyone or anything to rule over.
- Didn't See That Coming: As much she is The Chessmaster, even she's not invulnerable to obstacles in her plans.
- It's evident from her expression that Erelice coming up from behind her and stabbing her took her by complete surprise. It's the first time viewers see her explode with rage.
- Despite her claims to the contrary, it's clear Kalki's amputation of Ariel's arm in chapter 46 was not on the agenda.
- She also totally didn't have the foresight to give added protection to a valued Jaal'darya scientist who was working on a cure for her flower poison as part of a Poison and Cure Gambit, allowing a Sarghress squad to assassinate said scientist and steal the cure. This is the first time Snadhya had a Villainous Breakdown.
- In chapter 49, she totally didn't expect the Kyorl clan's Holy Mother Anahid to expose her sins in front of everyone with her Seer powers, despite helping Anahid rise to power in the first place.
- In chapter 50, during her fight with her sister Nishi'kanta, she was completely blindsided by An'jin accurately throwing a floating mini-drone at her head from behind, unseen, resulting in losing her usual smug composure in a rather undignified fashion. The forums cheered.
- It's evident from her expression
- Dirty Coward: In the finale when she sees that Chrys'tel's summon has gotten incredibly close to her with a drawn blade, she screams and flees.
- Dishing Out Dirt: She has earth affinity.
- Divide and Conquer: One of the Nidraa'chal's biggest tactics. And it's very likely that she's deliberately setting her sisters on each other as well.
- The Dog Bites Back: Erelice sneaks up on her and stabs her In the Back as payback for the sadistic torture and execution of her squad.
- Also did this herself to her mother Diva in response to the incredible pressure of being her heir and firstborn.
- Domestic Abuse: Towards her lover Mel'arnach, of the emotional kind. She emotionally and psychologically manipulated her into a submissive position as a "pet", and dresses her up in what Word of God describes as "dental floss". She conditioned Mel to be entirely dependent on her to the point of doing nothing when Ariel, Mel's daughter, is attacked and amputated by Kalki, expecting Snadhya to handle it. Mel herself is on some level aware of this, but remains Selectively Oblivious due to the fact that Snadhya is one of the few people who's treated her well. Mel's husband, Zhor, is quick to pick up on this, however, and lampshades it in a What the Hell, Hero? speech directed at her for allowing Snad to control her like that.
- Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi: The way she got Mel's egg to make Kalki is an in-universe example of this trope, since Mel's egg was taken under false pretenses, even if Mel would've consented under normal circumstances. This also adds yet another comparison point between Snadhya and Quain'tana.
- Dull Surprise: Whenever something unexpected happens, no matter how large or profound, she always responds with mild surprise and fascination, until she's physically harmed, and then she goes totally ballistic.
- Easily Forgiven: She had been conditioning Mel to see her as a benevolent lover and savior from the Sarghress' abuses that when she sent Mel back home to Quain's mercies and Mel later escapes to call her out for abandoning her to the wolves, Snad's response is to simply do the 'Just as planned' smirk and say, "Forgive me?" Mel instantly runs to her and embraces her without a second thought.
- Evil Aunt: She is this to all of her sisters's progeny, especially Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta's lines. During the coup to oust their mother, she caused so many of their bloodline to die. Even though Sarv'swati and Zala'ess allied with her during the coup, she proves that their bloodlines are just as equal targets as their other sisters' since she encouraged all their progeny to be tainted while also giving out faulty seeds which will go haywire down the line. As a result, many who find out about her true intentions immediately go against her. This is averted for members of her sisters' bloodline who join the Nidraa'chal and believe in her teachings.
- Evil Counterpart: Arguably to Quain'tana. Fans have noted a great many similarities between the two; however, as hard as it is to fathom that anyone could be worse than Quain'tana at running a clan, or being a sentient being in general, Snadhya has spent considerable effort in doing just that. To wit:
- While both are horribly abusive parents, Quain'tana will at least happily acknowledge any and all offspring that live up to and embody the clan's ideals. Snad meanwhile lavishes her followers with luxuries and leaves them wanting for nothing but will outright ignore any and all accomplishments done by her lackeys and own children in her name, unless the wind blows just right, and she finds some way to gain glory for herself in the process. In short, she sees everyone under her as tools to use, if her last words to Kalki before killing her are of indication.
- Quain killed an adoptive daughter and former heir, Syphille, but it was after the latter both came at her with a crossbow and officially challenged her to a duel to the death, and that incident was interpreted as a Mercy Kill on Quain's part with the reveal that Syphille was showing symptoms of "demonification," the end stage of tainting. Also, Quain showed reluctance when she did the deed and is still bothered by it, post time-skip. Snad killed Kalki with a summon because she saw her as a rebellious tool and failed attempt to access Quain's mana resistance who refused to toe the line and follow her orders, and didn't look back or even give it a second thought.
- While Quain broke Mel's arms and locked her in a dungeon for treason (which is arguably the minimum acceptable sentence in-universe), Snad is the one who put Mel in that position by convincing her to "make amends" with Quain, and then sported a psychotic smirk when the two were reunited, even acting incredibly pleased when Mel later calls her out on this.
- Lastly, while Quain is a very "what you see is what you get" Anti-Villain in the story, Snad is an insane and full-blown Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who hides behind a Mask of Sanity and is just as dangerous to friend and foe alike without said mask, even going so far as to drink a poison specifically designed to cause madness and death, just to show that a cure exists.
- Exotic Eye Designs: After the Time Skip, her eyes have the swirls, indicating mastery over her taint. She eventually reveals that the actual demon a victim was tainted by doesn't generally matter, as anyone can achieve mastery with the right guidance. She uses this as part of a massive Poison and Cure Gambit intended to force her "enlightened" views on everyone and present herself as a savior to the very infection she spread.
- Faking the Dead: She manages to be able to fool a Nal'sarkoth into thinking she's dead by having no pulse in her neck.
- Faux Affably Evil: She might put on a image of being a civil, polite person but it's only to mask her darker traits and goals.
- Feed It with Fire: Using any mana or nether attack against her is a fundamentally bad idea, as she absorbs the attack to feed her summons. Until chapter 50, she was completely able to hide this by making it look like she was using insanely powerful Deflector Shields.
- Foil: To many, but primarily Quain'tana. Both are seen as radical revolutionaries who want to change the system in Chel, but greatly differ in morality and how to achieve it. While both will do morally dubious acts to achieve their goals, Quain'tana had shown time and again she had a conscience and would reflect on her mistakes. However, Snad has had none of that and became more and more atrocious in her actions, while trying to justify herself for doing so.
- Foreshadowing: Given what Zhor says in chapter 46 about the way Snadhya dresses up Mel'arnach like one of Kalki's "pets", the imagery Snadhya summons up for Ariel, mainly a wolf with a Sharen collar, when talking about the possibility of bringing the girl in to control her is more than a little suggestive.
- Remember that comment Sil'lice made in the prologue chapter about Snadhya murdering her own children while in the womb? It happens in chapter 39, with her faulty seeds causing Shinae's child to come out of the womb stillborn and horrifically warped beyond recognition.
- In chapter 46 and 47, she outright tells both Shinae and Chrystel that her faulty seeds are directly responsible for it happening to Shinae and that it will happen with Chrys'tel, up to the point in the prologue where a tainted fetus will rip its way out of her womb and drag her corpse along.
- Freudian Excuse: Invoked by her in regards to killing her mother and hiding the existence of Kalki and says that the "death" of her protector twin Khaless made her crack. Even though it is shown that the incredible pressure Diva put on Snadhya as her heir and firstborn caused her to snap in a ''huge'' way, the narrative goes out of its way to show that Snadhya doesn't have a good enough excuse for her actions and the way she ruins the lives of others.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While Diva's parenting had an influence on morphing Snadhya (and believes the atrocities done by her eldest are the consequence of it all), Siliice brushes off that notion and claims that her sister was just power hungry and needed their mother out of the way.
- Get Out!: Her response to Kalki chopping off Ariel's arm is to use a summon to fling her against a wall and then tell her this verbatim.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Though all drow eyes glow slightly in the dark, especially the tainted, Snadhya's are particularly prominent in chapter 44, and they glow even brighter when she has a Villainous Breakdown during the finale.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: ...Maybe. She's certainly not a "good girl" by any stretch of the imagination, and Sil'lice references Snadhya "murdering her children while they are in the womb", but there's quite a bit of debate among fans as to what exactly this means. Now that we know about Kalki, it's speculated that if she did abort her pregnancies it was some sort of plan, possibly to throw Diva'ratrika off her's, or even something even more sinister, given what happened to Shinae's baby as a result of her taint.
- Good Is Old-Fashioned: She views the ways of her mother's followers to be old-fashioned and tragically self-destructive. She looks down on the Dark Elves for being so averse to tainting and towards the Dutan'vir for being completely devoted to their duties. She views her cult-like "new" ways as the future for the drow race and has been causing considerable amounts of turmoil to impose them.
- Hate Sink: As the story has gone on, Snad has gradually shown herself to be a monstrous, hypocritical Visionary Villain who commits one atrocity after another in order so she can create a new order where she is in charge. She has shown also to care about no one but herself by the way she conditioned and manipulated her longtime lover, Mel, killed her own daughter in cold blood for getting on her last nerve (while calling her a tool), and is willing to destroy her own family for power.
- The High Queen: Seems to style herself this way, even though she's revealed to be actually anything but this.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Snad's non-existent parenting of Kalki eventually ruins her attempt to recruit the 'daughter' she actually wanted — after Kalki throws a tantrum, attacks and maims Ariel, the latter obviously wants nothing to do with the mother of the woman who cut her arm off.
- Hypocrite: She perceives herself as a peacemaker, despite manipulating most of the conflict in the setting into being. Worse, she claims that Diva, and anyone still loyal to her, deserves to die, or worse, in the cruelest way possible "because she refuses to be a tool." What are the last words she will ever tell her own daughter? "You are just a tool. Tools don't get to make claims."
- She always fumed about her mother never giving her a chance, overlooking her accomplishments, and considering her inferior for the way she was born when she treated Kalki the same way for not inheriting any of Quain'tana's anti-mana ability.
- Hypocritical Humor: In a conversation with Mel'arnach she says "You will need to make peace with Quain'tana" this coming from a woman who murdered her mother.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Blackmail, threats, hostages, and the summon stones into which their very aura been shoved.
- I Did What I Had to Do: In Chapter 49, she tells the Kyorl's new Holy Mother Anahid that everything she did (including committing matricide and killing her own daughter) was so that she can ensure a peaceful future for everyone. Anahid doesn't buy it, especially when she learns that Snadhya planned to steal her clan's Seers as her own, and tells her to seek forgiveness from her actual victims - the many drowlaths she screwed over.
- Idiot Ball: Many in the forums have noted that she seems to "only be brilliant off-screen," and seems to have some kind of magical aura that makes otherwise highly intelligent and competent people noticeably lose substantial portions of their IQ in her presence, which seems to be the primary reason so many of her "plans" work as well as they do.
- In the Back: Gets stabbed in the back by Ere'lice after getting preoccupied with attempting to get Khaless to finish off a wounded Mikilu. This just makes Snadhya mad.
- In the Hood: Wears a hood in chapter 49 while visiting the Kyorl clan's fortress and talking to the Judicator-appointed Ill'haress Valla'drielle.
- Insane Troll Logic: After daring Erelice to stab her, as she's done to so many others, and gets enraged when Erelice actually does, Snadhya reveals that she actually thinks people should thank her for every rotten thing she's done. And promising there will be "no more nice Snad!"
- Keystone Army: Summons are reliant on their summoner to operate, including her faction's immortal soldiers, meaning that if she were to ever get taken out, much of her army would fall.
- Killed Off for Real: Her physical form is killed by Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta, then her demon form is gobbled up by Laele'aell in the last chapter, thus her reign of terror finally ends.
- Kneel Before Zod: Does this in chapter 44, though it's Shodun giving the command rather than Snadhya herself. All the guests, even those who would never do so willingly, find themselves obeying. Depicted humorously in this chibi comic, where she's the one who kneels instead.
- Kubrick Stare: Seen giving one in chapter 49 when appraising the abilities of the new Kyorl Holy Mother Anahid.
- Large Ham: While mostly composed, Snad can act over-the-top when she wants to. Just like mommy Diva.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: With a dash of Engineered Heroics is how she's built up her completely undeserved reputation as a peace-maker and benevolent ruler. She engineers or ignores looming crises until they reach critical levels and then as everyone is suffering, bleeding, and dying, she swoops in "offering a solution" if people would bow down and worship her. By the end of chapter 50, she has lost almost all of her supporters as this gets rather graphically revealed by the people she's dismissed as "stupid, ignorant, and pitiable" and she's come to realize it.
- Like Father, Like Son: Gender-inverted. As much as Snadhya hates to admit it, she seems to inherit her Large Ham and Control Freak tendencies from her mother, Diva.
- Mad Scientist: She can be seen like this, considering she was Sha'sana's fellow researcher into stabilizing seeds.
- Manipulative Bitch: Hoooo boy. Besides fooling everyone into seeing her as some sort of Messianic leader, it's implied that her usual M.O. is to find someone in a vulnerable situation, i.e. Kiel's mother and Kyo'nne, and offer to help them. She also fooled both her own mother and her mentor Sha'sana, and by the time her victims caught on it was too late.
- Her lover, Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress, is also a victim of this. Snad emotionally and psychologically manipulated her into a submissive position as a "pet", and dresses her up in what Word of God describes as "dental floss". After the attempted Sarghress coup, Snad incorrectly tells Mel that all of her children except Ariel were killed by it, with Word of God saying that Snad is more likely to be telling deliberate lies than merely misinformed in order to make Mel more vulnerable. She wants to acquire Mel's mother Quain's Anti-Magic ability since, in the Drowtales 'verse, some abilities are hereditary. Her lover is on some level aware of this, but remains Selectively Oblivious due to the fact that Snadhya is one of the few people who's treated her well.
- When a Sarghress squad leader manages to enrage her, she sadistically toys with her emotions in this manner.
- Zala'ess eventually catches on to the fact that she has a very strong knack for manipulating people into taking foolish decisions.
- It's later revealed that Snad fooled everyone into taking up demonic tainting under the guise of it being a "vaccination" against demon attacks, but really it's designed to kill the user and corrupt them into a new demon. She later advertises taint-merging as "enlightenment", but it only brainwashes people who undertake it into working for her.
- As of chapter 50, the other clan leaders have caught on to Snad's manipulations and now recognize her as a threat to Chel, with the Sarghress collaborating with Sil'lice's family to hunt Snad down and bring her head back home.
- Her lover, Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress, is also a victim of this. Snad emotionally and psychologically manipulated her into a submissive position as a "pet", and dresses her up in what
- Mask of Sanity: She usually acts rational and has won the admiration of many people thanks to her desires to reform drow society. But according to Zhor, she is thoroughly insane, and he believes that Diva'ratrika knew this. She finally becomes open with her madness during the Felde conference, as she starts announcing her intentions to the entire world. As part of a Poison and Cure Gambit, she blackmails all of Chel with flower poison. She even goes so far as to ingest some of the poison herself to demonstrate the fact that a cure can be offered to those who bend to her will.
- Matricide: She was responsible for coming up with the plan of sealing her own mother up inside the Sharen fortress' old throne room so she'll eventually die from starvation. In Chapter 49, the Kyorl's new Holy Mother Anahid discovers this via empathy and calls her out, calling Snad "motherkiller" in front of her clan.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: In a room prepared for a special, sinister ritual, her reflection is shown in a mirror, revealing a twisted demon.
- My Secret Pregnancy: Played with. She herself was never pregnant (at least through traditional means), but had Kalki with the help of the Jaal'darya.
- Mundane Utility: She's shown to use a summon as a chair in her office, despite a perfectly normal chair being just a few feet away, presumably for Rule of Cool reasons.
- Made of Iron: She manages to live from being impaled with a large stone through the stomach, her spine and neck pretty much fragmented, her skull being stoved in like an egg and willingly stopping her pulse to fake her death. All of this while afterwards being able to casually order a minion of hers about as if she didn't even care about the state of her body.
- Mirror Character: With Quain'tana, it seems. It's implied that Mel'arnach realizes this on some level but chooses to ignore it. This trope also seems to be the case with Snad's mother Diva'ratrika as she inherited her Large Ham and Control Freak tendencies, but either doesn't notice or she did yet is unwilling to admit it.
- Narcissist: She views herself as a savior, forcing her "enlightened" ideals onto everyone for their own good. During the Felde conference, she forces everyone to kneel to her with spellsong (via a lackey), and the entire event comes across as one massive ego trip. When a Sarghress squad leader manages to make her bleed, she screams in outrage over how little gratitude the "low-born filth" have shown her.
- Never My Fault: In her own mind, she's never, ever responsible for the consequences of her actions, or the orders she gives her agents. When things inevitably blow up in her face, it's always someone else to blame, especially her mother, Diva'ratrika.
- New Era Speech: At the Felde conference, Snad finally ends all subtlety and presents herself as a savior. She denounces the old guard, such as her mother, for clinging to backwards beliefs in order to maintain their power, and heralds the dreaded taint as a means of seeking enlightenment. She also denounces Chel's leadership as warmongers and threatens to kill all of them with an extremely deadly poison. The Kyorl clan is threatened with the same fate if they do not cease to persecute the tainted. Finally, she astounds her audience by unveiling the stolen Nuqrah'sharian airship, telling them that this will end the Moonless Age. She closes her speech by asking them to share her vision of "interconnected worlds and unlimited landscapes to reconquer".
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her attempt to force Ariel to steal the arm of one of her squad-mates, something Mel'arnach justifies by calling her squad "nothing more than mere tools," to try and blackmail Ariel into her service, actually being disappointed when Ariel outright refuses, and pulls away. But in the process she teaches Ariel how to do it, leading to the Laser-Guided Karma inflicted on Kalki later.
- By deciding to seal Diva'ratrika in her own throne room and not bothering to check any hidden passageways for anyone who could use them to escape being killed by her and her sisters, Snadhya allowed her mother to find an ancient aura fusion ritual over the course of a year, and use it to escape and cheat death by fusing her aura with Ragini, a young surviving slave, to become "Diva".
- No-Sell: She is immune to empathic attacks, though it's not without help from her own empaths. When Rann'dirk attacks her with earth sorcery, she calmly stops it before it even reaches her and serenely comments that it reminds her of Kalki's childhood games.
- Not Quite Dead: She manages to be alive with a large stone piercing her abdomen through the back, a broken spine, a compound fracture on her neck, a caved in skull, and NO PULSE.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Presents herself as a Well-Intentioned Extremist, at least, stating that drow should be ruled by drow rather than by dark elves. More specifically, she believes that the old guard has clung too strongly to outdated ideals and is trying to usurp them with people that will accept new ideas. She also agrees with the Sarghress dogma that everyone should have the right to prove themselves regardless of ancestry. However, her actions, which include basically committing genocide through the Nidraa'chal, murdering her mother, destroying her own family from the inside, deliberately tainting people with seeds that will eventually kill them, and setting up a Poison and Cure Gambit so that the other clans can bow to her whims, tell otherwise. In Chapter 49, the new Holy Mother Anahid uses her empathy to look at Snadhya's sins, which are so terrible that she rejects an offer of negotiation with the Nidraa'chal. When Snadhya presents the I Did What I Had to Do excuse and asks for forgiveness, Anahid doesn't buy it and suggests that she look for forgiveness from her actual victims, the people her plans have screwed over.
- Offing the Offspring: Sil'lice has made reference to Snadhya'rune murdering her children while still in the womb.After Kalki disrupts Snadhya'rune's plans for Ariel by attacking her, Snad warns her single grown child not to cross her again. When Kalki tries to grab the airship, Snadhya'rune finally loses all patience with her and kills her with a summon.
- One-Winged Angel: After her physical body is killed, she becomes a full demon, and one capable of physical manifestation.
- Parental Neglect: Most of the issues her daughter Kalki has can be attributed to this on Snadhya's part. While Kalki had all the material resources she could need, she lacked an emotional attachment, and thus grew into an Ax-Crazy Attention Whore whose desperate attempts to earn approval disrupted Snadhya's plans and eventually led to her own death when Snadhya got sick of dealing with it.
- Parental Issues: Diva'ratrika and Snadhya'rune had a very tempestuous relationship, to say the least. Diva put Snad under tremendous pressure as her firstborn daughter, so Snad devised the plan to usurp and kill her mother. Also, her long-term plan of giving her clan demonic taints that shortens their lifespan considerably and doing away with Chel's old traditions is basically a big middle finger to her mother.
- Pet the Dog: Subverted with her relationship with her lover Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress, which has been heavily implied, and confirmed in chapter 46, to be just another manipulation intended to brainwash her into a submissive plaything who depends on Snad for everything.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Par for the course considering her status, but in Chapter 25 alone she appears in six different outfits in flashbacks, all of which are pretty pimped out.
- Playing Both Sides: When the Kyorl start struggling with The Coup, Snad plays the Judicators, Valla'drielle, and Anahid in an attempt to install a Puppet Queen and acquire influence over the clan. It backfires when she helps install Anahid due to the latter's ability to read hearts, only for Anahid to turn around and reveal Snad's sins in front of her people.
- Playing the Victim Card: As with any good domestic abuser, when her victim finally stands up to her, she acts like the victimized party. When she's called out by Mel'anarch, for hiding the fact that her children are indeed alive and treating her like nothing more than a tool, Snad retorts "even you are betraying me?"
- She also does it again when she is confronted by her mother in Sharess' body saying that everything she did was due to her not ever being given a chance to prove herself to her.
- Poison and Cure Gambit:
- The taint is a sort of demonic plague, that infects a fae's "soul" and gradually corrupts said fae into a new demon. She has been deliberately spreading the taint, encouraging it as a form of warfare and as a sort of vaccination from demonic attack. All of the demon seeds she has been promoting, including the "vaccinations", are specifically designed to eventually kill their hosts. After the Time Skip, in chapter 44, she promotes a peace conference in Felde, presenting herself as a savior. She starts promising not only deliverance, but enlightenment, by offering her victims guidance to help them master their demon seeds. Several of those who accepted her offer are shown to have completely changed loyalties, leading some to fear that the procedure might allow her to brainwash them.
- Taken even further when she unveils a flower-based weapon developed by one of her Jaal'darya agents. She openly announces her intentions to spread the poison throughout Chel, releasing the antidote only to those who bend to her will. She threatens the Kyorl with annihilation unless they stop persecuting the tainted. Unfortunately, the Sarghress accidentally kill the scientist responsible for the "cure" part of the gambit. As a result, the flower plague spreads beyond the control of everyone, including Snadhya.
- Powers Do the Fighting: As the most powerful known summoner in the world, Snadhya'rune doesn't have to break a sweat fighting and can effortlessly defeat her enemies using her summons.
- Pretty in Mink: Her fur coats have become something of a Running Gag in the fandom, and there's official art of her in the fur-trimmed nightie. Harming her coats seems to be one of the surefire ways to get her mad, too.
- Primal Stance: When a Sarghress actually manages to trigger a Villainous Breakdown in her, she is reduced to this, physically threatening her enemies for the first time instead of just leaving it to her summons or minions.
- Psychological Projection: Since she's a narcissist and Immortality Seeker, she accuses Diva of being one too, and refuses to hear any word to the contrary.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Does this when announcing how she will kill her enemies over stabbing her.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Her efforts succeed in destabilising Chel'el'sussoloth — to the point where it's a nearly deserted, rotting husk, with barely anyone or anything left for her to actually rule over. Plus she's crippled and stuck in a wheelchair thanks to Nishi'Kanta's attack, reluctant to move to a new body.
- Rasputinian Death: Injured from two assassination attempts from the closest family members who she betrayed, exposed to fatal doses of nether radiation, stabbednote , blown up, and eaten alive by Demon!Lael'elle!
- Revenge by Proxy: A Sarghress squad causes significant damage to Snadhya's plans by assassinating one of her followers. When interrogating their leader, Mel'arnach recommends cutting her up since she refuses to speak. Snadhya'rune replies that she is far too civilized for such a thing, and instead decides to conduct a dramatic Public Execution of her squad.
- Self-Harm: She's taken to smashing her face into the ground to the point that she bleeds. Her retainers have taken to considering trying to shove her into a new body for fear that she's breaking down, but even they worry that it may already be too late as "the madness" may just simply carry over to the new host.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Whilst being rather tall herself, Snadhya'rune is noticeably the shortest amongst her trio of sisters and as mentioned above is the brains of the group.
- Smug Smiler: Her default expression. When the smile stops, it's a very, very bad sign.
- Smug Snake: For all her rants about how her mother should have abdicated and let her take her 'rightful place' as Empress, her schemes to fully control Chel'el'sussoloth wind up dooming the city and killing most of the populace.
- The Sociopath: An ongoing debate on the site's forums was whether she was one, with someone even running her through the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and concluding that while not definitive, it was more likely than notnote . Zhor's comments about how Diva'ratrika "knew the sickness in her daughter" also heavily suggest it. And then the way she callously kills her own daughter Kalki with a summon that tears her apart convinced most of the holdouts.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: “Your followers keep on killing themselves, one by one. A fitting legacy for you, mother. You are death to the unchanging fools who follow your path...”
- Spell My Name With An S: Is it Snadhya'rune or Snadhya'runes? Recent pages have settled on Snadhya'rune, but the prologue uses Snadhya'runes. Most fans just call her Snadhya or Snads to avoid this.
- Squishy Wizard: She is nearly unbeatable in the arts, and her summons are able to absorb any Mana attacks directed at her. But get past her rocky defenses, and she has no melee skills to counter brute force.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: One of her biggest reasons for using Mel'arnach as her lover. She hopes to acquire certain valuable abilities from her bloodline and add them to her own, especially Quain'tana's Anti-Magic ability.
- Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: On page 102 of chapter 57, she has a new batch of "Nurse Demons" open a second nether super-gate and states that "If I cannot have my birthright. Then none will. Let it be the end of this age." as her many oppressed underlings and the rightly pissed off, starving, and abused Sarg are storming her throne, with Mel'anarch also getting tired of her shit.
- Summon Magic: She's a very powerful summoner, stated in the Orthorbbae wiki to be the strongest known summoner in Chel'el'sussoloth. At her residence in Felde she can call upon the suits of armor at a whim and without any apparent effort.
- Super Breeding Program: Word of God seems to confirm that at least part of the reason she wanted to have children with Mel'arnach was because of the possibility of any resulting children inheriting a rare type of mana resistance from Quain'tana, but this didn't wind up happening. It's actually standard among Vals to select mates for specific bloodline abilities and is in and of itself not unusual, though Snadhya used rather unorthodox methods.
- Tautological Templar: Through the eyes of her insanity and her own "perfected" taint, she views herself as a "good" person, therefore everything she does or has ordered done is "good" regardless of the actual consequences, and she expects to be thanked for it. Anyone who opposes her, regardless of the reason, is, at best, merely a pitiable ignorant fool who hasn't yet been "enlightened." This is best highlighted in chapter 47 when Ere'lice stabs her, despite Snad herself, daring Ere'lice to do so, and again in chapter 49 when Anahid sees through her motives and refuses to grant her blanket forgiveness out of hand, stating that if she genuinely wants forgiveness, she needs to seek out her own kin, the actual victims, at which point, she becomes immediately hostile.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Back when she was a teacher, she was well known for offering students her protection in return for sexual favors. It is heavily implied that this is where she recruited many of the Nidraa'chal.
- Time Dissonance: Seems to have a bit of this as indicated here
- Torture First, Ask Questions Later: A Sarghress squad manages to anger the Nidraa'chal. She technically does ask first, but when their leader refuses to answer, she conducts an execution of her underlings, killing the only one that actually knew the answer to her question.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The way she executes the Sarghress squad responsible for Femi's death comes off as this, since she does so using an airship's mana guns, which comes off as a combination of yet more of her Narcissist traits combined with showing off her new toy. Worse, it's heavily implied that while she could have finished them off in one round she had them miss the first shot on purpose purely to draw out the suffering of their leader, who's Forced to Watch.
- This Is Reality: "This is not some child's theater where my pets would suddenly move to end you."
- Tranquil Fury: She's clearly furious at Kalki's actions in chapter 46, but maintains an icy calm. When she finally decides that she's had enough of Kalki's antics, she has a summon literally rip her to shreds without batting an eye.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Hinted at but not yet confirmed. Zhor believes that Diva'ratrika was aware of the "sickness" in Snadhya'rune, and hints about the timeline of when he was transformed indicate this probably occurred when Snadhya'rune was very young.
- Unstoppable Rage: After being stabbed in the back and seeing her own blood, Snadhya’rune loses her temper and utterly trashes the place before realising that she’s being watched and catches herself. This comes back in full when her plans fall apart and the majority of her followers turn against her, whereupon she opens a massive nether gate above the heart of the city, then goes on a rampage using one of her summons as a battle-suit. Her rage ultimately proves so powerful that when her physical body is slain, she straight-up refuses to die and just gets back up as an Eldritch Abomination to continue running amok, before being put down for good.
- Villainous Breakdown: Snadhya'rune is enraged and seems to be losing her cool for the first time when the Sarghress manage to assassinate a Jaal'darya scientist, Femi, who had a crucial role to play in her Poison and Cure Gambit. Later, after Erelice stabs her she fully snaps, with even her own guards being too afraid to approach her and Mikilu diving for cover.
- In the finale of the Moonless Age, Snadhya'rune loses what is left of her sanity as the Saghress storm her palace and her former lover disowns her, and opens a gigantic nether gate to kill the entire city, with her sitting at the center of the rift.
- After her loyalist sisters kill her physical body, she becomes a full demon and is reduced to a Madness Mantra, constantly saying "HATE".
- Villain Takes an Interest: Her usual methodology for recruiting her "proteges" and sets her sights on Ariel due to her bloodline and abilities. It ultimately fails thanks to Kalki.
- Villain with Good Publicity: A true politician in a world mostly ruled over by brute force. In truth, she is the story's closest thing to a Big Bad, secretly responsible for a great deal of chaos and death in the name of her ruthless power grab. But publicly, she is one of the greatest proponents for peace and progress, and has Kyo'nne, many colonists, and possibly a whole bunch more people singing her praises. This is later subverted down the line as she began slipping more and more of her mask off to the point that she becomes the obvious bad guy everyone is fighting against.
- Visionary Villain: She wants a world for drowkind where everyone lives side-by-side along demons and those in power are not constantly infighting from their ancestry and social standing, but by collaborating skill and potential. Basically on surface a democracy for elves. However, her goal is overshadowed by the fact that she is an insane, power-hungry psychopath who did many, many atrocious things to achieve that goal. Not to mention by the way she rules Felde, it would be more an oligarchy instead of a true democracy where the elite rule over the poor.
- We Can Rule Together:
- Well, not so much rule, but in Chapter 46, Snadhya does offer one of her enemies, Mikilu, the chance to join her after she is defeated.
- She and Mel also propose making Ariel the New Empress and then "guiding" her. Ariel saw through it almost immediately.
- She directly proposes this to her little sister, Nishi'kanta.
- After losing several of her most powerful followers, as well as being crippled, she makes a genuine offer to Zala'ess, pointing out that her Enemy Mine with the Sarghress will no longer hold with Quain'tana out of the picture.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Part of her Freudian Excuse. Her mother, Diva'ratrika, disapproved of the fact that all of her descendants were different, almost to the point of being a new race, and in her mind, a degenerating one. Snadhya'rune tried hard to prove her wrong by winning Diva'ratrika's respect. But Diva'ratrika interpreted her conquest of Felde as a form of Ambition Is Evil instead, causing Snadhya'rune to snap.
- Wicked Stepmother: Even though drowolath do not get married (note ) she's essentially this to Ariel since early in the story she tries to get Ariel transferred to the female section of the school with the express intent of having the "blood of the Wolf" under her control and later tells Mel'arnach that if the Sharen win the war she'll make a bloodline claim on both her and Ariel.
- She's doubly this to her daughter, by treating her as a tool to be destroyed.
- Wasted Beauty: She is a gorgeous drow who is usually seen decked out in elegant and expensive attire during earlier parts of the story seems to be an advocate for peace and democracy. However, underneath the façade she long put out in public, she is a sociopathic Visionary Villain who is willing obtain power at any cost and manipulate anyone who could be of use to her plans. As she strips more and more of her mask in public, people begin to see her as the monster she truly is.
- Would Hurt a Child: She already inflicted this trope when her faulty seeds directly caused Shinae to give birth to a heavily mutated stillborn baby. It gets even worse when you learn that her plan is to use said faulty seeds to either make a large majority of drowkind infertile and/or cause those who are still fertile to give birth to heavily mutated stillborn children like Shinae did.
- Weak, but Skilled: Her manipulation of the arts and especially her summons are a force to be reckoned with. Take them out of the fight and she won't last long.
- You Have Failed Me: She has an extremely low tolerance for failure, as Arida found out in chapter 56.Snad:"Eternity can be a blessing or a curse." (Smashes Summon) "Which one it is, depends on how you will recover my city from the mess you have caused, Adira."Adira: "I will not fail again."
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Says this to her daughter Kalki after Kalki chops off Ariel's arm, telling her to "go, before I find I no longer need you" with the clear threat of this. She ultimately makes good on it.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Along with Summon Magic above, anyone who pisses her off enough and is deemed worth it can expect to become one of her summons.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: When a squad of Sarghress anger her, she reassures their leader that she is reasonable and that they can come to a mutual, peaceful understanding. When said squad leader remains silent, Snadhya'rune's actions make it clear she never had any actual intention of negotiating in the first place and had only made a false offer out of sadism.
- You Will Be Spared: States that the Vloz'ress, Beldrobbaen and Jaal'darya clans will not have to face her parasitic flowers due to their assistance in her schemes. As chapter 48 shows, this has massive strings attached.
Khaless
Khaless is (or was) Snadhya'rune's protector twin, though her exact status is a bit unclear at the moment since she apparently lost control of her seed around 50 years ago, and the current Khaless is some sort of demon who can take the shape of the original and apparently retrains some of her memories. Either way, Snadhya refers to having lost the original.
- Big "NO!": Though inaudible to most, she gives one just before Laele'aell eats her.
- Break Her By Talking: Does this to Kiel in chapter 39, pointing out that they are similar. Kiel is... less than impressed.
- The Corrupter In chapter 46 her actions towards Kharla seem designed to do this, introducing her to "sexy times", which Kiel immediately realizes is a very bad thing.
- Curtains Match the Window: Originally, before her deomnic posession.
- Glasgow Grin: Displays a nice one here.
- Demonic Possession: The original Khaless was possessed by a demon, though her personality remains alive in the demon's gestalt. Additionally, Lulianne managed to damage Khaless's body badly enough that she was forced to steal Lulianne's.
- Didn't See That Coming: Devoured the essence of a Sullisin'rune healer and assumes her form to get close to a badly injured Quain'tana. She didn't expect Quain going mad with rage the second she's given sedatives for an operation, and when Khaless tries to escape Quain grabs her head and smashes her face in on the operating table.
- Eldritch Abomination: Whatever she is now appears to be one of these, since she is apparently a Mind Hive and occasionally even sprouts portions of people with her shapeshifting in combat.
- Face Stealer: Mainly the face of Sael, Lulianne's niece, who she may have killed, as well as Lulianne herself.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom (Can turn these on when she wants to look intimidating.)
- Hero Killer: She is responsible for taking out many named characters.
- Honey Trap: Does this to Kharla in chapter 46. Many people found this unsettling because even though Kharla is a grown woman, her mind is on level with a young child.
Which makes Khaless a child molester. - Humanoid Abomination: She likes to appear in the form of her current host or past hosts and victims when she's not planning to take another host.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: She has eaten many of Snadhya'rune's enemies, all of whom join her Mind Hive. A good number of them really want to die along with Khaless, but can do no more than express their misery to her. They ultimately get their wish at Laele'aell Val'Sarghress's hands.
- Karmic Death: Is devoured and sealed by Laele'aell Val'Sarghress in the same manner in which she devoured her (very many) victims, helped in part by the angry, vengeful souls of those she devoured.
- Kill and Replace: Does the former to Lulianne for knowing too much and secretly does the latter so as not to make Mel upset at the loss of her friend.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She was ultimately devoured and sealed by Laele'aell Val'Sarghress, a process quickened by the thousands of souls of the victims she devoured over the years. Her victims express hateful things to her such as "You killed us", "You destroyed our lives", and "You deserve this" as they pull her into Laele'aell's mouth.
- Long-Lost Relative: The Daydream story about Mel and Snadhya has Snadhya suggest that Khaless and Mel may be distantly related, as they had similar powers before Khaless got possessed.
- Meaningful Name: According to the D&D 2nd edition lorebook "The Drow of The Underdark," by Ed Grenwood, the term "khaless" means "trust, especially misplaced or foolish." Considering her actions regarding Lulianne, Kharlagen, and all the various "hosts" the Khaless demon has assimilated, coupled with the fact that she serves the penultimate Devil in Plain Sight, Snadhyar'une, it fits all too perfectly.
- Mind Hive: There are references to Khaless being a "consensus of beings". The minds of those she devours continue to live on inside of her, though only the original demon's personality has any real control.
- The Mole: She uses her "faces" to infiltrate clans and sabotage them. In chapter 50, she consumes the Sul healer assigned to Quain and then poses as said healer.
- Oh, Crap!: Tries to hightail it out of the area once Laele'aell appears to seal her within her own body. Her emotional vulnerability allows Khaless' many victims to take control, overpower her and stop her from escaping, as vengeance for killing them, and she lets out a Big "NO!" before she ends for good.
- Power Perversion Potential: Started as a joke, but later canonized by her one night stand with Kharla, where she uses her shapeshifting to make herself into a male.
- Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: Does this to Lulianne when she attacks her on the way down from the Ninth Tower, and Lulianne fights back.
- Shapeshifters Do It for a Change: In chapter 46 is shown to have slept with Kharla and used her shapeshifting to make herself into a male.
- Split-Personality Takeover: Khaless was possessed by a demon. Snadhya'rune thought she was lost, but came to recognize Khaless's personality in the gestalt entity she became. However, having consumed so many people, Khaless's identity has been somewhat confused, and she identifies as a demon, rather than as a drow. After stealing Lulianne's body, Khaless takes her place to look after Mel and prevent her from missing her friend. Khaless frequently slips in her act, performing actions very much unlike Lulianne. However, on occasion, Lulianne actually manages to take back control, especially when her pride is threatened.
- As of Chapter 50, the many personalities of Khaless' victims emerge all at once during a moment of emotional vulnerability, and they take charge by restraining Khaless as she is devoured by Laele'aell.
- Stripperiffic: Her current costume, which may only be staying on because she can shapeshift and/or create her own clothes.
- Sweet Tooth: According to Kiel'ndia in this gag comic, the devoured souls that make up Khaless' Mind Hive are this in regards to Rekmar's fate - because Rekmar gave Khaless/Lulianne a cupcake, Khaless' victims (including the men) decided to spare Rekmar's soul from being assimilated as thanks for giving them such a delicious treat.
- Troll: This trope is becoming a pattern for her.
- Flat out admits to enjoying the fact that she's unsettling Lulianne. She does this by playing with Lulianne's perception of her as looking uncanny (see also the trope entry below) and later on uses the face of Lulianne's dead niece to throw the fight in her (Khaless's) favor.
- Her conversation with Kiel in chapter 39 also has shades of this.
- Later, Snadhya'rune assumes her to be doing this when she claims to be Lulianne as opposed to her sister. Though in this case, it is averted much to her surprise, since it actually was Lulianne taking back a degree of control.
- In the background of the scene in chapter 46 where Kiel realizes Khaless has introduced Kharla to sexy times one sharp-eyed forumgoer spotted her making what can only be described as a Troll Face◊ in the background.
- Twincest: Though not actual twins, it's heavily insinuated that her relationship with Snadhya'rune has been this in the past and outright confirmed in one Daydream story, to the point that Diva'ratrika of all people asks Snadhya'rune about it. It's not known if the relationship has continued in the same form since Khaless' possession.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Khaless has the shapeshifting high art, and as an exceptionally powerful vel'akar (sapient demon), her abilities seem to have been enhanced even further. Even after stealing Lulianne's body, she still retains this ability.
- You Are Who You Eat: By combining her shapeshifting with her demonic nature, she can absorb her victims, thereby taking on their memories. Among the people she has eaten include Sael and Lulianne. However, this is not without its disadvantages. All of the consumed beings form a gestalt entity, a Mind Hive. According to Kiel'ndia, she has eaten so many people, she has forgotten who she used to be, and because she had to outright steal Lulianne's body, Lulianne occasionally manages to take back control.
- As of Chapter 50, Khaless has devoured so many victims that during a moment of emotional vulnerability, they all rise against her and keep her from escaping being devoured by Laele'aell as karmic vengeance for killing and eating them.
Sin'cani and Svala
Two of Snadhya'rune's Feldian bodyguards. They first appear in chapter 31 escorting Snadhya'rune's carriage, and someone implied to be Sin'cani appears later in Nuqrah'shareh.
escorting Snadhya'rune's carriage, and someone implied to be Sin'cani appears later in Nuqrah'shareh.- Ambiguous Gender: It's still not entirely clear what gender Svala is, though her Orthorbbae Library article says she's female.
- Child Hater: Sin'cani directly states that he doesn't want any kids. Svala says he's missing out.
- In the Hood: Both of them, and Word of God is that because Felde is open to the skynote and experiences rain, their hoods do not have holes for the ears.
- Properly Paranoid: Sin'cani in regards to small children near the carriage, since said small children planted a mana bomb under it.
- Would Hurt a Child: Both are willing to shoot a crossbow bolt at two children who happen to get in front of the carriage, but see Properly Paranoid above.
Spoiler Character
