Comic Book / Lament of the Lost Moors

Lament of The Lost Moors

"Evil is in the heart of Love"

Lament of the Lost Moors (original title: Complainte des Landes perdues) is an ongoing fantasy Belgian comics series written by Jean Dufaux, a High Fantasy work taking place in the fictional land of Eruin Duela. The first cycle Sioban is illustrated by Grzegorz Rosinski, the second Warriors of Mercy by Phillipe Delaby and the third Witches by Béatrice Tillier.The albums are as follow:

First Cycle: Sioban

• 1. Sioban
• 2. Blackmore
• 3. Dame Gerfaut (Lady Gerfaut)
• 4. Kyle Of Klanacht

Second Cycle: Warriors of Mercy

• 1. Moriganes
• 2. Le Guinea Lord
• 3. La Fée Sanctus (Fairy Sanctus)
• 4. Sill Valt

Third Cycle: Witches

• 1. Tête noire (Black Head)
• 2. Inferno
• 3. Regina Osbcura

Fourth Cycle: The Sudennes

• 1. Lord Heron
• 2. Aylissa

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Lament of the Lost Moors contains examples of:

• Arc Words: "Evil is in the heart of Love" / "Love is in the heart of Evil".
• Artifact Title: The lament of the lost moors is only a plot point in the first two books. Sioban is prophesied to dethrone the usurper King Bedlam by making the Lament heard when she'll raise the army of undead soldiers from the lost moors, the cursed battlefield where the army of Sioban's father was defeated. The prophecy comes true in the second book making the title obsolete afterward. While Sioban returns to the lost moors in the fourth book, both prequel cycles don't feature them and take place before they were lost in the first place.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The setting is some kind of Celtic-ish medieval island, with Christian knights trying to destroy pagan monsters.
• Made of Air: Warriors of Mercy who've passed the initiation are apparently immune to most weapons, which disappear into their clothing and come out. They're still vulnerable to being choked.
• Warrior Monk: The Warriors of Mercy are a Jedi-like order of monks.

Sioban

• Abusive Parents: Lady Gerfaut doesn't hesitate to beat her son when he couldn't consummate the marriage.
• Arc Villain: The usurper king of the land of Eruin Dulea and sorcerer Bedlam in the first two books. Lady Gerfaut in the last two.
• Back from the Dead: Sioban comes back to life when her mother brings her body to the lost moors.
• Bastard Bastard: Obla, son of the late king and a witch who used her magic to seduced the king.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Droop falls during the castle's attack on Bedlam's fleet.
• Blind Seer: Bedlam keeps one next to his throne, whose only role is to warn his troops of what happens to the disobedient.
• Book Ends: The Lady Gerfaut arc begins and ends in the Klanacht castle.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Neither Sioban nor Kyle can bring themselves to confess what they feel about each other.
• Cavalry of the Dead: Siobhan raises the fallen soldiers from the lost moors to face Bedlam's army.
• Child by Rape: In the second story arc, we learn that Blackmore impregnated Lady O'Mara. Fortunately, the boy is very nice unlike his father.
• The Chosen One: Siobhan, last rightful heir to the throne and prophesied to make the lament heard in Eruin Duela.
• Creepy Uncle: Lord Blackmore creepily stalks his niece Siobhan. And later offers Siobhan to join him.
• Dead Guy Junior: Lady O'Mara named her son with Blackmore Wulf after her late husband.
• Deadpan Snarker: Lady Gerda, as Droop is getting slightly carried away with the tale of how he defeated a water serpent.
  My friend, if I follow you correctly, you had no less than three legs and four arms at that most critical moment?
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Lady O'Mara doesn't begrudge Blackmore his Marital Rape Licence, as he was within his rights to do so. Doesn't mean she enjoyed it though.
• Evil Cripple: Lord Blackmore has a hunchbacked henchman who carries out his nasty tasks.
• Evil Makeover: Sioban gets black lipstick is infected with the evil love potion.
• Evil Uncle: Lord Blackmore to Sioban, being an ally of Bedlam, as he plots to kill her.
• Heir Club for Men: The Succession Crisis happened because king Averus of the Sudenne Dynasty only left a daughter and a male bastard. His Grandson Wulf was the first legitimate descendant to claim the throne. Averted at the end of the second album when Sioban is crowned queen.
• Idiosyncratic Cover Art: The covers of the four books form a picture.
• King Incognito: When Queen Sioban first meet Kyle of Klanacht, she poses as a commoner.
• Maybe Ever After: the first cycle ends with Sioban and Kyle struggling to reveal what they feel for each other but planning to tell the other the next day.
• Marital Rape License: Lord Blackmore rapes his wife Lady O'Mara every night. However, this is treated as a Kick the Dog.
• Offing the Offspring: Sympathetic example. Lady O'Mara poisons Sioban but she did it because she was under the spell of Lady Gerfault. She later successfully brings Sioban back to life.
• Predecessor Villain: Bedlam's father was the one who initially usurped the throne from the Sudennes.
• Red Right Hand: Blackmore has a goat's foot due to a magical experiment going awry, while Gerfaut was born with one instead of a hand.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Ouki, a blue-furred monkey-like creature, who exists mostly to torment the castle cook. Apparently they taste good with honey.
• Spanner in the Works: Droop orders the Klanacht troops (who serve under Blackmore on paper) to fire on Bedlam's ships. As Blackmore and Bedlam are one and the same and he can't intervene without revealing everything, it ends in his defeat.
• Viking Funeral: Droop gets one after he's killed fighting Blackmore's hunchback.
• Villainous Incest:
  • Laetitia was taken to an abbey because her half brother Obla was lusting after her. Years later, Obla took the appearance of Laetitia's lover Seamus to conceive a child with her in order to join his blood to the legitimate bloodline. That child turns out to be Wulf.
  • Obla's son Bedlam continues the "tradition" by offering Siobhan, both her niece and the daughter of his wife to marry him..
• You Killed My Father: Bedlam defeated Sioban's father's army and personally killed him in the lost moors.

Warriors of Mercy

• Angry Guard Dog: The Guinea Lord rides with three huge black dogs.
• Bad Boss: A few mooks are sent to guide the Guinea Lord, one of them earning his ire and eaten by his hounds. When another protests...
  Mook: How dare you!
  Guinea Lord: (decapitates him) I DARE DEATH AND PAIN!
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Savaarda sets herself on fire rather than face the Torches and Pitchforks of the mob.
• Big Bad: The Mater Obscura Savaarda, queen of the Morriganes who plans to invade the world.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Eirell gets them after drinking the contents of a Morrigane's left eye.
• Black Knight: The Guinea Lord wears red and black armor and is said to be invincible (if walking around in lava wasn't a clear enough sign). The only time he takes damage is fighting a Morrigane.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the first cycle, there're more deaths and less light hearted moments.
• Evil Redhead: The witch Aube in the first book and later Eirell when he betrays the knights.
• The Dragon: The Guinea Lord works for Savaarda and carries the task of killing Sanctus.
• Heel–Face Turn: Sanctus was once a Morrigane but became a good Fairy.
• Inertial Impalement: An ogre-like creature is killed when it charges at a spearman, taking the spear through the eye.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Seamus' hair immediately grows when Fairy Sanctus gives her life force to save his life.
• Redemption Equals Death: The Guinea Lord saves Still Valt from her mother and dies from wounds shortly after.
• Reincarnation: After her death, the Fairy Sanctus reincarnates in a baby girl.
• Retcon: The first cycle established that the Sudenne were a long ruling dynasty. Here, they're a powerful clan who seizes power at the end of the story, only two generations before Sioban.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: When an old lady who beheaded her mistress believing she's the Fairy Sanctus presents it to the Guinea Lord, the latter immediately kills her.
• Samus Is a Girl: The Guinea Lord turns out to be the crippled daughter of a powerful sorceress.
• Scaled Up: The Morriganes' true form is a monstrous snake-like creature.
• You Have Failed Me: When the Guinea Lord fails to kill Sanctus, Savaarda asks one of her servants to kill him. While she did quite a bit of damage, he still managed to beat her.

Witches

• Awful Wedded Life: King Brendam hates his wife Jamaniel but can't bring himself to divorce because she keeps using her charms on him.
• Back from the Dead: Ceylan resurects a murdered Vivien with a kiss.
• Cain and Abel: Elgar tries to kill his half-brother Viven multiple times pretexting to correct his father's "mistake".
• The Evil Prince: The ambitious prince Elgar serves as the main protagonist.
• Fiery Redhead: Ceylan who easily seduces the innocent Vivien.
• Losing Your Head: Flamina keeps babling nonsense after being beheaded.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Prince Elgar bribes Vivien's servant Gus into killing his master. After Gus kills the boy, Elgar stabs him as well.

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