Althor and Tirtha in the purified forest
Curse Of The Blight is one of the various works included in the Anthologies of Ullord. It was authored by Nikki Flynn and Edwin Dantes. It shares the name with Curse Of The Blight which is an audio version of the original story. The two have the same characters and a lot of crossover in tropes because of this.
On the middle of a swampy island, there lies an area of pure, natural beauty. Beset by the blight that left the rest of the island in its dreary condition, this forest is cared for by the last druid of the Oberoni domain, and by his family and friends. A wrecked ship from a nearby, power-hungry nation brings disorder to their peaceful lives, however...
Tropes found in Curse Of The Blight:
- City Mouse: All of the sama are this. Most of them are trained warriors or mages with no survivalist training and with no knowledge of the environment they're forced into.
- Divine Parentage: Swamp elves in general have one. Some more direct than others. Avani, the goddess of nature has descendants on the island as does Teorainn, the Sama's god of time. Because of this divine blood tie, occasional swamp elves are born as druids and consecrated.
- Druid: Althor is one as are he and Tirtha's children. His parents were druids as well. And his bloodline is filled with ancestors who had the Avani favor needed to be a druid.
- Fantastic Racism: A few flavors crop up.
- The Sama have been taught to believe that they are superior to other races. And they behave like it. The swamp residents are mostly confused by what the Sama are since they have never seen them.
- Rurik discusses this trope. He is aware that a lot of people do not like swamp elves as a whole, believing them to be horrific brutes. His surprise at being flirted with by any woman, let alone an attractive high elf.
- Interspecies Romance:
- Rurik is a swamp elf and Izar is a high elf.
- Kellena is a swamp elf and Vipin is a wood elf.
- LEGO Genetics: Of an interesting variety. A lot of swamp elves are related by some degree because they spent many generations in isolation from other races on their home island. So many swamp elves have red, red-orange, red-violet, yellow and orange eyes because of so many common ancestors.
- Odd Friendship: Most of the main cast. They have little in common, but they have a deep trust and bond with one another. Rurik and Althor is probably the strangest example. Rurik usually has his nose in a book and Althor cannot even read.
- Robinsonade: What happens to the Sama. They wake up shipwrecked on a strange island.
- Secondary Sexual Characteristics:
- The swamp elves have them in spades. Women have wide hips, breasts and lighter skin than their male counter parts.
- The sama lack them. They are all waifish, lithe and have little to discern their genders.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Althor and Lotah. Althor and Lotah are both tall, muscular, and they wear their brown hair long. Lotah also has green eyes. And they are about 1000 years apart.
- Super Breeding Program:
- The Sama do have one. That is why so many of them have brown eyes and similar facial features. They breed for desirable physical traits and magical capabilities.
- The swamp elves may seem to have one. The normal swamp elf culture tries to arrange marriages and select desirable mates for their tribe's members. However, theirs is justified because they are aware of how shallow their gene pools are. So they are attempting to control the problem.
- Theme Naming: A few examples throughout.
- All swamp elves have an R in their first or surname. See: Tirtha Camphorspring, Althor Grimleaf, Rurik Larkspurshade and Kellena Castorflame.
- All swamp elves, wood elves and high elves are named after some portmanteau of magic or nature aspects.
