History Literature / ShadowOfTheConqueror

* SwissArmySuperpower: Lightbinding can be used to enhance ''any'' physical or mental trait of the user, or anything that's a part of their physical self. A Lifebinder can gain enhanced [[SuperStrength strength]], [[SuperSpeed speed]], [[SuperHearing hearing]], [[TheNoseKnows scent]], [[SuperSenses other senses]], [[SuperReflexes reflexes]], [[SuperToughness fortitude]], AuraVision, [[HealingFactor healing]], [[PhotographicMemory memory]], [[HyperAwareness perceptive]] [[SherlockScan scans]], [[WallCrawl grip]], [[InASingleBound jumps]], [[CharmPerson charisma]], [[spoiler: [[SuperIntelligence intellect]], [[ImprobableFencingPowers swordsmanship]], [[SwordBeam sunforged swords]]]], and [[LongList only the Light knows what else]].

* SwissArmySuperpower: Lifebinding can be used to enhance ''any'' physical or mental trait of the user, or anything that's a part of their physical self. A Lifebinder can gain enhanced [[SuperStrength strength]], [[SuperSpeed speed]], [[SuperHearing hearing]], [[TheNoseKnows scent]], [[SuperSenses other senses]], [[SuperReflexes reflexes]], [[SuperToughness fortitude]], AuraVision, [[HealingFactor healing]], [[PhotographicMemory memory]], [[HyperAwareness perceptive]] [[SherlockScan scans]], [[WallCrawl grip]], [[InASingleBound jumps]], [[CharmPerson charisma]], [[spoiler: [[SuperIntelligence intellect]], [[ImprobableFencingPowers swordsmanship]], [[SwordBeam sunforged swords]]]], and [[LongList only the Light knows what else]].

* CrapsackWorld: Where to begin? The world is periodically wracked with apocalpytic, extinction-level [[TheNightThatNeverEnds Nights]] that see [[SuperPersistentPredator the Shade]] and mass famines [[DepopulationBomb wipe out most of the world's population]]; every man, woman, and child needs to vigorously train with weapons in preparation for when humanity is inevitably on its last legs again; Hamahra is under the toe of a brutal industrial elite with slums everywhere, the poor barely making enough money to sustain themselves as they're endlessly worked in the factories and can be [[MadeASlave sold into slavery]] for nearly any crime; the preceding governmental systems were an [[AristocratsAreEvil evil aristocracy]] and a [[CommieLand communist]] [[TheEmpire empire]]; warfare has grown so deadly and widespread that [[WarIsHell tens of millions were slaughtered]] over the course of the Dawn Empire; SkyPirates and HumanTraffickers make themselves rich off the suffering of people they rob, [[RapePillageAndBurn pillage]], [[MadeASlave enslave]], or [[IHaveYourWife blackmail]]; the only concerted effort to improve the world and end the Shade forever resulted in the creation of the aforementioned empire and countless deaths; the Archknights are locked in a ForeverWar with the Shade and can barely find time to help the people who desperately need them, and when they actually do, there's so much rape and murder in the major cities that they can never hope to help all of the people who are being attacked and brutalized ''at that very minute.'' Tellos is an immutable Crapsack World that offers no escape from endless brutality and conflict, and the closest thing to TheChosenOne is a [[RetiredMonster reformed]] EvilOverlord who spends his time [[PayEvilUntoEvil viciously slaughtering the lesser monsters of the world]].

* WretchedHive: The cities of the Floating Isles are the crime capitals of Tellos, serving as bases for numerous SkyPirates and many other criminal types. Dayless made the effort to raze them entirely, but they always end up rebuilt, so he eventually gave up trying.

** '''Lightbringing''' magic is good-aligned, and obtained by being a sufficiently-good person. It grants abilities that basically make you a D&D cleric. Note however that if you commit ''any'' immoral act, even so much as ''lying'', you lose your powers.

** '''Lightblaring''' magic is [[BlackMagic evil-aligned]], and seems to be restricted to [[TheSoulless Shades]]. The abilities it grants have yet to be explored in-depth, but [[CastingAShadow darkness]] and flight are among them.

* FalseRapeAccusation: Queen Quallandra of Frey attempted to secure an alliance with the Dawn Empire, trying to get Dayless to enter an ArrangedMarriage with her, and had a consensual affair with him as part of that persuasion. After he betrayed her and conquered Frey, she put out the story that he'd raped her, which [[FramingTheGuiltyParty everyone was more than prepared to believe]].

* BrokenAce: Daylen, due to having both the experience of age and the vigor of youth, excels at a number of things: [[MasterSwordsman swordsmanship]], [[GadgeteerGenius engineering]], [[WrongContextMagic sunforging, Lightbinding]], [[AcePilot flying,]] and [[TheStrategist military tactics]]. He's also a former EvilOverlord whose empire collapsed when the entire world declared war against it, and who is currently ravaged by the [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone soul-crushing guilt]] at the epicenter of the story's DysfunctionJunction.

* GoodParents: Even in his old age, Daylen fondly remembers his loving parents, crediting his upbringing with how he became such a talented engineer. Killing them after they [[TheCorruption became Shade]] was very, very hard for him.

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: After Sharra reminds Daylen of [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil his worst memories]] with her antics, he wakes up in a murderously bad mood, and snaps Sain's arm like a chicken bone for ''literally'' setting a foot out of line.[[note]]Yes, literally. He stepped out of the five meter radius that Daylen ordered him to stay in.[[/note]] Daylen's explanation:

* EleventhHourSuperpower: ''Three'' cases. First, during his battle with [[spoiler: Lyrah]], Daylen is desperately trying to think of some way to get an edge, and decides to do so by channeling Light to his [[spoiler:[[SuperIntelligence intelligence]]]], berating himself for not thinking to try that at any point earlier in the story. Later, he realizes he can channel Light into [[spoiler:his skill with the sword]], and then later into [[spoiler: the sword itself, it being an item he sunforged using his own blood]].

* SwissArmySuperpower: Lifebinding can be used to enhance ''any'' physical or mental trait of the user, or anything that's a part of their physical self. A Lifebinder can gain enhanced [[SuperStrength strength]], [[SuperSpeed speed]], [[SuperHearing hearing]], [[TheNoseKnows scent]], [[SuperSenses other senses]], [[SuperReflexes reflexes]], [[SuperToughness fortitude]], AuraVision, [[HealingFactor healing]], [[PhotographicMemory memory]], [[HyperAwareness perceptive]] [[SherlockScan scans]], [[WallCrawl grip]], [[InASingleBound jumps]], [[CharmPerson charisma]], [[spoiler: [[SuperIntelligence intellect]], [[ImprobableFencingPowers swordsmanship]]]] and [[LongList only the Light knows what else]].

** As emperor, he eventually used tactics and policies that contradicted every ideal he claimed to be fighting for, such as giving special privileges to his soldiers to keep them loyal to him--effectively creating a new aristocracy. He declared that no one would own property in the Dawn Empire, not even him, but as the absolute monarch of a totalitarian government, that effectively meant that the entire empire was his own personal property. He also outlawed sex slaves, then proceeded to kidnap and rape hundreds of girls who were still in their teens.

* NoSenseOfHumor: Daylen thinks that Lyrah has no sense of humor and Ahrek CannotTellAJoke; Ahrek and Lyrah think that Daylen has a [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor Bad Sense of Humor]].

** The [[HumanTraffickers sex slavers]] of the ''Maraven,'' who took the opportunity to "break in" all fifty of the girls before the planned sale.

* LuminescentBlush: PlayedForDrama. Lyrah notices Daylen staring at her face when he realizes that she's a BrokenBird and questions him about it. Desperately fishing for a lie, Daylen tries to cover what he was really thinking about by saying that he was staring because ''she's beautiful,'' remembering belatedly that this is one of her [[TraumaButton trauma]] and [[BerserkButton berserk]] buttons. Cue Lyrah blushing with mingled embarrassment and rage, and Daylen mentally cursing himself with gusto.
--> "It had been a ''profoundly'' stupid thing to say."

-->--Daylen Namaran.

** As emperor, he eventually used tactics and policies that contradicted every ideal he claimed to be fighting for, such as giving special privileges to his soldiers to keep them loyal to him--effectively creating a new aristocracy. He also outlawed sex slaves, then proceeded to kidnap and rape hundreds of girls who were still in their teens.

** After pissing Lyrah off by mashing one of her [[TraumaButton trauma buttons]], Daylen is "stunned" at what a MoodSwinger she is. He then immediately proceeds to [[BerserkButton froth at the mouth in rage]] over her calling him "a pubescent troublemaker" and "kid." He makes another HypocrisyNod over this, acknowledging how stupid and nonsensical it is for him to be angry with her of all people for such a small thing as being bossy, but Daylen's [[PsychopathicManchild unstable emotional register]] doesn't always keep up with his reasoning.

-->--Daylen Namaran, also known as Dayless the Conqueror. Year fifty-one of the Fifth Day.

** The entire crew of the ''Maraven'', who are rapists and HumanTraffickers to a man, and end up on the receiving end of Daylen's wrath shortly after Blackheart.

* AlternativeCalendar: Because [[EndlessDaytime days]] and [[TheNightThatNeverEnds nights]] last for several decades at the least, everyone measures time by "falls," the time it takes for a distant object called the Plummet to reach the bottom of [[WorldInTheSky the endless sky]] and be [[WrapAround sent back to the top]]. These falls are subdivided into times based on the Plummet's position, such as "high," and "low."

* RapeAsDrama: There's enough rape to give ''[[Franchise/GameOfThrones Game Of Thrones]]'' a run for it's money, at least relative to length. Let's see, there's:

** Over [[SerialRapist four hundred incidents]] [[ReallyGetsAround by Dayless himself]] when he was in power,

* TemptingFate: At the end of his journal, Daylen notes that he'd do everything differently if he had another chance, and "If the Light truly wanted to punish me, [[CruelMercy it would curse me to live]]." He quickly decides that [[MilesToGoBeforeISleep his long quest]] is his own fault for wanting to make amends and be a hero again.

* MoodSwinger: Daylen swings between hopeful optimism, smug superiority, explosive rage, juvenile playfulness, and paralyzing self-hatred practically every few chapters. He also considers Lyrah to be this, due to how [[HamToHamCombat intense]] their conversations get.

* UnwantedRevival: Daylen [[DeathSeeker wants to die]], so the idea of a Lightbringer bringing him BackFromTheDead is a horrifying idea to him. At the end of the book, [[spoiler: Ahrek plans to do this to Daylen, but Daylen's HealingFactor saves him first. Daylen then demands that Ahrek does ''not'' do this after his execution, but him being sentenced to slavery rather than death screws up his plans to die, once again.]]

* AncestralWeapon: Sunucles, including weapons, are magically linked to the person who's blood was used to forge them--but there's a small chance that the link can pass to their eldest child when they die. Daylen uses this as an excuse for why he's linked to Imperious. [[spoiler: The existence of his bastard children, all of whom are older than he physically appears to be, is one of the elements that tips Ahrek off that Daylen isn't who he appears to be.]]

* BloodMagic: Sunforging an item requires a sample of blood, with the resulting [[PowerCrystal sunucle]] being linked to the person who provided the blood.