History Literature / TalesFromTheFlatEarth

* StandardHeroReward: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Death's Master''. [[spoiler: Simmu becomes king of the ShiningCity of Simmurad, and marries the beautiful Kassafeh, all while [[AProtagonistShallLeadThem planning to bring humanity into a new age of immortality.]] However, Simmu's city is really a GildedCage full of indolent, glassy-eyed immortals, and Simmu is actually plotting to TakeOverTheWorld (whether they realize it or not). [[RisingWaterRisingTension It doesn't end well.]] ]]

* TechnicalPacifist: Simmu refuses to kill anyone, not because of any moral reason, but because they don’t want to give Death any “gifts.” [[spoiler: This becomes a genuine roadblock when they begin plotting to TakeOverTheWorld and “liberate” humanity from Death — how do you fight a war without taking life?]]

* TragicHero: Simmu and Zhirem are both this, but Simmu in particular is this trope because their [[FatalFlaw fear]] [[MortalityPhobia of death]] makes them into a deconstruction of TheHero. They start out as a NatureHero with supernatural powers granted to them by [[RaisedByTheSupernatural their upbringing]], but their MortalityPhobia leads them to declare themself Death's enemy, and seek [[ElixirOfLife immortality]]. [[spoiler: They succeed, and [[StandardHeroReward become the king]] of what [[GildedCage appears to be]] a glorious ShiningCity, but by then they have [[BedTrick raped eight women]] and began plotting to literally TakeOverTheWorld. They still consider themself heroic, because they [[AProtagonistShallLeadThem intend to "liberate" humanity from Death]] by offering immortality to a select few. What prevents them from following through with this plan is that they have become [[WhoWantsToLiveForever apathetic and and listless]] in their immortality.]] However, in the end Simmu [[spoiler: becomes an Eshva,]] and ''Delusion's Master'' reveals that they're [[FamedInStory remembered as a legendary hero in the future]]. In that sense, they [[EarnYourHappyEnding achieved both literal and figurative immortality]].

** Simmu's goal is to [[spoiler: "liberate" humanity from Death by conquering the world and turning all the most worthy people into immortals. Only one problem... how do you conquer the world [[ActualPacifist without killing anyone]]?]]

** Because the Tales takes place over thousands of years, there are others for their particular time period. Special note goes to an intergenerational trio of superhumanly beautiful young women: Sunfire is made supernaturally beautiful by a magic comet, then gives birth to Dunizel and ascends to the stars shortly after. Dunizel grows up and gives birth to Azhriaz, [[spoiler: and she's murdered shortly after. Azhriaz, Night's Daughter, would grow up and be worshipped as a goddess, as she has a reign of terror on Earth.]]

** Zhirem assumes that his was his [[DownfallBySex initial tryst with Simmu]], but it was actually when Beyash accused him of having stolen a silver cup and murdered a prostitute.

* SnakesAreSinister: Deconstructed in ''Delusion's Master,'' through a little fable that Dunizel tells to her unborn daughter. Snakes are the most beloved animal of the demons of Druhim Vanashta, so they introduce the snake to the human world in the hopes that humans will love and worship it. Humans abhor the snake and are disgusted by it, so Azhrarn has his Drin make some adjustments to it. They turn the snake into [[spoiler: a cat]], which is a rousing success with humans. [[spoiler: And that's why cats still hiss.]]

* ThisMeansWar: At the end of ''Delusion's Master,'' Azhrarn declares war on Chuz, [[spoiler: for having indirectly caused Dunizel's death and caused him [[HeroicBSOD untold anguish.]] ]]
--> "You and I," said Azhrarn, "un-brother, un-cousin, are now also un-friends."

* CometOfDoom: When Dunizel is still in the womb, a magical comet that is "the soul of the sun" flies overhead. The comet blesses everything its light touches, to the point where animals instinctively gather under it. It makes the earth more abundant, it heals the sick, it cures Dunizel's mother of her "idiocy" and magically induces a HeelFaceTurn in Dunizel's father, and it makes them both [[BeautyEqualsGoodness more beautiful]]. Dunizel herself is blessed with [[IncorruptiblePurePurness supernatural beauty and goodness]] as a result of being the "comet's child."

** In the last arc, "The Bitterness of Joy," seventeen women murder their husbands and claim that a god told them to do it. They interpreted their murders as an act of faith, and hoped that they would receive a divine husband (Azhrarn) in return. The people are so shaken by this that they come to Belsheved demanding an explanation. When they get none, they lose their trust in Belsheved.

* ThisMeansWar: At the end of ''Delusion's Master,'' Azhrarn declares war on Chuz, [[spoiler: for having indirectly caused Dunizel's death and caused him untold anguish.]]

* AdvertisedExtra: Chuz is the title character of ''Delusion's Master'', but despite setting its plot in motion, he only appears a handful of times. Most of the plot revolves around Azhrarn and his attempts to induce a CrisisOfFaith amongst mortals, as well as the events leading up to and following his relationship with Dunizel. Chuz plays a bigger role in later books.

** Druhim Vanashta, the city of demons, is an expression of Azhrarn himself. The city and its citizens respond to his emotions. For example, when Azhrarn experiences [[HeroicBOSD despair]] at [[spoiler: Dunizel's death]], the entire city freezes.

* FisherKing: In ''Death's Master'', Narasen's kingdom is cursed to be as barren as she was. After her death, she returns and reinvokes the curse in jealous revenge, contaminating the land with the poison that killed her.

* AngelUnawares: Azhrarn sometimes walks among humans, who usually perceive him as a TallDarkAndHandsome man in black. At the beginning of ''Delusion's Master,'' his very presence causes mayhem among the people camped outside Belsheved after he overhears their version of the events that ended the first book.

* AdvertisedExtra: Chuz is the title character of ''Delusion's Master'', but despite setting its plot in motion, he only appears a handful of times. Most of the plot revolves around Azhrarn and his attempts to induce a CrisisOfFaith amongst mortals, as well as the events leading up to and following his relationship with Dunizel. He plays a bigger role in later books.

** Dunizel is still a virgin when she's pregnant carrying Azhriaz, since Azhrarn impregnated Dunizel by giving her his blood. Azhrarn gives Dunizel the choice to bear his daughter or not, explaining to her that she will bear the [[DistaffCounterpart feminine aspect of himself]], so she has full knowledge of what she's agreeing to. Her pregnancy is barely visible, and has little effect on her. Initially Azhriaz is seen as a miracle from the gods, but is later decryed as an EnfantTerrible when it was discovered that Azhrarn is the father. A hysterical mob then claimed Dunizel was only technically a virgin because she was getting sodomized by Azhrarn and she gave birth anally. In actuality, Dunizel gave birth cleanly and painlessly while having an OutOfBodyExperience.

** Because the Tales takes place over thousands of years, there are others for their particular time period. Special note goes to an intergenerational trio of superhumanly beautiful young women: Sunfire is made supernaturally beautiful by a magic comet, then gives birth to Dunizel and ascends to the stars shortly after. Dunizel grows up and gives birth to Azhriaz, and she's murdered shortly after. Azhriaz, Night's Daughter, would grow up and be worshipped as a goddess, as she has a reign of terror on Earth.

* AntiAntiChrist: Azhrarn created Ahziraz for the purpose of torturing humans through compelling them to worship her, to teach humanity a lesson about the [[TheGodsMustBeLazy indifference]] of the gods. [[spoiler: Ahziraz defies her father and becomes a mortal, so that she can be happy with her OneTrueLove, Chuz.]]

* SatanicArchetype: Zigzagged with Azhrarn. He serves as the closest equivalent to Satan on the Flat Earth, being a personification of Wickedness who lives in the Underworld and tempts and corrupts mortals for fun, but the similarities end there. He views humans as amusements and playthings, but doesn't care about them beyond that, and even helps or supports them when it suits him. He also doesn't bear a grudge against the gods beyond general disdain for them. Humans interpret Azhrarn as a more straightforward Satanic analogue in the context of their religion, viewing him as an ugly and sinister beast who hates humans and actively works to destroy them. To say that Azhrarn is peeved by this would be an understatement.

* AntiAntiChrist: Azhrarn created Ahziraz for the purpose of teaching humanity a lesson about the [[TheGodsMustBeLazy indifference]] of the gods. [[spoiler: Ahziraz defies her father and becomes a mortal, so that she can be happy with her OneTrueLove, Chuz.]]

* AdvertisedExtra: Chuz is the title character of ''Delusion's Master'', but despite setting its plot in motion, he only appears a handful of times. Most of the plot revolves around Azhrarn and his attempts to induce a CrisisOfFaith amongst mortals, as well as the events leading up to and following his relationship with Dunizel.

* SatanicArchetype: Zigzagged with Azhrarn. He serves as the closest equivalent to Satan on the Flat Earth, being a personification of Wickedness who tempts and corrupts mortals for fun, but the similarities end there. He views humans as amusements and playthings, but doesn't care about them beyond that, and even helps or supports them when it suits him. He also doesn't bear a grudge against the gods beyond general disdain for them. Humans interpret Azhrarn as a more straightforward Satanic analogue in the context of their religion, viewing him as an ugly and sinister beast who hates humans and actively works to destroy them. To say that Azhrarn is peeved by this would be an understatement.

** Dunizel is still a virgin when she's pregnant carrying Azhriaz, since Azhrarn impregnated Dunizel by giving her his blood. Azhrarn gives Dunizel the choice to bear his daughter or not, explaining to her that she will bear the [[DistaffCounterpart feminine aspect of himself]], so she has full knowledge of what she's agreeing to. Her pregnancy is barely visible, and has little effect on her. Initially Azhriaz is seen as a miracle from the gods, but is later decryed as an EnfantTerrible when it was discovered that Azhrarn is the father. A hysterical mob then claimed Dunizel was only technically a virgin because she was getting sodomized by Azhrarn and she gave birth anally.

* SnakesAreSinister: Deconstructed in ''Delusion's Master,'' through a little fable that Dunizel tells to her unborn daughter. Snakes are the most beloved animal of the demons of Druhim Vanashta, so they introduce the snake to the human world in the hopes that humans will love and worship it. Humans abhor the snake and are disgusted by it, so Azhrarn has his Drin make some adjustments to it. They turn the snake into [[spoiler: a cat]], which is a rousing success with humans.

* SnakesAreSinister: Deconstructed in ''Delusion's Master,'' through a little fable that Dunizel tells to her unborn daughter. Snakes are the most beloved animal of the demons of Druhim Vanashta, so they introduce snakes to the human world in the hopes that humans will love and worship them. Humans abhor the snake and are disgusted by it, so Azhrarn has his Drin make some adjustments to it. They turn the snake into [[spoiler: a cat]], which is a rousing success with humans.

* SnakesAreSinister: Deconstructed in ''Delusion's Master,'' through a little fable that Dunizel tells to her unborn daughter. Snakes are the most beloved animal of the demons of Druhim Vanashta, so they introduce snakes to the human world in the hopes that humans will love and worship them. Humans abhor the snake and are disgusted by it, so Azhrarn has his Drin make some adjustments to it. They turn the snake into a cat, which is a rousing success with humans.

* CrisisOfFaith: The plot of the first part of ''Delusion's Master,'' "The Souring of the Fruit." An entire population's faith in the gods slowly dwindles as they camp around the HolyCity. [[spoiler: Azhrarn's machinations result in a string of disturbing events that the gods and their priests do nothing about, causing the people to wonder if the gods really are as apathetic as Azhrarn said they were. Azhrarn then lures them in with illusionary temptations, and compels them to worship him by appearing before them in his intolerably beautiful true form, offering them the opportunity to fulfill their most wicked desires.]] By then, their faith is shattered.

* AdvertisedExtra: Chuz is the title character of ''Delusion's Master'', but despite setting its plot in motion, he only appears a handful of times. Most of the plot revolves around Azhrarn and his attempts to induce a CrisisOfFaith amongst mortals, and then the events leading up to and following his relationship with Dunizel.