History Literature / TheEyeOfArgon

* HeroesPreferSwords: Grignr prefers a sword but uses [[AnAxeToGrind an axe]] just as effectively. Swords are also the preferred weapons of the mercenaries in the opening chapter, the soldiers Grignr fights in the tavern, and the last of the shamans. Nobody uses ranged weapons of any description, unless you count the local peasants who, according to Carthena, regularly hurl "stones and [[ProducePelting rotting fruits]]" at Agaphim.

* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: Theis seems to be fond of the word "swiveled" -- or, as he misspells it, "swilveled". Also "stygian," "oval," and "opaque".

* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: After chopping a congregation of "shamen" to pieces, Grignr makes a quip about how his victims now don't need to worry about the EvilOverlord punishing them. [[LaughingAtYourOwnJokes He apparently finds this funny]].

* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter / PostMortemOneLiner: After chopping a congregation of "shamen" to pieces, Grignr makes a quip about how his victims now don't need to worry about the EvilOverlord punishing them. [[LaughingAtYourOwnJokes He apparently finds this funny]].

* CrypticBackgroundReference: Grignr [[OhMyGods swears]] on "the surly beard of Mrifk" at one point, and invokes the name of Mrifk a few other times. We can infer that Mrifk is some kind of Ecordian god or culture hero, but any details beyond that - particularly the question of a how a beard can be surly - remain unclear.

* DeusExMachina: Grignr, the barbarian protagonist, is locked in combat with a bunch of cultists. During the fight, one of his opponents just collapses in the middle of the fight from an epileptic "siezure".

* FieryRedhead: Grignr is our redheaded barbarian hero.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Grignr prefers a sword but uses an axe just as effectively. For that matter, almost every weapon used in the story is a sword. Nobody uses ranged weapons of any description, (unless you count the local peasants who, according to Carthena, regularly hurl "stones and [[ProducePelting rotting fruits]]" at Agaphim).

* SinisterScimitar: The cruel soldiers who arrest Grignr in the tavern are equipped with oak-hilted scimitars.

* TheChessmaster: Agfand is ruling the city by proxy, by manipulating Agaphim.

* OhMyGods: "By the surly beard of Mrifk!" See CrypticBackgroundReference above.

* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: After chopping a congregation of "shamen" to pieces, Grignr makes an idiotic, psychopathic remark about how his victims now don't need to worry about the EvilOverlord punishing them. [[LaughingAtYourOwnJokes He apparently finds this funny]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A minor example. When Grignr arrives in Gorzom, he hitches his horse outside the tavern where he gets arrested by the prince's soldiers. He never has a chance to go back and recover his horse. Given that he doesn't seem to have much of a bond with the horse (there's no reference to it having a name or anything), this is believable for his character, but it does mean that the story ends with him and Carthena apparently leaving the city and crossing the desert on foot.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Downplayed. Grignr and Carthena are only ever described as wearing sandals, but given that both of them apparently go about [[{{Stripperiffic}} almost nude]], it's not exactly surprising. One of the hideous illustrations, presumably of Carthena, depicts her apparently barefoot, but isn't totally accurate to the text as it also has her [[FanDisservice topless in only a girdle]] (in the text she wears some sort of jewelled harness).

* GroinAttack: The attack is quick, but the priest's reaction takes an entire two paragraphs.

* HaveAGayOldTime: Grignr is repeatedly described as wearing a "g-string". This used to refer to a type of loincloth worn by the men of some Native American tribes, but now almost exclusively means an extremely skimpy bit of lingerie. Worse, he is "naked save for a loin cloth brandishing a long steel broad sword".
* HeroesPreferSwords: Grignr prefers a sword but uses an axe just as effectively. For that matter, almost every weapon used in the story is a sword. Nobody uses ranged weapons of any description, (unless you count the peasants who, according to Carthena, regularly hurl "stones and [[ProducePelting rotting fruits]]" at Agaphim).

* PaperThinDisguise: Carthena, a foreign noblewoman with a very striking and distinctive appearance, makes one of the most moronic decisions in the story: after escaping Agaphim's castle, she "lies low" by prostituting herself in a cheap tavern nearby, not having taken any steps to alter her appearance. Somehow, this boneheaded plan isn't the reason for her eventual capture.

* UnexplainedRecovery: Counselor Agafnd is stabbed through the ribs by Grignr in the second chapter, but is up on his feet a few chapters later. We're never explicitly told the earlier wound killed him, so maybe it was supposed to be OnlyAFleshWound, although from the way it's written and the extent of the injury, most readers come out the scene with the understanding that Agafnd is dead. Either way, his recovery is nothing short of miraculous.

* AdaptationalBadass

* AdaptationalModesty: Rather than a loincloth [[ThongOfShielding (or a g-string...)]], Grïgnyr starts off in random, mismatched clothes suitable for crossing a desert, then buys clothes more appropriate for city life. Carthena wears ''clothes'', rather than nothing, beads or a harness.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Possibly just because it's better written, the cult of Argol is much more frightening in this version.

** Agaphim's DecadentCourt defend themselves with pieces of furniture and broken bottles. [[AdaptationalBadass Agaphim knocks out two cultists with his own throne]].

** Given that the gene that produces Grignr's red hair also tends to produce fair skin with a tendency to burn and freckle rather than tan evenly (at least in Caucasians; red hair is not unheard of in parts of central Asia), it's rather surprising that Grignr's skin is "bronzed". Most people, let alone red-headed Europeans, would be somewhere between extremely uncomfortable and nearly dead after traveling across a desert in the blazing sun for at least an entire day wearing only a loincloth, a helmet and sandals, but Grignr suffers [[MadeOfIron no ill effects at all]]. Granted, combinations of red hair and dark skin ''can'' occur naturally in non-European or mixed-race populations, and some redheads can develop so many freckles as to ''appear'' tanned after extended sun exposure, but on balance it's unlikely that Theis was thinking about either of these. That said, this is a fantasy story, and the ethnicities of its world don't necessarily map onto those of ours.

* EvilVersusEvil: Carthena claims that the Cult of Argon is enemies with Agaphim and his regime, who worship a god called Sargon.

* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: After chopping a congregation of "shamen" to pieces, Grignr makes an idiotic, psychopathic remark about how his victims now don't need to worry about the EvilOverlord. [[LaughingAtYourOwnJokes He apparently finds this funny]].

* AxCrazy, MurderIsTheBestSolution, and UnstoppableRage: Grignr's standard response to any conflict is to become furious and immediately resort to extreme violence. If he's prevented from immediately doing so, he spends his time planning a way to respond with violence.

* TheBigGuy or TheBrute: "Huge" Grignr, a "behemoth" with "mighty thews" and "bulging sinews". Which trope he fits depends on how you look at him.

* EvilOverlord / TheEvilPrince: Agaphim. His response to his subjects complaining about oppressive taxes is to tax them even more oppressively. As prince of a city within an empire, it's ambiguous what his relationship is to the larger imperial regime, or whether he is in line to be king of something grander than Gorzom.

* {{Neologism}}: The story is full of beauties. Among others, we have "appilevered", "expugnisively", "nerelady", "protruberating", "scozstic" and "yawkishly".

* PurpleProse, SesquipedalianLoquaciousness, and DelusionsOfEloquence: Theis seemed to have an aversion to common words, and had access to a thesaurus. There's wenches and females, but never ''women'', and the sun was "half way through its daily rotation," but it's never ''noon''. He always refers to mounts, but never ''horses'', though it's implied when one of the mounts whinnies. Torches are always ''cressets'' and weapons and armour in particular are described with wildly varying and often contradictory nomenclature (basinets, morions, hauberks, cutlasses, poniards, scimitars..). At least the ''title'' is concise and looks like a normal title, apart from sharing the name of a noble gas.

* SaidBookism: So very, very, very much.

* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma

* FanserviceExtra: The naked women [[ALAdyOnEachArm at Agaphim's arms]]. Neither of them has any dialogue, name, or characterization, and they contribute nothing to the story. They're just there to show Agaphim's decadence.

* EvilLaugh: Agaphim does this twice: first a "nobly cackle" of ''[[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory "Ha, Ha Ha, Haaa"]]'', then later a ''"Ha-a"''.

* OurGargoylesRock: The ritual chamber contains "expertly chiseled forms of grotesque gargoyles". As these are statues rather than gargoyles, or even grotesques (sort of a gargoyle without a rainspout), the implication is that in this world gargoyles are a sort of creature and these are statues of said creature. Of course, this isn't explored at all.

* ReligionOfEvil: The worshippers of Argon, whose faith seems to consist entirely of performing {{Human Sacrifice}}s. Gorzom's established religion, the worship of the similiarly-named god Sargon, is implied to be at best only slightly better, and may be merely a CorruptChurch.

*** Carthenia supposedly kicks the shaman ''between'' his testicles. Unless she has a ''really'' small foot, this doesn't make much sense. It was probably ''supposed'' to say either that he got kicked ''in'' the testicles, or ''between'' the legs.

* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Carthena in the hands of the head shaman.

* DropTheHammer: The "shamen" use a gold mallet as a sacrificial weapon.

* LowFantasy

* ThudAndBlunder: Perhaps the best-known example.

** Given that the gene that produces Grignr's red hair also tends to produce fair skin with a tendency to burn and freckle rather than tan evenly (at least in Caucasians), it's rather surprising that Grignr's skin is "bronzed". Most people, let alone red-headed Europeans, would be somewhere between extremely uncomfortable and nearly dead after traveling across a desert in the blazing sun for at least an entire day wearing only a loincloth, a helmet and sandals, but Grignr suffers [[MadeOfIron no ill effects at all]]. Granted, combinations of red hair and dark skin ''can'' occur naturally in non-European or mixed-race populations, and some redheads can develop so many freckles as to ''appear'' tanned after extended sun exposure, but on balance it's unlikely that Theis was thinking about either of these.

** In Agaphim's throne room, he sits upon a golden throne set on an ivory floor in a lavishly appointed room, with [[{{Fanservice}} a naked wench]] [[ALadyOnEachArm at each arm]]...and, inexplicably, his advisor Agafnd sits on his back.

* DamselInDistress: Carthena.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Agafnd, the prince's loyal advisor, is literally described as sitting behind the throne.

* OhMyGods: "By the surly beard of Mrifk!"

* AntiClimax: After pages of over-the-top fight scenes, Grignr's final enemy is a mystical leech that sucks [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank an absurd amount of blood]] from his leg only to die when burned with a torch.

* TheCaligula: Agaphim is a cruel, hedonistic, thin-skinned sadist who responds to his people complaining about his oppressive taxes by ''taxing them even more heavily'', apparently for no other reason than sheer cruelty.

* InformedAttribute: Grignr's genius.

-->''He has slept three times and had been fed five times since his awakening in the crypt. However, when the actions of the body are restricted its needs are also affected. The need for nourishmnet and slumber are directly proportional to the functions the body has performed, meaning that when free and active Grignr may become hungry every six hours and witness the desire for sleep every fifteen hours, whereas in his present condition he may encounter the need for food every ten hours, and the want for rest every twenty hours.''

* HaveAGayOldTime: Grignr is repeatedly described as wearing a "g-string". This used to refer to a type of loincloth worn by the men of some Native American tribes, but now almost exclusively means an extremely skimpy bit of lingerie.

* AmusingInjuries: Double subverted when the head priest gets [[GroinAttack kicked in the nuts]]. Rather than saying something like "With a groan of pain, the priest crumpled to the ground, doubled up over his knees and clutching himself," Theis treats us to a long paragraph giving a blow-by-blow of the priest's bizarre reaction by body part. This is so over-the-top (such as the priest's knees wobbling "rapidly about for a few seconds"), that it comes across like it's being played for comedy, but it's treated seriously in the narrative. However, the hyper-dramatic, [[PurpleProse exquisitely detailed]] prose makes the whole situation amusing to imagine.

* {{Malaproper}}: The narrative uses "leashed" to mean both "lashed" and "unleashed" (despite also using "unleashed" in the same paragraph).

Published in the fanzine OSFAN 7 in 1970, the story is well known for its [[ClicheStorm abundant cliches]], [[{{Malaproper}} shoddy spelling]], [[FlatCharacter flat characters]], [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe wooden dialogue]] and [[PurpleProse overly colourful writing]]. Every woman is a "wench", eyes are "emerald orbs". [[SaidBookism Almost nothing is ever "said"]] -- instead it is "queried" or [[HaveAGayOldTime "ejaculated"]] or "husked" or "stated [[PerfectlyCromulentWord whimsicoracally]]". There's an extended scene involving elderly priests groping Carthena, and a scene where Grignr has sex with (or possibly just hugs) a "half-naked harlot... with a lithe, opaque nose". One cult member [[DeusExMachina randomly faints from an epileptic fit in battle]], and another suffers a savage, multi-paragraph GroinAttack.

* ReligionOfEvil: The worshippers of Argon, whose faith seems to consist entirely of performing human sacrifices.

* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Grignr.

* DenOfIniquity

* EvilChancellor: Agafnd brings the trope to mind, although he and Agaphim are on the same side. Agafnd seems to be the more devious of the two. Don't blame yourself if you get Agaphim and Agafnd mixed up, though.

* EvilOverlord / TheEvilPrince: Agaphim. His response to his subjects complaining about oppressive taxes is to tax them even more oppressively.
* EvilVersusEvil: Carthena claims that the Cult of Argon is enemies with Agaphim and his regime.

* ALadyOnEachArm: Agaphim.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: The original version had some atrocious spelling, although less faithful transcriptions sometimes correct these.

* StupidEvil: When Agafnd tells Agaphim that the commoners are complaining of feeling oppressed because they can't afford to pay his [[IntimidatingRevenueService ridiculously high taxes]], Agaphim decides to teach them a lesson by deliberately [[ArtisticLicenseEconomics oppressing them with]] ''[[ArtisticLicenseEconomics yet higher taxes]]''.

* UnexplainedRecovery: Counselor Agafnd dies ''twice''.

* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Carthena is described as both "slender" with a "trim build" and [[BuxomIsBetter endowed with a "bulging bosom" and "huge outcropping breasts]]".