Follow TV Tropes

Following

Webcomic / The Narts

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nartmains.png

Clockwise from left: Sozruquo, Setenaya, Urizhmag, Alimbeg's Daughter, and one of the Marakwas.

is an adaptation of the Nart Sagas by Sylvan Migdal.

Many of the stories are NSFW, usually for sex or nudity.

Stories include:

Tropes include

Abhorrent Admirer: Nart Tughuzhipsh and the nameless shepherd to Setenaya. Both assume that since she Really Gets Around, she'll accept them as lovers too; both are quickly dealt with.
Achilles' Heel: The infant Sozruquo was tempered in she-wolf's milk, turning his body hard and tough as iron... but because Shirdon tricked Tlepsh into making the trough too short, his knees poked out and ever after remained soft and vulnerable.
Action Girl: Alimbeg's Daughter, Qaydukh, and Agunda and her fellow young Nart maidens in "Sozruquo and the Sons of Tar".
Amazing Technicolor Population: Sozruquo has dark gray skin, as he was born from a rock.
Amicably Divorced: "How Sozruquo Wed Koshera" ends with the two realizing that she'll never be happy living with the Narts and he'll never be happy living apart from them. So they get divorced and live happily ever after.
Anachronic Order: The stories bounce about in time. The earliest story chronologically, "Akhshar & Akhshartag", is one of the later ones.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: "Alimbeg's Daughter" is the only story that doesn't focus on Setenaya, Sozruquo, or one of their close relatives.
Animal Chick Magnet: Shirdon's seen flirting with his wife-to-be while they both pet his dog.
Bed Trick: Played with. Setenaya wears Elda's clothes to get into Urizhmag's bed, but he recognizes her before anything happens.
Berserk Button: Do not insult Batraz's wife and make her cry.
Best Her to Bed Her: Qaydukh has sworn to marry only a man who can defeat her in a fight. At least, that's her requirement for her first husband; she has at least two later ones as well as a wife, and there's no indication she held any of them to the same rules.
Brother–Sister Incest: Setenaya and Urizhmag are half-siblings with the same mother. It's less of an obstacle to their relationship than the fact that he was already married when she came of age.
Call-Back: In "The Three Bolts of Cloth," one of the Nart men mentions that Khmish used to carry his wife around in his pocket. This happened in "Isp and Khmish" (she was in the form of a frog at the time) and is a bit of a sore spot as she divorced him over the incident.
The Cameo: Adil's Daughter appears briefly in "How Sozruquo Wed Koshera," visiting Sozruquo's parents' household as they get to know Koshera.
The Clan: The Narts are a sprawling tribe.
Clothes Make the Superman: Akola can fly because of the strap-on wings she stole from the wicked giant Akhshualy.
Cool Horse: Several appear in "Sozruquo and the Sons of Tar:" Zhaqa ("grave-mound"), Bibyts's steed that no horse in the world can outrun; Zhaqa's mother, a peerless mare who holds Bibyts's soul (and incidentally can fly); that mare's second foal, a colt even faster than his elder brother. There are also a couple in "Qaydukh's Elbow": Psadiba's horse that he relies on to pick the lucky fork in each road, and Sozruquo's Little Gray, who he credits for his dangerous river crossings. And in "The Nameless Son", the title character's horse Gee-Gee is a supernatural creature from the land of the dead, with breath hot enough to melt snow, able to face down (with a thick protective coat of gravel, at least) the fearsome iron stallion that guards the herds of the Terk-Turks.
Cool Old Guy: Urizhmag, "wise elder of the Narts."
Cyclops: The ayniwhz brothers Mukara and Bibyts are both giants with a single huge eye in their heads, as are Mukara's wife and Bibyts's warriors.
Distressed Dude: Akhshar (taken captive by the Bisenags), his aunt's husband (same), and Uon (captured and enslaved by the giant Akhshualy).
Divine Parentage: Dzerashsha is the daughter of two water gods, Donbettir and the Lady of the Flowing Waters. Her twins' father is a human hero, but she also has Shirdon with the river god Gatag and (posthumously) Setenaya with Washtirji, god of travelers.
Downer Ending: "The Apple of the Narts" ends with the magic apple tree cut down by the malicious spirit of cholera. And "Batraz and Qaydukh" ends with the two splitting up because Batraz realizes they'll never be able to trust one another after he kept his slaying of her brother secret and she broke her word and attacked him in vengeance for it.
Due to the Dead: The Narts honor their dead with feasts. Shirdon's poverty means that his ancestors are neglected out of necessity (something that reflects poorly on him). And Urizhmag and Setenaya don't honor their Nameless Son because they've essentially made themselves forget about him out of grief. In the latter case, the dead child persuades the god of the dead to let him return to the living world for one day, so he can set things right.
Elemental Powers: Qaydukh can control the weather, including summoning anything from concealing fog to ferocious storms.
Engagement Challenge: Akola won't even dance with Batraz until he removes the one stain on his Family Honor by rescuing his ancestor Uon from slavery. Once he does that, she's happy to marry him.
Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: The apple tree of the Narts had many fantastic properties, which clever Setenaya figured out. And in "Alimbeg's Daughter", the god Washtirji presents the title character and her bride with a magical apple, saying that if Adil's Daughter eats it their marriage will be happy, and if Alimbeg's Daughter then eats the core, seeds and all, she will be transformed into a man.
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Played with in "Setenaya's Breakup." Urizhmag announces that he's done with Setenaya and tells her to return to her mother's family^note, taking any of their treasures with her if she pleases. Setenaya wants to remain married to him, but rather than arguing or delaying she has a cunning plan: she holds a farewell party, encourages the guests to get him very drunk, and takes only him with her on her cart when she leaves, because he is her greatest treasure. They return home together and remain Happily Married thereafter.
Fountain of Youth: "The Shimd" features a pool of magical milk that de-ages the elderly to young adulthood. Uon and his lover use it to reclaim the time they lost in captivity, and Batraz takes a skin of it home for his vain playboy father, Khmish.
Girl in the Tower: Adil confined his daughter in a tower surrounded by bladed walls. Naturally, Alimbeg's Daughter rescues her. (Koshera and Qaydukh both reside in towers, but don't fit the trope because it's voluntary.)
Guile Hero: Setenaya and Sozuquo both solve many of their problems with cleverness and guile, though she's a powerful sorceress and he's a superhuman warrior.
Happily Married: Setenaya and Urizhmag. Eventually, Batraz and Akola, Sozruquo and Qaydukh.
Heroic Lineage: The twins Urizhmag and Khmish are the children of the hero Akhshartag, and Urizhmag's adopted-ish son Sozruquo and Khmish's son Batraz are the greatest heroes of the younger generation.
Horse of a Different Color: Most of the diminutive Marakwas ride rabbits; Isp, who's tall for her family, rides a sheep instead.
Identical Twin ID Tag: Akhshar and Akhshartag look and dress identically—except that Akhshar always wears his hat on his head, and Akhshartag always ties his around his neck like a scarf. A generation later, Akhshartag's twin sons Urizhmag and Khmish look different enough as adults... but as children, the main way to tell them apart was by Khmish's cape and fancy belt.
Instant Messenger Pigeon: The "swallow-gram" Akola sends to her husband Batraz after the fertility spirit insults her.
Ladykiller in Love: Playboy Khmish genuinely falls in love with Isp, and the story makes a point of him not using his magically sexy tooth to get her to like him back. Their relationship ends, not because he cheated on her, but because he couldn't bear to be parted from her and she was offended when his habit of carrying her (in frog form) in his pocket opened her up to ridicule from the Narts.
Leg Cling: Setenaya's servant clings to her leg while she fends off the shepherd's advances.
Like Father, Unlike Son: The upstanding hero Batraz couldn't be more different from his womanizer father Khmish. This is repeatedly lampshaded in "The Three Bolts of Cloth," in which Khmish repeatedly claims the prize for embodying the three virtues of Nart manhood, and—when the other Nart men angrily say how different he is from that ideal—explains that he's doing on behalf of his son. Batraz is restrained with food and drink while Khmish gorges himself at every meal, has defeated a hundred warriors singlehandedly while Khmish is scared of his own shadow, and is a paragon of respect towards women while Khmish is an inveterate seducer who used to carry his wife around in his pocket.
Made a Slave: The Nart Uon was enslaved many years ago by the wicked giant Akhshualy, and his relatives' failure to rescue him constitutes a stain on the Family Honor.
Making a Splash: In the first story, Setenaya uses her magical powers to create a wave to fend off a lecherous shepherd.
Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Played with. Like many of the original stories (the ones that didn't state it outright), the comic implies that many if not all of Setenaya's children are conceived with other men. But in cultural terms, that doesn't matter: Urizhmag is the father of all of Setenaya's children simply because he is her husband, including the one born from a pregnant rock.
Massive Numbered Siblings: The opening of the comic describes Setenaya as "mother of a hundred Narts," although only three of her children (Sozruquo, Agunda, and the Nameless Son) play significant roles in the story.
Multiple Head Case: The giant Akhshualy has seven monstrous heads on a humanlike (but oversized and very broad) body.
Mr. Seahorse: When Isp decides she can no longer remain married to Khmish, she's already pregnant. Her people's customs dictate that children ought to be raised by their fathers, so—rather than wait until the child is born or send him back later—she transfers the pregnancy to a lump on Khmish's back. When enough time has passed, Setenaya cuts the newborn Batraz out of his father's back.
My Girl Is a Slut: Batraz's acceptance of his wife Akola's affairs (to the point that, on coming home to find her in bed with a lover, he snuck out to let them sleep and greeted Akola's lover the next day as an honored guest) is held up as proof of what an upstanding Nart man he is. Likewise, Setenaya may sleep around (and the one time she tells herself she'll do without sex until her husband comes home, she fails miserably) but no one questions her devotion to Urizhmag. (Batraz's take on it, at least, is that since Nart men spend so much time away from their wives on adventures, it would be cruel to expect the women to be celibate while they're away.)
No Name Given: Alimbeg's daughter, her Love Interest Adil's Daughter, Setenaya's servant, and Uon's lover. The Nameless Son might be Never Given a Name instead.
No-Sell: Akola completely ignores the magical effect of Khmish's magical Arkizh tooth, and insults his bad breath to boot.
Our Giants Are Bigger: The one-eyed aynhiwhz from "Sozruquo and the Sons of Tar" as well as seven-headed Akhshualy from "The Shimd".
Outdoor Bath Peeping: The first story opens with a shepherd seeing Setenaya and her servant as they bathe in the river, and declaring that since she Really Gets Around it's his turn now. Being a powerful sorceress, Setenaya has little trouble dealing with him; being a powerful sorceress, she also decides to take home the rock he ejaculates on and adopts the baby born from it as her son.
Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Alimbeg's Daughter instantly grows from infancy to early adulthood so that she can be the "man" her family must send to the contests to avoid disgrace.
The Pornomancer: Khmish's aunt gave him a magic tooth that makes his smile irresistibly sexy. This is a bit of an Informed Attribute in the comic, though—we're told that he's seduced so many women that the Narts are sick of it, but the only girl who falls for him on-page is the one we're told he didn't use the tooth magic on, and who he also genuinely loved.
Rapid Aging: Setenaya aged to adulthood within months rather than years, but then stopped.
Really Gets Around: Setenaya and Khmish (thanks to his magic tooth).
Rule of Three: The fertility spirit seeks refuge with three gods. The first two aren't brave enough to protect him from Batraz's wrath; it is the third—Tutyr, protector of wolves—who begs forgiveness on behalf of his guest, and finally gets the hero to relent.
Satellite Character: Setenaya's unnamed servant (who appears in "The Birth of Sozruquo" and "Setenaya Goes Astray") exists to react to Setenaya's actions and give her someone to talk to.
Second Love: Setenaya is Urizhmag's second wife (and caused the first one's death). Akola is Batraz's third known wife; Qaydukh (Batraz's ex at that point) is Sozruquo's second wife, while he is her fourth spouse. All three couples are loving and close.
Secret Test of Character: Qaydukh to Sozruquo. She's already impressed by his courage and modesty (especially compared to her previous husband Psadiba, who bragged constantly about victories he only won with her assistance behind the scenes), but decides to test him by creating a terrible storm, raising the river between them. Knowing she's on the other side with no apparent shelter, he crosses the river to check on her... and refuses her praise for his bravery, saying his horse did all the work. Qaydukh is satisfied, and the two wind up married.
Serial Spouse: Qaydukh is married four times that the reader knows of. Her first marriage to Batraz was a whirlwind romance based entirely on his ability to defeat her in battle; they broke up after he confessed that he had killed her brother Qayda before they met, and she was unable to keep her own promise not to try to kill him for it. Her second known marriage, to Psadiba, ends with her allowing Psadiba to die because he took her for granted one time too many. Her third... there are no details about why she and her wife split up, but they did so fairly quickly. Her fourth marriage, to Sozruquo, seems to be happy.
The Smart Guy: Setenaya's most remarkable trait is her intelligence. She always has advice for a hero setting out on a quest (and it's always exactly what he needs to hear); she invented agriculture, beer, and smith's tools so that Tlepsh could work without hurting himself.
Strong Family Resemblance: Dressed in men's clothing, Qaydukh is identical to her brother Qayda.
Sweet Polly Oliver: Alimbeg's Daughter disguises herself as a man (and may eventually magically transform herself into one). And Qaydukh goes adventuring in male garb for a while and even weds a woman for three years. (The text says that her wife never knew, or so it's said; the image makes it clear that said wife knew and was happy about the situation.)
Tangled Family Tree: Dzerashsha, one of the many children of the sea god Donbettir and the Lady of the Flowing Waters, had four children with three different fathers: the twins Urizhmag and Khmish by her husband, the Nart hero Akhshartag; Shirdon by the river god Gatag; and (posthumously and supernaturally) Setenaya by the traveler god Washtirji. Shirdon's relationship to the rest of them seems to be a secret, but the family only gets more complex from there: Urizhmag and Setenaya marry and have many children, though it's implied that those that aren't magically conceived may technically be the product of affairs; and there are many divorces and remarriages. For example, Khmish's son Batraz marries the sorceress Qaydukh; after they divorce, she marries Setenaya's youngest son, Sozruquo. And no one bothers explaining how exactly Batraz's "forebear" Uon is related to the rest of the family...
Tattoo as Character Type: Almost all adult Narts have extensive blue tattoos on their upper chests, backs, upper arms, and legs. (Sozruquo is one of the few exceptions, probably because no needle could penetrate his skin.) All of these tattoos are completely covered by their clothing, and therefore appear mainly in sex scenes; most are animal designs, outlined and fairly simple, though some also have strings of dots or lines going around their limbs.
- Setenaya has a bird on her chest above her breasts, two deer on one upper arm, a different animal on the other upper arm, a horse on her back, and a fish and some abstract lines on her legs.
- Urizhmag has what looks like two stylized birds on his chest and a rabbit on one shoulder, as well as some more animals on the other arm.
- Khmish has a swan on his chest and two animal heads on his back.
- Batraz has a fish on his leg and a sheep on one arm.
- Qaydukh, who is not a Nart, has black animal tattoos wrapping around her torso, as well as abstract dots on her upper leg and a ram on the back of her thigh.
- Uon has typical, but rather faded, Nart tattoos on his upper arms and chest; his lady friend has similar ones done in brown.
- Akola, another non-Nart woman, has gray or brown tattoos on her upper arms and back.
Theme Twin Naming: Akhshar and Akhshartag ("Brave" and "Bravest").
A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Qayda dies because he draws a sword on a fellow traveler without explanation, and Batraz treats this as a threat to his life. If Qayda had explained that he was seeking to test him as a potential suitor for his sister, who had sworn to marry only a man who could defeat her in battle...
Trickster Archetype: Shirdon, "plague of the Narts." He's a poor man getting by on his wits, but also a troublemaker for his entire extended family. Among other things, he's responsible for his nephew Sozruquo's Achilles' Heel.
The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: They never appear in the same story, but the famously beautiful Seteneya is the daughter of Washtirji.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Tlepsh, the heavenly smith. His son, Nagurashkho, is no slouch either, able to make knives that come to life as servants.
Whole Episode Flashback: "Akhshar and Akhshartag" and "Setenaya".
You Can't Fight Fate: Setenaya knows that her baby son is doomed to be slain by his own father, her husband Urizhmag. So she sends him away to be raised by her relatives and never tells Urizhmag that the child existed. Nonetheless, a couple years later Urizhmag is picked up by an eagle, deposited by her relatives, and at the meal they invite him to manages to kill his son by accident.

Previous

Index

Next

Top