Drowtales Val Sarghress Clan Main Val Family / Characters

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Sarghress Val line

The Saghress's main Val line started when the clan was elevated to Val status thanks to covert sponsorship from Ash'waren Sullisin'rune, allowing them to fight the Sharen politically and literally. Quain'tana became its Ill'haress, hailed as a hero among the commoners for supporting them against the snobbish Vals... except in recent years, she has become somewhat of a shell of her former self after going through two devastating tragedies in short order: Losing her favorite child and heiress to demons, and being made infertile. Because of her actions, Quain'tana's family has become a dysfunctional hot bed of political agendas and abuse, with her children either working alongside her or against her, depending on how well they turned out after living under their mother's iron hand.

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Quain'tana Val'Sarghress

Originally a street rat, Quain'tana turned the Sarghress clan from a ragtag bunch of mercenaries into one of the most powerful armies in the world setting. Not a very good parent.

Abusive Parents: Offenses listed on the main trope page.
Amazonian Beauty: In the past when she was younger, she was definitely this.
Ambiguously Gay: Quain displays zero interest in sex with men, except presumably for procreation in the past, and given her status and the number of people who admire her, she probably could have her pick of lovers among her men if she so desired. By contrast, Ash'waren confirms the two are lovers and Ash is one of the only people Quain displays anything resembling gentleness and affection towards.
Animal Motif: Aside from the wolves of the Sarg clan, she's been likened to a Gorilla. In-universe, should she ever learn of this and look up the definition, she would likely be flattered. Gorillas are known to be fiercely strong, determined and loyal, highly intelligent, and have very, very long memories.
Anti-Magic: Quain'tana is immune to most mana arts, and it is likely this ability is the reason Quain'tana is never seen to use any mana based techniques of her own. This ability is extremely rare and has been called legendary by one of her enemies. It's finally seen in action in Chapter 50, where, after she was buried in a small mountain made of Earth foci to keep her from going after Su'ube, she exhibits a purple glow inside that prevents the dirt from melding together, allowing her to burrow out without trouble.
Anti-Villain: Quain is not a pleasant person to be around, and has done some truly horrific things. That being said, the people she fights against have, the vast majority of the time, been and done far, far worse than she has, and she can usually be reasoned with, especially if you've proven yourself. Plus her ideals and motivations tend to be noble and sympathetic, at least more so than her enemies.
Asshole Victim: Downplayed, if not outright zig-zagged. During chapter 50, she is subjected to a coup that ends up killing her, as well as Sarv poisoning her beforehand. As noted on the main trope page and on some of the tropes here, she is an *Abusive Parent who, among other things, imprisoned, beat, and is implied had her own daughter raped just to conceive a heir when Quain could not and then Quain stole the baby from Mel at birth and later breaks Mel's hand and uses her, more or less, as a breeding slave to produce more female heirs. (Those children were implied to have been taken from Mel as well..) She also subjected Ariel to an abusive *The Spartan Way upbringing as a child and forced her to kill another child ( who was a bit of a jerk though) to prove herself; although this seems common practice for the Sarghess. Additionally, she is still a ruthless warmonger who plunged the city into war, though she admittedly has legit grievance with the Sharen. All that being said, by the time she is killed she had already begun showing more redeeming qualities and her final moments were spent defending her grandchildren from a mutiny.
Barefoot Poverty: As a young woman.
Berserk Button: If you value your life, it is probably a good idea to avoid mentioning Mel'arnach around her, if at all possible.
Best Served Cold: When she was a young thief, living on the streets, she was mercilessly struck down by a Sharen Dragon Knight for stealing bread and left for dead. After centuries of determination, she finally succeeds in bringing down most of the Sharen clan and killing Sarv'swati.
Big Damn Heroes:
- Plays this role to Zala'ess, of all people in Chapter 47.
- Plays this role to Faen and her grandchildren, saving them from traitors in Chapter 50.
Body Horror: Whatever "poison" Sarv'swati had on her blade is slowly, but surely, eating away at her face, and nothing her clan's healers have done brings forth any relief; in fact, Quain claims splashing the area with raw alcohol actually brings more relief than anything they've done (this usually indicates some kind of bacterial or fungal agent).
Braids of Barbarism: Starts wearing her hair this way in chapter 31.
Broken Pedestal:
- To Ariel, who found out the hard way that Quain'tana is not the kind mother she imagined. It's later rebuilt as she comes to appreciate her behavior and motives, even though she knows that Quain'tana is not perfect.
- Likewise, she got the same reaction from about half of her clan, who are extremely displeased that she's grown soft and become like the Vals she hated. Chapter 50, appropriately titled "Unravel", deals with the Sarghress experiencing a clan schism and the traitor faction's attempts to kill off the Sarghress's Val line.
Celibate Hero: Implied, though this part of her life has not been focused on in the main story at all. Though the presence of her children clearly indicates she has had sexual relationships in the past these may have been solely for the purpose of producing children and not anything else. Not to mention she physically can't have kids anymore and thus may not bother. The confirmed-canon Daydream story about her and Ash'waren also has Ash asking if she sees sex as a duty more than anything, and Ash later confirms that Quain hated having to renew their alliance that way.
Character Development: Between the start of the story and her death Quain noticeably began to soften in certain respects, something Suu'be hated.
The Corruption: Whatever Sarv used is spreading, and it's not pretty.
Cruel to Be Kind: As horrific as it was to force a very young Ariel to kill Miir'kin with a mace, this experience saves her life when Mangragora forces her into a death match with him, as she beats him to death the exact same way after he sadistically kicked her around, a lot, blaming her for the fact that he murdered Koil'dorath himself.
Dark and Troubled Past: Quain'tana grew up an orphan, living on the streets. She had to steal food to survive and was nearly killed by a Sharen dragon knight for her trouble, having to dodge slavers shortly afterwards. She has received little mercy throughout her life, and for this reason has no mercy for weakness on the part of her descendants.
Designated Hero: In-universe and out. Quain'tana is revered by the commoners for being anti-Sharen, but once readers and other characters got a look at her up close, she's revealed to be a hard-lined matriarch who forces her own children to live up to her standards, and is a hypocrite as she's a Val trying to take down the Vel'Sharen.
Determinator: When she was a young Street Urchin, she was nearly killed by a Sharen Dragon Knight for stealing loaves of bread. Severely wounded and desperate to have her revenge, she struggled through the depths of Chel to survive, whatever the cost. When speaking of her desires to other street dwellers, they told her it was impossible, since none of them could ever have anywhere near the power to fight the Vals. This only made her all the more determined to see the downfall of the Sharen clan, a task at which she eventually succeeds.
The Dog Bites Back: Her very first kill was an example of this when she went after the Sharen Dragon Knight who had previously wounded her for stealing loaves of bread, killed her companion for sport, and left her to die in the street.
Drowning My Sorrows: Did this after being rendered barren. She also openly drops an empty wine bottle after news of Mel's newest exploits.
Dying Moment of Awesome: As she follows a warrior's philosophy, Quain'tana believes that if you're going to die, at least die gloriously. Because of this, she calls Sharess's sacrifice^note the "greatest death one could hope one could hope for", and scorns the Sharens for dishonoring that sacrifice by turning her into a goddess as an excuse to exercise more control over the commoners. She later gets one for herself in Chapter 50 by enduring an assault by her own soldiers and punishing Su'ube for her betrayal and coup by snapping her neck.
Enemy Mine: Makes a truce with Zala'ess's faction of the Sharen, agreeing to work together against the Nidraa'chal. She also comes to Zala'ess's rescue when Ni'bai tries using Kharla'ggen to bring about The End of the World as We Know It.
Et Tu, Brute?: As bad as her relationship with Mel'arnach already was, she does not take it well when she learns that Mel'arnach is actively killing her soldiers on behalf of the Nidraa'chal.
Eye Scream: After invoking Life-or-Limb Decision, and shooing out the empaths, the healer working on Quain'tana proceeds to prepare to remove her left eye without anesthetic or pain relief of any kind. Although Quain refuses what the healer claims is a sedative, the healer calls the guards to restrain her so she can inject it in her arm anyway.
Face Palm: As seen above, her family seems to have gotten this from her.
From Nobody to Nightmare: From the perspective of the Sharen, since she started as a no-name street rat and eventually became their worst nightmare.
Freudian Excuse:
- Her past as a street rat who was shown no mercy by the ruling Sharen during its heyday is the main reason she's so ruthless now.
- Her hatred of being treated as an invincible messiah came from what the Sharen did to Sharess. According to Quain'tana, Sharess sacrificed everything to save her people, only for her "shameless" descendants to dishonor her by turning her into a goddess and using her image to control the commoners they ruled over.
Giver of Lame Names: The very first page showed her engaging in Last-Minute Baby Naming, and she later names Mel's younger son Pup which is immediately pointed out.
Hate Sink: Played with. Despite the grey morality of many in the setting, Quain stands out as exceptionally cruel for her *Abusive Parent tendcies, especially acts like stealing Mel's newborn right from under her arms, to say nothing of the *Spartan Way upbringing she inflicts on Ariel at a young age; its unlikely that she was mean't to be sympathized with, at least at first. That being said, over time she actually subverts this and does show redeeming qualities, such as her relationship with Ashwaren, her compliments to Ariel after she completes her rite of passage, and protecting her grandchildren and Faen from a coup. That and her tragic backstory helps subvert this further.
Heir Club for Men: Gender-inverted. As Chel is completely matriarchal, Quain is willing do anything to make sure she has an heir. Except, apparently, make a deal with the Jaal'darya, either due to even Quain having standards, since the process is described as horrific, or simply not being willing to shell out the absurd amount of money it would require, which is pretty likely considering that a similar procedure is said to have drained Snadhya'rune's assets for nearly a year.
Heroic BSoD: For a given definition of "heroism" anyway. As seen in a flashback, she did not take being rendered barren thanks to a battle wound inflicted by Sarv'swati very well. It's one of the reasons she leans so hard — to put it lightly — on Mel'arnach to bear an heir.
Human Pincushion: As expected of charging a position guarded by crossbow-men, without a shield, Quain'tana winds up shot and hit at least seven times. She does manage to take Su'ube down with her via Neck Snap before she dies.
Hypocrite: A big theme in the comic is that despite publicly being against the Sharen (for good reason), Quain'tana is willing to do many of the same things in order to gain power, especially when it comes to her Control Freak tendencies over her family, which Mel'arnach lampshades.
I Want Grandkids: To Mel in the most horrific way possible.
Jerkass Has a Point: Has several moment of this, adding to the Grey-and-Grey Morality of the setting since while she's not a particularly nice person, she's, well, right about a bunch of things.
- Most of her criticisms of the Sharen are shown to be pretty spot-on, especially when it comes to how the Sharen underestimate the people they rule over. And during the Nidraa'chal War, it turns out that she was dead on about it really being an inside issue for the Sharen, since the Sharen daughters themselves were behind it.
- Pulling Ariel out of Orthorbbae when her true gender is discovered by Snadhya'rune is this, especially since we find out that Snadhya explicitly planned to bring Ariel in to control her.
- Her reaction to Mel in chapter 32, where she says she doesn't trust her due to Mel having threatened to kill her not two months ago, made doubly so by the fact that the audience knows that Snadhya'rune put Mel up to it and that the whole thing is a lie. Even so, she lost a lot of sympathy when she proceeded to restrain Mel and break her arms with a hammer.
- In general, her disapproval of Mel'arnach and Snadhya'rune's relationship, since the latter has very much started showing her true colors; even though Mel'arnach acknowledges that Snadhya'rune is just as controlling and manipulative, she refuses to fully accept it because it'll prove that her mother's right, thus invalidating any reason to hold a grudge, real or otherwise. Though in this case it may be Right for the Wrong Reasons on Quain's part.
- Also, her anger at Syphile tainting herself becomes this in hindsight with the revelation that many if not most of Snadhya'rune's demon seeds are intentionally faulty and designed to kill the user within 50 years, and it's very likely that Syphile was carrying one of those seeds.
- While Quain was correct in not leaving the future clan heir in the hands of a very vocal and unrepentant traitor who openly pays homage the the most reviled and hated enemies of all drow, the Nid'rachaal, and is sympathetic to Snad'hyarune who is the Nid's leader, even Quain admits that giving said child to Syphille was a mistake.
Kick the Dog: Her cruel acts usually have some purpose but on a few stand out as exceptionally vile even by her standards. Many of these relate to her abusive parenting tendencies, especially agaisnt Mel:
- Stealing the newborn Ariel from her daughter Mel was exceptionally cruel, even by her standards. Although she intended Ariel be raised as a heir and Mel had been at odds with Quain before, stealing a baby from a mother, let alone her own daughter, most definitely counts as this. What really pushes it into this territory is how she kept the child hidden from Mel for years and never once allowed her visitation of Ariel; nor did she ever try to work out any sort of alternative beforehand that would allow Mel to raise Ariel in a capacity Quian approved of; it was likely out of punishment for Mel, understandably, defying Quain prior.
- Going with the above, when Mel refused to give Quain a female child, she had Mel stripped of her ranking in the clan, as well as any servants and knights she had, and then had Mel imprisoned, beaten, and implied to have even ordered her raped just to force Mel to conceive a child so that Quan may have a heir after being rendered barren by Sarvswati in a fight.
- She personally broke Mel's hands with a hammer after she was brought back to the Sarghess fortress by Snad. Even though it may just be another form of punishment at least for Mel defying her, the fact Quain did this herself without a shred of hesitation or remorse qualifies it as this.
- Even after the time skip to arc 2, where she is basically using Mel as a breeding slave(although Mel technically agreed to produce a heir finally) she has Mel's first two children, Pelan and Pup, taken from her like she did Ariel and raised away from her; this is despite them being male and therefor not really considered important enough politically for Quain use as an heir. Coming from a woman who stole her daughter's first child as a newborn, the fact that she apparently did not bother to even consider letting Mel keep her male children at least, is a pretty low blow to steal even more babies from Mel. (although Mel was in another clan's domain at the time, its likely Quain left the orders in place to do this)
- The test she gave Ariel to kill Mirkin is of course cruel since Ariel was a child being forced to kill another child, but it was at least considered a rite of passage and a legitimate test by Sarghess standards. What makes it this is the fact that, when Ariel refuses at first, Quain threatens to force her to fight her own cousin to the death if she does not want to kill Mirkin. She did not bother even choosing anyone else who Ariel has no attachment to.
Killed Off for Real: She finally dies while going down fighting Su'ube's traitor faction in chapter 50, leaving Ariel the clan's nominal Ill'haress.
Karma Houdini: Not unlike much of the cast, though this does tend to cause heated debates on the forums, on occasion. Specifically, she is an *Abusive Parent who gives other bad parents in the setting a run for their money in how horrible she treats her own children, and is also a ruthless warlord who plunged the city into war, regardless of some noble reasoning, but never really saw much punishment for her actions. However...
Karma Houdini Warranty: In chapters 47 and later 50, she is poisoned in the former and later killed in a mutiny in the later chapter. Granted, it took perhaps over a decade or more of the comic's run for this to happen.
Lady Looks Like a Dude: A Running Gag in the comic and fandom is how she can easily be mistaken for male given her body-builder like physique, such as here, and the creator specified in one side comic how she was to be drawn, but depending on the artist this is or isn't followed.
Large Ham: If there was ever any doubt... And earlier, her verbal spar with Zala left toothmarks all over the set.
Laser-Guided Karma: She created clan of anit-Val warriors hell-bent on tearing apart the Val and Vel system that rules over Chel, despite becoming a Val herself at some point. The Sarghess become increasingly rabid about killing Vals and destroying all vestiges of the system. Fittingly, her own soldiers turn on her almost as soon as the District War is over and the system as lost its legs. The very revolution she lead ended turning on her as she too was considered among the nobility.
Law of Inverse Fertility: Got hit by this hard.
Mama Bear: Despite being an Abusive Mom, who's a firm believer in The Spartan Way, she is clearly quite protective of her children and grandchildren, and squads under Su'ube's authority had the gall to go after her infant grandchildren while she's still alive.
Maternally Challenged: One interpretation of her bad relationships with her children is that she's not so much intentionally cruel as much as having no idea how to properly treat them, and among her children Laele'aell seems to have been treated best.
Memetic Badass: In-universe. To her great annoyance.
Might Makes Right: A lesson she says she learned from the Sharen.
Mirror Character: With Diva'ratrika. Both are obsessed with continuing their bloodlines and pressure their daughters to have children, both are Control Freaks, both of their children wind up hating them, and they both share a descendant in Kalki.
Morton's Fork: "Day 9" of chapter 50 ends for Quain'tana this way. Since Su'ube openly declared treason, and threatened the chosen heir within earshot of her, and in front of many witnesses, and when Quain specifically told her to speak her mind regarding her plans, as the last threads of her patience were beginning to unravel from all the other physical and emotional trauma she endured, Su'ube then displays nothing short of pure cowardice by trying to placate Quain with empty platitudes, false excuses regarding concern for the clan as a whole, and claiming to speak carelessly from losing her own temper. At that point, Quain had three choices, none of them good. One, ignore Su'ube and let her not only fester but become emboldened by an apparent sign of weakness. Two, make a brutal example out of Su'ube, but risk making her a martyr, thus aggravating the grudge(s) of anyone who might either be sympathetic to Su'ube or simply not like the way Quain does things. Three, make an open show of sparing Su'ube, but with a lesser punishment than she deserves, one that serves as a grim reminder that such things will not be tolerated, which while not aggravating any grudges or making Su'ube a martyr, leaves her alive to scheme, plot and sabotage Quain, if not the clan, (notably Ariel) in the future. As a favor to Koil, a loyal commander with many war achievements under her belt, she chooses option three, and is almost immediately given just cause to regret it.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Another reason to explain Quain'tana's utterly ruthless nature and cynical view of the world; whenever she does something nice to her subordinates or shows mercy to people who antagonize her, she winds up regretting it.
- In regards to Mel'arnach, put her in a Cardboard Prison only for Mel'arnach to run off to Snadhya'rune while the latter is attacking her clan, and then returns with an insincere apology. When she grants Ariel's request to let her out, Mel'arnach runs off to Snadhya'rune again and becomes an open agent of the Nidraa'chal.
- In regards to Su'ube, she grants Koil'dorath's plea to spare Su'ube, only for Su'ube to use her armored gauntlet to strike Quain'tana square in the face, right in Quain'tana's festering and bleeding facial wound. Then after Koil'dorath physically separates them, and manages to talk Quain'tana down, Su'ube is all too happy to heed Khaless who whispers that nobody would follow such a brute. This is after Su'ube has already openly spoken treason within earshot of Quain'tana among many, many witnesses, and acted like a brute herself by physically threatening Ariel.
No-Sell: Kel'noz at one point says that she can effectively do this with mana attacks that are directed at her by absorbing the mana into her own body. In Chapter 50, she manages to burrow out of a small mountain made of of Earth foci made to restrain her from attacking Su'ube.
"Not So Different" Remark: Mel'arnach acknowledges on some level that Snadhya'rune lying to her about Kalki's creation even if she did consent in giving her eggs is very much like Quain'tana wanting children from her.
Offing the Offspring: Surprisingly, this has only occurred once that we know of, with Syphile who attacked her first.
One Head Taller: As seen here, Quain is one head taller than her ally/partner Ash'waren.
Parental Abandonment: Both cause and victim.
Perpetual Frowner: Frowning and Death Glare tends to be her default expression.
Pet the Dog: Her relationship with Ash'waren, and the fact that when one of her dev'esses, Sang, was tortured by the Sharen and lost all of her limbs Quain'tana got her all new golem limbs and had her re-trained. One golem limb, much less four, are expensive in the DT world. The case can also be made for Moral Myopia in terms of her relationships with her children. She gets another one in chapter 30 where she finally tells Ariel that she makes her proud, with the slight pause suggesting that she's not really sure how to even say it.
Plot-Driven Breakdown: On page 207, Quain'tana's sword breaks right before she does, giving the cowardly Su'ube the opening she's been waiting for to reveal her true colors and strike at Quain directly.
Post-Victory Collapse: After snapping Su'ube's neck, she finally goes down for the last time with no less than seven bolts and a sword in her.
Properly Paranoid: She doesn't trust healers to use sedatives to render her unconscious before undertaking delicate surgery. In this case, the healer is a "face" for Khaless which means the "sedative" may well be something else entirely.
- And retaliating with violence against her "loyal" troops trying to restrain her also proves vindicated when she stumbles on a plot by Koil's squad trying to murder her toddler aged grandchildren and pin the blame on Jiv'kyn, a member of the Fallen Legion.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: One of her few consistent redeeming features is that she will always respect anyone who fights her, or anyone else honestly, as opposed to scheming, treachery, and petty tricks. In fact, while sparring with Ariel, she openly praises Ariel's raw determination to keep going despite being knocked down and "out" no less than ten times. (Note that Riv'iel gave up against Ariel after only one.) Quain'tana then goes on to list numerous very practical sitiuations, where being The Determinator is a winning strategy, before ultimately displaying that even then, it may not be enough before allowing Ariel to withdraw.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly. Especially after the 15-year timeskip. Ariel's quite correct to say that "she's harsh but fair." Every time soldiers have been brought before her for discipline, she does give them a chance to justify their actions, and if they can give a satisfactory justification for violating orders, or bring forth results, she will praise them, even if it's not to their face. She even happily admits that Ariel disobeying orders to infiltrate the Sharen fortress and take down Nihil'lir is a praiseworthy accomplishment, and would have done the same in Ariel's place, after promoting Ariel to the Highland Raiders while making it look like a punishment.
Red Baron: Has often been referred to by her enemies as "The Big Bad Wolf".
Reluctant Ruler: She really doesn't want to be a figurehead ruler, and even says that if she manages to defeat the Sharen she'd leave the role of Empress to Ash'waren and go adventuring again, which has shades of Cincinnatus.
Right Behind You: While Su'ube is loudly advocating treason by trying to order Koil'dorath to usurp Ariel as the clan head right outside the tent where Quain'tana is being treated for her festering facial wound, a method that has Quain'tana screaming, Quain approaches her through the tent entrance... well, Su'ube. Quain's spent "Day 9" looking for someone to beat the living shit out of, the Sarghress clan thanks you for volunteering.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: While Su'ube is not responsible for the coup that ends up killing Quain, Quain is correct that Su'ube's entirely responsible for the attack on her grandchildren. Not only is house Nori'fu, of which she's the head, going around attacking any Val they see because Su'ube constantly spouts how better off the clan will be without Vals, but Su'ube directly ordered a squad notorious for lack of discipline and murdering children to go secure the three toddlers, and said squad decided that murdering one child and attempting to kill the others and enraging Quain would somehow serve Su'ube better.
Sanity Slippage: After everything that's happened to her starting with Sarv'swatti using a coated blade, and ending with the murder of one of her toddler-aged grandchildren, and the attempted murder of the other two, plus the attempt to "silence" Faen, a loyal trustworthy, Sul'isrune, not to mention that none of her troops are listening to her orders, she has flipped out entirely.
Satisfied Street Rat: Deconstructed, since we see exactly how messed up a person raised like she was can become.
Scars Are Forever: The author has produced NSFW art that shows that Quain has a wicked scar on her abdomen from when Sarv'swati made her barren.
Screw Destiny: Sharen propaganda states that only they and people from similarly established lines have the right to any kind of authority by divine decree. To do anything else is seen as a defiance of fate and their rightful place in life. Quain'tana has been described as someone who has fought everything to defy her destiny. She grew up as a common thief, and seeing the rough lives lived on the streets, vowed to end the rigid caste system. In time, she eventually built up enough power to threaten the entire Val class. This is taken further in Chapter 45 with the Sarghress's destruction of the ancient statue of Sharess, the symbol of everything wrong with the Sharen clan, while saying, "I want every child in Chel to know they can do anything."
Self-Destructive Charge: Chapter 50 shows that charging a position defended by numerous crossbow men without a shield, or armor, after both declaring the intent to kill the commander and leaving a pile of bodies in your wake because you were killing them for getting in your way will lead those crossbow men to be highly likely to shoot you, especially if one of them already shot at you before the charge.
Shipper on Deck: In the worst way for Mel. In the most hilarious way for Ariel.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In Chapter 47 she makes it abundantly clear that Zala'ess's bullshit has no effect on her, using only two fingers to shut her up.
So Proud of You:
- Pre-timeskip, after Ariel comes back with a broken Faen, Quain'tana admits that Ariel has made her proud.
- Post-timeskip, while she was displeased with Ariel for not staying away from the District Wars, Quain'tana "punishes" her by moving Ariel's squad to the Highland Raiders, then privately admits that she expected no less from her and that had she been in Ariel's shoes, she would've done the same thing.
The Spartan Way: How she seems to view most things, especially child rearing. Deconstructed, as applying this in raising her children resulted in the loss of one daughter, and the complete hatred and resentment of another.
Street Urchin: Her origin. She and her companions lived out on the streets and were forced to steal food to survive.
Succession Crisis: Her situation with her children, as simplified here. Because Sarv'swati rendered her barren, Quain'tana has been trying everything to secure an heir. Laele'aell was supposed to be in line to become Ill'haress for being an exceptional warrior and commander like Quain'tana, but then she fell to a demon and her body was converted into a golem to seal nether demons. After Laele'aell's fate, Mel'arnach was stripped of her Val privileges and forced to adhere to Quain's standards, but when she failed, she was turned into a secret Baby Factory for heirs, turning Mel against her mother. Syphille was adopted, but she decided to get herself tainted, much to Quain's anger. Koil was only a nominal heir because Quain was suspicious of Suu'be's ulterior motives. This leaves Ariel, the youngest of the Sarghress Vals, who pre-timeskip was severely unqualified to become Quain's heir, though she gradually became a badass warrior in her own right as she grew up. Kel'noz doesn't count by virtue of being male and the position of Ill'haress being strictly matrilineal.
Super-Strength: She can shatter a pillar of stone with her fists.
Taking You with Me: Convinced that Su'ube's house has turned on her, thanks in no small part to Su'ube's treasonous utter stupidity, she's out to take down as many of them as she can before she dies.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Ash'waren's girly girl.
Troubled Backstory Flashback: The middle part of chapter 45 is one for her, and shows what's presumably her very first kill, when she kills the Sharen Dragon Rider who previously cut her down in the street.
24-Hour Armor: To the point that we've only seen her outside of it twice so far in the main archive.
Unstoppable Rage: Quite literally. When the "healer" ignores her refusal of a "sedative" and calls in Quain's guards who then proceed to try to restrain Quain, so a needle with an unknown substance can be injected anyway, Quain's response is to go totally apeshit, and show the audience where Ariel went wrong in crushing skulls. When her guards foolishly continue trying to restrain her, she goes on to seize their weapons and stab at least one of them so hard, the confiscated broadsword bends. It's an official Shrug of God if the injection had any part in that.
Unwanted Assistance: In the most cruel and ironic way possible. House Nori'fu insists on trying to "help" her (and they honestly believe they are) by corralling and restraining her as agents are running around trying to kill her grandkids. It doesn't work; Quain'tana rampages through their forces and eventually kills Su'ube for her betrayal.
Unwanted False Faith: While Quain'tana has rightfully earned a badass reputation through her many deeds, she disdains people who treat her as some kind of godlike, invincible messiah for it; she even warns Ariel not to read the books they wrote about her, calling them a "pile of steaming shit". This is because the Sharen, Quain'tana's biggest opponents, dishonored Sharess's sacrifice by deifying her and creating a religion based on her image as a way to control the commoners.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Though we don't get much of a sense of her personality, the young Quain'tana was a cute young woman who showed Tears of Fear when confronted by a dragon knight.
Vague Age: Like her children, Quain's exact age is ambiguous, and given the circumstances she grew up in Quain herself may not even know the exact year of her birth. Context and Mel's speculation on her own age suggests she's at least 300, possibly 400 given that the Sarghress were officially acknowledged in the 700s according to the series timeline.
When She Smiles: It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, Quain's smile is the beginning of a rare but genuine heartwarming moment. Ariel is the one who is most likely to bring this about.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Something she actually fears, stating that she'd rather die on the surface due to mana deprivation than wind up trapped in the city like Diva'ratrika was.
Your Days Are Numbered: If Sang was telling the truth, whatever Sarv'swati used on her blade has afflicted Quain to a point that recovery is no longer possible, and it's no longer a matter of if Quain will die from it, but when. She ultimately dies via a number of crossbow bolts and a sword to the stomach first.
You Remind Me of X: Immediately after the spar with Ariel was over, Quain'tana saw an after-image of Laelle, in the exact same pose of honest supplication. Quain did not say it aloud, but she was clearly moved.

Ariel Val'Sarghress

The main character, daughter of Quain'tana (or so she thinks) and heir of the Sarghress clan.

Adoptive Peer Parent: Despite physically being the equivalent of a teenager, she and Faen effectively take over the raising of her younger siblings Pelan and Octarya following the events of chapter 50.
Amazonian Beauty: After the timeskip. Just check out her bicep in a shower scene, and though she's usually wearing long sleeves several pieces of art make it clear that the girl is ripped. It's also made clear that she's found attractive by several characters in-universe.
An Arm and a Leg: Kalki stabs her hand into the table. Shortly after Ariel gets her hand free, Kalki "helps" her by chopping off her arm completely. Ariel eventually steals Kalki's to replace it.
Anti-Hero: Swings back and forth, but seems to have settled into a Type IV, or possibly even a Type III after the timeskip, where she's willing to Shoot the Dog and essentially force a man into slavery despite not personally wanting to because the Sarghress need the support of his accuser to help hold the district.
Apologetic Attacker: If she's going to attack you, but doesn't think you're an Asshole Victim, she will apologize first. Jak, being aware of it, sees it coming, but a split second too late.
Appendage Assimilation: Steals Kalki's arm as payback for her half-sister chopping off hers. This is what causes Kalki to assume that she's going to "replace" her.
Armchair Military: Justified; since becoming the Sarghress's nominal Ill'haress, Ariel has been kept from the battlefield by Kel'noz, who understandably wants to keep her protected. Much to his dismay, Ariel's instincts keeps her from staying put.
Badass Adorable: Pre-timeskip, as the story goes on, she increasingly becomes a badass warrior in her own right, despite being a child by drowlath standards.
Badass Boast: One that requires Nerves of Steel to deliver. In chapter 51, when an assassin has a dagger between the plates of her mail and a sword ready to draw against her head, she starts this exchange:
Ariel: Stab me or not. You waste our time making threats.
Hellena: I should kill you.
Ariel:(Quickly, and effortlessly disarms Hellena, completely) No. What you should be doing is fighting for your life, like all the others. (Hands the dagger back) "You have a choice.... Fight, or run like a traitor.
Berserk Button: Calling her a monster will make her determined to kill someone quickly and viciously, as Yafein found out.
- Mel'arnach discovers that Ariel doesn't take kindly to anyone badmouthing Quain'tana in front of her. It's later subverted that, while it does get her dander up, Ariel will at least try to find out if there's some legitimate grievance, given the chance.
- While more subtle, it's clear that she does not take kindly to slaves being used as objects or to stronger people taking advantage of weaker people.
Big Damn Heroes: Initially, she took lessons from Chirinde and Vaelia, but over time, she's become a master of this, going so far as to actually cheer when she successfully rescues Chirinde from Halme soldiers on a Fae hunt which is both heartwarming and hilarious.
Ariel: This time I get to save you, Chirinde!"
- Amazingly she manages to pull this off for Quain'tana in chapter 50.
Blessed with Suck: Many drow seethe with jealous fury at the fact that Ariel was deigned the heir and slated to take the reigns of the Sarg clan. Now while the Sarg are the most forward-thinking drow culture to date, they are not just an angry mob, they are an angry mob of angry mobs with each and every clique thinking they can somehow "do better" despite clearly showing, that no, they can't, even with the support of outside agents. Ariel's had to dodge assassins, manipulations, and abuse since she was eight!
Blow You Away: Besides her shapeshifting, she also has an affinity for air sorcery.
Book Dumb: Shows signs of this, including not knowing her clan's history outside of the romanticized versions she read though this makes sense considering Syphile's lackluster teaching and the fact that she only spent about 5 years at Orthorbbae, and much of the time she did spend there was spent trying to avoid being attacked again by bullies, and she's explicitly said to have not gotten very good grades as a result.
Boys Have Cooties: In a chibi, when asked if she has ever attempted to use her shapeshifting powers for a Gender Bender, she asks, "Why would I do that? Boys are gross."
Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Quain's maternal instincts leave much to be desired, and that's putting it mildly. Mel only sees her as a political tool. Syphille screwed the pooch raising her because she couldn't be bothered, and that's at her best. But she's the ideal mother for her younger siblings, with Faen helping cover those few areas where she's lacking.
Break the Cutie: Pretty much since day 1 pre-timeskip. However, she's gotten back stronger thanks to positive influences.
Broken Bird: Showed signs of it, but seems to have mostly avoided becoming this trope after the timeskip.
Cain and Abel: The Abel with her half-sister, Kalki Nidraa'chal, who goes so far as to attempt to kill her by chopping off her entire when they meet in chapter 46.
Calling Parents by Their Name: Even after learning the truth, she generally calls Mel'arnach by name.
Cathartic Scream: Vents her frustrations high up on a mountain after the events of chapter 50.
The Chains of Commanding: Much like Quain'tana, she takes the fate of those who serve under her very seriously. She'd much rather be adventuring with the Highland Raiders, but she's very hands-on in running her district, and the citizens are very grateful, willing to lay their lives on the line for her if she gives the word, as a rogue Vloz squad found out to their horror, and was devastated at the losses of her squad during the Felde incident, even though she was following Sar'nel's orders at the time, and it was his decision to infiltrate. While Zhor happily beams with pride for this trait, Mel'anarch hates it with a passion.
Character Development: Much of the story has focused on her developing from a little kid with no clue how the outside world works into a Little Miss Badass with her own crew of badasses at her back. Which is exactly what Quain'tana wanted to happen.
Cheerful Child: Originally, though she's not completely broken yet.
Chekhov's Gun: Has anyone forgotten how she assimilated Syphille's pain whip and her hair literally has a mind of its own, transforming into snakes when she's cornered? Kern hasn't. They've only gotten more dangerous with time, and have wills of their own...
Children Forced to Kill: Happens to her pre-timeskip, first when she's forced to kill Mir'kiin.
The Chosen One: Shimi'lande implied that Ariel was blessed and would play a key role in the war against the Nidraa'chal as a chosen heroine. As prediction was Retconned from Clairvoyance to Mind Reading, there was presumably a change in plans. Lampshaded in the final chapter, where Chirinide says that while Ariel played a major part, she was hardly the center of it all and she has no idea what Shimi'lande saw in her visions.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ariel's idealism and sense of justice causes her to disobey orders given by her higher-ups to stay away from battles, and also make her do reckless decisions that would've killed her if she didn't have more sensible-minded people to bail her out. This gets discussed in Chapter 43, after Quain'tana learns that Ariel participated in the battle on North Cliff without her say-so:
Quain'tana: (looking rather displeased) You failed to obey your order.
Ariel: Yes.
Quain'tana: Explain yourself.
Ariel: (nervously) I- We- An attack on North Cliff led me to command the survivors. Uhm. Koil'dorath made a summons for reinforcement. I had to make the call.
Quain'tana: And you had to volunteer for every dangerous assignment that happened to turn up.
Ariel: Yes.
Quain'tana: (glares) Why?
Ariel: I thought- I could make a difference.
Chronic Pet Killer: Has been Flanderized into this by fans even though she's only had three, but she is still 1-2 on their survival since Melodia the feral isn't dead yet and survived the timeskip.
Cool Big Sis: While it didn't surprise anyone that she panics at the thought of holding a crying baby with a soiled diaper (which is leaking), nobody expected that same baby to be completely comfortable in her arms once the diaper was changed, and that her two much younger brothers have absolutely no fear of her, and are in awe of her prehensile hair (jokingly calling her a Kraken). In addition, she doesn't show even the slightest resentment that their childhoods are far better than her own.
Creepy Child: She has her moments, and one forumgoer's response to this page was to post a picture of Samara from The Ring.
Demoted to Extra: She ultimately goes from main protagonist to just one major character among many.
Did Not Think This Through: True, she's desperate and mentioned beforehand that it's a very crazy idea likely to get her and her followers killed, but focusing the airship's attention squarely on herself to try and distract it from Ash'waren wasn't the best of her ideas.
Determinator: Kern explains that this is what qualifies her to be a protagonist.
Dramatic Irony: For most of the story the audience and several other characters have known that her mother is really Mel'arnach, not Quain'tana, but she doesn't yet know. This makes a lot of her interactions with both Mel and Quain that much more interesting.
- As of Chapter 32, the cat's out of the bag. Not that she believes it, at least at first.
Et Tu, Brute?:
- She's visibly shaken when she realizes that Kyo'nne has lied and delivered her straight to Snadhya'rune.
- In her short lived reign as the Sarghress clan's leader, most of the clan betrays her, and she is taken aback to realize that the puppy that had once been intended to become her mount does not remember her, and has been trained and set to kill her.
Expository Hairstyle Change: When last seen before the timeskip had red streaks in her hair, but these have changed back to the same purple she used when Mel first taught her how to change her hair. This may represent accepting her true heritage, at least on some level.
- In Chapter 46, she changes her purple streaks to Sarghress red to disassociate herself from the too-friendly Sharen who notes that she's wearing 'their' colors in her hair. She changes it back later.
Expressive Hair: Post Felde, her hair visibly reacts to her moods, such as puffing up (fifth panel) when she realizes whatever she's eating is definitely not fish.
Face Palm: After the timeskip she seems to have picked up some habits from Kel'noz.
Face Stealer
- Technically averted. Her shapeshifting powers don't work that way. But Shinae infers the same meaning and uses the exact words as an insult.
- Kalki incorrectly perceives her to be doing this when she takes on her form, due to her knowledge of Khaless, who plays it straight.
Famed In-Story: She apparently has gained a reputation among Sarghress enemies if one of them can identify her by her abilities. This Vloz'ress Summoner also knows Ariel. Other people within the Sarghress ranks also seem to know her by name.
Foreshadowing: Subtle, but profound. In the early part of chapter 50, she theorizes that Mel's working for Snadhya'rune to try and get her kids back including herself. When the scene changes to feature Snadhya'rune, we find out that this is the excuse Snad gives Mel for sending agents into Sarg territory, but then telling Mel that all her children are either dead or lost and there's nothing Snad can do but make Mel's family whole "in time" with a Psychotic Smirk bordering on a Slasher Smile, as usual.
Freak Out: Did not react well to Faen's disappearance pre-timeskip at all.
Friend to All Living Things: Reputation of being a pet-killer aside (through no fault of her own), she is very good with animals, Sarghress wolves, kittens, horses, etc.
Gender Bender: According to one of the chibis, she once attempted this with her shapeshifting powers, but she can't manage more than the appearance. The resulting imitation of a male reproductive organ was non-functional.
Gender-Blender Name: Both in-story and out. No one seems to bat an eye at the name when she's in Orthorbbae, and in the real world the name Ariel previously was used mostly for males but has only become associated more with females in the past century. When the author pronounces the name he also pronounces it as the more masculine "R-E-L" rather than the more feminized "Air-E-L".
Generation Xerox: Invoked, and played with in a few ways. Quain'tana wants this to happen and have Ariel have a similar upbringing to herself, believing it will produce a strong heir, but Ariel also doesn't want this to happen when it comes to her and Mel'arnach who is her biological mother and this is the main reason she tells Faen they should be "just friends" since she knows that Mel's relationships with women was a major source of conflict between her and Quain, but she eventually gives in.
Glamour Failure: Though only the audience and possibly Kiel seem to notice, there are a few things off about her Kalki disguise, the main one being that her pupils are a monotone red as opposed to the white spirals in the pupils the real one has. And it was shown much earlier that while she can change her irises to the red color of a tainted drow, they lack the glow a real tainted has on close inspection.
Gone Horribly Right: She comes up with a plan to draw the airship's attention on herself, not only to spare her followers and allies, especially Ash'warren, but lure it into an ambush, where it can hopefully be taken down. Then she finds herself facing its charging mana cannons.
Ariel: Shit.
Hair Wings: She can shift her hair into wings for gliding.
Handicapped Badass: In Chapter 46, losing an arm in less than an hour does absolutely nothing to stop her from decking Yuh'le in the face and giving Kalki a well deserved punch. Evidently she gets this from her biological father, Zhor who himself showed this in the same incident. Unfortunately, it wears off after a time and Kalki manages to knock her unconscious.
Healing Factor: Can easily stop bleeding superficial cuts with her shapeshifting powers, but Word of God and Ariel herself explain that the damage is still there, making it something of an aversion since all she's doing is shifting the skin, and it's still painful. An internal wound would do just as much damage to her as it would anyone else. It does give her an edge in combat by making it look like she can simply No-Sell her opponents' attacks, which at the very least takes them off guard or flat-out panic.
- Also subverted in chapter 46, when her attempts to reattach her own arm fail miserably, though it's implied that this might have worked had Kalki not run off with it and they'd tried sooner.
- She considers the possibility that she might be able to use it to help heal others, but backs off from the idea due to the risk.
Heroic BSoD: She's understandably pretty upset to find her own severed arm lying on the floor where Kalki dropped it.
Heroic Resolve: Mostly on account of being a Determinator. Also subverted in that while she manages to walk off less serious injuries and can use her shapeshifting to at least keep herself moving until she can get proper treatment, she's several times been injured to the point of needing immediate medical attention. After her fall from the Orthorbbae tower in chapter 2 it's heavily implied that she would have died from her stab wound if Faen hadn't been there to heal her, and in chapter 40 her fall from the top of the fortress wall is implied to have broken several bones and possibly cracked several vertebrae, leaving her unable to get up, and it's obvious she'll be out of commission for some time after this.
- Also displays this in chapter 46 by continuing to run around and even punch out Yuh'le after losing her arm and nearly bleeding to death and it's quite clear from the bags under her eyes and her overall body language that she's exhausted, in great pain and moving mostly because of adrenaline and willpower.
Informed Attribute: Ariel apparently has a very nice butt. We only know this through other character's reactions to it since the "camera" doesn't place that much emphasis on it, at least in the main archive.
In-Series Nickname: She's known as "Little Wolf." This is a nickname the Fallen Legion gave her as a small child when she fell under their protection and training, and even after the time-skip, is considered a title of respect for any allies she has among the Sarghress.
It Gets Easier: Soon after killing Mir'kiin, she accidentally kills Maya when she shields Yafein from a mana blast during an argument the two are having, and Ariel is horrified by how easy it was for her to take another life.
It's All My Fault: Whenever she gets hit with a setback, particularly a major one, where people she cares about get hurt, she blames herself, harshly. Even her most vocal critics turn sympathetic towards her as a result. As seen in the aftermath of the cowardly sneak-attack on Matchike from Snad's airship, under a flag of truce, by Kyo'nne's "diplomatic envoy."
I Will Find You: She vows this to find the missing Faen pre-timeskip, and succeeded.
Just Friends: When asked to prove who she is to Sar'nel she mentions that their parents tried to get them to date during the timeskip, though it didn't end up working out.
Kicked Upstairs: Quain'tana ordered that Ariel was to be kept in the Home Guard and not to be promoted until the District War is over. Ariel disobeys because of circumstances and as an attempt to make Quain'tana proud. Quain'tana is furious, but ends up sending her and her squad to the Raiders as "punishment", though it's clear that the "punishment" part is mostly for show. Once Ariel is gone, she acknowledges to another soldier that she actually would have done the same in her position. This also provides a good excuse to keep Ariel busy and far away from the District War, since the Sharen are likely to become far more dangerous now that Sarv'swati is on the brink of defeat and Quain doesn't want her heir anywhere near danger... which unknowingly gets her into danger anyhow, since first she winds up in Ys, which is under attack by Hermiones, and then after following the airship she ends up in Felde, the Dragon's Nest of Snadhya'rune herself.
Kid Hero: By Drow standards, since she was physically only around 7 before the timeskip.
Kill and Replace:
- By the timeskip her shapeshifting skills have advanced enough that she can pull this off with effort. The first time she tries it in Chapter 39 it fails because she gets the gender of the person she's imitating wrong, but subsequent attempts are more successful in part because she learned the Black Sun language over the timeskip.
- In chapter 46 Kalki also fear she's doing this when she takes on her appearance after taking her arm but Ariel angrily retorts that she doesn't want Kalki's place and kicks her head into a mirror.
Let's Just Be Friends: Tells this to Faen, since she doesn't think Quain'tana would approve of a relationship between them. However this seems to last all of a page before she gives in.
Like Father, Like Son: Snadhya'rune says this of Ariel and her father in response to Ariel's idealism. Her father's proud, yet her mother hates it.
Little Miss Badass: Not at all surprising given who her mother is. This statement could apply to both Mel'arnach and Quain'tana.
Living Emotional Crutch: Faen serves this role to her after the timeskip, since despite being older she's still very unsure of herself. Also crosses over with Morality Pet.
Locked Out of the Loop: Until Chapter 32, she was the only member of her immediate family that didn't know that her mother is really Mel'arnach, not Quain'tana.
Morality Pet: To Quain'tana, as early as her return from the surface with Faen in tow. Every time Quain and Ariel interact from that point on, without exception, Quain walks away a better person. It's implied that Ariel has several traits that remind Quain'tana of Laele. Su'ube resents this more than anything else about Ariel.
Morton's Fork:
- In Chapter 40, Ariel calls out the Sarghress troops under her command for becoming like the Sharen and Black Sun allies by mistreating the slaves and killing their prisoners, which gets everyone into an argument. As Faen explains it, because Ariel's a Val, she'll be seen as weak if she backs off, but if she doesn't, she'll be seen as unfit. Ariel decides to take a third option by offering one of
- Ariel is subjected to one in Chapter 51. Kyo'nne arrives on the airship as Snad's diplomatic envoy, promising Nidaa'chal protection for Machike if Ariel and a handful of bodyguards go with her to Felde for a "peace gathering," and any reader can tell you how that went the last time, with Kyo'nne being well aware of it as well. The only other option is to say "no" as Kyo'nne clearly left no room for middle ground. On the advice of her trusted experts and the colony as a whole, including many factions other than Sarghress, Ariel chose "No." Kyo'nne responds by committing a war crime and using the airship to attack Matchike, while hiding behind the diplomat's banner so Ariel couldn't strike pre-emptively.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Although she doesn't always show it, she's well aware her clan has flaws and doesn't always live up to its ideals, yet she remains loyal because it's "home," and she happens to agree with, not to mention embody, said ideals.
My God, What Have I Done?: After she kills Maya in a fit of rage during an argument with Yafein (when Maya intercepts a blow aimed at Yafein), she has one of these moments and is horrified by how easy it was to kill again, and it stops her from developing into a full-blown Villain Protagonist. After the 15-year timeskip it's also hinted that one reason she's willing to stick up for slaves is because of what happened to Maya.
Naïve Newcomer: For the first arc of the story, but this trait seems to have largely disappeared after the timeskip.
The Needs of the Many: After the timeskip, runs into this when dealing with district management.
Nerves of Steel: Sometimes combined with Dissonant Serenity. She never lets her emotions get to her on the battle-field or in a stressful situation. While she can still be surprised, or startled, as seen on page 209, she always calmly and rationally considers her words, options, and consequences before acting. She may be inexperienced, naive, and idealistic, but she's got the potential to be a truly terrifying commander if she manages to surround herself with the right advisors, strategists and tacticians. Considering her relationships with Chrys'tel, Chiri'nde, Faen, and others, she may well be on her way.
Not Now, Kiddo: Has this reaction towards Wafay at first, until Faen talks her into listening.
"Not So Different" Remark: Quain'tana privately acknowledges that while she's massively displeased that Ariel disobeyed orders to stay away from fighting, she's proud of her actions in the District War against the Sharen, and would've done the same thing herself if she had been in Ariel's shoes.
Oblivious to Love: Ariel and Faen are very close friends, but Faen would like to be more. Faen has a strong crush on Ariel to the extent that Everyone Can See It, except Ariel herself. Even after Faen finally manages to kiss Ariel, Ariel remains rather oblivious, to the extent that when Faen tries to snuggle her later, Ariel's response is to ask her if she's all right. There may be a degree of Selective Obliviousness, since when Ariel decides to acknowledge Faen's feelings, she states Let's Just Be Friends, since she isn't sure Quain'tana would approve. She gives in anyway shortly after.
Oh, Crap!: After she comes back from liberating a significant portion of the Sharen's slave army, Ariel nervously tries to explain herself to Quain'tana, who is massively displeased that she disobeyed orders to stay safe... but then Ariel's terror turns to elation when she realizes that her "punishment" consists of her and her squad being moved to the Highland Raiders.
One Head Taller: After the timeskip, with Faen, which is an inversion of when they were younger. Receives an amusing lampshading in one extra page.
Organ Theft: Her shapeshifting abilities can theoretically perform this, as long as the body part or organ in question is still fresh. She eventually uses it to steal Kalki's arm as revenge for cutting off her own and harming her friends.
Parental Abandonment: She does not have a good track record with parental figures, who are either abusive, distant or imprisoned, with the exception of Vaelia who's now been Put on a Bus, albeit by Ariel herself and now we can add Diva'ratrika as a possible mother figure, leading to jokes that Ariel has a 3/5 chance of stabbing Diva in the back at some point.
Plucky Girl: And how!
Post-Kiss Catatonia: Her reaction when Faen finally grabs and kisses her is to walk to her destination in a confused daze.
Power Incontinence: It was bound to happen eventually. Fortunately, she's able to come back to her senses when Faen calls out to her and give her a Cooldown Hug.
Precision F-Strike: Her reaction to seeing Quain's face due to the effect of Sarv's poison speaks for the fans.
Ariel: Shit!
Prehensile Hair: Thanks to her shapeshifting powers. She has even been seen to use it to parry a blade in a three on one battle Chapter 46 and Word of God reveals that this is completely unconscious on her part, since she's visibly surprised to see her hair reach up to restrain Kalki to compensate for her severed arm.
Promotion, Not Punishment: Although Quain'tana worded it as a punishment, Ariel was actually promoted to the Highland Raiders after she disobeyed orders and infiltrated a Sharen fortress, took down Nihil'lir, and either liberated or neutralized a significant portion of the Sharen slave conscript army. After Ariel left the room, Quain confided in her trustworthy aid that she would have done the same thing, and "expected no less of her."
Pummeling the Corpse: When she's up against Mandragora she doesn't stop until his head's been reduced to hamburger.
Purple Is Powerful: She seems to use purple as her signature color in place of the usual Sarghress red. Word of God also confirms that her hair is not actually pure white and is in fact a very light purple, in fact a lighter shade of Mel's hair color. If she had been surface born she would have clearly purple hair, though it would be several shades lighter than the dyed part of her hair.
Raised by Dudes: Partially, though the first ten years of her life were with Syphile, she's said to have visited Kel'noz regularly, due to Syphile being a resentful abuser. And then when Kel'noz took her to Orthorbbae he effectively took over her guardianship, to the point that after the timeskip Ariel specifically says he raised her.
Rebellious Spirit: Trying to shelter her away from the action, even for her own good, is never going to go well. She will break out and head off to deal with the problem first-hand, at the first opportunity. While Quain'tana is actually proud of her tendency to do this, she's also frustrated that it frequently serves to get Ariel in trouble. This is likely a result of Syphile locking her in her room, and leaving her unattended for weeks at a time.
Refuge in Audacity: In Chapter 46, the only reason she gets away with shoving a guard off the bridge into the water is that the person she's impersonating, Kalki is that unpredictable and the guards are just used to putting up with her antics.
Reluctant Ruler: Kern explains that the responsibilities of her Val title and all that come with it are not something she actually wants, but something she thinks she has to take up in order not to let people down. Arc 2 of the current storyline consists of her slowly growing into her role as a leader and accepting more of those responsibilities.
Relationship Upgrade: With Faen as of Chapter 44.
Rousing Speech: Ariel tends to be wildly idealistic, something she inherited from Mel, and tends to spout her idealism at very inopportune moments; however, while it never gets people who antagonize her to stand down, it does motivate people who might have been on the fence, or leaning towards supporting her but hesitant to come to her aid.
Sadistic Choice: When she's forced by Quain'tana to choose between killing Mir'kiin, who she knows is an asshole but doesn't want to straight up murder, and fight her cousin Sarnel to the death. She chooses to kill Mir'kiin, and it's strongly implied this gives her PTSD.
Shaming the Mob: In a gorgeous, awesome, and monumental display of leadership skill, she shames the military coup targetting her bloodline, reminding them why they joined the Sarghress and what the clan's ideals are. Su'ube does not take it well.
Shapeshifter Baggage: Averted, since Drowtales mostly follows the conservation of energy principle. She can only shapeshift within her own mass, or by absorbing material from her environment (which has big limitations).
Shapeshifter Swan Song: When Ariel receives a critical injury and is bleeding to death, she is coached into sealing the wound with her shapeshifting. While struggling to do so, her control slips, and she ends up going through several of the different disguises she has assumed in the past.
She Is All Grown Up: After the 15 year timeskip Ariel is now 30, or 15 physically, and shot up like a weed. Unsurprising, given her family.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Her response to Sang telling her that her life is in danger?
Ariel"That's normal."
Skilled, but Naive: While many fans are quick to berate her for what they see as bone-headed decisions, her actions are fairly sound considering the information she has on hand, and her lack of experience. If she screws up, the vast majority of the reason is because of something she couldn't possibly know, or because she doesn't have the actual experience to handle the situation as well as she could.
Soldiers at the Rear: Quaintana and the other higher ups intended her to remain a grunt doing homeland defense instead of risking herself as a leader on the battlefield until the District War was over. Due to circumstances, Ariel ends up unknowingly defying this.
Spare to the Throne: If it hadn't been for Laele's possession, Syphile's disgrace and Mel's disinheritance, Ariel would never have a shot at the Sarghress leadership.
Statuesque Stunner: After the timeskip, she's head and shoulders above her entire peer group which is entirely unsurprising given her family and the fact that she is a second generation drow on her father's side. She's also so tall that Faen has to stand on the tips of her toes in order to kiss her.
Strong Family Resemblance: After the timeskip, her resemblance to her female relatives becomes really apparent, especially to Mel'arnach and Kalki.
Sweet Polly Oliver: While at Orthorbbae. It takes Snadhya'rune about five years to catch on, but her classmates figure it out within the first week, and are only prevented from spreading the news by not being able to leave. Kel'noz also clues in the other headmasters early on.
Take a Third Option: One of her lessons in leadership. After witnessing a Sarghress soldier treat a looted slave like a foot stool, she gives an idealistic speech about not becoming like their enemies, splitting her team mates along idealistic and mercenary lines and causing the soldier in question to challenge her over the fate of the slave. As Faen summarizes the situation, defeating the soldier in a challenge would only make the others hate her more, losing would make them say she deserved it, and backing down would make them think she is weak. Ariel ultimately defuses the situation by giving the slave the chance to join the Sarghress as a partisan in exchange for her freedom.
Talking Is a Free Action: Mostly averted for her. As of the timeskip, Ariel is prone to giving idealistic speeches in the middle of fights, but her enemies haven't been interested in listening, diverting her concentration.
- However, while her enemies aren't listening, the nearby civilians are◊ and she convinced them to take up arms and Zerg Rush the enemy.
Thousand-Yard Stare: She gets this after killing Mir'kiin.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: With Faen, and it helps that she spent about five years disguised as a boy in Orthorbbae. Her tomboyishness, along with Sorane being in the same class helped to disguise her true gender.
Took a Level in Badass: While she's been grinding these on and off screen for most of the story, her first appearance in Chapter 51, has Word of God officially saying she took a level in Quain'tana!
Tranquil Fury: If she's talking to you, even if she's simply ranting, raving, and spouting idealistic speeches and insults, you're likely to leave the encounter with your life, even at times she stomps your head into the pavement so hard it goes "crunch." If she comes at you completely silent, you had best surrender without resistance, because at that point, she is so pissed off that she will kill you without fail if you oppose her.
[Verb] This!: Says this as she decks Kalki in the face.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Diva after the timeskip, confirmed by Word of God.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Her signature ability, though she's warned that if she's not careful she could accidentally put a vital organ in the wrong place.
Well Done Daughter Girl: Even though her relationship with Quain'tana can be rocky, she desperately wants her approval, and in Chapter 30 finally seems to get it.
Yank the Dog's Chain: Right after she finally gets acknowledged as Quain'tana's heir, Faen disappears sending her into a deep depression.
You Are in Command Now: After the death of Quain'tana, Kel'noz informs Ariel that she is now the leader of the Sarghress clan.

Diva

See the Vel'Sharen's main page.

Syphile Val'Sarghress

Ariel's adopted older sister, who herself was abused by Quain'tana and inflicts the same treatment on Ariel. There is little love lost between the two.

Abusive Parents: Foster parent, but still.
Adoption Diss: Quain'tana tells her to her face that adopting her was a mistake.
Babysitter from Hell: When the girl you've raised says that her greatest wish is to kill you, you're this trope.
Bad Boss: Was so incompetent at running her district, leaving it to her Beleaguered Assistant Niende, whose name she didn't even bother to learn, that corrupt officers including Maki were allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted, and the land itself was eventually taken away and given to Ariel.
Bad People Abuse Animals: Her treatment of Fuzzy, as well as an in-universe Moral Event Horizon from Ariel's perspective.
Butt-Monkey: Her entire life is one long series of failures.
Calling the Old Man Out: Possibly her only redeeming moment.
The Caretaker: For Ariel, but she was terrible at it due to having a deep grudge against Quain'tana, and she vented her own problems onto her charge.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Opinion varies, but at the very least her words had a lasting impact on Quain'tana.
Enfant Terrible: Syphile had nightmares about Ariel crawling out of her crib as a baby and eating her face. Since Syphile knew who her parents actually were, her calling Ariel 'Little Monster' most of her childhood and general abuse makes much more sense.
Humiliation Conga: Chapter 8 is one long string of this. First when she balks under Zala's gaze and brings Quaint'ana's wrath down on her, and then Ariel, who's roughly half her size, absorbing her own weapon and turning it against her, and then getting unceremoniously tossed down the stairs by Mel right in front of Quain'tana and the other devesses. This also pretty much marked the end of her being a threat to Ariel.
It's All About Me: The "Syphile's Great Deed" story shows that even before she got tainted she had some of this attitude, and talks to herself about she's the only legitimate Val'Sarghress left since everyone else is either disgraced (Mel'arnach), adopted (Koil'dorath), a male (Kel'noz) or technically dead/a golem (Laele'aell), which just makes the end result of that story all the more ironic since she single-handedly removes herself from the running.
Jerkass: To put it mildly.
Maternally Challenged: Much like Quain'tana, but not played for laughs at all. She thinks leaving Ariel with a dictionary to study constitutes "teaching" her.
Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, the brutal and completely unnecessary way she killed Fuzzy in front of Ariel after locking them in her room for a week without the means for Fuzzy to even to the bathroom properly seems to be the moment when Ariel decided she needed to die.
Neck Lift: At one point Quain'tana physically lifts her off the ground.
Never My Fault: She insists that she was never given a chance, just told to teach a horrid monster and punished when she failed at this impossible task. Except everyone else immediately realizes that she's just horribly incompetent; throwing a book at a child and telling her to learn is not a valid method of teaching. The fact that Ariel learned quite quickly after she left Syphile's "care" made her incompetence even more obvious, but Syphile ignores this.
Once Done, Never Forgotten: Getting tainted and killing Fuzzy are two things that haunt her for the rest of her life. Quain'tana disdains her and sees her adoption as a mistake, while Ariel hates her for what she had done to the point of wanting her dead.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Part of why Syphile is sent on a suicide mission to assassinate Quaintana is because Zala'ess didn't see any reason to trust a traitor, much less a Sarghress turncoat.
Secret-Keeper: Subverted. Syphile knew that Ariel's parents were really Mel'arnach and Zhor, not Quain'tana and she was expected to keep this secret. Once she helped Chrys'tel escape, however, practically the first thing she did was spill the secret to her, and by extension to Zala'ess, and Zala has more than taken advantage of this knowledge to try and shame Quain'tana, not that it seems to have worked.
Troubled Abuser: Kel'noz at the very least seems to think so, but even knowing this he notably doesn't excuse Syphile for any of her treatment of Ariel.
Unfortunate Names: Word of God is that the origin of her name, back when the story was an RP, is the word syphilis.
The Unreveal: Readers never learn who her biological parents were. All we know is that her parents were two of Quain'tana's strongest followers which is partly why she is viewed as a disappointment; because she did not live up to the standards met by her biological parents.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Subverted, since she appears to have always been something of a brat according to one side-story, where she alienates one of her friends, who was trying to convince her that tainting herself is a dumb idea, with a low blow about her fallen clan that pretty much turns her only ally against her.
With Catlike Tread: Syphile thought it was a good idea to announce herself to the person she was going to assassinate.

Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress

Ariel's older sister who was disowned and imprisoned within the Sarghress fortress and is seen as a dangerous psychopath.

Anti-Villain. Despite slipping further off the slippery slope as the comic goes along, its very clear she is, at her core, a broken woman suffering from years of horrific abuse and torment at teh hands of her abusive mother, as well as the manipulations of Snad. Said abuse and manipulation is why she joined the Nids in the first place and why she acts and does what she does later on. Ultimately, all she truly wants is to be free of the mother and clan that abused and tortured her adn to be able to be with teh children that were stolen from her; something that she has been denied repeatedly.
Abusive Parents: Subverted. At first, it seems, she is willing to kill her own daughter◊, but purposely misses in the end and gives her a chance to escape.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: She's twice prostrated herself before Quain'tana, but in both cases Quain has seen through it and can tell it's an act. The second one ends in a particularly brutal manner.
Anti-Magic: She inherited Quain'tana's ability to negate mana arts, though not to the same degree. Snadhya'rune has a strong interest in collecting people with unique abilities. This power is the main reason she created Kalki, in hopes of integrating this ability into her bloodline.
Breeding Slave: Essentially fills this role for Quain'tana after the timeskip. And in a more indirect fashion, to Snadhya'rune as well with Kalki.
Broken Bird: With good reason. According to Kel'noz she "lost her mind a long time ago" which is only half-right.
Cardboard Prison: Her original prison in the Sarghress fortress was like this, and it was apparent that Mel could have escaped any time, and it was only waiting for Ariel that kept her there, and she slipped out with relative ease. After the timeskip she also leaves the Sullisin'rune dome in a carriage clearly bearing Snadhya'rune's sigil without anyone trying to stop her.
The Chain of Harm: After years of abuse at the hands of her mother, she now has no qualms about cutting down any Sarghress she comes across to the point she even attempted to ssassinate her twin brother, Kel'Noz.
Dark Mistress: She winds up being this to Snadhya'rune, as she slips down the moral slope.
Dating What Daddy Hates: It's implied that at least part of her relationship with Snadhya'rune is based on spiting Quain, since she knows that her mother hates it.
Did You Just Have Tea With Cthulhu: Ariel and Mel's first interactions are this, since Ariel has been falsely told by Syphile that Mel is a monster.
Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: She had a child with Zhor, who was originally a dark elf but is now a giant spider.
- This could also apply to her relationship with Snadhya'rune, who's the closest thing the comic has to a Big Bad. The other Sarghress certainly feel this way about their relationship.
The Dog Bites Back: After learning the truth about her youngest children being alive, she decides to confront Snad about lying to her.
Early-Installment Weirdness: The earliest versions of Mel, which are now no longer on the main site, suggested that her insanity was actually true while later versions suggest it's largely an act. And while in the current canon there are rumors she's a rapist in the past this was actually shown to be true with Syphile being her most common target, now the worst she's done on screen is kiss one of her female guards as a distraction, and the idea she'd actually rape someone seems vastly out of character for the current Mel.
Easily Forgiven: Not Mel herself, but her desire to "not hate anymore" has led to her to be way too generous to Snadhya'rune, and after a moment of anger she pretty much instantly forgives Snadhya'rune for literally throwing her to the wolves.
Establishing Character Moment: This entire scene.
Face–Heel Turn: Has gone from mostly neutral if opposed to the Sarghress to actively working for the Nidraa'chal.
Face Palm: Yet more evidence that this runs in the Sarghress family.
Fallen Princess: She explains to Lulianne that at one point she had her own servants, slaves and even people who called themselves her knights, and was mostly left on her own, but later on an incident (implied to be Sarv'swati's attack on Quain) made Quain take this all away and imprison her for refusing to follow Quain's plan.
From Bad to Worse: Largely the course her life has taken. She didn't get along with Quain'tana practically from the beginning, but when Laele'aell was born it seems some of the heat was taken off Mel, but when Laele died things only got worse again, and to top it off the child she was waiting for for years was taken away before she could even name her, and she wasn't even allowed to see said child for 10 years, and when she did said child was terrified of her, and didn't believe her when told of her true heritage.
- After the timeskip, she had more freedom in the Sullisin'rune dome, apparently saw Ariel on a somewhat regular basis and had two more children with a third on the way. While not ideal, especially the children were being raised elsewhere, she seemed much happier, though her relationship with Ariel is clearly still somewhat rocky. Eventually Mel decides to leave Chel entirely to meet up with Snadhya'rune in Felde.
Gilded Cage: Mel has lived in variations on this over the course of her life, some more gilded than others, and after the timeskip seems to be more or less happy in the Sullisin'rune dome, but after the birth of her daughter she leaves with no apparent resistance from the Sarghress for Felde.
Glorified Sperm Donor: Apparently she and Kel'noz have no idea who their biological father is. And oddly Mel herself counts as a rare female example towards Kalki, at least in terms of how she apparently fells about their relationship, not helped by Snadhya'rune describing Mel in essentially these terms when trying to comfort Mel about not being there for her growing up, not that Mel had any say in this whatsoever.
Go-Go Enslavement: As more about the relationship is revealed, it becomes evident that the "dental floss" given to Mel by Snadhya'rune is really this.
Homosexual Reproduction: She's Kalki's "father" and Snadhya'rune is the "mother", not that Mel knew it.
Hammerspace Hair: While not in her hair per se, in chapter 1 she uses her extremely long hair, which falls almost to the floor, to hide a knife that she has hidden on her clothing.
Horrible Judge of Character: Towards the Nidraa'chal, though Word of God suggests it's highly likely that she is deliberately deluding herself. She considers Snadhya'rune to be an enlightened leader, bringing life to everything she touches. She considers Yuh'le, a sociopath that explodes animals for fun, to be a little odd, but a good friend.
Hypocrisy Nod: She admits that she's a horrible mother after simply standing by, doing nothing, while Ariel is attacked by Kalki in Felde. Still doesn't stop her from trying to imprison Ariel and making her easy prey.
Hypocrite: Some of her criticisms of Quain'tana, especially here ring a little hollow when you remember that she's sleeping with the leader of the Nidraa'chal, and Snadhya'rune has pretty much done all that and worse, especially the "obedient drones" comment considering that Snadhya has pretty much literally made obedient drones. She contrasts the beauty Snadhya'rune has brought to Felde (she did not - she merely insidiously got control over an already extremely rich and developed city by pitting its guilds against each other) with the ruin Quain'tana has brought to Chel, even though she is perfectly aware of the fact that Snadhya'rune runs the Nidraa'chal and thus has far more responsibility for Chel's plight than Quain'tana.
- Relatedly, the fact that she's disappointed in Ariel for still idolizing Quain also has an aspect of this considering that there are some subtle indicators that Mel on some level understands exactly how bad Snadhya actually is, but is choosing to ignore it.
- And she claims that she wants Ariel to be able to choose how to live her life, something Mel was denied, and yet when Ariel does make the choice for herself, Mel doesn't like it and tries to stop her. Kel'noz is also well aware of this and explains this to her.
  - During that same incident, she loudly proclaims to Ariel that if she goes to Quain, then she will make a solider out of her and ruin her life, or even kill both of them. However, her beloved Snadhya'rune has done exactly all of that to Kalki, her true first daughter, who cruelly dismissed her as being a tool before killing her. One could even say a lot of Mel's own misery can be stemmed by Snadhya's manipulation, when Quain has nothing to do with it.
- And for someone who claims to dislike violence and not want to hate anymore, her reaction to a captured Sarghress squad leader is pretty violent and hateful.
- Once she starts actively working for the Nidraa'chal it's safe to say she's abandoned all pretense of wanting peace and not wanting to kill and begins directly attempting to kill Sarghress soldiers.
- Come post-second timeskip, she attempts to murder her own brother in cold blood to deal a death blow to the clan.
I Have No Son!:
- When speaking to Zhor after the Time Skip, she rejects the idea that she has any children out of anger that Ariel chose Quain'tana over her, as well as to avoid the associated pain of losing her children.
- Also so far just implied, but Mel evidently has some mixed feelings about her other daughter, Kalki and has been reluctant so far to even identity as her mother and is unsure of whether she actually is, and dodges the question when implicitly asked to confirm it, with Word of God saying as much. And given that Kalki proceeds to attempt to murder the child she knows is her own, this is likely to increase.
Inadequate Inheritor: In most situations Mel would be a shoe-in for the Sarghress leadership since she's Quain's oldest daughter, but due to a variety of factors, the mutual animosity between her and Quain being the least of it, it's implied she's never even been considered a candidate.
Ironic Echo: Her first reaction to being told she was Kalki's father was to ask if it was a joke. Later, the first words out of Ariel's mouth when told that Mel is her mother is to ask effectively the same thing.
Love Makes You Dumb: Towards Snadhya'rune. Less on the "dumb" aspect and more on the "naive" aspect however. The fanbase feels that Mel'arnach is so in love that she is blinded towards Snadhya'rune's faults and have begun to think the less of her for it.
Love Martyr: See above, for Snadhya'rune. Even more obvious in chapter 44, where she pretty much instantly forgives her, despite being the one who brought her back to the Sarghress and everything that happened after.
Luke, I Am Your Father: She is Ariel's mother, though she didn't know until Chapter 32.
- And from Kalki, Mel'arnach, You Are My Father Which is even harder to explain.
Mama Bear: Subverted in Chapter 46. Mel has been so thoroughly conditioned by Snadhya'rune to believe that her lover will fix everything that in the midst of Kalki and Ariel's violent confrontation Mel completely freezes, something Zhor does not hesitate to call her out on.
Mirror Character: Although loathe to admit it, even to herself, she really takes after her birth mother, Quain'tana. Like Quain, she's absolutely convinced in the righteousness of her "cause," often ignoring any contrary evidence, usually sees everyone around her, including her own daughter that she claims to love, as nothing more than tools, is a horrible Control Freak to anything she can influence (though lets herself be controlled by Snad), and is completely fixated on revenge above all else. While Quan has mellowed and proven herelf a Reasonable Authority Figure, as well as allowing Ariel to become a Morality Pet, Mel'anarch has gone the exact opposite direction, making herself a Master of Delusion who insists that Snad is the undisputed savior of Drowkind as well as the living symbol of love and peace despite committing genocide, matricide, infanticide of her own children and Kalki, in addition to starting a conflict by unleashing a biological weapon of mass destruction right before her face, twice.
Misplaced Retribution: Discussed. When she hears from Snad about the supposed death of her children, that she herself abandoned, due to "not wanting to get attached," she immediately targets Quain, who ironically, is the one who put forth the most effort to keep them alive. When she learns that Quain is already either dead or dying, she then lashes out at the Sarg Clan, as a whole, falling into despair when Snad points out that the clan is already tearing itself apart. Not once does Mel even question how Snad could be so confident in her assessment, nor suspect that Snad actually arranged the children's deaths despite being well aware that this is precisely how Snad operates, having seen it first-hand on countless occasions.
Mommy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You: Several times over. First she did not willingly give Ariel up, she was taken from her, and her children after the timeskip seem to have gone through the same thing. She does leave her infant daughter, but only because she believes she'll be taken as well.
Ms. Fanservice: Apparently her rather unorthodox choice of clothing is due to Snadhya'rune's influence, something Zhor points out in Chapter 46 since it implies Snadhya sees her as more akin to Kalki's "pets" than an equal.
Mysterious Parent: Word of God has refused to answer any questions about who her and Kel'noz's father was, which has led fans to speculate that he's important, and also Mel herself qualifies for both Kalki and Ariel.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: Despite spending most of her time in what's essentially lingerie hardly anyone seems to notice. This can be chalked up due to drow culture and the fact that most characters are probably just used to her.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Possibly in regards to exactly what Snadhya'rune admitting to be a Nidraa'chal founder actually means since Mel's body language when asked if she'd ever heard of the Nidraa'chal is defensive, and when directly asked if she wants to join Snadhya in her "business" her response is to evade the question.
- Also implied in regards to Wi'am, where she claims to not remember her, referencing how her memory isn't what it used to be, in Chapter 44 despite earlier guessing that Wi'am had a hand in creating Kalki and referring to her as someone she's known for a very long time. Might have to do with the fact that Wi'am tricked Mel into giving her eggs to her to create Kalki on Snadhya'rune's request and Mel was visibly hurt by this revelation.
Obfuscating Insanity: And it's heavily implied that she either made up the story about her killing men and being a rapist to make people leave her alone, or adopted some slander about her for the same purposes. Notably, Lulianne sees right through it from the get-go.
Offing the Offspring: To finish off what's left of the nearly dead Sarghress clan, she nearly kills her brother, Kel'noz, with a crossbow and tries to do the same to her daughter, Ariel. However, she evidentally has mixed feelings about this and quickly gives up after missing her head by inches.
Psycho Lesbian: It's an act.
Rage Breaking Point: In chapter 57, she's had finally had enough of Snad's bullshit and draws a blade, smashes her way through Snad's summons, and it's only because Snad hurls a massive nether blast that Mel's sword does not reach her throat.
Rape and Switch: A debatable example. While it is heavily implied that Quain'tana allowed her to be sexually abused by her male soldiers, and Mel says that the abuse she suffered made her hate men, she also says that Quain was never able to accept that she preferred women, implying that she was always more attracted to them, and drow have an Everyone Is Bi society anyway.
Rape as Backstory: Though far from her entire backstory, the fact that Quain'tana apparently did nothing to stop Mel's abuse at the hands of her soldiers and it's implied order it in an attempt to conceive an heir is a major reason for the enmity between them.
Revenge by Proxy: Due to her horrible relationship with her mother, she has developed a virulent hatred for all things Sarghress. When Snadhya'rune asks her for suggestions on what to do with a captured Sarghress squad leader, she advises cutting her up, which is pretty disturbing coming from someone who once claimed to be a pacifist and hated violence. She is shown to be deeply satisfied at said squad leader's suffering. She later actively joins the Nidraa'chal in battle in order to kill Quain'tana's followers, which ultimately builds up into trying to kill her twin brother and kill her daughter, Ariel, in order to finish off the Sarghress clan.
Revenge Before Reason: She shoots Kel'noz with a crossbow and makes a half-hearted effort to shoot her own daughter to spite Quain'tana, even though Quain'tana has already been dead for 3 years.
Scars Are Forever: Intentionally invoked. After Ariel convinces Quain to let Mel out of the pit in Chapter 32 Quain instructs the healers to fix Mel's broken arms but leave the scars as a reminder. Strangely, there's no sign of these after the timeskip when she's shown in short sleeves.
Selective Obliviousness: It is unlikely she would approve of Snadhya'rune's actions if she would let herself acknowledge them. But even after Snadhya'rune confesses to them outright, Mel avoids thinking about it and convinces herself that Snadhya'rune is a wonderful person. Kern confirms that deep down, Mel herself is not entirely comfortable with the way Snadhya'rune influences her into being a pet, but calling her out on any of her delusions is a Berserk Button. A possible reason why she refuses to acknowledge Snadhya'rune's faults is that doing so would basically be an admission that Quain'tana was right about her all along, which is something that Mel tries to mentally avoid at all costs in an effort to justify her own grudge against her mother.
Self-Inflicted Hell: Repeatedly, to the point of They Just Dont Get It. The very first thing she does, on-screen, is sing the praises of the Nid'raachal and this is right after they commit war attrocities even by the standards of Chel, and is shocked at how Quain's soldiers respond. Then, when she, without authorization, goes off to Snad's camp during an attack upon her own clan, directed by Snad herself, she's shocked that Quain doesn't buy her insincere apology, and tries to have her punished by a subordinate, only to go and make the punishment worse by insisting that Quain do it herself. Lastly, she does a great deal in Felde to cement Ariel's loyalty to Quain, by doing nothing when Kalki attempts to kill her, trying to force her to violate her own squad members, and trying to imprison her in her quarters, which would make her easy prey, when all evidence shows that Kalki is targetting her and her squad for extermination, just for shits and giggles, starting with torching the quarters of her friends, Chirinde, Shan, Shala and Kau, only relenting because she's physically restrained by Zhor. Let's not forget how she told Zhor that she wished he had remained a beast.
Shipper on Deck: After the timeskip, ships Ariel/Faen.
Statuesque Stunner: Along with her mother she's one of the tallest characters in the comic, and is even taller than Snadhya'rune, best seen here. Word of God is that she and Quain'tana are as tall as their Dark Elf ancestors would have been.
Took a Level in Jerkass: After the timeskip, where after meeting up with Snadhya in Felde she basically declares that she has no children, coldly states that a captured Sarghress squad leader should be cut up, and her only reaction to said squad leader's people getting hit by a mana cannon is to express surprise at how powerful it is instead of showing any reaction to the violence. After watching said squad leader concede, she gives her a rather sadistic smile as her lover asserts her dominance by finishing her people off. She then angrily declares that she wishes the one person who has always been by her side and is arguably the only person who truly cares for her, Zhor, had remained a beast when he points out that her relationship with Snadhya is turning her into a worse person. Something that deep down, she knows is true.
- Cue the second-timeskip, Mel's hatred for her former clan has consumed her so much that she has tried to kill her brother.
Troubled Abuser: Years of abuse from her mother has led her to hate the Sarghress, to the point that she becomes a full Nids member to get back at her former clan. To the point that she kills her own brother in order to further quicken the decline of the clan, while missing her daughter.
Vague Age: Even Mel isn't sure exactly how old she is, but she's at least 300.
You Have to Believe Me!: Needless to say, Ariel has problems believing Mel is her mother.
- Possibly averted after the timeskip, where the fact that Mel refers to Ariel as "my daughter" when talking to Faen implies that Ariel has acknowledged Mel, at least in private, though when Mel (again) starts insulting Quain'tana Ariel storms out, indicating that they're not 100% on good terms yet.

Kel'noz Val'Sarghress

Ariel's older brother, Mel'arnach's twin brother, Quain'tana's only son and headmaster of the Davya tower at Orthorbbae. He eventually leaves Chel'el'sussoloth during the clan war and becomes the leader of the Sarghress surface colony.

Big Brother Instinct: In Chapter 54, after Kyo'nne stabs a pregnant Nidraa'chal agent, Kel'noz is angry to hear that Kyo'nne doesn't have much faith in his sister Ariel as a leader for being too idealistic and threatens to dispose of Kyo'nne should she act out of line again.
- An even earlier example would be in chapter 3 when he breaks Syphile's finger when she had tried to pull at Ariel's face and taunt her.
Big Brother Mentor: To Ariel, who relies on him for support and advice. He's actually her uncle since Mel'arnach is Ariel's mother, but he looks young enough to pass off as Ariel's brother without anyone suspecting.
Combat Pragmatist: During his duel with Sang, he purposely leads her into a demon-infested area, seals off the entrance with Earth foci, and lures the demons to Sang so she'll essentially be rendered a sitting duck.
Conflicting Loyalty: Several types: Between Quain'tana and Mel'arnach, Quain'tana and Ariel, and his duties at Orthorbbae versus his clan. The first one resulted in a strained relationship with Mel'arnach, as she resents him for choosing their mother over her.
Deus Exit Machina: To keep the drama levels high, he's almost always "away" or "out of reach" when the story focuses on Ariel.
Face Palm: He's done this several times, and given how his family acts, who can blame him? When he did this in reaction to Ariel rejecting Mel as being her mother it was generally agreed that he spoke for the fans.
I Did What I Had to Do: What he says about his more questionable actions, but who knows if it's true.
Large and in Charge: While shorter than the rest of his family (with Ariel being slightly taller), he nevertheless has inherited Quain'tana's genes and constantly proved himself to be capable at ruling. After Ariel becomes the Sarghress's nominal Ill'haress after Quain'tana's death, Kel'noz has been handling most of the heavy duties while keeping Ariel safe and relatively unscathed. Mel'arnach comments that Kel'noz would've been a great ruler if he had been born female.
Luke, I Am Your Father: He's actually Ariel's uncle, since his sister Mel'arnach is Ariel's mother. He hides this fact from the public by passing himself as Ariel's older brother, since he looks young enough for the part.
Made of Iron: Ran himself ragged for several chapters of fighting, winning a duel with Sang, all while exhausted and being wounded several times, and was finally shot in the chest with a crossbow. When we see him next, it's made to seem like he has already passed, but no, he's still hanging in there. Perhaps the truest sign that he is Quain'tana's son.
Manipulative Bastard
Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: His policy, and that of Orthorbbae.
The One Guy: Among the Sarghress Vals he's the only known male besides Melarnach's two young sons outside of the Tions family, who are only related to Quain'tana paternally and thus not "really" Vals by drowlath standards, which follow matriarchal traditions.
Older Than They Look: Due to the mana inside Chel, he looks younger than his biological age suggests. This is exploited via Kel'noz passing himself off as Ariel's older brother, in order to hide the truth of him being Ariel's uncle through his sister Mel'arnach.
Only Sane Man: Compared to the rest of his family, he definitely comes across as this.
Parental Substitute: To Ariel, who had the misfortune of suffering Syphile's abuse and resentment, so she often turned to Kel'noz for love and guidance. It's to the point that when Mel starts insulting him (again) Ariel explicitly says that he raised her.
Sour Supporter: He sees Ariel as a naive, Wide-Eyed Idealist, but supports her succession nevertheless and believes in her on some level, even if he feels the need to do dirty work from time to time.
Squishy Wizard: Kern describes Kel'noz as being an extremely powerful sorcerer, but an unarmored one, which makes him vulnerable when traitors try to assassinate him with a Back Stab.
True Neutral: As a Headmaster at Orthorbbae he's supposed to be this, but who knows what he really is invoked.
Twin Desynch: There's a heavy implication that he and Mel went through this after he chose Quain'tana over her.

Laele'aell Val'Sarghress

The former heir of the Sarghress and leader of the Fallen Legion, sometime before Ariel's birth Laelle'aell was possessed by a demon, and though technically still alive (with the addition of some golem parts) is mainly used as a weapon now. She has had very little screen time, and some information about her is taken from a Daydream story about the early Sarghress/Sullisin'rune alliance, so its canocity is uncertainly.

The Ace: She was everything Quain'tana wanted in an heir, which made her fall that much more devastating.
The Bus Came Back: As an Empty Shell, she has little of her own free will, and was considered too unpredictable to use as a weapon outside of emergencies. But in Chapter 50, her seals break, causing her to finish becoming a demon, and she escapes to hunt down Khaless.
Demon Slaying: One of the few things she still does of her own will is hunt down demons. She can somehow seal and possibly consume them.
Dramatic Irony: None of the Drow, not even Kiel, will know she achieved her 'failed' destiny by eating Snadhya'rune and her protector twin alive.
Eldritch Abomination: The many, many demons she's eaten over the years including Khaless have merged into something completely indescribable, and it says "Hello." By Chapter 55, she seems to have become friends with Kiel'ndia Vel'Vloz'ress as they were playing rock-paper-scissors together.
Empty Shell: One early character description called her a "container of souls".
Follow in My Footsteps: She built up the Fallen Legion on her own, just as Quain built up her first army.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When she consumes demons, her eyes glow red. They become this way by default when she finishes merging with her demon.
Gone Horribly Wrong: With her reduced to an Empty Shell, she was salvaged as a Demon Slaying weapon. Her Chapter 50 concept art describes her as a demon sealing zombie and even asks What Could Possibly Go Wrong? When she gets overloaded by eating Khaless and then gets her physical body killed by Sarghress traitors, her massive and unsealable demon form gets unleashed.
Humanoid Abomination: Even when she was an Empty Shell of a flesh golem, people could literally feel her watching them. In Chapter 50, the seals break and she finishes her transformation into a demon, strong enough to devour even Khaless. When her physical body is destroyed, her demon form has her original shape attached to an alien horror of a demon.
Mercy Kill: A traitor hunting down Quain'tana's bloodline describes killing her this way, given her current state and how far The Corruption of demon nether has already gone. It doesn't work, as it unleashes an eldritch monstrosity that kills everyone around Laele instead.
Music Soothes the Savage Beast: When the Sarghress need to get the golem created out of her out of a frenzy, they bring in a musician to soothe her.
My Death Is Just the Beginning: When Gaes, and Koil's squad stumbles upon her, while she was still reeling after dealing with Khaless, the entire squad thinks killing her is a damn fine idea, and then stand around taunting the corpse, right next to it, one of them wanting to take it as a trophy. This just serves to unleash the demon inside her that is strong enough to eat Khaless, who herself could not be sealed for being too strong.
Mysterious Protector: Of Ariel after the Fallen Legion become her bodyguards.
Ninja: She is the founder of the Fallen Legion, who act as the Sarghress clan's stealth specialists.
Noodle Incident: It's unknown exactly what happened to her besides a few basic facts, like a demon being involved and a failed exorcism.
Pet the Dog / Morality Pet: A subtle one for Quaintana. Its pretty clear that Laele'aell was always the favourite daughter but in this scene, Quain'tana explicitly gives Ariel Syphile's lands instead of Laele'aell's, despite the latter's condition and despite the fact that Syphile had not been formally disinherited yet. Quain'tana even expresses hope that Laele'aell may eventually recover from her tainting as an explanation for her decision.
Person of Mass Destruction: See here.
Prophet Eyes: As an Empty Shell of a flesh golem, her eyes are entirely white, but people can literally feel her watching them.
Put on a Bus: The flesh golem made from her was assigned as one of Ariel's body guards. But when she went on a rampage at the Black Dragon protecting her, they decided that she was too unpredictable to remain and stored her away in case they found a use for her again.
The Spartan Way: She had to climb her way up to the top, just like Quain'tana, and essentially build her own army from the ground up.
Thicker Than Water: Even in her current unpredictable state, she will not hurt blood kin.
The Voiceless: It's unknown if she's even capable of speaking anymore.

Vene, Pelan and Octarya

Two young sons and a daughter of Quain'tana born during the 15 year timeskip and between chapters 36 and 43, respectively. Vene and Pelan (then simply called Pup) were introduced during an interlude

at the end of chapter 48, while the baby girl was first seen in chapter 43. Pelan and Octarya are only officially named in chapter 51.

Big Brother Instinct: Both Vene and Pup certainly qualify. Vene gets killed trying to protect his two younger siblings, and Pup is putting up a hell of a fuss trying to protect the un-named baby girl even while being grabbed himself.
Broken Bird: Pup is truly traumatized by the events of chapter 50. When the brief thrill of being able to play with a Sarg wolf wears off, he becomes completely withdrawn and unresponsive. Even Faen hugging him firmly and tenderly fails to elicit any kind of reaction.
Death of a Child: In chapter 50, Sarghress traitors manage to kill Vene in an attempt to eliminate Quain's bloodline.
Harmful to Minors: No matter how brave they are, when small children see their elder brother get brutally killed trying to protect them, they will cry out.
Do Not Go Gentle: Vene's toy sword has blood on it. Whether it's his or the traitor's is not clear. Vene gets point for trying.
Foreshadowing: The cover for chapter 50 only shows the two youngest children, hinting at Vene's death in that chapter.
Harmful to Minors: Pup and his baby sister watch their brother Vene get killed by Sarghress traitors who want to purge their clan of Quain's bloodline, while they're cowering behind their make-shift play fortress.
No Name Given: None of them truly have names, as Quain never actually got around to it, if Vene can be believed. This is finally rectified in chapter 51.
Only Known by Their Nickname: "Pup" is not his name, it's a nickname Vene gave him because Quain didn't give him one.
Outliving One's Offspring: In Chapter 50, Ariel and Faen realize they left the kids alone and unprotected while traitors roam inside the fortress, and attempt to retrieve them. Sang explains that she already sent a retrieval squad, but it's revealed that the aforementioned traitors managed to get into the kids' room and kill one of them before Faen sees what's happening.
Potty Failure: The baby girl, unfortunately while Ariel is holding her. And then accidentally hands the poopy baby to Quain, who had just entered the room.
Prehensile Hair: The baby girl is shown to have this like Ariel.
The Purge: The kids become targets of Sarghress traitors looking to eliminate Quain's children and take over the clan themselves. One traitor manages to kill Vene.
Unfortunate Names: "Pup", pointed out by Faen. Ariel explains that Quain has no imagination. Meanwhile, the baby girl didn't even have a name until chapter 51.

Characters / Drowtales Val Sarghress Clan Main Val Family

Sarghress Val line

Quain'tana Val'Sarghress

Ariel Val'Sarghress

Syphile Val'Sarghress

Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress

Kel'noz Val'Sarghress

Laele'aell Val'Sarghress

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Characters / Drowtales Val Sarghress Clan Main Val Family

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Sarghress Val line

Quain'tana Val'Sarghress

Ariel Val'Sarghress

Syphile Val'Sarghress

Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress

Kel'noz Val'Sarghress

Laele'aell Val'Sarghress

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