The Elenium: Difference between revisions

This series provides examples of:

* [[Abusive Precursors]]: The Elder Gods.

* [[Accent Relapse]]: Inverted with Caalador, who speaks in an outrageously folksy Cammorian accent most of the time... until people tell him to cut it out.

* [[Accidental Aiming Skills]]: Kurik, when the Basilica is under siege.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: Happens to a [[Big Bad]] at the end of ''The Tamuli'' and to another minor villain. The Troll-Gods set them on fire and shove them into "No-Time," where they will run and burn alone forever.

** The Powerless Ones, Gods whose worshippers have [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|all died and have been forgotten, reduced to little more than incoherent whispers wanting attention.]]

* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]]: Played for laughs in the last book when a Tamuli scholar refuses, like the rest of his race, to believe in Trolls. [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|Ulath answers]] by [[Crowning Moment of Funny|calling a gargantuan, angry (illusionary) troll in the hall.]]

** Also: 'I'm an agnostic, Divine One.' 'Would you like to examine that last sentence for logical consistency, Stragen?'

* [[Back From the Dead]]: A major part of the plot in The Tamuli is someone calling up armies from the past.

** {{spoiler|Kurik}} does this twice, as his presence is needed to banish/reclaim the Bhelliom.

* [[Badass]]: Just about every knight in the party is a champion of one of the orders, and Sparhawk's squire, Kurik, is described as one of the most gifted hand-to-hand combatants in the world. Sparhawk takes the prize from all of them, however. This is a guy who'd make Cthulhu curl up into a foetal position on the floor, and he in fact does kill a reasonably similar God. Even more, he does it with ''style.''

** Kurik is an enormous badass in his own right, peaking when he meets an arrogant young nobleman while being browbeaten into wearing Bevier's armour and scares the daylights out of him. As a follow-up, the young man's father is so horrified his son was harrassing a bunch of badass Church Knights and is so profoundly ignorant that he ''didn't know who they were'', he disowns the clown, banishes his friends and pack his own wife off to a monastery. Bevier later says Kurik's a bigger man than him because he'd have just decapitated the kid "after his second remark".

*** "I have eight of my friends with me!" [[Spit Take|*spit*]] "''That'' rabble?"

** Sparhawk gets his own lines like this:

** Additionally, Sparhawk takes it very, ''very'' personally if anybody does anything to the Queen he's loved and protected since she was seven years old.

* [[Big Bad]]: [[God of Evil|Azash]] in the first trilogy. The second is a bit more complicated, with {{spoiler|[[Physical God|Cyrgon]], [[Evil Sorceror|Zalasta]] and [[Eldritch Abomination|Klael]] all vying for the role}}. By the end, even {{spoiler|Krager}} has thrown in his hat for the title.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Zalasta gets one of these moments in the Tamuli when he wipes out a powerful enemy sorcerer and a [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|giant dinosaur]] during a battle. {{spoiler|It's actually a big dramatic [[False Flag Operation]] designed to win the Elenes' trust}}.

* [[Black Knight]]: The first character we see in the series wears black platemail, has a crooked nose, carries a huge sword, rides an evil-looking horse and quietly threatens anyone who gets in his way. His name is Sparhawk and [[Dark Is Not Evil|he's the protagonist]].

'''Sarabian''': Yes, I'm acquainted with her. }}

* [[Decapitated Army]]: The Zemochs aren't really evil, and are happy to forgo any plans for war once Azash has been wiped out.

** It turns out the child act is more or less [[A Form You Are Comfortable With]] - and Aphrael uses it entirely so people will pick her up and give her kisses. Her true form is actually quite adult and never clearly described save for her eyes and her [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|lack of clothes.]]

*** The kisses and such have an ulterior motive: they make those people love her. Bhelliom outright states he's afraid of her because of this, because she can essentially wrap anyone around her little finger, itself included.

** Cyrgon even more so. This is a guy who deliberately bred up a race of inbred musclemen who haven't changed in millennia.

** Also justified in both cases. Azash is more like a primordial, evil force of nature than a real character, while Cyrgon is essentially the god of unthinking stagnation, having designed his chosen people at the dawn of time and become so attached to them that he is unwilling to change them one iota. His conservativism is a deliberate choice; despite his dislike of innovation, he learns quickly in a fight.

* [[Dissonant Serenity]]: Sparhawk is more frightening when he gets quiet than when he rages and roars. Even more true with Bevier, whose faith cause leads him to take ''shockingly'' violent action once he is certain he is on firm theological and moral ground. At one point he not only ''decapitates'' a corrupt [[Hired Guns|church soldier]] that refuses to let them pass, he then leads the man's terrified subordinates in chanting ''prayers for the dead man's soul''.

* [[The Dragon]]: Otha is technically this for Azash, but as he's physically not up to much Dragoning, Martel fills the role in the [[Final Battle]]. {{spoiler|Later on, [[Physical God|Cyrgon]] is pressed into duty to serve as this to [[Eldritch Abomination|Klael]]}} after arrogantly summoning it.

* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Subverted by [[Obfuscating Stupidity|Melidere]].

* [[Dumb Muscle]]: Adus, The Cyrgai, and Klael's [[Giant Mook|Giant Mooks]].

* [[Fat Bastard]]: Otha. He hasn't had to actually move in centuries, to the point that he ''can't walk at all.'' Subverted by Platime, who despite his criminal status is no worse than the protagonists.

* [[Finger in The Mail]]: In ''The Tamuli'', instructions to Sparhawk from Ehlana's kidnappers include a lock of her hair as verification.

** The villains in the sequel also form one: {{spoiler|[[Eldritch Abomination|Klael]]}} is [[The Big Bad]], {{spoiler|[[Physical God|Cyrgon]]}} is [[The Dragon]], {{spoiler|[[Evil Sorceror|Zalasta]]}} is [[The Evil Genius]], [[Large Ham|Sabre]] and co. are [[The Dark Chick]], and the alien army provides [[Giant Mook|the muscle]].

* [[Flanderisation]]: Kalten starts off Sparhawk's lifelong best friend and backup man; Sparkhawk's equal in general knowledge, raw cunning, and combat ability, but who never got the hang of magic because his talent with the Styric language is close to nil. This maintains throughout the first book, and after that Kalten begins a slide for being a big dumb guy who's somehow missed everyday information (like what a 'diagonal' is).

** And then subverted, as the last couple books demonstrate that Kalten may not be ''book'' smart, but he thinks fast on his feet and can be remarkably clever. He's also shown to actually be able to understand the gist of most Styric conversations, even if he can't hope to pronounce the words.

*** To be fair, the guy was an idiot and completely useless. He had Krager to help him with {{spoiler|the kidnapping}}.

* [[Frazetta Man]]: The Trolls embody this stereotype almost to a T, to the point of being so primitive it's stated they'd have died off centuries ago if they weren't immortal.

* [[Friend Versus Lover]]

* [[The Fundamentalist]]: Patriarch Ortzel, the arch-conservative Lamork churchman who's got his heart set on forbidding the Church Knights from using magic. But since he's not Annias everyone {{spoiler|except Ehlana}} gets behind him as the good guys' candidate for Archprelate.

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: The Atans are the result of an extended breeding experiment intended to produce the ultimate [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race Guys]]. They succeeded so perfectly that they were forced to sell themselves into slavery to the Tamuls to prevent their own overdeveloped killer instincts from killing off the entire race over, say, an [[Serious Business|argument over the weather]].

** The Delphae are a race that can kill with a touch thanks to a curse from their god and are hated by most other races in existance. This is all part of their god's master plan.

** Kring is noted as having several serious scars on his face and scalp, but they're noted as evidence the rather physical path to leadership in his tribe.

* [[Hair of Gold]]: Ehlana. Sparhawk even thinks of it as "a wealth of pale blonde hair."

* [[Happiness in Slavery]]: Played with extensively with the Atans, who as a whole believe they must always be "slaves" and that a completely "free" Atan is a very, very bad thing. This is due to them being such a [[Proud Warrior Race]] that generational blood feuds can be started over a disagreement about the weather, and so they as a race offered themselves as slaves to the Tamuls. Although, their "slavery" consists entirely of them agreeing to not kill anyone without permission and serve as the Tamuls' army, which allows them to be warriors and have glorious battles, without bringing their race to the edge of extinction from everyone killing everyone else for the slightest reason. And the Atans are all happy with this arrangement.

** This is exemplified with Mirtai's case where instead of the normal institutionalized slavery of her people she was kidnapped and forced into a more personal slavery, and despite hating the more personal nature of her slavery (no not ''that'' way) she repeatedly refused and scoffed at any attempt to free her by Ehlana after she became her "slave", always saying that it was impossible for her people to ever be free, normally followed by a long list of people Ehlana knows that Mirtai would have killed by now for some type of insult if she had been free.

** It's worse than it sounds. A high-ranking Tamul official once authorised an Atan expedition into Arjuna- without giving them any limits. They hanged the King and drove his subjects into the southern jungles, thus starting an economic crisis. It took centuries to convince the Arjuni to emerge from their hiding place.

* [[Harmless Villain]]: Otha. Despite being the most powerful sorcerer in Zemoch and the mastermind behind the catastrophic invasion of the West, he's a [[Fat Bastard]] who can barely galvanize a corpse properly.

* [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen]]: The final duel between Sparhawk and Martel fits the bill. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that the book constantly drives home that Sparhawk and Martel are evenly matched and both of them want to find out who's truly better. Once the outcome is certain, Martel admits he never had any doubts. {{spoiler|On his deathbed.}}

* [[Little Miss Almighty]]: Aphrael, the Child Goddess

* [[Loveable Rogue]]: Talen. Oh so very Talen. Stragen also fits the bill.

* [[Love Hungry]]: Aphrael.

** Don't forget {{spoiler|Krager}} in the sequels.

** And {{spoiler|Zalasta}}

* [[Medieval Stasis]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]] for the most part. The history behind the Elene kingdoms includes bronze-age warriors and the discovery of iron, and when the {{spoiler|Cyrgai}} show up in the second series they're all wearing bronze-age equipment and using antiquated phalanx tactics. Also, the borders of Cynesga have changed dramatically over time.

* [[Megaton Punch]]: Berit delivers one of these when Talen's [[Bratty Half Pint]] act starts to wear on the group. He throws in a punt for good measure.

*** This is best exemplified in ''The Hidden City'' when Kalten, Caalador, and Bevier infiltrate Natayos to see if Ehlana and Alean are there. When Alean recognizes the disguised Kalten [[Spotting the Thread|by how he walks]], and Ehlana tells her to sing, he recognizes her voice...and immediately begins whistling a counterpoint to let them know he heard. Then he strikes up a conversation with the guards so he can slip in references to Caalador's accent and Bevier's axe. Ehlana herself calls him a "treasure" whom Alean should never let go of, since he gave them far more information than Sparhawk ever could have.

** Melidere, one of Ehlana's ladies in waiting, puts on the show of a [[Dumb Blonde]], while the truth is that Ehlana keeps her around for her brains.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: The government of the Tamuli in regard to their 'absolute power' Emperor. He comments that he has to look out the window to get an accurate weather report.

* [[Oh Crap]]: From ''The Tamuli'', "This is {{spoiler|Prince}} Sparhawk, the man who {{spoiler|destroyed the Elder God Azash}}, and you've just insulted his wife." The listener reacts appropriately...running for his life.

** And when Ehlana starts reading it, she can tell almost immediately that it's a ruse ''because'' it's too eloquently-written for Sparhawk and can't possibly be anything but a story.

* [[Panacea]]: The Bhelliom is originally sought as a cure to Ehlana's ailment, and used principally to that end. Another stone is mentioned which has similar healing powers.

* [[Pet the Dog]]: Martel gets one of these moments when Annias calls Sephrenia a witch, prompting Martel to grab him by the collar and threaten him with things much worse than Sparhawk could ever do should he ever talk trash about "my little mother" again. While it's also [[Disproportionate Retribution]] it's also a sign that Martel still cares about Sephrenia even after everything he's done.

** There is also his {{spoiler|genuine sadness to learn that Kurik had been killed, for he had the same level of respect that most knights had.}}

** It is also a [[Shout Out]] to Real Life serial killer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzebet_Bathory Countess Elizabeth Bathory], who {{spoiler|kept a [[Torture Cellar]] in her castle and was eventually condemned to be walled up in her quarters.}}

** The story of Otha, [[Blatant Lies|innocent goatherder]], following a lost member of his herd and coming across the idol of Azash, who then commands him to worship him and convert the rest of Eosia to his [[Religion of Evil]], very much feels like a dark and [[Refuge in Audacity|rather ballsy]] subversion of the story of [[The Bible|Moses and the Burning Bush]].

* [[The Siege]]: One of these forms a large arc in the third book. There's another one in the Tamuli. They come into play as a running gag, too: Thalesians ''hate'' sieges. (They're perfectly willing to engage in one, and do it very competently, but they ''hate'' sieges. Just ask them.)

** When Ulath is called on his constant vocal hatred of sieges despite being almost as quick as resident siege guru Bevier to suggest forting up, hilarity ensues:

* [[Story Breaker Power]]: Xanetia positively ''oozes'' these. She's effectively immortal, she can read minds {{spoiler|and thus promptly discovers the [[Manipulative Bastard]]}}, she can melt people ''and scenery'' to goo with a touch, she can {{spoiler|touch Bhelliom without being obliterated}}, she can turn invisible, and her magic makes absolutely no "sound." Once she joins the party she's effectively a one-stop shop for all your [[Game Breaker]] needs.

* [[Supernatural Sensitivity]]

* [[Terrain Sculpting]]: when trolls invade northern Tamuli, the Bhelliom responds by creating a humongous escarpment to separate them.

* [[Thieves Guild]]: Played straight and on a grand scale. Sure, Platime's chief thief in Cimmura, but every town everywhere has its own thieves' guild, and they all coordinate to some extent.

* [[Time Stands Still]]: Played straight by the Troll-Gods, starting when Sparhawk browbeats Ghnomb into helping him catch up to {{spoiler|Martel}}. Used pretty heavily in the second series.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: The Cyrgai exemplify this trope to its most literal extent: by breeding almost exclusively with Cynesgans they essentially ''bred their own race out of existence'' {{spoiler|until Cyrgon stepped in}}. At this point they're so hopelessly inbred and isolated they can barely function. Forget bronze age armour, standard issue for these guys is the [[Idiot Ball]].

** This is how the king of the Atans dies in the Tamuli. He attacks an enormous Eldritch Abomination several thousand times larger than himself, on foot, with a sword, without realizing that it might actually be able to kill him. He dies feeling sorry for it, because it's been unfortunate enough to come up against him.

* [[Torture Cellar]]: Bellina has one of these. The Pandions are rumoured to have them, too - as does the Church of Chyrellos, though everyone insists they never get used.

* [[Tranquil Fury]]: Sparhawk, oh good ''God'' Sparhawk. At the end of book three, when {{spoiler|Kurik dies, [[Unstoppable Rage|Sparhawk murders his way through many, many soldiers in a state of complete serene anger]] and is only distracted ''when Kalten suggests he go kill Martel.''}} It also works because its is going to be more satisfying taking his anger on one who is responsible for his death. Then there is the last book when Sparhawk learns {{spoiler|Ehlana was kidnapped.}} A lot of people expect him to go Berserk, instead, he shuts down his emotions after a little angsting, he then works out plans to nullify his enemies plots and arranges for several armies to head towards the stronghold, ( {{spoiler|each army, by the way, is more than capable of [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|butchering the Cyrgai armies.]]}})

* [[Trickster Archetype]]: Aphrael is one of the weakest gods, but she's ''very'' good at getting what she wants via a combination of clever planning and Obfuscating Cuteness.

** For example, there is a scene in which Sparhawk wakes up one morning and basicly finds an excuse not to put his armor on just yet, especially after it's had all night to get chilled.

** This ties into a [[Running Gag]] throughout the Elenium where Sparhawk keeps booking passage with a sailor named Sorgi by telling him he's running away from an ugly heiress whose cousins want to force him to marry her. They meet again in the Tamuli, and Sorgi sees Ehlana.

{{quote| '''Sorgi:''' "They didn't force you to marry her, did they?"<br />

* [[Unskilled but Strong]]: Otha was granted terrible powers by Azash. He has no clue what to do with them, since he's a not particularly bright or ambitious shepherd who happened to stumble across an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. This is best shown by him raising a legion of terrible undead warriors. They defend the square they are standing on, and react to nothing else. This is an enemy that could be defeated by ''walking around it''. {{spoiler|[[Disaster Dominoes|Or by giving just one soldier a push onto another square...]]}}

* [[Unwanted Harem]]: Berit develops one of these in the second series. Apparently something about his eyelashes drives women wild.

* [[The Vamp]]: Arissa, although her efforts to subvert the protagonists fail spectacularly.

* [[Villain Ball]]/[[Idiot Ball]]: Annias grabs this in the first book by carrying out the second phase of one of his schemes before determining that the first step succeeded, to predicably failing results. This is noted by Sparhawk as being very out of character ([[Smug Snake]] that he is, Annias isn't ''that'' sloppy), and is one of the first signs that something (read Azash) is messing with the lesser villains' minds, same thing with Martel when Sparhawk puts a freeze on one of his schemes.

* [[Villainous Glutton]]: Otha, oh so much.

* [[Villainous Incest]]: Aldreas and Arissa.

* [[Wife Husbandry]]: Sort of. Ehlana settles on Sparhawk years before she hits puberty, but that wasn't his own doing. {{spoiler|Aphrael also settles on Talen}} but they're much closer in apparent age.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Even though they hate each others' guts {{spoiler|until the final battle}}, Martel admits that he still has respect for Sparhawk. Also crosses over with [[Foe Yay]]; he refers to Sparhawk and Sephrenia as the only two people he's ever truly loved, and at another point he remarks:

{{quote| ''I'd give my soul to be a man like Sparhawk.''}}