History Characters / LabyrinthsOfEcho

* HappilyMarried: Though she is [[TheGhost never met (or indeed named) in the narration proper]], Mrs. Lonli-Lokli is mentioned to be the only person who can consistently bring out the NotSoStoic side of her husband.

* OddlySmallOrganization: The Secret Investigations. At the beginning of the story, it is just six people charged with enforcing the Codex within a vast city. By the end of the series, it's still nine persons strong.
* WhoYouGonnaCall: The Secret Investigations. Regular police deals with regular troublemakers and untrained mages, but when something majorly supernatural happens or involvement of a strong mage is suspected, the SI is called in.

* CosmicPlaything: Max, oh so much.

* MindControl: Probably due to Max Arbiter status, Max's Death Orbs, otherwise a reliable OneHitKill spell, instead turn people into obedient slaves. There is a small chance that they will function as originally intended, however, so Max always has to make sure there isn't a part of him that wants his target dead before casting this spell. As Death Orbs manifest the Arbiter status of Max, they also affect the undead, some landscapes, some {{EldritchAbomination}}s and potentially Max himself. Once again due to Arbiter status, those under Max's control can perform feats beyond their power, beyond Max's power and sometimes simply beyond limits of reality.

* UnwantedHarem: the Khenkha tribe assumed Max was their lost king and dumped three twin sisters on him.

* ProfessionalKiller: Juffin Hally worked as one for a time. His real motivation was elimination of powerful irresponsible mages to stave off the end of the world. Also, his two apprentices in prequels.

* ShatteringTheIllusion with a fair helping of EpiphanicPrison: this is Juffin's preferred teaching and motivation method - he does the shattering and watches those affected struggle towards their epiphany of the day.

* {{Transhuman}}: He was born as a normal human being (with a drop of werefox blood, but in Kettari it's normal). Shurf Lonli-Lokli with senses improved by the new personality, but no experience with them yet, perceived Juffin as something greater only "playing" human. Juffin is an adept of True Magic at the stage before having to withdraw from the mortal world, but after becoming [[BlueAndOrangeMorality noticeably changed mentally]]. For that matter, once he said about his wife "witches cease to be human very fast", as something beautiful on a grand scale, but immediately inconvenient -- at this point she ate only on the Dark Side, but was still amused by a more worldly mage's confusion at this unnecessary revelation.

One of Juffin's two deputies in SI (the Day Face of the Most Reverent Chief; Max is the Night Face).

* LastNameBasis: Sir Melifaro. He [[NoNameGiven doesn't have a name]].

* Youngest son of sir Manga Melifaro. Referencing Manga Melifaro's Encyclopedia of the World in 8 tomes, Max will jokingly adress his colleague as "Ninth tome".

* DisabilitySuperpower: Kofa Yokh never sees dreams [[spoiler: unless Max is involved]] and therefore has no capacity for True Magic. According to True Magic experts, this is what makes Kofa extremely competent at Plain Magic.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter and VoluntaryShapeshifting in one: Humkha Yokh, one of the seven founding masters of the Order of the Seven-Leaf, enchanted his only son Kofa to improve Kofa's [[BigFun character]] and [[BigEater appetite]]. The resulting sir Kofa Yokh in Echo is in his default appearance an elder, wise, patient and jolly gentleman of somewhat round proportions. If sir Kofa leaves the vicinity of Echo, Humkha's enchantment fades and the world is treated to the original Kofa Yokh, whom Max described as a "Lord of the British Empire ... arriving at an Arabian royal court". The aptitude at shapeshifting seems to be hereditary, as sir Kofa can change his own and others' appearances at will, although the out-of-Echo Kofa dislikes doing so.

* EyesDoNotBelongThere: After TimeSkip, sir Shurf [[spoiler: gets one embedded into his glove.]] The way he managed to do it remains [[NoodleIncident obscured]].

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse -- Shurf was never expelled from the Order of the Holey Chalice, owing to the fact that his antics greatly improved the Order's standing even if he no longer answered to them.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: to Max after his Arbiter powers caused Melamori a nasty BedmateReveal.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: by having the Tracking gift.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: he knows how many feathers each burivukh in his care has, but never notices such mundane things as a cup of kamra falling down because he swept it from the table with his clothes.
* BerserkButton: Do not offend the burivukhs where sir Luukfi can hear them.

* CigarChomper: General Bubuta Bokh, after Max gives him a box of cigars he accidentally acquired for a present.

* HollywoodTourettes: Played for laughs.

* MrViceGuy: He's widely known to be anecdotically greedy.

* CoolOldLady: she rivals Nuflin and Juffin in terms of power and effectively the Seven-Leaf's decision-maker in all things outside of politics.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: on the Dark Side, lady Sotofa automatically regains the stunning young look.

Former member of the Order of Hidden Grass. Left Echo for several expeditions and wrote the [[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia of the World in 8 tomes]] from data obtained on his travels. Echo's foremost and sometimes only expert on various subjects. Sir Manga is bound by numerous oaths of silence - the information withheld from the encyclopedia would easily double its volume. During an especially dire situation somewhere on Arvarokh on his last expedition, sir Manga swore an oath "to the sky above" to never leave the Uguland province of Echo again if he was to survive, thus ending his career.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Gurig VIII may seem nice, affable, even almost decadent, good pal to those who knew him from childhood, his "great accomplishement" is having his marshal of ceremonies to allow a little more hospitality for his guests... But as a crown prince, he was put through TrainingFromHell. If he ever thinks it's necessary, a natural-born ruler and competent mage with [[TheUnfettered steel self-control]] and CompellingVoice pops up in an eyeblink.
* InadequateInheritor: Gurig VII won a centuries-long civil war and reformed the Kingdom... This was given as an explaination of his son's desire to slightly expand the borders, if it's possible without unnecessary bloodshed, that is.

* DaEditor: subverted. Rogro Zhiil' is the editor and owner of Echo's respectable newspaper, "King's Voice", and unknown to the general population, also the editor and the owner of Echo's somewhat tabloid "Fuss of Echo". Yet he is a refined gentleman, a skilled [[WhenThePlanetsAlign astrologist]] -- which in Echo is an exact mathematical science -- and among the favorite lovers of [[spoiler: His Majesty Gurig VIII, much to Max's surprise]].

%% I ran out of ideas here, please add necessary categories that are still missing...
%% a list of various known Orders and their respective members would be nice, but rather time-consuming - jlt314.

* MageKiller: This is basically what the Secret Investigations are. Since most Magisters who return to Echo from their exiles usually come for blood, the SI's deployment often entails the use of deadly force. In particular, Juffin and Shurf are renowned for their mage-slaying achievements. The team's reputation usually is enough to end with a hasty surrender most cases when deadly force is not needed. Unlike most examples, however, they use magic to combat magic--they just minimize its use.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: The central message being "oh, why no one loves so cute me?", according to Max. Who also feels awkward because in his time wrote some poetry in the same vein, but of lesser quality.

* JoinOrDie: How Juffin secured Shurf's cooperation. It was a FateWorseThanDeath he threatened him with, namely, [[spoiler: leaving Shurf at the mercy of two undead Magisters whom Shurf doomed to a FateWorseThanDeath himself]].
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse: Shurf was never expelled from the Order of the Holey Chalice, owing to the fact that his antics greatly improved the Order's standing even if he no longer answered to them.

* NotQuiteHuman: One enemy versed in True Magic lore even dropped an offhanded "you better than me know he's NotEvenHuman" comment to Juffin. Aside of being an Arbiter and thus different from normal humans, elves, etc on a fundamental level, he also is [[spoiler:a living phantasm, reincarnating by being [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve imagined into existence]] again and again]]. It's not clear whether all AlternateUniverse variants of Max fit this, but at least one more of them turned out to be an AlternateUniverse variant of this entity. Both managed to reward humans directly responsible for [[spoiler:their "rebirth"]] more than these people thought was possible.

* CareerKillers: Juffin Hally worked as one for a time. His real motivation was elimination of powerful irresponsible mages to stave off the end of the world. Also, his two apprentices in prequels.
* ProfessionalGambler: Juffin's skill at card games is legendary. He used to play for living and is now forbidden from playing with money at stakes by royal decree. His fellow Kettarians who lead merchant caravans to and from Echo also earn their bonuses by playing with traders and tourists en route.
* RedBaron: "Chiffa" (after the local silver fox) when he pretended to be a gambler, then "The Kettarian Hunter" (after his hometown) when he pretended to be a [[CareerKillers hired killer]].

* SinkOrSwimMentor: Juffin, in spades.

* BlessedWithSuck: Max is an "Arbiter", which is incredibly rare in Echo. [[spoiler: The last Arbiter is King Mönin, while our world has many more of them.]] Arbiters are {{BornWinner}}s in regard to power, luck and intuition, their words actually [[RealityWarper shape reality]] on the Dark Side of the world. The downside is that all the wishes of an Arbiter, regardless how small, become reality - without conscious control over when, where, and under which circumstances this will happen. Death also considers Arbiters a prized morsel, and they are exempt from any and all ways to cheat., although the Keyifaya elves think otherwise.

* DaChief

* MrViceGuy: He's well known for being ludicrously greedy.

* CompellingVoice: Quoth Max, "that's when I understood how the King differs from other people: I just couldn't contradict him". Though he does this only when absolutely needed.

Owner of Echo's newspapers.

* BloodKnight: Retired. During the War of Codex, sir Rogro Zhiil' fought on the side of King Gurig VII and the Order of the Seven-Leaf. According to fellow combatants' testimonies, he was there not out of loyalty, but just for the thrill. Served several decades in Holomi for using Forbidden Magic in a street brawl just a few days into the Epoch of the Codex, invented the daily newspaper out of boredom while doing time.
* DaEditor: subverted. Rogro Zhiil' is the editor and owner of Echo's respectable newspaper, "King's Voice", and unknown to the general population, also the editor and the owner of Echo's somewhat tabloid "Fuss of Echo". Yet he is a refined gentleman, a skilled [[WhenThePlanetsAlign astrologist]][[hottip:*: in Echo, astrology is an exact mathematical science]] and among the favorite lovers of [[spoiler: His Majesty Gurig VIII, much to Max's surprise]].
* PropagandaMachine: What his media empire basically is. Most blatant use of it takes place in ''A Talkative Dead Man''.

* HollywoodTourettes: Played for laughs with general Bubuta.

The "chief witch" of the Order of the Seven-Leaf, though she rarely engages in politics like Nuflin. This is common for all Orders.

* WeatherControlMachine: The kings of Echo perform a weather control, fertility and prosperity ritual [[NoodleImplements with a comb]].

* BloodKnight: during the War of Codex, sir Rogro Zhiil' fought on the side of King Gurig VII and the Order of the Seven-Leaf. According to fellow combatants' testimonies, he was there not out of loyalty, but just for the thrill. Served several decades in Holomi for using Forbidden Magic in a street brawl just a few days into the Epoch of the Codex, invented the daily newspaper out of boredom while doing time.

* LawfulGood: Shurf is lawful to a fault, but also extremely loyal to his friends and his duty.

* Flight: Melamori was admitted into the burivukh society at Arvarokh and gained the power to turn into a burivukh herself.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve / JustADream: Being the love interest of a True Magic user and a True Magic user herself, Melamori more than once finds herself waking up where she dreamt, not where she actually slept.

* BlessedWithSuck: Max is an "Arbiter", which is incredibly rare in Echo. [[spoiler: The last Arbiter is King Mönin, while our world has many more of them.]] Arbiters are {{BornWinner}}s in regard to power, luck and intuition, their words actually [[RealityWarper shape reality]] on the Dark Side of the world. The downside is that all the wishes of an Arbiter, regardless how small, become reality - without conscious control over when, where, and under which circumstances this will happen. Death also considers Arbiters a prized morsel, and they are exempt from any and all ways to cheat.
* BroughtDownToNormal: Happens to Max in ''Nests of the Chimerae''. Also, subverted during his first return to our world in ''Volunteers of Eternity'': he first thinks his life in Echo was AllJustADream, but then decides to try out his magic powers and finds them in working order.
* [[spoiler: ButNowIMustGo: Max escapes the Quiet City, yet finds himself incapable of staying in Echo. Max's very glance is now deleting objects from reality in Echo - he tells Juffin that only by chance he found it out staring at his bedroom's roof]].

* TheEmpath

* WildMagic: How any magic tends to behave around Max. Juffin even refers to him as "Wild Wind".

* SparingTheAces: The reason Juffin couldn't bring himself to kill Loyso Pondokhva, the most dangerous Grand Magister of the entire Age of the Orders, who unlike ignorant majority ''actively worked to'' achieve TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Loyso demonstrated a small capacity for True Magic.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifter and VoluntaryShapeshifting in one: Humkha Yokh, one of the seven founding masters of the Order of the Seven-Leaf, enchanted his only son Kofa to improve Kofa's [[BigFun character]] and [[BigEater appetite]]. The resulting sir Kofa Yokh in Echo is in his default appearance an elder, wise, patient and jolly gentleman of somewhat round proportions. If sir Kofa leaves the vicinity of Echo, Humkha's enchantment fades and the world is treated to the original Kofa Yokh, whom Max described as a "Lord of the British Empire somehow arriving at an Arabian royal court". The aptitude at shapeshifting seems to be hereditary, as sir Kofa can change his own and others' appearances at will, although the out-of-Echo Kofa dislikes doing so.
* MerlinAndNimue: He and [[spoiler:Lady Kekki]] end up an a relationship, both professional and personal. It goes surprisingly well.
* RedBaron: The seldom used epithet "Right-Bank Dragon" (from the time when he worked as the police chief of the right bank of Khuron, the river Echo stands upon).
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Sir Kofa Yokh in his position as the Master Listener. His ability is literally being where his current interest works best, and that includes tracking an otherwise unknown person just by wanting to arrest them.

* ChaoticStupid / LawfulStupid: He had to change his personality from TheMadHatter, dangerously volatile and recognizable even when he wasn't ''quite'' insane, to something as different as possible. The new version was only rarely inconvenient, but he still relaxed a lot after getting rid of his vengeful deadmen permanently. His true nature was shown unmasked only on the Dark Side.

* HandBlast: Gloves of Death, the properly made left projects an almost unstoppable instantle incinerating "snowball" of white fire, right one was made "merely" of a wizard's hand bitten off mid-spellcasting and paralyzes the victim instead.
** PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment: Sir Shurf's protection gloves, designed to handle everything else while wearing two pieces of weapons-grade AppliedPhlebotinum on his hands. Also, his fingernails are covered in the same protective runes as on the gloves (inked with an indelible ink) and another one he had to write on his palate with enough of poisonous ink to forever change his blood, but not kill him -- so that the ''inside'' of his killer gloves doesn't kill him, too.

* JoinOrDie: How Juffin secured the Mad Fishmonger's cooperation, though it was a FateWorseThanDeath he threatened him with, namely, [[spoiler:leaving him at the mercy of two undead Magisters whom Shurf doomed to a FateWorseThanDeath himself]].
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse: Shurf was never expelled from the Order of the Holey Chalice, owing to the fact that the Mad Fishmonger's antics greatly improved the Order's standing even if he no longer answered to them.

* TheStoic: Shurf Lonli-Lokli's ability to keep a cool head is legendary. Max later learns that both the current Shurf and the Mad Fishmonger are mask-like aspects, and the true Shurf, as possibly seen on the Dark Side, is above that sliding scale.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Fishmonger (keeper of holey fish bassins) of the Order of the Holey Chalice drank all the water in the bassins, taking up the power of about 600 fellow order members. The things he pulled off earned him the "Mad Fishmonger" monicker, and that was during the Order wars. He pulled the ThatManIsDead listed above to survive some consequences and now goes by his original name, Shurf Lonli-Lokli.

* FisherKing: The kings of Echo don't have a direct link to the land, but perform a fertility and prosperity ritual to that end [[NoodleImplements with a comb]].

* DaEditor: subverted. While sir Rogro Zhiil' is the editor and owner of Echo's respectable newspaper, "King's Voice", and unknown to the general population, also the editor and the owner of Echo's somewhat tabloid "Fuss of Echo", he is a refined gentleman, a skilled [[WhenThePlanetsAlign astrologist]][[hottip:*: in Echo, astrology is an exact mathematical science]] and among the favorite lovers of [[spoiler: His Majesty Gurig VIII, much to Max's surprise]].

* TrickedOutGloves: Gloves of Death, and another pair of magic gloves to cover them when not in use.
** PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment: Sir Shurf's protection gloves, designed to handle everything else while wearing two pieces of weapons-grade AppliedPhlebotinum on his hands. Also, his fingernails are covered in the same protective runes as on the gloves (inked with an indelible ink) and another one he had to write on his palate with enough of poisonous ink to forever change his blood, but not kill him -- so that the ''inside'' of his killer gloves doesn't kill him, too.

* EyesDoNotBelongThere: After TimeSkip, sir Shurf [[spoiler: gets one embedded into his hand.]] The way he managed to do it remains [[NoodleIncident obscured]].

* PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment: Sir Shurf's protection gloves, designed to handle everything else while wearing two pieces of weapons-grade AppliedPhlebotinum on his hands. Also, his fingernails are covered in the same protective runes as on the gloves (inked with an indelible ink), so that the ''inside'' of his killer gloves doesn't kill him, too.

* PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment: Sir Shurf's protection gloves, designed to handle everything else while wearing two pieces of weapons-grade AppliedPhlebotinum on his hands.

* ButNowIMustGo: Max escapes the Quiet City, yet finds himself incapable of staying in Echo. [[spoiler: Max's very glance is now deleting objects from reality in Echo - he tells Juffin that only by chance he found it out staring at his bedroom's roof]].

* SparingTheAces: The reason Juffin couldn't bring himself to kill Loyso Pondokhva, the most dangerous Grand Magister of the entire Age of the Orders, who unlike ignorant majority ''actively worked to'' achieve TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt? Loyso demonstrated a small capacity for True Magic.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifter and VoluntaryShapeshifting in one: Humkha Yokh, one of the seven founding masters of the Seven-Leaf Order, enchanted his only son Kofa to improve Kofa's [[BigFun character]] and [[BigEater appetite]]. The resulting sir Kofa Yokh in Echo is in his default appearance an elder, wise, patient and jolly gentleman of somewhat round proportions. If sir Kofa leaves the vicinity of Echo, Humkha's enchantment fades and the world is treated to the original Kofa Yokh, whom Max described as a "Lord of the British Empire somehow arriving at an Arabian royal court". The aptitude at shapeshifting seems to be hereditary, as sir Kofa can change his own and others' appearances at will, although the out-of-Echo Kofa dislikes doing so.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Fishmonger (keeper of holey fish bassins) of the Holey Chalice Order drank all the water in the bassins, taking up the power of about 600 fellow order members. The things he pulled off earned him the "Mad Fishmonger" monicker, and that was during the Order wars. He pulled the ThatManIsDead listed above to survive some consequences and now goes by his original name, Shurf Lonli-Lokli.

* BloodKnight: during the War of Codex, sir Rogro Zhiil' fought on the side of King Gurig VII and the Seven-Leaf Order. According to fellow combatants' testimonies, he was there not out of loyalty, but just for the thrill. Served several decades in Holomi for using Forbidden Magic in a street brawl just a few days into the Epoch of the Codex, invented the daily newspaper out of boredom while doing time.

The protagonist of the series.

* ExtremeDoormat: Probably due to Max Arbiter status, his Deathly Spheres (otherwise a reliable OneHitKill spell) follow his unspoken desire not to kill, but to make harmless and useful, thus giving Max absolute power over his targets. Max can order enthralled people to do things otherwise impossible in Echo, although this is likely another manifestation of the [[RealityWarper Arbiter]] power.

* MindControl: Max's green Death Orbs, which are supposed to kill people, instead turn them into obedient slaves. There is a small chance that they will function as originally intended, however, so Max always has to make sure there isn't a part of him that wants his target dead before casting this spell.

[[TheSpymaster Master Listener]] of SI.

* HeelFaceBrainwashing: While he was merely very unpleasant rather than downright evil, [[spoiler:Kofa Yokh]] present personality is a result of a spell cast upon him by his late father, and it is significantly nicer than the original one.

[[ImplacableMan Master Interrupter of Unnecessary Lives]].

* TheStoic: Shurf Lonli-Lokli's ability to keep a cool head is legendary, to the point where Max sees any instance of him acting NotSoStoic as either a sign of impending apocalypse or the cue to say goodbye to his own sanity (or both).

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Fishmonger (keeper of holey fish bassins) of the Holey Chalice Order drank all the water in the bassins, taking up the power of about 600 fellow order members. The things he pulled off earned him the "Mad Fishmonger" monicker, and that was during the Order wars. He pulled the ThatManIsDead listed above to survive some consequences and now goes by his original name, [[spoiler: Shurf Lonli-Lokli.]]

* ScarilyCompetentTracker
* StarCrossedLovers: Max and Melamori.

* AbsentMindedProfessor

* TrueSight: Luukfi, the Keeper of Knowledge of the Lesser Secret Investigations Force. His gift is to see things as they are. He can tell individual burivukhs apart and simply doesn't notice an elaborate magical disguise worn by Max. This is not a spell, but an incredibly rare innate ability, as Max is told that there is only one more person possessing it.

Master Escorter of the Dead (mortician of the LSIF). Technically member of the LSIF, he appears very rarely and never participates in any field work.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker

The thoroughly incompetent police chief of Echo.

Successor to the Order's original Seven founders who has steered it through the War of the Codex and until present day. [[spoiler:He abdicates in favor of Max or whoever Max chooses as a successor in ''White Stones of Kharumba''.]]

!!Lady Sotofa Hannemer
The "chief witch" of the Order of the Seven-Leaf, though she rarely engages in politics like Nuflin.

!!His Majesty Gurig XIII
The incumbent King of the United Kingdom, son of Gurig XII who won the War of the Codex.

Owner of most of Echo's newspapers.

* BloodKnight: Sir Rogro Zhiil' during the War for the Codex, although on the side of King Gurig VII and the Seven-Leaf Order. According to fellow combatants' testimonies, he was there not out of loyalty, but just for the thrill. Served several decades in Holomi for using Forbidden Magic in a street brawl just a few days into the Epoch of the Codex, invented the daily newspaper out of boredom while doing time.
* DaEditor: subverted with sir Rogro Zhiil', the editor and owner of Echo's respectable newspaper, "King's Voice", and unknown to the general population, also the editor and the owner of Echo's somewhat tabloid "Fuss of Echo". Sir Rogro is a refined gentleman, a skilled [[WhenThePlanetsAlign astrologist]][[hottip:*: in Echo, astrology is an exact mathematical science]] and among the favorite lovers of [[spoiler: His Majesty Gurig VIII, much to Max's surprise]].

An ancient King of Echo from the Age of the Orders and the last known native Arbiter of his world. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances many centuries ago but numerous hints throughout the series suggest that he is still alive to this day. [[spoiler:Until he pops up in person in ''The Quiet City''.]]

* [[spoiler:BarrierMaiden: Actually, a Barrier Guy: King Mönin, the only known Arbiter in the history of Echo, was asked by the ancient time-traveling Magisters to exile himself to the inescapable Quiet City. The reasoning was that a prisoner's desire to get home is the strongest wish there is, and when coming from an Arbiter, it will ensure the continued existence of the world for him to return to, thus preventing the apocalypse. Max was brought to Echo with explicit purpose to relieve Mönin, but Juffin didn't expect the latter to escape just seven years after Max's arrival.]]

* TheNoseKnows: Smellers are rare individuals with this power. Calling upon a Smeller is a viable alternative to calling upon a [[ScarilyCompetentTracker Master of Tracking]], as Masters of Tracking have different limits and are vulnerable to several effects and countermeasures.