History Literature / CodexAlera

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Alera is saved from the Vord and has crafted a new Alliance with all of its former enemies. Tavi takes the throne with his newly wedded wife Kitai and their son Desiderius and already has set plans into motion regarding the reconstruction of Alera, aiming to make it stronger and fairer-minded than ever before. Additionally, Alera's corrupt MightMakesRight FantasticCasteSystem based on furycrafting has been permanently broken by Tavi, who had the Great Fury Alera "alter" the system so that furycrafting is now based on merit and not inheritance. However, nearly half of the Aleran people were killed in the war, and the scars left behind by the conflict will be truly devastating. Weather patterns are thrown into flux by the eruptions of Mount Kalus and the volcano Gaius Sextus created beneath Alera Imperia, along with the icy weather Tavi brought down from the north for his ship-sleds (in fact, it's mentioned that because of Tavi's actions, a new ice age will begin in "only a few" millennia). The Great Fury Alera's death will cause even more chaos: furycrafting itself may become unpredictable, wild furies will become more prevalent, random surges of plant growth and death will occur, animals will behave oddly, and the weather will become even more turbulent. And most worrying of all, the Vord still control Canea, having killed most of the population - Tavi and crew were only in time to save about sixty thousand Canim - and will spend the next few decades fortifying and consolidating the continent. They will be ready to attack Alera again within roughly a century and a half, and Alera ''needs'' to be ready to meet them by then. On the other hand, the Vord controlling Canea provides sufficient motive for the peoples of Carna to maintain their EnemyMine situation, which Tavi fully intends to leverage as much as possible.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Alera is saved from the Vord and has crafted a new Alliance with all of its former enemies. Tavi takes the throne with his newly wedded wife Kitai and their son Desiderius and already has set plans into motion regarding the reconstruction of Alera, aiming to make it stronger and fairer-minded than ever before. Additionally, Alera's corrupt MightMakesRight FantasticCasteSystem based on furycrafting has been permanently broken by Tavi, who had the Great Fury Alera "alter" the system so that furycrafting is now based on merit and not inheritance. However, nearly half of the Aleran people were killed in the war, and the scars left behind by the war will be truly devastating. Weather patterns are thrown into flux by the eruptions of Mount Kalus and the volcano Gaius Sextus created beneath Alera Imperia, along with the icy weather Tavi brought down from the north for his ship-sleds (in fact, it's mentioned that because of Tavi's actions, a new ice age will begin in "only a few" millennia). The Great Fury Alera's death will cause even more chaos: furycrafting itself may become unpredictable, wild furies will become more prevalent, random surges of plant growth and death will occur, animals will behave oddly, and the weather will become even more turbulent. Also, the Vord still control Canea, having killed most of the population - Tavi and crew were only in time to save about sixty thousand Canim - and will spend the few centuries fortifying and consolidating the continent. They will be ready to attack Alera again within roughly a century and a half, and Alera ''needs'' to be ready to meet them by then. On the other hand, the Vord controlling Canea provides sufficient motive for the peoples of Carna to maintain their EnemyMine situation, which Tavi fully intends to leverage as much as possible.]]

* PlanetOfHats: A rare fantasy [[AvertedTrope aversion]]. Although there are five different races, each one is shown to have its cowards and its heroes, individuals noble and villainous. The Canim and the Marat may be {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s, but there's ''far'' more to their outlooks than just killing stuff for honor. It is what makes [[spoiler:TheAlliance at the end]] possible. [[spoiler:Even the HordeOfAlienLocusts are exempt, as the original Vord Queen develops a personality very different from her daughters.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Alera is saved from the Vord and has crafted a new Alliance with all of its former enemies. Tavi takes the throne with his newly wedded wife Kitai and their son Desiderius and already has set plans into motion regarding the reconstruction of Alera, aiming to make it stronger and fairer-minded than ever before. Additionally, Alera's corrupt MightMakesRight FantasticCasteSystem based on furycraftingg has been permanently broken by Tavi, who had the Great Fury Alera "alter" the system so that furycrafting is now based on merit and not inheritance. However, nearly half of the Aleran people were killed in the war, and the scars left behind by the war will be truly devastating. Weather patterns are thrown into flux by the eruptions of Mount Kalus and the volcano Gaius Sextus created beneath Alera Imperia, along with the icy weather Tavi brought down from the north for his ship-sleds (in fact, it's mentioned that because of Tavi's actions, a new ice age will begin in "only a few" millennia). The Great Fury Alera's death will cause even more chaos: furycrafting itself may become unpredictable, wild furies will become more prevalent, random surges of plant growth and death will occur, animals will behave oddly, and the weather will become even more turbulent. Also, the Vord still control Canea, having killed most of the population - Tavi and crew were only in time to save about sixty thousand Canim - and will spend the few centuries fortifying and consolidating the continent. They will be ready to attack Alera again within roughly a century and a half, and Alera ''needs'' to be ready to meet them by then. On the other hand, the Vord controlling Canea provides sufficient motive for the peoples of Carna to maintain their EnemyMine situation, which Tavi fully intends to leverage as much as possible.]]

---> They closed on the refugees faster than Tavi could have believed, and when they saw Aleran cavalry riding down upon them, the refugees' expressions of terror and despair filled with sudden hope. Arms lifted in sudden shouts and cheers and breathless cries of encouragement.
** Later, Max and Crassus save Tavi's ass by sending two water lions against the Canim trying to kill him.
** In ''First Lord's Fury'' Tavi [[spoiler:arrives with a full legion and Canim troops on the vord's aft, drawing attention and placing themselves in a key position to finally kill the Queen]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Alera is saved from the Vord and has crafted a new Alliance with all of its former enemies. Tavi takes the throne with his newly wedded wife Kitai and their son Desiderius and already has set plans into motion regarding the reconstruction of Alera, aiming to make it stronger than ever before. However, nearly half of the Aleran people were killed in the war. Weather patterns are thrown into flux by the eruptions of Mount Kalus and the volcano Gaius Sextus created beneath Alera Imperia, along with the icy weather Tavi brought down from the north for his ship-sleds. The Great Fury Alera's death will cause even more chaos: furycrafting may become unpredictable, wild furies will become more prevalent, random surges of plant growth and death will occur, and the weather will become even more turbulent. Also, the Vord still control Canea, having killed most of the population - Tavi and crew were only in time to save about sixty thousand Canim - and will spend the next few centuries fortifying and consolidating the continent. They will be ready to attack Alera again within roughly two hundred years, and Alera ''needs'' to be ready to meet them. On the other hand, the Vord controlling Canea does provide sufficient motive for the peoples of Carna to maintain their EnemyMine situation, which Tavi fully intends to leverage as much as possible.]]
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Vord Queens have them.

--> In the past five hundred years, not one Grey Guardsman has taken a bribe, and only a handful of idiots have attempted to give them one.
* BrickJoke: ''Furies of Calderon'' begins with Tavi and Bernard searching for a lost flock of sheep near Garados, where they run into Atsurak. [[spoiler: The last scene of the book is Tavi returning home with those lost sheep.]]

** [[invoked]] "Grass lions" are (by WordOfGod) sabertooth cats. Gargants are descended from the Giant Ground Sloth, leviathans are plesiosaurs, and herdbane are terror birds. The descriptions given to the thanadents, tavar, slives, and garim are a lot more vague, but the former two are heavily implied to be a type of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosauroid tyrannosauroid]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_dog “bear-dog”]] respectively, while the latter two seem to be descendents of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estesia the Cretaceous species of venomous monitor lizards]] respectively. Of course, these animals and their ancestors all went extinct long before the Romans even existed, so the Alerans would have no idea what their proper names are.
** The highly advanced and massive crossbows created by the Canim are referred to as “balests.” Additionally, the [[spoiler:catapults]] re-invented by Octavian and Bernard in ''First Lord’s Fury'' are called “mules” since [[spoiler:the force of their released payloads causes one end of their structure to leap up in a manner reminiscent of a donkey kicking out its hind legs. Which was actually a historical name: Romans called what we would call a catapult an "onager" (an ass or a mule) because it kicked like one, while "catapulta" was used for what was essentially a giant crossbow]].
* CallBack: After Isana uses a river to defeat someone in book one, she says, "My river." [[spoiler:In the last book, after the Aleran forces repel a Vord thrust, Bernard says, "My Valley."]]

* MathematiciansAnswer: In Princeps’ Fury, when Kitai asks if Tavi is studying the Vord or the Canim while overlooking Shuar’s battle plans, Tavi simply replies "Yes."

* MedievalStasis: For the most part among the Alerans, technology is static and has actually ''regressed'' from the original Roman settlers' because of the universal access to ElementalPowers. {{Magitek}} is so universal that despite the low tech levels, the quality of life is roughly equivalent to the mid-20th century, and the use of magic ''has'' been evolving. There is also an institutionalized traditionalism within Aleran society, thanks to the fact that they've spent a millennia simply fighting to survive against the DeathWorld that is Carna, which resulted in an emphasis on following set, traditional methods. This is, ultimately, a serious problem that the Alerans have, as they have no reference point to deal with enemies using advanced engineering like the Canim, let alone a completely new OutOfContextProblem like [[HordeOfAlienLocusts the Vord.]]

--> She touched his forehead. Her fingertip was damp and cool.
--> The means simply appeared in Tavi’s mind, as smoothly as if it had been something remembered from his days at the Academy. And, like much of furycraft, it was quite simple to implement. Painful, he suspected, but simple.

* NighInvulnerable: The Vord Queens are ''far'' more durable than anything made of flesh and bone (and chitin) ought to be. It's taken to a level of near-absurdity with the Primary Vord Queen — it eventually takes [[spoiler:getting essentially ''EatenAlive by a [[GeniusLoci sentient thunderstorm]]'' after having already gone through a long fight with Tavi & Kitai for her to be weakened enough for Tavi to kill her]].

-->"I gave you even odds of seeing through the switch."

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The Steadholder Kord, High Lord Kalarus Brencis, and Kalarus Brencis Minoris, are all raging misogynists. Additionally, both Senator Guntus Arnos and Invidia Aquitaine repeatedly show incredibly classist views of Aleran society, with the latter repeatedly calling [[spoiler:Isana]] a “glorified peasant” and [[spoiler:“camp whore”]] during their time together in ''First Lord’s Fury''.

** Additionally, the Aquitaines are also very much against slavery... since weakening slavery will shatter the strength of their main political rival, High Lord Kalarus, whose economy is completely built around slavery.

* PsychicStatic: When the mind-reading Vord Queen is questioning Amara about the location of Bernard, Amara follows the resultant train of thought and brings up every memory relating to Bernard that she can think of. The Queen remarks that her mind is surprisingly disciplined, and has to resort to other methods of information extraction.

* RashomonStyle: When Araris Valerian talks about Gaius Septimus, he extols his virtues when it came to dealing with other members of the nobility: he could turn even enemies into friends, and he had the knack for getting other people to back down without wounding their pride or losing face publicly. Aquitaine Invidia, on the other hand, says that Septimus simply didn't ''notice'' the enmity he aroused in those around him, and forgot about the grudges that other Citizens would nurse for years.

** As powerful as the High Lords and Ladies are, [[OneManArmy with the ability to destroy small armies on their own when they unleash their furycrafting,]] they are not invincible. Indeed, the most common way they end up being killed is by sneak attacks or being surprised in combat. Invidia is nearly killed in ''Academ's Fury'' when several Vord sneak up on her, and in ''Captain's Fury'' she is [[spoiler:near-fatally wounded by a balest bolt shot by Fidelias, and only saved by the Vord Queen]].
** The Canim ritualists practice a particularly devastating form of BloodMagic that lets them perform a wide variety of spells, such as creating clouds of toxic acid, summoning storms, and even calling down [[BoltOfDivineRetribution veritable]] [[BoltOfDivineRetribution walls]] [[BoltOfDivineRetribution of lightning]]. However, they suffer the LogicalWeakness of being limited by how much blood there is to spare for the spell in question.

* RedBaron: Skilled swordsmen of Alera are often given sword-based nickames which become part of their actual names.

* RedemptionQuest: Tavi sets [[spoiler:Fidelias up on one at the end. Fidelias is dead. He is now Marcus and he will train the next generation of Cursors, receive all the glory, goodness, and other rewards Fidelias should have received had he never betrayed the Crown]].
* RedShirt: Tons of people without names die, from legionares to civilians, as situations spiral increasingly out of control.

** When Tavi meets Varg for the first time, the Canim ambassador is demanding to see Gaius, who cannot see anyone at the moment [[spoiler:due to currently being in a coma]]. How does the Aleran with no furycrafting stop a 9-foot tall WolfMan? He gets Varg to lean in close and pulls a knife on the Cane, threatening a mutual kill if Varg doesn't back off and go away. Varg is impressed.

** Nedus from ''Academ's Fury'', a retired Knight Captain trying to help Isana get in contact with the First Lord while protecting her from her political enemies. He is the sword master who trained most of the expert swordsmen of the current generation, including Araris Valerian and Sir Miles. [[spoiler:He proves his badassness as he defends Isana from assassins. There are three cutters armed with swords, and he manages to kill two of them, but killing the second opens him up for the third to stab him fatally. [[TakingYouWithMe He proceeds to grab his killer and take him out by stabbing him through the mouth before expiring]].]]

** All of the ancient enemies the Alerans fought several hundred years ago - at the ''least'' - before the start of the series are only mentioned by Amara in passing by name[[note]]the Malorandim, Children of the Sun, Avar, Yrani, and Dekh[[/note]] in ''Princeps' Fury'', and almost all other details are completely left up in the air. (The only thing we know about any of them is that the Children of the Sun used to live in the Feverthorn Jungle, and whatever they left behind is capable of keeping both Alerans and the Vord from entering.)

* ShockCollar: In this case the collar does not only hurt the slave when they misbehave, but also rewards them with sensations of pleasure when they do well.

** In "First Lord's Fury", Varg [[ThrowTheBookAtThem knocks down Khral]], an attacking ritualist, with what is strongly implied to be a copy of the ''Literature/CommentariiDeBelloGallico'' by UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar.
** In "First Lord's Fury", Doroga rides to the rescue with his big freaking club and shouts "Good day!" as he pastes a Vord. There is a Danish weapon called a gotendag ("good day"), which is basically a giant wooden club with spikes. Supposedly, its wielders would shout "Gotendag!" when using it to take down knights on horseback.

** In the epilogue at the end of ''First Lord's Fury'', [[spoiler:First Lord Octavian signs into law the end of slavery throughout Alera]].

** While regular horses exist, a prefered secondary beast is the Gargant. The descriptions in the books are a little vague, but WordOfGod finally came out and said that Gargants are descendents of ''Megatherium'', the Giant Ground Sloth.
** The Canims' mounts, the Taurga. Descriptions are vague, but they give the impression of being massive, predatory camel-analogues, especially in disposition.

* ImAHumanitarian: Marat believe that, once you have defeated your foe, you must "partake of their strength" - which means eating bits of them, usually the heart. And yes, this includes Alerans and other Marat.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Aleran politics are full of deadly intrigue, to the point where “cutters” (read: assassins) will never be out of work.

* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Kitai's people are established in the first novel to literally cook Alerans alive before eating them, and even ''she'' finds their institution of slavery to be the worst, most [[HumansThroughAlienEyes inexplicable]] thing about them. The Canim are similarly disgusted, with Nasaug specifically mentioning the Alerans' practicing slavery as a reason for why his fellow Canim see the Alerans as monsters and demons.

** Varg, who holds the rank of Warmaster amongst his Range (Nation) and killed a Vord-controlled Cane (with superior strength and resistance to pain) singlehandedly and unarmed.

* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The description given of the Icemen in first ''Furies of Calderon'' and later ''Princeps’ Fury'' shows that they strongly resemble the archetypal Bigfoot.

** The Alerans of the north and Icemen have this relationship. One side kills the other and the other retaliates. It has been going on for so long, Isana wonders if either side actually remembers why the conflict started to begin with. [[spoiler: The [[HatePlague mutually inimical reactions of Aleran firecrafting and the Icemen's innate watercrafting-adjacent powers]] hasn't helped.]]

** The ''legionares'' who die serving on the Shieldwall, the fortifications protecting Alera from the northern Icemen, are burned on a funeral pyre instead of being buried. It is symbolic of [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind keeping them away from the Icemen]]. High Lord Antillus will give this honor to civilians who die valiantly fighting Icemen if they breach the wall and reach the steadholts.

* TheEmpath

--->"a low but steady 'noise', like being constantly accompanied by half a dozen nightmarishly persistent crickets. It was never horribly loud, but it didn't ''stop'', and the intrusive sensations could make it maddeningly difficult to sleep or concentrate."

** Amara and Invidia team up to bring down Kalarus
** Alerans, the Marat, and the Canim join forces to stop the Vord, with an armistice with the Icemen at the same time. The epilogue has Tavi note that he fully intends to leverage the continued existence of a Vord Queen in Canea to maintain this alliance.

'''Max:''' Don't tell anyone, but [this guy] was brought up on a steadholt. Herding sheep, if you can believe that.

* FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence: Basically the root of the war between the Alerans and the Icemen. The Alerans won't retreat because they're sure the Icemen will take advantage of their leaving their lands unguarded, and the Icemen won't back down because they feel that they'll be invaded if they don't drive the Alerans far enough back from the Shieldwall. [[spoiler: The reason this happens is because the interaction between the Icemen's natural water-based empathic magic and Aleran cold-resisting firecrafting encourages feelings of agression, anxiety, and anger, poisoning all relationships until Isana (a non-Firecrafter) came along and figured out what was going on.]]

** The Canim warrior caste have a strict code that covers their treatment of each other within the frame of combat, and they have eleven words to name "enemy". A ''gadara'' is "a foe that is equal. Honorable. Trusted." They liken the different gradients of 'enemy' to the way that the Icemen have twenty-four names for 'snow'.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While most of Aleran society is coherent to what a displaced Roman colony from 100AD would look like, there are a lot of minor inconsistencies. Some jokes clearly make sense only if the characters are speaking english, everyone wears pants [[note]]a signature barbarian garb, not to mention legionaries wore studded leather skirts[[/note]], gladii are always used as slashing weapons [[note]]while they were built to stab upwards[[/note]], no one ever consider adopting an heir [[note]]Tiberius, the second roman emperor, was adopted. Just to name one case[[/note]], and so on.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While most of aleran society is coherent to what a displaced roman colony from 100AD would look like, there are a lot of minor inconsistencies. Some jokes clearly make sense only if the characters are speaking english, everyone wears pants [[note]]a signature barbarian garb, not to mention legionaries wore studded leather skirts[[/note]], gladii are always used as slashing weapons [[note]]while they were built to stab upwards[[/note]], no one ever consider adopting an heir [[note]]Tiberius, the second roman emperor, was adopted. Just to name one case[[/note]], and so on.

** When fighting the Vord Queen in the First Aleran's camp, [[spoiler:Tavi was pinned to a rock with a razor-edged, poisoned vord-chitin sword. He almost cut his fingers off trying to get himself free.]]

** [[spoiler:Invidia is impaled by a stone-headed spear from behind by Amara before having her throat slashed by the aforementioned Cursor]].

** Kalarus' Immortals, who have been trained since birth with discipline collars so that they will not only continue fighting until they literally drop dead, but will enjoy doing so.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Most Metalcrafters have this as their primary means of offense. Although they have to build up their reflexes and muscle strength naturally, their Metal Furies give them the ability to sense all metal around them, giving them a sort of metal-detecting bullet time ([[LogicalWeakness though this doesn't work against non-metallic weaponry]]), as well as allowing them to cause the metal in their blades to become magically superhard to the point that they can easily cleave through solid stone walls. Aircrafters can use their Furies to boost their reflexes and movement speed to give them increased swordfighting powers as well.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Anyone with strong woodcrafting ability becomes an incredible archer, among them being Bernard, Fidelias, and any Knight Flora. In ''Academ's Fury'', a group of Knights Flora looses a barrage of arrows that are so precise they can fly between a ''legionaire's'' ear and his shield, or beneath a rising sword arm as the soldier in question strikes out. In ''Captain's Fury'', a woodcrafter named Iris the Hawk is so accurate that she can put arrows into men's heads or throats from four hundred yards, while on the rolling deck of a moving ship. By comparison, the classic English longbow could ''potentially'' reach those ranges in ideal conditions, but with only inaccurate, arching barrage fire.

* InevitableMutualBetrayal: Everyone who works with Invidia Acquitaine tries to take her ChronicBackstabbingDisorder into account, with degrees of success that range from "filleted for their trouble" to "left Invidia stranded naked in the woods deep in enemy territory."

* InsultBackfire: The knights in the First Aleran Legion invoke this in ''Cursor's Fury''. The previously inexperienced division of Knights had gotten the nickname Knights Pisces, based on the naming convention for the knight divisions by craft ([[GratuitousLatin Knights Ferrous, Knights Flora, and so on]]) and the tradition of calling new recruits fish.[[note]]Because their flailing around is less like a ''legionaire'' and more like a landed fish.[[/note]] After their exceptional performance in dire circumstances, they make themselves insignia of [[ThreateningShark a shark]] as a BadassBoast because of Tavi's little trick with the cattle blood in the river.

** Tavi uses his knowledge of his enemy's culture to make their leader look like a fool and thus erode his support.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Throughout ''Academ's Fury'', every bit of narration refers to Varg as "it". This continues through ''Cursor's Fury'' until the very end, when the narration uses "she" to refer to a fleeing Cane along with the {{wham|line}} that this is the first time anyone's ever ''seen'' a female Cane. Afterward, the proper gender pronouns are used. When Isana first sees Ambassador Varg in ''Captain's Fury'', she remarks at just how large "it" is. Tavi responds that yes, ''he'' is quite big.

** Inverted--It's what ''he'' does--when Tavi and Nasaug discuss Varg and why he is imprisoned in the Aleran capital. Nasaug states that Varg is imprisoned unjustly since he did not act dishonorably, and when Tavi asks what makes Nasaug think that, he simply replies that, "He is Varg."

** As of ''Princeps' Fury'', High Lord Antillus Raucus has spent huge chunks of his life locked in constant battle with the Icemen. He is obviously emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted by the constant strain, but he gamely carries on with it, because "it's what one did".

* IUhYouToo: Of the platonic variety - In ''First Lord’s Fury'', the Awakened Vord Queen quietly tells [[spoiler:[[TheQuisling Invidia]]]] that “You are not replaceable,” and then adds as she is about to leave for battle “I will therefore sacrifice you the most reluctantly. I would prefer it if you took whatever action you could to avoid becoming the victory of chance.” Considering how the Vord are a HiveMind HordeOfAlienLocusts, it serves as a pretty startling example both InUniverse and out of just how IntriguedByHumanity the Awakened Queen has become.

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: A variation. Gaius Sextus promotes Count Gram of Calderon Valley to a Lordship and gives him a place to relax in relative retirement in the lovely Aramanth Vale, home to plains of good fields and easy work. An annoyed Gram later calls Gaius a confidence man because [[spoiler:the Vord have taken over the domain and ruined his lovely retirement, forcing him to act once more]].
* KansasCityShuffle: Tavi figures out that the best way of combating an enemy who can read minds is to make sure nobody but him knows all of what is going on, so he uses plans that rely on complicated sets of sealed orders issued to many different people. [[spoiler:And in return, they do not tell him about the fact that they are sending backup when he meets the mind reading foe.]]

** [[spoiler:[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Invidia]]]] dies by being stabbed in the back.

** High Lord Kalarus, in his bid to overthrow the throne and take it for himself, quickly demonstrates that such petty things as "morals" or "humanity" do not concern him. When he [[IHaveYourWife kidnaps the wife and daughter of two High Lords in order to blackmail them into non-action]] he puts one of them in the same room as the five year old daughter of his spymaster and explains to her that, should she try to escape, his security systems will kill the child first and ''then'' try to stop her.

*** First, he orders [[spoiler:an entire town of innocent civilians executed "for conspiring with the enemy" (read: not essentially committing mass suicide by fighting a hopeless battle against a vastly superior enemy) after the town is liberated]]. He does it for the sole purpose of having an excuse to remove Tavi from command of his Legion when Tavi balks at the order. He also fully intends to carry through with the order even when Tavi gives him a better reason to remove the captain from command, because he's just that kind of asshole.
*** Arnos is also responsible for alaes of mercenary cavalry in the Senatorial Guard [[spoiler:slaughtering innocent steadholts throughout the region so as to draw the Free Aleran Legion into a fight and get credit for ending a slave revolt. Notably, even the '''Canim''' are revolted by the latter actions, with them fully planning on wiping out all of the remaining Aleran Legions in the Amaranth Vale so as to avenge the dead civilians]].

** Placida Aria is almost never seen without a gorgeous flowing gown. She's also one of the most badass High Lords in the entire series, having earned her title in ''juris macto'' (most High Ladies married into the title, but Aria refused to do so).

** Gaius Sextus does this a few times. However, Tavi and [[spoiler:Fidelias]] can both spot him in short time.

* LadyMacbeth: Lady Invidia Aquitaine is much more evil than her husband. The Cursors even had a betting pool going on "Which one will win when they finally try to kill each other?" [[spoiler:Invidia, it turns out.]]

** Lady Placida is a calm, regal woman who cares about those under her charge and will stand up to the Citizens if one is about to harm those she has come to respect. She is the only woman to attain Citizenship by virtue of ''winning'' an Juris Macto battle in her teens while the other women, [[spoiler:save Isana]], earned the title by marriage.

** [[spoiler:Gaius Isana, First Lady of Alera]] is not as combat-able as either of the two above, but she will not shy away from combat in later books, having [[spoiler:fought a High Lord to his defeat by means of her own strength and willingness to sacrifice herself and opening his eyes to his own deep hatred]] and took down six powerful vord [[spoiler:that were covered in metal with just water attacks]]. She also [[spoiler:connects to the Ocean Fury - that is, the fury that exists in the ''entire ocean'', and the realization of it enhances her power so much that she is able to heal a mortal wound in seconds without a tub of water ''after'' pulling off several craftings that would exhaust even a Lady.]]

** The Marat do not have a word for "lying", the closest they can come is to say that somebody is making an 'intentional mistake'. In their culture, when one person accuses another of being mistaken the result is a DuelToTheDeath between parties to determine who is correct, they find the concept of somebody ''deliberately'' telling a falsehood confusing and pointless.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: High Lady Aquitaine's ultimate fate. She was offered a choice between helping her fellow Alerans against the Vord Queen or follow the Queen's command to kill the remaining High Lords and Ladies. Not seconds after she chose to side with the Vord Queen, Amara rams a stone-tipped spear through her chest from behind and with a stone dagger she cuts her throat]].

* LawOfInverseFertility: Amara was rendered infertile in her youth due to the Blight, and toward the end of the series finally reconciles herself to having no children and adopting wayward orphans. [[spoiler: It is after she accepts this that the Blight damage to her womb is healed by the Blessing of the Night, and she becomes pregnant]].
* LeaveHimToMe: At the climax of ''Furies of Calderon'', Aldrick ex Gladius and Pirellus of the Black Blade order their two groups of soldier to retreat and reform. The two of them, however, stay in position and fight one-on-one after their supporters have withdrawn.

* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler: Kalarus, the failed Chessmaster, took out an insurance policy against his demise: he has bonded the elemental of a sleeping volcano. He dies, the volcano blows its top. At least, that was the ''plan''. The First Lord made the hard choice and [[ShootTheDog detonated it prematurely]]. It wiped out the city below, but if he had given it until the end of the civil war, the city would have been filled with refugees and the soldiers of his own armies, which would have doubled (or more) the number of casualties.]]

** Kitai [[spoiler:first gains Tavi's green eyes as a result of their bonding]]. Tavi doesn't understand what that really means until a book later.

* LostInTranslation: In ''Princeps' Fury'' Marcus is teaching a young but energetic Cane how to speak in Aleran. He encounters the syntax issue when the cane states, "Alerans smell badly." His intent is to claim, "Alerans have a poor sense of smell" not that "Alerans stink." Marcus is very careful in his critique as the 8-ft tall wolfman is a young packleader (officer) trying to demonstrate his prowess in front of his elder (Varg), and is not likely to react well to being told that he is incorrect, along with the resulting loss of face. [[spoiler:When the cane lunges at him in anger, Marcus evades and slams the cane's head into the ground, continuing his conversation as though it didn't happen]].

* {{Magitek}}: In daily life, most Alerans use technology roughly equivalent to medieval Europe, which is about what one would expect considering the origin of Alera. However, different aspects of furycrafting stand out as modern conveniences: furylamps, which function exactly like lightbulbs, coldstones, which provide refrigeration, watersending, which provides communication across thousands of miles, and air-coaches, which stand in for airplanes. Combined with the healing of watercrafting and the ability of woodcrafting to stimulate the growth of food crops, Alera has a life-expectancy and quality of life equal to the modern day.

* MakesUsEven: Odiana explains at the end of ''Furies of Calderon'' that she and Isana are now even after [[spoiler:she saved the lives of Bernard, Fade and Tavi]].

* MarkOfShame: Fade's brand. It is done to any who desert the Legion. While [[spoiler:it is self-inflicted, he feels it is more than justified for his failing to protect Septimus in the final battle, having allowed his love for Isana convince him that following Sept's orders and protecting Isana was best.]]

** Centurion Giraldi was introduced towards the climax of ''Furies of Calderon'' as a soldier stationed at Garrison, returns in ''Academ's Fury'' as Bernard's second-in-command and spends ''Cursor's Fury'' as Isana's companion, guard and assistant. He returns in ''First Lord's Fury'', back at Garrison where it all began.

** Tarsh, Anag, and Sha are the three Canim most frequently seen and characterized out of the last two novels while still not being major Canim characters on par with Varg, Nasaug, or even Master Morak. The first is mostly characterized as an overly ambitious bully who was ReassignedToAntarctica in hopes of him becoming more competent, while Anag serves as a HypercompetentSidekick assigned to him largely to minimize any damage he would cause, with the latter quickly gaining a fascination with furycrafting and strong respect for the Alerans. Sha, meanwhile, is the [[spoiler:only surviving]] Hunter under Varg’s employ and develops a surprising camaraderie with Fidelias.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Captain Demos asks if Ehren is a Cursor, Ehren responds "I don't know what you mean, sir," but both he and Demos know it is simply a ''pro forma'' lie. Later, when Ehren asks if he was working for Kalarus, Demos responds with the same phrase, and makes an effort to impersonate Ehren's inflection. Again they both know it is just a lie to keep up appearances.

** Names like "Antillar" for Max, compared to his half-brother's Antillus, denotes the child is a bastard born by some noble who refuses to make an official claim of parentship. So, the child inherits the name of the High Lord's city his land is loyal to.

** Isana gives [[spoiler:Invidia]] the new name of [[spoiler:"Nihilus Invidia"]] for the woman's treachery]].
** Varg dubs Tavi "Tavar," pointing out that it's clsoe enough to his own name and also appropriate. A tavar is a highly intelligent predator native to Canea, stupidly brave, incredibly dangerous, and relatively small. Varg says that despite its small size he has never heard of a Canim taking one down without receiving extreme injuries of its own, and the Canim have a saying that only a fool messes with a tavar. Even the Vord tread lightly around them.
* MedievalStasis: For the most part among the Alerans, technology is static and has actually ''regressed'' from the original Roman settlers' because of the universal access to ElementalPowers. {{Magitek}} is so universal that despite the low tech levels, the quality of life is roughly equivalent to the mid-20th century, and the use of magic ''has'' been evolving. There is also an institutionalized traditionalism within Aleran society, thanks to the fact that they've spent a millennia simply fighting to survive against the DeathWorld that is Carna, which resulted in an emphasis on following set, traditional methods. This is, ultimately, a serious problem that the Alerans have, as they have no reference point to deal with enemies using advanced engineering like the Canim, let alone a completely out of context problem like [[HordeOfAlienLocusts the Vord.]]

* MoodyMount: The Taurga, which try at every opportunity to dislodge, bite or kill their riders.

* MundaneSolution: A whole lot, mostly courtesy of Tavi. Earthcrafting makes someone super strong, but it does not increase weight and you have to be touching the ground to use it. Throwing an earthcrafter on a wooden deck cuts off their strength, making them an easy target if they are relying on their crafting too much. Likewise, salt injures wind furies, disrupting fliers: Tavi comes up with the idea of salt arrows[[note]]Because windcrafters can use their furies to slow their perception of time, they can easily destroy arrows, but making a salt arrow means that when it is destroyed, the windcrafter is covered with salt and immediately disrupted[[/note]], which Bernard later uses to terrifying effect. Metalcrafters can sense blades or arrowheads coming at them, but not flint or stone weapons.
* MundaneUtility: All of the different types of furies and their crafters have some form of mundane utility; windcrafting allows for flight, earthcrafting increases strength to the point that loads in the hundreds of kilograms are no issue and active earthcrafting can be used to make buildings or drag minerals up to the surface (either ore for mining or nutrients for farming plants, though the latter is usually an emergency measure and is mentioned as making the soil unusable for farming after a few seasons worth of growth), watercrafters are healers, metalcrafters are smiths and have endurance that allows them to block out pain or keep going for days, woodcrafters can manipulate any form of plant life, making them excellent farmers--and archers--and firecrafters create the equivalent of both lightbulbs and refrigeration. The economy is so based on fury-crafting that most forms of technological development have completely stagnated.

** Tavi and Kitai are inadvertently responsible for the awakening of the Vord. They do fix it, however, though it takes quite a while.

* NighInvulnerable: The Vord Queens are ''far'' more durable than anything made of flesh and bone (and chitin) ought to be. It's taken to a level of near-absurdity with the Awakened Vord Queen, with it eventually taking her [[spoiler:getting essentially ''EatenAlive by a [[GeniusLoci sentient thunderstorm]]'' after having already gone through a long fight with Tavi & Kitai for her to be weak enough to the point where Tavi can kill her]].
* NinjaPirateRobotZombie: Those Taken by the Vord are essentially zombies, having similar capacities to their living selves save for now they don't care much about pain or emotion. The Taken Alerans can even do furycrafting after watching others do it if their bodies were capable of it in life, letting them be capable of being zombie wizards. In ''Academ's Fury'', some Canim are Taken, thus making them zombie werewolves, except for how they are always bipedal wolves. Fighting the Taken sucks, especially since Alerans are better off not using furycrafting in front of the Taken Alerans at all rather than risk their enemy using it upon them.
* NonIndicativeName: [[NamesToTrustImmediately Fidelias]] ("faithful"), the WildCard who goes back and forth through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. Though that said, he is ''always'' faithful... to Alera as a whole.

* NoWomansLand: Though Alera's women do enjoy plenty of rights as freemen, the number of female Citizens is limited; up until Gaius promoted Isana to the Citizenry at the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', no woman had ever gained Citizenship without either serving in the military [[note]]Difficult, as women could not normally be ''legionares'', so this requires them to serve as either healers or Knights, both of which require strong furycrafting, or the woman had to disguise herself as a man until such a point that her deeds on the battlefield proved her worthy of being a Citizen if she revealed her gender[[/note]], winning a Citizenship bout (requiring strong furycrafting) or marriage into the Citizenry (strong furycrafting being nearly required as well). In short, women without Knight-level furycrafting are generally out of luck in Alera, at least until Gaius promoted Isana. This becomes an important plot point as the series progresses, as Isana's promotion is taken as an official statement by the First Lord regarding parity of genders and a sign of his power, making Isana a target for those trying to undermine Gaius' authority. It also resulted in an increase in sale prices for female slaves and caused chaos and pressure in the slave trade in general. Since Kalarus is one of the two High Lords with eyes on the First Lord's crown, and the province of Kalare is heavily dependent on slave labor, this seriously hampers his economy and pushes him into launching the brewing civil war earlier than he planned.

** All powerful watercrafters, to the point where even the eldest High Lords almost never look older than their forties, with the majority of them looking like they are in their mid-thirties or even younger. Gaius Sextus spends the entire series dying of old age (with a little help) but still looks like he is in his forties.

* OlympusMons: Though most Alerans do not believe they truly exist, "Great Furies" embody the larger geological formations of Carna, including mountains, volcanoes and Alera itself. These Furies can be stirred to action, held to inaction, and (If the crafter is powerful enough) bound to a person as any smaller fury can be.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In her first [=POV=] chapters, Amara finds herself and Fidelias captured by Aldrick and Odiana. Fidelias gives her a cynical and defeated line before being carried off to "be killed." Through her grief, Amara reviews the facts and realizes while the mission was hers to plan, Fidelias should have noticed the trap and gave her some warning, should have given her different words before being carried off. The fact he fails clues her in on his having betrayed the Crown and that he is actually working with these mercenaries.

** In ''Cursor's Fury'', Amara and Lady Aquitaine (With their respective associates) work together for the latter half of the novel, with everybody aware that an inevitable betrayal is coming. [[spoiler: Lady Aquitaine switches identities with Odiana for the betrayal, but is then surprised when Amara's associates ''also'' switch identities, giving her the final advantage.]]

** In ''First Lord's Fury'' Gaius Sextus set things up against High Lord Aquitaine. [[spoiler:He adopts the man to be Tavi's younger brother, giving the country a good leader until Tavi returns. Knowing Attis isn't likely to give up this seat of power, Gaius gives him Ehren, one of the weakest crafters in the story, as his personal valet. Gaius also gave Ehren secret orders to kill Aquitaine if he doesn't give up the position. Ehren wins and kills the man in such a way, Lord Aquitaine is this trope twice over by this point]].
* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: The Alerans speak with scorn of several ancient Roman traditions and practices, and some refuse to believe these things ever happened because they are so patently ludicrous. These include, but are not limited to, praying to "gods", trying to tell the future by scattering animal entrails, shaping metal and stone without furies, constructing mechanical devices to supplant human labor and building a civilized society without furycrafting. Considering the fact that the Great Furies like Kalare and Garados are at least as powerful as the Olympian gods, and have a '''far''' more palpable influence on the world, it is not really that surprising that religion as we know it fell by the wayside.

* ParryingBullets: Both metal- and windcrafters are fast enough to slap arrows out of the air with their swords, though windcrafters usually prefer to deflect arrows with gusts of air instead.

** Tavi pisses off an officer and ends up measuring latrines in ''Cursor's Fury''.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: The Tavar native to Canea, wolverine-like beasts which are relatively small compared to the giant wolfmen that are the Cane, yet are known among them for being absolutely cunning, vicious, and very capable of taking down much larger beings. And that's why Varg names Tavi "Tavar".

* PosthumousCharacter: Princeps Gaius Septimus. In the first book, he is mentioned briefly and it almost seems like a bit of scene-setting: this is why there is a succession crisis and scheming noblemen, and the monsters in the storm are so dangerous the only safe place is a tomb fit for a prince, and that is all we know about him until halfway through the second book. However, Septimus gets developed as a major character later.

* PronounTrouble: Marat children are referred to by their parents as their "whelp," instead of "boy" or "girl", until they pass a certain rite of adulthood. In the first book Tavi meets (and is injured by) a Marat child (Kitai), and the narration refers to this child with male pronouns since that is what Tavi assumes her to be. Before the reveal, Tavi asked Doroga, Kitai's father, about his "son" - Doroga's response is to look up at the sky and it seems he is confused by the homonym, as a bit of a language barrier had been established earlier, it is only later that it is revealed that the confusion is because he has a ''daughter'' instead.

* RashomonStyle: When Araris Valerian talks about Gaius Septimus, he extols his virtues when it came to dealing with other members of the nobility: He could turn even enemies into friends, and he had the knack for getting other people to back down without wounding their pride or losing face publicly. Aquitaine Invidia, on the other hand, says that Septimus simply didn't ''notice'' the enmity he arose in those around him, and forgot about the grudges that other Citizens would nurse for years.

** As powerful as the High Lords and Ladies are, [[OneManArmy with the ability to destroy small armies on their own when they unleash their furycrafting,]] they are not invincible. Indeed, the most common way they end up being killed is by sneak attacks or being surprised in combat. Invidia is nearly killed in ''Academ's Fury'' when several Vord sneak up on her, and in ''Captain's Fury'' she is [[spoiler:nearly fatally-wounded by a balest bolt shot by Fidelias, and only saved by the Vord Queen]].

** When Tavi meets Varg for the first time, the wolfman ambassador is demanding to see Gaius, who cannot see anyone at the moment. How does the Aleran with no furycrafting stop a 9ft tall beast? He gets Varg to lean in close and pulls a knife on the Cane, threatening a mutual kill if Varg doesn't back off and go away. Varg is impressed.

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: High Lords/Ladies and the First Lord are generally very strong in all six elements. Most other people, though, are only strong in one or two, which means they might lack these. This results in situations where speedsters pull their own muscles if they do not have the earthcrafting to augment their own strength; see FragileSpeedster above. In the same way, metalcrafters have [[TheDeterminator the pain tolerance to keep fighting]] far too long for their own good because they do not have the earthcrafting to prevent injuries in the first place or watercrafting to heal them. Watercrafters have the empathic ability to sense everyone's emotions, but might lack the pain tolerance of a metalcrafter to avoid going crazy from the mental cacophony.

** Old and blind Killian is supposed to be this, and as far as Captain Miles knows he is, but in truth he is still an active cursor and the current leader of the organization.

** Valiar Marcus was in retirement for many years after his time at the Shieldwall. As far as anyone knew, he was living quietly on a steadholt. He is still a dangerous and capable fighter who lost only little step when he came back into service of the First Aleran.

** All of the ancient enemies the Alerans fought several hundred years ago - at the ''least'' - before the start of the series are only mentioned by Amara in passing by name[[note]]the Malorandim, Children of the Sun, Avar, Yrani, and Dekh[[/note]] in ''Princeps' Fury'', and all other details are completely left up in the air.

* RogueDrone: Played interestingly with the Vord, where it's one of their Hive Queens who starts developing her own personality (leading the other queens to try to kill her to prevent her from "infecting" the rest of their race). She stays a villain even while developing increasingly humanlike personality traits although [[spoiler:her death scene is [[AlasPoorVillain surprisingly moving.]]]] Additionally, since Tavi and Kitai accidentally awakened the Vord Queen in the first place, all "lower-form" Vord (i.e., Vord that aren't the Queens) will ignore them and treat them like other Vord unless the two directly attack them.
* RousingSpeech: In ''First Lord's Fury'' Tavi gives one to his men [[spoiler:and to all of Alera by his watercrafting, to get them to stand up and fight hard against the Vord threat. It is considered a well done and moving speech, with Tavi's rival to the throne even agreeing it got him ramped up]]. It also doubled [[spoiler:as a distraction for a special run to save the Vord Queen's prisoners]].

** Maximus frequently utters the term "sacred right," which is a ''legionare'''s right to complain about his duties, no matter how frivolous his complaints are, for as long as he wants. Tavi co-opts the phrase at least once to refer to his right to be mysterious and secretive as part of his authority.

* SecretKeeper: Several people keep the secrets of Fade and [[spoiler: Tavi's]] respective true identities once they work them, usually simultaneously, as figuring out the former usually leads to deducing the latter (because why else would [[spoiler: Araris Valerian, greatest swordsman in Alera, mar his face with a coward's brand and pretend to be a halfwit slave for twenty years]] to protect someone who is apparently [[spoiler: just an ordinary shepherd boy]]? Answer: [[spoiler: said shepherd boy is actually the son of the late Gaius Septimus, and is actually Gaius Octavian]]) - as is the case with Sir Miles towards the end of ''Academ's Fury''.

* ShootTheDog: In the climax of ''Captain's Fury'', [[spoiler:Gaius Sextus releases the Great Fury within Mount Kalus, erupting the volcano. This destroys the entire city and much of the surrounding countryside, killing hundreds of thousands, but Gaius explained that if Kalare was allowed to unleash Kalus on his own whim at the end of the campaign, the city would have been filled with even more refugees and soldiers, doubling or tripling the death count.]]
* ShootTheMedicFirst: A favored tactic among the Vord is to primarily go after the watercrafters first, since they can heal.

* SickeningCrunch: When Gaius Sextus kills three cohorts (roughly 1,800) of Immortals, at the ''same time'', the sound of all their necks breaking "was a rippling staccato of sound, somewhat like a saw going through wood."

* SkyCell: some Alerans are confined on top of these by enemies who don't believe in wildcrafting.

* SlaveMooks: The Immortals are a group of people who were raised since childhood wearing discipline collars and driven to be loyal to Kalarus. They tend to ignore any injury and continue on their orders.

* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: In ''Cursor's Fury'', in order to prove that he can firecraft (As part of an undercover identity) Tavi uses a small section of glass to light a fire. Later in the same book he uses the same concept writ large as a weapon.

** Throughout ''Furies of Calderon'' Fade repeatedly saves Isana's life by tripping over people and spilling hot soup right at the critical moment. [[spoiler: [[ObfuscatingStupidity All on purpose]].]]
** In ''Cursor's Fury'', Sarl would have killed Tavi [[spoiler:if it were not for the red stone he accidentally stole from High Lady Antillus.]]
* SpiritAdvisor: [[spoiler: Alera, the ancient fury]] has been helping House Gaius from the background.

** This does cause some spoiler problems with people starting on the series late: knowing that there's a book called ''First Lord's Fury'' when you're still on ''Cursor's Fury'' provides some rather significant spoilers, though you may wonder how and why [[spoiler: Tavi becomes First Lord without furies]].
* SpotTheThread: Or, as Magnus calls it an "accretion of evidence", as he puts together [[spoiler:a list of possible cursors with the skills, abilities, and age to match the traits Valiar Marcus shows. It leads him to realize that Marcus is Fidelias.]]
* SpreadingDisasterMapGraphic: Commanders use green-colored sand on their maps to represent the spread of the Vord.

* StarCrossedLovers: Towards the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', [[spoiler: after most of the story had established that Heddy had been raped by Bittan, it is revealed that Heddy had actually been having ''consensual'' sex with Aric, Bittan's brother. Aric's father, Kord, was an abusive, violent, lecherous bully, and Heddy's father, Warner, knew all too well what Kord was like, so both partners had to keep their relationship secret from their families. Aric and Heddy are married by ''Academ's Fury''...[[BackForTheDead only for Aric to be Taken by the Vord]].]]

* StealthExpert: The Cursors are typically trained to be this, but Kitai (as a Marat, she has senses far enhanced in comparison to a human's, along with SuperStrength and incredible agility) and the Hunters of the Canim take this UpToEleven. The latter case is especially impressive, since they're all incredibly tall WolfMen who were still able to catch even Kitai off guard.

** Powerful enough windfcrafters were capable of seemingly appearing from nowhere.

** When Isana and Araris have been kidnapped and bound with bags over their heads, Isana complains internally about the fact that it is a ''dirty'' bag. The banalty of this thought causes her to start laughing, and when Araris asks why she explains that she was marveling at her ability to take umbrage at minor details in such dire situations. Araris then remarks that he, too, was wondering at the poor quality of their head coverings.

** Firecrafters are the cannons of Aleran legions, and Knights Ignus and High Lords can make explosions ranging from personal to artillery sized detonations.

* SuccessionCrisis: The overarching plot of the series, and the cause (however indirectly) of the entire story. Princeps Gaius Septimus, only son and heir of First Lord Gaius Sextus, was killed in the First Battle of Calderon by a Marat horde more than fifteen years before ''Furies of Calderon'', leaving Alera without a clear inheritor for the position of First Lord. Multiple High Lords have spent the intervening years scheming and positioning themselves as Gaius's successor, to take his role once he dies, and some have decided to hasten his end in order to claim the throne sooner.

** In the climax of the series during ''First Lord's Fury'', [[spoiler:Tavi is battling the Vord queen and deliberately disturbs the Great Furies Garados and Thana to rouse their wrath against all the parties present]].

* SuperSpeed: A primary combat ability for wind crafters, as drawing their wind fury within them allows them to increase their own speed beyond human norms. Later [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in that if the windcrafter tries to take it UpToEleven, their bodies can not keep up and/or they end up with torn muscles and broken bones.

** In the first book, Isana and Odiana are powerful watercrafters and so are put in a drying hut for meats surrounded by hot stones and kept dehydrated, being given barely enough water to survive.
** In ''Princeps' Fury'' prisons for other crafters are seen. Firecrafters are put under running water. Earthcrafters and metalcrafters are in wooden cages away from the earth and metal. Windcrafters are in stone boxes with a single air hole the size of a human thumb. Woodcrafters are in metal cages, far from the wooden cages. Citizens require more complex combinations of these cages in order to counteract multiple aspects of furycrafting at once.
** The Grey Tower is intended to be this: it's supposed to hold anyone up to and including the First Lord if they break the law, but not only by frustrating their furycrafting. Instead, each of the Grey Guards assigned to the tower are considered bribe-proof[[note]]Crown law states that if the Knight reports the attempted bribery, the government will pay them triple the bribe.[[/note]], they are at least Knight-class crafters (usually in metalcrafting, but also with other talents), and the Tower itself is full of security measures to warn of a breakout attempt. A powerful enough citizen ''might'' escape, but, in theory, their escape will be noticed and the Grey Guard will run them down and capture them or kill them, and no matter what it will be noticed. [[spoiler: Tavi, of course, engineers a breakout in ''Academ's Fury'', but as a result he recommends improvements against just such an attempt in the future. This causes problems when he needs to stage ''another'' breakout in ''Captain's Fury''.]]

** In ''Captain's Fury'', Gaius Sextus reveals that High Lord Kalarus has bound the fury within Mount Kalus to himself, tying it to his life. When he dies the volcano will erupt, destroying the city of Kalare and killing everybody in the surrounding region. [[spoiler: Gaius erupts the volcano first, [[ShootTheDog since if the eruption had been delayed until Kalarus' death then the city would have been filled with even more refugees and soldiers]].]]

*** Tavi [[spoiler:expected this as a final result when he got his one-on-one meeting with the Vord Queen. He anticipated she would refuse his offer of peace and alliance, and planned on killing her even at the cost of his own life. Thankfully Kitai knew him well-enough to predict this course of action and act accordingly]].
*** The Vord are attacking Alera Imperia [[spoiler:and have just sprung a trap that has routed the defenders. Gaius Sextus, realizing that the Legions have been outmaneuvered, ''erupts a volcano beneath the city'' to destroy the Vord horde as it claims the city and himself. The surviving Vord are barely a fraction of their original number when the assault ended]].

* TechnicalVirgin: The concept is explicitly discussed in the beginning of "Cursor's Fury". Gaius asks if Tavi and Kitai are having sex, and Tavi stumbles through an explanation that they are doing "things" together, but not having intercourse. Gaius approves, since he is aware of the risks an unplanned pregnancy would have on Tavi's life, and his service to Gaius.

** In the first book, Garrison's resident ObstructiveBureaucrat uses his official ledger as a bludgeon to fight off a Herdbane and protect a group of children.

* TimeSkip: A two year one between the first two books, and another (technically two and a half, but the first chapter or two starts about half a year before the rest of the book) between two and three. There are about two years between three and four, and about six months between books four and five and another six months between five and six.

** Ehren is introduced as a Cursor-in-training who is more adept at the economic analysis and information interpretation area of spycraft, [[UnderestimatingBadassery although Tavi realizes that Ehren must have been hiding some of his skills from the rest of the group even during this time]]. After he begins active duty as a Cursor after graduating from the Academy, he grows into a [[KnifeNut knife-wielding]] assassin, covert agent and spymaster.
** Centurion Schultz, who starts as a [[NewMeat fish]] in ''Cursor's Fury'' and is a [[SergeantRock Centurion]] by ''Captain's Fury'', mirroring the First Aleran's transformation into one of the most elite armies on Alera.
* TookALevelInKindness: High Lord Riva toward Amara and Bernard. In his first few mentions and appearances, the man is seen as an arrogant old noble who dislikes Gaius for usurping his right to name a replacement as Count in the Calderon Valley. Later when the Vord attack, he doesn't believe Gaius' claims, thinking this is some political scheme on Gaius' part. Then in ''First Lord's Fury'' [[spoiler:he is humbled by seeing the devastation of his city, and much of the continent, and offers his apologies to Amara and Bernard for his years of dislike towards him and offers his aide as an engineering master to Bernard's plans]].

** In ''Cursor's Fury'', Odiana actually implies that she ''wants'' to have a discipline collar put on her by Aldrick, but ''only'' Aldrick. This is played for tragedy, not humor; in the first book she reveals that she used to be a slave, used for sex, and her watercrafter abilities let her feel the emotions of her attackers, which is what broke her. Notably, [[EvenEvilHasStandards Aldrick will not do it,]] possibly because, in the final book, we learn that he was one of the men who ''saved'' her from said slaver.

** The Marat language has no word for "lying," the closest concept they have is to say that someone is "mistaken." When one Marat accuses another of being mistaken, they fight each other to the death in order to see who is correct, with the rationale being that The One has shown favor for the winning side.
** The ''Juris Macto'' is the Aleran version. It can be used to resolve legal disputes, matters of honor or to allow one to gain Aleran citizenship by defeating a Citizen. The challenged participant can have a Champion stand in their stead, but the challenger must fight personally. Not all ''juris macto'' fights are [[DuelToTheDeath to the death]], but most of them are, and if a ''juris macto'' challenge is withdrawn by the challenger it is recognized as a formal withdrawal of the accusation.

** As is slowly revealed through the series, Princeps Septimus had a cadre of true companions in Araris Valerian, Miles, Antillus Raucus, other (Unnamed) swordsmen who formed his ''singulares'' and [[spoiler:Aldrick ex Gladius and Aquitainus Attis]]. Those who survived his death at First Calderon were forever changed by it.

** In ''Academ's Fury'', Tavi is bullied at the Academy by Kalarus Brencis Minoris and his gang of cronies, who pick on him because of his lack of furycrafting. When they finally push too far, in a situation that they do not know is life-or-death and which Tavi does not have the time to politely disengage, Tavi brutally beats both cronies into unconsciousness in moments using the Cursor training that they did not know he was receiving.

* UtilityMagic: Aleran society runs on this. They use magic for every single convenience and technology.
** All lamps are fury-run because the flames are easier to control and anyone with even basic access to fury magic can turn the brightness up or down.
** Fire magic is again used in the creation of coldstones, which unlike lamp-furies and their exothermic properties, coldstones are endothermic and absorb the surrounding heat into them, which means they become refrigeration units.
** Roads are imbued with earth magic to maintain them and allow people to move at a faster rate.
** In the second book, Invidia Aquitaine reveals she has sponsored the creation of magical cloth which can change its colors to the user's desire. Amara [[spoiler:and Bernard use cloaks made of the material to increase their stealth capabilities in the fifth book]].
** Bernard uses fire magic in the creation of small glass orbs of fire. [[spoiler:These are easy to make by anyone with fire magic, and when the orbs are gathered in larger quantities can generate an explosion comparable to a fire attack by a High Lord]].
* UnwantedSpouse: According to Max, the tradition of arranged marriages in Alera mean that this is the norm among High Lords.
** Gais Sextus and Gaius Caria wed after the death of Sextus's first wife, when Sextus was already well into middle-age and Caria was barely an adult. She thought she would be living out a romantic fairy tale, but (As Sextus himself admits) she was stuck with a scheming old man who had manipulated her from the beginning. [[spoiler:She is eventually driven to an affair with Aquitaine and poisons Sextus.]]
** Antillus Raucus and Antillus Dorotea were married after their parents arranged the pairing in an attempt to unite the southern and northern cities, as Raucus was heir to Antillus and Dorotea was the daughter of the High Lord of Kalare. Raucus was in love (Or at least affectionate lust) with a dancing slave girl, and he and Dorotea bitterly despised each other, but they both continued to play their roles.
* TheUriahGambit: The First Lord sends out [[spoiler:the High Lord of Rhodes to be killed by the Vord at the vanguard of the Aleran forces for multiple reasons: A dead High Lord underscores the fact that the Vord truly are a threat to the whole realm, whereas previously many of the Lords and higher-ranking Citizens had dismissed them as a danger; killing Rhodes in particular gets him the loyalty and assistance of the High Lord of Aquitaine, who viewed Rhodes as a potential threat to his own plans to attain the throne; and killing Rhodes was a matter of personal vengeance, as he was one of the cabal of citizens who, decades earlier, had killed Gaius Septimus, the First Lord's son]].

* VillainousValour: When Gaius Sextus unleashes a fearcrafting on Kalarus' Legions, the entire force is instantly routed. Many simply die of fright, and the rest are panicked to collapse and flight. However, one single ''legionare'' resists the mental assault and actually raises his sword in defiance. Amara feels pity for him and regrets that the reward for his courage, which was greater than the entire rest of his Legion, is to be killed by the First Lord.

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Watercrafters are healers, and almost all of them can alter their features to make themselves look younger. If they are ''really'' skilled they can make themselves look like someone else, including changing their voice as well. It is really uncomfortable, though, to imitate someone larger or smaller. [[spoiler: Fidelius is principally an earthcrafter, so his transformation into Valiar Marcus takes a few weeks of concentrated effort with his weak watercrafting.]]
* WalkingTheEarth: It is not uncommon for the elders of the Canim ritualists to leave all their belongings and depart without a word to do this, in hopes the pilgrimage will help them find new ways to help the maker caste, the civilians. [[spoiler:Sha and Fidelias make it seem like an enemy ritualist has gone on this to hide the fact they murdered him and hid the body]].

** Amara is not one of the most powerful furycrafters in the series, only having one fury, but she has plenty of skill and a quick mind. In ''First Lord's Fury'', while talking to Lady Veradis she points out that other people need to divide their studies and practice amongst many different subjects, while she can focus on flying and other applications of windcrafting specifically.
** Tavi's nonexistent talents and Ehren's weak crafting forced this on them as a matter of survival. [[spoiler: Until Tavi's powers finally awakened.]]

** For Windcrafting, earth, mud, dust, and {{salt|Solution}} are common things which can be the bane of their wind streams that give them flight. [[spoiler:At Tavi's suggestion, Bernard weaponizes the salt by making a salt-tipped arrowhead, which will damage any windcrafting]].

* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: The Aleran legions were so successful in crushing all their enemies early in their history that in the story's present day it was possible for someone to serve an entire three-year tour of duty in a legion and not fight a single battle unless they were from an area near the Shieldwall (the only remaining border that sees combat on a regular basis). As a result, most of the legions are green and unprepared for a Canim invasion, a civil war, and the Vord attack happening in rapid succession. Isana's arc in the fifth book is to negotiate a ceasefire on the Shieldwall so that all the northern legions, which contain the bulk of the country's elite ''legionares'', can be freed up to fight the Vord.

** [[spoiler: Tavi is ''not'' pleased when he learns a) that Isana's been lying to him all his life about being his aunt when she's actually his mother, and b) she's the reason he didn't come into his furies until well into adulthood, causing him a load of pain and heartbreak.]]

* WhiteSheep: Aric is no saint, but his father, Kord, is a brutish thug and his brother, Bittan, is offensviely loud-mouthed and is being raised in the same vein. [[spoiler: He eventually turns on his father and frees Isana from her captivity.]]

* WomenPreferStrongMen: Bernard's strength is one of his prime physical attractions for Amara. In ''Academ's Fury'', Serai realizes that Amara and Bernard are in a relationship given the way Amara's voice changes when she talks about him, and she deduces that he must have been doing something strong and manly in Amara's eye line to get that kind of reaction (he had been lifting very large and heavy objects). Amara feels the most feminine when she is experiencing his prodigious strength.

** ''Princep's Fury'' culminates in [[spoiler: Gaius Sextus drawing almost all of the Vord army onto Alera Imperia and detonating a volcano underneath the city to wipe them out and buy the country critical months to fight the invaders.]]

* EnemyCivilWar: Between [[spoiler:the primary Vord Queen and her daughters]]. It is the main reason [[spoiler:why the world was not consumed by the Vord]].

** In ''Cursor's Fury'', [[spoiler:Fidelias, in his guise as Valiar Marcus, realizes it when 'Rufus Scipio' gives an insightful, logical and impassioned argument for his plan to defeat the Canim. He recognizes the personality and skills of Septimus]].

** The second and final books reveal that [[spoiler: Araris, High Lord Antillus (the father of Crassus and Max), High Lord Aquitaine ''and'' Princeps Septimus were all friends from school, and continued that friendship until the night Septimus died. Sir Miles was younger than them and more of a TagalongKid during the actual Academy years, but was part of the circle of friends as well.]]

** In ''Academ's Fury'', just before Amara finishes off the Vord Queen, the Queen looks into her mind -- and is utterly unable to process the fact that Amara is doing this knowing that she will not survive it. The idea of self-sacrifice for the sake of another is so alien to the Vord Queen that she is briefly stunned and confused.

** In ''Captain's Fury'', several characters discuss how their actions will look to Senator Arnos, and the way he will interpret them in a certain light because of how ''he'' would have acted in the same situation. Everything they do will seem self-serving and calculating to him, because he cannot accept that they are acting on behalf of somebody else. Arnos himself tries to say that Tavi [[NotSoDifferent is the same way]], but Tavi only considers that Arnos is even more deluded than he had previously thought.

* EvilSorcerer: The Canim Ritualists are generally considered to be this, though only some of them are as bad as they are made out to be: the blood they need for their rituals can as easily be taken from already-dead corpses as from live sacrifices. In fact, the old school of ritualists do not believe in using anyone's blood but their ''own''; Marok, in ''First Lord's Fury,'' demonstrates how decent this type can be. However, [[TheStarscream Sarl]] and later Khral embrace the trope thoroughly. Unfortunately, the Old School ritualists are badly outnumbered by the rest, in part because there's only so much blood a body can spare.
* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: It is said Araris would think in curves compared to Aldrick's thinking in straight lines. For this reason, [[spoiler:when they fought at Second Calderon, Araris seemed to miss Aldrick and hit only the stones on the wall they stood upon. Aldrick was able to knock Araris down to the ground and was in a killing position, only to realize Araris was aiming to cut the ground out from beneath the larger and heavy fighter, which promptly happened]].

* {{Expy}}: The Vord of ''Academ's Fury'' share several important traits (insect-like biology, hive mind, ability to infest living humans, reliance on a substance they smear across the ground in their nests) with [[VideoGame/StarCraft the Zerg]].

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Realm of Alera is a society very similar to Rome at the peak of its empire. Justified since it was founded by a LostRomanLegion. That being said, Alera has some distinct elements that show how far it diverged from Roman culture, particularly with a more executive system of government where the Senate, High Lords, and First Lord exist side by side, the fact that slavery is a divisive topic instead of the norm, and the use of several aspects of the medieval European feudal system, such as Counts ruling over regions under the High Lords, and the title of a Knight of the Legions.

* FeedItABomb: This is the only known way to truly kill [[spoiler:voldbulks, who are so large they make some buildings look small. Bernard takes one out with a missile arrow. The other is killed when Lord Cereus flies into the mouth of it and blows himself up with powerful firecrafting]].
* FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence: Basically the root of the war between the Alerans and the Icemen. The war continues because the Alerans won't retreat because they're sure the Icemen will come back to take advantage of their leaving their lands unguarded, and the Icemen won't back down because they feel that they'll be invaded if they don't drive the Alerans far enough back from the shieldwall. [[spoiler: The reason this happens is because of an unknown interaction between the Icemen's water-based magic and Aleran firecrafting encourages feelings of agression, anxiety, and anger, poisoning all relationships until Isana (a non-Firecrafter) came along and figured out what was going on.]]
* FeelNoPain: An aspect of metalcrafting. However, this doesn't mean the injuries being ignored are any less dangerous. If someone ignores the pain of a legitimate injury (or a minor one from a poisoned weapon), it will cost him his life.
* FieldPromotion: Mistress Cymnea, de facto leader of the camp followers and the pleasure spot for soldiers, and Subtribune Foss [[spoiler:both become Tribune Logistica and Tribune Medico, respectively, when the majority of the First Aleran staff was killed by a lightning strike]].

* FlyingCar: The favored and fastest way around Alera is by flying coach. Interestingly, the draft "animals" are other human beings, specifically windcrafters who lift the coach up.
* FollowTheChaos: Provides the page quote, and is how the final battle is located.

** Thematically lampshaded - ''Everything'' in the series is kicked off by a serving girl wanting some pretty flowers.

** If Tavi hadn't stolen High Lady Antillus's purse [[spoiler: and found the bloodstone Sarl gave her, the First Aleran would have been destroyed and the Realm plunged into utter warfare and entirely unprepared for when the Vord struck.]]
* FragileSpeedster: Any windcrafter without an accompanying skill in metal- or earthcrafting. Particularly Amara, who is possibly the fastest flier in Alera aside from the High Lords, but at one point actually starts breaking her bones and tearing muscles from [[BulletTime speeding herself up]] too much in a fight.
* FreeFallFight: Any fight with Amara or any other Knight Aeris. During one such fight, she and the Knight take a glance at the rapidly-approaching ground, and decide silently to stop the fight in the interest of not going splat.

** Max's status as TheHedonist stems from [[spoiler:him having bitterly accepted that he's destined to live only a short and tragic life due to the manipulations of his WickedStepmother]].
** Her poor relationship with her father is why Navaris is [[AxCrazy the way she is]]. [[spoiler: Exploiting it is how Tavi beats her in a duel to the death.]]

* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Despite being good friends and having been part of the same "group" at the Academy, Ehren and Max are never together without Tavi being with them as well. [[spoiler: Justified in that Max is put together with Tavi to be his advisor in the First Aleran Legion, since Max had experience being a ''legionare'' and placing him as a centurion in the same legion is also helpful to the Cursors mission, whereas Ehren's missions usually have him BeneathNotice due to his small stature and unassuming nature: Max is a hammer, and Ehren is a stiletto.]]

** When Tavi first encounters Ambassador Varg in ''Academ's Fury'' he sees a guard dealing with the frustrated wolfman being deliberately calm and trying to defuse the situation. While normally acceptable action for dealing with humans, Tavi realizes that the predator mentality of the Cane will instead see it as weakness and will react with hostility. Tavi has to burst in and act aggressive himself to prevent a fight.
** This is discussed in ''Princep's Fury'' when Tavi is having the Alerans and Canim teach each other their separate languages and customs. If there is to be more fighting between them, it best be for good reasons and not a miscommunication.
* FunctionalMagic: Several systems. The Alerans, [[spoiler: the Vord Queen, and the Icemen to a degree]] use a combination of Inherent Gift and Theurgy (the elemental furies do all the heavy lifting, but Alerans have the inborn power to summon and control them), while the Canim Ritualists use a sort of [[BloodMagic blood-based]] Rule Magic. The Marat also have the ability to bond with various creatures, but that is more one inherent power than a complete system.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: At one point in ''Princeps Fury'' Tavi needs to have a private conversation, and Max starts berating his Taurga as a distraction. When the conversation finishes, he's still going at it. [[MoodWhiplash "And not even SHE would do that with you, no matter how much gold or how many burlap sacks were involved!"]]

* GameChanger: The final book sees the first use of [[spoiler:catapults, loaded with spheres containing fire furies (which can be produced by people with even moderate firecrafting ability)]] which prove incredibly devastating on the level of a [[PersonOfMassDestruction High Lord]]. Several characters note that if Alera survives the Vord this is going to be a game changer for their civilization, because now the destructive power of a High Lord is in the hands of the common people, mirroring the ascendance of archery as a counter to knights in RealLife.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Tavi looks at [[spoiler:Varg, who is suffering a [=BSOD=] from learning ''his entire nation'' has been devoured by the Vord and with it his family, and takes a hammer]] and smacks him hard on the armored chest to wake him the heck out of his stupor.

** Averted with Walker. Doroga mentions Walker, while powerful, isn't invincible, as his feet are very vulnerable to damage.
** Vordbulks, creatures with no eyes and extremely tough armor that are the size of buildings, designed so they could breach shieldwalls by falling on them, seem all but invincible. [[spoiler:Like Walker, their feet are weak points. They can also be taken out by [[FeedItABomb feeding them a bomb]] of sufficient force]].
* GladIThoughtOfIt: Used intentionally by Ehren in ''First Lord's Fury'' to [[spoiler:get Gaius Attis, the current First Lord, to expose himself to a dangers and potentially lethal situation. Attis only realized he was manipulated after the fact, as he lay dying]].

** Later in the same book, she draws a dagger and throws it, in the same motion, and hits [[spoiler:a taken Cane]] in the eye and gives a guard an opening.

** Tavi is extremely good, in fact he is the BigGood in the series. But he is perfectly able and willing to kill if necessary, and as demonstrated in the climax of ''Captain's Fury'', he is also willing to play dirty if forced into it. [[spoiler: Navaris never stood a chance once he identified her WellDoneSonGuy weakness, and Tavi's internal narration even points out that she's already dead as soon as he realized it.]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: Right after the generally peaceable Lord Placida is told that [[IHaveYourWife his wife is being held hostage to ensure his neutrality in the upcoming conflict]], Placida mobilized ''all'' his legions and brought them right to the border of his own territory[[note]]As in, he left his home completely undefended[[/note]]. Lord Placida figured his wife would either be rescued or killed in short order, and either way wanted to be ready to kick the kidnapper's teeth in the moment either one happened. Amara remarked on this trope when discussing Placida's counterattack, "there will always be fools who believe that if a man dislikes violence and goes to great lengths to avoid it, it is a sign of weakness and vulnerability."
** Isana is generally a good person, and also TheEmpath, which is repeatedly shown to be bad for her because she can feel all the hate, fear, and pain of combat. But the second book ''starts'' with her killing someone (albeit in self-defense), and by ''Captain's Fury'', she's shown taking a much more active role in combat when she needs to, including ''drowning a man'' by covering his head in water until he dies.

** In the epilogue, [[spoiler:Isana and Araris, and Tavi and Kitai.]] Both couples were essentially married in every sense but officially beforehand, but they were a little busy for a ceremony.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Fidelias. See BecomingTheMask. He is always loyal to the Realm, but at one point decides that the current First Lord, old and heirless and pushing himself too hard, cannot provide the stable, strong leadership that the Realm needs and should be replaced by another High Lord. Later, he learns that his current allies are even more ruthless than he thought and that there is a legitimate heir after all. Later still, [[spoiler: that legitimate heir learns about Fidelias' past and almost has Fidelias crucified before he is talked out of it]].
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Varg gets one in ''Princeps' Fury'' when he learns that his home range has been consumed by the Vord. Tavi snaps him out of hit by hitting him with a Canim taurg prod.]]

*** The guards of the second guard room leading to the First Lord's meditation chambers sealed the entrance, knowing they would likely die against the taken-Cane, but did it to buy the First Lord and company some time to prepare a counterattack.
** In ''Princeps Fury'', [[spoiler:First Lord Gaius Sextus draws in the Vord host before detonating the Great Fury beneath Alera Imperia. Less than a tenth of the Vord manage to escape]].

*** [[spoiler:Foss pushes Dorotea out of the way from the Vord Queen's attack, saving her life]].

** Lord Aquitaine began conspiring against the First Lord [[spoiler: because the uncontrolled High Lords had killed his best friend, Septimus, and he saw that Gaius's political macinations would ultimately lead to civil war.]] In his efforts to gain the throne, [[spoiler:he himself became an uncontrolled High Lord whose political machinations nearly lead to civil war. He redeems himself, however, by leading with wisdom and dignity befitting the role of Princeps]].

* HonorableMarriageProposal: Discussed in ''First Lord's Fury, when [[spoiler:Tavi]] discovers that [[spoiler:Kitai]] is pregnant. He suggests that they could [[AltarTheSpeed get married]] right now so their child won't be seen as a bastard, but they ultimately decide to wait and get properly married when the war is over.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Aldrick and Odiana; Amara and Bernard.

* HumanityIsInfectious: [[spoiler:The Vord Queen is more human-like than both her predecessors or her offspring because of Tavi and Kitai's blood mingling with her larva form]].

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Gaius tries to justify [[spoiler: blowing up Kalare by unleashing Kalus]] this way, pointing out that it actually saved lives compared to the alternative.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Tavi, initially although strictly speaking [[IJustWantToBeNormal he just wants to be normal]] - every ''other'' Aleran has the power to control the elements, after all.

** The Vord Mantis Warriors in ''First Lord's Fury'' tend to do this. [[spoiler:One almost kills Ehren such, pinning him to a fortress wall in the process.]]

Yeah, it is about as awesome as it sounds. A high fantasy/intrigue series written by Creator/JimButcher (of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' fame), the Codex Alera is set in a world that is populated by the descendants of the [[LostRomanLegion IX Roman Legion]] (according to the WordOfGod). They have carved out a massive empire led by the "First Lord" and they all have magic--specifically, they all bond with one or more "furies", elementals of air, water, fire, earth, wood or metal. Those who control enough furies can become Citizens, with increased privileges and obligations above the common freeman, but everyone has at least one fury. Well, everyone save [[UnSorcerer one]].

Young [[BadassNormal Tavi]] is the only known Aleran who does ''not'' have access to any furies. At best, he is treated like a special needs child. At worst... well, they start at "freak" and move downhill from there. However, since he can not rely on furies, Tavi uses something that many of his countrymen fail to utilize: [[GuileHero his brain]].

Shortly before Tavi was born, the only son and heir of the aging First Lord of Alera was [[SuccessionCrisis killed in battle]], causing the various high nobility to scramble and plot to position themselves to take power when the First Lord dies (or, in some cases, to move that event forward slightly). Chief among them are Aquitainus [[TheChessmaster Attis]], the High Lord of Aquitaine, and Kalarus Brencis Majoris, the High Lord of Kalare. As Alera falls into civil strife, the various non-human enemies of Alera prepare to take advantage of these divisions while a far more dangerous threat lurks in the shadows...

Standing with Tavi are his uncle Bernard (an Earth- and Woodcrafter), his aunt Isana (a very powerful Watercrafter), the young Cursor Amara (a Windcrafter) and the half-wit slave [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Fade]], along with the other friends and allies he makes as he is swept up in the battles to save Alera.

* AbnormalAmmo: A few books into the series, Bernard begins replacing the metal tips of some arrows with chunks of rock salt. Since salt is the bane of wind furies, this renders them effective at dispersing windmanes and disrupting the furies of anybody flying.
* AboveTheInfluence: When Bernard [[RescueRomance saves Amara from the frozen, flooding Rillwater river]] she leans in to kiss him, but he pulls away since she is cold and hurting, and it would be taking advantage to move forward.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Metalcrafters can sharpen and harden the swords they are using, so they can easily slice through concrete, armor and ''other swords''.

** In ''Academ's Fury'', Tavi and Max discuss the various theories that Alerans have on the true nature of furies, whether they are truly living creatures or just part of the person doing the crafting. When Max asks why frontier furies seem to be so much stronger than city furies, Tavi explains that, according to one theory, since the frontier holders who claim them ''think'' that they are wild and strong furies, that makes them stronger than they actually would be than if they knew it was just themselves.

** Most Aleran scholars believe that furycrafting would not work if the crafter was not connected to Alera itself, and that earth- or watercrafting would be impossible on the foreign lands of Canea. Thankfully, when they end up in Canea nobody thought to inform the first crafters ashore, who went ahead and crafted anyway. Surprisingly, it turns out that ''Max'' was aware of this theory, while Tavi was ignorant of it. Tavi invokes this trope by telling Max to forget everything he knows and just do it anyway.

** [[spoiler:Rook a.k.a. Gaelle]] is not only a mother, but skilled spy and assassin.

** Though it's more like Action-Expecting Mother, [[spoiler:Kitai spends the last half of book six pregnant. Doesn't stop her from tag-teaming with Tavi to destroy the Vord Queen.]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Aquitaine actually laughs -- albeit weakly -- when reflecting that [[spoiler:Ehren had successfully assassinated him.]]

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Each sapient species on Carna has its own language or non-verbal means of communication, but the Marat and many of the Canim speak the Aleran language. The Marat, who have multiple tribes that each have their own tongue, explain that they use Aleran to speak amongst their different tribes as a diplomatic and trading language. The majority of the Canim do not speak Aleran, but their leaders and ambassadors do, [[JustifiedTrope because they are expecting to talk to Alerans]].

** Briefly discussed by [[spoiler:the Great Fury Alera]]. While they were never really “villains” to begin with, she expresses sorrow for the other sapient races on the continent wiped out by the ancient Alerans before the present day, referring to them as having been just "lost travelers" like the Romans/Alerans, Marat, Canim, Icemen, and Vord all are.

* AlienKudzu: Wherever the Vord spread, the ''croach'' grows as well. Described as a waxy, leathery substance covering a gelatinous liquid, it completely covers not just the ground but also all buildings and stoneworks and trees in the regions that the Vord occupy. It serves as both a sentinel and food-source for the Vord; whenever its surface is broken the Vord know that an enemy is walking upon it, and plants and animals are subsumed to be turned into nutrients.

** Kitai is technically the Marat Ambassador, due to some quick thinking (and quicker lying) on Tavi's part. She is a powerful action girl who won't stay away from a fight (unless she loses a coin toss).
* AnIcePerson: [[MakingASplash Watercrafters]] can craft snow and ice just as easily as they can liquid water.
** The Icemen are an entire species of this as part of their watercrafting-based {{Telepathy}}, with Doroga specifically noting that the Alerans had it wrong when they theorized that the Icemen follow the winter storms south when attacking the Shield Cities - In reality, the storms ''follow the Icemen''.

** Averted for humans, Marat, Icemen, and Canim (though downplayed with the latter due to their huge size) as arrows are just as much a threat to flesh as the more powerful fury attacks. Stone-headed arrows are the bane of metalcrafters as the lack of any metal makes them impossible to track with their metalcrafting powers.
** The Vord generally shrug them off, [[JustifiedTrope but they also shrug off fury attacks because of their armored hides]].
* AnotherDimension: [[invoked]] [[WordOfGod According to Jim Butcher]], Carna is another dimension that has wormholes pop up in other dimensions and suck beings in. This is why there are so many different species of intelligent being (humans, Icemen, Canim, Marat, Vord) on the planet, as well as why some descendants of extinct Earth animals (Megatherium and Terror Birds) are roaming around. The most well known tear leading to Carna from the "real world" appears intermittently in TheBermudaTriangle.

* AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: Inverted. Kalarus [[spoiler: deliberately provokes the Great Fury Kalus into being as angry as possible in order to take as many Alerans with him as possible when he is finally killed.]] Gaius Sextus intended to thwart Kalarus' plan [[spoiler: but did so by detonating the volcano himself.]]

** The Knights Pisces. The Knights Pisces are dubbed such when Tavi notes they are the "fish" (barely competent recruits) of the Knights available. After [[TookALevelInBadass taking several collective levels in badass]], and seeing how badly "[[ThreateningShark a bunch of fish]]" can hurt someone[[note]]Tavi drew sharks into a river by dropping lots of blood into it and any enemy who tried swimming across ran into them instead[[/note]], they embrace the name and use it for the rest of the series.
** The Battlecrows, from the same book, sort of. Instead of taking their name from an insult, they take it from the burnt and blackened standard that Tavi carries into battle after it is struck by lightning.

* ArrangedMarriage. There are a several in the series, and not one of them ends well.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Tavi listed off his exploits and pointed out that he [[spoiler:killed Sarl]], held off a massive army that vastly outclassed his own, ''beat'' said massive army, and... [[SmartPeoplePlayChess beat Nasaug at ludus]].
* ArtificialLimbs: In ''Captain's Fury'' it is mentioned in that Sir Cyril had a metalcrafted prosthetic leg, to replace the one he had lost in the previous book.

* AsYouKnow: When Doroga is appointed Master-at-Arms for a ''juris macto'' he has to read out the rules of the contest, even though he points out that everybody there knows them better than him.
* AttackAttackAttack: The Vord specialize in this. Though they can demonstrate considerable subtlety, they usually do not bother if they have an overwhelming numerical advantage, which they usually do.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Any prominent person is likely to have one in Alera, due to a combination of GratuitousLatin and EarnYourTitle. Tavi's eventual renaming as [[spoiler: Gaius Tavarus Magnus ("Lord Super-Wolverine the Great")]] is probably the best.

** The "cutter" Navaris; she has a three-figure body count behind her, and that only counts the legal duels and "self-defense." Add in all of the suspected killings and the like and the number is in the four-figures range. Plus anyone with the slightest watercrafting ability (or eyes) can see that she is really not right in the head, especially where violence is concerned.

* BadassBoast: When he is pushed to the point, Gaius Sextus drops all pretense for a show of unquestionable power.

** Tavi. The boy had no fury craft, so he had to use his mind. He adapts new strategies and fighting tactics, some based on ancient Roman history and fully embraces all the lessons he has been taught.
** Ehren presents the appearance of a scribe or accountant -- and in fact ''works'' as a scribe in his Cursor duties -- but he is adept at taking down plenty of people with his many, ''many'', knives. [[spoiler:He ultimately arranges Aquitaine's assassination to clear the way for Tavi's unchallenged rise to the throne]].
** Gaius Sextus' private study is described like a hunting lodge where one puts their kills on the walls. In his study, there are no corpses of animals but walls of books. It wouldn't be out of character if he had devoured each book many times to see what new things he could take from them.

** Not one of the people in Tavi's family fails to impress.
*** Tavi, despite no furycrafting, has a sharp mind and grows to be an impressive fighter.
*** Bernard, former military, is a skilled archer and woodsman, able to lead a small group through rough ground and swamps, even when one is critically injured.
*** Isana floods a river to take care of some mercenaries when Tavi is in danger.
*** And of course [[spoiler:there's Gaius Sextus, Tavi's paternal grandfather]].

*** Kitai is a barbarian and master thief, able to hide out in the capital of Alera without anyone catching her, despite her Marat traits would make anyone realize what she is.
*** Doroga is clanhead of the Gargant trbe. He rides into battle on his ''chala'' Walker, carrying a club so heavy a High Lady had to visibly show herself earthcrafting to move it. He swings it with ease and has no crafting whatsoever.
*** Hashat, Kitai's aunt on her mother's side, is headwoman of the Horse Clan and was at First Calderon, Second Calderon [[spoiler:and the final battle against the Vord]]. She personally took on some of Princeps Septimus' singulares and defeated them.

** In the beginning of ''Academ's Fury'' Tavi thinks about how the universe played a cruel trick on him by giving him exactly what he wanted. His life's dream in ''Furies of Calderon'' was to attend the Academy in Alera Imperia, and now that he is here he gets to see that pettiness and cruelty are a fact of life that he cannot escape.
** [[spoiler: Isana wanted Tavis' growth stunted so people would think him younger than he actually was, and therefor never make a connection with Gaius Septimus. She got what she wanted, but it also delayed Tavis' ability to use fury crafting until he was in his twenties. It caused him much pain and anger after he learned Isana had done it to him.]]
* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Fidelias/ Marcus]] has a complex relationship with this trope. [[spoiler:"Marcus" was created ''before'' the events of the story by Fidelias, but had been abandoned for decades until he reclaimed the identity to infiltrate the First Aleran. Once he realized that Tavi was the son of Gaius Septimus, and thusly there was no need to place Aquitaine on the throne since the House of Gaius had a legitimate heir (and more importantly, a legitimate heir who was worth following), he decides to remain in the role of Marcus to look over and assist Tavi in any way he could. After he assumes the identity, and after it has been revealed to the reader who he really is, Butcher only writes him as 'Marcus' until he accepts the name Fidelias again himself.]]
* BedTrick: Played with. When using watercrafting to disguise himself as Gaius Sextus, Max has to deal with the First Lord's suspicious wife. He does so by hitting her with enough sexual earthcraft to scramble her brains, setting this trope up, but doesn't actually sleep with her. Gaius was not entirely amused when he learned what had happened after he recovered - specifically, when Caria unexpectedly joined him in the bath. While, as he puts it, [[UnusualEuphemism 'he rose to the demands of his station']], he remarks to Tavi that he would prefer in future if a similar situation arose that Max ''didn't'' resort to seducing his wife.

** Amara spends much of the first novel undercover as a slave in order to be ignored and unobserved. Though it does not work well for her ([[SubvertedTrope Since everybody either knows who she is already or is thrown into deadly peril with her]]), the concept is theoretically sound. Bernard discusses the idea with her when he begins to suspect that she is in disguise, commenting that very few people are willing to take the risk since there is a very good chance of not being able to get out of the disguise once people begin thinking you are a slave. He points out that only the foolish and the desperate go through with it.
** Tavi was ''supposed'' to be BeneathNotice in ''Cursor's Fury'' when he goes undercover in the First Aleran Legion as the Third Subtribune Logistica (essentially assistant to the assistant of the assistant quartermaster), a position without significant power or authority in the Legion's command structure. Gaius wanted him attached to the Legion so he could monitor its activities without arousing suspicion himself. Unfortunately, the events of the novel soon thrust him into the (very public) spotlight.
** Ehren spends much of his time beneath notice. His weak furycrafting helps people underestimate him and not think of his actions. [[spoiler: Attis Aquitaine ends up going on a suicidal mission on his subtle advice and ends up dying from wounds received, dazedly remarking on his deathbed that, "I think that little man assassinated me"]].

* BestHerToBedHer: The Marat, as a culture, have this in terms of their courting rituals. The man must win over the woman he wants in some competition ''of her choosing''. So, if a male of the Wolf tribe seeks to court a lady of the Horse tribe, she can challenge him to a horse race, knowing full well she has the clear advantage and will likely easily win, then end his pursuit of her. In the end, [[spoiler: Kitai challenges Tavi to slay the Vord Queen first]].

** First Lord Gaius Sextus is an extremely patient man and waits twenty-five years to enact the full extent of his revenge against [[spoiler: the High Lords who conspired to kill his son. The first he kills personally by blowing up a volcano near his castle. The second one he [[UriahGambit convinces to lead an attack]] against the oncoming Vord menace, alone. He is overcome and devoured by the monsters (not unlike the Marat doing Septimus so much harm no body could be reasonably recovered)]].
** Fearing this, [[spoiler: the Vord Queen does not kill Isana when she captures her, as Tavi might share his grandfather's pragmatism and put off their encounter, remarking that that bloodline 'does not do things in hot blood'. Live bait will motivate him to move faster and hopefully make more errors]].

** The series was originally written on one. Jim Butcher was in a debate over whether [[SugarWiki/FictionIdentityPostulate a good story required a good idea, or a good story could be written with a bad idea]]. The other member of the argument, whose name has now been lost to time, bet that Butcher could not write a good story based on a terrible idea he came up with. Butcher responded that he would take [[UpToEleven two]]. The ideas were the LostRomanLegion... and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.
** By ''Princeps Fury'' the Cursors have a pool on who will be the victor when Lord Aquitaine and Lady Aquitaine inevitably turn on each other. [[spoiler: Ehren gets in on it and notes he bet on Lady Aquitaine]].

* {{BFG}}: The Balest, the first crossbow in the Codex Alera world, invented by the Canim and the size of a cart horse's yoke. It shoots bolts with enough force to punch straight through a fully armored ''legionare'' and still be moving fast enough to wound the man behind him.

** Later, when Aldrick has struck down Bernard, Amara, and Tavi in turn, and is getting ready to kill Tavi and take back the MacGuffin, [[spoiler:Fade finally drops his ObfuscatingStupidity pretense and reveals himself as Araris Valerian, facing and defeating Aldrick in a metalcrafting blade duel]].

** In ''First Lord's Fury'' Tavi [[spoiler:arrives with a full legion and Canim troops on the vord's aft, drawing attention and being in a key spot to finally kill the Queen]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Alera is saved from the Vord and has crafted a new Alliance with all of its former enemies. Tavi takes the throne with his newly wedded wife Kitai and their son Desiderius and already has set plans into motion regarding the reconstruction of Alera, to make it stronger than ever before. However, nearly half of the Aleran people were killed in the war. Weather patterns are thrown into flux by the eruptions of Mount Kalus and the volcano Gaius Sextus created beneath Alera Imperia, along with the icy weather Tavi brought down from the north for his ship-sleds. The Great Fury Alera's death will cause even more chaos: furycrafting may become unpredictable, wild furies will become more prevalent, random surges of plant growth and death will occur, and the weather will become even more turbulent. Also, the Vord still control Canea, having killed most of the population - Tavi and crew were only in time to save about sixty thousand Canim - and will spend the next few centuries fortifying and consolidating the continent. They will be ready to attack Alera again within roughly two hundred years, and Alera ''needs'' to be ready to meet them. On the other hand, the Vord controlling Canea does provide sufficient motive for the peoples of Carna to maintain their EnemyMine situation, which Tavi fully intends to leverage as much as possible.]]
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Vord Queen has them.

* BloodMagic: The Canim ritualist caste uses powerful magic that can be on par with Aleran furycrafting. Unusually, it is not inherently evil, and while there are quite a few {{Evil Sorcerer}}s, a number of ritualists can be surprisingly decent. Originally, Canim ritualists used their ''own'' blood to fuel their magic--they only started going evil when they realized the blood of others worked just as well, and could be procured in larger quantities.

* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: This is what scenes involving High Lords Antillus and Phrygius turn into. [[BoisterousBruiser Antillus]] says something dim-witted or [[CaptainObvious obvious]], [[DeadpanSnarker Phrygius]] makes fun of him for being an idiot. [[VitriolicBestBuds They are best friends]]. The whole setup is only made funnier by the fact that both lords are in their late forties/early fifties, members of the absolutely highest social and political echelon of Aleran society and powerful enough furycrafters to level cities on their lonesome.

** When Tavi questions why he needs to learn the basic, almost clumsy combat techniques of the Legion when he is already a rather skilled swordsman, Max points out that the entire reason the Legions are able to stand off the larger, stronger Canim and the more numerous Marat is because of their coordination and basic efficiency. Dazzling swordplay is nice on an individual basis, but it is useless when fighting in concert with others, where learning the basic interlocking formations is what makes a Legion infinitely stronger than the individual swordsmen composing its ranks.
** The Canim have simple but effective crossbow-like weapons which can be used to effect almost as deadly as a Knight Flora, and use simple slings to hurl boulders further than a Knight Terra could. Worse, most any of their kind can learn to use either technique.
* BotheringByTheBook: In ''Captain's Fury'' Ehren mentions dealing with Senator Arnos earlier in the book had him studying of Aleran law and procedure to help outgambit the man. In the end, [[spoiler:Ehren is writing documents to not only validate Tavi's title of Octavian, Prince of the Realm, but for Tavi to give himself the authority to free himself from prison on his own recognizance to defend the honor of the Realm]]. It all stands up to Arnos' legal expert.
* BreakingSpeech: The Vord Queen [[spoiler:uses watercrafting to send a message to all of Alera, telling them the futility of this war, of how unconquerable the Vord are, and that they need not die fighting this war. She will give any who wish it amnesty if they come to her lands. The only condition is they cannot have any more children]]. It nearly works and even gets to Tavi's men. Then Varg [[LargeHam responds.]] And not many moments later, Tavi ripostes.
* BribeBackfire: In Alera Imperia there is the Grey Tower, a formidable prison for powerful crafters. The guards assigned there are some of the strongest swordsmen in the nation and have a high degree of integrity. It is virtually impossible for anyone to bribe them. If someone even tries to bribe them, they can report the bribe to their superiors and the Crown will pay them double the bribe amount as a bonus.

* BrickJoke: ''Furies of Calderon'' begins with Tavi and Bernard searching for a lost flock of sheep near Garados, when they run into Atsurak. [[spoiler: The last scene of the book is Tavi returning home with those lost sheep.]]

** When Ivarus, Kestus and Tonnar are ambushed by the Vord, Ivarus says that it is more important for Kestus to escape and warn Alera than it is for him to stop and assist Ivarus, whose horse has been killed.

* BugCasteSystem: There are ''lots'' of different kinds of Vord. Queens, Warriors, Takers, and Wax Spiders seem to come standard, but more specialized castes such as Vordknights, Vordbulks, mantises, and Cane-forms pop up, too, depending on the needs of the situation and what enemies are available to copy.
* BurningTheShips: In ''Cursor's Fury'' Sarl, the Canim commander, burns the Canim fleet in order to prevent the warriors under his command who are there under duress from fleeing back home. The invasion is ordered by priests of two castes who [[WeAREStrugglingTogether dislike each other]] passionately.
* ButHeSoundsHandsome: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. In ''Cursor's Fury'' Max and Tavi briefly discuss the reported assault on a slaver and the freeing of all his slaves, congratulating and praising the mysterious man who did it, and are each very surprised to learn that it ''wasn't'' the other one who did it.
* ButICantBePregnant: Kitai is shaky on the details of her pregnancy, as she and the father aren't ''quite'' the same species.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Princeps Septimus was known among the Citizenry for going against the flow and would get involved personally to deal with squabbles. Invidia mentions that these scuffles were not really remembered by Septimus himself, but those he did insult and whose ire he aroused, remembered and hated him all the more.

** The highly advanced and massive crossbows created by the Canim are referred to as “balests.” Additionally, the [[spoiler:catapults]] re-invented by Octavian and Bernard in ''First Lord’s Fury'' are called “mules” since [[spoiler:the force of their released payloads causes one end of their structure to leap up in a manner reminiscent of a donkey kicking out its hind legs. Which was actually historical name: Romans called what is called catapults today an "onager" (an ass or a mule) because it kicked like one, while "catapulta" was used for what was, essentially, a giant crossbow]].

* TheCallPutMeOnHold: Tavi grows up as a "furyless freak", a source of considerable angst to him. It is also a source of inspiration for him, because he has to [[GuileHero think his way out of situations that his countrymen would simply blast their way out of]], and he regularly takes advantage of resulting blind spots in their thinking. [[spoiler:But his furycrafting abilities were actually just intentionally stunted by his mother to prevent his royal lineage from being noticed...and he gets them later.]]

** All Legions have the standard merchant, vagabond and prostitute followers. Women have a mandatory term of service in the followers during their late-teens/early-twenties where they serve as cooks, seamstresses, etc. for the Legions. There is the implicit instruction to also serve as a dating pool for the Legions, with dialogue indicating that the real purpose young women are assigned is to make sure that ''legionares'' reproduce and have available wives; Isana says that when she had a miscarriage during her term of service the Legion commander said she had fulfilled her duty and sent her home.
** The First Aleran Legion has the usual makeup of followers, but eventually Mistress Cymnea, their nominal leader, is added to the staff of the legion as Tribune Logistics after [[spoiler:all but two officers of the Legion were killed in an attempt to decapitate it]].
* CanisLatinicus: All the Aleran names are this, bearing next to no resemblance to actual Roman naming practices. Gaius Primus, Secundus, etc look ridiculous in a Roman context, and married women apparently take their husband's family name (Romans didn't) without changing it to a feminine form (for example, Aquitaina Invidia would be more correct). Yes, okay, there's been a millennium or two of linguistic divergence, but to someone who knows Latin it just looks ''wrong''.
* CannotSpitItOut: In the fourth book, Isana finally tries to explain to Tavi [[spoiler:who his parents are and why he does not have magic powers like everyone else]]. Unfortunately, he chooses just that moment for some ObliviousGuiltSlinging, talking about how great it is to see family again without all the political intrigue and backstabbing of his job, which makes it even harder for her to [[spoiler:confess to a lifelong deception]], so she puts it off. [[spoiler:Eventually, Araris does the job for her. Tavi is a bit sore about it for a while.]]

* CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough: When Tavi and Maximus are sent to join the First Aleran Legion, Max knocks out two ''legionares'' who are disrespectful to Tavi, who is there undercover as an officer. When Tavi points out to Max that he could have handled them himself, Max explains that that is not the point; an officer ''wouldn't'' dispense corporal punishment, regardless of his capabilities, since that is the job of the Centurions.

** Any non-TailorMadePrison usually turns out to be this to crafters. This nearly bites the Canim leader Lararl in the tail because his range has had little contact with Alerans, and he believes that the stories of what they can do are myths and exaggerations set out by Varg's range (Narash). He doesn't believe that they can do anything Canim magic can't, and Canish magic can't make a person fly, so his prison for Tavi and his crew is being stuck on an open roof with no way down. Since they have windcrafters with them it does not pose any significant obstacle.

* TheCharmer: Antillar "Max" Maximus. The reason he is so outgoing is because [[spoiler: he does not think he will live past 30, since the WickedStepmother sees him as an impediment to his half-brother's political success and has been arranging "accidents" since he was 14.]]
* ChekhovsBoomerang: In the first book, Tavi and Kitai are sent into the Wax Forest to retrieve a mushroom that can cure any poison. After a little too much excitement ensues, this property turns out to be all that saves Kitai's life. They do not show up again until [[spoiler:the last book, when Isana uses them to save Amara and Lady Placida from death by Vord poison. And, as a bonus, heals Amara's blight scars, [[BabiesEverAfter allowing her to conceive]].]]

** The longest delay was [[spoiler:the fact that the Calderon Valley contains the great furies Garados and Thana, introduced in the beginning of the first book, mentioned briefly in the second, and are of great importance in the climax of the final book.]]

** In ''Academ's Fury'' Invidia introduces the newest creation from her city's best tailor: fury-infused clothing that can change colors to the wearer's desire. In ''Princeps' Fury'' [[spoiler:Amara and Bernard purchase two dresses of the material, one in her size and one in his, to be made into full-body invisibility cloaks to use in infiltrating enemy territory]].
** In ''Cursor's Fury'' it is mentioned that the legion camp designs are pretty much identical. The captain's tent is always in the same relative spot, even large fortresses like the one in Calderon have a similar set-up. [[spoiler:This means it is all the easier for the Canim to send down a deadly lightning attack and know where to fire to hit the command structure]]. This fires again in ''First Lord's Fury'' when [[spoiler:the Vord Queen stages a raiding attack on Tavi's camp and they're still following the old camp design, allowing her to know the most efficient paths to attack the medical tents and command tents.]] Tavi himself lampshades he should have thought of a new design.
** At the beginning of ''Cursor's Fury'', Tavi uses a lens to light a fire and trick Max's WickedStepmother into thinking he has furycrafting ability (he is known as the one person in Alera without furies of his own). In the climax, he does a similar trick... with a ''quarter-mile wide lens'' made by his Knights Aeris to [[DeathRay concentrate the sun rays]] on the attacking Canim.
** One of the properties of collar slaves is that they don't work on anyone who already has one. [[spoiler:Before infiltrating Brencis Minoris' hideaway, Amara lets Bernard put a collar on her because that way Brencis won't be able to enslave her.]]
** ''Captain's Fury'' has a discussion on Tavi's furycrafting that discusses how a fury can be "gifted" to someone else, but it never happens in the story. [[spoiler: In ''Princeps Fury'', Gaius Sextus gifts the Great Fury Alera to Tavi.]]

** Furycrafted roads allow legions to move quickly on them and crafters can even give their horses a boost of speed from the roads. Later, [[spoiler:Tavi supplements "horses" with "Cane" when he needs both the Canim army and his army to do a quick march and the Canim cannot use furycrafting. Carrying the Alerans allows them the usage of the furycrafting roads to all their power]]. Additionally, [[spoiler:the Awakened Vord Queen is able to use the collared Citizens under her command to repair the causeways the Alerans had been severing to slow her advance, allowing her to (relatively) quickly assemble her forces and attack Riva]].

** In ''First Lord's Fury'' Fidelias remembers as part of his Cursor training developing the skill to sneak up behind a person in absolute silence and be able to stab them in the neck at the top of the spine, a guarantee one-hit kill even on a powerful Citizen. [[spoiler:Amara uses this exact technique to finally kill Invidia using a stone weapon, as her metalcrafting would have noticed anything metal]].
* ChekhovsVolcano: The climax of ''Captain's Fury'' (well, one of them) has [[spoiler: the First Lord unleashing Kalus, the Great Fury within the volcanic Mount Kalare, from Kalarus, destroying the High Lord, his capital city, and all of the other towns and steadholts for hundreds of square miles, killing hundreds of thousands.]]

** When the First Lord goes to battle, he has enough power and skill of metalcrafting to turn into this.

* CivilWar: High Lord Kalarus Brencis launches a particularly bloody one against the First Lord in ''Cursor’s Fury''. The “Kalaran Rebellion”, as it is called, lasts for roughly two years before it is brought to a swift and violent end in ''Captain’s Fury''.

* CommanderContrarian: Senators Arnos and Valerius, who mostly just want to make themselves look good at the expense of everyone else. In Valerius's case, even in the face of what is TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Valerius's EstablishingCharacterMoment is, when he's being rescued from a Vord-induced FateWorseThanDeath, to act indignant that someone is telling him what to do. Bernard promptly knocks his ass out and notes that he'll slow them down less unconscious.

* TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch: Tavi briefly [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] this in ''Captain's Fury''. He demands to be placed under the custody of Captain Nalus instead of Senator Arnos, since he does not want to wake up and discover that he had accidentally slit his wrists in his sleep.

** Towards the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', Isana learns that Aric and Heddy were in a consensual relationship, and that if Aric had explained what happened they could have prevented the trial of his brother Bittan for Heddy's rape. This in turn would have avoided all of the conflict which spun out of there for the rest of the novel.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Almost every plan of Tavi's relies on this. So much so that Kitai finds the FinalBattle by going to the place only a lunatic would enter.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler:Fade]]

** The Alerans of the north and Icemen have this relationship. One side kills the other and the other retaliates. It has been going on for so long, Isana wonders if either side actually remembers why the conflict started to begin with. [[spoiler: The [[HatePlague mutually inimical reactions of Aleran firecrafting and the Icemen's winter powers]] hasn't helped.]]

** Invidia is one of the most powerful crafters in the series, and is motivated solely by ambition and greed.
** Navaris is regarded as one of, if not ''the'' most deadly swordsperson in Alera (Araris, the ''other'' single most deadly swordsman in Alera, gave any fair fight between them a 50/50 chance of going either way), but is motivated solely by bloodlust and a need to prove herself better than ''everybody''.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: [[spoiler:While Gaius and Septimus never got along very well, the First Lord was even less than pleased with his choice of a commoner for a wife, rather than the politically safe and acceptable arranged marriage to a woman who is a ranking Citizen and strong crafter as well]].

** In their first skirmish with the Canim forces in Alera, where they defeated a group of approximately fifty Canim raiders, two members of the First Aleran cavalry are killed. When Tavi realizes that neither he nor Maximus know their names, he asks Max to find out.

** One Cane ritualist, Master Marok, uses this to take the wind out of the sails of one of his less-honorable colleagues. After Tavi is forced to kill two Canim commoners in self-defense, the ritualist says that a blood price must be paid for them -- and Marok undercuts him by asking if he even knows their names, when he clearly doesn't.

* DeathByChildbirth: [[spoiler: Tavi is brought up believing that his mother was Isana's sister and that she died giving birth to him. While Isana's sister ''did'' die when Tavi was born, it was not in childbirth since she was not his mother; Isana was. Her sister died from blood loss from an arrow wound she took when they were attacked shortly before Tavi's birth, which was not properly treated since she was focused on helping Isana deliver Tavi, making her death an example of the trope by proxy.]]
* DeathByDespair: When Gaius Septimus died, his mother took ill soon afterwards. She had his portrait, which she was in the middle of painting, hung in her room as she wasted away.

** When Fidelias is crucified for his crimes, Demos, Maximus and Crassus, and later Tavi and Kitai, discuss the way he seemed to be so accepting of the situation when he could have fought or resisted. Tavi ultimately realizes that Fidelias ''wanted'' to be executed as a form of redemption. [[spoiler:This is what motivates him to spare Fidelias, so that they can get maximum benefit out of his death instead of wasting it in execution]].

*** The Canim have access to magic the Alerans do not. This includes [[spoiler:a powerful lightning attack that takes out the Legion's command headquarters with most inside]].
*** Tavi returns the favor, in kind, with [[spoiler:a KillSat-like attack. With the sun high above, he has his Knights Aeris make a giant telescoping circle aimed over Max, who then uses his own windcrafting to redirect the resulting beam of concentrated sunlight at the Canim army]].
** In ''Princep's Fury'' the Vord Queen [[spoiler:captured thousands of crows with taker worms and filled their guts with more]]. Gaius observed [[spoiler:the seemingly normal flock of crows waiting to feast on the dead and thought little of it. Then all the crows dropped dead and the takers flew out, infecting anyone they could, causing massive panic and some chaos in the defended city]].

* DecapitationStrike: In ''Cursor's Fury'', the First Aleran Legion is struck by a powerful attack targeted at the Commander's Tent, just when every officer in the camp has been summoned there to discuss a recent development. If it had worked as designed, it would've wiped out everyone who could've taken command of the Legion, except for a strategically-placed traitor. Instead, command fell to Tavi there in disguise as the Third Subtribune Logistica, who just happened to be running late to the meeting.
* DefiantToTheEnd: When [[spoiler: Invidia]] has Amara and Bernard at swordpoint, but seems willing to talk for at least a little while, Amara [[GetItOverWith tells her to quit stalling]] and explains that she is just pitiful and pathetic, whose actions have no justification or excuse. When [[spoiler:Invidia]] incredulously asks Amara who she thinks she is to talk like that, Amara points out that she is somebody who is willing to give her own life in the service to others, while [[spoiler:Invidia]] is nothing but a traitor and coward who will get neither sympathy nor last-minute forgiveness from her.
* {{Determinator}}: Amara takes note of one enemy soldier who had the courage and ferocity to withstand the fear crafting [[spoiler:done by Gaius himself, after it had sent thousands of the man's comrades fleeing in terror or dropping from panic, before the man is promptly killed by Gaius]].

** Lady Invidia [[spoiler:failed to consider Fidelias' words from ''Academ's Fury'' about his loyalty to the realm]] and thus didn't fully anticipate [[spoiler:his betrayal of her and nearly killing her as well]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: The entire story is ultimately set off by Gaius Septimus being murdered by assassins sent from treacherous High Lords [[spoiler:who had been put up to it by Invidia as revenge for him breaking their engagement.]]

* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Fury" is a word for wild anger, and within the series refers to a person's ability to furycraft (Manipulate the elements). The titles of each book refer both to Tavi's anger and rage over what happens, but also to his relationship with furycrafting.

* DuelToTheDeath: The ''juris macro'', the legal duel between Citizens to settle a grievance between them. It is mentioned in various points through the series, and readers see two duels in completion:

** In ''Princep's Fury'', Isana challenges High Lord Antillus. [[spoiler: He beats her easily, as she knew he would, but she psychoanalyses him as he does and "wins" when he realizes that she is right.]]
** A third duel, between Araris Valerian and Aldrick ex Gladius that lasted for ''ten hours'', took place fifteen years before the start of the series. It is repeatedly mentioned by characters as one of the greatest sword fights in history.

* ElCidPloy: A significant chunk of the plot of ''Academ's Fury'' consists of hiding the fact that Gaius Sextus collapsed from overwork [[spoiler:and poison]].

** [[BlowYouAway Windcrafting]] (Knights Aeris): In addition to [[BlowYouAway air manipulation]] and {{flight}}, grants SuperSpeed, Lightning Bolt-chucking, [[{{Invisibility}} Veils]], and the ability to create a telescope-like lens out of air, [[spoiler:this last of which [[Awesome/CodexAlera has also found use]] as a DeathRay.]]

** [[PlayingWithFire Firecrafting]] (Knights Ignus): [[StuffBlowingUp Very big booms]]. It also grants [[EmotionControl the ability to inspire fear or passion]], and manifested fire furies can be an outright nightmare. The Knights Ignus are the Legions' cannons, and battle plans always need some way of neutralizing them, lest everyone get burnt to a crisp.

** In ''Princep's Fury'' prisons for other crafters are seen. Firecrafters are put under running water. Earthcrafters and metalcrafters are in wooden cages away from the earth and metal. Windcrafters are in stone boxes with a single air hole the size of a human thumb. Woodcrafters are in metal cages, far from the wooden cages. Citizens require more complex combinations of these cages in order to counteract multiple aspects of furycrafting at once.
** The Grey Tower is intended to be this: it's supposed to hold anyone up to and including the First Lord if they break the law, but not by frustrating their furycrafting. Instead, each of the Grey Guards assigned to the tower are considered bribe proof[[note]]And it is Crown law that if the Knight reports the attempted bribary, they will be paid that much by the government threefold.[[/note]], and they are at least Knight-class crafters (usually in metalcrafting, but also with other talents), and the Tower itself is full of security measures to warn of a breakout attempt. A powerful enough citizen ''might'' escape, but, in theory, their escape will be noticed and the Grey Guard will run them down and capture them or kill them, and no matter what it will be noticed. [[spoiler: Tavi, of course, engineers a breakout in ''Academ's Fury'', but as a result he recommends improvements against just such an attempt in the future. Which causes problems when he needs to break in again in ''Captain's Fury''.]]

Magical Roman Legionaries straight out of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' versus the [[VideoGame/{{Starcraft}} Zerg]], [[WolfMan wolfmen]] with BloodMagic, telepathic [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yetis]] and [[MysticalWhiteHair white-haired]] [[OurElvesAreBetter elves]]. Riding [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs ground sloths and terror birds]]. Sometimes, the Legionaries fight each other, too.

* {{Fan Disservice}}:

** Invidia after her [[spoiler:fight with Attis in ''First Lord’s Fury''. The fact that the narration often refers to her as “the burned woman” should serve as a good indicator of how far she’s fallen in terms of physical beauty]].

* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The campaign fought in the Amaranth Vale between the invading Narashan Canim and the First Aleran Legion has many parallels to the [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Second Punic War]], with Nasaug painted as an analogue to Hannibal Barca and his forces as the Carthagians invading the Italian Peninsula. It’s also likely not a coincidence that he’s matching wits with a foe named “Rufus Scipio” - as in, Scipio Africanus, the legendary Roman general who ultimately defeated Hannibal.

* MonsterSobStory: [[spoiler:The Vord Queen is in Alera because her daughters in Canea declared her [[HumanityIsInfectious defective]] and try to kill her on sight.]]

** Isana and Odiana are powerful watercrafters and so are put in a drying hut for meats surrounded by hot stones and kept dehydrated, being given barely enough water to survive.

** The Grey Tower is intended to be this: it's supposed to hold anyone up to and including the First Lord if they break the law, but not by frustrating their furycrafting. Instead, each of the Grey Guards assigned to the tower are considered bribe proof, and they are at least Knight-class crafters (usually in metalcrafting, but also with other talents), and the Tower itself is full of security measures to warn of a breakout attempt. A powerful enough citizen ''might'' escape, but, in theory, their escape will be noticed and the Grey Guard will run them down and capture them or kill them, and no matter what it will be noticed. [[spoiler: Tavi, of course, engineers a breakout in ''Academ's Fury'', but as a result he recommends improvements against just such an attempt in the future. Which causes problems when he needs to break in again in ''Captain's Fury''.]]

** A small humorous example.

** Fire magic is again used in the creation of coldstones, which unlike lamp-furies and their exothermic properties, coldstones are endothermic and absorb the surrounding heat into them, which means they become refridgeration units.

** Bernard uses fire magic in the creation of small glass orbs of fire. [[spoiler:These are easy to make by anyone with fire magic, and when the orbs are gathered in larger quantieis can generate an explosion comparable to a fire attack by a High Lord]].

* WarriorTherapist: Through watercrafting, characters can literally feel their opponents emotions during battle.

* TheXOfY: The first book, ''Furies of Calderon'', referring to the {{Elemental Embodiment}}s that premate the world of Alera, and the central location of that book, Calderon.

* BadassGrandpa:
** Gaius Sextus, for all that [[OlderThanTheyLook he does not look it]].
** Varg, who is centuries old by the Aleran calendar, and only about a century by his own kind's, [[spoiler:is also a real grandfather]].

** Valiar Marcus, First Spear (Senior Centurion) of the First Aleran Legion. One of the few men living that was 'promoted' to the House of the Valiant (Valiar) for his service to Alera. [[spoiler: It turns out he is Fidelias in disguise]].

* ShootTheMedicFirst: A favored tactic among the vord is to primarily go after the watercrafters first, since they can heal.

* ShutUpHannibal: When Bernard was giving a lecture to the Ceresian Collegia Tactica on the threat of the Vord, Senator Arnos repeatedly dismissed the danger as either a misunderstanding or outright deception of Doroga, calling Doroga numerous unkind names as he did so. Bernard, in response, warned Arnos that if he insulted Bernard's friend again, Bernard would challenge him to the ''juris macto'' and rip his tongue from his mouth.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: ''Furies of Calderon'' features a relatively minor struggle against invading "barbarians". By ''First Lord's Fury'', the world is about to end. The Vord have this as a superpower- kill some, and all you have really accomplished is teaching the Queen new tricks to [[AdaptiveAbility incorporate into the next generation]].

* SpotTheThread: Or, as Magnus calls it an "accretion of evidence", as he puts together [[spoiler:a list of possible cursors with the skills, abilities, and age to match the traits Valiar Marcus shows. It leads him to realize Marcus is Fidelias]].

* StarCrossedLovers: Towards the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', [[spoiler: after most of the story had established that Heddy had been raped by Bittan, it is revealed that Heddy had actually been having ''consensual'' sex with Aric, Bittan's brother. Aric's father, Kord, was an abusive, violent, lecherous bully, and Heddy's father, Warner, knew all too well what Kord was like, so both partners had to keep their relationship secret from their families. Aric and Heddy are married by ''Academ's Fury''...[[BackForTheDead but then Aric is Taken by the Vord]].]]
* StartOfDarkness: The fifth book reveals that [[spoiler: contrary to what most people assumed, Aquitaine was ''not'' one of those who killed Princeps Septimus: quite the opposite, he was one of Septimus' closest friends and turned against the First Lord who had been unable to protect his own son, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming just as cruel and ruthless as those he sought revenge against.]]]]
* StealthExpert: The Cursors are typically trained to be this, but Kitai (as a Marat, she has senses far enhanced in comparison to a human’s along with SuperStrength and incredible agility) and the Hunters of the Canim take this UpToEleven. The latter case is especially impressive since they’re all incredibly tall WolfMen who were still able to catch even Kitai off guard.

** Metalcrafters subsume pain and emotion by drawing the matrix of the metal into their mind. In other words, they steel themselves against it.

** When Doroga and Kitai see examples of precise, choreographed Aleran activities (Military formations and rehearsed singing, respectively) they both comment that Alerans must be bored out of their minds rehearsing in advance, part and parcel of Aleran "madness." The people they are talking to (Bernard and Tavi) both then point out that they seem extremely pleased with the results.

** In ''Cursor's Fury'', [[spoiler: Tavi arranges to detonate ''a town'' to stop a Canim assault through the liberal application of alcohol, lamp oil and distributed sawdust]].

* MrFanservice: Max, Bernard, and Kalarus Brencis Minoris, along with Tavi and Araris in the later novels.

* MasterSwordsman: Any Knight Ferrous is this by definition. Araris Valerian, Aldrick ex Gladius, and Phrygiar Navaris are the three most significant to the story, and each of them has a deserved reputation as one of the top blades in Alera. Araris is ''probably'' the best, though Aldrick once famously dueled him to a draw, and he admits himself that it could go either way between him and Navaris. Other lesser examples include Max and Crassus, Schultz (who Max claims could even become a Knights Ferrous given enough time and training), and Amara (despite her having no actual metal furies).