History Literature / CodexAlera

** [[MakingASplash Watercrafting]] (Knights Aqua): [[MakingASplash Manipulating water]], [[TheEmpath empathy]], underwater breathing, [[ShapeShifting the ability to change their appearance]], long-range water-based communication, and, most importantly, [[HealingHands healing]]. Without some metalcrafting, though, they tend to be {{Unhappy Medium}}s, since as we all know, AMindIsATerribleThingToRead.

* WitchSpecies: The Alerans/humans are a version of this. All Alerans can harness ElementalPowers, and while other races have some degree of magic among them, humans have the greatest and most common access to it. Interestingly, this works as a disadvantage as much as an advantage, since they tend to have trouble thinking about non-magical methods of accomplishing things (meaning, for example, that there exists no really advanced technology, beyond maybe air coaches and ships, both of which even then can be created using furycrafting). Similarly, though to a lesser degree, the Canim have a whole caste who are just magic users, though seeing as the ritualists are a rather secretive and elitist bunch it’s unclear whether their powers are hereditary, or just an art they keep to themselves.

* IgnoredExpert: Nobody believes Bernard about the threat the Vord pose. He eventually just gives up on trying to convince [[ObstructiveBureaucrat the idiots in charage]] and starts fortifying the Calderon Valley instead, but Ehren believes that Bernard ''had'' convinced the First Lord and had been operating under secret orders to prepare for an invasion.

** [[ExtraOreDinary Metalcrafting]] (Knights Ferrus): ImplausibleFencingPowers and the ability to sense nearby metal; additionally, it can be used to artificially repress emotion and pain to turn the user into an ImplacableMan. The most powerful and skilled metalcrafters can [[ChromeChampion incorporate metal into their skin]] to protect themselves. Finally, [[BoringButPractical their sense of metal and ability to manipulate it's hardness make them amazing blacksmiths]].

* DoomedHometown: Inverted. By the end of the series, the Calderon Valley is the ''only'' place still intact and not under seige by the various wars befalling the country.

* 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. One a more personal level, Crassus is still angry at Tavi keeping the truth of his mother's survival from him, and their friendship may not recover. 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.]]

** 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.

** The Vord queen. In a twist, however, she knows that there is something fundamental about humanity that she is not understanding, and she keeps trying to learn what it is. She observes families, interrogates humans as to what "[[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove love]]" means, and tries to replicate the traditions of everyday life (family meals). Despite all this, she never does learn what it is that makes people tick, though she [[spoiler:does manage to form a bond with Invidia and is a little put out by her death]].

** The Vord Queens are all described as attractive young humanoid women who go naked except for cloaks, but their nature as {{Humanoid Abomination}}s combined with their BlueAndOrangeMorality means that their nakedness just serves to make them seem even ''more'' alien.

* {{Mon}}: WordOfGod holds that the furies are in fact based on ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.

* MrFanservice: Max, Bernard, Attis, and Kalarus Brencis Minoris, along with Tavi and Araris in the later novels.
* MsFanservice: Invidia and Amara, along with Kitai in the later novels.

* 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. Lady 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.

%%* AlasPoorVillain: Thrice.

* AlasPoorVillain: Thrice.

* BeastOfBattle: The gargants and vordbulks.

* BigBadFriend: Fidelias to Amara.

* BigManOnCampus: Max, with the ladies anyways.

* TheChessmaster: Both Aquitaines, Doroga, and the Vord Queen. Kalarus attempts to be this, but Gaius is better at it.

* CuteMonsterGirl: The final form of [[spoiler: the Vord Queen]].

** The Aleran Senator Valerius from the sixth novel resembles Arnos in more than one way, primairly in being a moronic and egotistical {{Jerkass}} with horrendously SkewedPriorities.

* UnholyMatrimony: Odiana is AxCrazy. Aldrick is an amoral mercenary. They are a surprisingly cute couple.

* AllohistoricalAllusion: Multiple sneaky references are made to various famous events from Roman history throughout the series, despite it technically being set in AnotherUniverse. Easily the most obvious is how [[LocationThemeNaming virtually every Aleran city and landmark is named after a Roman territory or deity]].

** Finally, each of Alera's recurring foes (minus the Vord, who are intentionally written as an OutsideContextProblem) can be seen as a loose analogue to recurring foes of Western Rome. As an example, the Canim represent the "more techonologically advanced" recurring foes of Rome, such as the Persians and Carthagians, with the latter being made particularly blatant in how the Narashan Canim's invasion of the Amaranth Vale provides [[FantasyCounterpartConflict a loose parallel to the Punic Wars]]. Meanwhile, the Marat and Icemen each represent different versions of the "horde of hostile barbarians" Rome often fought border conflicts with, with the Marat being more coded to resemble the ancient Germanic peoples while the Icemen are analogues to the Caledonian peoples of ancient Britannia.

** The Vord Queens go naked except for cloaks, but their HumanoidAbomination nature means that their nakedness just serves to make them seem even more alien.

* HordeOfAlienLocusts: The Vord.

** [[invoked]] 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.

** 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.

* SingleTargetSexuality: Kitai and Tavi love only each other. When his friends advise him to get a new woman when he's separated from her, and not expecting to see her again for months or years, he doesn't even entertain the suggestion. Kitai, likewise, never shows the slightest interest in anyone else besides Tavi. Except jokingly: after encountering one impressively competent officer, Kitai declares she is now in love, and Tavi tells her to get in line.

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

** 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.

** 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 poisoned 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.

** High Lord Kalarus is basically Kord from the first novel (being an abhorrent and misogynistic HateSink [[TheHedonist hedonist]] who practices slavery and isn't nearly as clever as he thinks he is) elevated to a recurring antagonist and major player in Aleran politics.
** Sarl is an adversary for the second and third novels, and is replaced by Khral in the sixth.
** Valerius from the sixth novel resembles Arnos in more than one way.

* UnholyMatrimony: Odiana is AxCrazy. Aldrick is an amoral mercenary. They are a cute couple.

** 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.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** 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 poisoned 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.
** The Vord often specialize themselves to resemble the foes that they're facing in battle. As such, when they're [[spoiler:facing the Canim in Canea, they're typically designed to be huge, well over nine feet tall on average. However, this resulted in the ''croach'' having to be grown extra-thick to make sure that they wouldn't break through it by just walking. As such, while the Canean ''croach'' still can't support the weight of a Cane, it can easily support the weight of an Aleran, since Alerans are far lighter than the Canim are]].

** 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 he is]], but this only causes Tavi to realize that Arnos is even more deluded than he had previously thought.

* NotSoDifferent:
** Subverted in ''Captain's Fury'' when Senator Arnos tries to reject Tavi's moral condemnation by saying that Tavi would have done the exact same thing, and in fact ''had'' done the same thing during his rise to command the First Aleran. Tavi, for his part, just realizes that Arnos is so blind as to not even be worth talking to.
** Played straight on a broader level in that the series has a common theme of how the Alerans, Marat, Canim, Icemen, and even ''Vord'' are all far more similar to each other than anyone would ever like to admit.

** Tavi laments Senator Arnos' martial incompetence and self-aggrandizement, as with his political influence and admitted intelligence he could have been a great asset if he cared more about solving the problem instead of undermining Tavi to make himself look good. He goes so far as to explicitly say as much to Arnos, but when Arnos instead [[NotSoDifferent tries to turn it around that Tavi is no better]], Tavi realizes that Arnos really is that far gone [[SubvertedTrope and says that he won't be helping anybody after all.]]

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, it starts with people calling him a "freak" and moves downhill from there. However, since he cannot rely on furies, Tavi uses something that many of his countrymen fail to utilize: [[GuileHero his brain]].

* {{Irony}}: The Icemen give their aid to Tavi in ''First Lord's Fury'' after he leases them the Shieldwall. In short, the Icemen now have control over the very construct they've been trying to destroy for the better part of three centuries.

* MedievalPrehistory: The series' main setting - Carna - is a PortalCrossoverWorld that contains several species of prehistoric fauna and their descendents. Among those seen, there are grass lions (sabretooth cats), leviathans (plesiosaurs), gargants (descendents of the ''Megatherium''), herdbane (terror birds), thanadents (tyrannosauroids), tavar ("bear-dogs"), slives (Cretaceous-era venomous monitor lizards), and garim (Komodo dragons).
* 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 actual quality of life is roughly equivalent to the mid-twentieth 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 millennium 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.]] Furthermore, Aleran furycrafting is almost entirely hereditary, helping reinforce an static and unchanging power structure in society that makes it increasingly difficult for clever minds like Tavi to have their ideas spread and take root without sufficient outside assistance.
** And then Bernard and Tavi reinvent the [[spoiler:catapult.]] Which turns into a WMD when loaded with lots of small fire orbs ''children'' can make with little effort. A WMD in a world with [[PersonOfMassDestruction Races of Mass Destruction]]. This is when the Alerans seem to finally realize their Medieval Stasis is breaking.

A [[Characters/CodexAlera character sheet]] is now available.

* NatureSpirit: Furies in general are this, being magical {{Hive Mind}}s of sentient atoms that embodying one of the six elements of nature. However, [[spoiler:with the exception of the Great Fury Alera herself]], virtually all of them aren't really anthropomorphized, with "domesticated" furies (those found in large cities and towns) basically being non-sapient, "wild" furies (those found out in the countryside farther from civilization) typically taking the forms of either various animals or plantlife along with having at least some degree of sapience (though, again, usually only to the level of an animal), and [[GeniusLoci the Great Furies]] themselves being some mocking parody of the human form.

** In comparison, it's mentioned that Canim BloodMagic is mostly [[AwesomeButImpractical geared towards usage in combat) and doesn't feature as much versatility as Aleran furycrafting. However, in ''Captain's Fury'' Varg claims that it still has its uses elsewhere, such as in blessing bloodlines, improving fertility in Canim women, increasing the bounty of crops, and lessening the ravages of storms, droughts, and plagues. The last aspect in particular is implied to be the reason why, despite furies existing in Canea, no furystorms or wild furies are observed there by Tavi and other Alerans in ''Princeps' Fury''.

** The Canim - a ProudWarriorRace with loads of FantasticRacism towards the Alerans - are utterly disgusted in ''Captain’s Fury'' by the mercenary cavalry regiments of the Senatorial Guard [[spoiler:massacring innocent Aleran steadholts, with a furious Nasaug specifically telling Tavi that he plans to wipe out the First Aleran Legion and both of the Senatorial Guard Legions so as to avenge the fallen civilians]].

** A [[DownplayedTrope minor example]] in "Captain's Fury". Tavi, undercover as "Rufus Scipio" in the First Alera Legion, has amassed a reputation as a brilliant commander and strategist. Several characters who are not privy to the secret identity or all the facts of the situation talk about meeting the wunderkind that everybody is talking about, with varying opinions on whether or not he could possibly measure up to the superman that rumors depict.

** The Canim castes are the Makers (farmers, workers, and artisans), Ritualists (doctors, priests, and sorcerers), Hunters (spies and assassins), Warriors (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin). The Warriors and the Ritualists are continually at odds as to which caste is higher (although the Warriors are almost always shown to be above the Ritualists in power), though they both claim to serve the Makers and the Hunters serve the Warriors.

* 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 has 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.

* FantasticRacism: The Alerans, Marat, and Canim all fervently hate each other due to the numerous bloody conflicts fought throughout history. The Alerans also despise the Icemen due to their ForeverWar, and the Icemen (for the most part) return the favor.

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

* {{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.

* MamaBear: Do ''not'' make Isana angry.

* 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 Septimus's orders and protecting Isana was best.]]

** "Tavi" takes on a new meaning when it's revealed that it's short for [[spoiler:"Oc'''tavi'''an"]], representing the fact that he is HiddenInPlainSight, by appearing to be less than he truly is.

* 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 actual 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.]]
** And then Bernard and Tavi reinvent the [[spoiler:catapult.]] Which turns into a WMD when loaded with lots of small fire orbs ''children'' can make with little effort. A WMD in a world with [[PersonOfMassDestruction Races of Mass Destruction]]. This is when the Alerans realize their Medieval Stasis is breaking.

* MundaneUtility: All of the different types of furies and their crafters have some form of mundane utility; windcrafting allows for flight and bending the air to see distant objects, 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 other forms of technological development have completely stagnated.
* MyGodYouAreSerious: When Tavi suggests that Ehren attempt to make contact with Nasaug, the war leader of the Canim, Ehren bursts out laughing before he swiftly realizes that Tavi isn't joking.

* OutsideContextProblem: [[invoked]] The Vord, which do not behave like any of the other species which inhabit the world of Carna and have been encountered only in vague legends of the Marat. WordOfGod states that they are alien invaders.

* UtilityMagic: Aleran society runs on this. They use furycrafting for every single convenience and technology.

* VillainousRescue: In order to prevent Kalarus from seizing the throne himself, the Aquitaines need to help save Gaius Sextus's life in ''Academ's Fury'', which they both recognize for the irony. Invidia herself is the one to personally go to the Citadel and battle foes on Gaius's behalf.

* VitriolicBestBuds: High Lords Phrygius and Antillus, who command the two cities of the Shieldwall and stand together against the Icemen of the north.

** If Tavi hadn't stolen High Lady Antillus's purse [[spoiler: and found the bloodstone Sarl gave her, she would have stuck around and taken control of the First Aleran when Sarl destroyed the officers' tent, the First Aleran would likely have been destroyed and the Realm plunged into utter warfare with the Canim, leaving it entirely unprepared for when the Vord struck]].
*** [[spoiler:In addition, Valiar Marcus/Fidelias only survived the strike because he wasn't in the tent when it was destroyed]].

* RedemptionQuest: Tavi sets [[spoiler:Fidelias up on one at the end. Fidelias ex Cursori is dead. He is now Valiar 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]].

** 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, leaving it entirely unprepared for when the Vord struck.]]

** Antillar Maxiums [[DynamicEntry enters]] his first scene by knocking around the bullies harassing Tavi and Ehren as he shouts "[[BoisterousBruiser Good morning!]]"

** Tavi's nonexistent talents and Ehren's weak crafting forced this on them as a matter of survival. [[spoiler: [[SkilledAndStrong Until Tavi's powers finally awaken.]]]]