History Literature / HeraldsOfValdemar

** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of arranged marriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Many of the young ladies (and, more to the point, their parents) are hoping to land [[NobilityMarriesMoney wealthy merchants]] who will parade them at social functions, instead of older nobles merely looking for someone to provide an [[SpareToTheThrone heir and a spare]]. The DoubleStandard between ladies, who are expected to be faithful at least until the aforementioned heirs are produced, and young men, for whom mistresses and visits to brothels are winked at, is explored. The more sexually liberated Heralds decide that something ought to be done about a culture that raises girls to aspire to no more than a good match.

* TeleportersAndTransporters: "Gates", spells that allow people to travel long distance instantly, are the primary form. The "Fetching" mind-magic gift is a much shorter-ranged and smaller-payload version.

* CallToAdventure: Delivered without fail by Companions; their Chosen may [[JumpedAtTheCall jump at the Call]] or try to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse the Call]], depending on their situation at the time. All accept eventually, though on one notable occasion the Call repudiated one of the Called.

** ''Spy, Spy Again'' (forthcoming)

** A less sympathetic example in the Tedrels who are so desperate for a country that there are no depths to which they will not sink to get one.

* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Vanyel after losing Tylendal. His deeply romantic (and deeply in denial) mother likes to tell young women "he lost his first love tragically" -- fortunately by the time Stef comes along she seems to have accepted things.

* FounderOfTheKingdom: Baron Valdemar, fleeing the corruption of the Eastern Empire [[TheMigration with his followers]], founded both his namesake kingdom and the Heralds. According to what is told in ''The Mage Storms'' the crown was half forced on him because his people didn't want a mere ''Baron'' as their ruler while everyone else around them was declaring themselves kings, no matter how small a place they have.
** Urtho's were split up after the Cataclysm and groups and companies went on to found k'Leshya, the Shin'a'in, the Tayledras, [[spoiler: Iftel and possibly Karse]]

* FullFrontalAssault: In ''The White Gryphon'', Hadanelith, a SerialKiller and [[MindRape Mind-Rapist]], conducts a series of assassinations against prominent members of Haighlei society... by climbing into their windows nude. This has several purposes: it shocks the victims, who are mainly high-class females, into being unable to resist; it avoids leaving evidence in the form of scraps of clothing or shoe-prints; it helps frame the White Gryphon delegation since no Haighlei would ever consider such an act; and [[ForTheEvulz it amuses him]].

* GenkiGirl: Natoli, almost to the point of being a ManicPixieDreamGirl for Karal, if she weren't important to the story in many other ways.
* GeniusLoci: The Forest of Sorrows
. [[spoiler: Leave it Vanyel to turn himself into this in death.]]

* GoodFeelsGood: Heralds in general and especially Skif, who does a HeelFaceTurn because of it, not that he was all that bad to start with.

** Several beings are worshipped that are clearly not a part of this pantheon. The Hundred Little Gods are the spirits of deceased emperors, although they grant no powers and may be fictitious; and Thalhkarsh is a demon who [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly gains actual power from worship]] and [[AGodAmI aspires to godhood]], though since he's stopped before his plans are complete it's never confirmed if he would have truly attained divinity or not. Demons and elemental spirits clearly come from somewhere, and it's unclear whether these are under the jurisdiction of the aforementioned gods or not. In addition, when the Star-Eyed puts in an appearance in ''Oathbreakers'' she comments with interest on the concept of Companions in a way that suggests she has no personal involvement in their creation or direction: she greets them as "children of my other self," but her wording leaves it unclear if she means that she and the force behind the Companions are actually separate facets of the same entity, or if she's simply recognizing their motives and values as aligned with her own.

** Gets almost ridiculous in ''Winds of Change''. Darkwind likes Elspeth, Elspeth seems interested in return. Then Firesong shows up and Elspeth seems slightly more interested in him than in Darkwind. Firesong notices and has a talk with both of them "SorryImGay and happen to like Darkwind. But I know Darkwind likes Elspeth, so I won't try anything". But Elspeth is in the middle of learning about Tayledras customs, so her thoughts after the talk are "Could Darkwind be BiTheWay and interested in Firesong?" (he's not). Luckily that gets cleared up immediately after.

** Violetta's case is particularly aggravating, as it combines the pain with a huge dose of "Hymens Don't Work Like That" and extreme slut-shaming that goes against everything the series has built up about Valdemar to date. After Violetta's innocent letter of infatuation to Brand is found out, an enraged Lady Dia berates and shames Violetta over it, claiming that the letter is somehow proof of Violetta being wanton and sluttish, and topping it all off by stating that if Violetta had sex with Brand, everyone would somehow "know" she'd been "deflowered".[[note]]No, they wouldn't. Hymens can not only be easily torn by everyday exertion -- not to mention masturbation -- but often form as a ring of tissue that doesn't block anything. Not even a doctor can tell if a woman is a virgin.[[/note]] When the strict, repressed, isolated ''Holderkin''[[note]]who are polyamorous and have no problems with lesbian relationships[[/note]] come across as more accepting and open than people in Valdemar's main city, there's a major problem.

* BadassGrandpa: Lord Jorthun, especially in ''Closer to the Chest.''

* FisherKing: Inverted and invoked in ''Mage Storms''. After years of misrule by Ancar, who ruined the land with magic, the people of Hardorn insist their new king go through a ceremony to magically bind him to the land in such a way that he will personally feel the effects of any abuses inflicted upon it.
* FishOutOfWater: Newly-Chosen Heralds almost always have to go through a dramatic adjustment phase when they arrive at the Palace for training.

** In ''Arrows of the Queen'', when first describing Companions, Talia remarks that they transcend horses in the way that "panthers transcend cats, or '''[[spoiler:angels transcend men]]'''. Yeah, about that...

* {{Geas}}: The magic sword [[EmpathicWeapon Need]], [[spoiler:before it awakens]], compels its bearers to go to the aid of women in trouble. Many of Tarma and Kethry's adventures are due to this effect, but Kerowyn uses her Mindspeech to get it to back off a bit so she can make her own choices in life.

* GeniusLoci: The Forest of Sorrows. [[spoiler: Leave it Vanyel to turn himself into this in death.]]

* HealingHands: The Healers generally have this as an ability, though it's stressed that it has limitations and it's best to use normal medicine as much as possible.

** Notably {{averted}} by the Valdemaran royal family; with Companions Choosing as many girls as boys, the Heralds know better than to think a Queen would be less effective a ruler than a King. Queen Selenay rules both before and during her marriages (and her husbands remain Princes, even though Daren legally ''could'' have been crowned King if he and Selanay wanted to do that, as unlike his brother Thanel, he had been Chosen), and her daughter Elspeth remains Heir even after her younger half-brother is born, until she explicitly {{abdicate|TheThrone}}s. Valdemar's nobility, however, is not so enlightened, preferring male heirs strongly.
** A side plot in the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' is that [[spoiler:King Randale is sterile. To hide this fact, Vanyel sires a child on Randale's lifebonded mate (at her request)]].

** Iftel was a Hidden Elf ''Nation State''. For hundreds of years it showed up on maps, but few ever went in or out. It was well known that trying to invade or sneak over the border would lead to instant death, but sometimes people were ''permitted'' in and came back out reporting that it was otherwise a ''very'' boring place which there was no real reason to visit, ever... [[spoiler:In reality it contained a people (true Kaled'a'in) and even an entire sentient species (the Gryphons) that virtually everyone in the setting would have been ''floored'' to learn still existed in the world. Why visitors reported otherwise isn't quite explained, but it's implied to be because the same magic that guarded the borders also imposed a PerceptionFilter.]]
** Valdemar itself is a downplayed example after Vanyel's era up until the ''Mage Winds'' trilogy. While they trade with their neighbors and maintain good relations with everyone except Karse, they generally don't have much to do with the world outside their borders unless things have gone totally pear-shaped, in part because Vanyel's web and the gods are working to keep Valdemar secluded (being in a corner of the map, with nigh-impassible barriers on two borders, helps). Outsiders see Valdemar as a strange (but harmless) hermit kingdom, and a saying in Rethwellan is that "when the wind blows folk from Valdemar, prepare for heavy weather."

* HotDrinkCure: In the first book of "The Collegium Chronicles", a severe blizzard hits Haven. Some people barely make it to the shelter in time and are treated for hypothermia, with some of the treatments being heated alcoholic drinks.

** The one between Dirk, Kris and Talia was one also. Talia did have an affair with Kris during her internship, but it had ended by the time she realized she actually liked Dirk. Dirk picked up on remanents of their past relationship, deduced they were ''still'' together, leading to his attempt at IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy. Everyone considers him an idiot for this.

* IntentionalHeartbreaker: ''Arrows of the Queen'' mentions a cruel noblewoman who pretended to love Dirk so as to get close to his handsome best friend. When said friend rejected her attempt to cheat on Dirk, she went and tore into the latter, telling him to kill himself. Unfortunately, since the woman ''technically'' didn't break any laws, all the authorities could do was ban her from the Collegium.

* {{Clingy MacGuffin}}:

* ''Mage Winds'': Elspeth, the RoyalBrat [[NeverLiveItDown a decade earlier]], has come of age and is [[BecauseDestinySaysSo foretold]] to become Valdemar's first Herald-Mage in six hundred years. But she's not about to be [[ScrewDestiny controlled by destiny]] and ends up unexpectedly making allies of the magical Hawkbrothers, just as an ancient enemy returns and threatens to destroy both the Tayledras and Valdemar.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The ''Arrows'' trilogy includes a detailed description of Heraldic arrow code, a coded system of communication which is heavily used by Heralds and serves a plot-critical purpose on several occasions. This code is never mentioned again in subsequent books.

** A type of mushroom is weaponized in ''Arrow's Fall'' [[spoiler: to mess with Talia's Empathy.]] This is never mentioned or used again.

* {{Bishonen}}: Vanyel and Firesong in particular. Especially Firesong, who is described as though he stepped right out of a medieval fantasy anime.

* CombatPragmatist: The main philosophy of both Alberich and Kerowyn -- forget grace, dignity, or any illusions about a "fair fight"; just attack for maximum damage with whatever you've got on hand.

** Alberich himself does this afterwards because he's been "rescued" by his sworn enemy, which earns him the undying(ish) hatred of his countrymen. He gets over it later.

** ''Eye Spy'' (forthcoming July 2019)

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Heralds (white), Bards (red), and Healers (green) all wear these in their normal duties. In each case it's because it's their job to be highly visible, even when being visible is sometimes a liability, like on the battlefield.

* ColorCodedCharacters: Heralds (white), Bards (red), and Healers (green) wear distinct, {{Highly Conspicuous Uniform}}s because being highly visible is part of their jobs. It's also observed that the colors in question are difficult to counterfeit: red and green dye are expensive and white cloth is hard to keep white. Each group's trainees also wear distinctively-colored (but less conspicuous) uniforms: Heraldic trainees in grey instead of white, Bardic trainees in rust-red instead of scarlet, and Healers in pale green instead of forest green. In addition, the Collegium's Armsmaster wears Hearld's "Whites" done in grey darker than the trainee uniforms. This started as a personal habit of Alberich, but his successor Kerowyn did the same thing, cementing it into a tradition that seems likely to last.