History Literature / RoseOfTheProphet

* WholesomeCrossdresser: Mathew easily comes off as an extremely beautiful woman while he [[DisguisedInDrag dresses as one]]. Even prior to this he had been [[DudeLooksLikeALady been mistaken for one]].

* ''Volume 1: The Will of the Wanderer''
* ''Volume 2: The Paladin of the Night''
* ''Volume 3: The Prophet of Akhran ''

-->'''Auda:''' There is no war in your land? The magi do not fight?
-->'''Mathew:''' ''I'' do not fight!

* AttractiveBentGender: Mathew easily comes off as an extremely beautiful woman while he [[DisguisedInDrag dresses as one]]. Even prior to this he had been [[DudeLooksLikeALady been mistaken for one]].

* AttractiveBentGender: Mathew is mistaken for an extremely beautiful woman.

** Likewise, Khardan is honourable, noble and honest, but he's also capable of being a ''real ass'' sometimes. His cluelessness about Zohra's feelings gets him into NO end of trouble when he brings [[TheVamp Meryem]] back to camp for the first time (he [[WhatAnIdiot thought she'd be PLEASED that he wanted to take another wife]], assuming that he'd "tamed" her as a result of their last ShipTease moment).

* {{Asexuality}}: Mathew can feel love for both men and women, but never experiences sexual desire for any of them. This is something the people of Akhran find difficult to understand.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: At once point when Mathew snaps in his frustration at how much he misses his home he goes off at Zohra for constantly pronouncing his name "Mat-hew". While attempting to calm and console him she tries pronouncing it "Matchew", which touches him and when he calms down he apologizes to her.
-->'''Mathew:''' I'm sorry. And Zohra, you have been speaking my name... just fine.
-->'''Zohra:''' Of course. I knew I was saying it right, Mat-hew. It was you who were not hearing it right.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:For Auda, a wistful call back to his unfulfilled desire for Zohra.]] "Many fine sons..."

* FemmeFatale: [[spoiler:Meryem, a villainous seductress, spy and even assassin who uses her great beauty to get what she needs, but is also knowledgable of all the ways of Benario the Thief God and his poisoned weapons.]]

* ViceVirtueCodification: The universe of Sularin is based around a strict codification of 12 vices and virues which create the five good, five evil and ten neutral gods.

%%* AffablyEvil: Auda Ibn-Jad.

%%* FamousLastWords: "Many fine sons..."

%%* FemmeFatale: [[spoiler:Meryem.]]
%%* FishOutOfWater: Mathew.

%%* {{Tsundere}}: Zohra, like you would not BELIEVE. Khardan too.

%%* TheVamp: [[spoiler:Meryem.]]

%%* WickedCultured: Auda again.

* FantasyCounterpartReligion: The god of the pseudo-Europeans, Promenthas, is clearly based on the Christian deity, and he has an evil rival Astafas (like the Devil). Also, their religion is unique in that it rejects other gods' existence.

* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: The reason Zohra remained unmarried for 22 years before her enforced union with Khardan was that as soon as her father announced her eligibility for marriage all the single young men of the tribe either hastily married or headed for the hills and didn't come back until she'd publically sworn that no man would have her. [[spoiler:Khardan eventually comes to see that Amazons have their good points ({{A|mazonChaser}}uda also finds her incredibly attractive).]]

* WeddingDay: The biggest fiasco this side of the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' finale, with both parties constantly insulting each other, the bride having to be dragged to the altar bound and gagged, the groom made to attend literally falling down drunk, the bride attempting to gut the groom as soon as the knot is tied before [[RunawayBride fleeing]] and the entire affair breaking out into a bloody brawl until Sond brings the tent down on everyone to prevent casualties.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The god of the pseudo-Europeans, Promenthas, is clearly based on the Christian deity, and he has an evil rival Astafas (like the Devil). Also, their religion is unique in that it rejects other gods' existence.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: In Tara-kan, we have desert-dwelling nomadic tribes clearly based on Bedouin Arabs, with people around them also being Arab but living in different city-states, plus an empire to the north. Across the sea, we another continent pretty obviously inspired by medieval Europe, probably a northern part given the pale looks of people from there. However, in a twist the counterpart Arabs are pagans, not Muslim, while the counterpart Europeans have a religion very much like Christianity.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: The Tara-kan language obviously is a take-off of Arabic. The word "jihad" is thrown around and stated to mean "holy war". Jihad actually translates as "struggle", and has a fairly in-depth amount of context, though it can be used to mean holy war in very specific circumstances. However, that is simply one of ''many'' Arabic words used, along with ''effendi'', ''imam'', ''sheik'' etc.

* ChessWithDeath: [[spoiler:Pukah challenges Death to a bet- if he can survive one day in Serinda, the city she rules where all the imprisoned Immortals die and are resurrected every day, she must free them all. He wins, thanks to Asrial.]]

* ChildByRape: This is the means by which Black Paladins produce new children, with captured women used as {{breeding slave}}s for them.

** Asrial makes a deal with [[spoiler:Death]] to [[spoiler:betray Pukah]] in exchange for letting her go free to protect Mathew in his darkest hour. [[spoiler:Or at least it ''seems'' like she does- although she delivers Pukah's protective amulet to Death, instead of leaving she takes Pukah's place and sacrifices herself to let him win his bet with Death.]]

* DoesNotLikeMen: Zohra holds all men in contempt, although she gets along well with Mathew [[spoiler:and eventually warms up to Khardan]].
* TheDragon: [[spoiler:Kaug serves as one to Quar, being one of his most potent tools both in the mortal world and in the realm of the immortals. By the third book, Quar is strong enough that the combined might of all of Akhran's Djin (and likely any other deities immortals) isn't enough to slow him down.]]

** While a lot of the setting has similarities to real world cultures and religions, Promenthas is in almost all respect the New Testament Judeo-Christian God, complete with a hierarchy of angels and tenets of love, peace and universal brotherhood.

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: The main cause of the conflict- Quar wants all the Prayer for himself.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Khardan and Zohra's people are {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s to Middle Eastern ones like Arabia, Iraq, etc, and their language is obviously a take-off of Arabic. The word "jihad" is thrown around and stated to mean "holy war". Jihad actually translates as "struggle", and has a fairly in-depth amount of context, though it can be used to mean holy war in very specific circumstances.

* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: The reason Zohra remained unmarried for 22 years before her enforced union with Khardan was that as soon as her father announced her eligibility for marriage all the single young men of the tribe either hastily married or headed for the hills and didn't come back until she'd publically sworn that no man would have her. [[spoiler:Khardan eventually comes to see that Amazons have their good points. ({{A|mazonChaser}}uda also finds her incredibly attractive.)]]

* SmallNameBigEgo: Pukah is convinced he's the cleverest and most handsome of all immortals... and causes ''no end'' of trouble as a result. He's not entirely without talent, being cunning, quick-thinking and daring, but his abilities don't even come ''close'' to his overinflated opinion of himself.
** [[spoiler:He eventually realises how badly he fell into this trope, how much trouble he caused and how even his successes were largely due to others and redeems himself with a truly ''brilliant'' ThanatosGambit HeroicSacrifice that ''defeats Kaug the Efreet'' and single-handedly turns the war in the heavens against Quar. Ironically, this actually makes him famous across the heavens- Quar curses his name daily and the immortals of Akhran (as well as Asrial) from then on refer to the mountain of Sul's Curse as 'Pukah's Peak'.]]

* TomboyPrincess: Zohra; her character introduction notes that her father indulged her and let her run wild in his grief over her mother's death and by the time he tried to rein her in it was far too late. (The one time he threatened to beat her she snatched the stick from his hand and threatened to beat ''him'' instead!)

A little-known fantasy trilogy by Creator/MargaretWeis and Creator/TracyHickman, ''Rose of the Prophet'' manages to transcend its genre and create a beautiful and believable [[CrossoverCosmology world/cosmology]], memorable and lovable characters, and an entertaining and quite moving story--all while conforming to the rules and structure of your standard ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-style role playing game. Really--has to be read to be believed.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: A lot of characters drift close to this sometimes, most [[JustForFun/{{Egregious}} egregiously]] Mathew, who despite being a sorcerer doesn't believe in the existence of djinn- and even after he accepts their existence (having been witness to their powers multiple times) still doubts the existence of angels, who are part of his ''own'' religion! (Oddly, even though he doubts the existence of angels, he's fully prepared to believe in the existence of devils, although admittedly [[spoiler:he ''had'' just summoned one at the time]].)

A little-known and underrated fantasy trilogy by Creator/MargaretWeis and Creator/TracyHickman, ''Rose of the Prophet'' manages to transcend its genre and create a beautiful and believable [[CrossoverCosmology world/cosmology]], memorable and lovable characters, and an entertaining and quite moving story--all while conforming to the rules and structure of your standard ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-style role playing game. Really--has to be read to be believed.

* ColdIron: The main weakness of all Immortals- it can't ''hurt'' them, but it can bind them and render them powerless. A common threat used against the djinn is being locked in an iron box and put somewhere nasty where they'll never be found. [[spoiler:Pukah defeats Kaug by tricking him into entering an entire ''mountain'' made of the stuff.]]

%%* LoveAtFirstSight: Pukah towards Asrial.

%%* TheMole: [[spoiler:Meryem.]]

* NayTheist: Downplayed with the Aran, Hrana and Akar. As Akhran can rarely be bothered to do anything for them, they've learned not to rely overmuch on his rules and most days are just as likely to ignore him as worship him. It takes a prolonged bout with the GodzillaThreshold for Majiid to agree to Akhran's order for Khardan and Zora's ArrangedMarriage.

** [[spoiler:He eventually realises how badly he fell into this trope, how much trouble he caused and how even his successes were largely due to others and redeems himself with a truly ''brilliant'' ThanatosGambit HeroicSacrifice that ''defeats Kaug the Efreet'' and single-handedly turns the war in the heavens against Quar. Ironically, this actually makes him famous across the heavens- Quar curses his name daily and [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments the immortals of Akhran (as well as Asrial) from then on refer to the mountain of Sul's Curse as 'Pukah's Peak']].]]

--> There were times, however, when he admitted to himself that the eyes of the sparrow were dull and lackluster after one as looked into the fiery black eyes of the hawk.

* DoesNotLikeMen: Zohra holds all men in contempt, although she gets along well with Mathew [[spoiler:and eventually warms up to Khardan.]]

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Despite gods and their followers in the world of Sularin being openly ''labelled'' as [[BlackAndWhiteMorality good, evil and neutral,]] [[SubvertedTrope almost nothing is as simple as it seems]]. Khardan notes [[spoiler:Zhakrin's]] Paladins of the Night initially seem to be cruel and heartless monsters, but are caring and loyal to each other; Auda Ibn-Jad is unquestionably an almost immeasurably evil man but [[spoiler:risks his life to protect Khardan when they become BloodBrothers, even though Khardan tricked him, and eventually sacrifices his life to avenge his earlier brother Catalus.]] Most notably, the final conflict isn't between the forces of good and evil, but the forces of chaotic neutral (Akhran) and lawful neutral (Quar), with the protagonists on the side of ''chaotic'' (usually considered the "bad guys" side in fiction).

** Although much of it can be attributed to her being the {{Tsundere}} [[RebelliousPrincess Rebellious]] TomboyPrincess of [[DeliberateValuesDissonance a harsh people in a harsh land]] who [[MissingMom grew up without her mother's guidance]] to boot, Zohra really can be unnecessarily nasty sometimes. She does truly love her people though, even if she holds most of them in contempt (to be fair, she holds almost EVERYONE in contempt).

%%* LastWords: "Many fine sons..."

* MagicMusic: Asrial has the ability to sing a beautiful song that puts those who hear it to sleep. Whether any other Immortals share this ability is unknown as the only time it is used in the series is when [[spoiler:Asrial puts Pukah to sleep so she can take his form and die in his place, allowing Pukah to win his bet with Death.]]

* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: The reason Zohra remained unmarried for 22 years before her enforced union with Khardan was that as soon as her father announced her eligibility for marriage all the single young men of the tribe either hastily married or headed for the hills and didn't come back until she'd publically sworn that no man would have her. [[spoiler:Khardan eventually comes to see that Amazons have their good points. ([[AmazonChaser Auda]] also finds her incredibly attractive.)]]

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Classic Arabian ''ghuls'', man-eating shapeshifters who [[spoiler:man the ship leading to the island fortress of Zhakrin's paladins and take their payment in human flesh,]] although clearly distinct from djinn.

* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: Zohra is of this opinion for much of the series, and treats the women of her tribe with at best derision, preferring to dress as a man and go horse riding and hunting and what have you. She eventually realizes that this is not the case. See SilkHidingSteel below.

** [[spoiler:He eventually realises how badly he fell into this trope, how much trouble he caused and how even his successes were largely due to others and redeems himself with a truly ''brilliant'' ThanatosGambit HeroicSacrifice that ''defeats Kaug the Efreet'' and single-handedly turns the war in the heavens against Quar. Ironically, this actually makes him famous across the heavens- Quar curses his name daily and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming the immortals of Akhran (as well as Asrial) from then on refer to the mountain of Sul's Curse as 'Pukah's Peak']].]]

* ChildByRape: This is the means the Black Paladins produce new children, with captured women used as {{breeding slave}}s for them.

* ChekhovsGun: Other that more powerful magic (such as that which allows the holder of their mortal dwelling place to command a djinn) ColdIron is the only thing than can restrain an immortal. [[spoiler:Like Kaug.]]

* ArbitrarySkepticism: A lot of characters drift close to this sometimes, most [[{{Egregious}} egregiously]] Mathew, who despite being a sorcerer doesn't believe in the existence of djinn- and even after he accepts their existence (having been witness to their powers multiple times) still doubts the existence of angels, who are part of his ''own'' religion! (Oddly, even though he doubts the existence of angels, he's fully prepared to believe in the existence of devils, although admittedly [[spoiler:he ''had'' just summoned one at the time]].)