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* ApothecaryAlligator: The narrator's first clues that he's not in Poland anymore include a stuffed c'tlan hanging from the ceiling in Halamus's laboratory.
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* ApothecaryAlligator: The narrator's first clues that he's [[NotInKansasAnymore not in Poland Poland]] anymore include a stuffed c'tlan hanging from the ceiling in Halamus's laboratory.
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* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Astrid does, a little, after the narrator saves her from a dragon, but she gets over it pretty quick.
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* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Astrid does, a little, after the narrator saves her from a dragon, dragon in his own unorthodox way, but she gets over it pretty quick.quick, partly because they're being chased.
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* GoldColoredSuperiority: Pięciaki (the "computer" dragons - note the similarity to "Pentium") are gold. Gold is also the color of the Brotherhood of Five, the local theocracy, [[spoiler: which may be why the Lady of Gates turns its head priest into a Pięciak]].
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* GoldColoredSuperiority: Pięciaki (the "computer" dragons - note the similarity to "Pentium") are gold. Gold is also the color of the Brotherhood of Five, the local theocracy, [[spoiler: which may be why the Lady of Gates turns its head priest into a Pięciak]]. [[spoiler: The wild dragon the narrator befriends is also gold.]]
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* PowerCrystal: Divinator "screens" are crystal balls, Halamus carries a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] that acts as a focus for magic, there's also a number of crystalline amulets. The narrator has a pair of spectacles made with smoky quartz lenses to be able [[SeeTheInvisible to see]] Servants of Mercy whose {{invisibility}} works by polarising light.
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* PowerCrystal: Divinator "screens" are crystal balls, Halamus carries a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] that acts as a focus for magic, there's also a number of crystalline amulets. The narrator has a pair of spectacles made with smoky quartz lenses to be able [[SeeTheInvisible to see]] Servants of Mercy whose {{invisibility}} works by polarising light.
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* SeeThruSpecs: The narrator has a pair of spectacles made with smoky quartz lenses to be able [[SeeTheInvisible to see]] Servants of Mercy whose {{invisibility}} works by polarising light.
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* HarmfulHealing: Blendon of Glwygg, the city healer, proposes cures that the narrator deems likely to kill him (he's later told he was right), so he throws the medic out. Blendon, offended, proceeds to [[spoiler: send Servants of Mercy after him, causing some complication of the plot]]. Blendon is contrasted with a country healer, who also acts as KindlyVet and is actually competent.
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* HarmfulHealing: Blendon of Glwygg, the city healer, proposes cures that the narrator deems likely to kill him (he's later told he was right), so he throws the medic out. Blendon, offended, proceeds to [[spoiler: send Servants of Mercy after him, causing some complication of the plot]].complications, although these complications do result in narrator meeting Astrid]]. Blendon is contrasted with a country healer, who also acts as KindlyVet and is actually competent.
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* PlayingDrunk: When stalked through the city by a Servant of Mercy, the narrator hides in a pub and comes up with a plan - pretending to be drunk, he insults a city guard to get arrested and invoke JurisdictionFriction, figuring that he'd be safest in jail. He escapes it once he thinks the Servant is off his back (and [[ExactEavesdropping has conveniently explained]] to the guard why the narrator is under surveillance in the first place).
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* ExtendoBoxingGlove: The narrator magically creates one (read: imagines it, yells a physical equation e voila) to knock out a random [[BloodKnight barbarian hero]] who wants to duel him (or anyone, but the narrator was there).
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* ApothecaryAlligator: The narrator's first clues that he's not in Poland anymore include a stuffed c'tlan hanging from the ceiling in Halamus's laboratory.
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* DelusionsOfDoghood: Halamus gives one thug transient delusions of rathood to get rid of him. Then he [[{{Troll}} meows]].
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* TrappedInAnotherWorld: The main premise of the book is the main character waking up in a fantasy world and trying to figure out what to do now.
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* TrappedInAnotherWorld: The main premise of the book is the main character waking up in a fantasy world and trying to figure out what to do now.
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* GuileHero: While the narrator lacks in pure brawn department, he makes that up by his smarts, bit of MacGyvering and always improvising a new back-up-back-up plan when all fails.
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* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The narrator's parallel world knowledge and somewhat different thinking grooves allow him to solve several problems that way. For instance, he manages to kill two dragons by throwing apples or snow into their mouths. The watery stuff ends up in the dragon's fire chamber where it expands into overheated water vapor, exploding the dragon. [[spoiler: Even the superdragon.]]
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* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The narrator's parallel world knowledge and somewhat different thinking grooves allow him to solve several problems that way. For instance, he manages to kill two dragons by throwing apples or snow into their mouths. The watery stuff ends up in the dragon's fire chamber where it expands into overheated water vapor, exploding the dragon. [[spoiler: Even the superdragon.[[WeaksauceWeakness superdragon]].]]
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* StandardFantasySetting: Parodied, and being one of the main sources of humour as a result. The setting is constantly balancing between playfully using various fantasy cliches, being a random FantasyKitchenSink and at times even verging into a ([[PlanetaryRomance rather soft]]) sci-fi territory, all PlayedForLaughs.
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* TrappedInAnotherWorld: The main premise of the book is the main character waking up in a fantasy world and trying to figure out what to do now.
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ItWasADarkAndStormyNight. As [[FirstPersonSmartass I came over to witness]] my friend, an only slightly MadScientist, attempt to break the laws of physics, I expected him to fail in some spectacularily hilarious way. A blackout was definitely going to happen. I was expecting that.
What I did not expect, however, was waking up in a world where dragons work as microprocessors (and car engines. And railway engines. And ''lightbulbs''), magic is real and the HighPriest of a theocratic totalitarian power is trying to create a dragon so huge it will tear up the fabric of reality. Just because.
In other words, my life suddenly got pretty interesting. Interesting as in, becoming a {{socialite}} in a magical world, saving it alongside a bunch of fantasy people, and maybe even... getting the girl?
''Technomagia i smoki'' (Technomagic and dragons) by Marek Utkin is a 2002 Polish fantasy adventure novel that, as far as we know, has never been translated into English (dare we say "yet"?).
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!! These tropes are not exactly like the ones you know... but close enough
* AbhorrentAdmirer: One of the first people the narrator meets in the parallel world is a rather... overenthusiastic lady of the night. She's larger than he is. A bit later, he has similar feelings about madame Sharf-Sandstijn as she attempts seduction, but is thankfully saved by some convenient anti-magical dust in his shirtsleeve.
* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Shambai-Dha, the white city in the jungle, is rumoured to be this, but it's actually [[spoiler: a rather mysterious magical artifact disguised as a city]].
* AdventurerOutfit: The narrator has one of these made for the Dragon Chase. Complete with a pith helmet.
* AnotherDimension: Halamus explains a geometrical theory of multiverse that treats parallel universes as either a bunch of spheres or cones, with similar bits "located" on edges.
* AsianCleaverFever: Mister Zhang's cooking style. He explicitly says he's chopping herbs, although the dirigible crew had no fresh food on board before he joined.
* BackgroundMagicField: With [[PlaceOfPower ley lines and other places of power]] (every dragon is a mobile PlaceOfPower). The field is a measurable, studied thing and its disruption by the superdragon is a major concern for the characters, since it makes spells unreliable - one minute they do nothing, the next anyone can be a RealityWarper.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The prophecy his Excellency is trying to fulfill goes roughly "the embodiment of number five will slay the three-seventh monster and [[EldritchAbomination the Imprisoned]] shall be glad to have him". He interpreted it as "the head priest of Five is going to kill Bellisun Ravenley and be granted power by the Imprisoned", so he became the head priest, had Ravenley killed and is currently trying to reach the Imprisoned by means of the superdragon. [[spoiler: Except the prophecy isn't about him. But he does become the embodiment of number five when the Lady of Gates turns him into a Pięciak]].
* BioAugmentation: Magical morphing of various creatures has this effect. Most visible as means to create specialised dragons, but the setting is actually full of it, from a particularly foul weapon - a DeadlyGas that [[BodyHorror randomly morphs]] everything that comes into contact with it, to innocuous uses like keeping food from spoiling.
* BornLucky: The narrator's incredible luck is commented upon by a couple of characters.
* CommonTongue: Downplayed, as mister Zhang and Siballa are both non-native speakers but perfectly fluent. The one time the group encounters language barrier is neatly resolved by having Halamus speak in the LanguageOfMagic with a local mage (as Lampart, the group's official linguist, is unavailable at the moment).
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Astrid does, a little, after the narrator saves her from a dragon, but she gets over it pretty quick.
* CoolAirship: Black harpy skin envelope, two-dragon engine, the first prototype to be used in long-distance flight. Manned by a guy from parallel world, his gnome manservant, two mages, a warrior and a dwarven engineer.
* CrusadingWidower: Mister Zhang's entire family has been killed by the Brotherhood of Five thugs, which is why the dirigible crew agree to take him along as their DemolitionsExpert. [[spoiler: Also why he eventually decides to [[SuicideAttack suicide bomb]] the superdragon]].
* DemolitionsExpert: Mister Zhang, who comes from a long line of firework makers. The narrator thinks that can come in handy.
* DeusExMachina: By a [[DivineIntervention literal goddess]]. [[spoiler: As the narrator makes a desperate attempt to blow the superdragon up with magic, the Lady of Gates (deity hitherto unspoken of) appears to tell him he's done well, but a little {{Retgone}} is in order. She undoes some spells, [[ForcedTransformation turns his Excellency into a Pięciak]] ]] and offers the narrator an opportunity to go home, [[IChooseToStay which he declines]].
* DitzyGenius: The narrator's [[MadScientist physicist friend]] in his home world, who - [[ForScience in an attempt to reach other dimensions, probably]] - sent him to the parallel world. He's also the counterpart to Halamus, a much more grounded character (his experiment had a practical purpose - finding the MacGuffin). Unless it's just by an amazing coincidence that they performed the same experiment at the same time, with another pair of counterparts in their respective labs.
* DivineBirds: The Lady of Gates has an owl motif.
* DragonsVersusKnights: Astrid, an aspiring MagicKnight, attempts to slay a dragon in full armour. She would have failed if it wasn't for the narrator appearing right on time.
* EldritchAbomination: The Imprisoned, vaguely defined beings that would destroy the world if set free, but are immortal and necessary for magic to work.
* EverybodySmokes: Glaw, the local tobacco equivalent, is a very lucrative business and smoked by characters from shady to glamorous. The narrator is generally [[SmokingIsNotCool disgusted by it]] and the only smoker he never snarks about is [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame his dwarven teammate, Guldgraav]].
* ExactWords: Siballa is told women are not allowed to cross the threshold. So [[BrawnHilda she]] pulls the threshold out and walks right into the room. This happens twice. [[spoiler: The second time apparently fulfills a prophecy]].
* FakingAmnesia: Since the narrator is taking over his counterpart's life in the parallel world (he can't get back), not knowing a lot of things his counterpart would know, Halamus tells him to pretend he's amnesiac after a demon attack. This story is generally believed.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Siballa's people are Vikings who somehow ended up in a Tibet-like land. The Tibet-like land has buddhist monasteries in all but name (the monks even wear the proper robes). There's also a counterpart to China (famous for politeness, fireworks and good cooking), and a bit-part bad guy speaks Polish with Russian syntax and lots of rhetorical questions, invoking a stereotypical Russian thug.
* FantasticLivestock: The other world has regular horses and donkeys, but carts are mostly pulled by tricenants. Then, of course, there are the dragons.
* FirstPersonSmartass: The narrator, an intelligent guy TrappedInAnotherWorld, has a healthily snarky attitude.
* FollowTheChaos: During the Dragon Chase, this is how Astrid finds the narrator.
* ForcedTransformation: Besides what the Lady of Gates does, Mistress of Arts, her student Sylvana and Astrid at one point turn some bad guys into sheep.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: His Excellency's {{backstory}}, as explained by Halamus. The head priest of the Brotherhood of Five began his career as a [[IneptMage talentless magical student]], who angered his tutor enough to get him flunked ''and'' cursed. After some aimless wandering and stealing a book of prophecy he ended up arrested, only to be bailed out by a charismatic cult leader [[Creator/AleisterCrowley Belisun Ravenley]], who needed TheDragon. Except the young man turned out to be TheStarscream.
* GentlemanWizard: Magic [[TrainingTheGiftOfMagic requires both talent and years of difficult, expensive studies]], which pretty much restricts its use to higher classes. Wizards do work, but it's either academia (teaching and research) or engineering-type jobs. Lampart (whose specialties include history of magic and comparative mythology) itches to be an AdventurerArchaeologist for a bit, but the group is pressed for time.
* GladiatorGames: Siballa is introduced duelling a troll for money, although her "manager" has been cheating her out of the profits for a good while. She needs money because [[spoiler: she's travelling [[IWillFindYou in search of her kidnapped brother]] ]].
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Pięciaki (the "computer" dragons - note the similarity to "Pentium") are gold. Gold is also the color of the Brotherhood of Five, the local theocracy, [[spoiler: which may be why the Lady of Gates turns its head priest into a Pięciak]].
* GreenAesop: A bit. The overuse of dragons in the magical world causes climate change and makes invasive species more invasive, not to mention specifically magical side effects that may end up destroying the world. The bad guys are ignoring all these issues as they breed and (briefly) wake up a collossal superdragon to power their plans, while the good guys are out to stop them.
* HarmfulHealing: Blendon of Glwygg, the city healer, proposes cures that the narrator deems likely to kill him (he's later told he was right), so he throws the medic out. Blendon, offended, proceeds to [[spoiler: send Servants of Mercy after him, causing some complication of the plot]]. Blendon is contrasted with a country healer, who also acts as KindlyVet and is actually competent.
* IChooseToStay: During the ending, the narrator gets an opportunity to return, but - as his counterpart seems to be doing just as well in his home world as he is, and he's built a pretty successful new life - he decides against it.
* InstantBookDeal: [[spoiler: The narrator's counterpart not only wrote a historical novel set in his home universe and sold it as fantasy, but it somehow managed to become a bestseller and get made into a film ''in a couple of months''. Possibly the Lady of Gates has shown the narrator the future, but still]].
* InstantExpert: It takes the characters about a week to learn all the fine points of steering the dirigible.
* InstantMessengerPigeon: Thunder dragons, small blue dragons used for "dracograms", are a bit more practical than pigeons, not only because they won't get eaten by anything on the way.
* InvisibilityCloak: The Servants of Mercy wear cloaks that magically polarise light, rendering them invisible, although when they stand in front of polarising surfaces (glass) an observant person will notice odd flashes of reflection. At least some of them have double-sided cloaks, with an "official" golden side and stealthy grey side.
* IstanbulNotConstantinople: A lot of names (both place names and people's names) are ''almost'', but not quite familiar. Including the legendary king [[Myth/KingArthur Urson]] and his knights (who were questing for a magical plate) or Khitaj (a Russian name for the country Poles know as ''Chiny'' - China) where mister Zhang the firework maker is from.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Madame Ninian Sharf-Sandstijn (Astrid's mother) refuses to acknowledge she's not a looker anymore.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: Mistress of Arts, a composed, elegant magic teacher to the BlackMagicianGirl Sylvana, mother of five (Iwa is her youngest), and a lady of a modestly BigFancyHouse. She also seems to have a hand in the politics, undermining the Brotherhood of Five, but the narrator isn't told much about that for security reasons.
* LanguageOfMagic: The language of the Ancients is used for conversation between the learned, much like Latin, but the magical part comes from the fact that magical creatures must obey commands given in it (they can ignore commands in any other language).
* MadOracle: Downplayed with Scypion, a young man who seems to live in a world of his own. He stutters and speaks in rhyming, vague prophecies, but never in a particularly dramatic way - he just walks by, babbling. He also has an affinity to cats.
* MagicKnight: Astrid, first introduced trying to slay a dragon (and needing substantial help from the narrator). She's really better at the magic part. The Mistress of Arts owns a painting depicting a legendary Magic Knight which turns out to have some plot relevance.
* {{Magitek}}: Most things we have technology for are done by dragons: telegraphy, computers, engines, lighting and heating houses. Other than that the technology level is fairly modern, although sewing machines and dirigibles are only just being invented. Sewing on a large scale is done magically and anti-magical dust makes clothes fall apart, which is why the (wealthy enthusiast) inventor of the dirigibles is so eager to help out the (poor, but diligent) inventor of the sewing machines.
* MeaningfulName:
** Lampart Nikelsmed is a short, scrawny SquishyMage specialising in magical history, law and enthological research. Despite looking nerdy, he's never cowed or even shaken - Lampart tells a guy thrice his size that what he's doing is illegal (so kindly sod off) with hardly a flinch. He carries a (perfectly legal) SwordCane and will use it [[BackToBackBadasses to support]] his ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend kicking ass. To top it off, while finding the MacGuffin was a team effort, he's the one to actually retrieve it. From the top of a mountain. During a blizzard. He's pretty lusty, too, but the aforementioned girlfriend takes care of that.
** Scypion the slightly MadOracle has been named after a in-universe historical prophet Scypion Mędzikłak, because his mother wanted him to be cured of stutter (a miracle Mędzikłak is famous for).
* MineralMacGuffin: The Testament of the Founders, a huge magical crystal which Halamus has been looking for on the night of the experiment. The search for it drives quite a bit of the plot, but when it's finally found, it doesn't resolve anything.
* MrExposition: Halamus, both prompted and unprompted, explains a good deal about the world to the narrator. He's just as curious about the narrator's home world, though.
* MrImagination: Any good mage, since magic requires visualisation and clear intent. The narrator, who has had no magical training whatsoever, but (like his magical world counterpart) is good at visualisation, does manage to use magic a couple of time simply by imagining what he wants to happen and saying whatever words come to his mind.
* MundaneObjectAmazement: The narrator bribes an annoying kid into [[BegoneBribe going away]] with a 2 [=PLN=] coin by spinning a tale about how two metals and the 2 on the coin are symbols of a really cool secret society to make the mundane coin an amazing object in the kid's mind.
* MysteryCult: The cult of Gryphon, which seems to be an equivalent of mithraism (it's popular in the army).
* NonIdleRich: Thanks to his counterpart's great-grandfather, apparently, managing not to lose the entire family fortune at roulette (as his own great-grandfather did), the narrator inherits the life of an independently wealthy person, so he's free to save the world.
* NoNameGiven: The narrator, since he's the one telling the story, although he pointedly omits any line where he's adressed by name or introducing himself.
* NotSoExtinct: Black harpies used to be rare, but the recent disturbances in BackgroundMagicField made them common enough their skins can be used for building a dirigible.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: There's quite some variety, since apart from the rare wild dragons, most of them have been magically morphed for specific tasks.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
** Gobrole are theorised to be magically morphed frogs. They're pretty much sacks of callussed, warty skin with colloidal goo inside and the only way to kill a gobrol is to pierce the skin with [[SilverHasMysticPowers silver]] (or it'll heal instantly) so the goo comes out. They break things - as Halamus explains, if you leave bricks neatly stacked, they'll come and destroy the stack, but ignore an inorderly pile. They also bite. Gobrol bites may result in a dangerous, brain-damaging fever. A mixture of flour and salt kills them.
** Przemieńce are shape-shifters that some people consider a myth. Others think they have something in common with gobrole - the narrator is at one point required to eat some bread and salt to prove he's not a przemieniec.
** C'tlan is a somewhat lovecraftian creature with three bunches seven tentacles each that hunts by making people hallucinate and luring them in. [[spoiler: The "three-seventh monster" from one of the prophecies turns out to be a huge c'tlan.]]
* OurOgresAreHungrier: Bipedal, shaggy, with impressive horns and really hungry.
* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The narrator's parallel world knowledge and somewhat different thinking grooves allow him to solve several problems that way. For instance, he manages to kill two dragons by throwing apples or snow into their mouths. The watery stuff ends up in the dragon's fire chamber where it expands into overheated water vapor, exploding the dragon. [[spoiler: Even the superdragon.]]
* PlayfulPursuit: While visiting the site of the superdragon plant, the group meets an old aquaintance of Halamus, Korin, who works there. They meet him in the middle of a Playful Pursuit with two ladies of negotiable affection, whom he hires to relax, because the job is stressful.
* PopCulturedBadass: The narrator seems to love finding parallels between the local culture and what he knows from back home. He whistles "Singing in the Rain" and uses physical equations or physicist's names as "spells". He also wishes he had a classical sci-fi blaster by his side while facing a [[YourHeartsDesire tentacly c'tlan]], and sure enough... As for badassery, much of it is thinking on his feet and luck, but he comes through.
* PowerCrystal: Divinator "screens" are crystal balls, Halamus carries a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] that acts as a focus for magic, there's also a number of crystalline amulets. The narrator has a pair of spectacles made with smoky quartz lenses to be able [[SeeTheInvisible to see]] Servants of Mercy whose {{invisibility}} works by polarising light.
* PuppetKing: A king exists, but really has no power and the Brotherhood of Five does whatever it wants to.
* ThePurge: Part of how the Brotherhood of Five came into power - they purged mages about twenty years before the plot begins.
* TheQuest:
** The main plot involves the search for [[MineralMacGuffin the Testament of the Founders]], both by magical means and, when located, physically flying a dirigible to get it.
** On the way to meet the inventor, the group takes part in Dragon Chase, a tournament of sorts where the contestants are searching for a comedienne in dragon costume in a small deserted area. The winner gets a gold dragon figurine and lots of privileges that may come in handy during the expected political upheaval, so Iwa (the girl in the costume) is rather particular about who gets to find her.
* ReligionOfEvil: The cult of King Tick, a religion whose sole point seems to be making {{Human Sacrifice}}s to a literal huge arachnid. It's not even trying to pretend it's respectable.
* RescueRomance: The narrator first meets Astrid while she's trying to slay a dragon and ends up needing rescue.
* RunicMagic: Mostly used for protective charms of various sorts.
* SecretPolice: Before his Excellency took over, the Servants of Mercy were carrying out charity for the Brotherhood of Five. Nowadays they carry on espionage, arson and assasinations, sometimes by [[MindControl hypnotising]] gullible people into doing their dirty work.
* TheShangriLa: After flying over the inaccessible magical city in the jungle (Shambai-Dha), the dirigible crew visits a buddhist-by-any-other-name monastery high in the mountains for a resupply stop. They also gain some useful information.
* ShortScreentimeForReality: There's one scene at the beginning, explaining how the narrator ended up in another world, and [[spoiler: a little glimpse during the ending, when the Lady of Gates shows him how his counterpart fares]]. That's it.
* SilverHasMysticPowers: It reflects magic, protects from some forms of it and generally has a thousand uses.
* SmokingIsNotCool: The narrator is of this opinion - when first smelling smoke from the local tobacco equivalent, glaw, he gags and notes that "plebeians in every world love foul-smelling substances". When madame Sharf-Sandstijn attempts to invoke SmokingIsGlamorous, it only makes him nervous.
* StandardFantasyRaces: Humans, dwarves ([[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame the usual kind]]), hobbits, gnomes, trolls and several varieties of giants. Demons and vampires are mentioned.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: It's pretty much treated as physics. Divinators (read "computers") have crystal displays (as in, magical crystals displaying images) and are powered by dragons, but record experimental data and calculate outcomes, while Halamus, a theoretical mage, solves equations and designs experiments.
* SuperRegistrationAct: Mages and non-humans are required to wear beards by law, so they can't easily hide in case of a purge. How does TheTheocracy plan to deal with female mages (quite common in the setting) is never touched upon. There's also a Downplayed BanOnMagic in effect (magic is legal in general, but "public displays" can get a business closed).
* SwordCane: A popular accessory, carried by both Lampart and the narrator (who inherited it from his counterpart). Halamus has a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] instead.
* TheTheocracy: The Brotherhood of Five is an increasingly totalitarian theocratic dictature, but it seems to get pushed out fairly quietly [[spoiler: after the head priest is turned into a Pięciak]].
* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Downplayed, as count Vorn is in the process of inventing a proper, practical dirigible, but that's a complete novelty in the magical world. He's also had some setbacks before with hydrogen (which is why the dirigible the heroes use is filled with helium).
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: [[SquishyMage Lampart]] is introduced lusting over [[BrawnHilda Siballa]]. The narrator notes with concern that Lampart only reaches Siballa's breast and is rather pessimistic about the mage's prospects. When Lampart gets the opportunity to actually talk to her, they become a couple pretty much instantly (Siballa tells fascinating stories and is pretty smart, if uneducated, so it's not as unequal as it sounds).
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Both Astrid and Iwa are fighters (a MagicKnight and a WhipSword user respectively), competent horse riders and all around able to take care of themselves. Astrid is also a wealthy, well-dressed {{socialite}} who happily flirts with the narrator, while Iwa has a mischievous streak and during the Dragon Chase, deliberately gets herself found by a guy she likes (she does think he's the right person to receive the reward, but her personal liking plays a part).
* TomesOfProphecyAndFate: The book of prophecy Scypion Mędzikłak wrote on skins of black harpies. It was stolen by his Excellency in his youth and inspired him to create the superdragon. PropheciesAreAlwaysRight, as they do come true - just not in the way his Excellency thought they would.
* VirginPower: In a different way than the home world legends would have it, though. UnicornsPreferVirgins is Inverted - unicorns hate virgins and attempt to kill them whenever there's a chance. But! Dragons have to obey any commands given by a pure maiden. Supposedly. Given that Astrid tried to kill one with a sword (and came close to getting killed herself), this either isn't true or she isn't a virgin (that's what the narrator thinks - when he needs to imagine a virgin, he goes for Iwa).
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: As soon as she is his girlfriend (and he first got her attention helping her in a fight), Siballa for Lampart. Not that he can't go BackToBackBadasses with her.
* WeirdMoon: The moon in parallel world has been hit by something large a while back, producing a visible crater and causing it to rotate.
* WorldTree: It's not seen, but wood of this tree can be transformed into anything. Like swords. [[spoiler: Or magical crystals]].
* YourHeartsDesire: C'tlan hunts by making the victims hallucinate whatever they want at the moment to lure them into the c'tlan's tentacly mouth. The protagonist first gets a ''sci-fi blaster salesman'', then [[LoveInterest Astrid]] in scanty clothes.
* YouWillBeBeethoven: Somewhat inexplicably (it's unclear what the Lady of Gates meant by it), [[spoiler: Scypion, who has been named after the prophet Scypion Mędzikłak, gets sent back in time and ''becomes'' Scypion Mędzikłak]], as evidenced by a mural on the cloister wall.
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What I did not expect, however, was waking up in a world where dragons work as microprocessors (and car engines. And railway engines. And ''lightbulbs''), magic is real and the HighPriest of a theocratic totalitarian power is trying to create a dragon so huge it will tear up the fabric of reality. Just because.
In other words, my life suddenly got pretty interesting. Interesting as in, becoming a {{socialite}} in a magical world, saving it alongside a bunch of fantasy people, and maybe even... getting the girl?
''Technomagia i smoki'' (Technomagic and dragons) by Marek Utkin is a 2002 Polish fantasy adventure novel that, as far as we know, has never been translated into English (dare we say "yet"?).
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!! These tropes are not exactly like the ones you know... but close enough
* AbhorrentAdmirer: One of the first people the narrator meets in the parallel world is a rather... overenthusiastic lady of the night. She's larger than he is. A bit later, he has similar feelings about madame Sharf-Sandstijn as she attempts seduction, but is thankfully saved by some convenient anti-magical dust in his shirtsleeve.
* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Shambai-Dha, the white city in the jungle, is rumoured to be this, but it's actually [[spoiler: a rather mysterious magical artifact disguised as a city]].
* AdventurerOutfit: The narrator has one of these made for the Dragon Chase. Complete with a pith helmet.
* AnotherDimension: Halamus explains a geometrical theory of multiverse that treats parallel universes as either a bunch of spheres or cones, with similar bits "located" on edges.
* AsianCleaverFever: Mister Zhang's cooking style. He explicitly says he's chopping herbs, although the dirigible crew had no fresh food on board before he joined.
* BackgroundMagicField: With [[PlaceOfPower ley lines and other places of power]] (every dragon is a mobile PlaceOfPower). The field is a measurable, studied thing and its disruption by the superdragon is a major concern for the characters, since it makes spells unreliable - one minute they do nothing, the next anyone can be a RealityWarper.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The prophecy his Excellency is trying to fulfill goes roughly "the embodiment of number five will slay the three-seventh monster and [[EldritchAbomination the Imprisoned]] shall be glad to have him". He interpreted it as "the head priest of Five is going to kill Bellisun Ravenley and be granted power by the Imprisoned", so he became the head priest, had Ravenley killed and is currently trying to reach the Imprisoned by means of the superdragon. [[spoiler: Except the prophecy isn't about him. But he does become the embodiment of number five when the Lady of Gates turns him into a Pięciak]].
* BioAugmentation: Magical morphing of various creatures has this effect. Most visible as means to create specialised dragons, but the setting is actually full of it, from a particularly foul weapon - a DeadlyGas that [[BodyHorror randomly morphs]] everything that comes into contact with it, to innocuous uses like keeping food from spoiling.
* BornLucky: The narrator's incredible luck is commented upon by a couple of characters.
* CommonTongue: Downplayed, as mister Zhang and Siballa are both non-native speakers but perfectly fluent. The one time the group encounters language barrier is neatly resolved by having Halamus speak in the LanguageOfMagic with a local mage (as Lampart, the group's official linguist, is unavailable at the moment).
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Astrid does, a little, after the narrator saves her from a dragon, but she gets over it pretty quick.
* CoolAirship: Black harpy skin envelope, two-dragon engine, the first prototype to be used in long-distance flight. Manned by a guy from parallel world, his gnome manservant, two mages, a warrior and a dwarven engineer.
* CrusadingWidower: Mister Zhang's entire family has been killed by the Brotherhood of Five thugs, which is why the dirigible crew agree to take him along as their DemolitionsExpert. [[spoiler: Also why he eventually decides to [[SuicideAttack suicide bomb]] the superdragon]].
* DemolitionsExpert: Mister Zhang, who comes from a long line of firework makers. The narrator thinks that can come in handy.
* DeusExMachina: By a [[DivineIntervention literal goddess]]. [[spoiler: As the narrator makes a desperate attempt to blow the superdragon up with magic, the Lady of Gates (deity hitherto unspoken of) appears to tell him he's done well, but a little {{Retgone}} is in order. She undoes some spells, [[ForcedTransformation turns his Excellency into a Pięciak]] ]] and offers the narrator an opportunity to go home, [[IChooseToStay which he declines]].
* DitzyGenius: The narrator's [[MadScientist physicist friend]] in his home world, who - [[ForScience in an attempt to reach other dimensions, probably]] - sent him to the parallel world. He's also the counterpart to Halamus, a much more grounded character (his experiment had a practical purpose - finding the MacGuffin). Unless it's just by an amazing coincidence that they performed the same experiment at the same time, with another pair of counterparts in their respective labs.
* DivineBirds: The Lady of Gates has an owl motif.
* DragonsVersusKnights: Astrid, an aspiring MagicKnight, attempts to slay a dragon in full armour. She would have failed if it wasn't for the narrator appearing right on time.
* EldritchAbomination: The Imprisoned, vaguely defined beings that would destroy the world if set free, but are immortal and necessary for magic to work.
* EverybodySmokes: Glaw, the local tobacco equivalent, is a very lucrative business and smoked by characters from shady to glamorous. The narrator is generally [[SmokingIsNotCool disgusted by it]] and the only smoker he never snarks about is [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame his dwarven teammate, Guldgraav]].
* ExactWords: Siballa is told women are not allowed to cross the threshold. So [[BrawnHilda she]] pulls the threshold out and walks right into the room. This happens twice. [[spoiler: The second time apparently fulfills a prophecy]].
* FakingAmnesia: Since the narrator is taking over his counterpart's life in the parallel world (he can't get back), not knowing a lot of things his counterpart would know, Halamus tells him to pretend he's amnesiac after a demon attack. This story is generally believed.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Siballa's people are Vikings who somehow ended up in a Tibet-like land. The Tibet-like land has buddhist monasteries in all but name (the monks even wear the proper robes). There's also a counterpart to China (famous for politeness, fireworks and good cooking), and a bit-part bad guy speaks Polish with Russian syntax and lots of rhetorical questions, invoking a stereotypical Russian thug.
* FantasticLivestock: The other world has regular horses and donkeys, but carts are mostly pulled by tricenants. Then, of course, there are the dragons.
* FirstPersonSmartass: The narrator, an intelligent guy TrappedInAnotherWorld, has a healthily snarky attitude.
* FollowTheChaos: During the Dragon Chase, this is how Astrid finds the narrator.
* ForcedTransformation: Besides what the Lady of Gates does, Mistress of Arts, her student Sylvana and Astrid at one point turn some bad guys into sheep.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: His Excellency's {{backstory}}, as explained by Halamus. The head priest of the Brotherhood of Five began his career as a [[IneptMage talentless magical student]], who angered his tutor enough to get him flunked ''and'' cursed. After some aimless wandering and stealing a book of prophecy he ended up arrested, only to be bailed out by a charismatic cult leader [[Creator/AleisterCrowley Belisun Ravenley]], who needed TheDragon. Except the young man turned out to be TheStarscream.
* GentlemanWizard: Magic [[TrainingTheGiftOfMagic requires both talent and years of difficult, expensive studies]], which pretty much restricts its use to higher classes. Wizards do work, but it's either academia (teaching and research) or engineering-type jobs. Lampart (whose specialties include history of magic and comparative mythology) itches to be an AdventurerArchaeologist for a bit, but the group is pressed for time.
* GladiatorGames: Siballa is introduced duelling a troll for money, although her "manager" has been cheating her out of the profits for a good while. She needs money because [[spoiler: she's travelling [[IWillFindYou in search of her kidnapped brother]] ]].
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Pięciaki (the "computer" dragons - note the similarity to "Pentium") are gold. Gold is also the color of the Brotherhood of Five, the local theocracy, [[spoiler: which may be why the Lady of Gates turns its head priest into a Pięciak]].
* GreenAesop: A bit. The overuse of dragons in the magical world causes climate change and makes invasive species more invasive, not to mention specifically magical side effects that may end up destroying the world. The bad guys are ignoring all these issues as they breed and (briefly) wake up a collossal superdragon to power their plans, while the good guys are out to stop them.
* HarmfulHealing: Blendon of Glwygg, the city healer, proposes cures that the narrator deems likely to kill him (he's later told he was right), so he throws the medic out. Blendon, offended, proceeds to [[spoiler: send Servants of Mercy after him, causing some complication of the plot]]. Blendon is contrasted with a country healer, who also acts as KindlyVet and is actually competent.
* IChooseToStay: During the ending, the narrator gets an opportunity to return, but - as his counterpart seems to be doing just as well in his home world as he is, and he's built a pretty successful new life - he decides against it.
* InstantBookDeal: [[spoiler: The narrator's counterpart not only wrote a historical novel set in his home universe and sold it as fantasy, but it somehow managed to become a bestseller and get made into a film ''in a couple of months''. Possibly the Lady of Gates has shown the narrator the future, but still]].
* InstantExpert: It takes the characters about a week to learn all the fine points of steering the dirigible.
* InstantMessengerPigeon: Thunder dragons, small blue dragons used for "dracograms", are a bit more practical than pigeons, not only because they won't get eaten by anything on the way.
* InvisibilityCloak: The Servants of Mercy wear cloaks that magically polarise light, rendering them invisible, although when they stand in front of polarising surfaces (glass) an observant person will notice odd flashes of reflection. At least some of them have double-sided cloaks, with an "official" golden side and stealthy grey side.
* IstanbulNotConstantinople: A lot of names (both place names and people's names) are ''almost'', but not quite familiar. Including the legendary king [[Myth/KingArthur Urson]] and his knights (who were questing for a magical plate) or Khitaj (a Russian name for the country Poles know as ''Chiny'' - China) where mister Zhang the firework maker is from.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Madame Ninian Sharf-Sandstijn (Astrid's mother) refuses to acknowledge she's not a looker anymore.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: Mistress of Arts, a composed, elegant magic teacher to the BlackMagicianGirl Sylvana, mother of five (Iwa is her youngest), and a lady of a modestly BigFancyHouse. She also seems to have a hand in the politics, undermining the Brotherhood of Five, but the narrator isn't told much about that for security reasons.
* LanguageOfMagic: The language of the Ancients is used for conversation between the learned, much like Latin, but the magical part comes from the fact that magical creatures must obey commands given in it (they can ignore commands in any other language).
* MadOracle: Downplayed with Scypion, a young man who seems to live in a world of his own. He stutters and speaks in rhyming, vague prophecies, but never in a particularly dramatic way - he just walks by, babbling. He also has an affinity to cats.
* MagicKnight: Astrid, first introduced trying to slay a dragon (and needing substantial help from the narrator). She's really better at the magic part. The Mistress of Arts owns a painting depicting a legendary Magic Knight which turns out to have some plot relevance.
* {{Magitek}}: Most things we have technology for are done by dragons: telegraphy, computers, engines, lighting and heating houses. Other than that the technology level is fairly modern, although sewing machines and dirigibles are only just being invented. Sewing on a large scale is done magically and anti-magical dust makes clothes fall apart, which is why the (wealthy enthusiast) inventor of the dirigibles is so eager to help out the (poor, but diligent) inventor of the sewing machines.
* MeaningfulName:
** Lampart Nikelsmed is a short, scrawny SquishyMage specialising in magical history, law and enthological research. Despite looking nerdy, he's never cowed or even shaken - Lampart tells a guy thrice his size that what he's doing is illegal (so kindly sod off) with hardly a flinch. He carries a (perfectly legal) SwordCane and will use it [[BackToBackBadasses to support]] his ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend kicking ass. To top it off, while finding the MacGuffin was a team effort, he's the one to actually retrieve it. From the top of a mountain. During a blizzard. He's pretty lusty, too, but the aforementioned girlfriend takes care of that.
** Scypion the slightly MadOracle has been named after a in-universe historical prophet Scypion Mędzikłak, because his mother wanted him to be cured of stutter (a miracle Mędzikłak is famous for).
* MineralMacGuffin: The Testament of the Founders, a huge magical crystal which Halamus has been looking for on the night of the experiment. The search for it drives quite a bit of the plot, but when it's finally found, it doesn't resolve anything.
* MrExposition: Halamus, both prompted and unprompted, explains a good deal about the world to the narrator. He's just as curious about the narrator's home world, though.
* MrImagination: Any good mage, since magic requires visualisation and clear intent. The narrator, who has had no magical training whatsoever, but (like his magical world counterpart) is good at visualisation, does manage to use magic a couple of time simply by imagining what he wants to happen and saying whatever words come to his mind.
* MundaneObjectAmazement: The narrator bribes an annoying kid into [[BegoneBribe going away]] with a 2 [=PLN=] coin by spinning a tale about how two metals and the 2 on the coin are symbols of a really cool secret society to make the mundane coin an amazing object in the kid's mind.
* MysteryCult: The cult of Gryphon, which seems to be an equivalent of mithraism (it's popular in the army).
* NonIdleRich: Thanks to his counterpart's great-grandfather, apparently, managing not to lose the entire family fortune at roulette (as his own great-grandfather did), the narrator inherits the life of an independently wealthy person, so he's free to save the world.
* NoNameGiven: The narrator, since he's the one telling the story, although he pointedly omits any line where he's adressed by name or introducing himself.
* NotSoExtinct: Black harpies used to be rare, but the recent disturbances in BackgroundMagicField made them common enough their skins can be used for building a dirigible.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: There's quite some variety, since apart from the rare wild dragons, most of them have been magically morphed for specific tasks.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
** Gobrole are theorised to be magically morphed frogs. They're pretty much sacks of callussed, warty skin with colloidal goo inside and the only way to kill a gobrol is to pierce the skin with [[SilverHasMysticPowers silver]] (or it'll heal instantly) so the goo comes out. They break things - as Halamus explains, if you leave bricks neatly stacked, they'll come and destroy the stack, but ignore an inorderly pile. They also bite. Gobrol bites may result in a dangerous, brain-damaging fever. A mixture of flour and salt kills them.
** Przemieńce are shape-shifters that some people consider a myth. Others think they have something in common with gobrole - the narrator is at one point required to eat some bread and salt to prove he's not a przemieniec.
** C'tlan is a somewhat lovecraftian creature with three bunches seven tentacles each that hunts by making people hallucinate and luring them in. [[spoiler: The "three-seventh monster" from one of the prophecies turns out to be a huge c'tlan.]]
* OurOgresAreHungrier: Bipedal, shaggy, with impressive horns and really hungry.
* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The narrator's parallel world knowledge and somewhat different thinking grooves allow him to solve several problems that way. For instance, he manages to kill two dragons by throwing apples or snow into their mouths. The watery stuff ends up in the dragon's fire chamber where it expands into overheated water vapor, exploding the dragon. [[spoiler: Even the superdragon.]]
* PlayfulPursuit: While visiting the site of the superdragon plant, the group meets an old aquaintance of Halamus, Korin, who works there. They meet him in the middle of a Playful Pursuit with two ladies of negotiable affection, whom he hires to relax, because the job is stressful.
* PopCulturedBadass: The narrator seems to love finding parallels between the local culture and what he knows from back home. He whistles "Singing in the Rain" and uses physical equations or physicist's names as "spells". He also wishes he had a classical sci-fi blaster by his side while facing a [[YourHeartsDesire tentacly c'tlan]], and sure enough... As for badassery, much of it is thinking on his feet and luck, but he comes through.
* PowerCrystal: Divinator "screens" are crystal balls, Halamus carries a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] that acts as a focus for magic, there's also a number of crystalline amulets. The narrator has a pair of spectacles made with smoky quartz lenses to be able [[SeeTheInvisible to see]] Servants of Mercy whose {{invisibility}} works by polarising light.
* PuppetKing: A king exists, but really has no power and the Brotherhood of Five does whatever it wants to.
* ThePurge: Part of how the Brotherhood of Five came into power - they purged mages about twenty years before the plot begins.
* TheQuest:
** The main plot involves the search for [[MineralMacGuffin the Testament of the Founders]], both by magical means and, when located, physically flying a dirigible to get it.
** On the way to meet the inventor, the group takes part in Dragon Chase, a tournament of sorts where the contestants are searching for a comedienne in dragon costume in a small deserted area. The winner gets a gold dragon figurine and lots of privileges that may come in handy during the expected political upheaval, so Iwa (the girl in the costume) is rather particular about who gets to find her.
* ReligionOfEvil: The cult of King Tick, a religion whose sole point seems to be making {{Human Sacrifice}}s to a literal huge arachnid. It's not even trying to pretend it's respectable.
* RescueRomance: The narrator first meets Astrid while she's trying to slay a dragon and ends up needing rescue.
* RunicMagic: Mostly used for protective charms of various sorts.
* SecretPolice: Before his Excellency took over, the Servants of Mercy were carrying out charity for the Brotherhood of Five. Nowadays they carry on espionage, arson and assasinations, sometimes by [[MindControl hypnotising]] gullible people into doing their dirty work.
* TheShangriLa: After flying over the inaccessible magical city in the jungle (Shambai-Dha), the dirigible crew visits a buddhist-by-any-other-name monastery high in the mountains for a resupply stop. They also gain some useful information.
* ShortScreentimeForReality: There's one scene at the beginning, explaining how the narrator ended up in another world, and [[spoiler: a little glimpse during the ending, when the Lady of Gates shows him how his counterpart fares]]. That's it.
* SilverHasMysticPowers: It reflects magic, protects from some forms of it and generally has a thousand uses.
* SmokingIsNotCool: The narrator is of this opinion - when first smelling smoke from the local tobacco equivalent, glaw, he gags and notes that "plebeians in every world love foul-smelling substances". When madame Sharf-Sandstijn attempts to invoke SmokingIsGlamorous, it only makes him nervous.
* StandardFantasyRaces: Humans, dwarves ([[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame the usual kind]]), hobbits, gnomes, trolls and several varieties of giants. Demons and vampires are mentioned.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: It's pretty much treated as physics. Divinators (read "computers") have crystal displays (as in, magical crystals displaying images) and are powered by dragons, but record experimental data and calculate outcomes, while Halamus, a theoretical mage, solves equations and designs experiments.
* SuperRegistrationAct: Mages and non-humans are required to wear beards by law, so they can't easily hide in case of a purge. How does TheTheocracy plan to deal with female mages (quite common in the setting) is never touched upon. There's also a Downplayed BanOnMagic in effect (magic is legal in general, but "public displays" can get a business closed).
* SwordCane: A popular accessory, carried by both Lampart and the narrator (who inherited it from his counterpart). Halamus has a [[MagicStaff cane with a concealed magical crystal]] instead.
* TheTheocracy: The Brotherhood of Five is an increasingly totalitarian theocratic dictature, but it seems to get pushed out fairly quietly [[spoiler: after the head priest is turned into a Pięciak]].
* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Downplayed, as count Vorn is in the process of inventing a proper, practical dirigible, but that's a complete novelty in the magical world. He's also had some setbacks before with hydrogen (which is why the dirigible the heroes use is filled with helium).
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: [[SquishyMage Lampart]] is introduced lusting over [[BrawnHilda Siballa]]. The narrator notes with concern that Lampart only reaches Siballa's breast and is rather pessimistic about the mage's prospects. When Lampart gets the opportunity to actually talk to her, they become a couple pretty much instantly (Siballa tells fascinating stories and is pretty smart, if uneducated, so it's not as unequal as it sounds).
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Both Astrid and Iwa are fighters (a MagicKnight and a WhipSword user respectively), competent horse riders and all around able to take care of themselves. Astrid is also a wealthy, well-dressed {{socialite}} who happily flirts with the narrator, while Iwa has a mischievous streak and during the Dragon Chase, deliberately gets herself found by a guy she likes (she does think he's the right person to receive the reward, but her personal liking plays a part).
* TomesOfProphecyAndFate: The book of prophecy Scypion Mędzikłak wrote on skins of black harpies. It was stolen by his Excellency in his youth and inspired him to create the superdragon. PropheciesAreAlwaysRight, as they do come true - just not in the way his Excellency thought they would.
* VirginPower: In a different way than the home world legends would have it, though. UnicornsPreferVirgins is Inverted - unicorns hate virgins and attempt to kill them whenever there's a chance. But! Dragons have to obey any commands given by a pure maiden. Supposedly. Given that Astrid tried to kill one with a sword (and came close to getting killed herself), this either isn't true or she isn't a virgin (that's what the narrator thinks - when he needs to imagine a virgin, he goes for Iwa).
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: As soon as she is his girlfriend (and he first got her attention helping her in a fight), Siballa for Lampart. Not that he can't go BackToBackBadasses with her.
* WeirdMoon: The moon in parallel world has been hit by something large a while back, producing a visible crater and causing it to rotate.
* WorldTree: It's not seen, but wood of this tree can be transformed into anything. Like swords. [[spoiler: Or magical crystals]].
* YourHeartsDesire: C'tlan hunts by making the victims hallucinate whatever they want at the moment to lure them into the c'tlan's tentacly mouth. The protagonist first gets a ''sci-fi blaster salesman'', then [[LoveInterest Astrid]] in scanty clothes.
* YouWillBeBeethoven: Somewhat inexplicably (it's unclear what the Lady of Gates meant by it), [[spoiler: Scypion, who has been named after the prophet Scypion Mędzikłak, gets sent back in time and ''becomes'' Scypion Mędzikłak]], as evidenced by a mural on the cloister wall.
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