History Literature / TheElenium

** Played straight, however, whenever crossbows are involved. Crossbow bolts can pierce armor as if it was a sheet of paper.

* AgeInsecurity: Sparhawk is continually stymied in any attempt to learn the age of Sephrenia, the instructor of the Pandion Knights in magical studies. He knows that she taught his father and grandfather, and still looks like quite a young woman, but she refuses to give any sort of straight answer; a person's exact age, she explains, can be a deadly tool in the wrong hands. Eventually, the Child-Goddess Aphrael tells him that even she doesn't know the answer for sure, but Sephrenia (who is her high priestess) was the eldest child of the most recent couple to raise Aphrael in a human incarnation - and that was at least several hundred years ago.

* ShoutOut / {{Homage}}: The entire subplot involving Ghasek in ''The Ruby Knight'' (involving the ChekhovsGunman Bellina no less) could have been lifted straight out of a Film/HammerHorror movie. The terrified people in the nearby village, the HatePlague-infected minstrel, the creepy forest setting with its chilling moonlight, the haunted castle, the discovery in the basement, the FateWorseThanDeath for Bellina in the end--it has it all. And it was incredibly effective, disturbing, and a major source of horror to some.
** It is also a ShoutOut to Real Life serial killer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzebet_Bathory Countess Elizabeth Bathory]], who [[spoiler: kept a TortureCellar in her castle and was eventually condemned to be walled up in her quarters.]]

-->''Why me?''

** It's worse than it sounds. A high-ranking Tamul official, outraged over Arjuni slave raids, once authorized a punitive Atan expedition into Arjuna--without giving them any limits. They actually hanged the King and drove his subjects into the southern jungles, thus starting an economic crisis. It took centuries to convince the Arjuni to emerge from their hiding place.

*** The difference between the two is that Elysoun does it because it isn't a sin in her culture. Arissa does it because it ''is'' a sin in her culture.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The knights constantly ask about Sephrenia's real age. It quickly becomes a RunningGag. It's eventually revealed by the Child-Goddess Aphrael that [[spoiler:there's absolutely no way to know for sure, but the last time she herself took a human form (which was possibly thousands of years ago), Sephrenia was the eldest daughter of the couple she chose for her parents.]]

* TheUnReveal: In ''The Shining Ones'' there's a few mentions of the Cyrgai Wars, in which the Delphae and Styrics made an alliance and battled the Cyrgai, only for (allegedly) the Styrics to betray them, nearly causing the Delphae to become extinct. This sparked a feud between the races that was never resolved, and the actual truth was blurred so much that pretty much everyone has their own story. Sparhawk repeatedly asks Xanetia and Sephrenia to tell him the truth, and when they refuse, he threatens to ask Bhelliom, since it's a neutral observer. This horrifies both of them, but eventually Sparhawk gets so fed up of their bitchy cat-fight that he tells them that he no longer cares about what happened, and just he wants their fighting to stop. We never do find out what happened.

** Krager in the ''Tamuli''. In his first appearance he boasts about how everything Martel (the true MagnificentBastard of the series) accomplished was due to his tutelage, how if it had been ''Krager'' advising Azash then he surely would have won, how the defeat he just suffered was merely an inconvenience, and how Sparhawk would be facing far greater opposition than before. It then turns out that all of Cyrgon and co's schemes are thwarted far easier than Martel and Azash's, their ranks consist of idiots and {{Harmless Villain}}s, and it becomes very clear that Krager was talking out his ass.

* HypocriticalHumor: A RunningGag in the ''Tamuli'' is [[GentlemanThief Stragan's]] displeasure [[ObfuscatingStupidity with Baroness Melidere]], one of Queen Ehlana's closest friends. She acts as, in Stragan's words, [[DumbBlonde "She makes it seem as if the light in her eyes is the sun streaming through the hole in the back of her head."]] He flat out says, "I hate dishonest people." [[DontExplainTheJoke This coming from the]] [[ThievesGuild leader of all the criminals in the capital of Thalesia.]]

** Inverted with the Atan god. He is real and probably as powerful as the Styric gods, and takes a keen interest in their worshippers, but the Atans consider it disrespectful to ask the gods for things they could fix themselves. They do invoke their god, but only for really important occasions like weddings and coming-of-age-ceremonies (who only occur within Atan, so very few people other than the Atans know about it).

* StatuesqueStunner: Mirtai, the Atan giantess who towers over all the Church Knights. She could pass for tall and dark if you overlook [[KnifeNut the dozen or so knives she carries everywhere]]. That includes knives strapped to her knees [[GroinAttack specifically for kneeing men in the crotch.]] According to Talen, she even has a pair built into the soles of her shoes.

** Also King Wargun of Thalesia, who by the end of the ''Elenium'' is said to be dying from his destroyed liver.

* AdvantageBall: The Church Knights, by dint of their training, reputation, and armor, which is not only [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe protective]] but intimidating as well, tend to [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp]] any enemy force in combat, regardless of the opposition's numbers, equipment or tactics. The individual Knights tend to do this as well.

** Played for laughs in the last book when a Tamuli scholar refuses, like the rest of his race, to believe in Trolls. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Ulath answers]] by [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments calling a gargantuan, angry (illusionary) troll in the hall.]]

** Kalten appears to be this, but it's actually ObfuscatingStupidity. He's actually smarter than Sparhawk in some ways (and gets to demonstrate this in his own personal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in the second trilogy).

** More like "poor communication mildly inconveniences" in this instance, but: Alean loves Kalten. Kalten loves Alean. Alean thinks [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe he will never notice her because she's just a maid]]. Kalten thinks Alean could never look at him that way because [[ChivalrousPervert notorious womanizer]]. Then Kalten starts trying to get himself killed on the battlefield because he's so lovelorn, and suddenly Alean starts communicating. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Volubly, and at great length]]. Cue glorious hookup.

* RetiredBadass: Vanion in the second series. His anecdotal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome may arguably be when he, a battered old man not far removed from being saved from his deathbed, challenges ''the entire population of Sarsos'' to a race to prove a point about their lack of physical fitness. He gets out to a big lead until he trips in a rabbit hole and sprains his ankle. ''And he still wins.''

** Of course, this also relates to a somewhat extended SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}, as Sephrenia points out how pathetic it is that the entire Elene world is shaking over their boots over a complete moron who can't even think of a decent purpose to [[spoiler:create the above undead.]], and also as Talen gives a hilarious suggestion to Berit [[DisasterDominoes as to what to do after they pass said soldiers...]]

* SedgwickSpeech: In the midst of the big siege in the third book [[DeceptiveDisciple Ulesim]] gets up in front of the Rendors and delivers a huge speech about attacking the city relentlessly. And then Kurik nails him between the eyes with a crossbow bolt in mid-sentence. The ensuing chatter is a minor SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}.

** In ''Domes of Fire'', Stragen takes the Styric Council to task for not being more proactive in the emerging crisis in Daresia. When one of the Councillors answers by calling him a bastard, he shrugs it off... because he literally is the illegitimate son of a nobleman. He then proceeds to point out he is also a swindler, murderer, and thief (since he is also the head of a thieves' guild), glibly implying that anything they could call him would not be insulting in the least. Goes into SugarWiki/{{Funny|Moments}} territory, since he does it ''in their own language.''

** Even though they hate each others' guts [[spoiler: until the final battle]], Martel admits that he still has respect for Sparhawk. Also crosses over with FoeYay; he refers to Sparhawk and Sephrenia as the only two people he's ever truly loved, and at another point he remarks:

* [[SaveThePrincess Save The Queen]]: The plot of the first two and a half books. Makes a reappearance in the final novel as well.

Gathering a party of various companions, including champions of the [[ChurchMilitant Church Knights]], sorcerers of [[WitchSpecies Styricum]], [[LoveableRogue street thieves]], and his squire, Sparhawk sets out- both to thwart the designs of Annias, and to find a cure for the queen's suspicious illness. But increasingly, he and his companions are embroiled in a shadowy world of magic, powerful artifacts, and the evil God that craves them.

* VowOfCelibacy: The first book notes that the Pandion Knights had originally taken an oath to never marry (and by implication never have sex). However, due to a shortage of Pandions and applicants for knighthood they were allowed by the church to take back their vows so they could marry and have children.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Subverted with the Zemochs, who look like this at first but later turn out to be harmless after the EvilOverlord and [[GodOfEvil his god]] that were ruling them were... forcibly removed. Played largely straight with the Cyrgai, though they're more like Always StupidEvil as a result of centuries of inbreeding and fanaticism.

** Princess Arissa, who's literally slept with most of Cimmura, including King Aldreas (her ''brother'') [[spoiler:and Annias - the latter when she was twelve years old]].

* EagerRookie: Played with. Sparhawk told a young knight to guard Sephrenia, but agreed to let him take part in the battle (his first) when Sephrenia said she didn't need a guard. The knight was then killed by Adus.

* TricksterArchetype: Aphrael is one of the weakest gods, but she's ''very'' good at getting what she wants via a combination of clever planning and Obfuscating Cuteness.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Klael shows up randomly in the final book of the second series and promptly takes over as BigBad. Once explained it makes sense, and anyone familiar with Literature/TheMalloreon could see something like that coming, but it was still rather jarring.

** Then there's Bhlokw, a Troll Priest who cheerfully engages Ulath in philosophical debate (such as [[spoiler:whether the Gods should still be morally obeyed if they've gone crazy)]].