History Literature / TheFangsOfKaath

%% * BellyDancer: Hanna and Yarim.

* PandaingToTheAudience: Tsau-yi Meng, a gentle wandering panda and monk from that world's equivalent of China. He's naive and cuddly, but he can do his part magnificently when things get tough.

** Shah Marwan seems to be a lower-functioning example: he openly admits to not caring if his son Raschid lives or dies and to [[LackOfEmpathy viewing everyone else as disposable pawns]], switches which of his two sons he favours purely on whims, cares about nothing other than enjoying and maintaining his wealth and privilege and [[MurderIsTheBestSolution is unable to understand the concept of dealing with opposition in ways other than violence]], to the point of committing genocide [[DisproportionateRetribution because his nobles want more land]].

* TheSociopath: Abbas is incapable of caring about anyone but himself, or indeed any emotions other than lust, rage and spite. He can be superficially charming, as he was able to manipulate Sarwah to love him, but makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't love him or anyone else, to the point of openly having sex with slave girls while Sarwah is in the room and gloating to him about the encounters. He discards everyone close to him, no matter how loyal, the second he can get what he wants some other way. All he thinks about is his own gratification, which usually takes the form of [[SerialRapist brutalising women]], and finds absolutely no value in the lives of others, to the point of not understanding Raschid's desire to find a solution to the nomad problem that doesn't involve death.

* LiberatedButLoyal: In the second book, it's shown that after Raschid banned slavery many of his own and his father's former slaves have become some of his most loyal advisors. Notably one of the musketeers from the slave army that helped him win the SuccessionCrisis is captain of the royal guard and his father's former head concubine is now majordomo.

* PowerOfLove: A critical factor in both books is that love is more powerful than any magic, to the point that utilising ThePowerOfLove against [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent shifters]] is enough to physically burn them.

* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: While Osranii society as a whole has no problem with slavery, Raschid does not share their view. When he discovers that the Hammani are practicing an underground slave trade, he sidelined the campaign against the nomads to overthrow them and liberate all those held in the Hammani slave camps. [[spoiler:When he becomes Shah he outlaws slavery throughout Osra.]]

%% * TriangRelations:
%% ** Type 8 with Raschid, Sandhri and Yarïm.
%% ** In Book 2 Itbit is involved in a type 3 with Meng and Tulu-Behg and a type 6 with Raschid Sandhri and Yarim.

* NiceHat: After his spectacularly successful military campaign, Prince Raschid takes to sporting a headdress given to him by his new friend and ally, a desert nomad warrior king. While Raschid thinks it looks great on him, his mother can't stand it and it marks the growing separation from his domineering mother.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: You Gotta Have Blue Fur. Yarïm's fur is magically dyed. The enslaved species that are mainly rodents and lapines have their fur dyed before being sold at the slave markets of Osra.

* HateSink: Abbas is deliberately written to be as hateful as possible, to the point that the reader is likely to agree with Sandhri that he should be given "[[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon a gunpowder enema]]".

* LiberatedButLoyal: In the second book, it's shown that after Raschid banned slavery many of his own and his father's former slaves have become some of his most loyal advisors. Notably one of the musketeers from the Slave Army that helped him win the Succession Crisis is captain of the royal guard and his father's former head concubine is now majordomo.

* AdiposeRex: Shah Marwan of Osra is morbidly obese due to eating immense feats three times a day.

* BloodKnight: Amedh ibn Ïkr, who takes a perverse joy in ransacking an enemy city to the point of murdering a messenger from Raschid just so he can carry on the slaughter for as long as possible.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Abbas emotionally abusing his lover Captain Sarwah [[spoiler:and eventually butchering him after being turned into a Shifter]] is supposed to help establish him as an utter bastard; however it's hard to feel bad for Sarwah since he is thoroughly complicit in Abbas's attempts to have Raschid killed and apparently severely beats a servant girl who Abbas raped out of jealousy.

%% * PowerOfLove: A critical factor in the first book. And the second.
%% * RoyalHarem

* ATasteOfTheLash: Abbas plans to inflict this on [[spoiler:Yarim, and attempts to do the same to Sandhri when she gets in his way before Raschid [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown intervenes]].]]