History Literature / TheFoundingOfValdemar

* DramaticIrony: The Valdemarans and Taleydras can only speculate as to the cause of [[spoiler: Cloudfall's FaceHeelTurn.]] Readers who are familiar with the Mage Winds and Mage Storms series, however, [[spoiler: can figure out that she was actually [[GrandTheftMe possessed by Ma'ar]], since directly before her disappearance she had gone to practice the spell for calling fire.]]

* DramaticIrony: The Valdemarans and Taleydras can only speculate as to the cause of [[spoiler: Cloudfall's FaceHeelTurn.]] Readers who are familiar with the Mage Winds and Mage Storms series, however, [[spoiler: can figure out that she was actually [[GrandTheftMe possessed by Ma'ar]], since directly before her disappearance she had gone to practice the spell for calling fire.]]

* DramaticIrony: The Valdemarans and Taleydras can only speculate as to the cause of [[spoiler: Cloudfall's FaceHeelTurn.]] Readers who are familiar with the Mage Winds and Mage Storms series, however, [[spoiler: can figure out that she was actually {{GrandTheftMe possessed by Ma'ar}}, since directly before her disappearance she had gone to practice the spell for calling fire.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: [[FriendToAllLivingThings Lythe Shadowdancer's]] and [[Hunk Rothas Sunsinger's]] lifebond is explicitly portrayed as this.

** Rothas Sunsinger [[Film/{{MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail}} just...wants to sing.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: With his pettiness, LackOfEmpathy, low intelligence, and obsession with size and luxury, the Emperor comes off as an {{Expy}} of Donald Trump, who had recently become the former President at the time of publication. The physical description is similar as well, and upon receiving the False Golds he makes a very Trumpesque speech about how big and impressive they are, while proving Kordas right that he hasn't the brains or knowledge to spot the real thing.

* AndroclesLion: In ''Beyond'', Kordas saves an infant Earth Elemental and reunites it with it's mother. [[spoiler: In ''Into the West'', the two elementals appear to help Kordas fight a corrupted elemental]]

** In ''Into the West'', a magical projection device is used to make evening announcements, seeming very much like television. There's the evening news, followed by various entertainments, including a serial puppet show that sounds like a sitcom.

The upcoming ''Valdemar'' will detail the early trials of the titular kingdom, the arrival of the Companions, and the founding of the Heralds.

* AndroclesLion: In ''Beyond'', Kordas saves an infant Earth Elemental and reunites it with it's moth. [[spoiler: In ''Into the West'', the two elementals appear to help Kordas fight a corrupted elemental]]

** Among the people that come through the Gate after the initial landing party are [[WebVideo/EpicNPCMan a fisherman that says, "Mornin'. Nice day fer fishin', ain't it?", a blacksmith, and a confused man with s string of garlic hanging from his belt]].

A prequel to Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novels, recounting the founding of the titular kingdom by a small population fleeing an evil Empire, led by Baron Valdemar.

Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda’s father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.

Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic, the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and "milking" of Elemental creatures.

But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from the Empire that it is unlikely the Emperor can find or follow them as they evacuate everyone that is willing to leave.

But time is running out, and Kordas has been summoned to the Emperor's Court.

Can his reputation as a country bumpkin and his acting skills buy him and his people the time they need to flee? Or will the Emperor lose patience, invade to strip Valdemar of everything of worth, and send its conscripted people into the front lines of the Imperial wars?

!! This work contains the following tropes:

* ContinuityNod:
** The crest of Valdemar is a white horse.
** The Vrondi, air elementals who appear frequently in subsequent novels. Here they've been trapped and enslaved by the EvilEmpire, and escape with the Valdemarans while also bolstering the plan immensely. Kordas' narrative also makes it clear that they power the Truth Spells that are used later, which Star notes is pleasurable for them, as the truth is nurturing.
** In ''Into The West'', Kordas makes a speech about tolerance with the words, "There is no one, true way."

** One of Valdemar's mages is known for sharing [[TheInternetIsFOrCats funny images of cats]].
** The mirrors Kordas and Isla use to simultaneously scry each other sound very much like tablets, both in appearance and use. Their mutual scrying sessions also sound like Zoom calls.
** In ''Into The West'', a magical projection device is used to make evening announcements, sounding very much like television. There's the evening news, followed by various entertainments, including a serial puppet show that sounds like a sitcom.
* EvilIsPetty: An observation Kordas frequently makes of the casual cruelties employed by the Emperor and his cronies. The Emperor is shown to enjoy humiliating people, and it's noted that the Vrondi were forced into Doll bodies that could feel pain, allegedly so they wouldn't accidentally harm themselves but really so random courtiers can enjoy abusing them.
* ExactWords: The Vrondi are able to be ''highly'' selective in how they interpret their orders. For example, they can neglect to pass on information gained through their HiveMind by treating it as "hearsay," which therefore they can claim not to know for sure.

* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:Merrin does too good a job propping up Kordas' "country bumpkin" act, accidentally getting the Duchy of Valdemar assigned to himself instead and Kordas downgraded to Baron.]]

* HiveMind: The Vrondi, once they're imprisoned in Doll bodies, are able to share thoughts so that what one knows, they all know. This makes them incredibly useful in ThePlan, as they essentially provide instantaneous long-range communication without security issues. They also have a wealth of information about the working of TheEmpire and are essentially invisible as they go about their business, allowing them to use authorisation seals to rob the empire wholesale.

** In ''Into The West'', she turns out to be adept at repairing Dolls. In addition to being a skilled seamstress, she effectively has an extra hand.
* MutantDraftBoard: Mages are automatically taken to work for the Emperor, except for those secretly being sheltered in Valdemar while they work on a means of exacuation. At least, some of them do that; about two thirds are devoted to shielding the estate so the Empire doesn't realise what's going on.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: With his pettiness, LackOfEmpathy, low intelligence, and obsession with size and luxury, he comes off as an {{Expy}} of Donald Trump, who had recently become the former President at the time of publication. The physical description is similar as well, and on receiving the False Golds he makes a very Trumpesque speech about how big and impressive they are, while proving Kordas right that he hasn't the brains or knowledge to spot the real thing.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Vrondi Dolls show Kordas the source of the Imperial Mages' power: an infant Earth Elemental, trapped and tortured so the mages can harvest the magic it gives off as it heals. It's been trapped for decades, as its family are looking for it. At the end of ''Beyond'', Kordas frees it, almost leveling the city as it escapes. Then its family come back and finish the job.

* ProperlyParanoid: Those involved with ThePlan take obsessive care not to let the wrong people find out, storing supplies in secret and planning in coded conversations, because if the Emperor ever finds out what they're doing it's all over. Even once they're successfully evacuated far enough away that the Empire finding them is unlikely, they still plan to move on again from the area of the Gate site, just in case someone figures out a way to follow them. This plan is still in place after the Empire is all but ruined at the end of ''Beyond'', because ''someone'' will inherit whatever's left and it's not worth the risk.

-->'''Star:''' We can remember it for you...\\

** In ''Into The West'', there's a reference to a pastime of [[Series/{{Firefly}} juggling goslings]].
** Late in ''Into The West'', after a major mage battle, a mage who got a bit singed in the fight asks [[Series/MythBusters "Am I missing -- an eyebrow?"]]
* SpoiledBrat: {{Downplayed}}. Delia admits to herself that she's led a very sheltered life; she's missed most of the awful things the Empire does to people by being insignificant and protected by her brother-in-law taking her in after her father died and his Barony given to a favourite of the Emperor. She's unhappy about the constant hard work and unpleasant conditions of settling a new place, although she does her work without complaint. In ''Into The West'', she cries while mending clothes, because it's a chance to do so with no one hearing.

* TameHisAnger: Kordas wears a storm shirt (dyed in thundercloud colours) under his clothes to remind himself of his dangerous temper. This gets demonstrated in ''Into The West'' when he delivers a CurbStompBattle to someone who tortured a Doll for fun. The narrative notes how good it feels to bestow his anger on someone who so richly deserves it.

* AnimalMotif: Valdemar is known in the Empire for breeding superior horses. The first chapter of ''Beyond'' shows a difficult foal birth, the Valdemar crest is a white horse, and Kordas is ordered to the capital city to personally deliver the Emperor's tribute of horses.

** The mirrors Kordas and Isla use to simultaneously scry each other sound very much like tablets, both in appearance and use.

* SpoiledBrat: {{Downplayed}}. Delia admits to herself that she's led a very sheltered life; she's missed most of the awful things the Empire does to people by being insignificant and protected by her brother-in-law taking her in after her father died and his Barony given to a favourite of the Emperor. She's unhappy about the constant hard work and unpleasant conditions of settling a new place, although she does her work without complaint. In ''Into The West'', she cries while mending clothes, because it's a chance to do so with no one hearing.

** In ''IntoTheWest'', there's a reference to a pastime of [[Series/{{Firefly}} juggling goslings]].

* SpoiledBrat: {{Downplayed}}. Delia admits to herself that she's led a very sheltered life; she's missed most of the awful things the Empire does to people by being insignificant and protected by her brother-in-law taking her in after her father died and his Barony given to a favourite of the Emperor. She's unhappy about the constant hard work and

'''Kordas:''' Wholesale?