Line #38 Literature/ThePurifyingFire


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Purifying_Fire_cover_4132.jpg]]
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3	''The Purifying Fire'', by Creator/LauraResnick, is a ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novel and the second in the ''Planeswalker'' novel series (although it's a standalone with no direct connection to the others), focusing on the red-aligned planeswalker [[http://magiccards.info/m11/en/127.html Chandra Nalaar]].
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5	Chandra lives in Keral Keep on the plane of Regatha, where she studies the art of [[PlayingWithFire pyromancy]] with the other monks. However, the white-aligned [[KnightTemplar Order of Heliud]] has begun to encroach on the peaceful monastery and the forest surrounding it, and its pursuit of ultimate Order [[OrderVsChaos clashes with the monks' ideals]] of freedom and personal liberty. Walbert, the leader of the Order of Heliud, wants to capture Chandra for his own unknown ends. And when Chandra visits the plane of Kephalai to steal a valuable scroll containing a rare fire spell, she doesn't expect to meet the mysterious [[http://magiccards.info/m12/en/16.html Gideon]] pursuing her--and she certainly doesn't expect to have to fight alongside him for survival.
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7	The first chapter of the book recounts the events of the ''Webcomic/FuelForTheFire'' webcomic, and the rest of the book continues from there.
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9	Not to be confused with the trope FirePurifies.
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11	----
12	!!''The Purifying Fire'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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14	* BroadStrokes: While it's still canon that Gideon and Chandra met and came into conflict over the Order of Heliud on Regatha, then parted ways (after which Gideon realized he'd been wrong and sought Chandra out to reconcile with her), several aspects of their backstories from this novel are contradicted by later canon entries. For example, here Chandra says she had a "mother who was strict, father who was gentle, two sisters who [she] hated, and an older brother who she adored". Her story in ''Magic Origins'' establishes that she was an only child and close to both her parents. As well, in this novel it was the Order of Heliud who burned Chandra's village because she was a pyromancer. In ''Magic Origins'' it was Consul soldiers who did it, and their attempt to execute her took place at an arena she was taken to, rather than at the site of the burned village.
15	* BroughtDownToNormal: On Diraden, where the flow of non-black mana is blocked and red-aligned Chandra and white-aligned Gideon can't access their magic.
16	* BullyingADragon: Chandra lampshades how stupid it is for a monk at the Keep to be relentlessly hassling her about losing the scroll when it is a widely known fact that she is the most powerful pyromancer on the plane.
17	* CanonForeigner: The character of Gideon was originally created for ''The Purifying Fire'', and the creative team at Wizards of the Coast liked him enough to print a planeswalker card for him in the ''Rise of the Eldrazi'' expansion.
18	* CardCarryingVillain: The vampire Prince Velrav of Diraden, who revels in his villainy.
19	* CatapultNightmare: Chandra catapults upright from a nightmare in the second chapter.
20	* EarlyBirdCameo: While at Keral Keep Chandra meets with the Monastery's Matriarch, Mother Luti, to tell her the truth about being a planeswalker. [[ForeShadowing Along with hints that Mother Luti is a bit more familiar with planeswalkers than she lets on.]]
21	* EnemyMine: Chandra and Gideon have to team up to escape from Diraden when they discover that planeswalking away is impossible as long as Prince Velrav's curse is draining the mana from the land.
22	* EvilOverlord: Prince Velrav, who tyrannizes Diraden.
23	* FemaleGaze: Laura Resnick is also a veteran romance author, and she sprinkles in a few sections of Gideon fanservice.
24	%%* FieryRedhead: Chandra. She has FlamingHair as well.
25	%%* FlamingHair: Chandra, a literal FieryRedhead.
26	* FreakyFridayFlip: Done temporarily between [[spoiler:Gideon and the ex-king of Diraden]].
27	* GlowingEyes: Jace's eyes glow blue when he fights Chandra. Chandra's eyes are glowing red on the cover.
28	* ILetGwenStacyDie: Soldiers burnt down Chandra's village after a display of her powers caused them to think the villagers were illegally training pyromancers to fight the empire. The trauma of seeing all her friends and family burn [[DieOrFly caused her planeswalker spark to ignite]], and she's carried the guilt with her ever since.
29	* KnightTemplar: Walbert and the Order of Heliud, obsessed with order, rule of law, and peace, no matter the cost.
30	* LightIsNotGood: This is evil!White at its finest. White's conflict with Red is pretty much a thematic thesis, its association with oppressive order at severe odds with the freedom-loving peoples.
31	* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Falia, jealous of what she assumes to be a romance between Chandra and Gideon, turns Chandra over to Velrav in hopes of keeping Gideon for herself]].
32	%%* MyGreatestFailure:
33	%%* NeckLift: Jace does it to the illusion of Brannon.%%Does what?
34	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: Diraden has been cursed with eternal night as long as Velrav has held the throne.
35	* OnlyThePureOfHeart: Only those whose souls are clean can survive the eponymous Purifying Fire intact.
36	* TheOrder: The Order of Heliud is a semi-theocratical organisation trying to impose hegemony in Regatha.
37	* OrderVsChaos: On one hand you have lawfully malicious hieromancers trying to oppress people. On the other you have fire wielding elementalists fighting for their freedom.
38	* PassionIsEvil: Addressed, as it's stated Gideon was trained to divorce emotions from magic. Otherwise very much averted, however, given that the passionate magic users are the good guys and the Order is evil.
39	* PlayingWithFire: Chandra and the other pyromancers.
40	* PlotHole: Chandra is suddenly able to use fire magic again in the last scene on Diraden, even though they haven't broken the curse yet. This is never explained or justified in the story. WordOfGod says this was due to ExecutiveMeddling -- Wizards of the Coast rewrote a couple chapters from Resnick's manuscript.[[invoked]]
41	%%* PsychicPowers: Jace
42	* SacredFlames: The Purifying Fire is a constant font of pure white mana found on the plane of Regatha. It probes the soul of all who enter is flames, and destroys anyone in which it detects sin or evil.
43	%%* UnskilledButStrong: Chandra. She came to Keral Keep to fix it.
44	* WhipSword: Gideon's signature weapon is a ''sural'', a three-tailed whip-blade-thingy.

Context Literature / ThePurifyingFire