Line #8 Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy


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3	[[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_riddle_master_of_hed.jpg]]
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5	''The Riddle-Master Trilogy'' is a HighFantasy trilogy by Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip with a MoralityKitchenSink. The novels in the trilogy are:
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7	# ''The Riddle-Master of Hed''
8	# ''Heir of Sea and Fire''
9	# ''Harpist in the Wind''
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11	The third novel, ''Harpist in the Wind'', was nominated for the MediaNotes/HugoAward and the MediaNotes/WorldFantasyAward, and the series remains one of [=McKillip=]'s most popular works. Several {{Omnibus}} editions have been produced under various names, including ''Riddle of Stars'', ''Quest of Riddlemasters'', and ''The Riddlemaster's Game''.
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13	The series takes place in a world where all wisdom is couched in the form of riddles to be solved. The land is divided into kingdoms whose rulers are magically linked to their realms. This "land-rule" is governed by a mysterious figure known as the High One.
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15	Morgon was a student before his parents died and he became the land-ruler of Hed. He was born with a birth mark of three stars on his forehead which are the subject of prophecy, although he tries to ignore that. When the High One's harpist, Deth, comes to visit during his travels, he informs Morgon that Raederle of An's hand in marriage [[EngagementChallenge was promised to whomever could defeat Peven of Aum in a riddle game]] and that An has been in an uproar ever since Peven told the last person to challenge him that he was too late. Morgon admits that he won Peven's crown in a riddle game and resolves to go with Deth to visit Raederle and offer himself in marriage.
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17	Before they can get very far, their ship is attacked by [[ShapeShifter shape-changers]] who are determined to kill [[TheChosenOne The Starbearer]] aka Morgon. For his very life, Morgon travels with Deth to the High One on Erlenstar Mountain in search of an answer to the riddle of three stars.
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19	The second book follows Raederle of An, Lyra of Herun, and Morgon's sister Tristan as they search for Morgon, Deth, and the High One, who are all now considered missing ever since Morgon reached the High One and fell out of all contact. The third book deals with the growing war against the [[ShapeShifter shape-changers]] and the continuing search for the truth about the High One.
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21	----
22	!!These novels provide examples of:
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24	* AbusivePrecursors: [[spoiler: The Earth-Masters destroyed their own children and waged a massive self-destructive war that nearly destroyed the world until one of them finally managed to beat the others, sealed them in the sea, and became The High One, trying to create a more peaceful land in their wake]].
25	* ActionGirl: Lyra of Herun, who is herself the leader of the Morgol's all-female guard.
26	%% * ActualPacifist: Morgon [[spoiler:until he is betrayed. He is brought back to himself brutally and then broken in half all over again out of necessity.]]
27	* AerithAndBob: While most names are a bit strange, they still range from the relatively-normal Tristan and Morgon to ''Ghisteslwchlohm''. Of course, there's some cultural differences at work here; Tristan and Morgon are both from Hed, which has the most "normal" names, and while Ghisteslwchlohm's origins are never explained, it's speculated that he's from Herun, where OverlyLongNames are the norm.
28	%% * AfterActionHealingDrama: When Morgon is wounded on the plain.
29	%% * AfterActionPatchup: When Astrin is attacked on the plain.
30	%% * TheAloner: Astrin, Deth, Morgon and Har.
31	* AmazonBrigade: The Morgol's guard is composed entirely of women.
32	%% * AmplifierArtifact: The twelve-sided crystal Raederle finds that more than does the job for a simple reflection spell. (Explain more about the artifact)
33	%% * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Deth]] to Morgon. (Unusually for this trope, a familial rather than romantic love.)
34	* AnxietyDreams: Raederle has them over some monster coming to claim her hand after hearing that someone had won the EngagementChallenge for her hand and before learning it was Morgon, who she was already in love with.
35	* {{Arcadia}}: The gentle, quiet, idyllic life on the island of Hed, peopled by souls of wise simplicity, is a stark contrast to the more typical fantasy kingdoms wound on the mainland.
36	* [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Armor-Piercing Statement]]: [[spoiler:Deth delivers one at the end of the first book: "They were promised a man of peace", making Morgan realize that killing him would be unfair to the children of the shape-changers, who had those as ArcWords.]] Lampshaded by Morgon, who ruefully says that he thought [[spoiler:Deth]] was unarmed when words were always his most powerful weapon.
37	%% * BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Deth]].
38	* BigGood: The High One. [[spoiler: That's the real one, mind, not Ghisteslwchlohm. The real High One was the only thing that kept the world stable and ended the constant warfare of the shape-changers]]. It turns out that the whole plot was actually [[spoiler: him grooming Morgon to take his place]].
39	* BigBad: Though Ghisteslwchlohm occupies this role for most of the story, the ultimate source of the threat to the world is the shape-changers, who want to kill the high one, wipe out humanity, and resume a self-destructive war that was threatening the entire world. The one impersonating [[spoiler: Eriel]] is heavily implied to be the mastermind.
40	** BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm thinks he's got everything under control- and then he runs into the Earth-masters and ends up their mind-controlled puppet]].
41	** BigBadEnsemble: For most of the trilogy, the shape-changers and Ghisteslwchlohm represent entirely separate threats, sometimes working at cross-purposes.
42	* BigNo: [[spoiler: Morgon's]] Great Shout at the end of the first book, in which he shouts "no" with enough force to break the high-one's doorstep.
43	%% * BlowYouAway: Learning to harness the winds is Morgon's trump card.
44	%% * BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: played very effectively by [[spoiler: Deth to Morgon, particularly at Erlenstar Mountain]], though not in a romantic sense.
45	%% * BrokenPedestal: Master Ohm/Ghisteslwchlohm and [[spoiler: Deth, for most of the last two books until the whole scope of his plan is revealed]].
46	* CallToAgriculture: Morgon wants to be a peaceful farmer, not the ChosenOne, and in the first part of the story is ignoring the call to destiny represented by the three stars on his forehead to remain a farmer-king.
47	%% * TheChessmaster: Ghisteslwchlohm is good. The shape-changers are better. [[spoiler: The true High One tops them all]].
48	%% * TheChosenOne: Morgon.
49	%% * DeadpanSnarker: Deth.
50	%% * DeadpersonImpersonation: Multiple times throughout the series.
51	* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: [[spoiler:Deth: Pretends to be working for the High One, despite actually being the High One himself and working under deep cover for his impersonator, so that he can mentor his successor into success, which requires betraying said successor to the man unknowingly impersonating himself (aka the High One), and faking his own death to impersonate a wizard who was never in fact a wizard but was always him. (Deth why.)]]
52	%% * TheDragon: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]] ends up forced to play this role to [[spoiler: "Eriel" and the Earth-masters]].
53	%% * TheDrifter: Deth
54	%% * DysfunctionalFamily: Morgon's family - Morgon, Eliard and Tristan - and Raederle's - currently Mathom, Raederle, Duac and Rood.
55	%% ** And let's not forget the ruling family of Ymris - Astrin, Heureu, and [[spoiler: Heureu's shape-changer wife]] Eriel.
56	%% ** The remaining ruling families seem surprisingly well-adjusted, for people who can [[spoiler: live a thousand years, see through walls and turn themselves into trees.]]
57	%% * ElementalPowers: Hereditary in humans and highly developed in the Shape-changers. Magic doesn't seem to be limited to one particular element, but some characters specialize.
58	%% * ElementalShapeshifter: The Earth-Masters [[spoiler:and Morgon.]]
59	* EngagementChallenge: Raederle has been offered by her father to the man who can defeat Peven in a riddle game, a game where the ghost poses riddles and the challenger must solve them or die. It's been considered unwinnable for centuries before Morgon comes along. Everybody who hears about the challenge, including Morgon, who won it, thinks accepting it was an incredibly stupid move.
60	* EvilMentor: Ghisteslwchlohm's standard operating procedure. He does it repeatedly, once in the backstory [[spoiler:when he founded Lungold to control the other wizards, then destroyed it when they started to catch on]], once [[spoiler:in the modern day to Morgon, while posing as Ohm]], and once in a more overarching sense [[spoiler:by posing as the High One.]] And Ghisteslwchlohm is very, very evil, using torture and murder to acquire more power at every turn.
61	* EvilSorcerer: Ghisteslwchlohm is a classic example; he betrayed the wizards of the WizardingSchool Lungold, destroying it in the process, then [[spoiler:set himself up in a GodGuise by pretending to be the High One in order to eventually try and acquire his power in truth.]]
62	%% * FakeKing: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]].
63	%% * FallenHero: [[spoiler: Morgon in the second book]].
64	%% * FearlessFool: Morgon thinks he may be this.
65	* FieryRedhead: Raederle and her brother Rood have both red hair and a fiery passion.
66	* {{Fingore}}: Deth is a foremost a harpist even after [[spoiler: his hands are destroyed and his fingers wrecked as punishment by Ghisteslwchilohm]].
67	* FisherKing: The land-rulers are all benevolent examples; they are bound to their land through a system called the Land-Rule, and both reflect and are reflected by it. [[spoiler: The Earth-Masters, who originally held this power, are much less benevolent examples.]]
68	* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler: Deth is forced to watch Morgon's torture]], if not by [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]] then by his own conscience and because there's nothing he can do to [[spoiler: save Morgon, beyond harping]].
69	* FunctionalMagic: Inherent Gift is pretty common, particularly among land-rulers and their families; the whole world is filled with Wild Magic; Rule Magic has largely disappeared with the wizards [[spoiler: but returns with them]].
70	* GenocideFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Although the Earth Masters are technically not dead, the High One drove all the others into the sea and bound them forever. He is also, debatably, a rare heroic example, in that it appears he crushed the others and forced them into the sea when they started to destroy their own children and it became clear that their war was going to destroy everything if he didn't.]]
71	%% * GeometricMagic: Dodecahedrons.
72	* GhostAmnesia: Peven, the ghost of an ancient king, has forgotten the names of his children. As part of a riddle-game he's playing with Morgon's life on the line, he asks Morgon their names one by one, essentially giving Morgon several free passes.
73	* GodGuise: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm impersonating the High One, who is essentially the deity of the setting. He knows he's not the real deal, but as the most powerful being in the realm, he figures he can make a better go at it than anyone.]]
74	* GodWasMyCoPilot: [[spoiler:Deth, who accompanied Morgon throughout the series, was actually the High One, effectively the deity of the setting.]]
75	* GodhoodSeeker: [[spoiler:Ghisteslwchlohm's ultimate plan was to use Morgon to acquire the land-law of all the realm's kingdoms, becoming the High One - the setting's equivalent to a deity - in truth]].
76	* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Raederle]]; she is half-human, but her family's [[spoiler: Earth-master]] heritage is also very pronounced in her.
77	* HaveYouSeenMyGod: The High One [[spoiler:has been missing for 700 years, though nobody but Ghisteslwchlohm, who was impersonating him, actually knew this.]]
78	* HiddenDepths: Several characters, including Morgon, the peaceful farmer-Prince of a remote island, who is the last one anyone (including himself) expects to get caught up in prophecies that will affect all the lands and who turns out to be [[spoiler:the heir to the High One]]; Raederle, who has inherited more than she knows or wants to know from the mysterious shapeshifters beneath the sea; and the pig-woman of An who Raederle befriends.
79	%% * HighFantasy
80	* HisNameIs: Technically inverted, but similar in principle - when Morgon convinces the wizard Suth to tell him why he has been hiding in vesta form for seven hundred years, Suth manages to say nothing ''except'' a name before he's struck dead by magic: [[spoiler: Ohm.]]
81	* ImmortalRuler: Har the "wolf-king", land ruler of Osterland, is a powerful and unaging mage who loves the wild regions and creatures of his land almost as much as its people. In addition, the High One, from whom all the land rulers draw their powers (literally), is older still than even Har, though he's not much into direct ruling.
82	* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Morgon attempts to tell Raederle this. Fortunately for everyone, she convinces him otherwise.
83	%% * ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Morgon, full-stop
84	%% * KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: [[spoiler: Morgon]] has a literal SwordOverHead scene with [[spoiler: Deth]] at the end of ''Heir of Sea and Fire.''
85	* KillTheOnesYouLove: It's always been part of the plan that Morgon has to kill [[spoiler: Deth. Deth didn't expect Morgon to love him at the time, but he did]].
86	* LanguageOfMagic: Magic is a unique hodgepodge of functional music, language, sympathetic geometry and elemental.
87	* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:The High One is actually the last of the Earth-Masters, or at least the last one who wasn't bound in the ocean.]]
88	%% * MagicalLand
89	* MagicMusic: Music can do all sorts of magical feats in the setting, from suffocating people to shattering weapons. Morgon's harp, which he can barely play, is capable of the latter feat with just a single note.
90	* MakeMeWannaShout: When people are emotional, they can give Great Shouts capable of shattering stone. It doesn't seem like something they can weaponize so much as a type of PowerIncontinence, since nobody is ever shown doing it deliberately.
91	* MeaningfulName: Deth and Rood, who is willing to strip to make a point. Also Yrth [[spoiler: 'earth']] and Raederle [[spoiler: 'riddle', referring to her ancestry]].
92	%% * MilkyWhiteEyes: Astrin
93	%% * MindRape: For a long time this is [[spoiler: Morgon]]'s life under [[spoiler: Erlenstar Mountain]].
94	%% * ModestRoyalty: Many of them, but especially Morgon.
95	* MoralityKitchenSink: Morality ranges from ActualPacifist Morgon [[spoiler: though even he spends most of the second book hunting someone down with express intent to kill them,]] pragmatic but still very good-aligned Raederle, very grey Deth, whose actions verge on NecessarilyEvil sometimes but whose intentions are good, pretty damn awful Ghistelwhchlohm, who is the type to MindRape someone for a year to get a piece of information, and the shape-changers, who verge on BlueAndOrangeMorality.
96	* MusicalAssassin: A shapeshifter assassin sent to kill Morgon nearly suffocates him with a supernatural song.
97	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Played straight and subverted with [[spoiler: Deth, the High One's harpist; he ''pretends'' this is his reason for following Ohm's evil orders, but in reality he has his own agenda]].
98	%% * {{Mythopoeia}}
99	%% * NatureSpirit: The shape-changers.
100	* NecessarilyEvil: [[spoiler: Deth, betraying Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm and then harping to him throughout his imprisonment, which he justifies as necessary for Morgon to learn the things he needs to learn in order to serve ast he High One]].
101	%% * NobleFugitive: [[spoiler: The High One]] is nearly murdered by his heir.
102	* NothingIsScarier: One riddle focuses on this. A Prince of Hed was pursued into his home by a monster; when he finally opened the door nothing was there. The [[{{aesop}} structure]] of the riddle is that it's always better to try and answer the unanswered question.
103	* OffingTheOffspring: The [[spoiler: shape-changers's]] children; while technically impossible to kill for good, their parents destroyed them to the point where they can only "live" like ghosts under a mountain, forever.
104	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We hear a lot about Morgon finally managing to [[spoiler: turn Ghisteslwchlohm's power against him and escape]]; unfortunately, it's all either secondhand or long after the fact.
105	* OmniscientMoralityLicense: [[spoiler: Deth]] only does what he must, justifying it with his absolute knowledge of what is necessary, and he's willing to take any punishment for it.
106	%% * OnlyOneName
107	%% * OurGhostsAreDifferent: The numerous wraiths in An, most obviously.
108	* OutOfFocus: Morgon is the main character of the first book; in the second, he barely appears, and Raederle is the focus character instead. The third book splits the focus between them.
109	* OverlyLongName: A Herun tradition, apparently, which is why they all go by shortened versions of their names - e.g. Elrhiarhodan and her daughter Lyraluthuin are El and Lyra to their friends
110	%% * PhysicalGod: The High One and the Earth-masters.
111	%% * PrincessesRule: Hed, being the humble place it is, is ruled by a prince.
112	* PunnyName: Deth. It's actually short for Tirunedeth, but he is fully cognizant of the pun's potential. [[spoiler: It has a second layer when you meet his dead son Tirnon, who reveals that his father's name was originally Tir]].
113	%% * PursuedProtagonist: Deth and Morgon.
114	* RageAgainstTheMentor: Morgan has this relationship with Deth [[spoiler:after he's betrayed, spending most of the second volume pursing his former mentor in a rage]]. Oddly averted with [[spoiler:Ohm]], who was Morgan's ''formal'' teacher; [[spoiler:while Ohm betrayed him much more directly, Morgan doesn't seem to have taken it as personally, possibly because his relationship with Ohm was never as close.]]
115	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The wizards, shape-changers, and a few of the land-rulers live an indefinitely long time, yet many of them look much younger.
116	%% * RebelliousPrincess: Raederle of An, Tristan of Hed and Lyra of Herun.
117	* ReluctantWarrior: Morgon, once circumstances force him out of being an ActualPacifist, uses his sword reluctantly.
118	* ResignedToTheCall: It takes a few near-death experiences for Morgon to even consider going to the High One and asking ''him'' to figure things out, but he ultimately resigns himself to it.
119	* [[LeftJustifiedFantasyMap Right Justified Fantasy Map]]: It seems that human colonization of the High One's realm came from over the Eastern sea, and never extended into the harsh Bad Lands further West; therefore, there's a detailed ocean on the right side of the map, and many detailed lands surrounding it, but not much on the left.
120	%% * RoyalBlood
121	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Due to the small size of their kingdoms and each land-ruler's psychic connection to his or her own land, most royals can be depended on to actively deal with threats and contribute significantly to Morgan and Raederle's quest. And, of course, Morgan and Raederle themselves are royals.
122	%% * TheQuietOne: Deth.
123	* SacredHospitality: A major aspect of the setting; Har once cursed a man for failure to extend it properly.
124	* SealedEvilInACan: The shape-changers, who the High One sealed in the sea long before the story started.
125	%% * ShootTheDog: So many times.
126	%% * SilentScapegoat: [[spoiler: Deth]].
127	* SoundtrackDissonance: Because it's all he can do, [[spoiler: Deth plays Morgon his harp while Morgon's being [[MindRape mind raped]]]]. Morgan highlights this and says that [[spoiler:it made his torture even worse, while poisoning music for him going forwards]].
128	* SpellBook: Wizards left behind spellbooks of the most obscure and impractical kind. Opening them alone is a challenge and seems to be a major focus at Caithnard.
129	* StandardHeroReward: Lampshaded. When Morgon finds out that a king swore his daughter to anyone who could win a contest he'd just won, he asks how anyone could be so ''stupid'' as to make such a promise. Luckily, there was already some attraction between the two (and it's implied that the king had some ability to see the future and foresee this outcome.)
130	* StandardRoyalCourt: Inverted, subverted and every other verted. Only An, Ymris and Herun have anything resembling such, with normal aristocrats and a proper courtly appearance; even there, ritual is limited and there's not much decadence. Morgon's 'court' includes his pig keeper and is basically just a large farm household.
131	%% * SternChase: [[spoiler: Morgon and Deth in the final book]]
132	* SupernaturalGoldEyes: All the Morgols of Herun have them; it's a side-effect of the power that lets them see through solid objects, and therefore indicates a supernatural capability.
133	%% * SympatheticMagic
134	%% * TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Deth]] to Morgon
135	%% * ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: The High One]].
136	%% * ThousandYearReign: The High One's succession.
137	%% * TreacherousAdvisor: Sort of. Played straight and then subverted.
138	%% * UnexpectedSuccessor: [[spoiler: "I realised that the last thing I had been expecting after all those endless, lonely centuries was someone I might love..."]]
139	* TheUnpronounceable: One of the wizards is actually called "Iff of the Unpronouncable Name"; it turns out his full name has to be ''sung'', not spoken, and even then it took a while to work out the tune.
140	* WasItAllALie: [[spoiler:A question asked by basically everyone who ever interacted with Deth, after the news that he betrayed Morgon begins to circulate. In particular, his answer is played both ways with his relationship with El; while still needing to maintain his cover with Ghisteslwchlohm, Deth callously implies it was all a lie, but when reporting this to El, Morgon describes Deth's actions FromACertainPointOfView to tell her Deth actually loved her. This kindness is what ultimately breaks Deth and reveals that it was never a lie to begin with.]]
141	* WhamLine: At least one per book (with several in the third), but the most obvious is at the very end of the first book, when [[spoiler:Morgon's mentor, Ohm, reveals that he's simultaneously the BigBad, Ghisteslwchlohm, and what people thought was the BigGood, the High One]]:
142	-->[[spoiler:"I am Ghisteslwchlohm, the Founder of Lungold, and--as you have guessed--its destroyer. I am the High One."]]
143	* WizardingSchool: Lungold was the original one [[spoiler:before Ghisteslwchlohm destroyed it]]; every mentioned wizard in the story attended it. In the modern day, there's Caithnard, the school of riddle-masters, which evokes the tropes of one; but it's unclear if it teaches actual magic.
144	* WizardsLiveLonger: All the wizards are centuries old at least; it's implied that they do die of old age eventually, but exactly how long they last isn't specified. This also holds true for some other magic-users who aren't wizards, like the more powerful land rulers; Har is roughly two thousand years old, and Danan Isig may be even older.
145	%% * TheWisePrince: Deth and Morgon.
146	* WordsCanBreakMyBones: "The Great Shout" is a variation on this, occurring involuntarily in a moment of intense emotion - psychic shouting that can do a remarkable amount of damage. At one point Morgon's shout is sufficiently powerful to shatter the High One's doorstep.
147	* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Played with, in that Raederle is officially the ''second'' most beautiful woman "in all the Three Portions of An."
148	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The shape-changers themselves are naturally capable of controlling their own shape; most wizards can as well, as can anyone with enough natural talent and willpower.
149	%% * YouAreInCommandNow: Morgon. Twice.
150	* ZeroApprovalGambit [[spoiler: Deth aka The High One]]. Also Mathom of An who outrages his lords and his heir by leaving An to search - or so he says - for Morgon, thus allowing the bindings on the ancient and hostile ghosts he holds in check to loosen. He is successful; An arms itself remarkably quickly for war as a result.
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Context Literature / TheRiddleMasterTrilogy