The Legend of Bold Riley, Leia Weathington's debut
graphic novel, tells the story of Rilavashana SanParite, or Bold Riley, princess of the fictional nation of Prakkalore. Restless to see the world beyond her capital city, Riley—swashbuckler, hero, ladies' woman—hits the road. Her adventures are presented as a series of vignettes:
- Prologue: Riley's backstory
- The Blue God: As she sets out on her journey, Riley does a favor for a goatherd, which quickly takes a turn for the weirder.
- The Serpent in the Belly: Riley attempts to uncover the reason for the unfortunate personality change of a woman's missing husband.
- The Strange Bath: The hospitality of the Olin-Tunn tribe has a mischevious twist.
- The Wicked Temple: Riley encounters the resident spirits in a temple in the monsoon-soaked jungles of Ang-Warr.
- The Golden Trumpet Tree: Riley falls for the steward of the Golden Trumpet Tree.
Word Of God says that this book is the first in a series.
This comic provides examples of:
- Action Hero: Riley falls squarely between the Guile Hero and this trope. She's easily able to outwit most foes, but doesn't hesitate to use her sword— in fact, she's sometimes TOO quick to use it.
- Badass Gay: Riley doesn't hesitate to use her wicked skills with a sword, usually while beautifully dressed.
- Badass Boast: In The Serpent in the Belly— "They call me Bold Riley. But it is better that you should call me your death."
- Badass Long Hair
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Subverted in The Wicked Temple. Jahretta and her girls get Riley drunk in order to enjoy her body in more...sinister...ways.
- Chekhov's Skill: In the prologue, we learn that Riley's brother is very good at botany. Turns out in The Blue God that some of that knowledge rubbed off on Riley. It comes in handy.
- Coming Out Story: Averted. Riley's sexuality is not a major plot point (save for the fact that she always gets the girl) and is treated as a simple matter of fact.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: In The Wicked Temple, Galliroh suggests that the eponymous temple is not the...safest...place for Riley to take shelter from the rain. Guess where she immediately heads?
- Downer Ending: The Golden Trumpet Tree.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gheumen, whose life is tied to that of the Golden Trumpet Tree, allows the people of Quifen to use the tree's roots to make a medicine for the plague that has been killing them. The process kills her.
- Rescue Romance
- Revenge Before Reason: Barely averted— In The Golden Trumpet Tree, Riley is seconds away from slitting the throat of the man she thinks is responsible for her lover's death before other characters give her information that allows her to figure out Gheumen's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Some Call Me Tim: Riley gets her nickname when her foreign history tutor can't pronounce "Rilavashana."
- Temple of Doom: The Wicked Temple.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Riley, to the Big Bad in The Serpent In The Belly, directly preceding the above-mentioned Badass Boast.
- Uh-Oh Eyes: In The Serpent in the Belly, the husband's eyes sinking "deep into his face" hint at his Demonic Possession.
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