Literature / Tales from Netheredge

Stories set in a light fantasy world (Age of Sail + limited magic). Generally queer, generally whumpy, all angst. Can be read in any order.

— Original description on AO3

Tales from Netheredge is a fantasy gay erotica series by J.M. Blackthorne, premiered on Archive of Our Own in late 2019. It is a collection of (mostly) loosely connected stories sharing the same setting — the titular Netheredge, a region in a late medieval fantasy world.

Currently consists of:

• Bright Flame: A ship's pillow boy helps a captured rebel, and his life changes forever.
• Son of Tears^note originally titled Depravity : The bright young chancellor of a small country on the brink of war finds himself in an odd relationship with the court mage, which seems to benefit more than just the kingdom.
• His Tribute: A nobleman's son is unexpectedly claimed by the revered local hero as part of his yearly tribute.
• Jewel of the Harem: A simple-minded harem guard becomes a king's favourite's favourite, which lands him in the middle of an international political intrigue. (Set 20 years after the previous stories.)
• Warprize: A well-regarded Calistan mercenary is appointed as a guardian to a royal slave, but when they meet, the slave isn't who he expected him to be. (Set 10 years before the beginning of Bright Flame.)

It also has a to-be-expanded appendix for any additional materials.

The first and second books, slightly expanded, have been published for Amazon Kindle. An official website of the series exists, as well as a Tumblr and a Twitter.

Warning! The stories contain plenty of dark and disturbing elements, mostly to do with sexual violence. Read at your own peril, and make sure to check the tags for each story. You Have Been Warned.

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Tales from Netheredge contain examples of:

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Galen hooks up with Rask after Cole disappears on him. When Cole finds out, he understands and never holds it against him.
  • Not to mention he fell for Cole, knowing his lover is waiting for him back home, in the first place.
• Abusive Parents
  • Myr's father Goren used to beat him as a child to gain magical powers.
  • Charna's merchant parents bought and sold anything... which included forcing their young son into prostitution.
• Act of True Love: Runi inflicts pain on himself to give Myr magical power when he is about to be defeated by the Warden. That seems to seal Myr's devotion to him.
• Adaptation Name Change
  • Fry in the AO3 version —> Krake in the Kindle version.
  • Archer (Misha's lover) —> Arie.
  • Captain Zem —> Captain Lue.
• Aerith and Bob: There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern to how the characters are named. Some are fantasy-like (Zagor, Mizral, Verne); some are Earthlike but exotic to English speakers (Runi, Caspar), and some are rather mundanely English (Cole, Fry, Perry); some sound like nicknames (Archer, Blue, Drum), and others explicitly are nicknames (Joy). Most characters don't have surnames, and those who do are usually middle-to-upper class.
• Affectionate Nickname
  • Joy exclusively calls Blue "handsome blackhair".
  • Piff gets called "little soldier" by Jewel and "brute" (with varying adjectives) by Adar.
• Affection-Hating Kid: Despite being seventeen and absolutely uninhibited himself, Adar rolls his eyes at Myr and Runi being Sickeningly Sweethearts in his presence. It's extra hypocritical of him to snuggle up to Piff immediately after cringing. But then again attraction and feelings are different things, and Adar is a Royal Brat.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The distant and powerful Myr of the North has a hard time keeping his cool after seeing Runi in Zagor's clutches and hearing his threats. When Zagor makes him kneel and promise to try to do what he wants him to, he swallows his pride and complies.
• Amicable Exes: Galen and Rask make amends after the reappearance of Cole, and by the time of Jewel of the Harem all three of them cordially share a home.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: Zagor forces Verne into marrying him after conquering Bow, to make himself a legitimate ruler. Thus, after his death, Verne as his widow gets to claim the land he conquered.
• Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Spoken almost word-for-word by Adar after being kidnapped by Piff and repeatedly not forced into intercourse.
• Artistic License – Military: If Lue is a mere Captain of the Guard (even a royal palace guard), what exactly is he doing side by side with the monarch and the head of government in the Great Council, discussing international affairs?
• Asshole Victim
  • Captain Lue, the traitor, gets burnt at the stake in Runi's place. Even then, Runi is left wondering if such an end was deserved.
  • Myr's father, Goren of the North, was murdered by the fey. But it's not like anyone was going to miss him.
• Author Appeal: Sex work (and sex slavery), unequal relationships and sadomasochism are common elements not just here, but in the author's other Fan Works as well.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Charna hasn't given Verne a lot of reasons to care about him, but when she is imprisoned and tormented by Zagor, the idea of her husband being beaten and violated before her eyes breaks her. And he feels very protective or her throughout, as well.
• Band of Brothels: The Harem of Caen is a variation of this whose supervising authorities protect the customers' rights (and whims) vastly over the interests of the workers, who have only each other for support and care.
• The Bear: Varak.
• Beast and Beauty: Varak and Blue end up a male-and-male version of this.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Cole can't bring himself to forget Galen's kindness back on Bright Flame, and (misguidedly) tries to repay him as well as he can.
• Beige Prose: The writing style tends to be economical and to-the-point.
• Book Ends: The last line of Bright Flame echoes the first one.
• Bright Castle: The Palace on Bright Water, Bow's great prize, is tall, shiny and ethereal-looking.
• Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage
  • Verne didn't choose to marry Charna (and vice versa), but they do warm up to each other, look out for each other at the time of need and later have children together.
  • Runi Assam and Myr of the North were advised to get married for the strength of the kingdom, but welcomed the idea with open arms.
• Cast Full of Gay / Everyone Is Bi
• Cast from Calories: Overextending with one's magic can lead to severe exhaustion.

• Central Theme: In Bright Flame: "Is it better to be safe than sorry?"
  • Overall, it can be said that the recurring theme of the whole cycle is, in the words of the author, "finding the love of your life in the most fucked up situation possible" (however shallow that love may appear at first glance).
• Chivalrous Pervert / Handsome Lech: Charna is a notorious sex maniac, but appears to treat his (successful) conquests as people and is there for them when they need help. He even feels guilty for neglecting his wife Verne and hurting her reputation.
• Chocolate Baby: Adar doesn't look a bit like Prince Charna, his mother's husband. Who he looks a lot like, however, is Myr of the North — who agreed to father him in order to double the amount of magical power available to the kingdom.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The series' baddies, such as Krake (both senior and junior), Zagor and King Dia, are fond of this.
• Cold Iron: Presence of iron objects dampens fey magic, as per classic Fair Folk lore.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The pleasure houses in the Harem have color-coded names depending on their specialization, and fly appropriate flags. White Houses have virgin girls, Black Houses have males (thus, Grey Houses provide inexperienced males), and Red Houses provide kinky stuff. It's mentioned that regular female-staffed houses are simply numbered, but we never get to see any.
  • The Kindle Adaptation Expansion makes it clear that all houses, including "coloured" ones, have numbers; Galen works in the House 37.
• Continuity Nod: Past characters and events are referenced throughout, such as the protagonists of Bright Flame and Son of Tears showing up in Jewel of the Harem.

• Corrupt Church: The Calistan cult of Xe is implied to be the main driving force for their crackdown on homosexuality, sex industry, sexual freedom, and freedom in general.
• Court Mage: Myr (and previously his father Goren) is this to the royal family of Bow.
• Create Your Own Villain: Krake lost his whole family to the Thunder Rebellion, and is set on making their former leader's life a bit shorter and a lot more painful.
• Deadpan Snarker: Runi has moments of this when he's exasperated.
• Defrosting Ice King: Myr in Son of Tears, going from being distant and rough with Runi to practically singing praises to his beauty and bravery.
• Distant Sequel: Jewel of the Harem takes place 20 years after the previous stories.
• Distressed Dude: Almost every major (good) male character ends up in this position at one point.
• Divine Date: Jewel is a sun deity in a relationship with Piff, a mortal.
• Doctor's Orders / The Medic: Galen's determination and kindness mean he takes his healer side job very seriously.
• Driving Question
  • Son of Tears: "Is Myr human?"
  • His Tribute: "What was the Horror, and how did Varak defeat it?"
  • Jewel of the Harem: "What are Jewel and Adar?"
• Dysfunction Junction: Everyone here is messed up in some way, and if they're not, they soon will be.

• The Empire: The Calisto Empire, vast, powerful and aggressive.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Lue, the Captain of the Guard who Runi had a crush on, sells them all out to the invaders.
• Exotic Extended Marriage: Galen, a rural Calistan, casually mentions that his father had two wives and was too poor to afford a third.
• Faerie Court: Rules over Perpetua.
• Fair Folk: The fey of Perpetua are self-absorbed, decadent and cruel.
• Fallen Hero: Varak.
• False Flag Operation: Calistan raiders attacked the Genzies so ruthlessly and stealthily they were thought of as a mythical Eldritch Abomination, which helped them secure an increasingly unfair protectorate over the islands under the guise of "keeping them safe".
• Fantastic Racism: The fey view humans as inferior. Humans, in turn, tend to be highly suspicious of anything fey.
• Fantasy World Map: One was made by a fan of the series and adopted as official.
• First Guy Wins: Galen spent more time with Rask than he ever had with Cole, but when the latter reappears, both of them realize they were always meant to be together. After some internal (and external) conflict, Rask agrees as well.

• Freudian Trio: In Bright Flame: Galen's moral and selfless Superego, Rask's impulsive and self-indulgent Id, and Cole's Ego torn between the two extremes.
• Friends with Benefits: Myr and Runi started out like this, as a way to produce magical goods for export as well as for mutual enjoyment, and ended up falling in love for life.
• Gaslighting: Varak bends Blue to his will by witholding affection and surrounding him by already loyal slaves to erode his sense of normalcy.
• Go-Go Enslavement: The outfit traditionally worn by the submissive fey is... not modest, to put it mildly.
• The Good Chancellor: Runi Assam is this for the Kingdom of Bow, especially after the 20-year skip.
• The Good Kingdom: Bow, the land of refinement, magic and marriage equality.

• Good Samaritan: Galen can't not help people whenever he can. This is what first brings him and Cole together, and drives him to being a full-time healer.
• Grim Up North: The whole of Netheredge (which is Northern Lands, including Perpetua, and Caen) is regarded as this by Calisto, for its (perceived) decadence and association with the fey. In turn, Perpetua is this to the rest of Northern Lands.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Myr of the North.
• Happily Married: Runi and Myr.
• Happiness in Slavery: Varak's consorts on Salvation don't really mind their situation and are genuinely devoted to him (and each other).
• Hellhole Prison: Sapsand Gaol.
• Hello, Sailor!: Calisto's naval authorities include pillow boys in their crews to provide for this (until a certain point in time).
• Hermaphrodite: Jewel's body is halfway between those of a beautiful man and a beautiful woman (of course, being a god, he can be whatever he wants).
• The Hermit
  • Varak lives on a remote island with a bunch of slaves, away from the rest of Genzies settlements.
  • In Jewel of the Harem Myr no longer attends public occasions. This is to avoid people noticing how much Prince Adar resembles him and putting two and two together.
• Heteronormative Crusaders: The Calisto Empire, or at least the powers-that-be of it.
• The High Queen: Verne of Bow.
• Hooked Up Afterwards: Joy and Drum in His Tribute.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Galen, Rask, Piff, Joy and many others.
• Hufflepuff House: Very little is known about the Northern Lands outside of Bow and Perpetua; their role in Son of Tears boils down to falling to Zagor one by one as he gets closer to Bow.
• Hyperlink Story: All the plots and protagonists have a relation to the common threat (Calisto Empire's aggression), and slowly come together to band against it.
• Identical Stranger: Rask just happens to look like a younger version of Cole, which causes himself and Galen a lot of grief.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Cole admits he had never been attracted to a man before he met Galen.
• Impossible Task: Anyone who asks for a service the Harem cannot provide, receives a giant ruby. No-one so far has succeeded.

• Interspecies Romance / Muggle–Mage Romance: Myr, part fey, and Runi, a full human.
  • Before them, it had happened with Myr's father Goren and the queen of the fey, resulting in Myr.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: The fey all refer to Runi as "it" in Son of Tears.
• It Meant Something to Me: Throughout the weeks they spent sharing a cabin on Bright Flame, Cole confides in Galen, Galen defends Cole as much as he can, and they grow close. Then the ship gets taken over by rebels, and Cole confesses that the main reason he let Galen so close was to find out how dangerous he'd be to let go after the plan was carried out, and that the only safe way for him to stay alive is to become a Sex Slave with no way to escape. Galen is furious at being used like this, and tells Cole he deserved every bit of abuse he suffered on the ship.
• Kangaroo Court: Varak's trial. All the documents have been forged, the dissenters silenced and the public opinion conclusively swayed years in advance. If not for Lord Caspar, all would've been lost.
• Kill It with Fire: Runi is sentenced to being burnt at the stake as a way to punish Myr for disobedience. Rescue by the fey queen happens in the nick of time.
• The Kindnapper: To keep Galen alive and safe Cole has to allow him to be sold to the Harem of Caen, which he cannot escape but where no one threatening him can find him. Galen doesn't like it one bit, but there's not much he can do.

• Land of Faerie: Perpetua. Some doubt it even exists; those who don't are scared to visit (and rightly so); those who have visited and lived report strange phenomena like the behaviour of local magical light and confusing temperature.
• La Résistance: The Thunder Rebellion in Calisto.
• Left Hanging: Jewel, Piff and Adar are quite content together at the end of Jewel of the Harem, but the political intrigue among the countries of Netheredge remains unresolved.
• Light 'em Up: The Perpetua mountains gleam white in the sunlight, which looks pretty from a distance but WILL destroy your eyes if you're human and try to get closer.
• Limited-Use Magical Device: The transference orbs which Bow exports to Caen and Calisto.
• Living Legend: Varak's heroic deeds have become the stuff of legends on the Genzies.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: Played for Drama as the chronic result of Cole's nightmarish experience on Bright Flame.
• The Lost Lenore
  • Cole's wife and children get killed off-screen by Calistan enforcers, which brings him closer to Galen who had gone through a similar experience.
  • Varak got two. A silversmith from the island which was the first target of the Horror; and Hilde, who he had to sacrifice to gain enough power to stop the threat, didn't have the heart to do so, and then killed him anyway in a fit of magical Unstoppable Rage.
• Love Father, Love Son: Zig-zagged in Bright Flame. Galen falls in love with Rask because he looks like a younger version of Cole, despite not being related to him. But in the finale, Cole mentions that Rask looks like Cole's dead son, and is implied to care about him because of that.
• Love Potion: Two "pleasure drugs", Tiger's Eye and Black Root, are widely used in the setting.
• Love Triangle
  • Galen, Cole and Rask in Bright Flame.
  • Piff, Jewel and Adar. Gets solved with a threesome in the end.
• Made a Slave
  • Galen is sold into the Harem for his own safety (as house mother, not as a whore, but that doesn't make him any happier).
  • As a result of his failed gambit to let Charna off the hook by declaring him an unfit royal consort, Runi is forced to arrange his sale into the Harem. Luckily, Charna never reaches his destination.
  • For the Tribute each year, Varak picks several boys offered to him by the Genzies for his full ownership; they always start out as his bed slaves, but eventually move on to other jobs related to managing the castle.
• Meaningful Name
  • Galen shares a name with Claudius Galen, a real life Roman physician who also improved the life of an ethics-deprived entertainment establishment.
  • The fiery and dark-complexioned Rebel Leader is called Red Cole. Get it?
• Merchant City: Isle of Stars, a mediator for a good chunk of trade passing between the countries of Netheredge and Calisto.
• Miss Kitty: Misha.
• The Missus and the Ex: The comfortable peaceful life Galen and Rask led on the Isle of Stars shatters like glass when Cole comes to visit Galen and Rask realizes he'd been a Replacement Goldfish from the start. In the end though, after he helps Cole rescue Galen from Sapsand, they all make peace with what happened and Rask remains good friends with both of them.
• A Mistake Is Born: Myr's parents, being of different species, didn't expect a conception to result from their affair — but it did.
• Motifs: Fire crops up all over Bright Flame: the name of the ship, two prominent characters being called Cole and (in the original version) Fry (see Theme Naming below), and the fact that both of their families end up dying in fires.
• Mr. Exposition: Myr in Son of Tears, Varak in His Tribute (via two rounds of Sexposition), and Adar (recapping the story of Son of Tears) in Jewel of the Harem.
• My Boy Back Home: Galen's lover Parim waits for him to return from his last voyage on Bright Flame. After Galen meets Cole, everything goes south and Galen gets cut off from home for another seven years. When he is finally ready to return, he discovers that Parim has been dead for several years, killed by Calisto's State Sec for being gay.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After forcing himself on Galen for (allegedly) treating him as a Replacement Goldfish for Cole and snitching on them to Calistan soldiers, Rask wastes no time repenting and doing his best to remedy the betrayal.
• My Greatest Failure: The day he did nothing to prevent Krake's innocent family from being tortured and killed by his own men still haunts Cole, to the point where he says he deserves the hell Krake inflicts on him on Bright Flame.
• Mystical White Hair: Myr has it, setting off some alarms that he may not be as human as he tries to appear. He's not.

• Oblivious to Love
  • Inverted with Runi Assam at the start of Son of Tears, where he is oblivious to his own love. He only agrees to marry Myr after some pressure from the side is applied, but discovers he likes the idea.
  • Likewise inverted with Adar, who denies having any feelings for Piff beside sexual attraction, in spite of the obvious.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Varak picks a single brunette as his yearly tribute, over the half a dozen young blonds specially prepared for the task, it becomes clear that something's afoot.
• Pair the Suitors: Piff tries his best to keep Jewel and Adar apart, for Adar's own safety, but when they do meet face to face, they fall for each other.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Between Runi and Myr. In fact, the "perfectly arranged" part of their relationship happened months before the idea of marriage was even brought up.
• Physical God: Jewel.
• The Place: The cycle overall, and the first story, Bright Flame (name of a ship).
• Plain Jane: Runi Assam is described, and sees himself, as rather unremarkable, especially compared to stunners like Myr or Charna. Myr (and likely Charna too) beg to differ.
• Plenty of Blondes: The population of Salvation, except for their owner Varak, who picked them... and Blue.
• Porn with Plot
• Powerful People Are Subs: High Chancellor Runi Assam. Word of God says that, having been saddled with a lot of responsibility from a very young age, he finds the experience of giving up control thrilling.
• Power of Love: Bow inhabitants believe in something called "power of the pairing", which may or may not have a real effect in-universe.
• Power of Trust: Runi and Myr's complete and utter trust in each other, despite what Runi has to go through, is what helps give Myr the power to not only rescue him, but later liberate the whole kingdom.
• Prince Charming: Charna wasn't born a prince, but puts on the image quickly and with success.

• Puppet State: The Genzies are this for Calisto at the time of His Tribute.

• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The go-to tactic of Calistan military and law enforcement.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Blue's appearance, which sets him apart from the other, golden-haired boys on Salvation.
• Really Gets Around: Prince Charna has been in bed with just about everyone in the court of Bow. 20 years later, Prince Adar seems to harbour the same ambition.
• Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Blue's uncle Caspar, a Genzies nobleman, listens to his plea to prevent an unfair sentence for Varak and supports him in court the next day.
  • In the time frame of Jewel of the Harem, the helpful and supportive Runi Assam also qualifies.
• Rebel Leader: Red Cole of Thunder Rebellion. Subverted in that his own men treat him as a figurehead, to be used or discarded as the situation changes.
• Red Light District: The Harem of Caen is an entire city of just that, functioning as a sex-themed Las Vegas (as well as a more standard Royal Harem).
• Replacement Goldfish
  • Rask ends up as this to Galen (early on at least) after Cole leaves him. And afterwards, Cole admits he looks like his deceased son; Rask just doesn't seem to catch a break.
  • Blue reminds Varak of his old lover (Blue's uncle), who he had to sarcifice for the greater good of the Genzies.
• Revenge by Proxy: The Thunder Rebellion enacted this, horrifically, on Krake's wife and children: "he never spared our families, so we saw no reason to spare his". Which inspired the only survivor to enact a similar revenge on Cole.

• Ruling Couple: Queen Verne and Prince Charna of Bow. They preside over banquets and in the Great Council on equal terms, and though Verne is the one who inherited the throne, Charna's negotiation skills are instrumental in ensuring the kingdom's prosperity.
  • It's mandatory for Bow's monarchs to be married, thanks to the "power of the pairing" custom.
• Safety Worst: Galen values freedom over safety, and ability to be with his loved ones till the end over either. Cole doesn't listen and puts him in a situation where he's safe, but unhappy and lonely, and left unaware of his boyfriend's passing until it's too late. Afterwards Cole gets a taste of his own medicine when his entire family gets murdered by Calistans, and changes his tune.
• Sex Equals Love: Most couples in the series start from lust and end up in love.
• Sex God: Jewel. Bonus points for being a god.
• Sex Magic: Most magic of the fey origin (and most magic IS of fey origin anyway) is powered by sex and cruelty, preferably both.
• Sexposition: Happens twice in His Tribute between Varak and Blue, to detail the story of the Horror.
• Sex Slaves: Slavery is common in the setting, including the pleasure variety (which is the only one we really get to see).
  • The Harem is a city-sized Red Light District staffed mostly by these.
  • Varak has an island to himself, populated by these.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: Surprisingly for Porn with Plot, there is one in-between two of the final chapters of Son of Tears, framed between Myr and Runi's affirmations of commitment beforehand and Runi's afterglow thoughts afterward.
• Shout-Out: The court scene where Blue tries to prevent injustice against Varak is reminiscent of similar scenes in Ace Attorney, complete with an arrogant prosecutor, a skeptical but kindly judge, and even crowd reaction shots in literary form.
• Silver Has Mystic Powers: Silver is easy to enchant due to it being "a naturally magical material".
• Son of a Whore: Piff was born inside the Harem.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Galen and Cole. Downplayed with Runi and Myr (their bad luck only lasts several days), since it takes a while for them to get enough time alone and in relative safety to consummate their marriage.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Eventually happens to Blue in relation to his imprisonment in Varak's castle, like it did to everyone before him.
• Surprise Witness: Caspar saves the day in this manner at the end of His Tribute.
• Theme Naming: The leader of the Thunder Rebellion, called Red Cole, is first met on a ship called Bright Flame... What happens when a spark lands on hot coals, again?
  • On top of that, the antagonist of the first part of the story was originally called Fry.
  • And for extra meta aptness, the tags for the story include "slow burn".
• Too Kinky to Torture: Most protagonists have a thing for being in pain, especially in the name of someone they love.
• Tragic Villain: Varak.
• Troperiffic: Very much on purpose.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Child prostitution is common in the setting, and some of the characters are said to have been trained in it since before they were ten years old.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Zagor eventually invades Bow and horrors ensue.
• Uneven Hybrid: Adar, son of Myr, is one quarter fey.
• Unwanted Rescue
  • After Galen sees two Calistan customers cross the House-sanctioned boundaries with Rask and kicks them out, thinking of the last time he saw this kind of abuse happen, Rask reassures him he was fine.
  • By the time Mizral's men land on Salvation to rescue Blue and other high-born slaves, Blue has stopped seeing his situation as unfortunate.
  • Adar doesn't really object to his kidnapping at all, viewing it as an exciting adventure (even if the guarantee of rescue itself is a major part of why he feels like this). So when he does get rescued, he complains loudly, to no one's amusement.
• Verbal Backspace: Piff has a habit of beginning to correct someone of a higher social sta— Deciding it's not worth it in mid-sentence.
• Villain Ball: As someone in the comment section pointed out, all Zagor had to do (considering what he knew) was to let Myr and Runi bone and thus give Myr the power he needed for his magical feats... but apparently separating them and holding Runi hostage to make Myr comply seemed like more fun. Your loss, Zagor.
• Welcome to My World: At the start, Galen wants to return to his boyfriend even if it costs him his life, while Cole wants to keep him safe and alive if alone, and then the boyfriend dies when Galen is away. At the end, on Sapsand, Galen is the one begging Cole to run for his life and Cole, having just lost his whole family, insists he must stay with him no matter what.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The fact that Piff's friend would be punished if he fails to kidnap Prince Adar was made into a big deal, but we never hear from him again.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Downplayed with Myr of the North: he has a tendency for cruelty, but never lets it get out of hand and loves his husband and son dearly.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The setting has shades of this, roughly corresponding to the Age of Exploration on Earth.
• World's Smartest Man: Runi Assam's reputation as the cunning High Chancellor of Bow and the rest of the Northern Lands, who led it into a new era of prosperity.
• Yandere: Jewel is incredibly possessive of Piff, demanding his complete attention and hurting anyone else he lies with.

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