Follow TV Tropes

Following

Literature / The Chronicles Of Tevenar

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_for_tvtropes.png
For a thousand years, the Wizards' Guild has served the people of Tevenar. Chosen by the Mother, wizards use her gifts to heal, help, and judge. Animal familiars are both the source of their powers and insurance they will never misuse them.
But all that is put at risk when the outside world rediscovers Tevenar. The people of Ravanetha both crave and despise the wizards' legendary magic. Can the wizards bring the Mother's power to a needy world, or will vulnerable Tevenar fall to the forces of fear and hatred?

The Chronicles of Tevenar is series of YA fantasy novels by Angela Holder, published in 2015/16. The main series consists of four books:

  • The Fuller's Apprentice
  • The Law of Isolation
  • Beyond the Boundary Stones
  • The Wizards' War

There are also several prequels:

  • The Tale Of Gurion Thricebound is set one thousand years before the series.
  • Into the Storm is set twenty years before the series.
  • Calling is set fourteen years before the series.
  • Broken Bonds is set seven years before the series.

Tropes featured in the series include:

  • Abusive Parents: Kabos loves his daughter Nirel deeply. But he also believes in a religious doctrine that requires parents to use harsh physical discipline on their children. His use of a switch has left her buttocks scarred, and at one point he beats her brutally with a belt. The combination of love and abuse leaves Nirel with a complicated love-hate relationship with her father, especially after she wholeheartedly adopts the religion that dictated it.
  • Action Mom: Despite being a single mother to two-year-old Ravid, Meira takes on responsibility for Tevenar's fledgling artillery, commanding the division and leading one of the weapon teams during the battle to retake Elathir.
  • Actual Pacifist: Tesi, as a follower of the Great Sage, believes in the value of all life. After her attempt to disable enemies inadvertently results in their deaths, she resolves to abstain from any type of combat, for any reason.
    Tesi: I will not kill. Nor engage in battle. Nor do anything that might lead, directly or indirectly, to peoples’ deaths. Not for you, not for Ramunna, not for Giroda. Not even to save my own life. Or the lives of those I love. I will not.
  • Against My Religion: The wizards' familiars will not allow them to break the Mother's Law, which defines how the Mother's power may be used. Among other stipulations, it forbids healing a person against their will, accepting individual payment (including bribes) for services, and observing people without a compelling reason. This causes many conflicts and complications over the course of the series.
  • All a Part of the Job: Serving as a member of the Wizards' Guild involves long hours, exhausting labor, and not-infrequent emotional trauma when confronting the limits of Mother's power's ability to help suffering people. Nevertheless, the vast majority of wizards find the work profoundly rewarding. It helps that they're chosen by the Mother specifically because they have the personality and temperament to love the job.
  • All-Loving Hero: Elkan.
  • Amicable Exes: Elkan's divorce from his first wife, Liand, is extremely bitter. But by the epilogue of Broken Bonds, they've reconciled to the point they can be carefully friendly to each other. In The Wizards' War, Elkan is shown to have a cordial relationship with her husband and children as well.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Meira loses a hand during the battle to retake Elathir.
  • The Apprentice: Tevenar's society is based on a system of guilds. All professions are governed by a guild. All citizens of Tevenarnote  apprentice to a guild when they are thirteen. They serve under a master, who may have only one or several apprentices depending on the traditions of the guild, who teaches them the skills necessary to practice their profession. Apprenticeship lasts seven years. Josiah, the protagonist of the main series, begins as an apprentice in the Fullers' Guild, and later becomes an apprentice in the Wizards' Guild.
  • Arc Words: "Right here, right now, like this."
  • Babies Ever After: In the final chapter of The Wizards' War Elkan and Meira are expecting a child.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Don't make Elkan angry. It takes a lot to make him lose control of his temper, but when he does, you don't want to be on the receiving end. Notable instances: In Broken Bonds, when his estranged wife accuses him of sexual impropriety with a patient and he's put on trial, he retaliates by insisting that an intimate moment between her and her lover be displayed for the whole courtroom to see. In The Wizards' War, after the Autarch and the Matriarch conspire to destroy the Mother's Hall, resulting in Sar's death and Josiah's permanent disability, he argues passionately for their execution, nearly persuading the rest of Tevenar to agree.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Elkan is in his final journeyman year when he and Josiah first meet, not yet technically allowed to take an apprentice. Josiah's rambunctious, impulsive nature frequently tries his patience and causes him to doubt his ability to serve as an effective mentor. Nevertheless, they develop a relationship of mutual trust, respect, and friendship. Josiah confides in Elkan and asks him for advice in matters of romance. Elkan does his best to guide Josiah into greater maturity and responsibility, even when his own self-confidence is shaken. After Elkan earns his mastery and Josiah becomes his apprentice formally, their relationship remains much less hierarchical than the other Tevenaran masters and apprentices we see.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Most of the books, as well as the series as a whole, conclude with both success and significant loss.
    • Into the Storm: The hurricane is successfully diverted from Elathir, at exactly the tragic price the Mother revealed at the beginning would be required.
    • Calling: Elkan has become a member of the Wizards' Guild, but he remains estranged from his father.
    • Broken Bonds: Elkan has finally seen the truth about his relationship with Liand and accepted the inevitable end of their marriage, but only after publicly humiliating her and her lover. Borders on a Downer Ending.
    • The Fuller's Apprentice: Josiah has become a wizard, but Ozor and the bandits have escaped, and Elkan's bond with Sar remains broken.
    • The Law of Isolation: The famine will be averted, and wizardry will return to Ravanetha, but Master Dabiel is dead, and Elkan failed to fulfill her last request by losing the Guildmaster election.
    • Beyond the Boundary Stones: Vigorre has seen the truth and become a wizard, and the wizards have accomplished a great deal of good in Ramunna, but the mission has failed and the Matriarch has sent the Armada to invade Tevenar. Would be a Downer Ending if it wasn't a Cliffhanger.
    • The Wizards' War: Tevenar remains independent and the Wizards' Guild survives, with Elkan as Guildmaster. Josiah is no longer a wizard, but will get to spend his life following his true calling as an inventor. But Sar is dead, Josiah is crippled, and Elkan and Josiah are parted forever.
  • Black Sheep: Years before the events of Calling, Elkan's grandmother suffered a stroke, and wizards couldn't heal her. His father, Adrel, holds a deep grudge against wizards for their failure to help his mother. When Elkan is chosen by the Mother to become a wizard apprentice, Adrel fiercely objects, going so far as to lock Elkan in his room to prevent him from accepting. When Elkan runs away, Adrel bitterly disowns him. Years later, in The Fuller's Apprentice, he is still barely civil to Elkan when he visits. Elkan's failure to help Bethiav only cements Adrel's hostility to wizards in general and his son in particular.
  • Bond Creatures: Each member of the Wizard's Guild shares a psychic bond with an animal familiar, which enables them to use the Mother's power. Traditionally, a wizard's first bond is formed at the beginning of their fourth year of apprenticeship, although exceptions occur throughout the series. Once formed, the bond endures until the death of one of the partners, unless it is broken. A familiar will break the bond if the wizard breaks the Mother's Law in a way too severe to be forgiven, but the wizard can also choose to renounce wizardry and have their bond broken. On rare occasions, bonds can be broken for other reasons. A broken bond is a traumatic event for a wizard, who suffers intense pain and is rendered unconscious for three days. Familiars don't suffer those effects, but can deeply grieve the loss of the relationship. Since most animal species have shorter lifespans than humans, it's not unusual for a wizard to bond to several familiars over time. A familiar's death is experience as a profound loss, but doesn't cause pain or unconsciousness the way a broken bond does. While bonded, and wizard and familiar can communicate telepathically within a range of about a mile.
  • But Now I Must Go: At the end of The Wizards' War, Josiah returns... to Ramunna, to do science with Gevan.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Late in The Wizards' War, Elkan finally confronts Adrel over his irrational rejection of wizardry.
  • Cast from Calories: The reserve source of energy for the Mother's power. Extensive use leaves a wizard ravenous; pushing to the limits of what can be done without permanent harm burns fat reserves, leaving the wizard appearing gaunt and starved.
  • Cast from Hit Points: The final emergency source of energy for Mother's power. In desperate circumstances, wizards can burn themselves (and/or their familiars) out, using up all the energy stored in their body. The Law forbids doing so except as a last resort to save multiple lives.
  • Cast from Stamina: The primary source of energy for the Mother's power. Wizards experience using the Mother's power as physical effort, and extensive use leaves them tired, to the point of exhaustion in extreme cases.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: A common wizard trait, implied to be one of the things the Mother looks for.
  • Cliffhanger: At the end of Beyond the Boundary Stones, Josiah and Elkan are fleeing back to Tevenar aboard Ozor's ship, desperate to outrun the Armada which the Matriarch has sent to conquer the nearly defenseless country. In the final scene, the reader discovers that Fantasy Gun Control has been averted, and the Armada ships are armed with cannons.
  • Coitus Interruptus: An assassination attempt on the Matriarch comes at an inconvenient time.
  • Combo Platter Powers: The Mother's power is the only type of magic in the world, but it has three distinct aspects. Wizards can use it to heal, by accelerating, slowing, or reversing any biological process. They can use telekinesis to move objects without touching them. They can see the truth of what happened in the past by opening "windows." The three abilities are the same for anyone who wields the Mother's power, both before and after the institution of familiars as intermediaries.
  • Corrupt Church: The Purifier movement began as a sincere reaction to excesses of the orthodox Temple, calling for austere worship instead of ostentatious display and sexual purity among the clergy instead of licentiousness. But it quickly came to advocate a harsh and restrictive doctrine. It's appeal to the masses became a path to power for those ruthless enough to exploit it.
  • Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: Kabos uses both a switch and his belt to punish Nirel for disobedience.
  • Doorstopper: While all the books are quite long, The Wizards' War is the best example of this trope, coming in at 320,000 words and over 800 pages.
  • The Evils of Free Will: Both the Faithful and those who worship the Mother believe that she gave humanity the gift of free will. But the Faithful consider this a horrible mistake, for by doing so she allowed evil to enter the world. They shun the one they call the Lady of Mercy, worshiping instead her brother the Lord of Justice, who attempted to contain the unleashed evil by instituting a strict set of rules his followers must obey and harsh punishments for those who violate them.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Twice during The Fuller's Apprentice, Nirel chooses to go with her father and Ozor's band instead of staying with Josiah. At the end of The Wizards' War, she chooses to reject Josiah's desperate plea for help and remain true to the Lord of Justice, even though it will mean the destruction of the Mother's Hall, Josiah's death, and her own.
  • Familiar: A wizard must be bonded to a familiar to use the Mother's power. Familiars can be of any species, although mammals, birds and reptiles are most common. In order to become a potential familiar an animal must be touched by the Mother, usually before or shortly after birth. The touch grants them human-level intelligence (although still subject to Animal Think) and the ability to bond and act as a conduit for the Mother's power. It leaves a mark the size and shape of a fingerprint, in a color that contrasts with their natural coloring, somewhere on their body. Mother-touched animals seek out wizards or the Mother's Hall. Sometimes they immediately form an attachment to the wizard they will bond with, but sometimes they associate with a number of wizards until they attach to one. The actual bond is formed in a ceremony in which the blood of familiar and wizard is mingled, and they both experience a vision in which they meet and converse with the Mother. After bonding, wizard and familiar must be physically touching in order to use the Mother's power.
  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father: In Calling, Elkan's father Adrel refuses to allow Elkan to accept Master Dabiel's invitation to become a wizard apprentice, going so far as to lock him in his room until the deadline has passed.
  • Farm Boy: Elkan grows up on a farm. His father, mother, and two older sisters are members of the Farmers' Guild, as were all his ancestors for many generations. He's eager to follow in their footsteps until he learns he's been chosen to become a wizard.
  • The Fettered: In order to bond, a wizard must freely agree to subordinate their will to that of their familiar. The bond makes it possible for them to use the Mother's power, but they are unable to use it to violate the Mother's Law. If they are caught breaking the Law in other ways, their familiar will break their bond.
  • Full-Frontal Assault: When the Matriarch and her consort, Lord Renarre, are attacked by assassins while busy, Renarre grabs a rapier and starts fighting. Once there's some breathing space, he puts on breeches.
  • Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: After a close brush with death, Josiah seeks comfort for his existential fears in Ledah's arms.
    He reached for her, heart pounding with a sensation blessedly different than fear. “Please,” he said hoarsely, pulling her to him. “I need to feel alive.”
  • God of Good: The Mother.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: The Matriarch of Ramunna is ruthless and manipulative. She orders assassinations without a qualm. We see her mortally wound one of her own soldiers just to test the efficacy of the wizards' healing magic. Under her rule, Ramunna suffers from a high level of poverty, workers are exploited, and the Faithful are segregated and persecuted. However, she does care passionately about the welfare of Ramunna. Her worst excesses are committed because she believes them necessary to prevent Ramunna from falling under Purifier rule.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Elkan's attempt to mediate a peace between the Autarch and the Matriarch accomplishes exactly what he hopes it will: the two rulers start talking to each other, realize they have shared interests, and work out a way to resolve their enmity. Unfortunately, the common purpose they discover is a mutual desire to destroy the Wizards' Guild before it undermines their power.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Wizards act as scrupulously fair judges, as well as healers.
  • Good Shepherd: Nearly all members of the Wizards' Guild. Both Keeper Emirre and Elder Davos qualify, as does Vigorre. Also notable is Keeper Seshone, a rare good Purifier, who brings a shipload of hopeless cases from Marvane to Ramunna in hopes that the wizards can help them.
  • Guile Hero: Nirel, as shown in books 2 and 3. Josiah has his moments as well, as seen at Jevtaran, although he doesn't have the personality for sustained deception.
  • Healing Hands: Wizards.
  • Heel–Face Turn:
    • At the end of Beyond the Boundary Stones, after Nirel's lie has completely unravelled, Vigorre finally chooses to side with the wizards he's been working to undermine for the whole book.
    • In The Wizards' War, Tenorran ultimately realizes he can't let his mother destroy Tevenar, where his homosexuality is fully accepted, and warns Elkan of her plot.
  • Heir Club for Men: The Matriarchy of Ramunna inverts this trope. The Matriarchs trace their descent in an unbroken mother to daughter line back to the final female Oligarch. Verinna seeks the legendary wizards for help conceiving a girl to rule Ramunna after her. Even though she has a grown son, her sister's daughter will inherit the throne if she dies without a daughter.
  • Here There Were Dragons: At the beginning of The Law of Isolation, magic is ancient history to the people of Ravanetha. Official doctrine accepts that it once was real, but considers it irretrievably lost. Scientists like Gevan are skeptical it ever existed at all. In any case, no one has wielded the Mother's power in Ravanetha for nearly a thousand years.
  • Heroic BSoD: Elkan narrowly avoids this in the first book, after a cave-in in a mine with some difficult triage decisions. In the prequel Broken Bonds, the same character hits it head-on when his marriage starts breaking up.
  • Heroic Dog: In Into the Storm, Liand's familiar Daisy is just as willing as her wizard to sacrifice her life to save Elathir from the approaching hurricane.
  • Heroic Fatigue
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Elkan, subverted; Nirel, attempted, although her definition of "heroic" at that point is unique; and Sar, successfully.
  • Hook Hand: After losing a hand during the battle to retake Elathir, Meira wears one of these.
  • Humble Hero: Elkan.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Both Elkan and Josiah are deeply affected by the death of Elkan's niece, Bethiav. Guilt for failing to save her drives their determination to find a cure for diabetes that doesn't rely on the Mother's power.
  • Important Haircut: In Calling, after he runs away, Elkan cuts his distinctive long hair to avoid being recognized and returned home. Even more significant is when Master Dabiel uses the Mother's power to restore it to its former length.
  • Insistent Terminology: In The Fuller's Apprentice, whenever someone mistakenly addresses or refers to Elkan as a master, he politely but firmly reminds them that he's still just a journeyman. Initially this seems to simply be part of his Humble Hero personality, but it becomes increasingly clear that it's also a indication of his growing doubts about his worthiness and readiness to complete his training and graduate to the rank of master wizard.
  • Kid Hero: Josiah qualifies at 14.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Wizards can use their healing power to reverse the formation of memories, starting at moment-of-use and going backwards. Unusually for the trope, it reverses their entire brain, procedural memory and all - not that anyone's ever taken far enough back for it to matter. Also unusually for the trope, in The Tale of Gurion Thricebound, it's implied to be abused somewhat routinely by independent wizards, and when the familiar system is instituted one of the laws is that this power is not used without consent. There may be a defense-of-innocent-life situation that would make a familiar use it, but we've been in some pretty dire situations and haven't run into it yet.
  • A Lesson Learned Too Well:
    • The events of his disastrous first marriage, which are chronicled in Broken Bonds, teach Elkan that he has the capacity to love immoderately and to lash out cruelly when hurt. He concludes this means he should never allow himself to fall in love again. When he does fall in love with Meira, he rejects her advances, certain a relationship with her would be similarly doomed. Eventually he comes to understand that he also has the capability to love truly without falling victim to his worst impulses, but only after a lot of drama and angst.
    • After joining Elkan in The Fuller's Apprentice, Josiah blunders several times by rushing to interfere in things that aren't his business. His resolve not to repeat those mistakes leads him to keep his concerns about Bethiav to himself instead of bringing her symptoms to Elkan's attention.
  • Lethal Harmless Powers: What's usually described as "healing powers" is more like "ability to speed up, slow down, stop, or reverse any biological process". There's a reason one of the wizards' duties is executioner.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Elkan is quietly vain about his long, straight black hair.
  • Lost Technology: Gevan believes the ancient wizards used secret devices to accomplish what history attributes to their magic. When, in an attempt to reproduce descriptions of wizards' windows, he invents the telescope, he's certain his success proves his theory right. Then he encounters wizards who still wield the Mother's power...
  • Love Triangle:
    • In Broken Bonds, when Elkan stubbornly refuses to dissolve their failing marriage, Liand takes drastic measures by cheating on him with Jamis. What begins as a strictly business arrangement quickly turns emotional for both of them.
    • Josiah develops feelings for three girls over the course of the main series: Ledah, Nirel, and Kevessa. While his interest in Ledah is primarily physical, his relationships with the other two run deeper. Each of them returns his interest, but competing loyalties complicate matters. In the end, Nirel betrays him in a manner he can't forgive, while Kevessa realizes how much she cares for him after he nearly sacrifices his life.
  • Loving a Shadow: In Broken Bonds, the fatal flaw in Elkan's love for Liand is the fact that he's never really seen her for herself, only as the ideal beloved he wants her to be.
    Liand: That’s what’s wrong with our marriage. You have never seen me as anything but the burnt-and-blasted Mother. It’s her you love, not me. And as far as I’m concerned, she can have you.
  • The Magic Comes Back: During The Law of Isolation, the people of Ramunna learn that wizards still exist. In Beyond the Boundary Stones, Elkan and Josiah (and Kevessa) travel to Ramunna and face an overwhelming number of people in need of healing. When the Mother starts choosing new wizards in Ramunna, it becomes clear she intends to return her power to Ravanetha for good.
  • The Maker: The Mother.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Verinna Fovarre, the Matriarch of Ramunna, is an expert at understanding what motivates people and using their desires to her advantage.
  • Martyr Without a Cause
  • Matriarchy: Ramunna is always ruled by a woman, called the Matriarch. The succession passes from mother to daughter. The Matriarchs claim their right to rule based on their suposed descent from the last female Oligarch. The rest of Ramunna society is patriarchal.
  • The Medic: One of the three wizard powers.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: As a main character himself, Josiah's mentor Elkan escapes this fate. Master Dabiel, his own mentor, isn't so lucky.
  • Messianic Archetype: In The Fuller's Apprentice, Elkan is an itinerant healer/judge/priest accompanied by a donkey. He roams the countryside helping people in need and instructing his disciple Josiah in the ways of Tevenar's deity. At the end of the book, he offers to sacrifice himself to save many lives. As a result, he lies unconscious for three days, then wakes.
  • Naïve Newcomer: Josiah to wizardry and Nirel to the Faithful religion.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Josiah, all the time.
  • Not Afraid to Die: Theoretically wizards, having met and spoken with the Mother, need not be afraid of death. In practice, it's more complicated. Even wizards who offer to sacrifice their lives to save others, like Larine, Elkan, and Josiah, face the prospect with trepidation.
  • Obi-Wan Moment: After being mortally wounded, Master Dabiel summons the strength for a few final words, naming Elkan as her successor as Guildmaster.
  • Pals with Jesus: Wizard Guildmasters meet with the Mother once each year. After the official business of naming the years' apprentices is concluded, the Mother is usually willing to chat for an hour or so about matters both important and trivial. She'll answer theological questions, although her replies tend to be more cryptic than clear. After years of these conversations, Guildmasters grow into a comfortable companionship with their deity.
  • Panthera Awesome: Tobi is a cougar/mountain lion.
  • Power Glows: All three aspects of the Mother's power glow with shimmering golden light. For healing and telekinesis, the glow travels from the wizard's hand to whatever they're manipulating. For windows, the glow first forms a sphere over the wizard's hand, which clears from the center out until it remains a sparkling rim around the image within. The light is used for Mundane Utility upon occasion. It can pose a problem when wizards are trying to work stealthily in dark places, because although the glow can be reduced to a very thin thread, it can't be eliminated altogether.
  • The Power of Blood: Type A: Blood is Binding. A wizard and familiar bond when their blood mingles. Traditionally it happens in a ceremony, with small cuts made by a knife. In more desperate circumstances, a familiar can use teeth or claws to draw the necessary blood. In all cases, the mingling of blood is symbolic rather than actually effectual; if the Mother doesn't desire the bonding, nothing will happen. After wizard and familiar experience a vision of the Mother, and the wizard indicates their willingness to serve and to abide by the Law, the newly bonded pair's first act is to use the Mother's power to heal their wounds.
  • Pre-Climax Climax: Elkan and Meira consummate their relationship on the eve of the battle to retake Elathir.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Master Dabiel is the latest in a long line of skilled, honest, responsible leaders of Tevenar. The process by which Guildmasters are chosen strongly favors a good outcome. First, a candidate must be chosen by the Mother because they have the empathy and dedication to make a good wizard. They must bond with a familiar and serve as a wizard through their apprenticeship and journeymanship, at least fourteen years, without breaking the Law and getting their bond broken. They are usually recognized as having leadership potential at a young age by the current Guildmaster, who instructs them in the skills required to lead a country well. Finally, after being named as the Guildmaster's successor, they must be approved by a vote of all master wizards, who have themselves been chosen by the Mother and bonded to familiars. While it might not be impossible for a Guildmaster to become corrupt or incompetent after gaining their position through this process, it's unlikely. Even Hanion, despite his failings, is sincerely concerned with Tevenar's welfare and does what he believes will best serve it, including heroically sacrificing his freedom to deceive the Ramunnan invaders.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Josiah and Kevessa sail for Ramunna together, planning to marry in due course.
  • Religion is Magic: The Mother grants her power to wizards to enable them to minister to humanity as healers and judges. When people abuse her power to an intolerable degree, she removes it from the world, only consenting to return it with the familiar system as a safeguard against its further misuse.
  • Reluctant Warrior: Elkan.
  • The Reveal: Near the end of The Fuller's Apprentice, Josiah (and the reader) learns the true nature of the relationship between wizards and familiars.
  • Rousseau Was Right
  • Saintly Church: The Wizards' Guild is made up of true servants of the Mother. They devote their lives to healing and service. If one of them is ever discovered to have abused their power, they are promptly expelled.
  • Samaritan Syndrome: The reason there are laws passed down from the Mother for wizards to take care of themselves, sleeping and eating and such.
  • Sinister Minister: Yoran Lirolla may sincerely believe Purifier doctrine, but that doesn't stop him from using the sect as a power base. When he learns of the continued existence of wizards, and the familiars that secret Purifier scriptures assert are demons, he's willing to resort to any sort of threat or violence to prevent them from coming to Ramunna.
  • Small Steps Hero: A lot of wizards a lot of the time, but especially Josiah and Mathir near the beginning of book 2.
  • The Stoic: Elkan is an extremely private person, unwilling to display his emotions casually. This trait is reinforced by his wizard training, which stresses the importance of staying calm in a crisis, in order to remain able to help people with the Mother's power. He is nearly always affable and polite, even when under great stress. On the rare occasions he does lose control, it is most likely to manifest in cold, concentrated fury.
  • Student–Master Team
  • The Tell: Is Elkan stressed, upset, or uncertain? His face won't show it, but he'll be running a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face, twisting it around a finger, or otherwise messing with it. Later in the series he'll catch himself and resist making the gesture, but if he's distracted enough it will still slip through. Meira learns to read his moods this way, even if it's just a twitch of his hand.
  • Think Nothing of It: The wizards' motto, "My joy is in the service."
  • Uplifted Animal: The Mother touches ordinary animals and transforms them into potential familiars. Their intelligence is increased to human levels. They gain the ability to bond to a human wizard, with whom they can communicate telepathically. When touching, wizard and familiar can use the Mother's power.
  • Wham Line: If you've read the main series before the prequel Into the Storm, the name of Larine and Shiar's son Ozor comes as quite a shock.
  • White-and-Grey Morality: No one is evil simply for evil's sake, not even the most ruthless villains. They all have goals they see as worthwhile, which the reader can have at least a little sympathy for, even when it motivates them to do terrible things. Ozor and his bandits want freedom from oppression. The Matriarch wants to secure the future of Ramunna as an independent nation. Yoran Lirolla wants to spread the Purifier doctrine he sincerely believes in and to protect Ravanetha from being invaded by evil demons. Elder Davon wants to take the Faithful to a home where they can worship in peace and freedom. The Autarch wants to prevent the wizards from bringing chaos to Marvane and undermining his family's rule. In addition, many of those who cause the most trouble for the protagonists are main characters in their own right, doing their best to accomplish worthy goals which happen to conflict with Josiah and Elkan's. Nirel wants to find a place for herself where she can use intelligence and talents to serve the faith she comes to love. Vigorre wants to serve the Mother by opposing those he has been tricked into believing are demons and their servants. Tenorran wants to remain loyal to his country and his mother.
  • White Magic: The Mother's power.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: This is the main point of the Mother's Law. Wizards are permitted to use the Mother's power for Mundane Utility, and even just for fun, but only as long as doing so doesn't interfere with their duty to serve those in need. For instance, even during their free time they aren't allowed to exhaust themselves with extensive use of power for trivial reasons, in case an emergency should arise which requires their contribution. They are also required to take care of their own physical needs for rest and food, even prioritizing them over non-urgent needs of others, in order to maximize their long-term ability to help the most people possible.
  • You Are Grounded!: In Calling, Adrel locks Elkan in his room to prevent him from going to Elathir.

Top