History Literature / TheWarGods

* InformedAbility: In this case, it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani historically became when they lost control to the Rage and how much all male hradani still have to struggle against it, and Tomanak explicitly confirms that "the old Rage" will be around among the hradani for decades yet, even among those who now know that it can be controlled if invoked deliberately. However, the only hradani ever actually shown to abandon control to the "old Rage" this way are worshippers of the Dark Gods, and even they only do it to fight Bahzell, Brandark and the Order of Tomanak. No incident of a hradani succumbing to the Rage at the wrong time and hurting innocents ever occurs when it would cause problems for the heroes.

* LivingRelic: Wencit of Rum, who was there when the Empire of Ottovar fell, and still remembers the empire fondly, if sorrowfully.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Wencit of Rum, Last of the Council of Ottovar, still has access to the [[KillSat Strafing]]. Setting up the Strafing killed or drove mad all the other members of the council, but since the spell was finished Wencit can still call it down on a whim. One of the reasons he's always on the move is because he's the single biggest target on the planet because he's the only thing keeping the Kontovarian dark lords from trying more direct invasions. He's not just a one-man nuke, he's a one-man Strategic Air Command. [[spoiler:He's threatened to burn the Carnadosans' capital city of Trofrolantha to bare ground if they ever try attacking Leeana Hanathafressa again... then do the same to the ''entire continent of Kontovar'' if they still don't get the hint after that.]]

* WordOfGod: There's plenty, this is Creator/DavidWeber's private TabletopRPG. Been on the back burner due to poor sales compared to the best selling ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' or ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series, so Creator/DavidWeber has said quite a lot.

* UnstoppableRage: The dark wizards developed the Rage and inflicted it on the hradani to make their shock troopers more devastating. The Rage is an unpredictable-enough factor that most important government functions among the hradani are handled by their women, who aren't subject to the Rage. At one point a hradani is inches away from killing Wencit, just hearing that he's a wizard.
** Wencit then went on to paralyze and ''break him out of the Rage'' with magic, something hradani thought to be impossible.

* InformedAbility: Subverted slightly in that it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani historically became when they lost control to the Rage and how much all male hradani still have to struggle against it, and Tomanak explicitly confirms that "the old Rage" will be around among the hradani for decades yet, even among those who now know that it can be controlled if invoked deliberately. However, the only hradani ever actually shown to abandon control to the "old Rage" this way are worshippers of the Dark Gods, and even they only do it to fight Bahzell, Brandark and the Order of Tomanak. No incident of a hradani succumbing to the Rage at the wrong time and hurting innocents ever occurs when it would cause problems for the heroes.

* InformedAbility: Subverted slightly in that it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani historically became when they lost control to the Rage and how much all male hradani still have to struggle against it, and Tomanak explicitly confirms that "the old Rage" will be around among the hradani for decades yet, even among those who now know that it can be controlled if invoked deliberately. However, only one small group of hradani (a worshipper of the Dark Gods and his guards/soldiers) is ever actually shown to abandon control to the "old Rage" in this way, and even they only do it to fight Bahzell and Brandark. No incident of a hradani succumbing to the Rage at the wrong time and hurting innocents ever occurs when it would cause problems for the heroes.

* InformedAbility: Subverted slightly in that it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani historically became when they lost control to the Rage, and how much all male hradani still have to struggle against it on a regular basis -- but only one hradani character is ever shown to actually do this, and he is a worshipper and pawn of the Dark Gods. No incident of a hradani succumbing to the Rage at the wrong time and hurting innocents ever occurs when it would cause problems for the heroes.

** On a wider basis, this also applies to the Forces of Light in general; although a few minor characters on the heroes' side do die, the side of Light never loses any battle of serious consequence.

* InformedAbility: Subverted slightly in that it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani become when they lose control to the Rage, and how much all (male) hradani have to struggle against it on a regular basis -- but only one hradani character is ever shown to actually do this, and he is a worshipper and pawn of the Dark Gods.

--> Frobus - Lucifer

* InformedAbility: Subverted slightly in that it is (mostly) an informed ''dis-''ability; the novels regularly emphasize what bloodthirsty monsters hradani become when they lose control to the Rage, but there is only one hradani character ever shown to actually do this, and he is a worshipper and pawn of the Dark Gods.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Once it becomes obvious that the Dark doesn't ''want'' the hradani and the Sothoii to come to terms, everyone starts realizing that despite centuries of ingrained prejudice, it might actually be a good idea.

* ImplacableMan: The 'New' or 'White' Rage turns a hradani into this instead of the TheBerserker. When Bahzell combines it with his connection to Tomanak, he turns into something more like a force of nature. [[spoiler:Turned UpToEleven when he briefly connects to the world's natural magic field through the bond with his new Sothoii courser, essentially becoming ''[[OhCrap a Champion of Tomanak version of Wencit]]''.]]

Currently at five books and a novella in the overall cycle, with the Bazhell novels standing at four books and a novella. Creator/DavidWeber has confirmed a seven book series is forthcoming which he considers to be his MagnumOpus, which involves a TimeSkip to a new generation, with the first book ''The Sword of the South'' already released. A fifth book and novella for the current generation will eventually come out.

* AutomatonHorses: Averted in many ways, as attention is given to terrain horses can cross as well as practical weight and size limits. Sothoii warhorses are explicitly magical in their endurance, but weather and other limits still apply to them.
** More implied for the run of the mill horses, but they are also specifically bred for use as cavalry mounts. Coursers, on the other hand, ''are'' magical, though there are clear limits as to what they can and can not do.

** He does start using a high-draw composite bow (one that probably can't even be strung, let alone shot, by anyone less muscular than a Horse-Stealer Hradrani) after partnering up with Walsharno, as it's an easier weapon to shoot from horseback.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Early on, Bahzell tries ''very hard'' to pretend he doesn't have this problem.

* CoolHorse: Sothoii warhorses and their much bigger, intelligent cousins, coursers.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Vaijon sacrifices himself to take down a Devil single-handed in hand-hand combat.]] To put that into perspective, it took the unique fusion of powers between Bahzell and his [[SapientSteed courser co-champion]] Walsharno to take down the first one (with an [[CastFromHitPoints enhanced]] bow-shot) and the third one requires Bahzell, Walsharno AND [[spoiler: Vaijon's spirit]] to kill.

* GenderRestrictedAbility: Only male Hradani have the Rage. For the most part, this was considered a blessing for the women rather than an imposition, as while it meant the women had a major handicap in becoming warriors compared to the men, it also meant that they were considerably saner, which was why a lot of jobs that required people to keep a cool head, such as judges and diplomats, were given to the women. It was only with the coming of the White Rage that being unable to use it became a possible hindrance to female Hradani.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: Wencit of Rum]] is absent from ''War Maid's Choice'' until the very end, even when characters wish he was around. They never find out that [[spoiler: due to his direct intervention behind the scenes, two nuclear-level explosions are averted which would have killed thousands, including Leeana, her father, their coursers, the Sothoii king, and destroyed the Sothoii capital; that the main agent of the Dark Gods for the last two books is eliminated; and Leeana is protected from direct magical attack by the Kontovarans due to his threat to utterly destroy their entire continent...''again'', with ''feeling'' this time...if they so much as try]].
* HalfHumanHybrid: It is possible for any two of the species to interbreed, although only elf-human hybrids (half-elves) are common--several of the other matches produce offspring that die young or are infertile, although most of the human population of the Axeman Empire have some dwarf blood. Half-elves consider themselves to be the fifth species (since they came about before halflings); however, while breeding with each other and with full elves preserves both the human and elvish traits, the offspring of a human and half-elf will show a significant reduction in the elvish traits (implied to be related to the spell that made warlocks elves). Finally, it is established that only humans and human hybrids can be wizards or magi.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Wencit of Rum is the most obvious example. He does help out the heroes a lot in the main books, but one gets the feeling that even when he's off-screen, he's busy having adventures and taking care of business.

* NoodleIncident: ''The Lay of Bahzell Bloody-Hand''. Mentioned, discussed, and mocked several times, but never explicitly told. Character reactions to it range from amused to infuriated and disgusted. Also has a RunningGag that the third verse doesn't scan.

* OnlyTheChosenMayRide: The Sothoii coursers, the descendants of magically altered horses. They are as intelligent as humans as well as being larger, stronger, faster, and having more endurance than any natural horse. Some of them will enter into a psychic bond with a human (who are called "wind riders"). Like the Heralds and their Companions, the wind riders are respected by all Sothoii, and are guaranteed to be honorable (as the Sothoii see it anyway), as coursers won't associate with anyone who ''isn't''.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Rape is the one crime in hradani society which is never, ever excused even by being under the Rage. Bahzell starts his first adventure by beating a rapist to a pulp. It is noteworthy that a ChildByRape is never considered to be socially "tainted" by their conception; the hradani aren't prolific breeders, so any child is treasured.

* BondCreatures: Coursers.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Wencit of Rum, Last of the Council of Ottovar, still has access to the [[KillSat Strafing]]. Setting up the Strafing killed or drove mad all the other members of the council, but since the spell was finished Wencit can still call it down on a whim. One of the reasons he's always on the move is because he's the single biggest target on the planet because he's the only thing keeping the Kontovarian dark lords from trying more direct invasions. He's not just a one-man nuke, he's a one-man Strategic Air Command. [[spoiler:He's threatened to burn the entire continent of Kontovar down to the bedrock if the wizard lords of Kontovar ever try attacking Leeana Hanathafressa again... and melt the bedrock into glass if they still don't get the hint after that.]]

* WitchSpecies: The elves were this prior to the foundation of the old empire of Ottovar. When Ottovar won the Wizard Wars, he rerouted their power. Before this, they were useful as magical support. Their power was innate and cast at will, something like the magi, but with no training needed.