Visual Novel / Blades of Light & Shadow

Blades of Light & Shadow is one of the many stories from Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play collection.

Create your character and rally your party in this truly epic adventure!

Book 1 was released from January 2020 to June 2020. Book 2 was released from September 1, 2023 to December 29, 2023. A third book was announced on Christmas Day of 2023, and is currently scheduled to be released in 2024.

All character tropes go the the character page

A to M

• Added Alliterative Appeal: One skill category in each book has all three skills sharing the same first letter.
  • Book 1's combat skills are Blades, Bows, and Brawling.
  • Book 2's diplomacy skills are Intimidation, Insight, and Inspiration.
• Aerith and Bob: Sure, we see names like Tyril, Imtura, Valir (Tyril's father), Solerne (the High Priest of the Light) and Kraglin (one of Imtura's crew who attacked the party in Book 1, Chapter 4), but there are also names like Angus (the town constable), Augustus (a lord in Whitetower), Willow (a goblin who's a temporary party member in Book 2, Chapters 6 and 7), Wren (Mal's sister) and Devana (one of the orc clan leaders).
• All Just a Dream: Subverted in Chapter 9. Kade tells Raine that they fell off their stool in the bar, hit their head and the events of the story up to that point happened in their mind. It turns out that this is just an illusion, the events of the story really did happen and Kade is still trapped in The Realm of Shadow.
• And I Must Scream: In a premium scene in Chapter 9, Raine, Mal and Tyril encounter an egovore that lures victims in with pleasing scents and proceeds to feast on their minds, leaving them catatonic and fully aware until they die of starvation.
• Arrow Catch: Prince Aerin caught an arrow his brother Baldur fired at a unicorn before it could strike its target.
• Bears Are Bad News: Nia and her mentor Vash were attacked by an owlbear on the road to Riverbend and it's up to Raine and Kade to save him.
• The Beastmaster: The Beastmaster skill allows Raine to tame beasts. It gets used in calming down the owlbear in Chapter 1. Chapter 3 allows you to pet Threep.
• Betty and Veronica: The love interests are divided this way. The Bettys are cheerful Nia and friendly Mal. The Veronicas are cynical Tyril and abrasive Imtura.
• Big Bad:
  • For Book 1, it's the Dreadlord, ruler of the Shadow Realm.
  • For Book 2, it's the empress of the Ash Empire, who wants to use Raine's blood to conquer the Realm of Light.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: While the Shadow Council are considered a huge evil threat in terms of black, a premium sidequest in Chapter 3 introduces grey with the Thieves Guild recruiting children.
• Brains and Brawn: While an Orc!Raine can be played smart, a premium sidequest introduces Skullcrusher, the librarian of the Flotilla's archives who's two heads taller than Imtura.
• Breaking Old Trends: Book 2 marks the first time in Choices history that a book has Multiple Endings despite not being the end of the series.
• Breather Episode: After the drama and chaos of the Undermount arc in Chapters 10-12, Chapter 13 is this as the party winds down in Whitetower.
• The Bus Came Back: In Book 2, Chapter 17, every character who had either stayed behind in Whitetower or left the party makes their triumphant return; Kade, Threep, Loola (if she was rescued in Book 1), Aerin (if Raine was nice to him), Willow, Cherta, and "The Dark Ones" (if Raine earned their support in Chapter 7). Also doubles as a downplayed case of Back for the Finale, since their return occurs in the penultimate chapter, just before the Ash Empress invades the Light Realm and the Final Battle begins.
• Cast From Hitpoints: Chapter 7 has Tyril reveal that using magic is to trade in a bit of your life force.
• Character Customization: This story is quite a big jump for Choices in not only designing if you're male or female, but also human, elf, or orc. It even extends into your character skills as well.
• Chekhov's Gun: Many of the treasures you get in premium sidequests help out in one form or another down the way.
  • If Raine goes with Mal in a premium scene in Chapter 4, they get a magic shell. In Chapter 11, it gives the party a hint to solving the puzzle to opening the catacombs.
  • If Raine spends a private moment with Prince Aerin in Chapter 8, he gives them a ring with the royal sigil in case they're in Whitetower. Chapter 13 has them and Mal get held up by a guard who recognizes him from a wanted poster, and having the ring gets the two in the clear.
  • Making the right choices and also having an elite skill and/or weapon allows the party and the princes to kill the drakna queen, with Raine getting its stinger. In Chapter 12, it gets used against Duchess Xenia, especially since all the party's weapons were checked at the door.
  • In Chapter 9, a premium scene has Raine, Mal and Tyril fight off an egovore and get its stalk as a reward. In Chapter 14 after learning the Church plans on using innocent prisoners as sacrifice to purify the Onyx Shards, Nia grabs the egovore stalk and puts everyone to sleep.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • Certain choices have hearts on them to show they increase a love interest's romantic standing with Raine like Mother of the Year did.
  • The three main skill classes are color-coded as follows: red for combat, purple for diplomacy and green for survival. Elite skills are colored gold.
• Content Warning: Not in the book itself, but the trailer for Book 2 that recaps the events of Book 1 opens with a warning that it contains flashing lights.
• Corrupt Church: The Temple of Light is shown to be this in Chapter 13 when it is revealed that they sacrifice prisoners as part of their purification ritual.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Chapter 7 has the "I can't believe that worked" version if Raine deals with the voxper by throwing a stick.
• Crisis of Faith: In Chapter 14, after it's revealed that the Temple of Light uses human sacrifices to perform rituals, Nia begins to doubt the Light's existence and wonders if she's wasted her life on trying to become a Priestess.
• Cuteness Proximity: Chapter 3 has Nia become this for Threep. Raine can be this as well.
  Nia: "Can we keep it? Please tell me we can keep it!"
• Dead All Along: Kaya Duskraven appears to have been corrupted by the Shadow Court. It turns out that she was killed, and Duchess Xenia was posing as her.
• Destroy the Villain's Weapon: Downplayed in Book 2, Chapter 7 if Raine has the Chain skill. They don't outright destroy Valax's glaive, but they do use their chain to yank it out of her hands and toss it into a lake.
  Valax: You...
  Raine: Sorry, did you need that [glaive]?
• Distant Prologue: Chapter 1 starts 2000 years before the main story starts with the summoning of the Dreadlord.
• Don't Ask, Just Run: Chapter 3 ends with the mystery elf telling the party to run after saving them from the Mayor.
• Eldritch Abomination: First alluded to in the bonus scene of Book 1 and optionally mentioned in Book 2, Chapter 2 if Raine captured Aerin in the finale of Book 1, The Empire of Ash have one of these at their disposal. From what we've learned so far, it seems to be some sort of giant skeletal dragon that's big enough to blot out the sky. While we don't see it, whatever it is, it's horrifying enough to scare Valax. It finally appears at the end of the penultimate chapter, and it's gnarly◊.
• Elite Tweak: Making the correct choices gives you XP, which levels your character up. Every time you level up, you get to pick a new skill (and you earn more XP the higher levelled you are). Certain choices require you to have a certain skill (and usually give your character more XP). With the right combination of skills and choices, it's possible to level up much faster than you would otherwise (specifically, it's possible to have levelled up thrice and learned five skills by the end of Chapter 4 with a certain set of skills and choices).
• Emotion Eater: Chapter 2 has a sidequest that introduces a vorglin, which feeds on fear. Regardless if Raine thinks about their happiest or saddest memory, they make it go away and leave behind its waste. Normally it's iron or brass, but instead it's solid gold.
• Enemy Mine: Chapter 5 has Imtura and Raine making a truce to deal with the grobtar threat.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Nespers are capable of detecting people corrupted by the Shadow Court. In Chapter 3 Threep can sense that the Mayor of Port Parnassus is working for the Shadow Court. This becomes a plot point when the party discover that Aerin has been corrupted by the Shadow a long time ago, and he was able to hide this from Threep using a Nerada Stone fused to his body.
• Eye Scream: During the premium sidequest in Chapter 4, the correct choice in freeing Mal from the bloodsquid is to go for the eyes.
• Fantasy Character Classes:
  • Book 1, Chapter 1 lets you start with one out of three ways to fight.
    • Good Old Fisticuffs: Brawling.
    • Heroes Prefer Swords: Blades.
  • Book 2 adds three more combat skills.
    • Alchemy Is Magic: Alchemy
    • Chain Pain: Chains
    • Magic Staff: Staffs
• Fantasy Pantheon: A premium Lore Tablet in Chapter 6 fills in some of the religion on the races. For humans, those in Whitetower worship the Light and the Old elven gods. The Gold Coast fishers pray to the White Whale and others in places like Riverbend worship the Great Beetle. Elves worship the six Old gods from the ancient era and six New Gods who fought in the Great War and were elevated to godhood. Orcs don't have any central gods, but pray more to the elements of nature: the skies, wind and ocean and the moon.
• Feathered Fiend: In Chapter 7, Raine can tell a story about how they and Kade tried to steal a pie, but it was guarded by a goose to Tyril's horror. It chased the two of them across town until Kade tripped and fell face first into the pie...and it was an eel pie.
• Feed It a Bomb: In Book 2, Chapter 10, Raine can defeat a mummy by shoving a bomb into its mouth if they have the Alchemy skill. If they obtained Uster's alchemical bombs from the previous chapter and do this, the explosion takes out two other mummies as well.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: Discussed near the end of Book 1, Chapter 13. The group was brought together by their quest to find and purify the Onyx Shards, and at this point in the story, they've all been found, and the purification ritual is taking place the following morning. Once their quest is complete, they won't have a common goal anymore, and they all have their own lives to get back to. Mal plans to find more treasure, Imtura's pirate crew is waiting for her, Tyril has business to attend to in his home town of Undermount, and Nia will continue serving the Temple of Light. Certain unprecedented events mean that the group doesn't go their separate ways until the final chapter, though they are confident that their paths will cross again someday.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief:
  • Each of the three races correspond to the three classes. Orcs are the Fighters because of their extraordinary physical strength, elves are the Mages because of their inherent affinity for magic, and humans are the Thieves because of their agility.
  • The player character Raine and orc pirate Imtura are the Fighters, the priestess Nia and the elf Tyril are the Mages, and the rogue Mal is the Thief.
  • This is especially shown with the elite skills each teach Raine. Imtura teaches the orcish martial art of Kaytar, Nia and Tyril respectively teach how to make a ball of light and a fireball, and Mal teaches stealth.
• Fire-Breathing Diner: Raine can try purple parnassians, a type of oyster that's known as the "Tonguemelter," as well as turning your mouth purple.
• Fish People: The grobtars are these having humanoid torsos and fins for legs as well as anglerfish teeth as well as their antennae.
• Foodfight!: In Chapter 12, Raine can start one during the masquerade at House Duskraven's estate in order to distract half the partygoers and sneak up on Kaya.
• Furry Reminder: The voxper may be a sentient magic dog guardian, but it still reacts to playing fetch when Raine throws a stick.
  "By the laws of the old pact forged between man and beast, you have played with me. I now owe you a boon."
• Giant Squid: A premium sidequest in Chapter 4 has Raine and Mal get attacked by a bloodsquid.
• Guile Hero: With the Deception skill, Raine can be this, using such tactics as Reverse Psychology, feinting attacks and emotional manipulation to get what they want.
• Healing Hands: A sidequest in Chapter 1 allows Raine to see Nia's healing magic in full effect after recovering her bracelet from a nest of kromps as she heals a bite they got. In Book 2, Raine can gain this ability if they learn the Heal skill.
• Heal It With Fire: A premium scene in Chapter 11 has Tyril teach Raine the Cleansing Fire skill, which allows them to create fire that can heal corruption.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]:
  • As with all Choices games, you can decide on your main character's name, the default being Raine.
  • Chapter 3 subverts this. The game allows you to name the winged cat that hatches from the green crystal, but whatever you name him, he reveals that his name is actually Threep, and is referred to by that name for the rest of the story rather than the name you entered^note Amusingly, Threep says the same line ("Why would you call me that? My name is Threep!") even if you entered "Threep" as his name.
• Hope Bringer: Raine can be this in Book 2 if they have the Inspire skill, which allow them to encourage the people around them to feel better about themselves and continue fighting the good fight.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Grobtar Chief can be killed this way by Raine in Chapter 5.
• Infinity +1 Sword: The Legendary Weapons can be obtained through premium choices, though they can only be used to full extent if you have the weapon skill for them.
• It Always Rains at Funerals: In the Chapter 2 sidequest, "The Hall of Gods," if Raine thinks of their saddest memory against the vorglin, they describe it was this trope when they and Kade's families were buried.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: In Chapter 6, using the Beastmaster ability at the "Prosperity" shipwreck shows Raine can't hear any form of wildlife on Zephyr Cove, which shows there are no bird sounds and the sand crabs fled away from the beach and into the jungle, knowing they'll die than be anywhere near the Onyx Shard.
• Lampshade Hanging: On the first meeting with Mal, Raine doesn't believe he's a hero, wondering where his gold armor, magical relics and giant sword are. Mal says gold armor would weigh him down, he doesn't need magic relics and why would he need a giant sword? Becomes hilarious later on if a fully leveled and kitted Raine subverts this.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Defied with the Blades TTRPG Companion. The book only contains spoilers up to Book 2, Chapter 13 (which had already been released a few weeks prior), the introduction of the Shadestalker. Character sheets for Valax, the Ash Empress, and that skeletal dragon thing weren't made available, since PB didn't want to spoil the ending chapters of Book 2 (which haven't yet been released).
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Mal says this in Chapter 6 after Imtura says she took the party off from Flotilla without notifying her mother, the Queen.
  Mal: "Let me get this straight... The big, scary pirate had to sneak out of her own city to avoid Mother Dearest?"
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: In Chapter 15 if you don't have the elven brooch, Raine can instead...seduce the monster guarding the Dreadlord's palace. Even Mal's had enough.
  Mal: No! NO! You cannot flirt with the horrific bug monster! This is where I draw the line! This cannot work!
  Imtura: ...Can we go back to the part where Raine flirted with the bug monster?
  Mal: Alternately we could never speak of it again?
  Tyril: It was... unorthodox...
  Raine: You guys are all just jealous that I'm such a good flirt.
• Light 'em Up: A premium scene in Chapter 6 has Nia teach Raine the Orb of Light skill, which gives them the ability to blast enemies with light.
• Light Is Not Good: The end of Chapter 13 reveals that the Temple of Light wants to sacrifice prisoners to give them the magic they need to purify the Onyx Shards.
• Locked into Strangeness: A lore tablet in Chapter 10 reveals that King Arlan I had an elven soothsayer give him a reading. The prophecy of the kingdom of Morella being corrupted from the inside was so shocking it turned her hair white.
• The Magic Goes Away: According to the last lore tablet of Book 2, the splitting of the Realms caused magic to weaken over time, and if the last rift is sealed, magic will disappear entirely.
• Matriarchy: Orc women are stronger than their males, making the women have most of the power.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Vash dies in Chapter 2 from his wounds to show how deadly serious one Shadow Lord is, never mind if more are allowed to return.
• Merged Reality: You can choose to destroy the barrier and merge the two realms into one, which does end up destroying cities and throwing people with no knowledge of one another together, as the Watcher mentions in the last lore tablet. The good news is that magic is whole again, and you find a way to ensure peace prevails, preventing the bloodshed and societal collapse the Watcher predicted would happen.
• Ms. Fanservice: Nia wears a see-through gown throughout the game.
• Mix-and-Match Critters:
  • In Book 1, Chapter 1, you encounter an owlbear, which is a cross between an owl and a bear. In Book 2, Chapter 13, you get to adopt an owlbear cub in the Shadow Realm.
  • Mal describes having fought a croctopus, a crocodile/octopus blend.
  • Threep is a nesper, a cat with bat wings.
• More Deadly Than the Male: The premium sidequest in Chapter 1 has this with the kromps, with Raine saying the females have venomous bites, making them lucky they got bit by a male grabbing Nia's bracelet.
• Muggle Born of Mages: A lore tablet in Chapter 13 tells that very rarely, elves with no magical affinity are called zeldani and are exiled from Undermount at age 10, being seen as an ill omen for their house.
• Mr. Exposition: Kade has familiarized himself with old stories and tales, so at the beginning of Chapter 2, Kade is able to explain to the group what the Onyx Shards are. In fact, Kade later explains that stories are important to him because they're how he sees the world.
• Mistaken for an Imposter: In Book 2, Chapter 4, Imtura accuses Raine of being an imposter after seeing them for the first time in a whole year, due to her having long since given up hope of them ever coming back and believing them to be dead.
• Mister Seahorse: A lore tablet reveals both male and female orcs can get pregnant.
• Multiple Persuasion Modes:
  • Book 1, Chapter 1 has three different ways to choose how to speak: Seduction, Deception or Charisma.
  • Book 2 gives you three more skills related to diplomacy: Intimidation, Insight, or Inspiration.

N to Z

• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Tyril is practically an elven version of Tom Hiddleston.
• Non-Standard Game Over: In the final chapter of Book 1, Raine has to stab a Dreadlord-possessed Nia with the Blade of Light in order to end him once and for all, killing Nia in the process. If Raine refuses to stab Nia, the Dreadlord will gain full control over her body and fatally attack Raine and their party. If this happens, you die and have to restart from a checkpoint.
• Noodle Incident: In the Chapter 5 premium sidequest, Skullcrusher says there's no checking out any items of the archive for anyone, including Imtura because of this.
  Imtura: "That was one time! Years ago! And it dried out eventually..."
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Raine feels like nothing ever happens in their town of Riverbend.
• Off with His Head!: The Mayor of Port Parnassus is decapitated by Tyril in Chapter 3. Imtura does this to the Pirate Captain in Chapter 6. Both victims were pawns of the Shadow Council.
• Outlaw Town: Flotilla is a traveling orc pirate town made up of several ships lashed together.
• Out of the Frying Pan: In the bonus scene of Book 1, The Watcher tells Raine that, by bringing light to the Realm of Shadow (which they only did to defeat the Dreadlord), they've alerted the attention of The Empire of Ash, who are coming soon. Book 2 elaborates on this; at the end of Book 1, Raine became a Realm Walker while simultaneously alerting the Empire of Ash. The empress' daughter Valax is now (literally) out for Raine's blood because she needs it to create a portal to the Realm of Light so the Empire can conquer it, per her mother's wishes.
• Pokémon Speak: In a sidequest in Chapter 1 searching for Nia's bracelet, Raine and Nia come upon a nest of kromps to Raine's displeasure. She asks why they're called kromps and gets her answer.
• Port Town: Chapter 3 has the party stop in Port Parnassus.
• Power Fist: Chapter 5 lets Raine get the Gauntlet of Pain in a premium choice to fight off the grobtar chief. Since Imtura stole it from the grobtars, they stole it back and now Raine has it, she lets them have it.
• Put on a Bus: Kaede elects to remain behind at the castle in Book 2 to find more on the Shadow Realm. Threep (and Loola if she was recruited) as well, due to having duties there.
• Putting the Band Back Together: After Raine returns to Whitetower at the end of Book 2, Chapter 1, they discover that their companions have gone their separate ways. With the help of The Watcher, they summon a portal and pull Tyril through it, fill him in on what happened during their time in the Shadow Realm, then the two of them set off to reunite the rest of the party. The chapter ends with Raine and Tyril finding Nia at the Temple of Light. They find Mal next, conning a local Lord. Imutura is the last one to be found, fighting a creature in a bar while very drunk. After the band's back together, the achievement "Together Again" unlocks.
• Red Herring:
  • The party believes that Kaya's impersonator's scepter has an Onyx Shard, and she'll use it on the masquerade goers. When the staff shatters, it doesn't contain the Shard, which is in Duchess Xenia's crown all along.
  • Also, Baldur's personality is very unpleasant compared to Aerin's, so it seems likely that Baldur is going to become an antagonist later, especially since in chapter 9 Baldur takes credit for your kill so he can have the Drakna queen's head as a trophy. But in chapter 14, we learn it's actually Aerin who's been corrupted.
• The Reveal:
  • Book 1, Chapter 14 contains a big one: Aerin has been corrupted by the Shadow Court, and in fact he's been helping to spread the corruption among others as part of a scheme to help the Dreadlord return.
  • Book 2, Chapter 18 reveals that the skeletal dragon at the Ash Empress' command is Valax.
• Role-Playing Game 'Verse: Hews closer to this than Choices' previous fantasy title, The Crown & the Flame, which was more of a Heroic Fantasy, if not Low Fantasy at times.
• Sacrificial Lion:
  • Chapter 1 is mostly lighthearted; the group only has to fight an Owlbear and (if you choose) fight some "kromps" to get Nia's bracelet back. Then, the stakes are raised when Constable Angus and Grenn, who were previously accompanying Mal the adventurer, are found dead in a temple, having been murdered.
  • In Chapter 2, while this is a non-lethal example, the stakes are raised yet again when Kade touches an Onyx Shard with his bare hands and is trapped in the Realm of Shadow. He isn't dead, but now the party must figure out a way to get him back.
• Secret Relationship: During a premium scene in Chapter 3, Raine can say how they had one with the Mayor of Riverbend's child, whether it's their son or daughter. It ended when the Mayor and the city council walked in on them when the two thought they had the house to themselves, but Raine says it was Worth It to see the look on the Mayor's face.
• Sequel Hook: Collecting every lore tablet leads to Raine having a dream in the space between space being met by a hooded figure, the same figure Raine saw after they killed the Dreadlord through Nia. They represent secret guardians of history, but they came to warn Raine. Raine killing the Dreadlord has brought light to the Shadow Realm and that there will be consequences. In this case, bringing an even worse evil, the Empire of Ash. Another vision is shown of Whitetower in flames. The watcher tells Raine that they need the power of the Old Gods. And then they wake up back in bed with their lover, saying it was a bad dream.
• Series Fauxnale: Book 2, Chapter 18, titled "It All Comes Down To This", has all the hallmarks of a series finale. A Big Badass Battle Sequence (that involves every single skill Raine can learn over the course of the book) ensues, The Mother of Grey is defeated, Valax is redeemed, and Raine has to make a choice that will permanently decide the fate of the Realms, ala Endless Summer, complete with a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue that shows the consequences of Raine's decision. Additionally, Loola is pregnant with Threep's babies (if she was rescued in Book 1), and Raine talks about the possibility of retirement, while also promising to be there when the world needs them. Despite this, a Book 3 has been announced, and the last scene of Book 2 ends with this line from The Voice That Glows:
  See you soon, Realmwalker...
• She Cleans Up Nicely:
  • Buying the Talk of the Town premium outfit in Chapter 3 has Mal make this statement.
  Mal: "Gotta say, kit, you clean up nice."
  • Imtura begrudgingly wears a dress to the masquerade. If Raine tells her she's gorgeous, she asks if they didn't think she could clean up and be pretty.
• Sherlock Scan:
  • Experience points are awarded when Raine is able to do this. Book 1, Chapter 2 shows it off by them noticing Mal didn't kill his escorts and later on seeing that Mal's a prisoner of Duke Erthax.
  • Book 2 introduces the Insight skill, which allows Raine to do this on a more refined scale, such as deducing that Tyril has been studying in the library from the ink stains on his fingers and the large number of papers he has in his bag.
• Shifting Sand Land: Zaradun, the "City Beneath The Sand" and home of the dwarves, which Raine and their party visit in Book 2, Chapter 9.
• Shout-Out:
  • During a premium sidequest in Chapter 4, you get rescued by a mermaid. Kissing her gives you the "Part of Your World" achievement.
  • A premium sidequest in Chapter 14 is Heist: Whitetower.
• Show Within a Show: As revealed during a premium scene in Chapter 7 of Laws of Attraction, Blades of Light and Shadow is a TV show in the Choices universe, much like The Crown & the Flame.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Prince Baldur is a boastful jerkass who flaunts his position as crown prince and a Glory Hound seeking hunting trophies. His brother Prince Aerin is a Nice Guy who eagerly befriends Raine and has a humble demeanor.
• Skill Scores and Perks: You can gain levels to learn new ways of combat, conversation and survival skills. The three races also have their own perks, with Human!Raine having reflexes, Elf!Raine having enhanced senses and Orc!Raine having brute strength.
• Solid Gold Poop: A sidequest in Chapter 2 has the party deal with a vorglin by feeding it their strongest emotions. It normally leaves behind iron or brass as discharge, but gold is a jackpot.
• So Much for Stealth: In Chapter 9, when escaping from the Drakna hive, if Raine makes too many wrong choices, the drakna will be alerted to their party's location and they will be unable to kill the Drakna Queen.
• Stance System: Kaytar, an orcish martial art that Raine can learn as an elite skill in Chapter 8, has a Zephyr stance for speed and Boulder stance for power.
• Stealth Expert: A premium scene in Chapter 10 has Mal teach Raine how to successfully sneak around without being caught.
• Story Branch Favoritism: The story is skewed in favor of Raine being an elf. Not only can an elven Raine reach maximum level first in both books (and in Book 2, the Shadowsight skill is borderline negligible), but there's a lot more unique backstory and dialogue for Raine, and they are the first one to have their surname revealed (it's Nightbloom).
• Sweet and Sour Grapes:
  • In Chapter 9, after killing the Drakna queen, Baldur insists on taking credit for the kill and taking the queen's head to mount on his wall, leaving Raine with only the stinger. However, Tyril explains to Raine that the stinger is actually the better prize, because it still has poison in it and thus can be used as a weapon, while the head Baldur took is only good as a trophy.
  • All throughout the book, Raine's main concern is rescuing Kade, mentioning him in almost every chapter. In Chapter 15, when Raine briefly stops worrying about Kade to focus more on trying to rescue Nia from the Shadow Realm, only then do they find Kade.
• Symbolic Cast Fadeout: The series has the full body group picture with members of the main cast fading in and out as they enter or in the case of Kade as well as Nia for 2 chapters in Book 1 and Aerin in Book 2, leave the core group.
• Taken for Granite: The Scepter turns people into glass. This is the fate of Kaya Duskraven.
• Tattooed Crook: A premium sidequest in Chapter 3 has Mal reveal a tattoo on the inside of his wrist, crossed daggers in a crimson diamond framed by six blood drops. This marks him as a Whitetower Reaper.
• Throne Room Throwdown: The final fight of Book 1 takes place in the throne room of the Shadow Court Fortress.
• Treasure Room: The temple outside of Riverbend has a huge pile of gold and treasures donated by ancient worshipers.
• Victory Through Intimidation: One of the skills available in Book 2 is "intimidate", and it allows Raine to perform this trope, such as them staring down a creature during a fight in Chapter 4 and causing it to stop in its tracks.
• Video Game Caring Potential: In Book 2, Raine can earn friendship points with Aerin by being nice to him in spite of his actions in Book 1. When he leaves the group at the end of Chapter 8, he leaves Raine a letter thanking Raine for their kindness and promising to always be there for them if he has enough friendship points. If not, Aerin will straight-up leave unannounced, and it's implied that he's not coming back.
• Wham Episode:
  • Book 1, Chapter 14. Aerin turns out to not only be corrupted by the Shadow Court, but also responsible for spreading corruption to others. He stabs his older brother Baldur to death and then kidnaps Nia as part of a scheme to help the Dreadlord return.
  • Book 2, Chapter 15 is an even bigger one, probably approaching Drama Bomb levels. The Watcher is revealed to be the creation of the Old Gods, then he gets killed by the Ash Empress, who is revealed in the final lore tablet to be one of those Old Gods who rebelled against the others, and the party finds Imtura's mom dead at the end of the chapter. The last lore tablet also reveals that the Light and Shadow Realms used to be one, but the Old Gods split them to fulfill their selfish desire to live forever.
• Wham Line: Kade drops one at the end of Book 2, Chapter 1, after Raine escapes the Shadow Realm.
  Kade: Raine... you've been gone for a year!
• What Were You Thinking?: Raine and Tyril ask Mal this in Book 2, Chapter 10 after he brings the ceiling of the dwarven crypts down on everyone's heads to get rid of their enemies, injuring Nia in the process (and nearly getting everyone else injured as well).
• The Worf Effect: In Book 1, Chapter 14, Shadow!Aerin is powerful enough to easily dispatch the heroes (who have been able to defeat just about every enemy with relative ease up to this point) and effortlessly kidnap Nia. In fact, he's the first character who can shrug off attacks that can only be used with elite skills.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: In the finale of Book 2, if Raine makes too many wrong choices during the Final Battle, they will suffer an injury at the hands of the Ash Empress. The message that pops up afterwards reads "You've taken a permanent injury!", meaning that, unlike previous potential injuries, this one can't be remedied with a healing item.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside:
  • When the party returns from the Shadow Realm in Chapter 16, they find they've been gone for two weeks.
  • The start of Book 2 has Raine wake up in the Shadow Realm after a Dream Sequence, only to find that they've been captured by a new villain. When they utilize their Realmwalker skill and escape the Shadow Realm at the end of the chapter, they find out that they've been gone a whole year. Chapter 2 subverts this when it is revealed that this is caused by Valax's experiments.