History DarthWiki / FindingAvalon

* NoPronunciationGuide: Being a visual and not audio medium, Savaan's first name appears as a male variant of Yvonne. It's averted by way of a small note on the same page as the first time Helemaiah addresses President Savaan by his first name.
--> "Pronounced Ya-von."

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Her profile states she's naturally dark-skinned and spending all that time in the Wastes just made her tan a bit more. An additional note states that dark skin and red hair are common to Arzonians.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Much like Alice since the traits are common to Arzonians, and they're the only two Arzonians in the cast.

* SimpleStaff: Rolf has a roughly hewn staff that he uses as a walking stick as well as a weapon. It also denotes that he has authority as a jail warden, as wood is rare in his village and only given to those in positions of power - the more elaborate the staff, the higher ranked the owner.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Riders are memory-wiped from the moment they're drafted, and must undergo regular mind wipes so as to not remember the atrocities of the fights they were in. Because it's a rather imperfect procedure that takes out unrelated memories, the relevant knowledge is then fed back into their brains via the neural braid, thus preserving the knowledge and skills they need to fight while preventing desertion - or at least an attempt to. In the timeline 'resocialisation'/'re-education' was in effect for the previous two years, but the increasingly unethical uses of it led to civilians being misled to believe that Riders were treated like royalty when the reality is different.

* TheMedic: Rolf's knowledge of natural medicines comes in handy quite often.

* CoolAirship: The airships are powered by Ryveni technology that is basically {{Magitek}} resembling Teslapunk, capable of carrying up to 200 people at a time. Eredan airships are a special mention, having had more research poured into them, and thus feature what is considered as cutting edge weaponry and engines for their time.

** The unnamed Ryveni ship used to chase after the Varsaraad. Designed as a three-dimensional structure of the Ryveni word for flight, it resembles artistically sculptured giant beams held together and powered by magitech. It makes the other airships look primitive, even moreso when a character reveals that it's a ''working prototype of a starship''.
* DareToBeBadass: He was probably daring himself to be badass, but Zach's response to Alice when she asks him why seems to be pretty much this.
--> "If I could do something about it, I would. Isn't that why you're doing it?"

--> '''Zach:''' ...did I just tell my own queen off?\\
'''Alice:''' Um. Yes. Yes you did.\\
'''Zach:''' How am I not dead yet?

* ArcSymbol: The Crest of Avalon shows up on the pillars of Ryven ruins ''everywhere''. Alice takes this as guidance towards Avalon itself.

* CoolAirship: The airships are powered by Ryven technology that is basically {{Magitek}} resembling Teslapunk, capable of carrying up to 200 people at a time. Eredan airships are a special mention, having had more research poured into them, and thus feature what is considered as cutting edge weaponry and engines for their time.

** The unnamed Ryven ship used to chase after the Varsaraad. Designed as a three-dimensional structure of the Ryven word for flight, it resembles artistically sculptured giant beams held together and powered by magitech. It makes the other airships look primitive, even moreso when a character reveals that it's a ''working prototype of a starship''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Ryven word used for the crest of Avalon means 'a grand lie', and is carefully foreshadowed by two pieces of information dispensed by the scientists. Firstly, any Ryven word that is written asymmetrically usually has a negative meaning. Secondly, the word is written all over Ryven ruins because the civilisation placed warnings on not being misled by hubris and schemes, including 'grand lies'.

* LowCultureHighTech: Rhan's using a revolver and most land transport is still cart and horse, when they have genetic engineering and airships. The reason for this is that their tech is developed in bits and pieces based on what they can translate and comprehend from ancient Ryven blueprints and documents, and thus it's all a strange mix.

** His reaction on seeing [[spoiler:the Ryven starship]] is another one.
--->"Holy ''shit.''"

* GadgeteerGenius: The escape shuttle built into the ''Tribute'' was specifically designed and constructed by her. She mentions picking up mechanical work after joining the Sky Rogues and finding she had a knack for it. She also takes to Ryven pilot controls easily, something even Prince Andrin is surprised about.

* HandicappedBadass: Wearing a prosthesis doesn't stop her from piloting all manner of airships and shuttles with Ryven technology, and gives her enough strength to deck a man much taller than her.

* TheSmartGuy: One of the primary researchers behind reverse-engineering Ryven genetic studies and later genetic engineering in and of itself, and later building an actual superweapon on his own. He also figures out Ryven pilot controls easily.

* TheSmartGuy: One of the primary researchers behind the study of Ryven linguistics, repurposing Ryven mechanical engineering into magitech, and eventually the brains behind reverse-engineering Ryven airship technology. It's implied that he had had enough knowledge to activate and decipher the instructions to pilot the unnamed Ryven airship before Rhan took him hostage.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite the general public's hatred of Riders, Savaan hears them out and heeds their warnings more willingly than anyone else would. He cares about the Riders' welfare, offering them therapy for post-war PTSD and choosing not to deport deserters because their countries would simply memory-wipe them again. When the Riders mention that they can't reach the ''Varsaraad'''s speed, he immediately authorises the use of a working prototype Ryven starship that Eredan was researching that can get them where they need to go.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: At the climax he acts as Jariina's navigator in the Ryven starship, even sharing a little knowledge he's managed to glean off the black market about Ryven technology. He comes up with using the starship as a shield due to its powerful energy force fields.

* MadeOfIron: ''The dragons''. They're bulletproof, fireproof, and knives do little against their scales. The Ryven Dominion got around these by chemically altering their fire and making their teeth out of a specific material that can pierce dragon hide, which means the literal weakness of a dragon is another dragon. As of Finding Avalon's time, the Sky Rogues have discovered that large caliber anti-artillery bullets have some effect, but it's still not as effective as another dragon.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Helemaiah's profile lists their gender as "They" and gender identity as... "They". Helemaiah themselves shows absolutely no typical traits associated with any gender, and any personality quirks they have such as being a NeatFreak ("Can you ease up on tidying my desk after every meeting?") can be attributed to both genders equally.

Three Riders who show up at the end of the story.

President Savaan's deeply loyal caretaker and right-hand person. Helemaiah is a former commanding officer who fought in the Dragon War, but was honorably discharged after the other nations withdrew their aid from stopping the War. They consider their service to the nation unfinished and thus continue to advise President Savaan on strategies of dealing with the Sky Rogues and the War.

** **The Cynic**: Alice. Six months of surviving in the Silent Wastes, hated by nearly everyone and barely tolerated by the rest, she's become jaded and bitter, wanting the best but expecting the worst. She doesn't blame others for disliking her; rather she readily accepts that even if she's not personally taken the lives of loved ones, she automatically accepts that she has enough blood on her hands that it counts.
** **The Optimist**: Rolf. Naive, kind and always looking for the best in people. He balances out Alice's cynicism, countering her self-blaming with hope and encouragement. He always looks to any horizon with enthusiasm, wanting to make the most of every new day despite his PTSD, and will try to get others to see things the same way in order to keep them going.
** **The Realist**: Jariina, as befitting her role as captain of the ''Tribute'', and then later the spokesman for the group itself. She's always level-headed and reasonable. Though she understands that the Riders accept being the black sheep of the world, she gives them credit where they're due and eventually is on board with them trying to do the right thing.
** **The Apathetic**: Zach. Distant, aloof, easily irritated and for most of the story doesn't involve himself in the goals of the other three - he doesn't even ''have'' goals, as Alice later finds out. He's suffering from depression due to the knowledge of the memory-wiping and the loss of his squads too heavy to bear, even after he vents at his Queen about it. Eventually however he chooses to overcome this to help Alice stop Rhan, and in the epilogue it's all but stated that he's getting better with the help of therapy and working with his new friends.

** Alice is Cynic.
** Rolf is Optimist.
** Jariina is Realist.
** Zach is Apathetic [[spoiler:for most of the story.]]

* PresidentPersonable: Genuinely polite, respectful and reasonable as a ruler of his country, which surprises the Riders since their own rulers are not exactly paragons of virtue. Friendly to his staff and all around him, including the Riders themselves.