History Literature / Deryni

* Grey Ghost Games published a TabletopRoleplayingGame called ''The Deryni Adventure Game'' using the ''UsefulNotes/{{FUDGE}}'' rules.

* BloodBrothers: Kelson and Dhugal. They retain slight scars on their palms from the blood exchange when they swore their oaths.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Plenty of room to play with this, especially given the medieval setting. Rhydon of Eastmarch has a sinister facial scar [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn acquired in a good cause]]. Duncan proves to have typical nobleman's training scars [[ShirtlessScene when he removes his shirt]] for [[OpenShirtTaunt a Healing demonstration]] in ''High Deryni'', and he acquires another one later from a cautery iron used to save his life. Kelson and Dhugal have faint scars on the palms of their hands from [[BloodBrothers swearing a blood oath as foster brothers]] when they were boys.

* AltarTheSpeed: Duncan [=McLain=] and Maryse [=MacArdry=] fell in love in April 1107 and planned to ask thier parents' permission to marry at the end of the summer. A [=McLain=] man killed Maryse's eldest brother, and the clan chiefs decided to separate their clans to avoid a full-on blood feud. The night before Caulay [=MacArdry=] was to leave Culdi, Duncan and Maryse secretly wed in the castle's chapel, then consummated their union in the stable loft.

** Late in ''Deryni Rising'', Kelson responds to Charissa's challenge of his right to rule Gwyenedd by offering this form of combat. (She brought armed troops into the cathredral where Kelson's coronation was underway.) His Champion, Duke Alaric Morgan, defeats hers, [[spoiler: the traitorous Lord Ian Howell]], but she and her wounded champion [[spoiler: contrive to injure Morgan afterwards]] and she issues a second direct challenge to Kelson.

* CorruptChurch: Played both ways. The ''Custodes Fidei'' commit murder, and are generally outside the law, while Archbishop Hubert gains that title by [[RegentForLife drugging his king]], tampering with the royal will, and conniving at other murders. Two centuries on, Archbishop Loris commits or commands abduction, torture, judical murder and treason. However, even during the eras in the series when Gwynedd's church is at its worst, there are priests who are wonderful human or Deryni beings and credits to their callings, and when the church is at its best, in ''Camber of Culdi'' and ''King Kelson's Bride,'' it is a powerful force for Good.

** Morgan again, late in ''Deryni Checkmate''. He's barely escaped from men who wanted to burn him at the stake, his people are in revolt against him, the ChurchMilitant has excommunicated him and his cousin (who's radiating his own misery over his threatened priestly vocation), his king and country are facing immenent invasion, his beloved sister Bronwyn and her fiancé have died from a badly set love charm. He withdraws to his mother's memorial chapel and overhears his bard weeping and composing a lament in honour of Bronwyn.

** After making herself and the rest of the cast throroughly miserable with her hatred and fear of Deryni and their magic and tormenting herself over her own Deryni heritage Jehana ''finally'' resolves her conflict and finds peace and a new love in ''King Kelson's Bride'' (see Barrett above)

* EnsembleCast: The stories involve royal courts, religous hierarchies, families and councils. The epic sweep demands a big cast.

* FantasticRacism: Prejudice against the Deryni because of fear of their magical powers. Kurtz has said that this was based on medieval anti-Judiasm, but many critics think that anti-Deryni prejudice is closer to homophobia because they are an invisible minority, indistinguishable from the rest of the population and present in all religions (including a few depicted as Muslims). Also, people can be Deryni without knowing it or using their powers.

** He first marries Sidana, daughter of the Mearan Pretender and a non-Deryni human, in an effort to resolve the conflict with the Mearan sepratists. The effort fails when [[spoiler: her brother kills her at the altar]].

** Kelson and Araxie aspire to this once they decide to marry, and they are determined to build on the friendship and affection that they had for each other as children. Their OfficialKiss is the first hint of their success, and the scene at their nuptual bed (which closes ''King Kelson's Bride'') also bodes well. The ''Codex Derynianus'' indicates that they have become the parents of twin daughters and a son after two years of marriage.

* TheHeretic: Heresy charges get thrown around a great deal throughout the novels. As part of the backlash against Deryni after the Festillic Interregnum, TheChurch taught that the powers were evil and [[BanOnMagic condemned the Deryni to civil liabilities (forbidding them to own land, for example) and ecclesiatical ones]] [[KillItWithFire (the death penalty for becoming a priest)]]. In this turbulent period, Camber of Culdi went from being acclaimed a saint to condemned as a heretic. While some of the civil disabilities were eventually reduced (those who inherited land/titles could do so at age 25 instead of at age 14, and they were required to pay heavy fines), using Deryni magic was still grounds for a heresy conviction.

** Kelson from injuries sustained in a fall from a cliff trail in ''The Quest for Saint Camber''. Dhugal, who fell with him and also sustained some damage, gives him medical care before they try to find their way back to civilzation, but Kelson isn't fully functional until [[spoiler: Dhugal successfully Heals his injuries]].

* KickTheDog: In ''The King's Deryni'', when Bishop Oliver de Nore sees young Alaric Morgan has been touching his horse (the boy calmed the animal for a short journey by sea), he orders the animal slaughtered and summons a butcher to see the deed done on the spot. The bishop arrogantly points out the horse is his property, suggests he's motivated by a desire to feed the poor, and refuses all offers to purchase the horse. While de Nore nurtures a particular grudge aginst Alaric due to the role the boy's mother played in the conviction and execution of his brother, he is also well-known for persecuting Deryni generally. His promotion to Archbishop of Valoret is looked upon with dread by Alaric and others.

* TheMedic: '''Lots''' of playing with this one. The Camber trilogy and the short stories "Catalyst" and "Healer's Song" cover a period when Healers were relatively numerous and had well-established training schools, complete with characteristic garb ("Healer's green" clothing) and schools with differing approaches to the Healing trance. Fast forward two hundred years, and the talent is so rare only four people are known to have it (as of ''King Kelson's Bride''), so all bets are off. Alaric Morgan rediscovers the talent first, and he's definitely a combatant. His cousin Duncan is a cleric, but he's also known to fight when circumstances demand it (first when atttacked, later to save Morgan's life after an ambush, later still as a combat leader commanded by his king in time of civil war). [[spoiler: His son]] Dhugal is also a combat leader, but he has more typical training as a battle medic, in part because his clan isn't very wealthy. Warin de Grey is also a combat leader, heading a rebellion against Morgan in particular, Deryni in general, and King Kelson by extension. It could also be argued that the novels are set in a feudal society which lacks modern population numbers and niceties like well-developed laws of war; certainly some things are beyond the pale, but fighters with medical skills is a comparatively minor detail.

* ProperlyParanoid: Morgan wears a stiletto up his sleeve and chain mail under his clothes, even at his own ducal state dinners (in his own castle!). He sometimes travels in disguise. He had "the cloak of his Deryni power surrounding him like an invisible mantle wherever he went." Yet [[spoiler: he is drugged, taken captive, and faced burning at the stake, only to be rescued by his cousin]].

* RoyalBrat: Conall, especially in ''The Histories of King Kelson''; ultimately degerates into an AntagonisticOffspring.

* TheyDo: A partial list: Evaine [=MacRorie=] and Rhys Thuryn, Alaric Morgan and Richenda Coris (née FitzEwan), Rory Haldane and Noelie Ramsay, Brecon Ramsay and Richelle Haldane, Kelson and Araxie Haldane.

* RapeDiscretionShot: In ''The King's Justice'', Princess Janniver's memory is read by Rothana, who [[ExpositionBeam shows it to Kelson]]. The text reflects Rothana's editing of the vision in its description of Janniver's emotional reaction, emotions an outraged Rothana passes unfiltered to Kelson. Thus, the readers get no explicit details of the act itself, yet there's no doubt what happened, or who did it [[spoiler: Caitrin's elder son Ithel]].

---> '''Liam:''' I don't want this. I never wanted it. But I've got it. And I know I'll have to wear it, and wear the responsibilities that go with it when—when I go home. I only wish..."
---> '''Kelson (''gently''):''' What is it you wish?
---> '''Liam (''shrugs''):''' It little matters. I have duties to my people, to my House—and to deny those would be to deny who I am, who I was meant to be—or, [[SpareToTheThrone who I became, once various relatives got themselves killed and pushed me that much closer the throne of Furstán]]."

* RejectionRitual: Several of the novels include excommunications. During the excommunication scene in the first trilogy, one candle doesn't go out when cast to the floor; it's revealed later on that one of the bishops has reasons to sympathize with Morgan and Duncan.

* Grey Ghost Games published a TabletopRoleplayingGame called ''The Deryni Adventure Game'' using the ''TabletopGame/{{FUDGE}}'' rules.

** Morgan is tried for treason and heresy early in ''Deryni Rising'', and Kelson gets to engage in CourtroomAntics to get him off the hook.

** Kelson's CourtroomAntics in the treason and heresy trial of Alaric Morgan in ''Deryni Rising'' are this to a fare-thee-well. He stalls for time by having the charges read in full, then asks for each member of the Regency Coucil to vote individually, then he casts Morgan's vote for him (causing a tie), since he's still a member of Council until he's convicted. Jehana objects, then casts a vote against him since Kelson is presiding in person. Once Kelson hears the clock chime the hour and knows he's turned fourteen, he asserts "I rule today!" and appoints Morgan's aide Sean Earl Derry to the vacant seat (one of the members was killed in an ambush days earlier); this forces a tie vote and Kelson breaks the tie, freeing Morgan and insisting that any resubmission of the charges will require further proof. Jehana is not happy to be defeated by a suddenly-grown son: "Kelson had stood before the Council and defied her—not with childish threats and impotent taunts, but with decisive, adult action...now that Kelson was King in fact as well as in name—a development she hadn't even considered before—how could she possibly lure him away from Morgan's evil influence?"

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Sometimes an ArrangedMarriage has [[UnfortunateImplications unhappy implications]]:

* SupernaturalElite: This appears frequently in the Deryni works, and for King Imre Festil and his supporters this has very UnfortunateImplications. King Kelson Haldane in particular holds that his arcane powers (which he distinguishes from those of Deryni in general) are a manifestation of divine favour, signifying his right to rule. He says as much during an archiepiscopal tribunal investigating Duncan [=McLain's=] marriage:

The Deryni (pronounced "dâr-'''IN'''-ee" The word is both singular and plural, both noun and adjective.) are all empathic, and mildly telepathic. Sufficiently powerful Deryni can perform full mind control, telekinesis, and some RitualMagic. They can't teleport freely, but they can construct portals, and teleport from a portal to any other they know well - a fairly unusual restriction in fantasy. [[PowerAtAPrice Extensive and/or repeated use of the powers in a short timeframe is also physically exhausting.]] While the simpler psychic powers can be developed without special training, the ritual magic has to be formally taught. Since the Deryni have been persecuted for centuries, [[LostTechnology they've forgotten much about their powers]], particularly the ritual magic and Healing. Though the Deryni are treated by the characters as a separate race, patterns of inheritance suggest they're more like redheads, and there is intermarriage between Deryni and ordinary humans. Deryni have never been as numerous as the ordinary humans with which they live, and the persecution has further reduced their numbers.

A fantasy series, by Creator/KatherineKurtz, about medieval power politics in a world where there is a race of [[PsychicPowers psychic]] humans: [[WitchSpecies the Deryni]]. The first installment in the series was published in 1970, making it a relatively early example of modern fantasy, and one which is not modelled on Tolkien.

* WitchSpecies: Deryni are frequently referred to as a separate race of humans, [[FantasticRacism especially by their enemies]]. They are both male and female, and can and do interbreed with ordinary humans.

** Some members of the Camberian Council feel free to deride Morgan and Duncan for being [[MixedAncestry half-breeds]] (having one human and one Deryni parent) ''as if they could choose their parents''.

* MixedAncestry: Some characters have one Deryni and one ordinary human parent. The arcane abilities are a dominant trait, so having only one Deryni parent is enough to make an offspring Deryni, and the power isn't additive (in other words, having two Deryni parents doesn't make one more powerful). Sadly, this doesn't prevent HalfBreedDiscrimination.

* {{Tyrannicide}}: In novel ''Camber of Culdi'', [[spoiler:the ''coup d'etat'' against Kimg Imre Festil by Cinhil Haldane, aided by Camber [=MacRorie=] Earl of Culdi and his family, involves this. Imre is depicted mistreating ordinary humans (taking DisproportionateRetribution for the murder of a Deryni lord by taking fifty human hostages and executing them whe the killers don't come forward), and he's killed in an arcane duel by Cinhil. Camber and his family are motivated to find Cinhil and persuade the reluctant priest to take the throne because of Imre's tyranny]].

[[folder:Deryni Tropes A Through B]]

[[folder:Deryni Tropes C]]

[[folder:Deryni Tropes D]]

--> '''Eirian:''' Papa, have you come to play with me? I've missed you so!
--> '''Nigel (''indulgently''): ''' What, since breakfast?

--> ...That the good and gentle Brion should end this way was not fitting. Life had been too short; the good done well, but not enough done, for lack of time. Why? Why had it been necessary for him to end this way?
--> ''You were father and brother to me,'' Morgan thought dully. ''If only I had been at your side that day, I might have spared you this indignity, this useless gasping out of your life's breath! Now, with you gone...''

** In ''Deryni Checkmate'', Archbishop Loris asks Warin de Grey, "You would kill Morgan without chance to repent his sins?" Warin replies, "I doubt there is hope in the Hereafter for the likes of him, Excellency. [[{{Demonization}}The Deryni were the spawn of Satan from the Creation.]] I do not think salvation is within their grasp." Warin later tells Morgan much the same thing to his face, admitting that Morgan will be granted time to confess his sins before he is killed against Warin's "better judgement": "Personally, I feel that such is a waste of time for your kind; but Archbishop Loris disagrees."

** ColorCodedForYourConvenience: And how!
*** ColorCodedEyes: The Haldanes and Alaric Morgan have grey eyes, and all are dangerous and effective warriors. Morgan and Nigel Haldane in particular serve as {{Mentors}}, and Kelson begins to advise Dhugal later on. Morgan's eyes not only associate him with the royal house he serves, they also point to his innocence [[DarkIsEvil (wardrobe notwithstanding)]].
*** ColorCodedPatrician: Haldane rulers (Brion, Kelson, et.al.) wear [[RedIsHeroic red]]. Prince Nigel Haldane, Duke of Carthmoor (Brion's brother and Kelson's uncle) wears [[RedIsHeroic Haldane crimson]] when acting in an official Regent capacity, for other court functions he wears royal blue. (In a much earlier unpublished draft of ''Deryni Rising'', the Haldanes all wore blue.)
*** ColorCodedWizardry: Deryni with green or silver auras are able to Heal. The Haldanes have red auras. Since the society is feudal, Deryni nobility tend to have their aura colours included in their coats of arms (Haldane red, Morgan's Corwyn green).
*** IcyBlueEyes: The glares fanatic Archbishop Edmund Loris gives his enemies are at times described as "frigid".
*** InnocentBlueEyes: Sean Lord Derry, Morgan's aide-de-camp, is human, but Morgan introduces him to the use of magic as part of his reconnaissance missions. When Morgan teaches him Mind Speech, Derry's "blue eyes were wide, but trusting." When confronted by by a guardsman in ''Deryni Rising'' Duncan [=McLain=] staged dropping his tabernacle key and "turned innocent blue eyes on the man". Duncan is also a Deryni (and as such forbidden to be a priest), so cultivating this innocent look is important to his protective arsenal.
*** RedIsHeroic: The kings of the House of Haldane wear red (as do their liveried servants, pages, and squires), and the coat of arms features a golden lion on a red field.
** DressCodedForYourConvenience:
*** The general adherence to real-world counterparts in dress marks out the various factions and nations. From the Gwyneddian point of view, the Eastern styles of dress of the Torenthis clearly evoke exoticism and mystery. Women and Moorish officers veil their faces; the male Torenthi courtiers wear rich brocades trimmed with fur, flat-topped caps with jeweled pendants, and braided sidelocks. In the west, the lowlanders feel much the same about the borderers' tweeds, tartans, and border braids; Kelson played up this association by retaining border garb on his return to Rhemuth in ''The Quest for Saint Camber'', "letting the rough, slightly barbaric splendor of his mountain leathers and tweeds speak for the very uncivilized anger that still smoldered in his heart."
*** DarkIsNotEvil: Morgan again, though he plays up his fearsome reputation to some extent [[DarkIsEvil (in part by dressing in black)]] as [[ShroudedInMyth a means of protecting himself]].
*** ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Kelson's adoption of a border braid started as a one-time diplomatic gesture. He retained both the hairstyle and the propensity for diplomacy in his exercise of smart power as a mature king.
*** SymbolMotifClothing: Kelson has in his wardrobe a tunic of red covered with tiny golden Haldane lions. His coat of arms features a single golden lion on a red field.

[[folder:Deryni Tropes E]]

[[folder:Deryni Tropes F Through G]]

---> ''Are you who I think you are?'' Kelson dared to ask.\\

---> ...
---> ''I believe you are Saint Camber of Culdi, whom I sought on my quest. You—came to my aid.''\\

---> "But you—you can't just cut me down like a dog," Sicard said weakly.\\

-->[[BreakThemByTalking Kelson goes on to tell Sicard that his only other son is dead]], and when Sicard still refuses to surrender, Kelson puts an arrow through Sicard's eye.

[[folder:Deryni Tropes H]]

* HiddenBackupPrince: This trope is the [[{{Backstory}} backstory]] of "Daniel Draper": he was born Prince Aidan Augarin Ifor Haldane and survived the massacre of his parents and six siblings when Prince Festil Furstán conquered Gwynedd in the year 822. The toddler is quite literally found hiding during the killings and smuggled out of the palace in a load of laundry by a loyal servant. In the book ''Camber of Culdi'', an elderly Aidan is on his deathbed in 903 and reveals his identity to his Healer Rhys Lord Thuryn. He also [[ExpositionBeam "tells"]] Rhys of his son (who died in the Great Plague of 878) and his grandson Cinhil, who has lived as a cloistered priest for the past twenty-four years.

[[folder:Deryni Tropes I Through L]]

* IdenticalGrandson: Cinhil's close resemblance to a portrait of his great-grandfather King Ifor Haldane is used to get Cinhil (and others) to accept that he is the Haldane heir and must be King after Imre is overthrown.

[[folder:Deryni Tropes M Through O]]

[[folder:Deryni Tropes P Through R]]

--> '''Liam:''' I don't want this. I never wanted it. But I've got it. And I know I'll have to wear it, and wear the responsibilities that go with it when—when I go home. I only wish..."
--> '''Kelson (''gently''):''' What is it you wish?
--> '''Liam (''shrugs''):''' It little matters. I have duties to my people, to my House—and to deny those would be to deny who I am, who I was meant to be—or, [[SpareToTheThrone who I became, once various relatives got themselves killed and pushed me that much closer the throne of Furstán]]."

--> "Because you aren't a child any more, my prince," Morgan said a little sharply. "Because in three days' time, you'll be knighted. For those who never wear a crown, that's the official seal of manhood. It makes you fair game for those who might have spared you before because of your youth—especially as your talents become more widely known. When you go on progress, and especially when you meet the Torenthi legates in Cardosa, you'll be particularly at risk."

** [[MagicalGesture Magical Gestures]] can be as simple as snapping one's fingers to light a candle or torch. Other gestures facilitate the drawing of [[GeometricMagic geometric]] or esoteric figures as focal points for summoning divine/angelic beings.

[[folder:Deryni Tropes S]]

[[folder:Deryni Tropes T Through Z]]

* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: In ''Saint Camber'', Camber ends up not only attending his own funeral, but being one of the assisting celebrants at the funeral Mass. He later has to vote on his own sainthood.

* ChekhovsGunman: In what amounts to a cameo role, Bishop Henry Istelyn first appears as a previously-unnamed itinerant bishop who delivers a notice of excommunication to Kelson early in ''High Deryni''. In the sequel ''The Bishop's Heir'' (set two years later), the loyal Istelyn is elected to the episcopal See of Meara and his fate becomes a major part of the book's plot.

* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: In ''The King's Justice'', Judhael of Meara enters Kelson's presence barefoot and wearing a homespun robe to offer renewed fealty to Kelson as King and Prince of Meara. After Judhael's death sentence is pronounced, his aunt Caitrin asks that he be sent into custody with her, but her request is denied. Later, Kelson privately offers Judhael his life but Judhael declines the offer, citing the possibility of future Mearan separatists rallying around him to provoke yet another civil war.

* IdenticalGrandson: Cinhil's close resemblance to a portrait of his great-grandfather King Ifor Haldane is used to get Cinhil (and others) to accept that he is the Haldane heir and must be King when the coup succeeds.