History Literature / TheObsidianTrilogy

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Anigrel, but only in a specific way. He was a perfectly capable and devious spy and saboteur for the Endarkened, but he simply failed to see it coming when [[spoiler:the Endarkened Queen eats him]]. See also WhatAnIdiot.

* DeadlyUpgrade: Having been banished and cut off from the mana reserves of Armethalieh, [[spoiler: Cilarnen Volpiril (re)discovered a means of tapping the Great Elementals to fuel his High Magick. With care, luck, and far more training than he dare allow himself he may have lasted seven years without dying or burning his magegift out completely]].

* AllergicToEvil: Vestakia started suffering from this [[PubertySuperpower at puberty]], and she rapidly learned to use the discomfort as a warning[=/=]tracking tool. Unicorns have a less directional version of this, uncomfortable in the presence of 'taint' but without her ability to pinpoint it.

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The Endarkened are {{Big Red Devil}}s - Greater Endarkened are winged, Lesser Endarkened have hooved feet, both have red or black scales or skin, HornsOfVillainy, claws, barbed tails, a very classic demon look. They can appear in other guises, are always powerful mages using BloodMagic, tend to be [[HornyDevils uncomfortably horny]], worship their creator [[GodOfEvil He Who Is]], and live in a place that's not quite of the same world as most of the story. There is a line that after the Elves heard humans call them 'Demons' and explained what they meant, the Elves agreed that it fit, even if the Endarkened aren't truly and exactly that. The Endarkened are burned by contact with unicorn hair and killed by the touch of a living unicorn's horn.

* ForgottenFallenFriend: The author Perulan, who Kellen befriended while on an errand from the Wild Magic, helps foment his discontent with the City and to have serious problems with the High Mages, as well as to start thinking about the world beyond Armethalieh. Lycaelon then has him murdered. Kellen barely thinks about him in passing after he's exiled, never so much as wondering what he would have thought about the outside world.

** If you happen to meet a dragon you are destined to bond with (or something along those lines), you can become a Dragon Mage. Dragon Magic is part Inherent Gift, but mostly Force Magic.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: In the first two books POV sections of Queen Savilla, and most of Zyperis, mostly entail lounging around in the World Without Sun, scrying on and discussing plans for their proxies to move against the Children of the Light, and gloating while being generally depraved and tormenting captives and disfavored members of their court.

* AnyoneCanDie: Of the key cast listed above [[spoiler: only Idalia dies and it's as a willing HeroicSacrifice late in the third book. But there are LoadsAndLoads of [[RedShirt supporting characters]] in the various armies, some of them [[MauveShirt more distinguished and personable than others]], and none of them are safe.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: ''The Outstretched Shadow'' has the fewest, limited because only a few characters in Armethalieh are important and Kellen spends much of the book with Idalia at her wild home and encounters only a handful of named characters in Merryvale or even the Elf capital of Sentarshadeen, then only one new one when he leaves it. The other two books, with their much stronger focus on armies and more POV sections from other characters, have ''many'' more.

* SpotOfTea: Elves, High Mages, and Lost Lands Wildmages all quite like tea, though the ''kind'' of tea preferred is hotly contested. Most elven teas are herbal and served at every occasion, especially in the army; talk of every aspect of tea is a mandatory part of conversation with them. Cilarnen detests the elven blends and declares that they taste of 'boiled grass' but is able to bond with some Elves by disparaging the tea the Lost Landers drink, which involves goat butter.

** The selfish and xenophobic Armethalians occupy the middle ground. Both sides want them as allies/pawns.
* BlessedWithSuck: Unicorns have trouble with the proximity of people who are not chaste, celibate virgins - meaning their companions must be not just virgins, but unmarried virgins without romantic or lustful thoughts. Just how much trouble depends on the scene. Shalkan is able to accustom himself to stay only a few feet from Idalia, and a small herd with a broken-legged colt was able to approach her for healing as long as she didn't touch the colt. It's inconsistent later - in ''To Light A Candle'' unicorns struggle to fight non-virginal enemies and can only be healed by virgins. In the third book they have no problem at all fighting Demons, who're as debauched as they come.
** Vestakia's DetectEvil ability manifests as a feeling of nausea and sickness that's often painful and debilitating. She learns to push through it and remain functional, but sometimes vomits or passes out.
* BloodMagic: The Endarkened draw their power from pain and death and so engage in torture and murder for fun and to build up their magical reserves. Anigrel contacts Savilla by killing something and filling a bowl with its blood, which she appears in.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Cilarnen is (initially) a bigoted, spoiled brat, only barely managing to be polite to the centaurs who take him in. After a few [[CallARabbitASmeerp moonturns]] their kindness wears him down, but it takes a demon attack for him to realize these are his friends and he cares about them. Cilarnen struggles more working with the Elves and Wildmages but does so out of his love for his city. He eventually completely loses {{Jerkass}} status by overcoming his prejudiced upbringing, learning to see the 'Lesser Races' as valuable equals and even admitting that Kellen has become his best friend.

* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Centaurs are the first of the nonhuman heroic races to appear and are very similar to the rustic humans they often harmoniously share farming villages and small towns with. Households that have both humans and Centaurs have high tables for the Centaurs to eat at and put the humans on extra-tall stools. Centaurs keep horses to pull ploughs and carry heavy burdens and are often talented weaves and woodcarvers. Some have skill in archery but battlewise more focus is placed on swordsmanship, though only their men fight. They have no inherent magic of their own, but there's a single Centaur Wildmage who can't really cast spells but has "Knowings" and "Tasks". None depicted are evil or even worse than a minor bully who mends his ways when taught a lesson. Some are flirtatious towards human allies in a teasing, consensual way.

** Different Elf cities also have markedly different cultures. Ysterialpoerin is so grandly, extravagantly formal that other Elves can struggle talking to them, and the workarounds Kellen's picked up to be able to ask questions without ''asking questions'' are still too abrupt and rude for them.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: These could be counted as orcs or as drow. They're called "Shadowed Elves", and are the barely-sapient descendants of Elven prisoners from the last war, mixed with Goblins and Lesser Endarkened. Physically weaker than their cousins, they're maggot-pale, dislike light, have bulging eyes, and their muzzles of needle-like teeth restrict them to their own language, which sounds like barking. [[spoiler:All of them were exterminated by the Elves and their allies, as part of the Endarkened EvilPlan.]]

* WorldHealingWave: Idalia's [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice which spoils Savilla's ritual to return the GodOfEvil to the world]] releases a great rush of power which kills many demons outright, weakens most of the rest, allows Kellen to [[spoiler:kill Prince Zyperis in one blow, restores Jermayan's power (allowing ''him'' to kill Savilla)]], refills the reserves of magic in Armethaliah, and, more slowly, heals the forest of the damage from the FinalBattle, causing new growth to sprout in the course of minutes to days.

* ForgottenFallenFriend: The author Perulan, who Kellen befriended while on an errand from the Wild Magic, helps foment his discontent with the City and to have serious problems with the High Mages, as well as to start thinking about the world beyond Armethalieh. Lycaelon then has him murdered. Kellen barely thinks about him in passing after he's exiled, never so much as wondering what he would have thought about things Kellen sees.