History Literature / TheRiddleMasterTrilogy

The third novel, ''Harpist in the Wind'', was nominated for the UsefulNotes/HugoAward and the UsefulNotes/WorldFantasyAward, and the series remains one of [=McKillip=]'s most popular works. Several {{Omnibus}} editions have been produced under various names, including ''Riddle of Stars'', ''Quest of Riddlemasters'', and ''The Riddlemaster's Game''.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. [[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_riddle_master_of_hed.jpg]]

%% * AbusivePrecursors: [[spoiler: The Earth-Masters]].
%% * ActionGirl: Lyra of Herun, who is herself the leader of the Morgol's all-female guard.

%% * AmazonBrigade: The Morgol's guard.

%% * AnxietyDreams: Raederle has them before they learn who won the crown.
%% * {{Arcadia}}: The quietly bucolic island of Hed is a stark contrast to the more typical fantasy kingdoms wound on the mainland.
%% * [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Armor-Piercing Statement]]: [[spoiler: "They were promised a man of peace."]] Lampshaded by Morgon, who ruefully says that he thought [[spoiler:Deth]] was unarmed when words were always his most powerful weapon.

%% * BigGood: The High One. [[spoiler: That's the real one, mind, not Ghisteslwchlohm]]. It turns out that the whole plot was actually [[spoiler: him grooming Morgon to take his place]].
%% * BigBad: The shape-changers; the one impersonating [[spoiler: Eriel]] is heavily implied to be the mastermind.
%% ** BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm thinks he's got everything under control- and then he runs into the Earth-masters and ends up their mind-controlled puppet]].
%% ** BigBadEnsemble: For most of the trilogy, the shape-changers and Ghisteslwchlohm represent entirely separate threats, sometimes working at cross-purposes.
%% * BigNo: [[spoiler: Morgon's]] Great Shout at the end of the first book.

%% * CallToAgriculture: Morgon wants to be a peaceful farmer, not the ChosenOne.

%% * EngagementChallenge: Raederle has been offered by her father to the man who can defeat Peven in a riddle game. It's been considered unwinnable for centuries before Morgon comes along. (Needs more detail on what it involves)
%% ** Note that everybody who hears about the challenge, including Morgon, who won it, thinks it was an incredibly stupid move.
%% * EvilMentor: Ghisteslwchlohm's standard operating procedure. He does it repeatedly, once in the backstory [[spoiler:when he founded Lungold to control the other wizards, then destroyed it when they started to catch on]], once [[spoiler:in the modern day to Morgon, while posing as Ohm]], and once in a more overarching sense [[spoiler:by posing as the High One.]] (More detail on how he's an evil mentor is needed)
%% * EvilSorcerer: Ghisteslwchlohm

%% * FieryRedhead: Raederle and her brother Rood.
%% * {{Fingore}}: Deth is a foremost a harpist even after [[spoiler: his hands are destroyed as punishment by Ghisteslwchilohm]].
%% * FisherKing: The land-rulers are all benevolent examples. [[spoiler: the Earth-Masters less so]]
%% * ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler: Deth]], if not by [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]] then by his own conscience and because there's nothing he can do to [[spoiler: save Morgon, beyond harping]].
%% * FunctionalMagic: Inherent Gift is pretty common, particularly among land-rulers and their families; the whole world is filled with Wild Magic; Rule Magic has largely disappeared with the wizards [[spoiler: but returns with them]].

%% * GhostAmnesia: After winning their riddle game with his life, Morgon reminds Peven of the names of his children.
%% * GodGuise: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm impersonating the High One. He knows he's not the real deal, but as the most powerful being in the realm, he figures he can make a better go at it than anyone.]]
%% * GodWasMyCoPilot: [[spoiler:You know the one.]] (Reminder that you're writing examples for those who are unfamiliar with the series)
%% * GodhoodSeeker: [[spoiler:Ghisteslwchlohm's ultimate plan was to use Morgon to acquire the land-law of all the realm's kingdoms, becoming the High One in truth]].
%% * HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Raederle]]; her family's [[spoiler: Earth-master]] heritage is very pronounced in her.
%% * HaveYouSeenMyGod: The High One
%% * HiddenDepths: Several characters, including Morgon, the peaceful farmer-Prince of a remote island, who is the last one anyone (including himself) expects to get caught up in prophecies that will affect all the lands; Raederle, who has inherited more than she knows or wants to know from the mysterious shapeshifters beneath the sea; and the pig-woman of An who Raederle befriends.

%% * ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Morgon attempts to tell Raederle this. Fortunately for everyone, she convinces him otherwise.

%% * KillTheOnesYouLove: It's always been part of the plan that Morgon has to kill [[spoiler: Deth]].
%% * LanguageOfMagic: Magic is a unique hodgepodge of functional music, language, sympathetic geometry and elemental.
%% * LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:The High One is actually the last of the Earth-Masters, or at least the last one who wasn't bound in the ocean.]]

%% * MagicMusic: Very much so, the highest example being Morgon's harp, which he can barely play.

%% * MeaningfulName: Deth and Rood, who is willing to strip to make a point. Also Yrth [[spoiler: 'earth']] and Raederle [[spoiler: 'riddle', referring to her ancestry]].

%% * MusicalAssassin: A shapeshifter nearly suffocates Morgon with a song.
%% * MyMasterRightOrWrong: Played straight and subverted with [[spoiler: Deth, the High One's harpist]].

%% * NecessarilyEvil: [[spoiler: Deth, betraying Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm and then harping to him throughout his imprisonment]]. Justified by success, and [[spoiler: largely forgiven by Morgon himself]].

%% * NothingIsScarier: A riddle about a Prince of Hed who was pursued into his home by a monster and when he finally opened the door nothing was there.
%% * OffingTheOffspring: The [[spoiler: shape-changers's]] children.

%% * OmniscientMoralityLicense: [[spoiler: Deth]] only does what he must and he's willing to take any punishment for doing what's necessary.

%% * RageAgainstTheMentor: amongst others:
%% -->[[spoiler: Morgon: "I could have broken your harp strings with a thought."]]
%% -->[[spoiler:Deth: "You did. Several times"]]
%% * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The wizards, shape-changers, and a few of the land-rulers live an indefinitely long time.

%% * ReluctantWarrior: Morgon, once circumstances force him out of being an ActualPacifist
%% * ResignedToTheCall: It takes a few near-death experiences for Morgon to even consider going to the High One and asking ''him'' to figure things out.
%% * [[LeftJustifiedFantasyMap Right Justified Fantasy Map]]: It seems that human colonization of the High One's realm came from over the Eastern sea, and never extended into the harsh Bad Lands further West.

%% * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Due to the small size of their kingdoms and each land-ruler's psychic connection to his or her own land.

%% * SacredHospitality: Har once cursed a man for failure to extend hospitality.
%% * SealedEvilInACan: The shape-changers. Sealed Amorality In A Can?

%% * SoundtrackDissonance: Because it's all he can do, [[spoiler: Deth plays Morgon his harp while Morgon's being [[MindRape mind raped]]]].
%% * SpellBook: Of the most obscure and impractical kind. Opening them is the first challenge.

%% * StandardRoyalCourt: Inverted, subverted and every other verted. Only An, Ymris and Herun have anything resembling such. Morgon's 'court' includes his pig keeper and is basically just a large farm household.

%% * SupernaturalGoldEyes: All the Morgols of Herun have them; it's a side-effect of the power that lets them see through solid objects.

%% * WizardingSchool: Lungold had one [[spoiler:before Ghisteslwchlohm destroyed it.]] In the modern day, there's Caithnard, the school of riddle-masters, which evokes the tropes of one; but it's unclear if it teaches actual magic.

%% * WordsCanBreakMyBones: "The Great Shout" is a variation on this - psychic shouting that can do a remarkable amount of damage.
%% ** Or harvest quite a lot of tree nuts.

%% * VoluntaryShapeshifting: The shape-changers themselves and anyone with enough natural talent and willpower.

%% * ElementsOfNature: Earth, Fire, Water and Wind.

[[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_riddle_master_of_hed.jpg]]

* AbusivePrecursors: [[spoiler: The Earth-Masters]].
* ActionGirl: Lyra of Herun, who is herself the leader of the Morgol's all-female guard.
* ActualPacifist: Morgon [[spoiler:until he is betrayed. He is brought back to himself brutally and then broken in half all over again out of necessity.]]

* AfterActionHealingDrama: When Morgon is wounded on the plain.
* AfterActionPatchup: When Astrin is attacked on the plain.
* TheAloner: Astrin, Deth, Morgon and Har.
* AmazonBrigade: The Morgol's guard.
* AmplifierArtifact: The twelve-sided crystal Raederle finds that more than does the job for a simple reflection spell.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Deth]] to Morgon. (Unusually for this trope, a familial rather than romantic love.)
* AnxietyDreams: Raederle has them before they learn who won the crown.
* {{Arcadia}}: The quietly bucolic island of Hed is a stark contrast to the more typical fantasy kingdoms wound on the mainland.
* [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Armor-Piercing Statement]]: [[spoiler: "They were promised a man of peace."]] Lampshaded by Morgon, who ruefully says that he thought [[spoiler:Deth]] was unarmed when words were always his most powerful weapon.
* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Deth]].
* BigGood: The High One. [[spoiler: That's the real one, mind, not Ghisteslwchlohm]]. It turns out that the whole plot was actually [[spoiler: him grooming Morgon to take his place]].
* BigBad: The shape-changers; the one impersonating [[spoiler: Eriel]] is heavily implied to be the mastermind.
** BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm thinks he's got everything under control- and then he runs into the Earth-masters and ends up their mind-controlled puppet]].
** BigBadEnsemble: For most of the trilogy, the shape-changers and Ghisteslwchlohm represent entirely separate threats, sometimes working at cross-purposes.
* BigNo: [[spoiler: Morgon's]] Great Shout at the end of the first book.
* BlowYouAway: Learning to harness the winds is Morgon's trump card.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: played very effectively by [[spoiler: Deth to Morgon, particularly at Erlenstar Mountain]], though not in a romantic sense.
* BrokenPedestal: Master Ohm/Ghisteslwchlohm and [[spoiler: Deth, for most of the last two books until the whole scope of his plan is revealed]].
* CallToAgriculture: Morgon wants to be a peaceful farmer, not the ChosenOne.
* TheChessmaster: Ghisteslwchlohm is good. The shape-changers are better. [[spoiler: The true High One tops them all]].
* TheChosenOne: Morgon.
* DeadpanSnarker: Deth.
* DeadpersonImpersonation: Multiple times throughout the series.

* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]] ends up forced to play this role to [[spoiler: "Eriel" and the Earth-masters]].
* TheDrifter: Deth
* DysfunctionalFamily: Morgon's family - Morgon, Eliard and Tristan - and Raederle's - currently Mathom, Raederle, Duac and Rood.
** And let's not forget the ruling family of Ymris - Astrin, Heureu, and [[spoiler: Heureu's shape-changer wife]] Eriel.
** The remaining ruling families seem surprisingly well-adjusted, for people who can [[spoiler: live a thousand years, see through walls and turn themselves into trees.]]
* ElementalPowers: Hereditary in humans and highly developed in the Shape-changers. Magic doesn't seem to be limited to one particular element, but some characters specialize.
* ElementalShapeshifter: The Earth-Masters [[spoiler:and Morgon.]]
* ElementsOfNature: Earth, Fire, Water and Wind.
* EngagementChallenge: Raederle has been offered by her father to the man who can defeat Peven in a riddle game. It's been considered unwinnable for centuries before Morgon comes along.
** Note that everybody who hears about the challenge, including Morgon, who won it, thinks it was an incredibly stupid move.
* EvilMentor: Ghisteslwchlohm's standard operating procedure. He does it repeatedly, once in the backstory [[spoiler:when he founded Lungold to control the other wizards, then destroyed it when they started to catch on]], once [[spoiler:in the modern day to Morgon, while posing as Ohm]], and once in a more overarching sense [[spoiler:by posing as the High One.]]
* EvilSorcerer: Ghisteslwchlohm
* {{Expy}}: The author is an explicit fan of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', and while this series is considerably different as a whole, there is one example of this- Ghisteslwchlohm bears a striking resemblance in many respects to Saruman.
** The author is on record that one of the direct inspirations for the series is the "Paths of the Dead" sequence from Return of the King, which influence can be seen in the binding of the dead kings of An in the third book.
* FakeKing: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]].
* FallenHero: [[spoiler: Morgon in the second book]].
* FearlessFool: Morgon thinks he may be this.
* FieryRedhead: Raederle and her brother Rood.
* {{Fingore}}: Deth is a foremost a harpist even after [[spoiler: his hands are destroyed as punishment by Ghisteslwchilohm]].
* FisherKing: The land-rulers are all benevolent examples. [[spoiler: the Earth-Masters less so]]
* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler: Deth]], if not by [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm]] then by his own conscience and because there's nothing he can do to [[spoiler: save Morgon, beyond harping]].
* FunctionalMagic: Inherent Gift is pretty common, particularly among land-rulers and their families; the whole world is filled with Wild Magic; Rule Magic has largely disappeared with the wizards [[spoiler: but returns with them]].

* GeometricMagic: Dodecahedrons.
* GhostAmnesia: After winning their riddle game with his life, Morgon reminds Peven of the names of his children.
* GodGuise: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm impersonating the High One. He knows he's not the real deal, but as the most powerful being in the realm, he figures he can make a better go at it than anyone.]]
%%* GodWasMyCoPilot: [[spoiler:You know the one.]]
* GodhoodSeeker: [[spoiler:Ghisteslwchlohm's ultimate plan was to use Morgon to acquire the land-law of all the realm's kingdoms, becoming the High One in truth]].
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Raederle]]; her family's [[spoiler: Earth-master]] heritage is very pronounced in her.
* HaveYouSeenMyGod: The High One
* HiddenDepths: Several characters, including Morgon, the peaceful farmer-Prince of a remote island, who is the last one anyone (including himself) expects to get caught up in prophecies that will affect all the lands; Raederle, who has inherited more than she knows or wants to know from the mysterious shapeshifters beneath the sea; and the pig-woman of An who Raederle befriends.
* HighFantasy

* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Morgon attempts to tell Raederle this. Fortunately for everyone, she convinces him otherwise.
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Morgon, full-stop
* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: [[spoiler: Morgon]] has a literal SwordOverHead scene with [[spoiler: Deth]] at the end of ''Heir of Sea and Fire.''
* KillTheOnesYouLove: It's always been part of the plan that Morgon has to kill [[spoiler: Deth]].
* LanguageOfMagic: Magic is a unique hodgepodge of functional music, language, sympathetic geometry and elemental.
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:The High One is actually the last of the Earth-Masters, or at least the last one who wasn't bound in the ocean.]]
* MagicalLand
* MagicMusic: Very much so, the highest example being Morgon's harp, which he can barely play.

* MeaningfulName: Deth and Rood, who is willing to strip to make a point. Also Yrth [[spoiler: 'earth']] and Raederle [[spoiler: 'riddle', referring to her ancestry]].
* MilkyWhiteEyes: Astrin
* MindRape: For a long time this is [[spoiler: Morgon]]'s life under [[spoiler: Erlenstar Mountain]].
* ModestRoyalty: Many of them, but especially Morgon.

* MusicalAssassin: A shapeshifter nearly suffocates Morgon with a song.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Played straight and subverted with [[spoiler: Deth, the High One's harpist]].
* {{Mythopoeia}}
* NatureSpirit: The shape-changers.
* NecessarilyEvil: [[spoiler: Deth, betraying Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm and then harping to him throughout his imprisonment]]. Justified by success, and [[spoiler: largely forgiven by Morgon himself]].
* NobleFugitive: [[spoiler: The High One]] is nearly murdered by his heir.
* NothingIsScarier: A riddle about a Prince of Hed who was pursued into his home by a monster and when he finally opened the door nothing was there.
* OffingTheOffspring: The [[spoiler: shape-changers's]] children.

* OmniscientMoralityLicense: [[spoiler: Deth]] only does what he must and he's willing to take any punishment for doing what's necessary.
* OnlyOneName
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The numerous wraiths in An, most obviously.

* PhysicalGod: The High One and the Earth-masters.
* PrincessesRule: Hed, being the humble place it is, is ruled by a prince.

* PursuedProtagonist: Deth and Morgon.
* RageAgainstTheMentor: amongst others:
-->[[spoiler: Morgon: "I could have broken your harp strings with a thought."]]
-->[[spoiler:Deth: "You did. Several times"]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The wizards, shape-changers, and a few of the land-rulers live an indefinitely long time.
* RebelliousPrincess: Raederle of An, Tristan of Hed and Lyra of Herun.
* ReluctantWarrior: Morgon, once circumstances force him out of being an ActualPacifist
* ResignedToTheCall: It takes a few near-death experiences for Morgon to even consider going to the High One and asking ''him'' to figure things out.
* [[LeftJustifiedFantasyMap Right Justified Fantasy Map]]: It seems that human colonization of the High One's realm came from over the Eastern sea, and never extended into the harsh Bad Lands further West.
* RoyalBlood
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Due to the small size of their kingdoms and each land-ruler's psychic connection to his or her own land.
* TheQuietOne: Deth.
* SacredHospitality: Har once cursed a man for failure to extend hospitality.
* SealedEvilInACan: The shape-changers. Sealed Amorality In A Can?
* ShootTheDog: So many times.
* SilentScapegoat: [[spoiler: Deth]].
* SoundtrackDissonance: Because it's all he can do, [[spoiler: Deth plays Morgon his harp while Morgon's being [[MindRape mind raped]]]].
* SpellBook: Of the most obscure and impractical kind. Opening them is the first challenge.

* StandardRoyalCourt: Inverted, subverted and every other verted. Only An, Ymris and Herun have anything resembling such. Morgon's 'court' includes his pig keeper and is basically just a large farm household.
* SternChase: [[spoiler: Morgon and Deth in the final book]]
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: All the Morgols of Herun have them; it's a side-effect of the power that lets them see through solid objects.
* SympatheticMagic
* TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Deth]] to Morgon
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: The High One]].
* ThousandYearReign: The High One's succession.
* TreacherousAdvisor: Sort of. Played straight and then subverted.
* UnexpectedSuccessor: [[spoiler: "I realised that the last thing I had been expecting after all those endless, lonely centuries was someone I might love..."]]

* WizardingSchool: Lungold had one [[spoiler:before Ghisteslwchlohm destroyed it.]] In the modern day, there's Caithnard, the school of riddle-masters, which evokes the tropes of one; but it's unclear if it teaches actual magic.

* TheWisePrince: Deth and Morgon.
* WordsCanBreakMyBones: "The Great Shout" is a variation on this - psychic shouting that can do a remarkable amount of damage.
** Or harvest quite a lot of tree nuts.

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The shape-changers themselves and anyone with enough natural talent and willpower.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Morgon. Twice.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Averted, as there is a pronunciation guide in the back of each book (at least in the original printings), which is needed with names like Raederle, Ghisteslwchlohm, and many other people in Herun, who tend to go by nicknames to work around this.

* PunnyName: Deth. It's actually short for Tirunedeth, but he is fully cognizant of the pun's potential. [[spoiler: It has a second layer when you meet his son Tirnon, who reveals that his (Deth's) name was originally Tir]].

* GenocideFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Although the High Ones are technically not dead, the High One drove all the others into the sea and bound them forever. He is also, debatably, a rare heroic example, in that it appears he crushed the others and forced them into the sea when they started to destroy their own children and it became clear that their war was going to destroy everything if he didn't.]]

* BlowYouAway

* {{Arcadia}}: Hed.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: So many there's an index at the end of the book.

* BadDreams: Morgon dreams about Deth's harping.

* AGodAmI: [[spoiler: Ghisteslwchlohm impersonating the High One. He knows he's not the real deal, but as the most powerful being in the realm, he figures he can make a better go at it than anyone. His ultimate plan was to use Morgon to acquire the land-law of all the realm's kingdoms, becoming the High One in truth]].

* [[spoiler: GodWasMyCoPilot: You know the one.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Though the word "princess" is never actually used, Raederle, Lyra, and Tristan are all young women of royal extraction who happen to be main characters.

* HeroicAlbino: Astrin

* EyesOfGold: All the Morgols of Herun have them; it's a side-effect of the power that lets them see through solid objects.