Line #57 Literature/Medallion


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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/medallion_cover_copy_1024.jpg]]
4	-> "''Sometimes all you can do is protect those you love. And sometimes you can't even do that.''"
5	-->-- '''Tamox'''
6
7	''Medallion'' is a work by Meredith Foster about coming-of-age, loyalty, trust, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a medallion.]] It can be downloaded free of charge [[http://www.lulu.com/shop/meredith-foster/medallion/ebook/product-21075111.html;jsessionid=0639E08943ECB53C4DE8BBB4784505BF here]].
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9	Set in an unnamed world, the story mostly takes place in an immense forest. Andreya Orifax, queen of the Ilviren people, is frustrated with her life and the responsibilities her position gives her; at the same time, her people are under threat of extinction from [[BigBad Kespa]], who killed the previous rulers and is ruling with an iron hand. Dreya doesn't want anything to do with heroism, though - all she wants is to be left to do as she wishes. But after she meets a unique individual named Tamox, she finds herself facing the maturity she never wanted to possess.
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11	The story has two halves, both of which can be enjoyed as a standalone work. One is the novella itself, the other is a series of vignettes and short stories featuring characters from the book and detailing events that happened before or during the story. Dreya, Anshi, and Saela's family feature prominently. The free download contains only the novella, but a deluxe edition of the ebook will contain both halves of the project.
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13	Not to be confused with the Creator/JackieChan movie ''Film/TheMedallion.''
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15	[[Characters/{{Medallion}} Characters are here.]]
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17	----
18	!!Tropes
19	* AllThereInTheManual: the in-progress premium edition of the novel contains illustrations, notes on character, and canonical tidbits not found in the story. Things mentioned include:
20	** The truth about various characters' sexualities
21	** The full account of the Battle of the Two Streams mentioned in chapter nine of ''Medallion'' proper
22	** How Anshi encountered the Xarn on her way back to Tralnrt from the above-mentioned battle
23	** An account of the Fall of Norigoth, detailing how Mayara, Darys, Melane, and Aora escaped from the city with the infant Dreya
24	** The events leading up to the capture of Saela's mother
25	** Kespa's journals on her various living experiments
26	* AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: The Medallion of the title. It's so awesome you don't even need to touch it to use it.
27	%%* AppealToForce: Kespa's preferred negotiation technique.
28	* AwesomeAnachronisticApparel:
29	** Justified to an extent. Xarn and Ilverin have their own fashions and preferences for clothing and color, so a few characters wear things that wouldn't be out of place in a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' episode despite their societies existing in a vaguely Middle Ages setting.
30	** Dreya's boots are rubber-soled, with a tread designed to resemble leaves. Also her "traveling dress" has a very modern-looking pleated skirt.
31	* BackstabBackfire: [[spoiler: Krysty]] attempts to kill both Tamox and Dreya and succeeds in wounding Cassy. That fails, so [[spoiler: she]] attempts to send them to Kespa via a complicated spell, but then [[spoiler: Dreya shoots her, preventing her from successfully completing her mission.]]
32	%%* BadassInDistress: Dreya, Anshi, and Tamox all have a turn at this role.
33	* BattleInTheRain: Averted. Even though Chapter Six contains both a fight with a serpentine monster and a downpour, the two do not occur simultaneously.
34	* BavarianFireDrill: Subverted. Dreya disguises herself as Kespa in order to escape from a dungeon, but when one of the Myrl questions her orders she decides it isn't worth it and just slaughters them.
35	* BigBadassBattleSequence: The able-bodied populations of two races fight against Kespa and her Myrl near the end of the book.
36	%%* TheBigDamnKiss: Between [[spoiler: Tamox and Saela]], before the battle gets worse.
37	%%* BigNo
38	%%* BioAugmentation: How Kespa gets her army and Tamox.
39	%%* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Dreya, Anshi, Kespa
40	%%* BoundAndGagged: The Myrl do this to Dreya when she's captured.
41	%%* BridalCarry [[spoiler: Dreya carrying Anshi's dead body]]
42	* BringNewsBack: Dreya must take a message to Sirold because the Xarn culture is such that only authority figures are trusted by the king.
43	%%* BrokenPedestal
44	* CallARabbitASmeerp: A [[LostInTranslation poor translation]] of Dreya's species name, Ilvir (plural Ilviren, adjective Ilverin) into Integra resulted in most other races calling them "elves".
45	%%* ChekhovsGun: the ''Prolythe''
46	%%* ChekhovsSkill: shows up when [[spoiler: Tamox teaches Saela how to fight.]]
47	* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Dreya's need to explore led to her capture and near-death. Tamox's need to explore revealed an illegal PortalPool that ultimately saves the day.
48	* DavidVersusGoliath: The final fight against Kespa, with Dreya struggling to survive.
49	%%* DespiteThePlan: Dreya manages to ensure escape from Kespa's castle.
50	* DreamingOfThingsToCome:
51	** Dreya inherited her mother's {{Seer\|s}} abilities, but only in a slightly dysfunctional way. She can't control them, and the one time she does dream of the future she has to struggle to figure it out.
52	** Mayara, as revealed in her short story, only dreams of the future. It nearly drives her mad before she discovers the ''Prolythe'' and uses it to rewatch her dreams while conscious.
53	%%* DressingAsTheEnemy and the villain herself, in order to escape.
54	%%* DuelToTheDeath: Attempted with [[spoiler: Krysty and Tamox]], played straight with [[spoiler: Krysty and Dreya]] and [[spoiler: Kespa and Anshi]].
55	%%* ErmineCapeEffect: played straight with the other courtiers. ''Especially'' Valeria.
56	%%* FightingYourFriend: Dreya vs. Tamox in chapter six. She wants to see what he can do.
57	* FinalBattle: The above-mentioned clash where all of the Xarn and Ilverin team up to fight Kespa's armies. Unique in that this is the literal final battle for them - they're expending all their energy and resources in one last stand.
58	* FindTheCure: Anshi searches for the antidote that could save Dreya
59	%%* ForgingScene: To an extent in Aora's armory.
60	%%* AFriendInNeed
61	* FriendshipMoment:
62	** Tamox risking his life to pull Dreya from the bog
63	** Dreya giving Tamox Anshi's knife
64	** The entirety of Tamox's plan to save Dreya during the last battle against Kespa could qualify.
65	* GreaterNeedThanMine: Anshi refuses to let Tamox see to her many injuries until he's rescued a poisoned Dreya and tried to heal her.
66	%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Dreya and Tamox, Dreya and Anshi, Melane and Mayara
67	* HonorBeforeReason: After the final battle, [[spoiler: as Dreya lay dying,]] Anshi decided to [[HeroicSacrifice do something incredibly foolish]].
68	* HypocriticalHeartwarming: At first, Dreya never misses a chance to call Tamox out on his flaws. But after he plays an instrumental role in saving her, she defends him against Keplan.
69	* ImpossibleTask
70	* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: Dreya's climactic duel with Kespa. She holds her own pretty successfully, at least until [[spoiler: she gets stabbed in the chest.]]
71	%%* IndyPloy: Tamox's scheme to save Dreya
72	* InstantWinCondition: whichever combatant comes out alive from the ''Ktaria'' has won victory for their whole army
73	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Dreya and Melane, Valeria and Aora
74	* InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality: Cassy's psi blasts. She can destroy anything not magically constructed, including people, if she's provoked enough, but she never uses it.
75	* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Dreya learns this when she realizes that no matter her bloodline or destiny, she's not immune to the people around her being hurt.
76	%%* ItWasAGift: Anshi's knife
77	%%* ItsPersonal
78	%%* KeystoneArmy: the Myrl forces
79	%%* LetsGetDangerous
80	* LongHairIsFeminine: Played with - nearly all the women of the story have long hair, with the exception of Aora, but only Valeria and Mayara could be classified as very feminine.
81	* LoveAtFirstPunch: WordOfGod says Mayara and Darys fell in love this way.
82	%%* LovelyAngels: Dreya and Anshi
83	%%* MindRape: What Kespa does to [[spoiler: Anshi and Cassy, respectively]].
84	%%* MindProbe: Not of the flashy variety, actually. Just Kespa playing with the Medallion.
85	* MisappliedPhlebotinum: Aora's explosives. She attempts to use them in construction.
86	* MyNaymeIs: Melane (pronounced "Melanie"), Krysty, Treyn (Train), Cassy
87	* NoOntologicalInertia:
88	** When Kespa dies, her fortress remains standing, and it stays that way. The Myrl, however, draw their life energy from the Medallion and are given life by Kespa; when she dies they cease to exist.
89	* OutOfCharacterMoment: Kespa's short story has her musing on [[spoiler: the death of Krysty]] and her estrangement from family, nearly venturing into JerkassWoobie territory.
90	%%* PleaseDontLeaveMe
91	%%* PowerGlows
92	%%* PietaPlagiarism: [[spoiler: Tamox holding Dreya, Dreya holding Anshi]]
93	* PortalPool: the ''Prolythe''. Though it also acts as a communicator and a surveillance device.
94	%%* ThePowerOfFriendship
95	%%* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: When it comes to Mayara's visions, at least.
96	%%* TheQuest
97	* RestrainingBolt: Exists in all of Cassy's species for unknown reasons. It takes [[spoiler: Kespa's MindRape]] for Cassy herself to [[TookALevelInBadass take a level.]]
98	* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Neither Anshi nor Mayara are as dead as Dreya thinks.]]
99	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: the entire Orifax family is the embodiment of this trope, not to mention Dreya's role drives the plot.
100	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Tamox's justification for going after Dreya during the final battle and convincing the others to tag along.
101	* ShoutOut:
102	** Anshi's mother Treyn is named after [[Manga/BlackCat Train Heartnet]].
103	** An exchange in chapter six lifts dialogue from Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing''.
104	** When Dreya stabs a Myrl to avoid its questions, she mutters "[[Franchise/StarWars Boring conversation anyway.]]"
105	** Dreya's last words to [[spoiler: Anshi]] reference a song called [[Series/DoctorWho "The Sound of Drums"]].
106	* SpaceWhaleAesop: The message is actually supposed to be "Don't let life stop you from living". Whether that's clear or not remains to be seen.
107	%%* SphereOfDestruction
108	* StraightForTheCommander:
109	** During the FinalBattle, both sides' goals revolve around killing the opposing leader.
110	** [[spoiler: Kespa ultimately uses the Medallion to teleport directly to Dreya's side and kidnap her for a forced single combat.]]
111	* StrangeSalute: The Quirlwing greeting is a long, slow nod with eyes closed.
112	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Anshi, during her captivity, is immobilized on a table via MindRape. Since Kespa is a CombatSadomasochist and NightmareFetishist, she keeps a lot of prisoners on tables.
113	%%* SuccessionCrisis: between Dreya and Valeria
114	%%* SuperiorSpecies: Tamox to the Xarn. Though [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass it's not obvious.]]
115	* TalkToTheFist: Dreya's conversation with Valeria upon her return to court ends this way.
116	* TimeSkip: [[spoiler: Krysty's death]] interrupts a spell in progress, sending Dreya and Tamox two years into the future.
117	* TimeTravel: Used inadvertently because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Dreya shot the person casting the spell.]] Going two years into the future? Fun...
118	* TranslationConvention: The characters speak Integra for the most part, a blend of the native Xarn language and Ilverin, Dreya's tongue. In fact, Integra is becoming the most common language, but the races still teach their native languages for posterity's sake
119	* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Justified, as the trees in Quirlwing territory have a spell on them that shortens travel time to about 1/10 of its normal length.
120	%%* TrueCompanions
121	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Tamox and Saela, in particular, show ambivalence toward killing any of the Myrl since they're technically innocent of the crimes they're committing. Dreya and the Ilverin are apathetic, since the Myrl aren't really "alive" in their opinion, and the rest of the Xarn aside from Saela see the Myrl as abominations and happily kill them.
122	** After [[spoiler: the capture of her mother]], Saela refuses to kill any Myrl out of respect and fear.
123	* WhileRomeBurns: Valeria, during her time as ruler, cared nothing for the war that was going on and chose to bask in the opulence of being queen, not even realizing that her people never won a single battle during her reign.
124	%%* YouAreNotAlone
125	%%* YouCantFightFate: Mayara's opinion of destiny.
126	* ZergRush: Kespa's Myrl aren't very skilled fighters, but the sheer numbers of their forces mean that they're a challenge to fight if you aren't careful.

Context Literature / Medallion