It has been seven years since King Osbert Grent overthrew the Stanley dynasty, but rebellions against his rule have not stopped. With news of Henry Darro's rebellion, the king sets off on what may be his final campaign.
That's all DragonAtma needs to bring us a short story of warfare, victory, and death. You can read it here
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Since DragonAtma is a troper, we should add that Word of God — sorry, Word Of Dragon — is sourced by his edits on this very page.
Grent's Fall contains examples of:
- A Father to His Men: General Hicks blames himself for his army's downfall, and not his men. Unfortunately, he and virtually his entire wing are wiped out by the end of the section.
- Annoying Arrows: Averted, as they indirectly cause General Cromwell's death.
- Anyone Can Die: When the story is named Grent's Fall and the main character is King Osbert Grent, that should be expected.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Thoroughly averted; Duke Abel Marnhull, his son Christopher Marnhull, and Prince Osmond Grent are all reasonable people. Even King Osbert Grent mellows out once he's leading an army.
- Armor Is Useless: Averted, much to Abel Hopton's dismay.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Osbert Grent is only king because he overthrew the Stanley dynasty. It's also how he loses his crown.
- Attack Its Weak Point: This is what happens when the Halifax brothers skimp on neck armor.
- BFS: Turbert the Bladecleaver's sword definitely counts.
- Blade Spam: The lower end of blade spam, but the Bladecleaver managed to do this with a BFS.
- Centipede's Dilemma: Every time Abel Hopton overthinks, something goes wrong.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Lionel Ferrers is introduced early on, but is not referenced until late in the story, when he kills King Osbert's heir offscreen. The Bladecleaver is introduced around the same time, but doesn't make an appearance until he kills Duke Abel Marnhull.
- Choice of Two Weapons: Warren Stanley and his bodyguards use both a spear and a sword. Paul Knyvett uses both a bow and a pair of knives.
- Classical Hunter: Paul Knyvett, who reluctantly fights his foes with the same techniques he'd use for hunting.
- Cool Versus Awesome: As the two best warriors in the story, it was inevitable that Osbert Grent and the Bladecleaver would eventually battle.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Some battle sections are rather one-sided — but that's expected when elite troops slice through undertrained soldiers. On a local scale, some duels are just as one-sided, especially Duke Abel Marnhull vs the Bladecleaver and Warren Stanley vs King Osbert Grent.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: While King Osbert's army has higher quality troops, no victory is without casualties.
- Decapitated Army: Forces run off of their leader's charisma, might, and reputation, so they fall apart with the deaths of the Halifax brothers and King Osbert Grent.
- Decapitation Presentation: This is how a bodyguard shows off Reginald Halifax's death, shattering his army's morale.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Before King Osbert Grent duels with the Bladecleaver, both of them use their enemy's old name or title. They switch to the preferred names after King Osbert is fatally stabbed.
- Doomed by Canon: It's written elsewhere that Osbert Grent's "dynasty" lasts all of seven years. This story takes place seven years after Osbert Grent's reign started.
- Dual Wielding: King Osbert Grent himself wields two swords, as he is one of the few people who mastered the Whaddon Bypass.
- Dwindling Party: King Osbert Grent's army starts with himself, his third son, two advisors, his best friend, his best friend's son, and multiple high-ranked military leaders. By the end, most of them are dead. Similarly, multiple battles make it clear that both armies are suffering casualties.
- Fantastic Fighting Style: The Whaddon Bypass, which lets King Osbert Grent dual-wield two swords. It's downplayed somewhat, as even among skilled swordsmen only a small percentage could handle it; the rest would have to use a sword and a dagger.
- Fight Scene: Since it covers a medieval military campaign, fight scenes cover most of the story.
- Foregone Conclusion: When the story is named Grent's Fall and the main character is King Osbert Grent, you can guess how things will turn out.
- Four-Star Badass: Most of the leaders, but especially King Osbert Grent and the Bladecleaver.
- Frontline General: Given its medieval setting, it's no surprise this applies to leaders on both sides.
- Groin Attack: This is how the deadlock between Warren Stanley and General Leonard Gaunt ends.
- Handicapped Badass: Edwin One-Hand's left hand may be useless, but it doesn't interfere with his talent at sword-and-shield combat.
- Heroic Ambidexterity: According to
Word Of Dragon, the Whaddon Bypass requires this (one of the reasons it's so rare), as both swords would be used for both offense and defense. - Hopeless Boss Fight: A rare non-game example, as Osbert Grent is so talented he instantly slays Warren Stanley.
- Idiot Hair: Abel Hopton's stubborn cowlick.
- Inspired by…: Word Of Dragon says the story was (very loosely) influenced by China's Chu-Han Contention (206 BC - 202 BC)
- It's All My Fault: See A Father to His Men above.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Abel Hopton's commander.
- Killed Offscreen: With battles bouncing from one viewpoint to another, it's not surprising they don't cover all deaths.
- La Résistance: Or, given how many rebellions there were, Les Resistances.
- Large and in Charge: Duke Abel Marnhull was tall, but the Bladecleaver towered over him. Word Of Dragon says they were 6'0" and 6'9", respectively.
- Master Swordsman: Both King Osbert and the Bladecleaver. Naturally, they wind up dueling each other.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's never established whether Paul Knyvett's uncanny accuracy comes form spirits or form natural talent.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: If you're wielding a sword, you do NOT want to fight the Bladecleaver, as Duke Abel Marnhull found out the hard way.
- One-Hit Kill: Much like in real life, more than one viewpoint character took down a target in one hit.
- Only I Can Kill Him: Only the Bladecleaver and King Osbert have enough talent to defeat each other. Or fully distract each other.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted by Abel Hopton and Duke Abel Marnhull.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Multiple people on both sides, surprisingly enough.
- Red Baron: Turbert Stafford, better known as Turbert the Bladecleaver.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: While his army may have been scattered, the Bladecleaver survived unharmed.
- Rightful King Returns: As the nephew of the last Stanley king, Warren Stanley seeks to return his family to the throne (or at least high nobility) by helping Henry Darro. Unlike most examples, he fails.
- Rotating Protagonist: While noncombat councils are fairly static, war sections follow a different character every time.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: King Osbert Grent leads his army from the front. Nobles are not exempt, either; Duke Abel Marnhull and his son Christopher are among his top commanders.
- Straight for the Commander: An attempt to ease pressure on General Cromwell. Reginald Halifax is taken out, but by then it was too late. Also attempted by Warren Stanley. King Osbert kills him right away.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Ava Carleton disguised herself as a man to actively assist Henry Darro's rebellion, at least when others were around.
- The Usurper: The rebels' view of Osbert Grent; naturally, Osbert's faction accepts him as a valid king.
- Those Two Guys: The Halifax brothers are almost always mentioned as a pair, not singly. They even die in the same battle. In addition, Hereward Capell and Laurence Holles are Those Two Advisors until Laurence Holles dies.
- Warrior Prince: Osbert's goal for his sons, while Osbert himself is definitely a warrior king.
- We ARE Struggling Together: At least six different groups are or were rebelling against Osbert Grent. Henry Darro eventually merges most of the surviving ones together.
- Wham Line: When Osbert Grent learns that General Hicks's army — a quarter of the king's army — was almost completely wiped out.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: For both sides.
- White-and-Grey Morality: The story is more about differing opinions and poor rulership than flat-out villainy; no viewpoint characters are outright evil.
- Won the War, Lost the Peace: Osbert Grent may be great at combat and leading an army, but quite poor at ruling the kingdom.
- Worthy Opponent: How King Osbert Grent and the Bladecleaver feel after they duel.
- Wrecked Weapon: Not once but twice in the story: Abel Hopton's spear and Duke Abel Marnhull's sword.
- Wrong Assumption: Because Simon Lyle forged himself a suit of plate armor (solely for personal safety), Anthony Tyndale wrongly assumed that he was in charge.
- You Are in Command Now: Because Anyone Can Die, this is in full effect. By the end of the story, not only do Osbert and both of his wing leaders die, but after General Arthur Hicks's wing is virtually wiped out, low-level commander Edwin One-Hand is the wing's highest remaining leader.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Not surprisingly, Osbert Grent's supporters and Henry Darro's supporters have widely different views on the two leaders.
65 tropes were found, but that wasn't enough to prevent Grent's fall.
