Literature / Unda Vosari

"... Not a pirate. A corsair."

Unda Vosari is a series of fantasy novels (most of which are in Development Hell) that started in 2010 with the release of Unda Vosari: Legends, by Brad Norsworthy. The (main) story (of the only released book) is about Captain Vincent Lorimar (and the crew of his ship, the Dark Vigil) trying to rescue his family, take down an evil baron and turn a profit in the process.

Several other novels have been in Development Hell since the first book was finished in 2007, and an Expanded Universe series of (ongoing) short stories has been available online since January of 2015 (known as Unda Vosari: Chronicles). Other Interquel novels have been planned as well.

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Trope examples include:

• Adaptation Distillation: Based off of a tabletop roleplaying game the author ran in 2006.
• All-Powerful Bystander: Played straight in the original game the novels were based on - the author has admitted "Random Pirate #12" was, more or less, an amused God who wanted to watch the events unfold.
• Anti-Hero: Almost the entire crew of the Dark Vigil are willing to do things most people would consider "evil" in order to achieve a greater good, not to mention the crew consists of pirates, thieves, traitors, vagabonds and exiles.
• Anyone Can Die: Two characters are Killed Off for Real and one is Put on a Bus. A very large number of deaths take place in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.
• Arc Number: Three, four, five and seven.
• Author Avatar: Jason Nazry in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.
• Beleaguered Assistant: Malim becomes this very quickly. Vincent has a heart-to-heart with him about staying the course.
• Cast Herd: The political characters and the "adventurers" split up towards the end of the first book so each group can do what they do best. The second book cements this. Unda Vosari: Chronicles also splits the characters up, and can be seen as part of the overall Cast Herd.
• The Captain: Vincent and "his" ship, the Dark Vigil.
• Cool Boat: The Dark Vigil and the Silent Vigil.
• Commuting on a Bus: Malim by the end of the first book.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Vincent shoots Hardestat in the face after being hit with a infectious zombifying spell.
  • Afterwards, Vincent tells the now-dead Hardestat, and other onlookers that "The moral of the story is to not shoot green shit at me."
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Played straight with Myranel but subverted with Linden.
• Evil Sorcerer: Dagriz.
• Facepalm: Almost everything Vincent does gives Dean a headache, even if he's nowhere around. Sometimes, what Vincent does invokes a What the Hell, Hero? moment

• Heel–Face Turn: Some members of the crew do this.
• Heroic BSoD: Vincent has a few of these. Malim has a hilarious one.
  Vincent: I wish people would just listen to me.
  Vincent (as himself): "Don’t sell my family!"
  Vincent (as Calavera): "Why not?"
  Vincent (as himself): "Because I will have to kill you."
  Vincent (as Calavera): "Oh, okay, I think I'll sell your family."
  Vincent (as himself): "Don’t invade the city!"
  Vincent (as Dagriz): "Why not?"
  Vincent (as himself): "'Cause we'll have to kill all the crews of whatever boats you send!"
  Vincent (as Dagriz): "Oh, okay, I think I'll invade the city."
  Vincent (as himself): "Don’t try to stop me from talking to the queen, who’s also my former crew member and apparently my ex-girlfriend."
  Vincent (as the Captain of the Guard): "Why not?"
  Vincent (as himself): "Because I’ll have to kill you and the army between you and I!"
  Vincent (as the Captain of the Guard): "Oh, I think I'll stop you."
• Kudzu Plot: And how. Issues of Unda Vosari chronicles introduce characters not seen for a few dozen issues later, and some of the dangling plot hooks and story threads from the beginning of the novel are brought back in entirely different story arcs to be resolved by characters in Unda Vosari: Chronicles that, at best, only had a cameo.
  • A rebellion in the Isles of Steam, alluded to in the epilogue of Unda Vosari: Legends, has a planned interquel novel.
  • Unda Vosari: Dark Corners makes it a point to tie up a few loose ends left over from Unda Vosari: Legends, although it raises a few more and sets a few stories up for Unda Vosari: Confrontations (the second novel).
  • Unda Vosari: Chronicles takes place both before, during and after Unda Vosari: Legends and the main four characters make an appearance in Dark Corners, alluding to an appearance in Unda Vosari: Confrontations.
• Long Bus Trip: Myranel.
• Lost in Translation: While Unda actually does mean "water" in Latin (along with wave, flood, billow and a dozen other words), Vosari doesn't actually exist in Latin and, to this day, the author has no idea where he got the word (although he insists it means something like island or land).
• Medieval European Fantasy: With pirates.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Some heroes are somewhat bad, some villains are somewhat good.
• MrFanservice: Vincent and Malim, possibly Lorimarko in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.
• Mysterious Past: All of the characters have secrets in their past they never talk about.
• Noodle Incident: Combined with a Shout-Out to Leeroy Jenkins.
  • Unda Vosari: Chronicles has a few of these, including one involving a bucket of elephant semen.
• Our Monsters Are Different: Played straight with minotaurs (usually a savage race, although mentioned in the prologue as one of the main intelligent races).
• Pirate Girl: Lyri.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Averted. There is one instance where the crew of the Dark Vigil raids a palace once in the beginning of the first novel, but they don't rape, pillage or plunder anything else at all.
• Privateer: The crew eventually becomes privateers.
• Put on a Bus: Myranel and Linden.
  • The Bus Came Back in Unda Vosari: Dark Corners.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Anything involving the Dark Vigil or the entire group of heroes in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.
• Sarcastic Confession: Provided by Vincent when chasing a ship down, although it was true. Can also be considered False Reassurance.
  Vincent Lorimar (via signal flags): I do not want to waste cannons on your enchanted ship of sinking and leaks.
  (The ship begins to flee.)
  Vincent Lorimar (via signal flags): Wait, we just want to kill your crew and steal your boat.
• Shout-Out: Plenty.
• Sky Pirate: Seen in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.

• Stealth Insult: Played with. Vincent manages to turn somebody calling him out into the butt of an insult the target wasn't expecting.
  Vincent (clearly intoxicated): "Them dwarven nutsucks won't let me drink to my friend." (To an elf) "You sweaty dwarves testicle!"
  Winged Elf: "Hey! Landworm! You wanna say that to my fist?" (Clenches fist)
  Vincent: "... Yeah." (Staggers over, bends over, points to fist) "You... are a sweaty... *hic* ... dwarven testicle." (Still bent over, points to the other fist) "And you must be the other one..." (Stands upright, arm still bent and finger still pointing) "I think that makes you the dick in the middle."
• The Stoic: Dean Angelo. Also plays the role of Hypercompetent Sidekick.
• A Storm Is Coming: Vincent and Malim discuss the weather.
  Vincent: "I fear no frightful squalls… They're not as frightening as they're supposed to be. Some of 'em are more cute then frightening. I call 'em squills."
  Malim: "If'n ye’ say so, sir. And do yonder clouds look like a squill, sir?"
  Vincent: "... No, actually, that looks like a big god damn storm."
• Talk Like a Pirate: Vincent's prone to do this for no apparent reason except the Rule of Cool.
• Talk to the Fist: Coulton gets away "saying" this to Michael.
  • "Don't I get a say in this?" The accompanying "no" is second to the fist saying "shut the hell up."
• The Magnificent Seven Samurai: Zigzagged in Unda Vosari: Chronicles. While there are seven main characters (Lorimarko, Coulton, Genaya, Natalia, Alucard, Michael and Murai), it's fairly obvious that some of the roles are blurred. A few characters have a clearly defined role (Coulton being the Big Guy and Lorimarko being the Hero are pretty obvious).
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Bane protecting the crew.
  Janimba: "You’re 'protecting' me by killing people who are cowering in fear?"
  Bane: (While cleaving his axe into a dead crewman at every word interval) "I," THUNK, "AM," THUNK, "KEEPING," THUNK, "YOU," THUNK, "SAFE."
• True Companions: Averted and justified at different times. The crew goes to great lengths to give Alasse a proper burial, but Linden and Myranel are abandoned.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Vincent is guilty of this several times, and receives a similar reply.
  • Bane plays this well when he slams his axe into a dead crewman at every interval. Janimba even calls him on it.
    "I," THUNK, "AM," THUNK, "KEEPING," THUNK, "YOU," THUNK, "SAFE."
• Whip Sword: Alucard's got one of these after the "Tools of the Trade" arc in Unda Vosari: Chronicles.
• Winged Humanoid: A whole race of 'em!
• World of Snark: Different people at different times play the role of the Deadpan Snarker but everyone takes a turn.

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