History Literature / LoneWolf

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Not Lone Wolf himself, but the New Order Grand Master you control from book 21 onward.

** Evil has pretty bad effects on anyone who isn't a supernatural embodiment of it such as the Darklords, and Lone Wolf himself is particularly sensitive to it. The Doomstones for example are the Kryptonite to his Superman (the only reason Lone Wolf's able to get close enough to finish off the BigBad of book 15 is the Doomstone he's using is weakened from overuse at the time; earlier in the same book just being close to it knocks Lone Wolf out). When facing extremely powerful and evil entities like [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Deathlord Ixiataaga]], he needs the strongest psychic defense available just to ''survive'' this evil presence.

** Sometimes if you need to get through a door without the proper key or the telekinetic discipline that would let you jigger the lock you have the option of trying to pick it if you're carrying a dagger. While it does usually open the door, this also snaps the blade and makes it useless.

** Despite the Kai being [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie psychic ranger wizard monks]], one of the most useful disciplines is weaponskill and its upgrades. Adding 2–5 to your Combat Skill as long as you possess one of a growing list of weapons really helps cut down on combat injuries, especially in books where boss fights are common. Unlike advanced psychic attacks, this does not cost Endurance to use, and no creatures happen to be immune to it. Only in the occasional NoGearLevel can this become limited, and even then you're pretty safe as long as you have sword mastery as all you'll need to do is defeat a guard and take his.

** There are a string of these, most prominently in the last few books of the third series where they get into the high end of the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil and Lone Wolf has to fight some extremely powerful demonic bad guy or other that he could only believably beat with a potent magical weapon. There's the Dagger of Vashna, Helshezag, the Power Spike in book 17, as well as Skarn-Ska in book 20.
** After attaining Supreme Mastery, Lone Wolf learns how to make these himself and the new PC can choose from a list of ten of them, which by default are as powerful as Skarn-Ska or a Darklord blade, but get a bonus in certain circumstances that's even higher. Some of these bonuses can equal or even top the Sommerswerd's. This seems to have been done partly to make sure the PC had a powerful magical weapon that would work on inhuman enemies, and the author wouldn't have to keep inventing new ones for a reader who hadn't gone through the whole series.

* ArcWelding: Many of the monsters fought throughout the series are revealed to be Agarashi.

The author passed away suddenly in late 2016, leaving the future of the property, including the remainder of the last wave of books he'd started, up in the air. His son Ben later announced that he and his family will work on the final books, which (along with deluxe hardcover versions of the others) [[https://magnamund.com/collections/books-homepage are sold here]].

** The Zaaryx ghouls from the book ''The Cauldron of Fear'' are emaciated flesh-eating undead, although still smart enough to use rusty weapons. One of them, however, is more mutated than the others and has dangerous PsychicPowers, apparently the result of the dead body it originated from wearing a [[AmplifierArtifact Psychic]] {{Ring|OfPower}}.

* OutscareTheEnemy: It is explained in ''The Magnamund Companion'' that Giaks are much more afraid of their officers than of their enemies. Which proved a weakness early on, as the Sommlending archers were quick to figure out that if you targeted and killed the Giak commanders, their troops would readily disband in panic. This forced the Darklords to look for stronger, arrow-resistant platoon leaders, which they found in the huge Gourgaz {{lizardfolk}}s.

* TheUndead: Very common henchmen among Lone Wolf's various enemies. Book 17 in particular is rife with them.
* UnkemptBeauty: Tanith from the Grey Star books is described as being one of these.

* InjuredLimbEpisode: In the first half of ''Shadow on the Sand'', Lone Wolf can spend a good deal of the action while having contracted a disease called limbdeath, resulting from sewer germs getting into a shoulder wound. This means Lone Wolf is unable to use his left arm until he can find the MagicAntidote, which results in a serious reduction in fighting skills.

* InjuredLimbEpisode: In the first half of ''Shadow on the Sand'', Lone Wolf can spend a good deal of the action while having contracted a disease called limbdeath, resulting from sewer germs getting into a shoulder wound (although it's possible to avoid it if lucky). This means Lone Wolf is unable to use his left arm until he can find the MagicAntidote, which results in a serious reduction in fighting skills.

** Again in ''The Skull of Agarash''. Lone Wolf sails to the Lakuri Isles with three ships from the Assassin Guild, but two are sunk by a giant Sea Monster on the way. Then, traipsing through the Bukimi Island jungle and swamp with Guildmaster Mazrah and his crew, the men are killed one by one by the local fauna and roaming Agarashi monsters. By the time they reach Captain Khadro's base, only six of them remain.

** The Xargath is a species of dragon-like sea monster from the Kalte sea, whose mere existence has rendered fishing impossible in those otherwise fish-rich waters. Lone Wolf encounters one at sea in Book 12, ''The Masters of Darkness''. It can be killed with a well-placed arrow in its vulnerable ear, but otherwise it's a tough fight ahead; the Xargath has the highest Endurance score of any monster in the whole series.
** ''The Skull of Agarash'' features a giant reptilian sea creature attacking Mazrah's fleet while sailing toward the Lakuri Isles, and sinking two of its three ships. Lone Wolf manages to inflict a deep wound to its neck with the Sommerswerd, and the serpent dives in the sea, presumably to die.[[note]]The monster looks a lot like the Xargath from Book 12, but it isn't named as such. It isn't made clear whether it's a Xargath or a related species; Xargath are native to the colder Kalte sea, not the warmer Lakuri sea, but Lone Wolf notes there is magic afoot in the fog before the monster's attack, so it can be MisplacedWildlife.[[/note]]

* SeriesContinuityError: Some of the Lorestones are described as crumbling away or becoming nonmagical when you acquire them, but are later intact and active again when you return to the Monastery after having acquired all of them.

** The Acolytes of Vashna.
** The Cener Druids.

* AuthorityGrantsAsskicking: Constantly. The highest-ranking officer in any group will have the strongest combat stats. Each of the heads of state Lone Wolf eventually has to confront (Zakhan Kimah, Baron Shinzar, High Warlord Magnaarn, Archdruid Cadak...) is certain to be either a MidBoss or FinalBoss (and likely[[invoked]] ThatOneBoss too). And the Darklords are among the toughest customers around, of course.

* {{Ranger}}s:
** The Sommlending Border Rangers.
** The Eruan Pathfinders.
** The Siyenese Rangers.

* AmplifierArtifact: The Psychic Ring and the Grey Crystal Ring. They are implied to be useful only because Lone Wolf has strong PsychicPowers already. Their uses are very situational, however.

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lonewolf01ab.jpg]]

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Constantly. The highest-ranking officer in any group will have the strongest combat stats. Each of the heads of state Lone Wolf eventually has to confront (Zakhan Kimah, Baron Shinzar, High Warlord Magnaarn, Archdruid Cadak...) is certain to be either a MidBoss or FinalBoss (and likely[[invoked]] ThatOneBoss too). And the Darklords are among the toughest customers around, of course.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Constantly. The highest-ranking officer in any group will have the strongest combat stats. Each of the heads of state Lone Wolf eventually has to confront (Zakhan Kimah, Baron Shinzar, High Warlord Magnaarn, Archdruid Cadak...) is certain to be either a MidBoss or FinalBoss (and likely[[invoked]] ThatOneBoss too). And the Darklords are among the toughest customers around, of course.

** "Korlinium" is a fibrous mineral looking like strands of polished silver, which can [[PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment hide the radiations of good artifacts]].

* PhlebotinumHandlingEquipment: Korlinium, a fibrous mineral looking like strands of polished silver, can hide the radiations of good artifacts. Lone Wolf gets a korlinium scabbard for the Sommerswerd, and in the New Order series his lieutenant carry the Moonstone in a korlinium-laced satchel. The problem with those good radiations isn't that they are dangerous, but that many creatures of evil can readily detect them, and thus they would immediately swarm the protagonist if not for this precaution.

*** Grey Star is renamed "''Astre d'Or''" (i.e. "Gold Star"), and this also the name used for the whole sub-series.

** Darklord Haakon is the BigBad in the Kai series, though he's not challenged until Book 5 and most of the Kai series sees "the Darklords" as a whole as the threat.

* TacticalSuicideBoss: There are very few weapons that can kill Helghast-level undead, and even less for Darklords or worse. (In the remake, it's commented that the Sommerswerd is the only ''Good'' weapon that can kill a Darklord.) If you don't have the Sommerswerd, there's almost always some way to use the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard villains' own magic weapons against them.]]
** Especially apparent with [[spoiler:the Helghast attacking the king in the updated remake of the first book. If he hadn't nonchalantly thrown a magic dagger at some poor sod, there would have been no way to stop it.]]
** Darklord Haakon can be vanquished without the Sommerswerd [[spoiler:by turning his magic gem against him, banishing him to another dimension.]]
** Likewise, if you have neither the Sommerswerd nor the Dagger of Vashna to fight Darklord Kraagenskûl, [[spoiler:your only hope is to seize his own sword, Helshezag, and use it to kill him.]]

* MookLieutenant: Vordaks for the Darklord armies.

* #32 ''Light of the Kai'' (TBA):

* #3 ''Slaves of the Mire'' (tba)

** In ''The Dungeons of Torgar'', Baron Shinzar with Ogg-kor-Kaggaz (a {{flaming|Sword}} battleaxe) or the [[MagicKnight Ziran]] with a [[MagicStaff Powerstave]] -- in both case only if you have the Sommerswerd.

* AnimalisticAbomination: Many monsters fits this. Most notable is Demonlord Tagazin, who appears as a huge sabertoothed jackal.

* InescapableNet: In book 8, traveling companion Paido is snagged by the bad guys in a net that is also studded with fish hooks, making it practically impossible to quickly free him before they drag him off. You see him again a couple of books later, alive but covered in scars from where the hooks were pulled out.

* KnightsAndKnaves: A variant offered as a puzzle: a performer brings out two children, masked so as to conceal their genders. One states "I'm a boy," and the other "I'm a girl." The performer confirms that they are indeed a boy and a girl, but at least one of them is lying, leaving Lone Wolf to determine the gender of each without asking any further questions. Of course, given the above information, if one of them is lying, the other must be as well, making this one as straightforward to solve as the classic version.

* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: In Book 19, ''Wolf's Bane'', after a long cat-and-mouse game, when Lone Wolf finally catches up to his EvilKnockoff Wolf's Bane, the villain challenges him to an honorable duel using only two rapiers he has prepared. He allows Lone Wolf to inspect both rapiers to confirm that neither of them have been sabotaged or enchanted. If the player tries to refuse, Wolf's Bane will accuse Lone Wolf of cowardice and the duel will begin regardless. Of course, when Wolf's Bane is about to lose, he cheats by summoning a monster called a Doom-blight to attack the hero, but Alyss interferes and saves him.

* SpiderSwarm: In Book 5, Lone Wolf can upset a whole colony of fist-sized steam spiders while trying to climb out of the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer Baga-darooz]] by a steam vent. It's even worse if he'd contracted limbdeath earlier, and can't use his free arm to defend himself against the spiders.

** A few other spells are available to Kai Grand Masters with Kai-alchemy and Magi-magic. That are quite situational, though, and can only be used when the text allow it, even those augmenting Combat Skill and Endurance.

** There is a noteworthy occurrence in Book 12, ''The Masters of Darkness''. If you draw the Sommerswerd in front of [[MidBoss Darklord Kraagenskûl]] to fight his Crypt Spawns, Lone Wolf is forced to throw the Sun Sword at his back before he'd alert [[BigBad Darklord Gnaag]]. It never miss and Kraagenskûl is badly wounded either way, but on a low roll he's still able to warn his master, making "your life and your mission end here."

* TimeStandsStill: In book 19, Wolf's Bane tries to cheat his duel with Lone Wolf when it is turning sour for him, by calling upon a demonic monster to backstab the hero with a FlamingSword. Alyss interferes in the nick of time by stopping time before the Doom-blight can strike Lone Wolf. And then she dismiss the demon with a touch.

** In Book 2, you can miss getting [[spoiler:the Magic Spear]], and even if you do get it, choosing to do the right thing and give it to an ally to let him survive guarding a tunnel means that you ''will'' die about 5 page turns later. Thankfully fixed in the project Aon version (if you have Animal Kinship -- otherwise, you're still screwed and will die).

** In Book 17, ''The Deathlord of Ixia'', it is more or less impossible to win if you do not have the Sommerswerd ''from book 2'', since you have two fights against opponents with much higher Combat Skill than you and far more Endurance, and you have to fight them in a row with no healing, having already gone through the demonlord before the 2-round survival battle. This is particularly fun as the Sommerswerd will make several other books much harder.

** The jewelled mace from book 5 gives a bonus against illusory creatures.

** There are many ways to break ordinary weapons in the series. In general it's a really bad idea to attack powerful supernatural entities, like the Darklords or Demonlord Tagazin, with a non-magical weapon.

** Zahda uses a Doomstone and a Lorestone in conjunction.

** In ''The Dungeons of Torgar'', Baron Shinzar with Ogg-kor-Kaggaz (a {{flaming|Sword}} [[AnAxeToGrind battleaxe]]) or the [[MagicKnight Ziran]] with a [[MagicStaff Powerstave]] -- in both case only if you have the Sommerswerd.

%%* DarkSkinnedBlond: Paido

* MagicMushroom: The calacena is a hallucinogenic mushroom. It is prized by magicians as it can be used to create a pink potion that enhance clairvoyant or enchantment powers. Eating or breathing the spores of the unprocessed mushrooms is a sure one-way trip to MushroomSamba, though.

* ImMelting: Many an [[TheUndead Undead]] (above the standard skeletons or zombies) dissolves into foul-smelling goo upon destruction. Notably the case for Vordaks or Helghasts among the servants of the Darklords, or for the mutated boss undead of Deathlord Ixiataaga from Book 17.

* MadLibFantasyTitle:
** A good number of the book titles for the main series:
*** Magical elements: ''Flight from the Dark'', ''Fire on the Water'', ''Shadow on the Sand'', ''The Masters of Darkness'', ''The Deathlord of Ixia''
*** Fantasy locations: ''The Caverns of Kalte'', ''The Chasm of Doom'', ''The Kingdoms of Terror'', ''Castle Death'', ''The Jungle of Horrors'', ''The Cauldron of Fear'', ''The Dungeons of Torgar''
*** Dramatic events: ''The Darke Crusade'', ''Rune War''
*** Time and space: ''The Prisoners of Time''
*** Supernatural creatures: ''Dawn of the Dragons''
*** Mystical concepts: ''The Curse of Naar''
** ''World of Lone Wolf'' tends to have two-fer titles: ''Grey Star the Wizard'' (time and class), ''The Forbidden City'' (location), ''Beyond the Nightmare Gate'' (location and mystical concept), ''War of the Wizards'' (dramatic event and class).