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Dewicked trope
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* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Dozens of Noble Houses, each of which has at least two or three named members. At least fifteen or sixteen Point of View characters to boot.
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wick cleaning
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The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
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The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
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%%* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
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Badass Grandpa cleaning
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%%* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
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No longer a trope
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%%* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
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%% ZeroContextExample Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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* TheObiWan: Gaius and Lord Kazimir to Ira.
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* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Guess.
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Commented out Zero Context Examples.
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* AirborneMooks: The angelii.
* AlchemyIsMagic
* AlchemyIsMagic
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* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Lysander/Ira.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
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* AristocratsAreEvil: Played straight and subverted.
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
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* AxCrazy: Gabriel. Vitalia. Ira. Lysandra Propheta.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a monstrous sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a monstrous sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
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* BigBad: Eleazora, Queen-Imperial of Eden.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
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* BloodKnight: Sieur Arman. Jonathan. Lysandra Propheta.
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
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* TheBrute: Sieur Arman Rosecrown.
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
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* CombatPragmatist: Ira, Anora and Jonathan.
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* DaddysGirl: Alisayne to Sepirahkt, her grandfather.
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* EldritchAbomination: Eleazora and her sister, Lysandra.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
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* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Marius in the fourth book.]]
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* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
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* EvilUncle: Marius Rassianus to [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Alisayne, and [[spoiler:Veldred Kvalus]] to Sofia.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
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* FreudianExcuse: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
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* GainaxEnding: And how.
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* GrimUpNorth: Played straight with the Northern Provinces.
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* IHaveNoSon: John to Jonathan, many times.
* ImAHumanitarian: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
* ImAHumanitarian: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
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*
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* LadyDrunk
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
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* MagicIsMental
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* MuggleFosterParents: [[spoiler:For Ira/Lysander.]]
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* OffingTheOffspring: Borderline traditional in Umzadi High Families.
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* OnlySaneMan: Saul and Ysabelle both display this trait.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
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* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
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* TheStoic: Lord Rhovan Khalimoff, as well as Sieur Randall Gaunt and Sieur Howell Strompike.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
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* TheUnFavorite: Jonathan to his father, Lord John.
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
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* VillainProtagonist: About half the cast.
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
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* BechdelTest: Scores well.
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* FreudianExcuse: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
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* MommyIssues: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
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Tropes cannot be averted/subverted/whatever \"cruelly\"
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The Quartet contains examples of:
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* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
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* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
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None
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* HeroicSociopath: Jonathan and Ira.
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Dead Little Sister was renamed to Cynicism Catalyst. Misuse and Zero Context Examples are being purged.
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* DeadLittleSister: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
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* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
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* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
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* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
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* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
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* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: ImAHumanitarian: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
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x just x
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* CompleteMonster: Gabriel, Sieur Arman Rosecrown, Lysandra Propheta.
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* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Lord John spends his last breath crying out to his sons.]]
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* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster sort of way.
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* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster monstrous sort of way.
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* TheChamberlain: The poetic, whimsically murderous Umzadi Chamberlain Hadad no Albrecht is nothing like THE Chamberlain, but he is ''a'' chamberlain.
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* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Few and far between, given the bleak tone. They do happen, though.
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* MagnificentBastard: Anora, Gaius/Lorne/Asimir, Lord John and Saul.
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* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Eden's meat farms.]] Any scene involving Gabriel or Lord Inquisitor Rycroft. The morticians of Al-Dosht at work.
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* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lord John's death, surprisingly.]]
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* TheWoobie: Anora [[spoiler:after her MindRape induced miscarriage]].
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->"In the first days was God's Daughter sent among men, and on her shoulders was the Mantle of Dominion laid and to her words did the pious hearken..."
-->-- ''The Conqueror's Gospel''
An epic dark fantasy series by Micah E.F. Martin, ''Prophet's House'' tells the story of the incestuous, prophetic Rassianus family in the aftermath of their fall from grace and defeat at the hands of the militaristic House Kvalus and (in a strange semi-subversion of RageAgainstTheHeavens) the Rassianus's one-time slaves, the angels of Eden. Fast-forward 30 years from the catastrophic end of the Rassianus reign. The prophets are scattered and, for the most part, killed off by agents of Eden and House Kvalus, which now rules the continent of Artaxas with an iron fist. The survivors of the massacre include the aging Sepirahkt, locked in a sewer prison since the end of the War of Usurpation, father-daughter team Marius and Drusilla and the debauched and irresponsible Alisayne. Well, the known survivors, anyway.
The story of ''Prophet's House'' is told from a myriad of viewpoints ranging from the caustic, embittered legionary Ira Rostov and manipulative princess Sofia Kvalus to the guilt-ridden Chancellor Saul Lyr; his wife, Katrina, and their {{Bookworm}} daughter, Ysabelle. Other characters include Alisayne Rassianus, Anora Sen'Tan and her brother Irion, Sieur Siegfried Ramm, Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Sieur Jonathan Blackwall.
An extensive secondary cast and the sheer unadulterated misery of Artaxi politics and theology form a backdrop for the sprawling, labyrinthine fortunes of the Rassianus family, their supporters and their enemies.
When the series begins, the Empire is flagging under the reign of Stephen Kvalus. A bloody war with the neighboring island of Umzad has divided the continent against itself after Stephen married an Umzadi princess to quell the fighting. Now Rassianus loyalist Lord John Blackwall leads a coalition of Houses known as the Covenant against Stephen's crumbling Empire. The angels wield enormous power over the peasantry via their CorruptChurch, but have been absent Artaxas since the end of the war. Princess Sofia has vanished en route to one of the northern cities and the Empire is in an uproar with the exiled and psychotic Prince Anaias currently the only living heir to the throne. Cue drum roll, curtain on three.
The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
The SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism lacks an entry cynical enough to express just how much of a CrapsackWorld the continent of Artaxas is.
Has a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Ptitleynz8tdl9 Character Sheet]].
The Prophet's House Quartet consists of:
* ''Prophet's Altar''
* ''Prophet's Tomb''
* ''Prophet's Mantle''
* ''Prophet's Throne''
----
The Quartet contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: John to Jonathan. Alecad to Anora, Inari and Irion. Ira's [[spoiler:(secretly) adoptive mother, Anja Rostov]]. God the Leviathan to his daughters Eleazora and Lysandra, with nasty consequences for everyone else.
* AerithAndBob: Justified for the different nationalities of the characters, but the Artaxi themselves have a mixture of Roman Imperial and more biblical names. So, everything from Quintus to Paul.
* AGodAmI: Half the Rassianuses. [[spoiler:It is implied that Lysandra Propheta was imprisoned by her son for losing her marbles in this particular way.]]
* AirborneMooks: The angelii.
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Lord John spends his last breath crying out to his sons.]]
* AlchemyIsMagic
* AlienInvasion: Implied with the original two angeli, Lysandra and Eleazora.
* AncientKeeper: The Ginchori, for the Rassianus monasteries.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Sepirahkt. "He came out of their mother with Areina's cord wrapped 'round his neck, and that's the way he wanted it I've no doubt."
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Lysander/Ira.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Lysandra plans to execute a Class 6 with an eye toward rebuilding in her own image.]]
* TheArchmage: Aelius is a rare evil version of this trope.
* ArcWords: ''A cup will be offered, and you shall drink of it.'' Also, ''come, and eat of your father's flesh.''
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played straight and subverted.
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
* {{Backstory}}: Lysandra Propheta's ministry, the Conquest of Artaxas by her son Lysander, the War of Usurpation and the later Whitecrown War all fall under this category. Most characters have a bit of their own to boot.
* AxCrazy: Gabriel. Vitalia. Ira. Lysandra Propheta.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
* BechdelTest: Scores well.
* BerserkButton: Don't call Magnus a failure.
* BigBad: Eleazora, Queen-Imperial of Eden.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Rassianuses get these when exercising their prophetic gifts.
* BloodKnight: Sieur Arman. Jonathan. Lysandra Propheta.
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander and Alisayne. Implied with Irion and Anora. A particularly nasty example occurs with Anaias's rape of Sofia, though it later turned out they were "only" cousins.]]
* TheBrute: Sieur Arman Rosecrown.
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
* CatchPhrase: Sieur Magnus's ''all my failures,'' and Sieur Siegfried with ''nothing changes.''
* TheChamberlain: The poetic, whimsically murderous Umzadi Chamberlain Hadad no Albrecht is nothing like THE Chamberlain, but he is ''a'' chamberlain.
* CharacterFilibuster: Eleazora spends nearly two pages explaining her history and reasoning to Saul. When he finally questions her, she loses it entirely.
* ChurchMilitant: The Angelist and Rassianus churches are both armed, violent and explicitly militaristic.
* CombatPragmatist: Ira, Anora and Jonathan.
* CompleteMonster: Gabriel, Sieur Arman Rosecrown, Lysandra Propheta.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Lord Mark Rycroft and the restored Inquisition.
* CoolMask: The angelic drones wear them to conceal their hideous appearance.
* CorruptChurch: The Angelist Church is meant to keep the people of Artaxas complacent and stupefied while the angels [[spoiler: harvest and eat them.]] The church's priests are chosen specifically for corruption and depravity so they'll be easier to blackmail and control.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Few and far between, given the bleak tone. They do happen, though.
* DaddysGirl: Alisayne to Sepirahkt, her grandfather.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ira, Sofia, Anora, Jonathan, Alisayne to a lesser degree.
* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander, Asimir, Marius and, in the backstory, Lysander the Conqueror and Lysandra Propheta.]]
* DeadLittleSister: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
* DealWithTheDevil: House Kvalus made a pact with the angels of Eden in order to win their war against House Rassianus. [[spoiler: Freed from slavery, Eden has made the Kvaluses virtual puppets and dictate all Imperial policy while snatching citizens off the streets for transfer to meat farms and dragging off any dissidents to torture at the hands of their [[Inquisition]]. Note that House Rassianus rose to power by enslaving Eleazora and her hive.
* EldritchAbomination: Eleazora and her sister, Lysandra.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
* EncyclopediaExposita: The Conqueror's Gospel and the rest of the Prophets' Texts.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Marius in the fourth book.]]
* EthnicMagician: The morticians (read: necromancers) Lharo and Lharys are citizens of the Egypt/Ottoman Turkey hybrid
* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
* EvilMinions: Eden's children, all-devouring swarms of mindless angel drones, form the bulk of the angelic population and answer unquestioningly to Eleazora.
* EvilUncle: Marius Rassianus to [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Alisayne, and [[spoiler:Veldred Kvalus]] to Sofia.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Extremely graphic. [[spoiler:Lysander mauling civilians to devour their souls in the third book is an especially good example.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Umzad is Japan/warlord-era China. Artaxas is the Byzantine Empire/Imperial Rome. Al-Dosht is the Ottoman Empire with an Egyptian death cult in power.
* FeudingFamilies: The Blackwalls and the Sen'Tans. The Rassianuses and the Kvaluses(who went to war over a Rassianus Prince killing Lord Kvalus's second son at a wedding).
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
* GainaxEnding: And how.
* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:Offscreen with Lysandra Minora surrendering Ira/Lysander to an abusive, fanatically religious fisherman. Alisayne lucked out and got sent off into hiding with the Blackwalls. Then again, she wasn't in any danger of becoming TheAntiChrist.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Sofia to some degree, but Anora defines the trope much better. Inari, too.
* GrimUpNorth: Played straight with the Northern Provinces.
* HeroicSociopath: Jonathan and Ira.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Alisayne isn't a prostitute, but she is a slut and a drunk with a profoundly maternal and loving nature.
* IHaveNoSon: John to Jonathan, many times.
* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
* InTheBlood: The Rassianus "gifts" of prophecy, psychokinesis, faith healing and mind-bending charisma are passed on this way.
* LadyDrunk
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Dozens of Noble Houses, each of which has at least two or three named members. At least fifteen or sixteen Point of View characters to boot.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander and his cousin, Sofia.]]
* MagicIsMental
* MagnificentBastard: Anora, Gaius/Lorne/Asimir, Lord John and Saul.
* MedievalStasis: Averted. Artaxi technology includes trains, dirigibles and automobiles.
* MindRape: The Rassianuses can do this, and Gabriel revels in it. That isn't even counting what Lysandra does to Ira.
* MommyIssues: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
* MuggleFosterParents: [[spoiler:For Ira/Lysander.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Sieur Magnus' defeat at the Grieving Reach and the subsequent destruction of most of House Rassianus.
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Eden's meat farms.]] Any scene involving Gabriel or Lord Inquisitor Rycroft. The morticians of Al-Dosht at work.
* TheObiWan: Gaius and Lord Kazimir to Ira.
* OffingTheOffspring: Borderline traditional in Umzadi High Families.
* OffstageVillainy: Eleazora, until [[spoiler:the meat farms are seen]]. Also Marius, after the first book.
* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
* OnlySaneMan: Saul and Ysabelle both display this trait.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
* ParentalFavoritism: Lord John preferred his heir, Titus, to Jonathan and blames Jonathan for Titus' death.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
* RebelliousPrincess: Subverted in that instead of being hotheaded and reckless, Sofia is a coldly manipulative bitch.
* ReligionOfEvil: The Al-Doshti death cult and the Angelist Church.
* TheRenfield: There's a minor character named Lord Renfield, but he isn't one.
* RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus, who got cold feet about bringing the End Times to Artaxas, conferred his mantle on his twin daughter and son and took off to hide in a lighthouse.]]
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Rassianuses in spades. Most of the other Houses to one degree or another.
* ScaledUp: [[spoiler: Lysandra when she fights her sister.]]
* ScarsAreForever: Ira's fingers were brutally broken by his nurse as a child. [[spoiler:Later Marius cuts open his cheek.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Lysandra Propheta. Eleazora in the backstory.
* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:Sofia is the daughter of the deceased Prince Arein Rassianus and Stephen's sister, Naira Kvalus. Ira is the son of Lysandra Rassianus and her rapist, the physician Quintus Lorne. His regnal name is Lysander Sextus.]]
* SinisterMinister: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Marius both squeeze this trope over their Wheaties every morning.
* SinisterScythe: The sickle is a traditional Rassianus weapon.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Guess.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lord John's death, surprisingly.]]
* TheStoic: Lord Rhovan Khalimoff, as well as Sieur Randall Gaunt and Sieur Howell Strompike.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
* {{Twincest}}: Offscreen with Sepirahkt and Areina.
* TheUnFavorite: Jonathan to his father, Lord John.
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
* TheWoobie: Anora [[spoiler:after her MindRape induced miscarriage]].
* WorldOfNoGrandparents: Subverted with Sepirahkt, [[spoiler:grandfather to Ira/Lysander and Alisayne, and with Asimir, theirs and Sofia's great-grandfather]]. Played straight in that many of the heads of the various noble Houses were killed either during the War of Usurpation or during the war with Umzad.
* VillainProtagonist: About half the cast.
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
----
-->-- ''The Conqueror's Gospel''
An epic dark fantasy series by Micah E.F. Martin, ''Prophet's House'' tells the story of the incestuous, prophetic Rassianus family in the aftermath of their fall from grace and defeat at the hands of the militaristic House Kvalus and (in a strange semi-subversion of RageAgainstTheHeavens) the Rassianus's one-time slaves, the angels of Eden. Fast-forward 30 years from the catastrophic end of the Rassianus reign. The prophets are scattered and, for the most part, killed off by agents of Eden and House Kvalus, which now rules the continent of Artaxas with an iron fist. The survivors of the massacre include the aging Sepirahkt, locked in a sewer prison since the end of the War of Usurpation, father-daughter team Marius and Drusilla and the debauched and irresponsible Alisayne. Well, the known survivors, anyway.
The story of ''Prophet's House'' is told from a myriad of viewpoints ranging from the caustic, embittered legionary Ira Rostov and manipulative princess Sofia Kvalus to the guilt-ridden Chancellor Saul Lyr; his wife, Katrina, and their {{Bookworm}} daughter, Ysabelle. Other characters include Alisayne Rassianus, Anora Sen'Tan and her brother Irion, Sieur Siegfried Ramm, Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Sieur Jonathan Blackwall.
An extensive secondary cast and the sheer unadulterated misery of Artaxi politics and theology form a backdrop for the sprawling, labyrinthine fortunes of the Rassianus family, their supporters and their enemies.
When the series begins, the Empire is flagging under the reign of Stephen Kvalus. A bloody war with the neighboring island of Umzad has divided the continent against itself after Stephen married an Umzadi princess to quell the fighting. Now Rassianus loyalist Lord John Blackwall leads a coalition of Houses known as the Covenant against Stephen's crumbling Empire. The angels wield enormous power over the peasantry via their CorruptChurch, but have been absent Artaxas since the end of the war. Princess Sofia has vanished en route to one of the northern cities and the Empire is in an uproar with the exiled and psychotic Prince Anaias currently the only living heir to the throne. Cue drum roll, curtain on three.
The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
The SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism lacks an entry cynical enough to express just how much of a CrapsackWorld the continent of Artaxas is.
Has a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Ptitleynz8tdl9 Character Sheet]].
The Prophet's House Quartet consists of:
* ''Prophet's Altar''
* ''Prophet's Tomb''
* ''Prophet's Mantle''
* ''Prophet's Throne''
----
The Quartet contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: John to Jonathan. Alecad to Anora, Inari and Irion. Ira's [[spoiler:(secretly) adoptive mother, Anja Rostov]]. God the Leviathan to his daughters Eleazora and Lysandra, with nasty consequences for everyone else.
* AerithAndBob: Justified for the different nationalities of the characters, but the Artaxi themselves have a mixture of Roman Imperial and more biblical names. So, everything from Quintus to Paul.
* AGodAmI: Half the Rassianuses. [[spoiler:It is implied that Lysandra Propheta was imprisoned by her son for losing her marbles in this particular way.]]
* AirborneMooks: The angelii.
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Lord John spends his last breath crying out to his sons.]]
* AlchemyIsMagic
* AlienInvasion: Implied with the original two angeli, Lysandra and Eleazora.
* AncientKeeper: The Ginchori, for the Rassianus monasteries.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Sepirahkt. "He came out of their mother with Areina's cord wrapped 'round his neck, and that's the way he wanted it I've no doubt."
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Lysander/Ira.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Lysandra plans to execute a Class 6 with an eye toward rebuilding in her own image.]]
* TheArchmage: Aelius is a rare evil version of this trope.
* ArcWords: ''A cup will be offered, and you shall drink of it.'' Also, ''come, and eat of your father's flesh.''
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played straight and subverted.
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
* {{Backstory}}: Lysandra Propheta's ministry, the Conquest of Artaxas by her son Lysander, the War of Usurpation and the later Whitecrown War all fall under this category. Most characters have a bit of their own to boot.
* AxCrazy: Gabriel. Vitalia. Ira. Lysandra Propheta.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
* BechdelTest: Scores well.
* BerserkButton: Don't call Magnus a failure.
* BigBad: Eleazora, Queen-Imperial of Eden.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Rassianuses get these when exercising their prophetic gifts.
* BloodKnight: Sieur Arman. Jonathan. Lysandra Propheta.
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander and Alisayne. Implied with Irion and Anora. A particularly nasty example occurs with Anaias's rape of Sofia, though it later turned out they were "only" cousins.]]
* TheBrute: Sieur Arman Rosecrown.
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
* CatchPhrase: Sieur Magnus's ''all my failures,'' and Sieur Siegfried with ''nothing changes.''
* TheChamberlain: The poetic, whimsically murderous Umzadi Chamberlain Hadad no Albrecht is nothing like THE Chamberlain, but he is ''a'' chamberlain.
* CharacterFilibuster: Eleazora spends nearly two pages explaining her history and reasoning to Saul. When he finally questions her, she loses it entirely.
* ChurchMilitant: The Angelist and Rassianus churches are both armed, violent and explicitly militaristic.
* CombatPragmatist: Ira, Anora and Jonathan.
* CompleteMonster: Gabriel, Sieur Arman Rosecrown, Lysandra Propheta.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Lord Mark Rycroft and the restored Inquisition.
* CoolMask: The angelic drones wear them to conceal their hideous appearance.
* CorruptChurch: The Angelist Church is meant to keep the people of Artaxas complacent and stupefied while the angels [[spoiler: harvest and eat them.]] The church's priests are chosen specifically for corruption and depravity so they'll be easier to blackmail and control.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Few and far between, given the bleak tone. They do happen, though.
* DaddysGirl: Alisayne to Sepirahkt, her grandfather.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ira, Sofia, Anora, Jonathan, Alisayne to a lesser degree.
* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander, Asimir, Marius and, in the backstory, Lysander the Conqueror and Lysandra Propheta.]]
* DeadLittleSister: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
* DealWithTheDevil: House Kvalus made a pact with the angels of Eden in order to win their war against House Rassianus. [[spoiler: Freed from slavery, Eden has made the Kvaluses virtual puppets and dictate all Imperial policy while snatching citizens off the streets for transfer to meat farms and dragging off any dissidents to torture at the hands of their [[Inquisition]]. Note that House Rassianus rose to power by enslaving Eleazora and her hive.
* EldritchAbomination: Eleazora and her sister, Lysandra.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
* EncyclopediaExposita: The Conqueror's Gospel and the rest of the Prophets' Texts.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Marius in the fourth book.]]
* EthnicMagician: The morticians (read: necromancers) Lharo and Lharys are citizens of the Egypt/Ottoman Turkey hybrid
* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
* EvilMinions: Eden's children, all-devouring swarms of mindless angel drones, form the bulk of the angelic population and answer unquestioningly to Eleazora.
* EvilUncle: Marius Rassianus to [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Alisayne, and [[spoiler:Veldred Kvalus]] to Sofia.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Extremely graphic. [[spoiler:Lysander mauling civilians to devour their souls in the third book is an especially good example.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Umzad is Japan/warlord-era China. Artaxas is the Byzantine Empire/Imperial Rome. Al-Dosht is the Ottoman Empire with an Egyptian death cult in power.
* FeudingFamilies: The Blackwalls and the Sen'Tans. The Rassianuses and the Kvaluses(who went to war over a Rassianus Prince killing Lord Kvalus's second son at a wedding).
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
* GainaxEnding: And how.
* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:Offscreen with Lysandra Minora surrendering Ira/Lysander to an abusive, fanatically religious fisherman. Alisayne lucked out and got sent off into hiding with the Blackwalls. Then again, she wasn't in any danger of becoming TheAntiChrist.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Sofia to some degree, but Anora defines the trope much better. Inari, too.
* GrimUpNorth: Played straight with the Northern Provinces.
* HeroicSociopath: Jonathan and Ira.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Alisayne isn't a prostitute, but she is a slut and a drunk with a profoundly maternal and loving nature.
* IHaveNoSon: John to Jonathan, many times.
* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
* InTheBlood: The Rassianus "gifts" of prophecy, psychokinesis, faith healing and mind-bending charisma are passed on this way.
* LadyDrunk
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Dozens of Noble Houses, each of which has at least two or three named members. At least fifteen or sixteen Point of View characters to boot.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander and his cousin, Sofia.]]
* MagicIsMental
* MagnificentBastard: Anora, Gaius/Lorne/Asimir, Lord John and Saul.
* MedievalStasis: Averted. Artaxi technology includes trains, dirigibles and automobiles.
* MindRape: The Rassianuses can do this, and Gabriel revels in it. That isn't even counting what Lysandra does to Ira.
* MommyIssues: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
* MuggleFosterParents: [[spoiler:For Ira/Lysander.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Sieur Magnus' defeat at the Grieving Reach and the subsequent destruction of most of House Rassianus.
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Eden's meat farms.]] Any scene involving Gabriel or Lord Inquisitor Rycroft. The morticians of Al-Dosht at work.
* TheObiWan: Gaius and Lord Kazimir to Ira.
* OffingTheOffspring: Borderline traditional in Umzadi High Families.
* OffstageVillainy: Eleazora, until [[spoiler:the meat farms are seen]]. Also Marius, after the first book.
* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
* OnlySaneMan: Saul and Ysabelle both display this trait.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
* ParentalFavoritism: Lord John preferred his heir, Titus, to Jonathan and blames Jonathan for Titus' death.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
* RebelliousPrincess: Subverted in that instead of being hotheaded and reckless, Sofia is a coldly manipulative bitch.
* ReligionOfEvil: The Al-Doshti death cult and the Angelist Church.
* TheRenfield: There's a minor character named Lord Renfield, but he isn't one.
* RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus, who got cold feet about bringing the End Times to Artaxas, conferred his mantle on his twin daughter and son and took off to hide in a lighthouse.]]
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Rassianuses in spades. Most of the other Houses to one degree or another.
* ScaledUp: [[spoiler: Lysandra when she fights her sister.]]
* ScarsAreForever: Ira's fingers were brutally broken by his nurse as a child. [[spoiler:Later Marius cuts open his cheek.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Lysandra Propheta. Eleazora in the backstory.
* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:Sofia is the daughter of the deceased Prince Arein Rassianus and Stephen's sister, Naira Kvalus. Ira is the son of Lysandra Rassianus and her rapist, the physician Quintus Lorne. His regnal name is Lysander Sextus.]]
* SinisterMinister: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Marius both squeeze this trope over their Wheaties every morning.
* SinisterScythe: The sickle is a traditional Rassianus weapon.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Guess.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lord John's death, surprisingly.]]
* TheStoic: Lord Rhovan Khalimoff, as well as Sieur Randall Gaunt and Sieur Howell Strompike.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
* {{Twincest}}: Offscreen with Sepirahkt and Areina.
* TheUnFavorite: Jonathan to his father, Lord John.
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
* TheWoobie: Anora [[spoiler:after her MindRape induced miscarriage]].
* WorldOfNoGrandparents: Subverted with Sepirahkt, [[spoiler:grandfather to Ira/Lysander and Alisayne, and with Asimir, theirs and Sofia's great-grandfather]]. Played straight in that many of the heads of the various noble Houses were killed either during the War of Usurpation or during the war with Umzad.
* VillainProtagonist: About half the cast.
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
----
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Deleted line(s) 1,153 (click to see context) :
->"In the first days was God's Daughter sent among men, and on her shoulders was the Mantle of Dominion laid and to her words did the pious hearken..."
-->-- ''The Conqueror's Gospel''
An epic dark fantasy series by Micah E.F. Martin, ''Prophet's House'' tells the story of the incestuous, prophetic Rassianus family in the aftermath of their fall from grace and defeat at the hands of the militaristic House Kvalus and (in a strange semi-subversion of RageAgainstTheHeavens) the Rassianus's one-time slaves, the angels of Eden. Fast-forward 30 years from the catastrophic end of the Rassianus reign. The prophets are scattered and, for the most part, killed off by agents of Eden and House Kvalus, which now rules the continent of Artaxas with an iron fist. The survivors of the massacre include the aging Sepirahkt, locked in a sewer prison since the end of the War of Usurpation, father-daughter team Marius and Drusilla and the debauched and irresponsible Alisayne. Well, the known survivors, anyway.
The story of ''Prophet's House'' is told from a myriad of viewpoints ranging from the caustic, embittered legionary Ira Rostov and manipulative princess Sofia Kvalus to the guilt-ridden Chancellor Saul Lyr; his wife, Katrina, and their {{Bookworm}} daughter, Ysabelle. Other characters include Alisayne Rassianus, Anora Sen'Tan and her brother Irion, Sieur Siegfried Ramm, Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Sieur Jonathan Blackwall.
An extensive secondary cast and the sheer unadulterated misery of Artaxi politics and theology form a backdrop for the sprawling, labyrinthine fortunes of the Rassianus family, their supporters and their enemies.
When the series begins, the Empire is flagging under the reign of Stephen Kvalus. A bloody war with the neighboring island of Umzad has divided the continent against itself after Stephen married an Umzadi princess to quell the fighting. Now Rassianus loyalist Lord John Blackwall leads a coalition of Houses known as the Covenant against Stephen's crumbling Empire. The angels wield enormous power over the peasantry via their CorruptChurch, but have been absent Artaxas since the end of the war. Princess Sofia has vanished en route to one of the northern cities and the Empire is in an uproar with the exiled and psychotic Prince Anaias currently the only living heir to the throne. Cue drum roll, curtain on three.
The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
The SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism lacks an entry cynical enough to express just how much of a CrapsackWorld the continent of Artaxas is.
Has a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Ptitleynz8tdl9 Character Sheet]].
The Prophet's House Quartet consists of:
* ''Prophet's Altar''
* ''Prophet's Tomb''
* ''Prophet's Mantle''
* ''Prophet's Throne''
----
The Quartet contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: John to Jonathan. Alecad to Anora, Inari and Irion. Ira's [[spoiler:(secretly) adoptive mother, Anja Rostov]]. God the Leviathan to his daughters Eleazora and Lysandra, with nasty consequences for everyone else.
* AerithAndBob: Justified for the different nationalities of the characters, but the Artaxi themselves have a mixture of Roman Imperial and more biblical names. So, everything from Quintus to Paul.
* AGodAmI: Half the Rassianuses. [[spoiler:It is implied that Lysandra Propheta was imprisoned by her son for losing her marbles in this particular way.]]
* AirborneMooks: The angelii.
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Lord John spends his last breath crying out to his sons.]]
* AlchemyIsMagic
* AlienInvasion: Implied with the original two angeli, Lysandra and Eleazora.
* AncientKeeper: The Ginchori, for the Rassianus monasteries.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Sepirahkt. "He came out of their mother with Areina's cord wrapped 'round his neck, and that's the way he wanted it I've no doubt."
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Lysander/Ira.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Lysandra plans to execute a Class 6 with an eye toward rebuilding in her own image.]]
* TheArchmage: Aelius is a rare evil version of this trope.
* ArcWords: ''A cup will be offered, and you shall drink of it.'' Also, ''come, and eat of your father's flesh.''
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played straight and subverted.
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
* {{Backstory}}: Lysandra Propheta's ministry, the Conquest of Artaxas by her son Lysander, the War of Usurpation and the later Whitecrown War all fall under this category. Most characters have a bit of their own to boot.
* AxCrazy: Gabriel. Vitalia. Ira. Lysandra Propheta.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
* BechdelTest: Scores well.
* BerserkButton: Don't call Magnus a failure.
* BigBad: Eleazora, Queen-Imperial of Eden.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Rassianuses get these when exercising their prophetic gifts.
* BloodKnight: Sieur Arman. Jonathan. Lysandra Propheta.
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander and Alisayne. Implied with Irion and Anora. A particularly nasty example occurs with Anaias's rape of Sofia, though it later turned out they were "only" cousins.]]
* TheBrute: Sieur Arman Rosecrown.
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
* CatchPhrase: Sieur Magnus's ''all my failures,'' and Sieur Siegfried with ''nothing changes.''
* TheChamberlain: The poetic, whimsically murderous Umzadi Chamberlain Hadad no Albrecht is nothing like THE Chamberlain, but he is ''a'' chamberlain.
* CharacterFilibuster: Eleazora spends nearly two pages explaining her history and reasoning to Saul. When he finally questions her, she loses it entirely.
* ChurchMilitant: The Angelist and Rassianus churches are both armed, violent and explicitly militaristic.
* CombatPragmatist: Ira, Anora and Jonathan.
* CompleteMonster: Gabriel, Sieur Arman Rosecrown, Lysandra Propheta.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Lord Mark Rycroft and the restored Inquisition.
* CoolMask: The angelic drones wear them to conceal their hideous appearance.
* CorruptChurch: The Angelist Church is meant to keep the people of Artaxas complacent and stupefied while the angels [[spoiler: harvest and eat them.]] The church's priests are chosen specifically for corruption and depravity so they'll be easier to blackmail and control.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Few and far between, given the bleak tone. They do happen, though.
* DaddysGirl: Alisayne to Sepirahkt, her grandfather.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ira, Sofia, Anora, Jonathan, Alisayne to a lesser degree.
* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander, Asimir, Marius and, in the backstory, Lysander the Conqueror and Lysandra Propheta.]]
* DeadLittleSister: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
* DealWithTheDevil: House Kvalus made a pact with the angels of Eden in order to win their war against House Rassianus. [[spoiler: Freed from slavery, Eden has made the Kvaluses virtual puppets and dictate all Imperial policy while snatching citizens off the streets for transfer to meat farms and dragging off any dissidents to torture at the hands of their [[Inquisition]]. Note that House Rassianus rose to power by enslaving Eleazora and her hive.
* EldritchAbomination: Eleazora and her sister, Lysandra.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
* EncyclopediaExposita: The Conqueror's Gospel and the rest of the Prophets' Texts.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Marius in the fourth book.]]
* EthnicMagician: The morticians (read: necromancers) Lharo and Lharys are citizens of the Egypt/Ottoman Turkey hybrid
* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
* EvilMinions: Eden's children, all-devouring swarms of mindless angel drones, form the bulk of the angelic population and answer unquestioningly to Eleazora.
* EvilUncle: Marius Rassianus to [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Alisayne, and [[spoiler:Veldred Kvalus]] to Sofia.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Extremely graphic. [[spoiler:Lysander mauling civilians to devour their souls in the third book is an especially good example.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Umzad is Japan/warlord-era China. Artaxas is the Byzantine Empire/Imperial Rome. Al-Dosht is the Ottoman Empire with an Egyptian death cult in power.
* FeudingFamilies: The Blackwalls and the Sen'Tans. The Rassianuses and the Kvaluses(who went to war over a Rassianus Prince killing Lord Kvalus's second son at a wedding).
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
* GainaxEnding: And how.
* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:Offscreen with Lysandra Minora surrendering Ira/Lysander to an abusive, fanatically religious fisherman. Alisayne lucked out and got sent off into hiding with the Blackwalls. Then again, she wasn't in any danger of becoming TheAntiChrist.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Sofia to some degree, but Anora defines the trope much better. Inari, too.
* GrimUpNorth: Played straight with the Northern Provinces.
* HeroicSociopath: Jonathan and Ira.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Alisayne isn't a prostitute, but she is a slut and a drunk with a profoundly maternal and loving nature.
* IHaveNoSon: John to Jonathan, many times.
* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
* InTheBlood: The Rassianus "gifts" of prophecy, psychokinesis, faith healing and mind-bending charisma are passed on this way.
* LadyDrunk
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Dozens of Noble Houses, each of which has at least two or three named members. At least fifteen or sixteen Point of View characters to boot.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander and his cousin, Sofia.]]
* MagicIsMental
* MagnificentBastard: Anora, Gaius/Lorne/Asimir, Lord John and Saul.
* MedievalStasis: Averted. Artaxi technology includes trains, dirigibles and automobiles.
* MindRape: The Rassianuses can do this, and Gabriel revels in it. That isn't even counting what Lysandra does to Ira.
* MommyIssues: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
* MuggleFosterParents: [[spoiler:For Ira/Lysander.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Sieur Magnus' defeat at the Grieving Reach and the subsequent destruction of most of House Rassianus.
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Eden's meat farms.]] Any scene involving Gabriel or Lord Inquisitor Rycroft. The morticians of Al-Dosht at work.
* TheObiWan: Gaius and Lord Kazimir to Ira.
* OffingTheOffspring: Borderline traditional in Umzadi High Families.
* OffstageVillainy: Eleazora, until [[spoiler:the meat farms are seen]]. Also Marius, after the first book.
* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
* OnlySaneMan: Saul and Ysabelle both display this trait.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
* ParentalFavoritism: Lord John preferred his heir, Titus, to Jonathan and blames Jonathan for Titus' death.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
* RebelliousPrincess: Subverted in that instead of being hotheaded and reckless, Sofia is a coldly manipulative bitch.
* ReligionOfEvil: The Al-Doshti death cult and the Angelist Church.
* TheRenfield: There's a minor character named Lord Renfield, but he isn't one.
* RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus, who got cold feet about bringing the End Times to Artaxas, conferred his mantle on his twin daughter and son and took off to hide in a lighthouse.]]
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Rassianuses in spades. Most of the other Houses to one degree or another.
* ScaledUp: [[spoiler: Lysandra when she fights her sister.]]
* ScarsAreForever: Ira's fingers were brutally broken by his nurse as a child. [[spoiler:Later Marius cuts open his cheek.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Lysandra Propheta. Eleazora in the backstory.
* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:Sofia is the daughter of the deceased Prince Arein Rassianus and Stephen's sister, Naira Kvalus. Ira is the son of Lysandra Rassianus and her rapist, the physician Quintus Lorne. His regnal name is Lysander Sextus.]]
* SinisterMinister: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Marius both squeeze this trope over their Wheaties every morning.
* SinisterScythe: The sickle is a traditional Rassianus weapon.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Guess.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lord John's death, surprisingly.]]
* TheStoic: Lord Rhovan Khalimoff, as well as Sieur Randall Gaunt and Sieur Howell Strompike.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
* {{Twincest}}: Offscreen with Sepirahkt and Areina.
* TheUnFavorite: Jonathan to his father, Lord John.
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
* TheWoobie: Anora [[spoiler:after her MindRape induced miscarriage]].
* WorldOfNoGrandparents: Subverted with Sepirahkt, [[spoiler:grandfather to Ira/Lysander and Alisayne, and with Asimir, theirs and Sofia's great-grandfather]]. Played straight in that many of the heads of the various noble Houses were killed either during the War of Usurpation or during the war with Umzad.
* VillainProtagonist: About half the cast.
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
----
-->-- ''The Conqueror's Gospel''
An epic dark fantasy series by Micah E.F. Martin, ''Prophet's House'' tells the story of the incestuous, prophetic Rassianus family in the aftermath of their fall from grace and defeat at the hands of the militaristic House Kvalus and (in a strange semi-subversion of RageAgainstTheHeavens) the Rassianus's one-time slaves, the angels of Eden. Fast-forward 30 years from the catastrophic end of the Rassianus reign. The prophets are scattered and, for the most part, killed off by agents of Eden and House Kvalus, which now rules the continent of Artaxas with an iron fist. The survivors of the massacre include the aging Sepirahkt, locked in a sewer prison since the end of the War of Usurpation, father-daughter team Marius and Drusilla and the debauched and irresponsible Alisayne. Well, the known survivors, anyway.
The story of ''Prophet's House'' is told from a myriad of viewpoints ranging from the caustic, embittered legionary Ira Rostov and manipulative princess Sofia Kvalus to the guilt-ridden Chancellor Saul Lyr; his wife, Katrina, and their {{Bookworm}} daughter, Ysabelle. Other characters include Alisayne Rassianus, Anora Sen'Tan and her brother Irion, Sieur Siegfried Ramm, Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Sieur Jonathan Blackwall.
An extensive secondary cast and the sheer unadulterated misery of Artaxi politics and theology form a backdrop for the sprawling, labyrinthine fortunes of the Rassianus family, their supporters and their enemies.
When the series begins, the Empire is flagging under the reign of Stephen Kvalus. A bloody war with the neighboring island of Umzad has divided the continent against itself after Stephen married an Umzadi princess to quell the fighting. Now Rassianus loyalist Lord John Blackwall leads a coalition of Houses known as the Covenant against Stephen's crumbling Empire. The angels wield enormous power over the peasantry via their CorruptChurch, but have been absent Artaxas since the end of the war. Princess Sofia has vanished en route to one of the northern cities and the Empire is in an uproar with the exiled and psychotic Prince Anaias currently the only living heir to the throne. Cue drum roll, curtain on three.
The series lives and breathes IncestIsRelative and BigScrewedUpFamily and is rife with the machinations of various {{CorruptChurch}}es and {{DarkMessiah}}s. The Quartet is concerned largely with broad issues of religion, political treachery and theocratic imperialism vs. patrician democracy. (Note: Both are portrayed as equally horrible.)
The SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism lacks an entry cynical enough to express just how much of a CrapsackWorld the continent of Artaxas is.
Has a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Ptitleynz8tdl9 Character Sheet]].
The Prophet's House Quartet consists of:
* ''Prophet's Altar''
* ''Prophet's Tomb''
* ''Prophet's Mantle''
* ''Prophet's Throne''
----
The Quartet contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: John to Jonathan. Alecad to Anora, Inari and Irion. Ira's [[spoiler:(secretly) adoptive mother, Anja Rostov]]. God the Leviathan to his daughters Eleazora and Lysandra, with nasty consequences for everyone else.
* AerithAndBob: Justified for the different nationalities of the characters, but the Artaxi themselves have a mixture of Roman Imperial and more biblical names. So, everything from Quintus to Paul.
* AGodAmI: Half the Rassianuses. [[spoiler:It is implied that Lysandra Propheta was imprisoned by her son for losing her marbles in this particular way.]]
* AirborneMooks: The angelii.
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Lord John spends his last breath crying out to his sons.]]
* AlchemyIsMagic
* AlienInvasion: Implied with the original two angeli, Lysandra and Eleazora.
* AncientKeeper: The Ginchori, for the Rassianus monasteries.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Sepirahkt. "He came out of their mother with Areina's cord wrapped 'round his neck, and that's the way he wanted it I've no doubt."
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Lysander/Ira.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the characters.
* AntiVillain: Again, yes. [[spoiler: Marius particularly.]]
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Lysandra plans to execute a Class 6 with an eye toward rebuilding in her own image.]]
* TheArchmage: Aelius is a rare evil version of this trope.
* ArcWords: ''A cup will be offered, and you shall drink of it.'' Also, ''come, and eat of your father's flesh.''
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played straight and subverted.
* TheAtoner: Sieur Magnus.
* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Asimir, then his twin children, briefly Lysandra, finally Ira/Lysander.]]
* {{Backstory}}: Lysandra Propheta's ministry, the Conquest of Artaxas by her son Lysander, the War of Usurpation and the later Whitecrown War all fall under this category. Most characters have a bit of their own to boot.
* AxCrazy: Gabriel. Vitalia. Ira. Lysandra Propheta.
* BadassFamily: The Blackwalls and the Rassianuses. The Rosecrowns qualify too, but in a CompleteMonster sort of way.
* BadassGrandpa: Sepirahkt Rassianus. [[spoiler: Also Asimir Rassianus.]] Lord John in spades.
* BadassPreacher: Marius. Later [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander.]]
* BadBoss: Anaias.
* BechdelTest: Scores well.
* BerserkButton: Don't call Magnus a failure.
* BigBad: Eleazora, Queen-Imperial of Eden.
* BigBrotherMentor: Titus to Jonathan, in the {{Backstory}}.
* BiggerBad: [[spoiler: Lysandra.]]
* BittersweetEnding
* BlackAndGrayMorality: And how.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Rassianuses get these when exercising their prophetic gifts.
* BloodKnight: Sieur Arman. Jonathan. Lysandra Propheta.
* BloodMagic
* BolivianArmyEnding
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander and Alisayne. Implied with Irion and Anora. A particularly nasty example occurs with Anaias's rape of Sofia, though it later turned out they were "only" cousins.]]
* TheBrute: Sieur Arman Rosecrown.
* TheCaligula: Anora and Anaias. Jonathan has aspects of this as well.
* CataclysmClimax
* CatchPhrase: Sieur Magnus's ''all my failures,'' and Sieur Siegfried with ''nothing changes.''
* TheChamberlain: The poetic, whimsically murderous Umzadi Chamberlain Hadad no Albrecht is nothing like THE Chamberlain, but he is ''a'' chamberlain.
* CharacterFilibuster: Eleazora spends nearly two pages explaining her history and reasoning to Saul. When he finally questions her, she loses it entirely.
* ChurchMilitant: The Angelist and Rassianus churches are both armed, violent and explicitly militaristic.
* CombatPragmatist: Ira, Anora and Jonathan.
* CompleteMonster: Gabriel, Sieur Arman Rosecrown, Lysandra Propheta.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Lord Mark Rycroft and the restored Inquisition.
* CoolMask: The angelic drones wear them to conceal their hideous appearance.
* CorruptChurch: The Angelist Church is meant to keep the people of Artaxas complacent and stupefied while the angels [[spoiler: harvest and eat them.]] The church's priests are chosen specifically for corruption and depravity so they'll be easier to blackmail and control.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Few and far between, given the bleak tone. They do happen, though.
* DaddysGirl: Alisayne to Sepirahkt, her grandfather.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ira, Sofia, Anora, Jonathan, Alisayne to a lesser degree.
* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler: Ira/Lysander, Asimir, Marius and, in the backstory, Lysander the Conqueror and Lysandra Propheta.]]
* DeadLittleSister: Sepirahkt's twin, Areina, was killed at the close of the War of Usurpation. A desire for endless, gruesome vengeance for her death is mostly what keeps him going.
* DealWithTheDevil: House Kvalus made a pact with the angels of Eden in order to win their war against House Rassianus. [[spoiler: Freed from slavery, Eden has made the Kvaluses virtual puppets and dictate all Imperial policy while snatching citizens off the streets for transfer to meat farms and dragging off any dissidents to torture at the hands of their [[Inquisition]]. Note that House Rassianus rose to power by enslaving Eleazora and her hive.
* EldritchAbomination: Eleazora and her sister, Lysandra.
* EmotionBomb
* EmotionEater
* EmperorScientist: Eleazora.
* EncyclopediaExposita: The Conqueror's Gospel and the rest of the Prophets' Texts.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Marius in the fourth book.]]
* EthnicMagician: The morticians (read: necromancers) Lharo and Lharys are citizens of the Egypt/Ottoman Turkey hybrid
* [=~Everything's Better With Princesses~=]: So, so subverted with Sofia, Anora and Alisayne.
* EvilMinions: Eden's children, all-devouring swarms of mindless angel drones, form the bulk of the angelic population and answer unquestioningly to Eleazora.
* EvilUncle: Marius Rassianus to [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Alisayne, and [[spoiler:Veldred Kvalus]] to Sofia.
* FailureKnight: Sieur Magnus Rothenslay and Jonathan Blackwall.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Extremely graphic. [[spoiler:Lysander mauling civilians to devour their souls in the third book is an especially good example.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Umzad is Japan/warlord-era China. Artaxas is the Byzantine Empire/Imperial Rome. Al-Dosht is the Ottoman Empire with an Egyptian death cult in power.
* FeudingFamilies: The Blackwalls and the Sen'Tans. The Rassianuses and the Kvaluses(who went to war over a Rassianus Prince killing Lord Kvalus's second son at a wedding).
* FunctionalMagic: The Three Sorcerous Eyes, Liminal, Numenal and Ontic.
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
* GainaxEnding: And how.
* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:Offscreen with Lysandra Minora surrendering Ira/Lysander to an abusive, fanatically religious fisherman. Alisayne lucked out and got sent off into hiding with the Blackwalls. Then again, she wasn't in any danger of becoming TheAntiChrist.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Sofia to some degree, but Anora defines the trope much better. Inari, too.
* GrimUpNorth: Played straight with the Northern Provinces.
* HeroicSociopath: Jonathan and Ira.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Alisayne isn't a prostitute, but she is a slut and a drunk with a profoundly maternal and loving nature.
* IHaveNoSon: John to Jonathan, many times.
* [=~I'm A Humanitarian~=]: The angels, and [[spoiler: several of the Rassianuses.]]
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
* IncestIsRelative
* InMediasRes
* InTheBlood: The Rassianus "gifts" of prophecy, psychokinesis, faith healing and mind-bending charisma are passed on this way.
* LadyDrunk
* LargeHam: Lord Graham Belfast.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Dozens of Noble Houses, each of which has at least two or three named members. At least fifteen or sixteen Point of View characters to boot.
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander and his cousin, Sofia.]]
* MagicIsMental
* MagnificentBastard: Anora, Gaius/Lorne/Asimir, Lord John and Saul.
* MedievalStasis: Averted. Artaxi technology includes trains, dirigibles and automobiles.
* MindRape: The Rassianuses can do this, and Gabriel revels in it. That isn't even counting what Lysandra does to Ira.
* MommyIssues: Alisayne and Anora both suffer from this.
* MuggleFosterParents: [[spoiler:For Ira/Lysander.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Sieur Magnus' defeat at the Grieving Reach and the subsequent destruction of most of House Rassianus.
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Eden's meat farms.]] Any scene involving Gabriel or Lord Inquisitor Rycroft. The morticians of Al-Dosht at work.
* TheObiWan: Gaius and Lord Kazimir to Ira.
* OffingTheOffspring: Borderline traditional in Umzadi High Families.
* OffstageVillainy: Eleazora, until [[spoiler:the meat farms are seen]]. Also Marius, after the first book.
* OldMaster: Sepirahkt. Later cruelly subverted with the broken and deranged [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus]].
* OnlySaneMan: Saul and Ysabelle both display this trait.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Oh, God.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent
* ParentalFavoritism: Lord John preferred his heir, Titus, to Jonathan and blames Jonathan for Titus' death.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PsychoForHire: Sieur Boris. Gabriel.
* PsychoLesbian: Anora.
* RebelliousPrincess: Subverted in that instead of being hotheaded and reckless, Sofia is a coldly manipulative bitch.
* ReligionOfEvil: The Al-Doshti death cult and the Angelist Church.
* TheRenfield: There's a minor character named Lord Renfield, but he isn't one.
* RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Asimir Rassianus, who got cold feet about bringing the End Times to Artaxas, conferred his mantle on his twin daughter and son and took off to hide in a lighthouse.]]
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Rassianuses in spades. Most of the other Houses to one degree or another.
* ScaledUp: [[spoiler: Lysandra when she fights her sister.]]
* ScarsAreForever: Ira's fingers were brutally broken by his nurse as a child. [[spoiler:Later Marius cuts open his cheek.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Lysandra Propheta. Eleazora in the backstory.
* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:Sofia is the daughter of the deceased Prince Arein Rassianus and Stephen's sister, Naira Kvalus. Ira is the son of Lysandra Rassianus and her rapist, the physician Quintus Lorne. His regnal name is Lysander Sextus.]]
* SinisterMinister: [[spoiler:Ira/Lysander]] and Marius both squeeze this trope over their Wheaties every morning.
* SinisterScythe: The sickle is a traditional Rassianus weapon.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Guess.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lord John's death, surprisingly.]]
* TheStoic: Lord Rhovan Khalimoff, as well as Sieur Randall Gaunt and Sieur Howell Strompike.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Lharo and Lharys, to some extent.
* {{Twincest}}: Offscreen with Sepirahkt and Areina.
* TheUnFavorite: Jonathan to his father, Lord John.
* TheWatchmaker: [[spoiler:Asimir has aspects of this.]]
* TheWoobie: Anora [[spoiler:after her MindRape induced miscarriage]].
* WorldOfNoGrandparents: Subverted with Sepirahkt, [[spoiler:grandfather to Ira/Lysander and Alisayne, and with Asimir, theirs and Sofia's great-grandfather]]. Played straight in that many of the heads of the various noble Houses were killed either during the War of Usurpation or during the war with Umzad.
* VillainProtagonist: About half the cast.
* YourMindMakesItReal
* YourSoulIsMine
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Its long and complicated. The language is incredulous. \'insane\'.
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
Deleted line(s) 150 (click to see context) :
* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Stephen's and Lord John's plot to install Sofia as Queen of Artaxas and restore House Rassianus to power...by waging a war to distract from Sofia's true nature and propping up Alisayne as a false Rassianus heir. The idea being that once the (low casualty) war between John and Stephen is done and the armies of both sides are in one place they can crown Sofia, form an alliance and crush the Throne. Unfortunately Sofia goes missing and John takes things into his own hands, determined to use Alisayne instead of Sofia and to simply conquer Stephen's Empire. Not to mention Lord Kazimir's even more blatant and insane gambit to train Lysander badly and instill poor impulse control in him so that the End Times would come and everything would be returned to nothing, all so Kazimir would cease to exist rather than die and go to hell.]]
