History Literature / TheDeedOfPaksenarrion

* KnightInShiningArmor

%%* ThePaladin

* ReligionOfEvil: Liart the god of torment; the Webmistress Achrya
%%* TheResenter: [[spoiler:Barra.]]

* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. Plenty of throwaway characters share a name with major characters. There are, however, no main charaters with the same name. It is tocuhed on when Paks is asked to take care of a new recruit who has the same name as a friend of hers who died in battle.

All three books are available in a compiled omnibus edition. Moon would later write a pair of prequel books about Gird himself, ''Surrender None'' and ''Liar's Oath'', collectively titled ''Literature/TheLegacyOfGird''. A second series of a projected five books, set after ''The Deed of Paksenarrion'' and entitled ''Paladin's Legacy'' is also in progress. ''Oath of Fealty'', ''Kings of the North'', ''Echoes of Betrayal'' (formerly announced as ''Crisis of Vision'') and ''Limits of Power'' have already been published.

%%* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The kuaknom.

* {{Expy}}: Much of the setting was inspired by ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (in fact, the story was inspired by Moon seeing how a D&D group played paladins, and deciding that she could do a better job). The dark elves' goddess Achrya the Webspinner in particular is essentially Lolth with the serial numbers filed off.

%%RepairDontRespond. Someone else who's read this part can determine what's correct here.** Barranyi is much more prominent as a character. Natzlin isn't so much a LipstickLesbian as just quiet.

* TheMunchkin: Macenion.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished

* ThePaladin

* TheResenter: [[spoiler:Barra.]]

** Barranyi is much more prominent as a character. Natzlin isn't so much a LipstickLesbian as just quiet.

* RunawayBride: Paks runs away from home and joins the Duke's mercenary company to avoid an arranged marriage. She doesn't actively hate her groom-to-be, but she doesn't have any romantic interest in him ([[{{Asexuality}} or anyone else]]). For a while she sends part of her pay home to reimburse her father for her dowry.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The kuaknom.
* AnyoneCanDie: Except Paks.
* ArrangedMarriage - Paks flees one. Unlike other examples it's noted she didn't actually hate her groom-to-be, she just didn't want to marry him. She also sent part of her earnings as a mercenary home to pay her family back for her dowry.
* {{Asexuality}}: Paks just isn't interested. She's even asked at one point if she prefers women (she doesn't), having rejected the advances of men in her cohort, and she maintains her disinterest through the whole story. [[spoiler:It even plays a part in her torture by the followers of Liart. She's repeatedly raped, but because she has no sexual desire it becomes just another form of pain to endure.]]

* BoisterousBruiser: Mal the forester.

* CelibateHero: Paladins in the setting never marry and rarely take lovers, and then only between quests. Paks in particular [[{{Asexuality}} never developed a sex drive]].

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Averted in book three. [[spoiler: Paks does get raped during her torture at the end of the series, but it's only mentioned in passing. [[{{Asexuality}} She has no sex drive herself]] and therefore doesn't view it as any worse than the rest of the torture, and justifiably so - it really is one of the ''least'' horrific things done to her during that time.]]

* DirkDastardlyStopsToCheat: {{Invoked}} in ''Oath of Gold''. [[spoiler:The cult of Liart actually manages to capture Duke Phelan with the intention of killing him to set off a SuccessionCrisis in Lyonya, to whose recently deceased king Paks has recently discovered Phelan is the legitimate heir. [[VillainBall They are willing to give all that up]] in exchange for getting to torture a paladin of the High Lord and Gird, i.e. Paks herself, for a few days. She brokers this deal to buy Phelan the time he needs to reach the capital safely, [[HeroicSacrifice not expecting to survive]].]]

* {{Asexuality}}: Paks just isn't interested, she's even asked at one point if she prefers women (she doesn't), having rejected the advances of men in her cohort, and she maintains her disinterest through the whole story. [[spoiler:It even plays a part in her torture by the followers of Liart. She's repeatedly raped, but because she has no sexual desire it becomes just another form of pain to endure.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Duke Phelan. Certainly some of the other mercenary dukes as well, but Phelan takes a fatherly interest in Paks' development above and beyond the call of duty, even after she leaves his company.
** At least partly because Paks is [[spoiler:roughly the same age as his daughter would have been.]]

* FantasyPantheon: The High Lord and his saints, a bevy of regional gods and goddesses.

* MosesInTheBulrushes

* OverlyLongName: Yes, "Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter" is a mouthful, as remarked by the recruiter who signs her on with Duke Phelan's mercenaries (he's surprised she can even spell it and asks her if there's a shorter form, and she picks Paks over the girlier Pakse favored by her father). Her given name is (apparently mildly corrupted) Elvish, her surname is a patronymic.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Averted. [[spoiler: Paks does get raped during her torture at the end of the series, but it's only mentioned in passing. [[{{Asexuality}} She has no sex drive herself]] and therefore doesn't view it as any worse than the rest of the torture, and justifiably so - it really is one of the ''least'' horrific things done to her during that time.]]

** [[CrystalDragonJesus Luap]] is "Paul" backwards (as in Saint Paul), though {{Word of God}} states this was accidental and [[http://gamerstavern.org/gamers-tavern-ep-46-the-deed-of-paksenarrion-or-elizabeth-moon-corrects-darryl-and-ross/ Elizabeth Moon would've changed the name if she'd noticed at the time]].

* StarterVillain: Siniava.

* WarriorMonk: the paladins

* WordOfGod: Elizabeth Moon maintains a [[http://www.paksworld.com/ Paksenarrion website]].

* HollywoodTactics: Averted. Creator/ElizabethMoon went through [[SemperFi UMSC Officer Candidate School]] and did four years in the Corps, and has degree in history. She knows what she's doing when it comes to battles.

** Sib, a warming and revitalizing beverage. It's bags of bitter herbs steeped in hot water, often mixed with honey -- a lot like tea -- except that tea also exists in this universe, and sib is different.

* AdaptationExpansion: The second arc of ''Divided Allegiance'' is essentially a play-through of the classic Dungeons and Dragons module "The Village of Hommlett" with the names changed. Many of the major characters are fleshed out considerably and given more background particularly Marshall Kedfer and Yeoman Marshall Ambros (Canon Terjon and Calmert in the module) and the thief Arvid Seminson (Fernok of Ferd in the module).

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Paks quits Phelan's mercenary company at the start of ''Divided Allegiance'' after deciding [[EveryoneHasStandards she doesn't want to be a part of conquering a barony for a former pirate]] (to pay him back for helping the northern mercenaries take out Honeycat in the previous book).