History Literature / TheFirstDwarfKing

** OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. On one hand, their men have beards, they all have [[SuperStrength Super Strength]], and they wield [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and [[DropTheHammer warhammers]]. On the other hand, their women are clean-shaven ([[CuteBruiser and cute but tough]]), they're a loosely-defined nation of farmers instead of warriors (except when they need to be), and their only underground city is Kordsgard -- most people live on plantations ''above'' ground.

* RatedMForManly: [[HeroesPreferSwords Swords]]. [[AnAxeToGrind Axes]]. [[GunPorn Guns]]. [[StuffBlowingUp Explosions]]. [[HotBlooded Hot blood]] (and [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]]). [[HornyVikings Viking]] [[{{Expy}} expies]]. [[ScreamingWarrior Screaming Warriors]]. An entire WorldOfBadass. Do the math.

** Dwarves have a good reason for using [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and [[DropTheHammer warhammers]]. They originally used swords, but the elves took away their weapons and forced them to do slave work. But axes and hammers are ''tools''. Therefore, with a bit of ingenuity, the dwarves were able to turn the very tools the elves forced them to use into deadly weapons... [[HoistByHisOwnPetard which they then used on their captors]].

* SwordAndGun: Numerous examples; in Herezar, it's pretty common to know how to wield a sword (or [[AnAxeToGrind other]] [[DropTheHammer melee]] weapon) and own a pistol or rifle. Notable examples include Jani, Armo, Eustathios, and the Osthan.

* CelibateHero: Jani plays with this trope, but leans more toward playing it straight. He and Iris are most definitely an item, but they function as a ChastityCouple (a reflection of the author's RealLife religious beliefs). It remains unknown if they will tie the knot.

* BreakTheCutie: Just what did Phryne do to Aristomache?? She spends the rest of the book with a veil covering her head!
** [[JerkAss Eustathios']] actions become a lot more understandable [[FreudianExcuse once you realize his life has been a living hell]].
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Pathruushkè would just ''love'' to splatter Trang Barok's guts upon the ground...

* TheChessmaster: Trang Barok, [[MagnificentBastard natch]].
* CitadelCity: Derune.

* FiveManBand
** BigBad: [[ImplacableMan Cophthera-gn]]
** TheDragon: [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Pathruushkè]]
** EvilGenius: [[MagnificentBastard Trang Barok]]
** TheBrute: [[HeroKiller The Osthan]]
** DarkChick: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Dargeebla]]

%%* AwesomeMcCoolName: The author's PenName.

* {{Bishonen}} / LongHairedPrettyBoy: Three of them, in fact, giving us a downplayed version of CastFullOfPrettyBoys.
** Eustathios is probably the most obvious example.[[note]]Elven males are actually an entire race of this.[[/note]]
** [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Leofric]] is not as overt an example as Eustathios, but according to WordOfGod still fits.
** [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Cophthera-gn]] acts as a subversion. His appearance plunges him ''deep'' into UncannyValley...

* HumanoidAbomination: The Osthan. They may look like humans from a distance, but [[UncannyValley up]] [[UhOhEyes close]]...

* TheLostWoods: Hesharan Forest.

** LargeHam: In an entire ''world'' of Large Hams, Eustathios, [[EvilIsHammy Trang Barok, and Pathruushkè]] manage to out-ham everyone else. Eustathios is a stage actor, so it's expected in his case; Trang Barok and Pathruushkè [[HamToHamCombat take it]] [[UpToEleven even further than that]] whenever they get into an argument (read: every time they talk).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Hoo boy. There are dozens of characters introduced in the first book alone.
** The second and third books will introduce even more!

** OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. On one hand, their men have [[BadassBeard beards]], they all have [[SuperStrength Super Strength]], and they wield [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and [[DropTheHammer warhammers]]. On the other hand, their women are clean-shaven ([[CuteBruiser and cute but tough]]), they're a loosely-defined nation of farmers instead of warriors (except when they need to be), and their only underground city is Kordsgard -- most people live on plantations ''above'' ground.

* RatedMForManly: [[HeroesPreferSwords Swords]]. [[AnAxeToGrind Axes]]. [[GunPorn Guns]]. [[StuffBlowingUp Explosions]]. [[BadassBeard Beards]]. [[HotBlooded Hot blood]] (and [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]]). [[HornyVikings Viking]] [[{{Expy}} expies]]. [[ScreamingWarrior Screaming Warriors]]. An entire WorldOfBadass. Do the math.

* BadassBeard: Every male dwarf has a beard worth writing home about. Several human men have impressive beards as well.

* SocietyMarchesOn: InUniverse; while things are mostly MedievalStasis, dwarven society is quite similar to the USA, with each city-state being self-governed but allied with each other, and Kothsgard even has a shopping mall, reflecting a free-market economy

* AnimeCatholicism / FantasticCatholicism: The story utilizes ''both'' tropes. The Deothian religion is based upon Roman Catholicism... and administered by Father Kiyoshi, whose race is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. It's worth pointing out that the author is a Catholic in RealLife.[[note]]As a matter of fact, the story uses these tropes ''by accident'', since the author was unaware of them while writing.[[/note]]

* AwesomeMcCoolName: The author's PenName.

* EvilWearsBlack: Cophthera-gn and the Osthan.

* FunetikAksent: Armo. Niilo as well, but to a lesser extent.

* TheHeavy: Pathruushkè.

* HornyVikings: The Craglanders.

* ImmuneToBullets: The Osthan.

* LadyOfWar: Phryne and Aristomache, most definitely.
** Amirah hasn't quite achieved queenhood yet, but is still fully capable of heroics.

** Elves: [[UsefulNotes/{{Greece}} The Greeks]]. Well, as far as naming conventions go, anyway. In all other respects they're...

[[caption-width-right:300:Pictured: The [[spoiler: DawnOfAnEra]]. Not pictured: [[ScrewYouElves Pointy-ears]].]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Most Herezarians (with the exception of the [[ScrewYouElves elves]]), Redariam, and Tarsi are reasonable people, trying their best to do some good in the world. In no way does this keep them from being deliberately dangerous to anyone who would cause them harm.

* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the Redariam could count as this, along with some dwarves and Tarsi. Notably, however, they only get sarcastic in the presence of [[ScrewYouElves elves]].

** OurElvesAreBetter: Uh, [[ScrewYouElves no they're not]].

* FiveBadBand

''The First Dwarf King'' (full title: ''The First Dwarf King: The Saga of the Heir of Aulis'') is a trilogy of [[ScienceFantasy Science Fantasy]] stories written by [[OneOfUs troper]] [[Tropers/TempestKnight Tempest Knight]]. It is the first ''Herezar'' text -- it is intended to be the launch title for an entire series.

* AwesomeArt: Look at the cover. Just ''LOOK AT IT!!''

''The First Dwarf King'' (full title: ''The First Dwarf King: The Saga of the Heir of Aulis'') is a trilogy of [[ScienceFantasy Science Fantasy]] novels written by [[OneOfUs troper]] [[Tropers/TempestKnight Tempest Knight]]. It is the first ''Herezar'' novel -- it is intended to be the launch title for an entire series.

* ActionGirl: Oh, where to begin... [[ActionGirlfriend Iris]], [[PintSizePowerHouse Dagmar]], [[LadyOfWar Aristomache]], [[LadyOfWar Phryne]], [[BadAssPrincess Amirah]]... and it's not just named characters -- each army, with the exception of the Ironheads, has nameless female [[RedShirt Redshirts]] and [[{{Mook}} Mooks]]!

** Amirah hasn't quite achieved queenhood yet, but [[BadassPrincess is still fully capable of heroics]].

After getting frustrated with the lack of progress he was making, the author decided not to pursue publication and instead began releasing it online as a WebSerialNovel on [[https://medium.com/@chriswuebbolt/the-first-dwarf-king-the-saga-of-the-heir-of-aulis-1ccdb14afb40#.uo550xov2 medium.com]].[[note]]And then stopped even that once he realized no one was reading it.[[/note]]

* AnimeCatholicism / FantasticCatholicism: The story utilizes ''both'' tropes. The Deothian religion is based upon Roman Catholicism... and administered by Father Kiyoshi, whose race is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of ImperialJapan. It's worth pointing out that the author is a Catholic in RealLife.[[note]]As a matter of fact, the story uses these tropes ''by accident'', since the author was unaware of them while writing.[[/note]]

** [[AManIsNotAVirgin A Man (or at least an Elf) Is Not A Virgin]]: When an elven (of course) woman finds out about Jani's virginity, her response is a combination of shock and downright ''horror''. Jani answers her insults by going [[UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill Winston Churchill]] on her.

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: [[AxCrazy Phryne]] and [[BodyHorror Aristo]][[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask mache]] are having a... competition of sorts... for the title. It... doesn't end well...

* ''Act I: Thunderous Souls'' released 2015

Now, after centuries of preparation, the enemies of Herezar are ready to strike. It is only a matter of time before their plans are carried out....

* ActionGirl: Oh, where to begin....[[ActionGirlfriend Iris]], [[PintSizePowerHouse Dagmar]], [[LadyOfWar Aristomache]], [[LadyOfWar Phryne]], [[BadAssPrincess Amirah]]....And it's not just named characters -- each army, with the exception of the Ironheads, has nameless female [[RedShirt Redshirts]] and [[{{Mook}} Mooks]]!

* AnimeCatholicism / FantasticCatholicism: The story utilizes ''both'' tropes. The Deothian religion is based upon Roman Catholicism...and administered by Father Kiyoshi, whose race is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of ImperialJapan. It's worth pointing out that the author is a Catholic in RealLife.[[note]]As a matter of fact, the story uses these tropes ''by accident'', since the author was unaware of them while writing.[[/note]]

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The higher up the social ladder you climb, the more likely you are to be a OneManArmy (or [[DistaffCounterpart One Woman Army]], as the case may be). Of course, the setting features its share of [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]], so....

** The [[PintSizePowerhouse dwarves]]: Survived two centuries of enslavement at the elves' hands, then curbstomped the elves not once, but ''twice''; their greatest FolkHero defeated the [[SatanicArchetype Demon Lord]] in one-on-one combat; their homeland is attacked by an army of demons...[[spoiler: and it's the dwarves who emerge triumphant (not to mention, once they're finished with that battle, they go eastward to join another one)]].

** [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Cophthera-gn]] acts as a subversion. His appearance plunges him ''deep'' into UncannyValley....
* BodyHorror: Many of the demons enhance their bodies magically...producing some ''very'' unnatural features.

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Pathruushkè would just ''love'' to splatter Trang Barok's guts upon the ground....

** Conversely, even his own servants and subjects were rightfully afraid of [[MeaningfulName Apollyon]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Merciless]]....

** Elves: [[UsefulNotes/{{Greece}} The Greeks]]. Well, as far as naming conventions go, anyway. In all other respects they're....

* FantasyGunControl: Averted. The races presented in the book appear to have mastered the art of using gunpowder to the point that rifles and pistols are considered normal household items, even though they're still [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy stuck in fantasy middle-age Europe]]. [[spoiler: Trang Barok even has his hands on artillery....]]

* HumanoidAbomination: The Osthan. They may look like humans from a distance, but [[UncannyValley up]] [[UhOhEyes close]]....

* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: More or less played straight in Act I...[[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope then shown to be]] [[{{Reconstruction}} just one of many cultures in the]] ConstructedWorld]].

** Dwarves have a good reason for using [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and [[DropTheHammer warhammers]]. They originally used swords, but the elves took away their weapons and forced them to do slave work. But axes and hammers are ''tools''. Therefore, with a bit of ingenuity, the dwarves were able to turn the very tools the elves forced them to use into deadly weapons...[[HoistByHisOwnPetard which they then used on their captors]].
** The idea of TheChosenOne being chosen by [[TheProphecy prophecy]] is thrown out; instead, the hero simply happens to be in the right place at the right time.[[note]]Or is it? There are hints that [[{{God}} something greater than Jani may be manipulating events behind the scenes....]][[/note]] Nor does the hero exist in a vacuum; his actions are made possible by everyone around him. However, it's still clear that the hero is making a significant impact in his own right, especially as the story progresses.

** In the first act, the humans and elves [[spoiler: defeat the Ironhead army outside Derune. However, they don't consider that the Ironheads might have a backup plan....]]
** In the second act, Kenta and Aimi believe that [[spoiler: Cenric's group has come to their homeland with the intent of causing trouble. Trouble does come...but not from Cenric (although everyone is made to believe it's his fault)....]]

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: [[AxCrazy Phryne]] and [[BodyHorror Aristo]][[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask mache]] are having a...competition of sorts...for the title. It...doesn't end well....

After getting frustrated with the lack of progress he was making, the author decided not to pursue publication and instead began releasing it online as a WebSerialNovel on [[https://medium.com/@chriswuebbolt/the-first-dwarf-king-the-saga-of-the-heir-of-aulis-1ccdb14afb40#.uo550xov2 medium.com]].

* DevilButNoGod: the old chestnut of "[[GodsHandsAreTied There is a a present but innefectual Big Good deity]] whereas the demons can do as they please so the mortal characters aren't rendered superfluous".

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Aulis decapitates the Demon Lord.

** [[BlondGuysAreEvil Eustathios]] is probably the most obvious example.[[note]]Elven males are actually an entire race of this.[[/note]]