History Literature / WorldOfTheFiveGods

** ''Curse of Chalion'': From his physical description [[spoiler:Ornon]] is diabetic, and the only reason he's lasted this long in a world without insulin is [[spoiler:the healing provided by his miraculous menegarie]]. A physician enthusiastically tells a horrified Cazaril that his tumor could have grown teeth or hair, i.e. a teratoma. He attributes it to [[BodyHorror a demon attempting to grow a body and escape into the material world]].

** ''Curse of Chalion'': A physician enthusiastically tells a horrified Cazaril that his tumor could have grown teeth or hair, i.e. a teratoma. He attributes it to [[BodyHorror a demon attempting to grow a body and escape into the material world]].

* RedHerring: The "blue witch" plague that Penric fights in ''The Physicians of Vilnoc" has a set of symptoms almost identical to bubonic plague. At one point it is suspected that the plague vector is fleas off of infected rats, just as bubonic plague is spread. [[spoiler: Turns out that the vector is in fact mosquitoes, which was hinted at early on when it was learned that the plague generally only strikes in the summer.]]

* RedHerring: The "blue witch" plague that Penric fights in ''The Physician of Vilnoc" has a set of symptoms almost identical to bubonic plague. At one point it is suspected that the plague vector is fleas off of infected rats, just as bubonic plague is spread. [[spoiler: Turns out that the vector is in fact mosquitoes, which was hinted at early on when it was learned that the plague generally only strikes in the summer.]]

* RedHerring: The "blue witch" plague that Penric fights in ''The Physician of Vilnoc" has a set of symptoms almost identical to bubonic plague. At one point it is suspected that the plague vector is fleas off of infected rats, just as bubonic plague is spread. [[spoiler: Turns out that the vector is in fact mosquitoes, which was hinted at early on when it was learned that the plague generally only strikes in the summer.']]

* HedgeMage: The ''Penric'' stories use the terms "hedge shaman" for shamans not part of the Royal Order of shamans and "hedge sorcerer" for sorcerers not trained by and belonging to the Temple. Hedge shamans are often tolerated by the local Temple authorities. Hedge sorcerers, on the other hand, are hunted down as being dangerous to both others and themselves, either to bring them under the auspices of the Temple or to destroy their demons and thus make them ex-sorcerers.

* IHaveYourWife: Alixtra's son is held as a hostage to keep her obedient.
* HeroicBSOD: Somewhere in the timeskip between ''Penric's Fox'' and ''Penric's Mission,'' Penric was recruited as a physician for the Mother's Order. There, Penric ran into a bad combination: sorcerous power, physician's knowledge, and a complete inability to say no. The Order higher-ups threw their very worst cases at him, the ones even beyond Desdemona's skill, for years, until Penric [[BungledSuicide hit a breaking point.]] He's better now, but when Nikys suggests Penric take up being a physician again, he tells her calmly and deliberately that he would rather die.

* DropTheHammer: Though it's unclear ''exactly'' how, the Son of Autumn and a leopard-spirit enabled maidenly Ijada to bash a would-be rapist's brains in with his own big-ass war hammer.

-->"Nothing"

* GrandeDame: The Princess-Archdivine of Martinsbridge combines secular and spiritual authority in her district.

* ScarsAreForever: Cazaril has horrible overlapping scars on his back from being whipped [[MadeASlave during his time on a Roknari galley]]. Fortunately they turn out to be [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Scars]] and help Royse Bergeon recognize him when they meet again in Ibra.

** Present day Cedonia is the Byzantine Empire, while the Old Cedonian Empire represents the Roman Empire. Capital city of Thasalon is Thessaloniki.

Three loosely linked novels and eleven tightly-connected self-published works by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold set in a reasonably historically accurate counterpart to medieval Europe, with a pantheon of five gods (the Father, Mother, Daughter, Son, and Bastard) -- fairly activist gods, but ones who are incapable of acting directly on the physical world, requiring them to work through willing humans.

* NoManOfWomanBorn: The conditions of raising the curse in ''The Curse of Chalion'' are quite specific: a man must lay down his life three times for the House of Chalion. [[spoiler:Actually dying is apparently not required until the third death; it's sufficient to be willing to die. Cazaril's first is when he is beaten nearly to death, and the second is when he performs a death miracle, something that under ordinary circumstances would result in his death as well as the death of his target.]]

* NoManOfWomanBorn: The specific conditions of raising the curse in ''The Curse of Chalion.''
* NonIndicativeName: As noted in the story, Temple Square has five sides, one for each of the gods.