Aluthol realized he likely should be afraid. There were, after all, three desperate-looking men holding knives to him, but these were just humans, with their sluggish movements, sloppy stances and fragile lives.
“Aluthol of One Hundred Battles” is a series of short stories following the adventures of Aluthol Steelsong (née Waveborn), an elven warrior living in the Old World.
Ever since he was a young man, Aluthol had a craving for bloodlust, murder giving him a rush unlike any other. While on his way to perform his mandatory military service, Aluthol’s ship was wrecked, and he joined a band of sellswords, leaving his old life behind as he journeyed across the Old World and New - and a few places in between.
However, Fate had more in store for Aluthol than the life of a mere sellsword. Along his travels, he became possessed by a spirit known as the Lord Mauler, a fey servant of the Wild Hunt. It drove his bloodlust to new levels, and got him in trouble more often than not. Soon, the consequences of Aluthol’s actions begin to show themselves, both for better and worse. And then the End Times came…
"Aluthol of One Hundred Battles" contains examples of the following tropes.
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Tropes A-B
- Achilles in His Tent: Aluthol spends a lot of time brooding by himself, especially after the death of someone he cares for.
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Merovech and Aluthol's moment aboard the ship while the other members of the Company carouse.
- Acquainted with Emergency Services: Aluthol is good friends with several healers, including priestesses of Shallya and Isha.
- Anger Is Not Enough: When confronted with a problem he can't fix by beating into bloody red pulp, such as his daughter, Aluthol must learn how to cope.
- Annoying Arrows: Arrows tend to be of little interest to Aluthol, even when they strike him.
- After Action Patch Up: Many of the quieter scene’s in Aluthol’s adventures revolve around this.
- Always Introduces Themselves: Aluthol usually introduces himself as Alu, even to people he's about to kill.
- Asshole Victim: Lady Davandrel is cruel to children, and Elwen especially, and she pays dearly for it.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Though more than capable of tactics, Aluthol’s plan of attack is usually...to attack.
- Badass and Child Duo: Aluthol and Elwen escaping from Arranoc, and their ensuing flight to Ulthuan.
- Badass Boast: Aluthol, standing alone against the hordes of Chaos, challenges them to single combat in the most badass way possible.
- Badass in Distress: Every so often, a battle doesn’t go Aluthol’s way, and he finds himself in need of rescuing, such as on Elwen’s birthday.
- Battle-Halting Duel: Aluthol's single combats have a tendency to stop just about everything else going on around them. Justified, as single combat is sacred to Chaos.
- Battle Strip: Especially as a sellsword, Aluthol tends to forsake armor in favor of entering battle bare-chested.
- Battle Trophy: Aluthol wears a cloak made from a lion’s pelt, a trial he passed in order to become a White Lion.
- Because I'm Good At It Aluthol’s enjoyment of murder is only matched by his skill in it. Even when he no longer has to be a sellsword, he continues to engage in more violent occupations.
- The Berserker: The Rush induces a berserker-like state in Aluthol when he fights.
- BFS: Among the array of weapons Aluthol has wielded is a massive longsword.
- Big Damn Reunion: Several are present throughout Aluthol’s life, most notably with Elwen after she believes him dead.
- Blade Enthusiast: Aluthol usually has a brace of knives on him at any given point in time.
- Blinded by Rage: God help those who even threaten to hurt somebody Aluthol cares about.
- Break the Haughty: In his younger years, Aluthol held nothing but contempt for humans and those below him, but after being shipwrecked and spending a century as a sellsword, he quickly loses any snootiness he once held.
- Broken Faceplate: Harhalf the Ruthless, whom Aluthol beats to death, receives a broken helm for his troubles.
Tropes C-E
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Until she's seventeen, Elwen adresses Aluthol by his name.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: As it’s just another day in his life, Aluthol often has conversations in the midst of battle.
- Cluster F-Bomb: “Damn, bloody-blasted, cuntin’, arse-buggered, shitfucker son-of-a-whore. Go t’hell’n fuck a goat.”
- Combat by Champion: This is a recurring theme, as single combat is popular on both sides of the conflict. Frequently, Aluthol serves as his group’s champion.
- Combat Pragmatist: Aluthol is not above improvising with weapons and fighting dirty, such as tripping his opponent or bashing their head in with a shield.
- Combat Sadomasochist: Aluthol enjoys combat with those who can actually hurt him, because they provide a challenge.
- Cool Uncle: Aluthol looked up to his uncle, and he was one of the few family members he liked.
- Cradling Your Kill: Aluthol, upon realizing he has killed Merovech.
- Dangerous 16th Birthday: Elwen’s seventeenth birthday sees her facing down a knight of Naggaroth while her father bleeds out.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Most characters in the series, but particularly Aluthol and Elwen. (ELABORATE)
- Deadpan Snarker: Aluthol tends to mouth off when annoyed, especially when (ELABORATE).
- Death Equals Redemption: In helping his friends save the world, Aluthol believes he has finally done something good in his life.
- Description Porn: Both beautiful scenery and the hideousness of Chaos warriors are given equal and loving detail.
- Determinator: Aluthol doesn’t let little things like sucking chest wounds get in his way, especially when he has a job to do.
- Diagonal Cut: Just one of many ways Aluthol has executed his foes.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: The gods tend to hold little esteem in Aluthol’s eyes. Among the most notable of these incidents includes punching Orion where it hurts most.
- Dinner and a Show: Aluthol's family stops by for dinner, blissfully unaware of Elwen's existence. Shouting quickly ensues.
- Distracted by My Own Sexy: Aluthol is not above admiring his own muscles at times.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Lady Davandrel called Aluthol’s daughter Mutt. Naturally, the only course of action is to murder her and several guards.
- Dramatic Deadpan: Aluthol has a tendency towards this when describing some of the situations he’s ended up in.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Aluthol receives a vision of his death in the End Times from a wizard.
- Duels Decide Everything: Justified in-universe, as single combat is held sacred and is even respected by the forces of Chaos.
- Dysfunctional Family: Aluthol’s family relationship is strained at best. His father is a domineering merchant, his sister is baby-crazy, his brother in law is a doormat - and they're all related to him.
- Epic Battle Boredom: Though they may net him glory, Aluthol has little patience for wading through hordes of minions.
- Everyone Has Standards: Said almost verbatim by Amendil as he scolds Aluthol for his adventure in the Doodkanal.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Aluthol’s long, luxurious blonde hair often attracts a lot of attention.
Tropes F-M
- Face Death with Dignity: As Aluthol makes his last stand, he does not falter in his charge.
- Family Honor: Referenced by Amendil as he chastises a young Aluthol for going into the human parts of Marienburg at night.
- Field of Blades: Seen in Aluthol’s dreams of the End Times and his own death.
- Finishing Move: Aluthol has executed many of these over the years, but most frequently ends his combats with crushing his opponent’s skull in one way or another.
- Foreign-Language Tirade: A century of adventuring has taken Aluthol around the world, and as such his vocabulary is similarly flavored.
- Funetik Aksent: Aluthol’s Reikspiel has a touch of this, to differentiate it from his more formal Eltharin.
- Get It Over With: Aluthol’s final words are to the effect of this.
- A Good Way to Die: Aluthol’s belief as he faces the hordes of Chaos one last time - that his death will be worthy and maybe even glorious.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Aluthol’s eventual fate - he dies buying time for his companions to save the world. It doesn’t work.
- Immortality Bisexuality: Both Aluthol and Elwen are bisexual, and other elves are heavily implied to be.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Aluthol meets his end at the hands of a Nurglite spearman, who uses Aluthol's own momentum to trick him into running onto his spear.
- Inadequate Inheritor: Simply put, Aluthol is not cut out for his family’s merchant ways. Even after he’s earned a title and land for himself, he still finds himself lacking in his father’s eyes.
- Just Before the End: “Steelsong’s Stand” takes place in the closing days of the End Times.
- Let's Mock the Monsters: “Oi mate! This lot calls me Alu. I fucked yer dad.”
- Major Injury Underreaction: One of the perks of the Rush is that Aluthol feels little to none of his wounds during battle.
- Moment of Silence: Aluthol’s final moments are quiet as he watches the dawn.
Tropes N-T
- Neck Snap: Happens several times over the course of the series, mostly when Aluthol gets bored.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Aluthol has yet to decline a challenge, combat or otherwise.
- Noodle Incident: The time Aluthol was gored by a minotaur, among others.
- No Place for a Warrior: Aluthol has virtually no interest in mercantile or noble work, preferring to lead the charge on the battlefield, and is notably uncomfortable in many social situations.
- Not Afraid to Die: Aluthol has undertaken suicide mission after suicide mission without batting an eye, and even when it appears he can't cheat death any longer, he still has no fear.
- Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement: If he is to be believed, Aluthol has once killed a man with a butter knife.
- One-Hit Kill: Aluthol is an accomplished warrior, especially by the end of the series, and has no issue dispatching warriors with a single blow.
- Parenthetical Swearing: Upon seeing his daughter for the first time, Aluthol internally notes the lack of proper swear words in Eltharin.
- Poison Is Evil: The Nurglite spearman that kills Aluthol wields a poison blade.
- The Power of Apathy: When fighting nameless mooks, Aluthol often plows through their ranks, usually bored while doing so.
- Powers via Possession: The Lord Mauler is the source of Aluthol’s heightened strength and bloodlust.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Frequently averted, but every so often, Aluthol does get a witty line or two in before finishing off his victim.
- Pull Yourself Down the Spear: After being impaled, Aluthol refuses to give up on his last foe, and pulls this off to kill him.
- Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Both Aluthol and Elwen have undertaken this to rescue each other from battle.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Aluthol slaughters the group of guardsmen who scratched a young Elwen - on mistake.
- Screaming Warrior: Aluthol has a habit of screaming bloody murder during combat - when he’s not laughing.
- Self-Restraint: There are times where Aluthol reigns in the Rush during combat, because he knows it is to his benefit.
- Shed the Family Name: Aluthol sheds his family’s last name when he becomes a sellsword, as they assume he is dead. When he returns to Ulthuan, he claims a new last name - Steelsong.
- The Slow Walk: Aluthol nonchalantly strolls up to a Chosen, insults him, then beats his brains out with a warhammer.
- Staring Down Cthulhu: Aluthol confronts the worst of the hordes of Chaos without batting an eye.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Aluthol and Amendil look nearly identical, thanks to elven immortality. Elwen also bears a strong resemblance to her father.
- Suicide Mission: Aluthol’s journey North is recognized in-universe as such. His goal is not to survive, but to buy as much time as possible.
- Symbiotic Possession: Eventually, Aluthol and the Lord Mauler become this.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Upon meeting Elwen, Aluthol promptly forgets most of his earlier fears and adopts her with no hesitation.
- Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Aluthol regularly challenges anyone who pisses him off to a duel.
- Training from Hell: Having been through this himself, Aluthol also puts Elwen through it, including but not limited to a duel with her own father.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: A six year old Elwen gleefully stabs a corpse and splashes around in the blood.
Tropes U-Z
- Unstoppable Rage: Seven feet of heavily muscled elf is difficult to stop. Seven feet of heavily muscled elf possessed by a spirit that makes him enjoy killing is nigh impossible.
- Wasn't That Fun?: Aluthol’s unnatural cheeriness during and after combat is a staple of his personality.
- What If the Baby Is Like Me: One of Aluthol’s chief worries upon finding out he has a daughter.
- When It All Began: Aluthol’s murder of three men in the Doodkanal is where he first discovers the Rush, leading him down the path of violence.
- The Wild Hunt: The Lord Mauler is a member of the Wild Hunt, led by Orion in this incarnation.
- Your Head A-Splode: One of Aluthol’s favorite methods of execution.
- Your Normal Is Our Taboo: Gay relationships, while horrifically taboo in Bretonnia, are more than welcome within Aluthol’s Company.
