Literature / Villains by Necessity

A fantasy novel written by Eve Forward, daughter of Robert L. Forward.

Good has not only defeated Evil in the last great war, but continues to hunt down and eradicate all representatives of darkness. While this makes the world a happier, safer place for the common folk, this also puts the protagonist, Sam, out of a job. After all, Sam is an assassin, and since the world's in a state of peace, calm and goodness, there isn't much call for his services.

But wait! There's more: as the forces of Good continue to eradicate Evil, the balance of the world shifts. After Sam and his friend companion often annoying acquaintance Arcie narrowly escape the forces of Good, they stumble across a druid who tells them the ugly truth: if the forces of light continue to overwhelm darkness, the balance will be irreversibly disrupted and the world will be consumed by Good.

As in, cease to exist.

So, they form a Five-Man Band of Evil Counterparts to Save the World, battling the forces of Archmage Mizzamir and his efforts to purge the world of Evil by any means necessary. The story is notable for taking the usual "Evil trying to take over the world" fantasy yarn and turning it on its head. Even if the villains aren't exactly all that evil.

While long out of print, it was re-issued as an ebook in 2018. Forward began posting a rewritten version, Villains by Necessity: Redux on Royal Road (which also hosts some original stories she'd written) in July of 2023. It has new text and some changes to the plot, but follows the general storyline overall.

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Villains by Necessity provides examples of:

• 24-Hour Armor: Justified with the Black Knight Blackmail, who is clad head-to-toe in all-concealing magic plate armor that has been welded shut, with enchanted rings that keep him from needing to drink, eat, sleep and presumably relieve himself. He never shows his face nor even so much as says a word until the climax, of course so that even his name is just a bad joke one of his traveling companions made up (though he visibly shakes with silent laughter upon hearing it).
• Acquired Poison Immunity: Sam is immune to just about every drug in existence other than alcohol.
• Addictive Magic: Use of a dark portal is both addictive and corrupting to the user.
• Adjective Animal Alehouse: The Frothing Otter (with its sign depicting a reclining otter with a tankard of ale) is a popular tavern in Bistort which Sam and Arcie enjoy frequenting. It turns out this is a common name, as they visit another in a different city later.
• Aerith and Bob: There's Sam and Robin alongside Arcie and Kaylana. Valeriana is soon nicknamed "Valerie", much to her distaste. Sam is short for Samalander (not "Salamander"), rather than Samuel however. "Arcie" also turns out to be "R. C.", for "Reinhart Corallis".
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Valerie fits the type largely, though unusually she's an openly evil sorceress. She's tall, has an "impressive" chest and is very beautiful, though human men wisely steer clear of hitting on her as her kind eat humans. Her attitude is mostly cool and standoffish.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Deconstructed with Valerie, whose entire race was wiped out for being "evil". While she at no point denies this, she also had loved ones and a family that were destroyed as a result, and is quick to point out that people's willingness to believe this trope meant it was okay for the heroes to commit genocide on them.
• Amulet of Dependency: Sam's unknowing use of Valerie's amulet gives him a new ability, while also addicting him to it.
• And Then What?: At a point where two thirds of the party are about to try to kill each other, Kaylana defuses the impending fight by asking them what is likely to happen if one member succeeds in killing everyone else. After everyone realizes that none of them can survive in the overly light world alone for long, they stand down.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Just as it seems like he's about to die, Sam shouts to Kaylana that he loves her. They're implied to get together later.
• Animal Lover: Kaylana, as a druid, loves and cares for all animals. In fact, she likes them far more than people at first.
• Apocalypse How: Of the Planetary scale; if the forces of light continue to overrun the world, the planet will be consumed by light, wiping out everything on it. While having a spiritual vision, Kaylana sees that such an action would inevitably upset the balance of neighboring worlds and possibly lead to a cascade effect, meaning that it could potentially be on a Multiversal scale as well.
• The Archmage: Mizzamir, who even has this as his title. He is the most powerful wizard in the world left, and the only surviving Hero left from the Victory of Good against Evil (at least before Sir Pryse is revealed as still alive).
• Archnemesis Dad: It turns out that Mizzamir is Sam's birth father, the greatest wizard in the world who tries to stop his quest throughout the book. Sam was contracted to kill him, and does so by the end. Neither one knows the other's related to him before The Reveal in the finale, though. Even prior to his quest, Mizzamir had been the greatest threat to Sam as one of the last criminals, trying to brainwash him into being a good citizen with magic.
• Artifact of Doom: Valeriana's medallion is one of the last surviving Hellgates (called Darkgates in the book). A very small one, yes, but a Hellgate nonetheless. Given that, you'd think Sam would know better than to put the damn thing on, but that's part of its evil, tempting power...
• Astral Projection: Kaylana uses this for control over a herd of animals, projecting her mind on theirs. Valerie does the same to search for and find her when she's been taken by a dragon.
• Back from the Dead: Powerful healers can restore the dead, assuming their body is fairly intact (no beheading, missing hearts, or charred corpses) and several Good minor characters are resurrected after being killed. It's mentioned that assassins do "permanent" hits with the aforementioned methods to prevent this.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: The very premise of the novel: with good running things on a path that will destroy the world, villains are needed to restore the balance. The Druids understood this, but did the right thing the wrong way by siding with whoever was the underdog. Also somewhat deconstructed: if the world keeps its precise balance too long, it will be locked in stasis for all eternity. Periodic fluctuations in balance are just as vital as making sure neither side gets the upper hand for long.
• The Bard: All of them were killed off in the backstory, as many allied with the druids rather than serve the forces of Light, and shared too many characteristics with thieves. It appears they had magical singing ability as well, and by the end Robin seems on the path to become one.
• The Beastmaster: As part of her druid powers, Kaylana is able to hypnotize most animals into doing what she wishes. However, she's very much an Animal Lover so this power is never abused.
• Beneath Notice: Arcie and Kaylana infiltrate Mizzamir's castle by disguising themselves as servants hired on as temp workers for the multinational wizards' conference that Mizzamir is hosting at the time. When they need to get into the archmage's personal tower, Arcie grabs a tray of wine glasses and asks one of the permanent staff for directions, to which the butler's only reaction while giving the directions is annoyance over the fact that this meant that yet another part of the castle would need extra cleaning when the conference was over.
• Benevolent Mage Ruler: Mizzamir, a kindly elven mage, serves as one to Natodik, which he apparently rules.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite the fact that Robin is a good-natured centaur, happens to be afraid of many of the dangers out there, and is Mizzamir's spy, the wandering minstrel does have his moments, like when the group gets attacked by skeletal lizardmen — one of the skeleton lizards grabs the centaur's instrument to try to smash it, and gets on the wrong end of a literal Curb-Stomp Battle. Then there was the time that Mizzamir placed a spell of holding on the group, save for Robin, who has, by this time, gone through a Face–Heel Turn / Heel–Face Turn, and thus Robin unleashes a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on him, thus distracting Mizzamir long enough for the other villains to get free of the spell on them. Also, he puts up a decent fight during the final battle.
• Big Bad: Archmage Mizzamir is the ruler of Natodik who seeks to purge the world of Evil through cruel means, while Sam is trying to overthrow him to stop his oppression and restore the Balance Between Good and Evil that he is threatening.
• Big Good: The book being what it is, Mizzamir blurs the line between this and Evil Overlord. He's working for the forces of good and attempting to purge all evil from the world, and will never take the life of an opponent. On the other hand, Mizzamir plays straight a lot of Evil Overlord tropes, constantly spying on foes from a spire of a castle, increasing his powerbase as the world changes, and manipulating his allies for his own ends.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Centaurs are blue-green colorblind in the book's universe, along with (logically) having two hearts and two sets of lungs.
• Black-and-White Insanity: The heroes suffer from this, and their attempt to only push for the forces of light endangers the world, kicking off the book's plot. Our own group of Villain Protagonists reason that the world is more complex than that, and attempting to categorize things leads to the heroes performing morally dubious actions simply because they're "on the right side."
• Black and White Magic: This is the contrast between Valerie and Kaylana. In the former's case, she largely uses magic to kill or destroy (aside from a couple instances). Kaylana uses hers to heal others and speak with animals or control them largely.
• Black-and-White Morality: Discussed and averted. Robin is astonished that the villains don't fit many of the bad guy stereotypes, as they can still be kind and work together. They explain that an evil person can do good things, and vice versa, while most acts can be done by both, with different motives. Moreover, there are many cases where an act is ambiguous. Killing is wrong, he agrees, yet the forces of Good try to kill the villains. Sam killed a man trying to rape a woman, so was that good for saving her, or bad for killing him? He concludes that whether or not it is Good, their cause is right.
• Black Knight: Blackmail. He rescues the protagonists from a dragon, and they nickname him this due to his armor. Unlike most examples, he never even speaks. By the end of the book he's revealed to be a legendary paladin who was part of the team of heroes responsible for tipping the Balance Between Good and Evil to the light, and proves his Dark Is Not Evil credentials by sacrificing himself to keep the world from being consumed by the light.
• Black Mage: Valerie. Aside from a couple instances, she solely casts spells to kill and destroy.
• Black Magic: Valerie's magic, which is almost entirely about killing or destroying. She admits this is her specialty. That said, she's capable of other kinds, it just doesn't come up except for a few times.
• Black Magician Girl: Valerie, who's the only truly evil member of the party. Her magic is almost entirely offensive, and she's self-described as liking to hurt people.
• Both Order and Chaos are Dangerous: While maintaining a balance between good and evil matters, that balance can't stay the same otherwise the world will develop an inability to change and break apart and so every often the balance needs a shift from either side to keep change relevant for progress.
• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: The plainer term for "whitewashing", where a wizard in the service of Good forcibly drives out the evil in a person, leaving the victim in a state best described as Good Is Dumb. Could be considered a form of Mind Rape.
• Brought Down to Normal: In order to acquire the final key, Sam is forced to give up his self-identity as an assassin. Blackmail helps him restore it just in time to have a final confrontation with Mizzamir.
• But Not Too Evil: The villains never do much that's really bad (mostly killing to save the world or in self-defense, while Arcie's thefts never cause harm). Valerie is the worst, who kills some dolphins just for fun. The most evil thing the others are shown doing is dropping a tree on a village full of Smurf expies, which is Played for Laughs.
• Can't Argue with Elves: Well, Mizzamir seems to think it applies, and most everyone he talks to either agrees with him already or does by the time he's through with them. Subverted in that Sam refuses to give in and just keeps trying to kill him.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Sam almost never drinks since it could potentially interfere with his job, and he needs to keep his instincts and reflexes honed. As a result, when he does drink he goes down fast, though Arcie just attributes this to Six Landers' innate "fragility".
• Cessation of Existence: The entire universe will be "sublimated" in a flash of light if the "Good" side isn't stopped.
• Chekhov's Gun: Sam makes Kaylana a garland of exotic flowers. Many chapters later, she uses some of the flowers as reagents for a spell to save the party.
• Chess Motifs: "In chess, someone has to take the black pieces," is used as an analogy of the fact that the book's universe has Good Needs Evil as a cosmic principle.
• Chest Monster: Called an "Aydaptor", one nearly devours Arcie. Later it's domesticated with a spell into a pet by the adventuring party following them, to its horror.
• Child by Rape: It turns out that Sam is one, via Mizzamir long ago raping his mother.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Almost deconstructed.
  • The reason why the druids are all but extinct. Once Good overpowered Evil, the druids were obligated as keepers of the balance to join with the forces of Evil. Unfortunately, they're Stereotypical Evil, and both sides killed the Druids...
  • In the present, the group remark on the stupidity of this trope as a stereotypically villainous act, since adhering to it is what led to Evil being mostly wiped out. The villains note how backwards it is to be at the throats of your own allies, even when in a position where you can trust no one. They themselves manage Teeth-Clenched Teamwork to get through the adventure, eventually growing into actual trust, albeit nearly getting into a real fight once until Kaylana coolly talks them out of it by noting this would be self-destructive.
• City Guards: Sam and Arcie early on get hauled off to a dungeon by the Bistort city guards. During their escape, Sam takes on two with ease (neither is killed). Later, he kills another trying to rape a girl in a different town. It's mentioned most have grown lazy and incompetent as a result of most criminals now having gotten brainwashed so there's less for them to do.
• Code of Honour: A paladin who fights Blackmail is astonished when the latter allows him to get his sword after he was disarmed and is left defenseless, as this follows the code paladins have. This confuses him as Blackmail is supposedly evil. It foreshadows that Blackmail is really Sir Pryce, a paladin.
• Colony Drop: It's mentioned that Cwellyn, the patron saint of bards, asked the goddess Rhinka, his lover, to take his side with the druids. She was so infuriated Rhinka killed him with a meteorite.
• Colorblind Confusion: Robin (like all centaurs in this universe) is blue-green colorblind. Thus he can't tell when the villains replace the blue stones of his magical bracelet (which lets him teleport and deliver spy reports) with green ones, and is unable to escape.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • Played straight and subverted. Sam wears black, Mizzamir wears white. The subversion lies in that Mizzamir is a deluded wizard who only cares about Light and Dark, not right or wrong. Sam is an assassin, but other than that quite a decent fellow.
  • Sam also notes that assassins take this to the logical extreme of wearing black undergarments, the better not to give away one's position if one's outer garments tear on an assignment and, as he puts it, "show a white bunny tail." At the start of the book, Sam has also had his naturally blond hair dyed black for the same reason.
• Compelling Voice: Kaylana is able to use this power in a limited manner. She has to look in the subject's eyes, and it works better on animals than people. In the latter case it hurts her.
• Contrived Coincidence:
  • Mizzamir, the most powerful mage still living who just happens to be there in Bistort so he can come into contact with Sam and jump-start the plot. He turns out to be Sam's birth father too.
  • The floral wreath that Sam makes for Kaylana just happens to include several exotic flowers that can be used as reagents in certain druidic spells.
  • The villains never do solve the riddles for the locations of the fifth and sixth tests, but end up stumbling across the appropriate locations anyway.
  • In order to complete the sixth test, Sam needs to use a Heartstone. He had acquired one mere hours before.
• Cool Sword: Truelight, Fenwick's longsword, which lets off its own magical light and can sense Evil.
• Cosmic Keystone: The Spectrum Key, used to seal off the main Darkgate, then fragmented and each part hidden in a trial (just in case it's needed, however unlikely).
• Counterspell: Valerie fights a Good mage, but it ends in a draw since their spells keep countering each other harmlessly until both have run out.
• Covers Always Lie: While the cover's image actually happens (Blackmail fights a dragon in the book), the blurb starts out describing the characters as being "a depressed thief who dresses in black, his short, feisty sidekick"... The one in black is Sam, an assassin rather than a thief (that is his "sidekick", although Arcie isn't really that either). He is literally the first one introduced, and we learn his profession almost immediately. It seems odd that whoever decided this just couldn't get such a basic detail right.
• Create Your Own Villain: Or Create Your Own Hero, for a given value of Hero, or Villain. Mizzamir and his allies are responsible for Sam and company going out on their quest to save the world from the forces of Good.
  • Arcie, the head of the thieves' guild, was captured by the local guards and sentenced to be whitewashed, until he "hired" Sam to kill the wizard, and the pair escape during the confusion.
  • Valeriana, a dark sorceress, saw her family, including children, be murdered by Fenwick.
  • Kaylana, a druid, is the last survivor of her kind due to the Heroes killing the others during the War.
  • Blackmail/ Sir Pryse a Dark Knight, a former Hero who changed sides after his brother, who turned to the dark side, was changed into a horse by Mizzamir.
  • Robin, a centaur minstrel, ironically enough, was chosen by Fenwick and Mizzamir to spy upon the villains, even reporting their movements, until they save his life, and caused a change of heart in him.
  • Sam, an assassin, is the result of his mother being raped by Mizzamir, which, in a sense, set everything in motion to Mizzamir's eventual death by Sam's own hands as his childhood trauma set him on the path to his profession, later caused him to cross paths with Mizzamir and sent him on a quest to save the world. He succeeds in this and kills Mizzamir.
• Cruel Mercy: Mizzamir's punishments on his enemies are ultimately this. He doesn't kill people who defy his rule, but he'll do just about anything else: Whitewashing, turning them to stone, and turning evil-doers into horses. These punishments have led to people preferring anything to what Mizzamir would do to them.
• Crystal Ball: Naturally, the Gypsy fortune teller has one to see things in the future. Mizzamir, on the other hand, has a whole scrying font to spy on them. However, Kaylana's and Valerie's magic blocks it somewhat, so he only gets glimpses. Then later Arcie damages the font by prying out its magical gemstones, halting his spying until he can repair it. The villains also find a magic mirror at one point, thus letting them spy on Mizzamir in turn briefly.
• Cult of Personality: Mizzamir's home providence of Natodik has one based around him. Wizardry is a popular subject, everyone wears robes that mimic his, and citizens believe he is watching them at all times.
• Damsel in Distress: Zig-zagged. Finwick believes that Kaylana is being manipulated and misguided by the villains, possibly being held against her will, and resolves to rescue her. By sending a dragon to abduct her and hold her hostage, requiring the villains to storm the dragon's keep and save the damsel from the heroes.
• Dark and Troubled Past:
  • It's revealed that Sam grew up in poverty with his mentally ill mother, the pair squatting inside an abandoned warehouse to survive. He had no idea who his father was or where he'd gone, as his mother couldn't remember. Then he walked in once to find that she'd been raped and beaten by a random drunk, dying from her injuries. He killed the man, with the building catching fire when the lamp fell over. After he escaped, the assassin's guild recruited him.
  • Valerie is the only one of her people left, as the rest were all slaughtered by the Verdant Company. She only survived due to being left for dead. Valerie lost her husband, daughter and unborn son in the genocide. She has sworn vengeance on the Verdant Company's commander, Prince Fenwick, for this.
  • Kaylana was Forced to Watch everyone she knew and loved as they were killed when she was just a girl. After that, she lived alone for over a century.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Kaylana (and Robin after his Heel–Face Turn) are nominally part of the dark side, despite lacking evil traits. Sam and Arcie aren't particularly bad sorts either, their professions notwithstanding, and Blackmail, for all his Black Knight trappings, proves to be downright noble. The only one of the "villains" who can really be described as "evil" in any way is Valeriana, and even she had children and a husband she loved. Which also lends her a sympathetic backstory, since they were slaughtered by "heroes".
• Dark World: The parallel world the shadow walkers enter. All the shadows are there, and through these shadow walkers can exit into the normal world wherever they exist, making it a godsend for assassins like Sam. He fears, though, that as the Light grows, the shadow world will fade and eventually disappear.
• Deader than Dead: In order to insure that someone stays dead (given that powerful healers are able to resurrect them), the assassins will burn the body, take off the head or cut out their heart. Sam's done about a dozen "permanent" hits.
• Deadly Dodging: Sam dodges a charging unicorn while there's a tree right behind him. The unicorn ends up with its horn stuck once Kaylana causes the tree's bark to grow closed around it. Robin then protests the villains' plan of taking advantage of the unicorn's helplessness to behead it. They don't as Valerie notes that unicorns are sacred to Good folk and they would rain down vengeance if it was killed.
• Deconstruction: This is the book's goal in regards to fantasy fiction, turning the most basic idea — good versus evil — on its head. Some readers feel it fails though, since the "villains" are not so bad, with the "heroes" having very nasty sides in some cases.
• Defector from Decadence: Sir Pryse, in the guise of the black knight Blackmail, joins the "villains" when Mizzamir's Knight Templar vision of "good" becomes apparent with Mizzamir, it is implied, having transformed Sir Pryse's brother into a horse.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Kaylana. Over the course of the book she slowly warms up under Sam's romantic attention toward her, and at the end she finally laughs at something he says. It's implied they are together after this.
• Dismantled MacGuffin: The Spectrum Key, which was split into six pieces by the gods and hidden for safekeeping in case it was needed again.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul":
  • Valeriana greatly dislikes being called "Valerie", but resigns herself to it.
  • Arcie's birth name turns out to be "Reinhard Corallis", and he hates it. This is only revealed near the end, as before everyone thought "Arcie" (from "R. C.") was it.
• Druid: Kaylana, who's the last one left. There used to be thousands more, but they were all killed. Most of their traits are typical (speaking with/caring for animals, having a wildcat pet, using nature-based magic, rare Voluntary Shapeshifting and being very Long-Lived), though the book adds that they also believe in keeping the Balance Between Good and Evil (to the point of pure stupidity — this is what killed the others).
• Due to the Dead: Arcie, Sam and Kaylana all say prayers after Arcie's protege Kimi is killed while giving her a brief funeral before burying her, while Blackmail gently touches her body in a farewell. Even Valerie, who's usually callous toward anyone else, says Kimi had guts and it was a pity she died.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Valerie, who's from a dark elf-like race, is an evil sorceress with pitch black hair and pure white skin, as her kind lived in the subterranean underdark, while also being a cannibal/man eater as is the norm for her people. Her appearance adds to her creepiness.
• Embarrassing First Name: "Arcie" comes from "R. C.", for Reinhart Corallis, much to Arcie's embarrassment when it's revealed near the end.
• Empathic Weapon: Truelight, Slayer of Darkness, Fenwick's magical longsword, is sapient with a Good alignment. Sam is able to sense its anger for him after he picks it up, since he's a villain. It still works when he wields the sword though.
• Endless Daytime: As the forces of Light continue to spread unchecked through the world, it moves closer and closer to endless day. By the end of the book, the world is sunny and bright in spite of it being eleven at night. This only reverses after the Dark Gate is opened and saves the world.
• The End of the World as We Know It: This is the threat the protagonists are trying to stop. Assuming the forces of Good aren't thwarted, the entire world will be "sublimated"-vaporized in a flash of light.
• Epiphanic Prison: The Labyrinth of Dreams, the last test the protagonists face, works only if you believe in the illusions.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: A running theme throughout the book is that the villains don't really hold personal points against you for any reason as long as you can get results, while the heroes tend to be (at best) patronizing to anything that doesn't quite fall inside their worldview. Our heroes are a Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits of varying races and backgrounds that manage to get along and form friendships. The world's heroes, however, have been wiping out evil races, slowly eliminating all dissenting and "disruptive" opinions, and hunting down creatures who they've labeled as evil. Kaylana especially is regularly mocked by the heroes for being a Druid and following a "backward" religion that insists on balance as opposed to good destroying evil.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Valerie, easily the evilest person in the entire party, lost her family and entire people to brutal slaughter by the Verdant Company, which is one reason she hates Fenwick so much. It's clear that she loved them and also loves her familiar, the raven Nightshade, doting often on him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Sam. He explicitly states that none of the assassins ever killed an entire family, plus they make their killing quick and painless. Further, he loathes rapists as a result of his mother having been raped in his childhood then dying from the injuries her rapist inflicted on her, so he'll kill them on his own whenever he's encountered them, saying no woman deserves to suffer like his mother did.
• Evil Feels Good: An implied effect of Valeriana's medallion.
• Evil Gloating: Subverted when Blackmail finally gets around to talking; he keeps fighting all the way through his monologue.
• Evil Only Has to Win Once: Averted in the book, itself an inversion of the Standard Fantasy Setting. The forces of Good did win the ultimate battle two centuries ago and have been turning the world into a Sugar Bowl ever since. A druid convinces some of the few remaining evil people in the world to restore the Balance Between Good and Evil by releasing the Sealed Evil in a Can.
• Evil Overlord:
  • Archmage Mizzamir certainly qualifies. An ageless elven warlock hiding away in his tower stronghold working to impede and halt the progress of the warriors trying to save the world, watching with distant unseen eyes, having conquered the world and molding it to his image after winning the final battle between Good and Evil a hundred and fifty years ago. The twist is that Mizzamir was actually on the side of good, and his attempts to mold the world to his wishes involves slowly turning it into a sugarbowl where evil-doers have no choice but to be Good. The group of heroes are actually a band of villains trying to undermine a Virtuous Overlord.
  • Although he's long dead and gone by the time of the book, the Dark King was clearly this. Few details are given, but he'd waged war on the forces of Good, with his armies capturing the last elven city plus many human ones until his defeat by the Six Heroes.
• The Evils of Free Will: In a rare twist, it's said by the "good" guys, who "whitewash" villain's minds to make them good citizens.
• Evil Versus Oblivion: The options facing the world. Ironically, it's the "good" side obliviously pushing the world toward destruction.
• Evil Sorcerer: Valerie is a sorceress from an Always Chaotic Evil species. She's a cannibal like the rest, and enjoys hurting or killing people. This is the main use of her magic.
• Evil Weapon: Inverted; Finwick wields a holy blade called Truelight that exists to cut down evil. Sam actually uses this weapon to cut off Mizzamir's head, reasoning that however truthful or holy you make a sword, it's always going to be a weapon made to kill.
• Famed In-Story: Mizzamir, the last of the Six Heroes, is world famous for their feat defeating the Dark King over a hundred years ago and sealing out all evil. It turns out that Sir Pryse is still alive though, and he's recognized on sight as well.
• Familiar:
  • Valerie's raven Nightshade is hers, doing things such as spy or perform small tasks she orders. She also has genuine affection for him — he's more than just a tool.
  • Good mages also often have them, usually birds as well.
  • Kaylana also has a wild cat who acts like this, along with many other animals.
  • Fenwick's sun eagle is also one, and it spies on the villains for him.
  • However the downside is that having a familiar requires a kind of psychic link, so any harm is shared. Sam and Arcie quickly exploit the fact when Valerie takes over the group by holding Nightshade hostage until she gives up her amulet. Later, Nightshade fights some familiars of Good mages, and kills two in one go this way.
• Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: Kaylana gets a number of plants gathered as a gift from Sam which have magical properties. Together, she uses those for a Time Stop spell at a crucial time.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture:
  • Bariga seems to be one for Scotland here, judging by its cold, northerly location, the Scottish terms that the Barigans use, and Arcie's surname, MacRory.
  • The Gypsies also, who of course fulfill the general stereotypes of Roma in real life — some being thieves, having a wise old woman who tells fortunes, painted wagons, etc.
• Fantasy Pantheon: The gods are frequently referenced, but most don't get named or explicated (one, Mula, actually appears in a vision though). The named ones with a description in the book are:
  • Rhinka, goddess of wisdom.
  • Baris and Bella, the twin thief gods.
  • Azal, the god of death.
  • Artelis, the hunters' god.
  • Mula, the goddess of healing and fresh water.
  • Cror, god of thunder.
  • Hruul, the god of darkness.
  • Tharzak, god of blades and or assassins.
• Feed the Mole: When Robin is found out, everybody starts giving him false info.
• Fictional Constellations: It's a plot point that the fictional constellation which is variously called by the names the Scarf in Bariga/the Six Lands, Moonblood to Nathauans, Fors Mor (the Great Waterfall) by druids and Selkin's Tail by the centaurs gets overlooked as a clue to Ki'kartha's Test. In Ki'kartha's culture, it symbolized her goddess Mula of Healing and Fresh Water, dubbed the Water-Giver because of this. It's described as a shining band of stars and possibly loosely based on the real Milky Way.
• Fiery Redhead: Kaylana mostly averts the stereotype, but when greatly offended (usually by men crossing the line with her), she'll lash out in anger.
• Final Solution: The forces of "Good" wiped out multiple cultures and species: Druids, bards, the Nathauan and other "evil" beings (many of whom were not that at all). The worst part is the cold rationality of it: the only way you can remove all evil from the world is if you remove choice, and freedom, from the world.
• Forced Transformation: It's implied that Blackmail's horse is actually his brother, transformed into a horse by Mizzamir.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There are several hints about Blackmail being Sir Pryce and Sam being Mizzamir's son. Blackmail is from Kwartz, Sir Pryce's country, and defeated when a paladin whom he's fighting prays to Sir Pryce for aid. Also, Blackmail lingers over a mural showing Sir Pryce arguing with Mizzamir. Similar conflict led to him breaking with the Light.
  • Robin, while looking at a painting depicting the youthful Mizzamir, finds his features to look oddly familiar. Because he resembles Sam. Plus the fact that a magical ward reacts to him and he can get a magic mirror to work, which shows he has latent ability inherited from Mizzamir.
  • There's a hint also that Nightshade is not a normal raven before he's shown to be Valeriana's familiar. When he gets noticed by Arcie in the woods watching him while they're hungry, his suggestion is they eat Nightshade. He reacts by shifting away while on a branch. While ravens are pretty intelligent, a normal one probably wouldn't understand and react like this. Later he also sticks out his tongue at Arcie in clear mockery.
• Fortune Teller: Kaylana consults with one. She's an old Gypsy with a crystal ball. However, unlike some of them she genuinely sees the future, seeing glimpses of what will happen to them in the book later.
• Fountain of Youth: Kaylana is over a hundred and fifty years old, though druid magic stopped her from aging so that she looks like a young woman still.
• Friend to All Living Things: Kaylana is always very concerned for the well-being of animals she encounters, far more than she is toward humans or other sapients, and relates to their concerns generally. In turn, they're drawn to her and will help Kaylana in various ways. It's downplayed, and due to her power as a druid.
• Functional Magic: The series has Rule Magic mostly, involving chanting/singing, making particular gestures, and specific preparation beforehand. Druid magic is mostly healing or controlling/speaking with animals, occasional shapeshifting and greater feats if certain magical plants are available. This seems to be Force magic, as it comes from natural elements. It's unclear just where everyone gets the ability, though it's sometimes hereditary.
• Genocide Survivor:
  • Valerie is the last Nathauan due to surviving the genocide which killed the rest, including her family.
  • Kaylana, similarly, is the last druid, since all the rest were killed by the forces of Good long ago.
• Gilligan Cut: Quite often. One particular note is when sneaking into Mizzamir's tower, Valerie remarking how odd it is that such a powerful mage has no defense against prowlers. The narrative then cuts to Mizzamir's office, where a proximity alarm is going off, explaining that he would hear it if he weren't attending a magical symposium.
• Ghibli Hills: Natodik is made up of these, surrounding Mizzamir's shining white tower carved from diamond. The land used to be a harsh desert, but Mizzamir's magic transformed it into an idyllic paradise overflowing with greenery and life. To the villains, having to journey here is the equivalent of walking through Mordor.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: With the banishing of the Dark and Evil from the world, gods related to those things faded as their worshipers disappeared. They didn't cease to exist though, as the end shows those gods returning when the Dark and Evil do.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Almost deconstructed. After the forces of darkness have been all but entirely wiped out, heroes swarm the world brainwashing evil-doers and driving monsters to extinction. The fact that the world needs evil to exist (and will literally cease to be without it) is something none of them can understand, and the book's group of villain protagonists are forced to fight against them until the end.
• Good Is Boring: The book starts on a description of how Good beat Evil when they won the final great war, after which the source for Evil was sealed off from the world. Afterward, the Evil remaining was slowly destroyed by the Good guys, with the world steadily becoming nicer and more peaceful, but also quite boring to the few villains left. "Boring!" is the first dialogue spoken in the book, as Sam shouts this in annoyance once the prologue ends (he's an assassin with no call for his work anymore). This is his grievance at first with the forces of Good who now rule (alongside them hunting down everyone like him to be "whitewashed" into being Good too). It soon transpires, however, that far more is at stake if Good takes over entirely.
• Good Is Not Nice: There's Mizzamir, who, let's face it, is pretending to be a hero, even if he won't admit it to himself. There's several other "good" characters who indulge in less savory practices. Among the members of a "good" adventuring party were a woman who quite clearly wouldn't have taken "no" for an answer from Sam, while Fenwick tried to date rape Kaylana, having dosed her drink with aphrodisiacs.
• Good Needs Evil: The book's central theme. With either only Good or Evil, the world will be unbalanced and ultimately destroyed.
• Gotta Catch Them All: The focus of the story's quest is to find all six segments from the Spectrum Key then put them together to reopen the Dark Gate, releasing evil back and thus save the world.
• Great Offscreen War: The War that set up all the events in the book. Over a hundred and fifty years ago, Good fought Evil in a vast, destructive conflict. Evil was led by the Dark King, with many battles whose relics are still left behind in the present. The Six Heroes finally gathered every segment of the Spectrum Key on a quest, causing the defeat of Evil and then sealing it off from the world entirely. Unfortunately, this upset the cosmic balance, so in the time since, things have slowly been sliding toward "sublimation", i.e. destruction by pure Light and Good. Six villains instead have to gather the segments and release Evil for averting this.
• Guilt by Association: In the opening chapter, Arcie gets arrested after getting caught red-handed lifting purses. Sam is arrested as well for... sitting next to Arcie while dressed in black. Yes, Sam is a villain, but the guards have no proof of that, and even after finding all his weapons, cannot prove he'd killed anyone, much less any specific person, with them. However, it is enough to show he is a criminal, which is all they care about, as they're now just being brainwashed into becoming good citizens, and not punished for anything.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Sam, whose mother was human and whose father turns out to be an elf.
• Healing Potion: A shrine to Mula, goddess of healing and fresh water, has water with healing properties. Pilgrims come to be healed there. The protagonists also steam some to treat Valerie after she gets injured (being villains, they would be found out by the Good-aligned clergy of the shrine otherwise). Arcie saves a wineskin full of it which later also saves Sam from injuries which he suffers.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: The effect of "whitewashing" is to turn evil people good by force.
• Heel–Face Turn: Robin and, before the start of the book, Blackmail, for certain values of "heel" and "face." Both started on the Good side, but realized their compatriots were misguided fanatics inadvertently destroying the world, so they joined the villains saving it.
• Hell Gate: The main goal for the protagonists is to this, named the Dark Gate. However, in a twist this is needed for saving the world. Also, smaller ones named dark portals also exist. Evil Sorcerer Valeria has one, the source of her power in the increasingly Light world.
• The Hermit: Before the quest, Kaylana lived by herself in the woods with only some animal companions there for an unspecified amount of time.
• Hero Antagonist: The side of light is, unknowingly, destroying their world by eradicating every speck of evil in it, to the point that they are annihilating everything that could be qualified as "not-light". This included the druids, who were keepers of balance, and the bards, who were more or less neutral. They then begin whitewashing thieves, assassins, and other criminals, who were more or less just grey. Indeed, the entire premise of the story is basically this: in a world of magic, once the Big Bads are fully eradicated, what would happen if the good guys started taking their intended plans for the betterment of the world to their inevitable conclusion?
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Played straight in a weird way. Sam has a short sword that he carries with him, but prefers daggers, as he's a villain. None of the other members of the party use swords save Blackmail (who, as it turns out, is actually a fallen hero). Prince Finwick, the hero pursuing our villains, uses a holy sword of truth.
• Heroic Suicide: The Dark Gate requires a death to open it. Sir Pryse thus kills himself by jumping in, saving the world from destruction.
• High Fantasy: The book is an inversion and parody of the genre, with the villains having to save the world from imminent destruction by cosmic Good.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Sam is a similar example since as a professional assassin his work is clandestine, yet he (and his fellow assassins) wear all black clothing. This naturally causes him to stick out like a sore thumb, drawing much suspicion and stares, if not outright identifying him for anybody who's aware of their attire. It's somewhat justified as he once had many disguises he'd then use while selling these in hard times, also for nostalgia as the other assassins had been Whitewashed into becoming good citizens. However, even while on the run not getting less noticeable clothing is very dumb. Sam even makes himself more noticeable at one point by wearing a black scarf wrapped all around his head (also like a ninja).
• Hitman with a Heart: Sam, who is an assassin but a caring, friendly person overall despite this.
• Hot Witch:
  • Kaylana is a Druid who's described as attractive, with red hair and green eyes. She's largely stern and stoic at first, though she eventually warms up to Sam.
  • Valerie is a more traditional Wicked Witch, an evil sorceress (though not incapable of love) who enjoys harming people, but described as very beautiful. Sam though quickly discerns that she is not someone to try romancing. She does however accept having a candle-lit dinner along with Arcie, though he wisely doesn't try to get into anything further (her people traditionally eat humans).
• Hypnotic Eyes: Kaylana can mind-control humans with difficulty, through looking into their eyes, and animals more easily. It has to be simple orders however, and her control can't last for long.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Valeriana's people, the Nathauan, commonly ate humans and members of their own kind. She mentions once that her brother had his mother-in-law as a side dish as part of his wedding banquet and speculates about whether a human sailor's flesh would taste of salt at one point. Thankfully she never finds out though. It turns out they also eat their dead.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Sam has an innate magical ability that manifests in how he throws his daggers. No matter when or where he throws, he always hits someone (even if it's not who he was aiming for). At one point he tosses Blackmail his enormously heavy broadsword in the midst of a battle and it manages to clear the distance to him despite physically being too heavy for him to throw that far.
• Insistent Terminology:
  • Valerie tries to correct people on her name being Valeriana, but she gets nicknamed this nonetheless.
  • When Sam says his full name is "Samalander", Kaylana asks if he means "Salamander", but he insists that it's correct.
• Internal Reveal: The readers know from the start that Robin is a mole in the protagonists' group, but they don't find this out until much later in the book.
• I Owe You My Life: Despite being found out as The Mole, when Robin, due to his fear of heights and a minor head injury, falls off the edge of a cliff, landing on a small ledge and is paralyzed with fear, Blackmail "hires" Sam to help him save the centaur's life. This causes Robin to join the villains (along with wanting to save the world from destruction, which also would kill him), because, by his people's customs, he owes them a life-debt, practically saying the trope's name — "I owe you, Blackmail in particular, my life."
• It's Always Spring: Explained as a side effect of Good having such a stranglehold on the world; the characters note that it should by all rights be autumn, but the sun only stays up longer (to the point where Kaylana's attempt to tell time by the sun's position is four hours off) and the flowers only get more abundant (in a salt-encrusted desert that shouldn't be capable of supporting plant life).
• It's for a Book: After suffering through intense Clothing Damage throughout the adventure, Sam is forced to have his Assassin's Guild uniform mended by a tailor. When the conspicuously villainous outfit naturally attracts questions, he claims it's a costume for a play (specifically this world's version of Hamlet).
• It's Personal:
  • Sam starts the book under the belief that the Assassin's Guild, the closest thing he has to a family, are all abandoning their trade because it's a much less stable business as evil is being wiped out of the world. After finding out exactly what whitewashing actually entails, he realizes they were forced against their will into leaving their old lives behind, and vows to kill Mizzamir for it.
  • Cited as the reason behind Blackmail's final break with the Six Heroes. When his brother turned evil, he had asked Mizzamir to be merciful... and Mizzamir turned his brother into a warhorse. It's implied that this is the same warhorse he rode and lovingly cared for until Fenwick's men killed it.
  • Valeriana's grudge against Sir Fenwick — the Verdant Company hunted her race to near total extinction, including her husband, daughter, and unborn son.
• Jerkass Hasa Point: The druids sided with whoever lost in the constant conflict between the Light and the Dark. While both the Light and the Dark saw this as treason and massacred them for it, this wasn't a matter of morality but a means to maintain the balance of nature: when the heroes took over they nearly destroyed the world with their actions, thereby validating the druids.
• Knight Templar: So-called "Good" in a nutshell. After they defeated the forces of Evil and banished most into Another Dimension, monsters and villains who remained were ruthlessly hunted down. Criminals were brainwashed into becoming good citizens, while neutral factions like the druids and bards were exterminated, along with whole Evil races or creatures simply labeled as such.
• Lady of Black Magic: Valeriana fits this trope to a tee, though unlike many she's straight-up villainous. Her magic is largely offensive, though she can do other kinds in a pinch. Also it's weaker than in most cases, as Dark magic is fading from the world.
• Large Ham: The unicorn mostly speaks very loudly in Flowery Elizabethan English, usually with All Caps.
• Last of Her Kind: Kaylana is the last druid, and Valeriana the last Nathauan.
• Lawful Stupid: The story has the Balance Between Good and Evil central to its plot — if it's not maintained, the world will be sublimated into either a big light blur or a big dark blur with a possible domino effect for other worlds — but supports this mostly by populating the side of Good with Lawful Stupid Knights Templar, with some Stupid Good lackeys for variety. This has the unfortunate effect of undermining the premise, since the "good" antagonists really aren't particularly good people, and the "evil" protagonists mostly aren't particularly evil either. Notably, one such Stupid Good lackey, the centaur bard Robin, eventually clues in and performs a Heel–Face Turn to side with the "evil" protagonists, and the Black Knight called Blackmail turns out to be a legendary paladin who has sided with the protagonists for the sake of saving the world and in disgust at his former True Companions' Lawful Stupid behavior.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo:
  • Barigans are stand-ins for hobbits, being short, hairy and usually rustic people, with Arcie going so far as to lampshade this (like Biblo or Frodo, he's the Black Sheep due to being an adventurer thief).
  • The Nathauan also seem like ones for dark elves/drow, given their attributes (e.g. being a pretty Always Chaotic Evil subterranean people who would raid surface dwellers) and one theory is even that "they were elves once".
  • On a more parodic level, the Gnifty Gnomes are thinly-disguised Smurfs, being sickly sweet tiny people that live in the same kind of houses the Smurfs did along with sharing their appearance.
• Life Drinker: The will-o-wisps, who drain life energy from people as sustenance. It's also possible for them to transfer it into someone else, healing wounds or rejuvenating them.
• Light Is Not Good: The Good and Light side, after beating Evil/Darkness, has grown an obvlivious, fanatical zealotry. Not only do Light wizards brainwash criminals now and thus rid them of their evil desires, entire evil (or just neutral, even misblamed) peoples or species have been wiped out. They don't realize their effort to eradicate all evil not only makes them like this, but also it's imbalancing things such that it will destroy the whole world if not halted.
• Literary Allusion Title: The title is from a speech in King Lear which Edmund gives, with the entire quote printed at the beginning of the book. However, the speech's message (that you can't blame fate for your evil deeds) is not actually related to the plot, only the phrase itself.
• Living Lie Detector: Kaylana has this talent, presumably due to being a druid. It does have drawbacks, such as lies of omission, and non-verbal communication.
• Logical Weakness: Mages need time for concentration, chanting and making magical gestures, thus Robin can distract Mizzamir with an attack, stopping him completing a spell long enough so they can get away.
• Long List: When Kaylana first meets Sam and Arcie, on recognizing they're criminals she lists basically every major crime, leaving them stunned before disabusing her of thinking they've committed them all.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Mizzamir and Sam. They learn of their blood relationship near the end when Sir Pryce declares it, shocking both (before Sam kills Mizzamir).
• MacGuffin: The Spectrum Key, which is split into six pieces located in hidden, guarded places. It's a powerful magical artifact that can open the Dark Gate and save the world, which the protagonists go on The Quest for, which spurs the plot.
• MacGuffin Guardian: All the pieces of the Spectrum Key, the object needed for saving the world, have magical guardians that the protagonists must defeat to retrieve them (though we don't see Blackmail's).
• Mage Marksman: Sam, as it turns out, does have some magic that he inherited from his birth father, but doesn't know at first. This results in him having an uncanny ability to hit things using throwing daggers. He may miss his target, but they still always hit something. The dagger ricochets up to that point, even if by physics it should stop. Once, Sam even hits himself with his own dagger as a result.
• Mage Tower: Archmage Mizzamir lives in the Castle of Diamond Magic, a crystal palace, his office being inside its tower.
• Magical Romani: The old Gypsy woman whom Kaylana consults with works as a fortune teller and uses a crystal ball to see the party's futures (admittedly vaguely).
• Magical Weapon: Truelight is a longsword Prince Fenwick owns which lets off its own light and can also sense evil.
• Magic Mirror: The group runs into one which reveals Robin is a spy to them, as he's seen meeting with Archmage Mizzamir while they're looking in on the latter.
• Magic Ring: Mizzamir has one he uses to teleport himself early on.
• Magic Staff: Mizzamir and Kahlana both have these, which help enhance their magical abilities.
• Magic Wand: Mizzamir uses a wand which casts freezing spells as he's pursuing Sam within his castle.
• Manly Facial Hair: The legendary hero Sir Pryse was a paladin who sported a manly 'stache; apparently he set a trend since every other paladin who shows up in the story is described as boasting a thick, neatly-trimmed mustache. When Blackmail removes his helmet and reveals his identity, he's still got the same mustache he had as Sir Pryse, now just slightly graying from age.
• Master of Disguise: Sam was once one as part of his assassin work, with a vast costume wardrobe which he used to disguise himself as anyone who could take him near his target. After he fell on hard times the costumes were all sold off and he never uses this skill in the book.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Mizzamir names the novel's world "Chiaroscuro", which is Italian for "light-dark", referring to artwork that features this contrast, and of course the conflict centers on the struggle between the forces of Light and Dark.
  • Blackmail meets the group by saving them from a Dragon of Light who's in the process of attacking them. The dragon's name? Lumathix, which literally means "light-toucher".
  • When Sam runs into one of his old mentors, who was known as Black Fox then, the man introduces himself as Reynardin now. This is related to "Renard", the word for "fox" in French. In Medieval legend "Reynard the Fox" was a popular character too, a trickster and audacious criminal, with Sam mentally recounting some of his past exploits which make clear this fits him very well.
• The Medic: Kaylana serves as this for the party, since her magic is primarily good for things such as healing, talking with animals, etc.
• Medieval European Fantasy: In keeping with much straight fantasy, the book has this as background. Kings, knights and stereotypical medieval towns abound. There is mention, however, of the Six Lands being more feudal in the past until Good won, and becoming more democratic as parliaments were set up. Additionally, there's Natodik, which is a desert country (though Mizzamir's helped change that a bit with his magic) plus an (unseen) more Mid-East-flavored country with a sultan.
• Mega Neko: Kaylana, a druid, has a wildcat who's described as larger than a man (possibly more like a mountain lion) who lives with her in her forest home as a harmless companion (to her at least) because of her powers.
• Mind Rape: Mizzamir did this to Sam's mother, to cover up his physically raping her. It left her permanently mentally damaged.
• Mineral MacGuffin: Every piece of the Spectrum Key, the object which can save the world, is a different type of mineral, in the colors of the rainbow (thus its name).
• Mirror Match: The final Test of the group has this as an obstacle, forcing Sam to battle against a copy of himself in order to claim the final keystone.
• Mirror Morality Machine: The major unethical act of the main "good" wizard in this story is to invent a spell which brainwashes the evil out of villains, as seen early on. At the end we learn it may be temporary once Evil comes into the world once again.
• The Mole: Robin, who's been sent to join the heroes as a spy for Mizzamir.
• Morality Pet: Robin, in a way, becomes this for the team. After all, the villains are fighting for people, like Robin, to have the right to choose between good and evil for themselves.
• Moral Myopia: The world is falling apart because of severe dissonance of values between good/evil, freedom/oppression and nature. The good people are unable/unwilling to see how damaging their actions have become to the earth, being convinced that it is good - said actions involve mind control, slaughtering of animals/races marked as dangerous and removal of shadows, causing the world and society to destabilize. The druids, who are neutral and recognize the need to let enough good/evil remain in the world, end up getting slaughtered by both the heroes and villains who didn't trust them enough to see their point.
• Murder, Inc.: The assassins' guild Sam used to be a member of.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Surprisingly averted. The near-extinct Nathauan race is known for their cruelty, rampant destruction, and penchant for eating any sentient race (including their own). Valeriana, one of the protagonists, is from said race... she can't be as bad as all that, right? Wrong. When she arrives and her power is questioned, she looses a fireball as a demonstration, with total disregard for anyone or anything in the way. She then treats the party as if she's an Evil Overlord and they her subjects, and after her weakness is exposed she only agrees to rein in her more extreme impulses because the fate of the world is slightly more important... and only because saving the world means there will still be a world to terrorize six months later. That said, it's shown that her kind were capable of love. At most, she's willing to admit her companions are useful and tolerable (plus agreeing that a fallen thief was brave), but cheerfully warns them at the end she may "have you for dinner" if they seek her out in the future.
• Nature Hero: Kaylana starts out as this, a druid who's all by herself in the forest except for her wildcat. She is very protective regarding animals and her kind are dedicated to protecting the balance of things. Because of that being threatened, she has to venture outside on a quest.
• Necessarily Evil: The book title lampshades that these villains have taken on the task of saving the world, so their being evil (aside from neutral Kaylana) is a necessity. Indeed, evil itself turns out to be. None but Valerie is more than just mildly evil either. Blackmail's even revealed to be a paladin who realizes their quest is needed.
• The Needless: One of the many things about Blackmail that raises questions from the rest of the group. He never sleeps, never eats, never tires.
• Neutrality Backlash: The druids tried to keep both sides in the war between good and evil from winning, as they knew that either side achieving absolute victory would be a disaster. This got them declared an enemy by both sides. By the start of the story (a century after the Victory), Kaylana is the only druid still alive.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the backstory, Evil was defeated and banished from the world by the Six Heroes. However, this upset the cosmic balance, slowly leading the whole world toward destruction.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • In an intentional twist, the titular villains are trying to fix what's wrong.
  • In a straight-ish, if from an inverted point of view, the fact that Mizzamir raped Sam's mother, thereby creating a Luke, I Am Your Father situation, and is responsible for Sam being involved in the quest, eventually leads to Sam helping to save the world.
• Nobody Poops: Averted by a Verdant Company soldier who the villains ambush as he's going to "answer a call of nature", and it's explicitly mentioned that his trousers are open. It's otherwise played straight though, most notably with Blackmail, who never removes his armor (though it's later explained due to magic).
• No Eye in Magic: Kaylana can briefly control people or animals' minds if she looks them in the eyes.
• Non-Action Guy: Robin is really pretty useless in most combat scenarios, and tends to react to trouble by either running away or panicking. He gets better near the end, fighting fiercely along with the others.
• Non-Malicious Monster: Kimi tells the story of how the local townsmen ganged up on and killed a wyvern nesting in the bay, who wasn't so much a monster as it was a territorial animal that the local fishermen could avoid without that much difficulty, as its claimed territory wasn't very large. In fact, up until some adventurers goaded them into hunting down the beast, that is exactly what everyone in the area had been doing for years. Further, she relates the wyvern was female and had an egg, making it likely more aggressive than usual in protecting its young. Kimi tried to rear its hatchling, but sadly it died. Sir Pryce also later says in his rant that many other beings who did no-one any harm were labeled "evil" and hunted into extinction.
• Obfuscating Disability: When the Plainsmen take the protagonists captive, Kaylana pretends her staff (really a magical object) is a walking stick she needs due to having a limp. This results in them leaving her with it and unbound, so she can help the others escape later.
• Offstage Villainy: Not one of the villain protagonists does anything really evil in the story, thus allowing us to sympathize with them. Anything like that is only mentioned as part of their past (for instance, Sam's apparently assassinated dozens of people). The worst is likely Valerie killing some dolphins with magic for sport, but much worse is mentioned as having also been committed by her people. Blackmail also destroys the Gnifty Gnomes, just for being somewhat annoying.
• Off with His Head!: This turns out to be one of the only ways someone can be permanently killed as otherwise magical resurrection could be done. Sam kills Mizzamir in this manner near the end.
• Oh, My Gods!: Arcie often swears by the thief gods Baris and Bella. For instance he says "Baris's balls!" when surprised or alarmed.
• Only Known by Their Nickname:
  • Sam's full name turns out to be Samalander, though it's only said a couple times. Most other people didn't even know about it until he disclosed this.
  • Arcie, though it isn't until the last chapter that the party learns that Arcie isn't his name, it's his initials, R.C., for Reinheart Corallis MacRory.
• Our Dark Elves Are Different: The Nathauan are basically dark elves in all but name, being Always Chaotic Evil cannibals, evil sorcerers and pale-skinned, black-haired subterranean-dwelling people who frequently raided surface dwellers. Only one is left however when the story starts, as the rest were all slaughtered by heroes. However, they still had families and were capable of love.
• Our Elves Are Different: Mizzamir is a fairly standard High Elf, he literally lives in a Crystal tower.
• Our Wyverns Are Different: The wyvern in Kimi's story is described as black, over forty feet long with its very lengthy tail, standing up on her hind legs like a bird. She had spines in a crest on her head too, and spat yellow poison mist.
• The Paladin: Sir Pryce was a heroic knight, one of the Six Heroes, who is now the exemplar for all paladins. Later another is introduced, Sir Reginald. According to what's shown, they fight by a Code of Honor, such as letting an opponent take up their weapon again when disarmed instead of simply killing them while helpless. Blackmail it turns out is Sir Pryce, so truly heroic he abandoned the forces of Good after they turned Knight Templar, to save the world from his former comrade Mizzamir.
• Parental Abandonment: Sam was reared by his mother alone, who could not remember who his father was or where he went. It turns out this is because Mizzamir raped her, conceiving Sam, then wiped her memory to save his reputation. Sam kills him after learning this. She died after being beaten and raped by a man in his childhood.
• Parody: The book is one of the standard "Heroes have to save the world" plot, with some "bad guys" having to save the universe from the "good guys" after they won. It also generally parodies many fantasy clichés, with the Dragonlance characters being possibly more specifically parodied through one band of heroes who try to stop the protagonists, along with borrowing the idea that if good wins, it must turn evil itself in the end.
• Patricide: Sam, in the final battle. Though he didn't know that Mizzamir was his father until minutes before killing him for unrelated reasons.
• Pet the Dog:
  • The group all have moments and relationships that keep them from being entirely evil people. The most obvious and present is Blackmail's sincere and touching love for his horse, to the point of nearly hitting a Despair Event Horizon when it dies.
  • Virtually, any moment where the rest of the group is nice to young Robin, an otherwise Good person. In one situation, Valerie "enchants" a necklace, and gives it to him, to help him deal with his claustrophobia. Funny enough, even after he's outed, and he finds out about the fact that he was outed, he still keeps it (oddly enough, one would expect Mizzamir to point out the truth about the necklace to the centaur, if it had indeed been magical).
• Placebo Effect: Valerie "enchants" an amulet to protect Robin from the walls closing in on him. The incantation is mock Latin roughly translating to "the fabulous remedy is a placebo". Blackmail finds this quite funny.
• Plot Coupon: The fragments of the Spectrum Key. Every one's needed to move the plot forward, i.e. opening up the Dark Gate again to save the world.
• Poison Is Evil: Our protagonist, Sam, is an assassin with a vast knowledge of toxins and poisons, which he carries plenty of at all times, having spent years building up immunities to them. He also readily employs Poisoned Weapons and owns a Poison Ring (which, admittedly, he used to stash an extra dose of hay fever medicine rather than anything directly dangerous).
• Poison Ring: Sam owns one, which he uses to store allergy medication in.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Robin spends most of the adventure confused why the group doesn't act like a stereotypical cutthroat band, and he keeps on expecting them to backstab one another at any moment. The group realize it, telling him that good and evil aren't black and white, and that being evil hardly means you need to kill your friends for no reason. Kaylana points out that had they behaved that way, the party wouldn't have lasted five minutes. They did nearly come to blows once, while Valerie once coerced them into accepting her leadership before Sam and Arcie overpowered her, but always refrained from worse due to mutual benefit.
  • In a specific example, Valerie (who's the most evil among them) tells Sam to not kill a unicorn whom they trapped after it attacks them, as doing so would bring down even more wrath from the forces of Good, which they can't afford to have.
• Professional Killer: Sam, though he isn't that bad of a person. There used to be an entire guild of them in his home city.
• Proud Warrior Race: The desert plainsmen of Ki'kartha. They've become more understanding and less hostile in recent years, in the sense that they now arrest trespassers in their land and hand them over to nearby civilized authorities rather than casually kill them as soon as they're found.
• Punny Name:
  • Blackmail, named after his black armor, and Sir Pryse. Who are the same person. Surprise!
  • The names of the Six Lands: Trois, Dous, Ein, Kwartz and Seicks.
• The Quest: The protagonists go in search of the Spectrum Key, an object split into six pieces which can reopen the Dark Gate and save the world before it's too late if reassembled.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The protagonists, who are a black knight, an evil sorceress, a druid, a thief and assassin.
• Rape and Revenge: The first person Sam killed was the man who raped his mother, after coming home to find what she'd suffered with the attacker still there.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Sam believes this, after walking in on his mother after she'd been raped by a drunk. He killed the man, and has killed other rapists since "off the books".
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Valerie is very beautiful, with jet black hair and pure white skin. However, as she's a man-eating, cannibalistic Nathauan and Evil Sorcerer, this makes her pretty creepy too.
• Really 700 Years Old:
  • Kaylana, who was a child during the last war between Good and Evil... over a hundred and fifty years ago.
  • Blackmail tops her by being one of the heroes who FOUGHT in the war 150 years ago. In the present all he has is a bit of grey hair. He says his armor is enchanted, implying its magic kept him alive.
  • Mizzamir, the antagonist, was one of the heroes who won that war. As an elf, he's still going strong, and his only visible sign of aging is that his blond hair has turned silver.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Blackmail reveals his true identity as Sir Pryse, he launches into one at Mizzamir, pointing out that his self-righteous attempt to change the world to fit his image has only endangered it, and that light and virtue are meaningless if one doesn't have the ability to choose it for themselves.
• Redheads Are Ravishing: Kaylana is a beautiful redhead who both Sam and Fenwick want, while specifically her hair color was among the things the pair found attractive about her.
• Red Shirt: Kimi is introduced shortly before the first Test and dies attempting it, in order to hammer home to the party that the Tests are potentially lethal.
• The Reveal: Blackmail is Sir Pryse, one of the Six Heroes.
• Revenge: Valerie wants to kill Fenwick for leading the mass slaughter of her people (her family among them), probably after some extended torture.
• Riddle for the Ages: The details of Sir Pryce's Test remain unrevealed during the book. As Blackmail never speaks, this isn't surprising. Even after he does start talking, it's about something far more important. In any case, since Blackmail is Sir Pryse, he would have gone in knowing what the test was, and thus wouldn't have had trouble with it.
• Robe and Wizard Hat: Sam finds a set of these in an old trunk once, and puts on the outfit playfully. They're described as old-fashioned, with no magic user in the story actually shown wearing them seriously.
• Roguish Romani: Subverted. A young Gypsy boy hands back Sam's pouch that he'd pickpocketed, since he took it simply to prove he could. Though stereotypical, they're not portrayed as criminals otherwise, with Sam even admiring the boy's skill and carefree spirit. It inspires him to keep on the protagonists' quest in fact, since people like them will be destroyed otherwise by the forces of "Good".
• Saving the World: The last villains have to do this from the forces of so-called Good, no less, who are destroying the world by their efforts to cleans it of Evil, which imbalances things.
• Scary Teeth: Nathauan have shark-like teeth, fitting as they eat their kind or humans, and it's very unsettling if one grins.
• Seers: The old Gypsy fortune teller who Kaylana consults can genuinely see what's coming in the future, though only bits and pieces.
• Semi-Divine:
  • Bhazo, nicknamed "The Mad Godling" was born to Rhinka, the goddess of wisdom, and Cwellyn, a human who'd been the patron saint of bards, representing knowledge. He didn't have any special abilities until being granted all knowledge by the gods, which drove him mad (hence his nickname), aside from immortality.
  • One of the Heroes, Tamarne, was miraculously conceived by Cror, god of thunder (apparently it somehow involved coming to his mother in the form of a white tiger, which seems similar to stories about Buddha). He could call down lightning like his father, fight like Cror and was immortal. However, he sacrificed his divinity later to save the other Heroes during the War from the Dark King.
• Shadow Walker: Sam, which turns out to be very useful in his work. This involves traveling into a shadow world which is entered or exited through shadows, though it doesn't appear to make travel any faster, just easier getting into otherwise inaccessible places. It's stated there used to be others — apparently they all went into the shadow world one by one, though, and never returned... Naturally, the assassins decided it was best to stop teaching it after that. It seems this was due to being addictive magic, Sam grows more and more unable to stand being in the normal world after he starts using it, though this is implied to be the fault of him wearing Valerie's dark portal (which is what enabled him to shadowslip in the first place. Once he gives it back, he isn't able to travel through shadows again until the Darkgate reopens).
• Shout-Out:
  • It's explained early on that, following the Victory, the majority of Elves departed the known world for a paradise beyond human understanding, with only a few remaining behind. Sound familiar?
  • At one point, Sam attempts to play off his assassin's garb as the costume for a play, The Tragedy of Oswald, Prince of Volinar. Sam describes the plot as "The one where the fellow's uncle kills his father and marries his mother." He later even mentally quotes "To thine own self be true", ascribed as coming from an "ancient play".
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Kaylana, who starts the quest initially, has both red hair and green eyes. She also later is romanced by main protagonist Sam, eventually reciprocating.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: Robin, the last and sixth member of the party to join, is a spy from Mizzamir. However, he isn't really evil, and switches sides after learning their quest is right.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The merchant with the booby-trapped money purse. Has no lines, but if he hadn't been Arcie's would-be victim, or if his money purse hadn't been booby-trapped, Arcie and Sam wouldn't have been caught, which kicks off the whole plot.
• The Social Darwinist: Kaylana's religion seems to believe in something like this, since she tells the Good god Mula that conflict isn't just inherent to nature, but also society, with the strong thriving as the weak die. However, it also advocates balance, as if either Good or Evil wins, this will destroy the world, which is the threat in the book.
• Solitary Sorceress: Kaylana, a druid, was living alone in the woods for years before meeting Sam and Arcie.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Kaylana is capable of communicating with basically any animal, many of whom are friendly with her, and even can control some (aside from those bound to other mages).
• Spy Speak: Arcie tries to do this at a bakery that fading thief's sign indicated was a local thieves guild front, only to find that thanks to all the whitewashing going on, it now really is just a bakery. So he buys some donuts and moves on.
• Stalker with a Crush: Fenwick is a womanizer to begin with, but when he spies Kaylana among the villain protagonists, he immediately decides that he must save her (and give her a personal tour of his quarters) because she's attractive. Doesn't sound creepy? While his constant spying is explainable as keeping tabs on the villains' progress, he obsesses over her presence in specific far more than professionally required. And then resorts to kidnapping her. By dragon. His internal thoughts also reveal he planned to give her an aphrodisiac spiked drink to "loosen her up", with obvious implications.
• Standard Fantasy Races: The book, as a parody of much High Fantasy, features these.
  • Humans make up the majority, as ever.
  • There's only one elf left, Mizzamir, since his people moved to another world. However, their portrayal (the wise, all good, often woods dwelling long-lived or immortal folk) sticks with the usual.
  • Arcie has most of the hobbit or halfling characteristics, though his people are still humans, simply smaller ones from the north (with Scottish accents), being a short, hairy and mischievous man. He is a thief and a black sheep, as the others are said to be honest, more down-to-earth folks. In fairness though, Tolkien stated hobbits were just pigmy humans too originally.
  • Valeriana is basically a dark elf, though her species' origin is never given explicitly.
  • There is also a good dragon, who's vegetarian regarding humans, can talk and has human-level intelligence.
  • More unusually is Robin the centaur. He's a nervous and shy fellow, but his species are said to be more like the original legends (wild horse folk) while his people are the only civilized ones.
  • There are also mentions of orcs, trolls and other standard fantasy "evil" races, plus a couple new ones in one Test which don't differ much, though most are gone due to the Light's victory, with heroes having killed most others afterward.
  • On a minor note, the wilderkin somewhat subvert this as they're not standard (although the one that we see the most is a bit like a hobbit), as short, somewhat hairy woods-dwelling folk who are fierce and territorial in their own homeland (hunting with fox dogs).
• Standard Fantasy Setting: It has the usual trappings, as it's parodying such works. We have humans, elves, dwarves, some original races that are close to other standard ones, orcs and trolls mentioned etc. There's a Good dragon as well, who's slightly less stereotypical as he's garishly colored plus being benevolent. Naturally Functional Magic also abounds, with a magical object and quest to save the world (though it parodies the usually High Fantasy plot as the villains must save things from delusional good guys).
• Sticky Fingers: Arcie is the former leader of the (now defunct) Thieves Guild and pockets everything he comes across, even if they happen to be owned by his traveling companions.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: In part of the book's twisting the roles of a typical fantasy plot, Mizzamir, the Big Good of the story, uses almost every tactic from this tropes' "Guile" category. Mass hypnosis, a cult of personality bordering on worship, and a world-saving reputation that ensures the undying loyalty of the masses (he's the last of the Six Heroes who saved everyone from the Dark King who's left until we learn that Blackmail is Sir Pryse). Mizzamir has become a Knight Templar with no enemies to counterbalance his goodness, heading up the effort to eradicate darkness from the world by killing or brainwashing evil beings, which will actually destroy it because of a cosmic imbalance, basically becoming the new Evil Overlord himself without in fact intending or realizing this.
• The Stoic: Kaylana starts out this way. She's cold, stern and aloof. However, eventually she warms up to Sam, and even laughs at the end.
• Stupid Neutral: The druids. First in the backstory they switched sides once the balance tipped in favor of the Light. Naturally the forces of Light killed them as traitors, while the Dark viewed them as spies for having so recently fought on the side of Light, and killed them too. Kaylana, the last druid, learned nothing after this, telling her "dark" comrades that she'd turn on them if the Dark ever started winning.
• Sugar Apocalypse:
  • Turns out that wickedness and evil are needed in the world, otherwise a cosmos of nothing but virtue and innocence will be wiped out in a great blinding light, essentially this trope.
  • On a smaller scale, the protagonists at one point find a village of Gnifty Gnomes; tiny, disgustingly cute little critters who only want to play games and sing songs. After our villains narrowly escape their proposed party, Blackmail gallantly chops down a tree that crushes their village, wiping them out.
• Sugar Bowl: The world is slowly turning into this, with the brainless whitewashed populace only growing, the sun staying out for longer, and the night becoming brighter. The villains notice several times on their travels how sickeningly wholesome and sweet many of the landscapes they traverse are. It's taken up to eleven toward the end of the book as the world inches closer and closer to the end. The world has literally no shadows, even inside of people's mouths, and even the black clothing of our protagonists become bright, cheery colors. Nightshade, a raven, turns a bright blue.
• Summon Magic: Valerie uses a spell to summon a couple minor beings for aid during a fight. The nearest ones are a couple apprentice mages, whom her opponent kills before either can react.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Sam, courtesy of Valeriana's medallion. He grows stronger with its power and gains an ability to enter a shadow world, but also makes him grow evil and is very addictive.
• Superpowerful Genetics: It turns out Sam inherited magical abilities from his birth father. This mostly manifests as just him always hitting something when he throws a dagger, but anti-magic wards also activate with him. It's said he could become a wizard, but Sam isn't sure about doing so.
• Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Mizzamir plays the Palantir Ploy throughout the book. It seems to work perfectly at first, but the presence of both Kaylana and Valeriana in the group causes it to only give him some vague glimpses of the protagonists' progress. (Arcie also damaged his scrying font while prying gemstones out of it, reducing the font's power.) Later, the protagonists get ahold of a magic mirror which allows them to remotely view Mizzamir, conveniently revealing that Robin is his spy.
• Synchronization: This is the downside of having familiars in the book's universe — anything which the familiar suffers, the mage shares. Thus when Nightshade, Valerie's familiar, kills a good mage's bird familiar, the mage dies too. Sam and Arcie exploit the fact earlier too by threatening Nightshade so Valerie will release control of the group.
• Taken for Granite: Mizzamir inflicts this on Sam after a brief encounter, planning to come back and Whitewash him once he recovers from an injury. Valerie remarks that this is typical behavior for a "good" mage; transform criminals to stone, then leave them there until he decides what's to be done with them. Her personal opinion is that a Forced Transformation is more useful if you need to keep an enemy alive for a while — frogs and newts are a lot easier to transport than several hundred pounds of stone, and don't attract attention if one suddenly appears in the middle of the street.
• Tastes Like Chicken: Unicorn, according to some now-deceased acquaintances of Valerie.
• Tautological Templar: The side of Good is actually pretty damned evil. Not only is the world becoming "mystically unbalanced" by their actions but they've become a horrible dictatorship and most of them still insist that they are Good and all who oppose them are Evil. As it's put at one point, they know nothing of right or wrong, only Good and Evil.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The party at the beginning. They team up and keep together through a pragmatic alliance: they aren't idealistic heroes, but they know better than to backstab each other and wipe each other out. Although they come close to blows once, Kaylana talks them down, pointing out none can survive their quest absent the others. On a normal quest, she notes the party would quickly evaporate, and it's survival that keeps them together.
• Thieves' Cant: Arcie and Sam speak in rogues' cant multiple times throughout the book.
• Thieves' Guild: Arcie was once guildmaster of one, and most cities apparently had them, although some only had competing independent gangs.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Zig-zagged. Fenwick tries to kill Sam by throwing his sword at him, and misses — the sword isn't balanced for use as a projectile, and Fenwick isn't trained in throwing weapons. Then Sam takes the sword and throws it back at the "heroes", hitting his target — Sam has trained in throwing unbalanced swords, and has magically enhanced throwing skills on top of that.
• Time Stop: Kaylana manages to cast a spell with magical plants Sam gathered for her to briefly stop time and save the party from a dragon.
• Token Religious Teammate: Kaylana is the only member of the protagonists who's shown as really religious (she's a druid, thus a cleric herself), though her religion worships Nature rather than the gods, and seeks to keep its balance in the universe, because otherwise the world will be destroyed. The others invoke the gods occasionally and pray when a friend of Arcie's dies, though otherwise they don't display religious sentiments.
• Too Dumbto Live: The druids's Stupid Neutral behaviour led them to this, with their actions getting them targeted and killed by both the Light and the Dark.
• True Companions: By the end of the book, the main characters have become this, learning they can depend on and trust each other through any hardships.
• Two Girls to a Team: Kaylana and Valerie are the women in the party of villains on their quest.
• Two Halves Make a Plot: This trope is taken up to eleven, as the protagonists need the six pieces of the Spectrum Key for saving the world.
• Undying Loyalty: Blackmail's horse to Blackmail. When the horse is hit in the leg by an arrow, which causes the black knight to fall into a swampy section of the land and the knight's armor causes him to sink, the horse repeatedly tries to use its reins to snag the knight, eventually dragging him out. That being said, if Blackmail's story is any indication, another trope might have been in play as well, that of Big Brother Instinct.
• Unicorn: The villains encounter a male unicorn which instantly attacks them. He's muscular, tough and very hammy in his speech. They manage to trap him when his horn gets stuck in a tree trunk when he's dodged and Kaylana (a druid) makes the wood grow into place, keeping the beast in place (to his rage).
• Unicorns Are Sacred: This is cited as a reason not to kill a unicorn by Valerie (who's otherwise ruthless and cruel) as it would inspire dire vengeance on the killer by Good folk.
• Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Kaylana, a druid who is the last one alive, has a wildcat for pet and she lives all by herself in the woods caring for other wild animals.
• Unsuspectingly Soused: At one point, Sam borrows Arcie's waterskin and takes a long pull. Moments later, he realizes that the skin didn't hold water, and that he had just gulped down a pint and a half of whiskey, and passes out.
• Upsetting the Balance: The forces of Good defeating Evil and banishing it from the world actually upset a cosmic balance. As a result, the world will be "sublimated", and some surviving villains set out to stop it.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Or at least the Good crowd thinks it does, if it's even occurred to them that not everything they do is automatically right in the first place. Since the Victory over the forces of Evil, they've been brainwashing or killing anyone who isn't pure Good ever since to create a utopia. The plot is sparked since this is imbalancing the world, and will destroy it if not ended.
• Vancian Magic: In keeping with the Dungeons & Dragons style fantasy parody, magic works this way. Valerie duels a good mage, and their spells keep harmlessly blocking each other until they use up all the ones they've prepared. They simply cast their last ones (which are not offensive) then politely take their leave of each other, as neither is capable of harm by magic at that point.
• Veganopia: Deconstructed along with everything else about good overwhelming the world. An owl is mentioned being unable to hunt to eat, but it is also unable to die from starvation. It may be that other predator animals are unable to kill to eat, and equally unable to die by the time (Kaylana's wildcat friend seemed fine, but this was earlier).
• Villain Protagonist: Sam, Arcie and Valeriana (an assassin, thief and dark sorceress), though the former two aren't as villainous.
• The Voiceless: Blackmail never speaks, and communicates solely through gestures, until near the end of the book.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Kaylana turns into a horse at one point as a disguise. Fenwick, thinking she's a real horse, tries to ride off on her. She bucks him off.
• Wandering Culture: The Gypsies, naturally, who are basically all the Romani stereotypes transplanted into the book's universe: they are nomads who live in painted wagons, have an old woman who's a fortune teller who's really capable of seeing into the future at least somewhat, and a boy who pickpockets Sam (though he's just showing off — he gives back Sam's pouch immediately). In the book they're always portrayed very sympathetically as Sam is inspired to keep going on the quest as the forces of "Good" might repress their culture over not confirming to their rigid Knight Templar morals otherwise.
• Wandering Minstrel: Robin, who uses his profession as cover to spy on the villains, using as justification the fact that there aren't many adventurers left, and he wants to write a ballad about them. He sings and plays his harp all throughout The Quest. They're sometimes annoyed but often genuinely entertained, while some of Robin's useful lore (he has a huge catalogue memorized) that relates to their goal.
• Warrior Prince: Fenwick, one of the heroes, is a proud knightly prince and a champion for the forces of light.
• Weird Trade Union: Thieves organized themselves into guilds in many cities. Bistort also has one of assassins. Sam (assassin) and Arcie (thief) had both been members of their respective guilds, with the latter a guildmaster.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Mizzamir. Though on the surface he is a kindly elven mage, he's also got no problem with brainwashing villains into becoming good. Also it's eventually revealed he once committed rape and confused the victim's mind so she couldn't tell anyone, to protect his good name and reputation.
• White Mage: Kaylana, as her magic is largely used to heal or talk with animals.
• White Magic: Kaylana's magic is largely benign, used mostly for healing or talking with animals.
• White Magician Girl: Kaylana, who's the party healer and voice of wisdom. She holds them together in crises, and provides support to the rest, mostly refraining from direct combat. The source of her power is also a staff.
• Wicked Witch: Valerie is a sorceress whose usual ambition is to kill or harm others, though she's begrudgingly willing to work alongside fellow villains to save the world (thus herself as well).
• Wizard Duel: Valerie engages in one with a Good mage, but their spells keep cancelling each other until they're used up, and it ends in a draw, with them going their separate ways.

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