Video Game / Love of Magic

Your heart is too soft. You must find the one that will guard it with naked steel.

The fire will burn, the hammer will fall, but the Sword of Mankind must be forged for what is to come.

Love of Magic is a harem H-Game Visual Novel by Droid Productions, based on a modernized version of Arthurian Legend.

The player-named protagonist (Owyn by default) is flying to Scotland for graduate school in magic. His mother, Jannice, tells him to look up her friend Chloe when he gets there. Chloe, a young-looking woman with glowing purple eyes, is a Sorceress trying to turn her pub — the Aleister Crowley — into the premiere drinking establishment for the magical world.

He encounters Princess Emily Pendragon, great-granddaughter of King Arthur, and they fight a Minotaur Lord together. They meet again at school, are assigned homework together, and end up falling in love. Meanwhile, the protagonist finds himself involved with a large number of other characters, mostly female, as his legacy turns him into something considerably more than just another Evoker.

In addition to the main plot and side quests, there is a complex combat system built around a 5x5 poker solitaire game. Multiple types of gems can be slotted in for different hands, allowing for large amounts of flexibility - lightning gems can cause opponents to miss turns, fire gems will cause lingering damage, ice gems will decrease damage opponents can cause, rage gems will build up the damage you do while also doing a small amount of damage to you, poison gems do higher damage that doesn't apply until the board clears, and more. Different companions can have different effects, ranging from Emily's shield to Katie's fire damage to Dylan's healing to Chloe's ability to replace a card with a Joker.

And, as a harem H-Game, Owyn has the option to have sex with just about every woman he meets. However, there's a lot more story than sex in the game.

The game falls more into the ADV style of Visual Novel, with a linear storyline. While the player's choices can affect details of the game, they will not cause a major story branch or anything similar; they will mostly affect the reactions of other characters and may gain the character stat or money bonuses for making the 'right' choice. (There is a slight branch in Book II but both paths get fully explored; the choice is which order they take place in.)

The game was released as three books:

• Book I: The Crown
• Book II: The War
• Book III: The Return

Another game by Droid in a similar setting, Morningstar: Book of the Fallen, is under development. It uses Match-3 as its basis instead of poker.

The game is available on Steam, on Itch.io, and from the developer's page on Patreon. It is available for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, and Android.

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Common Gameplay and Background Elements

Love of Magic has surprisingly deep RPG mechanics for an H-Game, with a Three-Stat System and a wide selection of gems to cause specific effects in combat.

It also has significant amounts of world-building, with many background elements that aren't specific to any one game, but are common to them all.

Tropes found in the common elements

• Achievement System: In addition to the usual achievements for progressing the storyline, completing sidequests, and doing certain actions a number of times, there is an achievement for declining optional sex scenes (labeled as "stay as true as you can to Emily").
• Arc Words: "The Paths Lead All Places". When Jannice hears it, she disagrees, saying "The path leads to where we were meant to go, as always."
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Pierce attacks do triple damage against shields but less damage than a pure damage attack of the same level. Bella eventually gets a special crossbow bolt that will let her completely remove shields, once per expedition.
• Auto-Save: An automatic save is made every in-universe day, allowing you to go back to replay from any particular day.
• Barrier Warrior: Emily's initial use in combat is to provide a shield; once Owyn gets to choose his own gems, he can put in ones that create shields as well.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, famed British civil engineer, also created the modern summoning portal used in Ceremonial Magic.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • Starcucks. Lampshaded - they used to be Starbucks but lost the franchise rights.
  • Others that play the trope straight: "Facial" for Facebook, "DeNile" for Amazon, "DemonFox" for Mozilla Firefox, and QuackQuackGo for DuckDuckGo.
• Blessed with Suck: Being a werecreature. Superspeed, superstrength, regeneration, and the ability to transform and become even better at all of those...and an extremely short lifespan (in the 20s for weretigers, 30s for werewolves, and 40s for werebears) because your body burns itself out so quickly.
• Body Backup Drive: Common among Lords of the Cult, and one reason they're so hard to kill permanently.
• Born Lucky: The key ability of sorcerers. The Voices tell them what they need to do, and things just happen to break the way they want them to. Exaggerated Trope for the "Blessed by the Voices" (Jannice) who have this to such a degree that they don't need to try - their lives work out perfectly without any active effort. Owyn has it as well, except his life is working out exactly as it needs to become the Sword of Mankind.
• Catchphrase: Owyn's pre-combat line: "Deal cards."
• Cernunnos: The oldest of the gods, leader of the Celtic pantheon, father of the other pantheons, and Owyn's father.
• The Chessmaster: Merlin. Exaggerated Trope: he's planned out everything 1500 years after his own death. However, he does have failsafes in place in case things don't work out as planned. He's even planned things out across timelines so that those failsafes trigger in R2, so that R1 Owyn will be pulled over at full strength to complete the job there.
• Decadent Court: Camelot has been in decline for centuries, and the decline has been accelerating over the last decade since Emily's mother's death.
• Disappeared Dad: Owyn's father apparently died in a car crash when he was young. His father is the Horned Lord, and faked the death.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Outsiders.
• Empty Piles of Clothing: Arthur's armor was found after the battle. No remains of Arthur himself were ever found. This is more a testimony to Schwartalf armor quality than anything else.
• Excalibur: Owyn's weapon after his staff is broken; an Empathic Weapon who has been wielded by historical greats through the ages and can talk about them. Owyn nicknames him "X".
• Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Ceremonial magicians practice flexibility and pole-dancing as part of teasing beings from Elsewhere.
• Glowing Eyes: The sign of a Power. When someone is channeling more magic than their body can handle, some of it leaks out the eyes as a glow. The reason Chloe's eyes always glow is that she's old enough that just keeping herself alive requires that much magic.
• Good Is Not Nice: Arthur was a charismatic leader, willing and able to do whatever was necessary to protect people. He was a jerk of a person, though, and the sacrifices required for his victory were immense.
• Healing Factor: Common for Evokers and Changers; Owyn's gets stronger as his powers increase.
• Hearing Voices: The sense that guides sorceresses is called "The Voices". Molly thought she was going mad until she learned what was going on.
• Hammerspace: Where evokers store their focus items. Katie has a small locket with fire gems on it; Owyn has a staff that starts with junk gems, and later replaces it with Excalibur.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Most significant characters, including the protagonist, his companions, most women he can get involved with, his first Evoker teacher, and Emily's father. The player's companion group, the Knights of the Lake, can also be renamed. All names can be tweaked during the game via Owyn's computer. (For purposes of this page, all characters will be described with their default name except the player, who will be called Owyn.)
• An Ice Person: Ice gems reduce the damage that your opponent does, but do less damage than other attacks.
• Interface Spoiler:
  • If the game offers the option of renaming a female character, odds are very good that you'll be able to have some sort of sexual experience with her eventually.
  • Sarah strips down for you while trying to blackmail you, and you get to watch her dancing for practice, but you don't actually have sex with her; Olivia is naked in DGN1 and about to be raped by a tentacle monster when you save her. The exceptions on the other side include Bella, who becomes a Chosen but cannot be renamed, and Xochiquetzal, an Aztec goddess you can have an encounter with in the onsen.
• Land of Faerie: Parts of Elsewhere are like this, especially over by Tir na nOg.
• Magical Land: Elsewhere is a land of magical creatures of various kinds.
• Male Gaze: A given for this type of game, but particularly the first time Emily strips down around Owyn, where the camera pans from her feet to her head after she removes her bra, then back down and back up again once she's naked.
• Match-Three Game: How Katie sees her powers, as opposed to the poker game Owyn sees. Where Owyn's strongest attack is a royal flush, Katie's is a match-7.
• Morph Weapon: Excalibur can change form to the type of sword its wielder expects.
  I've been a Spatha and a Kopis, a Katana and a Khopesh, a Talwar and a Scimitar. But I am always Excalibur.
• Necromancer: Lords of the Cult. They create various forms of Liches and other evil undead, and draw on sacrifice for their power.
• Obvious Rule Patch: Xochi and (eventually) Dylan have the ability to refresh your companions and let them use their abilities again. They do not refresh each other, so that you can't create an infinite loop and kill everything before it ever gets a turn.
• Our Mages Are Different: There are multiple types of mage. Having a Spark is generally required to cast spells, but there are people without Sparks who can perform some sorts of magic.
  • Necromancers have no Spark of their own, but instead use blood sacrifices for power, like an evil version of a ceremonial magician.
  • Ceremonial magicians are (mostly) female virgins who titillate beings from Elsewhere in exchange for magic, which they can use to extend their lifespan, among other things. They have no Spark of their own, and are looked down upon by 'real' mages, who refer to them as 'thots' and 'camwhores'.
  • Sorcerers and sorceresses have no Spark of their own, but instead are guided by Voices toward things that they want. Particularly strong ones are "Blessed by the Voices" and basically are able to subconsciously transform reality to what they want it to be. They're descended from the Chosen of the Mother, the first Goddess...or, in Chloe's case, were actually Chosen of the Mother.
  • Seers have no Spark of their own, but are able to prophecy and create wards against being found. They seem to come in lineages; the Takashi clan is a well-known and powerful one.
  • Esoteric mages are hedge mages with quirky abilities that don't quite fit any other category, and are the largest subgroup of mages.
  • Battle healers have a Spark they can use for magical healing. They are able to heal some damage, but within limits. The one battle healer we see had a Faerie mother, but we don't know more than that on where Healers come from.
  • Enchanters have a Spark they can use to create magical constructs, including shields. The Enchanters we see come from a lineage of Enchanters, in general.
  • Evokers are the most powerful, and have a Spark they can use to inflict large amounts of damage. They are generally direct descendants of the Gods, within a few generations.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Werecreatures, also called Changers, are Blessed with Suck. They have varying degrees of supernatural senses, speed, and strength, depending on what their other form is, but this takes such a toll on their body that they die young, with weretigers rarely making it to their 30s.
• The Paladin: Paladins are Evokers who do not align with any of the major courts. They work to fight evil and protect humanity in a freelance role, while refusing to involve themselves in politics. They typically do not work for money, but can claim hospitality; nobody bars their door to a Paladin.
• Physical God: All gods in this setting. We meet the Norse, Celtic, and what's left of the Aztec pantheon; Owyn becomes a physical god himself after marrying Emily makes him the Once and Future King.
• Playing Card Motifs: Owyn sees his powers in terms of poker hands, and combat as a 5x5 poker solitaire game.
• Playing with Fire: Fire attacks cause lingering burn damage that reduces by 10% each turn.
• Pointy Ears: Generally indicates Fae blood. Owyn, Dylan, and Emily all have prominent ones. Aoife's are more prominent than others, indicating that she's a full-blooded Fae lady.
• Porn with Plot: If the large list of non-porn tropes didn't tell you that already. The plot-to-porn ratio is high enough that it's arguably Plot With Porn, and there have been suggestions made that a Self-Censored Release would be possible.
• Power Crutch: Evokers have an object in that focuses their power, typically stored in Hammerspace. Katie's is a heart-shaped locket; Owyn's is a staff, later replaced with Excalibur. Breaking it leads to the evoker dying of a magical overload.
• Power Crystal: Magic is controlled with gems of various levels and types. Owyn, because his view of magic is poker-based, ranks them all by the poker hand they correspond to. Gems can be placed in slots higher than they are rated for, but not lower. Each type of gem has a different effect; rubies are fire attacks, emeralds are poison attacks, and diamonds are pure damage, for example. Pure flawless gems are level 9 and cannot generally be bought, but must be gained through story or side quests; Book 2 adds new level 9 gems that do things like add ice damage and then double the target's ice total, or convert all ice damage to fire damage.
• Power Incontinence: The fate of an evoker whose Power Crutch is broken, dying of an overload of magic.
• Psychic Link: Between a God and their Chosen. The Chosen can pull power across the linkage and detect where the God is and how they are feeling. Val is a Chosen of Freya; Chloe was a Chosen of the Mother. Nimue is a Chosen of the Horned Lord. Owyn makes Molly, Bella, and Akane his Chosen.
• Static Stun Gun: Electric attacks can cause the target to miss a turn.
• Three-Stat System: Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma. Strength increases how much damage you can take, Intelligence increases how much experience you earn, and Charisma boosts the strength and recharge rate of your companions' abilities. There are also various conversations that test particular attributes; for example, your Charisma needs to be at a certain level to bring Chloe along as a companion, or your Strength needs to be at a certain level to carry a large chest.
• Universal Poison: Poison attacks do more damage than normal attacks, and ignore shields, but the damage doesn't take effect until the board clears after 8 moves. Bella can fire poison crossbow bolts that do twice the damage of her normal explosive ones. Quetzalcoatl can add poison to the counter, or double your poison total.
• Unlockable Content: Multiple card backs are available, unlocked by completing certain scenes. (For example, buying Emily the "My Real Boyfriend Is An Evoker Battlemage" T-shirt unlocks a card back with her wearing it.)
• Virgin Power: Ceremonial Magic is built around virgin women dancing and teasing extradimensional beings in exchange for magic.

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Book I: The Crown

Book I covers Owyn's time in Edinburgh and the initial members of his harem, including his assumption of the Mantle of the Once and Future King, his marriage to Emily, and his collecting his Chosen, and ends with Emily taking the throne in Camelot.

Tropes found in Book I: The Crown

• A-Cup Angst: Emily isn't quite an A cup, but she's smaller-chested than many of the other women in the game, and is a bit self-conscious about it. Nimue calling her a "flat-chested tomboy" doesn't help matters.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Excalibur can cut anything except another divine weapon. Owyn uses it to, among other things, cut through the door holding Katie.
  X: You're using me as a can opener?
• Adjective Animal Alehouse: The King's Dragon. Which has a literal undead dragon head on the wall.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Emily refers to Owyn as "my heart", or "beloved pervert", depending on circumstances.
  • Katie and Bella, as cousins who've known each other since they were kids, initially greet each other as "coppertop" and "ass sniffer".
• The Ageless:
  • Chloe, who looks exactly like she did when Owyn was conceived twenty-plus years ago. She's much, much older than that.
  • Sarah, who is 95 but looks like she's in her mid-20s.
  • Nimue, who has been preparing the Glade since just after Arthur's death.
  • Available to anyone willing to sink magic into it, more or less, but the amount of magic required goes up over time. Chosen can draw upon their God for it, as Nimue does.
• Always Save the Girl: Owyn makes it clear that if he has to burn down the whole world to save Emily, he will burn down the whole world. When facing certain death, given the knowledge that he can shield Emily, Dylan, and Bella, or he can shield himself, he doesn't hesitate before shielding Emily and his companions. The Horned Lord agrees.
  The Horned Lord: You did the right thing, for the right reasons. If we can't protect those we care about, fuck destiny. No victory is worth losing yourself for.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: Lord Jerkow is considering forcing Emily to marry him to claim the throne.
  I guess the only question is if I will decide to chain you with steel or with a ring of gold.
• Angels Pose: Molly, Akane, and Emily, defending Kitsune and Dylan from the Big Bad at Mitburgh. A variant, as Molly (in the center) is facing away instead of in silhouette, making it also Back-to-Back Badasses.
• Arranged Marriage: What Emily expects before she meets Owyn. Erec plans another one for her, with Lord Jerkow, but it doesn't even get formally arranged before his death.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Hakone no Kitsune, Akane's bodyguard, is a three-tailed fox spirit.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: When Emily, now Queen of Camelot, marries the dying Owyn, the Mantle of the Once and Future King fills him with glowing power and heals him.
• Badass Boast: Many, as Owyn and the Knights of the Lake grow in power.
  Owyn: I am the Sword of Mankind, Matthew. Merlin and the Horned Lord tinkered and plotted and crafted me for this. I'm not supposed to be... safe. I'm supposed to meet the Outsiders face to face, and show them that there are scarier things than them in this world.
  
  Bella: I'm a Chosen Werewolf. There ain't anything meaner than me on the streets of Edinburgh.
• Badass Teacher: Matthew, who taught Emily swordsmanship. He's good enough that he recognizes that Emily taught Owyn from the way he moves.
• Bad Liar: Owyn is absolutely awful at lying. This comes in handy sometimes; for example, Emily believes him when he tells her that Molly has become his Chosen.
  Booker: What did I say about your poker-face, Owyn? Next time let Katie lie, if you're going to try it.
• Battle Harem: All of Owyn's companions except for Dylan.
  • Katie is an Evoker, overly fond of fire.
  • Emily is an Enchanter, heiress to the throne of Camelot, and skilled with both magic and sword.
  • Akane is a Seer, able to control the flow of magic.
  • Chloe and Molly are Sorceresses, able to twist probability.
  • Bella is a werewolf armed with a crossbow.
  • Kitsune is a fox demon.
  • Kath is a werelynx.
• Battle Trophy: The King's Dragon pub has a dragon head on the wall. The head is undead and talks to Molly (and, later, Owyn).
• Beach Episode: The Knights gather at the Glade to swim and play. Later, an optional scene has Owyn teaching Emily to swim there.
• Berserk Button: Katie really doesn't like Scotland being called England.
  Katie: Ah'm fecking Scottish, okay. If ah close mah eyes and think of England, that ain't gonna make me any less angry.
• Big Fancy Castle: Camelot.
• Blessed with Suck: Owyn's opinion of his situation.
  Owyn: And as long as I'm useful, the Voices will keep me around. But I'm a tool. You keep a wrench around, in case you need it. But if you need to jam it into the gears to save your kid, you don't hesitate. Even though it might be rough on the wrench.
• Blind Obedience: Discussed with regard to sorcery; while the Voices can guide you, it's imperative to pay attention to more than just them.
  Chloe: Any idiot that relies on Sorcery to tell them everything they need to know deserves what happens to them.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: A variant, with Owyn's Chosen. Molly's the blonde, Bella's the redhead, and Akane has black hair.
• Bodyguarding a Badass:
  • Bella bodyguards Emily, as Emily's powers are great but are more defensive and require preparation.
  • Bella and Kath act as bodyguards for Owyn at various points, because his powers are immense but some assassins may be fast enough to get to him before he can react.
• Brainless Beauty: X's opinion of Emily's armor.
  X: In this case I was busy chatting with your girlfriend's armor. Not the brightest bulb in the box, but she looks smoking.
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Nimue's dismissal of Emily at the Glade leads to a temporary breakup until Emily confirms that neither of them is under any sort of compulsion. Technically a Second-Act Breakup (the breakup begins Act II, and they get back together halfway through the act) but due to Our Acts Are Different it's not the second of three acts. (There are six acts in Book I, for example.)
• Britain Is Only England: Conversed. Book I takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, but various people (notably Jannice) call it England. Scots like Katie do not take kindly to this.
  Jannice: Katie, Bella, it was so nice to meet you, and to know my son has found such nice new friends here in England.
  Katie: (after leaving the pub) Bloody yanks; the difference between Scotland and England ought to be clear to anyone.
• Bullying a Dragon: Lord Jerkow, after Emily and Owyn spring his trap, does not realize just what he's gotten himself into.
• Cassandra Truth: Pretty much everything you tell Olivia. She refuses to believe that you're an Evoker, instead believing that magic is being kept from her by the Ancient Order.
• Cat Girl: Chloe comes into the bathroom with Owyn, shapeshifted into a cat. Owyn buys her some cat-themed outfits afterwards, and she provides the tail.
• Chainmail Bikini: Downplayed. Emily's armor covers all of her except her midriff.
• The Chains of Commanding: Discussed. In an early conversation, Molly doesn't understand how Emily can't just do whatever she wants, not understanding the obligations her position places on her.
• The Chosen One: Owyn was specifically bred to be The Once and Future King.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Olivia believes that she can't find any magic because the ancient order is hiding it from her.
• Could Say It, But...: The email from the developers of "Landlady & Flatmate" talks about how they'd never include incest, that sort of thing is only in unauthorized patches (which it provides pointers to).
• Cryptic Conversation: Molly and Akane provide these after becoming Chosen, typically listing off what Owyn needs to do.
  Your senses are weak, Owyn. Rely on them and you will fail.
  Your eyes see nothing. You must find one that can peer through the darkness for you.
  You are scentblind. You must find the one that will follow the trail.
  Your arm is too weak. You must find the one that can make you strong.
  Your hearing is flawed. You must find the one that can track your prey.
  Your heart is too soft. You must find the one that will guard it with naked steel.
  Your mind is closed to the voices. You must trust the one that will help you understand.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The rescue of Emily. She's being held at a castle in the real world, guarded by non-magical mercenaries. They never stood anything resembling a chance; the biggest danger is that she doesn't believe it's a real rescue at first, and has been preparing magical constructs to attack whoever tries to claim her.
• Decapitation Presentation: When Bella beheads Sir Tomas, she catches his head in mid-air and holds it up.
• Defiled Forever: Camelot's views on premarital sex for noble women, but not for men.
  Chloe: Erec is furious. And under intense pressure; he has promised Emily's hand to Lord Jerkow, as a bribe to gain his support. To fob him off with pre-used goods would be an intolerable insult.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Nimue, dismissing Emily.
  What a simple-minded child. Did you truly think he was attracted to you? You plain faced, flat chested tomboy. All of this was planned before your great grandfather was even born.
• Disposable Fiancé: In backstory; Emily's first fiancé got himself killed by being found in bed with a Council Battlemage's wife.
  Emily: And the head of the Army, Lord Morris, resigned in disgrace after scattering my late and unmourned ex-fiancé across the duelling grounds.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Owyn brushes the Mantle just a little to set the castle holding the treasonous nobles on fire, incinerating all of them, and any family and retainers they had brought along.
• Either/Or Prophecy: Akane sees cities in flames and millions dead...and that's if Owyn succeeds. She sees much, much worse if he fails.
• Empathic Weapon: Excalibur. He can talk to Emily's armor and sword, and flirts with the armor, which he considers beautiful if a bit vapid. Owyn's armor is too new to have a personality.
• Evil Teacher:
  • Sarah is a 95-year-old Ceremonial Magician who attempts to cause trouble by throwing Owyn and Emily together in ways likely to cause Emily's father to want Owyn dead. She then attempts to blackmail Owyn, gets her mind blown, and eventually becomes a necromancer.
  • Torman is Thor, Katie's grandfather. He tries to kill Owyn in an attempt to cripple the Courts in order to make them a more tempting target for the Outsiders. He got the job by ambushing Booker, the actual Evoker professor.
• Exact Words:
  • Powers are not supposed to lie, so they are fond of this. Chloe, especially, is a master of this, and uses them to get Erec killed, promoting Emily to reigning Queen, and get Owyn almost-killed, leading to his ascension to Once and Future King. She says that Erec has called the Hunt, and that the Hunt is a great danger to Owyn...but never says that the Hunt is being called on Owyn.
  • Molly tells the previous owner of the King's Dragon pub that she will let him go. She does; Bella, on the other hand, doesn't.
• Fantastic Measurement System: Owyn refers to amounts of magic in terms of what level of poker hand they're equivalent to.
• Feed the Mole: Emily sets up Sir Tomas to leak information to the treasonous nobles.
• Fell Off the Back of a Truck: Referenced; "Fell off the Back of a Lorry" is the name of the achievement for selling gems back to the quartermaster.
• Fictional Videogame: "Landlady & Flatmate" is a fictional H-Game that Owyn is a fan of, but the gameplay is never actually seen, just discussed.
• Fiery Redhead: Literally in Katie's case; she's an Evoker who specializes in fire magic. Bella is a downplayed version, as she keeps herself under tight control.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Downplayed. After Mitburgh, Owyn and Kitsune come to respect each other more, although they still don't much like each other.
• First Girl Wins: Emily is the first (eventual) member of the Knights of the Lake that Owyn meets; however, the first girl he meets would be Chloe, who is an optional fling.
• Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Molly likes to show off her flexibility, and it's the trigger that starts the sequence leading to her becoming a Chosen.
• For Your Own Good: Molly's justification for coming between Owyn and Emily; by making Emily jealous, she ties Owyn and Emily more closely together and makes them actually discuss their relationship.
• Foreshadowing: See the page quote? Owyn gets burnt by a dragon and smashed by Thor's hammer in order to come into his full power.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Not quite the fourth date, but Owyn marries Emily on day 76.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Kitsune. She clearly hates Owyn, calling him "abomination" and "mongrel", and doesn't really care for any of the rest of them. However, she is sworn as Akane's bodyguard, and thus will accompany Akane everywhere she can.
• Funetik Aksent: Some of the Scottish characters have this, especially Katie, and most especially when she's drunk or angry.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Glad You're Alive Sex. After the first time Owyn almost dies, Emily decides that life is too short to wait.
• Glamour Failure: The first time Owyn tries using Sight, he accidentally burns away Kitsune's glamour.
• Going Commando: Played for laughs. The first Ceremonial Magic homework involves stripping down to underwear; after the fact, you find out that neither Molly nor Katie was wearing any.
• Good Is Not Nice: Emily is Arthur's great-granddaughter, and it appears to run in the family. She's fond of reminding people of the oath she swore: "I promise to reward Loyalty with Trust, Service with Honour...Treason with Death."
• The Hecate Sisters: Discussed. Someone points out that the Sorceresses they have are maiden (Molly), mother (Jannice), and crone (Chloe), but it's pointed out that the first is no longer a maiden and calling Chloe a crone would be hazardous to your health.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Nobody's armor includes helmets; when asked about it, Katie's comment is "Helmets are for pussies."
• History Repeats: Emily's mother was killed by a dragon, which was then killed by Chloe's anti-tank rifle; if Chloe had gotten there an hour earlier, Emily's mother would have lived. Emily's father is killed by a dragon, which was then killed by Chloe's anti-tank rifle; if Chloe had gotten there five minutes earlier, Emily's father wouldn't have been killed by the dragon, although he was about to get into a fight with Owyn before the dragon attacked.
• Home Base: The Crowley, where Owyn lives and works.
• Honor Before Reason: Emily tends toward this, saying things like "Duty is heavier than a mountain; Death is lighter than a feather." This leads to her finding most of Owyn's harem acceptable; they've devoted their lives to him, and her honor requires her to allow him to reward that devotion.
• In-Series Nickname: Owyn starts referring to Lord Jerkow as Lord Jerkoff, and others pick up on it.
• Interrupted Intimacy:
  • Owyn and Emily, when arriving back at the Crowley after Emily's rescue. They've been talking about the "rewards" Emily wishes to give her husband, only to get to the pub and find Owyn's mother waiting.
  • Later turned about when Owyn returns to the Crowley to find Chloe and Jannice making out.
• Invisible to Normals: A lot of the magical creatures appear to just be ignored by the population.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: By the end of Book I, Owyn has been almost killed twice, once by Thor and once by a dragon.
• Kukris Are Kool: The Gurkha battalion that is sworn to Camelot carry kukris.
  Emily: You do not disarm a Gurkha. You merely convince him to temporarily give you some of his weapons.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Emily gets pregnant the second time she has sex with Owyn.
• Limited Wardrobe: Discussed and lampshaded (but ultimately averted) for Owyn, who wears a black T-shirt and jeans whenever possible; however, he has two sets of armor, plus a couple nice outfits to wear. Most of his companions have at least two outfits, their normal wear around Edinburgh and whatever they wear to fight in Elsewhere.
• Lured into a Trap: Thor uses Katie to lure Owyn out somewhere in an attempt to murder him.
• The Man Behind the Man: Lord Jerkow is working with Sarah, the newest Lord of the Cult.
• Masquerade: It's unclear just how it's maintained, given how blatant magic use is. The attack on Mexico City at the end of Book I shifts it to The Unmasqued World.
• Meaningful Name: Lord Jerkow. It's obvious he's going to be an enemy even before Owyn starts calling him Lord Jerkoff.
• The Medic: Dylan, the only other male member of the Knights of the Lake.
• Military Mage: Keith is an Evoker who's part of the military; Katie is part of the militia, and Owyn ends up joining the militia as well.
• Missing Mom: Dylan's mother was a Fae who made love to his father, then dropped off a baby nine months later before vanishing.
• More Despicable Minion: The Outsiders are giant monsters bent on destroying the world, but Sarah wants to make people suffer in the process.
• Mrs. Robinson: Diana, if you manage to complete her storyline. One of the dialog tree options is even "Diana, you're trying to seduce me!"
• My Own Private "I Do": Emily marries Owyn in an impromptu exchange of oaths as he is dying from dragon fire, completing the Mantle of the Once and Future King and healing him. They later (in Book II) have a big fancy wedding at Camelot that everyone can attend.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Chloe, among others, can sense the coming of the Convergence, but nobody's sure what it is. It's Nimue bringing Owyn the Grove that will become his base in Elsewhere.
• My X Is a Y: Owyn can buy Emily a T-shirt that says "My real boyfriend is an evoker battlemage".
• Naughty Tentacles: Tentakun, one of the easier monster types to kill. The only times you see one even in contact with a human female are Molly and Olivia, before you rescue them.
• New Game Plus: Book I is being updated with a "New Game Plus" mode where a character can be carried over from completing Book III, with updated gameplay and dialog changes. Owyn brings over scores of 15 in strength, intelligence, and charisma, plus 1 level of power (allowing him to shift gems down one spot), £10,000, and all of his gems.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Owyn breaks Sarah's mind...leaving her ripe for the Outsiders to take over.
• Nice to the Waiter: Molly treats Chloe poorly when she stops by the Crowley.. Comes back to bite her when she realizes that Chloe is a Really 700 Years Old sorceress.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Bella's default outfit has a black corset on top. One of the outfits you can buy for Emily is a white corset.
• Off with His Head!: Bella beheads Sir Tomas mid-sentence.
• Oh, Crap!: Several times.
  • X, when he realizes just how much power has been given to Owyn, and how little control he has.
  • Word-for-word by Owyn when he arrives back at the Crowley after saving Emily, only to find his mother waiting there.
• Only Shop in Town: Diana mentions that there are other bookshops around, but you always go to hers, which charges 100 pounds for every book but one. But, the books are always exactly what you need. An Exaggerated Trope when Owyn pays 100 pounds for a pad of paper to leave a note with.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: Owyn is unable to pull Excalibur from the stone, but Emily (as Arthur's heir) is able to help him. This was a safety valve created by Merlin — for Owyn to come into his full power without Emily's moderating influence could doom the world.
• "Open!" Says Me: Owyn, Katie, and Bella blow open the door to the castle holding Emily, taking out a decent chunk of the wall around it in the process.
• Our Presidents Are Different: One of the books Diana can sell you is the lost manuscript of Vice-President Schwarzenegger's book, Big Muscles, Gut.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Kath is a werelynx.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Bella is extremely strong and fast even before becoming Owyn's Chosen, even in normal human form. Afterwards, she's doing presses with a 60-ton Challenger tank and beheading people in the time it takes Owyn to say her name.
• Painted-On Pants: Katie and Kitsune's default outfits. Owyn comments that Katie couldn't hide a credit card in her pants, and later explicitly says Kitsune's pants must be painted on.
• Parental Hypocrisy: Erec is adamant that Emily must have a political Arranged Marriage, when he ignored the political issues to marry for love.
• Plausible Deniability: Thor wants to be able to say he didn't kill Owyn, so he breaks Owyn's staff to let Owyn die of a magic overload.
• Playing Card Motifs: At one point, Owyn and Emily do a reading with playing cards to test his abilities. Emily comes up as Queen of Diamonds, Katie as Queen of Spades, Dylan as Jack of Hearts, and Owyn as a Joker, indicating his sorcerous heritage - notably, it's a 52-card deck with no jokers in it.
• Playing with Fire: Katie's primary form of attack; Owyn can use it as well once he learns to customize his gems.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Discussed; when trying to convince Dylan that he's not going to die, Owyn tells him that "Humorous sidekicks are immortal." However, Dylan isn't really an example himself; if anyone is, it's Molly.
• Portal Door: The gateway in the basement of the Crowley that leads to Elsewhere.
• Pregnant Badass: Emily is revealed to be a Power after the fight with the dragon, which is also when Owyn realizes she's pregnant.
• Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Emily looks like a Princess Classic, beautiful and innocent. She's also a powerful enchanter and a trained warrior.
• Psychic Link: To a lesser degree than with a Chosen, Owyn seems to have one with anyone he considers "his". When Emily is kidnapped, he puts out a call that brings in all of the Knights of the Lake, plus Booker and Keith. And his mother.
• Psychic Nosebleed: Akane gets one after breaking through an enemy Seer's ward.
• Public Domain Artifact: Excalibur, of course. But, also, Emily wields Secace (Lancelot's sword) and Thor has Mjolnir.
• Public Domain Character:
  • Many of the characters come from the Arthurian Legend, including (but not limited to) Arthur, Merlin, and Nimue. Some of these are only in backstory.
  • The Aesir are around and present, represented by Odin, Thor, and a Valkyrie Chosen of Freya.
  • The Fae are from Celtic Mythology, led by the Horned Lord and including Lugh and Cu Chulain.
• Pushed at the Monster: Thor's plan; by killing Owyn, he weakens the Court, in hopes that the Outsiders will just take out the one pantheon.
• Readings Blew Up the Scale: When Booker tries to get Owyn to max out his power into a thaumometer, the meter catches on fire.
• Reality Warper:
  • The Blessed by the Voices are so Born Lucky that they warp reality without even noticing. When one wants to fly from America to Edinburgh, the flight to London gets redirected to Edinburgh due to weather.
    Chloe: [This is] what usually happens to things trying to screw up a Blessed by the Voices' day. Reality and probability ganged up on him; his legs slipped and as he fell he landed on a Chosen Werewolf.
• Really 700 Years Old: Many characters in Camelot. Chloe is over 1800 years old, the last Chosen of the Mother and the only one still around.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Erec was trying to prepare for the return of the Outsiders until the dragon attack that killed his wife (Emily's mother) and Katie's father, which made him lose hope. Emily and Owyn then take on that job.
• Running Gag: Whenever Owyn tries to turn a meeting with Emily at the lake into a make-out session, X interrupts them to tell them there's somebody at the gate.
• Save the Princess: Twice, once to rescue Katie from the Farm, and once to rescue Emily from Lord Jerkow.
• School of No Studying: Owyn is nominally in graduate school, for which he attends two classes a week (lowered to one halfway through). Justified Trope: his official advisor is in the hospital, and the substitute advisor has no interest in actually educating him.
• Screw Destiny: Discussed. The Horned Lord explicitly says this when telling Owyn he made the right choice to Always Save the Girl.
  The Horned Lord: You did the right thing, for the right reasons. If we can't protect those we care about, fuck destiny. No victory is worth losing yourself for.
• Secret Legacy: Owyn's parents are the Horned Lord and a sorceress so powerful that reality itself bends to her whim.
• Seemingly Hopeless Boss Fight: Several of the storyline battles are of this type - the player cannot lose (remaining at 1HP however much damage they take) and after several turns, something happens to trigger a new ability. Examples include:
  • The Minotaur Lord that is your first fight in the game; Emily triggers an ability that gives Owyn massive shields and a large amount of rage.
  • The fight against the dragon, leading to Owyn's almost-death, marriage, and ascension to Godhood.
  • The fight against the troll liches that can regenerate faster than you can kill them, leading to Owyn's first use of Excalibur as a weapon in battle, as opposed to a magical focus.
• Seers: Akane is the scion of the Katashi clan, a powerful clan of Japanese seers.
• Sent Into Hiding: Owyn's aura has been hidden by his father, not breaking through until a mind-controlled vagrant tried to kill him.
• Sex God: Owyn, and his father. Deconstructed; Jenny's storyline involves her preaching Owyn as the Messiah, and him having to order her not to.
  Chloe: Your father could make a woman drop her soaked panties from thirty meters away with a single look.
• Shout-Out: Many.
  • Given the game's basis in Arthurian Legend, there are many quick shout outs.
    Owyn: I believe that makes you Lancelot. No lusting after Emily, remember.
  • The thaumometer from Discworld. Also, Dylan gets a copy of Lords and Ladies that was signed for him by an author who's been dead for years, and several lines are quoted.
  • Assorted quotes from Monty Python.
  • One of the books you can read is The Art of War (Sun Tzu), although it's not quite the original version.
  • A portrait on the wall in Camelot is Sean Connery as King Arthur in First Knight.
  • "You're not the Messiah, Owyn, you're a very naughty boy."
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Chloe and Torman both act like this for Owyn.
• Slipping a Mickey: How Emily was captured, with drugged food.
• Soul Eating: Excalibur does this. He gains a spark of energy from ending an enemy, and can remove the animation spell from undead.
• Speech Impediment: Inverted Trope: Scholar the Orc has a speech impediment that makes it hard for other Orcs to understand him, but it makes it much easier for him to be understood by humans.
• Spy Catsuit: Molly's Elsewhere outfit, even when she isn't acting as a spy.
• Strip Poker: Despite the game being a poker-themed adult game, this is not a major factor. However, there is an optional scene where Owyn can play strip poker with Katie and Bella.
• Super Breeding Program: Owyn's birth was a plan by Merlin and the Horned Lord to create an evoker with incredibly strong sorcery.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: After Olivia makes a bunch of wrong guesses about what Owyn's magical talent is, he decides to agree when she guesses he's impossible to scry.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: The email from the developers of "Landlady & Flatmate" that discusses how there is of course no incest in their game, unless of course you install a patch.
• Team Power Walk: After Emily is kidnapped, Owyn and all of his Companions walk as a team toward the camera.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Owyn's modus operandi once he gets access to the Mantle, as shown at Mitburgh.
  Owyn: My coach used to say that overkill is something only the other guy complains about. But he was an old Marine, so that probably had something to do with it.
• Thicker Than Water: The Scottish clan members are intensely loyal to each other. This doesn't even necessarily apply to their ancestors if the ancestors weren't part of the clans.
  Katie: [My grandfather] ain't family, just someone that used to screw Gran.
• This Is Reality: "Stay focused, Owyn, this isn't one of your porn games."
• Thunder Hammer: Mjolnir, the weapon of Thor.
• Time Stands Still: One of X's powers, for communicating with his wielder.
  X: I once had a philosophical discussion with Rao that took place between an arrow launching from his bow and the moment it impacted the eye of an enemy.
• Too Dumb to Live: Emily's Disposable Fiancé.
  Emily: I can forgive the infidelity, there were no emotional strings between us. But I cannot forgive stupidity in my future consort, and trying to cuckold a Council Battlemage was not a great sign of intelligence.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Owyn tries spanking Molly to punish her. It doesn't work as expected. Later, he threatens not to spank her if she misbehaves.
• Top Wife: Emily; the rest of the harem is not officially married to Owyn, and all acknowledge Emily as having first claim on him.
• Trap Is the Only Option: Emily uses Feed the Mole to set up a counter-trap for Lord Jerkow, gathering all the treasonous nobles in one place so they can all be dealt with together.
• Trapped in Another World: Referenced; Dylan says he'd like to live in an isekai.
• Trust Password: When Kulbir arrives at the Crowley, he confirms Owyn's trustworthiness by asking, "Elanora's spark is...?" Owyn responds, "Golden," which confirms to Kulbir that he is the person he was sent to meet.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Owyn has access to incredible amounts of power, but can't do anything subtle with it.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Cucumbers" is how Emily refers to oral sex, after how Molly taught her the basics of it. It later expands to cover sex of any sort.
• Valkyries: Val is a Chosen of Freya, and notably not a character who can be renamed - Chosen don't stray.
• Weirdness Censor:
  • Olivia has a very bad case of this, Played for Laughs: she's a Ph.D student in Thaumaturgic Anthropology, at a school where the Masquerade is paper-thin at best, and she's completely incapable of recognizing magic. Owyn tries to tell her he's an evoker and she refuses to believe him.
  • Jannice also has issues with this, refusing to believe in magic until Owyn drags her through the portal in the basement.
• Wham Line:
  • Chloe, starting the end of Act IV. "Erec has called the Hunt. They ride on Sunday. I told you a long time ago, Owyn... the Great Hunt is a bad enemy for a God, never mind a young Evoker. The Embassy just got orders to escort Emily back to the Court, where she'll be married to Lord Jerkow as soon as possible."
  • And then Emily, finishing the Act. "I'm completing the Mantle, my love. All hail the promised one. All hail King Owyn the First."
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Asked by Owyn just before the Confluence shows up and causes a Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario with Emily.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: The ultimate fate of most immortals is to decide there's Nothing Left to Do but Die. Chloe talks about how she finds things to keep her interested in living, most of the time.
  Chloe: I've always been quite good at keeping it at bay: taking pleasure in the small things, because I know all I'll ultimately find in the big things is frustration. Over time every brilliant political scheme looks the same... but there is always new joy to be found in a perfect glass of Scotch, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, or the beauty of an exquisite sculpture.
• Wizarding School: Downplayed. It's a department of Edinburgh University.
• Wonderful Werewolf: Bella is a werewolf, and only changes if she loses control of her emotions, which she generally keeps a tight rein on. She also handles logistics for the Knights of the Lake, and is bodyguard for Owyn or Emily as needed. It is theorized that the encroachment of civilization has had a moderating effect on werewolves over the past few centuries, with the wilder weres not surviving to breed.
• Would Hurt a Child: We don't know exactly what the previous owner of the King's Dragon was doing, but it involved a young boy and shackles.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Excalibur is just referred to as "X".

---

Book II: The War

Book II covers Owyn's time in Camelot and the war against the Outsiders. It ends with the Black Sun detonating in Mexico City, and Owyn being pulled into an alternate timeline by an alternate Emily.

These tropes contain unmarked spoilers for Book I.

Tropes found in Book II: The War

• The Ageless: Fia, Katie and Keith's grandmother, who looks no more than 20. Her exact age is unknown, but her sister was Bella's great-great-great-great grandmother, so she's probably well over 100.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: You briefly get Katie's point of view during a flashback to the raid on the Swiss bank, and then again as she tracks down the people who betrayed her.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Aino no Kitsune, a five-tailed fox spirit, comes to join Hakone no Kitsune.
• Assassin Outclassin': The various assassins that attempt to take out Owyn and/or Emily. Of particular note is the Cambion who comes to the attention of a Blessed by the Voices; he falls off the roof on top of Bella, who promptly splatters him.
• Battle Harem: Fia, another enchanter (and Katie's grandmother), and Xochi, a goddess of healing, join Owyn's companions.
• Bodyguard Babes: The Changer Guard, a set of female changers who are Owyn's bodyguard team. Bella is a werewolf, Kath is a werelynx, Jora is a werebear, and Jelsa is a weretiger.
• Caper Crew: The Fixers, a group of thieves that get brought in for the attack on the bank vaults holding Cult backup bodies. They're actually allied with one faction of the Cult and betray Katie and her team, killing Keith.
  • Alexander Fitzroy is the Mastermind, leading the crew. He's an enchanter. He's actually Friedrich de Vinzgau, a necromancer.
  • Robin de Barre is the Conman and the Distraction, a ceremonial magician. She's actually a necromancer as well.
  • Ian Duncan is the Safe-Cracker, an Esoteric Magician whose abilities include breaking security systems. He's actually a sorcerer, and doesn't realize he's allied with the Cult.
  • Jerry Boyle is the Muscle, a half-orc who grew up with Ian.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Jalsa Dahiya attacks you to see how good you are, and after you defeat her, she joins your side.
• Due to the Dead: Keith gets a very impressive funeral after his death, with the Clans swearing vengeance on his killers. Bella, Jalsa, and Kulbir get an even more impressive one after their Heroic Sacrifice.
• Enemy Civil War: The attack on the Swiss bank is an attempt by one faction of the Cult to hurt another one, with them using Katie and the Clan as expendable patsies.
• Fantastic Nuke: Black Sun, a Polaris A-3TK warhead combined with Schwartzalf magic to create a nuclear blast that will kill the Outsiders permanently.
• Foreshadowing: Did you think the quote about 'the fire must burn, the hammer must fall' was out of order? Or did you not consider that there were additional ways the hammer might fall...for example, when Bella drops it one last time?
• Heroic RRoD: Katie almost burns out her spark taking out the zombies in the first fight in America.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Bella and Jelsa sacrifice themselves to get the Black Sun to the Doors and detonate it.
• Home Base: Camelot, with the castle and the King's Dragon being the primary places where Owyn stays.
• Hot Springs Episode: The King's Dragon can get an onsen, and there are many scenes there where Owyn can get a peek at characters he might not otherwise get intimate with such as Val.
• Imprinting: Draco imprints on Owyn and the Chosen, referring to the Chosen as Mommy and Owyn as Boss. In the vision of the future at the end of the game, he refers to Elanora as "Sis".
• Interrupted Intimacy: Jannice walks in on Chloe giving Owyn a blow job, which leads to discussion of just how open his relationship with Emily is.
• Ironic Echo: A construct of Merlin repeats your line about "Overkill is something only the other guy worries about," then notes that in this case you are the other guy.
• It's the Only Way: The only way to take down the Outsiders permanently is to hand-deliver a magically-enhanced nuclear warhead to the site of the Doors.
• Kill the Parent, Raise the Child: The dragon that killed Erec and was killed by Owyn and Chloe left behind an egg, which is raised by Owyn and the Chosen.
• Living Memory: Merlin's tower contains a construct that Merlin created that can talk to Owyn.
• Loyal Phlebotinum:
  • Subverted Trope: Owyn uses his Reality Warper abilities to steal Mjolnir from Thor and give it to Bella.
  • Played straight for Excalibur, which is loyal to Owyn as it has been loyal to its previous wielders.
• Lured into a Trap: Katie and the team infiltrating the Swiss Bank are betrayed by the fixers, who are actually necromancers.
• Magitek: Pendragon Enterprises starts industrial uses of magic, creating shield-breaker rounds and magic barriers to allow human soldiers to fight magical foes.
• Missing Mom: Thanks to the Voices, we learn that Dylan's mom is Hannah, the leader of the Brotherhood's scouts, and they meet again.
• No Hero Discount: Even once you're the King of Camelot, the Quartermaster charges you full price for your gems.
• No Honor Among Thieves: Two of the Fixers are secretly necromancers, and the Swiss Bank infiltration is a trap.
• Oh, Crap!: The realization that the Outsider attacking Texas is the same one that had been killed in the Sonoran Desert.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: The mermaid met in Book II considers humans to be prey.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Jalsa is a weretiger, and Jora is a werebear; we've also met another werebear who attempted (very unsuccessfully) to intimidate Bella.
• Paperworkaholic: Henry Archer, Emily's chamberlain, is known for his attention to detail and ability to do the hard work of running the kingdom.
  Emily: Because keeping a Castle humming requires an anal-retentive monomaniac with a passion for office politics.
• Pervert Revenge Mode: Jora punched Thor through a wall for getting handsy with her.
• Property of Love: Jenny can get a collar that proclaims that Owyn owns her.
• Psychic Nosebleed: Molly gets one after fighting off the Outsiders' attempts to rewrite reality.
• Public Domain Character: Book II introduces Aztec Mythology, with Xochiquetzal and Quetzalcoatl being the only known survivors of the Aztec gods.
• Reality Warper: Owyn can look through alternate versions of reality to find the one that he needs, and uses that ability to take Mjolnir and give it to Bella.
• Redemption Quest: Thor, after the summit. He goes to Mexico to take on Outsiders, and helps defeat one.
• Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?: Mitburg comes up whenever somebody is worried about just how much power Owyn has.
• Removable Turret Gun: Exaggerated Trope. "Greg" the Orc tears the GAU-8 out of a downed A-10 Warthog for use as a Chainsaw-Grip BFG.
• Rescue Romance: How Keith and Keira met; she wandered away from camp in Elsewhere and got attacked by Defilers. Keith rescued her from them and returned her to camp unharmed.
• Revenge Before Reason: Katie, Andrew, and Fia are told that their planned attack is a trap to draw them in, but go in anyway to get their revenge. Had Owyn not arrived and cut through the shields, they would have died.
• Right in Front of Me: The first time you meet Ricky, he's complaining about Katie making him get stuff ready for the stuffed-shirt King of Camelot.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Clan's reaction after Keith's death is to put all efforts into tracking down those responsible.
• Sexy Secretary: Molly becomes Owyn's secretary and feels the need to dress in a tight vest, short skirt, and (nonfunctional) eyeglasses for the job.
• Solo Mission Becomes Group Mission: The suicide mission to deliver the Black Sun. Molly, Bella, Katie, and Jalsa insist on coming along.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Keith and Keira. He's an Evoker who's a captain in the British Army; she's a Fae noble. Aoife, Keira's guardian, considers Keith completely unacceptable.
• Suicide Mission: Owyn, Kulbir, Molly, Katie, Jelsa, and Bella fly to Mexico to set of the Black Sun. None of them expect to make it back; Kulbir, Jelsa, and Bella don't.
• Third Party Stops Attack: After Owyn is attacked at the summit, his finishing blow on the attacker is blocked by Odin and the Horned Lord.
• Unperson: Camelot uses this for particularly vile traitors.
  • The fate of Arthur's nephew, now known only as "The Pretender".
  • The fate of Lord Jerkow and his family.
    Emily: As of today, his name is no more. Clan Jerkow has been dissolved, any survivors exiled, their holdings forfeited to the Crown. He shall henceforth be known only as the Traitor. Their names are struck from the rolls; to refer to them is treason.
• Walking Tech Bane: The Outsiders mess with high technology near them — computers, in particular, can't work, which means much modern military technology is useless.
• Warfare Regression: Because the Outsiders disable high-tech weaponry around them, military forces fighting them shift back to simpler arms. One project that can be undertaken is producing enchanted ammo for the A-10 Warthog, which can fly without computers. (Unfortunately, that plan doesn't work as well as hoped.)

---

Book III: The Return

Book III starts with Owyn being pulled over to an Alternate Timeline where he died from Thor breaking his staff; he had never claimed Molly as a Chosen, so she wasn't able to lead Emily there to rescue him.

Without Owyn, Thor's plan to throw the Celtic Gods under the bus appeared to be working, with the Outsiders' initial attack coming much later, killing the Horned Lord and Erec. Molly ended up in Montrose Asylum, where she learned to talk to the Voices. Emily is a weak, newly-installed queen whose nobles are pushing her around and forcing her into a marriage with Lord Jerkow. In desperation for a solution, Chloe and Emily open a portal through dimensions to find "The Sword of Mankind" and bring it back, only to find that it's Emily's late college boyfriend.

The original timeline is 'R1', and the Alternate Timeline is called 'R2'.

These tropes contain unmarked spoilers for Books I and II.

Tropes found in Book III: The Return

• 11th-Hour Superpower: When sorcery leaves the world with the return of the Mother, Owyn finally gains the Sight and can see people's sparks and souls, and the links that they have. He can then disconnect those sparks, which he uses to kill Alex and Sarah.
• Affectionate Nickname: Emily refers to Owyn as "Tomcat", due to his relationships with Bella, Molly, and more. It's not initially an affectionate nickname, but it becomes one over time.
• Alternate Self:
  • The Owyn from R2 did several things differently. He didn't make Molly his Chosen, but he gave Jenny a vial of his blood, making her a pseudo-Chosen.
  • As a result of Owyn from R2 never making Molly a Chosen, Sarah from R2 never tried to blackmail him and never became a necromancer. Owyn can watch her dancing and enjoy the show, and her not having him as a student makes her fairly pleasant toward him.
  • Jenny, inspired by Owyn, goes on to become a music star performing songs about him. While she isn't fully a Chosen, she has a vial of his blood that she can use to create a temporary divine link with him.
  • Keith leaves the military to become a Paladin.
• Alternate Timeline: Book 3 is set in an alternate timeline called 'R2' where Owyn died at the lake because he never made Molly a Chosen. The Emily of R2 crossed over to bring "The Sword of Mankind" back with her.
• And the Adventure Continues: The last vision Owyn has at the end of the game is of his four children getting together to go off into the setting of Morningstar: Book of the Fallen.
• Apologetic Attacker: Owyn apologizes to Sarah as he removes the links connecting her to her backup body and her sources of power, saying that he shouldn't have lost his temper and fried her brain.
• An Arm and a Leg: Owyn attacks Thor with the power of the Void; Thor dodges but still loses his right arm.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Aino and Hakone's grandmother, Fujiyama no Kitsune, has nine tails.
• Babies Ever After: In addition to Elanora, Owyn gets a vision of Bella's twins, and Katie's son, all of which he's the father of.
• Back from the Dead:
  • The altered timeline means that Lord Morris, Bella, Kulbir, and Keith are all still alive, as are Lord Jerkow, Sir Tomas, Sarah, and the dragon.
  • In the altered timeline, Owyn died months ago, but now he's back.
  • The Mother and the Horned Lord both return in the personas of Emily and Owyn in R2.
  • Bella from R2 returns to R1 with Owyn.
• Bedlam House: When Owyn rescues Molly from Montrose, she's been kept in a straitjacket in a dirty padded cell.
• Berserk Button: Do not hurt Emily — any version of Emily — unless you want see what the Once and Future King's Unstoppable Rage looks like.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: Owyn brings a coded message back to R1 Aino from R2 Fujiyama, telling her it's time to assassinate Akane's uncle Arisune, whom she had been guarding.
• Brick Joke: Owyn leaves Sir Tomas's body pinned to the wall, commenting that some maid would find him eventually. When Owyn returns from Japan, Emily mentions that a maid had found the body.
• Bullying a Dragon:
  • Sir Tomas tries to eliminate Owyn after he publicly insults Lord Jerkow. He ends up stuck to the wall by his own sword.
  • Lord Jerkow has even worse luck against Owyn in this timeline than he did in the previous one. Due to Owyn's Power Incontinence, he is effectively disintegrated.
  • Thor tries one more time to take Owyn out; Emily isn't as strong in R2, and you don't have Katie for covering fire, so Emily gets hurt. Thor loses an arm and it's only through Odin and Emily talking Owyn down that Thor survives at all.
• Cast from Hit Points: The Void Strike gem reduces the user's maximum hitpoints by 200, while reducing the target's maximum hitpoints by 2000.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The three billion gallon mana pool that didn't get drained to fill the Mantle in R2. Merlin set it up to draw in the Cult so they could be destroyed.
  • R2 Owyn never received Excalibur, as he didn't have Emily to draw it from the stone for him. This left it for Nimue to give to him after R1 Excalibur sacrificed himself to destroy the last Outsider.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When sleeping over with Emily, she wears the "My Real Boyfriend Is An Evoker Battlemage" T-shirt from Book I.
  • The people who kidnap Emily take her to the same place they did in R1.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Void attack that Owyn uses on Thor.
  Odin: Some Powers were never meant to be used. The cost was too great...especially if you left the bill unpaid.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart: The whole reason R1 Owyn is brought to R2 is because R2 Owyn died from Thor breaking his staff.
• Dead Guy Junior: Katie's son is named James, after her late father; Bella's is named Keith.
• Deep Cover Agent: Sir Henry is a Necromancer working with Sarah and Alex. Akane's uncle Arisune is also secretly a Necromancer.
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: In R1, Owyn has been Emily's lover for almost five months and married to her for four months. In R2, he died almost five months ago after knowing Emily for less than two months. He's still completely in love with her, while she views him as a loose cannon horndog who was cheating on his wife with Bella and Molly. When he tries to kiss her after being back for less than a week, she doesn't take it well.
• Double Agent: Matthew went undercover to investigate the forces using the Brotherhood, which turned out the be the Cult. He told Owyn that the Unseelie Court might back out of the Accords, which was completely false and led to Owyn discovering his double agent status. Matthew ends up killing Oleg and dying himself due to magical bindings the Cult uses; he asks Owyn to finish him and make sure his body can't be raised.
• Dragon Rider: Elanora flies to the Crowley on Draco's back.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Owyn gets dragged over to a new timeline where he died early and has to rebuild all his alliances, including with Emily. He chooses to sacrifice himself to stop the Necromancers and the Outsiders, burning all the energy in his Mantle and his Spark, even sacrificing Excalibur to finish them once and for all, and then prepares to die as his Spark runs wild without a focus. The inferno of his raging Spark draws the Mother back, and Nimue returns to hand him a renewed Excalibur. The Mother returns him to his original timeline, bringing Bella back with him.
• Faerie Court: With the death of the Horned Lord and the fall of Tir na nÓg, the Unseelie Court is more prominent now, and there are threats that the Accords between the two may be broken. Owyn goes to visit Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, to discuss this.
• Foreshadowing: "Chosen don't stray." Chloe was a Chosen of the Mother, and has been working for the Mother's return for almost two thousand years.
• The Glomp: Once their bond re-establishes itself, Bella rushes over and tackles Owyn, wrapping herself around his upper body.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly:
  • Downplayed. Owyn doesn't inherently need prayer to survive, but prayer can help him recharge the Mantle after it was completely drained in Mexico City.
  • As part of defeating the Outsiders, the connection to the Void that powered the Mantles of the Gods is severed. Now, they'll have to refill their Mantles through the faith of their followers.
• Heartfelt Apology: Having seen R2 Sarah, Owyn is truly remorseful for letting his anger get the best of him and destroying R1 Sarah's mind. He apologizes as he destroys her.
• Hellish Horse: Fae horses have sharp horns, sharp teeth, and vicious attitudes, and are obligate carnivores. Despite the horn, they are not unicorns, which are an entirely separate (and generally much nicer) species.
• Home Base: The King's Dragon, which Owyn takes control of from his knowledge of just what the previous owner was doing downstairs. He convinces the owner to sign the property over to him and leave; the dragon head makes sure that he never returns.
• Idiot Ball: Owyn and Emily go to meet with the Norse without bringing their bodyguards along, leading to Thor attempting to kill them.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Sir Tomas's body is pinned to the wall by his own sword.
• Invisibility: Akane demonstrates her ability to Veil, in this case by blocking light and muffling sound to sneak three people armed and armored for Elsewhere into a fancy hotel.
• It's a Wonderful Plot: The core of the new timeline is, "What would have happened without Owyn?"
• The Magic Goes Away: Downplayed.
  • When the Mother returns, Sorcery goes away, leaving Molly, Chloe, Jannice, and Owyn without it. Jannice gets her first-ever flat tire. However, Molly, Chloe, and Owyn (at least) become Seers.
  • The connection that powered the Mantles is now gone, meaning that the Gods will need to refill them through the faith of their followers.
• Magitek: After the war ends, Pendragon Enterprises works with Xochiquetzal on creating magical irrigation devices to help heal Elsewhere in the Americas. No individual device is enough to make a significant dent in it, but Pendragon Enterprises can manufacture thousands of them.
• Mistaken for Cheating: Zig-zagged. R2 Emily assumes that Owyn's sexual relationships with his Chosen mean he's been cheating on R1 Emily all along. However, Molly becoming a Chosen forced R1 Emily to realize that she was dating a literal Sex God, and her honor required her to accept this after Molly helped her save Owyn's life, so he was in fact not cheating. R2 Emily doesn't understand this at first, and doesn't see how she would ever condone her husband having sex with other women, so she concludes that he is cheating, and doesn't trust him initially because of this.
• My God, What Have I Done?: R2 Emily is distraught on realizing that what she has brought back isn't the cute, funny, somewhat lecherous Evoker she had dated for two months, but instead a battle-hardened war god who has fought and killed and watched loved ones die.
  Emily: I thought only of bringing back the Sword of Mankind. I did not stop to consider that swords are made only for war, and for killing. That they come with sharp edges. To save my Court I may well have doomed it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Horned Lord and the Mother created Mantles as weapons to bring magic into the human bloodlines, but drawing on the Void to power them brought the Outsiders, which attempted to destroy everything that they had created.
• Oh, Crap!: The necromancers finally come out of hiding in an attempt to claim the three billion gallon mana pool in the Glade, just as the assembled armies are about to attack the Outsiders in Tir na nÓg.
• Other Me Annoys Me: R1 Owyn gets rather annoyed at the choices R2 Owyn made, such as giving a vial of blood to Jenny instead of making Molly a Chosen.
• Point of Divergence: In R2, Owyn didn't make Molly a Chosen, which meant Molly didn't get Emily jealous to force Emily and Owyn to talk about their relationship, and didn't bring Emily to the Glade after Thor broke his staff.
• Power Incontinence: Without Emily to anchor him, Owyn has very poor control over his power; a single pair of twos (literally the smallest amount of energy he can project) completely blows up the front of Montrose Asylum.
• Pre-Climax Climax: Emily in R2 decides to lose her virginity to Owyn on the night before the final battle.
• Prime Timeline: R2 appears to be the most important one. In the end, the Mother and the Horned Lord return to R2 as Emily and Owyn.
  Chloe: We have this one chance to bring the Sword of Mankind back, fully forged, in this timeline where all will be decided. If that does not work, we will all fail.
• Putting the Band Back Together: One of Owyn's first priorities is getting the Knights of the Lake back together. Some are relatively easy (Bella, Molly, and Katie), some hard to get to but quite willing to rejoin (Akane), and some require more convincing (Dylan and Emily).
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory:
  • The bond between Chosen and their God transcends timelines, so when Owyn meets his Chosen, they immediately know him and remember what happened in both timelines. We later learn that R1 Molly and Akane were able to remember both timelines, up until the point when they met Owyn in R2. This let them tell Emily what was going on.
  • Dragons know you from across timelines, including the head at the King's Dragon, Draco, and the dragon that you killed in Book I.
  • Samael the Demon Lord tells Owyn that the agreement for the demons to pull back into the Deeps is for all realities.
  • Gods themselves seem to exist across timelines; The Horned Lord vanished from R1 just around the time that he died in R2.
  • Certain oaths bind across timelines. When the Brotherhood comes to assist in a coup against Emily, Owyn is able to call upon the oath binding them in R1 and turn them into his allies, basically neutering the coup.
• Shout-Out:
  • During Jenny's concert, the screens in the arena are showing a poster based on the original Star Wars poster, except with Love of Magic characters in it.
  • Owyn attempts to explain the Alternate Timeline using Terry Pratchett's "trousers of time" metaphor.
• Suicide Mission: Owyn burns through the Mantle and his Spark to destroy Alexander and the necromancers, then makes a suicide charge on the Outsiders.
• Superboss: Defeating Fenrir and Jormungandr in R2 lets Owyn take on Hel in R1. She has Void Strike gems in every slot which cut your maximum HP instead of doing regular damage, ignoring ice and shields (including Barrier). With Molly losing her Sorcery, it's much harder to get high-value hands to keep Hel frozen with lightning, especially since she resets all status effects every three turns.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Molly describing the Make It Look Like an Accident disposal of Jenny's previous manager.
  Molly: Anyway, he had a slight accident, and accidentally fell three stories down and landed in front of an industrial lawnmower. By accident.
• Three-Point Landing: Elanora leaps down from Draco's back into a three-point landing.
• Twin Threesome Fantasy: Owyn's suggestion for how to deal with the Emilys from both timelines needing him.
  Emily: And your Emily? How can I find my happiness at her expense?
  Owyn: We'll work it out somehow. Maybe we'll end up with all three of us in bed together?
• The Unmasqued World: After the attack by the Outsiders, everybody is aware of magic now. The Norse Gods go public after the Mantles lose the ability to recharge on their own, in an attempt to gain followers to recharge them.
• Unstoppable Rage: When Thor attacks Owyn and, in the process, hurts Emily, Owyn cripples him with the same black-hole attack he used on the Outsiders in Mexico City and would have killed him had Odin and Emily not managed to talk him down.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: More of a "Where They Will Be Soon" epilogue, as Owyn sees visions of various characters in the future, including Elanora and Draco flying together.
• Widow's Weeds: Emily in R2 wears a black dress, in mourning for Owyn. After their first night together in her bed, she switches to the blue gown she had worn in the original timeline.

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