2
Dispatch → Factbook → Trivia
A Troperiffic List Of Tropes (WIP)
From the bottom up, we've got a lot of ground to cover, so here's nothing.Mukuro Clan (us)While most cemeteries count to some extent, any that are controlled by the Mukuro Clan absolutely qualify.
Sadako. Even before she became a vampire, she was an enfant terrible and manipulative bitch. After becoming a vampire, she was able to manipulate her older sister, Sawari, into something even Sawari wouldn't normally have considered: killing their parents. She may not actually be a child anymore, as she retains the body but her mind is that of an adult sociopath, and one who does get into a number of adult behaviors. She may not technically qualify for troubling unchildlike behavior due to being 40 years old with the mind of a 40-year old, no matter how young she looks, but between her pretending to be a child when trying to interact with those outside the Mukuro Clan, and the fact that she definitely still looks 8, it still manages to gain that reaction from others. That she has also been known to present herself as a fille fatale does not help those matters any either.
What happens to anyone on the wrong side of our plague zombies and ghouls.
Mukuro Clan is fond of using magically conjured fog to conceal their numbers and movements, when the forest isn't available or sufficient.
We take this trope very literally.
This is considered one of the blessings of the goddess Daemusari, as it exemplifies several of the tenants of her religion. Ghouls, vampires, and plague zombies all operate this way, as do a number of other kinds of undead, and some of the divine curses that come with being an oracle of Daemusari cause this as well.
Sawari is very much a necrophiliac. Enough said.
Every cult has one. Usually either solemn dignified, horrific, or both. As the Mukuro Clan is a part of the Cult of Daemusari, they follow the same initiation rites - involving the stalking, murder, and cannibalism of another person, and being anointed in their blood.
THere's a number of examples throughout the 'verse, but some good examples include some of the female ghouls of Mukuro Clan.
One of a couple of potential projects the Mukuro Clan has in mind for after they take control of Feudum Granite Lupus.
Mukuro Clan does not limit itself to just humanoid undead.
Mukuro Clan has done this. Often, plague zombies and skeletal servants will be crammed into rooms for ease of storage, when not being used. These rooms are typically sanctified first, with sacred oils and incense.
Mukuro Clan cultists are a blend of this, spree killer, and the mole; they blend in to society, but when their orders come, they don their cultist outfits that conceal their identities, and go on a killing spree. When they're done, they go back to blending in with society (sometimes going to another village or town), and each killing spree can be spaced out by months.
Kaine Futendra (an uneasy ally that is helping fund us because Enemy Mine)Graedon the Crimson left behind 30 sacred treasures that to his followers in the Kaine Futendra before he died. Each and every one of them is a powerful magical artifact, each of which can only be destroyed in a very specific way unique to that sacred treasure. A few of them count as artifacts of doom.
Further complicated by the fact that all of those 30 sacred treasures are also Graedon's phylacteries, from when he ascended to godhood. Nearly all of the 30 sacred treasures have additional magic on them allowing Graedon to garner information about who has them, or even inflict harm upon those who have them. A few are intelligent, sapient, and have their own agendas.
Many other examples exist throughout the setting as a whole, many of which are quire notable, but the 30 sacred treasures are especially notable, for the reasons above.
Kaine Futendra view their patron god, Graedon, as this. Graedon's reaction to the colonization of Insapharin when he was alive can be viewed as a mixture of this, beware the nice ones, papa wolf, and unstoppable rage.
Applies to the home of the Kaine Futendra and Graedon's sacred home, Mount Ugsome. It also has the appearance of eyes as well.
There are countless throughout the Wartorn Realms, but a good example in Insapharin would be Mount Ugsome, bad enough that it had to be quarantined off by the colonists.
I Don't Like the Sound of That Place
A great many places, often accurately named as well. Mount Ugsome is a particularly prominent example.
Kaine Futendra certainly see themselves as this, but they blur the line between this trope and the remnant. For a more straight example, the Reclaimists are this, but they are really just puppets for the Kaine Futendra.
While there are plenty of examples in the Wartorn Realms, Mount Ugsome is a quintessential example.
The primary goal of the Kaine Futendra. This is also the primary goal of the Reclaimists, who do not realize that the Kaine Futendra still exists.
Quarantine With Extreme Prejudice
Following Graedon's death, this was the colonial government's response to Mount Ugsome becoming highly
tainted. This magical wall of souls that seals away the taint to prevent its spread is powered by sacrificing hundreds of sorcerers to it every year. The wall is getting weaker.
Used by the Reclaimists and other orc sympathizers.
Kaine Futendra, the Reclaimists, orc sympathizers, and others.
Though the Kaine Futendra still exist, they are secretive enough that most people think they're gone. The Reclaimists are Kaine Futendra supporters who don't know that the Kaine Futendra still exists, thus falling under this trope.
Kaine Futendra blur the line between this and la resistance. They are slowly growing movement to resist the colonial government, but they are also a much older military and religious order defeated from two wars and greatly reduced from what they once were, even with the growing numbers, and they do have some of their old guard, including a provisional government consisting of some old members and their families.
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized
The Kaine Futendra, the Reclaimists, orc sympathizers, and revolutionaries in general. Because the Holy Empire, including the puppet colonial governments, ruthlessly and violently crush any form of dissent, has a staunchly racist regime, and has completely apathy for the poor at best, YMMV as to whether this is justified.
The Reclaimists and orc sympathizers run such operations, though they tend to be disorganized.
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters
In full effect. Kaine Futendra, the Reclaimists, and others have all variously fought the Holy Empire, for any number of good reasons, but have resorted to brutal violence. Whether or not this is justified is brought up in universe, but out of universe this is ultimately left up to the audience to draw their own conclusions.
Feudum Granite Lupus (the fiefdom we are trying to secede from/take over)The forests of Feudum Granite Lupus have a lot of crows, which furthers the uneasy atmosphere. Downplayed, as they're harmless, but still creepy.
They were already dangerous because of the fae, monsters, and barglins. Now that the Mukuro Clan controls the forests...
Roughly, the environment of Feudum Granite Lupus in a nutshell, with the lost woods thrown in for good measure.
There are several in the forests and wealds. Many of them are allied with the Mukuro Clan.
Vaderfell (the country we are in)Vaderfell has a lot of vultures, especially turkey vultures.
Though not rare in any part of Insapharin (except Frostfall), Vaderfell has quite a few species.
Though Auran is better known for its mummies, Vaderfell has plenty of mummies as well, most of which are naturally occurring, ash mummies and bog mummies being the most common. (No, these mummies are not covered in bandages, despite that being common to the trope.)
Vaderfell is full of them, from ancient catacombs to old Dragon War tunnels and supply lines, to smuggling tunnels built by the cartels...
Played realistically; swamps are dangerous and unpleasant, but not inherently evil. Still home to bot flis, leeches, hags, and more. Vaderfell has both moors and salt marshes, the latter being even worse, with waters filled with dire barracudas, giant alligator snapping turtules, and more.
Most of Vaderfell is a geothermally active rocky desert created by rain shadows. There is not much rain, and what rain there is is acidic.
Extensive networks of secret tunnels run under Vaderfell.
Several species, but most notably fire wasps. Three meter long wasps from head to stinger, with distinctive red and black stripes, and stings that inject a lethal, slow-acting venom that feels like being burned alive.
The Colonial Governments of Auran, Frostfall, Venegard, and Vaderfell (enemies and puppet states of the Holy Empire; many of these also apply to the Holy Empire)This will become far more apparent as you continue reading the other tropes.
As with the rest of the Holy Empire. It would be easier to count the number that aren't. Taken Up To 11 in some cases, where it could almost be said to be a "The Aristocrats" joke, minus the talent agent.
As with the rest of the Holy Empire, as long as the aristocracy is happy, the churches are happy, the middle class is unmolested, and the working class is fed and entertained, the government can do whatever they want. This applies pretty much anywhere in the Holy Empire. Tends to be more literal than most examples of this trope.
The Holy Empire loves bureaucracy and has almost no anti-corruption laws. Draw the logical conclusion.
The Holy Empire enslaved the native population of orcs, violently put down any form of dissent from them, involving outright butchering and disfiguring orcs. Two wars have been fought over this because the local dragon rightly viewed the colonists as this, and there's a high chance of there being a third one.
The Holy Empire is very selective about what species they consider civilized. When they consider a species uncivilized, this is in effect. When they consider a species very uncivilized, this is in full forces in rather brutal ways. This is what happened when Insapharin was colonized.
How King Runo, the previous king of Vaderfell was killed, after pissing off the nobles. He had one last laugh for them however.
All prisons qualify, but inquisitorial prisons are even worse. Not helping matters any are that inquisitorial prisoners are black sites - they do not officially exist, so chances are quite good that nobody is coming to save you.
A large number of religions are outlawed by the Holy Empire, and are thus illegal in the colonies as well.
Overlaps with hellhole prison.
The Holy Empire has so many of these that they might as well grow on trees. Often overlaps with corrupt bureaucrat, with the favorite tool being bothering by the book.
Ogres are a mix between hillbilly horrors, bandit clan, cannibal clan, and inbred and evil.
Because the laws of royal sucession in Vaderfell is done by the previous king's will, instead of hereditary, the previous colonial monarch, King Runo, was able to name his friend, the ogre Grogar, as his heir to the throne. It is unknown how much of that decision was made out of respect for Grogar, and how much was to have one last laugh at the Vaderfell aristocracy, who he despised.
When they aren't incopetent. Some villages manage to invoke this trope to even greater heights by specifically hiring violent bandits and thugs to be their police force.
When they aren't violent brutes.
For when the bread and circuses aren't enough.
Perhaps surprisingly, this trope is also used by the Holy Empire, particularly the Holy Inquisition.
While many of the churches of the Holy Empire have their own law enforcement, the Church of Illustris Rex has their own secret police with the Holy Inquisition (the existence of them is far from secret, but much of their actions are classified, and many of their bases and prisons do not officially exist), and their own military force with the Holy Crusaders, specifically to fight holy wars.
Employed on all sides, but the Holy Empire takes the cake, with prisons employing scores of torturers that gleefully cross moral event horizons as frequently as most people use punctuation.
Originating with a magic spell, able to infect people, those who are born with it can shapeshift at will, and silver is the most effective way to kill them. Other than the magic origin, it seems pretty normal, yeah? Nope. They're eldritch in nature, the shapeshifting is played for all its body horror, and the silver makes even more body horror for them if they survive but were injured badly enough by it, with "silver touched werewolves" possibly losing control if they did have it before, and becoming closer to vaguely wolf-shaped abominations.
In an even stranger twist, the colonists of Insapharin love werewolves and respect them, even if the churches do not. This is because werewolves are said to have played a part in protecting the colonies early on.
Insapharin (the continent we are on)Most townships and cities have these; the size is to help prevent flooding. Auran and Vaderfell are further justified - these sewer tunnels are to help pump water into the towns and cities in lieu of wells, and the water is often having to be pumped from deep underground streams, hot springs, or other water sources. As townships and cities need lots of water, the tunnels thus need to be large to accommodate that much water.
There's quite a few ancient orcish ruins around Insapharin. A few of them are tombs. Mukuro Clan use several of these orcish crypts and catacombs in Vaderfell as bases of operations.
Many orcish ruins qualify. Secret tunnel networks qualify as well. To a much larger extent that goes under the entire world, the Underdark qualifies.
Downplayed. While Insapharin does have solifugids, including several giant species of them, for the most part their behavior is completely in line with their real life counterparts. Played straight with dire solifugids, as dire animals in general are much larger and more aggressive and territorial than their normal counterparts.
Throughout Insapharin, some very large. Taken up to 11 by the Underdark, both in creepiness and the sheer scale and depth.
Insapharin as a whole, though more downplayed than most examples. Insapharin has a number of dangerous environments, home to equally dangerous wildlife adapted to live in those environments. The reason orcs are so strong, tough, and possessing prodigious endurance is they are native to Insapharin as well, and likewise are biologically adapted to its extremes.
Insapharin has many. Perhaps the most common is the lion spider, named after a big cat species the Holy Empire already knew (and which are not native to Insapharin), which are hunting spiders that sometimes form hunting bands, each working together to leap onto their prey, biting it, and injecting it with paralytic venom until it cannot move, then together eating it alive. Lion spiders are only 2 meters long, from fangs to abdomen. Some giant spiders in Insapharin can reach far greater sizes.
Inhospitable environs, giant monsters, extreme goegraphies and climates... Not even touching on the fact that diseases run rampant, water isn't safe to drink, and while some of Vaderfell's natural hot springs are quite pleasant, others will boil you alive with their scalding mineral-rich water.
Giant scorpions are certainly scary. Downplayed for any giant scorpion below a certain size or that isn't dire; while they may be territorial, they won't attack unless provoked. Played straight with dire scorpions, which really are aggressive, and for deadfall scorpions, which are ambush predators large enough to consider bears to be prey. Played very straight with scorpiolisks, which are equally massive, and petrify anything that they sting.
Insapharin has some fairly scary species of spider.
Even with the colonies, much of Insapharin is uninhabited.
Wartorn Realms (the 'verse we are in)
Aliens Never Invented Democracy
The Wartorn Realms in general never invented democracy.
Do I even need to explain?
Downplayed and ultimately subverted with the churches of the Holy Empire (the Catholicism part, not the creepy part). While a cursory glance at the Imperial Pantheon and the religion of the Holy Empire would appear Catholic, or at least to have many Catholic trappings (a number of gods that are referred to as saints, elaborate church decor, hooded robes and other attire, selling of indulgences, and more), these similarities are mostly surface level, and the actual religion they follow is far removed from any real world religions.
Many of the temples built by the Holy Empire play up the gothic, baroque, and neoclassic architecture, sculpture, and paintings for all it's worth.
Subverted, for an intended audience reaction. The Churches of the Holy Empire were intentionally designed to bear some level of resemblance to Medieval and Renaissance Catholicism, but only at the surface level. The actual religion behind the trappings intentionally differs quite greatly from actual Catholicism, Christianity of any kind, or indeed any real world religion. This is because all of the religions of this 'verse are supposed to feel alien and uncanny. The world is meant to feel both familiar, but also incredibly weird and uncomfortable, with conventions that people expect either being deconstructed or subverted, often in tragic or horrific ways. The design of the Churches of the Holy Empire is an extension of this - they resemble something familiar, but when more carefully observed, they are revealed to be something altogether more unusual and alien, resulting in a religious uncanny valley of sorts, as the familiar takes on new and unusual purposes and meanings and is twisted into something altogether unrecognizable and chilling.
An examination of this trope over the course of 2 million + years of world history. It is not a pretty sight.
The Wartorn Realms setting essentially runs on this trope, fully deconstructed, on the scale of whole nations and peoples, taking place over such a long time that nobody remembers or cares how some of these conflicts started, and further abused by every faction as a way to recruit new fanatics to their causes. It is why the setting is... wartorn, and it is responsible for a great many tragedies. The world is damned to a state of perpetual war, because atrocities are constantly being comitted for any and all possible reasons, and many have attempted genocide at least once in order to break the cycle.
Most systems of nobility in the Wartorn Realms begin to resemble this after a while, if not outright exemplify it. Justified in most nations and factions, the aristocrats and other leaders are so vastly removed from all the other classes, their power is deeply entrenched, and they are brought up with outright spite for the lower classes; this trope is inevitable.
The Wartorn Realms has a rather large number of these. For extra horror, they give off something called the taint, which can do a number of horrible things. Not only are the eldrich abomination's horribly deadly and nigh invulnerable, merely being around them is bad for your health, and them merely being around locations can have lasting consequences for the environment.
Emphasis on eldritch. This, along with the ridiculous distances involved in open ocean travel, are why ships travel to the Spirit World to cross distances. This is only slightly safer.
More than one underclass exists in the Holy Empire. The peasantry, serfs, and dregs of society are largely composed of species that are not human, elf, or dwarf, with heavy emphasis on goblins, ratfolk, halflings, as well as species they don't consider civilized, though anyone can end up there simply by being poor enough, or ending up poor enough through circumstance. Slaves can be any species, but as the slave caste are all indentured servants, those who are already very poor are the most common, which as established above does have species bias thanks to the racism inherent in the system. Helots are exclusively formed of species considered to be very uncivilized.
Notably averted, despite otherwise bearing outward appearance of a dark form of the the "standard fantasy setting". Rifled black powder muzzleloading firearms exist, and while expensive due to needing special training and tools to properly make, they have certainly caught on in a lot of countries, to the point that paper cartridges, minie balls, and caplocks are the cutting edge, and puckle guns, volley guns, gatling guns are in use as crew serviced fire support. Even more strongly averted in the Confederacy of Independent Nations and Guilds, where brass cartridges and autoloading firearms have been developed.
The Wartorn Realms in home to many pantheons of gods.
The Holy Empire is both an authoriarian state and a bureaucratic nightmare where little actually gets done, outside of oppression, trade, warring, and colonizing. If someone in charge really wants to make a meaningful change or gets something meaningfully done, they have to wait a few centuries while the system is busy metaphorically smacking itself in the groin. During that, they will need to spend several fortunes worth of bribes to countless officials, it will likely cost quite a few lives, and there's no guarantee that it will actually work (or won't be suppressed by the churches and/or the aristocracy, both of whom are happy with how things have been).
The Wartorn Realms has so very, very many of these. This is the standard model of leadership, from the mightiest emperors to the smallest warlords and mayors.
While they aren't really invincible, many supernatural beings qualify as this, if you aren't an adventurer. A number still count even if you are.
The Wartorn Realms has loads. Not helping matters is that several panthoens alone used to be mortals, and becoming divine did not remove their flaws.
Practically omnipresent in the Wartorn Realms. Too many people to count, and on every possible side.
Most people are pretty fragile compared to things that have super strength. Human bodies may be pretty tough, and the human skeleton may be tough, but that matters little when a giant kicks you like a rag doll, now doesn't it? A lot of things have sufficient strength to make human bones shatter like glass.
This is done by every side involved.
The Wartorn Realms does have its own myths.
The world of the Wartorn Realms has non-heteronormative culture and traditions. It isn't that this world is progressive, nor that it isn't restrictive, it is that the traditions do not emphasize heterosexuality, nor "family values", and instead place their emphasis on entirely different values.
The Wartorn Realms has serious social breakdown of the standard fantasy setting, deconstructing, subverting, or even averting several tropes to see what hot mess ends up. The setting is easily describable as (an admittedly darker than normal and less schizo tech version of) dungeon punk, but it also brings in elements of sandal punk (if at least in some visuals and culture rather than tech), many elements of ocean punk, and a handful of elements of gaslamp fantasy.
Though steam power does exist in the Wartorn Realms setting, it does not have enough elements of steampunk; steam power is depicted realistically, and the focus of the setting is generally more on the fantastic elements of the setting than on the technologies. The only locations in the setting which focus just as much on the technology as the magic (read as: the places that are the most technologically advanced) still portray steam realistically, with any unrealistic elements being the result of magic that is already explored and in use elsewhere in the setting. (E.g. building steam powered zeppelins that are able to be powered by coal by loading the coal into bags of holding so they don't take up as much space and weigh down the craft[/url]; the steam power itself is still working completely normal.)
The Holy Empire, of course. Though it is more a hegemonic empire, it does use brutal force against its enemies, though the hegemon themself is rarely involved.
The Confederacy of Independent Nations and Guilds is a combination of this trope, rising empire, trotskyism, and industrialized world.
The Cult of War. Though the Cult of War is a loose coalition, and various parts of it are far more organized than the trope normally is, with some parts even being organized enough to more closely resemble the empire. As a whole, they more closely resemble a very large, evil version of the alliance.
The Holy Empire, while not technically "the theocracy" according to the trope, does count as an actual theocracy. The Cult of War, and every other cult, do count as the trope however. The Cult of War even manages to double subvert it, their leader's official title is "Arch Priest", but the arch priest is not necessarily a part of the priesthood, and is essentially just dictator for life with a klingon promotion clause attached; but they double subvert it by the fact that the priesthood are the de facto of the Cult of War, and that the Arch Priest, though they in theory have absolute power, in practice they never get to use it meaningfully without getting themselves quickly replaced, and the position has a high turnover rate in general.
The main notable aversion actually came about as defiance of this trope: the Confederacy of Independent Nations was founded with an understanding of the damage a theocracy can do, and as suchhas a strictly secular government, and outlaws religous buildings and priests (but not religions themselves).
Every few hundred thousand years, something happens that radically changes the status quo to a significant enough point that it is considered a new era. While this is not always a bad thing - sometimes it is a new invention, or a significant shift in the political climate, it often is something downright catastrophic. Periodically, such cataclysms happen and push a decent chunk of society back a good ways. This can be seen as the inevitable end point of the cycle of empires.