Many eons ago, a great war fought between theSoulless Gods and theElder Gods decimated the land. Many Soulless and Elders died in the skirmish, until only the five mightiest Soulless Gods remained. The remaining Elder Gods either fled into the void or 'sharded' - the Gods that 'sharded' died, but also created the mortal races, which retained qualities of their 'parent' God.The mortals fought, and ultimatelyimprisoned the remaining Soulless after many years of conflict. They built amighty empire in the intervening years, and all was prosperous...
... but the civilization grew stagnant andproud. Their quest for ever greater power inadvertently released the mightiest of the Soulless,Kethuru, from his prison, and histainted effluence transformed many mortals into undead monstrosities before he could be re-sealed. The Empire fell apart, numerous new animosities (and old ones long forgotten) were sparked, and war began. Even the return of the Elder Gods didn't change things: theflawed deities, rememberingtheir old animosities, becamepatrons to favoured mortals and began to fight amongst themselves. There has been conflict ever since between the chief organizations of Lusternia:
And that's not even theworst of it. Remember the fivesealed Soulless? They cannot be destroyed even with the return of the Elder Gods; they've devoured too much of reality, and are now anintegral part of the universe. Kill them and you killeveryone andeverything else. That wouldn't be so bad if their prisons were foolproof, but,well, they have a habit of breaking free. Once a generation, at least one of the horrors will slip through the cracks and theboldest adventurer of the time mustascend to divinity to reseal them once more.
Notable for a rich, intricatehistory and dynamic player-run politics, it can be played via browser atLusternia.com.
A God Am I - With enough grinding, eventually you will ascend to the role of Demigod. There are also some other paths to take.
Alien Geometries - Bound to happen whenH.P. Lovecraft is a main inspiration. Notably, the cosmic plane of Continuum exists in multiple dimensions on one axis. It makes mapping it without 3D-imaging a pain in theass.
Also, the Gaudiguch nexus world. In some locations, you can squint forwards a few rooms to seeyourself.
An Adventurer Is You - Players and NPCs are distinguished by the terminology "adventurer" and "denizen", respectively.
A Nazi by Any Other Name - The Empire of Magnagora. While nominally democratic, theiraristocracy consists of aDeadly Decadent Court, with backroom politics, assassinations and smear campaigns regarded as valid methods of advancement. They arehighly racist towardselfen andmerian, and are ideologically devoted toThe Taint. Their ultimate goal is to conquer and Taint the known world and murder all merian and elfen - fantasy Nazism, through and through.
Animal Eye Spy - Trackers can see and hear things through their bonded canines. Illuminati can do likewise, courtesy of a visceral little creature called a ribbachi.
The prophets who were standing around the Stone have fallen! A black smoke is pouring out of the Stone now [...] The prophets are slowly getting back upbut they're [...] (garbled) [...] Sweet Light,it's moving fast! We've got to get out of here! Run! RUN! [...] (garbled)
ASCII Art - Try smoking weed or drinking absynth. Smiley faces ahoy!
Asskicking Equals Authority - In game, it's very common for players which are skilled at the incredibly complex combat system to be prime candidates for political positions. This is more marked in the more recent IRE games.
Alsoinvoked with the electedChampion of each guild. It's their duty to train up the rest of the guild, and take the front in any combat situation.
Baleful Polymorph - Wiccans can transform players into toads, and Gods can turn players into giant maggots if sufficiently pissed off.
Beneath the Earth - The Undervault, a subterranean continent featuring two warring races: the insectile, matriarchal Kephera and the soulless, ego-vampiric Illithoid.
Bolt of Divine Retribution - Elder Gods can do this to impudent mortals, in two varieties. First up is a warning shot intended toterrify the target into compliance; if that doesn't work,well...
Booze-Based Buff - Drinking can dull damage. Certain races (particularly dwarves - natch) can handle their beer way better than others. And Brewmeisters can handle it better still, in addition to brewing their own magical draughts. Consequently, a drunken dwarf Brewmeister is a force to be feared.
Call to Adventure - An interesting take: adventurers must venture through the Portal of Fate to be marked by destiny. It's implied that people whodon't do this squander their potential and remain asNPCs.
Came Back Wrong - Orlachmar's the poster boy for this trope. A case could be made thatevery undead created byThe TaintCame Back Wrong, considering how megalomaniacal and cruel the scientists of Project Cosmic Hope became following their exposure to it.
Combos - Monks specifically, though the entirePvP system is based on chaining synergistic attacks together.
Continuing Is Painful - Dying saddles you with a hefty XP loss. Fortunately, many skills can mitigate or outright avoid death.
Once you reach level 100, you become a Demigod, and XP is replaced with essence. You need to buy your neat endgame Demigod abilities with essence, and it takes an awful lot to get all the ones you want: however, you lose essence when you die, so you always need to keep a reasonable buffer up. Because if you die and lose all your essence? Booted back to level 99. Level 99 and50%, which is a huge amount at that level. Oh, and all those neat abilities you may have bought - they won't be retained if you reach level 100 again. You have to re-buy themall.
Costume Porn - Trademasters can periodically submit a number of cartel designs. The result is extreme customization of everything from robes to platemail to furniture. Your character can be as richly (or as drably) attired as you desire.
Death Is Cheap - You only die permanently by killing off your own character. You can't even do that if you've purchasedcredits.
Death World - The Astral Plane, the outermost layer of existence (that mortals can reach), and the one closest to Kethuru andThe Void. It's populated by grotesquely mutated animals and much of the plant-life is sentient and malevolent. Just spending time there gradually erodes the playersSanity Meter.
Did You Just Punch Out Kethuru? - Every so often, an admin-controlled event will cause one of the Soulless Gods to be released, forcing the (normally warring) player organizations to work together and defeat them.
Divide by Zero - During the Taint Wars, a skirmish between Hallifax and Gaudiguch resulted in this. They each employed their residentDoomsday Device on the other: the resultant cataclysm sealed both cities in time forfive hundred years andpsychically assaulted every living entity on the planet - evenKethuru.
Also counts as aNoodle Incident, as the only thing we hear from Gaudiguch before is 'There is something coming at us... it's a cloud of... butterflies?' -End transmission-
Dual-Wielding - The specialty of two Warrior subsets, as well as two Monk guilds.
Dumb Is Good -Played with.Raziela, the Supernal of Love and Peace, is not outright stupid, but she has the mind of a twelve year old, making her incredibly naive and trusting. She's also one of the most powerful mobs in the game (even stronger than her fellowSupernals), and her counterpart in the Demon Lords is ahorribly mutated blob with little reasoning left.
Emotion Eater - The Illithoid,kind of. Their target has to be dead to be fed from, and the corpse is destroyed by their feeding, but itdoes boost their psychic potential exponentially as a result. Also played straight with a number of player abilities that allow you to drain mana/ego from other players.
The Gaudiguch Gossip: "With her scales glowing with the absolutely fabulous new range of emerald powder (recently imported from Newton),Scuchi caused quite the stir when she set the robes ofProfessor Lars, the Hallifax Ambassador, on fire (accidentally, I'm sure!) after the stone-faced lucidian was overheard to say, "Gaudiguch is a cesspool of illogical extremism." Go Scuchi!"
Evil Is Deathly Cold - The Tainted.Justified by the fact that many Tainted are alsoThe Undead; liches in particular can cloak themselves in a cold aura, which passively freezes their enemies.
Evil Is Visceral -The Taint once more. Many viscanti are malformed mutants, and Gorgulu (one of the demi-deities they worship) is an amorphous mass of mouths and tentacles, which lives in a cave covered in fleshy outgrowths.
Ironically enough, the Nihilists once worshipped the Fates, but forsake them when they didn't lift a finger to save them from becoming... well, what they became.
The Fair Folk - Glomdoring's take on Fae include redcaps, barghests and slaugh. Their native race, Shadow Faelings, are a cross betweenThe Fair Folk and Dark Elves.
Fantastic Racism - Several races are discriminated against in all the major organisations. Merian and Viscanti (the native races of Celest and Magnagora, respectively) deserve special mention for looking down oneveryone - especiallyeach other.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture - The chief organizations have a lot of basis in real life countries. Magnagora is much likeWW 2 era Germany, with their emphasis onracial purity and extreme nationalism; Hallifax, meanwhile, is a clear take-off ofCommunist Russia, right down to their aims being laid down in "The Collectivist Manifesto". Celest represents a declining British Empire, with their emphasis on nobility coupled with theirincreasingly vestigial nature. You could also make a case forGaudiguch being America: freedom-loving party animals engaged in aForever War with the communist Hallifax.
Fish People - The Merian race. They are decidedly non-human in appearance, being scaled, hairless, blue and finned, but are a highlyattractive, intelligent and noble race with a proud history of scientific accomplishment. Interbreeding with humans has resulted in a few crossbreeds, some even having hair - but however diluted the Merian genealogy, all "real" Merians can breathe underwater.
For Science! - A common attitude in Hallifax, and the sole reason for being of the Institute. Also apparently the governing philosophy ofthe Holy Celestine Empire's science department, thus the sheer number of screwed up failed projects littering the world.
Fridge Brilliance - Why are the lucidian and trill races so close to each other? Because Xyl and Trillilial were lovers. Why are the tae'dae and furrikin so close? Because Tae and Bollikin were best friends. Why were Urlach and Klangratch so effective at working together, comparative to the other Vernals? Because Orlachmar and Clangorum were good friends.Pieces of God explain an awful lot in this game.
Fuel Meter of Power - The most powerful abilities available to players are cast using this. You can only carry a limited amount, and running out necessitates a return to your hometown to recharge. Even if you'reinundated with the stuff, it takes time for your powerful abilities torecharge, adding a strategic element to combat.
Even Magnagora considers him a bit much and joins in to defeat him when he appears.
Go Mad from the Revelation - Spending time on planes that imprison Soulless Gods, such as Astral andMuud, will slowly drive players insane, causing them to see, hear, and do bizarre things.
If a Supernal leaves their room on Celestia, they will start to go insane, and one of them actually did when she gotstuck in Muud.
Gray and Gray Morality - All the player-run organizations, despite their underlying themes, are only as good or evil as the individual characters that dwell there.
Guide Dang It - Most quests can be figured out with a little common sense andGenre Savvy, but some of the longer, more involved quests may take repeated trial and error. Fortunately, these quests typically provide players withhonor lines in their profile.
Healing Hands - Healers get these, allowing them to heal others by drawing their wounds and afflictions into them, or purge themselves of wounds at the cost of ego.
The Hecate Sisters - Directly referencing theMoirae of Greek mythology, no less: Clotho, the maid (who spins the threads of life), Lachesis, the mother (who measures the threads) and Atropos, the crone (who cuts the thread upon death). They govern the destinies of all mortals who are marked by the Portal of Fate - namely, everyPlayer Character.
Lisaera also takes on the form of the maiden, mother and crone as she wishes (though she is referencing the fae of theMoondancers rather than the Fates).
Hermetic Magic - Highmagic, which specifically references the Kabbalah: each spell corresponds to aSefirah sphere.
Horror Hunger -Fain and his followers devoured Soulless essence to gain their powers during the Elder Wars.The Dark Side Will Make You Forget, though, and they began devouring other Elders too...
Humans Are Cthulhu - We're apparently from a different dimension, and are implied variously to be descended from a powerful divinity. (Or just refugees fromAchaea.) Either way, we're regarded as one of thestrangest of the mortal races.
Humans Are Special - Humans start out as one of the weaker races, withno strengths and no weaknesses to speak of. However, they earn experience significantly faster than everyone else, and at level 50 they beginevolving, their eventual statistics dependant on their class. A high-level human, therefore, is good foranything. Also, they are the only race that canmate with every other race.
Humanoid Abomination - The Illithoid, the only known race to have descended from a Soulless.
I'm a Humanitarian - A special ability of Necromancers permits this. A particularly Squick-laden version is found in Glomdoring, where druids ofCrow devour flesh thenregurgitate it to construct their nests.
Improbable Weapon - The Ninjakari wieldgiant bladed chains. To maximize their potential, they have to build up momentum by keeping themconstantly in motion.Chainblades, yo.
Inhumanly Beautiful Race - Faeling tend towards this. Even -especially - the Drow-esque shadow faeling, despite their ashy complexion and crimson eyes.
In-Universe Game Clock - An hour in the real world is a day in Lusternia. Each Lusternian month is twenty five days long, and there are twelve of them, so a year is around twelve and a half days real time.
Item Crafting - Each player can choose from one of eight main trades, from standard MMO fare like Enchantment and Forging, to the more obscure, such as Brewmeistery andfurniture making. Trademasters can submit a certain number of new designs each in-game month, meaning there's alot of clothes and armour floating around.
Jerkass Gods - Virtually all of the Gods have an agenda of some sort. Some of them, likeElostian, are relatively benign; others, likeEventru, are more aggressive; still others, likeFain, veer intoGod of Evil territory.
Kill It with Fire - Pyromancers can throw fireballs, make it rain fire and can surround themselves by a ring of fire. And then Astrologers manage to top it all by summoning huge, burningmeteors on their enemies.
King of All Cosmos - The Elder Gods are not omniscient or all-powerful, and each have different spheres of influence. It's made clear, however, that these spheres arenotall-encompassing; more like innate desires. (For example, Meridian of the First often fought alongside the Second Circle, andClangorum of the Fourth claimed to be a Second so he could use his own weapons in battle.) The spheres are as follows:
The First Circle, leaders and diplomats;
The Second Circle, warriors;
The Third Circle, philosophers, mediators and healers;
When you reach level 99, it takes the same amount it took you to reach that level to reach 100.
Lizard Folk - The Dracnari, native race of Gaudiguch. Unusually for the trope, they're an intelligent and proud race, instead of the traditionalevil mooks.
Loads and Loads of Races - Twenty playable races, running the gamut from tinyfair folk to hulkingsasquatch-men. There are even more unplayable sentient races, primary among them the gnomes and the centaur.
Magitek - Aetherwave communication is basically radio crossed with psychic powers crossed with the internet. Magic is used for allsorts of mundane utility.
Melee a Trois - Six player-run organizations that all have their own reasons for wanting to beat on the other five.
Mind Screw - The formation ofEstarra, which is never fully explained. Basically, Dynara and Magnora (thepersonifications of creation and destruction, respectively) had a tiff when Magnora devoured the son ofYudhe. Since they were both children of Yudhe too, they were filled with sorrow andteamed up to rediscover him, leaving their children (The Elder and Soulless Gods) behind to do so.This is the simple part.It's implied -though never confirmed - that Yudhe's son somehow ended up inAchaea, where he became theUnnameable Horror of lore and raped the creator Goddess Maya, creating humans. The fact that when Estarra returns, she does so with a bunch of humans in tow, supports this theory. Whatever happened, Estarra re-emerged in Lusternia as the blending of Dynara and Magnora, with all thepower that implies.
Mini Game - Plenty to go around. Figurine battles, battlechess, arena combat (in duel, free-for-all and wargame varieties), aethership combat...
Money Spider - Pretty much every NPC has the ability to drop gold, directly based on how powerful they are.So generally you get less gold for killing humanoid foes thanAstral critters.
Names to Run Away From Really Fast - All of the Soulless Gods have titles such as "Illith the Leviathan" and "Crazen the Greedy". In-universe there's the Glomdoring forest, which in the tongue of thefae means "the forest without mercy".
Nature Spirit - Every nature commune has two: a patron animal and an aspect of the earth. Serenwilde has Mother Moon and White Hart, Glomdoring has Mother Night and Mighty Crow, and Ackleberry had/has Sister Lake and Brother Bear.
One Size Fits All - If your nine feet tall sasquatch buddy is done with that plate armour, you - a four feet stocky dwarf - can take it off his paws and wear it, no problem.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same -Lampshaded. The Dwarves were originally called Clangoru (descended from the Elder God Clangorum), but when the humans arrived from a different dimension, they immediately started calling the native Clangoru Dwarves, and it eventually stuck. That's because the Clangoru wereindistinguishable from the dwarves of the other dimension.
Our Liches Are Different - Lichdom is the ultimate skill inNecromancy. The Necromancer dies, but rises again as an archlich - with increased strength and intelligence,a freezing aura, and the ability to bestow a lesser version of lichdom upon non-Necromantic allies. Nihilist priests fit theEvil Sorcerer mould and like the idea of immortality:elite ur'Guard troopers are mainly in it for the increase in power, becoming Death Knights in the process.
Perpetually Static - Invoked in most quests, which eventually reset, but some of the bigger quests (such as Mount Dio) do not automatically reset, and require a counterquest to return things to normal. Also averted in alliances and warfare between the six player-run organizations. The politicsconstantly switch around, based on what the leaders consider to be more advantageous at the time.
Petting Zoo People - Loboshigaru (pack-based dogmen); Furrikin (little furballs that can look like anything from raccoons to bears); Tae'dae (big-ass bears, natch); Aslaran (solitary, noble catmen)... even Taurians (racist,berserking bull-men). The game is basically aparadise for furries!
Pieces of God - How most of the mortal races were created, courtesy of (some of) the Elder Gods fragmenting their consciousness in a desperate attempt tooverpower the Soulless. (It worked.)
Player Versus Player - Not just combat, but swaying NPCs to the side of one's faction involves a separatePvP system just for debating other players.
Power Crystal - The Researchers love these and their unique skill, Harmonics, is built around utilizing them. In twelve different flavours of gemstone.
Precursor Heroes - The Council of the Nine, theVernal Gods who originally sealed away the five great Soulless. They stand sentinel today asAvechna the Avenger, and are periodically reawoken if a Soulless manages toseep out of its prison.
Promoted Fanboy - Every administrator is an ex-player, save the two head developers.
Psychic Powers - Psionics, which mages and monks can take. Kephera and Illithoid deserve a special mention for their innate psionic abilities, though.
Psycho Serum -The Soulless Elixir pioneered by Fain and company during the Elder Wars. It made them exponentially more powerful, but more aggressive and megalomaniacal. Ultimately, they began devouring other Elder Gods and were banished to the Void. A certain quest within the game also drastically increases your power reserves, at the cost of driving the player temporarily insane due to parasitic infestation.
Secret Police - Part and parcel of the communist motif in Hallifax, especially theSentinels.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness - How things are named in Hallifax. The Institute's real name is the Institutional Society of Hallifax for the Improvement of Temporal Knowledge.
Shout-Out -Lots. The Soulless are an obvious Lovecraft homage; there areIlluminati andTemplars in Gaudiguch; the Demon Lords names are derivative of high-rankingbiblical devils and reference theSeven Deadly Sins; someNPCS shout"help, help, I'm being repressed!" when attacked; Fain's title and appearance are a reference to Poe'sMasque of the Red Death;Roark's name, teachings and aesthetic directly referenceAyn Rand... On top of the multitudinous references to other media, there are many ideological similarities between the in-game organizations and real life philosophies. That's not even getting into themany tie-ins to otherIron Realms Entertainment games.
Even "Stay awhile and listen" gets aShout-Out, in a Serenwilde novice quest.
Shown Their Work -Also lots. Amongst other things, the Highmagic skill is an extended reference to theSephirot in Kabbalah, with each skill corresponding to a sphere thereof (e.g. Keter, Yesod, Binah).
Warp Whistle - A number of skillsets allow for quick travel across the world, and the most expensive artifact in the game provides access to a literalWarp Zone, with exits to locations ranging across the entire multiverse. Newbies also get such a zone for a limited period, with exits much morerelevant to them.
Welcome to Corneria - Though occasionally subverted if a game administrator takes control of an NPC to have conversations with players.
Well-Intentioned Extremist - New Celest. Sure, they have someextremeattitudes, but Old Celest wasblown up following theTaint, and its empty husk is now populated by the wailing, hollow-eyed ghosts of their ancestors. You can't really blame them for wanting to do likewise to Magnagora.
Unusually for the trope, the diametrically-opposed organizations arenot based on elemental ties. Aquamancers (of Celest) are against Geomancers (of Magnagora), while Aeromancers (of Hallifax) are against Pyromancers (of Gaudiguch).
Wizard Needs Food Badly - You can starve to death... at least until you transcend such things by reaching level 80, at which point you have no need for food or sleep. Even then, classes such asGeomancers can cause starvation through poisonous gases, which often catches the "I no longer need food!" crowd off-guard.
Womb Level -Muud. Intended as a hunting ground for high-levelled players, it's correspondinglypretty tough.
World Half Full - During the conflict between mortalkind and the Soulless, there weremany more mortal races. On top of that, the Basin Of Life (setting for the game) is only around a third of the surface of Lusternia: the rest is a barren, decimated wasteland.