Lusternia: Difference between revisions

* [[Build Like an Egyptian|Gaudiguch]], a [[The Hedonist|hedonistic]] society with shades of eastern philosophy and an emphasis on [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|transformation]];

* [[Arcadia|Serenwilde Commune]], the [[Last Fertile Region]], populated by [[Noble Savage|people]] who shun civilization as responsible for the Taint; and

And that's not even the [[It Got Worse|worst of it]]. Remember the five [[Sealed Evil in A Can|sealed]] Soulless? They cannot be destroyed even with the return of the Elder Gods; they've devoured too much of reality, and are now an [[Load-Bearing Boss|integral part of the universe]]. Kill them and you kill ''everyone'' and ''everything'' else. That wouldn't be so bad if their prisons were foolproof, but, [[Cardboard Prison|well]], they have a habit of breaking free. Once a generation, at least one of the horrors will slip through the cracks and the [[Player Character|boldest adventurer]] of the time must [[Physical God|ascend to divinity]] to reseal them once more.

* [[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, their [[Aristocrats Are Evil|aristocracy]] consists of a [[Deadly Decadent Court]], with backroom politics, assassinations and smear campaigns regarded as valid methods of advancement. They are [[Fantastic Racism|highly racist]] towards [[Our Elves Are Better|elfen]] and [[Fish People|merian]], and are ideologically devoted to [[The Corruption|The 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.

* [[Apathetic Citizens]] - The longer you play, and the more [[Apocalypse How]] scenarios you see, the more jaded you will become.

* [[Big Bad]] - Kethuru the Almighty, [[HP Lovecraft|dead but dreaming]]. The other Soulless (Illith the Leviathan, Crazen the Greedy, Great Muud and [[My Friends and Zoidberg|Zenos the Insubstantial]]) count, too.

* [[Bolt of Divine Retribution]] - Elder Gods can do this to impudent mortals, in two varieties. First up is a warning shot intended to [[Scare'Em Straight|terrify the target]] into compliance; if that doesn't work, [[One-Hit Kill|well]]...

* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]] - Par for the course in all IRE games.

* [[Call to Adventure]] - An interesting take: adventurers must venture through the Portal of Fate to be marked by destiny. It's implied that people who ''don't'' do this squander their potential and remain as [[Muggles|NPCs]].

* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]] - Every player-run organisation has had these moments.

* [[Combat Tentacles]] - Kethuru has these. They're detachable and ''[[Holy Shit Quotient|independently sentient]]''.

* [[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 and ''50%'', 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 them ''all''.

* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] - The chief organizations have a lot of basis in real life countries. Magnagora is much like [[WW 2]] era Germany, with their emphasis on [[Master Race|racial purity]] and extreme nationalism; Hallifax, meanwhile, is a clear take-off of [[Glorious Mother Russia|Communist 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 their [[Vestigial Empire|increasingly vestigial nature]]. You could also make a case for [[Ethical Hedonist|Gaudiguch]] being America: freedom-loving party animals engaged in a [[Forever 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 highly [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|attractive]], 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 of [[The Federation|the 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.

* [[Go Mad From the Revelation]] - Spending time on planes that imprison Soulless Gods, such as Astral and [[Womb Level|Muud]], 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 got [[Just for Pun|stuck 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 and [[Genre Savvy]], but some of the longer, more involved quests may take repeated trial and error. Fortunately, these quests typically provide players with [[Cosmetic Award|honor lines]] in their profile.

* [[Loads and Loads of Races]] - Twenty playable races, running the gamut from tiny [[The Fair Folk|fair folk]] to hulking [[Big Foot And Sasquatch|sasquatch-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 all ''sorts'' 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 of [[Big Good|Estarra]], which is never fully explained. Basically, Dynara and Magnora (the [[Anthropomorphic Personification|personifications of creation and destruction]], respectively) had a tiff when Magnora devoured the son of [[God|Yudhe]]. Since they were both children of Yudhe too, they were filled with sorrow and [[Enemy Mine|teamed up]] to rediscover him, leaving their children (The Elder and Soulless Gods) behind to do so. [[It Got Worse|This is the simple part.]] {{spoiler|It's implied - [[Shrug of God|though never confirmed]] - that Yudhe's son somehow ended up in ''[[Achaea]]'', where he became the [[Cosmic Horror|Unnameable 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 the [[Game Breaker|power that implies]].

* [[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, [[The Berserker|berserking]] bull-men). The game is basically a '''paradise''' 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 to [[Zerg Rush|overpower]] the Soulless. ([[Foregone Conclusion|It worked]].)

* [[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, the [[Physical God|Vernal Gods]] who originally sealed away the five great Soulless. They stand sentinel today as [[Fusion Dance|Avechna the Avenger]], and are periodically reawoken if a Soulless manages to [[Sealed Evil in A Can|seep out]] of its prison.

* [[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.

** Also an instance of [[Fun With Acronyms]], "I. S.H.I.T., K.".

* [[Shown Their Work]] - ''Also'' lots. Amongst other things, the Highmagic skill is an extended reference to the ''Sephirot'' in Kabbalah, with each skill corresponding to a sphere thereof (e.g. Keter, Yesod, Binah).

* [[The Stoic]] - The Lucidians are basically a race of stoics. [[Not So Stoic|More or less]].