The Reconstruction/Setting

• Cat People: The fih'jik. The Encyclopedia even says that the word "cat" comes from the Fih'Jik word for "child".
• Clarke's Third Law: And how. The shra thought Tezkhra was a god because of it.
• Crap Saccharine World: The world looks innocuous enough at first, but the more you explore it, the more you realize just how messed up it is. Here's a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of reveals:
  • Chapter 1: Wadassia is practically the only country in the known world that can grow food, so the welfare of all other places is placed into one basket -- a basket that hangs by a thread.
  • Chapter 2: A large portion of the populace is poverty-stricken, and forced to live in the slums of Nal. Also, the large lagoon in which the game takes place is the only habitable area in the world -- everywhere else is just ocean as far as the eye can see. This will no doubt lead to painful population plateaus.
  • Chapter 3: The fortian Councillords economically control the rest of the world through monopolization of magical artifacts, and kill anyone who is a threat to their stability.
  • Chapter 4: The Fantastic Racism against shra is so bad that their own kind sell each other into slavery to make ends meet.
  • Chapter 5: The fih'jik cling to their warlike religion, refusing to let those in Do'Ssha live in peace. Warfare is so frequent that their continent earned a nickname that basically means "bloody sands". The Knight Templar leader of Kir'Ssha even commits suicide because he knows it's the only way to stop the war...temporarily, at least.
  • Chapter 6: And none of that even matters, because Havan razed the entire world to the ground because you let him! Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: The fih'jik religion is very similar to the Christian one, though there's no Jesus figure and the god (or "Supreme One") in question is female. Subverted in that she seems to be either dead or sadistic.
  • Or possibly not subverted at all, as that's probably how any atheist would view the Judeo-Christian God during a period like the Crusades.
• Elemental Powers: Heat, Cold, Physical, Mental, Divine, and Noxious. Everyone in the setting has this to some extent, since every being has an elemental affinity.
• Entropy and Chaos Magic: Sort of. It's not a standard feature of the setting, but Tatzylvurm and the True Final Boss both have "Chaos" as their element, as opposed to a certain optional character who has "Order" as their element. Both end up effectively Non-Elemental.
• Fantastic Racism: Everywhere except Do'Ssha and the Berylbrine Outpost, shra are slaves or servants, and are treated like dirt in Nal. Justified, though; Shra are subservient by nature and follow whoever they think is the strongest.
• Feuding Families: The Pazzato and Metzino lines have been at this for quite a while.
• God of Evil: Tezkhra certainly seems to be this; the encyclopedia describes him as a foul, wretched, poisonous creature that brought death everywhere he walked and gave birth to the si'shra, one of the most violent creatures in the world. However, this is subverted hard if you get the sixteenth character -- Tezkhra himself. He turns out to actually be Shrouded in Myth and a perfectly nice guy. The Tezkhra figure that the si'shra worship was actually an evil creature that killed him and stole his name.
• Have You Seen My God?: The Supreme One is either missing or dead. That or she enjoys seeing her children launch violent and bloody holy wars against each other. Kir'Sshans are all convinced that she's still alive, though.
  • Played straight with the Sufficiently Advanced Aliens that are the creators of the huge Xanatos Roulette that is the game's plot. After Tez died, they shut off communications to the world and left.
• Heroes-R-Us: Guilds.
• Humans Are Average: They're actually below average, in pure gameplay terms, since they tend to have the lowest regeneration rates in all three stats.
• Humans Are Leaders: Justified due to lack of competition. Of the other sentient species in the setting, the shra have a tendency to follow whoever seems strongest, the fortians don't care much about outside affairs, and the fih'jik are traditionalistic to a fault, leaving humans as the primary explorers and leaders.
  • It's also subverted, since The Hero is a shra. Could be Double Subverted, though, since he's an extreme subversion of most fantasy heroes and doesn't actually do much leading.
• Immortality Inducer: The "artifact" that Havan finds is an active +ii emitter.
• Last-Name Basis: The fortians do this. The only time they're referred to by their first name is informally or by someone of higher rank. This extends to your party members; Sicious Qualstio and Halia Falitza are always referred to by their last names.
• Lizard Folk: Shra.
• Medieval Stasis: Deconstructed; as in most Medieval Stasis worlds, magic takes the place of science and technology for the most part... except that not everyone can use it. On top of that, only Fortians have magical abilities potent enough to perform the really important spells and create the really important Magitek. This means that things are stacked a bit too conveniently in the favour of Fortians -- everyone has no choice but to depend on them. So when Metzino decides to make normal steam-powered technology (meaning that everyone can contribute to society equally), the fortian councillords are not happy.
• One-Gender Race: Subverted; the shra seem to be this at first, but in chapter 4 we learn that the females are all forced to stay inside the Shra Capital.
• Perfect Pacifist People: The Sikohlon, though they're a small clan instead of an entire society.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Averted; shra are given a rather sympathetic viewpoint -- the main character is even one.
• Rubber Forehead Aliens: Averted with the fortians. They seem like they're this; they look almost exactly like humans, only more slender, with crazier hairstyles, and paler skin. However, Word of God says that they are humans, and the difference is purely cultural. Their magic affinity is simply due to the fact that they focus on it so exclusively.
• Science Is Bad: The Fortian Councillords think so, anyway. The game's actual message seems to be an inversion of this trope.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The story and characters start off rather idealistic, but gradually slide towards cynicism, nearly hitting the end of the scale by the end.
  • In the ending, the slider jumps back to the idealistic end; all the characters come to terms with their Dark And Troubled Pasts (albiet not completely in some cases) and civilization is rebuilt. However, it doesn't dial all the way back; how can it, after everything the player has seen? This is demonstrated by Dehl having the realization that he cannot do everything and save everyone; sometimes, the only option is for the people to save themselves.
• Snake Talk: According to the glossary, one in five shra have tongues too big to perfectly pronounce the human language, and speak like this. None of the Sikohlon seem to have this trait, interestingly. Kulkumatz does, though.
• Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: The fortians are all over this. They're the closest thing the setting has to modern scientists, and they're the race with the greatest affinity for magic.

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