History TabletopGame / Banestorm

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Something of a running theme in the setting:
** The faction of Elves calling themselves the Purifiers, after a long time trying and failing to eradicate the Orcs, cast a massive ritual spell called "Orcbane" to finally be rid of them; instead, the spell (known afterwards as the Great Bane) ran amok, and devastated the continent of Ytarria (with unknown effects elsewhere on Yrth), ruining Elven civilization, bringing over more than a dozen new sapient species to compete for resources and land including Humans who'd soon come to dominate Ytarria, and forever tarring the Purifiers as reckless, genocidal fanatics, known forever more as Dark Elves.

* GorgeousGorgon: In this setting, members of the {{medusa}} species typically have the Beautiful Appearance advantage.

* SharkMan: The setting has a whole race of shark men, who aren't ''explicitly'' evil, but who are definitely scary to humans, and who worship gods who are pretty clearly not good news at all.

* UpperClassTwit: Downplayed by Sultan Mamoun al-Mansur of Al-Haz. "The Victorious" has never actually been anywhere near a war, and largely focuses on poetry, sports and his harem while his viziers run the country. However, he's not actually an idiot, just lazy and reflexively conservative, and he's smart enough to trust his viziers, avoid flatterers and do his best to crush [[AntimagicalFaction the Balikites]].

* WorthyOpponent: The knights of Megalos and the ghazis of the Muslim lands have fought for centuries, and have developed a strong respect for each other's honor and martial skill.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Subverted in that Yrth's once-formidable elves have clearly fallen on hard times since the Banestorm, and are essentially a DyingRace. They survive in villages hidden away in the various forests of Ytarria, with their largest communities being in the two massive woodlands known as the Great Forest and the Blackwoods. They ''are'' a little more dexterous, smart, attractive, and magically talented (and physically weaker) than humans on average, though, and they can be extremely long-lived. One truly different variety, albeit a culture rather than a variant race, is the Dark Elves, who are notable for being anything but Drow; they are actually a faction within elf culture, calling themselves "The Purifiers", with a philosophy of genocidal xenophobia, first against orcs, and then against anyone who isn't an elf.

** One notable instance was the group of reptile men who were told by the human emperor Of Megalos that if they could conquer a certain island, they could keep it. They did, and subsequently provided his dynasty with a ferociously loyal CadreOfForeignBodyguards.

** Probably the majority of off-world groups who were brought to the world of Yrth by the Banestorm ended up fighting for somewhere to live. They couldn’t get home, after all, and the place was in chaos.
** One notable instance was the group of reptile men who were told by the human emperor Of Megalos that if they could conquer a certain island, they could keep it. They did, and subsequently provided his dynasty with a ferociously loyal guard force.

* PatchworkMap: Yrth mostly ''tries'' to avoid getting too egregious about this trope, if only by sticking to the basic principle of "cold in the north, warm in the south" -- though the center of the continent seems fairly lush, while the deserts are more coastal, which seems a little odd. (Some of the deserts were blasted into that status by a magical cataclysm, to be fair.) However, that leaves Sahud, north of some bleak mountains and on a similar latitude to the sub-arctic Nomad Lands, which is kind of temperate, being similar to Japan or coastal China. ''TabletopGame/{{Banestorm}}'' attempts to explain this by some handwaving involving a warm ocean current, but it's a pretty blatant kludge.

* PirateGirl: Dame Catherine "la Noire" de Méliés, formerly TheMistress of the Prince of Araterre before he dumped, resulting in her becoming a WomanScorned and a pirate queen with a small fleet to take revenge on the Prince and his wife.

** UsefulNotes/TheKnightsHospitaller are another order, governing the fief of New Jerusalem and being even more eager than the Knights Templar to kick Muslim ass. They differ from the Templars primarily in being bigoted against nonhumans and in rejecting magic.

** For an obvious start, there are the actual Knights Templar of Yrth.
** However, Megalos also has its own version of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsHospitallers, who are actually even more fanatic, barely considering friendly nonhumans worthy of protection, and rejecting any use of magic. The first ChurchMilitant group to develop on Yrth from Banestorm immigrants, they interpreted the event as divine will, and founded the city of New Jerusalem. Eventually joining Megalos, they have since become infamous for their rigid conservatism and intolerance.
** In response to the two Christian groups, the Muslim nations of Ytarria have developed their own holy warriors, the Ghazi Orders, who mirror the Christian knights, and who have earned the respect of some knights.

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: Here, goblins are short, green humanoids originally from the mostly arid desert world of Gabrook. They are intelligent, civilized, and naturally curious, and actually fit well enough into human society. Hobgoblins are their larger, dumber cousins.

* CrystalDragonJesus: Banestorm actually ''{{avert|edTrope}}s'' this, believe it or not. Since the humans of the setting were initially yanked from UsefulNotes/TheCrusades-era Earth, the major human religions are Christianity and Islam, with most nonhumans having converted. The Lazarite cult of Abydos is this trope played straight.