History TableTopGame / SeventhSea

** Captain Reis, the pirate depicted in red on the page image above, is intended for use as a plot device by the DM to either make the [=PCs=] run away, or die. In melee, he is essentially unstoppable, since his weapon ignores any kind of armor and slices through even Dracheneisen with trivial ease (meaning you can't parry either). However, if you manage to shoot him in the head and burn all your drama UsefulNotes/{{dice}} for extra damage, he ''will'' go down, since you can't block bullets and he doesn't wear armor.
** You can't spend Drama Dice on damage rolls, unless you have some ability that allows you to do so.
** But you ''can'' spend Drama Dice on attack rolls, where calling Raises will increase damage.

No Banter, No Barter, No Quarter.

%% * {{Pirate}}: ''All'' the tropes that go with them.

* DarkestAfrica: Ifri is a fairly non-offensive and justified version; while nobody from there is a savage, [[NobleSavage noble]] or otherwise, the supernatural is way, way more blatant; gods regularly interact with the people, and not believing in [[SatanicArchetype Bosnam]] is ''suicidally stupid.'' Unfortunately, nobody told the [[MegaCorp Atabean Trading Company,]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive assuming they would even care]]; it's entirely possible Bosnam's forces will invade Theah simply because he was able to corrupt the ATC.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The 2nd Edition {{Sourcebook}} continually reminds GMs and players that the story is about HEROES. There is even a mechanical penalty for not adhering to some basic tenets of goodness.

''7th Sea'' is a [[TabletopGame tabletop role-playing game]] and related [[CollectibleCardGame CCG]] created by AEG after ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' became a success. The game's central setting is Théah, an alternate version of Europe during [[TheCavalierYears the 17th century]], bordered by the Crescent Empire, an analogue of the Ottoman Empire, and Cathay, an analogue of China. Théah is composed of several [[TheThemeParkVersion theme park versions]] of various major European countries and cultures. The countries vie with each other for political and economic dominance, while pirates sail the seas in search of adventure and treasure. The world is based very much upon the varied tropes common to swashbuckling and pirate stories.

The RPG is very notable for its NoCelebritiesWereHarmed versions of quite a number of [=NPCs=] described in the sourcebooks. People with only a cursory knowledge of European history can name at least two or three of the major [=NPCs=]' real-life counterparts. Those who have more background in history can find many more, as well as note the places where [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Wolfrond von Hazel was a Syrneth Spy]].

In 2015, John Wick Presents, run by John Wick, part of the original development team for ''7th Sea'', bought the publishing rights from AEG. They announced plans for a second edition that would reboot the game, changing up the system and setting, making some changes to the established countries, and expanding the ''7th Sea'' world, now named Terra - Aztlan (Central/South America), Wabanahkik (North America), and Ifri (sub-Saharan Africa) were added to the world map, and the Sarmatian Commonwealth (the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth) was added to the map of Théah.

[[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwickpresents/7th-sea-second-edition/description A Kickstarter to fund the second edition line]] ran in February/March 2016, which smashed through its initial $30,000 goal for the corebook and ''The New World'' sourcebook (for Aztlan) in seven minutes, went on to fund ten additional sourcebooks and a considerable amount of other stuff (novels, maps, etc.), and ultimately became the first tabletop RPG Kickstarter to reach a million dollars, with a final total of $1.31 million.

A planned second ''7th Sea'' line, ''TabletopGame/SeventhSeaTheEast'', was announced during the Kickstarter, focusing on Cathay and other Asian-analogue countries, with its own independent corebook. Beta-test rules were given out for free at [=GenCon=] 2017. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwickpresents/7th-sea-khitai The Kickstarter]] for this locale ran in October/November 2017. The Quickstart guide has been publicly released online.

!!The nations of 7th Sea (and their related Tropes) are:

* [[Characters/SeventhSeaNationsOfThea Nations of Thea]]
* [[Characters/SeventhSeaNationsOfTheCrescent Nations of the Cresent Empire]]
* [[Characters/SeventhSeaThePirateNations The Pirate Nations]]
* [[Characters/SeventhSeaNationsOfIfri Nations of Ifri]]
* [[Characters/SeventhSeaNationsOfAztaln Nations of Aztlan]]
* [[Characters/SeventhSeaSecretSocieties Secret Societies]]

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''[[AC:Note: Since the secret societies of 7th Sea are [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment secret]] a great many of these examples are hidden with spoiler text. Those that aren't are generally common knowledge.]]''

!!The secret societies of 7th Sea provide examples of:

!!!Alnniqabat Lilnnusr (The Guild of the Eagle)
* HeroicSacrifice: A player can immediately gain 8 Favor with the Guild by taking the place of a rogue assassin's victim. Those who do so are viewed as having a death wish.
* IWantThemAlive: Capturing rogue assassins is one of the only other ways to earn favor with the Guild. A dead man is worth nothing to the order.
* WhoWatchesTheWatchmen: The Guild's mission is to monitor the missions of the Assassins to ensure they- and the Guardian of the First Garden- do not stray from the path of righteousness by killing the undeserving or the innocent.

!!!Atoka-ona Farasin (The Hidden Compass)
* BankruptcyBarrel: The fastest way to gain Favor with the Hidden Compass: Make sure unscrupulous foreign merchants lose ''everything''.
* BenevolentConspiracy: The Compass exists to secretly prop up the Kingdom of Manden through economic manipulation.
* ToxicInc: The entire goal of The Hidden Compass is to prevent this trope. Manden's economy is run on gold and salt mines, and the Atoka-ona Farasin know that the merchants are perilously close to strip-mining the nation just to keep it from collapsing.

!!!Ch'ewi (The Movement)
* ConflictingLoyalty: Defied. Unlike all other Secret Societies in Seventh Sea, a Hero may be a member of Ch'ewi and one other society.
* CreatureHuntingOrganization: The Movement is specifically devoted to hunting and killing the ''abonsam'' creatures set free by Mbey.

!!!Children of Esu
* CrossOver: The Children met curious new allies while working to undermine the Atabean Trading Company's operations in Mbey: agents of Die Kreuzritter.
* TheStoryteller: When not hunting Monsters, the Children are expected to share folklore and stories with young children, teaching them the dangers of the Monsters that haunt Ifri and how to stay safe from them.
* WalkingTheEarth: The Children take their name from Esu, Ori of Crossroads. They began in Mbey but now travel all of Ifri to seek new folklore and Monsters to defeat.

!!!Die Kreuzritter
* AnotherDimension: [[spoiler:Die Kreuzritter have an artifact ring which gives agents the permanent ability to step into another dimension through shadows. This allows for a sort of short teleportation.]]
* DeathFakedForYou: [[spoiler:The public believes]] Die Kreuzritter's full membership was killed to a man. [[spoiler: Actually the hierophant cut a deal with the lesser known members to allow the group to live on. Most of the group, including all the best known members, sacrificed themselves to give the illusion of complete destruction. New members tend to have their deaths faked in similar manners]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Die Kreuzritter is well aware of this trope and members try to shy away from it. It doesn't always work.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: [[spoiler:Well, they found out sorcery is likely going to unleash [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] upon the Earth. So they're going to do something about it.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: There's a reason this section is almost completely whited out.
* WhoYouGonnaCall: [[spoiler:Expect them to be any place there's something '''really''' bad happening.]]

!!!The Explorer Society
* AdventurerArchaeologist: The whole point of the Explorers.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Lots of Syrneth sites are like this, as one might expect for a setting like 7th Sea. Just as problematic, though, is that most of the ''other Secret Societies'' think the Explorers are meddling in ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow and must be "dealt with." Later in the timeline, the Explorers get understandably touchy about this as they learn just how thoroughly this trope applies to them.
* {{Precursors}}: Called the Syrneth, finding artifacts they left behind is The Explorer's Society's bread and butter. [[spoiler: The Syrneth are actually about a half dozen different sets of precursors, each with their own style and theme.]]

!!!Inquisitio Aquila, AKA The Dark Inquisition (Second Edition)
* DeceptiveLegacy: Members of this society know the truth of the Inquisition. [[spoiler: It was not founded by the Third Prophet, but existed long before he came. They hunted Horrors and protected the people of Theah from ''wicked'' sorcerers. The Prophet merely added ''all'' sorcerers to the organization's purview.]]
* DoubleAgent: Members of this society gain Favor by working to destroy the false Inquisitors from within- gathering information on upcoming Inquisitiorial raids and plots, or by deposing members of the false Inquisition (via their abdication, dismissal, or other means) and replacing these agents with members of the Dark Inquisition.
* ReleasedToElsewhere: Invoked literally. One of the ways to spend favor with the Dark Inquisition? Create a safe house which the regular Inquisition ''cannot'' find. The Heroes can hold people, objects, and themselves safely in this space without fear of being found. However, the Dark Inquisition may ask for a minor favor in return for this service if they overstay their welcome.

!!!The Invisible College
* GadgeteerGenius: A number of Invisible College members are this.
* PersecutedIntellectuals: The College has become a haven for those on the run from the Inquisition. Players who take the Doctor, Engineer, Alchemist, or Professor Backgrounds will likely look to this Society for help.
* PsychoSerum: Invisible College Alchemists can produce serums made from sorcerous blood, some of the possible side effects are...unpleasant.

!!!The Knights of the Rose and Cross
* BlueBlood: New recruits are encouraged to find and recruit "Benefactors" (Rich Nobles) into the organization. Benefactors are given deference throughout Theah for their charitable giving to the Knights, but they hold no rank within the Order and commands from them are usually ignored by the actual Knights.
* HeroismIncentive: The only reward that can be purchased in exchange for Favor in Second Edition: Money. Considering what Wealth [[EveryManHasHisPrice can be]] [[MookMaker used for]] in this edition, it's not that bad of a reward.
* ThePromise: Knights can take an advantage called ''The Vow'' which allows them to use 20 saved experience points to make an in-character vow, the GM MUST allow the vow to come to pass as worded, though there are certain restrictions.
* RightMakesMight: Why the knights do what they do.

!!!La Cosca (Second Edition)
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: A Mafia for Heroes in 7th Sea. Break legs, establish rackets, and collect on loans- all to overthrow the [[MagnificentBastard Princes of Vodacce.]]
* FriendlyNeighborhoodGangster: This is what happens when you get a collection of nobles, clergymen, bankers, and do-gooder types the Merchant Princes of Vodacce couldn't kill, but ''could'' imprison, and put them all on the same tiny island of La Bucca. A Secret Society built on every Mafia trope merged with the morals of RobinHood.
* PersonaNonGrata: The exiles of La Cosca attempted to clean up religion, politics, and financing in Vodacce. Now they are exiled to La Bucca, never to return on pain of death.
* [[RightfulKingReturns Rightful Aunts & Uncles Return]]: The ultimate goal of La Cosca's Aunts and Uncles- [[spoiler: return to Vodacce and reap vengeance on the Princes that exiled them in the first place, reducing their wealth, influence, and followers all to]] nothing.

!!!Los Vagabundos
* CaptainErsatz:
** El Vago is modeled after {{Franchise/Zorro}} and, [[WordOfGod apparently]], V of ComicBook/VForVendetta fame.
** There's a picture of him in the color section of at least one edition of the main book. The V reference becomes obvious.
* CollectiveIdentity: [[spoiler:More than one person has worn the white mask of El Vago.]]
* {{Crossover}}: With ''La Bravoure de l’Épervier'' in Montaigne in Second Edition. The Splat rules state that the members of La Bravoure receive Favor for all of the same actions, an have access to all of Los Vagabundos' Rewards at the same cost.
* LaResistance: Against the Inquisition and the Montaignes invading Castille.
* ShroudedInMyth: The mysterious El Vago himself.

!!!Močiutės Skara AKA Grandmother's Shawl (Second Edition)
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: The Shawl does not have any rewards it can give, as it devotes itself entirely to charity. However, because of their selflessness, every other secret society counts them as a friend. Members can trade Favor for ''any'' reward from ''any'' other Secret Society at a 1:1 cost. The GM does have final say over whether any such request will be granted.
* TechnicalPacifist: The Shawl does recognize violence may be inevitable, but they prefer things like sabotaging the rations of an entire army, blackmailing warmonger nobles, and kidnapping generals over outright murder when it comes to stopping a war from breaking out.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: As noble as some of the goals of the other Secret Societies may be, Grandmother's Shawl has the most basic mission in Theah: Provide for those who are hungry, hurt, or homeless, and prevent any war from breaking out.

!!!The Most Noble And Ancient Order Of The Post (Second Edition)
* {{Blackmail}}: Members may trade Favor to open letters from particular individuals and obtain compromising information.
* PonyExpressRider: Riders are expected to uphold chivalrous ideals and deliver their messages discretely.
* TreasureMap: The real reason this Society has any power, though in this case the treasure ''IS'' the map- they have the most accurate maps of secret routes through marshes, mountains and forests in the Commonwealth. Bandits, armies, and smugglers consider these charts to be invaluable.

!!!Rilasciare
* BombThrowingAnarchist: A great deal of effort is taken to show the reasons why the Free Thinkers are anti-authoritarian. That said, their lack of cohesiveness and tendency to be generically anti-authority is also recounted in great detail. And all the explosives skills are in their splat book (two of three new skills listed are "Arson" and "Bomb-Making.").
* LaResistance: Against any form of authority, primarily the Montaigne.
* TorchesAndPitchforks: Agents of Rilasciare can spend Influence to summon mobs of angry peasants. The peasants will follow one command given to them ("Torch the church" or "Attack the garrison") but once the order is followed, the mob [[RapePillageAndBurn will go about its own business.]]
* WeAREStrugglingTogether: Rilasciare barely has any connection between the different groups, so organizing anything becomes difficult.

!!!The Riroco (Second Edition)
* BerserkButton: The surefire way to piss off the Riroco: own a slave. Any slaver fortunate to be taken alive is branded with an X across their cheek.
* [[GhostPirate Ghost Crew]]: The Riroco's numbers are too few to wage an open war against the ATC. They've summoned the ghosts of their ancestors en masse to help crew their ships and take the fight to the company.
* HunterOfMonsters: The Rahuri award Heroes with favor for killing large sea creatures that threaten their villages. Then there's the influence they award for attacking the[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Atabean Trading Company]].
* LaResistance: Heroes can gain favor by attacking any ATC operations they find, disrupting ATC trade, or bringing proof of the company's atrocities back to Theah. In exchange, the heroes may be given an audience with a Rahuri ''cacique'' or even journey to the Isle of the Dead to enlist the aid of an ancestor.

!!!Sophia's Daughters
* GutFeeling: [[spoiler:Scrying sorcerers can tell if a person is a hero or villain automatically; it's a pretty bad GameBreaker.]]
* MagicMirror: [[spoiler:Female scrying sorcerers can look into any reflective pool of fresh water and see other places, more powerful ones can see into the past and future as well.]]
* WithFriendsLikeThese: As of Second Edition, Sophia's Daughters has developed an ideological divide. The two sides still work together, but they are moving toward a splitting up of the Daughters...
** [[ActionGirl Desideratta of La Passione]] believes that Vodacce's women must be prepared to take their rights by force. Those aligned with her can spend Favor to summon a squad of masked courtesans, much like Rilasciare's mobs. ''Unlike'' Rilasciare's mobs, these courtesans [[EliteMooks will follow multiple commands and have special abilities.]]
** [[MamaBear Teofila di Tamamello of the Vaticine Church]] believes in reforming Vodacce from within by educating any woman they can and teaching the next generation of Vodacce noblemen to respect the nation's women more. Members can trade Favor to summon a single, powerful Agent with specializations in any sort of combat you need. The more Favor you spend, [[UpToEleven the more powerful this Agent will be.]]

!!![[spoiler: Novus Ordum Mundi]] There's nothing here to see, just move along...
* TheIlluminati.
** [[spoiler: NOM is the product of an {{ancient conspiracy}} concocted by the servants of some Senators who thought it'd be a cool idea to make a pact with some demons in exchange for horrible magic powers. The servants were understandably annoyed by this, and so they made a deal with each other (after killing their errant masters) that they would do everything they could to keep Théah on a tight leash and make sure the world leaders don't screw it up, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSpOjj4YD8c and that's why the setting doesn't have fuel-efficient vehicles.]] NOM, combined with the fact that Théah used to be overrun by insectoid/lizardlike people, adds a strange tinfoil hat flavor to this swashbuckling RPG.]]
** [[spoiler: Of course, ruling all of the nations in secret is not enough for these people. They have their fingers in several other pies, such as Sophia's Daughters and The Invisible College.]]
*** [[spoiler: As a matter of fact, they just pretty much ''ate'' the whole pie as far as The Invisible College is concerned. Alvara is their de facto leader, and everyone looks up to him and just eats out of the palm of his hand, but little do they know that he's using their well-meaning organization to further his own goals.]]
*** [[spoiler: Oh, and it gets better! He is not only bending The Invisible College to his will, but he has made himself the leader, more or less, of NOM, which is supposed to be leaderless. Not bad for a scholarly old Castillan gentleman (who once roasted an inquisitor alive in its own armor).]]
* WalkingSpoiler: At least the other Walking Spoiler factions are known to exist. The above organization is supposed to be secret to the ''players.''

----

[[folder:Nations of Aztlan]]
!!!The Kuraq Empire ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Empire The Inca Empire]]; Second Edition)
* AnimateDead: The Kuraq Empire stabilized itself after centuries of civil war by calling the spirits of their ancestors into living Mediums. These wise ancestors now rule the Empire with their Empress, stabilizing their society at the cost of their citizens' freedom.
* DivineConflict: The gods of Kuraq abused their power by advocating civil war. Now that Suway, god of the Dead, has helped stabilize the Empire he now heads "the god hunt" on Terra. Agents of the Empress pursue the few living gods left within the Empire, hunting them to extinction and leaving Suway as the last. Only the rebel factions within the nation offer any shelter and worship to these deities.
* TheNecrocracy: The entire ruling class of the Empire, from the Empress through all of her ministers, are made up of undead spirits [[GrandTheftMe inhabiting]] living mediums. Their devotion to and worship of death has led to the God Hunt- they actively hunt all the former gods in the hope of leaving Suway, god of the Dead, as the sole member of their pantheon.

!!!The Nahuacan Alliance ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Empire The Triple Alliance]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nahuaca.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:228:The only thing more dangerous than a Nahuacan soldier? [[CrusadingLawyer A Nahuacan lawyer]].]]
* CrusadingLawyer: One of the defining traits of the Nahuacan Alliance is its legal system- something not seen in Theah, where the Divine Right of Kings and the Aristocracy live by ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem every day. The Nahuacans have founded several schools of law in Castille to introduce the practice of written law and precedent to Theans. The idea that their landlord or Bishop isn't an all-powerful tyrant with absolute dominion over their daily life is now seeping into the heads of the average Thean. Three guesses [[TorchesAndPitchforks where this is heading]] [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized and the first two don't count.]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: Apocoatl, the Feathered Serpent God of the West, is well known among the people of Nahuaca to be the most playful and loving of their four gods. When a Cortez-expy arrived in one of their cities, claimed to be Apocoatl, and demanded the submission of all the Nahuaca before him and his soldiers, a child helpfully pointed out that the feathered serpent was just down the street at the ball court. Apocoatl thought it was an ActuallyPrettyFunny prank until the would-be conqueror tried it again in a different city. Then the Feathered Serpent burned the Conqueror alive.
* HumanSacrifice: It is undisputed that the people of the Alliance practiced this during the conflicts of the previous age. After a great calamity, the four gods of the Nahuaca gathered the few survivors of an ancient empire and shielded them from the elements. In order to fuel their gods, some of the survivors were sacrificed so that everyone else might live by their power. The practice continued long after it was necessary, when four powerful city states were built from the ruins and warred with each other- until one day, one of the soldiers openly [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defied the gods to their faces,]] cursed at them for going along with the senseless war, and broke his weapons at their feet on the battlefield. The gods, tired of accepting human sacrifices again and again in a SoOkayItsAverage way, found the sacrificed weapons gave them more power than any of the human sacrifices they'd accepted since the war began. The loud-mouthed rebel was made the First Speaker of the Alliance by them and the Nahuacans no longer sacrifice humans to their gods.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Not only have the Nahuacans stopped sacrificing humans to their gods, but they no longer wish to discuss it in polite company. They do not deny it happened, but they wish to move on from what they view as a shameful practice.
* VolleyingInsults: Any battle involving Nahuacans traditionally begins with a long, drawn out Yo' Momma fight before the actual blood is drawn.

!!!Tzak K'an (The Mayan Civilization; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tzak.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:225:This is what happens when you mix WarIsGlorious with FootballHooligans.]]
* AmbiguousGender: Tzak K'an's culture has male and female gender roles, but nonbinary and third gender individuals are commonplace as well.
* ApocalypseCult: The Tzak K'an civilization is centered on cyclical catastrophes. The city state priests are predicting a new Apocalypse on the horizon, though they argue about the form it will take- war, disease, famine, etc.
* ArmorIsUseless: Bordering on FanserviceCostumes in the artwork (female Warriors from Tzak K'an are depicted wearing leather bikinis while the men are wearing leather speedos that show off six packs). Somewhat justified by the fact that wars in Tzak K'an are held in unbearably humid jungles. War is almost a sport, where killing brings dishonor and taking a captive is the goal of battle. Wearing little armor can lead to a [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Better to Die Than Be Captured]] outcome in battle while also dishonoring one's opponent.
* BalkanizeMe: While Tzak K'an was always a collection of city-states within the jungle, they have never been more fractured than they are now. Individual cities make and break alliances with neighbors on a daily basis while others have invited Thean explorers to settle on their shores for financial and military gain.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Wars in Tzak K'an require the taking of prisoners rather than any outright killing. Captors are awarded praise and blessings. The captive... humiliation, torture, slavery, and other unspoken horrors are inflicted on them for the remainder of their lives.
* TheTheocracy: While the city-states each have a royal family, [[TheHighPriest the priests and starwatchers]] hold just as much temporal power over the common folk as their counterparts.
* WhenThePlanetsAlign: Major events in Tzak K'an depend on the movement of the planets and stars before they can be acted upon. For example, no wars may happen unless the great star Chak'Ek (a planet akin to Venus) is in its proper position of the night sky.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nations of Ifri]]
!!!Aksum ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Empire Ethiopian Empire]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:199:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aksum.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:199: "Give me a lever big enough, and I will move the world."]]
* AltarDiplomacy: Princess Mehret has been formally engaged to the Prince of Manden in an effort to end the war. Unfortunately for the Kingdom, [[LipstickLesbian she has other tastes in a partner.]]
* ApocalypseCult: Aside from the current war with Manden, Aksum is threatened by hidden cults devoted to the Eldritch Abonsam spirits.
* FormulaicMagic: Aksumite Magic is inherited from the teachings of the Jok deities. The "Chroniclers" use math analysis of all potential outcomes of a situation as a kind of "call and response" to the universe itself. The math itself isn't magical (every child in Aksum plays games that place an emphasis on math) but the meditation training the Chroniclers receive is.
* SkippingSchool: A frequent problem within the Kingdom. While Aksumite culture places special emphasis on math and learning with state-sanctioned public schools, the lower classes cannot afford to send their children to receive anything more than basic education. Only four Zxafi (peasants) have ever graduated from the royal universities.
* StandardRoyalCourt: Most of the intrigue and adventure within the nation comes from the courtly interactions within Aksum- half a page in the splatbook is devoted to ''dinner manners''. The nation is on the decline, its economy collapsing while the war with Manden consumes more and more resources, and the nation's peace plan fell apart when the agreed upon marriage alliance between Manden and Aksum never materialized.

!!!Kingdom of Khemet (Late Period Ancient Egypt; Second Edition)
* TheNightThatNeverEnds: After Queen Kyber isolated the rightful Prince of Khemet- child of a weeklong tryst between the Queen and an unknown deity- the entire land of Khemet fell into eternal night.

!!!Maghreb ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Coast The Barbary Coast]]; Second Edition)
* GhibliHills: While much of Maghreb is given over to deserts, the peace and stability found within its borders is rivaled only by Manden Kurufaba's.
* [[TheHighQueen The Blue Queen]]: While most of Maghreb is ruled at a local level, all its people look to the Blue Queen as their true ruler. The Queen, Tasa Noumidia, has retreated into the deserts to investigate prophetic voices speaking about an invasion from Mbey.
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: The plains of Maghreb have no formal, centralized government. Village mayors will pool their resources with their neighbors in times of need. That being said, the [[PirateGirl Pirate Queen]] Mar Veraci rules the bustling trade coast with her privateers and answers only to the Blue Queen.

!!!Manden Kurufaba (The Malian/Songhai Empires; Second Edition)
* AmazonBrigade: The Alagbato Iya, the royal guards of the Manden Mansa. The guard is made up entirely of female soldiers.
* TheFederation: After overthrowing the King Sumanguru, the four great cities under his rule banded together to create an experiment in diplomacy. No nation is strong enough to conquer the others, but if they remain united they are unassailable. The Manden Mansa reigns as a hereditary executive, but only at the pleasure of the individual cities.
* [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Great Big Library of Doom]]: The mad Library of al-Ghaba is what happens when you combine a university library with a classic adventuring dungeon. Some books eat human flesh, the book wyrms are summoned by loud noises, and even the smallest candle flame can take the form of a djinn. Failure to return a book on time creates a hole in the library's spiritual wards, allowing bookwraiths to escape and run amok in the city.
* [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry Refugees Out of Our Country]]: Most of the everyday tension within Kurufaba's borders comes from the fact that it is in such good shape, refugees are flooding into its borders for safe haven. The common folk are beginning to chafe at this and are asking for the militant city of Igodomigodo to send its soldiers to the border to stem the flood of people.
* [[VacationEpisode Vacation Adventure]]: While the Manden has its share of problems, the Lands of Gold and Fire sourcebook specifically points it out as a place where most "action" comes from daily intrigue and diplomacy, where Heroes can go to rest and recuperate.

!!!Mbey ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo]]; Second Edition)
* TheBermudaTriangle: When the Bour Ba fell to madness and unleashed the abonsam, the entire province of Nder did a magical... ''something'' that caused it to descend into a cloud of fog. Anyone trying to reach Nder simply finds themselves back where they began their journey- as though they made a looping journey.
* CivilWar: The land of Mbey fell into its current dystopian state through civil war and outside interference. The Atabean Trading Company fostered a rebellion between the provinces and the monarch (Bour Ba), selling guns to both sides and buying prisoners of war as chattel slaves. The company even managed to take the Sika'Dwa stool- the divine symbol of the Bour Ba's power. Then they captured and enslaved the Bour Ba's sons, selling them into bondage across the sea... but now the Bour Ba is turning to dark spirits to restore his power, and he is buying more and more guns and steel from the Atabeans. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Three guesses what he's planning...]]
* DarkestAfrica: The only one of Ifri's nations that seem to lend any credence to this trope. Mbey is a land of dense rainforests and magical mystery. A handful of Atabean forts have been established on the coast to facilitate their slave trade.
* EldritchAbomination: The ''abonsam'' spirits unleashed by Bour Ba Ighodalo have been bound by exorcists for millenia. While they give him the power to tip the scales against the Atabeans, they are creatures that simply should not be- moving from flesh to memory in a moment's notice.
* ReluctantPsycho: Bour Ba Ighodalo is a broken man, completely aware that the decision to unleash the ''abonsam'' spirits and to sell more slaves to the Atabeans are horrifying actions- but he knows of no other way to attain enough power to drive the Atabeans out.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Pirate Nations]]
!!!Aragosta ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Pirates The Republic of Pirates]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:269:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thepiratenations.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:269:Drink up me hearties, yo ho!]]
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The military of Aragosta is almost entirely voluntary. What they lack in discipline and numbers, they make up for in bloodthirsty battle tactics.
* BlackSpot: Literally tattooed on those captains who refuse to bend to the will of the Pirate King or sell out the Republic to the ATC.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Whenever a crew of Heroes makes port in Aragosta, this trope should always be in the back of their minds. Two great betrayals emblematic of this problem- Captain Reis, who sold the collective souls of the Republic's founders to the Devil Jonah, and Stephen Fevrier who betrayed them all to the ATC and became the company's chief pirate hunter. Most pirates that could join the Republic are now bribed by the ATC into becoming "Independent Contractors," a steady job that actually pays well with plenty of freedom to roam. The Republic struggles to stem these betrayals at all times.
* MagicallyBindingContract: Aragostan sorcery involves signing a magical charter with the entire crew of the ship. So long as the terms of the charter are kept, signatories are able to draw bonus dice to use on any roll. Anyone who breaks the charter will receive one curse ''for each other signer.''
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Pirate Queen Bonaventura. The head of the Republic, she has kept the island from being conquered by the ATC but can't seem to get much support to build the island into anything more than a fortress against the Company.

!!!Atabean Trading Company ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company The British East India Company]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:154:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theatc.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:154:[[LawfulEvil Nothing personal.]] [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil It's]] [[WarForFunAndProfit just good business]].]]
* AgentProvocateur: All instability within Ifri (except Khemet) can be traced, directly or indirectly, back to the ATC. The first domino to fall in the continent's troubles was when the Atabean Trading Company incited a rebellion against the Bour Ba of Mbey through his outlying city states. They've flooded the continent with guns and steel to fuel the wars, buying up the prisoners of war as slaves for their colonies and establishing forts on the coast to protect their operations. After seventeen years of this trade, they are only now realizing that [[OhCrap they may have sold too many guns to the Mbey.]]
* [[AnAdventurerIsYou A Postal Worker is You]]: So much of the ATC is wrapped up in the inhumanity of the slave trade that there are only three character options for playing someone directly associated with the company- a "Seahorse" postal worker, a deserter, and an escaped Atabean Slave.
* CitadelCity: Fort Freedom is the only true Thean city in the Atabean and is the Company's main base of operations now that Jaragua is independent. It's guarded by "Fort Snowflake," a cutting edge [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastion_fort Star-Fort]] designed by one of the premier military architects from mainland Theah. It has multiple powder magazines, overlapping fields of fire, brig, and a fully staffed garrison of soldiers. The fortress is considered unassailable by anything but an overwhelming conventional military invasion- something that no Thean nation possesses in the Atabean.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The heads of the ATC wear this trope as a badge of honor.
** President George Rourke comes off as a PresidentEvil, believing in the most harsh form of SocialDarwinism Theah has ever known. [[FrenchJerk Even L'Empereur]] thinks this guy is a huge jackass and wants his head on a pike.
** Chief Procurement Officer Flemming Rudd comes off as a SinisterMinister. A devout Vaticine, he believes wholeheartedly that the brutality of the slave trade is necessary in order to "civilize" the Rahuri and the Ifri peoples, while bringing the light of the Church to them and "save" their souls in the afterlife. The Church is ''horrified'' by this philosophy.
** Laerke Ulriksdottir, their head of security, is a raging BloodKnight who gathered a band of like-minded Vesten mercenaries and signed on with the company in order to follow the Vesten tradition of RapePillageAndBurn in a new world.
** [[HonestCorporateExecutive Annie Goldenflower]] is the Company's half-Rahuri Chief Financial Officer. She is secretly working to [[InternalReformist enact a hostile takeover]] of the organization and purge it of the slave importation in the Atabean and war profiteering in Ifri. She's had no opportunity to follow through on this plan yet.
* DidntSeeThatComing: The Company happily spent years trading guns and steel for slaves in the Ifrian uprising it engineered, using their profits to establish larger compounds and forts to continue the trade. They've traded so many weapons to the Mbey that they are now in real danger of being massacred wholesale by Mbey's soldiers- to say nothing about the EldritchAbomination the Bour Ba has summoned to aid his armies.
* EveryManHasHisPrice: The Company's newest tactic in curing their pirate problem- hire on any rogue vessels as "independent contractors" to haul cargo for them. A steady paycheck, sign on bonuses, and unrestricted freedom of the seas? It's proving to be worryingly effective against the Republic.
* GodWasMyCopilot: [[spoiler: Postmaster General Mesquite, a minor Aztlan god in disguise, also sits on the board as head of the Seahorses.]] No one knows what exactly they want, only that they're very good at the job.
* NGOSuperpower: The Atabean Trading Company is run by people from all nations of Theah, though the board is primarily made up of Vesten and Avalonian executives. It possesses the fleet, finances, and forces to conquer the Atabean Sea and dominate the tiny Thean colonies around it. Only the Republic of Aragosta, the Rahuri tribes, and the young nation of Jaragua stand in its way.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Company's ''Seahorse Division'' (Postal Service) is the only branch of the company untouched by the violence of the slave trade, but it allows the Company to pick and choose what information from the Atabean Sea makes it back to Theah, thus hiding the full extent of their abuses of the Ifri and Rahuri from any nation that might be in a position to stop them.

!!!La Bucca ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azores The Azores]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:219:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/labucca.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:219:Let's talk money.]]
* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Free Market of La Bucca is famous for the free exchange of items from all across Terra. Whether you need something mundane or magical, goods or services, chances are you can find it for a price on the island's market.
* CityOfSpies: One major draw for visitors to La Bucca. Spies from all over Theah can trade in information from sailors, merchants, and other spies and pass it on to their courts at home.
* NotSoSafeHarbor: The island is patrolled by an enormous sea monster controlled by Syrneth artifacts. The creature is the primary reason the island hasn't been conquered by any major Thean nation yet.
* OrphanageOfLove: Run by the mysterious ''Mother of La Bucca,'' a Porte sorceress who can only use her Porte sorcery to travel to those in need and bring them back to the island. She uses the orphans she raises as spies to support the Chapters of the island.
* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: La Bucca was originally established as the most remote prison in all of Theah. Montaigne and Castille exiled their most subversive political prisoners to waste away and die on the island. After the overthrow, they've established a multinational capitalist democracy- though the aesthetics of ramshackle homes and suspension bridges lead one to believe it's nothing more than a WretecheHive of anarchy and greed.
* WarForFunAndProfit: The ships of La Bucca happily take Letters of Marque from any country in Theah and act as proxy warriors in battles between nations. They get to keep most of the loot, and the nations of Theah get to bloody their enemies while maintaining plausible deniability.
* WeSellEverything: Any ship sailing to Theah can sell almost any sort of cargo in its markets for a modest fee, all outside the watchful eyes of the Vendel League. It's become a major bone of contention between the League and La Bucca.
* WretchedHive: An island that was originally populated by the most violent of Castille's prisoners and the most volatile and subversive political prisoners from across all of Thea. [[spoiler: Newcomers are regularly shocked to find out the island is actually a thriving capitalist democracy.]]

!!!Jaragua ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution Post-Revolution Haiti]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jaragua_5.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:180:Live free or die!]]
* {{Ambadassador}}: Many Jaraguan Heroes. The ATC has successfully hidden the truth about the slave uprising and the brutality they inflicted on the Ifrians from the rest of Thea. As a result, Jaraguan travelers are often sent abroad to establish diplomatic ties with any Thean nation that will listen to their stories.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Jaragua was a planter's nightmare when Theans began to colonize it, with the plantations unable to keep full staffs of free workers on to process crops in humid and dangerous conditions. The Company was able to bring the island to peak profitability by importing massive numbers of slaves from Ifri, working them to death in hellish conditions and buying more from Mbey to replace the dead.
* GondorCallsForAid: One of the main missions of Jaraguan heroes- bring back weapons, allies, and other heroes to help the fledgling nation fight off the coming ATC attack.
* MacheteMayhem: Pirates fight with cutlasses. Theans fight with rapiers. Jaraguans use machetes.
* SlaveLiberation: After 17 years of mass importation of Ifrian slaves and subjugation of Rahuri natives, the two sides united to overthrow the ATC overseers. The 8 year struggle recently ended with the expulsion of the Company from the island.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: After the success of the Revolution, the Ifrians and the Rahuri tribes could not come to a consensus about their nation and split the island in two. The Rahuri have allowed Castillians to settle on their shores and even use slave labor once again- a fact that irks the Jaraguan Oligarchy more and more each day. The ATC is still strictly banned from doing business with the Rahuri half of the island.
* WeirdCurrency: When the revolution drove the Atabeans off the island, the company was able to remove most of the Guilders they'd stored on the island. Jaragua trades these guilders with smugglers and merchants. Internally its people trade with seashells bearing an official Vendel seal.

!!!Numa ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Hellenic_Republic Greece]]; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:169:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/numanari_3.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:169:[[AncientGreece We were great once.]] Time to be great again.]]
* TheFederation: What happens when the many Poleis become threatened by either Vodacce or The Crescent Empire. When they aren't threatened by an outside power, it becomes WeAreStrugglingTogether
* LadyLand: A former city-state, Agrotera, that was destroyed long ago. Its' people, the Amazons, now live as TheHorde while wandering the Numanari isles. They keep any female children born to them and give any male children into the care of the boy's father.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Numanari isles only recently threw off the rule of the Crescent Empire. Rather than focusing on rebuilding they launched an attack on Sarmion, doing terrible damage to one of their former rulers' provinces while the Empress was in the midst of rebuilding after her brother's disastrous rule. The Numanari were driven off, but neither side has forgotten the damage each other did.
* TheSpartanWay: The ''Agoge'' dueling academies, but also the militaristic Poleis Lakedaimon.
* TrainingFromHell: The Numan dueling style, ''Agoge,'' is only taught in specific academies to the warrior classes. Students are kept underfed but shown where the food is stored and specifically told they can keep anything they can steal, but being caught is a punishable offense. They are also taught civics, music, and history in these academies. All before the age of 8.

!!!The Rahuri (Indigenous Caribbean Peoples; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/therahuri2_8.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:185:She was trained to hunt Kraken back when she wore ''diapers''!]]
* [[CoolOldGuy Cool Old Person]]: Rahuri Caciques (kah-seeks), the heads of the island villages. Adventurers in the Atabean will inevitably need to seek the help of the Rahuri in order to get around the numerous sea monsters. The abuses of the ATC have made the Caciques much more skeptical of Theans and their intentions.
* DestroyerDeity: The Rahuri venerate Mama Yaya the Mother Goddess for saving them, and even Theans pray to Mama Tortue, her child, the Protector of lost sailors. But they have special fear and awe for [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Tiburon, the Shark Whose Maw Consumes.]] Tiburon is the more martial guardian deity of the Rahuri, a shark so large he can swallow small fishing ships whole and sink Thean warships in a single bite. Humans consumed by him are reborn as sharks to prowl the sea and attack the enemies of the Rahuri. Tiburon has been summoned three times by the Rahuri Caciques to consume their enemies in great storms and feeding frenzies of his children. And lest you think yourself safe on land, Tiburon can [[PhysicalGod take on human form.]]
* HereThereBeDragons: The Rahuri have learned to hunt and manage the enormous sea monsters in their waters. The only reason Theans "discovered" the "new world"? The Rahuri decided to save the Theans from being ''eaten.''
* NatureHero: The Rahuri believe that as long as they continue to keep the sea's monsters in check for the gods Mama Yaya and Apocoatl, the world will naturally provide for them and they will want for nothing. The ATC slave raids and genocidal attacks have put this to the test, and many more sea monsters are beginning to appear while the Rahuri abandon their mandate and mobilize against the Company.
* ThePromisedLand: The Rahuri initially lived on the mainland of Aztlan during the great civil war. The people of the mainland targeted their tribe for extermination via human sacrifice, forcing them to flee to the islands. The Great Turtle Mama Yaya ferried the Rahuri to a land of safety in the Atabean, free from Aztlan pursuit, angering the Aztlani feathered serpent Apocoatl. To soothe the feathered god's rage, the Rahuri promised to tend his feeding grounds in the Atabean.
* SpiritAdvisor: Rahuri magic involves making a journey to the metaphysical Island of the Dead. From there, they can call upon an ancestor to assist with their journey.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nations of the Crescent Empire]]
!!!Anatol Ayh ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire]]; Second Edition)
* BattleRapping: An alternate form of dueling popular in Anatol Ayh, called "Kavita." Opponents debate/insult one another until there is a clear winner in the eyes of the court.
* LargeHamTitle: The full title of the Crescent Emperors/Empresses is as follows:
** "His/Her Majesty, the victorious and successful Mani Sultana, the ruler aided by God, whose undergarment is victory, whose glory is as high as Heaven, crown of the royal head, shadow of Theus on Terra, culmination of rulership, quintessence of the book of fortune, equinoctial line of justice, perfection of the spring-tide of majesty, sea of benevolence and humility, mine of the jewels of generosity, source of the memorials of valor, manifestation of the lights of felicity, promulgator of the standards of al-Dīn, author of righteousness on the pages of time, Sultana of the two seas, ruler of east and west, protector of the holy sanctuaries, anointed successor to the Prophet of mankind, Padishah Safiye, the Lawgiver."
* RoyalHarem: An integral part of any political stories in Anatol Ayh. The Empress has a coterie of male and female lovers, all vying for her favor. Some willing to kill to gain it...
* SilkHidingSteel: Empress Safiye, newly enthroned ruler of the Crescent Empire, lived most of her life abroad, studying in Theah. When her brother took the throne, he tried to have her killed with assassins while he and his boyfriend, the Shah of Persis, began persecuting Sorcerers. Fast forward a few months and Safiye stormed the palace with her best friend's Sarmion commandos and took the Crescent Throne. Now she's undoing all of her brother's wicked laws and reforming Crescent society over the objections of some of her courtiers.

!!!Ashur ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Syria Ottoman Syria]]; Second Edition)
* TheFundamentalist: Ashur is a melting pot of multiple religions- Dinists, Orthodox churchgoers, and others. The one thing they have in common is that they are all deeply faithful to their deities. Rather than killing each other over doctrinal differences, they view their fundamentalist neighbors as more goodly than more Secular people within the Empire.
* GoodShepherd: The Elohim, Orthodox followers of Yesu. They are pacifists, vegetarians, and nature lovers who hold trees sacred and forsake worldly possessions. Their lives are lived entirely in devotion to god and their fellow man. Even Villains in 7th Sea think twice before hurting these people.
* TheHashshashin: Called "Climbers of the Green Mountain" in Ashur. Ashur is the smallest nation within the Empire, so they trust this order of assassins to defend them from external threats.
* HolyGround: Among the people of Ashur, the city-state is viewed as particularly blessed. The Guardian of the First Garden can see all possible futures and guides the Assassins to protect them, the Tree of Elohim was planted by Yesu, the First Prophet, and always produced enough fruit to feed everyone in Ashur whenever their enemies tried to starve them.
* TheTheocracy: The three great laws of Ashur coincide with the laws of its major religions. No other laws proposed by town councils or the city's Pleroma bureaucrats may violate any of these three.
** "Murder is abhorrent. No one may kill except Assassins."
** "Respect the desires of peoples not your own."
** [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers "It is forbidden to cut down trees."]]

!!!Persis ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_dynasty Safavid Persia]]; Second Edition)
* CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: One of the rebel groups is led by the prophetess Briska Naynawi. Briska receives counsel from a powerful ally- the angel Azazel, bearing the wings of a peacock. Briska and her followers travel across Persis searching for Azazel's six angel companions and shield mankind from the devils Shah Jalil unleashed.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: The persecutions of Shah Jalil left the temples sealing ancient demons unwatched. Without the religious rituals to keep their seals, the demons have been unleashed upon his nation.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: While the people of Persis always wanted independence from the Crescent Empire, Shah Jalil's persecution of Sorcerers and religious minorities in his nation has sparked outright revolts throughout the nation. There are 4 major revolutionary armies in the country. Only one group could be described as "moderate." All the others are beginning to take RapePillageAndBurn to a whole new level.

!!!Sarmion ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria) Kingdom of Israel]]; Second Edition)
* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Almost completely averted. Just about the only modern Ashkenazi stereotype that manages to weasel into Sarmion is the famous skill of Yachidi doctors. Historically, however, Jews in the medieval Middle East and North Africa were highly regarded in the medical field.
* AnachronismStew: [[UpToEleven Possibly more so than any other nation in the setting]], due to being a deliberate combination of [[BibleTimes ancient Judea/Canaan]] (with 12 tribes, a priestly caste, and the aesthetic trappings of the bronze age Near East) and [[BadassIsraeli modern day Israel]] (by being an independent, advanced nation with its own equivalent political issues), neither of which have much business existing in a 17th century setting [[RuleOfCool besides it being awesome.]]
* BadassIsraeli: Sarmion, [[BadassBookworm despite the scholarly focus of its culture]], is noted as being home to some of the most feared, disciplined, and skilled warriors in the world, [[MagicKnight owning in no small part to their prodigious use of magic in battle]]. The Crescent Empire's most elite troops have always been Sarmion commandos (known as "Chavra"), and their feats are described as combining the famous tenacity of our history's Judean guerrilla warriors and of modern day Israel's special forces.
* MagicallyBindingContract: Chozeh uses talismans and inscriptions to invoke an ancient covenant between Eloha and His Chosen People. Both equivalents of the Jewish ''and'' Palestinian peoples receive access to it - Chozeh was given to the people of Sarmion, not any single religious group.
* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: While Sarmion does have muskets and cannons (just like everyone else) their elite warriors, the Chavra, shun them almost completely. They prefer to fight with swords, spears, slings and bows. As Sarmion embraces the everyday use of magic like few other Nations in the world, this hardly stops them from being considered some of the most feared fighters on Terra.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Probably for the best, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement and let's leave it at that.]]
* ProudScholarRace: Sarmion's medicine is perhaps the most advanced in the world, and its doctors are respected far and wide. A small enclave of the Yachidi has recently created a medical school in Eastern Eisen.
* WizardsLiveLonger: Echoing biblical accounts of people living for hundreds of years, the people of Sarmion possess lifespans far beyond those of modern day humans, much less those of the rest of the fantasy Renaissance setting. Ages of well over 100 years are perfectly common and people are implied to be able to continue functioning well into the second century of their life. [[JustifiedTrope This is justified]] by the Sarmion embracing the use of magic, including their potent Chozeh healing magic, in all aspects of everyday life, combined with their mundane knowledge of medicine already being among the most advanced in the world.

!!!Tribes of the 8th Sea ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_of_Arabia Arab Tribes]]; Second Edition)
* ClimateChange: The 8th Sea was, historically, a much wetter place (mostly marshes and savannas) that the nobles of Persis would vacation to on hunts. Something caused the land to dry and heat up. The tribes adapted to the new climate but the land has only become harsher.
* ExoticExtendedMarriage: By law and custom, adults among the tribes may enter marriages with up to three other consenting adults.
* HiredGuns: The Tribes are explorers and warriors, and more than one Crescent ruler has risen to power by paying for the tribes to go to war for them. The tribes do not demand any payment to fight if the Empire is being attacked by an outside power like Vodacce or Numa.
* MysteriousVeil: Versions of the Hijab and Niqab are presented in the artwork featuring the tribes. While some wear these as religious observation, the text points out even people who do not subscribe to al-Din religion wear them within the 8th Sea. After all, they do a good job of keeping the sand out of one's face!
* NatureSpirit: Not quite the perfect description, but as al-Din has become the dominant faith of the Crescent Empire, the djinn have fled into the 8th Sea where the Tribes still venerate and fear them.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: There is an old custom among the Tribes, where one who pitches a tent within a certain distance of another's tent is now honor-bound to be protected by the one whose tent was raised first. This custom (and others) among the tribes has seen them accepting and caring for more and more refugees from the civil war in Persis. They do so without complaint, but Sarmion's help in caring for these people has been noted by the tribal leaders.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nations of Theah]]
!!!Avalon (The British Isles)
* AllYourPowersCombined: Glamour magic, the Avalonian sorcerous lineage, allows the sorcerer to channel the mythical powers and abilities of various Avalonian heroes of the past. The legends a particular glamour sorcerer has access to are set at character creation and the powers available vary wildly.
* TheFairFolk: The sidhe consider Avalon their home, and use their reality-warping powers for their own inscrutable purposes. Avalonians usually give them a wide berth, but those who know how to deal with them can gain quite a lot of power, such as glamour magic.
* TheHighQueen: Queen Elaine rules Avalon with the assent of Jack O'Bannon, the consent of the Highland Marches clans, and the power of the Sidhe Graal. By all accounts she's well liked by most people in all three nations, though each nation has its grievances whether they resent giving up sovereignty to her, do not appreciate the Sidhe warping their lands, or are unhappy with Elaine's unwillingness to marry. There may be a reason [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer for that]] [[BiTheWay last one.]]
* TheLostWoods: Though it borders on being a GreenHillZone the Highland Marches are the most impoverished lands within Avalon. The wilderness isn't fit for farming and the lack of war with outside aggressors means the warrior clans aren't occupied with defending the Queen and Country.
* ManInAKilt: If the artwork in the books is to be believed, EVERYONE from the Highland Marches dresses this way.
* MookHorrorShow: The Castillian Armada attempted to make landfall on Inish soil before invading Avalon itself. They found one man waiting for them: Jack O'Bannon. They left over six-hundred corpses on the beach when the Armada decided to call it quits.
* {{Oireland}}: Called Inismore, it's actually better off than UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}} was at that period of history. They even have their own recognized king, [[CloudCuckoolander Jack]] [[AxCrazy O'Bannon]].
* {{Polyamory}}: As of Second Edition, Queen Elaine is... ''involved'' with her Sidhe bodyguard Lugh and the [[ConflictingLoyalty separatist]] Highland Noble Colleen Macleod. At the same time. With the consent of both (''and'' Colleen's husband). The blackmail associated with this scandalous arrangement is threatening to tear the court apart and is worthy of an Adventure in its own right.
* [[ViolentGlaswegian Violent Highland Marcher]]: The Highlanders are constantly looking for fights to engage in- historically with themselves or recently with Avalon's enemies. Now that the nation is at peace and unified, two factions have formed in Highland society. Some are seeking adventure on the high seas to bring back treasure and glory. Others see they are working twice as hard and still impoverished and are preparing to declare independence from Queen Elaine- against the wishes of their own King.

!!!Castille (UsefulNotes/{{Spain}})
[[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castille.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:217:Castille- where you can propose Heliocentrism and be made a ''Bishop'' for it.]]
* AChildShallLeadThem: King Sandoval is only in his mid-teens, never expected to become king, and is the head of a country engulfed in war with Montaigne. That's rough, buddy.
** [[spoiler: As of Second Edition, there's not one Sandoval, but two. The role of King is actually shared by Amadeo Sandoval and his twin sister, Rocio. The birth of the twins is a carefully kept secret of the Royal Family- even the Inquisition is unaware of Rocio's existence. The two looked so much alike that they alternated who sat the throne while the other learned the truth of how the the Inquisition was running the nation by wandering the city streets. After recent political shenanigans, Amadeo has been made a "guest" of the Inquisition in Vaticine City while Rocio secretly plans his rescue.]]
* AppealToTradition: Castille is a nation built on tradition. All of its fortunes and failures owe to this. The greatest traditions are:
** Family is everything, and family begins with the mother. [[NeverMessWithGranny Castillian matriarchs]] are held in opposite standing as their [[StayInTheKitchen Vodacce neighbors.]]
** Castille was the first Vaticine nation Theah. The power of the Church is absolute, which has had its benefits [[FamilyValuesVillain and problems.]]
** Outside Castille, you are a Castillian. Within Castille, you are loyal to your ''ducado''. Internal reforms and the overthrow of the Inquisition have [[ConflictingLoyalty fallen by the wayside]] to the local lords who might otherwise help to free King Sandoval.
* BookBurning: Castillians value scientific thought and discovery, but with the rise of the Inquisition, Book Barbecues have become a more and more common occurrence.
* EquivalentExchange: Introduced in the Alchemist background in Second Edition. An Alchemist can immediately use a potion with many potential effects from healing elixirs to stat buffs, fire bombs, and others. The Hero must sacrifice a hero point to activate this power.
* HeroismIncentive: When Montaigne invaded Castille during the tail end of the War of the Cross, the crown called on the famous Tercios to take up arms to defend the nation, promising gold and land to the mercenaries. Of course, they neglected to mention they were broke from the disastrous Castillian Armada sinking off the coast of Avalon, which lead to-
** HeroismWontPayTheBills: By the time Montaigne withdrew its troops, the Tercios realized no payment was coming and quit the army, becoming wandering mercenaries and looking for work elsewhere.
* PlayingWithFire: El Fuego Adentro, the Castillian sorcerous lineage, allows control of any fire and immunity to being hurt by fire and heat of any temperature. It was wiped out by the Inquisition. [[spoiler: There's a few families still left, though.]]
** As of Second Edition, this tradition has been completely replaced with UsefulNotes/Alchemy in the system.
* SinisterMinister: Cardinal Esteban Verdugo masterminded the Castillian collapse in the War of the Cross, nearly managed to manipulate the entire Montaigne Invasion if not for the boredom of l'Empereur, and has ensured King Sandoval can do nothing without the assent of a religious council. Of course, the man does have one [[StraightGay potentially useful little secret.]]
* {{Spexico}}: For representing Spain in a world without any Americas, there sure is a lot of Mexican/Latin American influence.
** As of Second Edition, the Castillian court is hosting more and more figures from the New World. Their cultural influence on Castille's politics is slowly degrading the power of the Inquisition and justifying this trope.
* StateSec: The Inquisition has effectively taken hold of the entire nation in Second Edition, torturing educators, burning books, and running the country into the ground. They've even forced King Sandoval out of the royal compound in the capital and relocated him to Vaticine City. Though the Inquisition has agents in every nation, they only operate openly within Castille.

!!!Eisen (UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}/The remnants of the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire)
* DontGoIntoTheWoods: Unless you fancy socializing with undead, werewolves, mad scientists, or Eldritch Abominations, best to stay on the roads or in the cities.
* EmptyShell: An entire ''social class'' of them, called 'waisen' (literally: orphans). They became like this due to shell shock and trauma from the local Thirty-Years War.
* GermanicDepressives: Justified in that their once proud empire is now a fractured set of principalities, some of which barely can grow enough food to feed the people living there.
* GratuitousGerman: Gratuitous and ''wrong'' as usual. The Eisen inventor of the guillotine called it "die Toetenklinge", which translates to "the to kill blade".
* GreatOffscreenWar: Every disaster, monster, Villain and hardship in Eisen can trace its lineage back to the horrible War of the Cross. Before the war, Eisen was a bustling nation of nearly 30,000,000 souls. Thirty years after the war's end, there are roughly ten million (living) souls within the land.
* HiredGuns: After 30 years of war, the Eisen armies have decided to lend themselves out to whoever pays the most.
* IAmAHumanitarian: Eisen Sorcery in Second Edition, Hexenwerk, involves crafting and consuming Unguents made from such varied ingredients as a piece of a man's tongue, a ground up human heart, and the eyes of a dead human.
* LandOfFaerie: The forests of Eisen are usually hives of monsters and Horrors- but the Angehneme Wald is home to the immortal Perchta, a Sidhe expelled from Avalon in ancient days. She holds court within the woods as a Queen and any human who begs shelter and safety receives it- but may never leave the Wald without her express permission. Those who venture into the Angehneme find themselves bound to certain codes- namely that [[CannotTellALie dishonesty]], [[SacredHospitality poor manners]], and [[EquivalentExchange taking more than one gives]] are subject to [[GaiasVengeance consequences]].
* LandOfOneCity: Well, land of Seven cities. The rulers of the Konigreichs bear the surname of their provinces.
** '''Freiburg''': A vacation palace of the last Imperator, Nichlas Trage was given ownership of the city as a reward for his service in battle. Trage, now a cynical atheist after fighting in a decades long religious war, has made the city a laissez-faire bastion with universities open to heretical teaching.
** '''Wirsche''': Less one city and more an entire province that has completely rebuilt itself to pre-war standards. Curiously, Countess Wirsche [[VampireMonarch never seems to age]]. The people do not like to speak to outsiders, fearing a visit from Countess Wirsche's StateSec.
** '''Posen''': A city devoted to its BadassArmy and maintaining its high walls. The land itself is filled with marshes and swamps, but the port to Grumfather Bay has brought wealth through trade with Ussura. If anyone can conquer all of Eisen, it's Frau Posen. If only those pesky monsters would stop attacking her peasants.
** '''Heilgrund''': A city whose ruler is devoted to researching a FantasticNuke to destroy all of Eisen's horrors in one blow. Supported by Posen, Herr Heilgrund is seen as too idealistic by the aged rulers of Eisen- but the peasants see his vision of a unified Eisen as a breath of fresh air.
** '''Fischler''': A city given over to decline. The fishing nets are bringing in less food, the nobility flaunt Herr Fischler's rule, his Iron Guard have practically mutinied to support the best paying nobles, and Fischler's own daughter- sent away for her own safety- is in line to become Czarina but refuses to speak to her own father for betrothing her without her consent. Herr Fischler has been reduced to a man who can only [[WatchingTroyBurn impotently watch his Konigreich disintegrate.]]
** '''Sieger''': The land most given over to UrbanHellscape and GaiasLament. Herr Sieger's land was divided up by the Imperator at the end of the war and part of it given to Castille to ensure peace. Herr Sieger gave up the land- but not before he salted the fields, razed the cities, and burned the forests. Most of the countryside is a wasteland, the people have fled, and only a handful of survivors live within Sieger itself.
** '''Hainzl''': A state that is equal parts [[CityOfGold City of Silver]] and CrapsaccharineWorld. Herr Hainzl's land was spared from the War of the Cross by high mountains and stout fortresses and has all the money he will ever need from his silver mines. Unfortunately, losing his husband to Horrors drove him quite mad. He now wastes the excess money in his coffers on lavish parties and art projects rather than using it to improve the lives of his people or defend his land. Only his Iron Guard and the [[KnightErrant Dragenblut]] have kept his people safe from the Horrors this long.
* MadDoctor: The source of many of the Horrors in Eisen's mountain regions. Less ethical sorcerors and alchemists have found numerous old castles to take over and practice less ethical experiments within. Most villagers become overpowered by the monsters unleashed before they can reach for their TorchesAndPitchforks.
** Defied in Heimstatt. The Yachidi people of Sarmion heard stories of Eisen's troubles and have set up a medical enclave within the city. The Doctors produced by their university have been a boon for the entire nation and their experiments and treatments are only ever humane. Agents of the Inquisition have begun kidnapping the "heretic" Yachidi to try and drive out what they see as unbelievers. [[LadyOfWar Elsa Posen]], [[UnscrupulousHero Niklas Trage]], and [[TheUnfettered Herr Fischler]] stand ready to defend Heimstatt and the Yachidi enclave from anyone who wants to cause it any harm.
* {{Mithril}}:
** Dracheneisen, a very rare and highly coveted material only found in Eisen. Finding a mine of the stuff used to automatically grant the lucky finder a sizeable portion of land as a new principality.
** It's heavily suggested in some of the GM's sections that dracheneisen is actually [[spoiler: a form of pottery that's hardened and shined up through secret alchemical practices, and that the "mines" are actually clay beds.]] Whether this makes any logical sense, as the stuff is nigh-indestructible, is left up to the player to decide.
*** Considering its main points are way stronger then metal, way lighter then metal, and the abovementioned technology, it's pretty clearly [[spoiler: a medieval CARBON FIBRE!]]
** Further hints are dropped that the [[spoiler: "clay" is in fact ancient dragon poop]].
* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: A lot of nasty things once relegated to legends and fairy tales have started to crawl back in due to the devastation and social breakdown of the War of the Cross (i.e. there aren't many people left to stop them).
* [[{{Uberwald}} Überwald]]: The general aesthetic of stories within Eisen. The major cities are still safe places (most of the time) but outside their high walls? The countryside is full of abandoned villages, foreboding forests, and monsters within mysterious manors.
* UltimateBlacksmith: The Nibelungen, a reclusive group of smiths who are the only ones who can forge Drachenesien. Once forged, it's nearly unbreakable and super light, making a weapon made of it quite powerful. It is also the only useful armor in the game, as it can stop bullets.

!!!Montaigne ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancien_R%C3%A9gime Ancien-Regime France]])
[[quoteright:227:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/montaigne.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:227:FrenchJerk? Maybe. But she can still kick your butt with style.]]
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: And '''HOW'''.
* DesignItYourselfEquipment: Puzzle Swords.
* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: One of the accents provided in Montaigne's nation book costs extra hero points and includes the Dangerous Beauty Advantage, because it just sounds so alluring.
* [[spoiler: ForegoneConclusion]]: All the nations of Théah are loosely based on European nations at a specific point in time, with Montaigne drawing clearly from Alexandre Dumas' works. [[spoiler: That is, from stories set just before UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution...]]
* FrenchJerk: Fortunately not ''everyone'' or even a majority, but several nobles ('''especially''' L'Empereur) can be colossal pompous douches.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: As might be expected of the rest of this entry, their swordsman school revels in humiliating their opponents... to the point that they gain massive bonuses from it. Both in-story and out-of-character, people hate fighting these guys.
* HeirClubForMen: L'Empereur Leon XIV has had '''nine''' daughters so far, and no sons, [[spoiler: due to a curse his mother spat from her deathbed.]]
* TheMusketeer: Heroes who take the Musketeer background receive ranks in Aim and Weaponry. They are also notable for being the only authority figures the peasants of Montaigne do not view as ''entirely'' corrupt.
* OurWormholesAreDifferent:
** Porte sorcery, the sorcerous lineage of Montaigne, allows a user to physically tear open holes in space with their bare hands. The exit point must be close to a place or item marked by the sorcerer's blood, and allows the sorcerer to either [[{{Hammerspace}} grab the blooded object and pull it to them]], or walk through the portal to where the object is. Oh, did I mention that [[NightmareFuel portals scream in pain as they open and bleed at the edges]]?
** And, if you go by the Die Kreuzritter supplement, [[spoiler: the Walkway is actually a part of Hell, and by using Porte frivolously, the Montaigne are weakening the barrier that keeps the legion of bloodthirsty demons at bay, so that one day soon, they'll all come pouring through the gap and overrun the world.]]
** And the first thing they teach you? If you walk through the portal, ''never open your eyes''. Sometimes you hear voices calling out to you, telling you that they'll give you such wonderful things, [[SchmuckBait if only you open your eyes...]]
** As of the 2nd edition, [[spoiler: all of this seems to have been retconned, with the space behind portals instead consisting of a DreamWorld known as "The Walkway". It is extraordinarily mutable and responds to thought, meaning it's incredibly deadly [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve because hundreds of sorcerers all over Montaigne believe this to be the case.]] Someone with sufficiently powerful willpower ''can'' open their eyes and remain unharmed. In fact, ancient sorcerers have used this quality of the Walkway in order to craft personal dream paradises where they live to this very day...]]
* PraetorianGuard: The Lightning Guard, elite swordsmen who guard L'Empereur.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: L'Empereur's edicts sometimes defy all logic, especially when it comes to antagonizing the church.
* UpperClassTwit: Other countries can suffer from this trope too, but Montaigne overshadows the rest in this area.

!!!The Sarmatian Commonwealth (UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth; Second Edition)
[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarmatians.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:319:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75zmIj_4LFQ When the Winged Hussars arrive!]] ]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Sarmatian magic entails making pacts with otherworldly creatures called ''dievai.'' Each pact comes with a request from the Dievai- anything from "Buy that homeless man a hot meal" up to "Kill that priest and frame the poor widow down the road for his murder." Another contract cannot be made with the dievai until the request is fulfilled. LoopholeAbuse ("The Old Man died before I could get there.") usually sees the ''dievai'' demand an even more harsh favor be fulfilled before it will make another contract. Those who make these pacts view themselves as jailers to the creatures and do their utmost ''not'' to make the seventh and final pact - the one that will let the creature free to roam the world.
** There is one way to banish a dievai for good. Each task the dievai gives the Hero is actually a clue to [[IKnowYourTrueName its real name.]] Speaking the name will destroy the creature.
** If the Hero cannot guess the creature's name, the pacts will become more and more wicked in nature, racking up corruption points until the Hero [[FaceHeelTurn becomes a Villain.]]
* DisasterDemocracy: The actual Sejm was so deadlocked by infighting that it was feared the Crescent Empire or Ussura would invade and conquer Sarmatia after the monarch's death. In desperation to avert the coming conquest, the dying King has made all people in the country the equivalent rank of a Knight in an act called The Golden Liberty. Now, literally anyone can walk into the court off the street and propose a vote on something, and their vote counts equally against the votes of the old blood nobles.
* ElectiveMonarchy: How the Commonwealth establishes its next King or Queen. The current King's son, Stanislaw II, is trying to secure enough votes among the people to make himself the next King. Stanislaw is competing with his [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething extremely capable,]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen endearing,]] [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou and loving]] mother for the crown.
* GoodIsOldFashioned: The current cultural trend of Sarmatism. Old Nobility have begun dressing like peasants rather than like Montaigne courtiers in an attempt to become more ingratiated to the newly empowered peasants. Meanwhile the common folk now proudly carry out chivalrous acts of Sarmatism not because they must, but because they believe they ''should.''
* ThePaladin: The Sarmatian Winged Hussars. Heavy cavalry decked out in BlingOfWar while enforcing the ideals of Sarmatism on and off the battlefield.

!!!Ussura ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsardom_of_Russia Czarist Russia]])
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ussuran.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:200:In Czarist Ussura, Matyushka protects YOU!]]
* EmpathicEnvironment: The Ussurans claim "Mother Winter" protects them. It certainly ''seems'' like Ussura is on the side of its people...
* FisherKing: The Ussuran Gaius doesn't have a great deal of actual political power - but when he tells you to do something, you either do it, or Ussura itself ensures you regret not doing so.
* GuardianEntity: Matyushka, through and through, along with many other major and minor Leshiye. Foreign invaders will find themselves cold, starving, and unable to find any sufficient shelter- largely thanks to these entities.
** Second Edition introduces the deity Tura, an alternate Leshiye with domain over the skies, wind, and birds that Ussurans can follow. Both are protective deities, but their attitudes are wildly different. Matyushka, who watches over the earth and beasts, will command you to bake a cake, give you all the ingredients you want, then beat you with a spoon and lecture you when you make one wrong step. Tura will ask for a cake, give you a fully stocked kitchen with everything you need and ''don't'' need, give you no advice over how to do what he asks, then loudly grumble if you don't finish the job quick enough.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Pyeryem sorcery, the Ussuran sorcerous lineage, allows a character to talk to animals. This then allows them to bargain with the animal for its shape. If the animal agrees to give up its form, the sorcerer adds that shape to their library of forms, and may take that shape at will. More dangerous animals are harder to change into, obviously.
* SuccessionCrisis: Politics in Ussura is a bit of a mess as of Second Edition. The prior Czar has recently died under mysterious circumstances and the country is virtually paralyzed until the crisis is resolved and a new Czar or Czarina is crowned. The leading contenders for the throne are:
** [[WarriorPrince Ilya Sladivgorod Nikolovich,]] the disowned son of the Czar Gaius Iriney [[HasTwoMommies and his now dead husband Nikolai]] via a surrogate. Ilya spent his exile in the far east of Ussura earning a reputation as a true hero. He has returned to claim the crown with the support of the peasants he spent so much of his life helping. The Bogatyr nobles view Ilya as a hothead unwilling to see that Ussura is falling further behind the rest of Theah by sticking to the traditions of the peasants.
** [[TheSparkOfGenius Ketheryna Fischler Dimitritova,]] the bride [[BiTheWay Czar Gaius]] married on the night of his death. Ketheryna's vision of a modernized Ussura has brought her the support of the nobility in the country. A genius inventor and an Eisen by birth, the peasants view her as a dangerous outsider who doesn't respect the rustic Ussuran way of life.
** [[GeneralRipper General Winter]] (birth name Akim Maksimovich Lagunov) was saved from a doomed attack on Vesten raiders by a mysterious Leshiye. General Winter was given supernatural powers by the entity and now heads a small but growing army of [[AnIcePerson "Snowmen"]]. These soldiers surrendered to Akim after he blanketed their settlements in blizzards the likes of which the Ussurans have never seen. They are magically enchanted to run across water, [[EvilIsDeathlyCold withstand any cold]], and can leave no tracks in the snow. His goal is nothing short of [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering all of Theah.]] In a nation with no standing army, he is rapidly becoming a threat to all of Ussura.

!!!Vendel/Vestenmannavnjar (Denmark/Norse Viking Scandinavia/Holland mix)
[[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vesten.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:217:We come from the land of the ice and snow!]]
* BandOfBrothels: Arguably the most powerful of the Vendel guilds, the Jenny's Guild doesn't just trade in flesh. They also deal in information. Heroes who want to get the drop on a rival can easily get ahead by making their way to the local brothel and paying for post-coitus gossip from their underlings.
* BilingualBonus: The Vestenmannavnjar's name is taken from Vestmannaeyjar, a small island off the coast of Iceland. Amusingly enough, its name comes from what the Norse called captured Irish slaves, making this a bit of a BlindIdiotTranslation.
* CastFromLifespan: Vesten warriors may take the Bearsark Advantage, which whips them into a superhuman fury at the expense of aging 1 week for each round it's active.
** The new Bearsark Quirk in Second Edition grants the player a hero point if they allow the GM to decide their next action. [[KillerGameMaster As in all things, be careful when invoking this Quirk.]]
* CultureClash: Vesten finds itself in a textbook culture war between the families of traditional warriors and the newly empowered merchants of the Vendel League.
* GeometricMagic:
** Laerdom, the Vesten sorcery, has sorcerers learn up to 24 runes which are thought to be the fundamental words of creation. Each rune has a different effect when it's inscribed. More powerful sorcerers can make magic items inscribed with runes, and masters can gain permanent powers by branding themselves with a rune in a specific ritual.
** Also NamedWeapons, as weapons imbued with Laerdom must be named.
* GlobalCurrency:
** The Vendel have created the Guilder, accepted everywhere but Vodacce.
** Notably subverted and played straight at the same time, as the player's guide also contains a list of currencies native to each country as well as exchange rates based on the nations relative economic strength.
* ProudMerchantRace: The Vendel, after splitting up with the Vesten. Most of the population seems to be made of craftsmen, businessmen or {{Intrepid Merchant}}s.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Vesten tend to take this role, seeing as the middle class merchants broke off to create the Vendel League.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:After several books setting him up as the ultimate CorruptCorporateExecutive, Val Mokk, leader of the Vendel League, turns out to be one of Théah's nicest Heroes.]]
** As of Second Edition, the Vesten rely on [[TheJudge traditional authorities]] to settle all internal disputes. By and large the people are very satisfied with these authorities as they have been empowered by the League to levy fines in the name of justice- the more powerful Jarls must pay for any transgressions or risk losing their standing within the League.

!!!Vodacce ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_city-states Italian City-States]])
[[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vodacce.png]]
[[caption-width-right:217:Go ahead. [[TooDumbToLive Tell her to stay in the kitchen]].]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Basically required between the nobles, though the nation book points out that they're rarely as unfair to the women as one might think. A little judicious use of Sorte and...
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Princes of Vodacce are all cousins of some kind, which probably explains why they rarely ever come to an agreement.
* GenderRestrictedAbility:
** Sorte, the Vodacce sorcery, is only possessed by women. Girls who show the ability are kept illiterate, and are kept locked away from the public much of the time. It allows a sorceress, called a ''strega'', to see the various social connections between people, seen as physical threads connecting them. The strega can then attempt to alter these threads, strengthening or loosening them. Fate makes sure what the strega wants to happen, happens. At their most powerful, they can '''literally''' [[StrangledByTheRedString strangle with the red string]], though the thread meaning romance is blue to them.
** Vodacce men have their own (rare) permutation of Sorte, although it's easily overlooked because it's mentioned in only a few places in the nation book. It's called being "unbound" and essentially makes the guy impervious to the manipulations of the Fate Witches: His strands can't be seen, and a strega attempting to attach a thread to him will always fail and suffer a backlash. Needless to say, Fate Witches are terrified of these guys, because their one defense against the often-brutal Vodacce men is the threat of sorcery.
* {{Greed}}: The prevailing Virtue in Vodacce society, even among its Heroes. ''Selfishness'' is very much looked down upon, but money is power in Vodacce, and power can change the world.
* HeroicSeductress: It is likely that any PC Vodacce courtesan will fill this role, given their skill set. The are several NPC courtesans who fit as well, especially in the Sophia's Daughters secret society.
* HighClassCallGirl: The courtesans. They are widely considered to be the most powerful women in Vodacce simply because they can read.
* LoopholeAbuse: How the Vodacce manage to square being such violent libertines and pious individuals. For example, according to their interpretations of religious texts it's only adultery if either partner is married!
* {{Pride}}: Yessiree, and one of the leading causes of brawls, duels, and blood-feuds in Vodacce.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: But not in the way you'd think-- Playing dirty is expected in Vodacce, but they have an honor-code which no noble (particularly gentlemen and -women) will lightly disregard. Of course, Vodacce being Vodacce, adherence to the Code varies.
* SchoolOfSeduction: Vodacce women can train to be courtesans; essentially they're very expensive prostitutes who hope to find a rich noble to leech off of. However, Vodacce courtesans are also given the chance to be educated (unlike noblewoman, who are kept illiterate), and many are appreciated for their intelligence and wit as well as their beauty.
** One of the most well known schools in Second Edition is La Passione, a former church that is not owned by any of the Merchant families, but is instead owned by the Courtesan Desiderata. Here, potential courtesans are taught to fight elegantly with multiple weapons, make love with impeccable skill, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking learn how to read.]]
* ASinisterClue: In the First Edition, being left-handed is [[TheSouthpaw an advantage with a tangible combat benefit, with the conceit that everyone is used to fighting right handed opponents more.]] Vodacce characters can buy this advantage at a discount, and everyone who learns the Ambrogia Swordsman School, the main school of Vodacce swashbucklers, gets this advantage for free when using the style.

[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:What began in Theah long ago]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7th_sea_gm_cover_crop.jpg [[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Sails to new shores!]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/088d632a295d386b9c4de7be413cc6b9_original_9.jpeg [[/labelnote]]]]

* DestroyerDeity: The Rahuri venerate Mama Yaya for saving them, and even Thean sailors pray to Mama Tortue, her child, the protector of lost sailors. But they have special fear and awe in their society for [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Tiburon, the Shark Whose Maw Consumes.]] Tiburon has been summoned three times by the Rahuri to consume their enemies fleets in great storms and feeding frenzies of his children. And lest you think yourself safe on land, Tiburon can [[PhysicalGod take on human form.]]

* NatureHero: The Rahuri believe that as long as they continue to keep the sea's monsters in check for the spirit Mama Yaya, the world will naturally provide for them and they will want for nothing. The ATC slave raids and genocidal attacks have put this to the test, and many more sea monsters are beginning to appear while the Rahuri abandon their mandate and mobilize against the Company.
* ThePromisedLand: The Rahuri initially lived on the mainland of Aztlan during the great civil war. The people of the mainland targeted their tribe for extermination via human sacrifice, forcing them to flee to the islands. The Great Turtle ferried the Rahuri to a land of safety in the Atabean, free from Aztlan pursuit. In exchange for their safety and paradise, the Great Turtle asks that they hunt the rapacious sea monsters that prowl the waves.

* CitadelCity: Fort Freedom is the only true Thean city in the Atabean and is the Company's main base of operations now that Jaragua is independent. It's guarded by "Fort Snowflake," a cutting edge Star-Fort designed by one of the premier military architects from mainland Theah. It has multiple powder magazines, overlapping fields of fire, brig, and a fully staffed garrison of soldiers. The fortress is considered unassailable by anything but an overwhelming conventional military invasion- something that no Thean nation possesses in the Atabean.

* TheStoryteller: When not hunting Monsters, the Children visit are expected to share folklore and stories with children, teaching them the dangers of the Monsters that haunt Ifri and how to stay safe from them.

!!!Montaigne (France)

!!!Ussura (Russia)

!!!Vodacce (Italy)

!!!Persis (Safavid Persia; Second Edition)

!!!Sarmion (Israel; Second Edition)

!!!Jaragua (Haiti; Second Edition)

!!!Numa (Greece; Second Edition)

!!!The Rahuri (Carib Peoples; Second Edition)

!!!Aksum (Christian Ethiopia; Second Edition)

!!!Maghreb (The Barbary Coast; Second Edition)

!!!Mbey (The Kingdom of Kongo; Second Edition)

!!!The Kuraq Empire (The Incan Empire; Second Edition)

!!!The Nahuacan Alliance (The Aztec Empire; Second Edition)

[[caption-width-right:154:[[LawfulEvil Nothing personal.]] [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil It's]] [[EarForFunAndProfit just good business]].]]

[[caption-width-right:154:[[PunchClockVillain Nothing personal.]] [[SlaveGalley It's]] [[LawfulEvil just good business]].]]