Basic Trope: A fictional setting consisting of small, distant areas of "civilization" surrounded by dangerous, sprawling, often vaguely-described wilderness.
- Straight: In the world of Tales of Troperia: Ashland, society has been shattered by a demonic invasion. Only some fortified cities or small countries remain, outside of which is a vast anarchy where demons hunt for prey among the ruins. Inter-city travel and communication are rare. The few people who travel around without being a demon, bandit or madman, are seen with a mix of admiration and suspicion.
- Exaggerated:
- The cities are so isolated that every installment which takes place in a different city is practically an entire new setting, with nothing to relate it to the previous installments except the same type of demons.
- Last Bastion: As far as anyone knows, there's only one point of light left.
- Downplayed: The story takes place in a large country where law enforcement and infrastructure are much weaker in the remote regions, but still theoretically exist.
- Justified:
- There is a device or ritual which repels demons, but it's rare/difficult and only protects a certain radius, thus limiting settlements to that radius.
- The threat is not demons, but rather mundane bandits and warlords, as this area is in the "Long Night" phase of The Cycle of Empires.
- Inverted: Wonders of Wikideia takes place in an extremely orderly and interconnected society where a few pockets of anarchy exist for whatever reason.
- Subverted: The story begins with our hero walking through the wilds while thinking about how society has fallen to the demons... then finds out that other countries beat the demons back; only his was destroyed.
- Double Subverted: But Those Were Only Their Scouts; when the demons send in their main army, they reduce the rest of the world to a similar state.
- Parodied: Although only a few cities remain, many are bizarre Quirky Towns that don't even put much effort into defense and yet inexplicably survive.
- Zig Zagged: The span and complexity of civilization varies in different installments, and not steadily rising or falling with time.
- Averted: The setting has many powerful countries and factions that rule over most or all of the map.
- Lampshaded: "It's hard to believe that this town survived when most of the world is in chaos." "Well, Humans Are Survivors, I think it had to happen somewhere."
- Invoked: The demons intentionally refrain from sacking a few areas because they feed off the fear of the remaining humans, or just enjoy seeing their struggles.
- Exploited:
- When the protagonist hears about the demonic invasion, he buys an armored vehicle and fills it with food, with hopes of getting rich as a travelling merchant if this trope occurs.
- A city leader lies to his people about the state of the rest of the world, since they have no way of checking for themselves.
- Defied: When it seems that the invasion is unstoppable, the leaders of a country organize a mass evacuation to a faraway land where they can re-establish their government.
- Discussed: "This is the only safe place for hundreds of miles... even if you somehow survived and reached the next town, we barely know what they're like anymore."
- Conversed: "They really didn't put much effort into describing the areas between the cities." "Yeah, I guess to leave space to add whatever they want there later."
- Deconstructed: The cities face mass famine due to lack of farmland and other resources.
- Reconstructed: The cities improves their situation through technological advancements, finding supply caches from the old world, or sending out heavily-guarded gathering parties.
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