All is quiet on the mesa. The fractured moon, Niktaluez,? and its sisters gently reflect the light of the punctured sun, Yilek— the cold light giving the red-orange stone beneath you an almost purple hue. You stare up at the glittering cosmos above, a beautiful, wild, cluster of distant stars seems as if to slither through the skies like a great serpent. Subtle hues of yellow, green, and purple dance within its belly— and for a brief moment, you shudder as a chill runs down your spine— it's watching you, too.Somehow, as if in a dream, you have found yourself in the world of Qet. A red-walled canyon surrounds you. Nearby, a creek babbles, as brilliantly verdant shrubs cling to life alongside it. All seems calm, even peaceful, until you hear the crazed screams of ravenous Cichetet? somewhere in the distance. You think you can hear their victims, too. Perhaps you instead have stumbled your way into the massive subterranean expanse of Tchaoxlik,? your torch has expired and your entry is lost. Frightening images begin to dance in your periphery— but fade away as you nervously dart your eyes towards them. Perhaps you stand on a great mountain before a strange square meteor, or within a vast rain forest surrounded by danger as distant music urges you towards safety. Regardless of where you now stand, whether you lie in mortal danger knowingly or not— you now find yourself in Qet. Welcome.
A full world map will replace the above later.
What is Qet?
The TTRPG
Qet is the title for both a narrative setting, and a TTRPG. The TTRPG itself ties into the themes of the setting— everything has a cost. In Qet, narrative comes first and foremost— aiming towards this by minimizing the time spent on calculations by using FUDGE dice, and in the usage of various mechanics that encourage player creativity. The game's mechanics focus on creating a sense of dread and immersion via fears, stress, and interactivity with the world. At current, the first draft of Qet's rulebook is set to be complete sometime in 2022.Where Do I Start?
Nature
The laws of nature present in Qet differ greatly from those of our own world. The world itself, and all that live within it, was formed from the body of a dead god. Most living beings were diluted from a larger part, while other, powerful beings, formed from whole parts of the dead god. The dead god's powers have been diluted unequally among them, monsters can naturally wield magical energies while humans sit just below the threshold. As everything contains some modicum of this power, they can be distilled to their rawest energies and brewed into alchemical concoctions which offer temporary boons and banes to their consumers. Stronger potions allow one to permanently alter their physiology by mutating it with that of those they have distilled. Others may find power through forbidden acts, or by making contact with eldritch beings. Either way, this power always comes with a price. The very cosmos above Qet appear to be alive— the sun has a great hole punctured through it, and the moon is shattered into various rings. Strange weather phenomena occur periodically as a result. And all this is just within one plane of existence, stranger things lurk out of sight...People
Countries & Ethnicities
Alone we are weak. No more than a trickling stream. Together, we can achieve great things, becoming a mighty river of teeth and arms.Time and time again this lesson is learned. Empires rise and fall. People disperse and coalesce. Cultures change and transform as new experiences are lived through, and foreign ideas are introduced. Qet is full of many diverse peoples, and their nations. From the faithful Gokh, who worship the stars that saved them, and their tribes— to the stoic Lliaqeu and their combined city-states of Zilopnou. The nation of Rektouzk extends its mercantile influence throughout the known world, spreading its ideas and language wherever its trade routes touch. Nations and cultures both influence one another greatly, and many flourish and wither within the world.
Stories
If there are no stories, then it did not exist.
Themes
- Everything comes at a cost. There is no progress without struggle. Power, pleasure, knowledge, strength, meaning, love— all of it has a price, be it in blood, time, will, or something stranger.
- Exploring different methods of leadership. What makes a great leader? What makes a terrible one?
- Those who seem best suited for it are often not those in power, and vice versa.
- Transhumanism. We can become something greater than human through our ingenuity. Not all are ready for this.
- Knowledge is not forbidden, however, without caution and foresight it can become dangerous. It depends on each of us to utilize it correctly. While many will suffer due to what appears to be forbidden knowledge— it is not forbidden, but simply has a cost that most cannot afford.
- Individually we are weak. Accept help. Even the most powerful humans in Qet did not collect their strength from within themselves.
- Tradition and family often hold us back. Progress often requires uprooting your beliefs.
- Every culture has something to be celebrated.
- We cannot rid ourselves of the worst without first confronting it.
Inspirations
There are many things that have inspired me throughout my work on Qet. First and foremost, before any sort of media, is our own reality. History is rich with tales often wilder than those found in media, as well as fascinating cultures, art, systems of governance, architecture, people and more. While Qet primarily takes inspiration from various historical Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztec, Maya, or Toltec, I am inspired by histories from across the world such as that of Egypt, Greece, the United States, China, and myriad others. Besides history, I am also inspired by geography and biology; many strange and beautiful things stalk our earth— some more striking than those you could imagine otherwise. Modern culture, art, and architecture inspire me sometimes, as well.Media
Most of my media inspirations are video games, as that's just what I've happened to consume the most of. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dishonored, and Destiny are especially big ones for Qet. Those worlds all fascinated me in one way or another, and each had a veritable library of written lore I tore through. In terms of pure writing, most of what I read is nonfiction, books about history or culture— so it's more difficult to pin down something there. Most of the horror I've read was in the form of short stories, by authors whose names I unfortunately don't recall. Various artists have inspired me, too, such as Zdzislaw Beksinski, Robbie Trevino, and Mason Lindroth. I think it's important to note that, unlike some of my other worlds— I did not go into Qet thinking "I want to make something like [media]." I still do not think such a thing. On rare occasion an article may be inspired in this sense, but my inspirations are mostly relegated to bits and pieces that find their way as part of something larger. As I've spent time on World Anvil I've gained new inspirations from our community, especially notable there are The Web, Araea, and Vardania.Origins
Qet came about almost by mistake. I was in the middle of a 2-year-long writer's block, and enjoying a D&D campaign that was slowly dying. Our DM began to be consistently late, to the point of flat out missing scheduled sessions with increasing frequency. A friend and I were growing equally increasingly frustrated with this, and talked about finding a new game. I considered the idea of DMing it myself but wasn't comfortable enough to do so yet, so we kept eyes out for new tables. Around this same time, I ran into someone wanting to run a complete rules-free game— effectively pure roleplay. This intrigued me, as story was always what I enjoyed most, so I agreed. Turns out I had entirely misunderstood— they did not want to DM, they were looking for a DM. In a bit of an awkward spot, and having been considering the idea myself, I agreed.
They had wanted a dark fantasy world to play in, so I dug out the only one I had— written in a long abandoned short story. I started writing out documents in Drive, what had been a somewhat generic dark fantasy world quickly became more flavorful— it had been years since I wrote the original story and much of it dissatisfied me. I was actually writing again, finally free of the block! It wasn't long until the pieces came together, but my documents became difficult to sort— which is when I stumbled upon WorldAnvil. I had not actually considered what the name for this world might be, and when World Anvil prompted me to create one— Qet was born. I only ran two sessions with that player, which were good fun, but they fell off the face of the earth shortly after— but I had finally broken the block and couldn't stop! I discovered a new passion for worldbuilding, got some of my friends interested in the setting, and I've been writing ever since!
I just wanted to say, thank you so much for writing this article. It is beautiful, clear, informative, interesting, and does an amazing job of introducing your setting. And it finally broke through my mental block that was keeping me from being able to write a world introduction that I loved. This is now also my "world intro Bible template," it is that perfect.
Necromancy is a Wholesome Science.
Oh thank you! I'm really glad to hear that it helped! Also you've reminded me again I need to update a few things here. Now I'll have to look forward to yours!