A Godly Blight
The catastrophe itself was caused by the eruption of a great boil that festered upon the flesh of the god
Qetlon— whose expired body makes up the whole of Qet. The boil itself was as large as an entire continent, and resided in the center of what is now known as the Poulikyiz Ocean. That is, of course, until it popped.
Once it did, the various liquids and gases that had been accumulating within it for untold centuries were violently ejected; raining a rancid, corrosive liquid over the whole of the world, alongside a viscous murky green fog that crawled upon much of the planet's surface.
The rain, upon landing, would solidify, and build itself up into spires of yellow-tinted glass, drop by drop. And the fog would wrap its fat fingers around any who dared wander at too low an elevation— choking them slowly but surely to death. This continued for a period of three months, after which, the rains finally stopped, and the fog was finally lifted— like a great curtain had finally been drawn. The glass spires, however, would remain, and would deteriorate slowly over time— becoming a source of sustenance for various eldritch beings seeking to increase their own powers.
Those before us
The civilizations present upon Qet during the time of Xoqiytz were not, in fact, human.
Auroul: The Mother was yet to give birth to mankind, and so— those that populated the planet were instead parasites and other symbiotic creatures that lived within the dead god's body during their life.
Viruses, germs, cosmic lice— these beings were quite different from humanity, and the ruins they left behind reflect this. Their alien architecture only perplexing historians and explorers further.
Among those extinguished were the Lithoarians, a people made of wind. They built their cities in singular, grand towers— only one of which remains today.
Another interesting article! One day I'll have enough time to read everything you've ever written for that world, one day... but in the meantime, I really like that despite being the correct theory, most people do not believe that there was a great catastrophe.
Thank you! There's no pressure to read everything, there are SEVERAL worlds I wish to do that with as well, just takes a lot of time! Glad you like the detail on those who are correct not being believed— it's how discoveries can often go, after all.