Post by Bricingwolf on Jul 12, 2016 21:39:17 GMT
Fundamentally, Quest for Chevar is about telling stories about finding home while saving people, and maybe the world. It's a setting in which nothing is simple, except the need for heroes. It is a world where the Troll, the Townsfolk, and the Handsome Knight are not locked into the same old roles of Monster, Victims, Hero.
Sometimes the Troll is the hero and the Knight is the monster. Sometimes the townsfolk are the monster, and the Hero needs saving by the Troll. Sometimes there is no monster, and the only way to win is to understand that.
Ok so that is the super meta narrative explanation, but what actually is the setting?
QfC is a world in which magic is real, much of it is scientifically explicable under quantum mechanics, and gods and horrors beyond the stars are real and break even those rules.
It's also a world where Were-folk exist to protect all life in Night Battles which happen in dreams, against impossible monsters.
Where goblins are lost children who find their way to Goblin Town, a unique world hidden between worlds, accessable through and made up of the places where children are lost, where they hide. Places like graveyards and abandoned trainyards, and amusement parks, and those impossible places children find and turn into their own domains.
A world of Fey, and angelic Watchers, and trolls, and gods and everything in between. All of it hidden from the eyes of humanity.
In Quest for Chevar, there are other worlds than this, and all of them are in great peril.
Which brings us to the world of Chevar. While most games begin on Earth, ultimately the greater conflicts of the setting center on the world of Chevar, a distant blue planet, larger but less dense than earth, with gravity and life very similar to Earth's.
The life on both planets started before either planet formed, in a great galactic sea, in the early days of the Milky Way Galaxy.
In that dense hot sea the simplest forms of life were born, and as the soup of creation began to coalesce into celestial bodies, a wormhole formed, splitting the sea in half, and shunting one half to a new location millions of lightyears away. Thus grew two sister galaxies, made of the same stuff, formed in the same crucible, full of life evolved from the same foundational species.
here there be sci-fi explanations
Tied to our galaxy by quantum phenomenon beyond my ability to properly explain, by sharing a resonance, for lack of a better word, in the two galaxy's Thaumatological Fields. Our solar system, and that of Chevar, are exceptionally rare, in that their shared Thaumatological signature, the strong connection of their Fields, causes both to be lightning rods for multi-dimensional beings, concentrated nodes of Thaumatological energy, and what adventurers and scientists alike come to call "crossroads". Places where worlds correlate more strongly than normal, and it becomes possible to step from one to the other, easy as crossing a road.
For those who are more into fantasy than sci-fi, our worlds are connected by a close quantum/magical resonance, like crystals that resonate on the same frequency, and because of that it's easier to step between worlds by using Earth or Chevar as a bridge. In Some Eras, Chevar is a better Bridge, while in others Chevar is harder to get to while Earth is pretty easy.
There is also a whole sub-setting in the works that does alternate history called Crossroads]
But that's cosmology and history. What is the point of QfC?
A world worth fighting for.
For some, that's right here. Earth. It's small towns and fields ready for harvest, or the comforting stink of a beach town and the steady crash of the waves on the cool night breeze. Warts and all, its a hell of a place to call home, with innumerable reasons its worth protecting.
For others, its all the worlds. Its the fey of the Otherworld, and the Trolls of Jotunheim, and the Lost kids of Goblin Town, who will never grow up, and the Darlings that found their way back home and still try to look out for their old goblin friends, and all the varied folk of all the Nine Worlds, sleeping unaware of the horrors waiting in the dark between one world and the next.
For many, it's Chevar. Hidden for centuries, only to be rediscovered as magic waxes throughout Midgard. Sought by empires and madmen and adventurers for centuries. Rich with crossroads between worlds, and undiscovered wonders.
No matter what, the world you love is threatened by a rising threat. The shadow of death is upon the Nine Worlds. The seals and prisons of the First Gods and their demon kin are weakening, and as the crossroads open and multiply, so do the ways open for these monsters to threaten the innocent. On Earth, there are stories of Trolls driven mad and unleashed on small fishing towns, or were-wolves gone feral and haunting the night, the return of vampires to the waking world, and old ghost stories come to new, terrifying life. But just as Chevar is closer to the magic shared by Earth and it's sister world, so is it closer to that which threatens them both.
All of the worlds are under threat, and while there are battlefields in all worlds, the front line is on Chevar.
Pitch it in an over-simplified Tweet.
X-Files meets Buffyverse meets The Librarians and Indiana Jones meets Harry Dresden. Save lives, solve mysteries, steal powerful artifacts from the grasp of nazi wizards, explore hidden worlds.
Sometimes the Troll is the hero and the Knight is the monster. Sometimes the townsfolk are the monster, and the Hero needs saving by the Troll. Sometimes there is no monster, and the only way to win is to understand that.
Ok so that is the super meta narrative explanation, but what actually is the setting?
QfC is a world in which magic is real, much of it is scientifically explicable under quantum mechanics, and gods and horrors beyond the stars are real and break even those rules.
It's also a world where Were-folk exist to protect all life in Night Battles which happen in dreams, against impossible monsters.
Where goblins are lost children who find their way to Goblin Town, a unique world hidden between worlds, accessable through and made up of the places where children are lost, where they hide. Places like graveyards and abandoned trainyards, and amusement parks, and those impossible places children find and turn into their own domains.
A world of Fey, and angelic Watchers, and trolls, and gods and everything in between. All of it hidden from the eyes of humanity.
In Quest for Chevar, there are other worlds than this, and all of them are in great peril.
Which brings us to the world of Chevar. While most games begin on Earth, ultimately the greater conflicts of the setting center on the world of Chevar, a distant blue planet, larger but less dense than earth, with gravity and life very similar to Earth's.
The life on both planets started before either planet formed, in a great galactic sea, in the early days of the Milky Way Galaxy.
In that dense hot sea the simplest forms of life were born, and as the soup of creation began to coalesce into celestial bodies, a wormhole formed, splitting the sea in half, and shunting one half to a new location millions of lightyears away. Thus grew two sister galaxies, made of the same stuff, formed in the same crucible, full of life evolved from the same foundational species.
here there be sci-fi explanations
(ie, QfC assumes that life in both Galaxies are DNA based, and evolve along vaguely similar lines. Things like biological symmetry, oxygen-requirements, being mostly made of water, but also things like eyes, lungs, tentacles, wings, quadrupedal and bipedal critters, laying eggs and birthing litters, etc are all things you'll find on alien worlds that came from the same pre-galactic space ocean. which is a mildly fantastical extrapolation from real scientific theories and discoveries, like a lot of the sci-fi elements of QfC
Tied to our galaxy by quantum phenomenon beyond my ability to properly explain, by sharing a resonance, for lack of a better word, in the two galaxy's Thaumatological Fields. Our solar system, and that of Chevar, are exceptionally rare, in that their shared Thaumatological signature, the strong connection of their Fields, causes both to be lightning rods for multi-dimensional beings, concentrated nodes of Thaumatological energy, and what adventurers and scientists alike come to call "crossroads". Places where worlds correlate more strongly than normal, and it becomes possible to step from one to the other, easy as crossing a road.
For those who are more into fantasy than sci-fi, our worlds are connected by a close quantum/magical resonance, like crystals that resonate on the same frequency, and because of that it's easier to step between worlds by using Earth or Chevar as a bridge. In Some Eras, Chevar is a better Bridge, while in others Chevar is harder to get to while Earth is pretty easy.
There is also a whole sub-setting in the works that does alternate history called Crossroads]
... in which Earth is a much more powerful "node" of crossroads, taking place in an Alternate 1600's Earth where the British Empire is based in Cardiff, Wales, and is ruled by the scions of Mordred, with The Morrigan, after he won his battle with his half-brother Arthur.
In that world, The Brithonic Empire rules much of Western Europe, using a pseudo-Persian model of independent states ruled over by a "High King". Meanwhile, the Scandinavians have joined with the Finns and later the people of North Eastern "Vinland", lead by the Iroquois Federation, to form The Allthing, a relatively small but powerful world power. The central Germanic States are largely independent, but parts of the Slavic World are in contest between The Allthing and The Golden Horde Khanate, with Muscovy Princes playing a dangerous game of political cat and mouse against both sides as they hope for eventual independence, while parts of the southern Slavic world are contested between the Khans and Byzantium (Istanbul/Constantinople).
The Byzantine Empire, as it is known ever since it changed the name of it's capitol back to Byzantium to distance itself from the old Catholic Roman Empire, is the main bastion of Christianity in the world, because Western Europe largely rejected Christianity when Mordred's Britons became one of Europe's biggest powers, lead by a man whose children were demi-gods, and whose people view The Morrigan and her divine kin their patrons and protectors. Catholicism still exists, but mostly in the few independent states of Iberia, and their Mission cities in The New World. Most parts of the world have some smattering of Catholics, and most major cities have at least one church, but many places take a dim view of the Church, because they are believed to have tried to take over the world when Rome became Christian. The Byzantines are Orthodox, and Orthodox Christianity is much more welcome in most of the world.
Spain is split between Caliphate rule in the south, and Catholic rule in the north. A small part of southern France is also Catholic, and those kingdoms keep their independence mostly through trade, intermarriage, and being the border between the two greatest Empires in the western world. During the time of Catholic persecution, Iberian Roman Catholics sent ships west, lead by a woman many believed to be a profit, and didn't hear back until 200 years later. By that time, Spain had been invaded in the south, France in the north and west, and the free kingdoms and Spain and France held little hope of staying free. Then ships arrived carrying gold, silver, and foods never seen before, and suddenly the Catholic alliance of free kingdoms became wealthy enough to stand on it's own on the global stage, and established a politically neutral Assembly of Nations in Castille, where representatives of every nation and empire could meet, trade, arrange marriages, and send their best and brightest to school together. Soon, every capitol in the west, and a few in the east and the New World, had their own Assembly Academy, where the scions of rulers, merchant princes, and famous heroes, as well as the best many nations had to offer, could study together, form friendships and alliances, and hopefully keep the world from global war.
The Catholic Iberians that went to the new world, by the way, were at first attacked and nearly driven back into the sea, but their leader convinced the native people to allow them to build coastal cities to establish trade, and make amends to the local people for the illness they had inadvertently brought to their land. The local gods and spirits encouraged this compromise, with a few exceptions, and a tense peace was established. With the combined healing knowledge of the locals and the newcomers, and the greater magic compared to real history, "The Great Dying" that historically wiped out most of the indigenous American population only decimated said population. 10% death rate is much easier to recover from.
Eventually, trade healed old grudges, as they Catholics Missions became hubs of trade between people who otherwise couldn't stand one another. They grew from small coastal fortesses built from stone and cannabalised ships into impressive coastal city states. The wealth and good reputation of the Catholics grew, as did the tension between them and their new allies, and those who still opposed letting them stay, or even live. Eventually, the newcomers dreamed of the home their grandparents were told about by their grandparents, and built new ships. And now the Iberian dream of peace is in peril, as rumors of war begin to cross the Atlantic with the trade ships. The Aztecs have a new Priest-King. Some rumors say he murdered his brother, who was a king of trade and peace. What is known is that the new king favors only fire and blood, in the name of religious zealotry. The Mission folk fear that they and their neighbors may not be strong enough to stand against this new Aztec King.
And I don't even have time right now to get into Africa and The East! Mongols! East African Coastal Trade City States! Timbuktu Empire! Muslim explorers and Chinese pirates! So many things!
In that world, The Brithonic Empire rules much of Western Europe, using a pseudo-Persian model of independent states ruled over by a "High King". Meanwhile, the Scandinavians have joined with the Finns and later the people of North Eastern "Vinland", lead by the Iroquois Federation, to form The Allthing, a relatively small but powerful world power. The central Germanic States are largely independent, but parts of the Slavic World are in contest between The Allthing and The Golden Horde Khanate, with Muscovy Princes playing a dangerous game of political cat and mouse against both sides as they hope for eventual independence, while parts of the southern Slavic world are contested between the Khans and Byzantium (Istanbul/Constantinople).
The Byzantine Empire, as it is known ever since it changed the name of it's capitol back to Byzantium to distance itself from the old Catholic Roman Empire, is the main bastion of Christianity in the world, because Western Europe largely rejected Christianity when Mordred's Britons became one of Europe's biggest powers, lead by a man whose children were demi-gods, and whose people view The Morrigan and her divine kin their patrons and protectors. Catholicism still exists, but mostly in the few independent states of Iberia, and their Mission cities in The New World. Most parts of the world have some smattering of Catholics, and most major cities have at least one church, but many places take a dim view of the Church, because they are believed to have tried to take over the world when Rome became Christian. The Byzantines are Orthodox, and Orthodox Christianity is much more welcome in most of the world.
Spain is split between Caliphate rule in the south, and Catholic rule in the north. A small part of southern France is also Catholic, and those kingdoms keep their independence mostly through trade, intermarriage, and being the border between the two greatest Empires in the western world. During the time of Catholic persecution, Iberian Roman Catholics sent ships west, lead by a woman many believed to be a profit, and didn't hear back until 200 years later. By that time, Spain had been invaded in the south, France in the north and west, and the free kingdoms and Spain and France held little hope of staying free. Then ships arrived carrying gold, silver, and foods never seen before, and suddenly the Catholic alliance of free kingdoms became wealthy enough to stand on it's own on the global stage, and established a politically neutral Assembly of Nations in Castille, where representatives of every nation and empire could meet, trade, arrange marriages, and send their best and brightest to school together. Soon, every capitol in the west, and a few in the east and the New World, had their own Assembly Academy, where the scions of rulers, merchant princes, and famous heroes, as well as the best many nations had to offer, could study together, form friendships and alliances, and hopefully keep the world from global war.
The Catholic Iberians that went to the new world, by the way, were at first attacked and nearly driven back into the sea, but their leader convinced the native people to allow them to build coastal cities to establish trade, and make amends to the local people for the illness they had inadvertently brought to their land. The local gods and spirits encouraged this compromise, with a few exceptions, and a tense peace was established. With the combined healing knowledge of the locals and the newcomers, and the greater magic compared to real history, "The Great Dying" that historically wiped out most of the indigenous American population only decimated said population. 10% death rate is much easier to recover from.
Eventually, trade healed old grudges, as they Catholics Missions became hubs of trade between people who otherwise couldn't stand one another. They grew from small coastal fortesses built from stone and cannabalised ships into impressive coastal city states. The wealth and good reputation of the Catholics grew, as did the tension between them and their new allies, and those who still opposed letting them stay, or even live. Eventually, the newcomers dreamed of the home their grandparents were told about by their grandparents, and built new ships. And now the Iberian dream of peace is in peril, as rumors of war begin to cross the Atlantic with the trade ships. The Aztecs have a new Priest-King. Some rumors say he murdered his brother, who was a king of trade and peace. What is known is that the new king favors only fire and blood, in the name of religious zealotry. The Mission folk fear that they and their neighbors may not be strong enough to stand against this new Aztec King.
And I don't even have time right now to get into Africa and The East! Mongols! East African Coastal Trade City States! Timbuktu Empire! Muslim explorers and Chinese pirates! So many things!
But that's cosmology and history. What is the point of QfC?
A world worth fighting for.
For some, that's right here. Earth. It's small towns and fields ready for harvest, or the comforting stink of a beach town and the steady crash of the waves on the cool night breeze. Warts and all, its a hell of a place to call home, with innumerable reasons its worth protecting.
For others, its all the worlds. Its the fey of the Otherworld, and the Trolls of Jotunheim, and the Lost kids of Goblin Town, who will never grow up, and the Darlings that found their way back home and still try to look out for their old goblin friends, and all the varied folk of all the Nine Worlds, sleeping unaware of the horrors waiting in the dark between one world and the next.
For many, it's Chevar. Hidden for centuries, only to be rediscovered as magic waxes throughout Midgard. Sought by empires and madmen and adventurers for centuries. Rich with crossroads between worlds, and undiscovered wonders.
No matter what, the world you love is threatened by a rising threat. The shadow of death is upon the Nine Worlds. The seals and prisons of the First Gods and their demon kin are weakening, and as the crossroads open and multiply, so do the ways open for these monsters to threaten the innocent. On Earth, there are stories of Trolls driven mad and unleashed on small fishing towns, or were-wolves gone feral and haunting the night, the return of vampires to the waking world, and old ghost stories come to new, terrifying life. But just as Chevar is closer to the magic shared by Earth and it's sister world, so is it closer to that which threatens them both.
All of the worlds are under threat, and while there are battlefields in all worlds, the front line is on Chevar.
Pitch it in an over-simplified Tweet.
X-Files meets Buffyverse meets The Librarians and Indiana Jones meets Harry Dresden. Save lives, solve mysteries, steal powerful artifacts from the grasp of nazi wizards, explore hidden worlds.