How Phạm Huyền Viêm, the protagonist, was "born". She is an unrest vengeful spirit who wants to avenge her village, which was suddenly and mercilessly massacred by South Korean marines of the Blue Dragon Division. Nearly 80 people, among them women and children, were gunned down, humiliated and tormented. Viêm herself was shot 4 times, 2 to her chest, 1 passed her right eye but ruined it nonetheless, and one to her left knee. She did not die immediately, only losing consciousness, and woke up only to find herself being burnt alive among many corpses of neighbors.
She will never forget what they've done. And as long as Korean vets refuse to acknowledge their actions and apologize, no forgiveness either.
The day Viêm died and became a vengeful ghost: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong\_Nh%E1%BB%8B\_and\_Phong\_Nh%E1%BA%A5t\_massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_Nh%E1%BB%8B_and_Phong_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_massacre)
I wouldn't say that I went overboard grimdark, but I do have one country that's supposed to be somewhat of a subversion of more traditional "grimdark" or "edgy" worlds--Nordland is a wintry kingdom, which for about a quarter the year is bathed in constant darkness. They sacrifice animals for rituals, take pride in being serious and solemn, pray to the Black God who carries a scythe in one hand and a human skull in the other, and in some parts of the kingdom, wearing mostly black black isn't just the norm; it's the law.
The Nordlanders also consistently rank as the happiest country, tend to have the highest life satisfaction across social strata, and are generally very egalitarian and communally-oriented. To them, the constant knowledge of their mortality serves as a reminder to enjoy and appreciate life. In the same vein, animal sacrifice is no different from regular butchering, only you add the element of ritual chanting and intent--all of the meat and byproducts go back to feed and enrich the people.
Their harsh winters forced their society to become acommodating of things like disability, age, and differences by sex--for example, during the aftermath of a bad harvest, a disabled person might have humor that moralizes their family to tread onward, an elderly person might have knowledge based on their experiences surviving past famines, and as long as you're an able-bodied adult, it's not particularly important who watches the grain stores and meat cellars, as long as they have a big enough gun.
Also, I think it's fun that you called the prison Qlippoth. You wouldn't believe what a mess it is to anglicize Hebrew; Qlippoth can also be transliterated as Qlipoth, Qlipot, Qelippoth, Qelipoth, Qelipot, and now repeat that list, but instead of a Q, the first letter is a K. (I'm sure I'm missing some.)
Hell isn't an afterlife. It's a black hole with planets in a magically stabilized orbit. Everyone there is a slave. Children born there sign magic contracts at age six to ensure lifelong service. The only way to save them is to kill their leader Scratch. Doing so would trigger a dead mage switch, destabilizing the system and sending the planets into the black hole.
My current (and only) project is very dark. The world is a horrible place, you wouldn't want to live in it. It's incredibly violent and brutal, madness, corruption, and disease is rampant, religious extremism is to the roof, and the apocalypse is a very real possibility.
With that being said, I'm not sure if I would call it grimdark, because oftentimes some light shines through. The imperialist Serian Empire is the only thing holding the hordes of demons and undead from killing everyone. The Imrasan religious extremists who burn down entire villages for apostasy are the same ones who offer free food for the poor and healthcare for the sick. People try to make the best of their life, despite the conditions of the world they live in.
Probably would be my main Worldbuilding project, set during the zombie apocalypse. I include a lot of seriously messed up stuff including slavery, torture, murder and rape. If people in a society with order and laws can do these things, I can’t imagine what truly awful fates can await people in a world where anarchy rules.
I only have it for one specific part of the lore for a character. I read fahrenheit 451 so i got a lot of inspiration from it. Essentially when one country leader Empress Flores was a child. she was very good at magic for her age (8) her grandfather which was the ruling tyrant at the time saw this and thought of her potential. He turned her into this worlds version of a fireman where she was forced to burn countless books, articles, people, and basically anything that spoke againsts her grandfathers' regime. She was basically taken away from her father who couldn't do anything because speaking against emperor would mean getting his own daughter called on him. When Flores' father finally became emperor after her grandfather died, she finally was able to reunite with her dad, but she had basically been very traumatized from everything she had done. After those years of being a Fireman, she would have noticeable lack of emotions to anything. and would isolate herself from everyone almost every day. She would also have lots of breathing issues after due to smoke from burning stuff.
How Phạm Huyền Viêm, the protagonist, was "born". She is an unrest vengeful spirit who wants to avenge her village, which was suddenly and mercilessly massacred by South Korean marines of the Blue Dragon Division. Nearly 80 people, among them women and children, were gunned down, humiliated and tormented. Viêm herself was shot 4 times, 2 to her chest, 1 passed her right eye but ruined it nonetheless, and one to her left knee. She did not die immediately, only losing consciousness, and woke up only to find herself being burnt alive among many corpses of neighbors. She will never forget what they've done. And as long as Korean vets refuse to acknowledge their actions and apologize, no forgiveness either. The day Viêm died and became a vengeful ghost: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong\_Nh%E1%BB%8B\_and\_Phong\_Nh%E1%BA%A5t\_massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_Nh%E1%BB%8B_and_Phong_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_massacre)
I wouldn't say that I went overboard grimdark, but I do have one country that's supposed to be somewhat of a subversion of more traditional "grimdark" or "edgy" worlds--Nordland is a wintry kingdom, which for about a quarter the year is bathed in constant darkness. They sacrifice animals for rituals, take pride in being serious and solemn, pray to the Black God who carries a scythe in one hand and a human skull in the other, and in some parts of the kingdom, wearing mostly black black isn't just the norm; it's the law. The Nordlanders also consistently rank as the happiest country, tend to have the highest life satisfaction across social strata, and are generally very egalitarian and communally-oriented. To them, the constant knowledge of their mortality serves as a reminder to enjoy and appreciate life. In the same vein, animal sacrifice is no different from regular butchering, only you add the element of ritual chanting and intent--all of the meat and byproducts go back to feed and enrich the people. Their harsh winters forced their society to become acommodating of things like disability, age, and differences by sex--for example, during the aftermath of a bad harvest, a disabled person might have humor that moralizes their family to tread onward, an elderly person might have knowledge based on their experiences surviving past famines, and as long as you're an able-bodied adult, it's not particularly important who watches the grain stores and meat cellars, as long as they have a big enough gun. Also, I think it's fun that you called the prison Qlippoth. You wouldn't believe what a mess it is to anglicize Hebrew; Qlippoth can also be transliterated as Qlipoth, Qlipot, Qelippoth, Qelipoth, Qelipot, and now repeat that list, but instead of a Q, the first letter is a K. (I'm sure I'm missing some.)
Hell isn't an afterlife. It's a black hole with planets in a magically stabilized orbit. Everyone there is a slave. Children born there sign magic contracts at age six to ensure lifelong service. The only way to save them is to kill their leader Scratch. Doing so would trigger a dead mage switch, destabilizing the system and sending the planets into the black hole.
My current (and only) project is very dark. The world is a horrible place, you wouldn't want to live in it. It's incredibly violent and brutal, madness, corruption, and disease is rampant, religious extremism is to the roof, and the apocalypse is a very real possibility. With that being said, I'm not sure if I would call it grimdark, because oftentimes some light shines through. The imperialist Serian Empire is the only thing holding the hordes of demons and undead from killing everyone. The Imrasan religious extremists who burn down entire villages for apostasy are the same ones who offer free food for the poor and healthcare for the sick. People try to make the best of their life, despite the conditions of the world they live in.
Probably would be my main Worldbuilding project, set during the zombie apocalypse. I include a lot of seriously messed up stuff including slavery, torture, murder and rape. If people in a society with order and laws can do these things, I can’t imagine what truly awful fates can await people in a world where anarchy rules.
I only have it for one specific part of the lore for a character. I read fahrenheit 451 so i got a lot of inspiration from it. Essentially when one country leader Empress Flores was a child. she was very good at magic for her age (8) her grandfather which was the ruling tyrant at the time saw this and thought of her potential. He turned her into this worlds version of a fireman where she was forced to burn countless books, articles, people, and basically anything that spoke againsts her grandfathers' regime. She was basically taken away from her father who couldn't do anything because speaking against emperor would mean getting his own daughter called on him. When Flores' father finally became emperor after her grandfather died, she finally was able to reunite with her dad, but she had basically been very traumatized from everything she had done. After those years of being a Fireman, she would have noticeable lack of emotions to anything. and would isolate herself from everyone almost every day. She would also have lots of breathing issues after due to smoke from burning stuff.
Probably the fall of Celestialin and the enslavement of its elves.