A Brief Word: Dark Themes & Cultural Appropriation

Ölütanrı is a dark place. Major thematic elements include racism, classism, and other outright unethical behaviours (e.g. slavery, abuse, assault, extortion). Those of you who have already started to explore the world will also know that I am a big fan of using the real world to construct a fictional one. This combination of themes and the real world leads me to assume that some of you may find sections of content to be offensive. I hope that by providing some clarification behind my intent, you can accept my use of world histories, cultures, languages, gender identities, and sexual orientations (with an extremely limited understanding) to fabricate this world.
My rationale for using the real world to build content is threefold:

1. For Me: I am an inexperienced creator, and a non-visual learner with a poor visual memory. I can't picture a fake world in my mind and, even if I get a glimpse, I cannot maintain the image to express it on paper (or the internet). So I build my expertise by reforming and expanding pre-existing work into new things (including in my professional life). I need a focus to create "original" content.


2. For the Setting: The theme and tone is intentionally dark and gritty. The sensitive topics I use all exist (or have existed) in various forms in our world. The reason we view rape and murder as "evil" or "dark" is because of their meaning in this world. And so I leverage our humanity for thematic effect.


3. For You: I really desire that my players, readers, or whoever else consumes this content to feel like they are exploring the world. I hope that you gain joy and satisfaction in finding hidden lore or subliminal meaning that, other than myself, perhaps nobody knows. One of the strongest mechanisms I can think of facilitating this adventure is to potentially tie my fictional world to who you are in the real world. Perhaps you know a little German or Norwegian, study economic theory or mythology, or enjoy reading about the Golden Age of Piracy or the Viking Age. Whatever it is, I want your experience to be enriched by your identity.

So please forgive me if I misconstrue a piece of who you are - especially if it is in an unflattering or harsh way.
If you are particularly upset by any content even in consideration of the preceding conveyance, please bring it to my attention by leaving a comment on the relevant article. I'll do what I can to reframe or refocus my work.