The Qui Err are the first people of the planet of Quire, who originally lived there from before the Dusted Age to the end of the Blooded Age. After being repopulated by a series of system-wide miracles, they contribute significant numbers to the Qui Err Coalition.
Name and Language[edit | edit source]
'Qui err' is a phrase from their language meaning 'the soil' or 'earth' and is also used to refer to the planet Quire. The longer phrase 'qui err vi qi-em' or 'qui err vi-em', meaning 'the soil with memory', can be used in the same way. 'Qui err vi na-em', meaning 'the soil, alive, but without memory', was used to refer to Quire before the influence of the Gnosis Virus.
Buildings left behind by the Qui Err after their genocide, such as the Old Church, contain writing in the Qui Err language.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
They appear similar to humans, but with some differences. They typically have grey skin which may have slight cool-tone tints of blue, lavender or teal.[1] They have protrusions on their heads in the shape of horns or bony spines, which can look very different from person to person. They typically have vestigial nubs of a second pair of arms on their sides,[2] although the Qui Err from the second Miracle have a full second pair.[1] Some Qui Err, such as Iota Pretense, have spines of bone on their shoulders instead of the vestigial arms, and some have tough skin and scales due to ancient Apostolosian influence.[3]
History[edit | edit source]
The Qui Err were decimated by war due to Independence's influence. The last of them fled to the Sky Reflected in Mirrors, where they attempted to save the memories of their people in the form of clone templates.[4] Castlerose later used this to make human-looking bodies for her assassins.[5] During the first Miracle, Iota Pretense and a few thousand other Qui Err were reconstituted using the Sky Reflected in Mirrors' cloning systems, with populations residing on the Sky Reflected in Mirrors and Moonlock.
Additional alternate-reality Qui Err were created in Parhelia and across the system during the second Miracle, including their leader Solemn Scale. As they come from Quire's vision of a potential utopian history without the Gnosis Virus, Apostolosians, or Independence, their appearance and culture are different from that of the Qui Err remade in the Sky Reflected in Mirrors.