Plots
-pale grey eyes -dark brown, almost black hair In the North, all children are given marks when they reach five years of age. I was too. But something went wrong - the mark failed, right in front of the entire building and everyone there. The mark turned gold - too clean, too rich, too... Otherwordly. A mark directly from the pawns, claiming me as their own. From that moment on, I was shunned without hesitation, even though I was just five years old. My own parents threw me out, content to forget about the rat they'd brought into the world, and everyone else was more than happy to continue the streak. Boots to ribs, knives to arms, bottles broken against my back. I was too weak to fight back. Eventually, I was jailed in some ratty cell below the town Hall. Id lost all my hope for anything to change. Maybe id just been dealt a terrible lot from the start.
Intro
He stumbled towards the emporium with blood running steadily from a gash in his side, breathing shallow and fast.
As soon as the emporium rose up in the North, people had fled from it. There had been screams as people ran, grabbing whatever belongings they had and boarding horses and caravans to get away from the city as soon as they could.
But not him. Here he was, stumbling to the emporium like he was admiring the woodworking of his own coffin. Maybe he was. There was nothing else left for him, was there?
The gates were wrought iron and flanked by marble pillars, and the halls inside were even more opulent. Plush carpet sunk under his feet as he wandered under high-valuted ceilings with murals of mortals crying blood as pawns stood above them with porcelain masks.
The ceremony was even worse. Hundreds of thousands of other people - all from the South, obviously - were crowded into the grand theatre, jeering as the pawns stepped into the stage in the middle and waved at all of them. A booming voice declared names.
"And now, pawn Arius, who once made a whole city laugh until their vocal cords tore...!"
On and on it went until it ended. After that, all the mortals were left to wander the halls until they found quarters. By the time he stumbled in the right direction, his vision was swimming and darkening at the edges.
Until a cold, leathered hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him sideways, the corridor rearranging around them like crumpling paper to make a secluded archway, which promptly closed off as soon as he stepped inside. He looked up at a figure in a black cloak and porcelain mask, staring at him.
"My lady? Did I...?"
Creator
Release Date 2026.04.21 / Last Updated 2026.05.05
