Scarred; Chapter: 0 - Introduction

This is here to show off the world and introduce you to the ideas in it. A fictional world I came up with and a lot of concepts that I thought would be cool. I hope you find these things interesting!

Scars/Scar Bearers - Markings on people that give them supernatural powers. Is a scar on the body and when it’s activated it engulfs the body of the user in a light; glowing eyes and a they are bestowed a special ability. There are a limited number of Scar holders in the world at a time - They are passed down genetically, or if given to someone who manages to kill a bearer of a Scar. And the new holder will have the Scar in their bloodline. No one can have more than 1 Scar. If someone with a Scar kills another Scar bearer, that bloodline will hold 2 of the unique Scars. If the Scar Bearer of Scar A is the one who kills the bearer of Scar B and already has a kid or one is born after, the kid will inherit Scar B (because Scar A is still attached to a holder) If the bearer of Scar A doesn’t have another child and dies of natural causes, a new soul/bloodline will inherit Scar A. There are only 25 Scar Bearers in the world, and there can only ever be 25 Scar Bearers in the world at any time.

Sin/Suits of Sin - To face off the Scar Bearers, normal humans have learned to use the power of Sin. Sin is a part of every being, excluding Paladins and Clerics (The Church). Sinsman are those who have embraced the power of Sin and have learned to harness it’s power for war/fighting. When a Sinsman calls upon this power, they turn very pale. As if they were a walking corpse. The flow of blood of someone in this state is slowed, so when they are injured, they won’t bleed out as quickly. This blood can also be used to embed weapons with great power.

Suits of Sin are of the same concept of Sin-infused (Sinfused) weapons, but is more complex and takes more skill and training to perform. It is armor made of the user’s “blood.” Blood is said to be the place where Sin resides, so someone who controls their Sin, also controls their blood. Suits of Sin are made when a Sinsman forces the Sin to enclose itself around them. Making a very powerful, very lightweight armor. The duration of this depends on the person’s stamina/health (A person who is getting their a*s kicked would be unable to hold the suit to their body for a long duration. So it is best left to a skilled, experience, and professional warrior who can keep their vitality during a fight.)

Those who wield Sin are usually those of dark duties. Such as warriors, soldiers, criminals, ETC. 

The Church - Through meditations, praying, and miracles, The Church has spawned many great Heroes. Paladins and Clerics are the main source of the Church’s power. They believe they have unlocked a human’s true, pure potential. Unlike Sinsman who use the darkness in one’s heart and blood, The Church uses the light, the purity in humans and their good will. It is much harder to bring out the powers of the light, as it is a secret of The Church and only granted to the highest ranking Paladins and Clerics. There is no infusion of blood with The Church’s power, but instead the enchanting of one’s will. Which give any enchanted weapon a white glow(Holy Light). And with the power of miracles and the will of a Paladin or Cleric, they are able to enchant their gear. The only miracle that works on weapons is the Holy Light enchantment, which like the Sin, is powerful enough to challenge Scar Bearers. But, it has the power to cleanse a Sinsman and remove their power (Removing a little does no severe or permanent damage, but will usually leave them unconscious for some time. Removing half their power will leave them in a state where they can never turn off the Sin’s power, but also in a state where they cannot use the Sin to its full potential. Losing more than half their power will most likely cause death.) 

The World (Just a quick little picture I drew up in MS Paint, please don't judge it harshly.) - The world governed by all of these things, is the world of Asmotha (Az-MO-Tha). Asmotha is a supercontinent and is said to be the only piece of land on the planet. The rest is nothing but ocean. Rumors have spread that out there, somewhere, more land is waiting to be conquered. So far, no voyage has either confirmed or come back. The shape of Asmotha is that of two crescent moons back-to-back. The north and south parts of the continent are cold and icy areas. Almost the whole south side of the continent is mountain and rock. While the north side is plains and forests. While the middle, land bridge, is desert.

 

And it is here, in the desert, where the Main Church/Chapel rests. This is where all the Paladins and Clerics learn their miracles and become holy heroes. The kingdom works together with the church and are joined. Usually leader of the kingdom is also the High Priest of the church. This is the Kingdom of Azm (Named for the God). It sits right in the middle of the desert and has a large check on trade and passing, it relies on that and fishing for it’s economy and survival. The black area is all the land the Church controls in the desert, and is in the symbol of the god they worship: Azmot (Azmot is the god the church believes in and is said to have carve the Scars themselves into their 25 Children. And that is where we got the number of Scars and their blood lines; though they have changed over time.)

In the north side of the continent we have the kingdom of Otom. A peaceful kingdom that gets all it needs by hunting and farming in the plains it is apart of, trips to the forest are also quite common, its kingdom is illustrated by the pink. Rather than having a single ruler, it has a counsel of people, all with sharing power. This kingdom only allows Scar Bearers as their rulers and is strictly a bloodline of power. The seats have changed from one bloodline to another before. Duels for power are a law allowed in this kingdom, however, it is usually foolish and futile to try and fight a Scar Bearer. The seats of power are: Star, Sky, Sun, Moon, Night, and Day (The titles of these seats have nothing to do with Scars. You just need to have a scar to rule a seat.)

To the east of the continent, with land on both the north and south sides is the Kingdom of Riz. Possibly the most prosperous Kingdom, being apart of rocky lands, mountains, the ocean, forests, and plains. However, calling it a “Kingdom” doesn’t sound right, considering the kindom is split in half. The population is of course split, with half in the north and half in the south. Each area is ruled over by one person. Usually king and queen. Which means the two lands are still apart of the same Kingdom and ruled over by the same royal family, however they can change the laws depending on how they want. The south side is a harsher area to live in, but being connected through marriage, they help each other out. This is the most adventurous kingdom and you can get pretty much everything between the two halves.

The final territory is owned by many different factions, and is indicated by the purple. This are is just referred to as Asmotha’s Peak. Being in the southern, rocky part of the continent, there isn’t much for resources except minerals. So most of the activity there would be considered crimes in the other kingdoms. Bandit factions are scattered about the whole land. There is no law, but trading and all sorts of “business” do occur. The strongest faction in that area, with the most connections and most ruthless cutthroat mercenaries, is the Shrom (Sh-Rome) Faction, which is a very strong Sinsman Faction. Not a lot to do in that area, but there are certain things one can only get in that territory.

Author's Note

Let me know where I can improve, please and thank you. And other than that, I hope you enjoy.

Reviews

[Sinbulvinter]

Well, this seems to have a very compelling and complex plot, which if pulled off correctly sounds like a pretty badass supernatural themed book!
Only a few things I can say in the way of improving here, since this is only an introduction. And this is moreso a pet peeve of mine, but I've known other people have the same preference, especially in actual books. instead of writing numbers as numbers (1, 2, 3) you may want to actually spell the numbers out (one, two, three). It looks more professional that way. again, it isn't a big deal and more so a pet peeve of mine, but there ya go. I can't offer much else in the way of advice right now. hah.
However, like I said, this does seem like a extremely interesting story with a cool world you've built here, and I'm excited to check it out!