About the World
Not much here yet, but here's some worldbuilding tidbits. The premise of this world is basically, "What if the magic system sucked on a systematic level?"
DISCLAIMER! This is essentially a "first-draft," many elements will be adjusted as I develop my original story.
BRIDES
- Also referred to as “Dolls” as a pejorative.
- According to the biggest religion, they are individuals who are “chosen” by god to become vessels of magic power.
- Brides become physically indestructible and immortal. Their body stops growing/changing at the age they are Chosen except for their hair (on their scalp) which continues growing and also cannot be damaged/cut. This is how ages of Brides are usually visually determined
- Brides cannot hear any human voice except for their Spouse, and become mute.
- They are tied to a handler, or “Spouse/Husband” in order to be able to regulate their power or else they will die. A Bride refusing to get married and dying is considered heretical since they are seen as they are seen as “wasting their gift from god.”
- Brides are compelled to follow orders from their Spouse.
- The High Church are the only ones who can officiate “Marriages” to bind Brides to their Spouses. (Or are they…?)
- Brides are very rare. 1-2 pop up every century on average (author's note: I am still deciding on the frequency)
- Selection of Brides are arbitrary based on ethnicity or location, but the average age people get chosen is between 15-25, mostly women. Occasionally men, and that opens a whole other bag of homophobic worms.
- Male Brides are usually married into the Church (re:the pope) as to not challenge patriarchal norms. There are specific circumstances where Male Brides are sublimated into a “women”’s role but thats not usually desirable.
- Asa and Theo’s Marriage is a Hot Political Topic among general society.
- This world/region is “cultural," so Chosen Marriages heavily influence what is expected of normal marriages (PATRIARCHY 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!!).
- Other religions exist, but they’re either results from schisms (re: Catholics vs Protestants) or basically discriminated against/ wiped out.
- The general unspoken rule is that once Chosen, Brides are no longer human but basically objects that people use for power/utility/status/war.
- Bride abuse is extremely common and normalized.
- It is very difficult to kill a Bride, however they will die if they eventually run out of magic (their half-life is extremely long), killed with a rare enchanted weapon specifically for killing Brides, or a Secret Third Thing (!).
- Married Brides are usually passed down through generations of the Spouses’ family. It is highly unlikely a Bride will be traded off or given away UNLESS the family is under extreme pressure or the Bride is forcibly taken.
- If a Spouse dies unexpectedly (murder/assassination/etc) before the next Spouse is formalized the Church will marry the Bride to the male heir of the late Spouse’s family. This is to prevent assassinations among the privileged class to free up Brides for Marriage.
- Brides from lower class families are usually taken from their homes by the Church and married off to Powerful families who contribute to the Church’s power. Dowries are usually paid to the family but it’s basically hush money.
- If a Bride happens to be from a family with status they are usually married back into their family.
That's all for now. More coming soon.