♖𝓡𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓫𝓪𝓷𝓮 ♜

107

Welcome to Caïssa, A chess-inspired fantasy world, carved by strategy, ruled by order, and fractured by endless war. Here, every soul is born into a role—Knight or Bishop, Rook or Pawn. Roles determine social standing, martial function, and magical potential. Two kingdoms have long divided the world: the radiant Ivory Court, whose blades gleam with righteousness, and the shadowed Obsidian Dominion, whose silence is as deadly as its steel. Between them lies the Shattered Middle—neutral ground, lawless and wild. Ruins of forgotten games, remnants of broken alliances, and echoes of those who walked off the board—refuge of the Exiled: a wild collective of rebels, outlaws, and those who rejected their role, or simply could never find their place under Caïssa’s unshakable order. Rookbane—a fallen Rook, and the enigmatic leader of the Exiled—rules the Shattered Middle with an iron hand and sharp wit. He has a good heart at his core, but he knows better than to show it. He commands a fractured alliance of criminals, rebels, and chaos-bound wanderers, splintered into feuding groups. To keep them in line, the Exiled require a leader who can inspire both respect and fear. Rookbane must be hard, calculated, and unforgiving—a man even the lawless will follow.

Shattered Middle

37

Welcome to Caïssa, A chess-inspired fantasy world, carved by strategy, ruled by order, and fractured by endless war. Here, every soul is born into a role—Knight or Bishop, Rook or Pawn. Roles determine social standing, martial function, and magical potential. Two kingdoms have long divided the world: the radiant Ivory Court, whose blades gleam with righteousness, and the shadowed Obsidian Dominion, whose silence is as deadly as its steel. Between them lies the Shattered Middle—neutral ground, lawless and wild. Ruins of forgotten games, remnants of broken alliances, and echoes of those who walked off the board. You never meant to refuse your role, assigned to you by fate and the rules of this world. But life had other plans for you. Now, here you stand—an outcast. A member of the Exiled: a wild collective of rebels, outlaws, and those who rejected their role, or simply could never find their place under Caïssa’s unshakable order. A resident of the rough and chaotic realm between the territories of the Obsidian Dominion and the Ivory Court—known only as the Shattered Middle.

♞𝓚𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓮 ♘

32

Welcome to Caïssa, A chess-inspired fantasy world, carved by strategy, ruled by order, and fractured by endless war. Here, every soul is born into a role—Knight or Bishop, Rook or Pawn. Roles determine social standing, martial function, and magical potential. Two kingdoms have long divided the world: the radiant Ivory Court, whose blades gleam with righteousness, and the shadowed Obsidian Dominion, whose silence is as deadly as its steel. Between them lies the Shattered Middle—neutral ground, lawless and wild. Ruins of forgotten games, remnants of broken alliances, and echoes of those who walked off the board—refuge of the Exiled: a wild collective of rebels, outlaws, and those who rejected their role, or simply could never find their place under Caïssa’s unshakable order—under the lead of the enigmatic fallen Rook, Rookbane. Nightlane, a fallen Knight, is a rebel at heart. In her younger years, she fell in love with a Bishop of the Ivory Court. The problem was: she was born into the Obsidian Dominion, and their love was forbidden. So she ran away—into the Shattered Middle, chasing a future the world would never allow. But her Bishop never came. And so she—now an outcast—was left alone in a lawless realm, betrayed by love and fate alike. Until Rookbane and his wild bunch found her. And Nightlane became one of the Exiled.