For the people of Macenden, magic comes as easily as speaking. Each person learns it from infancy - the unique power of their clan, passed down through the generations. In Woldsisle live the Navitas Clans, those whose power can control the ebb and flow of the various energies of the universe. In Asherop live the Respicio Clans, those whose power can tap into the psychic consciousness of the people and things around them. Finally, in Minasey live the Corporious Clans, those whose power is rooted on the physical plane, able to manipulate the world around them.
Once, they were a united people, living and working amongst each other, but the others grew unreasonably suspicious of the Respicio Clans - worrying that one day they might attempt control, rather than just read, their minds and futures. On the brink of a civil war that would rip Macenden apart, they decided to instead form 3 separate provinces, insulating themselves from each other. Since then, the three provinces interact only through Eldred, Macenden’s capital city, which facilitates labor exchange - sending doctors from Woldsisle, detectives from Asherop, construction workers from Minasey, etc., to the others in need of their services.
Reya was born in Woldsisle to a clan able to control Life-Energy at a cellular level. Like her father Emmet, Reya has focused her power toward healing, training as a doctor. However, like her mother Delora, Reya protects a secret. Her mother was not in fact a member of any Navitas Clan, but rather a Respicio Clan with psychometric abilities. The two had met when Emmet was on a labor exchange in Asherop, but, while intermarriage between the clans is not uncommon, many prejudices still exist against the Respicio from the earlier turmoil. Reya’s parents agreed to raise her as a member of Emmet’s clan, hoping it would provide her more opportunities. But, unable to sit back and watch her power fade away, Delora also showed Reya the power of her clan - not enough to make her skilled, but enough to put her in danger if anyone found out.
It’s been years since Reya’s mother passed, and Reya herself is an adult now, preparing for her first labor exchange trip. That is, until two mysterious strangers show up at her door looking for her mother. Suddenly, Reya is thrown into a secret battle between the Respicio and a powerful man bent on taking their abilities for himself - and it’s one that they won’t win if they continue to insist on fighting alone.
Amber was raised in a small town Tennessee. She’s been a book lover since kindergarten, and an aspiring author since her undergraduate years at NYU, but she’s just now finally making her way into the writing world. Now, Amber attends graduate school at UCSD in San Diego and, when she’s not TAing, doing coursework, or working on research, she’s fostering the universes waiting to move from her mind to the paper.
Thank you for checking out my draft! This story idea came to me when I was thinking about language acquisition and language death. Language acquisition comes naturally to any human child, but language death is often the result of nefarious outside pressures. Most people don’t think about what is lost every time we lose a language from the world. This lead me to think about how to extend the concept in a way that made explicit just how harmful language death can be.
I know the summary is pretty rough (since it’s 90% world-building background), but feel free to comment/send me questions that will help make it clearer! Let me know if you have any ideas!
-Amber