Markstones and Gemhearts

[Random Bystander]

I came up with a world a few years ago, and last week I thought "Why don't I turn it into a fan fiction?" The story starts in a world I created, and then moves to Roshar. I have 2 chapters done, and I will post more later if anyone likes it.

Chapter 1

Spoiler

Julia ran her fingers over her new Markstone. It was crafted out of pure copper and sapphire, and was fused permanently onto her wrist. This was by far the worst thing that had ever happened to her. The others didn’t see it that way. Those she had spoken to were caught up in the ‘great honor’, and the ‘wonderful right’ they were given as new recruits. But not Julia. She saw this for the curse it really was. What else could she make of it? The recruits were snatched away from their families, and then they were not seen unless they were put on the Council. No one even knew what actually happened in this hole. And the worst part is that they were all teenagers. Each recruit was chosen from the ages of 13-18. She wished she could leave. They hadn’t even let her say goodbye to her family before they dragged her to the Center. Julia sighed as the door to the room she had been told to wait in opened.

“Recruit number 7, it is time to start your training.” said a hooded man with a silver and diamond Markstone. 

Julia followed the man through grand hallways, ornate doors, and spiral staircases. She entered an ornate room, with 12 different doors, one for each recruit. 

“Recruits,” said an elderly man with a gold and garnet Markstone. “Step up to your designated door, and tap it with your Markstone.”

Julia looked at the man. He had reddish eyes and white hair. Your eyes determined the gem in your Markstone and your hair determined the metal. She then sighed again, and stepped up to the door. Each door looked different. All of the others had delicate ornamentation, but hers was made of what looked like plain, sturdy oak. She taped her markstone against the door, and it opened instantly. All of the others opened as well, except for one. A boy with silvery hair and green eyes couldn’t get his door to open.

The old man walked over to the boy. “This one has no potential for magic.” he said. “Take him upstairs and start giving him Council training.”

After the boy left, the man turned to the rest of them. Julia was barely able to stop herself from glaring at the man. “Recruits, those doors are gateways to other worlds.” the old man said. Julia raised her eyebrow. The rest of the recruits gasped or just stood shocked. Julia turned to inspect the door. There was nothing about it that was out of the ordinary. “Your mission,” the old man said, “Is to go through your door and learn about whatever lies beyond it. Once you complete that, your Markstone will glow, and you can come back and either go to another world, or join the Council.” He nodded at the people who had guided them into the room. They stepped up and handed their recruit a bag. Julia took hers. It was a leather knapsack. Everybody’s bags looked different. She opened it and found an odd silk dress, a pair of gloves, boots, some weird glass balls with gemstones inside them, a book, and a few mundane items. She blinked. Why would she need a dress? 

“And now,” said the old man, “It is time for you to enter your doors.” The others all walked through, but Julia dropped the bag, and ran out the exit. Unfortunately, someone entered the door as she exited, so she tripped and fell. “What do you think you are doing?” snapped the old man. “You have the honor of…” he trailed off as Julia laughed. “Honor? Getting separated from my family is an honor? Being forced into this is an honor?” The man who was entering started pushing her toward the portal. One of the women watching handed her the bag, and she was pushed through.

Chapter 2

Spoiler

Julia found herself on a mountain, looking towards multiple other mountains. She looked around, and saw no signs of life. She groaned. “HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?” After waiting for a few moments, she grabbed the book out of her bag and opened it. She skimmed through, and found very little useful information. The only thing that stood out to her was the section on Markstones. Markstones are tools that let you speak or read any language, they also occasionally let you use different types of magic, if you come across it. She closed the book, and shoved it into her bag. She looked around one more time, and set off toward the mountains.

After a few hours of walking, Julia could see that one of the mountains was not a mountain, but a huge tower. She felt relieved. By that time, she had put on both the boots and the gloves, and was getting colder by the minute. She walked as fast as possible. She felt lighter here than she did back home, and was able to get to the tower within about 2 hours. She stared up for a while, and then she walked toward the gate.

 

“Hey! Stop!” a feminine voice yelled. Julia immediately stopped, confused. A lady walked to Julia. “Who are you, and what is your business in Urithiru?”

 

“I’m Julia, and I want to get out of the cold.” she said softly. The lady looked at Julia, then down at her clothing, and sighed. 

 

“Alright, you can come in.”

 

“Thank you.” Julia walked into the tower. She wandered the hallways for a while, and after changing into the blue silk dress in her bag, found a large room that looked like a market. She entered the market, and almost instantly understood what the glass balls in her bag were. The odd balls were money in this world. She walked by multiple stalls, and was able to learn what each of the balls was called. She had been worried about that, but now she saw that she had enough. She got distracted enough by the market, that she bumped into a woman walking by, knocking the stuff out of her hands. “I am so sorry.” Julia said quickly, grabbing the woman’s stuff off the floor. She handed a notebook, a pouch with some of the odd money, and some charcoal to the woman. 

 

The woman had red hair, and light blue eyes. “It’s fine.” she said, looking distracted. She then quickly left the market. Julia noticed that there seemed to be an odd shifting thing following her. Julia didn’t know what it was, but the woman seemed to be talking to it. Julia continued walking through the market, confused by this strange world.

 

 

[Truthwatcher Artifabrian]

This is awesome! Please post more chapters if you can.

[Random Bystander]

On 1/16/2021 at 4:14 PM, Truthwatcher Artifabrian said:

This is awesome! Please post more chapters if you can.

Thank you!  

RoW spoilers ahead.

Spoiler

This could be important to the story later on. The reason Shallan is so distracted is because she just learned that there is probably a traitor somewhere near her.

 

Chapter 3

Spoiler

Julia had spent hours wandering the odd tower, and had seen some strange things. It was late, and a man had led her to a room. They thought she was a normal refugee, so they were letting her live in the tower on a floor where many refugees were living. The room was small, but cozy. There wasn’t a fire, but the money glowed, so she used that instead. They had said that she should consider apprenticing. She was really nervous about that. What if no one was willing to take her on? Suddenly, she saw a red strip of something appear to grow out of the ground next to her. She yelped, and purple globs wiggled out of the floor. What were these? She then remembered seeing some of the purple globs in the market. She paused. They didn’t seem dangerous, and they were already disappearing. She sighed, and decided to get some sleep.

She woke up the next morning, and looked through her bag. She did not want to wear that dress again. She was relieved when she found a pair of khaki pants and a long sleeved, white, button-up shirt. She quickly got dressed, and left her room. It took a while, but she eventually found the market again. She bought herself some food, it was a piece of bread with some spicy meat stuff on it. The man selling it seemed confused that that was what she chose, but his eyes quickly looked at her hair. She didn’t know what her hair had to do with eating, but it had to have explained something to him because his confusion immediately left. It had cost 2 of her spheres, clearmarks are what the man had called them. At this rate, she would run out by the end of the month.

Julia felt worried. She didn’t know who or how to ask for an apprenticeship. She was good at sewing, maybe she could find a seamstress who would let her become her apprentice. She had been on a fencing team back home and had been good at it, but she didn’t know if they would let women fight here. Probably not. She felt lost. For her entire life, she had had her family to help guide her. Now she was in a strange world, and she didn’t know how she was supposed to act. Everyone here seemed taller than back home, so she was glad that she was tall for her age. She sighed, and then saw the woman she had bumped into the day before. She still seemed distracted, and everyone seemed to respect her. Was she this world’s version of royalty? Was she a famous artist? Both? Neither? At least she didn’t seem to remember Julia. 

Suddenly, a girl slid into the market, and stole a piece of the bread with the meat on it from the vendor. Shocked, Julia just watched. Was the girl… glowing? The man just rolled his eyes, and went back to work. Julia felt bewildered. What was going on? Wasn’t stealing illegal? Only a few others looked confused, so was this normal? “I can’t believe that girl is a Radiant.” The man said to a customer. “She steals, but only food? And why is she stealing at all?”

Julia looked up as the customer began to speak. His customer happened to be the lady from earlier. She wasn’t buying anything, but paid him anyway. “Lift is a special girl. She steals for the challenge, not because she needs to. I think. It can be hard to understand her sometimes.” The woman left. What was a Radiant? What was so special about them? Was the woman one of them? Julia sighed. She had been putting off trying to get an apprenticeship, but she would need money. She walked over to a place where a seamstress was working. “Um, would you be willing to take an apprentice?”

 The woman looked up. She scrutinized Julia, and sighed. “No. I have an apprentice already.” She went back to work. 

Julia was getting worried. What would she do? How would she survive? She felt overwhelmed, and sat down on a bench with her head in her hands. She felt like this was hopeless, and like she was going to die before she was able to get home. She didn’t notice what looked like a grey, tattered cloth moving around her. She pulled herself together, and headed back to her room. The spren was still following her, but she didn’t notice it. She was stressed out. She turned a corner, and bumped into the red-haired woman again.

The woman didn’t drop anything this time, but she looked at Julia with a critical eye. Julia had fallen down, gotten up, and dusted herself off. Julia felt humiliated. Little red and white petals started falling from the ground. “Sorry.” Julia said softly. She felt utterly miserable and lost. 

“Didn’t you bump into me yesterday?”

“Um, yes.”

The woman narrowed her eyes and walked away. Julia rushed back to her room, feeling dazed.

 

[Truthwatcher Artifabrian]

I love seeing Julia interact with the Stormlight characters. And I’m excited to see exactly what her markstone can do! Thanks for the awesome story!

[Cheyenne Sedai]

On 1/18/2021 at 3:55 PM, Truthwatcher Artifabrian said:

I love seeing Julia interact with the Stormlight characters. And I’m excited to see exactly what her markstone can do! Thanks for the awesome story!

Definitely agree. I’m curious to see more.

[Random Bystander]

This one took me a while to figure out, but I finished the next chapter!

Chapter 4

Spoiler

Julia sat on the bed in her room, and noticed the grey cloth for the first time. She sighed, and started thinking. There were multiple things she would have to figure out. She had noticed that, while the people in the market noticed them, they didn’t seem bothered by the strange blobs, or any of the other odd things floating around, or coming out of the ground. Infact, they seemed to be expected. She decided that she would ignore them for the moment. The next problem was a job. She tried to figure out what jobs she could take that she would be good at. She had impressive dexterity, but doubted any of the seamstresses would have apprenticeships for her. 

 

She then started to feel something. She didn’t quite know what it was, but she felt like there was somewhere she needed to do. She frowned, and left the room. As she did, the feeling told her to go one way, then another, then another. She continued following the feeling, until she came to one of the higher floors. The feeling went away, and she sighed. She was about to give up on the odd feeling, and go back to her room, when she saw something. “What the heck is that?!” It was a swirling changing kaleidoscope like thing. She slowly started walking backward, and it followed her. She yelped, and ran down the stairs to her room. When she got there, she gave out a sigh of relief. She then noticed the thing on the floor of her room. She grabbed her blanket and threw it over it. It immediately went on top of the blanket. “Hm. What is it…” She walked out of her room, and into the marketplace. It followed her, and she was starting to get confused. Why was it following her? How long was she going to have to deal with it? It buzzed, and her eye started to twitch. She bought lunch, and it was still following her. She sighed, and ate her lunch, but it buzzed like a fly. She was becoming more irritated by the second. Why wasn’t it leaving her alone? She finished eating, and went back to her room. She plopped onto her bed, and the annoying, buzzing thing went onto her face. “Ack! Get off!” it got off her face, and went onto her dress. With a sigh, she ignored it. 

After about a week of it following her around, she was mostly used to it, and was able to ignore it easily. She still hadn’t gotten a job, and she was almost out of the spheres. She was in her room, and she had asked each and every seamstress for a job, but none of them had taken her on. She moaned as what she had termed ‘the annoyance’ started buzzing again. She had figured out what it was not long after she had found it. The lady that she had bumped into twice apparently had one, and it made her into some sort of magical knight. The lady called hers pattern, and Julia thought that puzzle was a good name for the one that was following her around. Speak the words. A voice said. She yelped. “What in the world?” She calmed down. “What words?” Speak. The. Words. “Uh…” She was extremely confused. “I’m just gonna go…” She went to the marketplace and sat down. She had learned multiple things about this strange world, but didn’t know what the words were.

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by Random Bystander