Our world is a place riddled with constant warfare of which there are precious few whose lives have managed to go untouched by in some manner or another. Conflict between the territories has been driven by all manner of motivations and, despite the best efforts of those Chieftains who would see peace in the territories, always seems to find a way to claw its way back to dominance.

Within the territories, there are those of us who are born with what could be called an invisible mark on us that is recognizable to those that have it and some others. This mark is ultimately the thing that truly feeds the warfare that has defined our world since the time of legend as it designates us as the guaranteed fodder for whatever battles come before we meet our respective ends, though not all who serve in the hordes bear this mark. All the same, the mark typically has consequences beyond simply consigning those with it to a life filled with death and destruction. For many with it, it is an isolating thing - an intangible ward against unmarked peers who lack the ability to recognize it which renders the marked one inexplicably preferable to avoid, however pleasant the individual might actually be. Additionally, there is no avoiding the mark's call. Some have tried to live their lives without ever setting foot on the battlefield, but those that are not somehow eventually pulled into the fray have all gone mad.

On one occasion or another I have heard one of the elders mention a long-forgotten curse that is supposedly the reason for our world's unending stream of battles, though most who have heard of the curse dismiss it as a mere pipe dream. I, for one, don't particularly care either way. The mark and the battlefield are my reality, and shall remain so until my dying day.