Some things are deadly when broken.

The heart of Obsidian lies in this sentence. Obsidian breaks sharper than any other materials and has to be broken before it becomes a deadly weapon.

This is an epic fantasy that revolves around at least ten main characters, each of them will be or has been broken by Fate and war and forged into a monster they never thought they'd become. It is a story based on many kinds of love and how far we, as humans, would go for the love of freedom, of an ideal, of pride, of our homeland, and also of a child, a husband, a wife, a parent, or those closest to our hearts.

Warnings

Obsidian is not meant to be a light read, but one written to provoke thoughts and extreme emotions. There will be mentions of rape, suicide, torture, slavery, violence, cold-blooded murder, sex - consented and unconsented - and other mature themes but are only mentions and never written in details to disturb or to support abuse in any way. On the contrary, the brutality of this story has been written for the sole purpose of proving that violence, discrimination, racism, and slavery have no place in this world. It is not, by any means, a book for the lighthearted or the shallow-minded.

If you are looking for a heart-wrenching book that brings your emotions to the extremes while touching on delicate issues of what it means to be human with all our flaws, this is the book for you.

Inspiration

My main inspiration for the setting was drawn from my stays with the Bedouins of Jordan and Egypt and the nomads in Mongolia. You can find my travel photos that inspired the White Desert and the Black here: https://deesvault.wordpress.com/about-obsidian/. It exists in the real world, by the way, these deserts.

The White Desert

Kha'gan – A tribe in the White Desert.

Kha'a – The head/leader of a given Kha'gan.

Kha'ari – The wife of a Kha'a.

Khumar – The chosen heir of the Kha'a, not necessarily the son of the current Kha'a but more often so.

Khumari – The wife of a Khumar.

izr – Son of.

iza – Daughter of. Women in the White desert take the name of their mother. Shakshi people worship the moon goddess, Ravi. Women are, therefore, considered daughters of the goddess and are given a superior place of honor in their society.

Halfblood – An offspring of a Shakshi and another race. They are considered a destruction of the goddess' bloodline.

Commonblood – A Shakshi with physical characteristics furthest from those of a Bharavi or an oracle (yellow eyes, silver hair, dark skin). Commonbloods are believed to be the least likely people to produce an oracle or a Bharavi as offsprings. They usually come with darker eyes and hair and lighter skin tone.

Pureblood – A Shakshi born with dark skin, and light-colored hair and eyes close to truebloods that are considered superior and more likely to produce Bharavis and oracles.

Trueblood – A Shakshi born with silver/white hair and yellow eyes with dark skin. Boys are usually born with the ability to receive visions, and girls have the highest chance of producing more oracles and Bharavis, even when married to a commonblood.

Bharavi – A trueblood Shakshi most likely to produce trueblood offsprings (but not always). They are usually reserved as brides for Kha'as or Khumars and are given the responsibility of sustaining the purer bloodline in the White Desert.

Oracles – A Shakshi born with the gift of foresight, usually found among purebloods and truebloods.

Citara – The hidden, sacred city of the White Desert where tributes (taken from merchants and caravans as rights of passage fee) are sent from all Khagans and from which resources i.e. food, water, clothing, and other supplies are distributed back to sustain life in the desert. Laws are written, passed, and executed from Citara, and only Zikh-clad warriors and bharavis are allowed to enter or told of its location to keep the city from being discovered and attacked.

Zikh – The white robe given to the most elite class of warriors who have passed the test and taken an oath. The term White Warrior comes from the color of the Zikh.

Raviyani – A celebration held every full moon where each Kha'gan get together to feast, hunt, and compete in several warrior events. Winners are chosen to compete in the Dyal held annually in Citara.

Dyal – An olympic-like annual competition for White Warriors. Every year, each Kha'gan sends several representatives to compete.

The Black Desert and the Salasar

The Salasar – An empire currently consisting of four nations under the rule of Rasharwi, the capital city and command center of the Salasar. The territory covers almost the entire peninsula save for the White Desert, the mercenary-ruled Black Desert, and Makena.

Rasharwi – The capital city of the Salasar. Geographically a part of the Black Desert due to the black color of the rocks and mountains, whose people are seen by the Shakshi as one of the same due to their similarities in appearance and their long history of conflict with the White Desert.

The Black Desert (and the mercenaries/Rishis) – A desert of black rocks and mountains south of Rasharwi ruled (independently) by a large tribe of mercenaries who makes a living from raiding the White Desert and other settlements, taking slaves and valuables to resell to (mostly) Rasharwi or for their own use.

Salar – The ruler of the Salasar.

Salahari – The ruling wife of the salar equivalent to the queen (not necessarily the first wife).

The Black Tower – The resident and command center of the Salar.

Sure, Suma, Sangi, and Sabha – The four fortresses surrounding (and protecting) Rasharwi and the Black Tower in the North, South, East, and West.