Her fingers stained with ink
From words that make it hard to think,
She takes away all distractions
So her characters can simply sink.
Wordsmith trying to learn to be an author.
Currently writing "Runner KT3."
@wordsmith Dang, you're good.
...Monsters were real in the original idea, though. Maybe they were driven extinct... Or they're smarter, sneakier, able to stay out of the public eye. People *think* they aren't real, but are they?
I definitely remember there was something about keeping the brazier with the holy flame lit. You can spread the holy fire to new braziers, but you can't start a new one from nothing. Perhaps the fires used for forging were tainted somehow?
The Sinless were criminals, sentenced to death. Stabbed through the chest with ritual swords in public executions.
Some simply die, but the lucky are reborn as holy warriors, their memories blank, slate wiped clean. The plain ritual swords absorb their sins morph into unique, ornate blades, their only shared trait being the shining red metal.
They wander the world, hunting down both monsters and sinners alike.
I forget when I wrote this. I was a teen, definitely.