Random snippet idea.

So I suddenly had this idea in my head and I've been thinking about it recently. It would essentially be an original world, but using Fanfic/other source material like a fanfic does in a way.

So, here's the premise, it'll sound rather cliche, but hear me out.

World is sorta post apocalyptic? Over half the world is kinda destroyed. The US only has some cities on the east coast and they're more colonies again, rather than the US being an actual country. You still have some major cities throughout the world, but most regions had become deserted and dangerous.

Essentially, there are what they call 'Fractures'. Pieces of Myths, Legends, or stories that disrupted time and space in areas and spilled out onto the world. Mythical and legendary creatures spilled out, magic and such returned to the world. And most of the world collapsed before they could stabilized.

MC lives in Londinium, the largest 'hub' left in what is considered the western world, even if there are plenty of big cities left. But as the name implies, it's in England, but it's a hodgepodge of a bunch of different ethnicities and different western countries all pushed together in the years since the collapse, so the culture there is all over the place.

There is a new profession that came about after the world collapsed called -- Scribes. Atleast, that' what they're called in Londinium and most of the western world. Other places may call them something else, but all the same.

Scribes are those who are able to seal a story/myth/legend into a Card for use. Technically, anyone can become a Scribe, but realistically, not everyone can walk that path. The idea of cards is more closer to their 'modern' day, but the concept existed in other forms at earlier times where they used to use paintings, stone tablets, etc. But Cards had become the mainstream method since a long time ago.

The thing is, making Cards isn't easy. To make a 'Card', you need not only proper materials, but also you have to understand the story and incorporate that into the card making. The issues comes that since the world's collapse, most myths/legends/stories have been lost in details. Of course, most people would know who Zeus is, but they can't just go on google and look up every single detail, enough to be able to make a Card of Zeus himself.

What does remain, well, it's properly hoarded and kept hidden because knowledge literally equals power here.

The MC is a reincarnator/transmigrator, whatever term you want to use. Someone who, well, could be called a wiki diver, he knows a bit about a lot of things, but what constitutes his 'cheat' is the fact that he's able to plug in other parts into the story. For instance, for King Arthur, he could use Saber from Fate, because it's still a 'story' it still had weight, or whatever.

Obviously, this isn't an instant cheat to opness, it's an advantage.

The basic concept is like, MC uses the 'Story' of when Merlin asked Saber if she preferred the sword or the Sheath and then scolded her when she said the sword, stating that the Sheath is what would keep her safe. The MC uses that 'story' to create a Rare Card, a Magic Sheath that provides a bit of healing and protection.

It's not enough to create Avalon just from that small bit, but it's enough to become weighty to create an equivalent story and starting point. The more a story is known and used in card creation, the more powerful a card can become. Eventually, said 'story' could fully envelop the entire Myth and become Avalon. But of course, knowing the story is only half of the problem -- albeit usually the biggest hurdle for most people.

Delving more into Cards, there's two facets to it. Cards that do something basic, like say, a Card that allows someone to shoot a bolt of lightning.

It would look something like Unranked Card: Call Lightning.

This is the most basic type of 'card' in the world. Something supernatural, but something basic, something that doesn't constitute a real 'story'. But something mythical enough that it could be called 'magical'. Every civilization has a concept around Lightning which is enough of a 'story' without needing a real story included, people being randomly struck by lightning is a known quantity.

That leads to the opposite side, Saga.

An equivalent example would be like Unranked Saga: Lightning Falls from the skies.

This one would have a story attached to it, small as it may be. Perhaps, it recounts a tale of how during a fight, a stray bolt of lightning fell from the sky, killing an enemy leader or something which turned the tide of battle.

The difference between being merely a 'Card' and a 'Saga'.

The vast majority of them are just 'Cards', lacking a proper 'Story' to support them. The normal population uses basic 'Cards', the more 'elites' uses Sagas.

And there are ranks to cards from here.

Unranked, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythological.

'Cards' of the general variety, they don't have any variants above Epic. To reach 'Legendary', it is required to have a significant story attached to it, such like a mythological or legendary figure like King Arthur.

To use another example, there may be a Epic Ranked Card: Dragon Fire

Dragons are predominant throughout most societies. Dragons are strong, dragon fire is deadly. These things would be 'common sense' enough that even without a specific story, the concept of Dragon could carry a card without a story to Epic Rank, but no further.

Cards of course can be upgraded upwards. Using the Lightning Saga from before, if you know the right stories, and have the right materials, you could upgrade it to something like 'Zeus's Fury' or what have you, just as an example.

However, cards that touch certain stories become Unique, they can't be replicated even if the 'story' becomes known. Just like how each figure in myth and legends is unique.

Multiple people may have something like Epic Ranked Saga: Zeus's Fury, but only one person could have something like Epic Ranked Saga: Balmung.

There's only one Balmung, but Zeus could throw as much lightning down from the skies as he wants, that sort of logic. There are multiple times throughout myths that Zeus got angry and smited someone, so people could use multiple different 'stories' to create that Card.

That's sorta the concept I have so far. There may be more reasons why MC can't just make a Legendary Saga right off the bat, maybe some kind of limiter to new Scribes and they need more training and such, but yeah.

There may be things I'm forgetting, so feel free to ask me any questions, maybe it's not something I thought about yet.

Tell me what you think.