"They usually came under the cover of darkness – not that it would have mattered. No one slept on the night of the Selection. You might pace, or watch the street, or stare at the Report, but sleep? No, never sleep." Elimination from the Selection condemns you to a fate worse than death in the Labyrinth of the king; a scarce few dare to reclaim their loved ones from the mist.

In a world of fading magic, in a castle overrun with necromancers and pyromancers, errant knights and mercenaries, soothsayers and dragon tamers, the king has commanded that each of the eight Houses of the kingdom shall send to the capital their representatives to make their case for inheriting the Paper Throne and its bloody legacy. SYOC open.

200 years ago, the Schreaves were banished to the cursed island of Illéa. The nation they had once terrorised with black magic rose from the ashes, determined to rid the world of the Schreaves' evil at any cost – even if that meant creating sorcerers of their own for a suicide mission to destroy them all. Simply put: Illéa has chosen a bad time to hold a Selection.

Fifteen years ago, the king was murdered by rebels and the crown prince Demetri stolen away, leaving his younger brother to take his place. Now, rebels have conquered a vast swathe of land to the south and have declared their own Kingdom in Exile, with the hostage prince as their King of Dust. Every king must have a queen... So the Rebel Selection begins.