Hi your cardverse au sounds really cool and I'd love to hear more about it
oh man thank you so much!!
so since the Plot mostly centers on the Aces, I’ll start with them:
Aces are good old-fashioned chosen ones, born with the mark of their kingdom to prove it. They’re stronger/faster/better at fighting than the average person (and have some other cool powers they Discover Later). The birth of the Aces always signals an approaching time of great peril for the four kingdoms - the last four, over a thousand years ago, united the kingdoms against an invasion from across the sea (Checkers).
Royals: Royals are chosen by either their instruments (the clocks of Spades, the staves of Clubs) or a special item in the kingdom (the flowers of Diamonds, the holy water of Hearts). Much like holding Mjolnir, only those who are worthy can hold the title of royal. Royals are also afforded special (but limited) powers specific to their kingdom. For example, Clubs royalty can affect the luck of others, but only for short periods of time and the more lucky/unlucky they make the person, the more energy it drains from the royal.
The main four - Lilli (Liechtenstein), Ivan, Ludwig, and Alfred - are the new Aces, born within a year of each other. The plot really follows them and how they evolve separately and then with one another, once they all finally meet to take on their destiny. Basically, I love amazingly close friendships and these four are destined to be Best Fucking Friends.
Before the Big Threat shows up, they have to deal with a messy war - Hearts vs. Spades and Clubs. Ivan has to deal with a revolution in Clubs that deposes the old royal triumvirate, Ludwig has to deal with a newly-inherited crippled economy in Hearts (this au is full of historical allegory and I simply cannot be stopped), Alfred has to deal with managing a kingdom full of unrest and tensions with Clubs while mourning the loss of his mentor, and Lilli has to deal with conflicted feelings over whether to tell the public she’s actually the Ace of Diamonds - not her brother, Basch, who has been publically holding the title. And then they all have to deal with the sequel to the war. Yippee.
The eventual big bad will not be the return of Checkers, but rather two kingdoms based on chess (Black and White kingdoms) that have come together to form the Grey Kingdom. The two Queens used the Kings as anchors to call on the power of ancient gods in order to end the conflict between their two kingdoms, but were overtaken by the power and now want to conquer everything. The Rooks, Bishops, and Knights are all the 2Ps of the cards royalty due to reasons of (limited) shapeshifting and psychological warfare. (i should warn that the 2ps in this au are very different from the generally accepted fandom interpretation)
Kinda long (sorry haha) but that’s the basic rundown of the au!
I’ve got a plan for most characters, so if anyone wants to know about one or a few in particular, shoot me an ask!