The Compass

We have heard several versions of the story before the blood on the Academy stone had dried. Most contradicted one another. All agreed on one fact. Trainee Rorek Valen was dead.

Life in Halloran’s Markets Before the City Bells We go down towards the market before Halloran has properly decided whether it is morning. That is hardly unusual. Other kingdoms might measure the start of a day by sunlight crossing rooftops. We measure it by noise.

AI image generated of the Raven Assassins’ oath. Academy Graduates Take Their Place Among Halloran’s Elite Another graduating class leaves the Queen’s Academy behind and enters service to the Crown. Ten candidates begin the final graduation trials within the Academy’s arena, where years of discipline, combat training, and instruction come to their conclusion.

Ai generated image of Halloran duing Rootwake Rootwake Deepens, Yet Halloran Remains Beneath the Dark By the eleventh day of Rootwake, we expect the change to be unmistakable. The returning light stretches a little further across the morning. The twin moons continue their journey towards fullness, and the season moves forward whether Halloran acknowledges it or not. Yet we watch another morning arrive beneath the same bitter darkness. No true sunrise breaks across the black c

Ai generated image of the coastline of Otsana. We follow whispers from the western coast for some time before the name Ingemar begins appearing with enough regularity to demand attention. House Ingemar governs the Otsana coast and has done so for generations, its estate standing high above the cliffs and the ports beyond them. Old money rarely travels alone. It carries marriages, debts, favours, and alliances with it, and few houses in the west accumulate more of them. Those