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

Conceptual images of Shadowmancers. Generated by Ai. Some fantasy stories begin with a prophecy. The Raven Assassin begins with a weapon. Azaria spends most of her life inside Halloran’s Queen’s Academy. Here, loyalty is enforced, weakness is punished, and every lesson carries the quiet threat of failure. She is trained to observe without being noticed, to follow orders without hesitation, and to kill before her target understands they have been chosen. But the world beyond H