The Shards of Aegis Tor

Darius Knox, once heir to a noble house, has been stripped of his title and cast from influence. In its place, he runs a small protection company, selling steel and experience to survive in a world that no longer has room for fallen lords. When the famed Research Guild offers him a seemingly routine escort, Darius seizes the opportunity.The expedition goes awry. On the journey back to Pellator, the crew encounter long-forgotten creatures and ancient perils thought extinct, hinting at truths the world has chosen to bury. Among the company is Helena Pippex, a Scholarite healer whose sharp intellect and quiet resolve draw Darius into an unexpected, fragile romance born under pressure and bloodshed.Upon their return to Pellator, Darius seeks another contract and an excuse to remain close to Pip. Instead, he is pulled into a dangerous political struggle with the Master Librarian, a woman determined to fracture the foundations of the Tor Magala faith by disproving its origins. The proposed expedition is heretical in nature, and its destination forbidden. The Shattered Isles.While Darius weighs the cost of blasphemy, Pip uncovers a hidden tome within the Great Library, a text that seeds forbidden knowledge and reveals a path to the Isles long thought unreachable. Their discovery does not go unnoticed.Across the sea, the Queen of Bellathelos learns of the tome and the expedition it has inspired. Claiming the knowledge as hers by right of conquest, she dispatches assassins to seize it and silence those who carry its secrets.As the crew set out, darker forces begin to stir. Their road leads them to Los Yaleshi, a languid coastal village of fishermen and whispered superstitions, the final threshold before the open sea. Beyond it lies the Shesseus Sea, and beyond that, the Shattered Isles themselves, where ancient truths wait to be unearthed, and survival is far from assured.