The Sereniad

The Serene, a Great Bay of islands and nations, stands at a crossroads between continents, a shining blue pool of wealth and promise. The free states of Novara, great kingdoms and democracies in the Northern Shore, have grown rich and greedy from this harvest. These ancient hills hide many myths and stories, and every field has a bloody tale behind it. This is a world of brutal realities, where wars are fought over petty feuds and every friend could turn out to be an enemy. Great city-states expand their power and influence over a region where gold and land seem to mean more than morality or honour.   Shrewd merchant kings and savvy corsairs from south and east press their mercantile control over these free states, as wild warlords and tribesman harry their borders. But the greatest threat comes from the Southern Shore, where the mighty Dondatic Empire has been steadily consuming territory. These well-trained and technologically advanced legions press against the stoic warriors of Kryos and the shrewd politicians of Micania, bringing war but also ‘civilisation’ to their borders, spurred on by a mad old Emperor vying for greater personal standing and pride. He will do all he can to see his banners fly across the whole of the Serene and beyond.   We follow a cast of merchants and mercenaries, politicians and princes, courtesans and kings, in a great game of power which can too easily uncouple the chains of morality and where nobody is safe. Whether it be an old senator tired of the pain he has suffered, his young daughter lost in an unforgiving wilderness and pursued by a mysterious hunter, a naive girl trapped in a palace of soldiers, an inexperienced recruit stuck in a life of violence and bitter feuds, a slave dragged across the desert by a master bent on revenge for past slights, or an imperial prince burdened with the weight of the world, all must face the one great challenge coming for all of them   The war for the Serene will soon begin, and with it marches the greatest secret of all.