Author: Nick Shepley

Physician, former prisoner, brilliant and curious. Tasked with finding a way to free Santaris from the Queen’s command — and ending the book alone in a dead man’s library, surrounded by secrets.

Seven feet tall, half-Firg, bound by a code of honour in a world that punishes honour. The mercenary soldier who is the first to face the Thartans — and the last thing standing between the Elder Norn and freedom.

An ordinary-looking man in a broad-brimmed hat. He gave Elderne Karos the ring that broke the wall. He is looking for the Queen. Everything else follows from that.

She ruled for centuries. She cultivated poverty and fear as policy. She vanished forty years ago — and finding her is the Benefactor’s only goal. Everything in Mordikhaan traces back to the Queen.

Four terrible witches. Servants of the Queen, mothers of the Thartans, destroyers of House Pyke. Who the Norns are, what they can do, and why the Elder Norn’s imprisonment is at the heart of everything.

Founded in the Blood Winter, allied with House Cleargh, and home to Frangka the Shadowcatcher. The political position, key figures, and ambitions of House Vahd.

Former humans stripped of everything human. The origins, hierarchy, methods, and existential threat of the Thartans — Mordikhaan’s ancient enemy.

The most powerful lord in Mordikhaan. His ambition, his grief, his encounter with a Thartan Master, and what it cost him.

A brutal, cold realm held together by fear. The geography, history, political structure, and existential threats of the land at the heart of A Fire in the Heart of Knowing.