Heralds of Rhimn
Sapphic Dark Fantasy in a Colorful World
See Notes on Content & Themes?
Content warnings for each book will be placed on their individual pages. Overall, the series touches on topics of genocide, generational trauma, abuse, and neglect. There is some coarse language, but the swears are mostly medieval-ish oaths grounded in the lore of the world. This series also features the sort of violence you would expect from a war plot. Proceed thoughtfully.
Genre: Queer fiction, dark fantasy. This is a character-centric story with extensive worldbuilding that informs their history and perspectives. It features a significant sapphic romance sideplot, which later develops into polyamory with a nonbinary character. Political intrigue elements are introduced as the series goes on.
Age Range & Audience: Heralds of Rhimn is a general age-range book. Middle grade fiction readers should be able to follow along with the story, but there is also plenty of depth for an adult audience to sink their teeth into. If you’re a fan of The Age of Fire or Wings of Fire, then you’re likely to enjoy this series despite the lack of talking dragons.
Rhimn is a world of weird gender norms, forgotten gods, methodical magics, and buried histories — all of which get stirred up during the war in the main series. Check out the lore pages linked below, or read about the main characters below! A series of short stories set on Rhimn are coming soon to the site.
Meet The Protagonists!
Navaeli of Nowhere
A mysterious wanderer known better as the Shadow Herald. Despite her wary exterior and habit of leaving without a goodbye, all Navaeli really wants is to settle down somewhere friendly and quiet.
That would probably be easier if the government of Gadhi didn’t want her dead (again) for being Heraldry-bound to an ancient goddess of death and rebirth.
And it’s not like the goddess is a kind mistress either; Silamir is keen to change the world with her own two hands. Or rather, with Navaeli’s hands, should she finally convince the poor, exhausted girl to give up her body.
It is . . . easy, at times, to imagine giving in or giving up.
Though, if there’s one good thing about being an outcast, it’s that the other outcasts are happy to take you in. People worth loving, people worth protecting. But even with the help of some very new and very, very determined friends, is it possible for Navaeli to break free from the cage of her Heraldry?
Or was she always doomed to be the most spectacular casualty in the oncoming war between the gods?
Hobby: Cartography.
Crislie Crimsworth
The daughter of a seamstress and a nomad who never came back, Crislie Rowena Crimsworth has always felt out-of-place in her little hometown. Picking fights, goofing off, staring dreamily at the woods beyond the river — she’s gonna get herself in trouble one day. That’s what Ma says.
Well, one day, Crislie finds a half-dead Herald washed up on the river shore.
And it’s not like you can just leave a stranger to die like that, right? Seems only right to bring ‘em in and give them time to recover. Seems only fair, which ain’t something the world likes to be.
When Navaeli’s goddess forces her to move on before she’s fully healed, Crislie seizes the opportunity to follow her out into the world at large. But what starts off as an exciting opportunity to see new places and finally make something of herself turns into a more desperate flight as Crislie is confronted with the crimes of a country she calls home.
Still, she’s determined to stay by Navaeli’s side. Even if that means fighting knights, navigating warzones, making enemies of gods, and reframing her entire view of what a just world could look like.
Hobby: Whittling.
Meparik of the Frostbitten Court
As a mute middle child from a struggling feyrie court, Meparik is used to being overlooked. And that suits him just fine — or at least, that’s what he insists.
It’s easier to pick pockets when people hardly glance down at you. And it’s easier to watch your courtfamily vanish if you aren’t attached to them in the first place. And the distance will definitely make it easier on them when you inevitably vanish, the way that all pickpockets do.
Meparik plans to vanish. He’s going to escape his city’s iron-roughened walls for the uncertainty of the wilderness outside.
Fate has other plans.
A chance meeting with the Shadow Herald — and a little well-meant theft — pushes Meparik into political positions and friendships he is utterly unprepared for. What is one misanthropic eleven-year-old supposed to do against a genocidal regime? Even if he has the favor of a god or two in his pocket!
If he wants to save himself, Navaeli, or at least the other fey of Gadhi, then he’s got a lot of growing to do. And maybe a few allies to make along the way . . .
Hobby: Reading.
