Odo wanted nothing of his father’s crown. Born of Tribal and Snow blood, he belonged fully to neither people. But when he built a tower upon the ancient ruins of Castle Brun, he unwittingly drew the attention of seven realms.
Fifty cycles earlier, Brun had fallen in a devastating war, its greatest secrets hidden by Mistra, the Protector. Now, after half a century in hiding, Mistra had returned—and the realms feared what her reappearance might mean.
Odo had built a tower. He had no notion of the war it would bring to his doorstep, nor of the secrets buried beneath its foundations.
Prince Odo: The Mud Gate Origin
Long before he challenged the traditions of kings, ten-year-old Prince Odo ventured beyond the protection of Turret Towers and into the desperate streets of Mud Gate. There, an encounter with four hungry street urchins would change far more than he imagined.
Read Prince Odo: The Mud Gate Origin —
Cycles later, Odo sought his inheritance, only to find his father had already stolen it. The late king had forged his renown through conquest, plunder, and extortion, leaving behind an empire built on blood and illusion. Odo knew the bloody reality beneath the heroic legend, and he held nothing but contempt for the paragon his father had pretended to be.
Odo gave no notice of Fisher’s question, then realized what he had asked. “No rumor. Father was not a king; he was a pirate, a marauder, one who drew his courtiers to believe he was the man who could shit gold… a great man of war—but he failed at it. Over and over, he failed, and like every other pirate out there, he shit shit!
During King Odo’s first privy meeting, a minister points out that the royal cellars are now empty due to the young king’s generosity toward peasants.
“Kings have codes. Break them, and the sea will swallow the ship, Your Grace.”
King Odo’s lip rose. “The broken tempest allows the ships to sail safely. A king’s code should be a broken tempest for all his people. Red Isle is falling apart, Cabi. Give a man a mead.
A young king challenges the traditions of his father’s reign. But changing the rules of a kingdom is one thing. Surviving the consequences is another.
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