If you are reading this the day it was published, Traitor’s Eye won’t yet be available to read, so this may appear a slightly frustrating read. The purpose of this post is to give you a peak into the history of Rumithia, where we stand before the first book starts, but at the same time I have to hold back any potential spoilers. So, this will be a very incomplete account of the lore of Rumithia, but I hope it gives you a flavour of what’s to come, it provides some sources of my many points of inspiration and of course, I hope it whets your appetite to buy the book when it eventually drops!

The Giant Dynasty

Traitor’s Eye begins in the year 1554 of the Second Age. I can start in the year 1255 of the Second Age. I can’t say anything about the First Age without introducing spoilers, and I’ve also omitted several hundred years of the Second Age.

In 1255, Rumithia was ruled by three Guardians, the leaders of the main races in Rumithia. There was Andros of the humans, Alitek of the giants and the Aria of the rooklins. However, the Guardians became riven by division, and Alitek killed Aria, before Andros killed Alitek in revenge. Word spread of what Andros had done, and news of Alitek’s demise reached his four sons, who were furious and took it as a declaration of war against the giants. Andros was devastated by what he had done. He knew the giants were after blood, and he was desperate to avoid a war between humans and giants. He sought out the eldest son and heir of Alitek, Alitek II. He called him to Rithagow to try and negotiate peace. He offered to leave Rumithia and go into exile to stave off the threat of war. Humans would be left to rule Anthrow, the rooklins would be anchored in Syros and the giants in Kasban. Alitek II agreed, and Andros departed with his wife and left the shores of Rumithia, never to return.

Rumithia entered into a power vacuum with the Guardians rule at an end, and no clear structure of governance in its place.

Drawing from history, power vacuums are really precarious moments, when nobody knows what’s going to happen, and everything that seemed certain becomes uncertain. It’s an opportunity to reshape the world, to break status quos and set new orders, and also an opportunity for chancers.

I’ve taken this and applied into my fantasy fiction here in an era that I’ve called the giant dynasty, as play on words, both literal and figurative. It’s a time that featured a sideways succession that I’ve found inspiration for in real life, like the dynasty of Al Saud. Until MBS came about, the throne of Saudi Arabia was passed from brother to brother, through all the sons of Al Saud.

Here I wanted to get into what George R. R. Martin would probably describe as fantasy politics. You’ve had a great and fearsome leader pass, and suddenly this dynasty is looking shaky. The passing of Tywin Lannister brought uncertainty to the House of Lannister, and the master politician Cersi Lannister started forging new alliances like the one with the Sparrow to secure the Lannister’s position. In Rumithia this politics plays out differently.

Inspired by titles like those from A Song of Ice and Fire and The Wheel of Time, Kinslayer, I thought giant slayer had a good ring to it and bring this in to my writing. You’ll have to see what and who this comes to apply to.

Redbeards vs Blackbeards

Now, this is just backstory and lore that has little to do with Traitor’s Eye directly. One thing which will definitely be present in the book is a division between the giants . They split into camps which I’ve called Redbeards and Blackbeards. This tag doesn’t denote actual beard colour of all the giants, and so you can have a Blackbeard who has a red beard and vis-versa (have I lost you?).

I also draw from religious history to inspire the Redbeard and Blackbeard tension. How differences can be so stark amongst people of ostensibly the same overall faith, Catholics and Protestants, both Christians, yet historically divided. The same could be said about Catholics and Orthodox who are even closer in doctrine. In Islam you have the Shia and Sunni sects etc. Yet those differences are deep and engrained despite similar backgrounds, even similar beliefs, people look at each other differently due to these identities. This is the feeling I’ve drawn on to inspire this split between Blackbeards and Redbeards.

In history at school, I remember I was astounded learning about European history in the 1500s, with Charles V of Spain, assumed his role as the Holy Roman Emperor, leaving King Francis of France feeling isolated. I will never forget how Machiavellian he was in trying to undermine Charles, even allying with the Muslim Turks to allow them to dock in French ports, or ferment Protestant unrest in the German states, even though he had been named by the Pope the Most Christian King. People who should be on the same side, actively undermining each other. This inspired part of my story around the Giant Dynasty and the Redbeards and Blackbeards.

The Faction Wars

After the death of the last of Alitek’s children, Rumithia enters into a new era called the Faction Wars. It’s even more chaotic and divided. A key character in this period is Theokin. He someone modelled more on Alexander the Great and his conquests and spread of Hellenism across the West and East, but there’s a degree of a 19th century statesman about him too, statesman or revolutionary of a restive, occupied population that thirsts for independence. While he is Alexander the Great, he is also Alexander Ypislandis a revolutionary of modern Greece.

What starts as a group of humans rebelling against the giant rulers, escalates into fragmenting factions, human factions fighting other human factions, and the giants desperately torn by the divisions of Blackbeards and Redbeards.

It’s in this environment, at the peak of the fragmented Faction Wars that Kelorne, the main character of Traitor’s Eye, emerges.

In my next blog, I will talk more about Kelorne, what I can tell you about him (without providing spoilers of course) that would be good to know before reading Traitor’s Eye. I will focus on his rivalry with Yonmere, which is a key overarching theme of the book.