Introduction to Whispers of White Sapphire
In the months after A Sanctum of Swords Embers Edition’s completion, I turned my mind toward what I wanted to create for my second novel. I thought of a few ideas, each with its own merit to support a story, until the thought crossed my mind that maybe I wanted to do a novella collection. A group of related stories, separate in terms of character cast and narrative plot, but tied together by a few shared themes and world-building elements.
Eventually, I settled on writing a few stories that would focus on particular factions in the U’skar Qi Steppes, ones that worshiped the White Sapphire Sun. The White Sapphire Sun is a sister religion to the Golden Sun Cult accepted by the Carth Dominion, and its children serve Kharothir, the God of the Primordial Hunt.
Originally, I had come up with three stories for this set of novellas, but after a while of writing two, I eventually decided to choose one to flesh out into a full novel and shelved the rest.
I settled on a novella that I originally titled Apparitions Amid the Whispering Woods, focused on a conflict between two hunter-centric factions, that takes place in the Old Myrian Empire.
After deciding that I wanted to build the narrative out into a full-fledged novel, I renamed the book Whispers of White Sapphire.
What is the story behind Whispers of White Sapphire?
The story takes place during the duration of A Sanctum of Swords, the novel, so 780 in the Ascension of Kings, and lasts for about a year. The regions depicted in Whispers of White Sapphire are the northern territories of Khios: The Old Myrian Empire and the U’skar Qi Steppes in the northern forests around Tia Jamur. The northern steppes are inhabited by the White-and-Vermilion Wolves, a nomadic tribe of exiles, who worship the Tatar Wolves and Kharothir, the God of the Primordial Hunt and the White Sapphire Sun.
Sagra begins the story as an aspirant undergoing the Blood Hunt, a rite of passage for youths seeking to become official members of the White-and-Vermilion, alongside several youths. Raised into a steadfast warrior of her tribe and an excellent hunter and tracker, Sagra has fought a losing war alongside her tribe and their allies in the Great Exodus coalition against the expanding empire of Grand Xura, now commanded by Royal King Sarkis, the Black Tiger of the U’skar Qi.
Seeking refuge from annihilation, the tribes of the Great Exodus construct great fleets that have been sailing westward into the lands of the Old Myrian Empire. Their goals are to claim new lands and establish a foothold where they can continue life in adherence to the Old Ways, away from Grand Xura’s dominance.
Yet this brings them into conflict with the Autumn Realms, who are ill-prepared for a sudden mass migration and open war such as this.
Ara Zakarian, an Anahir Immortal sworn in service to the Autumn Queen, joins the early stages of the Old Myrian resistance to halt the Great Exodus’s advance.
As conflict escalates across the southeastern lands of Old Myria, the White-and-Vermilion have their own goals outside of conquest and war. They seek the fabled Whispering Wilds of Kharothir, said to exist in the northwestern fringes of Old Myrian territory.
Isra is a Child of the Sun and an exile of her civilization, who long embraced Kharothir as her god, and became an accepted member of the White-and-Vermilion and one of their priestesses. She has suffered from dreams since she was a young girl of another stranger’s journey through life, and seeks out the moment when destiny crosses their paths for the first time. She can also track what other people are doing in the world through her dreams, gifted to her by the God of the Hunt.
Whispers of White Sapphire is a novel of tragedy, destiny, and war combined into one standalone book.
The three main characters, Ara, Isra, and Sagra, are trying to survive a war that no one wants to fight, and must confront their demons as they struggle to survive the onslaught.
But what are the ultimate goals of the White and Vermilion? Why do they seek the Whispering Wilds of Kharothir? What ancient ambition will they enact upon arriving in their sacred promised land?
Is there any connection between A Sanctum of Swords and Whispers of White Sapphire?
The answer to that question is yes, in a number of ways.
A Sanctum of Swords takes place on the same continent as Whispers of White Sapphire, but depicts a different kind of conflict unfolding in either novel.
A Sanctum of Swords is basically a shadow war between the Ashen Blades Syndicate of Sukhan Kingdom and the Carth Dominion, including some inter-dimensional doorways leading to places beyond.
Whispers of White Sapphire, too, depicts another conflict between geopolitical powers, but this is a more contemporary-fantasy style war, and much more within the boundaries of what readers might consider a normal world. Though Whispers of White Sapphire shows that there are also some inter-dimensional doorways leading into different realms, where the gods of the Ascended Pantheon may still dwell.
The Old Myrian Empire is in a state of peace at the beginning of Whispers of White Sapphire, though its armies are clearly keeping an eye on Grand Xura and the Carth Dominion’s newly formed alliance.
Secondly, you will see some of the characters in Whispers of White Sapphire also appear sooner or later in the Embers of the Past narrative as the Old Myrian Empire becomes more involved in the wider conflict.
Why did you want to write Whispers of Sapphire?
That is a good question!
I think the answer is that I wanted to write something a little out of the box, something indirectly connected to the main narrative of the Embers of the Past, but that focused on different issues, characters, and themes.
I wanted to write something a bit more about tragedy and love, but still overall about the wars occurring throughout the Sanctum of Swords era.
I, too, wanted a chance to depict more of the realms of Khios and cover just a little of the U’skar Qi Steppes, and show a little bit of the civilizations that roam/once roamed there.
The White-and-Vermilion Wolves are a traditional nomadic tribe that has long existed in the northern fringes of the steppes. Depicting their traditions and values was a cool undertaking from the novel’s beginning to its end, and the same for the Old Myrian Empire. It gives you a sense of how different every civilization on Khios is from one to the next, and what the current crises each is facing.
I also wanted to give an early glimpse into a large array of characters that will be featured in later books in the Embers of the Past series, and show them in the Old Myrian Empire in a state of normalcy.
Lastly, I wanted to tell an interesting story that I am not necessarily used to telling, and push myself beyond the boundaries of my writing limits!