When Kaelstansa the Great felt the gaze of the Lantern Bearer turn to him, he looked upon his children and wondered which of them would have the means to continue his legacy.
That night, when he laid his weary head to rest, the Fortune Weaver appeared in his dreams in the guise of a golden bird. “Set before them three challenges, beloved-of-mine,” commanded the goddess. “One for strength, one for guile, and the last to test their character. The one who passes all three will have my blessing, and your kingdom shall reign forever in glory.”
— The Aetieriana
The Agonia: a colloquial term in the Aetierian Empire, referencing the endless battle between imperial heirs for the right to ascend to the imperial throne. Though having evolved from the King’s Game, this term is neither used nor referenced in any codified works of law.
THE KING'S GAME
Unlike the majority of kingdoms in Raia, the Empire of Aetier had no official rules that dictated the succession of the crown. Its founding ruler, King Kaelstansa the Great, set the precedent of the monarch choosing their heir regardless of birth order, forgoing the standards of male primogeniture and decreeing that only the most capable of his children would succeed him on the throne. He determined this by devising a game: a set of three challenges designed to test his children’s mettle, known by historians today as The King’s Game. While the exact nature of these challenges have been lost to history, the concept of testing each vi Aetier scion carried throughout the generations until—
THE DECADE OF BLOOD
The reign of Vasilier Belisarius II saw a great upheaval in the imperial court, owing in part to the increasing political power of the Serarium—the members of the imperial harem. As the primary parental figures of imperial heirs, members of the Serarium had a vested interest in the line of succession, often using their own families to advance their child’s position in the Vasilier’s eyes. However, the latter half of Belisarius II’s reign saw this struggle for power turn deadly. For years the imperial court was plagued with a string of murders, stillbirths, and conspiracies as consorts and heirs sabotaged one another to increase their chances of winning The Agonia before an official challenge was even designed.
In an attempt to end the tensions at court and the bloodbath in the Harem, Belisarius II made plans to hold an official Game to finally pick his heir. But before he could issue the challenge, tragedy struck when Belisarius II perished during a hunting a trip. With the Vasilier dead and no official heir appointed, the fight for the throne became a free-for-all.
Belisarius II’s consort-prima managed to quickly seize the imperial throne and the military surrounding Reanopoli— the old capital of Aetier—eliminated rival heirs within the capital, and crowned her twelve-year-old son, Atreus, the new Vasilier. She, along with her family, the House of Thysestes, formed a regency council and attempted to wrest control of the empire from the House of Aetier.
However, the House of Thyestes’ rule would not remain unchallenged as one of Belisarius II’s surviving children, Imperessor Leo vi Aetier, quickly returned in the middle of his Venusian Campaign upon hearing of his father’s death. The ten year civil war—the first since Aetier’s founding—saw immeasurable casualties on both sides, and eventually culminated into Imperessor Leo’s victory. After he was coronated as Vasilier Leo III on the summer solstice, he ordered for all mentions of Atreus and the House of Thysestes to be eradicated from history. Atreus was stripped of all his titles and his family name, and was executed along with the remaining members of House Thysestes at the age of twenty-one, a few days shy of his birthday.
THE ERA OF THREE CROWNS
Since the Decade of Blood, Aetierian history has been plagued by numerous civil wars, but none have had greater impact on the wider geopolitical landscape and the rules of the Agonia than the Era of Three Crowns.
Among Vasilier Arsenios I’s vast brood of children, three stood above the rest: Reilma-Imperessor Justinian, Kaisarim of Paros; Reilma-Imperessa Athanasia, Kaisarim of Iorousia; and Reilma-Imperessor Valens, Kaisarim of Kelainai. Equally talented, equally powerful, and equally backed by strong supporters, the Empire held its breath as the question of which among the three scions would inherit the imperial throne. Despite knowing that each of his three children were poised for another civil war, Arsenios I was reluctant to formally declare an heir, insistent on keeping the delicate balance of powers at the Imperial Court for as long as possible.
Only after his death did Arsenios I declare his chosen successor in his will— Justinian. But Justinian’s appointment was quickly contested by his half-siblings, accusing him and his family of conspiracy and forging an imperial edict as Aresnios I’s will was “found” by Justinian’s supporters.
The empire was quickly plunged into another civil war as each imperial heir declared themselves the true Vasilier and accused the others of being usurpers. From there, they split the empire into three territories: Justinian ruling from the Aetierian capital of Kaelstanopoli, Athanasia ruling to the east from Iorousia, and Valens governing the western territories from Kelainai. Eventually, Valens will move his seat of power to the province of Isidore, where the old capital of Reanopoli resides.
The repeated deadlocks and stalemates between all three sides had Aetier cracking at the seams. It was only when a fourth party—the kingdom of Leohthal—attempted to invade Valens’ territories to the West did the balance of power shift. With Valens distracted by the threat to his borders, Athanasia took this opportunity to push straight into the heart of Justinian’s territory, surprising his forces, capturing him, and then shaking his supporters by publishing the Artensian Papers. These papers were a confession, allegedly handwritten by Justinian’s mother before her death where she states that Justinian was sired by a knight errant. For Justinian—who already did not possess the trademark vi Aetier silver eyes—the Artensian Papers marred his reputation in a way that it could never recover from.
After being through the streets of Kaelstanopoli as a bastard pretender and usurper, Justinian was sentenced to death by beheading. Athanasia hung his severed head outside the walls of the city as a warning to Valens of the fate that would await him.
THE GREAT SCHISM
However the aftermath of Athanasia’s victory against Justinian and Valens’ successful repelling of the Leohthalian invasion left both sides severely weakened and unable to continue their conflict with each other. After a series of intense negotiations, Valens reluctantly agreed to relinquish his claim over the Aetierian throne and acknowledge Athanasia as the rightful Vasilier. In exchange, Valens was allowed to secede with his current territories in the west, creating the kingdom of Hesperia and establishing the House of Deominos as the ruling line with himself at the head.
Though Valens did not succeed in gaining the Aetierian throne for himself, he did manage to claim Kaelstansa’s ancestral lands in Reanopoli, as well as Kaelstansa’s burial grounds, which was a great blow to Aetierian pride.
THE SCION'S CODE
Seeing the devastation their civil war caused, Vasilier Athanasia I wanted to find a way to prevent competing claimants for the throne once an heir had been chosen. Her grand solution was instituting the Scion’s Code, an imperial edict that makes it lawful for the ascending heir to execute their siblings under the pretext of maintaining stability for the empire and the benefit of its citizens. Though kinslaying had thus been an age-old tradition at this point of the House of Aetier, this Scion’s code now made it legal and acceptable without having to find a more justifiable cause.
“The Agonia” as a term saw a resurgence after the Scion’s Code was passed. Instead of referring to the original King’s Game, or even the many great civil wars of the past, the Agonia now referred to the deadly games of succession played between imperial heirs, the harem, and the imperial court. No longer are the games of succession done for the sake of ambition, now it was one of survival. An empire or an execution. A crown or an axe. Victory or Death.
The Agonia is bloody. The players are ruthless. And for most imperial children, the game begins at birth.
when comes the dawn monthly update {08.2025 & 09.2025}
The past couple of months have been busy so not much of an opportunity to write, but better late on this update than never lmao.
THE STATISTICS
the draft → 48,442 words
words written in august → 1,293 words
-- average word count per session → 323 words
words written in september → 2,040 words
-- average word count per session →340 words
words written this year→ 27,357 wordS
STORY NOTES
• Act one is kicking my but so hard, I keep getting trapped in the set-up hell that i made for myself. I'll probably take a break from act one for now and try to make progress on act two
• Nikephoros gets his own problematic blond a friend! yay! he's totally trustworthy guys :D
• chapter seven gets a little bloody (there is a distinct lack of actual death for a story that includes ghost characters lmao)
EXCERPTS
Two excerpts this post, one for each month.
It would be easier, perhaps, not to fight it. To make friends with Illysandre vi Soresi would be a great advantage for Nike and his sister, and with the consort-prima's influence and his own willingness to set aside his pride as a Deominos prince, he may be able to secure better accommodations and more freedoms for them.
And it's getting tiring, isn't it? To keep fighting.
There was only so much more of this tower you could take.
Far from Isandros. Far from home. Far from hope.
--
Dantalion hummed, nodding his head. "Yes, yes. You are grateful for many things are you not? You are grateful for your head, certainly, that it is still attachd to your shoulders. You are grateful that We have allowed you to remain with your sister. And certainly you are grateful that you have been accommodated quite well considering the circumstance." He motioned for the guards to release the prince. "Unfortunately, your brother doesn't seem to express the same sentiments. Look here—" he sat the urn down in front of Deominos "see how he has repaid Our kindness."
Slowly, Deominos peered inside the urn.
His scream echoed throughout the hall. In his flailing to get away from the urn, he knocked it over with his arm, the object within rolling out onto the marble in plain view of the entire court.
Totally am not late in posting the July update hahahah wdym
THE STATISTICS
the draft → 45,109 words
words written this month → 4,854 words
average word count per session → 405 words
words written this year→ 27,357 words
STORY NOTES
So uh...remember when I said that the projected word count goal was around 90k??? I may have severely underestimated myself bc we're pretty much halfway there and we're not even close to the halfway point of the story yet
July's progress was pretty slow-going both because I was trying to write around a crazy work schedule and also because I was struggling a lot with writing [The Wolf and the Fawn] chapter. Said chapter is definitely gonna need a lot of work but that's a draft two problem
Fenice gets a dog! Well, she will get a dog since I haven't written the scene where she adopts said dog, but it will happen!! His name will be Petros Hylaktor and he is the goodest dog ever <3
EXCERPTS
Fenice called out to her. The girl's head snapped up, shoulders tensed and color drained from her face. Yet as soon as her eyes locked onto Fenice's, she bolted from the floor, nearly slamming them both onto the ground in her haste to clutch onto Fenice's skirts. Fenice stumbled back with a grunt, free hand awkwardly coming up to rest against Cassandra's dark curls. She couldn't help the cringe as she felt the other's tears soak into the fabric of her clothes.
What has you so scared? She wanted to ask. Scared enough to seek safety with something like me?
And that was when she saw it.
In front of them was a wolf.
A wolf and a doe.
The wolf was the largest Fenice had ever seen. Twice her size and with a coat of fur as black as the abyss itself, it growled something fierce and territorial, blood-drenched maw rising from where it was buried in the doe's stomach. It snapped its massive teeth, snarled lips pulled back until Fenice could see the bits of gore stuck between the spaces of its canines.
By some miracle, it had yet to see Fenice.
But wolves rarely hunted alone.
THE BLOG
Yeah, I kinda ditched the idea of a mid-year update. Life just got in the way lol
I may be updating some of my old posts, so if you find yourself getting notified for them again then that's why
the draft -> 40,250 words
words written this month -> 1,213 words
average word count per session -> 303 words
words written this year -> 22,503 words
It's been a little difficult this month to find the time and energy to write (my work schedule has been...not the best) but I'm happy to have gotten a little writing in this June!
STORY NOTES
Started writing the hunting scene
Chapter title [The Mother of Many] has been changed to [Feast of the Shining One]
Organization wise, I'll be shuffling chapters so that act 1 ends with [The Gate of Portam Castellum]
I moved up Fenice and Cassandra's meeting to happen earlier during the imperial hunt
EXCERPT
Perched at the edge of one particularly large pillow was a young girl that looked barely past her tenth year, her posture rigid even as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. She's a doll-like thing, all loose dark curls and wide doe eyes, the baby fat just barely clinging to her rosy cheeks. Meek as a mouse in her seat, the little girl's face would blanche in horror everytime she caught herself flinching or cringing at Fenice's cursed presence. The girl had already been here before Fenice arrived, and Illysandre saw no need to make any introductions on her behalf. Matter of fact, Illysandre barely acknowledged her at all except to occassionally motion to have the girl's tea refilled or to move a plate of sweets closer in reach of her short arms.
THE BLOG
We're half-way through the year! To celebrate me keeping up with these updates, I wanted to do a whole midyear update post in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!
the draft -> ~39,419 words
words written this month -> 2,399 words*
average word count per session -> 343 words*
words written this year -> 21,290 words
* physically, I wrote more than that, but since I'm still focused on compiling my drafts into proper chapters and folders, I took the opportunity to do some light revisions and then only counted the new words in my tracker.
STORY NOTES
Still working on putting my scenes into proper chapters and also bridging the gaps between them
Added another sheet to my word count tracker where I can keep track of the actual draft word count and have it separate from my general words written. It's also what I use to keep track of my chapter details (chapter titles, parts, number of scenes/words, POV)
Speaking of: I've decided to start adding chapter titles! My favorite ones so far are The Sorrow-Bringer's Gift and The Mother of Many
Did some revisions on Nike's flashback of Isandros to try and hint at how strained the brothers' relationship was becoming because of the war
Unfortunately, I did have to delete Nike's very iconic "I'd cheat on Fenice to get back at her if I could but I know she won't actually care so I won't" lines :( It's not gone for good though! I'm hoping to add it back in a later chapter
Revised the beginning of The Mother of Many (previously referred to as "the god feast" scene to incorporate the fact that Fenice sees ghosts
Currently in the process of writing The Hunt, where Fenice is attempting to prove herself a useful ally to Illysandre
EXCERPT
And that was the heart of the matter, was it not? What could Fenice offer that neither Illysandre nor Charles had? Charles was already disgustingly perfect as a son and heir; powerful, dutiful, and skilled in equal measure. Illysandre was the daughter of House vi Soresi, one of the eight evgenii that first swore alleigance to the First Emperor, bringing political power and prestige that Fenice's own maternal background could not match. The blood of Eliskander-konig might flow through Fenice, but there was little the Iskavaarian warlord would be willing to do for a grandaughter he'd never met.
Fenice had no friends or connections that would prove useful to Charles' cause, nor riches that House vi Soresi could not already provide. Truly, she had nothing to give.
Nothing except herself.
What a pitiful deal this was.
BLOG STUFF
I wanna do a post over some of the imperial/court titles used but I'm still stumped on what to do for a graphic for it
the draft -> ????***
words written this month -> 5,027 words
average word count per session -> 503 words
words written this year -> 12,382 words
*** I've had to do some editing/revision so I'm not sure what the actual draft count is. I'm still working on assembling the scenes I've written into chapters so I can get a more accurate count
STORY NOTES
Fenice has been updated with a new ability: ghost vision. Now she has the opportunity to commune with her ancestors. This is not as fun as it sounds when your ancestors consist of kinslayers and their unfortunate victims.
Since Fenice is born with this ability I had to go back and update the earlier chapters to reference and make use of it more which led me to discovering--
how many Act 1 scenes I've completely skipped writing???? Last year I tried writing out of order to help with writers block but wow I left sooo many gaps. And since I'm having a little bit of a block writing some of the more intrigue heavy sections in the recent chapters, I decided to try and go patch up those holes while I try to get over this block.
Also decided to forgo splitting the book into the traditional 3 acts, but instead splitting it into multiple smaller acts
Made some slight tweaks to the reilma-imperessa/imperessor title so that it's something specific differentiate regular imperial heirs from ascended heirs
Aretos is getting a...small change in his backstory, specifically in relation to Fenice, which I hope will add a fun little facet to their dynamic with each other
The King's Game has been renamed to the Agonia
EXCERPT
“A triumph!” Fenice flicked her eyes towards the voice—gone hoarse from endless shouting. Standing atop the railing of her balcony, Saphynia cheered and crowed at the crimson river forming in front of Kaelstanopoli’s western gate. She’s dressed in her muddied and dented armor, helmet held above her head to shield her glass eyes from the sun. “When was the last time we had a proper triumph?” Saphynia’s gravelly laugh clashed sharply with her jovial attitude, cracked lips splitting into a wide grin. “Ah, I remember my own triumphs…to ride at the front of the army, to bear the golden laurel, to be marked in the purple— what I wouldn't give to be there again.”
“Did you not celebrate five in your lifetime?” Fenice murmured. “Three of them within the span of a month, too.”
Saphynia pivoted on her heel to stare down at her, feet dangerously close to the edge of the balcony, the long braid of her dark hair whipping around her. “Five glorious triumphs, but only five! Enough to whet the appetite but hardly enough to satiate it.”
“I never imagined the Iron Queen to be unsatisfied with her victories.”
“Ah, child, you know too little. Perhaps you will sing a different song when you’ve experienced the thrill of the entire world knelt at your feet.”
THE BLOG
View the worldbuilding post for The Agonia here. I'm pretty proud with how I fleshed out the history, and it became a pretty chunky post lmao. It includes historical events such as The Decade of Blood and The Era of Three Crowns
Aretos' birthday is April 1st!
I'm planning for the next wip post to be about the imperial titles used by the vi Aetiers but I'm not set on how exactly I want to do it
IN ANOTHER WORLD THERE MAY HAVE BEEN a different victor of the Agonia. Had a single person stepped out or stepped in, or the winds had blown east instead of west, or the Thousand-Faced God changed their whims, or the Fortune-Weaver favored a different heir, perhaps there would have been a different person on the throne of Aetier. And in that world there would have been the happiest prince in all the realms-- beloved, cherished, and so certain of his own place in the world. Behold the reilma-imperessor Aretos vi Aetier, prince of princes, son of Astaria the Great, he who stands heir to the throne of the empire eternal!
the draft → 65,945 words
words written this month → 1,347 words
average word count per session this month → 337 words
words written this year → 7,335 words
STORY NOTES
Not much writing done this much. Got a little burned out from IRL stuff, but I tried to make even a little bit of progress!
Finished the meeting between Fenice and High Commander Selene Doriaskora, so now we're switching gears and introducing a much older character that hasn't been mentioned in a good while: Lady Yorah (who is, fun fact, not an actual titled Lady but everyone calls her that regardless.)
Reminding myself again that I'm technically writing draft 0.5 so I'm allowed to skip to the meat of a scene so Ic an move this story along
Did some light editing on the previous scenes/chapters of the draft! There's quite a few scenes that I'll end up cutting in the end, but that's all for the best.
EXCERPT
Fenice might’ve been young but she wasn't so foolish as to walk into a strange room without some kind of protection. She was the Kaisarim of Isidore, and beyond that she was vi Aetier, born in the purple that entailed both glory and danger alike. “It is your master that requested an audience with me. She has quite the gall to dictate the terms of our meeting like this." Gesturing to Leda, “Let my companion enter so that I may be assured of my safety. If she deems it passable, then I am more than willing to treat with your Lady alone as promised.”
