THE FIRST CHAPTER OF A CRIMSON DREAM LONG IN THE MAKING

ABOUT

“To fight for them, and for their smiles, is our duty, and our reason.”

The Nation of Vaifen is under attack.

The Ashen Reckoning, a terrorist organization hellbent on unraveling Vaifen and its ways, has unleashed a series of heinous and atrocious attacks all across the nation and on its capital, the crown city of Ternion.

Led by a man only known as ‘Dogma,’ they seek to ‘free’ Vaifen and its people from what they vehemently profess is, the tyrannical rule of the Crown, the corruption of the Senate, and the blind indifference of the Tribunal, the three pillars that hold the nation together. 

In addition to the threat of the Ashen Reckoning, others actively conspire from the shadows to bring an end to one of the last remaining nation-states in the planet from the inside out. The proud but ailing nation also finds itself at the cusp of a political crisis that could very well tear down the foundations of the nation.

Senator Thomas Easton, armed with his silver tongue and a shrewdness that only few can match, has catapulted his New Vaifen Front political party to unprecedented heights. Easton’s denouncement of Vaifen’s perceived stagnation, message of revolution, and the promise of an unprecedented change in Vaifen’s way of governance has begun to resonate within the populace like never before.

Vaifen’s security forces have so far been astoundingly unsuccessful in quelling the Ashen Reckoning’s bloodshed, and corruption — even the possibility of collaboration from within — is an ever-growing concern for the Nation’s regent, King Sulwyn Starsong, who, despite his diminished reign, cannot sit idly and let the nation he swore to protect and guide further descend into chaos.

King Starsong, alongside his trusted friend James Exley, Director of the National Intelligence Center, secretly plotted to create Gestalt, a small elite group that will turn the tide against the Ashen Reckoning, and protect Vaifen and its people from any other present and future threats, wherever they may come from.

Composed of some of the finest sons and daughters of Vaifen, the small Gestalt unit boasts bleeding edge technology unlike anything the nation has ever seen before. Highly advanced battle suits based on the designs of the now near extinct warrior-race, the Nasivern, stand as the cornerstone of their arsenal. To achieve their goals of securing peace for all of Vaifen, Gestalt is provided with exceptional operational liberties unlike that of the rest of the nation’s security apparatus.

Bastiel Isthal, a Nasivern orphan and the King’s protégé, dreams of one day becoming worthy of the heroic mantle of those that preceded him. He heeds the call to arms conveyed by his regent and joins Gestalt as the fifth member of its strike team — donning the crimson red GT-BS105MC Nightingale battle suit, and wielding the fighting doctrine and legacy of his ancestors, the so-called “Heirs of Sin.”

Sword of Vaifen follows the journey and exploits of Bastiel Isthal and the Gestalt team, as they work together to put an end to the Ashen Reckoning and Dogma — all whilst Bastiel carves his own heroic path in a world that he may never be fully part of.

This book will be the first foray in this universe. It is the first step towards the completion of this Crimson Dream of mine. Sword will be the first of a trilogy, which, along with Sins, and Soul, will comprise the first arc of this saga.

I can’t wait to share this dream of mine with you all.

THE WORLD OF ORBIS

This planned series of novels will feature many characters, factions, and elements that, page by page, will give form to this ever-evolving universe.

The following Lore entries are a preview of some — but not all — of the factions, characters, and concepts that will be featured on Sword of Vaifen, its planned sequels, and beyond.

I hope that these entries serve as an appetizer and give you a first-hand look into the Nation of Vaifen and the world of Orbis.

GESTALT

Gestalt
The Ashen Reckoning & Dogma

THE NATION OF VAIFEN

The Nation of Vaifen
The Royal House of Starsong
Citizens of Vaifen

THE NASIVERN

Heirs of Sin: The Nasivern
Sollente, the Shrouded Mother
The Absolute Doctrine

OTHER

Operation Warm Daylight
Coming soon!

PROGRESS

This fiction universe, and its journey towards completion, is one of my life’s most fervent dreams.

It is also my first foray into writing something of this caliber and magnitude, so I’m very thrilled and excited to share this experience with you all — the good and the bad, the triumphs, and the obstacles.

Right now, I’m at a turning point in my life. At last, after years of trials and tribulations, I find myself starting a new life from scratch away from my birthplace, Venezuela. 

Unfortunately, achieving that goal undoubtedly slowed things down and presented me with setbacks towards the completion of this dream, forcing me to put it on hold for several years.

Now that I find myself in a new country with my brother, I am finally resuming work on this dream project of mine after such a lengthly hiatus.

PUBLIC PREVIEW IV

While I continue my efforts to start a new life and to finally be able to publish the first chapter of this dream of mine, I would like to cordially invite you to check out Sword’s fourth public preview.

You can grab a copy by clicking the image on the right.
Note: It’ll be back up again very soon.

This fourth Public Preview contains the Prologue and the first nine chapters (out of a planned twelve), going all the way up Chapter IX: Binaural Symphony.

I hope this preview gives you a good initial first look at the life of Bastiel Isthal, the Nation of Vaifen, the Crown of Starsong, and the Gestalt team, as they face the unrelenting wrath of the Ashen Reckoning and their leader, Dogma.

What you’ll be reading has not yet been professionally edited in any capacity whatsoever, and as such, mistakes and grammatical errors will be found. English isn’t my native language and this is my rodeo of this type — it is, however, polished to the best of my ability and neophyte expertise, so please excuse any glaring mistakes you may find. I promise that they won’t be present in the final product.

All I ask is to please direct all feedback and criticism (good or bad) through my email, Twitter, Discord, or Telegram, you’ll find the links at the bottom of this page.

UPDATES

The latest posts and information regarding Sword of Vaifen and its planned sequels.

FEEDBACK

Any feedback, suggestion, criticism, or otherwise, will be greatly welcome, as it will be instrumental to the completion of this dream — and if you just want to chat that’s fine too!

You may reach me out through the following:

Sword of Vaifen is a work in progress. Things are not set in stone and can be subject to change.

Every image, logo, and any other graphics that you see here are placeholders, none of them are final.

2024, by Christian Kaleb Caruzo.