
by Elias Corr
He woke in a field of ash five centuries after the fall of his order—with no memory of his life and a divine greatsword that knows exactly who he is. It refuses to tell him. Eldrin Shadowbane remembers neither the man he once was nor the catastrophe that left him alone among the ruins. All he has is his battered armour, the voice of the sword inside his mind, and the growing certainty that the darkness which destroyed his world has begun to move again. Vael Nightbinder has the opposite problem. He remembers exactly how he became what he is. His power has a voice of its own, a name—Vorin—and a habit of borrowing Vael’s hands whenever it decides he is no longer using them properly. When both men are drawn to the town of Marrowdale, they find it under siege by creatures twisted into servants of an ancient corruption. Fighting beside them are a grieving barbarian, an elven druid and her battle-bear, a weary priest, and the strange crew of an arcane ship descending from the clouds. Together, they uncover the beginning of something far worse. Across Thyndorin, shards of an ancient power are corrupting everything they touch. They turn devotion into tyranny, healing into plague, and the desire to protect into a hunger that destroys everything it loves. Someone is searching for the scattered pieces—and unless they are found first, the world may be returned to the darkness from which the First Dawn once drew it. Aboard The Nomad, a company of strangers sets out to reach the shards first. Some of the corrupted can still be saved. Others no longer believe they need saving. Learning the difference may be the most important thing the company ever does. It may also be the mistake that destroys them. What to expect: ✦ Character-driven epic fantasy with an ensemble cast and rotating perspectives✦ A sentient sword, a dangerously helpful patron, an arcane skyship, ancient gods and corrupted dragons✦ Found family built through friction, humour and slowly earned loyalty✦ Large-scale battles alongside quieter mysteries and character-driven choices✦ A world where mercy has consequences—and may be the only way to build the army that can save it✦ A five-book saga born from a long-running homebrew Dungeons & Dragons campaign✦ New chapters every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 04:58 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 04:58 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
2%
Two or more lists
1%
Likely threshold order: Action → Adventure → Fantasy → Main.
Leading bundle: Action (1%).
Estimated from one fitted shared story path; category probabilities are not multiplied as if lists were independent.
Separate entry forecast; this probability does not enter the ranking score.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#7165 of 12,129 · 7115 below RS #50
By genre
beats 49% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 24% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 20–49 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.