TIDES WILL BRING ME BACK TO YOU.

I ask god to send a swordsman / and god says 'look at your hands'

Melissa Broder in "Problem Area" from Last Sext

          For as long as she can remember, Lei has been reared to kill for the crown. A family legacy passed onto her as Shadow General Gan's eldest daughter. An entire bloodline shaped into lethal assassins from birth, bound to the throne through a cursed Blood Knot, serving generations of Baxian royalty. As her father ages into honourable retirement, Lei must take his place.

          Except, Lei harbours a secret that could get her killed. In Baxia, shangdi, people born with the ability to manipulate one of the five qi elements—fire, water, metal, earth and wood—are experimented on and left for dead. With her proximity to the crown and her affinity for metal, Lei must watch her step.

          When her parents are executed by Emperor Haoran for treason, Lei's devastating secret rears its wrathful head.

          Fighting the onset of the curse herself and waging a losing battle against time, Lei flees to Tenuk Island, a haven of piracy and illegal trade in the South-Eastern sea, lawless and unclaimed. In the festering heat, in this savage land of dirty trade and debauchery, Lei is out of her element. And while her sisters aren't untrained in combat, they're too young to go unnoticed. Tenuk Island knows nothing but hunger, and flesh is always the most lucrative currency.

           To secure herself a place among the outlaws, Lei lands herself in the hands of Imperator Shan, the fearsome Pirate Queen, and her savage crew of cutthroat criminals and castaways onboard her ship, the Kingslayer. While Lei must hide her former allegiances to Emperor Haoran, she no longer needs to hide the fact that she is shangdi, punished for her ability to manipulate metal. In Baxia, that is a death sentence. Aboard the Kingslayer, she is among brethren.

          For all its notoriety, Tenuk Island is not without its adversaries. War ships blot the horizon. The fate of piracy hangs in the balance as new national powers hunger for a cleansing of the seas. And the first place to conquer and control is the untamed and outlawed hub of undefined leadership.

          The voyage that Shan and her crew have embarked on is a perilous and arduous one. With the treasure, they would be able to set both shangdi and Tenuk Island free.

          But the Kingslayer crew is not the only one with their eyes on the prize. The old Assassin's Guild haunts their every step. Lei's past begins to surface in the shape of an old ghost. By leaving Baxia, betraying the crown, Lei has violated the Blood Knot, and the repercussions have cursed her with the threat of a crippled mind.

          The clock is ticking. The sea watches and waits. Something below the surface is waking.

all-aboard the KINGSLAYER.

( 雷 )     GAN LEIZHEN

( 闪 )     SHAN

( 海 )     KAI

( 宁 )     NING

( 琳 )     GAN LINZHEN

( 燕 )     GAN YANZHEN

SHAHIN UL-QADIR

SOUNDTRACK.
blood knot

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

IM SO EXCITED YOU GUYS DON'T EVEN KNOW LIKE........ THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVOURITE PLOT IN MY ENTIRE WRITING CAREER????? PIRATES AND ASSASSINS?????? fuck yeah this is MY SHIT I'M SOOOOO STOKED.

ALSO. i find that no one writes about southeast asian fantasy. there's so much more to asia than china, korea and japan. southeast asian mythology has always been richer to me, especially in places (like my home country) where the cultural roots are never really defined. Tenuk Island is loosely based off of singapore's historical connection with piracy (isn't that so cool!!! an island that acts as a pirate hub will always be special to me i.e. nassau), which is ultimately one of the best backdrops to contextualise colonial history with.

anywhoreee i'm really excited about this bc i get to unleash my extensive nerdiness about asian mythology unto y'all and you're just gonna have to sit there and deal with the onslaught of it!!!!

TARYN     ©     2025