by
- Sunkissed Feathers & Severed Ties
- Curling Vines & Crimson Trades
Misti Eildelmann is a Vagari—a race whose innate crafting ability is connected to the creatures of the world. She’s also a Moon Knight. Misti is fighting a banished one when he slips a pendant around her neck that saps her strength. The pendant is dangerous. Deadly even. It harnesses crafting in a way not seen before, so she sets off to find help. Old and new friends join her on this quest, including her longtime crush Dylori Clyofis and a villager named Arias Silverstone. The journey is risky—filled with frightening suncreatures, evil worshippers, and twisted betrayal. Misti is thankful to have friends on this path into the scorching light, but something much bigger is waiting for them in the sunshine. Her pendant is just a piece of the puzzle.
Misti’s world is both beautiful and monstrous: its magic-wielding denizens conduct their lives by night to avoid the super-powered monsters that roam during the day. These monsters can be traced back to the quasi-mythical Great Rift, when the goddess Aluriah vanquished her sister Ponuriah. Ponuriah, the supposed source of the suncreatures that prevent diurnal activity, is worshipped exclusively by bloodthirsty death cultists, and her name mainly appears in the narrative when someone is swearing.
This is just one of the ways in which Doherty has invested deep thought into her worldbuilding: she’s considered the taboos of her fictional cultures rather than relying on real-world mores. Same-sex relationships are largely accepted in this world; characters disclose their attractions and preferences with unworried ease, and regardless of any other trauma the narrative visits upon its characters, any mention of less tolerant environments serves as set dressing rather than plot points.
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