In the twilight of the Heroic Age, when gods still walked the earth and celestial magic lingered in the air, a darkness long thought dead has begun to stir beneath the waters of the MoonSea.

Set in the 7th Century BCE along the ancient shores of the Black Sea, The Shadow and the Scepter is an epic historical fantasy that weaves together the myths, cultures, and legends of the ancient world into a breathtaking and wholly original story. Drawing inspiration from the chronicles of Herodotus, the Scythian horse-lords, the Greek city-states, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the legend of Jason and the Argonauts, authors Shawn McMichael and Timothy Manley have crafted a world as rich and layered as the history that inspired it.

The world of Méhns Móri, known to the Hellenes as the MoonSea, was born from a war between gods. When the sun god Otosyrus defeated the flaming serpent Coruk-Azul to protect the moon goddess Selene, the resulting cataclysm drowned the Silver City of Astria and gave birth to an age of darkness. The seven Astarian Sages rose to bring civilization back to a broken world, and the scepter of Selene became the vessel of divine healing that held peace together.

But peace never lasts.

The scepter has been shattered. Its pieces scattered across a world sliding back into chaos. Plagues sweep through warring kingdoms. Ancient gods are fading. And from the cold depths of the MoonSea, something old and evil is waking.

At the center of it all is Vädumir, a man born with a terrible affliction that slowly transforms him into something no longer human. Driven by pain, rage, and an iron will to survive, he builds power, wealth, and influence across the ancient world, becoming the tyrant vampire that the age of heroes will have to reckon with. His story is one of the most compelling villain origins in modern fantasy, a man whose tragedy is entirely believable before his darkness becomes terrifying.

Alongside Vädumir's rise, a cast of deeply human heroes from across the ancient world find themselves drawn together by fate, prophecy, and the desperate need to reassemble the scepter before the Serpent Coruk-Azul completes his return.

Fast friendships forged across cultural divides. Celestial magic and fading gods. Dragons, Djinn, and ancient powers older than memory. The Shadow and the Scepter is a story about what it means to be human in a world that is anything but, and about whether light can survive when darkness has had centuries to grow strong.

For fans of richly researched historical fantasy, morally complex characters, sweeping world building, and stories where mythology and reality blur into something unforgettable, Book One of the Tales of Méhns Móri is the beginning of a series you will not want to put down.