Four Ruined Realms

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Five Broken Blades, the first novel in Mai Corland’s Broken Blades series, introduces the main characters of Four Ruined Realms: Aeri, Sora, Mikail, Royo, Euyn, and Tiyung. The first novel also introduces the world of the series, in which four kingdoms—Yusan, Khitan, Gaya, and Wei—vie for dominance and political alliance. At the center of the world’s power are a number of sacred relics, each with its own distinct power, which can only be wielded by those of royal blood. Any person who wields two together has greatly increased power, and an individual who possesses all the relics becomes the Dragon Lord, with an almost godlike power.

In the first novel in the series, the team is introduced and becomes connected through their independent but interconnected plans. Aeri hires Royo to guard her as she steals a diamond. Mikail enlists his former lover, Euyn, the exiled prince of Yusan, to kill Euyn’s father, King Joon, and take the throne. Seok, a Yusan noble, orders his indentured servant, the poison maiden Sora (an assassin who uses poison), to go with his son Tiyung to kill Joon.