GHOULS.

Before the world fractured, mankind bled a single, brilliant hue: the pure light of Blue. It was a time of absolute uniformity, until the sky broke and birthed the "Curse of the Red"—a sudden, terrifying phenomenon that permanently stained the blood of millions a dark, volatile crimson. Fear crepts in the hearst of men, and that fear bred despise, despise bred discrimination, and the infected were cast into the shadows.

Yet, when the "Savage Plague" swept through the Great Empire of the Sky, decimating the pure Blue-bloods, it was the despised Crimson-bloods who survived. Desperate to save their dying race, the Imperial scholars enforced the Covenant: a desperate mandate of cross-breeding. From the union of Blue and Crimson, a miracle was born—the Purple-blooded "True Bloods." Immortal-mortals who never sickened, never paled, and possessed divine longevity.

​But the miracle was short-lived. The window of their creation closed, replaced by the birth of the Vermilions. The True Bloods became a finite, sacred lineage, anchoring themselves at the absolute apex of the empire's rigid pyramidical caste. Beneath them sit the Blue-blooded Nobles; below them, the resilient, hard-working Vermilions fighting for scrap recognition; and at the absolute dirt-choked bottom lie the Crimsons, the cursed foundation upon which the entire empire flourishes 

​Today, the Great Empire of the Sky stands as the most formidable power on Earth, ruled by the enigmatic Emperor Vaneen. To the masses, Vaneen is a beloved, gentle sovereign—a rare beacon of kindness and justice who rules his subjects with genuine compassion rather than fear. Yet, behind his benevolent smile lies a paralyzing, kingdom-shattering terror: the Emperor’s divine purple blood is a lie. In his veins rushes the forbidden, volatile crimson of the lowest caste. Vaneen wants nothing more than a better empire, but he is trapped in a deadly masquerade.

Standing over him is his fiercely protective Empress Mother, a ruthless matriarch who uses every dark, alchemical, and lethal means necessary to conceal her son's secret. While Vaneen rules with a soft hand, his mother operates in the shadows, executing anyone who catches a glimpse of the Emperor's true color to protect her son from a noble coup.

​Meanwhile, buried in the soot-choked, lower-caste foundries, a young laborer named Cael fights daily just to survive. Cael believes he is nothing more than a disposable Crimson, fated to burn out for the empire's glory. He has no memory of the catastrophic palace conspiracy that stole him from his cradle, nor does he understand why his strategic mind operates with the precision of a warlord. He only knows he must keep his head down and his wounds hidden.

​Because Cael carries a secret of his own, one he doesn't yet comprehend: when he bleeds, his wounds do not weep crimson. They bleed the flawless, uncorrupted purple of the true imperial bloodline. He is the displaced heir, the last genuine True Blood born to the empire.