THE CIRCLE OF WIND – Stuart Lean

During a harsh winter, a dragon-like storyteller named Skimleshanks appears at a tavern, befriending the locals and enchanting them with the tale of two lives, marked by pain and loss, running on parallel tracks… Bella, a young woman from the human city of Hellania, dreams of becoming a warrior but is constrained by societal expectations. After her family is destroyed, she joins a guild of thieves where she hones her skills while facing moral dilemmas. At the same time, in another corner of the world, Kethlys, born into a Northman family, faces tragedy when her family is killed, and she is enslaved. Once rescued, she begins training as a Shaman guided by her mentor and her Watcher spirit, starting a journey that will lead her to great changes and adventures. Both protagonists grapple with their roles in society and the moral implications of their actions, while larger threats, such as a deadly plague and ancient evils, loom in the background…

Stuart Lean (Lancashire, October 1981), Stu to his friends, is an avid hobbyist and storyteller. A Dungeon— or Games-Master for many years, he finally turned his passion for telling stories about heroic deeds, fabled heroes and anti-heroes into a series of books based on one of the longest-running campaigns he ran: The Circle of Wind. He enjoys subverting clichés while embracing them at the same time. He also loves combining his passions for live-action roleplaying and historical combat and weaponry with his writing, seeking to bring the knowledge of the past to new audiences with both a fantastical and modern twist.