Where Fate Breaks
Where Fate Breaks is a dark fantasy novel set in Arynbel. A kingdom once ruled by divine soulmarks, given by the goddess Elara, only fate itself is beginning to fail.
A world where the marked are given purpose, and the unmarked are feared as omens. Hollowborn, the people born without Elara’s touch, are hidden, hunted, and burned. Even the Weave that holds the realm together, is beginning to unravel.
Where Fate Breaks follows Lysaen, a Hollowborn woman raised in secrecy. When she uncovers an ancient relic during a Veil rupture beneath Ashveil, she is forced into flight after the artefact awakens. The artefact draws the attention of the Aurents, the masked enforcers of the Conclave’s divine law. The Aurent forces pursue her following the doctrine set in place by the Conclave, in the wake of the silence of the Goddess. The Aurents seek Hollowborn persecution, and Lysaen is no different.
Lysaen is hunted through the fractured kingdom by those who see her as a threat to sacred order. She must survive long enough to uncover what the relic truly is, why it answered her, and what may be waiting at the edge of the Veil.
Among those sent after her is Veyric, a disciplined Aurent Veilbreaker whose faith begins to fracture as he encounters truths his order was never meant to face. As Lysaen runs south toward the haunted shores of Mournvale and the deeper mysteries beyond, Veyric follows with growing doubt. Both lives are drawn into a struggle far older than the collapsing kingdom around them.
What begins as a hunt becomes a reckoning over whether fate was ever divine at all, and if breaking it will save Arynbel, or doom it forever.
Meet the Artist
Julian Bauer is a freelance illustrator and designer, based in Germany. His work includes, but is not limited to, matte painting, cover artworks and designs, and 2D game concepts and assets. Please feel free to send a message to him if you would like to work with him.
Meet the Author
Ryan Bryce
Ryan Bryce is a Canadian author, game developer, and worldbuilder from Ontario. He grew up drawn to stories where ancient ruins, hidden truths, and impossible choices shaped the lives of ordinary people. His love of storytelling began with fantasy novels, video games, mythology, and the kind of ancient, half-forgotten places that seem to hold secrets beneath the stone. This evolved into actively seeking and creating stories where evolving layers of unseen fates shape the lives of ordinary people.
He has spent most of his life creating worlds, first through games, art and design, and now through fiction. He is the mastermind behind Chronicles of Arynbel, a dark fantasy world shaped by soulmarks, fading divinity, haunted ruins, fractured faith, and the people who are forced to live outside their divine fate. His stories blend atmospheric worldbuilding with character-driven fantasy. It explores survival, identity, belief, sacrifice, and the cost of defying sacred order.
Before turning more fully toward fiction and independent creative work, Ryan built a multidisciplinary career across game development, simulation, technical art, and interactive media. That background continues to shape his writing, giving his worlds a visual, lived-in quality and a strong sense of place, movement, and consequence.
Ryan lives in Ontario with his wife, children, and a pug named Sir Percival. When he is not writing, designing games, or expanding the world of Arynbel, he enjoys hiking, archery, reading, and spending time in nature. This thirst for adventure translates fully into the shape of his worlds, and offers a beautiful open world narrative that invites the reader to take their own adventure.
Meet the Editor
Rosie Plum
Rosie Plum is a Canadian creator. Growing up she consistently had her nose in a book and a paintbrush in her hand. She followed wisps of curiosity into new worlds where even the smallest creatures made a world of difference.
This curiosity drove her to learn more about how things work, and what shapes fate at its purest form. From there with the worlds she had explored, she pushed to start building her own. Creating worlds where fate and magic run hand in hand, and choices impact everything. Specifically pushing to make things that will resonate with others.
Now in her career, she works as an editor and content creator, to help bring whimsy and adventure to the people who know where to look. She is a creator, illustrator and writer outside of working in Arynbel, and prior to moving full time into her creative career she worked carefully polishing all avenues in compliance and historian fields.
Plum now lives with her partner, two cats, and one audacious dog, where even the smallest moments are grand adventures. Outside of work, you can still find her creating, with a nose in her books, or taking up the mantle of hero, in any number of games.