CARMINE (2020)

"Carmine is the new 'seal bearer' for the House of Cochineal. Destined to become the future Queen of the House; ruling the Guardian Organization: which on the face of it is a charity for talented orphans, but is charged with keeping humanity safe. Carmine's race; Antediluvians bonded to their 'seals' are given long lives as well as 'powers.' Carmine's seal The Lightning Beast is deemed both a declaration and warning when it awakes; the competition wants her dead before that happens."

"It is time for the House of Cochineal to test its future Queen and who better to determine worth than the current monarch. Parental sentimentality has no place in leadership, for the House of Cochineal it is a matter of survival. Carmine must face her test in The Forge; here Queens are made or broken."

Carmine The Lightning Beast is awake, and enemies mobilize. Treaties and negotiations are at an end. The House of Cochineal stands as an unyielding beacon against monolithic dissension, Trisha is ally to none. When you are the Mother of Lost Souls, semantics are open to interpretation, but Carmine's position is clear; the House can only have one mistress.

"Truth is revealed as Trisha makes her move against the House of Cochineal, the stakes are high and no possibility for leverage can be overlooked, every resource must be utilized, surely the measure of a true Queen lies in the ability to sacrifice all; even if it means murdering your sibling."

"The players are assembled, The Lightning Beast confronts the treacherous Mother of Lost Souls, dismantling the web she built to topple Cochineal, but even Carmine is not prepared for the far reaching consequences of the revelations or the oncoming surety of war that it will inevitably bring. Something long dormant has awoken in the bowels of the House of Cochineal."