The Ritual 'Killing' 🗡️

If you look closely at the cover of my upcoming prequel, you will spot a deliberately broken arm ring. This isn't just a design choice – it is rooted in a fascinating, authentic burial practice from the 1st century.

Across tribal burial sites, archaeologists frequently uncover treasures that have been purposefully destroyed before being placed in the earth. Swords are folded in half, and arm rings are snapped in two. Historians call this the 'ritual killing of objects'.

To the tribal mind, arm rings weren't just jewellery. Worn by warriors and nobles alike, they were profound markers of status, wealth, and loyalty. But for a chieftain, his ring was the ultimate symbol of his power and the oaths sworn to him.

To send the ring to the Otherworld with the dead, it had to be 'killed' in this world first. Breaking it also served a political purpose – it permanently severed the earthly oaths bound to the dead leader, marking the definitive end of his reign.

In Rhine of Blood, Artorix, Chieftain of the Sequani, stands alone in a limestone tomb on the Jura hillside. Beside the clay urn holding his father's ashes lies a broken arm ring. It is a stark, silent reminder of his father's severed reign, and the heavy, unsettled mantle of leadership Artorix must now carry himself. ⛰️

Rhine of Blood launches on the 23rd of June.