Now that girl, Cassidy Rawl, faces a choice: stay hidden until she's older and stronger, or take on the enemy head-on here and now.
Fourteen. "Scroll nomad." Champion fencer. Deeply allergic to injustice.
Cassidy has already lived in six countries, attends an international school in The Hague, and is used to leaving pieces of herself behind every time she moves to a new city with her family.
What she isn't used to is evil mythical creatures.
During her school's annual sports competition, Cassidy and four other teenage champions are attacked by Wendigos, evil creatures from Native American mythology. A magical sword appears in Cassidy's hand, and suddenly the girl known for dealing with school bullies discovers that her obsession with justice may be something more than a personality trait.
Now she and the other four champions are headed somewhere that shouldn't exist: Solresol University, a secret institution full of benevolent superhero warriors on the magical island of Tidelis.
Five books. Five years at Solresol University. One story.
Each book follows one year of Cassidy's life at Solresol University.
The series begins with Cassidy Rawl and the Call of Five, as Cassidy and four other teenagers discover their powers, enter the hidden world of Atis Reach, and undertake a dangerous quest with everything at stake.
Each book tells its own adventure while advancing the larger story across Cassidy's five years at Solresol.
"The tide rises. Again and again." - Atisean motto
Cassidy Rawl moves between the world we know and places we're not supposed to know exist.
From international schools in the Netherlands to a secret country full of superhero warriors called Atis Reach, its world brings together ancient civilizations, world mythology, secret institutions, and Mythical Intelligence—a supernatural force trained on humanity's accumulated knowledge.
At its heart is a world shaped by the same questions as ours: who gets to wield power, what we choose to do with it, and whether humanity can rise above its darkest traits like greed and selfishness.
Solresol University
Hidden on the magical island of Tidelis, Solresol University trains young Wealders to understand their powers and, ideally, survive using them.
After a heroic fight against monsters, Cassidy and four other teens arrive on Tidelis expecting answers.
Instead, they find a secret university with its own traditions, rivalries, rules, and bizarre rituals—and discover that Tidelis belongs to Atis Reach, a country absent from every map they've ever seen.
The university promises to train them and protect them from the monsters hunting them.
Mythical Intelligence (MI)
MI is a play on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
MI and AI share a couple of things in common: they can both create agents, process existing human knowledge very fast and present it to us, some do good some do bad and yet others remain neutral, and everyone's confused about how they really work.
The bad MI are called Maleficent Mythical Intelligence (MMI). They amplify excess, error, apathy, and cruelty in humans, paving the way for our species' extinction and our planet's destruction.
MMI agents are called Vulgors. Vulgors, in turn, create their own agents called the Menfur.
The Menfur aren't intelligent like humans. They're not original or independent thinkers. Their creativity is limited to forming novel combinations of existing human myths—think a vampire combined with a zombie, for instance. They disguise themselves in human form and change into a mythical monster when they want to attack. They are very big and strong.
Wealders
They're the good ones—the benevolent superhero warriors. All citizens of Atis Reach, called Atiseans, are Wealders. Additionally, some children born and raised outside of Atis Reach can become a Wealder too, like Cassidy.
Wealders are trained by the Demi-Mythics of Beneficent Mythical Intelligence, and that's how they acquired a few supernatural abilities along the way.
There are five types of Wealders:
Shapers are gifted sword fighters with a powerful sense of justice. Their magical swords appear when justice must be served and vanish once the job is done. Shapers are charismatic, decisive, and inconveniently difficult to ignore. Most wield a Bellumite, while the strongest Shaper—the Amicus Curator—carries Amicus, a sword bound to its wielder and impossible for the Menfur to disarm.
Investigators are the brainiacs. To them, every mystery is simply waiting for enough data, the right equipment, and a properly controlled experiment. They can turn invisible during Menfur attacks, while the strongest Investigator becomes completely intangible to them too.
Improvers build, repair, and upgrade almost anything—including the general mood. They're energetic, relentlessly optimistic, and rarely still. All Improvers are immune to fire, and the strongest can survive even the Menfur’s deadliest slashes.
Passers are natural storytellers who preserve and pass on human knowledge. They're likable, emotionally intelligent, and supernaturally fast. Armed with Carnith staffs, they fight the Menfur and protect the stories humanity cannot afford to lose.
Explorers have no bounds. Mention an unknown destination, and they're already packing. Cool-headed and outdoorsy, they can shapeshift into animals and mythical creatures. The strongest Explorer can become anything at all—which makes land, sea, and sky considerably less limiting.
The first book in the series, Cassidy Rawl and the Call of Five, is 80% complete.
I'm seeking funding opportunities and programs that support writers, as well as representation and traditional publication for the series. Sample chapters, a synopsis, series overview, and further information are available on request.
Literary agents and publishers are warmly invited to get in touch.
Invented, revived, and borrowed words and expressions.
The world of Cassidy Rawl has a vocabulary of its own, which is why each book comes with a glossary. Here's a small sample for fellow language nerds.
Scroll nomads
An invented phrase combining the nomadic movement of an immigrant from place to place with the endless social media scrolling that can leave children and adults alike with brain rot. Cassidy and her friends at Solresol Schools describe themselves as scroll nomads, and as you read the books, you begin to understand what that means: they are constantly on the move, scrolling through the world and encountering different places, people, and cultures.
Atis Reach & Atiseans
"Ati" means "mother" in Etruscan. The name of the hidden fifteen-island nation, "Atis Reach", is meant to capture the spirit of a mother’s reach: warm, affectionate, and protective. Mess with an Atisean, and you'll find out how far that reach extends.
Vulgors & the Menfur
"Vulgor" is a play on "vulgar". And that's exactly what Vulgors are. They're vulgar.
"Menfur" is a Turkish adjective of Arabic origin meaning deeply hated, repulsive, or abhorrent. From Wendigos and Vetalas to Rakshasas, the Menfur take the form of mythology’s most fearsome creatures.
Wealders
"Wealders" draws on Old English wealdan, meaning "to rule, control, or wield power," and on weald or geweald, meaning "power" or "authority." In the series, a Wealder is therefore someone who wields supernatural power.
Modern English weald, however, usually refers to woodland, as in the Weald, an area of South East England. Although the two forms look identical, their relationship is debated: the woodland sense is related to German Wald ("forest"), while the power-and-control sense is associated with German walten and Gewalt. Etymological accounts treat them as separate word families that became homonyms.
Res, Fasolfar & Refasoldo!
These are some exemplary words originating from the Solresol language.
"Res" is short for resimire, which means "brother" or "sister." Solresol Schools students use it the way other kids say "man," "dude," "bro," or "sis." It's gender neutral and works whether you're talking to one person or a whole group.
"Fasolsar" is short for fasolfare, which means "warrior." Atiseans use it casually when talking to each other.
Refasoldo means "fire." Solresol Schools students use "refasoldo!" as a mild cuss (think "goddammit!" or "bloody hell!").