House of Ariazate: The Veil of Ararat

Bill Dogg

In 10 BC, the contested borderlands between Rome and Parthia simmer with unrest, and the kingdom of Armenia—a fragile client state—hangs by a thread. When a Roman emissary is found ritually murdered in a remote fortress near Mount Ararat, his tongue sewn into a sheep’s stomach, Rome demands answers. But no one speaks the truth in the highlands. Tigran Ariazate, a disgraced Armenian noble exiled for insubordination, is recalled to investigate the killing—under threat of death if he fails. Partnered with Pollio, a limping, world-weary Roman centurion who trusts no one, Tigran is pulled into a shadow war between Roman spies, Parthian agents, and a resurging cult that blends forgotten Zoroastrian fire rites with twisted Roman Mithraism. The cult is led by none other than Tigran’s estranged sister, Ariazate the Younger, a charismatic priestess who believes the old gods demand blood and flame to purge the land of foreign empires. As assassinations spread, cult symbols surface across Armenia, and whispers of a lost treaty emerge — one that could redraw the borders and collapse the fragile peace. With war looming and Rome threatening invasion, Tigran races through snowbound passes, ruined temples, and corrupted courts to stop his sister’s final ritual — a sacrificial eclipse meant to “reveal the true king” of Armenia. But stopping her means destroying the only family he has left — and perhaps the last chance for his people to reclaim power outside Rome’s grip. In a world where loyalty is a weapon, prophecy is a trap, and survival often demands betrayal, The Veil of Ararat asks: What’s more dangerous — a dying empire or a reborn god?