NOVEL NEXT 🌸HERO GALLERY: Dilinur (2025 Summer)
🌸 DILINUR ALTAI 🌸
The Imperium's Conflicted Soul
Welcome back for round two of our Hero Gallery! Quick heads up: You'll be seeing some skin in these artworks, though nothing explicit. Just making sure everyone knows what they're getting into.
For new readers: this book carries the tags AI-assisted, Sexual Content, Sensitive Content, and yes, we dive into political and religious themes. If that's not your jam, no worries—plenty of other great stories out there!
During grad school, I had the privilege of meeting students from various East Asian backgrounds, including Uyghur and Han Chinese friends studying abroad. Dilinur isn't based on any one person, but she's inspired by the struggles I saw many of them face—caught between tradition and personal freedom.
Her story explores what I call the "gilded cage syndrome"—when you have everything society says you should want (education, status, beauty) but none of it truly belongs to you. In the Imperium, like in many traditional societies, women can achieve impressive titles and positions, but real power? That's another story entirely.
What fascinates me about Dilinur is how she navigates this system. She's brilliant, capable, and absolutely deadly with her Eclipse magic—yet she's constantly having to prove her worth to men who see her as either a tool or a trophy. Sound familiar? Yeah, thought it might.
"What's even in this life to pursue when nothing is truly yours?"
But here's the thing about Dilinur—she's not just a victim of the system. She's learning to play the game, to find cracks in the Imperium's perfect facade. And when she finally breaks free? Well, let's just say the Imperium has no idea what they've unleashed.
Scrapped Scene: Imperial Glory
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Dilinur posing before a Chengdu J-20 'Mighty Dragon'—an icon of Neo-Confucian power and glory. This scene was cut but the imagery remains powerful.
Dilinur inspects critical data about the Moondust Crystal. Her analytical mind serves the Imperium, but at what personal cost?
A rare peaceful moment as Dilinur sips jasmine tea. Even servants of the Imperium need their quiet moments of contemplation.
Alternative Timeline: The Concubine's Path
From a scrapped storyline where Dilinur was Governor Qin's concubine. I rewrote her as a Prefect to give her more agency, but kept this stunning artwork.
Act 4 Preview: Embracing Freedom
Dilinur's new look after switching factions. No longer a victim, she CHOOSES how to display her allure. Eclipse spells augmented by newly learned Mirage school and self-determination await!
Book 1 Finale: New Horizons
Far from the Imperium's reach, Dilinur finds her new identity in a distant city. Her journey from oppression to self-discovery continues.
Thanks for coming. These are all 2K resolution images—4 times the detail of traditional HD. They'll be available for free download on the official site soon, but if you'd like early access, just DM me.
Next up later today: Zhi-Xin Wu • The Unlikely Hero