Blood & Fur
Maxime J. Durand
Each year the Nightlords choose a new Emperor to rule Yohuachanca — delicious food, beautiful women and priestesses counsel, but at year's end he is sacrificed to the gods. Iztac, a sorcerer-emperor, must survive the sacrifice cycle and gain the power to destroy the Gods themselves. As Nightlords plot to raise a sulfur sun that would let vampires prey on the living by day, Iztac races to sabotage the New Fire Ceremony, navigating a palace of spies. With the ritual's failure and the loss of one Nightlord, paranoia grips the Lords of Terror, and the White Snake hunts his treachery — to overcome them, Iztac must become one himself, descending into the Underworld to claim apotheotic power.
Progression: Explicit Progression Fantasy verified via Goodreads series descriptions (all 3 volumes contain 'A Progression Fantasy Epic'). (1) Emperor & Divine Ascension Ladder: Each year a new Emperor is chosen and sacrificed — survival requires ascending beyond mortality to destroy the Gods and Nightlords. Iztac advances by sabotaging the New Fire Ceremony and absorbing forbidden rites, with the sulfur sun and vampire hierarchy as tiered power thresholds. (2) Sorcery & Priestess Teachings: The four priestesses counsel and gate magical instruction — progression via sorcerous advancement, dark rites, and Underworld trials where Iztac must 'become' a Lord of Terror to overcome them. (3) Lord-of-Terror Tiers: Advancement is measured against the Nightlords' paranoid hierarchy — failure of their ritual, loss of a member, and Iztac's infiltration of their ranks mark quantifiable power thresholds in a vampire-theocracy.
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