Although unsure as to whether there will be four or five books in the series, Tripathi declared that the first book was named as Scion of Ikshvaku. Ikshvaku was the founder of the Suryavanshi dynasty, to which Rama belonged, and the book deals with how Rama tried to establish his Rama Rajya [The Kingdom of Rama] in the middle of a corrupt Indian society. The story takes place at around 3400 BC, before the Shiva trilogy plotline, the latter having clues about the Rama Chandra series. Like the Shiva trilogy, Scion of Ikshvaku will have philosophy as one of its themes, drawing from Tripathi's understanding of Indian scriptures. The author worked over a year on the series but he did not have to research about the subject, since being born into a religious family (Tripathi's father was a pandit) he was aware of the stories about Rama; he took further inspirations from Valmiki's Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas, Kamba Ramayanam as well as the Adbhuta Ramayana.