The first Black Library story to be set in Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire, David Annandale’s short audio drama Doombound takes us deep into the twisting lanes of the Mirrored City as two Stormcast Eternals attempt to find a route back to their commander. For Errak Grimwatch, the journey becomes an illusory tangle of past and present as memories thought lost in the mists of reforging blend with his strange surroundings as something seeks to draw him off-course. Meanwhile, among the ever-changing streets of Shadespire, Errark’s visions are also shared by a warrior of Khorne.
So it turns out Shadespire as a setting is perfectly suited to audio, springing to vivid, creepy life through a mixture of Jonathan Keeble’s always-excellent narration, Annandale’s dark and twisty description and some genuinely atmospheric SFX. As a story this manages to evoke a powerful sense of otherness to its locations, while also playing with a key Age of Sigmar theme – the effect on the Stormcasts of multiple reforgings. Gone are the high-fantasy trappings of glory and duty, replaced with a bleak sense of loss and unexpected anger as Errak, and Gerrox the Blood Warrior, are cleverly interlinked. It’s only twenty minutes long, but it’s really nicely done.