The first instalment in a five part serial, At the Sign of the Brazen Claw sees Guy Haley continue the saga of Prince Maesa and Shattercap with a story within a story. Atop a lonely mountain in Shyish there lies an inn called the Brazen Claw, where Maesa and Shattercap shelter from a storm and wait for a Kharadron airship, alongside the innkeeper, his family and other guests. To fill the time the innkeeper suggests the telling of tales, and proceeds to regale his guests with the story of how he came to build the inn of the Brazen Claw.
It’s not your normal Age of Sigmar story, not only because of its structure but also by virtue of there being no fighting whatsoever. It’s also fairly short, and is clearly the first part of a wider arc – the following parts will be in the next volumes of Inferno. All that being said, there’s something lovely about this sort of quiet, almost everyday story, which blends normality (for the Mortal Realms) with a little storytelling magic. It’s vintage fantasy really, equal parts allegory and adventure, complete with frightful storm and slightly mistrustful characters, and makes for a good start to the serial.
