Guy Haley’s multi-part Age of Sigmar story At the Sign of the Brazen Claw reaches its fourth and penultimate instalment with The Sorcerer’s Tale, in which Hyshian sorcerer Pludu Quasque tells a story of arrogance, envy and dread. He tells how, as a young man, he ignored his father’s advice, neglected his studies and let bitterness cloud his judgement until a final rash act saw him oath-bound to retrieve a long-lost jewel from the depths of the skaven underworld. As Prince Maesa, Shattercap and the other travellers listen to Quasque’s dour tale, the storm shaking the inn steadily grows in intensity.
By this point in the wider arc Quasque is the final character to tell his tale, and Haley goes to town in this one with fascinating descriptions of the people, cities, creatures and lands of Hysh, a visit to the Library of the Forgotten in Shyish, and even a glimpse of the skaven gnawholes spanning the space between the realms. Quasque’s is a sad story, but beautifully told, and on its own it would be worth reading as a standalone tale. As part of this wider arc, however, it’s also a clever way of drawing things on to a last-act conclusion which promises a suitably dramatic finale.
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Click this link to buy Inferno! Volume 4, which features this short story.